Diet Done Right
Aiming to eat better in 2021? Harvard Health offers three easy tips to get you started. Aim for real food only, reduce portion sizes, and schedule your meals and snacks. That last one is especially relevant to shift workers, as we should avoid eating at times when our body thinks we should be asleep.
“During the circadian sleep period our metabolism slows, our digestive system turns down, and brain temperature drops, part of the process of clearing toxins during sleep. Eating at different times than our typical circadian awake phase leads to weight gain,”
Unless you work a permanent night shift schedule – and maintain the same sleeping patterns on days off – avoid eating throughout the night.
3 easy ways to eat a healthier diet | Harvard Health
Keep It Simple
Is overwhelm and a lack of confidence keeping you from investing for retirement? If so, it’s worth reading J.L. Collins The Simple Path to Wealth. The book is an easy read and his investing strategy is as simple as it gets.
“Sound investing is not complicated. Complicated investments make money only for those selling them.”
Manifesto | J.L. Collins
Just Move
A new study compares the benefits of high intensity interval training (HIIT) with moderate exercise. The most surprising finding wasn’t that one was better than the other, but that blood-sugar control was best only on days the participants exercised. So if you’re doing HIIT or strength training three times a week, on off-days at least go for a walk. Bottom line: Move often.
The Benefits of Moderate Exercise | New York Times
Goal Setting Science
We’re a few weeks into the new year and, chances are, our initial enthusiasm around resolutions has started to wane. But before you get depressed because your resolutions have already fallen by the wayside, take a few minutes to examine your goals alongside this article from Mark Manson. It’s possible you’re not pursuing goals intelligently, or pursuing the wrong goals altogether. In fact, failure may be more valuable than succeeding.
The Surprising Science of Goal Setting (And Why You’re Probably Doing It Wrong) | Mark Manson
The Myth of 8 Glasses of Water
It turns out the recommendation of eight, 8 oz. glasses of water per day isn’t supported by any scientific data. The body is quite good at self-regulating fluid concentration. Further, we can get fluids from other sources besides water. Even coffee contributes more fluid than is expelled through the diuretic effect of the caffeine. Alcohol, though, is a different story:
…let’s consider 2 bottles of beer that are 355 mL each in volume. Beer is about 5% ethanol which yields 35.5 mL of alcohol consumed. Although you drink 710 mL of fluid, you expel an additional 284 mL, according to the ratio and general condition we have used (and multiplying 35.5 mL by the density of alcohol that is about 0.8 grams per mL). A total of 994 mL leaves the system, leaving you about 284 mL in the hole.
Do I really need 8 glasses of water a day? | Peter Attia
Out with the Bad
Considering the events of the past year, it’s understandable that mental health has suffered. Although we can’t guarantee 2021 won’t contain more of the same from a political and public health standpoint, we can make changes to our own thinking.
14 Habits & Patterns that Slowly Degrade Mental Health | Cognition Today
Stay healthy-
Jason Glenn