99 - Healthy Happy Heart, and Other Summer News

My sister and I are starting a health blog. My other sisters are also invited, and will probably include their input.

You should read it. :)

Click here. Or here. If you REALLY want to read it, CLICK HERE.

In other news, I've been doing a lot of reading this summer. Don't worry, I'm still keeping track of my Reading Riot stuff. I just haven't posted about it in a while. I'll do a catch up with that pretty soon, though.

I've been reading Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell. Basically, this journalist discusses successful people and their stories. He also talks about the misconceptions our culture has about said successful people.

Some interesting ideas so far:

• Being an expert at something requires hard work as well as abundant opportunity. 
• Being an expert at something also requires an inordinate amount of practice. 10,000 hours, if I want to be accurate. 
• Being renowned has a lot to do with being in the right place at the right time. 
• Your home environment does more to cultivate your intelligence than almost any other environment. 
• There's no such thing as being super smart. Intelligence, like all things, has a threshold. 

That last one I especially find interesting. I mean, obviously, there are innate abilities involving intelligence. However, recent findings have shown that there isn't a perfect correlation between the highest of intelligence and world-renowned success. A person with a high IQ (generally, above 130) is just as likely to succeed as a person with a higher IQ.

This book has been so interesting for me because I have always been placed in gifted programs in school. I had a rant about work and intelligence a few posts ago, so you guys know that this kinda stuff really hits home for me. I'm not, like, super-genius-smart. I do, however, have a large vocabulary. Any guesses as to why? Reading is all I ever did as a kid. I always (and still do, in fact) had a book with me. My step-sister is freakishly good at math and puzzles. Do you know what she always had with her as a child? A Sudoku book. Gifted people don't just stumble upon a talent and become experts. They can stumble upon passion, they can stumble upon opportunity, but one does not stumble upon expertise. Expertise requires work.

Anyway. I'll probably post more about Outliers later. Or maybe not. I don't know.

Good writing, interesting concepts, and personal meaning all wrapped up in one 300 page book. That's my kind of reading material.

-ka

80 - Noticing

Things I've noticed:

• You can have more than one home, because home isn't a specific place. It's an atmosphere in which  you feel loved. 
• It's ok to like things that you're not "supposed" to like. Don't buy into all that stereotypical crap. Like what you like, because you like it for a reason. 
• School is hard sometimes, but it's worth it. College isn't the place to slack off. There are much less expensive places to be lazy. 
• Kindles are really cool, and I was wrong to misjudge them. I can still love reading (and owning and buying) books and also like reading on my kindle. 
• Going to the gym is empowering. I've made it part of my (mostly) daily routine, and I love it. It makes me feel productive and healthy. 
• Setting goals actually works when you take them seriously. 
• Earplugs are a great investment when you're living in a college dorm. 
• Trusting is easier the more you do it. Pretending to trust someone is not the same thing as actually trusting them. It can be really hard, and it's not something that you can just jump into right away. Ease into it, and the bigger things will come naturally. 
• You're never too young or too old to spend hour after hour laughing with people with whom you love to laugh. 
• If you think you understand Utah weather just because you've lived here all of your life, you're wrong.  
• A good book is still the best setting in which to get lost. 
• Also, this:

Harry Potter jokes will always be funny. To me, at least.

-ka

67 - Rock Solid Wrap-up #1

My first week of the Rock Solid Challenge went surprisingly well! The thing that was the hardest for me? 64 oz of water. Like I said before, I don't really like water all that much. I only achieved the entire 64 oz 2 out of the six days, but I am proud of myself for even succeeding in that! Hopefully next week will yield more water-drinking.

I still don't have vitamins, so I didn't get any points for that. I'm hopefully going to the store tomorrow though so I should be able to pick some up. The vegetables were probably the second hardest thing to do, but I got all four servings 5 of the 6 days.

Surprisingly, the thing I wanted to do the most was exercise. There was only one day that I didn't get exercise this week, and the other times I loved it. I usually go to the gym between an hour or an hour and a half, and I speak for all of the athletes out there when I say that exercise can be addicting! After the first couple days my muscles hurt a bit and I had to push through the first ten minutes, but then it just felt really good. I've learned that watching movies is the best thing to take my mind off of the fact that I'm exercising, so my iPod touch is a handy thing to have. Music is good, too, but movies fully engage my brain and it's easier to go for longer.

Also, I've flossed every single night this week. I've never flossed so much in my life. Maybe that grosses you out, maybe it doesn't. But that's the truth.

Grand point total minus cheat points = 62

With cheat points = 65

Stuff to work on:

• Go to the gym every day
• Drink more water
• Get vitamins 
• More vegetables 
• More sleep

Check back next Sunday for wrap-up #2!

This is what I watched at the gym for most of the week. It's on Netflix. If you like Sherlock Holmes,  you'll like this mini-series! It has three episodes, each an hour and a half long. Season two is on BBC right now (also three episodes at 90 minutes each). 

64 - Solid as a Rock. Hopefully.

Most of my extended family is participating in a 6-week physical health and general well-being challenge: The Rock Solid Challenge. It's a point system based on exercise, healthy acts, and spiritual habits. Today is the first day. Here is the daily point system:

Worth 1 pt -

• no soda
• no sweets
• daily vitamin
• no eating within 2 hrs of bed
• 64 oz. of water
• 7 hours of sleep
• 2 servings of fruit
• 4 servings of vegetables
• 30 min. of exercise (up to 3 points)
• floss teeth
• read scriptures at least 10 minutes
• prayer, morning and night

Things I'm struggling with as of day one:

• Daily vitamin. I don't have those. So, I have to go to the store and buy them. 
• 64 oz. of water. I don't really like water. I know what you're thinking and no, water isn't tasteless. It has a taste. It tastes like water. And I don't really like it haha. 64 oz. is approximately 3 servings of my water bottle, and I barely drink one a day as it is. It's hard... 
• 4 servings of vegetables. Healthy food is expensive to buy! Also, I don't have a car and taking the bus to go grocery shopping is a hassle because if you have more than two bags it can get rather annoying. 
• 30 min. of exercise. It's all well and good to get yourself excited the day before you plan on exercising, but when the time comes to actually do it? I live in Logan, Utah. It's cold outside. My apartment is warm. In order to go to the gym, I'd have to walk there, in the cold. You see my dilemma?
• Floss teeth. I think this one is hard for most people. Most people in my family, anyway. 

The whole reason for this health challenge is to improve habits, though. It's 6 weeks long, and by the end, I will have healthier habits. I don't know if I'll be the epitome of health, but I will succeed in improving myself!