For my final passion blog of the year, I will be talking about the movie My Friend Dahmer. After talking about Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile I decided to look into more movies about similar content. That is when I stumbled upon My Friend Dahmer, which I swore to watch years ago (when I saw Ross Lynch was in) but never ended up actually watching it.

This movie is about none other than Jeffery Dahmer. It stars as stated above Ross Lynch as Jeffery Dahmer and Alex Wolf as John ‘Derf’ Backderf. The movie came out in 2018 and you can now watch it on Hulu, Amazon Prime, and a few other streaming servers.

When watching this movie it is important to understand what it is about before watching to avoid being disappointed. I did not do any prior research before starting the movie. At first, I was a little disappointed but after learning more about it I loved it! I was expecting to learn more about the criminal side of Dahmer. This movie however is about his high school movie and what lead Dahmer to become a monster.

The movie is an adaption of the graphic novel My Friend Dahmer by John “Derf” Backderf, Dahmer’s high school friend. It is a true story about Dahmer’s friendship with Derf throughout high school, who later became a serial killer. Derf actually came on set for the filming and while talking to Ross Lynch he would make him take off his glasses because the resemblance of Dahmer was freighting.

To the right is a page from the graphic novel. It talks about how Derf and his friends become close with Jefferey Dahmer. The reason was that he would pretend to have epileptic fits and mimick someone with cerebral palsy. These moves would eventually be called “doing the Dahmer”. From these sentences alone you can tell what type of man Dahmer was if that was his form of comedy. However, it was also the same form of comedy many in his high school had as some would refer to him as the class clown.

Throughout the movie, it shows multiple signs of Dahmers strange and eventually deadly habits. Things like science experiments on dead animals, killing animals, extreme drinking, and stalking a man in his community. Eventually, his friends catch on to how crazy Dahmer really is and distance himself. This is where the movie ends. Right before Jeffery Dahmer’s first murder.

Many other things happen during this movie and I definitely think it’s something you should watch if you’re interested in crime. After watching I went down a deep and dark time of researching all about Jeffery Dahmer and learning more about the monster he is. It is very sad to hear about how many times bystanders could’ve changed the outcome and saved numerous men’s lives.

Before I begin I just wanted to let everyone know The Circle, one of the first shows I talked about, season 2 just got released on Netflix! Only the first four episodes and the rest will be released each wednesday.

While I have included a lot of reality tv show in my blogs this semester I have yet to add my favorite type of reality tv, dating shows. The show I will be talking about today is Temptation Island. Temptation island is a reality dating show that airs on USA Network. It also can be viewed on YouTube TV and Amazon Prime.

The show first aired in 2001 and had 3 seasons, but it was cancelled. They decided to create a reboot in 2019 and so far so good. The show is currently on its third season and has done much better than the original. In both cycles the show has been hosted by Mark L. Walberg.

Temptation Islands plot is exactly what it sounds like by the title. Four couples who are having trouble moving forward in their relationship enter into this show. These troubles are things like not trusting each other for cheating in the past, one of them lack confidence or just generally wanting to test their spouse before they decide to stay together forever. Each couple is then sent to different houses, all the men go to one while their girlfriends go to another. In each house are beautiful people of the opposite gender, the “tempters”. The couples then have to spend a month apart with the singles of the opposite gender. At the end of the month the couple meets back together and decides to either stay together, leave single or leave with someone else.

As in any reality tv show the plot above is not quite enough drama. To make giving into temptations a little easier each week the person in the relationship has to pick one single to go on a date with them forcing private bonding time. However, there is a catch every few days there would be a bonfire. At the bonfire the ones in the couple would watch a 10 second clip of their significant other doing something in the other house. No context is provided so the viewer has no idea what happened before or after the clip, leading to many misread situations. The clips usually contain the worst thing their partner did during the few days such as kissing, talking bad or even simple things like being nice to the other contestants. After viewing the clips many of the contestants will act impulsively leading to even more drama to entail.

Each couple comes in with different rules, some allowing for kissing, some with no rules and others with don’t even flirt. As different rules get broken it becomes almost impossible to guess which couple will be together in the end.

If you like any type of reality dating shows think of temptation that times 10. I’ve really enjoyed watching this show. Check it out it comes out every Tuesday on USA Network

This week I am back with a tv show that was my guilty pleasure all summer long. The show I will be talking about is Selling Sunset. I honestly will be shocked if you guys have not heard about this show. Selling Sunset is a reality tv show set in Los Angles, California. It is another Netflix original. There are three seasons, each one having about eight episodes that are about 35 minutes long. It first aired in 2019 and has continued for the past few years. There is a fourth season coming, however, there is not an official release date. It is believed to be coming out in late 2021 or early 2022.

