But GenuLines reminds you that cutting back on sugar can sweeten your overall health.
5 Great Reasons To Cut The Sugar From Your Diet
There’s been a lot of talk in the media about the evils of sugar consumption. Sugar is hiding in all sorts of foods including bread and salad dressing.
Add to that our love for things like cookies and ice cream and it’s no wonder our sugar intake is skyrocketing. Unfortunately, all this added sugar is doing a lot of damage to our health.
And it’s causing weight gain like never before.
It’s time to cut added sugar from our diets. Here are five reasons why you should do a sugar detox and do as much as possible to avoid sugar consumption.
Consuming Sugar Spikes Your Insulin
As soon as your body starts to digest sugar, your insulin spikes up. Insulin is the hormone that’s in charge of keeping blood sugar levels from rising too high.
It converts extra sugar into fat for storage. This is a delicate process. Consuming sugar in large quantities will cause your insulin to spike.
The insulin then faces more than it can handle. Over time it becomes less and less effective.
This is when you get a negative effect on your health.
Consuming Sugar Makes You Gain Weight
Because of the insulin and because sugar adds a lot of calories to food. It can make you gain weight and you don’t have to be eating a lot of candy and cakes for that to happen.
Health authorities tell you to watch and lower your fat intake. The food industry gives us all sorts of low fat and fat-free food options.
But, to make these low-fat foods taste o.k, they added a lot of sugar. Take a look at regular and low fat or fat-free salad dressing.
The lower fat options have a lot more carbs and in particular, sugar.
You may not taste it, but it’s there. Sugar gets digested a lot faster than fat.
You’re hungry sooner after consuming a low-fat meal, so you eat again. The end result is weight gain.
Consuming Sugar Increases Your Risk For Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome
With all that increased sugar and weight gain comes a higher risk for diabetes. And a condition called metabolic syndrome.
This is a group of symptoms and behaviors that put you at a much higher risk for heart disease and Type II diabetes. The good news is that both conditions are reversible.
The first step is to cut out the sugar.
Sugar Doesn’t Have A Lot of Nutritional Value And It Makes You Hungrier
Remember that aside from a little boost of energy, sugar doesn’t provide a lot of nutritional value. If you want something sweet, you’re much better off grabbing a piece of fruit than a cookie.
At least with a piece of fruit, you’re getting some vitamins and fiber with your sugar fix. If you want or need to lose weight, begin by cutting out sugar.
It causes spikes in your blood sugar.
These make your body produce a large amount of insulin to pull the sugar out of your system (and convert it to body fat). The sad little side effect of that process is that your blood sugar goes on a roller coaster ride.
This nowhere ride will leave you hungry and craving more sugary treats.
Medical experts call boredom the ‘disease of our time”. This is especially true during times of pandemic and quarantine.
It can manifest into serious problems so GenuLineslooks at some ways that can happen.
5 Consequences of Chronic Boredom
It’s not just for children anymore. Everyone suffers from it.
It used to be temporary for the most part. You couldn’t wait for the lecture to be over.
Or for your turn to see the doctor. It’s boredom, and it can turn serious.
Boredom is a chronic disease, and why not? You’re bombarded with an endless array of stimuli every waking moment.
We’re used to constant information flow when we awake. We’re expected to take it all in, and we do.
We’ve stopped interacting and engaging. So, we get bored.
German psychologist, Theodor Lipps, described boredom as ” a feeling of unpleasant arising out of a conflict between a need for intense mental activity and lack of incitement to it, or inability to be incited.”
This can mean different things to different people. An introvert, might find pleasure between the pages of a book or any other type of solitary activity.
But an extrovert may want more excitement as well as more social encounters.
You Do You
No matter the personality type, there’s a correlation between boredom and self-awareness. Let’s say you have a clear idea of your strengths, weaknesses, motivations and beliefs.
And you’re comfortable in your own skin. You’re now better prepared with the tools required to make yourself less bored.
