FOOD/HEALTH/ MIGRATION
Interviewee: 22 year old male, Lehman College student, "J"
Duration: ~35 minutes
Location: Lehman College campus
Maria (M): What is your age?
J: I just turned twenty two years old.
M: What's your gender, what are your pronouns?
J: My gender is male and I go by him.
M: What is your racial or ethnic background?
J: I tend to go for two or more races but if I tend to identify more with and go for Hispanic.
M: Okay, where were you born?
J: I was born in Manhattan.
M: Okay do you strongly identify with your roots, why or why not?
J: I don't truly identify [with] my roots because growing up in America I have became very [Americanized]... as [for] my parents one of my parents was born outside of America but I've grown up in an American household and the Greater New York City area. My parents didn't feel strongly that we needed our heritage growing up therefore I wasn't obligated speaking Spanish in the household all the time most of the time I was speaking English but I was never obligated to speak the other language and therefore today I lack in some areas in terms of Spanish-speaking.
M: Okay, what is your college enrollment status?
J: I am currently a senior. I should be graduating in May.
M: What is your occupation or job?
J: I'm currently an assistant coach at a high school. I also do a high school middle school after-school program occasionally and I also do freelance photography.
M: How many hours a week do you work?
J: I typically practically no more than 20.
M: How stressful is your occupation from a skill 1 to 5, so 1 being barely at all not at all and 5 being extremely stressful.
J: Depending on where my occupation is at the moment. Summers it's looking like it's more full-time photography when it's full-time I would say it could be like a 3 or 4 practically it could be very stressful at times but since it's something I very enjoy a lot, it just doesn't feel like it could be a 5 even though it could be in terms of like the full-time hours; however at the moment with school and everything else prospering I would say probably at 3. It's pretty laid-back.
M: Do you have a lunch break?
J: No, I don't work fixed hours as of now especially during the school year but definitely over summers when it's full-time yes I do have a lunch break.
M: Are you able to eat like snacks or take like breaks?
J: Yes.
M: Does it interfere with your normal eating schedule?
J: No I kind of always felt like being occupied whether it would be especially with work and school I felt like I had better eating habits when I was more on the run all the time not in the sense of like portion size I felt like I was eating as much as I should not anything more or less but my choices of food definitely have differentiated throughout times where or how occupied I would be throughout the day, but I would say the habits of eating would be easier, more healthy, because of the portion sizes rather than being home for a week I would constantly see myself running to the fridge.
M: What is your current civil status, so like are you a citizen, are you a green card holder?
J: Oh yeah, citizen, I was born here.
M: What about your family's?
J: So the families that were not born in America which would be mostly my father's side but they were born in Puerto Rico since it's the Commonwealth so it was never really an issue yeah so they were technically always US citizens.
M: Okay have you migrated, if so where to and from? So like migration can be anywhere like just like commuting in New York City to like flying abroad.
J: Technically from birth I've migrated from Manhattan into the Bronx, but in terms of other times nothing very fixed more of just rather like weekends or a week most or the most probably I would have done was working at a sleep away camp in the Adirondacks for nine weeks.
M: Well you have already answered this, but like do you commute, how do you commute?
J: So, since my school is very close to home, if I get lazy I'll take public transportation but most of the time I walk. My workplace at the moment is also walking distance so everything is very convenient for me which is the reason why I would say it's like really laid-back.
M: So I guess, do you commute via the train a lot of the time or no?
J: Usually when I would go out, or yeah usually when I would go out, but definitely like when it's full-time I work over the summer definitely I'd be using the train all the time.
M: So when do you commute, like at nights during rush hour?
J: It depends during the time of the day, in terms of like the season rather yeah like when in school it depends on my schedule, but a lot of the time it'd be in the morning 'cuz I always like to start my day up early.
M: Describe the feelings or the emotions you experience when commuting, so like stress or happiness...?
J: A few years ago, this was when I started to have a full-time job over the summer and I experienced this commuting type thing where I would be on the train for about a little over an hour, I didn't like it at first but after a while I really started enjoying the time. I felt more at ease like being there longer made me feel like I was more relaxed and I could think about and do some things that I wouldn't be doing. I would learn how to use my time whether it's like read a book or like write an email but I definitely would feel happiness at times, other times if I'm in a rush then I would feel pressured especially in rush hour that's usually not a time out commute but yeah during rush hour I feel a lot of stress.
M: Do you eat on your commute?
