healthy lifestyle Archives - Page 6 of 54

6 Bad Exercise Habits You Need to Break

We know, you’ve heard it all before: exercising is one of the best things you can do for your body (and your mind). We’ve told you, your doctor has told you, all of the studies known to man have told you, right? So you’re getting your body moving and feeling good, and that’s great! Which means, we certainly don’t want to be the ones to slow your roll, but we were wondering whether there are exercise habits that we can pick up that are actually not so great for us. And science gave us the answer: there are! Fortunately, they’re things you can easily avoid or fix, so let’s take a look at which habits to break now, so you know your exercise regime is doing your body good, and not doing you unwitting harm.

1. Ignoring Steady-State Cardio

Are you a HIIT junkie? Do you love the feeling of getting into zone 4 (we’ll review the heart rate training zones below) when you workout? That type of workout is undeniably great for burning fat and building muscle, but there is something it doesn’t do. It doesn’t help you build your aerobic fitness, or improve your mitochondrial functioning (yes, we’re going to bring you back to your high school biology days). Here’s the thing: training in zone 4 is not going to improve your zone 2 functioning; funnily enough, training in zone 2 improves all zones above it (3-5), but training in higher zones does not improve lower zone fitness.

illustration of a man running on a treadmill — *As much as you might dislike cardio, it is important in aiding in burning fat and building muscle.*

And why is your aerobic fitness (zone 2) important? According to Howard J. Luks, MD, an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist, “Not only will Zone 2 heart rate training boost your performance, it just might save your life. After all, your heart is just a muscle. Humans die of very predictable causes. Most of the chronic diseases which will lead to our demise have a common root cause– poor metabolic health due to poor mitochondrial function. Exercising in Zones 1 and 2 will improve your mitochondrial number, function, efficiency, and fitness. Exercising in zone 3 and above will not improve your aerobic (mitochondrial) health.”

He points out that the benefits of zone 2 training include:

Increases the number of mitochondria
Increases your mitochondrial efficiency
Increases your “metabolic flexibility,” or the ability of your mitochondria to utilize fat and glucose as an energy source
Lowers your resting heart rate
Decreases blood pressure
Lowers your risk of injury
Improves insulin resistance
Can help you to run/cycle longer
Improves your resilience and ability to deal with increasing load
Improves your zone 4,5 function/performance

And in case you need a refresher high school bio lesson (as many of us do!), your mitochondria are the powerhouses of your cells: the healthier they are, the healthier you will be. On the other hand, people with heart disease, dementia, Type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cancer, etc usually have fewer or “unhealthier” mitochondria.

Ready to add in more zone 2 training? Here’s another refresher, this time on the heart rate training zones:

Zone 1: Very light intensity, or 50-60% of your max heart rate (see here for calculating your max heart rate)

Zone 2: Light intensity, or 60-70% of your max heart rate

Zone 3: Moderate intensity, or 70-80% of your max heart rate

Zone 4: Hard intensity, or 80-90% of your max heart rate

Zone 2 cardio training can include things like a long, slow jog, a gentler bike ride, or some slow swimming. Just make sure you can speak easily and in full sentences without having to pause – and try to spend a longer time doing these activities than you would if you were doing an intense workout.

2. Doing Too Much, Too Fast, or “Overtraining”

A lot of us don’t get enough exercise, but then again, some of us are doing too much! You could either start out too quickly and do too much, too fast, or, if you’re a more seasoned exercise aficionado, you could be simply doing too much, or overtraining. Overtraining doesn’t feel good, and it can actually be dangerous for your body. The signs to look out for show just how bad doing too much can be for your health:

Muscle soreness that lasts more than 3 or 4 days
Suppressed immune system
Increased injuries
Constant fatigue, irritability, and low energy
Getting tired early in your workout
Hitting performance plateaus, or even seeing a decline in performance
Depression or anxiety

And it doesn’t stop there. You could find yourself with other physical symptoms, like increased resting heart rate, increased blood pressure, increased basal temperature, gastrointestinal issues like constipation, and sleep disturbances. Women could experience a loss of menstruation or early-onset osteoporosis with consistent overexercising. Men, on the other hand, could experience a decreased sex drive as a result. Anyone who overtrains to an extreme could even find themselves with heart or kidney damage.

Not only that, but those increased injuries we mentioned? You could be looking at things like stress fractures, muscle strains, runner’s knee, joint pain, tendinitis, and bursitis.

The good news is you can reverse the problems that come with overtraining. The first and most important thing to do is rest: take off at least 1-2 weeks from exercising, or until you feel like yourself again (both mentally and physically). While resting, and when you return to working out, make sure to eat well, hydrate, give yourself enough recovery time, get enough sleep, and don’t overdo it! If you still feel the effects of overtraining after 2 weeks, speak to your doctor about any underlying issues that might need to be addressed.

different types of shoes — *Wearing the wrong shoes can lead to injury.*

3. Wearing the Wrong Shoes

You might have the best looking pair of sneaks around, and they might look perfect on you no matter what you’re doing, but that doesn’t mean they’re perfect for every activity. Wearing the wrong type of shoe for the activity you’re doing could increase your chance of injury, so make sure you know what type of shoe works best for what you’re doing. For example, dance cardio requires a more flexible shoe, while weight training requires a flatter, more rigid sole. You should also ease into a new pair of footwear gradually; don’t go for a 5-mile run in those new barefoot shoes, for example! And remember to replace your shoes every 350-500 miles, or every 3-6 months (and, ladies, while you’re at it, replace your sports bras at the same time: their elasticity diminishes over time, which can lead to breast discomfort and even sagging).

