Friday, June 30, 2017

Four Productivity Tenets From Stoicism

You're reading Four Productivity Tenets From Stoicism, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you're enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

It was a rainy Friday afternoon and as usual, I was going through a post-lunch slump. Unfortunately, as an intern at a rapid startup, it was something I couldn’t really afford.
My manager was in a meeting and I checked the clock.. it was around 3:45, still an hour and fifteen minutes for the weekend.
To pass the time, I googled “Best Productivity Apps 2016” and started browsing, hoping that a piece of software will make me more productive. At first, some apps did look pretty appealing. I checked out ten different sites, browsed through the features, checked the customer reviews, the pricing, and then it hit me- I was procrastinating by browsing productivity apps.
Something had to change and surely, paragraphs of code wasn’t going to help me.
That is when I turned to Stoicism, and, it changed my life.

What is Stoicism?

To put it simply- Stoicism is an ancient greek school of Philosophy founded at Athens by a Philosopher named Zeno of Citium. It basically believes that virtues like wisdom is happiness and that our judgements should be based on actions, not words. And that, we cannot rely on things outside our control to grant us happiness and serenity.
It’s a school that firmly believes on doing, not talking.
Stoicism has been practiced by many- entrepreneurs, writers, kings, presidents, however, there are three principle leaders whose work is now read. First is Marcus Aurelius, the Emperor of the Roman Empire. His book Meditations is a series of private notes that he used to write to himself. Then there’s Epictetus, a slave who ended up founding his own school to teach Stoicism to some of Rome’s greatest minds, His book “Discourses of Epictetus” contains series of extracts of his personal teachings. Lastly, there’s Seneca, a statesman and dramatist whose works include “Letters from a Stoic”, “The Shortness Of Life”, amongst others.
I started off feeding my curiosity with Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, and, amongst the many other things it taught me, some of the teachings can be linked to how we can be more productive in our day to day lives. Now, before I jump into the four tenets, let me address a question you could be think about right now: Why would you turn to Stoicism to gain insights on Productivity?
Because when it comes to changing behavior, we need to tweak our mindset. Of Course, using productivity apps will help you get stuff done for some days, but, in the long run, only a shift in mindset would sustain a positive change.
And, what better way to shape the mind than Philosophy itself?
So, here’s some wisdom from an emperor who never had access to an App store.

Four Productivity Tenets From Stoicism 

#1 Do Less
“If you seek tranquility,do less. Or (more accurately) do what’s essential. Do less, better. Because most of what we do or say is not essential. If you can eliminate it, you’ll have more tranquility. But to eliminate the necessary actions, we need to eliminate unnecessary assumptions as well”  Marcus Aurelius, Book 4, Meditations. 
Today, we’re so focused on doing more stuff that we lose sight of what’s really important. What’s worse- we try to chase everything (unrealistic) and end up getting nowhere.  Our list of to-do’s is so big that we actually get off on striking everything off.
But.. how is that helping us get deeper work done? How is that going to put us in the flow state? And, if we’re not focused enough, how are we going to deliver quality?
So, how can we do less?
Pareto’s 80/20 principle can be used. The goal thus, is to devote our energy to those 2-3 most important tasks that are likely to give us higher returns.
So, look at the list of your tasks and ask yourself these questions:
-  What’s the ideal outcome if I finish this task (this will help you think about the returns)?
- How can I automate this task (helping you focus your energy on things that */really/* require your effort, leaving the rest to computers)?
- How is this task going to help me or someone else? (helping you strike out things that isn’t likely to benefit anyone)
Getting more Sh$% done is great. But, the quality of your work is likely to be Sh$%. Instead, acknowledge the fact that we have a limited attention span and focus on figuring out two-three most important tasks of the day and devote your undivided attention to accomplishing them.
#2 Visualize the process to the end
“Everything is interwoven, and the web is holy;none of its parts are unconnected. Together, they compose the world.” Book 7, Meditations. 
“I have a relationship with other parts, so, I have no right as a whole to complain about what is assigned to me by the whole. Because what benefits the whole can’t harm the parts, and the whole does nothing that doesn’t benefit it. So, by keeping in mind the whole that I’m a part of, I’ll accept whatever happens. I will do nothing selfish, but aim instead to join them, to direct my every action towards what benefits us all and avoid what doesn’t. If I do that, then my life should go smoothly” Book 10, Meditations. 
Logos (logic) can be applied to everything. Including, the tasks we do. So, applying logos to our tasks would mean systematically breaking them down into individual steps from the start, till the end. This would help us clearly notice how tasks move from one stage to another and also, if there are any visible bottlenecks in the process.
However, when we start working on something, so often, we fail to clearly think about the process. We just..start with unrealistic expectations. And this lack of clarity leads to procrastination.
That, is a recipe for failure.
Instead, we need to break down the process’ of each of our tasks. This exercise will helps us see the individual steps that are needed, giving us a more realistic sense of what we can accomplish today with a hundred percent focus.
Mind Maps are useful tools that can help us break down the process and clearly see the steps needed to accomplish a task.
So, break down the three most important tasks you plan to accomplish for the day. Ask yourself the intended result and list the process out, step by step. Then, focus on one step at a time with undivided attention.
That, is a recipe for deep work.
Additionally, once you break down something into its individual parts, you will notice that every single step is important. Thus, in reality, work does not have a nature. There is no ‘grunt work’. Every step has a purpose that leads to something bigger.
For instance, lets say one day your manager asks you to make her a cup of coffee.
Now, ask yourself- how is this going to affect the greater good? Well, one way to look at it would be to see that your contribution (that cup of joe) will help her get through the day. And perhaps improve her productivity. That, will affect the organization.  Even the cleaning lady’s job is important. Her contribution affects us mentally, leading us to be more productive and effective.
So, break down everything you do and focus on each step, one at a time.
#3 See what’s in your control
 “The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself with are externals, not under my control, and which have to do with the choice I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are me own” — Epictetus, Discourses, 2.5.4-5.
If you attempted to visualize the process of a task, you would’ve noticed something- sometimes,not every step of the process is under your control. In the modern workplace (or school/college), working with others is a necessary skill. And, to some extent, it makes sense why- we can’t do everything on our own.
Now, while working with others is great for the overall benefit of the organization, it could leave us a little stranded on our productivity path.
You could be waiting for that one email from a colleague without which, you can’t begin your task. Or, perhaps, you’re waiting for the IT guys in your company to approve some changes. Whatever the case is, the question needs to be asked- what can we do when we’re working with teams, and, nothing everything is in our control?
We can clearly differentiate between steps that are in our control and ones that aren’t.
Fortunately, the Stoics acknowledged the fact that not everything in our life is under our control. And, thus, getting upset over these uncontrollable things is not only irrational, but, can actually drive us insane. No amount of bitching about a colleague is going to make them do their job. The fact of the matter is- we cannot control other people’s choices and actions.
But, we can fully control our job. We can gain the clarity to know which part of the process is in our control and leave the rest to others. And, then, do our job.
Nothing less. Nothing more.
#4 Change your definition of success
 
Enjoyment means doing as much of what your nature requires as you can. And you can do that anywhere. Keep in mind the ease with which logos is carried through all things. That’s all you need. - Book 10, Meditations. 
We’re all quite aware of the fact that success is dependent on many variables. Some, in our control while others, not quite. Things in our full control include our effort, while, external variables include things like luck, and other people’s efforts (in case of a team task).
And yet, despite of knowing this, failing at something drives us mad. It leads to a vicious cycle of self criticism, wasting even further time.
For the stoics, enjoyment meant doing their job. And, to some extent, the same ideology can be applied to success.
Success shouldn’t be whether or not we accomplished something. Instead, it should be measured by the amount of effort we put towards a task. It should be the extent to which we completed /our/ job.
This perception not only makes us take full control, but, also helps us reflect when things don’t work out. And, if we know something about reflection, it’s that it makes us wiser.
So, the next time you work on something, measure your performance by your effort. As long as you put your hundred percent into it, you’ve won. That’s success. It doesn’t matter what the external outcome is.

