Currently: Writing and reading. My 2 favorite hobbies, next to eating and people watching.
Thoughts: I both fear and admire the darkness. It’s ‘the unknown’ in physical form. I fear the unknown, but embrace it by default… This is my source of creativity. With that being said, long live late nights (& tragic poems).
Obsession: My daily dilemma, expressed in a 3 & a half minute dose of Kanye.
Nox
Good afternoon lovelies. I’m so happy right now, because after a long night of binge eating (on less than healthy snacks), I woke up with clearer, smoother, skin! I was really dreading looking in the mirror, at what I thought would be my face full of fresh zits, but to my surprise, there were none in sight, and in fact, my skin has actually cleared significantly today. Above, is a photo of my cheek today (excuse the stars, lol). I don’t have a ‘before’ picture for comparison, but if you could see the before, you’d know my results are pretty phenomenal. My skin is less red and smoother, with tinier pimples and pores. I’ll be speaking more on my skin, in a future post. The Story: I was in a crappy mood yesterday, and ate fried rice & sweet potato chips all day… *FYI gorging yourself with carbs, fat, & salt, is not a good combo for anyone’s skin*. I didn’t wash my face yesterday morning, I didn’t workout, and I basically cuddled with my Netflix account from morning till 2AM. For those of you who haven’t already read my ‘About’ page, I do have oily, acne-prone skin, and one of my biggest skin antagonists is FOOD. If I eat horribly one day, I can usually expect to see rougher, broken-out, duller, skin the next. As you can see, my diet yesterday was shitty, and I basically broke every rule in the ‘healthy living’ bible.
The Solution: Now, you may be wondering just how I managed to fend off the acne minions from striking again, and the honest truth is WATER (along with a product or 2). Sometime around mid day yesterday, I decided to attempt to drink 3 Liters of water (my daily water goal). I figured if I was going to sleep and eat all day, I might as well try to assist my body in getting rid of the waste. I didn’t exactly get to the 3 Liter mark (I drank 2.5 Liters to be exact), but I know the amount I did drink, really helped! I won’t bore you with another one of those articles explaining the benefits of drinking water, but I will talk about a product I recently purchased from Amazon, for my skin and health. It’s called Cellfood (pictured in the tiny bottle above). 
Cellfood’s bottle states that it is a dietary supplement with “Dissolved Oxygen, Trace minerals, and Plant Source Amino Acids and Enzymes.” It’s gluten and yeast free, and is supposed to naturally provide the “highest levels of oxygen and hydrogen to the body, helping to support overall improved energy, endurance, and natural health.” After reading hundreds of reviews on Amazon, both bad and good, I decided to take the leap and purchase the Cellfood liquid drops, and the Cellfood oxygen gel for skin. I paid $22.95 for the drops and $23.09 for the gel. I’ve had both products for weeks, and have been using the gel consistently on my face (more about that in a future post), but yesterday was my first official day using the liquid drops in my water. The bottle instructs you to take “8 drops in oz. of purified water or juice, taken 3x per day.” I took 16 drops altogether yesterday and had absolutely no problems.
The product has a lemony taste, making it easy to add to your beverages, and the bottle is conveniently tiny, so you can take it everywhere. I also purchased a 32 oz. BPA-free water bottle, to document my water consumption. I really do believe that the Cellfood (in addition to the water and gel), had a lot to do with my skin being clearer this morning. I didn’t do much to my skin the night before. I lazily cleansed my face, used my ACV toner, spot treated with the Cellfood gel (which works really well to shrink breakouts btw), and moisturized with a drop of oil the night before. The Cellfood drops were the only new thing I added to my regimen. I’m really excited about this product and I will be taking the drops consistently while using the gel, to note results. After 2 weeks of usage, I will post an update. In the meantime, stay healthy!
Alternatives: On a budget? No Cellfood? Lemon or ACV (Apple Cider Vinegar) water is a great alternative. Directions:
Nox *P.S. to leave a comment, click on the “+” button on the bottom right portion of this post*
Links to Products in Photo:
Hey guys, just wanted to write a quick post about a documentary I just watched on Netflix, called A Place at the Table. The documentary is about “food insecurity”, an issue of not knowing where your next meal is coming from. Cameras follow a few families living in America, who are currently dealing with economic instability, and are unable to adequately feed themselves and their children. You see a lot tears, bonding, and even witness a sense of community, as these people and others give us a glimpse of their lives and join together to try to bring change. The families were unique in their problems, as some were on government assistance, some had 1 or both parents unemployed, some were denied government assistance, etc.
For me personally, this documentary really struck a nerve, and I got emotional many times while watching it. Growing up, my mother was on government assistance, and she struggled to feed my sisters & I, make ends meet, clothe us, etc. I was young and so I didn’t understand just how hard life was for her, and in many ways I still don’t. Watching this documentary though, has really given me perspective and brought personal awareness to the issue of hunger in America. There are currently up to 50 million Americans (1 in 4 children) living hungry today. When we think of hunger, why is it that our minds immediately conjure up images of children starving in African countries, or India, or whatever 3rd world nation we can think of? Why is it so hard to accept that there are many people in our country, living this same reality (though probably not as severe as those living in 3rd world poverty)? Why is hunger not spoken of here in America? Is it because we think we are too civilized, or advanced to consider hunger a social issue?
