Eat Healthier

Trying to eat healthier? Make lifestyle changes, and have a weekly cheat day

It can be a difficult thing to change our diets. I’m not a big fan of being on a “diet” in the first place, one that restricts you to bland food and makes you feel like you’re suffering. These diets are doomed to failure, as they might work in the short term but we will always, always fall off them. Trust me, I’ve tried and fallen off many: Atkins, South Beach, the Abs Diet, Slim Fast, Weight Watchers, and some you probably haven’t heard of.

As others have said before me, don’t go on a diet — go for a healthy lifestyle change instead. That means to make changes that you can sustain for the rest of your life.

Here are some simple lifestyle changes you can make and keep in your diet:

1. Substitute whole grains for refined carbs. Ditch white bread and eat whole grain bread (note that wheat bread and whole grain bread are different – the first uses enriched wheat flour, which is refined, and the second uses whole grain flour, which isn’t). Eat whole grain pasta instead of regular pasta. Eat brown rice instead of white. Whole grain bagels instead of regular. You get the idea. Whole grains are much healthier — more nutrients, slower to digest, more fiber. Refined carbs offer nearly no nutrition in exchange for lots of calories. And after a little while, you won’t want to go back — whole grains taste better and are more satisfying.
2. Eat more fruits and veggies. Yes, everyone will tell you this. But it’s an easy change to make — just stock up on them every week when you go shopping, and snack on them throughout the day. Have berries for breakfast. Snack on fruits at your desk in the office. Eat raw or steamed veggies with lunch and dinner. Fruits are a great after dinner snack. Fruits and veggies not only provide nutrients and fiber, but they fill you up without giving you too much calories and fat.
3. Eat leaner meats (or better yet, other forms of protein!). Switching beef for lean chicken or turkey is an easy switch to make. You might love red meat, but it’s killing you. There are very tasty dishes you can make using lean meat. And even better is soy protein, or nuts and whole grains, beans and other such forms of protein. All the nutrients with none of the saturated fat! If this is difficult for you, try doing it one day a week to start with.
4. Cut back on sweets. This is my most difficult challenge. I have not been completely successful on this, and this will be the topic of a future post, but I have made progress by cutting back on the pastries and candies and other sweet desserts — I usually just have a little now, and find healthier treats to enjoy instead.

Implement these changes one at a time, slowly and over a long period of time. Don’t start tomorrow by saying you’re going to drastically change your entire diet. You will have a difficult time, and suffer, and fail within a few weeks. When the change is very drastic and restrictive, it is too hard for most of us, and it’s just a matter of time before we fail.

A final tip: if you decide to cut back on sweets, or something similar, give yourself one cheat day a week. This will make it easier on you, and give you something to look forward to. It will also increase the likelihood of your success. Give yourself a break sometimes!

Bad Habit Or Good Habit?

Nail Biting 

                                     Turn Your Bad Habit to Good One

Humans are creatures of habit. Think of your daily routine. Every weekday I get up, take a shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, and drive to work. Always in the exact same order. The details might vary, but I usually do the exact same thing every single day. I like it that way.

I like it because it makes me feel in control and because I don’t have to do unnecessary planning. A predictable routine is extremely comforting. The problem is that we get comfortable with bad habits. When a bad habit becomes a part of your daily routine, you lose consciousness of it. You just keep doing it without thinking.

Becoming accustomed to a bad habit makes that habit seem much harder to give up than it really is. You don’t want to change. When you try to give up a bad habit, it leaves a void in your routine that leads to restlessness and urges. The best way to fill this void is with a good habit.

The first step in the process is deciding to give up the bad habit. You can’t decide to give it up because other people say you should. The drive to change must come from within. This drive is created by understanding how the bad habit is harmful.

Decide to Stop Hurting Yourself

Consider the bad habit of going out drinking. It’s absurd when you think about what you’re actually doing. You pay hard earned money to feel hungover and exhausted. Would you pay someone to hit you on the head with a wrench? Getting drunk is basically the same deal.

Once you realize the harm that you do yourself, bad habits become much less appealing. But giving them up still isn’t easy because most bad habits aren’t all bad. Going out drinking satisfies a need for social interaction and excitement. These desires themselves aren’t bad, but we need a better way to satisfy them.

Substitute a Good Habit

Giving up a bad habit shouldn’t be unpleasant, but it is when we feel like we’re denying ourselves. We need to fill the void in our daily routine with something that isn’t as harmful, and we also need to reward ourselves to maintain our motivation.

Suppose you want to stop drinking. It’s tough because you miss the excitement of going out and interacting with other people. Fortunately, there are other ways to fulfill these desires that aren’t as destructive or expensive.

Instead of going out at night, try getting out during the day. Get up early and do something you enjoy. Take a walk around the neighborhood or hang out in a coffee shop for a couple hours. When Friday and Saturday night come around, you won’t feel as restless and the urge to go out drinking will be easier to resist.