 Over To You

Regardless of whether you use Trello or some other productivity app, I hope these tenets help you achieve clarity and wisdom as you strive towards becoming more productive.
I will let Marcus end this post.
“ Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what’s left and live it properly.”
----------------------------
Monil is a business student turned writer who helps people live a better life through Stoic Philosophy. Find me at: Facebookfacebook.com/mindandtheheart Tumblrmonoshah.tumblr.com

You've read Four Productivity Tenets From Stoicism, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you've enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.



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LIAM 360 – Now is All We Have

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We get so caught up in the drama of our lives—the planning for the future, the worry, the thinking of the past—that we forget to notice the beauty of the moment. We absolutely should have wonderful plans for our future, but we only live our lives one moment, one breath, one heartbeat at a time. Very often, in the midst of chaos, confusion, and pain, we don’t notice that God has given us something wonderful, right in front of us, to notice, to taste, to enjoy, that may give us sustenance and hope to hold on just a little longer. Listen as I explain:

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The post LIAM 360 – Now is All We Have appeared first on Life Is A Marathon : Life Coaching | Spirituality | Personal Development | Positive Thinking | Personal Branding | Faith.



Self Esteem Feeds

Kristy lost 50 pounds

Transformation of the Day: Kristy lost 50 pounds. Before starting her weight release journey in January, she was pre-diabetic, taking three blood pressure medications and feeling miserable. She took steps to change her eating habits and exercise regularly, but learning to love herself was the most important part of her journey. What was your motivation? My health was a […]



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Thursday, June 29, 2017

Lower Body Lift Update! (5 years post-op)

I've been meaning to do this post for, oh, about three years now. Haha! Can you believe it's been five and a half years since my lower body lift?

A little loopy just before surgery in 2011
So, I've been wanting to write a quick update and post some updated photos for anyone that's curious how my scars are looking after over five years. I don't think there is a huge difference in the one-year post-op photos and these new photos, but I guess that's a good thing? I am still absolutely thrilled with the results of my surgery, and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat!

Read more »




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7 Ways to Brighten Your Horizon Forever

You're reading 7 Ways to Brighten Your Horizon Forever, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you're enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

  1. Read Books that Make you think Outside the Box!
Brighten your horizon by realizing that everyone is your teacher. Gradually, you’ll gravitate to books - reading them will shape and mould your character brick by brick. Over time, they’ll help carve out a masterpiece of an inner canvas, making you consider possibilities you would have never otherwise considered. One idea has the potential to change your life forever if you act on it.“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” Sometimes, the most profound insights you have in your life will come through reading one sentence, one quote, in one book.
  1. Invest BIG in Yourself
Countless people similar to you have made mistakes and often pass on their decades of experience — so that you don’t have to learn things the hard way. Warren Buffett, the world renowned and famous investor, once said “It’s good to learn from your mistakes. But it’s better to learn from other people’s mistakes.” Whether it’s through an online course, seminar, or a three-day event (related to skills you’re passionate about improving) — you’ll usually come back with an upgraded toolkit. Having the willingness to let go of your ego, by investing in yourself, will cut your learning curve and allow you to get the skills that some people have taken YEARS to learn. Just because you’ve finished your degree doesn’t mean your life education is over. In fact, it’s always just getting started. Remember: if you don’t invest in yourself, then who will?
  1. Reflect on your Direction Regularly!
You only ever have so much energy to give, and every once in awhile; you need to make a pit stop. That can take the form of a public blog, a written journal, or simply a conversation with a friend to reflect on your year so far. Reflecting on your journey, is one of the most important things you can do for your direction and self-awareness in the long term. The active recovery will give you the clarity needed to act on hard truths — so that you can make wise improvements in both your personal and professional life.
  1. Save BIG Money Every Month
If you don’t have money under control, you don’t live free. If you don’t save money every month, you’re not preparing for the future. Making a saving plan doesn’t have to be complicated. You just need to calculate how much you automatically spend every month, and then create a comfortable monthly standing order for an amount that you can easily commit to. Brian Tracy, one of the most prominent self-improvement gurus, in his book, the 21 Secrets of Millionaires, wrote: “if you don’t save money, the seeds of greatness aren’t within you. By saving for the future, you show that you understand that a little money saved each month, will end up going a long way towards your freedom. And freedom is something you value tremendously.
  1. Mostly Eat Healthy Food!
Anyone can eat a couple of fruits and vegetables per day. Anyone can eat one protein-rich meal per day. Anyone can skip the soda and make sure they drink enough water. Eating healthy is not a pursuit of perfection, it’s just about feeding your body more of what it needs, and less of what it doesn’t. Companies are spending billions of dollars on marketing processed foods so you can’t be too harsh on yourself if you eat unhealthy on occasion. Yes, you’ve probably grown to love cookies, ice cream, and the like — but by feeding your body more nutritious foods most of the time, you’ll disable part of the lure processed foods have over you.
  1. Exercise Regularly!
Exercise isn’t just about improving your physique or your health; it’s about improving your mentality and physiology. Similarly to fine-tuning a car, your body needs the right intervention to operate at its best! You only ever end up getting one body in your lifetime, so you do what you can to take care of it! Whether you go to the gym three times per week, jog once a week, play sports with your friends — you were built to move! Having an xercisee ritual is a gateway into a higher state of energy and focus. And with that state, you can experience more rewarding days = a more rewarding life.If you’re exercising in some form regularly (even if it’s just taking a long walk), then you’re leveraging all the areas of your life closer to their full potential!
  1. Be Mindful of your Media Consumption!
One of the easiest ways to relax and stimulate yourself after a long day at work is to turn on Netflix, Amazon Prime, or whatever’s trending now. With a flick of your fingers, you can get access to a whole variety of entertainment. The average person in America consumes an average of five hours of Television per day! Zig Ziglar, in his book, How to Stay Motivated, mentions that the average Chairman of a board only consumes four to eight hours of television per week. Be the chairman of your life — by being mindful of the quality and quantity of information you allow to flow into your consciousness. You decide whether you want to experience the better part of the thrills you seek, through a screen, or your life... With time and application, these seven different components of your life will start clicking into place, as they continually serve to brighten your horizon! My Last Words If you work on a PC and you're interested in learning how to brighten your path to its full potential, read my free book on Spiritual Productivity.
  • You'll learn about how to split up your day into four chunks, so you worry less about external influences.
  • You'll discover the small hacks that will take your productive work on the PC to the next level.
  • And much more…

 Samy Felice is a writer who brings meaning to words. His Free Book explores how to make success easier. 

You've read 7 Ways to Brighten Your Horizon Forever, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you've enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.



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How Lydia Dziubanek Lost 80 Pounds

How Lydia Dziubanek Lost 80 Pounds

How Lydia Dziubanek Lost 80 Pounds

Weight Loss Win is a weekly series I do for Yahoo Beauty. Here is an excerpt from this week’s inspiring story:

Lydia Dziubanek Lost 80 Pounds: ‘I Felt Excited That I Had Accomplished Something That I Never Thought Was Possible.’

Lydia is 37, 5’2” tall, and currently weighs 170 pounds. In 2014, after an abusive relationship pushed her to the brink of suicide, she decided to take control of her life and health for the sake of her children. Click here to read the story of her weight-loss journey.





