This chapter was definitely not related to my health aspect, however it was extremely informational regarding such an important topic. Contraception is even more useful for our age range as a good percentage of us do not want a child at this stage of our lives. First off, I had no idea there were so many ways of contraception since as a male, Condoms are the only form of contraception I am worried about personally at this time. I have never heard of spermicides in my life and find it interesting how they can be effective. Only 72% typical use effectively prevents pregnancy is likely the reason it is not as commonly used and heard of. If they were more effective, I feel as if spermicides would be the most commonly used contraception method as it appears convenient compared to some methods. Other negatives besides the effectiveness rate include possible irritation, allergic reactions, and increased risk to infections.

The second aspect of this chapter that peaked my interest was male sterilization. I have no interest in this anytime soon, but looking in the future I may. For example, If at the age of 45 I am happily married with 3 kids and do not want anymore, It sounds like a logical thing to do so my (hypothetical) wife doesn’t need to take hormonal methods, nor either of us need to use condoms. I’m not quite sure why I hear a lot more about females getting their tubes tied rather than males having a vasectomy. Females already go through so much with pregnancy and giving birth, Males should always be sterilized over a women in a marriage.

The last thing in this chapter I wanna touch on is abortion. Abortion always gets a horrible reputation since it is taking the life of an unborn baby. It is split down the middle of how America views abortions. Personally, I think the women should have the choice to do whatever she wants to her body. All these men saying it should be illegal and considered murder, would never have the chance to know what that position would be like to carry a baby. For example, If a college girl has a one night stand with a guy and gets pregnant, its logical to have an abortion as the birth of the baby would potentially ruin the females dreams and completely change both the male and females lives. A Sexual assault/ rape case is even more of a reason to abort a child as the women didn’t even give consent for the intercourse. I had no idea there were other ways to abort other than surgical.

My health aspect started off great this week as I did a big grocery shop and strictly bought clean and healthy things. I usually tend to buy chicken, steak, fish, and chicken sausages for my proteins in dinners. For dinner sides I like to get rice and vegetables. Lunch usually consists of tuna or a sandwich on campus when I am there for classes. Again, I am am always making the same meals so It would be greatly appreciated if anyone reading this could give me some healthy meal suggestions. Staying on the nutrition side of my health aspect, there is a divide in my apartment with me and my roommates eating habits. As I am trying to cut fat and build lean muscle by eating clean and not as much as I used to, 2 of my roommates are doing a dirty bulk to gain mass/ muscle quickly. They do plan to cut it off for the summer but not sure how that’s going to go since they are starting it now!! They plan to eat fast food multiple times a week, and just eat ridiculous amount of calories. Its going to be hard for me to resist joining them, but Feel like i will have the will power. For example, I drove us to the gym two night back and they asked me to stop at MacDonald’s on the way home. I did for them and was tempted at first, but knew its not worth it and would set me back. For the physical aspect, I had two good lifts early in the week and was looking forward to another. However, I am feeling under the weather so i decided to take the night off and rest. I am continuing to learn new lifting exercises and being more educated in that aspect. About a year and a half ago I never thought I would even be consistently going to the gym and had no desire. Some things changed and my life and I finally decided to invest in myself. That has been such a great accomplishment even though I am not where I want to be, I am on the right track. Mentally and physically its helped me in many ways and am looking forward to see what the future holds. I will share an old picture of myself I look at sometimes when I need some motivation. This was me 2 years ago and likely the unhealthiest I’ve ever been and felt.

Chapter 4 dug deep into relationship and sexuality facts, disorders, and strategies to strengthen relationships. I feel as this is quite important for our age range as most of us probably are not married yet and are meeting hundreds of new people at school. One remark in the book that stood out to me was “as society changes, so do relationships”. This is a crucial point as we cannot rely on every relationship we have to be the same as another we had/have. Section 4.3 touches on relationships and social media since society relies on it heavily now. In a time with so many dating apps and online communication, dating can be a dangerous thing. A 50 year old man could sit behind a screen and pretend he’s Kendall, age 21. Predators can easily fool people so its extremely important to confirm the person is who they say they say they are. Another aspect to social media it relying on it for a relationship. Texting your significant other is helpful at times, but its easy to hide behind a screen and state anything, and is also hard to communicate tone/emotions. Next, I found the graphic of the man and women that outlined common communicating habits between the genders. I laughed at it as I found most of the things to be true for myself and others I know. Its good to know its not just me that leans back when listening and interrupts sometimes. Lastly, The part regarding coping with failed relationships was helpful. Almost everyone has experienced a break up, and they are not easy. You can feel lot but you learn a lot about yourself and grow in the long run.

