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AI 101: AI Explained
Do you struggle with AI? Have parents, friends, and others who struggle with terminology and understanding what AI is good for?
The guide defines basics terms that are often mentioned in numerous online videos and definitely can be confusing to a new user.
Check out my guide, free to use, no data collected.
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Which supplement should I take? #Supplement Explorer
Are you always on your phone looking at which supplements you should take? Do you look at reviews? How do you decide what to buy?
As someone who has been in the nutraceutical industry for over 10 years, I’ve worked with many suppliers and companies to understand why an ingredient is chosen, what research is behind it, and how to sell it to a consumer, so if you are looking for some answers to questions you may have, drop a comment, or even better check out the Supplement Explorer on the site. It is free to use, 3 questions, and a simple output. No info is stored.I made the Supplement Explorer purely for my use and then thought, well, if it is useful for me, maybe it is useful for others. The tool is not affiliated with any company or brand, but was just a way for me to showcase what I find useful. If you use it, do give me feedback as to what you’d like to see it on too.
Stay well and remember, before taking any supplements, check with your doctor if it is a good fit for you or not!
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It’s the season for…
Typically, when you hear the words, It’s the season for..you think of Christmas, thanksgiving, or some delicious treat, right? For me, the words ring true every year when It’s the season for mangoes and lychees. Two of my favorite fruits as seen from the pic on this post.
Yes, I know both fruits are high in sugar content but at least it is all natural and not added sugar. Plus, since these are seasonal fruits and so hard to get all year, I totally enjoy them during the season. If you are sensitive to mangoes because they give you pimples, a tip is to keep them under cold water and that should reduce some of that heat that causes your skin to breakout. Is this tip science based? Not sure but I’ve been doing this forever and it works!
Do you enjoy certain fruits during various seasons? To me, anytime I eat a fruit, I feel like it is so much of a better choice than a candy bar or some other dessert so no guilt here when I eat a higher sugar fruit unless I’m striving for some fitness goal.
Stay well!
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IF update
This week’s IF update is that there is no update. Unfortunately, even though I didn’t lose any more weight, the upside is that I didn’t gain any extra weight. What could have happened to give me this result? I have two guesses. One is that my body got used to the fast or my diet was not that great. I’d venture that it was the last one.
So even though I increased my time for fasting from 13h to 15h, I think that I ate a lot more during my eating window so the increase in calories offset any good progress I was making. What will I do differently this week? I’m going to try to eat more protein and see if that makes a difference. The nice thing with IF is that you can always adjust it week to week because the driver is the fast and it is less about food. Do you agree with that if you are doing IF?
Also, don’t forget IF means intermittent fasting! Let’s see how I do this week as I don’t enjoy eating protein so much easier to be a vegetarian than to go find chicken, seafood, and turkey to eat on a daily basis. Oh well, if I want to make a change, I got to try something different, right?
Stay well!
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Do you track…
I’ve written a lot about tracking your food via my fitness pal app but do you track anything else? Your weight? Sleep? Exercise? Mental calmness? Should you track all those things?
I personally feel that for me tracking has been beneficial as I hold myself accountable every day and night. Tracking sleep was interesting because I could see how much was deep sleep and how quickly I fell asleep. Also, exercise tracking fits with my lifestyle of tracking my food so that’s good too because I can indulge accordingly if I exercise or not. So should you track everything? I guess it all depends on what do you want to know about yourself? You can’t change or maintain what you don’t know, right?
Stay well!
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Supplement overload
Have you ever walked down the supplement aisle in a Target or Wholefoods or Walmart or some other place? Do you feel lost and don’t know where to start? If I wasn’t knowing about half the ingredients that are out there that I know of, I doubt, I’d venture too much into those aisles looking for the best product for me. I’d probably grab whatever looks right and go with it. Hopefully, some of the terms are becoming more familiar to you as you read this blog.
The other day I was shopping and saw three people deciding which Vitamin C supplement to buy from all the choices that they had. In this scenario, I would have jumped in and said take Ester-C as it is the 24-hr Vitamin C but not my place to say that for many reasons but that begs the question, who in the group of 3 could provide the best advice. My guess is someone who is taking a Vitamin C but as a consumer would they consider taking a gummy or pill or tablet or capsule? Would they care about the price only? Would they base their purchase decision and recommendation based on previous experience? So much to consider on your own and really that is what it is because most employees at these stores don’t have enough of a science background to properly educate the consumer so that they can make a good decision. Unfortunately, most likely even doctors can’t help with true guidance regarding supplements as they too have limited exposure to the nutraceutical industry in their education, remember pharmaceutical companies profit as prescriptions are written so would they really want you to take a supplement? Hmmm.
Anyway, next time you are struggling to find some info regarding a supplement, do your own research and see if it is the right fit for you and you could also always check the archives here and see if something can help!
