anahorvath.com

Category: Health

  • Feeling Sore

    So last weekend I got a new PR with my bench squats so that’s pretty fun. The last time I went for a PR was in October and then I could squat 125 lbs but this past weekend, I squatted 145 lbs. Needless to say I was feeling sore. VERY. SORE. Still, pretty exciting stuff!

    It’s really satisfying and makes me feel good to see my strength improving, even if I still struggle to see physical changes because of how hard I am on myself. It is really encouraging to see the improvements elsewhere though and that makes me really happy.

    The one thing that is rough about lifting and strength training however, is feeling sore the day or two after. This comes with many forms of physical activity! Feeling sore means that you’ve worked hard and really pushed yourself. I’ve come to actually feel really satisfied when I’m really sore the next day, because that means that I worked hard and that I’m getting stronger. Love to see that. A sore core is the best in my opinion. I love training core, even though it really sucks in the moment. It’s just a good feeling. What’s my least favorite place to feel sore? Definitely quads. Walking is just a much more difficult task when you’re feeling sore. And sitting just makes things 10x worse. After a good leg day, I think it’s really important to walk a lot, take a good hot bath, and just make sure my legs stay warm. That seems to help with the lactic acid buildup and keeps me from feeling like a stiff stick every time I get up and move.

    If you’re feeling sore though, it’s also important to be more aware of your movements and body in general, especially if you are working out or performing some other sort of physical activity in the following days. In no way am I a doctor and in no way am I trying to give any sort of medical or training advice but I think it’s wise to take it a bit easier the next day following a heavy lifting day. You don’t want to push it too hard and injure anything!

    It’s crazy that spring is already here and I’m honestly really looking forward to some sun and slightly warmer weather! Let’s hope Colorado doesn’t get another round of snow anytime soon. See you all next Sunday!

  • I Love LUSH

    As far as I know, I haven’t talked too much about LUSH, which just so happens to be one of my favorite companies right now. If you’re not familiar, LUSH is a handmade cosmetics company that claims to use all natural, organic materials in their products. They are also cruelty-free. I got into LUSH about a year ago and I haven’t looked back since. I will say that this post is not sponsored by LUSH but if that ever were to happen, I wouldn’t be upset. Hint, hint, wink, wink.

    My all-time favorite product of their’s is the bath bomb. Oh my goodness do I love their bath bombs. Deep Sleep is my absolute favorite bath bomb that they sell. It comes in this little muslin sack and has Roman chamomile, lavender, and Neroli in it. 10/10. It makes me feel very relaxed and it always leaving my skin feeling super hydrated. Some of my other favorites include: Turmeric Latte (which will leave your tub quite sparkly so make sure to give it a good rinse!) and Twilight (more lavender smells!!). I honestly haven’t had a bath bomb that I didn’t enjoy. My one suggestion with all bath bombs and products you use though: Make sure you rinse the tub after use! I haven’t ever had any experiences with tub staining but I do know that there sometimes is a little bit of residue from the bath bomb or bubble bar that I use which could potentially leave stains if left uncleaned.

    Before Christmas, I ventured into the world of bubble bars by LUSH and those have also been a lot of fun to try. When using their bubble bars, you can take half of the bar or the entire thing (depending on the size) and just crumble it up under warm, running water. And then voila! You have a bubble bath and it smells amazing! I really enjoy their products with lavender, and one of my favorite bubble bars is Sleepy. This one is a little bit larger, so I broke it in half and then had two uses with the product. One of the bubble bars I recently got was called Milky Bath and I’m really excited to use that one. It has oat flour, patchouli, and Brazilian orange oil in it. One of the other bubble bars I’m SUPER excited to try is called Nana. This one has banana, organic cocoa butter, and whole oats in it. It smells amazing and as I said before, I’m just very excited to try it out!

