Allie’s Comments

There are many people who we meet throughout our lifetime. Some of which we stay in contact with and others whom we never see again. However, friends are very important people in our lives. Friends are people who we can celebrate the good times with and share the bad times with. It is very important to stay in contact with friends. That is why a new website has been developed. The website is aimed toward women and explains how out girlfriends make life better. The site also gives tips on how to enhance your social life and how to keep your friendship connections strong. Everyone needs good friends. Friends are important. Make some new ones and keep the ones you have.

The holiday season has finally arrived. It’s time for family, cleaning, cooking and eating. All though the holiday season is fun it can also be very stressful. I encourage everyone to help out in the kitchen. It is great bonding time and no one person should be left with all the work. Eat turkey, stuffing and of course pumpkin pie. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Running seems to be a popular trend at the moment. Track jackets are now cool to wear instead of just runners’ gear. There are people that run every single day for cardio exercise. There are also those who participate in marathons. If you don’t run most people who do will normally invite you or encourage you too. The homeless are encouraged to run for the purpose of exercise and building esteem. However, is running healthy?

Positive ideas about running:
*It is exercise
*Gives you time alone to think
*Releases endorphins

Negative ideas about running:
*It is bad for women’s breasts
*It is not necessarily the best exercise to prevent heart disease
*It is bad for knees and feet
*Dehydrates the human body quickly

In some ways running can be a very positive exercise. However, in other ways it seems running puts wear and tear on the body a lot quicker than other exercises.

My father knew a 45-year-old woman who ran everyday and who was also a vegetarian. He describes her as a health-nut. She died of a heart attack at age 45.

I’m not going to discourage you from running. If you enjoy it I think you should do it. It is sometimes difficult to find an exercise that you enjoy. However, I do want you to know that running is maybe trendy but it is not the only exercise. There are many other exercises that give you time alone, that release endorphins and that help prevent heart disease. I encourage you to do the exercise you like best.

I don’t want to seem one sided by always talking about self-esteem issues with women. Today, I decided it was the men’s turn. Men go through self-esteem issues just like women. Here is some professional advice from Giorgio Armani. He gives 21 great tips for achieving style, self-esteem and success.

Stereotypically, women are known to love shopping. Buying that new pair of shoes or those cool designer pants makes us feel good about ourselves. Buying pretty panties and bras is always a treat.

However, I know that if you are a woman, chances are you have had a bad shopping day. A day where you go to the mall and you try everything on and nothing fits. It is either too small or makes you look fat. The shoes are too tight or the shirt is too big.

On those days, we can’t even buy bras. We try on a million different kinds but no matter what we do the bra just does not fit great. The straps fall down, or it does not cover everything or it makes your breasts look bumpy. It is depressing and it makes us feel subconscious. However, if you do have those days, don’t feel alone, most women do.

I’m sure we all wish that the perfect bra could be invented, so we don’t have to experience any bad bra-shopping days. However, bras have come along way in the last 40 years and I expect the improvements to continue.

Women deal with a lot of emotions. We feel bloated some days and other days we feel sexy. If you go shopping and you don’t find anything, don’t feel bad. It is not your body it is that your mind is not in the right place. To find things you like you have to feel confident. My recommendation is to shop when your mind is clear and when you feel good about yourself.

There are many reality television shows that have the goal to find the next big singing star. There are thousands of people who audition for shows such as “American Idol” with the hope to make it big. However, with success for few comes rejection for many. Many amateurs try out for these shows and are criticized harshly by people such as Simon Cowell. Cowell has been known to tell people they are awful at singing and even that they don’t have the right looks to be a successful singer. If you watch the try outs you can watch Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul chuckling at the applicant behind a thin piece of paper.

Some go to audition at these television events with confidence that singing is something they can do well. Then they get rejected and admit that it did not help their self-esteem at all.

Others go to the audition knowing they are good and get accepted. To get on to these television shows you have to have the talent. Not everyone does. However, I don’t think it is justified to put the individuals who have the misconception that they are talented on public television and then condone viewers to make fun of them.

