Daily Forty-Niner; February 8, 2021

weekly digital print edition

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Vol. LXXII, Issue 19

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Monday, February 8, 2021

The Health and Wellness Special

2 SPECIAL

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Letter from the editor: When am I?

Opinions Assistant Jireh Deng Special Projects Assistant Giselle Alexandra Ormeno Photo Assistant Richard Grant Social Media Assistants Ashley Ramos Desiree Aguilera Dominique Hernandez Briet

By Peter Villafane Special Projects Editor

O

ften, I am plagued by the memories of toxic people.

I find myself fighting my past, ruminating over what I should’ve said and done, feeling everything as severely as when I first experienced it.

When I finally brought it up to my therapist, she simply said to think about this: “When am I right now?”

People sometimes find themselves mourning the past or fearing the future. I knew the importance of staying in the present, but I had never heard it put in a way that I could actively practice.

When am I right now? What can I see in the space around me? How am I in this moment?

It is this act of mindfulness and checking in with myself that I have been able to find pockets of peace in moments of chaos.

Of course, physical health is important, but it is imperative to remember to take care of our mental health as well. And it is imperative to talk about it and break the stigma that it’s a taboo topic.

This priority I’ve placed on mental health has saved my life, and that’s why it was important for me to address health holistically in this issue on wellness.

You’ll find stories that cover topics in several areas regarding health, and hopefully, this issue acts as a reminder to truly take care of yourself.

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Photo illustration by RICHARD GRANT | Daily Forty-Niner

Zoom fatigue has increased as the coronavirus pandemic keeps students at home.

Side effects of Zoom Students say they are struggling with engagement in classes due to a lack of motivation caused by virtual learning.

By Jahir Olvera Staff Writer

F

or almost a year now, the majority of students at Long Beach State have been receiving most of their schooling through Zoom, and many say they struggle to maintain engagement with their classes.

Zoom fatigue is the feeling of burnout that results from spending extensive amounts of time on video calls. A lack of human connection, delay in audio or internet and the pandemic contribute to this feeling.

“The main thing that I feel is missing from online class is definitely the social interactions that face-to-face learning provides,” said second-year molecular cell biology major Louie Calzado. “I miss being able to laugh and joke with my friends right before lecture starts, but nowadays people just have their cameras off and never talk.”

Students are spending several hours a day staring at screens and lack that social interaction which they say results in feeling burnt out by the end of the day.

“When it comes to interaction between students, it feels forced,” said first-year biology major Sean Tyler Lim. “If it were in person it would feel more natural. But online, you feel like you are required to speak or participate.”

When students turn off their cameras in Zoom meetings, others tend to follow and do the same. Lim said that when you see others turn off their cameras, you begin to feel self-conscious and don’t want to be the only one with it on.

“It definitely contributes to feeling burnt out because it feels

awkward to be the odd one out,” Lim said. “For me personally, if I don’t see myself on screen engaging in class, I don’t really register the fact that I am not invested in what’s going on.”

A research study conducted

by Laurence Conty and Guillaume Dezecache found that a large majority of communication is nonverbal and unconscious, such as body posture and other social cues. Lacking that factor, people have to compensate with additional cognitive and emotional effort to stay engaged, which results in fatigue.

To overcome Zoom fatigue, Calzado goes offline to do other activities.

“One thing that I do to overcome Zoom burnout is I actually

go outside,” Calzado said. “Stepping out of the house to get a change of pace after staring at the screen for hours at a time is very beneficial for me.”

Vicente Torrijos, third-year literature major, is on Zoom from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. every weekday. Torrijos only has a couple hour-long breaks in between his live Zoom classes. In a week, he spends between 18 and 20 hours on Zoom.

In addition to being on Zoom for school, since he is a supervisor at Starbucks, Torrijos also attends online meetings. Outside of school and work he attends casual Zoom meetings to catch up with friends.

For Torrijos, going to school online and attending Zooms has

“For me personally, if I don’t see myself on screen engaging in class, I don’t really register the fact that I am not invested in what’s going on.”

– Sean Tyler Lim, first-year biology major

made the education experience much harder than it was in person. He said he felt confident going into the first fully online semester, but once it started he found that it was harder than he thought.

The issues with online school were already hard for Torrijos, whose space at home is not conducive to learning, but Zoom has exacerbated these issues.

Torrijos said he feels relieved when a Zoom class ends and he has time before his next class.

“I just let out a big sigh and I stretch,” Torrijos said. “And I’m just like, ‘OK, I’m good for another, maybe, hour or two.’”