4. Using Bad Form

Picking up some weights? Great: weight training will help you to build muscles and burn fat, and keep your body generally healthy, but only if you do it with proper form! Not only will using proper form keep you focused and help you get the most out of your movements, but it will also help you avoid injuries like sprains, strains, joint issues, and fractures. If you’re new to strength training, be sure to ask an expert about proper form, and remember the basics (things like knees should never go past your toes when doing lunges, for example).

5. Not Warming Up or Cooling Down

Sure, warm-ups and cool-downs add precious time to your workouts, but they are important, according to experts. They say that warming up before your workout helps you to gradually increase your heart rate and breathing to a level that will be able to meet the demands of the exercise you’re about to do; if you start exercising at a strenuous level without warming up first, you will place unnecessary stress on your heart and lungs. Studies actually back this up: in one, the results showed that 70% of subjects in the study had abnormal ECG readings after jumping right into an intense workout because of the inadequate oxygen supplied to the heart. Essentially, their hearts weren’t ready to perform at the high rates required for the intense exercises.

And that nice, gentle cool down at the end of your workout? Also worth the time, according to experts. Not only can cooling down clear lactic acid out of your system, helping to improve recovery and reduce soreness, but it can also help keep you safe. If you stop exercising abruptly without cooling down, your muscles will suddenly stop contracting vigorously, which can cause blood to pool in the lower extremities of your body, leaving your blood without as much pressure to be pumped back to the heart and brain. As a result, you could end up feeling dizzy and lightheaded, and you could even faint.

So, as you plan your next workout, make sure you give yourself an extra 10 minutes on either side of it to do some gentle cardio and dynamic stretching (like arm and leg circles) as a warmup, and some gentle cardio and light stretching as a cool down.

6. Cutting Out Carbs Completely

Ditching the carbs has been all the rage for a while now, but being carb-free is not necessarily all it’s cracked up to be. Experts tell us we actually need carbs for both aerobic and anaerobic exercise, since your body uses muscle glycogen as a primary fuel source when you’re working out. That means a depletion of muscle glycogen will actually result in muscle weakness – not exactly what you want when you’re working out. If you’re feeling a little carb-phobic, your best bet is to cut out those refined carbs that don’t do anything for your body anyway. You know the ones: refined sugars and heavily processed foods. But keep the good carbs: fruits, veggies, and whole grains.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: exercising is great for you! You just have to do it right, and that’s not so hard. So get moving and treat your body right with the tips above – and let us know if any of the above sounds familiar, if you’re guilty of any bad fitness habits (and how you broke them), or if we left anything out. We want to hear from you!

Your Definitive Guide to Meal Prepping

In some ways, this is the most wonderful time of year for parents: the kiddos are getting set to head back to school! But on the other hand, it’s the end of the easy living of summer, and time to get back to business – and that goes for all of you out there without kids, too. We’re all about to get busier, more indoorsy, and more serious! And that means also getting back to the business of answering the age-old question that echoes in our minds every day: what’s for dinner?

The days of vacation take-out, salads made from picnic leftovers, and hasty grilled cheeses made after a day at the pool/beach are quickly ending, and you might be going into panic mode. But never fear, we’re here to help! Below we’ve got the definitive beginner’s guide to meal prepping – and if the words “meal prepping” already have you in a sweat, relax. It’s easier than you think to get started, no matter how disorganized you feel, and before you know it you’ll be a master at meal prep, and pumping out nutritious meals that will keep everyone fed, healthy, and happy all year long.

What Meal Prep Is – And Isn’t

You might think of meal prepping as being synonymous with being some perfect Pinterest or Instagram god/ess, but there are no expectations of perfection here. Let’s set aside the filtered and curated images on social media and talk about what we mean by meal prep. And that’s simply this: dedicating a bit of your time – at least weekly – to batch-cook ingredients and/or prepare meals for the week ahead to make feeding yourself and your family easier on a day-to-day basis. It’s different from meal planning in that it doesn’t simply answer the question “What’s for dinner?” for the week like meal planning does, it actually involves getting food prepared that can be easily brought out for dinner each night.

Why meal prep? It’s convenient, efficient, reduces waste, and reduces the temptation to eat outside your plan (whether the plan be a diet or a budget). And remember, meal prepping should feel like it’s making your life easier and less stressful (so forget the ‘Gram!), so you should do as much or as little as works for you. For example, meal prepping for some people might be pre-chopping all the veggies you’ll need for salads, soups, etc for the week, or stirring up a sauce that you can use in the week and then freeze for another time. For others, it might mean cooking full recipes and then dividing them up into portions to be used throughout the month.

What meal prepping isn’t is a one-size-fits-all kind of deal. It will look different for you than it does for other households, and it will even look different for you week-by-week, as your schedule and needs change. As we pointed out above, it doesn’t have to mean taking a whole day out of your weekend to craft full meals for the week ahead – unless you want it to!

With that being said, let’s take a look at the first step in learning how to meal prep: determining the best meal prep method for you.

Step 1: Determine the Best Meal Prep Method for You

Think about your mealtime pain points. Remember, meal prep is all about making your life easier (hopefully with the added bonus of helping you stick to your goals for your health and your budget)! So what are your needs? Do you want to eat healthier breakfasts, spend less on lunch, or have dinner on the table in 20 minutes after a busy day? And how much time do you realistically have/want to spend on meal prep?

