ENG 101 FINAL

Kangil Heo

Dr. Smith

Eng 101        

When I first signed up for this course, I thought this course would be another typical writing course, however it was not. This whole course revolved around one main topic which was food.  Even our book was on food, called Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser and the whole class was about writing and learning about food. I personally thought this course was very interesting because I am majoring in nutrition and this course helped me to explore my major in depth and most importantly, write about it. During the course of this class, I learned a lot of important things such as, learning more about my major, and realizing my strengths and weaknesses as a researcher and a writer. This course was a lot more interesting than I first thought it would be and I gained a lot of new knowledge taking this course.

The main theme of this course was about food.  As I stated in Blog#2, “Food is a very important tool in changing your physique and improving your overall health. Depending on how much food you eat or the number of calories you consume, you can lose weight, gain weight, or maintain your current weight.” I learned how food plays an important role in the body and how food companies try to take advantage of the people. For example, as I stated in Blog#8, “The government needs to step in and start regulating advertising of unhealthy food directed at children. The food industry uses smart marketing techniques to manipulate and take advantage of children. This is a serious problem to the children’s health and cannot be stopped even with the parent’s regulation over their child.” There are a lot of other things I learned including the bad side of fast food, animal abuse, to how Americans spend most of their food budget on processed foods. Because of this course, I am now more cautious of my food intake and my health in general.

Before taking this course, I didn’t know how to properly write an essay let alone how to properly write a research paper. However, now I can do both properly and got to write about food at the same time. While taking this course, I also realized my own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to writing. I feel like one of my major weaknesses when it comes to writing is, to start writing. I have a lot of trouble coming up with examples in the beginning because I need to organize everything in my head before I start writing anything. One of my major strengths is that once I am organized and have my examples, I can keep writing and keep my paper organized throughout the whole paper. Also, one the important things I learned were how to cite my sources and learned that I need to cite all facts that are not common sense. This course helped me to become an overall a better writer and now I feel like I can do well in other writing courses as well.

This course was very interesting and fun. The main theme of food was also very fun to learn as it relates to my major. Also, learned a lot about food especially fast food and how unhealthy it is. And learned how to actually write a paper and a research paper properly also realizing my weaknesses and strengths. I feel like this course will definitely play a role in my future as I learned more about food and wrote about it. I learned and gained a lot from this course and would not mind taking this course again.

Blog#11

Kangil Heo

Dr. Smith

English 101

29 May 2014

Calories In vs. Calories Out

People have a misconception that when it comes to weight loss, they believe that healthier foods have an upper hand in losing weight than so called "junk food." Everything is all about calories in vs. calories out. The amount of calories that you eat and the amount of calories you expend reflect your overall weight and not the type of food you eat. This has been proven by the First Law of Thermodynamics. Even if you eat healthy foods, you might still not lose weight if you’re not counting your calories. Also, as long as you’re counting your calories, you can eat whatever you want and last longer in a diet. Overall, people who want to lose weight must focus on counting their calories.

What exactly are calories? According to What Are Calories? What Is A Calorie?  “A calorie is a unit of energy. In nutrition and everyday language, calories refer to energy consumption through eating and drinking and energy usage through physical activity. For example, an apple may have 80 calories, while a 1 mile walk may use up about 100 calories.” Calories come from three essential macronutrients, which are fats, carbohydrates, and protein, also one non-essential macronutrient which is alcohol. While some foods such as fruits and vegetables have few calories, others like pop tarts have a lot of calories. Carbohydrates and protein provide 4 calories per gram; fat contains 9 calories per gram and alcohol contains 7 grams per gram. Calories are essential for bodily functions but too much or too little, can have a negative effect.

Do people need to eat a certain type of food to lose weight? There are usually two groups of food that people classify as, one is healthy food and the other junk food. Most people don’t actually know the reason why healthy foods are considered healthy. Healthy foods are foods that are filled with micronutrients and overall beneficial for your health. For example, healthy foods have a lot of vitamins, minerals, and also fiber. Junk food on the other hand, is food that have zero to no micronutrients and have a high sugar, sodium, and fat content. These foods with little to no micronutrients are called empty calories. According to What are Empty Calories, empty calories are “calories from solid fats and/or added sugars. Solid fats and added sugars add calories to the food but few or no nutrients. For this reason, the calories from solid fats and added sugars in a food are often called empty calories. Learning more about solid fats and added sugars can help you make better food and drink choices.” Even though Healthy foods are more beneficial for your overall health, when it comes to weight loss you can still technically gain weight or not lose any weight just by eating healthy. You still need to be at a caloric deficit in order for you to lose weight. This is why you need to count your calories in order to know how much you’ve eaten throughout the day. A lot of people assume that they are no eating a lot however if they actually count their calories it will come out to be more than expected. According to How much do you really eat each day? “Researchers at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center asked a group of dietitians and a group of non-dietitians to estimate their own calorie intake for 7 days. Analysis showed that the diet doctors had a better idea of their daily consumption than the non-dietitians, but they still underestimated the calories they consumed by around 10%.” It all comes down to counting your calories. As long as you’re in a caloric deficit, you will lose weight no matter what.