Torrijos said while he is still on his laptop in between Zoom sessions, he is not necessarily burdened by the screen time.

“It’s the whole process of going through Zoom to get my education and to get the lectures that I would normally get at school,” Torrijos said. “That’s the tricky part. I can be on my laptop all day doing the things that I love. I can be writing, photo editing—anything that isn’t Zoom—and I can be fine.”

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Photo illustration by ANDREA RAMOS | Daily Forty-Niner

Different forms of contraceptives are available for those who need them at locations such as Planned Parenthood or Student Health Services at Long Beach State.

Defining reproductive rights Resources are available for those who need access to them.

By Xochilt Andrade Arts and Life Assistant Editor

A

lthough a massive step forward in a progressive direction, Roe v. Wade did not begin or end the fight for reproductive rights.

The passing of the 1973 Supreme Court decision established women’s legality to have an abortion under the protection of the Constitution as precedent.

The topic of reproductive rights remains hotly debated among political groups and the public.

Reproductive rights, per the Merriam Webster definition, are the rights a woman has to decide whether or not to have a child.

Organizations throughout the nation have made it their mission to ensure these rights are not infringed upon by those in political authority.

“We envision a world where every person participates with dignity as an equal member of society, regardless of gender,” states The Center for Reproductive Rights’ mission page. “Where every woman is free

to decide whether or when to have children and whether to get married; where access to quality reproductive health care is guaranteed; and where every woman can make these decisions free from coercion or discrimination.”

The Center for Reproductive Rights, the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League and Planned Parenthood are organizations that have spearheaded reproductive health protection.

As early as the 20th century, women have made notable motions towards gaining their reproductive health care rights.

According to the Planned Parenthood site, Margaret Sanger, the founder of the nonprofit, established the first birth control clinic in 1916. However, within a week she was arrested and had her clinic shut down.

Her first attempt in providing reproductive health care resulted in a months-worth of jail time, but her endeavor drew much attention to her trail-blazing cause.

According to a FindLaw article focusing on reproductive rights, before 1965, “Comstock Laws” were set in place preventing the sale or distribution of information regarding contraceptives and birth control.

When Griswold v. Connecticut passed, married couples gained their rights to access contraceptives and this information.

Years later, the same access was opened up to single women.

Today, Sanger’s first criminal clinic lives on as Planned Parenthood, which serves communities nationwide in areas not only to do with female contraception but also in services such as cancer screenings and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections for all genders.

“The mission of Planned Parenthood is to provide comprehensive reproductive and complementary health care services in settings which preserve and protect the essential privacy and rights of each individual,” the Planned Parenthood mission statement says.

However, regardless of its other reproductive health services, Planned Parenthood has been a target for anti-abortion organizations.

Planned Parenthood provides free enrollment to FamilyPlanning, Access, Care, Treatment, a California state-funded program for low-income individuals who may or may not have health insuranc3. Still, their insurance does not cover all family-planning services such as birth control.

Planned Parenthood also provides confidentiality of reproductive health services to minors and adults who share their insurance plans with family members whom

they’d prefer not to disclose their information.

“Say, the student is under 18,” said Long Beach State registered nurse Tressa McCullough. “If they were coming here for medical services, they would need consent from their parents unless it is reproductive health services.”

McCullough states that the university provides college students with different types of birth control pills and condoms at Student Health Services. They are free for those enrolled in Family PACT. Other contraceptive methods offered include the once-a-month Depo-Provera injection, the NuvaRing vaginal ring, the Nexplanon implant and two different types of IUDs. A gynecologist is on staff three days out of the week at their site.

“They don’t have to have their parents’ permission to get birth control or have STI testing,” McCullough said. “There is, you know, HIPAA laws in place so their medical records are confidential.”

For more information on how you can access reproductive health care, contact your primary medical provider, or a Planned Parenthood near you.

6 SPECIAL

When self-love becomes a career

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2021 | DAILY49ER.CO

Three model share thei story on how modelin has helpe them love an appreciat their bodies

BY NIKKI NELSE

PHOTOS COURTESY OF CARLEEN CRUZ, DEVOGUE JOHNSON AND

Clockwise from above: Carleen Cruz, Devogue Johnson and Kim Holmes are models who focus on self-love and sppreciating their bodies.

OM | @DAILY49ER | STAFF@DAILY49ER.COM

ls ir w ng ed nd te s.

EN

D KIM HOLMES

C

arleen Cruz dreamt of being a Victoria’s Secret model, watching the thin and beautiful angels strutting the runway on her TV in the seventh grade.

But she did not fit the mold, being curvier and more voluptuous.

