by admin | Jun 1, 2022 | Health
Cheat Meals VS Refeed Days
We’ve all been there. You’re cruising along in your healthy eating routine, consistently making good food choices, and hitting the gym regularly. But then something happens to derail you- a birthday party, vacation, or just a bad day at work.
Suddenly, you find yourself overeating and skipping workouts. Before you know it, you’re right back where you started- or even worse off than before, because a cheat meal turned into a cheat day, then a week, etc.
You get the point.
So how do you avoid this vicious cycle of yo-yo dieting? Well, Lately there’s been a lot of talk about cheat meals and refeed days in the fitness world. Some people swear by them, while others think they’re a waste of time. So which is it?
Are cheat meals and refeed days good or bad for you? In this post, we’ll take a closer look at both concepts and help you decide whether or not you should be using them in your own workouts.
Stay tuned!
What Are Cheat Meals?
A cheat meal or cheat day is a planned indulgence in foods that are typically considered unhealthy or taboo.
Cheat meals and cheat days can be helpful for people who are trying to lose weight or maintain their weight, as they can help prevent feelings of deprivation and allow people to stick to their diets over the long term.
However, it is important to note that cheat meals and cheat days should not be used as an excuse to eat unhealthy foods indiscriminately. Rather, they should be seen as a way to enjoy unhealthy foods in moderation.
What Are Refeed Days?
Contrary to cheat meals/days, where the goal is to take a psychological break from the chains of dieting, refeed days are meant to be functional. In the fitness world, people on a weight loss diet will frequently have a ‘refeed day’ where they consume significantly more calories, typically via increased carb intake.
The goal here is again, to get a break from dieting, but also, to stimulate the metabolism, so that it doesn’t excessively slow down like it usually does on a diet.
What’s The Difference?
Now, at first glance, cheat meals and refeed days may sound very similar, and to a certain extent, that’s true. Both provide extra food to help you break the chains of dieting, but when you look deeper, they are also vastly different. Why? Because cheat meals are typically, well, just one or two meals and are not really planned.
What this means is that as we said, cheat meals can easily turn into cheat days. On the other hand, refeed days are way more planned and calculated, as your goal would be to eat at a slight surplus of calories, but not too big of a surplus, so you can avoid gaining excess weight.
Here’s Our Chunk Of Advice
The question here and now is, should you go for cheat meals or refeed days? And in our opinion, it doesn’t really have to e that binary.
Why not both? We know for a fact that the only mandatory thing for fat loss is to be in a caloric deficit. What this means is that you can have a mini cheat meal every day, without affecting your progress negatively. That is, of course, as long as the balance is in favor of nutrient-dense foods, rather than ‘cheat’ foods.
And we’re giving this advice a lot lately – Have some of your favorite cheat foods more frequently while maintaining a caloric deficit! This way, these foods will become less special and thus, your cravings for them will decrease. Then, incorporate refeed days weekly, and the diet won’t even feel like a burden anymore!
Final Thoughts
So, there you have it. The cheat meal versus refeed day debate. Both sides have their pros and cons, but at the end of the day, it’s up to you to decide what works best for your body and your goals.
If you do choose to indulge in a cheat meal every once in a while, make sure that it’s truly worth it – meaning that the majority of your diet is still healthy and balanced. And if you prefer to stick with refeed days, be sure to plan them out carefully so that they don’t derail all your hard work.
At the end of the day, both methods are viable options for people on a diet; it just comes down to finding what is more sustainable for you!
by admin | Jun 1, 2022 | Fitness
Does Your Weight Really Matter? | What The Scale WON’T Show You
The weight scale is perhaps one of the most common tools which people use to monitor & judge their fitness progress. However, more often than not, it is something that can actually leave you frustrated and totally kill your motivation. The scale is in fact the single most powerful mood-shifter!
And though your weight is one of the important variables to track, whether you are losing or gaining weight, it does not really give you an idea of the bigger picture. This is exactly why it should not be the primary merit of progress, whatever your goal is. In this article, we are going to explain the other, important things you should keep track of and how to actually use the scale so you can make it a functional part of your plan.
Now let’s get to it!
Does Your Weight Matter?
Now, surely, the scale has its applications on your way to a healthier body, which is why we are not telling you to completely give up on using it. Even more so, your weight is a very important variable when it comes to calculating your daily calories, macronutrient needs, or even the intake of certain supplements, which are based on the individual’s weight.
And though that stands true, we will say it again – The number on the scale MUST NOT be your ONLY merit of progress. There are many other things that you should keep track of, while also utilizing the scale to the best extent possible, without letting it crush your mood.