J: Typically no I don't like eating in front of people and in the public well not public spacings but more visible I would rather wait to get somewhere whether it's like school or that cold or work or in actual in like a restaurant or something.
M: What foods do you like or dislike?
J: I really do like sushi, it's nothing like a favorite of mine but growing up I always was into pizza for some reason it was always kind of like my signature. As I started growing older I kind of got more into like salads and like Japanese food, it was like Chinese cuisine and all those other stuff but I definitely like eating more vegetables. Like at first I didn't like pickles, I didn't like tomatoes, I didn't like a lot of things mushrooms especially and now those are like one of my favorite things I could add on to something especially like a salad or pizza or whatever, but typically it's try staying away from fast food but like you know living in the Greater New York City area it's always kind of like inevitable 'till I get away from these type of things especially when you're on the run or you just want a quick light snack or something then.
M: Yeah, what constrains your food choices, so like personal or emotional reasons or if there's too little time or not enough money or there's like lack of knowledge about healthy foods...?
J: Usually when I was younger especially being on cross-country and track I was always like constantly trying to eat the right foods trying to be as healthy as possible so I could be running the best performances but as I grew older I kind of learned that... it's more of like as long as you control your portion size then it won't be a problem to eat what you want because a lot of the time gaining or like losing weight it'd be about portion size and usually when I kind of learn how to keep these things in moderation in terms of portion size and my choices. I would experience more happiness in terms of being more fulfilled of how I've been eating and it's all honesty it was all about keeping everything in moderation and once I learned that it's kind of like something I do now naturally. It's something I don't think about but for sure I'm an omnivore. I do love animals, I wish I could stop eating certain foods... but it's, it's really hard. Maybe I'll get there one day, but it's something I can't do right now.
M: Okay, do you want to go in-depth like why you can't?
J: I think it's more of like create certain cravings you can't control okay and a lot of the time a lot of the time most of the time when I get food it's usually outside because like my mother will cook but it's often rare and there's not really much food at home, so it's not really I can have like a whole [inaudible] already to choose from so I'm always limit to do what I can could or can have.
M: What is your culture's cuisine like?
J: My culture's cuisine is typically like I wouldn't say to be like any other Hispanics' heritage food for sure I could say it is you have rice beans plantains is like a big one there's like chicken, there's like lots of stuff but it's I would say it's like the typical thing you could even find that like any Hispanic place. I often times going to like different Hispanic restaurants whether it was Cuban or like Brazilian or stuff I would always see these correlations where things were kind of alike but they may have not tasted the same but they were definitely alike, and you can also see that with like foods in like Europe or even foods in Asia for sure. So I feel like a lot of these there they all have correlations with like their types of cuisines; however, they may not taste the same but they're all very good.
M: Do you cook, if so do you cook your cultures cuisine on a frequent basis, why or why not?
J: Definitely not on a frequent basis. I don't want to say I don't have the time for it it's more of like I don't make the time for it but I'm more of a person to make what's quick and easy which a lot of like people in the younger age range whether 18 plus they try to save time maybe not save money but more so I wish I could cook more than I know, but it's not something that I can be doing every week practically. Probably in the future that's something I would like to do but in terms of cuisine I don't think I would specifically specialize in wanting to cook my culture's cuisine, I'm more of a person to explore and maybe even try cooking other cuisines of other heritages and not only my own.
M: In your experience does financial security affect how you make food choices?
J: Definitely, for sure. Because I mean if you know how to I don't want to say shop correctly but if you can really shop in terms of groceries in a very smart way you could get anything that's primarily considered very healthy for in like a low price range, but often at times you can have stores like Whole Foods and stuff charged very high for certain things. It's more about trying to find where you can buy something at a certain price; however, it definitely does affect because when you're not on a budget when you're grocery shopping I'm very sure people can just throw things on their cart and not have to look at a price but when you're on a budget you're going to have to at least look at it. I think everyone would experience that.
M: How about your family's food choices?
J: Growing up I had a sweet tooth and my mother did a very good job of keeping me away from sweets and candies and anything considered you know bad for you but in terms of like her cooking and her meal plans they weren't always the most healthiest choices but they weren't exactly educated in terms of like what food is good for you but they were strict upon what they knew what was bad so it was kind of like it was like a positive and a negative.
M: Do you worry about running out of food?
J: I don't. You know that's not something I tend to worry about especially a lot of time going to be at home but I don't think that's something I would ever come into.