Things have been a little shaky regarding my health aspect of eating clean all the time and cutting fat/building muscle. I started off well Monday and Tuesday but it went downhill Wednesday. I went out for drinks Wednesday and ended up eating a lot of late night pizza. The rest of the week/weekend followed with some unhealthy eating choices since I already budged Wednesday. Routines are huge for me so once I break it, Its sometimes hard to get right back into it. Snack runs to Cumbies have been killing me. I didn’t make it to the gym as much as I would’ve liked too as this was the toughest week so far. This entire thing is a mental battle and I feel like I am continuing to strengthen my mindset. I have been struggling to eat breakfast before my classes (especially my 8 am) so I began to drink a supplement drink(Carnation Instant Breakfast) that included all the nutritious values for a well balanced breakfast. Lastly, I am hoping to stretch more to help my posture as I found a set of shoulder stretches that directly help posture that I will post below!

This topic is extremely important for all, but especially for our age range since 11.4% of college students reported tremendous amounts of stress. I would say 100% of college students have experienced some level of stress though. I experience stress of course with school, work, and social factors, but had not one clue about how the body responds. I found it quite interesting how there is a process for the body when it encounters stress. When in the first/alarm phase, The body enters the fight or flight response as your body begins to function differently. When you brain understands you are in a stressful event, it triggers an autonomic nervous system response that regulates body function including heart functions and breathing. Its interesting to know this happens because I always felt like it was me tweaking if my heart started racing and breathing gets difficult. Another interesting part in the chapter was the fact that you can lose hair from being stressed. It is commonly from chronic stress, but is crazy to me stress also has many physical effects. Lastly, I really appreciated all the techniques provided to manage stress since I was under the impression you just need to stop thinking about it and take deep breathes. I specifically liked the technique to moderate goals. If you are shooting for unrealistic goals, you will be stressed forever trying to reach somewhere you cant go. Good sleep is yet another technique that I need to utilize for many things as this is not the first chapter its mentioned to help.

Regarding my health aspect, Things are going decent. I am still happy with the amount of days I am getting to the gym and don’t see that changing, however I feel like I can improve my energy and stamina while there. I am considering taking pre-workout before all workouts, although there is one major problem with it. I often go to the gym at nights between 7 and 8, and know it would likely affect my sleep so I’ll have to pick my poison.

Regarding the nutrition side of my health aspect, I have been better. I ordered out a few times this week when I was lazy all day Sunday. I even found myself eating 3 bowls of cereal late last night. This is supposed to be open so I’ll admit, I have a hard time resisting the munchies. It actually is probably the number one reason why I am not as consistent as I’d like to with a healthy diet. Another reason why I am not where I want to be is due to my decisions on weekends. First off, Having drinks is not healthy to begin as they have lots of calories and carbs and build up quickly. Secondly, I tend to chose an easy option such as takeout or a frozen meal. Lastly, there are weekends I will be visiting a friend or family member and you don’t always have a choice what to eat. However, I am happy with a few things regarding my diet. I have been making healthy fruit smoothies more often at my apartment for a late night snack or for breakfast. I just bought a new package of frozen fruit for them and its my favorite yet (picture posted below). Lastly, I have been absolutely guzzling water. This week I have been drinking around 1.5 gallons a day. The reason being that I can stay hydrated since I get headaches if I’m not, and its tremendous for muscle recovery.

Chapter 2 went in depth regarding all types of psychological health including specific disorders, symptoms, and tips to help. I feel as this chapter will be one of the most important in the entire book as psychological health is extremely important but often over looked. First off, I thought the two pages regarding spiritual health was quite interesting as I always considered spiritual health a religion thing. Before reading this, I considered myself to not be associated with spiritual health as I am not super active in religion. I quickly learned religion does not sum up spiritual health but rather it regards ones internal/ personnel search for meaning and answers about life. Knowing this now, I would consider myself fairly spiritual healthy as I find myself frequently contemplating life and the true meaning in a good way. The second thing that opened my eyes was the short passage on depression in college students. 15.4 percent of all college students have reported that depression has had a negative impact on their academics. At first this shocked me because that’s a large percentage of students feeling depressed, but the more I thought about it, it made sense. I am not depressed but certainly experience some anxiety and stress from college. Students move away from home to live with someone random, and are bombarded with school work during a tough transitional period. College is looked at as a great place full of fun and partying, but for many its the exact opposite. I like how there are counselors to seek out, but colleges should understand that a huge percentage of their students are struggling and should make a change internally. The last thing that captured my attention was the suicide section. Suicide is such a hard and sensitive topic since its regarding someone ending their own life, so i found it interesting with some of the strategies to do when you suspect someone is contemplating it. If I had a friend who was in that position, I would do anything to help, but wouldn’t know where to start and wouldn’t want to harm them more. Although some of the prevention tips seem uncomfortable such as asking directly if they have a plan, it will hopefully lead to them seeking help. It makes sense for the strategy that states not to tell them they cant do it, as it could make them do it to prove people wrong.

