Curious

Pizza turns out to be a better breakfast than cereals

Having leftovers from last night’s pizza for breakfast is very much a cliché that happens at every home no matter what country you live in.

It has always been thought, however, that is is not exactly the healthiest habit, and has always been accompanied by statements like “that’s so unhealthy“, “you’ll get fat if you do that” or “you should have cereals for breakfast, not pizza“.

Comparing both

According the the nutritionist Chelsea Amer, having pizza for breakfast is probably healthier for you than cereals. Apparently, pizza has less sugar and more protein than a bowl of cereal (doesn’t matter what type).

Both contain nearly the same amount of calories, but pizza packs a much larger protein punch, keeping you full throughout the whole morning.

“Plus, a slice of pizza contains more fat and much less sugar than cold cereals, so you will not experience a quick sugar crash“
Chealsea Amer

A little experiment

Of course, it has to be taken into consideration what type of cereal and what type of pizza is being consumed. However, a big problem with cereal is that people who eat cereal usually eat more than one serving, so the intake of unhealthy substances increases by a lot.

For example, Consumer Reports carried out a small study with 124 people, in which 92% consumed more than one serving. They were shocked by how much constitutes one serving.

So is it good to have pizza for breakfast?

All in all, pizza might not be the worst option compared to sugary cereals. However, according to Melissa Rifkin, a bariatric dietitian at the Montefiore Medical Center in New York, it is still not a smart choice.

“While pizza can be a healthier choice per se, you may be giving most people an open window here of really amping up sodium, carbohydrates and fat early in the morning and setting oneself up for failure throughout the day“
Melissa Rifkin

In addition, pizza doesn’t really lack sugar. Frozen pizza can’t be spared either. Melissa Rifkin reviewed different types of pizza and found that all of them are full of questionable ingredients, like high fructose or corn syrup, in addition to all the fat and calories.

A better option

For now, we should replace “morning pizza” with better options, like homemade healthier pizza with less cheese, whole wheat crust and vegetables. Or just stay off pizza completely, and leave it for those special “cheating days“. For now, a normal breakfast with yoghurt and fruit, for example, is good enough.

Photos: Unsplash

How to stop feeling stuck and become successful instead

Feeling stuck is a feeling we probably all know. In fact, feeling stuck in life is probably part of how we keep moving forward. It is, however, important to know how to manage it and move on, or it will otherwise just worsen over time, keeping you from being productive, and in a negative state of mind

“When we feel stuck, going nowhere – even starting to slip backward – we may actually be backing up to get a running start”
Dan Millman

Sometimes you feel like you’ve tried everything in life, but there’s just no change at all. This can lead to frustration because you get the feeling of being unable to resolve the situation. You feel lost.

Why do we feel stuck?

Feeling stuck is only a perception of the mind and it does not actually represent reality. However, sometimes feeling stuck is necessary: it is a sign that something in your life has to change.

When faced with a problem, many of us become afraid and insecure, this occurs because it forces us to step out of our comfort zone. This is why we often need something or someone to push us out of it. And it might just be ourselves.

There are no shortcuts or loopholes to get out of this feeling of being stuck. There are, however, ways to ease the feeling and flourish, allowing ourselves the successful beings we thrive to become. Here are ten tips to achieve a better life.

1. Focus on commitment, not motivation

It is important to realize how committed you are to your goal, and what you are willing to sacrifice in order to achieve it. If you are fully committed, motivation will follow right behind.

2. Seek knowledge, not results

As they say, what’s important in the end is the journey and not the destination. Focusing on the excitement of discovery, exploring, experimenting and improving will keep your motivation fueled. If you just focus on the result, your motivation will die the moment you hit a bump on the road. Keep in mind what you are learning along the journey, and what can be improved.

3. Make the journey fun

Make it feel like you are playing a game; let it be exciting and entertaining. If you take things too seriously, you will probably carry around a heavy emotional weight which will cause you to lose perspective and start from zero.

4. Get rid of stagnating thoughts

How our mind works is a big line of domino pieces just waiting to fall over causing a big chain of repercussions. Our thoughts influence our feelings, and these in turn influence how we view things. As human beings we are emotionally intelligent enough to choose what thoughts to focus on, and we have two choices: focusing on the negative thoughts, those that will make us feel stuck all over again; or the positive ones, those that will encourage us and make us move forward.

5. Use your imagination

Once you have been able to get rid of the negative thoughts, the next step is using your imagination. Usually when things are well, we tend to feel good, and positive; but once things go south, we immediately start experiencing difficulties and are invaded with negative thoughts. This must change, and is essential to becoming successful in life.

