Japanese Diet Fad; It’s B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

As I was flipping through the yahoo news this morning, something caught my eye from the norm; bananas. For some reason, I find that word to be odd, thus catching my attention from the ‘joe the plumber’ stories that plastered the rest of the page.

Japan is currently dealing with an insane lack of bananas. No matter what time of the day they are going to the market, there are simply no bananas left. Curious, I kept reading only to discover there is a new “fad diet” in which they are consuming bananas, and lots of them. There are success stories from all the Japaneses celebrities [I wonder if they are animated] claiming they have lost 16-38 lbs just by having bananas. considering how ridiculously simple this diet sounds, I was shocked it has not reached America yet. granted, that is a fruit … and most Americans will only touch a banana if there’s chocolate on it or if its in a pie.

regardless, japan is obsessing over this diet in hopes of weight loss.

so, I thought to myself … bananas? I wonder if it works ….

so, starting tomorrow, October 18, 2008 and last until November 18, 2008 I shall join my japense friends  and go bananas for exactly one month to test this new fad.

the diet is simple – One banana for breakfast along with a glass of room temp water. you can anything you would like for lunch and dinner, and you may have a snack at 3 o’clock. no desserts after meals. your last meal has to be consumed by 8pm and you have to be in bed by 12. that’s it.

I will report in once a week. I won’t change my lifestyle, just my banana consumption [for full effect, of course!] I’m also going to write down everything going into my body.

At the end of the month, if there is no change, I will leave it be. if there is a change, I will post my month food intake, and will report back in another month to see if my weight I lost comes right back or if its a long term weight loss.

You can join me too! I will post anyones result who decides to do it as well. Just let me know!

Happy banana eating!!

The Day Ohio Experienced A Hurricane

It started off normal enough. I had stayed up until 6:30 am on saturday night [which I suppose we should now consider sunday]. I had every intention to sleep through the Bengals game [I already could tell we were doomed to lose, and I could not bear watching talent being wasted right before my very eyes.] But, in the middle of my ‘best sleep ever’ something shook me out of my restful sleep … wind. what?!

I live in an apartment behind a bakery that was built in the 1920′s. I am almost 100% positive my thin shakey windows are original to the building [and the fact they can not be opened only makes me beelive this futher] so, to hear wind blowing against them is not uncommon. but, this … this was not wind. this was gusts of insanity trying to break my windows open.

I decided to get up, turn the game on [I soon winced and turned it back off] and take a shower. it is not uncommon for me to not turn the lights on. but, as I was standing there, I noticed my water was getting quite cold. I jumped out of the shower, and went to brush my teeth. I flipped the switch … nothing.

After walking round checking every light and clock, I knew exactly what this was … the remains of hurricane ike.

It was about the time of this great conclusion that I heard a THUMP and my boyfriend telling me we had lost a large tree outside. uprooted. all of the businesses started to worry their food would go bad.

90% if Cincinnati was without power. according the duke, this was the biggest power outage in Cincinnati history. it was upon hearing that I knew power was not going to be coming on anytime soon, yet I didn’t realize the damage.

At about 10pm everyone had about enough of my board games [clearly they are the video game/ televisiontype who can't seem to find the fun in mouse trap [you roll the dice you move your mice, what else do you want?] were sick of my excitement. We went up to the store to see what food we could find. all of the meat … frozen food … produce … dairy was gone. melted and spoiled. the chips were cleared off the shelves. the flash lights were cleared out. it looked as though someone had tornthrough the place [lucky, they didn't want graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate bars. candles = smores at its finest!]

the radio played over the speakers, ‘school closings due to hurricane’. I just never thought we could see a day in Ohio where we actually had officials blaming the trees down, roads closed, homes damaged, school shut down, and panic [and chaos] on a hurricane hitting the tristate area.

clearly the end is near. oh yes, and the bengals lost. again.

Cincinnati Reds; no chance?

I’ve come to find that many people in the cincinnati area have been referring to the Reds as the new cubs; the loveable losers. When this first crept into my head, I thought to myself … lovelable losers? no … it hasn’t been that long since we’ve been to the world series … has it?. After much debate with myself, I relaized it has been 18 years. I would not refer to us as the cubs though. at least yet anyway.

So, with that on my mind, I decided this would be the year I made sure I paid attention to nearly every game played. I mean, how can we change this cincinnati philosophy of loveable loser? and wasn’t that more of a title deserved by the bengals? at least the reds have won … and more than once for that matter.

And so, the season began in April. I took every chance I had to go out to a game and try to figure out the reason why we weren’t winning games. or, at least, why we weren’t winning enough. Soon, my attention went to the players. My main focus was on right handed pitcher Bronson Arroyo [the long blonde hair and the fact he sang and played guitar of course was the reason for my inital reaction, but, it grew into respect too]. His year started off a loveable loser. He couldn’t seem to get a break. was the his arm? the other teams? was he just not into it? but before my conclusion ever came to me, he started to pick up his game, and now I credit him as the most improved and propbably MVP of this year.

Most of cincinnati is blmaing the fact that ken griffey jr leaving in the middle of the year to our dimise. I have to disagree. Though he did have some powerful hits, it take far more than one player to win or lose a ball games.

Was it the managment? It had to be. nothing else seemed to make much plausible sense. at that very moment, the unexpected happened. the cheerleaders came out. I hadn’t really noticed them before. They only cheer on home games … typically on Friday and Saturday games. as I watched them cheer [my boyfriend watching much closer] I noticed something. They were dancing … and throwing shirts out to the crowd. thats it. I know I know, confused aren’t you?

Take this into consideration. To be apart of a MLB team, you HAVE to be talented. otherwise, you would not be there. Okay, so, does Cincinnati have the talent? yes. skill? yes. coaches … trainers? yes. but the one thing they didn’t have? confidence. why in high school did we win football games and baseball games and basketball games? because, we have people really rooting for us. people we knew … people who knew us … people who had FAITH we would win! positive reinforcement! so, if your cheerleaders are all but useless, and your coach is the type who will ream you before praise you, of course you aren’t going to win a game.

you may think this is simple and has absolutely no reason why a team would win or lose, but tell me something. when you were a child and your mother BELIEVED in you, didn’t you accomplish greater things?

so, maybe if for once Cincinnati BELIEVED in their team, and referred to them as something other than losers, and if their cheerleader faced them and really let them know they BELIEVED in them, and if their coaches gave me a high five and a real sense of being proud … don’t you think they would have confidence in themselves and really have the strength and adrenaline to kick ass? why do you think the Yankees always win? NY has more pride in their baseball team than anything I have ever seen … and thats felt by their players. And, they are going to keep on winning for that reason [because again, all MLB players are talented, otherwise they would be coaching little league.]

And, I’d gladly admit to anyone who asked me that I already think they kick ass, world series or not.

Welcome to my blog.

Hello. 

I’m a 22 year old woman from Cincinnati, OH.

I have opinions and thoughts about just about everything [sports, music, politics, religion, people, thoughts, ideas ... you know ... all the common nouns] just like most of human kind.  

Unlike most people though, I feel the need to write them down. Call it a hobby or call it obsessive. Either way, here I am.

If you ever want my opinion, just ask me, and I’ll write about it.

otherwise, as it happens.