You can gauge your moods and feelings, and understand what it is you want out of life. It also better prepares you to deal with others, and respond accordingly.
But having a clear understanding of your personality can be a real problem. The world is at our fingertips 24/7.
The idea that we can turn off the noise for a few seconds is now a foreign concept.
No one wants to sit there and do nothing! Adults fixate on playing games or browsing through their social media.
Downtime can be scary!
But it’s in those moments where we really feel our presence, tune in to our thoughts, and get in touch with our feelings. It’s also when we are at our most imaginative and creative.
It’s how we evolve, discover and invent.
Chronic boredom can make it easy to leave you in a rut of negative habits. You feel powerless to finish tasks.
This puts a damper on the quality of your life, and exacerbates physical pain. It comes with a slew of negative ramifications, the 5 most common are:
• Obesity
Constant snacking minus real hunger could be a case of boredom. This often involves foods high in processed fats and sugars.
These make you feel calmer and happier. Dieticians refer to this as emotional eating, which is often brought on by boredom.
• Depression
Boredom can be a symptom of depression, and it can also trigger it.
Working long hours. Stressful work or home environments. Less than challenging jobs.
These can ramp up stress and lead to deep bouts of depression.
• Stress and anxiety
Living day to day in an environment that doesn’t give you what you need can lead to emotional exhaustion. Top that with a helping of work responsibilities and financial strain.
This is the perfect recipe for chronic stress triggered by boredom and redundancy.
• Alcohol and drug abuse
In an attempt to break through the boredom spells, it’s common to find people reaching for alcohol and drugs. Of course these can have an addictive effect.
But in the moment, all people see is how they allow them to forget. They’re forgetting the aggravating effects boredom has on their lives.
• Heart disease
When boredom is the rule, your brain releases toxic hormones into your bloodstream. These hormones create problems for your heart.
Moreover, chronic boredom sufferers tend to skip exercise and eating right. In fact, they’re more likely to turn to bad habits, like smoking and drinking.
These can take their toll on the cardiovascular system, resulting in premature death.
A great way to break the boredom cycle is to step back and look at the big picture. Make lists of all the good in your life. as well as all the things you’ve wanted to try but never found the time and start from there.
Take control of your life and try to work your way around the things you cannot change. Form new, healthier habits.
Try something different each day. Volunteer your time to helping others who are in need.
And, above all, find something that piques your interest.
The lockdown gives you time to make plans and set goals. When it’s over you’ll want to resume your life with a full head of steam.
GenuLines offers a list of steps to make sure your goals are powerful- and genuine!
Powerful Goals Are Yours If They’re S.M.A.R.T.
There are smart goals and then there are S.M.A.R.T. goals. The acronym S.M.A.R.T. can help you set better goals.
The letters stand for Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Reasonable, and Timely. Let.s take a look at each one.
S
Stands for specific. Be precise.
Use language that spells out what the goal is.
Why you want to reach it. And how you will get there.
Detail is important here. Take the time to do this part right.
M
Stands for measurable. For example, you want to add 100 dollars a week to your income. So you decide to write 5 articles a week for buyers that will pay you for them,
A
“A” can stand for several things, like actionable, assignable, or achievable. Actionable goals give you daily activity to get you closer to them.
Goals should also be achievable or you will only get frustrated. Be accurate about the time it takes to reach a goal, and what actions it takes to get there.
Also, know who will be responsible for doing it.
R
This can stand for realistic or relevant, and either or both are important and are true. If you want your goal to succeed, it should be something that is realistic or you’ll fail.
It should also be relevant to your life’s vision and match with your values.
T
Various authors refer to the “T” in the S.M.A.R.T. acronym as time-bound, timely or trackable. These are all important parts of the goal creating and setting process.
If you don’t set a time limit and you can’t track what’s happening, your goal will be hard to count as achieved.
