FitSugar

Who's to Blame for Eating Disorders?

FitSugar — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 15:00:37 PST

If you're like me you're a little sick of all the flip-flopping on who is ultimately responsible for contributing to eating disorders in young women. First it was the modeling world and media. Then Gisele piped in and blamed parents. Shortly afterwards Gisele got publicly criticized for pointing fingers at parents and researchers in turn pointed their fingers straight at genetics.

Anyone else confused?

Well not to confuse you even more but new research is out from Stanford University that says fathers are the ones to blame now as well. Their findings came after noticing the lack in research on the father's role in eating disorders. Further finding that fathers are important in influencing their daughters toward bulimia, particularly fathers who were overweight and wanted to be thinner. These influences may be direct, such as criticizing the daughter's weight or shape, or indirect, by expressing their own concerns about weight and shape.

My head is spinning -- Who do you blame the most for contributing to eating disorders?

Honoring Some of Our Favorite Geeks For Black History Month

Michele Foley — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:01:38 PST

We may have Valentine's Day on the brain, but February also marks an important time of the year - Black History Month. In honor of Black History Month, let's take a look at some of our favorite geeks, both past and present. Everyone on this list has made vast contributions to furthering tech as we know it.

Dwayne McDuffie - The recently passed McDuffie wrote comic books for both Marvel and DC (including Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, the Fantastic Four and the Justice League of America) before founding his own company, Milestone Media, which helped pioneer the use of multicultural characters as its heroes.
Mark Dean - Nerd alert! Without Dean, there may not have been a PC - he holds three of IBM's original nine PC patents, leading the teams that developed the ISA bus and the first one-gigahertz chip.
Mae Carol Jemison - It doesn't get much geekier than space travel; Jemison was the first black woman to travel in space.
Philip Emeagwali - We can all blame Emeagwali for our Internet addiction. He developed the fastest supercomputer software in the world. His IQ is too high to be measured by conventional standards, and he's won a Gordon Bell Prize, which is like the Nobel Prize for computer science.

See the rest of the notables when you read more.

Udacity and 14 Other Free Sites For Online Learning

GeekSugar — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:51:42 PST

After seeing the success of a personal experiment offering a free Stanford University-certified artificial intelligence course (23,000 people completed the class!), Sebastian Thrun left his prestigious professor position to dedicate himself to teaching on a much larger scale. His new program, Udacity will offer free university-level computer science classes to anyone interested in advancing their tech knowledge.

The two courses currently up for the taking are "CS 101: Building a Search Engine" and "CS 373: Programming a Robotic Car." But that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to free online classes. Here, a list of places to point your web browser for free classes online, so you can soak up all the knowledge your brain can handle.

Yale Open Courses - Named one of Time magazine's top 50 websites of 2011, Yale's classes allow anyone to browse through lectures and course materials in subjects including engineering, chemistry, astronomy, sociology, Spanish, history, and more.
MIT OpenCourseWare - With over 2,000 courses available at your fingertips, MIT OpenCourseWare should be your first (and maybe your only) stop in online learning.
Online Education Database - This website offers up a list of 200 free classes you can take online. Take some physics classes and learn about the phenomenon of superconductivity, or retake that algebra class you struggled with in high school.
OpenCulture - This website offers up a list of free classes from top universities like Stanford and UC Berkeley, and even some video lectures you can find on YouTube.
Harvard Open Learning - Watch videos of lectures on computer science and abstract algebra, among others
Princeton Web Media - Browse through and take in archived lectures from Princeton's math, science, and engineering departments, and lots, lots more.

See more websites to get your online learning on after the break.

Nutrition Myths That Can Cause Weight Gain

Shape — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 04:04:23 PST

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar.

Myth: Going Vegan Will Make You Lose Weight
"While various research shows that vegetarians and vegans, on average, consume fewer calories and less fat than omnivores (a 2009 Oxford study found that vegetarians weigh 3 to 20 percent less than their meat-eating counterparts, and a National Cancer Institute study found that subjects who consumed four ounces or more of red meat weekly were 30 percent more likely to die of any cause than those who ate less), these numbers may be misleading," says Rania Batayneh, MPH, a certified nutritionist and owner of Essential Nutrition for You.

Going vegan solely for weight loss can backfire, big time. If you aren’t vigilant with a vegan diet, it’s easy to lack in vital nutrients, vitamins, and proteins, which give you energy and help keep your metabolism stoked. Many first-time vegans may also find themselves reaching for more processed foods like vegan cookies, chips, or even ‘ice cream’ more often with such a restricted diet, and many end up packing on the pounds instead.

If you do decide to adopt a vegan diet, be sure to keep the ‘treats’ to a minimum and plan balanced meals (we love ‘Domestic Vegan’ Diva Jessica Olson’s tips for "going veg"). "Aim to get about 10 to 20 percent of your calories from protein (or about 1 gram per kilogram of body weight), replacing animal protein with healthy plant proteins, like those found in beans, legumes, nuts, seeds, and soy products," Batayneh says. "And, whether you are vegan or not, eating more green, leafy vegetables is great for your health and your waistline."

See which other diet habits may also being causing weight gain after the break!

Link Time: From Gobble-Gobble Meatballs to Thanksgiving Croissants

Susannah Chen — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 11:01:21 PST

Simply brilliant: a Thanksgiving meatball with turkey, stuffing, and cranberries. - Saveur
Tonight's episode of Chopped will feature White House chef Sam Kass. - Food Republic
David Kinch of Manresa is GQ's chef of the year. - Eater SF
Stanford University's offering freshmen a food-blogging course. - Grub Street SF
Food geek/authority Harold McGee is totally against brining turkeys. - Diner's Journal
How you can help the hungry this Thanksgiving. - Delish
Momofuku Milk Bar's Thanksgiving croissant - also genius! - Serious Eats NY

"Find What You Love": Steve Jobs' Commencement Address

Kelly Schwarze — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 17:30:20 PDT

Following today's sad news that Apple cofounder Steve Jobs has passed away at the age of 56, take a moment to watch his moving 2005 commencement address to Stanford University graduates. He reflected on his own life and career, before imparting inspirational advice:

"You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do."