M: Do you consider your diet to be balanced nutritionally?
J: Definitely for sure because over the years I have learned how to keep things in moderation and I feel like after once I have been learning that I just started understanding I just started eating a lot better with portion size and what to eat.
M: Have you found yourself in a situation where you have to cut the size of meals or skip meals?
J: Definitely, I wouldn't say cut meals, oh definitely size of them 'cuz all I remember a few years ago when I was really trying to improve in track where I was doing so much that my appetite increased very much that when I got injured from my physical activity my body was still had a huge appetite but I couldn't bounce it out with exercise, so I had to diminish certain things from it early on because the first week or two was very difficult because my body was so used to the sizing of food of sizing of meals that I was eating before but after a few weeks my appetite diminished and I was able to go back to normal... but that was primarily one of the only times where I had to pretty much size my meals.
M: Have you... well oh I guess you kind of answered this, but please provide like a story or an example of when you felt the most or least secure regarding food security?
J: I could piggyback on the portion sizes but in terms of like home there were a few times where we was lacking food, but we never really got to the point where like we absolutely didn't have any money so we couldn't get food there. We always had a resource to reach out and get food but yeah.
M: What's your definition of health?
J: It all comes in like different sections or whether it's physical mental and emotional. I think I feel like those three are like very big in terms of health because without one there isn't the other and they all connect with each other and health is like the way people stay alive and keep doing what they're doing.
M: Do you have any allergies, intolerances, health issues related to diet?
J: No, not that I know of. The only thing is I am semi allergic to Brazil nuts for some reason but anything besides that I'm not allergic to any other foods. My biological sister, when she became an adult, she began to realize she was lactose intolerant and I haven't yet experienced that.
M: How would you rate your overall health, like one being poor and five being excellent.
J: I would say maybe like a solid 4.5 over the years I probably would have rated the same a 4.5 however I would rate my past health lower maybe like a 4 but definitely now as a 4.5 because over the years I started learning more about not in terms of health but learning how to keep everything in moderation whether it was physical emotional and mental distinctions and whatnot and especially being an athlete for four years a collegiate athlete for four years I definitely learned how to keep these things in [inaudible] very well but definitely I would not go with a five and I don't think I would ever hit a five because no one is perfect.
M: Okay how would others rate your overall health, others as in your doctor, your family?
J: Well everything is subjective, everyone's entitled to their own opinion. I'm pretty sure a doctor would say something different and my friend would or my teammate would. In terms of like doctor maybe like a four depending on what's in my bloodline and whatnot don't know exactly I did have a physical a few months ago but I don't remember the test results but pretty sure everything was quite normal but I would say in terms of like everyone else maybe like a four or four point-five around there but everyone has different physiques and body types so everyone has different opinions.
M: Why did you rate your overall health with the number you chosen?
J: I feel like over the years I definitely improve in terms of like feeling healthier and learning more about hope and again it kind of just keeps going back to the portion size because I feel like lots of people they don't understand portion size and so like they start seeing like negative amounts of like what it's doing to them but also what they choose to eat but I definitely I've rated myself 4.5 because I feel like this is one of the years where I probably peaked with my health but it definitely could be better and some certain areas but these are one of the years where I don't think I could probably surpass where I how the way I'm feeling now.
M: Do you have any current or past health problems and this could refer to mental health not just like physical.
J: Not that I know of. There'd be times where I would feel like things are... I just feel low but I don't feel like it's something that always stays with me. It's just kind of something that's always been a part of me so I don't see anything else like mental issues. Physical, I did break an arm when I was very young so that was probably that's the only operation I did have.
M: What do your doctors say? Do your doctors focus more on the physical or mental components of your health?
J: I would say probably both every time I probably see a doctor it's usually for a checkup so nothing is really being targeted exactly but when they take my blood test and height and weight where they check my BMI with the blood pressure and everything else beats per minute everything seems to be normal so it's never a really an issue where they call me back or they mail me something where something's unnormal so it's never really been in my nature where I happen to see that there was an issue but I would say they practically focus on both ends.
M: Do you think your food choices affect your health problems in either positive or negative way or both?
J: Definitely both 'cuz there's always like a time and place for everything, but I feel like times where you know you intake a lot of caffeine when you're on a run or something like days you're really productive you feel like that's a huge spike of energy and you just feel great for some reason and later you just feel like the crash. I mean it definitely has like the both a positive, negative effect but for sure if you eat like a certain amount of food that's like not really good for you, you can feel very bloated later or just not good definitely like those effects sometimes there's also food where you could like eat but you feel like you're still hungry and so that's also another effect so it could be positive negative yeah I say both.