My health aspect of cutting fat/ building lean muscle through clean eating and exercise has been going swimmingly! I am someone who loves routine but has trouble starting one, but I feel as if i am moving to that stage of being locked into it! The nutrition aspect would be the most crucial i would say as I’ve always been active in sports but used to still pack on pounds. I haven’t noticed much progress looks wise but i have noticed a difference in how I feel. Eating clean has made me feel so much better physically and mentally. I am not bloated or waking up with that stomach ache from eating too much the night before. Mentally, I feel as if it has made me more motivated and confident since I know the fuel going into me is beneficial not hurtful. However, I am experiencing some difficulty regarding variety of foods. I am already getting sick of things that are a staple in my diet including grilled chicken, steak, eggs, turkey chili, and chicken sausage. I am committed to eating clean but its hard not knowing what to eat. To anyone reading this, I would love and appreciate some suggestions for healthy meals to make! I just got some protein powder so I can use that as a filler if I have nothing to eat and also post workouts. Late nights are also tough sometimes as I have cravings for a sweet, so I bought some “KIND” bars and have been having those when I feel a craving come on.

The exercise aspect has also been going well as i went to the gym 5 of the 7 days of the week. My cycle revolves around 3 major muscles that are chest, back, and shoulders while incorporating biceps/triceps and core into them depending on the day. Yes I know, I need to work on legs more, :/. A few years back, I injured my hamstring squatting so I have been reluctant to start squatting again.I also always feel like i work my legs a lot since I run and play sports often. Strength wise, I am slowly building muscle but am nowhere near where I would like to be. As always, consistency will be key in seeing results. A struggle I do have though is deciding when to attend the gym. I have been going after dinner time around 730 and it feels great afterward, however I don’t love having to wait all day. I went after my class at 2 yesterday and it did feel great to be done and entire night free to spend with friends. The only downfall is the gym here at BSU is usually jammed at this time. Lastly, I began to do chin ups between sets while at the gym. Right now I can do about 5 in a row and would like to do 10 in a row come March.

In the first chapter of our My Health textbook began with information and tips on how to take the first steps in changing your life in a healthy manner. Right off the bat, The 6 dimensions of health was interesting and new to me, as I always thought there were just two dimensions of health: mental and physical. By having 6 dimensions, It allows us to evaluate our health much better as we look at each dimension and recognize where and what’s going wrong and how to improve. Us humans should consider all 6 equally as important to create all around health. The next thing that I learned about that stuck with me was the Transtheoretical model. When thinking of making a change, personally I think of just doing the change. With the Transtheoretical model, it provides an outline with the best chances of succeeding their goal. For example, If someone relapsed when they wee trying to quit drinking, they can view the model and see what stage they are at and what the next step should be. Another thing that I found shocking but helpful was the ABC News video in the module about life changing resolutions. First, The fact that getting proper sleep is the number one life changing resolution was surprising and certainly will change my sleeping patters. Secondly, The fact that hanging with friends and family boosts mental health is great. I always thought it was just me that felt less stressed around my family and friends, but knowing this is a fact is reassuring.

My health aspect and goals are off to a great start! However, I am not super excited about that since its only the first week. You need to start somewhere, but its always easy to stick with something new at the beginning, but consistency is my goal. So far, I have done everything i have hoped to which included eating 3 healthy meals a day with no late night snacks. For breakfast I have been eating either 3 eggs or just a supplement shake, including a banana for both. Lunch has been either tuna or cold cuts, with dinner being a meat with vegetables and rice. Like I said, things for me are easy when its new, so i do fear down the road I will pig out and order pizza when I’m too lazy to cook. So far so good though!

The exercise aspect has also been going great so far. I went to the gym 5 out of 7 days last week which i was happy with. What I am not happy with and hope to improve is my stamina and time at the gym. I have good workouts, but when i return home I always think to myself “you easily could have stayed for 30 more minutes”. I think I just need to let myself know that I’m not missing anything at home and should stay until my body physically cant take it. Although my aspect is regarding physical health, I am going to factor in the 6 dimensions of health and make sure I am not just zoned in on 1. Mindfulness also caught my attention as i want to enjoy the moment rather than always looking ahead as i always do.

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

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