I Believe In Medicine But I Also Believe In Health & Fitness

I realize that is a long tittle but that is what I am going to talk about today. Before I get started I would like to say I am sorry for not posting last week. I don't know why but I just did not feel like blogging and that is okay. On Thursday night I went to a yoga class, the first time I went to a yoga class in a while. I have done at home yoga thanks to Yoga With Adriene but I haven't gone to an actual class with people in the same room as me and an instructor that could tell me what to do. As I was leaving the yoga class (that was amazing, I will be going to it biweekly since there is also an awesome step class at the same time on Thursdays) I thought came into my head. The thought was about my passion for medicine but also my love for health, nutrition, and fitness.

I have known I have wanted to go into the field of medicine since I was a little girl, something about medicine is truly so magical to me. As I got older I developed new passions and dreams, some being health, nutrition, and fitness. While I still plan on pursing medicine and going to medical school to become a neurosurgeon I still value the kind of food I put into my body and the exercise that I give it. I feel as though in the world that we live makes it seem like it is impossible to care about all those things at once.

We make it seem like you are either against medicine and are all for preventable care or are against medicine and you are against preventable medicine. I believe that it does not have to be that way nor should we look at it as a black and white situation. We should look at it as a multicolour situation were you are able to believe in and practice both kinds of care. I believe the food we put in our bodies may determine weather or not you get a disease. But I also believe that we need medicine because I believe not all illnesses and diseases are preventable nor that they can be cared for by just food.

If you get a cold I believe that you can cure it without a trip to the pharmacy or the doctors office. I believe you can increase of fruits high in vitamin C and you should be fine and if that doesn't work and you are still sick after doing that then maybe then you should take a trip down to your GP. But I also believe that if you have heart problems you should definitely go see your GP and go from there and follow medical advise while lowing your intake of processed food and unnatural fats. I also don't believe eating a certain way means you won't get cancer, but not eating processed foods may decrease your chance of getting cancer.

All in all you could say I believe in medicine but also in the power of moving your body and a good diet. I do believe you need to treat your body with respect and not put junk into it because usually it will end up bad. Being skinny does NOT equal health, so many people believe that. Some of the skinniest people I know are also the least active people and the people that eat the worse. I am not putting skinny people down I just think it is important to realize that a number or how skinny you are does not define how healthy you are. Eating whole foods and moving your body in some way everyday is what makes someone healthy. I believe getting flu shots are not going to hurt and you should get them out of the respect of others around you, especially if you are around people without a spline or that are older.

I am not trying to say my way is better than your way, I am trying to say it is possible to value your overall health yet still be passionate about medicine and the other way around. I believe eating healthy and being active leads to a better you. I believe everything can be enjoyed in moderation and that yoga is good for the soul but so is weight lifting. I aspire to be a healthy, fit, productive neurosurgeon. I aspire to change the life of others through medicine but also encourage my patients to led a healthy lifestyle. After all we only have one body, one place to live we mind as as well treat it right and with respect.

Stay Beautiful, Stay You
Claire

My Top 5 Study Tips For Success

Today is a snow day, which once upon time when I was little girl meant watching Hannah Montana and What Not Wear all day. Sadly snow days aren't really the same anymore, I no longer get to do nothing all day because I have studying todo. I thought there was no better day to make a blog post about my own study tips, ironically as a myself am procrastinating studying. I am usually really good at studying, being productive, and not procrastinating but that is just what snow days do to me. Okay now I am officially making excuses so I don't feel bad about myself, oops. On a side note days like today where the snow looks so beautiful and fluffy (and I don't have to leave my bed, okay house until I go to the gym tonight), are the reason why I never want to move somewhere worm. Yes I love the heat (and hate being cold) but I could never move somewhere that it doesn't snow.

1. Flash Cards
This may seem either completely dumb to some people and completely obvious to others but trust me this is the only reason I do as well as I do on test, other than math (math needs an whole other blogpost because you study completely different for that subject from all the other subjects IMO). But with flash cards you are re-writing information which causes the memory to be stronger and flash cards are like little test to yourself.