    LUSH also offers a wide variety of other products including face masks, massage bars, lotions, soaps (which are pretty good as well!!), shower bombs (which are similar to bath bombs but for the shower!), shampoos, conditioners, and most other self-care products you might be able to think of! I just really enjoy that all of their products seem to have a lot of thought go into them and that they use such good, high-quality ingredients to make their products. If you’re a person that enjoys treating yourself to a bubble bath every once in a while or feels like you could use a bit more relaxation, I highly recommend you check out LUSH if you haven’t done so already. I’ll include the link for you to all go check it out! 🙂 https://www.lushusa.com/home

    I hope you all have a wonderful week and I’ll see you next Sunday! Stay healthy and stay happy! 🙂

  • Feeling Lonely

    lonely
    Photo by Nathan Anderson on Unsplash

    I go home a lot of weekends but I decided to stay at school this weekend to work on a group exam for one of my classes and something I’ve dealt with a lot this past week has been loneliness. Something that I’ve really had a chance to experience this past semester and this semester so far has been a lot of alone time. Sometimes I’ve found that feeling lonely is ok and sometimes it feels refreshing to be on my own. Other times, it doesn’t feel so good and I know I’m not the only person that feels this way, especially as we navigate this pandemic.

    From time to time, as I said earlier, it feels really good to be by yourself. You have only you and your own thoughts to occupy yourself with. You have time to focus on you and you alone. You have time to take care of yourself and maybe really focus on something that needs to be finished.

    Other times, feeling lonely makes you really sad. Even if you talk over text or the phone, it isn’t the same as truly interacting in person with another person. Something this pandemic has done is isolate people, whether you like that or not. We are farther apart from our friends and extended families. We are unable to interact in ways we have in the past. And even if you get a chance to be with others for some time, that time is so short in comparison to the time that you are by yourself.

    Sometimes when I’m lonely, I feel like get in my head way too much. My insecurities take over and that makes me feel really yucky inside. I know that sometimes it’s okay to be sad but lately, I haven’t liked the feelings that loneliness brings up. To cheer myself up and feel less lonely, it really does help to talk to someone on the phone, even if you aren’t seeing each other face to face. It’s at least some form of interaction and I’m able to get some feelings and thoughts out of my head. I’ve also found it helpful to go for walks and workout. That’s a way to naturally make yourself more happy and free. I’ve found that trying to busy myself when I’m feeling lonely by cleaning or doing homework is only really ever a distraction and doesn’t work well for me. I might get stuff done but it doesn’t make me feel better often.

    I await the day that classes are back in person completely. I wait for the days where we can meet with family and friends without much of a worry. I know these days will come soon and that there will be good things ahead for all of us. If you’re ever feeling lonely, don’t hesitate to reach out. You’re most definitely not alone. Have a good week and I’ll see you all next weekend.

  • Fitness Journey Update

    fitness journey update

    On July 26, I posted that I was going to start working with a personal trainer to help me find a sustainable and healthy workout routine. If you’d like to read that post here’s the link to it! FITNESS JOURNEY BEGINNING! Not only that, but I had the goal of adjusting my eating habits and working to create more healthy lifestyle habits for myself. Here we are, now on October 25. I’ve been working with my trainer for about three months now and I just wanted to give a little fitness journey update!

    I think the hardest thing for me this past three months has been training my mindset. I’m easily motivated to workout and hardly find myself having to force myself to do my workouts, but I struggle with the progress part of this whole process. After dealing with such painfully-slow healing with my injuries in high school, my patience has really been cut short and I get frustrated easily when I don’t see progress or improvement quickly. There have been moments where I’ve stared at myself in the mirror and still hated what I see but I’ve noticed that I’m feeling that way, less and less as I’ve been working out more. I still struggle with my patience but I’m starting to appreciate the process and celebrate the small progressions and little victories. When I first started with my trainer, I was tracking my activity in a log but now with my watch, I just track my workouts from there. In my log, I was tracking the little victories I had and I think that’s part of the reason I’m starting to see a more positive mindset when it comes to progress and I’m starting to be a bit kinder to myself.