Once you think about all this, you can decide to focus your meal prepping efforts on one (or more) of the methods below:

Make-ahead meals: With this method of meal prep, you’ll cook full meals in advance, refrigerate them, then reheat them at mealtimes. This method is particularly handy for weeknight dinners. For this type of meal prepping, think of meals like casseroles, soups, stews, sauces, or anything that saves and reheats well.
Batch cooking/freezing: Batch cooking is preparing large/multiple batches of a recipe, then portioning out what you’ve made for meals in the weeks to come. For example, you could double a chili recipe and steam extra rice, then portion everything out for lunches or dinners for the next few months.
Individually portioned meals: Need quick, healthy lunches or breakfasts? Try this method of preparing fresh meals and portioning them into individual grab-and-go portions to be refrigerated and eaten over the next few days. Think things like overnight oats portioned into single-serving containers, mason jar salads, or cut-up veggies, nuts, and cheeses bento boxes.
Ready-to-cook ingredients: As we stressed above, you don’t have to cook full meals when meal prepping. You can also prep the ingredients required for specific meals ahead of time as a way to cut down on cooking time in the kitchen. Even having the veggies chopped ahead of time can make a busy weeknight meal go much faster!

Again, it all depends on what works for you that week. Now let’s move on to the next step: making your meal prepping plan!

Step 2: Make a Plan

It’s time to do some planning. For this step, you’ll want to do two main things:

Write your menu – Whatever method you’ve decided on, you’ll need to plan what you’re actually going to make. Start by relying on some tried and true recipes, and add in a few new ones – but keep it simple to save time. Our tip for keeping things as healthy, budget-friendly, and tasty as possible: plan around seasonal produce.

Remember also to pick meals that require a variety of cooking methods: you don’t want to plan 5 meals that all require the oven, for example, if you’re planning on prepping them all at once – it just won’t work. For example, you might want to stick to one oven dish like a casserole, and two stovetop dishes like a soup and a stir-fry at one time, then add in some uncooked elements. Or, make a giant batch of brown rice and some chicken breast on the stovetop, and roasted veggies in the oven, all of which can be easily assembled into everything from rice bowls to fried rice to salads.

Schedule your prep – Meal prepping will ultimately save you a whole lot of time, but you have to remember that it also takes time! Make sure you have some time to set aside that week – maybe on a Sunday afternoon – and figure out how much you’ll have time for. Be realistic here! You might not have time that week to prep two meals a day for the whole week, but our motto is always: it’s not all or nothing, it’s all or something!

So you’re ready to get started, right? Now you need the star of the show: your ingredients.

Step 3: Take Stock and Get Shopping!

You’ve got an idea now of how you want to do your meal prepping, as well as what you want to prep…now it’s time to get the goods! Hold on, though: before you go food shopping, do the following:

checklist with 2 check marks and an x — *Take inventory and make a detailed list of the meals you want to make beforehand.*

Take inventory – Having a lot of pantry staples on hand will make meal prepping easier, but before you head to the store and start stocking up on brown rice, herbs, canned beans, canned tomatoes, broth, olive oil, onions, etc take a deep dive into your cupboards and see what you actually have on hand already. Also check for the cold staples that you’ll need, like eggs, pre-cooked chicken or veggie sausage, frozen veggies, etc. And don’t forget that you’ll need lots of good containers for storage, so make sure you’ve got those, too!

Make a detailed, well-planned list – Don’t just list things willy nilly when making your shopping list! Cut a ton of time off of your shopping trip by organizing your list by department. Try to limit grocery shopping to once a week to save time and to cut down on unnecessary buying.

Step 4: Ready, Set, Prep!

You’re ready to prep – and will soon be enjoying the fruits (and veggies) of your labor! You’ve already set aside the time to prep your meals, and now that it’s time to get started, try to further break down your prepping schedule to make the most of your time. For example, to best organize your prep and cook times, you might want to:

Start with the recipe requiring the longest cooking time
Once that meal is underway, focus on the rest
Save the cold meals for last since they can easily be made while the other meals are cooking.

Here’s a hot tip: double-check the ingredients for all recipes before starting. This way, if two recipes require diced onions or cut-up peppers, you’ll be able to chop the total quantity at once. In addition, remember that small appliances like rice cookers or slow cookers are your friend when looking to save time!

Finally, keep the following food freshness/safety considerations in mind when prepping and consuming your food:

Cook fresh meat, poultry, and fish within two days of purchase, and red meat within 3–5 days.
Always refrigerate fresh foods and meals within two hours of purchase or cooking. For quick cooling, spread out cooked foods in shallow containers and immediately place them in your refrigerator.
If stored in airtight containers, cut vegetables like onions and peppers will keep for 2-3 days in the refrigerator.
Heartier vegetables, like chopped carrots and winter squash, will keep for at least 4 days.
Lettuce and greens that have been washed, dried, and kept in the refrigerator can stay fresh for up to a week.
Cooked vegetables, grains and dishes containing meat, poultry, seafood, or eggs should be consumed within 3-4 days, and be sure to reheat these to 165℉.
If you’re not going to eat dishes within these time frames, freeze them! For example, for soups and cooked grains, cool to room temperature (within 2 hours) and store in quart-size plastic containers or zip-top freezer bags. Leave an inch at the top of containers for food to expand as it freezes. Top casseroles with wax paper and cover tightly in foil. Make sure to reheat everything to 165 degrees F. Consume within 3-6 months (remember to label everything!)
Thaw frozen foods or meals in your refrigerator instead of on your countertop. For faster thawing, submerge foods in cold tap water, changing the water every 30 minutes.
Reheat defrosted foods only once.

So there you have it: meals ready when you need them! Now get thinking about what you want to make, and how much time you want to save each week!

Bonus: What Makes a Great Meal Prep Recipe?

Not sure where to start, or if you’re picking the right kinds of meals to prep? Consider the following 5 characteristics of a great meal prep recipe:

It has excellent make-ahead elements – Some recipes are great for making partially in advance; the author might even say something like, “If you’re making ahead of time, assemble then refrigerate/freeze.” In other words, some recipes have distinct moments in them when you can assemble ahead of time and leave the rest of the prep for later.