There are plenty of words you can use to help you craft your goals. The important thing is that you need to have a process to help you set smart goals.
The ones you know you’ll follow through on and know when you’ve met them.
“There’s no joy in Mudville” is a line from the poem “Casey At The Bat.” Today there doesn’t seem to be joy anwhere in the world.
But GenuLines reminds you can build a foundation of joy, even in an age of social isolation.
(listen to this article by clicking on the radio image or scroll down to read)
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You Can Find Joy In Challenging Times
They are life’s ups and downs. A constant fluctuation of emotional highs and lows.
We spend most of our time in a rather even, mundane state of emotional normalcy.
This is broken up by peaks of the best times and unfortunately, valleys when nothing goes right.
The lows of everyday life are tough. But in times of crisis such as a worldwide pandemic, they only intensify.
Daily news of death, isolation, fear, grief, and loss can strip us of our joy. And, this can lead to depression.
While you can’t control what happens outside your door, you CAN control yourself. There are things you can do to maintain a positive and even joyful mindset.
Let’s look at three of them.
Surround Yourself With The Right People
It’s often said that we are the sum total of the five people we surround ourselves with most often. If so, make sure you get the right people around you.
Many times when life is beating us up, we retreat into the solitude of our home. We want to throw the covers over our heads and be alone with our thoughts.
Sometimes periods of solitude are healthy and necessary. Right now, isolation is the norm as we experience a health crisis.
But when you find your spirits cratering you feel robbed of your joy. So connecting with joyful types is crucial.
It’s not hard to stay connected to them during Shelter In Place orders. Technology has seen to that.
• Face Time on iPhones and Video calls on Android
• Skype
• A simple phone call
• Email
• Text
• Zoom and other video conferencing software can safely bring together friends and family.
• Good old-fashioned letter writing
Remember That Nothing Is Permanent
The time-honored adage says “THIS TOO SHALL PASS.” It would suggest that nothing in life is permanent.
So we tend to see extreme happiness and joy as temporary, and we play them down.
Yet keeping this expression in mind during the low times can be very beneficial. Whatever you’re going through, no matter how bad it may be, it WILL pass.
And consider this. Most of the difficult times you experience in life will end without any extra effort on your part.
It’s so easy to get into a mindset of having to put out a huge amount of effort to make something bad go away.
This is possible but most of the time TIME is the only remedy for tough situations. To maximize your joy in hard times, remember that your situation is not the way things are.
It’s the way they are RIGHT NOW.
Base Your Happiness On Yourself
So far we’ve discussed how life takes us through highs and lows. And that nothing lasts forever.
There’s one more thing to keep in mind during the best AND the worst periods.
To have more consistent joy never let your circumstances dictate your attitude.
Elation in good times and near despair during the bad can cause emotional exhaustion.
Stable, consistent, sustainable joy can only be created and found within yourself.
Life is far less about what happens to you than it is how you react to it.
You are in charge of how you feel. Don’t fall into the routine of letting happiness get to your head and failure to your heart.
Are you a junk food junkie? Today GenuLines gives you an idea of what you’re taking into your body.
You may want to re-consider.
(You can listen to this article by clicking on below or scroll down to read)
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Junk Food Is NOT Food, It’s Junk
Marketing can be a powerful tool. How so?
Well, think about it. Marketing can fool the masses into believing things are good for them when they’re not.
This opens the door for, say, the pharmaceutical companies to come in.
Many junk foods are so processed that their original products disappear. The fact is, junk food is NOT FOOD, it’s junk.
Need more information about processed food? Consider:
They’re Loaded With Sodium
A lot of our daily sodium consumption comes from processed rather than whole food. So many foods contain excessive sodium yet you’re unlikely to realize it.
For example, you may not have a natural liking for “salty foods”, but you love sweets. That sugary soda you’re drinking is also loaded with a sodium derivative, even though you can’t taste it.
Such are the hidden dangers of processed food.