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Latoya lost 63 pounds

Transformation of the Day: Latoya lost 63 pounds. Despite many challenges, including the passing of her beloved mother and the end of a marriage, she found the strength to create a healthier lifestyle for herself and her children. Check out her story. What is you motivation? Being healthy motivates me. I have a family history of heart […]



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“I Simply Have to Put All My Energy into Hope and Life, Rather Than Trying to Avoid Doom and Death.”

Amy Silverstein

Interview: Amy Silverstein.

Amy Silverstein is a writer who has written extensively about her very tough health challenges. Her acclaimed, award-winning first book, Sick Girl, explores her experience as an organ-transplant recipient — she was a law student when she received a heart transplant.

Her riveting new book, My Glory Was I Had Such Friends, just hit the shelves. It’s about her experience twenty-six years later, when she needed a second heart transplant. To have a chance to survive, she had to uproot her life to go to California, and the book is a tribute to how her squad of nine close friends put aside the demands of their own lives to support her. Her account is a terrific example of how love and friendship can sustain us.

Her story is a great reminder: If you support organ donation, sign the registry! Tell your friends and family you want to donate your organs! If you’ve ever considered doing a “random act of kindness,” here’s one of the most random, most kind, and also most convenient acts you can ever commit.

If you want to know why I care so much about this issue, you can read about my husband Jamie’s experience, and one of the happiest days of my life, here.

I was very eager to hear what Amy had to say about happiness, habits, and health.

Gretchen: What’s a simple habit that consistently makes you happier?

Amy: An hour of intense exercise – six days a week.

Good sleep – seven nights a week.

Breakfast (preferably Wheaties – it’s the Breakfast of Champions, after all!) – every day.

What’s something you know now about forming healthy habits that you didn’t know when you were 18 years old?

The years have taught me that healthy habits are about choice—at least at first—and that I have the power to decide to control my choices every day in every way.  Part of growing up, I think, is about discovering self-control.  This is not a completely positive discovery; I mean, watch a three-year-old eat an ice cream cone and you might feel nostalgia for that utterly joyful, face-smearing, shirt-staining abandon.  But, for the most part, growing up and growing into self-discipline is, I think, a big part of habit-forming and happiness.   And the payoffs are huge.  For me, the payoffs may be part of the reason I am still alive nearly 30 years after receiving a heart transplant at age 25.

I couldn’t know at 18 that habits were based in deliberate choice.  I didn’t give any thought to healthy habits back then.  Good health was a given, or so I thought.

Then I became suddenly ill at 24 and needed an immediate heart transplant (doctors said a virus had attacked my heart).  I was told that my life expectancy post-transplant might be ten years if I was lucky. Because of the nature of transplanted hearts and the medicines required to sustain them, the risks to my survival were described to me as a dreaded trifecta:  artery disease, cancer, and deadly infection.

As I saw it, I had no choice but to form healthy habits—fast.  And keep at them—forever.  So I made a decision to exercise vigorously six days a week; no doctor told me to do this.   And further, I decided I would eat a diet very low in unhealthy, saturated fats; again, this was not on any doctor’s advice.  It just seemed to me that if my arteries were at risk due to transplantation, I should not fill them up with cholesterol.

Now, you might think, Well, you have enormous health risks—of course you are going to choose and stick to healthy habits.  But I have met many grateful, smart heart transplant recipients, young and old, who do not strive to make the choices I have made, or who make them half-heartedly (no pun intended) and bend or break them regularly.  I never do.

I can’t know if, had I not received a heart transplant in my early 20’s, I would have grown into the habits I’ve chosen and kept them going strong and consistent for decades.  But I’d like to believe that even for those who are healthy, a habit must begin with a strong belief that this habit will make a positive difference.  And when this conviction meets awareness that we control only ourselves in this world, (because, really, who else can make your legs run or your hand reach for a doughnut) then we can choose our habits, form them, and live them.

Heart transplant or not.

Do you have any habits that continually get in the way of your happiness?

I’ve tried over the last couple of years to break habits that make me unhappy.  With this second heart transplant, I found an opportunity to press the reset button and give up habits that, on reflection, caused me more harm than good.

For instance: journal writing. Over my 26 years with the first transplanted heart, I wrote in a journal every night, continuing a practice I had started in high school and carried over to college and law school.  But while my pre-transplant journals were full of life and hope, the entries during the transplant years quickly became a litany of medical woes and fears—more like a terrible medical chart than a jotting down of adventures and aspirations.  Soon, it became a sorry habit: get into bed, write down of all my symptoms in detail, and add any new medical fears to the long list in the back of the book.  My intention was to be a smart patient—keep careful watch so that I might save myself from the transplant dangers that threatened to take my life.

Several times, my journal did just this: made a lifesaving difference in my medical care.  My careful records allowed me to be a full partner with my doctor.  Sometimes even supplant my doctor.

But mostly, the daily habit of writing was a sad reminder of how challenging my body was, and how hopeless.  And when, finally, I did become critically ill and needed another transplant, I realized that my journal had not helped stave off the inevitable.  I learned that no matter how carefully I had watched and documented all aspects of my body and its health, the unfortunate fate of my transplanted heart’s demise played out anyway.

So, now, after this second heart transplant, I do not write in a journal anymore.  I am still a careful and observant patient, sure, but not a habitual recorder of my body’s ills.  I know now that habits are not going to save me.   I simply have to be courageous and put all my energy into hope and life, rather than trying to avoid doom and death—come what may.  My new motto (a habit in phrase form):  Che sera sera.

Which habits are most important to you? (for health, for creativity, for productivity, for leisure, etc.)

For creativity and writing, my most important habit is getting all other activities out of the way—i.e. my morning run, all emails and calls, a shower, Wheaties breakfast of champions—and then setting myself up for serious writing.  This means creating a specific environment and my place in it so that my unconscious knows it’s writing time.  Here’s where habit takes over.

I put on a robe that my husband bought me for me a few years ago—put it right over my clothes.  It’s my writing cloak, of sorts, and it triggers my mind to settle in.  I turn on a Himalayan rock salt lamp that sits on my desk (a gift from my son), switch on the lamp beside it and—now comes the most important part—plant my butt in the desk chair.  I mean plant it—for hours.  I’m talking six or seven or eight, with only a quick break to grab a yogurt, which I eat at my desk while working.

For me, the habit of creating and entering a specific writing environment is the only way I can get myself to face the empty page, and fill it.

Would you describe yourself as an Upholder, a Questioner, a Rebel, or an Obliger?

I am an Upholder, for sure.  But as a person who has had serious life-threatening health issues since my early 20’s, I find that expectations directed at me from the outside are not particularly high.  In fact, they often come with provisos like Only do what you can do—don’t push yourself.  And I suppose this is apt, because during my first 26 transplant years, I was only able to actually achieve about fifty percent of what I set out to do.  So, friends and family and even employers went easy on me. But I never went easy on myself.  My achievements—including finishing law school after my transplant, passing the bar exam, working in law, writing a successful book, hiking mountains, running miles, etc.—went way beyond what anyone expected of me.

And now, after my second transplant, when I feel so much better than after my first, my expectations for myself are quite high.   It is easy to do what you set out to do, I think, when you feel well.  It’s a gift, in fact.  And I do not waste one minute of this gift.

People around me are beginning to notice that these years after my second transplant (there have been 3 of them so far) are different from the earlier ones, and so they are beginning to expect more from me.  To meet their expectations now (and, even better, to exceed them) is my great delight.

How have you viewed habits as part of your health experience?

I’ve chosen healthy habits over the last 30 years based on my hope that they will make a difference in my health.  Of course, this hope has to be set against a background of the medical challenges and shortened life expectancy that are my heart transplant reality.  But still, I’ve felt that if I apply healthy habits with absolute rigor—run that extra mile, pay attention to every tiny detail of my care, take every medicine every day, eschew artery-clogging foods, etc.—I can make a positive difference in my survival.  Well, to be honest, I’ve hoped to make more than just a positive difference; I have hoped to save myself from serious illness and death.

