Health & Happiness

This week in my adventures of social work studies, I did a single case study experiment on myself (as did the rest of my cohort). I chose the wacky idea of only eating alkaline foods based on the alkaline-ash-diet for three consecutive days. My hypothesis was that I would be able to lower my acid levels according to the pH strips that I had.

There seems to be more and more awareness around cancer awareness and prevention. One of the connections to this is that cancers seem to not be able to live in an alkaline body and seem to thrive in an acidic environment. In current media you can learn more about it in documentary "Forks Over Knives" or in the book The End of Illness by David B. Agus, M.D.

While my experiment was a test in more ways than one, my results were surprising and inconclusive. I spent half of this week feeling hungry but had a lot of energy. I probably slept better and woke more refreshed having taken out coffee and pretty much all sugar (besides fruit) out of my diet. Normally when I get super hungry I get cranky but even though I felt hungry every few hours, I did not get moody :) The only strong feeling I had was that I missed flavorful foods. I got pretty bored with my combination of vegetables with no sauces. The other surprising thing was that as each day passed of very diligent work in not eating anything I felt like, my pH levels seemed to get more and more acidic! While I'm sure the health benefits were still great, it was not reflected in a more alkaline bodily state. One of my friends said, maybe your body was still getting rid of all the acid from how you have always eaten. I could have done this test for longer....but self control is still a work in progress!

When I started eating without consciousness, I honestly noticed a difference in my energy. I noticed I ate more than my body felt comfortable with. I could feel this in a tired, lethargic kind of way throughout the day.   At my work we had a gourmet food and wine event which raises money for the non-profit. No one can deny that health and happiness often go together but what is easily forgotten is both of their links to FOOD!

This is an area that is also of more prominent concern in the area of social work as well as social policy. Many schools are changing their cafeteria menus to have organic healthy meals. Schools are also incorporating gardening curriculum into their classrooms. California's Prop 37 is a hot topic on labeling genetically altered foods so that consumers are able to be conscious about their food. As we know from ecological systems perspective...everything is connected. Food. Health. Happiness. Food.

Am I missing something?

Okay, so things seem to be going really smoothly in all areas of life. I must be missing something...
I keep second guessing myself and questioning what I am doing wrong if everything seems like it's going right. I am keeping up on my homework and actually able to do all of the readings. I effortlessly have personal time. I have picked up more hours at work and do not feel stressed out in any way.

Even though summer session almost did me in, I am still pumped up on this program. While often good things take a lot of hard work, there were moments that were truly unmanageable. I definitely learned some personal lessons having gone through that though. For example, I learned that I when I feel like saying "no", that's what should come out of my mouth. I also learned a lot more about people in my cohort: about their journey into this profession, their personal lives, their work ethic and their patience.

Just like everyone else, I was able to have my check-in with Jamie. It is components of the program like this which make me feel like I am really a part of something. I was stoked to talk about goals and opportunities in the future with internships and job prospects. I felt heard about what I have struggled with in the program so far. I am excited for these webinars with guest lecturers because I have had moments where I feel like I am in a self-teach program.

This weekend I was able to take the long weekend to come up to Humboldt and spend time with some of my dearest friends. Some of these friends are people who I started work with in Alaska. Reminiscing on the work we have done,talking about our Masters programs in Social Work and Speech Pathology, exploring  our personal and professional goals, eating good food, hiking and just being together again is such a sweet thing to be able to do. I am so thankful that the flow of this semester allows me the time and mental space to be able to have this time! It is so rejuvenating and much needed after an intense summer.

I really hope everyone else in the program is having a similar experience....And if you're not...I must be missing something!!!