Loading Up On Simple Sugars
If you rely on processed foods for “nourishment”, you’re falling short. You may often find yourself constipated if you use junk food for sustenance.
This is due to a lack of complex carbs and fiber. Simple carbohydrates enter the bloodstream and are quickly absorbed.
The result is blood sugar disruption.
Natural foods have more complex carbs that are low on the Glycemic Index. They have more fiber that promotes digestive health and regularity.
Processed Foods Contain Artificial Fats
It’s wrong to think all fats are bad. In fact, natural fats are ALL good for us and even essential. But it’s a different story for trans fats.
Trans fat is a modified variety of oil that allows it to remain solid at room temperature. Oils are usually liquid at room temperature.
This kind of fat is pro-inflammatory.
Inflammation speeds up aging and contributes to many of our chronic diseases. The list includes high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease.
Many Processed Foods Contain Anti-Nutrients
One such anti-nutrient is the white potato. It prevents the absorption of other nutrients.
This brings down the nutritional value of the entire meal. And guess what?
White potatoes are a favorite ingredient in processed food.
White potato is cheap, and some say, tastier than sweet potatoes. This helps increase the profits of big brand junk food companies.
Preservatives And Additives
Food doesn’t keep for months without spoiling or turning rancid. So how does processed food last so long?
You can thank additives and preservatives. They’re chemicals for the most part.
And they extend the shelf life of food.
Are they helpful? Sometimes, definitely.
But more often than not, they’re a hazard to your health.
Many are “safe” in very, very low concentrations and approved for human consumption by the FDA. But they’re often used in amounts far exceeding their safe limit.
And their consumption is more than occasional.
Conclusion
Processed foods are far from natural- even with the word “natural” on the label. And many are genetically modified.
There’s been a lot of debate in this area, too. If you’re in doubt eat whole foods, closest to their original source.
Optimistic outlooks are pretty rare these days. It’s easy to point to everything that’s going on in the world to back this up.
GenuLines takes a look at some optimism building blocks and how you can use them to build a new outlook.
(You can listen to this article by clicking on below or scroll down to read it)
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Can You Learn To Be More Optimistic?
We all know that one person who sees the positive in every situation. Some of us hate that person.
Some of us love that person. And some of us ARE that person.
If you’re not that person, you may be wondering if you can actually learn (or teach yourself) to be more optimistic. While some people are inherently positive, others lean toward the negative.
Are we capable of changing from one to the other?
There are many benefits to a positive mindset. Optimists tend to be healthier and they lead lives that are better in most ways.
Changing the Way you Think
It turns out that optimism is more than thinking things will be better and pessimism means they will not. Instead, we use these words to describe the way a person thinks about what causes adversity.
A pessimist tends to think about these things in a way that makes them feel powerless. For example, a pessimist might say their adversity is due to internal forces.
They’ll say it’s all their fault, and there’s no way they can change it.
It’s possible to change the way that you think about things. When adversity makes your first thought a negative one, take a step back.
Re-examine it from a different angle
Let’s say you’re studying for a test and you’re struggling to understand the material. It’s easy to fall into thinking that you’re going to fail.
Rather, think about ways you might better understand the material. Then work on learning and studying what’s needed to help you toward a good grade.
Re-route your pessimism away from making failure inevitable.
Change your thought process and study the material to boost your chances of success. Our attitudes toward things are somewhat inherent.
But it’s possible to change your thinking and be more optimistic in the process.
Don’t rely on clicking off positive quotations to yourself and nothing else.
Do teach yourself to look at every situation from different angles.
Do that and don’t be surprised when your attitude improves, too.
So patience is a virtue. Well, let’s get a definition of virtue.
Merriam Webster defines patience as “the ability to remain calm and not become annoyed when dealing with problems or with difficult people.” Simple but not always easy!