But you know, in spite of all the habits I devoted myself to with diligence and fervor for nearly 3 decades, my heart still succumbed to vasculopathy—the common artery disease that is a deadly heart transplant scourge.

So, now what?  How do I view my habits now that they have disappointed me?

I am so fortunate to have a second heart transplant.  Automatically and out of inured habit, it is natural that I delve into the same healthy habits that characterized my first 26 heart transplant years, because I love and value my donor heart and I want to live long.  But now I know that my health-promoting habits, admirable as they may have been, did not protect me as I had hoped.  Doing my all and doing it diligently did not prevent vasculopathy from invading my arteries and nearly killing me.

What do you do when life shows you that your healthy habits have no efficacy?

 This question applies to everyone, of course.  What happens when you develop and excellent study habits and apply them for months and months, and still, you fail the exam?  Or when you eat healthfully and sparingly and you exercise consistently, and then, a month later, you get on the scale and see no weight loss?

I do not have an answer to this.

Efficacy is all, as I see it, when it comes to assessing our habits in hindsight.

But a transplant cardiologist told me this recently:  “Amy, your extreme healthy habits are the reason you defied the odds and lived 26 years with that heart.  Given the available science and medication when you were transplanted in 1988, a generally healthy lifestyle would have gotten you 8 years, maybe 10.  Fifteen would have been amazing.  But 26?  That’s extraordinary, and that’s all you.”

The vasculopathy was inevitable, he said, because the transplant medicines back in the 80’s weren’t advanced enough to target it early on.  The appearance of artery disease was inevitable; no health habits could have won this battle.

And so, what now?

New medicines.  New treatments.  New hope.

I return to my healthy habits with renewed vigor and hope.

The post “I Simply Have to Put All My Energy into Hope and Life, Rather Than Trying to Avoid Doom and Death.” appeared first on Gretchen Rubin.



Self Help Gurus etc

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Q&A Wednesday: Am I Going To Be Calorie Counting Forever?


Q: Hey Erika!

I have a question, I hope you don’t mind me asking. I remember reading an article you wrote in this subject but I can’t find it.

So have lost 20lbs calorie counting. Thing is…I have a LONG way to go…(like 100lb if not more to go)

Thing is, I’ve been thinking about the reality of counting every single calorie forever. I never want to be this big again, but how realistic is this? Is it something I’ll just HAVE to do? I am already absolutely fine with having smaller portions but I am scared that if I stop calorie counting and just try to eye ball it, even if I weigh portions, my weight might creep back on.

The issue I have is calorie counting recipes. It’s just so time consuming to count it all and divide it into exact portions.

I just cannot see my weighing lettuce leaves, grapes and cereal for the rest of my life.
What are you thoughts on this?

I’ll link to the posts you’re referring to at the end of this post, but no, the goal isn’t to spend the rest of your life counting calories.

Honestly, several years after having written that series on calorie counting, the one thing that’s most clear to me is that it’s less about the actual math of calories and more about the lessons the counting should be teaching you.

Look at it like this. So much of processed food is manufactured in a way that removes the texture, forcing the food to form a nice, neat wad in your mouth, leaving no traces behind in your teeth to pick out with a pick or floss, and when it goes down your throat into your stomach, it forms this tightly-wound mass in your tummy that is extremely unfulfilling.

And then, you look back on how many calories that unfulfilling nonsense cost you, and realize it was way too many calories for you to still be starving so quickly after eating.

And then, you look at the serving size and realize you didn’t just eat one serving, you accidentally ate four because the brand reduced the portion sizes as low as they did in order to make the calories-per-serving amount on the label seem less scary… so you have to actually multiply those calories you added to your counter by four.

And then, you look at the nutrition facts below the calories per serving listing, and find that your chosen food had little to not protein in it at all for as many calories as it had, next to no fiber, and shockingly, even though you couldn’t taste it, more sugar than you anticipated. You soon notice that virtually all of the calories in the food came from carbs.

And then you look at the ingredients label, and spot that the overwhelming majority of the ingredients are just variants of flour and sugar, two of a handful of ingredients in this country that are insanely profitable for food manufacturers.

And then…. then… you say to yourself, “Wow, I can’t eat this like this any more.”

That is the real lesson to be learned in calorie counting. It’s not about an obsessive adherence to managing the calorie deficit necessary for weight loss—it’s about learning lessons about the food you eat, why it makes you feel the way it does, and whether or not it helps you achieve and maintain the goals you’ve set for yourself.

There’s a reason why vegetables are so important for weight loss—they are, for a very small calorie amount, hands down the most filling thing you can eat, on top of being incredibly nutritious. Inputting the 3 cups of kale with garlic and red pepper flakes that you sauteed in a little vinaigrette and realizing that you couldn’t even finish it all even though it was a good 600 calories less than your usual favorite fast food restaurant’s value meal is invaluable information.

It helps to give you a reason to say no to that food you love in favor of something that helps you get closer to your goal–how many times in life do we feel the need to say, “I know I love you, but you aren’t good for me, no matter how good you make me feel in the short term?”

I know that calorie counting, in the thick of it, is stressful and frustrating and eye opening and mortifying and, frankly for some people, can cause so much anxiety that it leads them down a path towards disordered eating behavior. However, I believe we look at it wrong.

Calorie counting, though it helps you stay in line, should be an exercise in exploration. For me, it was about realizing that the reason I felt like I could eat the entire pan of Betty Crocker scalloped potatoes—I talk about those stupid potatoes a lot, I know—because none of the ingredients were real. The fat, the real source of fullness, was all but eliminated. The protein, from the cheese and milk, almost entirely gone. For all the calories I was eating, for a dish that’s supposed to be potatoes and cheese and milk and spices (something I now know‚ I still felt like I could eat the whole pan. The first time I made scalloped potatoes from scratch, I could barely eat a quarter of the pan; the thought of eating the whole thing makes me sick as I type this.

As you’re inputting your details, ask yourself—was I full after eating this? Was it worth all these calories, when I could’ve had something more satisfying and, possibly, far more flavorful? Was this the right choice?

When you as yourself these questions, you are giving your brain new ways to value the food you put in your body. Did it fill you up? Did it hold you over until your next meal? Or did you go on a sugar high, crash, and then recover from the crash by eating something else sweet?

Calorie counting helps you maintain the deficit, but you also need to be using the information you get from reading those labels to help you understand the choices you’ll need to make to maintain your goal and to give you reason why you’re saying goodbye to the old—the old foods, the old portion sizes, the old everything.

Before long, these will be the choices you’ll make on your own, without reading labels or opening your phone. You’ll know you can’t order the pasta off the menu because you’ll know that white sauce is a smooth 500 calories on its own. You’ll know the bread is a bad idea because, combined with the fact that it’s made with dough conditioners that make it appear to have more heft than it does, it’s super-high in calories and very unfulfilling. (There’s a reason why it’s endless and unlimited at most places.) You’ll know that anything fried or sauced or breaded is a bad move—unless you really want it, in which case, dive in—and it’ll shape the choices you make. Why do you know? Because you’ve looked it up and learned your lesson.

So will you need to count forever? No. But you will sometimes find yourself needing to recalibrate, and that’s okay. Or sometimes, you’ll find yourself randomly gaining weight, and going back to plugging in your calories for a bit can help you figure out what’s slipped and where.

Use calorie counting as a tool to help you figure out your own personal path for maintaining your goal, and before too long you’ll find yourself naturally on cruise control, with your auto-pilot totally recalibrated to reflect your new understanding of how to eat. And, like I always say, your MyFitnessPal will thank you for it!

(Okay, that’s not what I always say, but it’s damned close. LOL!)

