Why be sad on a rainy day?

Most of the general public believes that weather affects their mood. I know I did. That’s why most people associate cities with good weather as happy places. I asked myself, “Why is that? How does weather affect our mood?” In this blog I investigated the myths and facts about weather and mood. Here are my findings:

I went and asked student staff at the Rec Center about weather and its effects on their mood. Most of them had similar answers.  Sunny weather makes them happy, active and productive. Rainy weather makes them sad, sleepy, unproductive, and makes them want to watch a movie.

 “If it’s cold and gloomy I’m going to stay inside and watch movies. If it’s raining, you’re most likely going to sleep because you don’t want to go outside.” - Demi, Service Assistant

“Yes, I don’t like cool weather, it’s kinda depressing to me. I like sunny summers or spring, but I hate winter. Being cold makes me uncomfortable.” – Stuti, Group X instructor

“Yeah, I guess on a subconscious level, I don’t really get sad if it rains generally, but I get happy when it’s sunny.” - Tony, Outdoor Pursuits

This is in line with the typical idea that most people have. Though this is the most popular assumption, the research says otherwise. Marcus Huibers J.H. abstract studies states, “Weather conditions were not associated with mood, and did not explain the seasonal variation we found. We conclude that, contrary to popular belief, weather conditions and sad mood or depression do not seem to be associated.”

This is the most common finding in the Google Scholar searches. Their hypothesis is that the effects of weather are all in the person’s mind. The person subconsciously associates an emotion with a current type of weather. Whether this is true are not is up for debate.

Another theory is the belief that weather doesn’t affect a person’s mood, but rather certain weather aspects have an effect on mood.

The main aspects of weather that affect mood are:

1.)  Humidity

2.)  Temperature

3.)  Sunshine

Jeffery Sanders and Mary Brizzolara’s “Relationships Between Weather and Mood” says that, “The pattern in inverse relationships suggests a general state of enervation characterized by feelings of diminished physical energy, reduced interest in social interactions, and somewhat flattened effect.” Basically, during days when it’s really humid, generally people have a tendency to be less active and stay home. Low energy levels have bad effects on mood. That is also the reason why cold weather could have a lowing effect on mood. The less active you are, the lower your mood tends to be.

The last aspect is sunshine. According to Deborah Kotz from health.usnews.com,

“When the sun's UV-B rays hit the skin, a reaction takes place that enables skin cells to manufacture vitamin D.” The article goes on to say that fair skinned individuals only need 10 minutes in the midday sun to get enough radiation to produce about 10,000 international units of vitamin D. The article also says that dark-skinned individuals produce less vitamin D (possibly because of the higher concentration of melanin in the skin) so they would need more time in the sunshine to produce the same amount.  Kotz goes on to state, “The darker the skin, the more it's protected against skin cancer, but the less able it is to absorb UV-B rays.”  Maintaining your vitamin levels is a big factor in mood and in health. Generally, the healthier you are, the happier you are.

Most of these findings say that there isn’t a correlation between weather and mood. Rather, it’s the correlation between energy levels and mood. So next time when you find it raining outside or it’s a gloomy day, maybe try working out. Working out causes your body to release endorphins; which gives you a positive feeling. It might just change your mood for the better. 

- Just a thought, Devonte Hill

Resources:

 http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/heart/articles/2008/06/23/time-in-the-sun-how-much-is-needed-for-vitamin-d?page=2

 http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/exercise-depression 

Relationships Between Weather and Mood by Jeffery Sanders and Mary Brizzolara

  http://guilfordjournals.com/doi/abs/10.1521/soco.1994.12.4.309

Rec Center Employees 

You need Energy? So do I !

With everyday struggles and long days, it’s hard to stay focused and awake through out the day. I know sometimes I find myself starting my day at 8am and it may not end until 8pm. It’s especially hard when you spend most of your time sitting on your butt; whether that’s in class or at work. Well don’t fear, I have researched some good ways to regain the energy you need to make it through your day.