M: What is your perspective of Western idealizations and values regarding body image?
J: Western... okay so that's the American. Nothing has changed over the years maybe not over the years but practically over the decades. You know as a photographer you kind of want like that perfect person, perfect picture type thing but over the years it’s sort of like especially now it's like very everyone's like open for like self-love and all this stuff, like I feel like all this stuff should have already been initiated maybe not been initiated in like society but like just sort of like in a general perspective so 'cuz I'm always gonna have like the perspective we're like who kind of cares of anything but like when it's like a big deal then it's a big deal, but like everyone's entitled to their own opinion, everything is subjective and everything is just know what nothing is really meant to be here at times so it's sort of like not do what you want but like there's just so many ideas and there's so many people on this earth that like one's opinion really doesn't really matter. If you like really dig deep and think about it so it was sort of like it's great that over the years like people have like realized what I wanted to consider beautiful I remember when there was a time where it said eyebrows were thin now it's like wow you have thick eyebrows that's amazing. Even with like fashion like a lot of older fashion comes back where you know a lot of like old like New Balance shoes or even the brands that a lot of brands that people were made fun of for wearing in middle school are like now something people always wear. You'll find them in Urban Outfitters but with like body image it's good that things have changed and like things aren't like it's not only with like race but also like social class or just like everything in the general perspective, it's like it's more of like an eye-opener and it's good that people don’t care really like not see not care but not care about the negative of what it was before.
M: What about your family's perspective?
J: What about their perspective exactly?
M: Of Western idealizations and values regarding body image.
J: I feel like I kind of learn my perspective from them, but I felt like I learned it in a different way. It's sort of like they weren't exactly exposed to it they definitely were but they we didn't really show it therefore it wasn't like I was raised up in a household where like oh you need to look like this I was never raised in that kind of way so I felt like it was nothing that I ever crossed my mind when I kind of like saw someone for the first time or something it's not really like I would have judged someone by the way they would look if I was raised in a certain manner probably more but they weren't it was never their concern...
M: I think this is the final question, but has the Western cultural emphasis on thinness slash dieting slash exercise have clashed with your cultures ideals of beauty and health?
J: I'm sure it did, I guess this could go for like practically everything but I kinda want to touch on like the whole track and field's community 'cuz like that culture they're very like in with especially decades ago. I was talking to one of my coaches recently about this where he was talking about [how] during his time a lot of females it was around the time where when it came with like marathon running and all track where thin meant faster, and still today people like to still have this kind of perspective where thin is faster but over time like losing weight definitely can get you faster in terms in track and field and stuff, but it can only get you so far because there were lots of times were like you have one year were like this person loses a lot of weight they start with dropping a lot of time and they kind of get addicted to losing weight because they're like wow I want to get better but there's always that point where you hit a wall and your body can't take it anymore and you're just not running as fast as you can. I've seen like the whole perspective like thin was faster in high school. I kind of believed it but as going into college it wasn't more about like being thin was faster it was more of like what worked for you better was, because I started understanding like it wasn't more of like your weight class, it was more of genetic and as I started growing more into the sport if you didn't really have a certain genetic trait then it would tie kind of not exactly get what you want to be and, in other words, more people are more anaerobically or aerobically talented than other people naturally. But in terms of heritage wise, I wouldn't I can't really say yes or no for an answer but I’m that very much exposed to past culture but in terms of Americanized I feel over the years that things have definitely have changed in terms of body image and it's good to have that because in terms of genetic traits you know that there's lots of things that people can and cannot have control over.
M: I just wanted to ask one more question: do you think like disordered eating patterns are common among like athletes and the track-and-field community?
J: Yeah, for sure. My head coach currently, he had an eating disorder, but it wasn't that he was taking in a lot, it was kind of the opposite where like he wasn't eating and when he was a collegiate athlete he was forced to eat so he could perform better, gain more weight and practically being an overall better athlete. But his eating disorder was not eating he would throw up a lot so but for sure there's plenty of athletes that will overeat a lot because of stress or others that will starve themselves because they think being lighter will get them faster but everyone's titled to their own opinion and we all are different. Different things work for different people.
M: Yeah.