It requires prep work – Sure, you could technically call boiling plain pasta prep work, but we’re talking things like lots of chopping (we’re looking at you soups and stir fries!)

It will keep well in the fridge/freezer – Sushi, we’re definitely not looking at you.

It reheats well – Again, keep walking sushi. Unlike raw fish, some dishes taste even better after a few days! Chilis, stews – anything like that.

It’s easy to make in the right proportions – If you want to scale up and stock your freezer, look for recipes you can double or triple easily. If you want to make single lunches, look for things you can make smaller portions of.

There you have it: you’re ready to prep and to win at life! Forget those Insta-chefs, you’re saving time and getting on with your life – we knew you could do it. Don’t forget to tell us how it goes as you get started, and then share the go-to meal prep ideas that end up at the top of your recipe pile!

Use the 37% Rule to Take the Pain Out of Decision Making

Who loves math out there? Anyone? Anyone? Ok, so maybe math isn’t most people’s idea of a good time, but you might change your mind about this subject when we tell you that mathematicians claim they hold the solutions to all of life’s dilemmas in their hands. And that solution? The number 37. That’s right, mathematicians claim that the number 37 is the key to navigating all of life’s toughest decisions, you just have to know how to follow what’s known as the “37% rule.” So what is this magical formula, and is it really as transformative as it claims to be?

A Decision within a Decision

person coming to a crossroad with 3 arrows/directions — *Too many decisions can lead to decision fatigue.*

At the heart of every major decision in life, whether it’s who you should marry, which house you should buy, which career you should pursue, etc, is another decision. And that decision-within-a-decision might actually be harder to deal with than the main decision: when should you stop researching, gathering information, or mulling over your options and just choose?

You know exactly what we’re talking about, don’t you? That feeling that if you stop shopping around too soon you risk missing out on the exact right thing for you. But, then, if you spend too much time researching and overthinking, you could end up with so much decision fatigue that you just, well, can’t with that anymore, and you end up completely paralyzed. Yikes, right?

That’s where the 37% rule comes in. It’s really rather neat and beautiful, actually: mathematicians tell us, in a nutshell, that you should spend the first 37% of your decision-making process gathering information and committing to nothing. After that period, choose the next option that comes along that’s better than what you’ve already seen.

In other words, let’s say you need to make a decision out of 100 options. This rule tells us that you should sample and reject (or at least hold off on) the first 37, and then choose the best option that comes along. Why, you ask? It’s all about doing the math, and it seems to work astoundingly well in the world of numbers – but human psychology might have something else to say about the matter.

Doing the Math

The whole 37% thing is not some arbitrary number that mathematicians have thrown out into the world, and the concept is not about making mindless, automatic decisions. In fact, your “rejection period” is actually a time when you are gathering information and identifying what works and what doesn’t. That means you should actually have a pretty good idea of what a good option looks like after you’ve looked at 37% of your options (or spent 37% of your time looking), so theoretically you should know when something good comes along at the end of your rejection period.

Ok, but how does the math work, and how does the 37% rule look in (theoretical) real-world situations? We won’t give you the intense mathematical formulas, but rest assured they exist, and they point to the fact that rejecting the first 37% of your choices and then choosing the next best option gives you a pretty high chance of success at finding the right partner, house, assistant, etc. This is also known in the math world as “optimal stopping theory,” an area of math concerned with the problem of choosing a time to take a particular action, in order to maximize an expected reward or minimize an expected cost.

Bizarre as it seems to apply the stark world of math to the messy world of romance, mathematician Hannah Fry gives an example of the 37% as applied to dating: this theory “tells you that if you are destined to date ten people in your lifetime, you have the highest probability of finding The One when you reject your first four lovers (where you’d find them 39.87% of the time). If you are destined to date 20 people, you should reject the first eight (where Mister or Miz Right would be waiting for you 38.42% of the time). And, if you are destined to date an infinite number of partners, you should reject the first 37%, giving you just over a one in three chance of success…If you chose not to follow this strategy and instead opted to settle down with a partner at random, you’d only have a 1/n chance of finding your true love, or just 5% if you are fated to date 20 people in your lifetime, for example. But by rejecting the first 37% of your lovers and following this strategy, you can dramatically change your fortunes, to a whopping 38.42% for a destiny with 20 potential lovers.” a heart with 2 faces hugging each other

But she also acknowledges there are some obvious problems with the formula: who can ever know how many people they’re destined to date? And who will ever have the possibility of dating infinite people (well, maybe if you’re on Tinder…) So she also points out that the theory also works if you look at it in terms of time instead of options, the mathematical formula is just a little more complicated. If you use the theory in this way, you only need to decide how long you want your dating life to last, then spend the first 37% of that time rejecting possible partners. Of course, this has its flaws, too: you could end up meeting the potential love of your life the minute you start dating and never find anyone better, or you could meet the worst possible partners during that 37% rejection period, and end up settling for the next Joe or Jane Schmo who comes along.

So maybe dating is not always the best use of the 37% rule. It might be safer to stick with using it to choose a house, assistant, or job, for example – something with less potential heartache at stake. You could, say, decide to look for a house for three months, and then check out the market for the first month without making any choices. Or if you’re looking to hire an assistant, you could commit to meeting 10 candidates, and reject the first three (although that seems harsh for them!)

