There’s the case of the college guy who wants to look chiseled for Spring break. But no hard how he tries, the scale won’t move.
There’s the other case of the busy professional who’s seen a series of specialists, nutritionists, doctors, consulted with fitness trainers. She has wonderful meal plans, and a training plan customized to her needs, but she can’t shed a pound.
The two cases above are real, and the issues are common. Here’s what I’ve found after lengthy discussions.
What is the ideal diet? What types of exercise should you do? What should you undertake to prevent mental disease? Those are common questions asked by millions of blogs and even more people every day, worldwide.
Unlike mathematics, there is no single answer. Delving into scientific studies such as those aggregated on pubmed help to separate the good from the bad. You type a keyword such as “diabetes” and it will show papers studying diabetes. However, this is not easy:
All these contribute to confusion. Media and bloggers then interpret findings to their likings, further increasing confusion.
Because of these issues, I have developed a reference portal OutcomeReference
One of my training goal is to be able to run 5 km in less than 20 minutes before the end of 2016.
I like a lot the idea of this goal. During the day, I would already imagine my legs powering me forward, the wind flowing, and the constant battle against the watch. I was already eager on sharing my success everywhere.
Recently, it started snowing. Sidewalks become a sliding game, shoes become soggy and fingers are frozen. And what was once beautiful green trails become cold, dark and snow paths like above. Result: I loose half of my speed!
Studies link poor sleep with poor health : higher risk for heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, cancer and poor immune system. It’s also associated with poor mental health: sleep deprivation disturbs emotional regulation and increases anxiety. It also leads to unhealthy weight gain, poor food intake and increased risk for metabolic diseases.
Good health simply means good sleep. Read more on this.
There is still research however on how sleep is linked to creativity. How can sleep helps us think of new ideas, perceive the world in new ways, or generate solutions to new problems?
The 24-hour light–dark cycle is a fundamental characteristic of Earth’s environment and profoundly influences the behaviour and physiology of animals and humans.
The illustration above highlight how hormone production and vital signs fluctuate during the day. This is called the circadian rhythm.
And it can be an important tool to help you schedule tasks and daily routine!
How does the Apple Watch compare to other devices as a health and fitness tracker?
I had and used the Apple Watch series 1 for six months before writing this review. I don’t have any relationship with Apple so I consider this as a fair review.
In summary, the Apple Watch opens up exciting opportunities for health tracking for most of us. It’s beautiful, integrates nicely with the Apple ecosystem, and can be augmented in powerful ways with third-party apps.
The Apple Watch is not by any means perfect. There are devices with more functionalities. But it might just be good enough if you are planning to track your overall health and activity.
Continue reading “Apple Watch as a health tracker : 6 months review”
Have soft, familiar and repetitive sound when you sleep
As mentioned earlier, investing in quality sleep is one of the safest and and most durable health strategy.
Smooth, familiar and repetitive sounds produce drowsiness and sleep. Conversely, the lack of these tend to produce alertness and wakefulness.
Research shows sounds which effect a individual are dependent upon his environment. A city dweller may sleep with the steady rumble of traffic but he might find the sound of crickets to be too noisy. Someone who lives in the countryside might respond better to sounds of leaves stirred by gentle wind.
When improving wellness, better sleep should a priority vs nutrition, fitness programs or prescription
Too often, the focus is on being more active, look into new diets or exotic holidays.
These would bring energy, improve strength or cure depression.
The cornerstone of a sustainable and healthy body is quality sleep.
Daily Health Points 