She recalls being reminded of that reality when she shared what she wanted to be with her Spanish teacher in class, and every one of her classmates laughed.

“They kind of discouraged me, but more so, it made me feel like, ‘I’m going to do this,’” Cruz said, wiping a tear away from her glittery eyelids. “I’m not going to let people’s opinions, just because I’m overweight discourage me.”

Cruz, a Compton resident, has been a victim of body shaming but has learned to overcome it.

Dreaming of one day being thin and beautiful so she could be a VS model, it took her time to accept her body for the way it was.

The fashion industry defines plus-sized and curvy women as anyone proportioned larger than a size 4 or 6. In contrast, the retail industry determines plus-sized starting at size 14. Today, the plus-sized American woman averages between sizes 16 to 18.

Plus-size models are, however, becoming more accepted in high fashion, with Versace, Victoria’s Secret and Rihanna’s SavageXFenty lines featuring models with more diverse body types.

Because of her petite stature, Kim Holmes, a Pasadena resident and model, also battles with her own self-image, being different.

“In certain clothing industries, [models] have to be tall, skinny, blonde, blue eyes,’” Holmes said. “And I’m not any of those things.

I’m a small little Mexican girl. Being the opposite, I’m going after those industries to be like, ‘Hey, I’m different.’”

Holmes got her start after a bad breakup in 2020, and she used modeling to increase her self worth and to learn to love herself again.

“I just did it as a distraction, and it turned out to be something more,” Holmes said. “I didn’t think it’d be something that I’d be kind of good at.”

Holmes hopes to keep improving and strives to one day be a model full-time.

Devogue Johnson, a Long Beach resident, animal behaviorist and model, embraces her body as a way to overcome sexual assault.

Bullied for being a tomboy, she had trouble accepting that she can be feminine and beautiful.

“It took a while for me to understand it’s okay to be feminine because for so long, a girl was used as [meaning] you’re weak and you’re less,” Johnson said. “Now it’s girl power.”

Starting her career in the special effects body art industry five years ago and moving into high-fashion and implied nude, Johnson has grown as a model who often tries to spice up her photoshoots, trying wild outfits and poses.

While thriving on Instagram, she hopes to be a positive image for other models and advocate for sexual assault victims.

Cruz had an abusive boyfriend who told her that she was not good enough and criticized her size and held her back from experiencing life.

“I was embarrassed and ashamed that he was abusing me physically and emotionally and mentally,” Cruz said. “But one day, I knew I was already ready to leave him.”

Following her breakup, she said she started growing as a person, developing stable relationships and finding her own hobbies.

She found an appreciation for her curvy shape and her modeling career came soon after.

While getting to live out her childhood dream as a model, Cruz continues to do the work because of all of the positive feedback she has received. This led her to dedicate her Instagram page to body positivity.

“A few women reached out to me, and they would tell me ‘You’re an inspiration,’” Cruz said. “‘Because of you, I’m able to wear that bathing suit on vacation that I never thought I wouldn’t be able to wear,’ and that’s what keeps me going. I want to be a positive influence for the girls who love to eat and enjoy eating.”

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GET INVOLVED! Club Sports & Recreation groups are ready for you. With virtual workouts, trainings and other activities, many of our student-led sports, dance and recreational groups have continued to thrive.

Intercollegiate Competitive | Water Sports | Dance | Martial Arts | Esports and Gaming

To find a club that peaks your interest, log on to BeachSync and search for Club Sports, or reach out to us at: clubsports@csulb.edu

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“Some people have gone into the pandemic and really focused on being super healthy, and maybe that’s their coping mechanism and that is wonderful for those people... but that is not how everyone is coping.”

– Rachel BLaine, director of the undergraduate nutrition program

‘Quarantine 15’: the new ‘freshman 15’ Many individuals are gaining weight during the pandemic, but health experts say it may not be as big of a deal as some think.

By Victoria Lopez Staff Writer

N

ext month will mark one year since the first lockdown was issued in California.

Masks, sold-out hand sanitizer and toilet paper and plastic sheeting at grocery stores have all been markers of the lockdown. Closer to home, however, the newest identifier of the side effects of the coronavirus pandemic has become known as the “quarantine 15.”

A play on the phrase “freshman 15” which refers to the weight gain college freshmen incur within their first year at university, the “quarantine 15” points to the pounds many are adding in the face of the raging pandemic.

Rachel Blaine, director of the undergraduate nutrition program at Long Beach State, attributes the pandemic weight gain to stress and accessibility to online food services.

