Health

This is a serious one.

Recently, I've realized just how important it is to take care of one's body. Recently, as in I discovered something about someone close to my family, and it hit me really hard how it is so important to take care of yourself starting when you're young. We all know we should eat healthy and exercise, and we all know that smoking causes lung cancer, and drinking reeks havoc on our liver and morals, but we still feed our bodies fast food on a weekly basis, partake in the social cigarette, and drink until we can't remember all too much. People my age never stop and truly think about the consequences--cancer, diseases, early death, mental disabilities and not to mention Halitosis (bad breath disease), and skin/hair/nail problems.

I've always believed that everything your body does is the effect of what you eat. Yeah I know we've all heard that cliche "You are what you eat" but I think most people only think of that in terms of their weight and fat percentage. But I truly believe that if you don't eat fruits and veggies, you will have acne. If you don't eat fruits and veggies, you will have bad breath. If you don't eat healthy, you will develop ADD.

I am one of those people. Maybe it was my upbringing on nutritious foods, or I've seen one too many Dr. Oz episodes, but I just think everything is about the food. Your machine performs based on the quality of fuel you give it. And it's more than just having a hot body and flawless-model skin... It's about maintaining good memory, avoiding arthritis and bone loss, having a good enough immune system to fight off cancer, or even just getting the right amount of sleep.

My dad has sleep apnea. He has to have a breathing device with him every night to sleep. I always knew about this, but didn't realize the severity of that particular condition until recently. When someone has sleep apnea, their breathing and heart beat slows drastically, dangerously, and if never treated it could stop in your sleep. Another factor of sleep apnea is you just don't sleep very well. If you don't go through all of the stages in your sleeping cycle, your body cannot repair itself and never heals properly, if at all. Many people who go untreated just fall over and die. Literally, they will be carrying out an activity during the day, and their heart will just stop. Seriously.

And all of that could be because you didn't take care of yourself when you were younger. If you don't eat foods like honey, bananas, eggs, nuts, or seeds, your body isn't getting nutrients like tryptophan that help you sleep. (I'm not a doctor, obviously, but if you ate your ramen and cookies or burgers and ice cream for the greater part of your 20s, it is going to have a lasting effect for the rest of your life, not just that day).

I believe food can solve problems better than things like anti depressants and 5 hour energy shots can. I truly think that acne is a cause of greasy things you eat, and eating right EVERY DAY can fix it better than if someone keeps eating crap and then rubs Proactive on their face at night.

And then there are people who dip tobacco, I won't mention any names, JAAAAAAAAAKKKEE, and then there are those who quit dipping tobacco...... 80 times a month, again, not pointing any fingers, ☞☞☞☞☞☞☞☞☞☞ FAAAATTTTHHHEERRRR.

Dipping is effing disgusting. No girl wants to date/marry/be-within-40-feet-of a guy who is spitting brown liquid sh*t out of his mouth into a dispenser that is also full of brown liquid sh*t. I once heard this random statistic a long time ago, I don't know where, I don't know when, BUT I FULLY BELIEVE IT IS TRUE: Tobacco is the #1 cause of cancer. When you dip tobacco (or smoke for that matter) you are literally just slitting your wrists. You are killing yourself. And you know what, at least when someone slits their wrists, they will have all of their hair and will probably look decent for their open casket, BUT IF YOU HAVE CANCER YOU WILL DIE BALD. This is going down a bad road. If you have cancer, I truly apologize. Just trying to deter b*tches from dipping tobacco/smoking.

Then there are genetics. I know genes play a huge role in diseases and things like that whether you eat healthy or not. I get that. Some stuff doesn't care about all of the healthy things you ate. Some stuff you just can't help. But even if Alzheimer's does run in your family, shouldn't that give you even more of a reason to eat omega 3's and foods that are good for your mind? I  know first hand the troubles of having Thunder Thighs run in my genes, but that doesn't discourage me from exercising. In fact it's WHY I exercise.

My friends know that I am a closet health freak and always buy SHAPE magazine, make smoothies, take supplements, and make a weekly effort to exercise. They also know my love for mexican food and chocolate. So by any means, don't think I'm this vegan health nazi who only eats wheatgrass shots and wears organic cotton clothing. I'm far from being a health nazi, and the Jack n' the Box staff grew very familiar to seeing me circa 4 AM on the  occasional weekly friday night. I'm also one of those people who "only smokes when I drink" blah blah and it really is a disgusting habit that needs to stop. I don't even like it!!! I literally don't even enjoy it, it makes me feel IMMEDIATELY sick!! Why do I do this to myself????? If I get lung cancer I'm going to be really pissed because I didn't even enjoy acquiring it all of these years?????? Liver cancer is another thing, however.

Moral of the story: EAT HEALTHY, BITCHES, YOU'LL LIVE LONGER.


Perfect time for new years revolutions right? Left. Now I wanted to include foods with high antioxidants. Remember, antioxidants fight cancer, AND UNDO ALL THE STUPID THINGS YOU'VE BEEN DOING TO YOURSELF. (speaking to myself too).

																									Food																									Serv. Size /Antioxidants
1																										Small Red Bean (dried)																									Half cup																									13727
2																										Wild blueberry																									1 cup																									13427
3																										Red kidney bean (dried)																									Half cup																									13259
4																										Pinto bean																									Half cup																									11864
5																										Blueberry (cultivated)																									1 cup																									9019
6																										Cranberry																									1 cup (whole)																									8983
7																										Artichoke (cooked)																									1 cup (hearts)																									7904
8																										Blackberry																									1 cup																									7701
9																										Dried Prune																									Half cup																									7291
10																										Raspberry																									1 cup																									6058
11																										Strawberry																									1 cup																									5938
12																										Red Delicious apple																									One																									5900
13																										Granny Smith apple																									One																									5381
14																										Pecan																									1 ounce																									5095
15																										Sweet cherry																									1 cup																									4873
16																										Black plum																									One																									4844
17																										Russet potato (cooked)																									One																									4649
18																										Black bean (dried)																									Half cup																									4181
19																										Plum																									One																									4118
20																										Gala apple																									One																									3903

And finally, here is one of my favorite real-life health blogs. http://undressedskeleton.tumblr.com/ 
It's chalk full of healthy recipes, her before and after pics, motivating crap, and tips.

If you really want to get crazy, check out my "Hot bod" board on twitter, in which I repin frivolous fitness things I plan on doing. http://pinterest.com/gusta88/hot-bod/

AND READ THIS BOOK!!!!