Macaroni Time

 

 When it comes to macaroni, I am a huge fan. I was born in Wisconsin, nicknamed the dairy state. So dairy is a must-have food category for me to consume. The way I make macaroni is unique, and I would love to teach you how to make it. Here is what the ingredients consist of:

• Elbow macaroni (any size)
• Mozzarella
• Parmesan
• Sharp Cheddar
• Colby Jack
• Thyme
• Black pepper
• Basil
• Butter 1/2 cup of butter
• Milk 1 cup

Before we get started, some ingredients do not have a measuring unit next to them because this type of recipe is supposed to be made according to taste. You will see in a minute what I mean. 

Step 1. Boil elbow macaroni until cooked, do not allow it to be soft (overcooked).

Step 2. Drain the macaroni from the pot and let it sit.

Step 3. Put 1/2 cup of butter in a pan and let it simmer.

Step 4. Add Thyme, black pepper, and basil (Eyeball and taste to see if it is to your liking. This is why there is no exact measurement) and let it simmer for 4 minutes without burning the butter.

Step 5. Add milk and let it simmer for 2 minutes.

Step 6. We will slowly build the cheese, grab half a handful of mozzarella, parmesan, colby jack, and sharp cheddar. As the cheese melt together, taste to see what type of cheese you would like to add more to produce a unique taste.

Step 7. Lower the heat of the cheese and let it simmer for five minutes.

My Mental Breakdown

 

 

 Recently, I was getting overwhelmed by everything happening in my life. I am taking six classes while working full time at a behavioral health. This week was one of my busiest weeks in the school year. My mind was foggy/ cloudy, I was stressed out and lost appetite for food. It suddenly hit me that I am having a mental breakdown. So I needed to take a few days off to gather myself and prepare to get back into my flow. The message of this post is to inform you all to take care of your mental health. We are all going through hard times that can either make or break us. Take time to gather yourself and attack the obstacles life throws at you. 

How I Lost Fat

  

    Losing fat is a complicated process to endure. The hardest part of losing fat is dieting, which surprises most people who are new to fitness. Of course, working out is great, but if you're putting the wrong types of food into your body, you counter the results made through exercises. To burn weight, you have to be in a caloric deficit, meaning calories must be burned out. This is where people make a mistake. For instance, you run a mile and burn 400 calories. If you eat a meal worth 800 calories, you put more calories into your body than you burned. This is how most people gain weight. Another way people gain weight is by eating too many Carbohydrates and not counting the calories they consume. Eating too many Carbohydrates is terrible because it stores fat if not used up as fuel for workouts. If you are not counting calories that you put into your body, then you will overeat. 

With the information above, here is what I did to lose fat, and this is what you can do as well:

 

• Find out how many calories (calorie calculator http://www.acaloriecalculator.com/) needed to lose both fat/weight and split meals throughout the day to equal the amount needed. 
• No Carbohydrates at night, only eat them an hour before working out to use as fuel, so it does not store as fat.
• Watch and count the calories you eat for your meals.
• Drink water in between meals to stay full and hydrated
• Go hard in your workouts(Sprinting, swimming, running, boxing, high-intensity interval training, etc.)
• If your shirt is soaked in sweat, then your workout was perfect.
• Make sure to burn the calories you eat. It is also ok if you have some calories you did not burn.
• Get adequate amounts of sleep if possible. It is highly recommended.
• Once you achieve the weight you like, recalculate your calorie intake for maintenance. 

    

    To make it simple, eat enough to burn off the calories consumed, do workouts that are fun (a must to keep the routine as a habit), and eat Carbohydrates before your workout. If you follow these steps for a few months, you will have the dream body you thought you could never achieve. 

Money is Making the Lives of Elites Easier

 

 It is unfair that people like Lori Loughlin (actress from the Full House) can commit a vast crime and get away with it. She committed mail fraud (scheme using mail to defraud another of money) and honest service fraud (paying a bribe). She paid vast amounts of money for her children to get extra time on their college entrance exams. She paid millions for Ivy league schools to secure admissions for them. Lori is now sentenced to two months in prison and had the option to do her sentence near her home. It is safe to say that if an average citizen committed the same crime, they would be in more trouble then she was.