The reality show is about The Oppenheim Group, an elite real estate brokerage. It shows the day to day life of these realtors as they sell multi million dollar homes in California. The group consists of two twin brothers who own the brokerage and a team of beautiful women. Of course, these aren’t just regular real estate agents.

These real estate agents are all either famous themselves before the show or are married to famous people. This brings the show to an entirely new level as it not only encompasses the selling of the homes but also their own personal drama.

Some of the real estate agents in the show are Chrishell Stause who was known previously for her roles in All My Children and Days of Our Lives. She was also known for her ex-husband Justin Harley who stars in This Is Us. Their divorce happened during the filming of the show only leading to more drama and chaos throughout the episodes.

Another popular person on the show is Heather Rae Young who is in a relationship with Tarek El Moussa the star of Flip or Flop. While I could go on and on about each individual in the show and their insane storyline that is something you’ll have to figure it yourself. All of the employees have storylines that cross each other. Such as enemies in the office, best friends, and even a past relationship. This all leads to an amazing time on the viewer’s behalf.

I really liked this show ( I feel like I say this every blog post so maybe I’m just easily pleased…) It honestly got me really interested in becoming a real estate agent. However, I think that was just because of the amount of money they make selling multi-million dollar houses. The show has the perfect amount of drama while still sticking to the original plot of selling homes. So if your anything like me and love a good reality tv show I would recommend to give this one a try!

The next tv show I want to talk about is a fan favorite and my fan I mean me. Good Girls is an NBC show that is also released on Netflix. It is a comedy-drama produced by Jenna Bans, who has also produced shows like Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy. The show stars Christina Hendricks (Mad Men), Mae Whitman, and Retta (Parks and Rec).

The show is currently in its fourth season. Each episode is 45 minutes long and has 10 episodes a season. Meaning if you want to catch up to season 4 you have 1,800 minutes of the show to watch;).

The show starts off with what seems like your average suburban moms who live and work for their kids. However, the three moms soon grow tired of playing by the rules and having no respect from their families and even acquaintances. That’s when they band together and start a life of crime. In the beginning, it was just to make ends meet, they all needed some extra cash so they robbed a grocery store where Annie (Mae Whitman) worked at. Each woman had a different type of financial struggle they were facing leading to them being easily convinced to commit such a crime. However, what the girls all saw as a one time crime soon led to a life of crime. Their one crime made them get pulled deeper than they could have ever imagined. The women found themselves wrapped up in the lives of a crime lord with no other choice than to continue with their life of crime or punishment would come.

It was definitely a show I found myself binge-watching. It has drama surrounding each women’s family making it so it’s not just a show focused on crime. Other side plots of the show include things like cheating, custody battles, divorce, and medical bills. While this all seems drama packed the show still has many moments when you will find yourself laughing out loud.

Overall, I definitely think this is a show that you should try out once. The storyline is very good with each individual storyline slightly touching. All the characters have amazing chemistry leading to the viewer sometimes to feel like it isn’t even scripted. I know I’m not the only one to have these views as rotten tomatoes gave the show an 87%. Many of the reviews I’ve read have had only good thoughts about the show.

If you’re interested check it out on Netflix, Hulu or the NBC app!

This week I will be reviewing the Netflix original show, The Society. It was first broadcasted on May 10, 2019. It received a 86% on rotten tomatoes. It stars Kathryn Newton and Rachel Keller.

This tv show is a mystery teen drama. It is a modern take on the 1945 novel William Golding, Lord of the Flies. It consists of 10 episodes each about 1 hour long. It focuses on a group of high schoolers who go on a field trip only to return to their hometown completely empty. There is no trace of human life still in the town when they return, however, every building and home is the exact same. It seems like a dream come true for a bunch of high schoolers, the ability to run wild throughout the night and throw parties with no fear of consequences. However, as time passes no one returns to their home town and worry grows. They all begin to fear what has happened to all their loved ones and friends. It’s not long until chaos begins as fear for what will happen when they run out of supplies.

After a few weeks, the group comes to a consensus that in order to survive and figure out what happened to their families they need to ban together and create new rules. However, there are many disagreements about who should be in charge and what rules to create. This leads to drama and even murder… The rest you’ll have to figure out yourself. It includes a good cast with interesting smaller storylines apart from the main plot, leaving the viewer interested in each character’s life.

