Health Tag

When I started college last year, I averaged about five hours of sleep a night. As the year tolled on, my alarm clock chirped an hour earlier. Four hours of sleep definitely wasn’t something I enjoyed, but it was a routine necessity just like everything else on my to-do list. I enlisted it as another adjustment to becoming an “maturing.” Adulthood meant being career-driven and hungry for success—so naturally, sleep deprived, right? Unfortunately, even only a few months, in the human body realizes that it simply cannot operate with soRead More

It’s time to stop kidding ourselves.   Resolution #1: Lose weight Actual outcome: Go to the gym a couple times a week but still eat like shit and drink like a frat boy on the weekends, resulting in maybe a pound lost and regained over the course of a month. Rinse, repeat.   Resolution #2: Cook for myself and stop eating pasta and salad every night like a scrub Actual outcome: Maybe cook quinoa or lentils every once in a while. Continue to buy the Publix pre-made roasted chicken.   Resolution #3: Keep a budgetRead More

I used to think that the term “young adult” referred to Twilight novels only, but I am tired of repeatedly crediting my generation as “twenty-somethings,” so here we are. New Year’s resolutions are either a popular or vexatious topic, depending on the seriousness of the declarations and the audience’s own commitment to growth and change, but there is hardly a young adult who doesn’t use social media in some form or another. In this Near Year if you make any resolutions, I hope you dance, yes, but also that your resolutionsRead More

There’s something about engaging in a (slightly) revolting activity in the presence of an attractive individual that is not preferable. By presence, I specifically mean sitting one inch away from a nice-looking Canadian man on an airplane, and by revolting I mean unwrapping a half-devoured, room-temperature burrito in your lap from a mock “Chipotle” in the Dallas airport and spilling black beans on your shared armrest. Excuse me, sir, care for a luke-warm lentil?  I had four more hours of traveling next to my burrito and this Canadian man andRead More

Remember when you placed second in that declamation contest back in sixth grade? That supporting role you played during a school event? Or that masterpiece you worked hard day and night for but wasn’t published? You know you won’t let yourself forget all those so-called mediocrities, so you just sulk in your nook and cringe your way through the day trying to convince yourself you’ll never be good enough for anything, for anyone. You get so shell-shocked with all that has been going inside your brain, thinking about every possibleRead More

We’ve all heard Meghan Trainor’s song called “All About That Bass” which is essentially about learning to love yourself the way you are, regardless of your size, and to kick guys to the curb if they don’ t love your curves. You have to admit, this is a great song promoting healthy body image and self confidence for young girls and women everywhere. I recently watched a short interview between Trainor and Editor Amy Odell at Cosmopolitan, where Megan was asked, “Have you always loved your body?” Trainor answers rightRead More

For the past 15 Monday nights, I have been expanding my knowledge on human sexuality.  With my semester coming to a close, I can’t help but reflect on what I have learned.  Ladies and gentlemen, let’s talk about sex.   1.  You can blow a condom into a balloon. “Don’t miss class next week.  I guarantee you will do something in a classroom that you have never done before.”  My professor has a flair for the dramatic, but he wasn’t joking.  Have you ever walked in on your teacher withRead More

I’m the type of person that will avoid conflict, confrontation, and basically, any form of criticism at all costs. As a kid, I would write notes to my parents whenever I was asking for something. Not because they were mean people, but because they might say no and I would rather receive that information from a checked box than a verbal, “Not this time, sweetheart.” I quit a job via letter once. After my boss received it, she called me and left a voicemail. I was too nervous to listenRead More

I have a little secret trick that works as an excellent detox from the harmful things we fill our minds and bodies with on a daily basis. It works in just one day and instantly makes me feel much better. I feel refreshed, I feel happier and I feel way less stressed and anxious. So what’s my one day detox? I stop using social media. We are all so helplessly and pathetically addicted to social media. I’m not shunning any of you or pointing the finger, I’m standing right there withRead More

She grabs your shoulders from behind, in a back-hug and shakes you around like a my-sized, standing shake and bake…also how you’re not supposed to shake a newborn baby. “Look at you! You’re amazing!” She says to your reflection that stares from an abandoned and mirrored headboard on the sidewalk that you’re sure has witnessed a night or eighty of raunchy sex. You tell her you may cry because you’re hungry and tears are your undue reaction to low blood sugar. You try not to for the sake of theRead More

I’m getting older. Every year. Every day. Every hour. Every minute. This much is indisputable. But I often find myself questioning whether I’m actually growing up as time endlessly marches onward. What does it mean to grow up? To have adult responsibilities? I have a few of those. To be objectively mature? I probably have a ways to go; I still think prank calls are hilarious and my friends and I still laugh at things that adults shouldn’t find funny. To wake up early, work a nine-to-five, and come backRead More

I was four-years-old when I came to the realization that I couldn’t read. Of course, at that point, I never could read, but it was at this age that I became acutely aware that I couldn’t read and that everyone else could. My mom could. My dad could. My eleven-year-old sister could. It was basically all the guy on Reading Rainbow could talk about… Why couldn’t I? So I did what any four-year-old would do and I asked my mom, “When will I know how to read?” My mom wasn’t entirelyRead More

1. Go to a random concert – Concerts are great because you’ll actually be doing something after work, other than sitting on the couch with a box of Cheez-Its. And the upside is that usually the shows will let out at a fairly reasonable hour, either because they know nobody’s trying to turn up until 2am on a Tuesday (except you, Makonnen), or because of neighborhood noise laws, IDK. Unless you plan on going to a rap concert in which case, you’re basically going to be out until you haveRead More

In the past year, the entertainment industry has suffered the loss of renowned comedians and thespians (you know who they are). In response, general depression awareness levels were heightened on a national level. The societal fear of losing another entertainment icon (if you’re a millennial like I am, you miss the hell out of Peter Banning) has rattled the most durable of psyches, prompting those who suffer, primarily those inhabiting the vicious world of entertainment, to open up about their illness. Comedian Wayne Brady is the latest to go candid.Read More

I’ve never been a big fan of “the birthday.”  While I certainly appreciate the extra love on Facebook from people I haven’t seen since Myspace was the accepted social network, I just don’t feel the need to be celebrated for a full 24 hours.  What did I accomplish?  Being born?  Shouldn’t you be sending wishes to the woman who went through horrific labor in order to literally squeeze me out into this world?  I mean, really.  Nonetheless, regardless of how undeserving I may feel of the cakes and checks, I can’tRead More