For more on Calorie Counting:





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My Week Long Experiment and the Benefits to my Mind and Body

You're reading My Week Long Experiment and the Benefits to my Mind and Body, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you're enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

In almost all health and well-being articles I’ve ever read, there’s always one tip that reoccurs every time.  It’s the simplest of things, the easiest advice to follow, and I’m just surprised that more people don’t do it.  It’s not rocket science, it’s not expensive (in fact, it’s pretty much free) and is available to us all. Drink water. I know, I know!  It can be the most boring thing you can think of when it comes to thirst. First thing in the morning when I’m still on autopilot, I’ve usually made and drunk a large cup of strong coffee before I’m properly awake – I need that rocket fuel to get me going!  But with the warmer weather now upon us, I can have a tendency to feel sluggish, for my feet and ankles to swell when I sit at my office desk for too long, and to suffer with far more headaches than is really acceptable. Talking to my colleagues (who all sit with a sports bottle filled with water on their desks) they all told me I should drink more water.  I could still have the coffee, but I should add drinks of water in-between coffees, or replace one or two of those coffees throughout the day. Biting the bullet, I decided to conduct a little experiment of my own.  It couldn’t hurt, could it?  A week out of my life?  I pledged to my work colleagues, that for one week, I would drink nothing but water, document my findings as I went, and then give them an honest account of my well-being at the end of the week.  Here’s how I got on… Day 1 I had to try really hard not to make that coffee.  I really needed coffee.  BUT… I had hot water instead - a little compromise in my mind, as I’m used to having a hot drink.  I won’t lie, it certainly didn’t hit the spot like my usual coffee does.  Throughout the day I consumed the recommended amount.  By the end of day one, I’d drunk over 2 litres! Day 2 Still craving that early morning coffee!  It was a little more difficult during the day, because I work part time, and this was one of my home days.  I was busy with chores, and so I fell slightly short of the two litres, but I didn’t count it as failure.  If anything the opposite – I’d done 2 whole days without coffee! Day 3 Woke with a thumping headache!  I put this down to a little caffeine withdrawal. I persevered with the hot water, instead opting to add a little lemon juice. By the end of day 3 I had consumed over 2.5 litres of water! Go me! Day 4 The temptation of coffee was still there, but I didn’t feel like I ‘needed’ it in the same way as a couple of days before.  Drinking water was almost becoming a habit.  At home I made sure that I set myself little reminders to drink by programming my phone’s alarm to go off every hour, on the hour.  By the end of day 4 I’d consumed another 2.5 litres.  I noticed too that my visits to the bathroom were far more frequent than the days before.  My system really was flushing through! Day 5 I tend to work all day on a Friday, which means I’m sat on my bottom from 9-5!  I made sure I drank plenty, and got up and moved about at least once every hour.  Leaving the office, I was surprised that my feet were normal size, and that only one of my ankles were ever so slightly puffy.  What a difference!  Toilet visits were more frequent, but I started to feel physically better.  I was getting to sleep earlier, which in turn made me feel brighter in the morning. Day 6 A Saturday.  Fail!  Not only did I not consume my target 2 litres, but I also went off plan.  I was out for the day, and didn’t prepare adequately.  The craving for something sweet and fizzy got the better of me and I gave in to it and had a lemonade.  Still, once home I stuck to my liquid plan, and got straight back on to water. At least lemonade is a clear liquid, right? Day 7 Mission complete!  Target consumption met!  I could really see a difference in my overall well-being.  I still peed for England, and not only did I notice a difference in my bladder behaviour, but also my bowels.  Things were ‘easier’.  My headaches became almost non-existent, and I was actually feeling like I had a bit of energy!  My mind-set was more positive, and on the whole, I couldn’t believe how good I was feeling! I’ve added a day 8 because I just had to share this amazing benefit with you… Day 8 The day I stepped on the scales.  Perhaps drinking more water had suppressed my appetite a little as I am 3.5lbs lighter! I put it down to water being calorie free!  Whatever the answer, I know that from now on I’ll be carrying on with the water drinking.  It’s not permanently sustainable, as I like a social drink now and again, and I will allow myself the odd coffee – just not to the same extent as before.
Jane works part time, and is also a freelance writer and blogger, who currently writes for Cooleraid. In her spare time she enjoys reading, travel, and chocolate!

You've read My Week Long Experiment and the Benefits to my Mind and Body, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you've enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.



Self Help Gurus etc

Catch-up and Wednesday Weigh-in

Yeesh! I meant to write more frequently last week, but I swear the days go by so fast. With the kids playing baseball every day, we've been busy. And we're going on vacation Friday, so we've been getting ready for that.

Anyway, it's hard to even begin a post because it's been so long since I've written, so I'll just write some bullets and keep it simple.
  • Someone abandoned this tiny kitten at my younger brother's house, and Nathan asked me if I wanted him/her. While I would LOVE a kitten, there is no way that I can have another pet. I tried so hard to find a home, though, and finally managed to find a rescue that would take him/her (still don't know the sex). Just before I was going to take the kitten to the rescue, however, one of Nathan's friends ended up taking the poor kitty in. 

Read more »




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Podcast 123: Shield Yourself from Worry, Open Items Carefully, and Use Clothing to Influence Your Attitude.

Update: Listeners responded with an example of great side hustles (such as coaching high-school football) and with more ideas about how to deal with home parties.

Try This at Home: Shield yourself from worry.

Happiness Hack: Open items carefully. Don’t rip, shred, pull apart — instead, figure out how items are meant to be open, and use it.

Know Yourself Better: Do you use clothes to transform your mood or put yourself in a certain mindset?

Listener Question: Bethany and Benjamin ask for advice about how to have a happy experience when getting a new dog.

As I mention, I wrote this post “7 terrific books if you’re getting a dog.

I also wrote a post “7 things I learned about myself, from getting a dog.”

Gretchen’s Demerit: I feel myself starting to “save” a new white shirt. I have to remind myself, over and over, to Spend out (one of my Twelve Personal Commandments).

Elizabeth’s Gold Star: Elizabeth gives a gold star to the listeners of Happier in Hollywood, her new podcast with her longtime friend and writing partner, Sarah Fain — it has been great to hear from so many people.  To hear them discuss their “Hollywood origin story,” listen to episode 4 — and the debate about whether Sarah should dye her hair is in episode 4, too.

Three Resources:

    1. I’m obsessed with color, and one fun way to indulge in the pleasure of color is — to color! Want a bonus sheet from my coloring book, The Happiness Project Mini Posters: 20 Hand-lettered Quotes to Pull Out and FrameClick here  to get a PDF of one page from the coloring book. Tag me on Instagram if you color and share it.
    2. If you’d like my Checklist for Habit Change, to help you use the 21 strategies for habit change to improve an important habit in your life, you can click here for the PDF.
    3. The September book tour for The Four Tendencies is set! I’ll be going to New York City (obviously), Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.  I hope to see you there — please come, bring friends. Info is here.

 

If you want easy instructions about how to rate or review the podcast, look here. Remember, it really helps us if you do rate or review the podcast — it helps other listeners discover us.

I do weekly live videos on my Facebook Page to continue the conversation from the podcast — usually on Tuesdays at 3:00 pm ET. To join the conversation, check the schedule.

As always, thanks to our terrific sponsors

Check out Texture. Get access to all your favorite magazines — including back issues and bonus video content — in one super-convenient place. Try the app Texture for free by going to Texture.com/happier.

Visit Framebridge.com — a terrific way to get your art and photos framed, in a super easy and affordable way. Use the code HAPPIER at checkout to get 15% off your first Framebridge order. Shipping is free.

We love hearing from listeners:

 

To sign up for my free monthly newsletter, text me at 66866 and enter the word (surprise) “happier.“ Or click here.

