Stress, Hockey, EYB, and Fiber

Ahhhhh Thursday.  This day has been strangely stressful, which has killed motivation for me to get anything accomplished in the last hour.  Which is a slight problem, because the next two weekends promise no actual productivity having to do with school.  And of course because I am so organized learned from the best (thanks dad ;)), I waited until today to get all of it done, because I find myself to be pretty productive on the last major day before anything happens.  It works great, unless of course things go wrong and by wrong, I mean Physics labs going an hour and a half longer than scheduled.  It totally kills the rest of the day!

Anyway, this weekend has some pretty exciting plans.  I am getting thrown into (real fast!) the world of college hockey. Sure, I have gone to a few games before here and there.  But mostly for the social aspect, or to say "Cool! Look at that guy get smashed into the wall!"  and hear horror stories of hockey pucks getting launched into the audience to coincidentally hit the team's biggest fan in the head to kill him.  But this weekend, I am going with some of my best friends (who happen to be the biggest fans of the Minnesota Gophers) to actually watch the game.  Thankfully, I know the basics of team sports, so following should be pretty easy, I just have to learn the detailed rules of college hockey.  I am pretty excited! 
Oh, and I guess there is a holiday this weekend too.  That whole Valentine's day thing?  I have never been huge on celebrating it.  Usually my mom buys us some candy and a stuffed bear or something and we call it a good day.  I am quite okay with that :)  So plans as far as V-day?  I am cooking my workin' man some dinner and we will probably watch Criminal Minds like we do every other Sunday evening.  I told him no gifts necessary.  As long as I get to spend time with him, I am a happy camper.  I just figure if you are going to show me how much you care for me, do it spontaneously, not on a day that everyone else is doing the same thing. 

And now, you get to hear one of my favorite songs of all.  Even though one of the hardest times in my life and the time I learned some of the best lessons in life was when I went to school in Missouri, I have to admit... I met some great people and had some great times along the way.  And one of the funnest nights there, I had a few of those people called this my song, and for the rest of the year, it stayed that way.  Then, it just fit.  It fit me and the friends I had at the time. 
(Please excuse the random photos... part of me liking songs that are never played on the radio, means there is rarely an "official" video to go along with them :))  Hope you enjoy!

Nutrition fact of the day: Holy smokes, have you looked into the benefits of having a high fiber diet?  (There is a such thing as too much fiber, but until you start exceeding 200 grams/day... you don't have anything to worry about.)  So we have all seen the commercials for the fiber drink mixes and the yogurts, blah blah blah.  Good thing to know about fiber?  Your body can't digest it.  That's why things like yogurt and other stuff with that "good" bacteria are important in your diet.  The bacteria do all the work.  But fiber is an essential thing to consume, mainly for your GI health.  Your body can do some serious balancing, and eating fiber can be both a laxative and an antidiarrheal (did I just use that word in my blog?).  Other benefits: studies are showing that it probably prevents colon cancer, it prevents appendicitis, it decreases hemorrhoids, decreases diverticulosis, and it is also shown to help reduce obesity (mainly because it is lower in fat and decreases the energy intake from protein, fat, and carbs).  It is also something that, when increased, can decrease cholesterol, decrease your chances of getting gall stones, and it can help a little bit in managing diabetes too.  I know, I know, this is definitely one big fat summary of what fiber can do for you, but if it does so many great things, don't you think people should know what it's doing to their body? :)  Now go eat some fiber-rich foods! ;)