J: And that's one thing over the years especially in track that I have learned.
M: All right, thank you.
Duration: ~35 minutes
Location: Lehman College campus
Maria (M): What is your age?
J: I just turned twenty two years old.
M: What's your gender, what are your pronouns?
J: My gender is male and I go by him.
M: What is your racial or ethnic background?
J: I tend to go for two or more races but if I tend to identify more with and go for Hispanic.
M: Okay, where were you born?
J: I was born in Manhattan.
M: Okay do you strongly identify with your roots, why or why not?
J: I don't truly identify [with] my roots because growing up in America I have became very [Americanized]... as [for] my parents one of my parents was born outside of America but I've grown up in an American household and the Greater New York City area. My parents didn't feel strongly that we needed our heritage growing up therefore I wasn't obligated speaking Spanish in the household all the time most of the time I was speaking English but I was never obligated to speak the other language and therefore today I lack in some areas in terms of Spanish-speaking.
M: Okay, what is your college enrollment status?
J: I am currently a senior. I should be graduating in May.
M: What is your occupation or job?
J: I'm currently an assistant coach at a high school. I also do a high school middle school after-school program occasionally and I also do freelance photography.
M: How many hours a week do you work?
J: I typically practically no more than 20.
M: How stressful is your occupation from a skill 1 to 5, so 1 being barely at all not at all and 5 being extremely stressful.
J: Depending on where my occupation is at the moment. Summers it's looking like it's more full-time photography when it's full-time I would say it could be like a 3 or 4 practically it could be very stressful at times but since it's something I very enjoy a lot, it just doesn't feel like it could be a 5 even though it could be in terms of like the full-time hours; however at the moment with school and everything else prospering I would say probably at 3. It's pretty laid-back.
M: Do you have a lunch break?
J: No, I don't work fixed hours as of now especially during the school year but definitely over summers when it's full-time yes I do have a lunch break.
M: Are you able to eat like snacks or take like breaks?
J: Yes.
M: Does it interfere with your normal eating schedule?
J: No I kind of always felt like being occupied whether it would be especially with work and school I felt like I had better eating habits when I was more on the run all the time not in the sense of like portion size I felt like I was eating as much as I should not anything more or less but my choices of food definitely have differentiated throughout times where or how occupied I would be throughout the day, but I would say the habits of eating would be easier, more healthy, because of the portion sizes rather than being home for a week I would constantly see myself running to the fridge.
M: What is your current civil status, so like are you a citizen, are you a green card holder?
J: Oh yeah, citizen, I was born here.
M: What about your family's?
J: So the families that were not born in America which would be mostly my father's side but they were born in Puerto Rico since it's the Commonwealth so it was never really an issue yeah so they were technically always US citizens.
M: Okay have you migrated, if so where to and from? So like migration can be anywhere like just like commuting in New York City to like flying abroad.
J: Technically from birth I've migrated from Manhattan into the Bronx, but in terms of other times nothing very fixed more of just rather like weekends or a week most or the most probably I would have done was working at a sleep away camp in the Adirondacks for nine weeks.
M: Well you have already answered this, but like do you commute, how do you commute?
J: So, since my school is very close to home, if I get lazy I'll take public transportation but most of the time I walk. My workplace at the moment is also walking distance so everything is very convenient for me which is the reason why I would say it's like really laid-back.
M: So I guess, do you commute via the train a lot of the time or no?
J: Usually when I would go out, or yeah usually when I would go out, but definitely like when it's full-time I work over the summer definitely I'd be using the train all the time.
M: So when do you commute, like at nights during rush hour?
J: It depends during the time of the day, in terms of like the season rather yeah like when in school it depends on my schedule, but a lot of the time it'd be in the morning 'cuz I always like to start my day up early.
M: Describe the feelings or the emotions you experience when commuting, so like stress or happiness...?
J: A few years ago, this was when I started to have a full-time job over the summer and I experienced this commuting type thing where I would be on the train for about a little over an hour, I didn't like it at first but after a while I really started enjoying the time. I felt more at ease like being there longer made me feel like I was more relaxed and I could think about and do some things that I wouldn't be doing. I would learn how to use my time whether it's like read a book or like write an email but I definitely would feel happiness at times, other times if I'm in a rush then I would feel pressured especially in rush hour that's usually not a time out commute but yeah during rush hour I feel a lot of stress.
M: Do you eat on your commute?