The first law of thermodynamics proves the theory of calories in vs. calories out. How does the First law of thermodynamics have anything to do with weight loss? According to the Laws of Thermodynamics, “Energy can be changed from one form to another, but it cannot be created or destroyed. The total amount of energy and matter in the Universe remains constant, merely changing from one form to another. The First Law of Thermodynamics (Conservation) states that energy is always conserved; it cannot be created or destroyed. In essence, energy can be converted from one form into another.” Since calorie is also a measurement of energy, any calorie you consume is a calorie, it doesn’t matter where the calorie comes from. This scientifically proves that you can eat anything you want as long as you’re counting your calories and eating at a caloric deficit.

Counting your calories has another added benefit which is longevity of the diet itself. A lot of people tend to go on these so called “fad” diets to lose weight really quickly to gain it all back or more. The phrase fad diet originally refers to individual diets and eating patterns that promote short-term weight loss, usually with no concern for long-term weight maintenance, and enjoy temporary popularity. These fad diets can’t be done over a long period of time and only meant to lose weight quickly for a wedding or photo shoot and etc. Coming off from one of these fad diets, the weight will come right back and will sometimes double. According to Fast diet, Fad diet “Weight often goes back on as fat, leaving you with more fat and less protein than you started off with, which leaves you feeling even more out of shape than before, and can start off a vicious circle of yo-yo dieting.” Yo-yo dieting usually happens right after a fad diet and According to The Ins and Outs of Yo-Yo Dieting, “If weight loss is one of your concerns, then chances is you have heard of yo-yo dieting. Yo-yo dieting occurs when you lose a significant amount of weight but eventually gain it back. It is also called "weight cycling" because of its cycle or repetitive pattern of weight loss and weight gain. Fad diets, as the name suggest are just fads, they come and go, however count calories can be done for the rest of your life without dealing with negative side effects.

You don’t have to eat certain types of food or healthy food in fact to lose weight. You can eat anything you want as long as you’re counting your calories and in caloric deficit. Even if you eat healthy foods, you might not be able to lose weight. Counting calories also helps you to last longer on a diet than these “fad” diets out there today. The first law of thermodynamics also proves the concept of calories in vs. calories out. Because according to the first law thermodynamics, energy can’t be created or destroyed. According to Daily Calorie Intake – Why Calories In vs. Calories out Is the Key to Your Diet, “No matter what the goal of your diet is and no matter what terrible sources of information you’ve been exposed to, the single most important part of every single diet plan is calories. More specifically, your total daily calorie intake. Like I’ve mentioned before, calories are everything. They are the true key to an effective diet plan regardless of any other aspect of it. No other dietary factor influences what your body does anywhere near the level that calories do.” When it comes to losing weight, calories in vs. calories out and counting calorie, are the most important things in losing weight.

References:

"Calories." Calories. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014. <http://www.choosemyplate.gov/weight-management-calories/calories.html>.

"The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition." Is a calorie a calorie?. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014. <http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/79/5/899S.full>.

Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, n.d. Web. 28 May 2014.

"What are Empty Calories?." What are Empty Calories?. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014. <http://www.choosemyplate.gov/weight-management-calories/calories/empty-calories.html>.

"." . N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014. <https://my.biggestloserclub.com.au/food-fitness/underestimating-calories.html>.

"LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS." LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014. <http://www2.estrellamountain.edu/faculty/farabee/biobk/biobookener1.html>.

"Fast diet, fad diet - TheSite.org." TheSiteorg. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014. <http://www.thesite.org/your-body/fitness-and-diet/fast-diet-fad-diet-7460.html>.

"The Ins and Outs of Yo Yo Dieting." / Fitness / Weight Loss. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014. <http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/weight-loss/the-ins-and-outs-of-yo-yo-dieting.html#b>.

"Daily Calorie Intake – Why Calories In vs Calories Out Is The Key To Your Diet." A Calorie Counter. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014. <http://www.acaloriecounter.com/diet/daily-calorie-intake-calories-in-vs-calories-out/>.