And adherents to the 37% rule tell you to go all in. For example, Brian Christian in his book, Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions tells us, “If you want the best odds of getting the best apartment, spend 37% of your apartment hunt (eleven days, if you’ve given yourself a month for the search) noncommittally exploring options. Leave the checkbook at home; you’re just calibrating. But after that point, be prepared to immediately commit—deposit and all—to the very first place you see that beats whatever you’ve already seen. This is not merely an intuitively satisfying compromise between looking and leaping. It is the probably optimal solution.”

But even if you’ve been wildly searching for a way to take the weight of decision making off your shoulders, all of this might seem a little shaky. And you’re right: even mathematical formulas can’t compete with the human heart and all of our erratic impulses and illogical reactions. That means that the 37% is a great way to maximize the probability of success, but it can never guarantee it.

To Exploit or to Explore?

You’re probably thinking, yeah, we could’ve told you that: there are no guarantees when it comes to the decisions life throws at us. And that’s not just because of the randomness of the universe, it’s also because of our crazy, chaotic selves. And the way we approach decisions, which is more about human psychology than numbers, has a huge impact on whether we’ll be destined to settle or destined to become paralyzed by decisions (although the hope is that we’ll all find a happy medium somehow).

So while mathematicians tell us to stay calm and use the 37% rule, psychologists tell us we’re all most likely grappling with the “exploit/explore” tradeoff, which asks whether you should go with the guaranteed win (“exploit”) or risk something new for an unknown outcome (“explore”). And we will usually spend much of our lives leaning one way or the other – as either an exploiter or an explorer, and going to extremes on either side can have serious downsides.

Exploiters run the risk of getting constantly stuck in ruts and being bored, while explorers run the risk of never fully experiencing anything in-depth or becoming experts at anything. How do you know which you are? Try asking yourself questions like the following:

If you visit a new place, are you more likely to pick a restaurant, for example, that you know will give you a solid experience, or are you more likely to go out on a limb and try something unknown?
If you were told you could place a bet and win a guaranteed $50, or you could try your luck and look for other bets offering better odds, would you take the $50 or keep looking?
When you’re playing a game, do you constantly use the same strategies, or do you try to always mix things up?

So which are you, an exploiter or explorer? And now here’s where we bring it all home: if you’re finding it hard to strike a balance between the two, and are either constantly avoiding making new choices, or throwing caution to the wind and not spending enough time on making decisions, you might find a little help from an algorithm a welcome change. The 37% rule, while not fail-safe, could give you some guidance and take a little bit of the weight of decision making off your shoulders.

Yes, it’s true that you should never blindly follow any theory like the 37% rule, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be helpful, or doesn’t have its merits. Giving yourself the leeway to use the first 37% of your decision making as a fact-finding mission can actually be freeing, and give you space to both think and act, as well as help you to figure out what you really want. After all, the key to good decision making is balancing exploration and decisive action, and the 37% rule might just help you find that balance. What do you think? Would you give an algorithm a chance to help you make important decisions in your life?

Have We Forgotten How to Play?

When’s the last time you found yourself skipping down the street, or getting lost in the world of your imagination? Maybe that’s not even something you’ve thought about since reaching adulthood, but what about your kids? When was the last time they just plain played – no screens, no homework, no worries, and nothing to keep them from the pure unadulterated joy of childhood?

If you’re not sure, don’t feel stressed: so many families nowadays find themselves drowning in homework, work, extracurricular activities, and just everything that modern life seems to throw at us every day. But consider this a wake-up call! Summer is ending and the school year will soon be in full swing, so take this time to rediscover for yourself why play is so important, and then try to bring some unfettered fun back into your kiddos’ lives!

The Decline of Play, or All Work and No Play…

kids outside playing with a ball — *Sometimes people have forgotten to allow kids to play outside instead of being glued to a screen.*

Think back to your childhood, or ask your parents about theirs. Then think about the way your children spend their time. At first, you might think that your kids play a lot. They have more toys than we did, they have an endless source of crafts ideas on Pinterest, and all sorts of “play spaces” to head to. They can also enjoy a huge range of extra-curricular activities to make them more “well-rounded,” like piano, football, swimming, coding, or all at once. Not to mention all of those “educational” screen games to play.

But then think about the amount of time you and your parents spent in play that wasn’t directed by adults, or was totally unstructured and completely created by your imaginations. You might notice a little bit of a difference – or maybe even a big difference. While you or your parents might have fond memories of exploring with friends on a long summer day, not a grownup in sight, you might shudder at the thought of leaving your children unattended for hours.

And how about school? Remember those seemingly endless recess periods (or maybe they seemed too short at the time!) and free play times in the youngest grades? Now think about your children and their seemingly endless homework worksheets and standardized tests. School has become less and less about play and being a child, and more and more about structure and goals; even the way we parent has gone down the structures and goals route, as we scroll through social media and feel anxious about what our children “should” be doing by what age, and feel pressured to get them involved in every activity under the sun.

So you probably won’t be surprised after thinking about all of this that there are actually studies that show that “free play,” defined as “play a child undertakes him- or her-self and which is self-directed and an end in itself, rather than part of some organized activity,” has been steadily declining over the decades. In fact, according to an older but often-cited study, researchers found that compared to children in 1981, children in 1997 spent less time in play and had less free time. They spent 18% more time at school, 145% more time doing school work, and 168% more time shopping with parents. The researchers found that, including playing on computers, children in 1997 spent only about eleven hours per week at play.

And that was 1997! Anecdotal studies tell us that play has declined even more since then, especially since the explosion of even more “screen time.” Experts continue to recognize that the decline of play is a real, and distressing thing: in fact, according to a special report by the Genius of Play entitled The State of Play in America, the following six factors contribute to the current decline of play:

Overly structured schedules
Too many extracurricular activities
Increased screen time
Decreased recess time in school
Competitive parenting culture
Parental buy-in and support for play

Evolutionary biologist Dr. Peter Gray, a famous advocate for the return to play, agrees with the above, but also adds that many parents and educators have a view of child development that comes from a belief that kids need to constantly be learning in a structured way, meaning we usually think that kids learn more from adults, as opposed to from other children through play. Play can often, unfortunately, be seen as trivial and unproductive, or a distraction from the serious business of studying and passing tests.

