Monthly Archives: October 2021

How to Train Yourself to Make Healthier Food Choices

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As the saying goes, “You are what you eat” and I couldn’t agree more with that statement. What we choose to eat each day not only impacts our overall health and well being but also influences our mood, energy levels, performance, longevity, and our quality of life. I don’t like labeling anything as “common sense” because I recognize that what is common to one might not be common to another but I think most people would agree that they know the benefits of making healthier dietary choices yet so many people don’t consciously follow through with it. I understand that food should taste good but why can’t it be both tasty and healthy? Given the choice, I tell people that I will always choose to eat something based on the health value over how good it tastes because the long term effects of eating the right foods outweigh the instant gratification of how good something tastes at that present moment. However, as I just mentioned, you can still choose to eat things that you love to eat and that are healthy at the same time. You can also treat yourself every so often to really delicious and decadent foods within moderation. If you currently don’t have the best eating habits, the good news is that there is always room for change and that change can start after reading this blog or whenever your mind is firmly set to make the changes that are needed to adapt healthier eating habits into your lifestyle.

Stock Up on Healthier Foods – I always say, out of sight, out of mind and this most certainly applies to food too. I like to have a concrete grocery shopping list before I set out to the supermarket so that I know exactly what I’m looking for and keep the list filled with both clean and organic foods. I try to avoid buying unhealthy foods and snacks because if I have access to them in the comfort of my home, then they are in sight which will make it more tempting to want to eat them. Of course it is okay to have some treats but I recommend finding healthier alternatives or to buy them less frequently so that the few times that you buy them, it is truly a once in a while treat.

Meal Prep Each Week – When you take the time to meal prep and plan out your daily meals, this allows you to be in control of what you eat in terms of the type of meal and the portion size. It is smart to buy containers and fill them up accordingly with a good healthy mix of foods and nutrients. If you are stuck with coming up with healthy meal ideas, you can easily research what others make through a google search or places like Pinterest and Instagram have plenty of resources to use as a guide.

Eat Out Less Often – Even though many restaurants provide healthier meal options on their menus nowadays, it is still hard to know how healthy the meal truly is. There is often a ton of hidden fats, sugar, and other unhealthy things added to make the food taste extra good but obviously aren’t good for you, especially when eaten in excess. For example, an innocent salad can end up having a lot junk in it by the time all the fixings and dressing are added on top. My point is that meals that appear to be healthy on the surface might not end up being as wholesome as you think. If you cook more at home, then at least you know the ingredients and what exactly you are eating as opposed to a restaurant where you are unsure of what the meal actually consists of.

Learn How to Study a Food Label – It is important to familiarize yourself with food labels and compare them when you are shopping for products. For example, it is beneficial knowing the serving size because although it might come in a single bag, you cannot assume that it is one serving. Other areas that I like to pay attention to are the actual ingredient list to see if the ingredients are mostly natural with little additives and artificial ingredients along with the amount of sugar. There are many foods that you would not think have a lot of sugar but actually do which is why it is good to look at how many grams of sugar are in a serving. In terms of the calorie count, I am not as concerned with this number because sometimes high quality foods are higher in calories whereas foods marketed as “low calorie foods” are not necessarily as nutritious as they want consumers to think they are and tend to be created with a lot of fillers and unhealthy ingredients.

Track What You Eat – Often I emphasize the importance of tracking things down which helps by literally keeping you on track but most importantly by making you stay accountable for your actions which in this case is monitoring your food choices. Even someone like myself who already prioritizes living a healthy lifestyle and is very disciplined can benefit from tracking what I eat. I find that when I take the time to list what I eat each day, I am more aware of what I’m eating along with how much. This practice personally helps me stay focused and mindful about making healthy choices each and everyday! (Trust me, it works)!

“Follow Your Heart But Take Your Brain With You”

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I recently came across this quote, “Follow your heart but take your brain with you.” This then provoked me to google where it came from and it was said by a famous psychotherapist named Alfred Adler. People always emphasize the cliche “to follow your heart” which encourages one to listen their intuition and emotions. I definitely believe it is important to listen to what your intuition is telling you because it tends to be very accurate; however, I do agree with the later part of the quote which is often overlooked: But take your brain with you.