2. Analogies 
When studying make analogies that are easier for you to understand. An example of this would be for the periodic table to remember the main families. The Noble Gases are the most popular people at your school and everyone wants to be like them, they will do anything to be like the. Halogen Gases are so close to being popular it is almost heartbreaking and they are so desperate to become popular they will hangout (bond) with the Alkali Metals that tried too hard to be popular that no one even looks at them. Once they bond they are popular like the Noble Gases, maybe not as popular because the NG's are the originals but you get the point. Analogies work for any test, compare history to something you get, cells to your house, the list goes on and on.

3. Make A Practice Test
When studying you can so often get so caught up in remembering definitions we forget there is more to a test, and while flash cards are great sometimes a practice test is better. I recommend getting together with at least one friend to do this one so you don't know the answers to the test. This is a good idea because a) you are writing once again and b) you get a feel for how you would do in a test environment and c) a better understanding of how much you really you know the topic.

4. Diagrams
If you have a class (usually science) where you need to know where certain things are located (parts of a cell, the heart, brain, etc) or how to draw something (lewis dots, bohr diagrams, etc.) make sure you are practicing them because they will most likely be on the test to throw you off and are wroth a lot of points. Make sure you have a very good understanding of where things are located or how to draw something (I don't think you will be drawing in a anatomy class but that might depend on your teacher).

5. Ask Questions
If you ever don't understand something rather it is in class or once you get home and are studying, even if you were taught it 3 months ago ASK YOUR TEACHER! You are never going to be made fun of for asking a question, if you think you will be arrange to go in after school when it will be just you too. Chances are if you don't get it will be on the test and do you really want to fail (or do poorly) on a test because you were too afraid to ask some question? No, no you don't, so just ask if you are EVER the slightest bit confused.

Now it is time for me to study.

Stay Beautiful, Stay You
Claire

I Am Going To High School?!?

It is currently 22:22 better known as 10:22pm as I am writing this, which is way past my bed time that was given to myself by myself because I am one of those super wried (not really wried but whatever) human beings that likes to wake up at the crack of dawn. Okay judge me that is just when I am the most productive and get the most done, so I wake up then. I am writing this as a life update, a excuse of why I have yet again neglected my beloved blog. But this time I swear it is my last time neglecting my blog (I hope at least, shouldn't make any promises because of next year). Now lets get on into todays blog post.

Over the last few months a lot has happened, and by a lot I mean I studied, celebrated Christmas, worked-out, studied some more, cooked, took some test, volunteered, baked, studied again, picked out my courses for next year, spent time with friends and family, tried to eat as healthy as possible, and you guessed it STUDIED. As you could probably tell from that I really value my health and grades. And that is essentially where I have been and what I have been doing for these past couple of months. But since none of that is probably all that exciting to any of you I will stay quite and move on so I don't bohr you to death (see what I did there? okay I guess that is enough chemistry puns).

The one thing I do want to talk about in this blog post is I picked out my grade 10 courses! I don't know how things work where you live but where I live grade 10 is the first year you even kind of get freedom with what classes you are taking. With that being said this was kind of a big deal, we were finally kind of in charge of our own education. I am enrolled (once I hand my sheet in, tomorrow or Thursday) as a pre-ib student, hence why I said I am not making any promises about where my blog will go next year. I am so excited yet so nervous. 

I picked yoga as my p.e/art credit and physics 11 as my elective. Today we went on a tour of the school and let me just say this now, I am going to get lost all the freaking time. My current school is P-9 (I have been there since grade 6) and the jr. high portion is very small, meaning our classes are all right next to each other, making it impossible to get lost.

Everything is starting to feel so real, and I don't know how to feel. I am half excited half nervous as all get out. I am looking forward to next year and the new school but for now I am going to just focus on grade 9 and getting through it with the best grades possible. I have a good work ethic and am super productive so I know I will be fine. 

Now I am off to bed and I am sorry future Claire for making you stay up this late. Oops!

Stay Beautiful, Stay You

Claire