- Google launches Perspectives, About this author and more ways to verify information Search Engine Land
- Google is going to show a new “Perspectives” carousel in search results The Verge
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Elon Musk has watched Twitter plummet in value and OpenAI soar after he parted ways with it – Yahoo Finance
- Elon Musk has watched Twitter plummet in value and OpenAI soar after he parted ways with it Yahoo Finance
- Elon Musk’s Bid To Control OpenAI Was Met With Resistance From Co-Founders, Report Reveals – Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Benzinga
- Sam Altman says his ‘hero’ Elon Musk is ‘obviously attacking’ OpenAI Business Insider
- Altman vs. Musk: OpenAI treads on Tesla’s robot turf with investment in Norway’s 1X Fortune
- Elon Musk Slams OpenAI: Accuses Company Of Losing Its Way – Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Benzinga
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Elon Musk has watched Twitter plummet in value and OpenAI soar after he parted ways with it – Fortune
- Elon Musk has watched Twitter plummet in value and OpenAI soar after he parted ways with it Fortune
- Elon Musk’s Bid To Control OpenAI Was Met With Resistance From Co-Founders, Report Reveals – Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Benzinga
- OpenAI CEO Says Musk is Criticizing Company Due to AI Safety Concerns Times Now
- Elon Musk Reportedly Tried to Take Over OpenAI Several Years Ago, But Failed Futurism
- Elon Musk Slams OpenAI: Accuses Company Of Losing Its Way – Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Benzinga
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Maurice Jones-Drew: Ravens Would Be Foolish to Part Ways with Lamar Jackson | The Rich Eisen Show – The Rich Eisen Show
- Maurice Jones-Drew: Ravens Would Be Foolish to Part Ways with Lamar Jackson | The Rich Eisen Show The Rich Eisen Show
- Rich Eisen’s Top 5 Wildest Lamar Jackson Destinations | The Rich Eisen Show The Rich Eisen Show
- PFT’s Mike Florio: Being His Own Agent Hurts Lamar Jackson in Ravens Talks | The Rich Eisen Show The Rich Eisen Show
- Rich Eisen Reacts to the Panthers’ Blockbuster Trade with the Bears to Get the #1 Pick in NFL Draft The Rich Eisen Show
- What’s More Likely: Rich Eisen on the Jets, Giants, Rams, 49ers, Bills, Steelers, Patriots & More The Rich Eisen Show
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3 Main Causes of Hypertension, 3 Ways to Lower Blood Pressure Without Taking Medicine
Hypertension is sometimes called a “silent killer,” and is feared by many. According to the 2017 American Heart Association guidelines, when blood pressure is measured during a tranquil, unagitated state and reads high more than three times within two consecutive weeks, one is considered to be suffering from high blood pressure (hypertension).
Once diagnosed, simply lowering the blood pressure is not the only goal. What is equally important is to find the cause of it. When the cause is resolved, the “silent killer” will instead become your “assistant” to alert you to the state of your health.
There are several causes of high blood pressure. Anger, nervousness, fear, stiff shoulders, and chilly weather are all contributing factors.
1. Ways to Resolve Hypertension Due to an Angry or Tense Environment
Some people are more easily agitated than others—even in watching TV their emotions may elevate, causing outward expressions of anger such as becoming red-faced, with a bulging neck, and having a high temper. This phenomenon arises as the sympathetic nerves become hyperactive, causing the peripheral blood vessels to contract. In this state, blood fails to send oxygen directly to all parts of the body, resulting in high blood pressure.
Once I had a patient in her 50s, who was slightly obese, and whose blood pressure readings were consistently around 200. After trying six different Western medicine types of blood pressure-lowering drugs with no effect, she came to me for treatment. After treatments, her blood pressure dropped to 140 or 150. She was so happy she told people everywhere, “Dr. Hu cured my blood pressure problem.”
I told her at the time, “Your high blood pressure was not cured by me, but by yourself.” How? “The medicine I prescribed to you is a medicine for soothing emotions. So you are also adjusting your emotions, and you become happier every day. Once you achieve the ‘don’t get angry, feel good’ state, high blood pressure will go away by itself.”
2 Teas to Soothe Emotions and Lower Blood Pressure
The following two teas can help soothe your emotions, achieving a calm and happy mood.
Chrysanthemum tea
Put 10 pieces of chrysanthemum into a mug and brew with hot water. Whether it is the yellow, white, or wild chrysanthemums, they are all fine. Drink the tea once the chrysanthemums are fully soaked, expanded, and exude a fragrance. To make the drink more appealing and elevate the desire to drink more, add a little licorice or wolfberry.
Licorice jujube decoction
This was one of the remedies for the patient mentioned above.
In a pot of1500cc (about 3.2 pints) of water, boil four maces (about 0.52 oz) of licorice, 1 tael (about 1.33 oz) of wheat, and 12 red dates and reduce until 1000cc (about 2.1 pints) remains. Drink daily as a tea.