    My favorite thing to do is look back on that activity log and see those little sprinkles of positivity. Like on August 22nd, I did bench squats for the first time and that was my first time ever lifting truly heavy weight. I squatted 95 pounds that day. When I first started in the gym, I was mainly working with 10 and 15 pound weights during arm circuits and arm workouts but it was really tough. For being a tennis player and also setter during my volleyball years, I’m shocked my upper body strength was so weak!! That has been one of the main focuses of the time with my trainer. Upper. Body. Strength. On September 19th, I wrote that I was finally able to EASILY work with the 15 pound weights. Good day. 🙂 The next weekend, my trainer noted that my core was clearly stronger because I was able to do an exercise that I hadn’t been able to do when I first started working with her. That was something that made me really happy. In October, some of the highlights came from October 2nd where I wrote that I didn’t expect myself to be able to do wide leg squats with a 65 pound kettlebell as easily as I did. I also bench pressed for the first time that week and lifted 55 pounds. Not much, but a good start. I also did some core stuff with these weird elbow sock things where you dangle off of the ground and I found those really fun. I stopped tracking my activity after I got my Galaxy Watch 3 for my birthday since my watch can do that for me, but I still note the little things that motivate me to push myself harder. Like last weekend, my delts were really starting to get some definition and just yesterday, I bench squatted 125 pounds, setting a new PR for myself. I was really proud of that. This fitness journey has been no joke. I’ve been really sore some days but I love the feeling of being sore. It means things are working and progress is being made!!

    When this all began, my first few workouts were very full-body focused and as I’ve progressed, the days have become more focused on arms, legs, triceps/back, glutes/back, and cardio. I appreciate the focused days, especially arm days. They suck but I find myself enjoying those the most because I feel like I die the least on arm days haha. My trainer has also been such an important part of this whole fitness journey. She’s an amazing person and I’m so happy to consider her not only a mentor but also a friend. She has done so much for me and I love getting to workout with her and laugh and have fun, even when she’s killing me with the intense workouts.

    I’ve really tried to refrain from making the goal of all of this to lose weight. That’s not what this is about. I’ve told myself that I’m working to get stronger mentally and physically. With that said however, I have lost 8 pounds to this day. I see and feel strength in my arms and core and my legs are feeling a bit tighter. As I mentioned a little before, I feel better about myself but I still have some things to work on regarding the mental aspect of this all.

    Regarding food, I try to stick to the same things when I’m at school. Breakfast is avocado toast with two poached eggs and I try to add some sort of sausage or other protein when I can. For lunch and dinner, it varies, but I’ve cut out pasta (unless it’s whole wheat) and have really tried to up my protein and fiber intake. I eat a lot of salads and soups and have really enjoyed making use of my air fryer to help keep vegetables and also potatoes more fun and hopefully more healthy. As far as sugar intake goes, I really limit that in the mornings because in the past, that’s where I’ve taken in a lot of sugar whether that was from some sugary coffee/tea drink or a pastry or some sweet yogurt, etc. I still enjoy sweets occasionally, but I’ve found that I’m just a lot less inclined to eat sweets now. I still do really enjoy the occasional trip to Starbucks though, I will say that.

    From the past three months, I’m most happy to see my mindset begin to transform. Nothing comes overnight and this is something my mom has told me over and over again but in the past, I’ve just been frustrated by that comment because I wanted results that instant so I could be happy with myself again. Sometimes, I still feel that way, but it’s all getting better. Some things just take time and it’s so much more worth it to celebrate the little victories and enjoy the progress. Have a good week everyone.

  • The Stress of the COVID-19 Test

    Recently, my apartment complex had to be tested for COVID-19 as a result of wastewater testing and I have a little story to share regarding that. Good news is, I’m negative, first of all. Second, I hope you are all staying healthy and doing the best you can to stay sane and optimistic during these weird times in the world.