“Eating a lot more food from restaurants tends to be higher in calories,” Blaine said. “So, if you combine being a little less active, and eating more than you normally would, then yeah, that does result in weight gain.”

Blaine said stress also impacts the body, which can ultimately

lead to weight gain. She said if a person is constantly stressed, their sleeping patterns are affected, which can lead to a change in appetite and how the body holds onto weight, resulting in an increase in pounds.

However, Blaine said weight gain is nothing to beat yourself up about because it’s natural for bodies to fluctuate in weight.

“We’re all in this,” Blaine said.

“We’re all processing it differently. Some people have gone into the pandemic and really focused on being super healthy, and maybe that’s their coping mechanism and that is wonderful for those people. But that is not how everyone is coping.”

Blaine encourages those feeling down about their weight gain

to look for hashtags and social media pages promoting body positivity and intuitive eating.

Virginia Gray, a professor in the nutrition department, said some factors may serve as barriers to healthy eating. These include limited time, resources and access to healthy foods, taste preferences, stress, social factors, environmental factors, such as the cost of healthy foods, easy access to junk food and media influences.

“When you are young, you take your health for granted, leading, to less conscious eating compared to other age groups,” said Nataly Kepes, a professor in the consumer affairs department.

Kepes said that everyone should try to stay physically active at all times. She said good alter-

natives to the gym are daily fast walking, jogging, hiking, lightweight training and yoga.

“In a time marked by stress and anxiety, look for ways to manage emotions without food,” Gray said.

She recommends getting plenty of sleep and finding ways of being active that you enjoy, such as walking while listening to your favorite podcast. She said her favorite activity is visiting the beach and watching the sunset.

“It’s amazing to me that something that has happened every day throughout history still commands us to stop and watch,” Gray said. “And in the era of COVID-19, pausing for a moment of mindfulness can go a long way.”

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Sleep like your life depends on it Research has proven that proper rest can save your life.

By Cindy Aguilera Staff Writer

T

here is no doubt that sleep is essential to our health and well being, so why is it most students have

trouble sleeping?

A study from the National Institute of Health showed up to 60% of college students suffer from poor sleep quality and about 8% have insomnia symptoms.

You would think hours of studying and toiling over schoolwork would put most in a heavy slumber, but it might be your busy schedule that prevents you from sleeping. The same study showed shorter sleep duration and irregular sleep routines could significantly lower your grades and overall motivation.

According to Health Gov online, a good night’s sleep, which for adults should be six to eight hours a night, can lower your risk for serious health problems as well as reduce stress. The side effects of not sleeping enough for a prolonged time are catastrophic.

A Healthline article explains that memory issues, high blood

Photo illustration by RICHARD GRANT | Daily Forty-Niner

Maythe Alderete Gonzalez starts falling alseep while on her computer after a day full of Zoom classes.

pressure and trouble concentrating are just some side effects of not sleeping well. Not only are

there long-term risks, but short term as well.

Have you ever fallen asleep

Let’s Tiktok about it Social media apps have created safe spaces for users to normalize discussions surrounding mental health.

Photo illustration by ANDREA RAMOS | Daily Forty-Niner

Within recent months, TikTok has become one of the most popular social media platforms.

just to be awakened a few hours later just to realize it is 3 a.m.?

Well, there is an explanation

By Sofia Parker Staff Writer

T

ikTok, the trendiest new app among social media users, is well-known for its viral dances and do-it-yourself videos.

Lately, it’s also become a place for very open discussions about mental health.

Mackenzie Tabaldo, better known to her more than 680,000 TikTok followers as “meowkenzie,” is very familiar with this side of the app. While Tabaldo’s feed contains makeup tutorials and clothing hauls, much of her content is dedicated to shedding light on mental illness.

“The benefit of talking about mental health on social media is letting people know that the things they struggle with aren’t just unique to them,” Tabaldo said. “If I can help people identify things that they go through, and encourage them to get help about things they can’t necessarily identify alone, that can really help people get the mental health care that they need.”

Tabaldo has also personally benefited from the open discussion taking place on social media about mental health. Before becoming active on TikTok, Tabaldo had been diagnosed with major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and somatic symptom disorder.

However, after seeing content on TikTok about living with obsessive compulsive disorder, Tabaldo felt that she could relate to much of the information shared. After an in-depth discussion with her therapist, Tabaldo was also diagnosed with OCD. Influencers are not the only TikTok users involved in this trend. A rising number of therapists, psychologists and counselors are also

for that. And no, it’s not the nun from “The Conjuring” pulling on your foot, there is actually a scientific explanation.