J: Typically no I don't like eating in front of people and in the public well not public spacings but more visible I would rather wait to get somewhere whether it's like school or that cold or work or in actual in like a restaurant or something.
M: What foods do you like or dislike?
J: I really do like sushi, it's nothing like a favorite of mine but growing up I always was into pizza for some reason it was always kind of like my signature. As I started growing older I kind of got more into like salads and like Japanese food, it was like Chinese cuisine and all those other stuff but I definitely like eating more vegetables. Like at first I didn't like pickles, I didn't like tomatoes, I didn't like a lot of things mushrooms especially and now those are like one of my favorite things I could add on to something especially like a salad or pizza or whatever, but typically it's try staying away from fast food but like you know living in the Greater New York City area it's always kind of like inevitable 'till I get away from these type of things especially when you're on the run or you just want a quick light snack or something then.
M: Yeah, what constrains your food choices, so like personal or emotional reasons or if there's too little time or not enough money or there's like lack of knowledge about healthy foods...?
J: Usually when I was younger especially being on cross-country and track I was always like constantly trying to eat the right foods trying to be as healthy as possible so I could be running the best performances but as I grew older I kind of learned that... it's more of like as long as you control your portion size then it won't be a problem to eat what you want because a lot of the time gaining or like losing weight it'd be about portion size and usually when I kind of learn how to keep these things in moderation in terms of portion size and my choices. I would experience more happiness in terms of being more fulfilled of how I've been eating and it's all honesty it was all about keeping everything in moderation and once I learned that it's kind of like something I do now naturally. It's something I don't think about but for sure I'm an omnivore. I do love animals, I wish I could stop eating certain foods... but it's, it's really hard. Maybe I'll get there one day, but it's something I can't do right now.
M: Okay, do you want to go in-depth like why you can't?
J: I think it's more of like create certain cravings you can't control okay and a lot of the time a lot of the time most of the time when I get food it's usually outside because like my mother will cook but it's often rare and there's not really much food at home, so it's not really I can have like a whole [inaudible] already to choose from so I'm always limit to do what I can could or can have.
M: What is your culture's cuisine like?
J: My culture's cuisine is typically like I wouldn't say to be like any other Hispanics' heritage food for sure I could say it is you have rice beans plantains is like a big one there's like chicken, there's like lots of stuff but it's I would say it's like the typical thing you could even find that like any Hispanic place. I often times going to like different Hispanic restaurants whether it was Cuban or like Brazilian or stuff I would always see these correlations where things were kind of alike but they may have not tasted the same but they were definitely alike, and you can also see that with like foods in like Europe or even foods in Asia for sure. So I feel like a lot of these there they all have correlations with like their types of cuisines; however, they may not taste the same but they're all very good.
M: Do you cook, if so do you cook your cultures cuisine on a frequent basis, why or why not?
J: Definitely not on a frequent basis. I don't want to say I don't have the time for it it's more of like I don't make the time for it but I'm more of a person to make what's quick and easy which a lot of like people in the younger age range whether 18 plus they try to save time maybe not save money but more so I wish I could cook more than I know, but it's not something that I can be doing every week practically. Probably in the future that's something I would like to do but in terms of cuisine I don't think I would specifically specialize in wanting to cook my culture's cuisine, I'm more of a person to explore and maybe even try cooking other cuisines of other heritages and not only my own.
M: In your experience does financial security affect how you make food choices?
J: Definitely, for sure. Because I mean if you know how to I don't want to say shop correctly but if you can really shop in terms of groceries in a very smart way you could get anything that's primarily considered very healthy for in like a low price range, but often at times you can have stores like Whole Foods and stuff charged very high for certain things. It's more about trying to find where you can buy something at a certain price; however, it definitely does affect because when you're not on a budget when you're grocery shopping I'm very sure people can just throw things on their cart and not have to look at a price but when you're on a budget you're going to have to at least look at it. I think everyone would experience that.
M: How about your family's food choices?
J: Growing up I had a sweet tooth and my mother did a very good job of keeping me away from sweets and candies and anything considered you know bad for you but in terms of like her cooking and her meal plans they weren't always the most healthiest choices but they weren't exactly educated in terms of like what food is good for you but they were strict upon what they knew what was bad so it was kind of like it was like a positive and a negative.
M: Do you worry about running out of food?
J: I don't. You know that's not something I tend to worry about especially a lot of time going to be at home but I don't think that's something I would ever come into.
M: Do you consider your diet to be balanced nutritionally?