Lori was not the only one who indulged in college scams. Felicity Huffman (actress from Desperate Housewives) was caught boosting her daughter's SAT scores. By the name of Devin Sloane, a businessman in Los Angeles bribed the university of southern California water polo team with $250,000 for his son, who was never competitive.

These scams are problems because many students in the country have worked hard and deserve to be in the positions these elite children were put into. Some of the elite children are not talented, and its a laugh in the face of athletes/ students who are more qualified but aren't privileged.

USADA Cracking Down the Cheats and Innocents

 

 

 

 

 

USADA is a drug-testing agency that tests athletes worldwide to see if they are clean enough to compete. Steroids have been used by a lot of athletes for years. This substance is so powerful that if ingested by an athlete, they would literally be like Superman. 

Today we are focusing on MMA fighters/athletes who compete at a high level. The fighters in top Organizations like UFC; For instance, are tested a couple times per year to make sure they are clean enough to compete. USADA is doing a good job cracking down those who are actually cheating. The problem with the testing pool is that certain supplements that have steroids linked to them are banned. Why is this a problem? Most fighters take supplements for performance such as Creatine, Muscle milk/ protein powder, etc. These are all ok to use, but the factories where these products are made make them in mix canisters with trace amounts of steroids left behind from previous mixes. Some fighters that are getting caught by USADA are clean and not cheating, it's just the trace amounts that accidentally entered the batch. These trace amounts show up in the fighters' bloodstream, leading them to be either suspended or banned. Sean O' Malley (UFC Bantamweight fighter) was suspended for trace amounts of Ostarine in "caffeine pills."  https://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Sean-OMalley-Suspended-6-Months-After-Subsequent-Test-Failures-for-Ostarine-168599

You would never think steroids would be found in caffeine pills. It's ridiculous. Overall, USADA has to come out with a more effective way to see who's cheating and who's not. It will take time to create the plan, but I believe in the future, better outcomes will arrive for both the agency and fighters.

This Year Is The Worst

 

 

 

   2020 so far, has been a terrible year. We have lost too many greats in a matter of months. Regis Philbin (legendary talk show host and three-time Emmy winner who died on July 24 at the age of 88), Grant Imahara (member of the Build Team from the show "Mythbusters" died on July 13 at age 49 from a brain aneurysm, Naya Rivera (member from the show "Glee" who died on July 13 at age 33 from drowning on a boat), Chadwick Boseman (Actor who played T'Challa in "Black Panther" and died on August 28 at age 43 from a four year battle of colon cancer) Kobe Bryant (Former NBA player for the Lakers who died on January 26 from a helicopter crash), and many more. 

    Not only did all these people die, but the world got hit with Coronavirus. This virus shut down everything you can think of. All stores were closed down, the stock market had a little crash, schools transitioned to online, public spaces were no more available to the public, jobs were terminated temporarily for long periods, which caused concern for most people, ATM's running out of money, and overfilled hospitals leaving no room for those who had COVID and needed immediate attention. However, It does not stop there. Police brutality was on the rise, which caused an uproar in every city. People were terrified for their lives, and small/ big businesses were destroyed due to people looting. 

    As things are getting better, it is possible for a second wave to hit, which was mentioned by Dr. Fauci. However, luckily, we have a team of scientists who are preparing vaccines to combat COVID. However, the problem is that most people feel the vaccine is not going to help but will cause health issues instead. Most people will not take the vaccine, which may be a concern because with the second wave coming, things will get ugly. 2020 has been a terrible year, and hopefully, 2021 can avenge everything that occurred.

My Exclusive View On IS101

 

Joining IS101 so far has been a wonderful experience. I have taken a similar class like this before in middle school, but not as advanced, so following prompts should not be hard. My view on this class is that if a student is not focused, willing to put effort or set a time management schedule for the class, they will struggle. When Professor Wu explained about making 100% on the projects or getting no credit at all, it makes much sense. You must follow what the prompts in the book tell you to do on the software. It is as simple as that. The class is straightforward and gives room for students to finish strong. The only hard thing about the class would be the qualification/Certification exams. Other than that, this is a great class that will give students the necessary skills needed for IT/business careers.