You have to change your situation. If you keep bringing yourself down over and over again, you will actually start believing it. Negative thoughts will evoke negative feelings. So now it’s a matter of imagination. “Fake it ’till you make it”, as saying goes. You can always find a way to learn from a bad experience. Think positive and positive things will follow.

6. Stop being nice to yourself

Motivation means actions and actions means results. When this is not the case, we often prefer being nice to ourselves and remove us from a difficult situation. We rather wait for an opportunity to come up; for the perfect timing.

While this happens we drive ourselves into stagnation, which can often result in anxiety and even depression. It’s important to challenge ourselves, even if it might frighten us.

7. Get rid of distractions

Trivial distractions will always stand in the way of our achievements, especially simple things we’d rather do instead. This is procrastinating. We need to get rid of this and focus on new challenges that will help us grow. Learn to focus. A great tip to get rid of distractions is writing down a list of trivial things that just waste your time, and sticking to not doing them.

8. Stop relying on others

Never ever expect others to do your work for you. Everyone has their own stuff to get through. You’re the only one who can make you truly happy, so focus on you.

9. Plan

It is important to have a simple three-step-plan: when will you do what and how. Following these three points, fill your weekly calendar with precisely what you have to do, when you will do it and how you will do it. It is essential to schedule. After, you should review how the days went, realize what you’ve learned, and what can be improved.

10. Protect yourself from burnout

Being motivated is good, but not so much until the point where you burn out. Look at yourself in the mirror; try to auto-criticize yourself and identify when your mind and body need to rest. Include relaxation and time for fun into your schedule: create a diversity of tasks to fulfill and keep switching between the different types. Switch between creative and logical activities; between working alone and in group. Change up the locations from time to time.

Meditating is also a great way to clear your mind and relax. Even just taking deep breaths will help your mind from going all over the place. Take the time to take care not only of your body, but also of your mind. It is the motor that keeps your whole system going, don’t forget that.

Photos: Unsplash

This is why you procrastinate and how to stop

Procrastinating means delaying something we must do (for example, by doing something else instead), usually because it is boring or unpleasant. It is a term that has been thrown around a lot during the last decade, especially with the rise of social media. However, procrastinating is not a new phenomenon.

Humans have been procrastinating for centuries. Nowadays, the most common forms of procrastination are checking our social media accounts, watching Netflix or even just plain sleeping, but we have always managed to find a way to delay what we have to do. Take for example, Victor Hugo, one of history’s most important french writers.

Victor Hugo: expert procrastinator

During the summer of 1830, our famous author was battling against a tight deadline: has had promised his publisher he would write a new book. Instead, he spent the whole year doing all sorts of non-related activities. When Hugo’s publisher realised, frustrated, he set a new deadline: less than six months away.

Thanks to this, the author came up with a plan to become more efficient. He gave all of his clothes to his assistant and told him to lock them away. This way, he would not be tempted to take part in any outdoors activities. He then wrote and wrote during the whole fall and winter of 1830. Finally, he was able to publish “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” two weeks earlier, on the 14th of January 1831.

Akrasia

Victor Hugo has showed us none of us are immune to daily life distractions. It was even around in the ancient Greece, where philosophers like Socrates and Aristotle came up with a word to describe this behaviour: “akrasia“.

Akrasia is the state of doing one thing even though you know you have to do something else: you act against your better judgement. Akrasia could be considered similar or even a synonym for procrastinating. It is basically what holds you back from doing what you planned to do.

Making plans and not following through

One theory as to why akrasia “works so well” in keeping us from doing things is what we call “time inconsistency”. This term refers to our brains valuing immediate rewards over future rewards. This means that when we set a plan, we actually make a plan for our future selves. At the moment of making a plan, it seems like a good idea and even motivates us because it is easy for your brain to see the long-term benefits.

However, when the moment comes for us to take an immediate decision, we no longer think about our future selves: instead, we think only about our present selves. And these “present selves” we talk about likes instant gratification much better.

So what this means is that we might go to bed feeling motivated about an action were are going to do in the future, but then wake up falling into old patterns: nothing has changed and we keep procrastinating. The motivation has drifted away.

Is there a solution to it?

The solution to procrastinating seems to lay in the ability to delay gratification. The key to success is resisting the pull of instant gratification as often as possible (if not always). This is what will take you from where you are to where you want to be.

Three ways to help you beat procrastination

1. Design your future actions

This is, for example, how Victor Hugo overcame his akrasia. His method consisted of putting away his clothes in order to prevent his future self from going outdoors. This method is called “commitment device”: it is a choice your present self makes to lock in a certain future behaviour, binding you to a positive habit and restricting you from negative ones. These commitment devices help you design your future actions.