The Scale & What It Does NOT Show
Okay, think about it – Can one single number really show you everything there is to know about your fitness? Is this number everything you really need to determine whether or not you are fit enough? Well it may be, but ONLY if you are an athlete who’s looking to get into their weight division come competition day. For the general population, weight should only represent a small percentage of the things we judge progress on.
It is a fact that the scale cannot show you things such as:
- Your body composition (Lean body mass to fat ratio)
- How you look in the mirror (duh)
- Water retention (some days you are heavier but that’s not because you gained fat)
- Athletic performance (strength, endurance, etc.)
All of the above are far more important metrics of progress and if you only rely on the number that the scale shows, you are in for some massive disappointments.
HOWEVER, if you weigh yourself correctly and relate the change in weight to other parameters, such as the ones from above, you will have a much more realistic idea of your progress.
How To Use The Scale (The Right Way)
If you want to make your weight scale a viable tool on your fitness journey, rather than something that will shake your beliefs and motivation, PLEASE use these tips below:
- Monitor your TRUE weight
Whenever you get a weight in, make sure it is IN THE MORNING, before eating, after going to the toilet and with just underwear. THIS is your true weight! If you weigh yourself on the same day, at the same time, before eating anything and after going to the bathroom, you will get the most accurate reading possible.
Otherwise, you risk weighing the food you took in, the water you drank, the fluids you retained, etc.
- Adjust Nutrition Based On Weight & Goals
For the goal of sustainable weight loss and maintenance of lean body mass (lbm), you have to lose no more than 1-2 lbs a week. If your true reading shows a loss greater than 2 lbs for the week, don’t be afraid to bump up the calories slightly. If on the other hand, the reading shows an insignificant loss of weight, decrease calories slightly.
Oppositely, if you are trying to gain weight, aim for no more than 0.5-1 lbs a week. This will allow you to avoid any unnecessary fat gains and thus, take less time to shred down afterward.
- Don’t just set a “weight goal”
If you narrow everything down to the number on the scale… You’re in for disappointments. Whenever you get a reading on the scale, whatever it is, set goals for your strength, endurance, visual look, mood, energy, etc, etc. This will help keep you motivated and also, will give you a different perspective on the bigger picture.
Important Takeaways
Though your weight is an important variable when determining progress, setting up & adjusting a diet, it is NOT the only thing you should narrow your progress down to. The scale does not show more important things like body composition, strength levels, mood, and more importantly, how you actually look.
Ultimately, your best bet is to monitor your progress on all variables possible, to ultimately determine whether your work is paying off well or your plan needs adjustments.
by admin | May 31, 2022 | General, Mind
The Science Of Willpower
If you feel like your life has been following the same script and nothing works out, well, you might be lacking something called “self-control”. Self-control and willpower are two components of your psyche that are in constant dialogue. Oftentimes, we blame ourselves for not doing the things that have to be done in order for us to achieve our goals.
For instance, that burger you ate last night contrary to your weight loss goal, felt natural and temptations… Or maybe, you got as far as buying a gym membership, but you only attended once for a half-assed workout.
Sounds familiar?
If the answer is “Yes”, then you’re in to learn something new in this article.
Let’s talk about willpower.
The Biology Of Willpower
Willpower and its development is without a doubt a hot topic for many people, which is why you can probably find a lot of people talking about it online. But really, to fundamentally change how your willpower functions, you have to understand how it works on a physiological level. If we trace the human history, we can come to find that willpower & self-control are instincts that formed throughout our evolution.
For instance, when humans were more primal, you had to somehow know that you should stay away from other humans’ things, or otherwise, you might get hit in the head. This is exactly how in time, the prefrontal cortex has developed – This is the section of the brain that is responsible for self-control. The thing is, this part of your brain uses up quite a lot of energy and when you’re tired, underfed, or under-recovered, it suffers the most.
What this means is that you are practically off your leash in terms of self-control, if those conditions are present. And the problem is that nowadays, we are exposed to such conditions EASILY, leading to more and more people finding less and less motivation and willpower to do the right things for themselves.
Stress vs. Willpower
If you know a thing or two about stress, you’d be aware that the body has the so-called “stress response”. This is a self-protection response that arose back when our ancestors were living in the wild, where predators were behind every tree.
The stress response is also known as the “fight or flight” response and is characterized by an increased heart rate, alertness, lowered immune function & high cortisol and adrenaline levels. (1) The same response gets triggered in animals, such as when a gazelle gets attacked by a cheetah.
Contrary to the fight or flight response, the instinct of willpower kicks off another response, called the “pause and plan” response. (2) This is basically the moment of rationalization when you’re responding to an internal conflict.
So, you see, with the stress response, you respond to a threat in the environment… But with willpower, you realize you are your own threat. If you trigger the pause and plan response, you will be able to induce self-control and develop more sustainable, healthier habits, and overall, make the right choices in any situation.
