Monday, October 30, 2017

This App Can Help You Get Thoughts Out Of Your Mind And Aid A Good Night Sleep

Have you ever gone to bed early after a long day at work, only to find that you just can’t fall asleep? Most of us assume that when we feel tired, it will be easy to drift off. Unfortunately, that’s not how it works. In fact, if you are under a lot of stress, you might find it hard to stop all those negative thoughts whirring around in your head. For example, if you are having trouble finishing a project at work, it can seem impossible to stop worrying about it. This can cause you to lose out on previous sleep.

It’s not new that sleep is important to a productive life

Poor sleep quality and insomnia don’t just leave you feeling tired and grouchy[1] – they can have serious effects on your health. A lack of sleep makes you more vulnerable to accidents, it puts you at risk of chronic ailments including heart disease, and it makes you more likely to gain weight[2]. If you suffer from depression, you should pay particular attention to your sleeping patterns, as improving the quality of your sleep will improve your mood[3]. Finally, poor sleep can even raise your risk of death. Research has shown that the mortality risk of people who get fewer than seven hours’ sleep per night is 12% higher compared to that of the general population[4].

Listening to natural sound would make it easier for you to fall asleep

Fortunately, there’s an app that will help you wind down before sleep, and allow you to wake up feeling refreshed. “Sleep Time & Nature Sounds” is an easy, effective way to get a great night’s sleep! The app lets you play tunes and soothing sounds which will clear your mind ready for sleep:

The app lets you create your own playlists for tunes and videos, or you can use its readymade lists that span a range of genres including jazz and hip-hop:

Finally, the app comes with a timer that will turn off the app once you have fallen asleep. Just program it with your desired time, and the sound will gradually wind down once the time is up.

This app is perfect for those of us who need some help relaxing at the end of a difficult day, or winding down after a tough week at work. Download it today and get ready for the best night’s sleep of your life!

Premium Membership costs $7.99 per week, or $9.99 per month. Upgrading your experience means you will no longer have to see in-app advertisements, plus you will have access to a wider range of tunes and soothing sounds.

Reference

The post This App Can Help You Get Thoughts Out Of Your Mind And Aid A Good Night Sleep appeared first on Lifehack.



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A Mondo poster for “Army of Darkness” by Randy...



A Mondo poster for “Army of Darkness” by Randy Ortiz. The 1992 film was the third of the Sam Raimi “Evil Dead” trilogy starring Bruce Campbell.

Architectural Sculpture by David MorenoSpanish Sculptor David...















Architectural Sculpture by David Moreno

Spanish Sculptor David Moreno creates art that is part sculpture, part drawing.  His works float, as if he has abstracted a memory of a building. You can see more of David’s work on Instagram. See our previous post of David Moreno’s work. Thanks to Designwrld.


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Architectural Sculpture by David MorenoSpanish Sculptor David... crss















Architectural Sculpture by David Moreno

Spanish Sculptor David Moreno creates art that is part sculpture, part drawing.  His works float, as if he has abstracted a memory of a building. You can see more of David’s work on Instagram. See our previous post of David Moreno’s work. Thanks to Designwrld.


We find all the best art for you - follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Posted by Lisa.

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The Biggest Myth Debunked: The More Protein You Eat, the Faster You Build Muscles?

Some years ago I gulped down at least 2-3 unflavoured, whey protein shakes a day, while eating multiple chicken breasts. I thought protein was the holy grail when it comes to muscle growth. Yet I didn’t see the results that I truly wanted in the gym. Instead I was feeling low on energy and bloated.

People training in the gym often consume tons of protein because they expect it to be converted into muscles. Yet the effectiveness of excess protein intake, especially protein shakes has never been scientifically proven. If you drink protein shakes regularly, it’s very likely that you’re taking in more protein than you should.

Will Protein Be Converted To Muscles?

The biggest misconception there is on protein, is that muscles consist entirely of it. This isn’t true.

Muscles consist of protein, yes. But only a fraction of your muscles, approximately 20%, actually is protein. The other 80% are made up of different components, mostly water.

You don’t need to consume as much protein as you think you do. Let me show you that with a simple calculation:

In my multiple years as a trainer, I seldom saw an increase in raw muscles more than 5 kilograms in a year. Even for beginners. This is not because I’m a bad trainer, no, this is just the hard truth for natural athletes. There’s a lot of deceptive marketing out there. Don’t believe it. When I started training in the gym I started to look pretty massive after one year of training and gained multiple kilograms, but it was never, never more than 5 kilograms of raw muscle in a single year.

To continue the math and show you how much protein you would need for that natural muscle gain:

One-fifth of those 5 kilograms is 1 kilogram. 1 kilogram of raw protein that your muscles would actually need. If you divide that one kilogram of protein again through 365 (amount of the days in a year), you get only a few grams. In fact it is a one-digit figure. This results to only a few grams that you would need to eat extra in a day, to guarantee muscle growth.

You need way less protein than you think you need. All the excess protein that you will consume, will be converted to fat and stored in fat cells.

How Much Protein Do You Really Need?

You’re more likely to suffer from protein excess, than deficiency. If you eat sufficient calories in your daily life, you will not be protein deficient.[1]

I myself strive to consume about 1.3 grams of protein per day. Which might even be too much scientifically speaking, yet moderately higher levels of protein intake are still considered safe.

Unbiased studies recommend consuming about 0.8 to 0.9 grams of protein per day, if you’re an adult. Most people may even need protein intakes of only 0.6 grams of protein per day, but the recommendation’s aim is to cover most of the bell curve. Experienced athletes may even need less than that, according to some studies, as their body is better able to make use of the protein that they actually consume.

Once I’ve made that switch to a lower protein diet, I’ve actually experienced less fatigue and more energy in the gym and in my life.