4 Ways to Make Your Master's Education Worth Its Money

Emily Co — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 05:00:15 PDT

Going back to school is looking more attractive with a growing number of employers requiring a master's degree. Apparently, an undergraduate degree just isn't enough these days.

But it's dangerous to assume that an advanced degree is a guaranteed ticket to cushy jobs. Not so much. The tale of the Starbucks barista with a JD is unfortunately all too common. If you decide to take the plunge and enroll in higher education, follow these four tips to make your grad school education worth its while:

Build ties with faculty. It's important to get to know your professors, because some of them may have job leads and can play a central role in your professional development. "Students need to talk to faculty. I hear about jobs all the time that I wouldn't put on the listserv, because I want to make sure that I connect my source with an appropriate talent." says Marcel Pacatte, professor at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. "I don't want either party coming back to me later complaining."
Try new things. Take advantage of your time in grad school to explore new things; it may even result in a new career path. "While you're in grad school, I think it's important to sample everything it offers. One student came here and had never held a video camera - never even entered his consciousness - and because of his Medill experience, he's now a documentarian," Pacatte says. Picking up a broad array of skills and experiences will make your resume look less cookie cutter, which is to your advantage.

Read on for more tips.

4 Free Science Courses From iTunes

Kelly Schwarze — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:28:00 PDT

Even if you've been out of school for years, there's no need to feel left out while watching kids head back to the classroom, as you have a free resource to get your learning on. iTunes U, available through the iTunes store, offers content from over 1,000 universities, and nearly half of these schools including those known for stellar science programs like Harvard, MIT, and Cambridge among others, offer course lectures to the general public. Download these video classes if you've always wanted to spout astrophysics and computer programming knowledge like an expert. Also looking for French help or history lessons? Take some time browsing through class offerings; with hundreds available, there's something for everyone.

Astrophysics: Frontiers and Controversies, Yale - Focusing on three areas of astronomy: extra-solar planets, black holes, and dark energy, this course pays special attention to how astronomers are learning more in the field and what is still unknown in the universe.
Introduction to Computer Science and Programming, Massachusetts Institute of Technology - For students with no previous programming experience, in 24 lectures this course teaches how to write small Python language-based small programs.
Developing Apps For iOS, Stanford - Intended for students with a background in C-language computer programming, this course teaches how to create efficient applications for Apple's iOS platform through lecture videos and PDF documents.
Women's Health, University of California campuses - Learn more about promoting personal health straight from the prestigious doctors and researchers from the University of California colleges. Lectures include tips for stress, diabetes in women, and research on aging.

Secrets to Beating Your Work Exhaustion

Emily Co — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 11:35:10 PDT

Although it's recommended to take a short walk to unwind from work, what you're surrounded by during your walk actually matters a lot. For example, if you're walking through a busy street filled with flashing lights and loud noises, the stroll won't really be an effective time-out.

University of Michigan researchers found that subjects who strolled through a nature setting saw a 20 percent improvement in attention and focus tests. However, participants who took a brief walk in a busy city did not see any cognitive benefits. Even spending time in a quiet room with a picture depicting nature was more effective than a city stroll. Here are more tips from The Wall Street Journal to rev up your mind during work:

Believe in your willpower. People who have a positive view about their willpower and believe they have an unlimited amount of it are able to work longer without a decrease in performance quality versus those who believe they have a limited amount, Stanford University researchers found. The WSJ says, "Both groups reported feeling tired. But researchers subtly suggested in questionnaires to some participants that they had stamina that could be replenished, and this group appeared to overcome the fatigue."
Don't drink more caffeine than necessary. If you intake more coffee than your usual amount, it might make you more stressed if you're already feeling some tension, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Bristol. Stick to your regular cup of joe, and if you think the taste of coffee will calm you down, try opting for a decaf coffee instead.

The Rising Cost of Graduate School: Is It Worth It?

LearnVest — Wed, 18 May 2011 00:15:10 PDT

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

Graduate degrees are becoming like tattoos: you should think hard before getting one.

Tuition at graduate schools has been skyrocketing - for professional programs, it has jumped 60% in the last decade. In 2009, a year of grad school was $21,900 at a public school and $34,100 at a private one. These are serious numbers, especially considering that you’ll also pay living expenses and most grad school programs are two years long.

At the same time, traditional grad school funding options are vanishing. Cash-strapped companies are dropping tuition reimbursement and universities are cutting graduate fellowships. To cap it all off, a job afterwards is not guaranteed in this economy, while grad school debt is very, very real.

Deciding whether to spend the cash (and time) on a degree depends on the return on your investment. No single equation will determine this, but the following factors can help you make a smart decision.

Why Do You Want To Go?

Obviously, some career paths like psychology, medicine and law require an advanced degree to practice without getting arrested. And if you’re switching fields and don’t have relevant experience, then graduate school can make sense as well.

However, nowadays the more traditional appeal of graduate school - that it’s a safe bet to further your career and earning potential - should be questioned in light of rising costs. For instance, the University of California system will raise tuition 31% this year, and Stanford Law School’s planned tuition increase this fall – 5.75% – is higher than inflation.

It’s true that on average, holders of postgraduate degrees earn 23% to 55% more than those with bachelor’s degrees. But when you drill down into individual professions and financial situations, it’s unclear whether that increased earning potential will outweigh the real costs.