Necessary Nutrition for Running

Next what I learned for running is the nutritional foods necessary for the body. Of the many things our body needs, the ones I'm going to mention are carbohydrates, fats & lipids, and proteins.


My book describes carbohydrates as "... made up of the so-called simple sugars (monosaccharides), the best known of which is grape sugar (glucose)..." (Wessinghage, 115). Glucose in the body acts as the primary source of energy. As glucose releases the most energy, and in the quickest manner, glucose is used before other energy stores and as short-term energy up to 40 minutes at most under workload. Food that contains carbohydrates would include potatoes, fruits, vegetables, and rice to name a few.


On the other hand, fats "... consist of glycerin, in which three fatty acids are combined" (Wessinghage, 116). The purpose of fats in the body is to most importantly store energy and only to be used in the long-term. Runners would use fats for energy on workouts over 40 minutes after all the carb energy is depleted.


Finally, proteins "... On the molecular level, they are composed of amino acids, some of which (the essential amino acids) must be taken in with foods" (Wessinghage, 117). Proteins carry out many functions in the body such as contracting muscles and as carriers for nutritional substances and metabolic products. Proteins are important to athletes as they foster muscular development needed to perform well in their activities.

Spaghetti with Meatballs

One of the many dishes was spaghetti with meatballs. This dish was important because of the balance of the carbs in the pasta and the protein in the meatballs was necessary for the body to use. Along with an extra fact, pasta would be a good dish to consume on the night before a big run.

Beef Stew with Mashed Potatoes

Oxtail with Wheel-Shaped Pasta

        

These other dishes meet similar criteria with the spaghetti as both have a balance of carbs and protein in each dish.

Would you agree that eating the right food is important for working out and performing at your best?

Wessinghage, Thomas. Running: Detailed Advice on Equipment, Technique, Training, Competitive Running, and Sports Medicine. Barron's Educational Series, 2001.

Learning Origami: Paper Cup

Learning Origami: Paper Cup

Making arts and crafts, is something I am always willing to do, and something I am always eager to complete. For today's blog post, I decided to make something more logical, that I am able to use regularly. Thanks to the book, Practical Origami: A step-by-step guide to the ancient art of paper folding, I can show you how to make an origami cup. This origami model is a very popular design, that is also very simple to make!  For those who are like me, and are not artistically talented, this origami model is something that can be taught to all skill levels, as said in the book, "This is, perhaps, the simplest model to make, and is easy to  teach to "students" of  all ages" (Beech 47). This is a very enjoyable model to make, that you can complete along with your younger siblings or other family members.

This origami cup, allows you to even drink out of it. The book states, "If you intend to drink from the cup, be sure to use material which is glossy, like a foil-backed giftwrap" (Beech 47).  I am so excited to show you how to make this traditional, as well as very logical origami design. With only seven, easy to follow directions to creating this model, I am able to use these cups whenever I want. After completing this origami design, I personally would recommend using gift wrapping tissue paper the for the first few times, so you are able to perfect the creases and folds.

The most difficult step in creating this design, was the second step which was folding down the single layer of paper down to lie on a folded crease created in an earlier step. "Fold the upper raw edge down to lie along the folded edge created in step " (Beech 47). Completing the actual step wasn't that difficult, however the wording of the direction was what confused me. The inclusion of a photo, in this step, made it much easier to comprehend.

Below are Seven steps to creating a Paper Cup:

Step One: Fold paper diagonally in half.

 Step Two: Fold single layer down to lie on
horizontal crease created in step one.

Step Three:  Unfold crease created in step two.

Step Four: Fold right-handed corner 

to where the tip meets with the 

crease end made in step two.

Step Five: Repeat step four on the left side, 

remember to align model symmetrically.

 Step Six: Fold single layer of the upper corner down
over the flaps created in steps 4 and 5.

Step Seven: Repeat step 6 on reverse side. 

Open model along edges created through steps 1-6.

Overall, this was a very fun and straightforward model to create. I enjoyed creating this origami paper cup, and was surprised with how simple it was to complete. I made this model with my younger sister, and bonded with her while competing the steps together. There are multiple uses to this origami model, and I personally use it as a jewelry holder in my room. My skill level in creating origami crafts has grown, and my knowledge on this art has increased as well.  I am so eager to continue learning more from the book, Practical Origami: A step-by-step guide to the ancient art of paperfolding. My favorite art craft to complete with my family is making paper snowflakes. Thank you so much for reading this blog, and hopefully you gained knowledge from this post!

What is your favorite art craft to complete with your family?