It’s All In The Heart
Your heart rate variability (HRV) is one of the most important variables that can speak about your internal response and whether it’s a stress or self-regulation response.
Heart rate variability (HRV) is basically the variance of time between the separate beats of your heart.
When under stress, the heart rate goes up and the variations decrease, pushing the heart to work closer to its maximum capacity. This in turn triggers the feelings of fear or anger that are relevant to the fight or flight stress response.
Oppositely, when you successfully trigger the pause and plan response, your parasympathetic nervous system takes over to induce a relaxation signal. This makes the heart rate come down while the HRV increases and this, therefore, creates the feeling of calmness, present alertness, and focus.
Heart-Brain Coherence
You see, willpower, self-control, or however you like to call it, is not just about one component of your brain, such as the prefrontal cortex. The moments of self-regulation and willpower are the end product of the work of a countless number of intricately connected neurons and systems in the body.
But we can certainly look at two specific organs that seem to govern the majority of physical and mental responses. Those are namely the heart and the brain. Studies find that the heart has its own “mini-brain”, which is basically a bunch of brain neuron-like cells. (3) This means that the heart can do almost everything the brain does, independent of the brain.
And then again, these two organs are intimately connected through the neural network, constantly governing each other’s work.
Isn’t It All Autonomous, Though?
When we talk about biology, most of the processes in the body are automatic. You don’t consciously digest, control your blood pressure, heart rate, etc… (4) BUT… There is ONE autonomous function that can make you capable of powerful self-regulation responses… Breathing! (5)
Now that you’ve read the word above, you’re probably breathing consciously, but don’t worry, you’ll switch back to autopilot in a second. However, whenever you decide to, you can take conscious control over your breath. Even at moments when willpower needs to come into play, you can use breathing to induce powerful self-regulation.
Breathing Willpower Practice
Remember, most of your responses and thoughts are a repeating pattern and you have the willpower to change that, in case it impacts you negatively.
Here’s something you can do during moments when you need willpower/self-regulation:
- Breathe in deeply and slowly (4-6 seconds)
- Hold your breath and just pause the world for 2 seconds
- Exhale slowly
- Repeat a couple of times
Though you may think “Hell, what will breathing do?”, this sends a powerful relaxation signal to the brain and the heart.
Each breath takes you further and further from the stress response, thus opening the doors for a brief moment of pause and plan, that will improve your thoughts, feelings, emotions, actions, and therefore, end results.
Conclusion
Willpower and self-control are instincts that have allowed us to survive, thrive, and evolve. Much like the stress response, the willpower response doesn’t get triggered as it used to during the times of our ancestors. Nevertheless, it remains a functional part of people’s character and is something that can be worked on.
It is just a matter of YOU taking conscious control over your own actions, thoughts, and feelings. Remember, you are the master of your body and mind, you are capable of powerful, internal self-regulation.
References
- https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/understanding-the-stress-response
- https://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2011/12/29/a-conversation-about-the-science-of-willpower/
- https://www.huffpost.com/entry/heart-wisdom_b_2615857#:~:text=Yes%2C%20the%20human%20heart%2C%20in,the%20body%20feels%20and%20more.
- https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-autonomic-nervous-system-2794823#:~:text=The%20autonomic%20nervous%20system%20regulates,flow%2C%20breathing%2C%20and%20digestion.
- https://www.heartmath.org/articles-of-the-heart/the-math-of-heartmath/heart-focused-breathing/#:~:text=Typically%2C%20HeartMath%20recommends%20that%20you,establish%20your%20own%20natural%20rhythm.
by admin | May 31, 2022 | Mind, History
The Founder Of Neuropsychology – Brenda Milner
The 103-year-old lady who holds the title “founder of neuropsychology.” Brenda Milner is one of the most famous names in the field of neuropsychology in the world. She has more than 20 awards and has made some groundbreaking discoveries concerning memory, brain damage, and language. She’s a member of the royal society both in London and in Canada, and she teaches and researches to this very day.
This is her story.
Brenda Milner was born in 1918 in Manchester with two musicians as parents. Her father taught her mathematics when she was a child and when she started studying in Newham College Cambridge, this was her initial field. However, she soon changed it to psychology and graduated in 1939.
Soon after, she was given a research studentship, allowing her to stay in the university for two more years. With the start of the second world war, the Cambridge psychology laboratory was tasked with researching aircrew selection. Milner’s task specifically was designing tests to distinguish future fighter pilots and bomber pilots.
After this, she continued working to help in the war, investigating different methods to ease radar operators, which is how she met her husband. Peter Milner was an electrical engineer who was also recruited, just like her. They married in 1944 and moved to Canada, where he was invited to help with atomic research while she started teaching psychology at the University of Montreal.