2. Reduce the friction of starting

“On a moment-to-moment basis, being in the middle of doing the work is usually less painful than being in the middle of procrastinating”
Eliezer Yudkowsky

If the guilt of not doing what we have to do is worse than actually doing it, why do we still procrastinate? The answer to this is that it is not hard doing the work, it is hard starting. This is why it’s important to build the habit of getting started when introducing a new behaviour.

3. Utilize implementation intentions

An “implementation intention” is stating your intention to implement a certain behaviour at a particular time in the future. Basically, what this means is that actually scheduling actions to be fulfilled is, in fact, useful when building a habit. For example: “I will exercise for an hour every day on x day in x place at x time”. It seems to be a simple task, but it is definitely effective: implementation intentions can make you two to three times more likely to fulfill an action in the future.

Photos: Unsplash and Pixabay

6 reasons why you need bananas to stay healthy

This yellow fruit we can find in every supermarket is one of the most popular fruits worldwide because of its size, cheap price and having a natural protective wrap. The perfectly portion sized fruit is great as a quick snack on its own, mixed with other foods like yoghurt, or even as an ingredient as part of a recipe (banana pancakes are a must try!). Bananas are healthy and easy to eat.

Healthy fruit

This common fruit, apart from being super easy to carry around, is also very much one of the healthier foods, packed with vitamins, nutrients and fiber.

It is common knowledge that bananas are filled with potassium, and most believe this is the reason they are healthy and we should include them in our diets. Truth is, there is much more to these yellow vitamin-sources than meets the eye.

1. Heartburn

Heartburn is not an uncommon condition, but most don’t know that bananas are great for preventing this annoying acid refluxes. They are alkaline fruits, meaning they are powerful against the burn and provide instant relief. What’s more, eating them regularly will help you get rid of acid refluxes forever, as they neutralize stomach acid.

2. Energy

Bananas will keep you energized for two reasons: 1) the potassium found in them protect your muscles from cramping, and 2) the carbs they contain provide enough energy to endure intense workouts. These yellow fruits release energy at a slow pace, thus keeping you energized for a prolonged period of time.

3. Anemia

Anemia is caused by an iron deficiency, and given bananas are high in iron, they can help those suffering from it by stimulating the production of hemoglobin. An increased red blood cell count also means and increased circulation to the whole body.

4. Ulcers

One important benefit of bananas, and what might be a benefit exclusive to this fruit is that they are able to reduce acids of ulcers through the coating of the stomach lining, thus providing protection against irritation. Bananas also contain protease inhibitors. This is positive because what they do is they remove harmful bacteria linked to the development of stomach ulcers.

5. Constipation

Bananas are able to restore regular bowel movement because of the fiber found in this yellow fruit. They help remove the stool in the intestinal tract.

6. Stress and anxiety

Low serotonin levels lead to the development of stress, anxiety and even depression. Bananas can contain the solution: they include tryptophan, which is a compound our body needs to produce this chemical, putting an end to the low serotonin levels.

Also, the potassium bananas contain help the brain improve its functioning because it sends more oxygen to the brain cells. Vitamin B also plays a part in this: it helps calm the nervous system and can improve your mood. So now you know, whenever you are feeling the “emotional appetite“ come up, stuff your face with bananas rather than with junk food.

Photos: Unsplash

Why do we “binge-watch” series?

Lying on the couch and turning on the TV often helps us relax and disconnect from our hectic lives. Our brains generate dopamine when we marathon-watch a TV show, but we ought to be careful.

The popularity of the online streaming channel known as Netflix has steadily increased during the last decade. Together with other online streaming services like Prime Video, Hulu or HBO Now, Netflix has become the most popular online streaming service available. And alongside its success has come the rise of “binge-watching”.

What is “binge-watching”?

“Binge-watching” is the term used for watching a TV show non-stop for many hours, and sometimes, even days. Our concept of watching TV like we used to do is over. We are done waiting a whole week to be able to watch the next episode. Now, we can just go onto the next episode in one click.

Netflix has already come up with a new term to describe their binge-watchers: “binger-racer”. This new term refers to those extreme addicts who can spend a whole night watching episode after episode. The platform confirms to have close to 8,4 million users whom this term can be applied to; a number which has doubled between 2013 and 2016.

Binge Race (binj ‘râs) v.

“To speed through an entire season within 24 hours of its release and to be the first to finish”
Netflix

Binge-watching series makes us feel good. We forget about our daily worries and disconnect from our hectic lives. It allows us to choose when, where and for how long to watch. It opens up a whole spectrum of choice for us.