GenuLines drills down a bit deeper to help bring patience a little closer to you
(Listen to the article by clicking on below or scroll down to read)
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Patience is a Virtue And It Can Be Yours
Patience is one of those things that can make life go more smoothly. But, a lack of patience can cause serious problems, even health issues.
Some of life’s irritants move us to squeeze a little harder on the hair-trigger of impatience. But we can learn to overcome and enjoy life one day or even one minute at a time,
Circumstances
What triggers your impatience? For some, it’s certain situations or circumstances, such as a job or a family problem.
Others may lose their patience when they’re driving or cooking. Impatience with job or family situation can be especially tough to address – and even harder to fix.
A good start though is to acknowledge it. Then focus on anything that may help relieve tension.
Seek help
Work toward focusing on pleasant things in your life. If a certain task at your job is causing your impatience ask your supervisor or co-worker for help.
They may be able to offer help or suggestions.
Also, they may have a better way of dealing with it or be able to adjust your workload. The problem with many of us is that we don’t want to ask for help.
We want to be able to take on everything even though we aren’t able to do it.
If it’s a family situation the best way to handle it may be to talk about it, which can be difficult.
Again, many tend to shy away or avoid difficult situations.
But, getting it out in the open and talking about it is often the best solution. Seek outside help if a difficult challenge amps up the impatience.
The problem itself may not cause the impatience. But it may trigger something in you that causes you to be impatient.
Focus on other things
Impatience can affect your driving, housework, or other routine tasks. Be ready by conditioning yourself to relax and focus on your breath.
You could try relaxing before you start or listening to music while doing any of these tasks. This is where gratitude comes in.
Be grateful that you can do routine tasks.
Some only imagine cooking or driving but aren’t able to for any number of reasons. Keep this in mind during the tense moments.
It’ll help you to focus on the task at hand, but it may also make you more patient.
Your career takes up a big slice of your life. It informs many of the decisions you make along your path.
Today GenuLines helps you consider whether it’s time for a change of direction.
(you can listen to the article by clicking on the player below or scroll down to read it)
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Should You Take a Chance On Finding a New Career?
When I was a kid we looked for jobs right out of high school or college. And we usually stayed with that same job for as long as we could.
Finding work automatically meant we were doing the right work.
Those of us who questioned what we were doing got an earful. Criticism came from friends, neighbors, and especially family.
You might be in a similar situation and disillusioned with your career. It just doesn’t seem to be what you thought it would be.
Change gonna come
You’ve thought about changing careers, but that sounds a lot like starting over.
It’s scary, especially if you’ve been in a certain career for several years, or you’re older.
Hey, you’re earning a decent salary and you’re even climbing the “corporate ladder.” Leaving means you’ll have to work for less money and no seniority!
You think to yourself “what if this affects the people in my life?”
Breaking it down
Sometimes, getting out of a bad situation is enough to overcome a salary hit. You can make money online, either by selling or working for others.
Being at a physical location is no longer necessary if you’re looking to make extra money.
The second factor with a lack of experience is the newness of it all. This can be exciting as well as scary.
Think back to when you first started in your original career. Any new achievement put you on top of the world.
The third factor concerns the lack of seniority. Remind yourself that you’ve got job and life experience that you bring to the table.
Any management experience that you have can work in your favor, too. And your age brings wisdom you can draw on in adverse situations.
Staying in a career that you’ve grown tired of can make you bitter and take years off your life. If you’ve thought about taking a chance on starting a new career, remember that many others have done it.
After all, taking criticism can put you in a funk.
Today GenuLines unpacks this thing called criticism and gives you some ways to put it on your side.
(click on the image below to listen to the article or scroll down to read)
Find The Value In Criticism
The concept of value is kind of unusual when you think about it. Most every person on earth has a different system when it comes to determining what’s important.
In general, the three things that we tend to value the most include our lives, our families and our jobs. And within each of those aspects, everyone will, again, have a very different value system.
And what is that system based on? What gives value to something?
