Food vs you: How your dinner controls you - health - 06 August 2013 FOR those of us who would like to shed a few pounds, dietary advice usually boils down to brute arithmetic. Reduce energy input by eating less, and increase energy output by exercising more. Simple. Except that as anyone who has tried it knows, it isn't. One reason is that our evolutionary history has given us a powerful drive to eat rich foods when they are available. Now that they are virtually ubiquitous, resisting temptation can be an endless losing battle. But there's more to it than that. 10 Things You Think About Too Often Email “The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” You do know you talk to yourself in your mind all the time, right? Pretty much every one of us has a non-stop stream of thoughts – a mental monologue – that has a powerful impact on how we feel, how we behave, and how we live our lives. Which is why it’s time to stop thinking about… 1. You were born to be you, not who they tell you to be. Don’t make a decision based solely on popularity, or based on what others think is right for you. Listen to your gut. 2. Instead of thanking the heavens for two strong legs and a body that’s capable of running and jumping and dancing, lots of people complain about their weight and appearance. Instead of appreciating that they live in a country that protects their basic human rights and civil liberties, lots of people complain about laws, taxes, and politicians. Don’t be one of these people. 3. As Franklin D. That’s the honest truth. 4.
Top 10 Ways to Perfect Your Daily Routine with the Power of Science First decrease in US childhood obesity - health - 09 August 2013 The great wave of obesity in US children may have crested. Children from low-income homes – who tend to be fatter than their counterparts from wealthier families – have become slightly, but significantly, leaner in recent years, a new government study reports. Epidemiologist Ashleigh May at the US Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, and her colleagues used data from the Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System, in which medical workers recorded the height and weight of about 11.6 million preschool children from 43 US states and territories who were enrolled in government nutrition-assistance programmes between 2008 and 2011. In 18 states and one territory, the proportion of children classified as obese declined significantly during the four years, they found. Tide turning When the survey was run between 2003 and 2008 it showed an increase in obesity rate in 24 states and a decrease in only nine. The researchers cannot be certain about what is driving obesity rates downward.
How To Make It Impossible To Fail Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Maneesh Sethi of Hack the System. It’s funny how long two minutes can be. Just a few weeks ago, a package arrived: a Sonicare EasyClean Toothbrush. The toothbrush has an automatic timer which dings every thirty seconds until two minutes have passed. It’s a strange thing, the mental passage of time. The first thirty seconds feel like a millennium—when the heck is this brush going to ding? The third ding? Of course, each ding really takes exactly thirty seconds, but time doesn’t always act like it should. The Sonicare toothbrush, however, is an example of a Failure-Proof Environment. So, how can you build a failure proof environment? How to Construct a Failure-Proof Environment Think about this: how many times have you promised yourself to eat better? Damn lizard brain. The good news? Precommitment is the process of making a promise, when you are in your sane state, that will prevent your tempted insane-emotional-id-self from doing something bad.
The Science Behind Why We Procrastinate Fixing broken brains: a new understanding of depression - health - 29 July 2013 Editorial: "New thinking means new hope on depression" ONE OF Vanessa Price's first chronic cases involved a woman we'll call Paula. Paula came to the London Psychiatry Centre, where Price is a registered nurse, after two years of unrelenting depression. First she stopped seeing her friends. Then she stopped getting out of bed. The steady rise in this diagnosis over the past two decades reflects a little-known trend. The stubborn nature of these cases of depression has, however, spurred research into new and sometimes unorthodox treatments.
5 Ways to Increase Your Intelligence When I was a kid, we had one of those “Simon Says” games where you held this little black box with four different colors. They would light up in sequences, progressively getting faster and faster. The goal was to tap the colors in the exact same sequence, a game of memory-testing. I would play that game for hours until I mastered it. The same went for Tetris. I’ve been a gamer practically my whole life, but I never realized that I was, in a sense, training my brain, memorizing those light sequences, getting the Tetris blocks to line up in a millisecond. It’s nice to be good at something but I’m always looking for the next thing to occupy my brain for training. When I train my brain, I believe that I’m doing something good for me, as opposed to sitting stagnant, watching reality television. I firmly believe that training your brain is just as important as training your physical stamina. Patterns, exercises, puzzles Your brain thrives on patterns. You’re actually exercising your brain. 2. 3. 4.
6 Simple Hacks to Increase Your Energy Getting things done quickly and well requires mental and physical energy. The better more you have the better your results. This applies to all every area of life from getting in a good workout to performing your best at your job. Unfortunately, energy isn’t something we always possess. In this article I provide 6 tips to increase energy. 1. I don’t mean lose your temper or find a way to self-combust. The key is to not wear yourself out. Perform this type of exercise when you are feeling tired for a quick pick me up at work or before you workout to boost your energy all workout long. 2. This amino acid is used to make the chemical dopamine that’s found in large amounts in your brain. You can buy l-tyrosine supplements at any health food store. 3. Eating a protein rich meal will give you more energy for several hours. So, instead of having a meal of pasta, rice, or a sandwich on a roll opt for salad with steak or chicken, an omelet, or a seafood and vegetable stir fry. 4. 5. 6.
10 Simple Things You Can Do Today That Will Make You Happier, Backed By Science Happiness is so interesting, because we all have different ideas about what it is and how to get it. It’s also no surprise that it’s the Nr.1 value for Buffer’s culture, if you see our slidedeck about it. So naturally we are obsessed with it. I would love to be happier, as I’m sure most people would, so I thought it would be interesting to find some ways to become a happier person that are actually backed up by science. 1. You might have seen some talk recently about the scientific 7 minute workout mentioned in The New York Times. Exercise has such a profound effect on our happiness and well-being that it’s actually been proven to be an effective strategy for overcoming depression. The groups were then tested six months later to assess their relapse rate. You don’t have to be depressed to gain benefit from exercise, though. A study in the Journal of Health Psychology 2 found that people who exercised felt better about their bodies, even when they saw no physical changes: 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.