If you enjoyed the podcast, please tell your friends and give us a rating or review. Click here to tell your friends on Twitter.

Listeners really respect the views of other listeners, so your response helps people find good material. (Not sure how to review? Instructions here; scroll to the bottom.)

How to Subscribe

If you’re like me (until recently) you’re intrigued by podcasts, but you don’t know how to listen or subscribe. It’s very easy, really. Really.  To listen to more than one episode, and to have it all in a handier way, on your phone or tablet, it’s better to subscribe. Really, it’s easy.

Want to know what to expect from other episodes of the podcast, when you listen to the award-winningHappier with Gretchen Rubin?” We talk about how to build happier habits into everyday life, as we draw from cutting-edge science, ancient wisdom, lessons from pop culture—and our own experiences (and mistakes).  We’re sisters, so we don’t let each other get away with much!

Want a new podcast to listen to, with the same vibe as Happier? The Onward Project is the family of podcasts that I’ve launched, for podcasts that are about “your life–made better.” Check out these great shows: Side Hustle School and Radical Candor and Happier in Hollywood.

HAPPIER listening!

The post Podcast 123: Shield Yourself from Worry, Open Items Carefully, and Use Clothing to Influence Your Attitude. appeared first on Gretchen Rubin.



Self Help Gurus etc

Secondhand smoke exposure before birth may affect lungs into adulthood

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A study of mice shows that exposing unborn offspring to secondhand smoke causes changes in lung function and structure that persevere into adulthood.

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Double chin: Causes and how to get rid of one

Seeing a double chin in the mirror may be a sign of weight gain or obesity, but that is not always the case.

There are many exercises that target the fat under the chin and neck. There are also other treatments that can be used to support these activities.

What causes a double chin?

man with a double chinA double chin can be caused by a number of factors, including age, diet, and genetics.

A few different factors combine in the body to create a double chin. Understanding these factors may help with understanding ways to get rid of the double chin itself.

Age

The skin can start to lose its elasticity as the body ages, which can lead to the appearance of extra or saggy skin that may contribute to a double chin.

Diet and weight

While weight gain is not always the cause of a double chin, it can contribute to it. A diet high in

calories

, processed foods, and unhealthful fats may influence weight gain and a double chin as well.

Genetics

Genes may play a role in people developing a double chin. Anyone with a family history of skin with little elasticity or double chins might be more likely to develop one themselves.

Posture

Poor posture can weaken the muscles of the neck and chin. This may contribute to a double chin over time, as the surrounding skin loses its elasticity when the muscles are not used.

Exercises that target a double chin

There are many simple exercises for a double chin.

While there is little scientific research on the effect of these exercises, they target the muscles of the neck and face. Working these muscles could help burn fat in these areas, and may be a crucial part of getting rid of a double chin.

Around the world (warm up)

As with any exercise routine, it is important to warm up the muscles to avoid injury. To warm up the neck, gently rotate the head forward and down and then back and up using a clockwise, circular motion. After a few rotations, reverse the direction.

The same circular motion is used to stretch the jaw. Gently extend the jaw left, then forward, then right, and then back, holding each position for a second or two. Now the muscles are warmed and ready for exercise.

Whistle at the ceiling

This exercise is great for strengthening the muscles and giving the neck a break during time spent at the desk. Sit with a straight back and relaxed shoulders.

Tilt the head back to look at the ceiling. From this position, close the lips into the position used while whistling. The lips should be relaxed but held tight enough to feel a contraction on both sides of the neck.

Hold this position for 10 to 20 seconds depending on the comfort level of the individual. Ten repetitions of this exercise are usually enough for one sitting.

Kiss the sky

woman kissing the airIn this exercise, try to get the lips as far from the face as possible.

This exercise is similar to the previous one, with a few differences.

Stand straight and tall with the arms and shoulders loose and relaxed. Tilt the head back to look at the ceiling. Pucker the lips and try to kiss the sky, extending them as far away from the face as possible.

When done correctly, the muscles throughout the neck and chin should feel flexed but comfortable. Hold this position for 5 to 20 seconds and then relax. Repeat 10 to 15 times per set.

The ball squeeze

Keeping an exercise tool on hand is an excellent way to help some people remember to do their exercises.

For neck exercises, it may help to keep a ball somewhere near the desk, bed, or in a place where a person will do the exercises. The size of the ball can range from 5 to 10 inches based on personal comfort and should be easy to squeeze.

The ball squeeze is done best from a seated position with a straight back and relaxed shoulders.

Place the ball under the chin. Use the chin to push down against the ball in a steady, firm motion. This can be repeated 10 to 30 times during each sitting.

The pouting stretch

Another effective way to target the muscles in the chin and neck is to do a pouting stretch.

Standing or seated, stick the bottom lip out as far as possible to form a pouting face. Hold the position for 3 seconds. With the lip still in full pout, use the muscles of the neck to tilt the chin towards the chest without moving the upper back.

Hold this position for 3 seconds. Relax the muscles and start again. Repeat 10 to 20 times or until the neck feels the workout.

Gum chewing

Chewing gum may not seem like much, but it may be useful for people looking to get rid of a double chin in multiple ways.

A study posted to the journal Appetite found that individuals who chew gum after a meal may feel more satisfied with what they have eaten. This makes them less likely to reach for additional snacks. Chewing gum can help people who are losing weight to reduce the number of calories in their diet.

woman sticking her tongue out in the mirrorThis exercise should mirror a lion's yawn, with the tongue extending as far as possible.

Chewing gum is a minor workout for the muscles of the face, especially the jaw. Regular gum chewing may contribute to an overall loss of fat in the chin though it probably will not do much by itself.

The lion's yawn

The point of this exercise is to open the mouth wide while sticking the tongue out as far as possible, much like a yawning lion. It can be a great exercise to strengthen many muscles in the chin, neck, and face.

Sit or stand with a relaxed posture. Open the mouth as wide as possible while extending the tongue out as far as it will go. When done correctly, the muscles of the neck, chin, and jaw should tighten.

Push the tongue out for 10 seconds and relax. Repeat this process 10 times and move on to another exercise.

Other treatments for a double chin

In addition to exercises, people often turn to additional treatments for their double chin as well.

Face masks

Many face masks are available that can help tighten the skin and reduce the appearance of a double chin.

Glycerin masks and coffee or green tea masks may help support the efforts of exercises. A daily mask of egg whites, honey, and lemon juice also provides a reduction in fat around the chin for some people.

Diet

A natural diet may help reduce the appearance of a double chin, especially if it is caused by weight gain. Reducing the number of calories consumed each day helps some people.

Drinking plenty of water removes more fat from the body. A study posted to the journal Obesity found that people who drank water before meals lost more weight than those who did not.

Water and water-rich foods, such as melons and cucumbers may also help remove more toxins from the body.

Surgery

Some people opt for invasive procedures to fix a double chin. There are three main procedures for treating a double chin:

  • Mesotherapy: Mesotherapy involves injecting compounds into the chin that dissolve fat. The process can take up to 6 months and may require over 100 injections in some people. If done incorrectly, it may cause nerve damage.
  • Liposculpting: Liposculpture treats a double chin by removing the fat through suction or with a laser. Liposcultping will not create more elasticity in the skin; it will only remove fat.
  • Kybella: This drug is approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A single treatment involves up to 50 injections of the drug into the fat tissue. A person may have up to six individual treatments, which they must have monthly.

These options may cause side effects such as swelling, bruising, or pain. The double chin may still come back if the lifestyle does not change to maintain it.