According to Healthline, stress is one of the main reasons people wake up in the middle of the night. Also, waking up and looking at the clock can further instigate your anxiety.

There are many ways to ensure you have good sleep hygiene.

One way to ensure you fall asleep and stay asleep is to set a bedtime routine. This time should be for you to unwind. Read a book or magazine, listen to calming music or take a warm bath.

All these activities, in addition to avoiding bright screens and lights, can relax your body and get you in a sleeping mood.

Regular exercise helps decrease insomnia as well and has similar effects to sleeping pills.

Working out and going to sleep is extremely effective. During your sleep, your pituitary gland releases a growth hormone that is responsible for repairing and building tissue.

Most adults will experience sleeping trouble at some point in their lives.

What matters is that when sleeping problems arise, there are ways to help overcome them.

Sleep is important, and it is a time where your body resets and prepares you for the next day.

Don’t take it for granted, your body will thank you.

using the social media platform to spread information about mental health and mental illness.

Justin Puder is a therapist and licensed psychologist who shares mental health advice with about 180,000 followers through his TikTok account, “amoderntherapist.”

According to Puder, discussing mental health on social media is an important step toward normalizing struggles with mental illness.

“TikTok has a very open community where discussions about mental health flow easily and help to break stigma,” Puder said. “We need people out there sharing their story and being vulnerable about their mental health. There is no way we will progress as a society if this falls only on mental health professionals.”

TikTok has created a community and a source of general information for those with mental illnesses.

However, it is important to avoid using the app as a tool to self-diagnose a possible mental illness, according to Amanda Trama, a clinical counselor with Long Beach State’s Counseling and Psychological Services. Trama said reaching out to a professional is the best way to receive help in a time of need.

Trama said that CAPS is a great, free resource for any CSULB student in need of mental health care. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, CAPS is currently offering virtual appointments with their staff of licensed mental health professionals.

“It is important to reach out for professional help because these individuals have been trained to identify, explore and treat certain aspects of mental health that others may not be aware of,” Trama said. “Using friends, family, social media and other forms of support are excellent ways of coping, but are not advised to replace professional therapeutic support.”

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12 SPECIAL

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Still not there, but getting closer Mental health isn’t often discussed in Latinx families, so I took it upon myself to make it a priority.

I

By Giselle Ormeno Assistant Special Projects Editor

was 16 years old when I had my first anxiety attack in public during my church’s youth service. I had experienced anxiety attacks before, but by myself in my room. Every time I inhaled, I felt I wasn’t getting enough air in my lungs. My hands started to feel clammy as I realized that I couldn’t focus on what my youth pastor was saying.

Eventually, my friend noticed that I wasn’t okay and they helped me get outside. It took a while for me to feel better, but I didn’t go back inside, even after I told my friend that I would. Instead, I called my mom and told her to pick me up.

When my mom asked me why she was picking me up early, I told her I felt tired and wanted to go to bed, which wasn’t a lie.

I did feel tired. But, I didn’t tell my mom that I was ashamed and embarrassed that I had an anxiety attack.

Being a part of the Latinx community, talking about mental health issues such as anxiety or depression isn’t a common thing.

It’s not a part of our culture. The words “mental health” don’t exist in the vocabulary of many Latinx families.

The phrase “out of sight, out of mind” is sadly something that is religiously practiced in the Latinx communities. It’s still a massive stigma to be open about your mental health.

There have been many traumatic events both sides of my family have experienced that have left them dealing with mental health issues for a long time. Instead of dealing with the trauma and hurt, they bury them away and ignore it.

The Anxiety and Depression Associate of America stated that in some cases, many Latinx folks can cope with mental health issues by seeking advice from friends, family members or spiritual advisers and may not seek help from mental health professionals.

This is currently the constant struggle between the younger generations and the older ones regarding this specific topic in the Latinx communities.

When young people speak up about their mental health struggles, they are immediately shut down or openly judged by their families. So, it’s not worth bringing up in some cases because dealing with the aftermath is too much.

Over time, the anxiety attacks stopped, but at 17, I went through a severe health crisis during my senior year of high school that changed my entire life.

Since I dealt with my anxiety in secret as a teenager without my parents suspecting anything, I thought I could get away with experiencing depression on my own.

I stopped caring about everything in my life and fell into a severe state of depression for several years. Anxiety took a backseat, but depression took hold of my life. I felt everyone around me, my friends, my family were moving on with their lives and I wasn’t. I felt stuck in this toxic cocktail of emotions I couldn’t escape.

I’m still not there, where I feel 100% that I’ve conquered my depression and anxiety, and I don’t know if I will.