The most common thing to do these days is to take a ton of 5 hour energy shots, drink a gallon of coffee or shoot yourself up with energy drinks until you bounce off walls. This can be a quick fix at times, but most of these “energy enhancers” are load with either too much sugar, caffeine, or an unhealthy amount of Vitamin B. If you truly want to gain energy the health way, you have to do it the natural way.

When trying to find ways to get more energy, you must first look at what you are doing. You need to know what exactly is causing you to not have energy.

You want to look at:

1. Sleep
2. Eating habits
3. Amount of exercise

These factors are important. If you’re not getting enough sleep at night, you’re not allowing your body to recuperate.  The “Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics" published a review about partial sleep deprivation and energy balance. Partial sleep deprivation is getting 6 1/2 hours to 5 hours of sleep a night. This review found that reduced sleep might: 

• Disrupt appetite hormones
• Promote greater food intake
• Change body composition to favor more fat storage

Even though it may be hard, try fitting a solid nap in your day. If that’s not possible, you might have to give yourself a bedtime and go to sleep every day by a certain hour. In order for your body to function at it’s highest level, doctors say you need at least 7 hours of sleep a night.

Eating habits is another factor that can affect your energy levels. It’s important to look at what you are eating, how much, and how often you eat. Sports nutritionist Rebecca Scritchfield stated in her 2009 Washington Running Report that adequate levels of the mineral iron (which carries oxygen throughout the body) contribute to sufficient energy levels. Healthy, leafy greens, like spinach, are rich sources of iron. 

Besides iron, you also want to look at carbohydrates. Carbohydrates contain the most glucose and give the quickest form of energy. If you need a quick fix, crackers or some kind of whole grain bread would be the way to go, BUT you have to be careful. Any extra carbohydrates will be stored in your liver. If you put too many carbs in your body and you max out your liver, your body will then turn the carbs into fat.  If you want to have longer lasting energy, also try adding more brown rice, lentils, and beans to your diet. 

Protein is another mineral that is important to energy. Your body needs protein for cell replacement, maintenance, and energy. Protein is mostly stored and used by your muscles.  It takes about 3 to 4 hours to affect blood sugar levels, so protein is good for energy you want later after your meal. It would be a good idea to have a mix of carbohydrates and protein in your diet. That way you are getting the materials needed to make quick energy and energy for later use. 

You also want to look at how often you eat. It’ better if you spread out your meals. Instead of having 2 big meals a day, try have 3 meals a day with snacks in between. That way you’re allowing your body to have a steady flow of food and your energy will be spread out throughout the day. 

So now you’re aware of the importance of sleep and diet, but there’s one more thing to consider: exercise.  According to Jennifer Warner from WebMD Health News, expending energy by engaging in regular exercise may pay off with increased energy in the long run. 

Researcher Tim Puetz, PhD, of UGA says, "We live in a society where people are always looking for the next sports drink, energy bar, or cup of coffee that will give them the extra edge to get through the day, but it may be that lacing up your tennis shoes and getting out and doing some physical activity every morning can provide that spark of energy that people are looking for."

Any time you increase your circulation, you allow materials to get to viral parts of your body easier. It serves no good for you to fill your body full of rich carbs and protein if you have poor blood circulation. Getting up and moving could make a difference in your day. Luckily SFA has an amazing Rec Center to help us out. 

Just a thought - Devonte Hill

Resources:

http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/eating-healthy-affect-life-6386.html

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sleep-and-weight-loss/MY02275

http://www.med.umich.edu/leadership/resources/Manage%20Your%20Energy%20Not%20Your%20Time.pdf

http://www.ghc.org/healthAndWellness/?item=/common/healthAndWellness/conditions/diabetes/foodBalancing.html

What's with Microwaves?

In today’s society, most people have no idea how everyday items work. We go about our daily lives using machines that we have no understanding of how they work. Earlier in the week I asked 50 people, “How often do you use a microwave for heating or cooking?” 33% of those people said they use a microwave 3 times a week. In the hope of shedding some light on our seemingly dark world, I decided to investigate microwave ovens (or microwaves for short).

