Why Should You Care?

I hope that you’ve learned something from this blog.  Heart health is something that everyone should care about.  Everyone has a heart and it is what we depend on to live.  Without a healthy heart, our lives will be considerably shorter. Hearth disease is the number one killer of Americans but is is also the most preventable.  The majority of heart disease is preventable through eating right and exercising.  Over the past few weeks I have posted about my favorite healthy meal, other’s favorite healthy meals, and have explained some great easy ways that we can all work together to live a heart healthy life.  Changing your lifestyle can be tough.  Trust me. I know.  I was not always as concerned with my heart health as I should be.

There Is Hope!

Today was a great day because I realized that there is hope!  As I was walking back to my apartment after class, a fellow student came up to me to talk about this blog.  He came up to me because he wanted to share his story with me.  We talked for several minutes before I realized how small of a world we live in.  While he did give me permission to use his story in this blog, he asked that he remain nameless.  As it turns out, he was also born with a similar heart condition to me.  To read more about my story click here.  This student told me that he heard about my blog through another student and wanted to let me know about his story.  He has not shared his story with many people so he felt more comfortable telling me his story than sharing it himself on this blog.

Furman Health Lies Video

Finally! Here it is! Below is the documentary I have been working on over the past few weeks.  You can also watch it here.  This video shows what Furman says it is doing to promote healthy living on campus and what the students believe is actually happening.  In this video, you will hear and see several of the interviews I have been posting about over the past few posts.  These interviews can be found here, here, here, and here.

 

“It Feels Good!”

Over the past few weeks I have been talking with several students as well as faculty members for my video that I will be posting soon.  Today, I went to the gym and met Ryan Maas, a junior at Furman University from New York.  After explaining to him my video and why I am making it, he gladly agreed to help me out and let me shoot some footage of his cardio routine.  We then sat down for a quick interview before I had class.  Here are some of the highlights from my interview with Ryan.

“Furman Needs to Make a More Valid Effort”

“Furman needs to make a more valid effort and providing healthy eating options that are appetizing” is what Furman University Junior, Patrick P. said when asked about his thoughts on the dining services on campus.  Today, I sat down with Patrick for an interview for my documentary that I will be releasing soon.  We talked about his thoughts on what Furman is doing to promote living a heart health life as well as what he is doing to live a healthy life himself.

Furman Is Actually Trying? Really?

Earlier today I began filming my video.  I sat down and filmed an interview with Kelly Frazier of the Health Sciences Department.  We spoke for several minute before I started recording the interview about Furman, what Furman is doing to promote healthy living, and what some challenges are to students.  After talking for a few minutes, I started recording the interview for my video which I will be posting here upon completion.  Here are some of the highlights from the interview.

“%&*$ MY HEART!”

Things must change around here!  This afternoon I sat down in class expecting to hear a lecture about the history of modern Japan.  Instead, I watched as another student walked into the class with an extra large soda, fried chicken, onion rings, and a bacon quesadilla.  As he sat down, he turned to his friend and said, “%&*$ my heart!”  This was painful to hear.  It was even harder to watch him scarf down his food before the teacher walked in.  As he inhaled his food, I could see his reactions to the grease and other unhealthy things in his food as he was making faces, moaning, and complaining about how bad but how good his extra large combo tray was. 

Furman Health Lies Outline

Over the coming weeks, I will be shooting a short documentary style video about Furman University and heart health on campus.  I will interview both students and faculty members about what they are doing on campus to live a heart healthy lifestyle as well as what some of the challenges they face.  I expect faculty members to say that Furman University is doing all that it can to promote living a healthy lifestyle while I expect the students to complain about what Furman is doing.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

In my last post I talked about my personal favorite healthy food that is easy to make here in our dorms and campus apartments.  After posting my last blog entry, I asked my Facebook friends if they would be willing to share some of the ways they stay healthy here on campus.  I got several responses and will take the next few posts to share them.

Pasta Pasta

In my last post I talked about the conversation I heard in the Paladen earlier this week.  This post will be the first of several posts about some heart healthy options that can be made in our college dorm rooms or apartments.  This post will be about my personal favorite heart healthy dish that I make in my apartment.