Beech, Rick. Practical Origami: a Step-by-Step Guide to the Ancient Art of Paperfolding. Hermes House, 2006.

Hello Cupcakes! 

Today, I did an experiment to see if the tips in the book really make a difference. On page 9 of Hello Cupcakes by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, they give us helpful steps to filling up the cupcake pans correctly with Ziploc bags saying, "Put the cut opening in the center of a cupcake liner, squeeze gently, and fill the cup two-thirds full. As the batter approaches that level, stop applying pressure and remove the tip from the cup." 

I thought, "how difficult could it be to just fill up the cupcake pans with a spoon, like I usually do?" So, in one of the pans I poured the batter with a spoon, in the other cupcake pan I used a Ziploc bag and followed the steps in order to fill the cupcake cups correctly. And here are the results. 

The plate at the top contains the cupcakes that were filled with the Ziploc (book method). 

The plate at the bottom contains the cupcakes that were filled with a spoon (my method). 

Book method: 

Using a Ziploc bag to fill in the cupcake pans with batter was much neater, and quicker, all you had to do was just squeeze the bag until the cup was filled. And as you can tell by the picture, the cupcakes turned out more similar in sizes, and were more consistent. 

My method: 

It was the easiest method for me before, all I had to do was scoop the batter with a spoon but it was messy and took a long time. 

Overall, the tips that the book gave me were very helpful and I'll continue using that method of filling cupcake cups because it took less time and it wasn't as messy as using a spoon, like I used to do previously. 

How have you filled cupcake pans before? Do you think you'll use this method now? 

Richardson, Alan, and Karen Tack. Hello, Cupcake! Houghton Mifflin, 2009.

Chess: Typical Openings (Part 2)

Eade, James. “Selecting Your Strategy: The Principles of Play.” Chess for Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, 2016, pp. 191–225.

In my first blog, I talked about typical openings and how you should control the center. This time I will be revisiting those ideas but also expanding on them. Controlling the center or centralization is something that gives you a positional advantage. According the James Eade, "A positional advantage isn't the same as a material advantage or an advantage in pawn structure. This type of advantage provides a player with a more subtle edge than other advantages and can evaporate quickly as a result of inexact play" (Eade 201). This means that controlling the center only gives you a minor advantage but nonetheless it is still an advantage, which means it will help you win. In my first post I only mentioned that you should control the center, but here are some common openings with steps

This is the French Defense. After white moves a pawn to e4, black moves a pawn to e6 . This means black will contest for d5, controlling part of the center.

This is the Indian Defense. After white moves a pawn to d4, black moves a knight to f6. This means black will control the center squares d5 and e4.

This is the Ruy Lopez or "The Spanish Game". After a double king pawn opening (white pawn to e4, black pawn to e5), white moves their knight to f3 (to capture the black pawn), then black moves their knight to c6 (to capture the white knight after it captures), and then finally white moves their king's bishop to b5 to threaten the black knight to retreat, taking control of the center.



The next topic is how to control the center, development is the key. Development is the "rapid mobilization of chess pieces" and technically either side isn't developed until all the pieces have moved off their original square. To control the center during the opening, it's not a good idea to exchange pieces or to try and check the enemy's King. Instead save the opening moves for development, try to get all the pieces to the most optimal position (Eade 210). However, it is not worth it to develop a piece to it's optimal square if the piece will get contested and be forced to move back. Overall, to control the center it's necessary to remember the few principles of opening play. Don't exchange pieces, avoid moving to squares where the piece will be driven off, and try to develop all your pieces.

Question: How much about your subject have you learned so far?

Felted Wool Animals

As I have mentioned before in my other posts, I enjoy making various crafts. With the help of the book, Artful Christmas: 30 Elegant Craft Projects, I was able to make another fun art project. Although this book focused mostly on Christmas projects, it also contained several ideas for other types of cool, creative crafts. For this post, I chose to make felted wool animals.

The materials needed were many different colors of wool, felting needles, a foam pad, and optional finger gloves to protect your fingers from the needles. I bought a felting kit online that included most of these materials.

First, I decided to make a bunny. Using the felting needle, I took some white wool and poked it into a ball. This would be the inner layer. After poking that into shape, I wrapped some pink wool around the ball and began poking it. “Lay it on the foam pad and jab at it repeatedly with the needle-felting tool. The fibers will tangle together and form a firm shape” (Wasinger 54). The most important thing is to make sure the wool is hard enough and doesn’t fall apart.