    Story time!! I received an email from my university’s housing services requiring mandatory COVID-19 testing. Understandable. I scheduled my test and was able to get in the next day. The test was self-administered meaning that I had the joy and pleasure of sticking a swab up my nose til I felt a little bit of pressure and then swirling it around a few times on both sides. Following that, I had to carefully break off the little tip with all my nose gunk on it and seal it in a little tube with some liquid and then place my tube in a biohazard bag that then went into a little cooler. Easy peasy. Yes it did hurt a little, but I’m thankful that my school offered a quick and free test for students. I hope following that experience, I never have to be tested again, but only time will tell.

    The test itself wasn’t difficult, as I mentioned, it was the thoughts that led up to my test and those that followed as I waited for my results back. The convenient thing about the testing ordered by my university, was the turn-around of results. I heard back that my test was negative a little after 24 hours. I absolutely DREADED waiting to get my results back though. Yes, I have been asymptomatic. Yes, I have been wearing my mask and following all CDC guidelines and procedures to the best of my ability. Yes, I have been doing whatever I can to maintain a happy and healthy physical and mental state. But still, the thought of, “What if I have this virus and have to quarantine in my apartment all by myself?” loomed over me from the moment I got the email requiring testing to the moment I got the email with my results back. I had all this anxiety and nervousness about what I would have to do if I did have COVID-19 and I absolutely hated how on-edge and stressed out I was.

    Like I said, I was pretty confident that I didn’t have the virus, but I thought a lot about, “Well, what if you’re just not showing symptoms? But you might be the kind of person to show symptoms, considering that you have asthma.” And then my head went in the direction of, “What if you really are forced to quarantine? Are we going to have enough food for two weeks?! What do I do if I can’t leave my apartment to get food but I’m all out?!” There was just a lot of unnecessary stress and panic. Maybe some of you can relate. The feeling of not knowing is a really scary and stressful feeling. In the end, I am grateful for my health and that negative result.

    I’m not quite sure what can be done to alleviate the stress associated with being tested for COVID-19, or if anyone else has felt like they were in a similar situation, but it would be interesting to know how you all are dealing with this. And if you have been tested, how has that been? I just hope you all are staying happy and healthy. Take care of yourselves this week!! See you next Sunday. 🙂

  • The Beginning of a New Journey

    Very few people know this, but I wouldn’t consider myself to be extremely self-confident, especially when it comes to my body and how I appear. I’ve never felt very comfortable sharing just because I never want people to think that I’m just complaining or trying to make the world all about me. I’ve always wished to have the confidence that so many people I know seem to have and I just find it embarrassing that I’m not in that place. I’m also not typically the type of person to share a lot about myself because my entire life, I’ve strived to be perfect and I’ve never wanted people to see a sad, frustrated, or defeated side of me. I’ve been working on accepting that perfection is truly unobtainable, but it’s hard and has been a rough journey!

    I recently decided that I’m sharing my struggles because I’ve decided to invest some time and energy into improving my physical state. It’s not good to bottle up all those negative feelings and emotions and so I’ve decided to do something about it. Being injured throughout high school resulted in a lot of inactivity for me, which was very unusual. I went from dancing competitively, playing volleyball on a competitive team, and also playing tennis at a very competitive level to sitting and doing absolutely nothing faster than you can blink when I found out I fractured my sesamoid. I continued to eat as if I was trying to maintain my three-sport lifestyle but since I wasn’t actually burning all of the calories I was used to burning, I gained quite a bit of weight. When I was finally cleared after my ankle surgery about a year-and-a-half later, I was decently more heavy than when I entered high school and my self-confidence had tanked.

    Yes, I had the ability to play tennis, but everything else had been wiped off the table. Things were slow and in my opinion, they felt too slow. Fast forward to freshman year of college- I was still struggling with my weight but I received the opportunity to compete at the Miss Colorado USA pageant. I saw this as an opportunity to better myself, physically and mentally, and see how much I could do to prepare my body for the competition. There is a swimsuit competition, as many of you know that keep up with the Miss Universe Organization and its pageants, so you would be familiar with this. Even before my freshman year of college, I decided to dedicate my time to working on my fitness. And I did! I worked out a decent amount and ate cleaner (which was hard in the dorms), and I managed to lose about 15 pounds, which I was pretty proud of. By the time the Miss Colorado USA pageant rolled around, I was in a place where progress had been made, but I still wasn’t happy with myself.

