Some thoughts on my future, teachers, and diet

Well, I often think about my future.  I am, surprisingly, eager to leave school, start working, and begin my life.  However, I am scared about what will be ahead of me.  Hopefully, it is good things.  At this point in my life I feel as though things are going pretty well.  This is thanks to a great family and others that have had profound influences upon me.  Some of these people have been teachers.  Thus, I want to give these people some recognition.  Great teachers can be all the difference in a child's life.  I have had many teachers that have had great influences on me.  Some of which I would like to mention.  In doing so I will go in chronological order.

First on the lineup is Glenn Beuchlein.  I know I have mentioned him before, but he has not only been a great influence on my training, but also my education.  I had Beuchlein in high school for both Competition Government and Economics.  He placed alot of effort into his teaching and always provided extra information that most people would not know.  As I have become a more learned specimen of the university, I have found much of his teaching to be useful.

Next, is a man who I encountered in my first year at Ole Miss, Dr. Lerner.  I came to school underprepared I feel and my writing skills were very underdeveloped.  I started off in his class very poorly, but steadily began to improve.  His class was pretty rigorous and he was a rough grader.  Needless to say, he was a tough teacher to have in my first semester at school.  He gave me my first and only B.  I did not like it at the time, but I realize now that he prepared me for the rest of my classes.  He also helped me receive some financial aid and we still speak quite often.  He is always friendly and always is curious about the classes I take.  The type of relationship he has provided seems to be rare on the college scene.

Finally, one of my current teachers deserves to make the list I have provided.  His name is Dr. Rutherford.  Dr. Rutherford was the professor in my class last semester titled "Research Design Methods" and is now teaching me in a class about Environment Policy.  Dr. Rutherford is a soft spoken man and his voice almost makes you want to sit back in a lawn chair and have an ice cold drink.  However, he is very passionate about his work and cares about many of the same things I do.  These issues are primarily centered around sustainability.  I also went into his office one day and he gave me some very kind compliments.  These compliments were very unexpected from such a soft spoken man.  They really meant alot.  I hope I continue to be around him and hopefully he can help me in my future endeavors.

I have had many great teachers and these are only a few of them.  Others include Mr. Gary Case (a great friend) and also Dr. Weber.  I admire all of these great instructors.

I also wanted to discuss diet a little bit.  Many people struggle with weight, including myself, and there are much conflicting information in regards to diet.  I will review a few methods that I have tried and successfully used.  First, I think it is always important to select healthy foods in general.  Foods that have been processed are not favorable, such as breads and other un-natural foods.  Typically reducing carbs and calories in general will help lose weight, but I have trouble doing this for long periods of time because I love food way too much.  I personally like using methods where I can overeat.  Yes, I said overeat.  Overeating has many benefits.  It allows your body to become more sensitive to the effects of a hormone called leptin.  There are many articles and studies that are on the web about leptin.  My first and most successful method involving leptin was utilizing a diet called UD2.0 by Lyle Mcdonald.  This diet basically consists of around 4 1/2 days of under-eating and glycogen depletion (depleting sugar stores in your body through low carbs), 1 and 1/2 days of carb loading (eating an abundance of good carbohydrates) and then a final day of just normal, balanced eating (good carbs, proteins, and fats with each meal).  There are specific workouts to aid this process and this would be very good to try.  Currently I am doing a method known as Carbnite or a modified warrior diet.  This involves me under-eating on my workout days until 5:00 or so.  I eat no carbs and very low calories.  I usually eat 2 meals of 6 egg whites and raw veggies.  Then, after my workout, I consume my strawberry protein with some orange juice.  Then, at dinner, I eat a big meal consisting of lots of carbs and protein.  On non-workout days I eat low carbs and alot of meat.  This method seems to be working so far, but we will see.   Whatever method you choose, stay consistent, constantly motivate yourself, and allow yourself to enjoy good food every once in a while.  Best of luck to anyone trying to better themselves and become healthier human beings.