Microwave ovens use microwaves; a concept not hard to understand. What’s interesting is how it uses microwaves to heat up food or water. Microwaves are electromagnetic waves with alternating electric and magnetic fields. Since the electric fields alternate between positive and negative, when they hit a molecule they cause the molecule’s electric field to shift back and forth causing the molecule’s particles to move. The movement of the particles causes friction, and friction causes heat. Microwaves ovens basically use microwaves to make the molecules in food vibrate and make friction, which in return, heats the food up. This is why you sometimes have cold spots in your food. Microwave ovens can only “heat” the areas that the microwaves hit.

 

Hitting food with crazy waves seems kind of sketchy to me, so I wanted to figure out if it is safe to use or not. When looking up information on microwave ovens, it’s very confusing deciding which information is correct. On one hand, people say it’s bad and can cause cancer. On the other hand, people say it’s good and can help prevent cancer. It’s hard to make a decision when you have conflicting information. Here are just a few of the quotes I ran across during my research:

“While X-rays, gamma radiation, and even sunlight can cause cancer, microwave radiation cannot because it simply doesn’t pack enough power to damage your DNA.” - Gary Zeman of the Health Physics Society in McLean, Virginia

“I generally recommend that patients microwave their meats for 1-5

minutes and discard the juices before grilling.” [The juices are said to be linked to cancer]- Cyndi Thomson of the Arizona Cancer Center at the University of Arizona

“If you microwave your food you’re zapping away nutrients and risking your

health,” says physician Joseph Mercola, who recommends that consumers

get rid of their microwave ovens and eat at least a third of their food raw.

“Actually, microwaving retains more nutrients than other forms of cooking, if you don’t use a lot of water and don’t overcook the food.” - Barry Swanson, food scientist

“There is a tendency for most microwave users to cook everything on high power, except when defrosting. High is the default setting. The higher the power, the stronger the electric field, and the more damaging it is to nutrients. So, the lower the power, the safer [it is]. But only some microwave ovens are capable of true low power cooking. The microwave ovens equipped with inverter magnetrons actually reduce the power instead of just cycling it between high and off.” – John Andrews, naturalnews.com

“Cooking food destroys nutrients, whether it's on a stove, or in the microwave oven. But microwaving food on high power can be more destructive than cooking on the stove. So if you use a microwave, use one with an inverter magnetron, and cook on low power. Cooking on true low power (not intermittent high) will greatly reduce the amount of damage done to the food. Even on low power, I still don't know if a stove or microwave is worse. It's like asking me if I'd rather get beat by a club, or shocked by a taser.” John Andrews, naturalnews.com

The information on this topic is very conflicting. I even ran across an article about a little girl’s scientific experiment of microwave water verses boiled water that has been recycled all over the web and doesn’t show any true scenes of origin:

Ten Reasons to dispose of your microwave oven:

1.) Continually eating food processed from a microwave oven causes long term – permanent – brain damage by ‘shorting out’ electrical impulses in the brain [de-polarizing or de-magnetizing the brain tissue].

2). The human body cannot metabolize [break down] the unknown by-products created in microwaved food.

3). Male and female hormone production is shut down and/or altered by continually eating microwaved foods.

-Unknown Origin (many users)

Is this experiment real or not? Who knows? In the world of the Internet, anybody can post information about anything and claim that it’s true. Even Youtube was divided on the issue. After 3 hours of watching microwave videos both pro and con, I still can’t tell you if it’s safe to use or not. That’s pretty ridiculous! I can only tell you how it works and the side effects of cooking with a microwave oven. Since water evaporates when exposed to high energies, your food can be dried out or even taste funny from being cooked in microwaves. As far as it causing cancer, I don’t know. The official U.S. Department of Health website had no information on microwave use, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it did cause cancer. It seems like everything in America causes cancers these days. I guess we’re just forced to do what we think is right and see what happens afterwards.

-Just a thought, Devonte Hill

Resources:

http://usahitman.com/microwave-test/

http://www.snopes.com/science/microwave/plants.asp

http://www.naturalnews.com/022015_microwave_oven_power.html#

http://www.universetoday.com/45527/how-do-microwaves-work/

Hey ! Get out of the house!