 

 

http://www.choosemyplate.gov/weight-management-calories/calories.html

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/79/5/899S.full

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/263028.php

http://www.choosemyplate.gov/weight-management-calories/calories/empty-calories.html

https://my.biggestloserclub.com.au/food-fitness/underestimating-calories.html

http://www2.estrellamountain.edu/faculty/farabee/biobk/biobookener1.html

http://www.thesite.org/your-body/fitness-and-diet/fast-diet-fad-diet-7460.html

http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/weight-loss/the-ins-and-outs-of-yo-yo-dieting.html#b

http://www.acaloriecounter.com/diet/daily-calorie-intake-calories-in-vs-calories-out/

Blog#9

1. What is your general subject?
2. What is your focus or narrowed topic?
3. What do you plan to support/argue for?
4. What have you looked at so far (sources) and how useful do you think they will be and why? Be as specific as possible. Please include links to web sources that you have found and add a brief description of them.
5. What are your next steps if this topic is approved? What would be the next steps in the writing and research project next week?
6. What difficulties do you see at this time in moving forward with the research process?

People have a misconception in terms of weight loss in which people believe that healthier foods have an upper hand in losing weight than so called "junk food." Everything is all about calories in vs calories out. The amount of calories that you eat and the amount of calories you expend reflect your overall weight and not the type of food you eat. You don’t have to healthy or eat certain types of food to lose weight.

Blog#7

Americans spend most of their food budget on processed foods, all of which contains additives. Additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor and to enhance taste and appearance. Additives, once approved by the FDA are considered safe; however they are still not 100% safe. There are numerous side effects of additives for example, allergic reactions, linked to cancer, asthma, and even birth defects. You can’t prevent the many side effects additives have but you can avoid them, by eating fresh, unprocessed foods. Additives are a serious problem because we still don't know the long term effects and also the effects of combined additives because they are studied in isolation and not together. In order to be healthy in the long run, we need to avoid additives as a whole and not use/eat it.

Blog#8

Kangil Heo

Dr.Smith

English 101

24 April 2014

The government needs to step in and start regulating advertising of unhealthy food directed at children. The food industry uses smart marketing techniques to manipulate and take advantage of children. This is a serious problem to the children’s health and cannot be stopped even with the parent’s regulation over their child. In “Chapter 2: Your Trusted Friends” in Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, the author focuses on the food industry and how they use advertisements to take advantage of children. For example, Kroc and Disney invent similar marketing strategies to manipulate children. Another example would be when I was a child; I was heavily influenced by advertisements and wanted a cotton candy machine. Advertisements directed at children, is a serious problem that even the parents have trouble dealing with.

Both Kroc and Disney were pioneers of child advertising. Kroc invented Ronald McDonald which was based on a clown, and made children think that McDonalds as a whole was their “trusted friend.” This kind of advertising lead to the serving of McDonald’s even at school lunches. This is why; the government needs to take control so these kinds of issues never occur again. Disney, invented Mickey Mouse and a new system called “synergy.” Synergy gave other companies the rights to use Disney characters. By doing this, Disney made an indirect correlation with unhealthy food and toys. Both Kroc and Disney made a fortune from advertising to children. However, it was unhealthy for the kids and very stressful for the parents as well. According to a New York Times article by Mark Bittman, “17 percent of kids in the United States are obese.” The government should definitely regulate child advertisement.

When I was around 7, I was also a victim of child advertisement. I saw a commercial about a cotton candy machine, and how you can make unlimited amounts of cotton candy using only sugar. I was so excited and begged my parents for one. They knew it was unhealthy and told me it was unhealthy but got me one anyways because I begged for it for days and days. Even though it is my parent’s responsibility to control what I eat, they also want to make me happy by getting me what I want. According to the New York Times by Mark Bittman, “It’s been reported that kids see an average of 5,500 food ads on television every year.” Children get fooled by advertisements all the time and I was also a victim. The government needs to regulate these advertisements to improve our society’s overall health.

The Fast food industry has millions of advertisements on television a day. Most of these advertisements are targeted at children. For example, what Kroc did with Ronald McDonald and how Disney used synergy. Also, how I was influenced by a cotton candy commercial. Even the parent’s don’t have choice because they want to give what their children want and make them happy. Therefore, the government needs to step in and take control of the advertising of unhealthy food directed at children to improve overall health.