But I can say without a doubt that I’m done feeling ashamed or fearful of being judged for speaking up about my mental health.

Photos courtesy of GISELLE ORMENO | Daily Forty-Niner

From top to bottom: Giselle Ormeno and her parents, Marco Ormeno and Ofelia Sanchez, during a Halloween festival in 2001. Giselle Ormeno is now a student at Long Beach State.

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From donuts to downward dog Learning how to respond to the changes of the body in the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

Photo courtesy of KELSEY BROWN

Kelsey Brown playing soccer on her high school team.

By Kelsey Brown Opinions Editor

A

s a kid I routinely binged on four donuts for breakfast, which was balanced out by a youthful metabolism and a day structured by team exercise.

Growing up, my parents had always insisted that I was involved in some group activity, so senior year when I decided to quit playing competitive soccer after nearly my entire life, there was a huge shift.

Prior to this, I never had to think about my health. It was something I took for granted and came with an ease I thought would last a lifetime.

At the time, I was so burnt out from three practices a week and tournaments on the weekend that I didn’t exercise at all. To try and stay healthy, I barely ate. I remember senior year I’d ignore my stomach pains and wait as long as I could to eat, spending most of my time at school drained of energy because my body lacked nutrients. It helped me stay thin, but it was harming my mental health as a result.

Eventually I realized that what I was doing wasn’t healthy, and being skinny wasn’t worth starving myself.

Though healthy exercise was implemented into my routines for most of my life, I really had no understanding of what it meant to be healthy. To me, being healthy was being skinny, a misconception many hold, and a privilege I experienced with my five-foot eleven-inch stature and busy schedule.

I had no real understanding on why exercise was important, why eating healthy mattered, and why all these unhealthy coping mechanisms were damaging not only to my physical health, but my mental health as well.

It’s impossible to understand your health by forgoing one or the other. Health is a codependent relationship of the physical and mental, and in order to have good health you must care for both.

For a long time after I quit soccer, I didn’t exercise at all.

I didn’t care enough about my body and myself to invest that energy into my health. It wasn’t until I got older and started having true appreciation for my body, and realizations that the health from my youth fading, that I began understanding the importance of exercise.

Still, it isn’t easy. Knowing you have to exercise and doing it are two different things, and if you’ve made a habit out of not exercising it can seem so out of character and foreign to put on running shoes and go run a mile.

The important part of exercising

is finding some form of exercise that feels good to you. Not everyone likes to run, not everyone likes yoga. You may realize you hate jogging and instead start swimming laps.

When I first started caring about my health I thought there were rigid rules about being healthy, but there aren’t. You don’t have to work your way up to running five miles a day or do sit ups until you have a six-pack.

You don’t have to drink protein shakes and nibble on carrots.

Health isn’t one dimensional, there isn’t one way to do it, or even a right way. Having good health means listening to your body, and responding accordingly.

For me, I’m grateful to have found exercise that doesn’t feel like it to me. My favorite being roller skating—a pastime I can spend hours doing without even realizing the calories I’m burning.

A little over a year ago I began consistently practicing yoga, an exercise I had discarded years ago. It was too slow for me, too boring. It wasn’t until I found the app Downward Dog, which allows you to personalize the length and focus of your workout, that I realized I loved yoga. In a year I’ve transformed from someone who could barely bend past her knees, to someone who can almost lay her palms flat on the floor. Yoga’s also helped expand my patience, and in turn my mental health. I

realize the power of focusing on my breath and have learned to appreciate quiet moments.

And though I hate running, lately I find myself lacing up my shoes and running around when the morning is still cool. The first few times I’d come home, panting like a dog laid out in the summer sun, and declare, “I hate running.” But I kept going out, not because I have some new sparked passion for running, but because it’s reminded of that feeling of pushing yourself to exhaustion that I only got from coaches yelling at me on the field. It’s a feeling I used to dread, that is now missed.

The most important part of my health journey through transitioning from adolescence to adulthood has been the importance of my mental health. We all tend to be harder on ourselves than the world is. We all are able to look in the mirror and quickly identify faults that others may never notice. It’s important to remember to be kind to your body above all—whether that be by making sure it had adequate food to sustain itself, or by creating a dialogue with your body that is compassionate instead of condemning.

It’s okay to gain weight. In quarantine, the comforting fact is that most of us have. It’s healthy and normal to not fit into the same size pants that you did in high school. It’s normal that your

Most importantly though, remember your worth never derives from your body.

body weight fluctuates. Most importantly though, remember your worth never derives from your body.