Stay well!
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Intermittent fasting journey
A while back, I wrote about how I am starting intermittent fasting. Well, I started with tracking via the Zero fasting app which basically is a timer to tell me when to start and stop my fast. I began with the 13h fast and noticed that I typically end up fasting 13-15h so not too bad. Has it been hard to do? Will I continue to do this? What benefits am I seeing so far?
Well, it hasn’t been hard to do as I just learned that I need to stop eating after a point in the evening so what I’ve noticed is that I don’t snack as much. Plus, I tend to eat more filling foods when I do eat. My workouts are being impacted too as I workout in the morning and so I don’t eat until after I workout. I don’t even take any vitamins until I’m ready to break the fast. The most important thing that I’ve noticed right away is that a lot my bloating is gone and overall, I feel less drained. So that’s a win! Will I continue to do intermittent fasting? Well, it has only been two weeks so will at least continue a month and see the impact that it has. Good habits take at least 3 months to be formed so quitting so early would be pointless. More updates coming soon!
Stay well!
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Intermittent fasting
A topic that I haven’t written about too much is intermittent fasting. Why bring it up now? Well, you guessed it, I’m trying it out now. What’s my approach and why am I doing it now?
Well, I decided to try it because I’m trying to see some changes before June 1. Summer is almost here, right? Hence the grilled corn but I digress a bit. Back to IF, exercising is helping but I needed something additional to get me there to slim my stomach. I know there are tons of benefits of IF but never really thought I’d need it. Benefits like snacking less, maintaining insulin levels, and eating better are just a few. I’m starting with a 13hr fast to see how I handle it for a week and then moving up to 16hr. I’m expecting mood changes so will report back next Monday!
Wish me luck!
Stay well!
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New Product Alert: Pepsi Mango
Are you feeling tired and need more energy so you grab an energy drink? Does that jolt give you what you seek and then an hour later, you feel a crash? Do you know there is another way to increase your energy? As much as you might like the new Pepsi Mango flavor or even your daily coffee, there are other ways to increase your energy.
You can avoid relying on an energy drink by…wait for it…eating! You don’t have to rely on B vitamins for energy or other items like such if you eat the rainbow color of foods…red bell peppers to spinach to pineapples to more. Simply adding these types of items may help you get more energy! Another great boost for getting more energy is figuring out your ideal sleep hours. Not all of us need 8hrs to feel rested so figure out what you need and see if you get that energy boost.
We often take for granted food and sleep in giving us the needed energy boost so bring your awareness back to it and see what happens.
*Image from Tim Mossholder
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Winter-Spring! What season is it?
With the weather changing in most places of the US, seems like relief from the cold winter is on its way unless you are living in the Northeast, where they just got 3+ inches of snow! And yesterday, I got snow! Yikes!
For a lot of people that means seeing more sunlight, an uptick in their moods, and of course doing things outside from hiking to landscaping to more. But what are you passionate about and how you plan to enjoy the outdoors is totally up to you. I prefer to go to the beach and sitting outside on my swing while at other times I like to grill or plant seeds in my garden. But you know what throws a wrench in my plans? Well, the fact that the weather is so unpredictable, from not knowing how to dress or when to plant what, somethings require steady-state to happen and alas we are in the midst of some sort of transition between spring and winter and spring..we need a word for that, right?
Stay well!
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Comfort food
Often times we rely so much on convenience that comfort foods become those things that are easy to grab and consume. From fast food to bars to shakes, anything that we can eat and drink while multitasking is now a comfort food but we forget that true comfort food is one that brings back memories or is something that we can’t live without no matter whatever else we have eaten earlier. What is your comfort food choice based on these criteria?
For me, Indian food is always that comfort food that no matter how much and what type of foods that I eat, nothing will beat this cuisine. Check out the pic. It definitely shows carbs in it but don’t be fooled, there are good fats and protein there too. Not only does it have lentils and rice but it also has some drumsticks (moringa source) and of course lots of chutneys. Plus, it was made at home with love so what’s not to like about this comfort food!
Stay well!
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Starbucks drink hack
If you love Starbucks, check out this new drink hack that you can try there. I like the mango dragonfruit refresher drink a lot so am looking for ways to make the drink different often. My limitations often include switching it up from water to lemonade but then I read about this hack and was blown away. It is too sweet for me but it is worth trying at least once and you can always adjust the sweetness the more you try it.
So what’s the hack? Ask for the mango dragon fruit refresher with no water, blended with strawberry puree, add whipped cream, and more strawberry puree. So you can see that the strawberry puree would add the sweetness level to a high but you can always adjust it. So the drink is like a frappucino but only with the mango dragonfruit flavor. A fun one to try for sure!
Stay well!
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