Why Aren't You Eating?

After my last post about eating breakfast, the sumo diet, etc., I've been asking students why they don't eat. The reasons range from "I don't have time" to "breakfast makes me feel nauseous" to "school lunches are just gross, and I don't have anything to pack."

So what do you think? Why is it that most students skip meals? Is it that they don't have access to good food? Do they think it will help them lose weight in order to meet our society's definition of a desirable body? Or do people just not have enough food, as claimed in this article?

If we want our bodies to perform, we have to load them up with good fuel. How can we expect to perform our best academically, socially, and physically if we aren't even fueling up at all?

Photo Credit: la@mie

In the News...

Seen any hilarious, heart-wrenching, or particularly interesting stories in the news lately? For my student bloggers, sniff around for a bit and pull an interesting story from the news of the day. Any news is fine.

Link to the news story, and then educate and entertain us with your witty and informative commentary. Don't forget to use an image with proper attribution!

Check out this story  of inspiration about a cheer coach who called her kids "hifalutin heifers." Yeah, comparing kids to cows is usually bad teaching practice.

She got fired.

Photo Credit: NS Newsflash

The Lunch-Packing Police

I'm all for encouraging healthy eating habits, but lunch inspections like this one seem like a huge waste of time, energy, and money. Hopefully it's just a freak story, and that's why it's making all the news. Our hero (or victim) is a four year old girl who had her lunch confiscated by school officials because it was not "healthy" enough. The lunch consisted of a turkey/cheese sandwich, a banana, some chips, and apple juice.

Lunches like this don't meet USDA guidelines for Pre-K programs (the little girl's lunch should have had TWO servings of fruits/vegetables). Needless to say, she didn't pass inspection. She was charged for a new lunch, but all she ate from the new lunch was a few chicken nuggets. Well at least they followed the rules, I guess.

Mom wasn't too happy though:

"What got me so mad is, number one, don’t tell my kid I’m not packing her lunch box properly,” the girl’s mother told CJ. "I pack her lunchbox according to what she eats. It always consists of a fruit. It never consists of a vegetable. She eats vegetables at home because I have to watch her because she doesn’t really care for vegetables."

I agree with mom, seeing as I've rarely seen a kid under the age of 12 who eats veggies on his/her own. I have to resort to outright trickery to get my kids to eat vegetables (we tell them that spaghetti squash is "noodles"). 

There has to be a better way of going about this. All of the energy is focused on the wrong sort of person, in this case. I'm not sure what the answer is, but this is big fat waste.

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Some Healthy Inspiration

I may be the English Answerman, but it's high time I started dishing up some health advice for my young readers. Kasaan, a student writer with academic genius, inspired me to start blogging about healthy living back with his post about eating breakfast. So in honor of my muse, today's health tip is to EAT BREAKFAST.

Yeah I'm screaming it, because there are literally loads of research validating the mental and physical benefits of eating a decent breakfast.* Kids and adults do better on cognitive tasks (brain-work) when they eat breakfast. Memory is better, focus is better, overall well-being is better.

For those who don't give a bag about their brain, how about physical appearance and function? Students who eat a decent breakfast have lower rates of obesity and diabetes, and they generally make healthier choices throughout the day. Think about it: You skip breakfast, and by lunch or dinner you're starving, so you binge on chips, crackers, soda, and whatever other garbage you can get your hands on.

If this sounds like your daily routine, you have more in common with SUMO WRESTLERS than you might think. Yes, those huge dudes who shove their massive girth all around a tiny circle. If you skip breakfast, you are participating in "the sumo diet." Check it out:

“Sumo wrestlers don’t eat until noon,” says sumo legend Konishiki.
The big boys wake up and start training, and don’t eat until at least three hours later.  I’ve known a lot of young ladies who have something in common with Mr. Konishiki. By the way, his nickname is “Meat Bomb.”

Here's the moral of the story: Don't take breakfast advice from a sumo beast. You're metabolism will slow down, and your body will cling to those calories like flies on poop. EAT BREAKFAST. Feed the machine. Let the feasting begin.

My Breakfast Recommendation:

• Eggs, any style.
• Oatmeal with peanut butter, sunflower seeds, fruit bits, and a pinch of salt. Sometimes I'll throw in a bit of honey or brown sugar.

*Hot Cheetos and a Monster do not qualify as a healthy breakfast.

Photo Credit: Rob_Rob 2001

I Will Hunt You Down

This is what happens (according to a past student of mine) when you don't do your work in my class:

You can run, but you'll get tired before I do. : )

Photo Credit: Englishanswerman (via former student : ) )