Personally, I never check my weight on a scale. For a long time I was hyper-focused on a number that I wanted to be. In high school I’d dreamed of being a Victoria’s Secret Angel, and looked up the models’ weights. I’d have to get down to 135 pounds.

Now I’m somewhere around 160 pounds. I couldn’t tell you the exact number because I don’t know. And I don’t care. I can look in the mirror and judge if I’ve been overeating or not, and adjust accordingly.

But honestly, with my gained weight I love how my thighs have filled out, converging between my legs annihilating the thigh gap I used to strive for. I love how my full body shows that I’m healthy.

I love how the food I eat energizes me. I love feeling comfortable in my body and not being concerned on a number that means nothing in reality.

As we have discussions about health it’s imperative to have an approach that is kind to ourselves. Health is a struggle, it can be a battle, but really it’s a journey. There are ups and downs. Days when you feel so accomplished and others where you feel like you’re at ground zero. Keep on.

Don’t get fixated on what other people are doing, or what weight you need to get down to.

Our body isn’t some object of vanity to be picked and prodded, but an extension of ourselves to be honored and cared for. Don’t deny it food because you’re trying to lose weight, or do a rigorous exercise when it’s tired.

Learn to listen to your body.

Become in tune with your mental and physical health, and respond with love.

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2021 | DAILY49ER.COM | @DAILY49ER | STAFF@DAILY49ER.COM-

Dear white women, stop appropriating my culture for your wellness The health industry continues to orientalize and exoticize the East.

By Jireh Deng Assistant Opinions Editor

T

Content warning: Themes of sexual nature.

his opinion originally began as a more wholesome and insightful look at what it means to have holistic health even as we strive to be productive beings in a capitalist society.

But on a fateful evening this week, I saw Diet Prada’s newest post calling out a new music video called “Kung Fu Vagina.” I was at first amused. White women had done it again: created a horrific piece of “art” that perpetuated stereotypes while being, of course, culturally and historically incorrect.

But my humor quickly evolved to horror as I looked up the perpetrators on Instagram, two white Australian women Kim Amani and Shae-Lee Raven.

Hundreds of comments gushed about the recent video on YouTube being “hilarious” and “creative.” I was sick to my stomach.

The jade eggs they were promoting for vaginal health also don’t exist as an “ancient Taoist art,” as they claim. I’ve heard nothing of this in Chinese culture and attempts to try and find archeological evidence of jade eggs being used for female sexual libido reveal they don’t exist in history.

So basically, white people appropriated Chinese culture to make up a fake history of a product they wanted to sell.

As someone in the comments of Diet Prada says best, “What in the Gwyenth Paltrow?”

But supposing that we give Kim Amani, a “sexpert,” the benefit of the doubt that she wasn’t aware that jade eggs were a recent invention, there are still problematic tropes in the music video.

The title scene opens with the distinct “Wonton font” which has been criticized for how it parodies the brush of Chinese characters

A screenshot taken from Kim Anami’s YouTube video “Kung Fu Vagina.”

to convey a sense of foreignness.

Eagle-eyed viewers pointed out that an opening scene showed a white woman wearing a kimono, a mix-up between Japanese and Chinese attire which honestly is the least of transgressions in this video.

Each scene is flooded with red lights, red backgrounds, red lanterns and red screens. It’s a cheap effort to attempt authenticity with white people assuming garb and aesthetic is all about the color red because it’s considered lucky in Chinese culture.

Then of course are multiple scenes where people mime out fighting poses and an Asian woman holds up a wooden block and breaks it, demonstrating the common knowledge that all East Asian people know martial arts.

The music is at best elementary, and at worst grating to the ears. A sound loop of twangy harp music attempts to authenticate what these white women assume is how Chinese music sounds. For your information, it’s the GuZheng or a Chinese zither, that’s heard a lot in Chinese music, a beautiful instrument that is also practiced by people I know.

It’s perhaps no surprise that of all cultures to appropriate it would be most lucrative to fully delve into existing stereotypes about the desirability and sexual promiscuity and timidness of East Asian women. Jade eggs must be the secret to why men have “yellow fever” or a fetish for submissive and quiet Asian women. They have vaginas that honey trap white men and white women need to learn this too.

At first, I had thought how privileged I was that my discrimination and marginalization was just a poorly directed and lazily researched tacky music video about sexual health. Most people can’t say the same about the other harmful stereotypes that abound of their culture or their ethnic heritage.

Then I paused, to think back to all the anti-Chinese sentiments that had fermented during the pandemic. The increase in hatecrimes directed towards Asians as a whole had increased suddenly as people were angry about the virus and looking to scapegoat a group.