Blog#6

Kangil Heo

Optimum Nutrition
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I personally have a lot of different brands that I use and not consistent with only one brand. I feel like even if the brand has a good reputation they might still have some bad products. However, the brand that I always buy no matter what is Optimum Nutrition. This is the only brand I trust after doing a considerable amount of research. Because these supplement companies, are not regulated by the FDA you need to do a lot of research for yourself and figure out if they’re reliable companies or not. I buy Optimum Nutrition’s products because it helps with my hobby/passion to a certain extent, which is Olympic weightlifting. I feel secure and see results when taking Optimum Nutrition’s products. You need to do research before you can use or trust that product. A lot of brands/companies can lie about their products. For example, most supplement brands/companies doesn't care about the quality about their product but all they care about is the number of sales. People would usually think the process of making a supplement is first starting with desired effect the supplement should have, finding study that would show results for the outcome, looking for the ingredients, creating the product, testing the product, and backing it up with several studies. But in reality, it looks more like this, Looking for a niche in the market, Analyzing the market and checking for demand, finding a model for the product, developing the product, building a claim that is defensible in the court, launching a marketing campaign, and creating and selling the product. Nobody cares whether something works or not. However, the marketing is so strong that if you are unaware of this stuff you start to think that you really need those supplements to get results. Even when I see an ad for a new supplement I have desire to buy it, it just sounds so good. Having a brand that you like or always buy is not a bad thing. However, there are a lot of brands you can trust or not trust. You need to do your own research and decide for yourself.

Blog#5

Kangil Heo                                                                                                                               

Dr. Smith

English 101

25 March 2014

Marketing Strategies to Take Advantage of Children

In “Chapter 2: Your Trusted Friends” in Fast Food Nation by Eric Scholosser, the author focuses on Ray Kroc and Walt Disney who uses similar marketing techniques to manipulate and take advantage of children. For example, Kroc invents the famous Ronald McDonald and makes children think that he’s a “trusted friend.” Disney invents Mickey Mouse and creates this system called “synergy.” These marketing strategies do work because I have had firsthand experiences when I was a child. For instance, when I was younger I really wanted this cotton candy machine and begged my parents for one. Marketing techniques for children work really effectively and Kroc and Disney were the first ones to take advantage of this strategy.

Kroc and Disney were born in Illinois, and they both served together in World War I in the ambulance corps. After the war, they became successful business men using similar marketing strategies aimed at children. Kroc, eventually invented Ronald McDonald which was based on a clown. Ronald McDonald became so popular that it rivaled Mickey Mouse that Disney created. Kroc, also made children think that McDonalds as a whole was their friend and even infiltrated the school lunches. The parents were also affected by this marketing strategy because they felt a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction. They were giving what the children wanted because it was also more affordable than going to Disneyland. The author also mentions how Kroc is a shrewd business man. Disney used similar strategies as Kroc but he sold rights to use Disney characters for a certain contract. This is called “synergy” which allowed other big companies to make cars, figures, candy, and etc. based on Disney characters. The children were more likely to buy stuff with Disney characters because they felt a sense of attachment to the characters from television and the Disney movies that they already knew. Both Kroc and Disney were one of the first ones to use and prove that marketing strategies manipulate children do work and took advantage of it.

When I was a lot younger around 7 or 8, I was also a victim of a smart marketing strategy aimed at children. The commercial was about a cotton candy machine and how you can make unlimited amount of cotton candy using only sugar. What kind of kid would not want unlimited amounts of cotton candy? I begged my parents for days and days but they told me it was unhealthy for me. When I began to lose hope, the commercial would pop on again reminding me that I really need that cotton candy machine. After weeks of begging and trying to make deals, I finally got them to buy it for me. When I did buy it though it did not work as it was shown in the commercial. It barely made any cotton candy and was practically useless. I thought it was the problem with sugar so I started begging my parents for different kinds of sugar. However, in the end the cotton candy machine did not work. I was tricked and taken advantage of a smart marketing strategy.

Schlosser focuses on Kroc and Disney in chapter 2. One of the main issues he addresses is the marketing strategies aimed at children which manipulates them and takes advantage of them. Kroc implanted the idea that McDonalds was their “friend” and also created Ronald McDonald. Disney created the “synergy” system which allowed other big companies to use the rights to use Disney characters. And I was personally tricked and taken advantage of when I saw the cotton machine commercial when I was at a young age. Marketing strategies aimed at children work really well and Kroc and Disney were the first ones to take advantage of this strategy.

