Cheryl wrote a similar post, and I would comment in response but I think I have something different to say. At school, I eat surprisingly healthy. We already discussed how the freshman 15 is a myth, although I got a lecture from my cousin’s wife at Thanksgiving how it isn’t a myth and it’s because teenagers drink too much alcohol. I feel like I eat a lot more vegetables and fruit at school, and not only because of the cafeteria effect and the variety.

I am more in charge of my own diet in the cafeteria and in my dorm room. I have a lot of “junk” in my room, with snacks like TastyKakes (it’s a Pennsylvania thing), Halloween candy, and other foods high in sugar. But I also keep things like celery, carrots, clementines, and fruit cups in my fridge. I often go for the Wheat Thins when I want a snack, but I tend to snack on clementines when I want something sweet.

At home, I want my “home” food. I eat a lot of things I can’t get at school, or things that the school cafeteria doesn’t make well. The cafeteria cannot for the life of them make good pasta (my mom says it’s hard to make pasta in a buffet setting, but that’s just an excuse to me), and that’s my favorite food, so I eat a lot of pasta at home. I have scrapple, another Pennsylvania treat that most people don’t really like. It’s a “meat,” but I’m not really sure what’s in it.

I’m home during a lot of holidays and important events, such as this past week I was home for my brother’s birthday and Thanksgiving. We went out to eat quite a few times while I was home; I went out to eat with my mom a few times just to spend time together, and I went out to eat with my best friend, Christy, to catch up. In total, I went out to eat about four times while I was home, not counting spending money on snacks when out shopping and at the movies. My family hosted Thanksgiving this year – my mom has a huge family and we have the biggest house – and we made a lot of food and then it went into our fridge and onto our counter. All we’ve been eating since Thursday is pie and Turkey and mashed potatoes. And over winter break we’ll be hosting Christmas and going to multiple parties, eating even more holiday food and leftovers.

I love being home with my dogs and my mom and my friends, but I wish I could be a little bit more in control of the fruits and veggies in my house. I think the freshman 15 would only be a problem during winter break!

If theres one thing I look forward to on thanksgiving its my grandmas sweet potatoes. They aren’t just an ordinary sweet potatoes. The recipe has been passed down for many years. When it was my grandmas turn to make them, she didn’t let us down. They were just as amazing as they always have been. In the recipe, she uses two whole sticks of butter(which is a little crazy), brown sugar marshmallow fluff and regular mini marshmallows.  When it comes out of the oven the little marshmallows have a light brown coating on top and the smell of brown sugar fills the kitchen . Just thinking about them makes me mouth water. Since Iv been watching  and helping my grandma make them for years, when I have my own family I will make them for my thanksgiving and hopefully they enjoy them as much as I do.

Thanksgiving is a very important holiday that my family celebrates because it is all about giving thanks and appreciating family. My moms side of the family comes over to my house and brings all different kinds of food to feast on. My family is so big, that my mom has to move furniture around and so many tables and chairs so we can all fit. We all sit together and talk making memories to remember. My mom and aunt love to cook so while everyone is gathered together, they are in the kitchen cooking. They make an abundance amount of food that we have leftovers for the rest of the week. My mom and aunt put together the turkey and make stuffing and yams and cranberry sauce and artichokes and so much more.

We all fill our plates and even grab a second plate for more food because it is that good. My whole family agrees to put our phones away so we share this moment and not miss one thing. Being able to have such a great family means a lot to me and I am so thankful for everyone in it. After we fill our stomaches with all that food, we play fun games such as heads up and LRC. We then prepare for dessert which is my favorite part. There was all sorts of desserts like pumpkin pie, apple pie, ice-cream, brownies, eggnog and chocolate chip cookies. We end the night with a cup of coffee or hot tea and relax as a family. At the end of the day I’m feeling so full that it feels like I never want to eat again. I really enjoy thanksgiving with my family because we all get along and It’s nice coming home from college and seeing everyone.

Thanksgiving has made me realize to cherish every moment I get with my family because you never know what could happen. My family means so much to me and I would do anything to stay with them longer but I must wait for the next holiday to see them which is Christmas. I am so thankful to have such amazing people in my life and getting to spend Thanksgiving with them makes me realize more how important they are to me.

After reading an article titled “The Limits of ‘intuitive’ eating” by Gretchen Reynolds in the New York Times, I was shocked at the results of her study. In the study, Gretchen took 16 college males and females that were overweight and after counseling and education on healthier food options and calories, split the group into two groups where one group was told to calorie count, limiting to about 1200-1800 calories per day, depending on their body weight and the other group to use their body as guide to when and what to eat. Depending on the body is known as intuitive eating, or body mindfulness. This is the idea that your body knows what it needs and wants and to eat what you like depending on signs from your body such as hunger and fullness.

According to Reynold’s study, the group that used calorie counting overall lost more weight than the group who used intuitive eating. This is because after a few weeks the group who depended on their body began to not keep on track and actually gain a net weight of two pounds. As tedious as it is, calorie counting is actually a better way to monitor and sustain a healthy weight. In the case of trying to lost weight, body mindfulness can work for some but overall calorie counting is more efficient.

We discussed this idea of body mindfulness in Psychology class so when I came across this article I was intrigued to learn more about it through an actual study. Many people today are very conscious on calories, as it is on almost all menus next to all food selections and on the label of all packaged foods. Apps on phones are now used to help count exactly how many calories are eaten. I think these are very useful and this study proves that, while it is difficult to keep up with religiously, it is beneficial and necessary in efforts of weight loss and keeping a healthy weight.