J: Definitely for sure because over the years I have learned how to keep things in moderation and I feel like after once I have been learning that I just started understanding I just started eating a lot better with portion size and what to eat.
M: Have you found yourself in a situation where you have to cut the size of meals or skip meals?
J: Definitely, I wouldn't say cut meals, oh definitely size of them 'cuz all I remember a few years ago when I was really trying to improve in track where I was doing so much that my appetite increased very much that when I got injured from my physical activity my body was still had a huge appetite but I couldn't bounce it out with exercise, so I had to diminish certain things from it early on because the first week or two was very difficult because my body was so used to the sizing of food of sizing of meals that I was eating before but after a few weeks my appetite diminished and I was able to go back to normal... but that was primarily one of the only times where I had to pretty much size my meals.
M: Have you... well oh I guess you kind of answered this, but please provide like a story or an example of when you felt the most or least secure regarding food security?
J: I could piggyback on the portion sizes but in terms of like home there were a few times where we was lacking food, but we never really got to the point where like we absolutely didn't have any money so we couldn't get food there. We always had a resource to reach out and get food but yeah.
M: What's your definition of health?
J: It all comes in like different sections or whether it's physical mental and emotional. I think I feel like those three are like very big in terms of health because without one there isn't the other and they all connect with each other and health is like the way people stay alive and keep doing what they're doing.
M: Do you have any allergies, intolerances, health issues related to diet?
J: No, not that I know of. The only thing is I am semi allergic to Brazil nuts for some reason but anything besides that I'm not allergic to any other foods. My biological sister, when she became an adult, she began to realize she was lactose intolerant and I haven't yet experienced that.
M: How would you rate your overall health, like one being poor and five being excellent.
J: I would say maybe like a solid 4.5 over the years I probably would have rated the same a 4.5 however I would rate my past health lower maybe like a 4 but definitely now as a 4.5 because over the years I started learning more about not in terms of health but learning how to keep everything in moderation whether it was physical emotional and mental distinctions and whatnot and especially being an athlete for four years a collegiate athlete for four years I definitely learned how to keep these things in [inaudible] very well but definitely I would not go with a five and I don't think I would ever hit a five because no one is perfect.
M: Okay how would others rate your overall health, others as in your doctor, your family?
J: Well everything is subjective, everyone's entitled to their own opinion. I'm pretty sure a doctor would say something different and my friend would or my teammate would. In terms of like doctor maybe like a four depending on what's in my bloodline and whatnot don't know exactly I did have a physical a few months ago but I don't remember the test results but pretty sure everything was quite normal but I would say in terms of like everyone else maybe like a four or four point-five around there but everyone has different physiques and body types so everyone has different opinions.
M: Why did you rate your overall health with the number you chosen?
J: I feel like over the years I definitely improve in terms of like feeling healthier and learning more about hope and again it kind of just keeps going back to the portion size because I feel like lots of people they don't understand portion size and so like they start seeing like negative amounts of like what it's doing to them but also what they choose to eat but I definitely I've rated myself 4.5 because I feel like this is one of the years where I probably peaked with my health but it definitely could be better and some certain areas but these are one of the years where I don't think I could probably surpass where I how the way I'm feeling now.
M: Do you have any current or past health problems and this could refer to mental health not just like physical.
J: Not that I know of. There'd be times where I would feel like things are... I just feel low but I don't feel like it's something that always stays with me. It's just kind of something that's always been a part of me so I don't see anything else like mental issues. Physical, I did break an arm when I was very young so that was probably that's the only operation I did have.
M: What do your doctors say? Do your doctors focus more on the physical or mental components of your health?
J: I would say probably both every time I probably see a doctor it's usually for a checkup so nothing is really being targeted exactly but when they take my blood test and height and weight where they check my BMI with the blood pressure and everything else beats per minute everything seems to be normal so it's never a really an issue where they call me back or they mail me something where something's unnormal so it's never really been in my nature where I happen to see that there was an issue but I would say they practically focus on both ends.
M: Do you think your food choices affect your health problems in either positive or negative way or both?
J: Definitely both 'cuz there's always like a time and place for everything, but I feel like times where you know you intake a lot of caffeine when you're on a run or something like days you're really productive you feel like that's a huge spike of energy and you just feel great for some reason and later you just feel like the crash. I mean it definitely has like the both a positive, negative effect but for sure if you eat like a certain amount of food that's like not really good for you, you can feel very bloated later or just not good definitely like those effects sometimes there's also food where you could like eat but you feel like you're still hungry and so that's also another effect so it could be positive negative yeah I say both.