Blog#4

Kangil Heo

In “Chapter 2: Your Trusted Friends” in Fast Food Nation by Eric Scholosser, the author focuses on Ray Kroc and Walt Disney who uses similar techniques to make their company what it is today. The author also portrays how the fast food industry takes advantage of children to sell their products using different kinds of advertisements. Making children think that the fast food industries are their trusted friends. Kroc and Disney were born in Illinois, dropped out of high school, and they served together in World War I in the ambulance corps. After the war, they became successful business men using similar marketing strategies. Kroc invented the famous Ronald Mcdonald and Disney invented the Famous Mickey Mouse. Disney invented a marketing statgy called “synergy” which gave away rights to use Disney characters. Scholosser, also portrayed Kroc as a vicious business man. Kroc and Disney used marketing strategies to target children and take advantage of them.

Blog#3

Kangil Heo

In “Chapter 1: The Founding Fathers” in Fast Food Nation by Eric Scholosser, the author focuses on Carl Karcher and the progress of the fast food industry. Carl was born in 1917, on a farm in Ohio. He later dropped out of school and accepted a job offer in Anaheim, California. While working at the Feed and Seed store in California, he met his wife Margaret Heinz and began his own family. Later on, Carl bought a hot dog stand for sale because he realized the number of hot dog stands opening and the number of buns being sold. Margaret ran the hot dog stand with her children while Carl was working for the Armstrong Bakery in Los Angeles. Eventually, Carl opened his own Drive-In Barbeque. This was around the time where the United States entered World War 2, which led to the population boom in California as well as the automobile business. After seeing success at McDonald’s, Carl also decided to open his own self-service restaurant called Carl’s Jr. Other fast food chains soon followed, the familiar ones are Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, Taco Bell, Dominos, and etc. The author also talks about other people other than Carl and how they started their own fast food chains. But the author mainly focuses on Carl and the general progress/evolution of the fast food industry. Carl had a lot of ups and down but Carl’s Jr. was an overall success. In the end, Carl was asked if he missed the old times and the old look of Anaheim, California but he said “No, I believe in progress.” 

Blog#2

Kangil Heo

Food is a very important tool in changing your physique and improving your overall health. Depending on how much food you eat or the number of calories you consume, you can lose weight, gain weight, or maintain your current weight. For example, I count my calories everyday using an app called myfitnesspal on my phone. By counting my calories, I can maintain a balanced physique and maintain my current weight by eating at my maintenance calories. If I wanted to lose weight I would eat less food and eat at a caloric deficit or if I wanted to gain weight I would eat at a caloric surplus. Because I count my calories, I do my own shopping separate from my family and also cook my own meals. I usually eat alone because I make my own food and track everything that I eat. And I usually eat anything I want but in moderation. At first tracking calories was a bit annoying but now, it’s part of my everyday life and don’t really consider it a hassle. I always try to eat all my food at home, because if I eat outside, it’s almost impossible to count the calories. But on the other hand, I am not too strict about it. I also like to go out and eat with my friends and have a good time. Food is also very important when trying to build muscle. I work out 4 times a week and food plays a huge role. For example, I need to take in sufficient amount protein every day in order to make sure my muscles can rebuild themselves. And need to make sure I take in plenty of carbohydrates before and after my workouts to fuel my body. I take in carbohydrates before my work out to give me energy during my workouts and take in carbohydrates after to spike insulin levels and to refill my glycogen levels. Food can have negative or positive effects on your body depending on how much you eat and what kinds of food you eat. For me, food is a very important tool to help improve my physique and to become a healthier version of myself.   

Blog#1

    

The Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.) works hard to make sure the food Americans eat is safe. This is one of the major reasons why America has the safest food supply in the world. The author emphasizes this point by saying "The F.D.A. works hard every day to ensure the safety of America's food" The author wants the reader to realize how much the F.D.A. works hard to ensure the safety and the well-being of our country. I agree with the author form my own personal experiences and from things that I have read.

Without the F.D.A. working as hard as they do, our food supply would be contaminated and unsafe to eat. I personally count my macro-nutrients everyday looking at the nutrition label regulated by the F.D.A. I have a set amount of carbohydrates, fats, and protein which equates to a certain amount of calories. This keeps me healthy and makes me pick the right choices. Without the F.D.A. working hard to regulate nutrition labels, I would have never been able to track my caloric intake affecting my overall well-being.

Also, from the reading, the F.D.A. not only ensures the safety of our food, but also educates consumers to make sure the food they eat is safe. For example, the F.D.A. teaches cooking food at correct temperatures, properly handling meat, seafood, and etc. The F.D.A., also has inspectors at the borders to prevent harmful food from entering our country.They have 625 investigators working out of 20 different offices across the country to ensure the safety of our food. The F.D.A works hard all across the country.

From my own personal experience of tracking my calories and from the readings, the F.D.A. works really hard to ensure the safety of our food. The author also emphasizes and focuses on this point all over the article. The F.D.A. is the reason why America has one of the safest food supplies in the world.