I believe it a great show to watch that will keep you on the edge of your seat. I will give it a rating of 8/10! Although society does end on a cliffhanger I was excited to hear that in April of 2021 season 2 will be released on Netflix.

If you haven’t already watch to see if and how the town will survive. If you have watched it let me know how you think! You can watch the trailer for the society here.

The first show I will be revewing is The Circle, which initially was produced in the UK but now has a US version. The Circle US came out on Netflix right before quarantine started at the beginning of January. Leading it to become one of the many shows I binged during quarantine and honestly one of the best! It is 12 episodes long, with each episode ranging from 45-60 minutes.

The show is a gameshow about a group of young adults who are limited to staying in one room alone. They then will make social media profiles where they can choose to be themselves or create an entirely new identity. After they create their profile they chat and do challenges with the other contestants. All without seeing who is truly behind the screen.  Each week one contestant is voted off while another one gets added. The aim of the game is to be liked/ranked the highest of all the contestants week after week to win $100,000.

It encompasses a ton of different personalities and people from all over. While most of the show stays true to their identity there are a few catfishes. For example, a guy named, Seaburn, pretends to be his girlfriend. As one can guess this leads to hilarious conversations like when all the girls are talking about periods and he says he only ever gets “left side pain”. Somehow no one finds out that this “woman” is truly a man behind the screen. In another situation instead of just one person behind the screen a man is accompanied by his mother. It leads to some awkward situations as he flirts with women.

Each episode contains many twists and laughs are bound to occur. At the end of the show, the remaining contestants all meet each other in person, getting able to truly meet who was behind the screen.

This is a perfect tv show to watch if you love comedies and/or reality tv. It’s definitely something I think everyone should watch at least the first episode. If you have watched it before then you’ll be happy to know that is was renewed for a second and third season!! The next season is supposedly coming to Netflix in the coming months.

I would give it an overall rating of 9/10! I can’t think of any downers but I don’t like giving anything a perfect just incase something amazing comes along. If you’ve watched this before let me know what you thought below!

A car needs gas to function right? Well a human needs food to survive. Food is fuel for humans. Whatever you decide to munch on will give the outcome of how healthy it really was for you. If you had a king size kit kat and some doritos while binge watching Good Girls on Netflix, odds are you’re not gonna feel great! 

Let’s talk about what you should consume if you’re looking to gain some muscle! If you are a guy or girl looking to gain muscle fast the simple and best way to do it is by eating 30 grams of protein every three hours. Why every three hours? Your body can only digest 30 grams of protein in a three hour period. If you were to have 50 grams of protein in one sitting, that 20 grams would do two things. First it would go to waste. Secondly it would damage your liver. Who would ever want to damage their liver from eating protein? 

You don’t need to have 30 grams of meat every three hours. There are a lot of other foods that are plant based and high in protein! Some of my favorite snacks are high in protein and surprisingly healthy for my body. Chickpeas, hummus, quinoa, black beans, and edamame are only a few of my favorite sides or snacks that I eat to consume protein. While protein intake is very important, it isn’t everything you need. The correct amount of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are very important in any process of gaining muscle or losing weight. 

The same rule for protein applies to fruits, vegetables, and whole grains when sometimes too much isn’t beneficial. You have to find what’s right for your body for serving sizes of how much broccoli and spinach you should have on your plate for dinner. If you look up “portion control” on google and click “images” you will see what an ideal plate of servings should look like. The vegetables, grains, and protein are all key components of what you should refuel your body with.All that fast food and french fries won’t give you the same benefits as a bowl of spinach with quinoa and black beans would. Think about it this way… A Formula 1 car isn’t going to have regular gas in it because the type of expensive fuel matters when it comes to race cars. So why would you put cheap fast food in your body when you want to feel better, gain muscle, and be a better athlete than you were yesterday?

The key to anyone’s “healthy lifestyle” is as simple as what you decide to consume. 

It’s as simple as this; everything you consume like snacks, meals, desserts, and beverages. All of this food is entering your body because you’re letting commercials and addictive food chemicals get the best of you. American fast food restaurants do not care about your health and goals. They care about how many times they can bring you back in a week because it’s convenient and somehow good for your taste buds.