What it does to our brains

When we become “addicted” to a series, our brains activate the reward and pleasure circuits. Diego Redolar, neuroscientist and professor at the Open University of Catalonia, claims that having more than one episode available to us “helps activate our reinforcement nervous system, which doesn’t tolerate delay well, causing the person tobecome easily addicted“.

A study carried out by Netflix corroborates this behaviour: it states that its members prefer watching a whole season in one sitting (on average a week), than, for example, watching an episode a week.

“During a watching-marathon, the brain generates dopamine, which is a chemical signal related to pleasure”
Diego Redolar

A clever marketing strategy

We do not create these TV show addictions just by ourselves, though. A carefully planned marketing strategy stands behind them: they know what to give us and how to give it to us.

The biggest launches are always on Fridays, and they usually launch numerous episodes, and maybe even a whole season. The marketing plan’s objective is clear: creating a necessity inside the viewer, making them want to consume it the sooner the better.

Don’t get too caught up

Once the series we were watching is over, we often get a sense of emptiness; we feel like something is missing. Our brains become filled with anxiety, keeping us from being able to focus on other mundane activities.

This occurs because the dopamine we were previously talking about, is released as we watch episode after episode. So what happens when we get to the end? We have a lack thereof, causing a negative reaction in our brains. We want more.

There is a very thin line between harmless pleasures and serious addictions.

Photos: Unsplash

Three apps to make your life look picture perfect

With social media came the birth of a generation of so-called “influencers“. Reaching millions of followers, they all seem to have a picture perfect life: they travel all around the world, get the most expensive clothes from the most exclusive brands, eat the most colourful meals, and most important of all, take the most incredible pictures.

The influencer community has quickly spread, probably because we don’t need a whole photography studio and a massive team to obtain the perfect picture anymore. Nor do we need the best camera. We just need a decent phone and the right apps.

The right app goes a long way

Editing goes a long way in the social media world. You took a picture but you see something that wasn’t meant to be there? Crop it out. You feel like your teeth seem a little too yellow? Use the whitening tool. Does your skin not look tan enough? The tanning tool. Is the sky a little too cloudy? Change the background. And so on and so forth.

We are going to show you three of the best, most useful apps to create the Instagram feed of your dreams.

Enlight Quickshot

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Una publicación compartida de Enlight Quickshot (@enlightquickshot) el 25 Abr, 2019 a las 5:20 PDT

Enlight Quickshot is suitable for the iPhone fans. It’s only available for iOS and you can download it for free, but it does include inside purchases. The app is perfect for the adventurous yearning to capture their outdoor quests. This is often a challenging task, especially when the weather seems to be conspiring against us.

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Una publicación compartida de Enlight Quickshot (@enlightquickshot) el 1 May, 2019 a las 8:24 PDT

Enlight Quickshot is the perfect tool is if you want every day to be the perfect day for a picture. This is very useful if you want to succeed on social media. A great example is the influencer Dulceida, who often makes use of this app.

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Una publicación compartida de Aida Domenech (@dulceida) el 10 Ene, 2019 a las 11:11 PST

A breath-taking sky can make the difference between an Instagram page with millions of followers and yours. Because let’s be honest, one does not just walk outside and encounter a sky filled with five shades of pink and cotton candy clouds.

One of their mottos is that just filters are not enough, which is why they include the tool “sky control“. The tool allows you to turn the greyest of skies into a ravishing pink one in just a matter of seconds. But if what you want is simulate a stormy sky, you can just add a couple of lightning rays.

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Una publicación compartida de Enlight Quickshot (@enlightquickshot) el 27 Feb, 2019 a las 7:30 PST

Picnic

Android users ought not to worry. Picnic has come to their rescue. The app describes itself as the “climate genius“, and it is accessible to everyone, as you can download it for free.

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Una publicación compartida de IDEAS • STYLE • PHOTO (@novoselts_eva) el 10 Ago, 2018 a las 8:18 PDT

It doesn’t matter if it rains or if it’s cloudy, the app promises to have it all covered, allowing you to always create the perfect image. From a clear sunny day to a ravishing sunset on the beach, you can create it all no matter what the real weather is like.

Picnic can create the most impressive skies with their “atmosphere filters“. It allows you to retouch any background in a natural and artistic way.

Chroma Lab

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Una publicación compartida de Francois Morvillier (@mirror_lab) el 2 May, 2019 a las 3:37 PDT

Chroma Lab is the application to bring out your inner artist. This app allows you to take a step further in sky editing, and become real “pros” at retouching our landscape photos. It is perfect if you’re looking for bold edits.

It is available for Android users for free and has inside purchases. Chroma Lab allows you to make infinite creations combining the different filters they offer. It also includes a wide rage of editing tools, and for those who want to go a step further, a video editing tool.

Images: Instagram and Play Store