Of course, these beliefs are not necessarily ones that we articulate: in fact, it’s not that anyone set out to do away with free play time. But its value has not been recognized. As a result, kids’ free play time has not been protected, which could actually be doing them more harm than we think.

For example, in a 1997 study of children living in poverty, researchers looked at kids who were enrolled in play-oriented preschools, and others who attended play-free preschools where teachers structured every activity. When they tracked these kids into adulthood, they concluded that those who enjoyed unstructured playtime in childhood (the first group) were more socially adjusted later in life. Not only that, but Dr. Grey also says that in his research, he saw a strong correlation between the decline of play and increased mental health issues in young people, including an uptick of suicide in adolescents and teens.

So why is play so important, and what can we do to bring the magic of imagination back into our kids’ lives?

The Importance of Play

Pioneering educator Friedrich Froebel is famously quoted as saying all the way back in the 19th century, “Play is the highest expression of human development in childhood for it alone is the free expression of what is in a child’s soul.” Since then, many experts on childhood development have sung the praises of play, calling it the important “work” of childhood. And that is 100% true! Play is how children learn about the world, themselves, and each other. It’s as much a part of healthy development as eating vegetables, reading books together, and getting a good night’s sleep. Even the United Nations lists play as one of the basic rights of every child.

What is it exactly that play does for children as they develop? Unstructured play:

Teaches children how to solve problems and make decisions
Help children figure out how to exert control, which means they will not grow up feeling like victims of circumstance, and will be less prone to the anxiety and depression that can come from feeling like they don’t have control over their own lives
Gives children an understanding of how to follow directions
Allows children to find their own self-identified and self-guided interests without worrying about goals, grades, or adult praise
Fosters cognitive development, since it strengthens and increases neural connections in the brain (the paths we use for thinking), as well as the prefrontal cortex (the area that influences the way a child learns, solves problems, and gains knowledge about their environment)
Helps reduce stress and irritability, while boosting joy and self-esteem
Promotes physical fitness, helping to sharpen reflexes and improve balance, motor skills, and bone density
Gives children a way to handle their emotions, like anger and fear, as they put themselves in physically and socially challenging situations
Also gives them a way to name and validate complicated emotions
Fosters friendships, and allows children to see each other as equals
Makes children happy!

We know that play has all of these intensely positive effects. We also know that not giving our children the unstructured play time that they need can, in the best cases, mean that we need to spend more time on helping children develop language, communication, social-emotional intelligence, and resilience. And in the worst cases, we know it can lead to things like depression, difficulty adapting to change, poorer self-control, and shallower interpersonal relationships. So what can we do? The answer is simple: let’s get back to playing!

Putting the Play Back into Our Lives

Sure, it sounds so simple: just play. Right? But it’s ok to admit that we need a little reminder on how to encourage unstructured play. So try the following:

Make sure to give your children time to be bored and to have to entertain themselves

Remember that often, when it comes to toys, the simpler the better, so children can decide what they want to do with them

Go outside!

Play with children on their own terms, let them take the lead, and allow them to negotiate and communicate in their own way

Set and maintain boundaries surrounding technology – and model good behavior with your own devices

Give your children time alone

Allow your children to solve their own problems whenever possible

It can be hard to just let go, we know. But taking a step back, relaxing, and giving up some control while allowing your children to lead, learn, and discover independently and collaboratively through play can be freeing for your child and you. They might look like they’re just filling up time with random enjoyable activities, but they will be developing all of the social, emotional, and cognitive skills they need to become happy and successful adults, and you won’t feel like you have to constantly entertain them. You can just enjoy watching their creativity and joy in action – and you might even save some time and money when you feel less pressured to schedule activities for every free minute your child has! We want to hear from you: does unstructured play play a big role in your household? Or maybe you’re ready to take some of the structure out of your family’s life – how will you do it?

Seniors: Stay Safe on the Internet!

Scammers looking to make a quick buck are nothing new. As long as there have been people, there have been other people trying to take advantage of them! But the 21st century is a brave new world when it comes to scamming: fraudsters have the power of the internet at their fingertips, and they’ve gotten very, very good at finding ways to take your hard-earned money. Sure, there are still some old-fashioned scammers out there that come to your door, send you snail mail, or call you on the phone, but they seem almost quaint now compared to the sophistication of online scammers.

And these online scammers, unfortunately, often target older adults, thinking that people in your demographic are easy targets – but you can prove them wrong! Armed with a little bit of knowledge about what kind of internet scams are out there, and how to avoid them, you can stay safe on the internet, and get back to chatting and shopping without fear.

Seniors and Internet Scams by the Numbers

Scammers don’t discriminate. They’ll target anyone of any race, gender, or age, but the unfortunate truth is that they do target older adults more often than they do any other group. And things are only getting worse: the last two years have seen our dependence on technology increase, and so we’ve also seen an increase in online scams.

According to “official” figures from the FBI, their Internet Crime Complaint Center received a total of 791,790 complaints with reported losses exceeding $4.1 billion. Based on the information provided in the complaints, approximately 28% of total fraud losses were sustained by victims over the age of 60, resulting in approximately $1 billion in losses to seniors. This represents an increase of approximately $300 million in losses reported in 2020 versus what was reported by victims over 60 in 2019.