Note: It is best to choose “floating wheat,” that is, wheat that has been stored for a longer time.
Exercise Daily to Raise the Happiness Index
Exercise will soften the blood vessels, and once the peripheral blood vessels expand, blood can efficiently pass through, flushing the cholesterol in the blood vessels at the same time. Once blood flow in the large blood vessels becomes normal, blood pressure will drop. Moreover, during exercise, the brain produces hormones called endorphins—so-called “happy hormones,” which make people feel happier and naturally lowers blood pressure.
How do people fully occupied at home and work find time to exercise? The benefits of exercising every day can be accumulated. For example, while riding the bus on the way to work, get off one stop early and walk the rest of the distance. Or when going to lunch, spend five or six minutes walking up and down some stairs. When the workday is over and after dinner, take a walk. In this way, at the end of the day, you’ve accumulated about 30 minutes of exercise—and the more ways you can find the better.
You can also “ground” negative energy in the body by wearing soft, cloth shoes, just socks, or going barefoot and walking on grass or soil. In this way, in addition to getting some exercise, the blood supply in the brain is also increased. With sufficient oxygen, blood pressure will naturally drop.
2. Tap 3 Acupoints to Ease Hypertension With Stiff Neck
Having a stiff neck and shoulders is another condition that can add to hypertension.
For example, many office workers spend their days in front of a computer screen in a “turtle-neck” posture and have to sit still for many hours on end. When they get home, they lie again on the sofa—not moving—or bend their heads to their phones, contributing even more to their stiff necks and shoulders, which in turn can lead to high blood pressure.
I have another patient who would go to a hospital for examinations, and each time his blood pressure was measured at nearly 200. He always felt uncomfortable after taking all the blood pressure-lowering drugs prescribed by the doctor, whether they were cholesterol-lowering or blood vessel dilating. Later, I helped him stretch his carotid artery, and his high blood pressure problem disappeared.
There is an acupoint for neck and shoulder stiffness, the Chize (LU 5) acupoint. Gently press the Chize point on the left and right hands every day for 3 to 5 minutes, and shake and move the neck while pressing. In this way, the blood circulation in the neck will improve, and the blood in the carotid artery will flow to the brain. When the blood supply is sufficient, the blood pressure will naturally drop.
In addition to Chize, two other points can enhance blood circulation. One is Zusanli (ST 36)and the other is Sanyinjiao (SP 6).
In addition, people who cannot accurately press the acupuncture points can also use the method of tapping. By hitting the upper part of the acupoint, and tapping the lower part too, they can sometimes hit the exact acupoint location, and the effect is also very good.
Note: Pregnant women should avoid massaging or tapping the Sanyinjiao point.
3. Cold Type Hypertension–Keep the Body Warm
Chilly weather can also cause blood pressure to rise.
During cold seasons, to preserve the heat in the body, the blood vessels around the body will shrink, that is, they become thinner, and shrink in size. This reduces the blood flow around the body, and much of the blood stays inside the large blood vessels, causing the blood pressure to remain high.
What to do? Wear warm layers of clothing and drink warm beverages. This will aid the narrowed blood vessels in return to their normal width, blood will then be evenly sent to all other blood vessels, and blood pressure will drop without the use of antihypertensive drugs.
New study finds 6 ways to slow memory decline and lower dementia risk
While researchers have long known that there is a link between dementia and factors such as social isolation and obesity, the size and scope of the new study adds substantial evidence to a global body of research that suggests a healthy lifestyle may help brains age better.
It also suggests that the effects of a healthy lifestyle are beneficial even for people who are genetically more susceptible to memory decline — a “very hope-giving” finding for the millions of individuals around the world who carry the APOEε4 gene, a major risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, said Eef Hogervorst, chair of biological psychology at Loughborough University, who was not involved in the study.
Memory naturally declines gradually as people age. Some older people may develop dementia, an umbrella term that can include Alzheimer’s, and generally describes a deterioration in cognitive function that goes beyond the normal effects of aging. But for many, “memory loss can merely be senescent forgetfulness,” write the authors of the BMJ study — like forgetting the name of that TV program you used to love, or that pesky fact you wanted to look up.
Memory loss is no less damaging for being gradual, and age-related memory decline can in some cases be an early symptom of dementia. But the good news, the researchers say, is that it “can be reversed or become stable rather than progress to a pathological state.”
The BMJ study was conducted in China between 2009 and 2019. Researchers conducted tests on over 29,000 people ages 60 and older and then tracked their progress or decline over time — what’s known as a population-based cohort study. Although more than 10,500 participants dropped out of the study over the next decade — some participants died or stopped participating — the researchers still used the data collected from those individuals in their analysis.
At the start of the study, researchers conducted baseline memory tests as well as testing for the APOE gene. They also surveyed participants about their daily habits. Participants were sorted into one of three groups — favorable, average and unfavorable — based on their lifestyle.