When making decisions, if you rely mostly on your emotions, I think that’s where practicality and rationality easily can go out the window. That is why it is essential to think with your head as well (aka by “taking your brain with you”) because emotions simply are not as logical. I think the biggest mistakes are made when people rely too heavily on their heart in guiding them to find love. Emotions can easily get in the way and truly lead you in the wrong direction. A person might make you feel good but sometimes there is zero compatibility. That’s where you need to listen to your head as well to make that assessment and not let strong emotions blind you into loving someone that is far from being the right match for you.

It is most beneficial to use a combination of both your head and your heart in all areas of your life. Some people are definitely built to use one more than the other but with mindfulness, you can teach yourself to use your less dominant function more often. If you find that it is hard to rely on yourself to see things from a more rational perspective or on the other hand with more of your emotional side, then it is helpful to talk to someone who utilizes your opposite function to help you see things from the opposite point of view. Sometimes you need others’ insight to give you the clarity that’s needed to make better decisions. Remember that it is okay to be lead by your heart more but to not forget to think about things with your head as well because a little balance of both can really go a long way and often is the key to everything.

How to Set Healthy Boundaries Within Your Personal Relationships

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It is important with any personal relationship, to set healthy boundaries from the very onset of the relationship. By “personal relationship,” I am not referring strictly to romantic ones but also friendships, family members, and professional relationships within the workplace. I think too often, people don’t really set their standards and expectations too concisely so it is easy for someone to feel like they are getting taken advantage of which is why it is beneficial to be mindful about how to set healthy boundaries from the start.

Communicate and Be Honest – It is most essential to be concrete when expressing to others what your boundaries are. This can be done with your words or your actions and sometimes a combination of both. If someone does something that bothers you, then you need to speak up and convey that to the other person. No one is a mind reader which is a reason why it is important to tell someone immediately if there is an issue so that it does not become an ongoing problem. Being as open and honest as possible is a good thing and one should never feel that they have to hide what they are feeling in order to maintain a relationship with the other person.

Apply Consequences When Necessary – Sometimes consequences are needed in order to shape a person’s behavior and show how you expect to be treated. I would consider this to be a tough love tactic but one that often works because most people don’t really learn a lesson unless there’s a consequence in place. I am not saying that you need to stoop to their level but find a way to implement a consequence and see if the other person’s behavior changes for the better.

Be Willing to Walk Away – The other person will always have the upper hand if you settle and tolerate their bad behavior. If you have the ability to walk away, you gain respect and send the message that you are not putting up with anyone’s nonsense. Although taking time away from this person might be temporary, it might be a good time to assess if you should remove yourself from this person altogether. People come and go and sometimes you have to weed out the bad ones who don’t have a place in your life to begin with.

Why Are People Quitting Their Jobs at Record High Numbers?

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There is no denying that the ongoing pandemic has impacted many people one way or another–both for the good and the bad. One area that has heavily been impacted is one’s employment status. In the very beginning, many people found themselves without a job and might have had to collect unemployment for the very first time in their lives. Many were also furloughed for extended periods of time but eventually were able to be brought back to work. Depending on the industry, there were also people who have been working from home and haven’t set foot into an office since or might be easing back into working in person again just a few days a week. What many would not have anticipated is that while things are slowly getting back to some sort of new normalcy, many people (Americans in particular) are quitting their jobs altogether. I recently had read a statistic that 4.3 million Americans had quit their jobs this past August 2021 which is approximately 3% of the American workforce. While that might not seem too high, it is still alarming considering that this seems to be the new trend and more people are choosing to leave their jobs in its entirety.

One initial factor that comes to mind as to why this is happening could be the vaccine mandate which has put people in a position where they are forced to quit their jobs due to a lack of personal choice. However, surprisingly, this only accounts for a very small percentage of people who have left their jobs. Another thought might be that the generous unemployment benefits that were given out during the pandemic have also made it very easy for people to essentially get paid to stay home as opposed to going back to work. However, these extended pandemic unemployment assistance (PUA) benefits had been terminated in certain states a long time ago or had just ended this past September which means that people are no longer collecting large sums of money from the government anymore. So why are people still choosing to not go back to work?