(continue reading)
Often it’s determined by your upbringing, your experiences, and your education. This sets you apart from others.
And it touches off more than a few debates.
But who says those debates and differences have to be bad things?
You may meet someone who has the same values as you do, but there are still plenty of possible areas of disagreement. We all have different experiences and we all bring a different point of view to a relationship.
Value and Respect
Now let’s say that you have great respect for someone. Each of you has the same values in life.
You know their past. You could even say that you respect their opinion.
Now ask yourself if you would respect their criticism? Would you keep an open mind when it came to their critique of your work?
Is it only because you know them?
Why is it that we’ll value the criticism of a friend, but we’re quick to shy away from the criticism of a stranger? Don’t they hold the same value?
Could be it’s the mere fact that they don’t know us, they don’t know our experiences. But in reality, you don’t know their experiences or level of expertise either.
All too often we seem to equate the word value with respect. In some way, this seems to justify ignoring the opinions of someone we don’t know.
Or it could be that for personal reasons, we don’t care what their opinion is.
Does not knowing someone well mean we have to find no value or worth in their opinion? I mean, in the final analysis, criticism is an opinion.
What if we could find value in every opinion, of every criticism we ever received? Imagine how enriched our lives would be if we could put value to everyone’s opinion.
(You can listen to this article by clicking on the player below)
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A Good Morning Routine Can Change Your Life
How would it feel to start your day motivated and organized? It would be great, wouldn’t it?
You’d know what you were doing, and that everything was sorted out. You’d feel brilliant.
It wouldn’t take much to get a great start to your day every day. The key is to create a morning routine that motivates and organizes you for success; every day.
One of the secrets of success for the very successful is a morning routine. It doesn’t need to be complex nor does it have to be time-consuming to create or follow.
First, you’ll need to commit to planning it. Then practice it daily until it becomes a habit.
Now let’s look at the morning routine of motivated and organized people:
Early Start
Forget about long lie-ins and putting the alarm on snooze every 5 minutes. Set your alarm for an hour (or even two) earlier than normal and see your productivity soar.
The early start may be tough at first. But if you go to bed earlier and get enough sleep you’ll soon notice a positive difference.
Positive Visualization and Affirmations
Set the tone of your day with a positive charge. Visualize your success from the get-go.
Use positive affirmations. To boost their efficacy display those affirmations where you can see them often.
Do this step within the first 20 minutes of waking. The affirmations will reach your subconscious before your conscious mind takes over.
Exercise
Do some form of exercise. It will get your blood flowing, send oxygen through your body, and generally wake up your entire system.
You don’t need to go for a 5-mile run every day. Your regimen could consist of morning stretching, yoga or Tai Chi.
These will help calm and ground you as well as provide time for inner contemplation.
Hydration
Make sure you keep your body hydrated. Many people start their day with a glass of water and lemon.
Herbal tea or green juice are also good choices for an early morning drink to get your day started the right way.
Planning
When you know what needs to be done you increase your chances of having a successful day. Have a to-do list ready and identify the order of priority.
Make sure the list isn’t too long, 10 items or fewer is an ideal length.
Nutrition
A healthy breakfast fuels your body for the day ahead. You’ll feel more alert.
And you’ll be better able to concentrate on what needs to get done.
Reading
Take some time to read. A few minutes of inspiring material will help you be positive and motivated.
Even 10 minutes can be enough to get your mind working and your motivation kick-started.
The list of possible reading material is endless. From biographies to self-help the writers can inspire you and even act as role models.
Money Tasks
Somewhere during your day, you want to do something that will either make you money or keep you from spending it. Pay your bills so that you don’t get overdue notices and charges.
Kitchen Patrol
Prep the day’s meals so that you don’t feel tempted to get take out when you’re feeling tired at the end of the day. Load the dishwasher.
Clear (and clean) the kitchen counters.
If you want to have a successful day, start it in a positive way. Having a morning routine will ensure that you’re organized for success.