GET OUT OF HERE

直接的翻译标题是：赶快从这里滚蛋。

没动力的原因是对未来的不确定，不确定的原因是对现在的自己不自信，不自信的原因是每天不思进取、碌碌无为，无所事事的原因是懒惰。

不能再纵容自己了。

面壁思过

近半年自己总有这样那样的不对劲，感觉一直生活在虚无飘幻中，特别在工作上，一直觉得不得劲儿。今天被老板训了一顿，也算是给自己头上泼泼冷水清醒清醒。仔细想想到底出了什么问题，也想不出个究竟，不过从表象的总结来看，自己是越发懒惰和浮躁了。

随时都抱怨忙，随时都显得忙，但到头来什么什么都没完成；干一点点活就嫌累，总给自己开脱的借口和拖延的理由；时刻都忧心忡忡，但始终却不见行动，就这样一天一天地恶性循环。我到底是怎么了？

以前也出现过类似情况，但从没持续过如此长的时间，自己最终都在恰当时候调整。或是以写博客的方式，或是以详细计划的方式，或是以新的生活作息方式。考虑到这次撼动恶习的难度之大，看来必须要三管齐下才行！

还是有个动力问题。拿到学位是有一点点动力，但之后的打算呢？看来自己还是没有想好出路问题。其实感觉对于未来职业生活感情之类的事情，自己从很早就开始思考，也得出了很多结论，但从没把其落实。瞻前顾后，畏首畏尾，患得患失，这些导致我之前失败或是出现问题的做事方式，如果不即使纠正，很有可能会对近期的生活造成严重影响。

如何才能有一个崭新的自己？给自己定一些杂碎的规矩吧，逼迫自己完成。

1. 每天写一篇博客，当成是自省、反思和计划。
2. 一有闲暇时间就读书，多少都是读一点，不要浪费时间在网络上。
3. 早起早睡，养成规律的作息时间。不要纵容自己。
4. 每天计划要完成的学习任务，直到完成才能睡觉。

今天先写到这里。

Being a vegetarian is more than just being a non-meat eater

My friend B mentioned an interesting story the other day when we were talking about food. She said she knew someone who was a vegetarian but not in a good shape. Instead of eating meat, she ate lots of sweet food to curb her craving, but still she was proud of the fact that she was a vegetarian.

I also know some vegetarians who do not fit into our general image of a fit vegetarian. Except not eating meat, they do not watch their carbohydrate intake, nor are they physically active. Although by definition, a vegetarian means a non-meat eater, and there is no restriction or requirement on life style, I would use the word with caution. Because I, probably like most people, add extra expectations to vegetarians. When hearing the word, I tend to think this person cares about health, so he or she made the choice to stop eating meat.
 

I asked several vegetarian friends of mine why they became vegetarians. The answers usually fall into three categories, health concern, moral concern or natural disgust of meat. It seems reasonable that if your argument of being a vegetarian does not include health, you do not have to be physically fit in order to proudly being a vegetarian. Therefore, I have no ground to blame unhealthy vegetarians because their choice was not based on health.
 

However, I do think there are people who would like to become vegetarian to improve their health, but they might be misled by the media or any other information sources. They equal no meat consumption to being fitness. They cut meat out from their diet but add excessive sugar and fat in. They live with the illusion that they are very healthy but in fact they might be worse off.
 

In contrast, meat eaters with healthy life styles can be seen everywhere. They prove the notion that being healthy means a balanced life in diet and exercise. I do not have any personal preference over meat or no meat, and I know I do not crave for meat. Nevertheless, when I see meat cooked in a special and alluring way, often in ethnic food recipes, I cannot resist it. Once again, I hope to emphasize that it is not much about what you eat, but how much you eat and what your physical activity level is.
 

Another trend in health-centric population is about eating organically. Organic food itself is a huge topic which many professionals are discussing all the time. I will talk about this issue in later articles. What I want to mention here is the similar mistake some people make as some vegetarian, including me. They arbitrarily associate organic ingredients to healthy food. To them, the label “organic” means “healthy-no-doubt”, and means no matter how much you consume, it will always do good to your body.
 

Sometimes I think the food industry overuses and misuses the word “organic”. It is a very smart and rewarding commercializing strategy though. But pay attention to the gimmicks! I cannot help laughing when I see “organic ice cream or chocolate” or read “organic cane sugar” on the package. Do people really think junk food with organic ingredients becomes healthy food?
 

Another joke I heard is manufacturers are considering frying potato chips in olive oil to make them healthier. Do you think highly processed food with all organic ingredients is still organic? I think “organic” itself should have another deeper layer of meaning, which is natural and least processed.
 

As pharmacologist usually say, all drugs are poisons and it all depends on the dose. I think the same rule applies to food too. If you overeat, food becomes poison.

Why do I want to write something about food and health?

During my 23-year-living in China, I had never questioned the problem of the food I consumed. Of course, China has been having food safety issues for years, but the problem I am talking about here is related to the healthiness of the food.

