Meals. What on earth are we doing if we’re not eating meals? I will tell you: We're doing things like… bingeing grazingfastingpickingsnackingdietingstarvingand eating all day long Fifteen thousand years ago (or thereabouts) our ancestors stopped grazing all day as they roamed. They settled down, sowed crops, and developed a pleasant schedule of getting together regularly to eat. We went from eating all day long, berry after berry, to sitting down to lunch. Regular, repeated mealtimes is a human design pattern that stayed in place until kids had to get up at 4am for swim practice, and bagels or Pop Tarts were consumed while driving. Until we were forced to take jobs that don't even allow us bathroom … [Read more...] about Eating With Structure + Freedom
The Freeing Power of Personal Rules
Without reminders + gentle nudges + bumpers to keep us in our lane, we will inevitably default to autopilot mode. In other words, we will do what we’ve always done. Autopilot works brilliantly when we have zero interest in changing our actions - but when it comes to self-improvement, it’s kryptonite. If you're serious about getting better at something, you’ll need.. 1. Self-awareness2. Accountability tools3. Personal rules Yes --- rules. Guidelines. Instructions. Behaviors. Habits. Whatever you want to call them. The idea of setting rules to live by strikes fear in most people. We immediately recall all the times unfair or cruel rules were forced upon us - or the times we attempted to live under unbearable … [Read more...] about The Freeing Power of Personal Rules
Why Nature Makes Us Healthier, Happier and More Creative
I knew that spending time outside was good for me before reading Florence Williams’s, “The Nature Fix.” To be honest, I wasn’t sure I’d learn anything new from the book. I was wrong. Williams decided to write the book after a move from Boulder, Colorado to Washington D.C. left her depressed and wondering if it had to do with the sudden shift to metropolitan living. Nature, Williams concludes in the book, isn’t just something nice, it is a necessity - and one that is profoundly undervalued. Researchers have found that time in nature can reduce blood pressure, anxiety, depression, stress, rumination and mental fatigue. It can also improve attention, memory, cognition, sleep, self-esteem and happiness. And … [Read more...] about Why Nature Makes Us Healthier, Happier and More Creative
The REAL Reason Healthy Eating is Hard (and how to do it anyway)
The benefits of good nutrition and maintaining a healthy weight are clear. There’s no need to provide yet another list. With so many compelling reasons to eat a healthy diet, why is it so difficult to actually do? Hint: the answer is not more willpower or greater motivation. One of the MAIN reasons eating a healthy diet is difficult is because JUNK FOOD IS DELICIOUS (+ widely available + inexpensive). Steven Witherly is a food scientist who has spent the last 20 years studying what makes certain foods more addictive (and tasty) than others. Much of the science that follows is from his brilliant report, Why Humans Like Junk Food. According to Witherly, when you eat tasty food, there are two factors that make the experience … [Read more...] about The REAL Reason Healthy Eating is Hard (and how to do it anyway)