White flakes invade your hair and skin. The flakes fall on your clothes and the color pops when you wear black. If you have dark hair you notice little white flakes all over and try to brush them out. Head and Shoulders shampoo is recommended to you from all of your friends. It does not work very well though. You may feel subconscious because you just don’t understand why you have to deal with dandruff.

Hopefully, the problem is soon to be solved. Scientists have been working for five years, trying to figure out how to stop dandruff. They have now solved the puzzle to what causes it and too what will stop it. Because of this discovery shampoo companies will be able to include medicine to kill the fungus that causes dandruff.

With those of you with a dandruff problem, don’t worry for long. The problem now has a solution. The fungus can be killed.

Thousands of people die every year from a lack of physical activity.

In the high schools I attended there was only one semester of a physical education class required. Only one semester of my life was I forced to do physical activities in my high school. I remember my peers and I dreaded going to P.E. class because we had to run the mile that day or because we had to play volleyball and we were not very good at it. However, with the obesity epidemic spreading throughout the United States, I think there needs to be a change. Physical education needs to be promoted more, to both young people and adults, than ever before.

An estimated 65 percent of Americans are overweight and obese. This makes me very concerned.

A new program encourages U.S. physicians to prescribe exercise as a medicine to patients, as a way to treat and prevent illness.

Many people go to the doctor and become dependent on the prescription drugs they are prescribed too. They think that just because they are taking a medicine for diabetes that they can continue their daily habits. However, this assumption is very false. To beat the illness, you must change both your eating habits and your daily exercise routines. There are many diseases out there that a short exercise, five times a week can help cure: diabetes, high-blood pressure, cholesterol problems and hypertension.

However, exercise does not only help cure physical diseases but mental ones too. Exercise can help relieve stress, calm anxiety and raise self-esteem. Exercise can be used as a tool to make you feel better about yourself and your current situations. When you do go on a 30-minute walk, you release endorphins that make you feel happy. You just took a little time out of your day, and it already started to help. The best part of it all is that you did not have to pay out a whole bunch of money to see a doctor. Exercise is free.

Exercise is the cheapest and most convenient medicine to take. We should all start taking a dose a day.

Reflection of “Exercise is Medicine” with Kara LaRue

Many people in our country are fortunate to have minds that work well and healthy bodies. People with two arms and two legs seem normally to be ignorant and blessed individuals. They can run, swim and swiftly move on their feet. They can play basketball, football, and tennis. These are usually the jocks or popular kids in high school, because they are involved. They have endless athletic possibilities.

However, how about those who aren’t that blessed? How about the individuals who are slow or need to be in wheelchairs? What do they do?

Activist Rick Splitter, is working on getting a law passed, that would have schools include sports teams for disabled students. Not just participation types of things, but true athletic sports, where disabled individuals compete, travel and earn letters, just like other athletic teams.

When I first thought of this idea, I thought about the humility the disabled students could go through, and I did not think it was the wisest idea. However, as I continued doing research on it, I began to realize that the idea is full of brilliance. The Special Olympics was created to help create self-confidence, social skills and personal accomplishment through sports competition. If Special Olympic sports are around, why would we not provide the opportunity for students in college, high school or junior high to become high-esteemed young people?

I became excited about the law, as I thought about the students becoming involved and participating just like their peers. I think the idea of allowing disabled sports teams can do great things for disabled individuals’ self-esteem. It also could have a positive impact on their future.

In the United States it’s essential to make money in order to survive. The philosophy in this country is basically to work, work, work, spend money and work some more. It is a cycle that has not improved, but that has actually worsened the last 20 years.

We need money for school, clothes, and recreation. We even need money for gas to get to work in order to make money. Everything essential in life costs money.

Money causes pressure. Pressure causes stress. Stress can often cause depression, and sometimes depression can lead to suicide.

Money issues are one of the most strenuous time periods. How are we going to pay the mortgage? It’s alarming when people are concerned about becoming homeless because they are short on cash. It seems like these circumstances are happening more and more.

Imagine the stress and the fear that you would experience if you lost your job and thought that you might lose your house. It’s scary. I don’t know, maybe you are having money problems right now. Maybe the stress of earning money is flooding your mind with negativity and darkness. If you feel this way please seek help immediately. I want to tell you that money is not everything. Search for someone to help you. You may have to work more hours, but there is always a way out.