But other sources tell a different story. According to an estimate by the American Journal of Public Health, a full 5% of the elderly population (which equates to around 2-3 million people) are victims of some sort of scam every year. “What’s worse, it’s very likely an underestimate,” said David Brune, a professor at the University of Toronto, who points out that a huge amount of internet scams probably go unreported. In fact, it’s more likely that seniors lose $3 billion each year to scams, with some even estimating that a whopping $36 billion is lost by seniors every year.

Whatever the real numbers, it’s clear that online scams targeting older adults are a huge problem, and we all need to be aware of what’s out there, so we can help combat it.

Common Online Scams

As we pointed out above, scammers target older adults simply because they can, and because they think that seniors are more trusting, more financially stable, lonelier, and less internet savvy than other targets. But as we also pointed out, you don’t have to fall prey to online scams, you just need to know what to look out for. In addition, remember that scammers rely on seniors being embarrassed that they’ve been taken for a ride, and think they won’t report what’s happened to them, so if you are scammed be sure to report it! But hopefully, it won’t come to that, if you are aware of the following common online scams.

Online Romance Scams

We mentioned earlier that scammers target older adults because they think your age group is prone to loneliness, and this type of scam preys on that assumption. Fraudsters will set up accounts on online dating sites or social media platforms, and try to connect with you, looking especially for older adults who have lost a spouse or who are isolated from other family members. Once you’ve been chatting for a while, and they have gained your trust, they might mention money problems, an emergency that they need help with, or even introduce you to some sort of investment opportunity that they claim you could benefit from.

Whatever the case, they will ask for money – and there have been cases of sweetheart scammers draining seniors’ entire bank accounts. This is not only one of the most lucrative types of scam, it’s also one of the most common: “romance fraud” crimes resulted in $281,134,006 total in victim losses, and were the majority of complaints from seniors aged 60 and over received by the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. From January 1 to July 31, 2021, the center reported receiving more than 1,800 complaints related to online romance scams, resulting in losses of approximately $133,400,000. And again, those are only the cases we know about, so this is something you should absolutely be wary of when trying to meet people online!

Social Media Advertising Scams

The next two types of scams make up the second most common types of online scams that older adults fall prey to: scams involving false advertising and online shopping. Just as many of us took to the internet during the pandemic to meet people, many of us also spent more time scrolling through social media, and were more open to shopping online, a combination that led to a lot more scamming. How? Scammers often put advertisements for products on social media, but when you order the product, they will not deliver it, will send something that doesn’t look anything like the product you ordered, or even steal your information.

According to an FBI report, “The combination of online shopping and social media creates easy venues for scammers to post false advertisements. Many victims report ordering items from links advertised on social media and either receiving nothing at all or receiving something completely unlike the advertised item.” Online shopping can be a life-saver (or just kind of fun!), but it’s best to only buy from reputable sites that you know. Which brings us to another type of online shopping/false advertising scam…

Health and Beauty Products Scams

Scammers think they know what seniors want: cheap prescription medications and anti-aging products. That means you have to be very wary of any of these types of products being advertised online, since scams involving counterfeit health and beauty products have become much more frequent since the start of the pandemic. In fact, elderly victims filed more than 14,000 complaints about nonpayment/non-delivery cases for a total loss of around $40 million in 2020, which was double the number of complaints about the same type of crime in 2019 or 2018.

What to be on the lookout for? Advertisements or emails touting prescription drugs that work just as well, but are cheaper, than the ones you’re paying for now. These drugs could be counterfeit, which can be dangerous, or they might not even exist – scammers might simply be trying to get your insurance information or credit card number. Also, be wary of advertisements or emails offering Botox treatments or other anti-aging products: again, you could end up purchasing either something that doesn’t exist, or could even be harmful to your health.

Technical Support Scams

The third most common type of internet scam targeting seniors is those involving fake offers of technical support. You might get a pop-up message on your computer, telling you your account is compromised, or you have a virus, and that you need to contact a technical support team, or click on a link to resolve the issue. As the FBI points out in their report, In these schemes, a criminal poses “as support or service representatives offering to resolve such issues as a compromised email or bank account, a virus on a computer, or a software license renewal.”

The FBI points out that this has become a big problem: in fact, in 2020, the Internet Crime Complaint Center saw a huge leap in the number of complaints about these crimes and the amount lost. Victims aged 60 and older were defrauded $116,415,126 from these types of online scams in 2020, compared with 2019, when they resulted in a loss of $38,410 for the same age group. The bottom line: companies won’t contact you about technical support, you have to contact them, so never ever engage with these types of requests.

Sweepstakes Scams

Some online scams will attempt to convince you that you’ve won a prize, maybe because you’ve helped the website hit a milestone, or even just that you’re a random lucky winner. So how can something that’s supposedly free be a scam? You just have to remember that nothing on the internet is ever free! Fraudsters perpetrating sweepstakes scams will tell you you’ve won something, but you will have to give them your personal information to claim your “free” prize, or give your credit card information and pay a fee to have it sent or transferred to you. All of this should be a red flag – in fact, it’s always best to ignore any bright, loud, flashing pop-ups telling you you’ve won a prize that you didn’t even sign up for!

Vacation Scams

Again, it’s important to remember that nothing on the internet is ever free; it’s also important to remember that if something on the internet looks too good to be true, it probably is. Scammers might advertise “free” vacations, or deals on vacations to popular destinations that are so good you just can’t pass them up. But these “deals” will often require that you place a down payment quickly, since the offer is only for a “limited time,” and they are often advertised by fraudsters who either don’t own the property, or who are advertising a property that doesn’t even exist. You should always read the reviews of a property before booking, and if you want to book through a third-party online, stick with reputable sites.