In 1952 Brenda earned her Ph.D. in experimental psychology with a thesis on the intellectual effects of temporal lobe brain damage. In 1954 she published a research paper about temporal lobe damage and how it can cause emotional and intellectual changes, thus discouraging invasive surgeries on humans that could negatively impact their lives.
She was later invited to Hartford to study patient Henry Molaison and, in doing so, became a pioneer in the field of neuropsychology concerning memory and cognitive functions. Patient H.M. had undergone a bilateral temporal lobectomy which included removing major portions of the hippocampus and Brenda Milner studied the effects this damage had on his memory and cognitive ability.
What she found out is that the brain damage affected his memories from a few years before the surgery but those from further in the past remained intact. She also explained that while he is unable to form new memories, he can learn new cognitive abilities. For example, she spent three days teaching H.M. a simple but different way to draw a star, and after those 3 days, he could use the newly learned technique even though he had no memory whatsoever of any events that occurred in those three days.
This led to her realization that there are different types of memory and learning. She split them into episodic memory and procedural memory, one being the recollection of everyday events, while the other is connected with doing unconscious tasks.
She was also the first to introduce the concept of multiple memory systems and their different places in the brain, which led to researching other areas of the brain to find where specific memories are stored. Brenda Milner had another breakthrough concerning the lateralization (the tendency for the brain to use mainly one of its two hemispheres concerning specific processes) of the brain and its connection to language.
Here she came to the conclusion that hand preference and speech are connected and, based on that, managed to prove that brain lesions have an effect on the way our brain is organized physically. She recently deals with brain activity in more ordinary cases, specifically bilingualism and spatial memory.
Milner donated 1 million dollars (gathered mainly from praise money) to the Montreal Neurological Institute after establishing a foundation in her name. Throughout her life, she has received many awards and memberships. She is part of the royal society both in London and in Canada and the National Academy of Sciences in the USA.
She has received the Gerard, the Balzan, and the Kavli prizes, all connected with neuroscience, and was given the national academy of sciences award for her research in brain regions in learning, language, and memory. She continues to teach and research to this day. She’s a professor in neurology and neurosurgery at the McGi Universityity as well as a Dorothy J. Killam Professor at the Montreal neurological institute.
All in all, Brenda Milner is one of the brightest minds today. Her work has influenced the lives of countless people both because of her findings and the changed perspective of other doctors. She’s the pioneer in neuropsychology right now and is simply amazing in what she did and continues to do.
by admin | May 31, 2022 | Mind
The Mind – Conscious & Subconscious | Part 1 – The Conscious Mind
When your goal is to step up your personal development game and create the best habits and thought patterns for your future self, there is something you simply cannot ignore. That is namely the conscious & subconscious parts of your mind, which play a big role in how you think, feel and act in this world.
Think of the mind as the engine of your experience – If you want to make changes/repairs to an engine, you have to know it quite well. In this article series, we’ll give you insight on the conscious & subconscious mind, starting with the conscious mind.
So let’s get to it, shall we?
What Is The Conscious Mind?
By definition, the conscious mind is the part of your mind that thinks logically, applies critical thinking, analyzes and compares. The conscious mind, quite simply, takes in sensory information, through the 5 senses:
- Smell
- Touch
- Vision
- Taste
- Hearing
At its very essence, the conscious mind can be responsible for your thoughts, actions and self-awareness. So think of the conscious mind as the tool you use to interact with the external world.
The Filtration
One of the main functions of your conscious mind is to filter information and select the things that you need (or strongly believe in). The conscious is kind of like a storage, which saves everything significant that happened in our lives at one point or another.
Where Does It Go, Though?
Now, 95% of our wake time, we exist and act upon already established patterns of thoughts and actions. As a matter of fact, the conscious mind takes just a tiny bit of control in your wake life (roughly 5%). These patterns of thoughts, actions, behaviors and emotions are executed by the SUBCONSCIOUS mind.
To say it simply, the conscious mind once took in information which made sense, seemed probable and believable. Once that information was taken in, it was pushed to the subconscious mind, where it quite literally, became a program.
Conclusion
The conscious mind takes in information from the external world, through the 5 senses that we have. Once taken in, the information is filtered and broken down to what can actually make a logical picture of the world. Then, the things we believe to be true about the world/ourselves, get pushed to the subconscious mind, where a program is established.
That program then leads to certain thoughts, emotions and behaviors, which are essentially a pattern. In the second part of this article series, we’re going to tell you more about those patterns and the subconscious mind and will give you actionable advice on how to REWIRE your subconscious, to ultimately develop better habits and boost your personal development journey.
Stay tuned!