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21 Day Step and Squat Challenge

This month we will work our thighs, butt and core with squats while we keep on stepping! Break out that pedometer, app or fitness tracker. The fun starts on July 1st. Work at your own pace. If you go from 1 squat a day to 20 over the course of 21 days, that is PROGRESS! […]



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B’Neika lost 130 pounds

Transformation of the Day: B’Neika lost 130 pounds. When her world was falling down, exercise became a source of strength and comfort. This former food addict has learned so much about herself during this journey. I love that she says, “My emotions were meant to be shared, not eaten.” Check out how she did it. What was […]



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Tuesday, June 27, 2017

How To Diet: DON’T

You're reading How To Diet: DON’T, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you're enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

HOW TO DIET: DON’T

Have you been searching for the perfect diet? Reading all those diet plans people are trying to sell to you, and struggling to pick or choose which one would help you the most? Well let me tell you the secret to successful dieting…DON’T.

How to Not Diet

At least, not in the traditional way. You see, people that make diet plans, food replacement pills, or magic weight loss programs are, surprise, just trying to get money! You are looking to better yourself and achieve a higher level of health, and all these salesmen are just waiting like vultures to pick your pockets dry!

Who do you trust? What do you do? I’ll tell you…don’t pay a single cent for someone to tell you how to eat. Why? Because the key to great health is simple…and I’m going to give you the secrets for FREE right now.

Understand Your Body

Your body works like a car. You fill it with fuel, drive it around, and refill it before it sputters and dies. Graphic, I know, but simple and true.

Now, your body is a little bit more complicated than a car and uses different fuels for different things. If you fill up your body with an overload of just one fuel, it will malfunction.

Therefore, you need a special diet. A diet that has been dead for years and years.

You need…a balanced diet.

That’s it. That is the big, not so- secret people have you pay hundreds for. You don’t need to stop eating sugar, become a vegetarian, or worship kale. All you should ever worry about, unless you really enjoy the science of hormones and vitamins, is not eating too much of one thing.

That is the magic formula for eating correctly. You’re welcome.

Eat Sugar

Balanced eating, however; is often misunderstood. People go straight to the food pyramid and realize there isn’t a dessert section…suddenly everyone is up in arms about how terrible sugar is and you can’t eat it.

This is not true. Too much sugar is bad for you yes, but too much kale is bad for you as well.

Therefore, Eat sugar.

Just eat it sparingly.

Why?

My coach used to tell us during season to eat more carrots, but to eat some form of dessert once a week. When I asked him why, he explained it this way:

Say your body gets used to only eating carrots throughout the season, but then one day season ends and you eat a big mac with a large frosty. What kind of reaction do you think your body is going to have?

My coach would put it this way, “Your body will go through everything you eat, sorting out your food…carrots…more carrots…still carrots…holy sh*# what is this?!” Suddenly your heart gives out because your body hasn’t had that much grease and sugar for so long, it doesn’t remember what to do with it!

This same idea works with dieting. Can you honestly say you are giving up sugar forever? No. Eventually you will crack and eat ten pieces of cake (it happens to us all) and your body is going to freak out.

Instead, have a “cheat day” where you can eat sugar and grease in small portions (one or two pieces of cake) rather than binge eating after a sugar diet.

I Know You Know, Do You?

Now there is one more tool you need for successful not-dieting: Exercise. Crazy, right? First balanced eating and now exercise? Well it’s true. People spend so much time worrying about eating too much when all they need to do is burn more calories, not starve themselves.

You already know this so I won’t spend a lot of time on it. But here are some helpful insights to get you started.

Best Way to Not-Diet Exercise

Now imagine this: You decide right now that you are going to run a mile and do 10 push-ups every day. No matter how long it takes you or how painful it is. If you stuck with this for two weeks guess what would happen…it would be easy!

You would be stronger and healthier, which would allow you to bump it up to a mile and a half plus 20 push-ups. Suddenly, a month later you are twice as strong, healthy, and/or skinny.

It is that simple.

You don’t have to be superman, run ironmans, or deadlift a thousand pounds. Just run a mile and keep adding distance. This is another dirty little secret that dieting sites don’t want you to know.

Be Smart

So now what? Are you going to keep shopping for diet plans, magic pills, and kale? Or are you going to use these powerful tools and make yourself healthier, stronger, and happier for FREE? It’s up to you, but I would recommend trying the FREE way first. Stick it to the salesmen vultures, be confident, and get healthy. You can do it.


Devin Gray is a motivated athlete on a journey to help others in their quest to fitness, health, and happiness through free advice on the topics of mental toughness, fitness, and nutrition. Check out his website: http://ift.tt/2tn6gsY

You've read How To Diet: DON’T, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you've enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.



Self Help Gurus etc

What Happens When You Succeed?

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The post What Happens When You Succeed? appeared first on Operation Self Reset.



Self Confidence Feeds

LIAM 359 – Limping with God

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Jacob was the “grasper.” He was a deceiver, a liar who relied on his cleverness to get what he wanted or to get himself out of a jam. He was smart and resourceful. People praised him for he cleverness. The problem was that he was scared and operated from a scarcity mindset. He thought he had to fight for everything he wanted. He was actually on the run from God, not trusting in the promise God had made to protect him, provide for him, and prosper him. One night, after losing everything he ever valued, Jacob wrestled with God. He surrendered after God inflicted a permanent wound to his hip. In that surrender, however, Jacob found peace and true meaning in life. He began, from that moment on, to walk with God. However, because he wrestled with God, he walked with a limp. Listen as I explain:

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Pneumothorax: Causes, symptoms, and treatment

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Pneumothorax occurs when air gets in between the lung and the chest wall, causing the lung to collapse. Learn more about its diagnosis and outlook.

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Janet lost 155 pounds

Transformation of the Day: Janet lost 155 pounds. Weighing almost 500 pounds and faced with pre-diabetes and hypertension, she made the decision to have the gastric sleeve procedure. Although surgery proved to be a good tool, changing her eating habits is what really made the difference. Check out what she shared with us about her journey. I […]



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Community-wide effort to fight childhood obesity shows promise


A large-scale effort to reduce childhood obesity in two low-income Massachusetts communities resulted in some modest improvements among schoolchildren over a relatively short period of time, suggesting that such a comprehensive approach holds promise for the future, according to a new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

The study, along with two others evaluating Massachusetts' efforts to reduce childhood obesity, published in Obesity.

"While our results were modest, they were achieved over a relatively short period of time, which is important given the substantial challenges of implementing a large-scale community initiative to address obesity," said Rebecca Franckle, postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Chan School and lead author of the study.

Given obesity's persistence as a public health issue in the U.S., researchers have looked increasingly at multisectoral, multilevel approaches to address the problem. The new study evaluated the effectiveness of one such project - the Massachusetts Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration Project (MA-CORD) - through which elementary and middle school students in two low-income Massachusetts communities received interventions from 2012-2014 aimed at reducing obesity and encouraging healthy behaviors, including eating more fruits and vegetables, drinking less sugar-sweetened beverages, increasing physical activity and sleep duration, and decreasing screen time. The project's interventions were implemented across different sectors - including schools, after-school programs, and health centers - and ranged from the individual level, such as individual or family counseling, to the community level, such as providing physical activity equipment to schools.

The researchers compared the two communities that received the interventions with nine similar communities that didn't receive it. They looked at changes in the prevalence of obesity among 1st, 4th, and 7th graders, starting from four years before the interventions began and at several points during their progression.

The results showed a modest but significant reduction of 2%-3% in obesity prevalence among 7th graders in one community compared to the control groups. In both intervention communities, 4th and 7th graders drank less sugar-sweetened beverages and more water. And students in one of the communities spent less time in front of screens.

Other Harvard Chan co-authors of the study included Steven Gortmaker, Jessica Barrett, Catherine Giles, and Elsie Taveras and senior author Kirsten Davison.