Avoid Getting Scammed!

Knowing is definitely more than half the battle when it comes to online scams, but there are some steps you can take to stay safe when surfing. Keep the following in mind:

No government agency, internet service provider, tech company, bank, etc will notify you through email or on a website that you owe them money.
If a deal on a vacation, prescription drug, or something else seems too good to be true, it probably is. Perform more research on the company providing the deal.
Verify, verify, verify: always follow up before you take action. For example, if you get a message from someone claiming to be with your bank, contact your bank directly to see if they are really trying to reach you.
If you’re unsure about a purchase or a request for information, don’t be afraid to ask a trusted family member or friend for their advice on what action you should take.
The FBI suggests you contact your doctor before committing to any health procedure or treatment that you aren’t using your insurance for.
Don’t know them? Don’t do business with them. Avoid clicking on links in emails from unknown sources, or buying products from unknown companies, no matter how enticing their social media ads are.
It can be uncomfortable, or even painful, to break off a relationship with someone you’ve been chatting with online, but if they begin to ask for money, you should end things as quickly as possible.
Always be wary of “limited time” deals that are ending in the next few minutes – don’t give in to impulse buying scams!

How to Report Internet Scams

caution sign — *There are many ways you can report fraud.*

It’s an unfortunate fact that more than 80% of internet scams go unreported – not only because the victim doesn’t get justice when these crimes go unreported, but also because reporting them is the only way to stop them. If you’ve been the victim of a scam, you can report it to:

FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center
Federal Trade Commission (FTC): This government agency looks into telemarketing and phishing scams
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): If you suspect you’ve been scammed by an investment scheme, you can contact the SEC
Social Security Administration: The SSA is a great place to report potential scams that involve your social security number or funds
Better Business Bureau: If you feel a business is scamming you online, report it to the Better Business Bureau
Your bank: If you get scammed out of money, all hope is not lost – speak to your bank, and you might be able to recoup your money

There are a whole lot of unscrupulous people out there, looking to take advantage of the whole lot of us out there shopping, chatting, and surfing online. But you know what? We can be ready for them! Armed with the knowledge above, you can avoid the most common scams targeting older adults online, and thwart all of those fraudsters. Just remember, though, if the worst does happen, it’s not your fault – but you do need to report it, so you can hopefully get back what you’ve lost AND make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else!

Live Like A Queen And Reap The Royal Results

Let’s talk about that thing no one likes to talk about: getting older. As much as we try to make it slow down, time just keeps plowing forward and it seems we need to run faster to keep up with it. According to the World Health Organization, the average life expectancy of women is 75.6 years, but Queen Elizabeth is 96 and is the first royal to have a reign over 70 year in the UK, which is amazing. While normal people, regardless of gender, can’t have the royal treatment, there are some tips from Queen Elizabeth’s lifestyle that non-royal commoners can incorporate into their own lives to work on extending their life expectancy average.

royal guard — Queen Elizabeth celebrated 70 years on the throne with her Platinum Jubilee. which makes her the longest reigning monarch in the 1000 year history of the British monarchy.

Have a cup of tea (or coffee) in the morning

The Queen starts her day off as many Brits do – with a nice cup of tea. No matter what your beverage choice is, waking up and relaxing with a cup nestled in your hands is just a great way to kick off your day. It helps you really slow down and smell the roses. The Queen doesn’t add sweetener or milk so if you can avoid it or wean yourself off of it, that is only going to be better for your overall health. Grab a mug, have a moment of zen, and think about what you want to accomplish in the day ahead. It’s a great ritual regardless of royal status or beverage choice.

Eat breakfast

We’ve heard it all our lives: breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

Since breakfast ranges from healthy to horrible, take a page from Queen Elizabeth’s book and stick with a moderately healthy cereal to start your day off on the right foot. Her choice is a bowl of Special K.

While there are healthier breakfast options, there certainly are far worse. As long as you’re steering clear of sugary cereals, a bowl in the morning is a great way to get your day off on the right foot.

Meal plan

Her Majesty is lucky and has chefs who prepare menus for her. They present her with different options 3 days ahead of time. She can approve or change anything she might not be keen on and from there the chefs shop, prep, and cook her meals. Sigh. If only everyone had a personal chef. Since you probably don’t, what can we take away from this? The more prepared you are for meals the less likely you are to make unhealthy decisions. We’ve all been there. We’re staring at the fridge wondering what to make for dinner then just pick up the phone and order a pizza. If you start planning out your meals ahead of time you can be ready at the drop of a hat to make smart meal decisions. Maybe 3 days at a time is not feasible, so start small and try planning out the day. This can help lead to healthier and less spontaneous choices.

Drink in moderation

bar with bottles — The Queen has found ways to imbibe in moderation and you can too.

Alcohol use throughout the pandemic has spiked and whether you’re a drinker or not, it makes sense. People were stuck in their homes with nothing to do and nowhere to go. Lockdown exacerbated people’s desire to reach for the bottle and formed unhealthy habits. If you had a glass of wine once a week, perhaps it evolved into a glass of wine every night with dinner. No matter what happened throughout the pandemic with your drinking habits, it’s never too late to take a step back and change your relationship with alcohol. Be like the Queen and instead of binge drinking, enjoy a nightly cocktail. It’s rumored her favorites are martinis, gin, and champagne. You don’t need to stop drinking altogether if it’s something you enjoy but try to ease up and take notes from Queen Elizabeth, limit consumption to one per day.

While we can’t get the same attention and treatment as Queen Elizabeth, she must be doing something right. Put on your crown, act like the Queen, and try to live a little more like her. You just might be royally surprised at the results!

Tag: healthy lifestyle