The documentary delves not only into the personal stresses these families and others experience, but it nicely correlates the issue of hunger, with other issues, such as poverty, lack of nutrition, obesity, child development, etc. Also revealed, is the dark reality that those in charge of a large part of our social wellbeing, simply do not make these issues a high priority. You learn that the amount the government spends on the public school food system, and various forms of government assistance, is significantly low, and in some cases has reduced drastically, as money is being allocated to more “important” needs. This means our children are eating low quality food at school, and children of families on government assistance may be eating even less. Food quality, nutrition, and hunger all have a direct correlation in all areas of child development and health.
I am sad, I’m outraged, I’m confused, and I am in complete shock. I never knew that any of this was happening and is continuing to happen day by day. From my understanding, people in America are not hungry because there is not enough food, but because legislation and economic stress prevent people from being able to afford to eat.
To be frank, our policies for welfare/WIC/food stamps/government assistance are fucked up. You have to be at the absolute bare minimum, to qualify for anything. You can’t make even a dollar over the qualifying salary. It’s a system set up for failure. Either you make no effort, remain in poverty and receive government assistance, or you attempt to better yourself, fail, because you are economically unstable, and find yourself back in poverty. Our food system is fucked up. Healthy foods are unaffordable, while the foulest and most nutritionally deprived foods are mere dollars! And you hear constantly about how the rates of childhood disease influenced by lifestyle, are increasing rapidly, but WHAT THE HELL are people supposed to do when they have to survive!? It’s like a never ending cycle of struggle.
The silver lining to this very dark cloud, is the fact that there are many pivately funded organizations, like charities, soup kitchens, and food drives, attempting to combat the problem of hunger in America. An increase from 400 organizations in 1980, to over 40,000 organizations today, is a step in the right direction, but certainly not enough. We need the government to implement change on a national scale, and provide financial backing, in order to see a more profound change.
I think everyone of all ages should watch this documentary. I don’t think the government is totally full of bigots who are unwilling to listen to the cries of those in need of help in our country. But I do think ignorance will keep those cries from being heard. Share this documentary with anyone you know. Let’s work on being more aware of our environment, and making it a better place for the next inhabitants. Especially our children.
Nox
Good afternoon everyone! It’s been a long while since I last wrote a post. I’ve been pretty busy with college (blah!) and related things, but anyhow I decided I’d take a break and share with you all, my recipe of the day. In between crash study sessions , and “Scandal” reruns on NetFlix (Season 4 starts on Thursday!! *squeals*), I was seriously in need of some comfort food, and thought I’d attempt a healthy chicken meal.
I absolutely LOVE chicken (haha, and not just because I’m black). I went through a little phase where I was chicken-phobic (disgusted by chicken) and avoided the little birds completely, but my lack of funds eventually brought me back onto the chicken wagon (Whole Foods chicken= less $$). The investment turned out to be not so bad, lol.
Since I have many food allergies and intolerances (you can learn more on the About page), the hardest part of staying healthy is making sure I’m eating plenty of vegetables in variety. I love vegetables, but sometimes they can be a hassle to cook, and just plain old boring. I try to make vegetables the focal point of my meals, and make the meat portions as exciting and tasty as possible, to balance out the (sometimes) bland veggies. I really love sweet potatoes, because beside the overload of nutrients, they’re soooo tasty! I eat most of my vegetables steamed, to retain nutrients, but there are tons of different ways you can cook them to liven them up.
So, without further ado, today’s recipe is Broiled Cumin Chicken Thighs with Mashed Sweet Potatoes & Steamed Broccoli as sides.
All of my recipes are gluten, dairy, egg, night-shade, tomato, peanut, and sugar-free, as well as GERD (Acid Reflux) friendly. As always, you can add, or remove ingredients to better suit your diet. I’m new to writing and posting recipes; I usually just measure out seasonings and things by instinct, so just bare with me, give it a try, and see if you like it! Enjoy.
After a long day of me, myself, & Ugly Betty reruns, I finally decided to take a long-contemplated leap, and enter the blogging stratosphere! I’ll admit, I’m a little nervous… The internet community is notoriously unforgiving to newcomers, Justin Bieber fans, & just about anyone else in the world, but if I have to live another day as a miserable hermit, I’ll rip off my eyelashes (ha, joking)!!
Anyhow, welcome to Human Season. A blog about all things ME. My life, my style, my diet, my likes, my dislikes, my hatred for avocados, and things of that nature. I hope you find some enlightenment, have a few laughs, or learn something new. Check out my About page, to learn more about me/this blog… & before I forget, let me introduce myself! I’m Nox.
Human Season 