This might be a new fact for a lot of people reading this but healthy food can actually taste more fresh and richer than a meal you get from Chick-fil-a. I’m not saying Chick-fil-a doesn’t hit the spot every time because believe me, it does and a majority would agree! The fact is a majority of Americans haven’t experimented and took the time to try healthy foods and new recipes. A big reason for this is time. Look at it this way. You spend thousands of dollars on gym memberships, apps, trainers, and diet plans because you think it will make you happier and more in shape. All this time and money wasted because you wanted to go through a drive thru instead of going home to cook a meal that would probably have been done in an hour.

Taking a step forward, let’s talk about more of what you should eat and why you should eat it. There are millions of different diets out on the internet and over a hundred companies with diet food. It’s not nearly as complicated as you think to learn about nutrition and health. One of my favorite books is Don’t Jog Eat Bacon. It talks a lot about nutrition and workouts. Vegetables, arguably the most important part of a diet. Recent studies on NFL athletes are showing that these vegan diets they’re on is what is making them happier, recover faster, and overall better athletes. 

Portion size, a big problem with americans. We simply don’t know how much is too much. A lot of us sit in our 9-5 jobs or even 9-3 school and in between that we have snacks filled with carbs or sugar and also between that we have a carb filled lunch with hardly any vegetables or nutrients. Some starve and wait until after to grab something on the way home before dinner. This is exactly where we go wrong. Nutritionists have figured out a perfect balance for how many vegetables, how much carbs, how many fruits, and how much protein we should consume in a day. In my next blog I want to dive deeper into proper nutrition while also not starving your body of what it desires.

During quarantine fitness YouTubers were on the rise. Corona caused all gyms to shut down leading the home workouts to be on the rise. Here is my review of a few you tubers I stayed religious to.

Chloe Ting 15.6 million followers

My go to girl during the beginning of quarantine! Chloe ting became insanely popular through TikTok for her workout routines. She creates different month long challenges for viewers to do that include 2-4 workouts to a day. Below is a photo of her day of her workout routine.

While I do think her programs can be beneficial she promotes false ideas. Her videos make the viewer believe that these body weight workouts will make them look like her. She leaves out the idea of a balanced workout and that weights are necessary for muscle gain. However,  I think this is great for a first stepping stone as it is on the easier side and very scheduled.

Pamela Reif  4.96 million followers

Pamela Reif makes weekly workout schedules that she posts to her instagram stories to do on YouTube. A benefit of her schedules is she has schedules for people at all different points of the fitness journey.

Pamela is one of my favorite workout YouTubers, I think her schedules are well planned out and better for people who no longer consider themselves beginners but not ready for the gym. One thing is her dance videos are very awkward I would not recommend.

MadFit

MadFit went viral on TikTok for her dance workouts. I find them extremely fun and am always out of breath by the end. A drawback of her channel is she doesn’t have a scheduler which can be a pain for people who don’t make their own plan. Madfit doesn’t talk throughout the video which is a plus for many viewers. Many are a fan of her one song ab workouts but I have a hard time following it as I think it moves too fast.

Overall if you are looking for someone to leave you sweating I would recommend Pamela Reif. If you have any workout youtubers you would recommend let me know!

One of the biggest problems for people when it comes to the gym is staying on a schedule for an extended period of time. I don’t know about you guys but I will set my mind to something, do it for a week then be over it. It took me awhile to actually stay in the rhythm of working out. Here are some tips that I found extremely helpful to stay motivated.

Pick a time to workout and stick to it everyday

One thing that I think is really helpful is choosing a time to workout and stick to it. This make it so it works with your schedule well and you can plan events around it. I choose everyday to go at 2 pm as it is right after all my classes end, allowing me time to clear my mind and re-energize.

Track your workouts!

I’m not saying you should go out and get an apple watch/fitbit, buttttt you should go out and buy an apple watch. It is honestly my biggest motivator for working out! I love to track how many calories I burnt during my workout and use it as a competition for myself. Being able to reflect on my workout and see how hard I pushed my self in number form pushes be to continue doing it for days after.

Make it enjoyable

It is very important that you have fun working out in order to motivate yourself to continue going. If you know running isn’t for you then stop trying to force yourself a figure out another activity that you genuinely enjoy. Finding a routine that you look forward to is one of the most important things! Understand though that in order to find something you enjoy you will probably discover many that you hate.

Don’t overdue it

Wether your starting out or you’ve been working out for years it’s important to give yourself breaks. Either being once a week or three times a week a break is necessary so you don’t burnout physically or mentally. Even if working out is your one true love you still need to have time apart so you don’t end up resenting it later in life (this goes for relationships too loll).

At the end of the day just remember doing something no matter how little is way better than doing nothing! Even if working out isn’t for you try to find ways to stay active continuously.