To make the ears, I was supposed to take a little bit of pink wool, fold it in half, and poke it until the shape of the ear formed. By poking in the middle of the ear more, it became more indented and better resembled a bunny ear. Use the leftover fibers that are hanging off the ear to attach it to the head. Needle all around the base of the ear so that it’s securely attached and is forced to stand up by itself (Wasinger 55). Then use a small amount of black wool as the nose and the mouth.

Once this step was completed, all I had to do was place the eyes. This was a bit harder because it wouldn’t secure into place very well. I had to use a special tool to help me make a bigger hole in the spot of the eyes for them to slide in well enough and stay.

After making the bunny, I proceeded to make a seal. Following the same basic steps as before, I used the felting needle to poke some white wool into a ball. I made the tail and fins by taking a little bit of wool and poking it into the right shapes. This process took some time and patience because it was harder than it looked. I attached these parts the same way I attached the bunny’s ears.

The third animal I made was a penguin. I followed most of the same steps and created the shape of the body first. Using some white and orange wool, I made the penguin’s belly, beak, and feet. After attaching these onto the body, I slid the eyes into place and poked around to polish up the shape.

Out of the three felted wool animals I created, my favorite one was the penguin because it was cute and colorful. All in all, this project was fun and the final product was nice, but I need to keep practicing. I also need to have more patience because felting is pretty time-consuming, but I hope to make more little animals in the future!

Which animal do you like the most? Would you be willing to give felting a try?

Wasinger, Susan. Artful Christmas: 30 Elegant Craft Projects. Lark, 2014

Beauty 101: Face Makeup

All of my products and tools

The face is the third thing I do in my makeup routine. This is to ensure that I can easily conceal any mistakes I made while doing my eye makeup and eyebrows. The basic routine I use for my face makeup is primer, foundation, concealer, powder, contour, blush then finally, highlight. These steps are one of the only things in my beauty routine that stays consistent. The very first thing you need to do before anything is knowing the undertone of your skin. There are three undertones, warm, cool and neutral. If you have warm undertones your kin is typically yellow or olive while with cool undertones your skin will lean towards blues and pinks. Another thing to look for when applying face makeup is your skin type. Like I said in my first post, I have combination skin which consists of oiliness in the T-zone and dry patches on my cheeks. The areas you have more oil you may have to powder more than if you have no oil and dry skin.
Like I said, the first step in face makeup is primer. Use a primer to help protect your skin from makeup and lengthen the time worn of the makeup. I use the Smashbox Photo Finish Primer to smooth out my skin and help my makeup apply easier to the skin. This primer is good for most skin types as it hydrates but doesn't make the skin create excess oil in doing so. Once primed, foundation is the next thing you use. For every day, I don't normally wear a full coverage foundation because I find that they can be heavy so instead I use a BB Cream. The BB Cream I use is from Maybelline Dream Pure BB Cream in Light Medium with a dense blending brush to apply this. In her book, Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual, Bobbi Brown says "The reason we wear foundation is to even out our skin tone and texture.When applied correctly, the result is skin that looks clear and smooth. But, what is most important is that the skin looks better than it did without foundation." (Brown, 56). If I am going to choose foundation over a BB cream, I use the Fenty Beauty Foundation in 200. After foundation is applied, I go in with concealer. I apply concealer to the high points of my face to highlight and anywhere I have blemishes. The Nyx Hi Definition Photo Concealer Wand in the color beige. I blend my concealer out with a beauty blender that gives an airbrushed look to my face. The next step is to apply powder to the face to set down the liquid products. I like to use the Maybelline Fit Me! Pressed Powder and a fluffy all over powder brush. This is not a crucial step and can be skipped if you do not feel the need to set your foundation however I like to set the places I am going to use other powder products since it makes them easier to blend out.

The final result

The next step is contour. You do not need to do anything after powder but my face looks flat if I don't do anything to add definition. I use the Anastasia contour kit in light to contour my cheeks and forehead with a pointed contour brush to carve out my cheekbone and apply product to my forehead then I use the same fluffy brush from when I applied powder. An alternative would be bronzer. Brown describes bronzer as a way to imitate the look of the sun and to warm up the complexion (Brown, 70). This is adds color to the face without carving out your face. Once my bronzer or contour is done, I like to add blush. I use a flat fluffy brush and the tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in unstoppable. I apply to the apples of my cheeks then blend back. Finally I apply highlighter. Highlighter exaggerates the high points of your face by using a shimmery color glow the high points of your face. This includes the cheekbones, nose and browbone. That concludes my face routine!

Thank you for reading! What are your favorite face products and how do you use them?


Brown, Bobbi, et al. Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual: for Everyone from Beginner to Pro.
Springboard Press, 2011.