Different things work for different people. The key is finding a better way to satisfy the desires you used to satisfy with the bad habit.

If you can replace a bad habit with a positive, enjoyable habit, the change is much more likely to stick. Once you are able to feel satisfied without harming yourself, you’ll wonder how that old bad habit seemed so enjoyable.

Too Much Work...Think About It

How NOT to Multitask – Work Simpler and Saner

You’re working on two projects at once, while your boss has placed two new demands on your desk. You’re on the phone while three new emails come in. You are trying to get out the door on time so you can pick up a few groceries on the way home for dinner. Your Blackberry is going off and so is your cell phone. Your co-worker stops by with a request for info and your Google Reader is filled with 100+ messages to read.

You are juggling tasks with a speed worthy of Ringling Bros. Congratulations, multitasker.

In this age of instant technology, we are bombarded with an overload of information and demands of our time. This is part of the reason GTD is so popular in the information world — it’s a system designed for quick decisions and for keeping all the demands of your life in order. But even if we are using GTD, sometimes we are so overwhelmed with things to do that our system begins to fall apart.

Life Hack recently posted How to Multi-task, and it’s a good article on the nature of multi-tasking and how to do it while still focusing on one task at a time.

This post is How NOT to Multi-task — a guide to working as simply as possible for your mental health.

First, a few quick reasons not to multi-task:

1. Multi-tasking is less efficient, due to the need to switch gears for each new task, and the switch back again.
2. Multi-tasking is more complicated, and thus more prone to stress and errors.
3. Multi-tasking can be crazy, and in this already chaotic world, we need to reign in the terror and find a little oasis of sanity and calm.

Here are some tips on how NOT to multi-task:

1. First set up to-do lists for different contexts (i.e. calls, computer, errands, home, waiting-for, etc.) depending on your situation.
2. Have a capture tool (such as a notebook) for instant notes on what needs to be done.
3. Have a physical and email inbox (as few inboxes as possible) so that all incoming stuff is gathered together in one place (one for paper stuff, one for digital).
4. Plan your day in blocks, with open blocks in between for urgent stuff that comes up. You might try one-hour blocks, or half-hour blocks, depending on what works for you. Or try this: 40 minute blocks, with 20 minutes in between them for miscellaneous tasks.
5. First thing in the morning, work on your Most Important Task. Don’t do anything else until this is done. Give yourself a short break, and then start on your next Most Important Task. If you can get 2-3 of these done in the morning, the rest of the day is gravy.
6. When you are working on a task in a time block, turn off all other distractions. Shut off email, and the Internet if possible. Shut off your cell phone. Try not to answer your phone if possible. Focus on that one task, and try to get it done without worrying about other stuff.
7. If you feel the urge to check your email or switch to another task, stop yourself. Breathe deeply. Re-focus yourself. Get back to the task at hand.
8. If other things come in while you’re working, put them in the inbox, or take a note of them in your capture system. Get back to the task at hand.
9. Every now and then, when you’ve completed the task at hand, process your notes and inbox, adding the tasks to your to-do lists and re-figuring your schedule if necessary. Process your email and other inboxes at regular and pre-determined intervals.
10. There are times when an interruption is so urgent that you cannot put it off until you’re done with the task at hand. In that case, try to make a note of where you are (writing down notes if you have time) with the task at hand, and put all the documents or notes for that task together and aside (perhaps in an “action” folder or project folder). Then, when you come back to that task, you can pull out your folder and look at your notes to see where you left off.
11. Take deep breaths, stretch, and take breaks now and then. Enjoy life. Go outside, and appreciate nature. Keep yourself sane.

Why You Should Invest In Nigeria.

Eko Atlantic City

                                                      Invest in Nigeria

Nigeria is the second largest economy after South Africa in the continent of Africa,and with the population of about 150 million.Nigeria with her larger population is one of the best place to invest for now.

One of the reasons to invest in Nigeria is the creation of a new city called Eko Atlantic in Lagos State,Eko Atlantic is being developed entirely by the private sector. The project is overseen by South Energyx Nigeria, a subsidiary of the Chagoury Group, founded by Gilbert Ramez Chagoury, a son of Lebanese immigrants who raised all their children in Nigeria. The Chagoury Group has numerous business interests in Nigeria, including hotels, construction, and food processing. Dredging International, a Belgium-based firm, is responsible for the reclamation of land on which Eko Atlantic is being built. Numerous other local and international banks, consultants and contractors are also involved in the project.

Lagos is one of the world's fastest growing cities with an estimated 18 million residents.Lagos has a large concentrations of multinational companies and is home to almost half of Nigeria's skilled workers.It is one of Africa's five biggest consumer markets and boasts of higher standard of living than anywhere else in Nigeria. 