    Following the pageant, I still worked out a decent amount, but there wasn’t the same motivation I had for the pageant. I relaxed a bit but was proud to see that I hadn’t gained any weight back. Now let’s move on to the beginning of sophomore year. Same situation. Again, I prepped for the Miss Colorado USA pageant, as I did the year before. This time, I picked up kickboxing and started working out more on a treadmill. I really came to love and enjoy kickboxing actually, so that’s something I’d like to continue to incorporate into my fitness routine. Anyway, pageant time rolls around and I had decided to wear a two-piece suit this year instead of a one-piece. I thought I had made decent progress and so I made the move to wear a cute golden yellow two piece by Gianni Bini. It was a pretty cute swimsuit, but I don’t think I’ll ever truly wear it again.

    As we got ready for the swimsuit competition in the dressing room, I realized how big of a mistake that was. One of the girls in front of me stared down at herself and commented, “Oh my goodness I feel so fat next to all of these-” I looked around and noticed all the toned thighs and tight tummies and shrank into myself. This girl looked up at me and then around the room and that’s when she stopped talking. Me, in that moment, thought that she suddenly felt better about herself because she looked at me and saw that she had much fewer problems than I did. Looking back on that, that was a REALLY unhealthy and sad thought for me to have. I tried to shake off the thoughts I had and when I walked out on stage, I felt pretty good about myself. However, all confidence or self-assurance I had was lost the second I got my pictures back.

    I looked at myself and was honestly disgusted. I started crying. I saw stretch marks on my big, strange thighs. I saw the extra fat I have hanging slightly over the bottoms of my swimsuit. My false lashes looked horrible and my smile looked fake. The person I saw on my computer screen was not the person I had felt like. In that moment, I felt like I couldn’t trust the confidence I thought I was building anymore. Since that moment, I’ve had a really, really, really hard time finding any confidence in myself, especially in the way I appear. I’ve tried to wear more loose clothing to conceal my dislikes and as I write this and reflect on everything now, it’s really sad that I’ve felt like this about myself.

    Things weren’t too great for my self-confidence when we all went into lockdown either. I couldn’t go to the gym and I couldn’t play tennis either. Any work I had done and any progress I had made was seriously lost. Currently, I’m sitting at an unhealthy, overweight BMI and yes I find frustration with it and I’m upset by it and how I appear, but I’ve decided to do something about it.

    I recently found a gym in my area that only operates through personal trainers. After speaking with the director of the gym, he matched me with one of his personal trainers and I start on Tuesday. I’ve been looking for something like this for a while now, because I’m at a place now where I really just feel like I can’t be my own cheerleader and supporter, so I need someone else to be there for me and to help me out. From this, I hope to find confidence in myself and mostly, I hope to be kinder to myself. I hope that I find solutions and build habits for the long-term. I was tired of feeling so upset and frustrated with myself, so I decided it was time to make a change. Let’s hope it’s for the better!

    If you’re interested in following the fitness journey, let me know! I’d love to share the progress (hopefully there is some) and the things I learn along the way. This could be interesting. Be kind to each other and yourselves this week. See you all next Sunday.

  • Spreading Some Happiness

    happiness
    Photo by Matt Flores on Unsplash

    I hope you’ve all had a decent week. Things have been different and intense and strange but we’re all still here and that’s what matters. This week, I’d just like to spread and share some happiness. We could all use some in times like this. 🙂

    I talked about this a bit in my post last week, regarding all of the negativity I dealt with at the grocery stores and Costco, but just to say it again, please make sure you’re kind to those around you. Please, pay it forward and be a kind person.

