In youth, being a superstar in multiple areas (sports, academics, music, dance) is easy because "superstar" is a lenient term that just means "better than average." And, being better than the average 10 year-old doesn't take much aside from a little devotion and concentration, since most 10 year-olds are too flighty to devote their time and energy toward much, aside from memorizing Justin Bieber song lyrics.
Being older redefines "superstar" as an expert. Quit frankly, it's hard to be an expert at more than one thing.
I am having this thought right now as I'm considering my studies. How does one become a superstar at their thesis research while simultaneously remaining well-rounded? I have too much energy to sit in one place and read papers and write all day, so I have to get out and play sports (specifically, ultimate frisbee). But, when I'm playing ultimate, I think about strategy and things and become critical and aware of expert strategy, and find holes in other strategies, so then my concentration goes that direction.
Maybe I need to find a sport that takes less thought. Like running: Tie shoes. Run until exhausted. Go home.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Kid'n'Play
It was my birthday on Monday. It was filled with love and joy, and relatives leaving me music-filled birthday greetings. It was extraordinary. (And, thank you all for putting smiles on my face!)
Juggles followed through as a great fiance and charmed me with dinner at Paesano's, including a delicious bottle of wine. And he got me some fantastic gifts:
The Fitbit is really cool. I wear it on my person and it acts as a pedometer to record the number of steps I take, miles I walk, and stairs climbed. It tells me the calories I've burned. I can log my food intake to compare caloric intake vs. burn. It tracks my sleep cycles and tells me how many times I wake up every night, giving me a score of sleep efficiency. It tracks workouts to tell me the pace I'm walking/running and the minute-by-minute caloric and step detail. It does a lot of cool things.
I've never before tracked calories. It's a weird feeling. I don't really care about what I eat because I've never struggled with my weight, so it's bizarre writing down what I'm eating and having a note, "Today you can still eat 600 more calories," or "You've consumed X mg of sodium." It definitely makes me realize WHAT I'm eating though.
I've known for a long time that my diet isn't the best. It's better than all Ramen and Mac&Cheese, as I consumed during undergrad, but I'm far from consuming many meals of fruits and veggies as I did growing up. For instance, yesterday I went out to dinner and had beer cheese soup and margarita pizza. Winning combination of a lot of dairy, fat, and carbs. But, it sure did taste good.
Today, so far, I have consumed only 735 calories, but am already at almost 1300 mg of sodium!
Here are some alarming facts about sodium brought to you by our lovely CDC:
Source: http://www.cdc.gov
Sodium is a slow killer. The sodium balance of the human body is regulated by our precious kidneys. There's a delicate balance created by the kidney, because kidneys help to control blood volume and pressure, and regulate electrolytes. So, as you can imagine, excess sodium over long periods of time can lead to chronic kidney disease and hypertension. These just end up being expensive for the health care consumer, as they require lots of drugs, etc.
Above is a schematic of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, in case you're curious about how hormonal regulation fits in with this whole cascade of substances to regulate blood pressure and volume. You can read more about it on your own. I'd prefer to direct you toward humorous kitty-chemistry pictures instead, now.
Juggles followed through as a great fiance and charmed me with dinner at Paesano's, including a delicious bottle of wine. And he got me some fantastic gifts:
- Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, a book by Scott McCloud. This was a fantastic gift since Juggles is a comic guy and, though I've tried, I'd rather read a novel. I don't get how to read things with pictures, apparently.
- A Fitbit Ultra: http://www.fitbit.com, which "tracks your everyday steps, stairs climbed, calories burned, and more, motivating you throughout the day."
The Fitbit is really cool. I wear it on my person and it acts as a pedometer to record the number of steps I take, miles I walk, and stairs climbed. It tells me the calories I've burned. I can log my food intake to compare caloric intake vs. burn. It tracks my sleep cycles and tells me how many times I wake up every night, giving me a score of sleep efficiency. It tracks workouts to tell me the pace I'm walking/running and the minute-by-minute caloric and step detail. It does a lot of cool things.
I've never before tracked calories. It's a weird feeling. I don't really care about what I eat because I've never struggled with my weight, so it's bizarre writing down what I'm eating and having a note, "Today you can still eat 600 more calories," or "You've consumed X mg of sodium." It definitely makes me realize WHAT I'm eating though.
I've known for a long time that my diet isn't the best. It's better than all Ramen and Mac&Cheese, as I consumed during undergrad, but I'm far from consuming many meals of fruits and veggies as I did growing up. For instance, yesterday I went out to dinner and had beer cheese soup and margarita pizza. Winning combination of a lot of dairy, fat, and carbs. But, it sure did taste good.
Today, so far, I have consumed only 735 calories, but am already at almost 1300 mg of sodium!
Here are some alarming facts about sodium brought to you by our lovely CDC:
- Americans eat on average about 3,300 mg of sodium a day.
- About 90% of Americans eat more sodium than is recommended for a healthy diet.
- Reducing the sodium Americans eat by 1,200 mg per day on average could save up to $20 billion a year in medical costs
Source: http://www.cdc.gov
Sodium is a slow killer. The sodium balance of the human body is regulated by our precious kidneys. There's a delicate balance created by the kidney, because kidneys help to control blood volume and pressure, and regulate electrolytes. So, as you can imagine, excess sodium over long periods of time can lead to chronic kidney disease and hypertension. These just end up being expensive for the health care consumer, as they require lots of drugs, etc.
Above is a schematic of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, in case you're curious about how hormonal regulation fits in with this whole cascade of substances to regulate blood pressure and volume. You can read more about it on your own. I'd prefer to direct you toward humorous kitty-chemistry pictures instead, now.
Source: http://icanhascheezburger.com/
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