Eko Atlantic is a city being built on  9 km² of land reclaimed from Atlantic Ocean.According to the developers-a new business and residential area will be created within this city and will be home to about 250 000 people and a workplace for another 150 000,the new city is expected to have waterfront area,tree-line street,efficient transport system and mixed-use plot that combine residential area with leisure facilities and shop.

Eko Atlantic is creating a wealth of new investment opportunities for individuals, companies and organisations who want to invest in Africa. A wide choice of plots and property development options are available.

Eko Atlantic will include wide-scale residential, commercial, financial and tourist developments, easing the burden on the exhausted infrastructure and over-population on adjacent Victoria Island, which is currently the commercial centre of Lagos.

Like each of the other five districts to follow, the Business District will have plots available for mixed use. All will combine residential plots with offices, shops, restaurants and bars so that all areas of the city will be vibrant and lively during the evening as well as during the working day.

"There is unlimited investment potential across every aspect of creating this city. We are not looking for people coming in to build single-storey structures – we are looking at selling plots where high-rise buildings would be constructed with such facilities as hotels, office and residential complexes, shopping malls and entertainment areas."
David Frame, Managing Director of South Energyx, Lagos, Nigeria, the city planners and developers of Eko Atlantic

Eko Atlantic is a best reason to invest in Nigeria no doubt and hope you will think over it and take a trip to Lagos city to see things for yourself.

100 Ways to Play With Your Kids

1. Have a reading marathon.
2. Write stories together.
3. Play soccer.
4. Paint or draw together.
5. Create a fort in your living room out of blankets or cardboard boxes.
6. Go on a hike.
7. Have a sunset picnic at a park or beach.
8. Play board games.
9. Play kickball.
10. Get up early, pack breakfast, and have a sunrise breakfast.
11. Go to a museum.
12. Go to a playground.
13. Play hide-and-seek.
14. Have a pillow fight.
15. Ride bikes.
16. Build sandcastles.
17. Rent a dvd and make popcorn.
18. Tell stories.
19. Have a scavenger hunt.
20. Make mazes or puzzles for each other to solve.
21. Play card games.
22. Garden together.
23. Bake cookies (let the kids help).
24. Go to the zoo.
25. Go to the library.
26. Shop at a thrift shop.
27. Create a blog together.
28. Create a scrapbook.
29. Make a movie using a camcorder and computer.
30. Learn to play music.
31. Fingerpaint.
32. Make play dough from scratch.
33. Make homemade mini pizzas.
34. Buy popsicles.
35. Make hand-painted T-shirts.
36. Set up a hammock, make lemonade, relax.
37. Go to a pool.
38. Go to a public place, people watch, and make up imaginary stories about people.
39. Visit family.
40. Write letters to family.
41. Paint or decorate the kids’ room.
42. Make milkshakes.
43. Play freeze tag.
44. Create a treasure hunt for them (leaving clues around the house or yard).
45. Decorate a pair of jeans.
46. Do a science experiment.
47. Play games online.
48. Teach them to play chess.
49. Learn magic tricks.
50. Create a family book, with information and pictures about each family member.
51. Fly kites.
52. Go snorkeling.
53. Barbecue.
54. Volunteer.
55. Donate stuff to charity.
56. Compete in a three-legged or other race.
57. Create an obstacle course.
58. Pitch a tent and sleep outside with marshmallows.
59. Roast marshmallows.
60. Play loud music and dance crazy.
61. Write and produce a play (to perform before other family members).
62. Paint each other’s faces.
63. Have a water balloon fight.
64. Have a gun-fight with those foam dart guns.
65. Explore your yard and look for insects.
66. Go for a walk and explore the neighborhood.
67. Go jogging.
68. Take pictures of nature.
69. Play a trivia game.
70. Make up trivia questions about each other.
71. Make hot cocoa.
72. Play house.
73. Decorate the house with decorations you make.
74. Make popsicles.
75. Play school.
76. Do shadow puppets.
77. Make a comic book.
78. Play in the rain.
79. Make mud pies.
80. Blow bubbles.
81. Take turns saying tongue twisters.
82. Sing songs.
83. Tell ghost stories in the dark with a flashlight.
84. Build stuff with Legos.
85. Give them a bubble bath.
86. Play with squirt guns.
87. Play video games together.
88. Play wiffleball.
89. Play nerf football.
90. Build a rocket from a kit.
91. Bake a cake and decorate it.
92. Play dress-up.
93. Thumb-wrestle, play mercy, or have a tickle fight.
94. Make a gingerbread house, or decorate gingerbread men.
95. Learn and tell each other jokes.
96. Play basketball.
97. Learn to juggle.
98. Walk barefoot in the grass and pick flowers.
99. Build paper airplanes and have a flying contest.
100. Prank call their grandparents, using disguised, humorous voices.