    I can speak for Colorado when I say that we’re in a stay-home order, so for most of us, the only people we truly interact with are family members. And it can be tough to see the same people so often in such close quarters. Cabin fever may be setting in, or maybe it already has, wherever you are. If that’s the case, maybe you feel like you’re going a little crazy and you’re starting to feel irritated. I hope that’s not the case but if it is, there’s a couple of things you can do:

    • Talk out what’s bugging you. It’s better to share than ball up your feelings and thoughts. Happiness doesn’t have to be the only emotion you feel, but you also shouldn’t constantly feel frustrated, annoyed, and all of those other negative feelings and emotions.
    • Plan activities with your family. With my family, we’ve been planning walks and movie nights and Just Dance tournaments on our Switch and various other little fun things we can all do together so that we enjoy our time together and have a chance to let loose and burn off any negative feelings or emotions.
    • Find something nice (and genuinely nice) to say to someone or find something you can help with. Cleaning always puts me in a better mood, so if you’re like me, try that! You’ll feel good for sure, and maybe that’ll lift the moods of those around you too. Complimenting and lifting others always improves the moods of others too. We’re here to get through this together, not bring each other down.
    • Going off of the helping thing in the last point, just ask what you can do around the house. If you’re not preoccupied with other things, ask what needs to be done around the house and help take care of it! In times like this, it’s important to be helpful and do what you can to support those around you.

    On a more general note, if you have the opportunity to get outside the house and go for a walk, please remember to stay at least six feet apart from others and cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze. And please wash your hands for at least twenty seconds with warm water and soap too. 🙂 Say hello to others if you get a chance.

    And if you’re not able to go out, hang in there! You’ve made it this far! We’ll get through this together. 🙂

    Read books. Hang out with family. Clean the house. Walk. Exercise. Rest. Do your homework. Smile. This will not last forever. Wherever you all are, I hope that you are well and that you are taking care of yourself and your families. This too shall pass and I really hope we all see the light at the end of this tunnel soon. Stay positive, stay in this together, and we’ll see the end of this soon. Spread some happiness, spread some kindness. See you next Sunday. And also enjoy these cute animals while you’re here. 🙂

  • COVID-19 in Colorado: Our Current Situation

    COVID-19 in Colorado
    Credits to the artist. 🙂

    Maybe you’re all sick of hearing about it by now, but we’ve got a global pandemic on our hands. I think it’s important to stay informed and educated during a time like this and more than anything, I think it’s important to stay positive and driven. Here’s how my story on COVID-19 in Colorado.

    As I write this, Colorado is way over 200 cases of COVID-19 and the United States has declared a national emergency. New York, Washington, and New York have been the hardest hit as of right now and I send prayers to all of you reading from those states right now. This whole situation has been unreal.

    Colorado is currently in a place where a lot of businesses and services have shut down until late March or April, but I honestly have a feeling that a lot of things are going to be closed for longer. I come from a place of observation, not pessimism when I see this. Seeing how fast the virus has spread in the United States, I just have a feeling that we’re just seeing the beginning of things in the U.S. From what I know, most, if not all schools have switched to holding some form of online classes or provided families with homeschooling content and it’ll be interesting to see what comes from this as far as education opportunities go, once this clears up.

    There’s a lot of talk about a stay at home order or shelter in place order. I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that, but if it does, we need to do what we can to flatten that curve. As a biology major, I have been very interested in this entire situation. Of course I’m saddened by the effects this is having on so many people and honestly scared in some ways by the power something that’s not even as large as skin cell can have on the world. I’ve also been so interested in how this virus can survive on surfaces and how it affects our bodies. I’m also really proud to say that my university, Colorado State, has a research center that is currently conducting research to find a vaccine for this little monster that has sent our world into the state it’s currently in.