M: What is your perspective of Western idealizations and values regarding body image?
J: Western... okay so that's the American. Nothing has changed over the years maybe not over the years but practically over the decades. You know as a photographer you kind of want like that perfect person, perfect picture type thing but over the years it’s sort of like especially now it's like very everyone's like open for like self-love and all this stuff, like I feel like all this stuff should have already been initiated maybe not been initiated in like society but like just sort of like in a general perspective so 'cuz I'm always gonna have like the perspective we're like who kind of cares of anything but like when it's like a big deal then it's a big deal, but like everyone's entitled to their own opinion, everything is subjective and everything is just know what nothing is really meant to be here at times so it's sort of like not do what you want but like there's just so many ideas and there's so many people on this earth that like one's opinion really doesn't really matter. If you like really dig deep and think about it so it was sort of like it's great that over the years like people have like realized what I wanted to consider beautiful I remember when there was a time where it said eyebrows were thin now it's like wow you have thick eyebrows that's amazing. Even with like fashion like a lot of older fashion comes back where you know a lot of like old like New Balance shoes or even the brands that a lot of brands that people were made fun of for wearing in middle school are like now something people always wear. You'll find them in Urban Outfitters but with like body image it's good that things have changed and like things aren't like it's not only with like race but also like social class or just like everything in the general perspective, it's like it's more of like an eye-opener and it's good that people don’t care really like not see not care but not care about the negative of what it was before.
M: What about your family's perspective?
J: What about their perspective exactly?
M: Of Western idealizations and values regarding body image.
J: I feel like I kind of learn my perspective from them, but I felt like I learned it in a different way. It's sort of like they weren't exactly exposed to it they definitely were but they we didn't really show it therefore it wasn't like I was raised up in a household where like oh you need to look like this I was never raised in that kind of way so I felt like it was nothing that I ever crossed my mind when I kind of like saw someone for the first time or something it's not really like I would have judged someone by the way they would look if I was raised in a certain manner probably more but they weren't it was never their concern...
M: I think this is the final question, but has the Western cultural emphasis on thinness slash dieting slash exercise have clashed with your cultures ideals of beauty and health?
J: I'm sure it did, I guess this could go for like practically everything but I kinda want to touch on like the whole track and field's community 'cuz like that culture they're very like in with especially decades ago. I was talking to one of my coaches recently about this where he was talking about [how] during his time a lot of females it was around the time where when it came with like marathon running and all track where thin meant faster, and still today people like to still have this kind of perspective where thin is faster but over time like losing weight definitely can get you faster in terms in track and field and stuff, but it can only get you so far because there were lots of times were like you have one year were like this person loses a lot of weight they start with dropping a lot of time and they kind of get addicted to losing weight because they're like wow I want to get better but there's always that point where you hit a wall and your body can't take it anymore and you're just not running as fast as you can. I've seen like the whole perspective like thin was faster in high school. I kind of believed it but as going into college it wasn't more about like being thin was faster it was more of like what worked for you better was, because I started understanding like it wasn't more of like your weight class, it was more of genetic and as I started growing more into the sport if you didn't really have a certain genetic trait then it would tie kind of not exactly get what you want to be and, in other words, more people are more anaerobically or aerobically talented than other people naturally. But in terms of heritage wise, I wouldn't I can't really say yes or no for an answer but I’m that very much exposed to past culture but in terms of Americanized I feel over the years that things have definitely have changed in terms of body image and it's good to have that because in terms of genetic traits you know that there's lots of things that people can and cannot have control over.
M: I just wanted to ask one more question: do you think like disordered eating patterns are common among like athletes and the track-and-field community?
J: Yeah, for sure. My head coach currently, he had an eating disorder, but it wasn't that he was taking in a lot, it was kind of the opposite where like he wasn't eating and when he was a collegiate athlete he was forced to eat so he could perform better, gain more weight and practically being an overall better athlete. But his eating disorder was not eating he would throw up a lot so but for sure there's plenty of athletes that will overeat a lot because of stress or others that will starve themselves because they think being lighter will get them faster but everyone's titled to their own opinion and we all are different. Different things work for different people.
M: Yeah.
J: And that's one thing over the years especially in track that I have learned.
M: All right, thank you.