 

The fall season has officially started and the weather is finally getting nice. The days of it being 100 degrees every day are now at an end. This beautiful change means one thing; people have no more excuses for not going outside. The weather is nice, and there are fewer bugs outside. Why not enjoy the outdoors?

The SFA campus is surrounded by beautiful trails that you can explore at your leisure. If you’re having problems finding trails or you just want to know more about them, don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. Here’s a list of some of the trails around campus:

SFA Mast Arboretum

The Arboretum is probably the most known trail around campus. It’s a 10-acre garden along the Lanana Creek. If you walk to the Rec Center, it’s literally across the street to the left of the IMS fields. The gardens were first made in 1985 as a small project on the south side of the Agriculture Building. After years of care, the gardens expanded into one of the most diverse collection of plants in the South.

Azalea Garden

The Azalea garden is right next to the Arboretum. It contains 46 planting beds, 1.25 miles of universally accessible trails, and 50 benches. The garden features over 550 varieties of Rhododendron, 100 varieties of Camellia, and over two hundred Hydrangea varieties. The Azalea Garden is a highlight of the Nacogdoches Azalea Trail. There are a ton of special events each March that are held in the garden: guided tours during azalea season, an annual Azalea Symposium, and even a Little Princess Tea Party.

Pineywoods Native Plant Center

The Pineywoods Native Plant Center is a 42-acre garden on Raguet St. past the football stadium.  It's a unique mixture of uplands, mid-slopes and wet creek bottoms. The Tucker House serves as the central feature of the property, which is surrounded by native forest and gardens that celebrate the diversity of native plants in the region.

If you would like more information on trails around campus, visit the Outdoor Center located in the Rec Center, or visit the Outdoor Center page of the Campus Rec website!

Just a thought, Devonte Hill

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What's with all this Twerking??

People now are trying to find new and fun ways to work out. You can now do crazy things like playing video games on a stationary bike and even jump rope with out a rope.  In today’s blog, however, I would like to address twerking as a potential workout tool.

Now for those who don’t know about twerking, it’s been around for years. It was mainly seen at clubs and other adult venues. Over time it turned into a Youtube craze and then eventually, it became mainstream, thanks to Miley Cyrus. Reactions and opinions vary on this subject, but this proposes a legitimate question: “Twerking looks difficult; can it be used as a possible workout? Or is it just ‘sexual dancing?’ This would not be the first time something comes from the nightclubs and into workout studios. Recently, people started using pole dancing as a form of working out; now there are studios for pole dancing. To begin this twerking quest for answers, I first started by gathering opinions from Rec Center patrons/employees.

“Twerking can be viewed as an intense movement and shaking of the hip and buttox area, which enhances mobility skills and provides a good, productive workout” – Stephany O. (Fitness)

“Yes, it burns your legs and would be a great toning exercise… IF done correctly. Not Miley Cyrus twerking!” – Tiffany L. (Admin)

“I could see it being a part of a workout routine, but not just doing it in random places like the basketball courts.” – Bethany W. (OP)

The general outlook of twerking as a workout tool is positive. Most people could see it being used as an effective workout. But what do the professionals say?

Brian Krans from Healthline.com says, “Twerking burns between 5-8 calories per minute for a 150-pound individual. Twerking for an hour (should you choose to do so) will burn somewhere between 300 and 480 calories in an hour, about the same as 60 minutes of power yoga or an hour of moderate jogging.”

Glennisha Morgan from Frugivoremag.com quotes, “Dancer, dance-fitness pro, and the creator of Hip Brazil Dance and Fitness, Vanessa Isaac said that ‘twerking’ is good for cardio and also muscle toning. She says in addition to its fitness benefits, it can also be tons of fun. The few times that I’ve tried it in my mirror, I’ve walked away feeling sexy, confident, and full of laughter.”

