Queen V

As you probably already know, obesity is a huge health problem here in the U.S-more than a third of adults are obese- meaning they have a BMI of over 30 and 20% more body fat than normal. (A normal BMI is 18.5-24.9).  My main duties as a research assistant are to recruit, screen, enroll, and assess participants for a weight loss study. We recruit patients from health centers who meet certain criteria, the main one being that they have a BMI that falls in the 30-45 (obese) range. There are many people that view obesity as a problem of laziness or a lack of self control in diet and exercise. To be honest in the past I have had those same thoughts. However I have learned- especially from interacting with many people dealing with obesity- that other factors such as the social determinants of health greatly influence obesity so we shouldn't be so quick to judge. To a certain extent we as individuals can control what we eat, how much we eat, and how active we are. However many differ

Thought I would use my sick day off work for something useful so here it goes! Macklemore  & Ryan Lewis won best rap album, rap song, and rap performance at the 2014 Grammys. There are many people both famous and in the general public that don't think they should have won all or some of these categories- just do a quick google search or twitter search and you'll see all the backlash. I have listened to all of the albums  nominated for rap album multiple times, and have seen all of these artists live in concert (Jay-Z, Yeezy, and Drake before their  latest albums). Are Macklemore and Ryan Lewis a talented hip hop duo?- Yes. But is The Heist as good of an album or better than Good Kid Maad City or Yeezus?- No. Although I  really enjoyed Drake's 'Nothing was the Same' I do see how it  beat that album out, and The Heist was arguably better than Magna Carta Holy Grail (Although Jay-Z is  one of my favorite  hip-hop artists I am not a huge fan of that album).  Aga

You know when you get back into a song that you forgot about for awhile? Here are my 'lost songs' for today. Enjoy!   Not Going Back (Childish Gambino ft. Beldina Malaika) 100 (Big Sean ft. Kendrick Lamar & Royce Da 5'9) Problems (J Cole)

A bit different from my usual stream of posts, but BEYONCE. If you know me even the slightest you know that I am her number 1 fan (A title that I'm sure 10 million other people in this world claim). But there's one thing that should be clear. I don't think Beyonce is the best person ever. I don't think she's the smartest person ever. But Beyonce is the best at what she does and the smartest at what she does- performing, singing, expressing herself as an artist. I'm aware that what I and the rest of the world see is not just the work of Beyonce. It's the work of Beyonce and her team. Her producers, writers, glam squad, the list goes on. She's a grown woman, and she does whatever she wants. And that is why I love Beyonce, in a snippet. On another note, I am finally going to make this blog public, and link it to one of my social media accounts, so enjoy world (and by world I mean the 4 people that will actually read this!). I love you like XO, Ve

After over a year of waiting filled with both excitement and frustration among many other feelings, I finally found out in October that I got invited to be a Peace Corps Community Health Volunteer in Rwanda, departing in June!  I'll be abroad from  June 2014 to August 2016. Now that I am less than 5 months away from my departure date I am getting more excited (and nervous) about leaving. So many medical and logistical things to get done in the next few months, but luckily current and returned volunteers have been very helpful in advising those of us departing in the next few months. When I received my placement call in October I was given the choice between Uganda and Rwanda. I have an Aunt and Uncle that live in Kenya and have worked in both of those countries, so from their advice and my parents' insight I decided that Rwanda was the best fit for me, especially for my specific job interests. I'll be working at a health center (location TBD during training in the first 3