Funding for the study came from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (Award # U18DP003370), the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Article: Student Obesity Prevalence and Behavioral Outcomes for the Massachusetts Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration Project, Rebecca L. Franckle, Jennifer Falbe, Steven Gortmaker, Jessica L. Barrett, Catherine Giles, Claudia Ganter, Rachel E. Blaine, James Buszkiewicz, Elsie M. Taveras, Jo-Ann Kwass, Thomas Land, and Kirsten K. Davison, Obesity, doi: 10.1002/oby.21867, published 27 June 2017.





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Monday, June 26, 2017

Coconut Oil is Unhealthy? Not So Fast


Over the weekend, a flurry of news reports were released, discussing research from the American Heart Association that discusses whether or not we can consider coconut oil a “healthful” food.

From Huffington Post:

An AHA survey found that 72 percent of Americans considered coconut oil a health food. But coconut oil, it turns out, is shockingly high in saturated fats. And saturated fat ― even though some elements of its effects are up for debate ― isn’t good for you no matter how you slice it.

In fact, 82 percent of the fat found in coconut oil is saturated ― that’s significantly more than olive oil, which clocks in at 14 percent and canola oil, which contains a mere seven percent.

The AHA reviewed existing data on saturated fats and found that in seven out of eight studies, coconut oil actually increased LDL cholesterol ― the bad cholesterol ― which is a cause of cardiovascular disease. The findings were so clear that Frank Sacks, the report’s lead author, told USA Today, “You can put it on your body, but don’t put it in your body.” [source]

So, as I have witnessed a partial explosion of frustration and confusion and annoyance and, frankly, shade across social media with regard to this research, and it’s clear to me that we need to have a quick check in with the facts about saturated fats and the human body:

1) Saturated fats, when consumed, can and do become triglycerides in the blood stream.

2) Triglycerides, when consumed in abundance, do ultimately become the kind of “stuff” (also known as plaque) that sticks to the insides of your arteries, thereby forcing your heart to work harder to pump blood throughout your body. This is what heart disease is—an inability, on the part of your heart, to make sure your body gets the appropriate levels of oxygen, by pumping hard to deliver blood from your brain to your toes and all points in between. A heart that fails to do this can become enlarged; a heart that fails to make sure it’s delivering ample supplies or oxygen everywhere is a condition known as “heart failure;” a heart that has to work this hard to do its job can eventually experience a stroke.

So, yes, it’s right to sound the alarm, here. It’s not quite, as we are so used to hearing nowadays, “fake news.”

3) However—and this is where I think it’s important for people to pay close attention—saturated fats aren’t the only source of cholesterol or triglycerides, for that matter.

As I blogged a few years ago, in What Causes Heart Disease? Part 2, I quoted the following passage from a National Geographic Magazine article discussing—yep, you guessed it—sugar:

[…] fat makes up a smaller portion of the American diet than it did 20 years ago. Yet the portion of America that is obese has only grown larger. The primary reason, says Johnson, along with other experts, is sugar, and in particular fructose. Sucrose, or table sugar, is composed of equal amounts of glucose and fructose, the latter being the kind of sugar you find naturally in fruit. It’s also what gives table sugar its yummy sweetness. (High-fructose corn syrup, or HFCS, is also a mix of fructose and glucose—about 55 percent and 45 percent in soft drinks. The impact on health of sucrose and HFCS appears to be similar.) Johnson explained to me that although glucose is metabolized by cells all through your body, fructose is processed primarily in the liver. If you eat too much in quickly digested forms like soft drinks and candy, your liver breaks down the fructose and produces fats called triglycerides.

Some of these fats stay in the liver, which over long exposure can turn fatty and dysfunctional. But a lot of the triglycerides are pushed out into the blood too. Over time, blood pressure goes up, and tissues become progressively more resistant to insulin. The pancreas responds by pouring out more insulin, trying to keep things in check. Eventually a condition known as metabolic syndrome kicks in, characterized by obesity, especially around the waist; high blood pressure; and other metabolic changes that, if not checked, can lead to type 2 diabetes, with a heightened danger of heart attack thrown in for good measure. [source]

Unfortunately, because of the way the American diet is currently set up, you are infinitely more likely to find yourself experiencing an increase in triglycerides in your blood due to…..your body processing the ton of carbs in your system. Think about it—the average American’s diet, because so much of our food system consists of carbs/protein stuffed with carbs as filler (think ground meat coated with ground up oatmeal to make it thicker and more filling)/wrapped in carbs, is easily 60-75% pure carbs. And, because it’s so unfulfilling, people are eating far more calories than they otherwise should, which is largely to blame for the vast amounts of triglycerides in the blood—so much so, that we do experience the swelling and hardening of the arteries that results in heart disease.

This matters, because there are endless cultures across the globe who have coconut flesh and oil as a part of their daily diet without the high instances of  heart disease that we experience here. Why? Because there’s more contributing to it than merely oil.

What am I getting at?

a) For starters, it’s hard to say for sure that the research from which the AHA drew its conclusions isolated coconut oil in a reliable way. Certain kinds of studies—for example the kinds where research subjects report their own caloric intake—are notoriously inaccurate.

Not only that, but it’s worth pointing out that none of the studies had anything to do with coconut oil. Can’t help but wonder if coconut oil was used to promote this research because the organization knew it’d garner attention.

As pointed out in Salon, “The publication is a meta-analysis of four different studies. The authors gathered the data of all four different studies and then analyzed them together. None of the four studies have jack squat to do with coconut oil.

Of the countless studies done to understand the impact of saturated fats, the organization chose four that… all drew the same conclusion… and then reported their findings like they uncovered something new… somehow managing to avoid all the other studies that either refuted or added nuance to understanding coconut oil?

Okay.

b) Secondly, it’s hard to say whether or not this kind of reporting—”fat is bad!”—is intended to be as similar to the decades of “fat is bad!” research we’ve gotten since the 80s, which resulted in us being on this crazy carb-heavy diet to begin with… but we’ve been here before. And it’s been debunked before:

One of the lead researchers in this field, Dr. Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, said, “The country’s big low-fat message backfired. The overemphasis on reducing fat caused the consumption of carbohydrates and sugar in our diets to soar. That shift may be linked to the biggest health problems in America today.”

[…]

In 2001, Dr. Hu, writing in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, noted, “It is now increasingly recognized that the low-fat campaign has been based on little scientific evidence and may have caused unintended health problems.” Or, as Michael Pollan pithily puts it in his In Defense of Food, “The amount of saturated fat in the diet may have little if any bearing on the risk of heart disease, and the evidence that increasing polyunsaturated fats in the diet will reduce risk is slim to nil.”

[source]

In other words, we’re kind of focused on the wrong thing. And, when you look at the countless other cultures who make coconut oil/milk/flesh a part of their regular diet and the lack of disease they experience (if you use my link to check out that book—the current book of the month—then I get a few pennies from the purchase!), you have to ask yourself: maybe it’s something else that’s causing the problems we have here?

In contrast to the sugars and other carb-heavy foods we consume, there are actual benefits to consuming coconut oil, regardless of the fears of it doing what you could basically expect any fat to do.

c) It is the responsibility of the AHA, from my estimation, to find ways to help the public where it stands. And where the public stands right now, too many people are eating diets high in carbs and fat, low on protein and fiber, and it’s resulting in the increase in cholesterol and heart disease. Cutting out saturated fats is a great way to help reduce those instances, considering how 1) the average American is getting their saturated fats from processed foods they should also cut out and 2) the average American is also getting a relatively large dose of sugar with their saturated fats, a dose they would also do well to get rid of.

Should you still eat coconut oil? That depends on what you and you doctor think. For some people, the risk might be too high. For others, it’s going to be a delicious addition to your meals.

I still intend to use mine like I always did: always in my hair, always on my skin, occasionally in my food.





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