As I was doing research on the New York Times website for our final history paper, I came across an article written by the Associated Press titled “McDonald’s Exchanging $1 Menu for 2 for $2.” This immediately set off a light bulb in my head as I connected the content of this article to our class discussions in psychology about obesity. The article is a very short one not revealing much information but does describe that McDonald’s is launching a new sale replacing the Dollar Menu. Because the Dollar Menu has been around for about a decade, senior vice president for marketing in the United States Deborah Wahl believes the customers should have more of a flexibility of choice when deciding what food items to order. These new food items will include: McDouble, McChicken, small fries and mozzarella sticks.

In the BBC documentary watched in Psychology class, “The Men Who Made Us Fat,” this issue of increasing portion sizes such as the Big Gulp drink and supersize portions was a huge issue discussed. People will usually go for the bigger portion so they don’t have to get up a second time to get up for two. Furthermore, the price would be lower instead of buying two of the same item so people would just upgrade the size of their meal. With McDonald’s beginning to create this 2 for $2 menu they are forcing their customers who would normally just eat one food item off the dollar menu to now purchase two food items, making them consume more calories then originally intended.

As I was starting to write my final paper for Psychology class, I came across an interesting amount of cleansing and detoxing diets that I did not even think were possible. We often hear these words but don’t really know what they mean and why we proceed to follow them. The claim that I came across that I believed to be extremely interesting is the 3-Day Apple Detox. Although this is not my topic for my paper, I thought it would be interesting to talk about.

Apple’s are said to be one of the best foods for you because of their numerous sources of nutritional value. As the saying goes “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”, well, what about 3 days of just apple eating? This detox plan is said to flush your system, giving your digestive system a break so that a person’s body can repair itself. This detox goes beyond just a thin, lean look. It is scientifically proven to be beneficially for your body.

The process is more simple than most detoxes. Although the name of the detox is the 3-Day Apple Detox, it actually takes 7 days. The first two days is spent preparing by eating a lot of greens (vegetables, salad etc.) as well as fruits. Next, the 3-Day Apple detox comes in where all you do is consume as many apples as you want. The only other thing you have to do is drink plenty of water. The last 2 days are transitioning back into normal eating habits similar to the first two days of the diet plan. Essentially, this diet plan resets your metabolism and benefits a persons body tremendously!

At least once a week, my soccer friends and I take a trip to Adrienne’s Pizza-bar in New York. Adrienne’s Pizza-bar is located on 54 Stone Street in New York and it’s a casual pizza bar with thin-crust pies and they also provide an outdoor seating area on historic, cobbled Stone Street. As beautiful as the scenery is outside, it has been too cold to sit out there so we go inside and it’s just as beautiful inside then it is outside.

Adrienne’s is a very small pizzeria with hardworking employees that get your food out as quick as possible and make sure everything is good. The outside of Adrienne’s is very busy and is always filled with people and there are tents and lights set up for people to sit at and eat outside. The inside is very laid back and relaxing with low lights and high tables and chairs. I really enjoy eating here just because it is such a comfortable setting and the also because the food is so irresistible.

Adrienne’s is best known for its brick over pizza, but also has fantastic Italian food. My team and I usually order two pizza pies, one pepperoni and one plain. They come out in a rectangular pan, steaming because they had just came out of the oven. The pizza is probably the best pizza I have ever eaten, and my team thinks the same. The pizza comes out and it’s cooked just right, the cheese is stringy, the bread is fluffy and the sauce is like no other. My team and I enjoy Adrienne’s Pizza-bar so much that we come eat here at least once a week. We try to break up the school week by going out together and getting a nice slice of pizza. Every time I go to Adrienne’s, I make sure I go with an empty stomach because I always leave extremely full.

I highly suggest Adrienne’s Pizza-bar to anyone that likes pizza because I usually don’t like pizza that much, but this pizza is life changing. It will make you want to come back all the time and get more because it is that good.

Always having a catering business, my family and I have never been home for Thanksgiving. Every Thanksgiving, my parents are up all night preparing turkeys, and setting up the store for the incoming rush the next day. I began staying up all night helping my parents, starting in the fifth grade setting up the bakery, and making sure everything runs smoothly in the morning.  By the time we got home from work, it would be 7pm Thanksgiving Day, and we all went right to bed, being up 48 hours, exhausted, overworked, and sore from running around like crazy people

We never had a Thanksgiving tradition nor did we cook our own dinner (the store normally prepared us our meal). Some might think we had it easy (a delicious meal prepared for us), but I feel that we have suffered a great loss of not being able to create our own meal, and create traditions that will last a life time. This year, is the first year we will be home all day (of course not me, because I will be at work) to cook our own meal, and spend the day with one another.

For the past two weeks, my family and I have been trying to figure out what we should do for the holiday. Should we visit Grandma? Should we eat at our house? Should we go to my Uncle’s house?  Surprisingly, Saturday, my family and I were invited to my boyfriend, Dominick’s house for Thanksgiving. Every year, since Dominick’s parents bought their house, they have hosted Thanksgiving. I can’t think of a better family to show us what Thanksgiving should be like. Every year their whole family, immediate and extended, gather at his house, eat, watch football, build gingerbread houses, and just share the day together. I can’t wait to be apart of their tradition (and eat all of the delicious food). I am thankful for having my wonderful family, and now getting to share Thanksgiving with both my family and the wonderful people we have met, and now consider family as well.