During these times of uncertainty, I think people have been reflecting on their lives on a much deeper level and have really taken the time to examine what brings personal fulfillment. For many, work has consumed a good majority of life which can leave people to feel burnt out over extended periods of time to the point where people need to find a way to catch a break and there seems to be no better time than right now. I have written in the past about how having a lot of money might seem great but when you don’t have the free time to enjoy life, money does not hold as much value as TIME in my opinion. As I have also recently wrote about, you can always make money but you cannot always make up for lost time–as we all know how fast life passes us by.

Quality of life is essential yet so many people [unfortunately] let their jobs rob them away of this basic need and key to happiness. I think people are realizing now more than ever that quality of life is simply more important than work. While we need a stable job for basic survival, sometimes it just is not worth it if that means losing sleep, added amounts of stress, lack of flexibility, lack of family time, feeling unappreciated, menial wages, and so many other drawbacks. After awhile, enough is enough already.

If people find themselves reaching that breaking point, then yes–it’s time to quit and press the restart button. By restart, I simply mean to consider pursuing a new career path that will ensure intrinsic satisfaction and be in alignment with one’s life purpose. Perhaps restart could mean leaving the work force for an extended period of time to enjoy a hobby, spend quality time with family, or to travel the world. Everyone’s situation is different but at the end of the day, no one should be settling on a miserable work life. It is much better to look into starting over or to take a well deserved break. I think that the pandemic along with the current statistics are consistently showing that more people are coming to this realization and need to figure out a new game plan for life which ultimately is a positive thing.

“The Only Difference Between a Good Day and a Bad Day Is Your Attitude”

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I am not sure exactly where this quote came from but I read it and knew it was not only something I agreed with but something that I wanted to share in my blog: “The only difference between a good day and a bad day is your attitude.” Basically, everything always comes down to your mindset and keeping your thoughts and reactions to everyday life as positive as possible. Of course there are going to be what appears to be bad days with setbacks, misfortunes, etc. but at the end of the day, you have the choice in how you deal with it. Some days are always going to be better than others but a positive mindset can help by allowing you to cope with things more effectively and preventing yourself from feeling down.

The next time you have a “bad” day, try to find the silver lining and do not let it get the best of you. It’s okay and normal to feel sadness, pain, frustration, and other negative feelings from time to time but ultimately you need to look at the greater good and know that everything is going to be okay. You are also increasing your mental strength when you choose to not let negativity (in this case in the form of a “bad” day) deteriorate your mind. Remember, it is always within your control the way in which you manage your emotions and how you decide to react to daily life which is why it is incredibly important to keep your attitude a positive one! 🙂

Do Compliments Build Attraction? – (Yes and No)

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When people take the time to give a compliment, it typically is received positively by the other person because it is acknowledging something great about them and is a way to express admiration. I would say that most of the time, compliments are a good thing and can definitely be used to build attraction because most people feel good when someone gives them a compliment. People tend to become attracted to those who give them a good feeling about themselves. So the short answer is, yes–compliments can absolutely help in building attraction. However, there are definitely instances in which it might have little to no effect on someone or maybe even have the opposite effect.

If someone receives a compliment from someone who they do not think too highly of or don’t really like, then the person might not even care so much about it or might actually be annoyed by it. I say annoyed because if the person feels that the other is saying it to express interest and the interest is not mutual, then the compliment will not be viewed in a positive light. In these type of scenarios, I would say that it is not really worth going out of your way to compliment the person and that it is important to find other ways to build a genuine connection or perhaps find someone whom you naturally connect with instead of trying to impress someone who is not that into you from the start.

In addition, people who are used to hearing the same compliments throughout their lives might feel indifferent towards a compliment because it is nothing new to them. For example, if someone is a talented musician, telling them this does not hold too much value because they might already know this to be the case or they just hear it all the time so it is not very special to them. On the other hand, if you find a way to validate the person for something that people don’t comment on all the time, then your compliment will go a long way.

Overall, compliments are definitely a good thing and can be used as a way to signal interest in someone but keep in mind that sometimes a compliment simply is just a compliment–so one should not read too into it and just take it at face value. If one is trying to use this technique as a way to get someone interested in them, it is important to not rely on this tactic alone and to find other ways to create natural attraction. I always like to remind people that what works on one person might not work as successfully on someone else so it is important to make an effort to get to know someone on a deeper level in order to really understand someone’s likes and dislikes.

