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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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Dog and cat food
Ever wonder what attracts dogs and cats to their food? Check out this article that I wrote and was recently published as an editorial.
https://bc-v2.pressmatrix.com/de/profiles/ee23a4677553/editions/dde6e32a055c94f7d078/pages/page/18
Stay well!
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#FF What did you miss this week?
Hope this week you learned a bit about various terms on the packaging you might see. What did you miss?
Define GMO
Define Serving Size
Define Saturated Fats
Define Added Sugars
Stay well!
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Define Added Sugars
Another label item that you might see going forward on packages is Added Sugar. This is important to see and know it is there because if you are watching your sugar, you need to understand how much is actually in the product inherently versus how much was added to it, to most likely make it taste good. You can also see this on the ingredients list—as brown sugar, corn syrup, fructose, honey, etc. Remember, some products will inherently have sugars like fruit juices (if they are from natural fruits).
To me, I use the added sugars on the label as something that I can look at to it to know if I’m making a healthy choice or not. We can’t avoid sugars but we can limit how much we take in!
Stay well!
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Define Saturated Fats
Worried about your cholesterol, then you probably should look at the saturated fats and even trans fat content on the package. So what is saturated fat? Basically, a compound that has no double bonds between carbon molecules as they have hydrogen molecules attached to them, making them saturated. But what can you do with that knowledge? Not much when you go grocery shopping but what you can do is look at the label and see how much is in there. There is so much conflicting info out there about good and bad fats that consumers are bound to not know which fat is of most concern on the label.
For me, I look at the label to see that there is no trans fat and very little saturated fat but it all depends on what I’m buying. If you are doing a keto diet, you’ll notice that there will be some saturated fats as coconut oils, butter, cheese are all items you might be consuming but in general, I basically make sure that I’m not over-consuming saturated fats and trans fat.
Stay well!
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Define Serving Size
One thing that will cause confusion as you buy packaged food is serving size and servings per container. With the food industry in the midst of a labeling change, you might be surprised to see some labels that say serving size 100g, for example, vs. 1 bag and servings per container say 3 vs 1 (for the entire bag). How do you keep up?
To me, I’m liking the new format because it makes it clear if I eat a bag of chips, it will be 1 serving for that bag and those are the macros for that serving size. The old way, you have to figure out what the front of the package says (e.g. 400g) and then look at the serving size to figure out what 100g is equal too. No wonder obesity is rising and is a continuous problem in the US. Who wants to do so much math when buying food! Hopefully, the new label update rolls out quickly.
Stay well!
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Define GMO
This week, I’m going to define terms that are confusing on the packaging. What type of terms? Those that are likely causing confusion to you as you look at them. Maybe you glance at it and think, “oh, I know what that means!” or perhaps you think it doesn’t really influence your purchase decision because it is on sale. Whatever the reason for purchase, it never hurts to understand what a term means.
Let’s start with GMOs. GMO stands for a genetically modified organism. As the name suggests, something was done in the lab to make that item. Is that good or bad? That’s up to you to decide but if that is a concern, you can always look for the Non-GMO Project Verified symbol on your item to confirm it is GMO or non-GMO.
Hope that helps answer what is GMO but if you have more questions, Google it as there is tons of info out there about GMO vs non-GMO.
Stay well!
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#FF What did you miss this week?
The first week of October is about to end. Are we nearing the season finale of 2020? hmm. As you ponder that, perhaps you’d like to check out this week’s posts if you missed them:
Challenge Completed
Stress alleviation via foam rolling
Energy Boost
Sleep gone awry
Stay well!
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Sleep gone awry
The last area or maybe the first area you might notice stress playing havoc on with your life is sleep. Sleeping is so important to maintain your energy level and to reduce cortisol impact on your body. So what will you sacrifice? Most likely sleep but is there a way to avoid sacrificing it when stressed? Maybe.
A full night’s sleep is extremely beneficial for you when you are stressed as it lets you reset but if you are liking me you will keep thinking about your issue through the night and get disturbed sleep so what next? Because not only will your cortisol levels rise due to the added stress, but you will not enjoy your friends and family time if you are tired! The average sleep time recommended is 7-9 hours so strive for that if you can or trying to go for a walk with your dog, read your favorite book, and find something that relaxes you—even if it means taking a bath at 2 am! You probably know what will help you de-stress as you know yourself best and hopefully you can get your good night’s sleep in the process.
Stay well!
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Energy boost
I wrote earlier about being stressed and what I did to help alleviate it but you know what my energy was still zapped. What was the solution? Grab an energy drink and crash an hour later? Could playing video games give me the boost that I was looking for? Was I looking for a temporary energy boost or a sustained one? What could I do?
You can avoid relying on an energy drink by…wait for it…eating! There are lots of products out there that can help with sustained energy release like BelVita but if you don’t want processed food then you do have other options too. 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 type of items may help you get more energy! Or you could play video games to distract you and entertain you as well. For me, video games can give me an energy rush too just depends on if I’m in the mood to play or not. I guess, you have several choices to increase your energy, these were just two that worked for me.
Stay well!
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Stress alleviation via reading and foam rolling
I don’t know about you but I had a really rough and stressful week last week so I had to find an outlet for stress release. Working out was helping but it wasn’t enough. I had lost my appetite too so I had to find another way. One of those ways was reading a book, The Meaning of Mariah Carey. For some reason, escaping into another world was just what I needed, makes you realize other people have bigger issues to deal with. Another way that I found helpful was foam rolling. Why? Totally different from reading right? Let me explain why.
Consider investing in a foam roller. Why? It is a great way to stretch out any knots you may have. I felt immediate results from foam rolling and the knots were lessened. Did it reduce my stress completely? Of course not but I was on the road to recovery for sure. Don’t know what to do with a foam roller? Lots of videos on YouTube. I use my foam roller daily and find it beneficial to do in the morning and before bed. Usually, 5 mins are all I need not play around with it and see if it can help you.
Check with your doctor before trying anything that you are unsure about.
Stay well!
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