    COVID-19 in Colorado has turned grocery stores into an absolute nightmare now. My family has been trying to find rice and flour for the past week now, and we’ve had zero luck because of all of these people stockpiling their food and additional household supplies. I can understand that there’s a lot of uncertainty regarding our current situation but you do not need the large amounts of toilet paper stashed in your bathroom or all of the frozen foods you can fit in your cart. Trust me. There are some people who haven’t even had a CHANCE to grab any of that and the only food they have is what was in their fridge before this whole mess started, and these stockpilers have left those people with zero options. My mom and sister went to the grocery store this past week and there was this dad there with his son. They were throwing a birthday party and couldn’t find chicken ANYWHERE because so many other people had run in, taken as much as they could, and left. As mentioned before, I understand that this situation is scary to many and new to all of us, but we need to be rational with our decisions and consider others, especially when it comes to what’s available for purchase.

    And still on the topic of grocery stores, my mom and I got back from Costco earlier today and dealt with some extremely nasty people. COVID-19 in Colorado has turned some people into monsters, oh my goodness. I understand that this is a tough time and again, it’s scary and new, but no one deserves to be yelled at over barely bumping into someone with a cart. My mom barely caught the heel of this lady when we were getting into Costco and this lady turned around and screamed at my mom, yelling, “WOULD YOU STOP RUNNING INTO ME WITH YOUR CART?!” First of all, that lady rudely asked me before we even entered the store and asked why there was a line. Costco created a 30 person in, 30 person out policy to comply with CDC guidelines. She then proceeded to cut us in the line after we were asked to sanitize the cart and when my mom just barely ran into her, this lady blew up on us. I don’t know what her situation was or what she has been dealing with, but I believe that regardless of whether or not you’re having a good day, you should put your feelings and thoughts aside and be kind to others. No one deserves to be treated with that sort of unkindness EVER and especially in a time like this. Some people were even fighting over the food and stuff available in Costco, which I found ridiculous too. Good Lord, it’s a rotisserie chicken. The sign said that each shopping party could only grab one chicken, so accept it. Those are the rules. And the way that some people treated the employees was absolutely disgusting. The employees are more at risk than anyone because of the amount of people they interact with and you have the audacity to scream at them for there not being any cleaning supplies in stock? That’s just unacceptable.

    From this post, my goal is not to scare you or worry you. It is simply to educate you on what we’ve been dealing with in my state. I hope that you all are staying healthy and smart out there. Please take care of each other and listen to what your local and national governments are saying. Stay informed and most importantly, take care of yourselves and stay positive. And in addition to that, we need to be kind. My life quote is “Have courage and be kind.” In a time like this, that is SO SO SO important. We do not have time to be blaming some poor employee at Costco for not knowing where the Naked Juice is. We don’t have the resources to be hoarding toilet paper and napkins and other supplies. We SHOULD be treating each other with respect and lifting each other in this uncertain time so that we can get through this.

    So have courage and be kind. Stay healthy too. 🙂 See you next week.

  • College Life and COVID-19

    covid-19
    Picture courtesy of the Center for Disease Control

    So this past week has been one HECK of a week, let me say that. College life and COVID-19 are quite the combination. I’m now on spring break (thank goodness) but this past week at school, it was very interesting to see how coronavirus (COVID-19) developed and how it has affected everything.

    It has been incredible to watch the response to this novel virus strain from the local, state, national, and even international levels. A couple of weeks ago, we received emails here at CSU introducing this current nightmare of a coronavirus. We were told that my university was monitoring the situation and would be updated as new information came up. And that new information came QUICK.

    First the virus hit the U.S. and after that, boom. Schools in Washington were deciding to shift to online platforms, and before I knew it, CSU decided to do the same. On Wednesday this past week, our president and executive team made the decision to extend our spring break to March 24th, with classes starting up ONLINE beginning March 25th. We will be in online classes at least until April 10th and as the virus continues to do its thing, my school may or may not continue to use online platforms for learning. We shall see.

    On Wednesday, it was very interesting to see the reactions of my fellow students. Some were thrilled classes were moving online and ideas of slacking off and screwing around clearly filled their heads. Others, myself included were concerned. What’s going to happen to my labs? Are all exams online now? Are my exams still going to happen that were scheduled upon return from spring break prior to the COVID-19 pandemic? There are just so many questions we have. Some have answers, but some are still just up in the air.