I ate healthily. I have to give credit to my mom, who always forced me to eat vegetables I hated, carrots, spinach, bok choy, ect, and who sometimes stopped me from eating more than three medium pieces of meat. I love all kinds of fruits. I love snacking too. Dove was my favorite chocolate, Oreo my favorite cookie, and Pringles my favorite potato chip. I still remember I was begging my parents to take me to KFC since it opened its first restaurant in my city when I was 10. If I was only allowed to pick one single item from the menu, can you guess my choice? Free ketchups.

I thought I was strong and healthy, but here was the funny fact: I had been one of the fattest students in primary school, middle school and college. My parents, relatives and classmates made fun of me because of my chubby face and belly. To give you a better idea of my body shape, I weigh only 10 pounds less now and my friends here say I am skinny.

I was fine with their stupid jokes and attributed the overweight to my genetics and inactivity. In fact, I did not blame the food for it because I ate vegetables and fruits for the most part of my diet. Also, most kids had the same eating habit as I did and they were perfectly in shape, so it could not be the problem of the food.

At the age of 23, I came to U.S. As a warning, my mom admonished me that I should always cook by myself and restrict dining-out and snacking. I did what she told me to, only if her definition of snacks did not include potato chips, ice cream, cheese cake, pizza or coke.

My weight skyrocketed. I could not resist the temptation of the delicious food. At that time, I did not know anything about nutrition facts or ingredients. I bought under two conditions, cheap and pleasant-tasting. I realized the obvious change happened on my body. It was when I seriously warned myself of the danger of obesity.

I decided to change my lifestyle. I started exercising regularly, paying attention to the calorie intake, reading books about food industry and sharing my opinions about living a healthy life with friends. I want to cite some of the words from my Chinese friends in order to give a comparison and a glimpse on food in both countries.

“Potato chips, pizza and coke are like pig feed. They fatten me so easily.”

“No matter how much I ate in China, I never gain weight. Here, the fat on my belly never goes away.”

“Deserts and candies here are really sweet. They gave my teeth big problems.”

“I don’t understand why people here have such a high intolerance to sugar.”

“Everything here is bigger than in China, chunks of meat, snack packages, strawberries, plates, cars...”

I would like to add one more thing to the “bigger list,” processed food industry.

I agree that culture, customs and habits contribute to the distinct life styles I have seen and experienced in both countries. But there must be something else actually aggravating the health problems. To my limited knowledge, I think that is industrialization.

Although I see global firms have extended their reach to every corner China, and fast food restaurants and junk food are everywhere, fresh produce from farmers markets scattered in almost every neighborhood is still the core of family meals. Going to market everyday is a deep-rooted concept in traditional families. Nonetheless, I am afraid the young generation will gradually lose this tradition because of the stressful work schedule. Grocery shopping once a week and buying everything from the supermarket is the trend people are adapting to in mega cities. It will be sad to see the inevitable coming of the highly-processed-food era.

In short, to answer the question of the title, I hope to share some of my knowledge, experience and thoughts about food and health issues, either for the sake of raising awareness of obesity epidemic, or just for talking about nonsense for fun.

请勿干扰

网络成瘾是真实存在的一种可怕现象。像我一样，也许很多人会辩论说我从来不沉迷于网络游戏，也对网络上的虚假世界有辨识力和戒备心，但这些仅是网络成瘾表象的一部分。更深层次的影响存在于对网络的依赖性，比如时不时就要刷新下新闻、博客或社交网站之类的行为。再往外延伸，就可以触及到以网络为中心的生活方式，工作、娱乐和学习，我们每时每刻都和互联网在打交道。

各种感性的新闻报道和理性的科学研究都表明，现代人越发地孤独。在生活繁忙、生存压力大的现代社会，本来和亲人朋友相处交流的自由时间就被挤窄得所剩无几，大家还更倾向于在空闲时间独处以求清静，当然独处的时候一般都会以电脑为伴。这决不是个体选择的错误，而是时代文明进步而带来的理所当然的改变。只是这种改变让人略微心寒。

有时候觉得传统的生活方式未必毫无益处。 少点光鲜亮丽的刺激，多点深层本质的思考；少点追求迅捷的快餐文化，多点提炼沉淀的真材实料；少点图片，多点文字。要慢下来，静下来，才会发现生活的意义与荒谬。

选择一种生活方式，和其它任何选择一样，不是一件易事。避重就轻、取易舍难是内心强大惰性使然的结果。我不知道欲速则不达这句成语有没有对应的英文翻译，不过我老板经常告诫我的一句话是：Fast experiment is almost right。仔细想想，优质的成果好像都是经过漫长的磨练才得成的。

于是这样就产生了矛盾。内心愿望上的急于求成、正确理论上的脚踏实地和实际行动上的无动于衷相互冲突，导致宝贵的时间在踌躇焦虑犹豫中被浪费。我有时候希望人生是一条单线条，每天只专注于一件事，每件事有个严格的完成期限，人生就能在“被计划被安排”中充实有效率地度过。但这样的人生确是枯燥的，枯燥于不自由、没主见、没目标和真切的成就感。选择众多的人生纵然有趣，但其需要个人严格的自律和周全的规划。

说的这些废话，就当是给过去几个月的总结，同时也是对毕业前不多的几个月的提醒。提醒自己不要在耗磨时间的同时抱怨时间的紧迫。