The Downsides Of Protein Excess

Protein can do more harm than good. I’ve heard this sentence from my mother many times over, back when I was still drinking frequent protein shakes. I ignored it when I was younger and thought my mother was crazy, yet she still had a decent point.

Our current protein focused diet in the western world is promoting hyperfiltration of your kidneys. This increases the workload of your kidneys and therefore increases the stress that you put on that organ. Too much protein in your diet also diminishes the blood flow of your filtration helper and may even leak protein in your urine.[2] Long-term high protein diets may therefore lead to kidney problems. There is also a linkage to increased cancer risk, liver malfunction, and worsening of coronary artery disease.[3]

Not All Protein Is Created Equal

There is a guy training in the fitness center that I’m a fitness manager in. He’s a really friendly guy, but suffers from severe kidney problems.

I recently discussed his workout and nutrition regime with him, so I might give him some additional advice on how to better his condition. I advised him on cutting back his protein shakes and animal protein intake as meat and dairy can lead to an inflammatory response in his body.[4] He’s consuming a lot of protein on a regular basis.

Sadly he refused to listen to my advice and told me, that his doctors recommended him to keep following his regular diet plan. They told him that altering one’s nutrition doesn’t make a big difference anyway. Tip: If your doctor tells you that, you must change your doctor as soon as possible.

Some weeks later, after our workout session, he told me about his holidays with his family. And how he needed to cancel them in the last minute, because he was suffering yet again from intense stomach pains. He had to undergo operation that same day to ease the pain. It was his second alarming operation this year.[5]

Focus on a plant-based, unprocessed protein source. Such as beans, legumes, seeds and nuts in your diet.

What To Do Now

If you drink a protein shake every day, ask yourself: Is this truly working? If not, it may be the time to let go of some of your precious beliefs.

Consume a plant-based protein shake if you actually like the taste of it. If not, throw it away and don’t waste your money on that beverage ever again.[6]

Don’t stress protein out too much in your diet. If you don’t like gulping down pounds of lowfat-quark, don’t do it. The extra protein in that food won’t make your muscles pop out. I’ve been there. I was that weird guy that was eating nearly a kilogram of low-fat quark in the morning at 5am after going out, to preserve my muscles. It wasn’t worth it.

You should take a sincere look at your protein consumption and ask yourself: Am I truly enjoying the excess protein that I put in my body? If not, you should let it go. It isn’t necessary and may even be unhealthy in the long run.

You have to realize that supplement companies are marketing companies. Ignore those supplements for the beginning and focus on whole foods. Most people in the US are deficient in fiber and antioxidants. A deficiency that can be fatal. It is time to put more fruits and vegetables in your diet and not worry about protein deficiency.

Featured photo credit: Photo by Cristian Baron on Unsplash via unsplash.com

Reference

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Brain is A Piece Of Muscle So Train It Up and Make It Strong With "Lumosity" Today

By now you have undoubtedly heard about how important it is to keep your brain healthy and active. In order to prevent issues as you age, such as Alzheimers, you should try to exercise your mind. This can be done through many different types of brain-training games, but unfortunately they can often be a bit boring or repetitive. For example, Sudoku or other puzzle games can be fun at first, but once you get the hang of them it can feel a bit robotic.

Some apps claim to be brain-training, but often focus on one specific goal such as focus or logical thinking. Plus, those apps tend to ignore progress reporting which can present challenges when trying to monitor any type of improvement.

Why You Should Care about Brain Health

When discussing mental fitness, your mind may conjure up memories of school exams or even IQ tests, but it’s actually more about your physical and emotional health. When your brain is healthy it’s easier for you to slow down, decompress and even boost a flagging memory [1].

Now think about the way your mind and body are connected. Do you remember the last time you had a really great workout? Maybe you ran a mile or biked through your neighborhood. That physical activity increased your oxygen flowing up to your brain and triggered a response of released endorphins. These are the chemicals that make you feel happy. When you have a constant stream of endorphins, you tend to be a happier person and maintain a balanced lifestyle. Mental exercise is just as important! Brain games like those found in the Lumosity App can increase your ability to reason and solve problems.

Sometimes it can be hard to turn your brain off. Maybe after an especially stressful day you couldn’t wait to sleep, but despite how physically tired you were, you couldn’t stop thinking. In this instance, brain health and fitness is crucial. If you’re mentally fit enough to be able to visualize something peaceful, you can physically reduce tension in your body and mind. Lumosity can help you achieve that state faster.

The Right App for Brain-Training

Luminosity is an innovative app that excels where the other apps lack. The impressive amount of thought that went into this app was no coincidence. In fact, it was created by a team of real-life scientists and designers who wanted to explore new ways to challenge the brain while simultaneously pushing cognitive research forward.

What Makes Lumosity So Different From Other Brain Training Apps

Over 85 million users already enjoy challenging their brains with cognitive games, and they’re never bored; you can access a new brain workout every day of the month. The creators of the app made sure the experience seems fun and not at all like a chore.

Lumosity’s scientists took common cognitive and neuropsychological tasks, along with some new challenges, and partnered with designers to they transform these tasks into fun games that challenge core cognitive skills. They accomplished this though game-like memory training, attention training and more all while monitoring and tracking progress.

Along with a training calendar (showing days you have played at least one game), users can also access a performance trend. This feature monitors performance from the previous four weeks and tells you how many points you are in either direction. Performance categories include speed, memory, attention and flexibility.

This free app can be used by almost anyone, as it comes in English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish [2].

Don’t Wait and Start Your Training Now

The app is available for Apple devices from the App Store. Not only is it free, but it’s easy to use and fun, too! What’s holding you back from having a healthier brain that gives you the ability to take charge of your life and also extend it? Try Lumosity today.

Reference

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