Why I Don’t Take Social Media Too Seriously – What You See Is Not Always What You Get

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It is hard to imagine there was once life before social media. Actually, I still remember living life without internet and without a cell phone–what simple times. Fast forwarding to today, there are multiple social media platforms that allow us to stay digitally connected with the outside world. While some feel pretty attached to social media and there are some who have a social media addiction, there are also people who don’t even have a social media account or don’t feel the need to utilize it all too often. Personally, I don’t really care about social media all too much. Perhaps when it first came out, I was more into keeping a social media presence and posting photos from special events and from my traveling adventures. As I have gotten older, I have found myself more and more detached from updating my personal accounts and even more detached from seeing what people are up. So what changed? For one, I feel that social media has changed drastically since it first came out. Nowadays, people use it as a place to share anything and just about everything without a filter or a thought as to how it can affect others. As a result, this can create a lot of negativity and I just don’t like to invest my energy into bad energy. There are so many sources I can pick up positivity and social media is not really the place I go for that. Although there are some positive posts I come across every so often such as a birth announcement or a miraculous achievement, I rather get this information from a person directly as opposed to a public digital announcement.

Besides the underlying negativity that exists, there’s also the opposite extreme where people just post how amazing their life is. What many don’t seem to realize is that most people’s lives are not as picture perfect as they appear to be. Of course people want to showcase their very best lives but the reality is, what you see is not always what you get. A person can profess how happy they are in a relationship but behind closed doors, the couple could be going through couple’s therapy or on the verge of breaking up. It is for this reason why I don’t take what I see all too seriously because it is a small scope into one’s life and could easily be very far from the truth.

While many might look to social media and then begin to compare their own life to someone else’s, I think people should stay more focused on their personal life path as opposed to making comparisons to others–especially knowing that what they are comparing it to is probably not even that accurate anyway. I always preach that people should stay in their lane and work on bettering self. There is no need to wish for someone else’s life but to focus on manifesting everything that you personally desire and knowing that you already have everything that it takes to create the life that you want. At the end of the day, who really cares what everyone else is doing on their social media stories and posts? We should all care more about living our own life in the present moment without feeling the need to scroll through people’s digital lives on a regular basis.

How to Make Fitness a Part of Your Lifestyle

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Many people understand the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle and why adding physical exercise into their daily routine is important but not everyone takes the time to make it a part of their lifestyle. I understand the reason for this is going to vary from person to person but can range from simply not liking to exercise or perhaps living a busy life where it is hard to make the time for it. Whatever the case may be, the good thing is that any little bit of exercise that you do is always going to be better than doing absolutely nothing. So you can start very small and eventually progress over time. If creating a fitness routine is totally new for you, then it can be expected that you might not be doing much in the very beginning and that’s OKAY! As long as there’s a start, you can always build better habits as time goes on. You might now be wondering, “Well, how exactly do I get started?”

Find Physical Activities That You LOVE – Not everyone loves going to a gym but thankfully a gym membership is not a requirement. You can easily workout in the comfort of your own home or find sports/physical hobbies that you enjoy. If you participate in activities that you actually want to do, then it will not feel as much like work.

Set Fitness Goals and Write Them Down – If you have fitness goals that you are looking to achieve, then take the time to write them down. It is good to have goals because this can motivate you to actually take action to achieve them. For example, your goal might be to weight train for three days a week at 30 minutes a session. Once this becomes a habit, you can then reassess and create more challenging fitness goals.

Hire a Professional – It is a valuable investment to hire a professional to teach you how to train properly or if it is a sport that you are looking to get better at, then this is also a good reason to look into hiring someone who can up your skill set. Some people might feel intimidated or that they can’t do a certain physical activity but with the right professional help, there is an opportunity to grow, learn something new, and/or improve from where you started.

Plan Ahead by Creating a Consistent Fitness Schedule – By creating a fitness schedule in advance, you are adding concrete blocks of time within your day/week to work out while also holding yourself accountable to sticking to a fitness regime. It’s okay if it varies from week to week depending on your schedule as long as you are making some type of commitment each week. In other words, it is not as effective to have four days in a week that you work out followed by two weeks of inactivity before you get back on track again to your initial schedule. This plan lacks consistency which means that it is not much a part of your lifestyle. It is more preferable to maybe start with two to three days a week and commit to that rather than fitting in random work outs sporadically throughout the month.