 

Overall, twerking (done correctly) takes a lot of muscle control and it could be used to tone the hips, legs and butt area. It seems like this generation is more accepting to new and different ideas. I even tried giving twerking a shot, but I soon realized that I am a guy and my body doesn’t move in certain directions. Anyway, if you want to try twerking in the mirror sometime or do it with your friends and see how it works for you, you’re free to do so. As with anything, it’s all about what you want to do with it. 

- Just a thought, Devonte Hill

Rec Center Massage Presentation

When I heard the Rec Center was having another massage presentation, I had to seize the opportunity. If you keep up with the blogs, you’ll know that I wrote about massages last year. I felt it was time to take the next step and learn some techniques. With the help of my trusty partner, we made our way to the Rec Lobby to receive our first lesson. Therese Hostetter, the massage therapist at the Rec, went over some of the dangers of massage and what potential hazards to look for. She used the acronym “In Heaven Divine Therefore Bring Apples” to help us remember what to look for. It stands for: Heart problems, Deep vein blood clots, Trauma, Brain problems and Blood pressure. You must check to see if the person has any of those problems before you massage them. If you don’t, you can cause serious injury or even death.

After getting scared a little bit, we eventually got into the fun stuff. Here are some of the techniques we used:

Long stroke

It’s one of the easiest techniques we learned. Let’s say you’re massaging someone’s back. To perform a Long Stroke you simply press lightly, starting at the waist, and gradually increase pressure as you get closer to the heart. Then, you lightly lift your hand without completely removing it from their back, and move back down to the waist. After that, you repeat the process. You can perform this technique anywhere on the body as long as you start at the farthest point from the heart and gradually gain pressure as you get close to the heart.

 

Kneading

Kneading was my favorite technique. To put it simply, you basically grab a piece of the person’s muscle and pretend that you’re trying to make meat balls or burger patties with it. Move the muscle in our hands in a grabbing motion. It feels great and it’s fun to do.

Strike

Strike is a type of Tapotement technique used in Swedish massage. It involves using rhythmic strikes on the part of the body you’re massaging. There are several ways you can do it. You can spread your fingers and use the outer edge of your hand, you can cup you hands, or you can use the tips of your fingers. This technique is really useful when you’re trying to wake up or excite your nerves. I might have to bring this technique out during finals....

Therese covered a lot of techniques in the two hours I was there, and I’d recommend anyone try it. It's free, very informative, and the Rec created a friendly environment for learning.

If you are interested in talking with Therese Hostetter or would like to get a massage from her, walk in and schedule an appointment at the Rec Center admin office or call 936-468-3507

-Just a thought, Devonte Hill

Are you Surviving?

 Tools for Surviving the Semester 

It’s another year in school. By now, things should be pretty intense. Homework is piling up, projects are close to being due, some people even have a test next week. Well, I have a couple of suggestions to charge your energy and help you get that boost to survive this semester.

Yoga

I have to admit, before going to one of the Group X classes in at the Rec, I though yoga was just for girls. Most advertisements show only girls doing yoga, but after trying it, it seemed like a really good experience. At first I felt pain in my legs from the positions, but the breathing exercises really gave me energy. Walking out of the class, I really felt energized and really to take on the world! Or just my homework.  I recommend trying out any of the different yoga classes and see if it fits you and your schedule.

Working Out

One of the best stress relievers is pumping iron. Now, I’m not saying you have to become a body builder. If you want to get energized and even shed a few pounds, try working out with lighter weights and with a lot of reps. Another good stress reducer is running. You use your whole body when you run. If you are outside or on the trails, you can experience great scenery and scents. There’s something about trees that help get your mind off things. If running or lifting weights aren’t your thing, you can always join a Zumba Group X class or other fitness classes. Anything high energy will do your body and your mind good.

Cut down on fast food

If you need more energy during the day, make sure you’re eating the right things. Although burgers and fries are delicious, they don’t do a good job giving you that burst of energy and you find yourself tired and sluggish afterwards. Try eating healthier and see how that effects your body. You’ll notice you’ll have more energy during the day when you eat the right things. 

-Just a thought, Devonte Hill