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Friday, November 22, 2013

Your "Opinion" on Harry Potter?

About two weeks ago, my friend Ivey invited some of our friends from school to a tea place. All of us were chatting away when Ivey said, “hey, Savannah, I read the first couple pages of the first Harry Potter book!” (I’ve been trying to get her to read the series for months.) However, this erupted in bashing of the Harry Potter series by our other friends. Let’s just say they are damn lucky I kept my mouth shut because I had some things to say.

First of all, I completely understand where they are coming from. Some of my friends grew up not being allowed to watch Harry Potter as children. But seeing as they (nor their parents for that matter) have not read the series or watched the movies, have no right to be saying what it does or does not have in it (i.e. witchcraft or sorcery). While it does have spells and potions in it, you have the take into account that this is a work of fiction. J. K. Rowling used Latin words for the spells, not actual Wicca.

In addition, there is a lot of Christian theology and moral in the Harry Potter series that I think a lot of people tend to overlook:


  • Harry Potter didn’t grow up like a king despite his “fame” and lived in a cupboard under the stairs with the Dursleys.
  • Harry Potter resisted temptation from characters like Malfoy who are into dark magic throughout the entire series.
  • Harry Potter always made an effort to do the right thing.
  • Harry Potter defeated death.
  • Harry Potter was the only one who could defeat Lord Voldemort.

  • Jesus Christ was born in a stable and didn’t grow up as a king the way everyone thought the Messiah would come.
  • Jesus Christ resisted temptation from the Devil and those around him.
  • Jesus Christ was perfect. He never failed to do what was right.
  • Jesus Christ defeated death.
  • Jesus Christ is the only one who can defeat the Devil.

Furthermore, all of my friends are over eighteen. I think it’s time they start thinking for themselves. Just because your parents say something is “bad” doesn’t mean you have to believe it. You are your own person and can think for yourself. If you don’t like Harry Potter then fine, but don’t not like it because your parents say so. (If that makes sense.) Develop your own opinion.

That’s all I have to say on the topic.


Savannah

Thursday, November 14, 2013

I Might be Going Fully Raw!

Hey! So I know that I haven’t written a post in a few weeks, but I wanted to let you know that I’m alive and all is well. There are several things I wanted to talk about, but for the purpose of this post I will only be talking about one of those things. This is something that has given me a new spark on something that I am very interest in and very well may be what I go into as my career. That is, I’m very interested in eating healthy and living a healthy lifestyle. And I am highly considering becoming a dietitian or a nutritionist or something along those lines.

But what really inspired me was a Youtuber that I came across named Kristina or “fullyrawkristina” as she is known on the ‘tubes. Kristina has been eating “fully raw” for about eight years, curing her body of any type of disease and/or sickeness she had (hypoglycemia—a type of diabetes—and other problems that caused her to be hospitalized at least once a month) as well as changing her eye color from a milky brown to a hazel-almost blue color. Kristina runs the largest non-prophet co-op, Rawfully Organic, in the U.S.

Another one of the raw foodies that I follow on Youtube is Megan Elizabeth. Megan had just gotten accepted into the university that her mother went to when she came down with a mysterious bedridden illness that prevented her from going to school. It wasn’t until she read “The 80/10/10 Diet” and started eating raw that she finally felt good again.

What is eating “fully raw” though? Eating a diet composed of uncooked, natural fruit, vegetables, and seeds/nuts. The book “The China Study” by T. Colin Campbell, Phd and Thomas M. Campbell II talks about how consuming animal products is a main factor in cancer, diabetes, hormone problems (for example, girls getting their periods in their early teens versus when they are seventeen/eighteen), and many others. Another great read which goes into the details of going raw vegan is the book “The 80/10/10 Diet” by Douglas M. Graham, which I am dying to get my hands on. Two other great reads, “The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and Our World” by John Robbins and “The Face on Your Plate: The Truth About Food” by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson.

All that said I really want to go raw vegan. I was planning on starting over my winter break. Seeing as I’m in college and have practically a month off from school, I figured it would be the perfect time to start. One of the problems I am going to have is that the first couple days of detoxing, I am one of those people who get nauseous. Some people feel really great when they are detoxing, others get sick—almost like the flu. Also, it’s so hard to stay away from food I can’t eat when all my friends get dessert at lunch. It’s so tempting when they bring up cake not to grab a piece or ask them to surprise me with something. I figure if I go a month eating raw, I will get sick if I eat cake. And I won’t want to eat it anymore. So, that’s why I really want to start over my winter break.

Of course, I know lots of people are going to judge me and wonder if I am getting all my protein and all that nonsense. First of all, on a raw foot diet (not to be confused with dieting), you have to eat large portions of fruits and vegetables in order to get 2,000 calories worth of food. This is mainly because fruits and vegetables are low in calorie and high in water content. So while you might “feel” full, you are just bloated due to the water content. For example, you might eat an entire watermelon for breakfast, 5-7 bananas for lunch with two young coconuts, and an entire head of lettuce or spinach or kale with toppings and a raw dressing for dinner. [In order to keep with the 80/10/10.] You don’t want to eat a ton of fruit at dinner as it sits in your stomach longer than vegetables (this is the same if you eat meat… which takes longer to digest and therefore, you should not eat at night—even though most people do). [A good app/website to use for keeping track of all your calorie and nutrient intake is cronometer (cronometer.com).]

Now I know this seems like an expensive lifestyle. But I can assure you that if you know where to get your produce, it’s not. A good place to start is to buy from a local co-op like Rawfully Organic in Houston. It costs a million times cheaper than in the grocery store. Also, you want to buy in bulk. A lot of times stores will give you discounts if you are buying in bulk. But that’s just my two cents!

I’ll catch you guys later with some more interesting posts!


Savannah