What do your cravings feel like? Like you’re out of control? Like nothing else will cut it? Do they actually feel like hunger? Sometimes what we think is hunger is really just our body needing a release from a negative feeling. But a new field of study on an ancient technique is showing promise for uncoupling our urges from our spoons. Mindfulness training, specifically mindful eating, might just be the tool we need to kick cravings and emotional eating to the curb.
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Did you know that people start abandoning their New Year’s resolutions by January 12? And that more than half of all New Year’s resolutions are health-related?1 Fad diets and impractical exercise regimens often fail to deliver long-term success. After a little investigating, we found that ‘lose fat’ was among the top Google searches in January. Fortunately, the InsideTracker platform covers this very topic! When you choose “Lose Fat” as your goal, we provide you with personalized nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle recommendations based on your blood work. For now, we felt a sense of responsibility to share some top science-based recommendations for achieving sustainable fat loss.
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A common misconception about holiday meals is that we should starve ourselves before and after them. This isn’t true! In fact, we should try to stick to our usual routines as much as possible leading up to a big holiday feast and jump right back into them after it. Under eating before or after the meal can do more harm than the large meal itself.
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We often associate a lower BMI with ideal weight and good overall health. In many instances, this is true. However, overall health does not continue to improve as BMI continues to decrease. Instead, BMI is associated with overall health in a U-shaped curve, where BMIs that are either too high or too low are associated with decreased longevity.
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If you’ve been looking to lose weight, you’ve probably heard of the ketogenic, or "keto" diet. Supporters swear by the plan’s ability to promote weight loss without calorie restriction, while skeptics cite the strategy’s restrictive nature.
Want our two cents? Sure thing. Here, we provide a brief background on the keto diet, how it changes your body’s wiring, and whether we think you should give it a shot.
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As we wrap up National Heart Health Month (and our blog series dedicated to it), we're addressing a topic that affects millions of Americans, in fact, 1-in-3 of them.1
High blood pressure can lead to extremely serious consequences like heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, and death.2 Yet, this health malady affects 1-in-3 Americans, with 1-in-5 over the age of 40 taking a daily statin to help lower their blood pressure (or cholesterol). Thus, statins are the most widely prescribed drug in the world.
So, what can you do to avoid joining, or perhaps, wave goodbye to the millions of Americans who make up these scary statistics?3 Well, there's no simple solution, but here are a few ways to maintain a healthy blood pressure – naturally.
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Meet Julia de Peyster. At age 51 and more than 40-pounds overweight, she decided to take control of her health. The first steps of her personal health journey? Starting CrossFit and testing with InsideTracker. Now, not only has she lost 30+ pounds, she’s inspired her whole family to make positive changes.
I had the pleasure of getting to know Julia over an intense CrossFit workout. We then sat down for a cup of coffee to discuss how she’s been able to successfully take control of her health…
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Yes, that title is accurate.
No, it’s not part of a cheap marketing gimmick or get-young-and-skinny scheme. I won’t be asking you to fork over cash for a bottle of dubious pills or useless bags of tea.
But it did make you stop and look, right?
Whether we want to admit it or not, most of us care very much about the process of aging. Particularly, about how our bodies look and feel. There’s nothing wrong with caring about appearance if it means that looking healthy on the outside is reflective of actually being healthy on the inside. It doesn’t take a PhD to understand that the science unequivocally points to improved overall health (1) when the body is leaner than when it is overweight -- from your biomarkers right on down to that glowing skin.
In part one of a four-part blog series, I will present the basics on Intermittent Fasting (IF), what its merits are, and provide a summary of three practical IF methods. In parts two, three and four, I will detail the pros and cons of each method and document our top hacks for IF in the real world, and show how InsideTracker can be a valuable tool in monitoring your progress.
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