And this isn’t the first time it’s happened when we remember

that in the 1980s, Vincent Chin, a Chinese American man, was murdered in Detroit during the rising tensions of the American auto working industry towards Japan that was taking away business.

We aren’t just talking about an innocent mistake. These two women have yet to apologize for their behavior and judging from the censoring of their social media, they’re waiting out the cancel culture frenzy to resume business as usual.

I don’t think canceling is the solution here. Instead, I want us to think about the larger context of how the West continues to orientalize the East and perpetuate stereotypes in media. When we consider how the United States continues a tradition of imperialization through its colonies, we are forced to confront the truth that we have not come very far from thinking of other societies and cultures as backward and in need of our “help.”

Stereotypes also make it that much easier to create caricatures of people, to dehumanize and blame them when it’s politically convenient.

And appropriation runs deep

within the wellness industry.

Don’t even get me started on the white-washing of yoga. Other South Asian writers have written about this online. One can also argue that the history of wellness and security of white people, specifically in America, is rooted in harm toward Black, Indigenous and other communities of color: slavery, settler colonialism and convoluted ideas about “manifest destiny.”

We also cannot ignore the classist issue of wellness where these fabricated “jade eggs” are sold online by Goop for a whopping $66 to buy your way to sexual pleasure. Forget the yoni egg.

Who is allowed access to mental health resources, health insurance for that matter? Certainly, these are givens for those who simply have the disposable income to drop on a luxury product.

So white women, I’m not interested in hearing your “enlightened” journey to wellness and health until you address your complicity in racism and discrimination.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2021 | DAILY49ER.COM | @DAILY49ER | STAFF@DAILY49ER.COM

Working out from home Exercising during a pandemic doesn’t require a gym membership as newly accessible online fitness regimes begin to flourish.

By Kate Michel Staff Writer

T

he start of the pandemic meant that lifestyles had to face abrupt changes.

It was early on in the lockdown when gyms began to close and around-the-clock gear became unavailable.

The new challenge for many was discovering how to maintain a healthy lifestyle, at home, with little-to-no equipment or knowledge.

“One of my goals was to target people who really needed it, as in people who felt unmotivated because there weren’t any gyms,” said Ashlee Ramdan, second-year undeclared student and social media fitness influencer.

Ramdan’s career on social media began about a year ago when California faced its first COVID-19 cases. She began to share her fitness journey and the exercises that helped her in achieving a healthier lifestyle.

Since then, her following has steadily increased and she now has more than 82,000 followers on Instagram and 331,000 followers on TikTok. She believes what sets her apart from other fitness influencers is her ability to communicate with her followers and relate to them on a deeper level, treating them like family.

She said her success comes from posting workouts that are accessible for people who don’t go out to exercise.

“All of my workouts are home-based and not a lot of people do that,” Ramdan said. “It’s mostly the gym. I didn’t think it was going to get this big. It’s so crazy to me, but it’s happening.”

Ramdan hopes to expand her brand, AshleeRamdanFit, in 2021. Her goal is to reach 100,000 followers on Instagram and build a bigger connection with her fans.

“She is funny and dorky, and I think everyone is just attracted to her and they can relate to her struggles and it’s honestly so heart warming,” said Eric Vasquez, Ramdan’s boyfriend. “I’m team Ashlee. When we started talking I actually bought a waist trainer from her. I didn’t get it until just a couple of weeks ago.”

Many individuals sought out to pursue healthier lifestyles in 2020, but with regulations continuously changing and gyms closing, they needed to look elsewhere for help and guidance.

“I didn’t start working out for myself until college,” said Eyja Groome, second-year journalism major. “When the gyms were open I used to go at night time but obviously gyms aren’t open so I can’t go.”

Groome then transitioned from gym to at-home workouts while still going to work and school.

“I try to do it in between classes,” Groome said. “I get my workouts from YouTube. They’re pretty effective. They’re not too hard, and they’re 10 minutes so they’re easy to fit into my life and they’re individual workouts so if I don’t have a lot of time I can choose one or the other.”

Groome said she thinks online workouts have gained popularity since the beginning of lockdown because they are easier to introduce into people’s lifestyles.

“I think that right now, online workouts are the most accessible for younger generations that don’t have money for expensive workout equipment,” Groome said.

The pandemic has changed Groome’s mindset regarding her health and wellbeing.

“I feel like I need to start looking at working out not as a bad thing,” Groome said. “I need to see working out as something I am excited to do and not as a punishment.”

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