    Now. I keep talking about Wednesday, and now I would like to have a little story time. Wednesday, I was supposed to have an in-person exam for my physiology class, which has become my favorite class this semester without a doubt. I was headed to my accounting class at noon when I received an email that my exam, which was supposed to be at 5 on Wednesday night, was moved to be online and I had five hours to schedule an online exam time. It was a mess and I have absolutely hated working with ProctorU to handle online exams. Read my posts about summer classes to learn more about those experiences. Haha.

    And as I now add to this post on Sunday, my university has decided to shut down for the rest of the semester, with all classes finishing online. This will be interesting. Oh boy, will this test the discipline and self-control and focus of students across the country.

    More than anything, I want everyone to stay healthy and smart out there. To those of you reading this, please please please take care of yourselves and your family. Please make smart decisions and educate yourself on the current situation. Now, more than ever we need to make educated and well-thought out decisions to keep each of us safe and healthy to the best of our abilities. CO-VID 19 is a fascinating, but clearly contagious and dangerous virus to many people so we need to work together and get through this. I really recommend checking out the CDC page on the virus. I’ll link it for your convenience: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html

    Have a good week and stay healthy out there. See you next Sunday!

  • Take Care of Yourself

    take care of yourself
    Photo by Tim Goedhart on Unsplash

    Finals week is upon us everyone. It is finally here. Thank. Goodness. Finals can be an extremely stressful time for some people. For those of you who got lucky and only have one final this semester, I WISH I was in your shoes. That sounds like such a pleasant finals week. I’ve got three. And I have some friends that have four or five finals! During this stressful time of the school year, it’s more important than ever to take care of yourself.

    For those of you that go to school with me or live with me or even just talk with me every once in a while, you are more than aware of the fact that I absolutely despise my intro to evolution professor. He’s a creep. The final for that class is tomorrow and I’m THRILLED to be done with that class and never see that man ever again. With that mini celebration aside, I’ve also got two tougher finals, one for physics and another for organic chemistry.

    I’ve a pretty dedicated student and already spend a lot of time studying and doing homework because I want to do well and I want to truly make sure I understand the content of the class I’m studying for. While I do go hard on the studying, I also think it’s SO important to take care of yourself and give your body and mind a break.

    Whether you’re just going for a walk, doing some yoga, going to the gym, or taking some time to play a sport, I recommend getting up and moving around. Your body gets tired from sitting and studying and most people develop some sort of weird posture or their spine gets out of alignment from sitting at a desk and studying all day. I’ve had it so I know. Getting your heart rate up and moving helps clear your head too. You make yourself happier and your mind tends to focus on the task at hand as opposed to studying, so you can stress less.

    Other than physical activity, I also try to get more sleep than I typically do around finals week. Most people would say, “But Ana, that’s time to study!” I get that, but I also recognize that I’m putting my mind through a lot throughout the day and the stress I already have isn’t great for my body. To prevent myself from getting sick and give my brain the best break it can possibly have, I get at least an extra hour of sleep. I try to stick to the same wake-up time, but I go to bed earlier, and so far, last year, I know that helped me feel much more productive in the mornings, so we’re going to stick to that this year too.

    It’s also SO important to stay hydrated and keep your body fueled during finals week. I have some friends that say “I don’t have time to eat. That takes away from my study time.” And to that I say, you’re a fool and your body is actually going to crash on you. Take care of yourself! It’s not that hard to grab a snack if lunch takes up too much of your time. At least that’s something in your body!! Your body NEEDS energy and your brain especially does. You also need water to keep your body functioning properly and prevent yourself from getting headaches related to being hungry or dehydration. Without food, you become cranky and discombobulated anyway, so what good are you doing for yourself if you’re not eating?

    So to all my fellow college kiddos out there, please take care of yourself. Please shower, please eat, and please get some sleep. You’re more prepared than you think if you’ve been studying hard and working hard all semester, so you can dedicate just a little bit more time to yourself. Of course I still want you to study hard and give it your all, but take some more time for you. 🙂 Have a good week.