The six modifiable lifestyle factors the researchers focused on included:
- Physical exercise: Doing at least 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week.
- Diet: Eating appropriate daily amounts of at least seven of 12 food items (fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, dairy products, salt, oil, eggs, cereals, legumes, nuts and tea).
- Alcohol: Never drank or drank occasionally.
- Smoking: Never having smoked or being a former smoker.
- Cognitive activity: Exercising the brain at least twice a week (by reading and playing cards or mah-jongg, for example).
- Social contact: Engaging with others at least twice a week (by attending community meetings or visiting friends or relatives, for example).
Over the course of the study, the researchers found that people in the favorable group (four to six healthy factors) and average group (two to three) had a slower rate of memory decline over time than people with unfavorable lifestyles (zero to one healthy factor).
People living favorable lifestyles that included at least four healthy habits were also less likely to progress to mild cognitive impairment and dementia.
The results show that “more is better of these behaviors,” says Hogervorst — in other words, the more healthy lifestyle factors you can combine, the better your chances of preserving your memory and staving off dementia.
Notably, this held true even for people who carried the APOE gene associated with a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
“These results provide an optimistic outlook, as they suggest that although genetic risk is not modifiable, a combination of more healthy lifestyle factors are associated with a slower rate of memory decline, regardless of the genetic risk,” wrote the study authors.
The study stands out because of its size and follow-up over time, and because it was conducted in China, whereas “most publications are based on western high income countries,” Carol Brayne, a professor of public health medicine at the University of Cambridge who researches older people and dementia, said in an email.
However, the study authors acknowledge several limitations, including that people’s own reports of health behaviors may not be fully accurate, and that the people who took part in the study were more likely to be leading healthy lives to begin with.
Some of the study’s findings differ from the results of other large studies conducted in the United States and in Europe, says Hogervorst. For instance, the BMJ study found that the lifestyle factor with the greatest effect on reducing memory decline was a balanced diet. Other studies have suggested that diet matters less in old age than physical and mental exercise, says Hogervorst.
Still, its results align with the broad scientific consensus that there is a link between how we live and our cognitive function as we age — and perhaps more important, suggest that it may never be too late to improve your brain health.
“The overall message from the study is a positive one,” Snorri B. Rafnsson, associate professor of aging and dementia at the University of West London, said in an email. “Namely, that cognitive function, and especially memory function, in later life maybe positively influenced by regularly and frequently engaging in different health related activities.”
The Queen Of Elden Ring Keeps Finding New Ways To Beat The Game
At the start of 2023, Twitch streamer MissMikkaa made headlines for beating Elden Ring’s notorious rot queen, Malenia, Blade of Miquella, with two completely different controllers at the same time. It was a ridiculous feat of dexterity and focus, but would you believe this method of play was how she finished FromSoftware’s latest Soulslike in its entirety? Well, it turns out MissMikkaa has been embarking on what she’s dubbed the “Ultimate Challenge Run” and, now that she’s wrapped up Elden Ring, she’s doing the same thing with Dark Souls Remastered.
Challenge runs aren’t new within the FromSoft community. Kotaku has reported on plenty of wild ones, from using a drawing tablet to playing with an electronic saxophone. MissMikkaa’s, however, is probably the most intense challenge run I’ve seen in a minute as she plays two copies of the FromSoft game simultaneously with two different types of controller inputs: a DDR-compatible dance pad and a PlayStation 5 DualSense. This is the basis for her “Ultimate Challenge Run.” As MissMikkaa specifies in her livestream overlays, the goal is to “kill bosses on the same try on both game instances” using the two different controllers. Kotaku caught up with MissMikkaa to pick her brain about playing FromSoft games in such a peculiar and difficult manner.
This Takes Lots Of Focus To Pull Off
MissMikkaa explained the process of setting up the “Ultimate Challenge Run,” including the model of the dance pad she’s using. After getting the dance pad hooked up to her PC, she used the software remapper JoyToKey to synch the pad’s movement arrows to the WASD keys, with the other buttons performing actions like attacking, dodging, healing, and the like. The dance pad has a limited number of buttons, though, so she would sometimes have to “create specific profiles for certain bosses or scenarios” to switch between before encounters like the one with Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy. But aside from fine-tuning the dance pad’s keybindings, this “Ultimate Challenge Run” challenged MissMikkaa in many other ways.
“In the beginning, I had a lot of trouble focusing on playing two games at once. It’s not an easy task trying to position your character, attack, dodge, and heal twice as much as what you’re used to,” MissMikkaa tells Kotaku. “There were a few days where I was feeling mentally fatigued from the amount of work my brain was doing, but the further I got in the run the more used to it I became. Physically it wasn’t much different from the previous runs I had done, luckily I was already used to 6-hour dance pad sessions. Midway through this run there were definitely a few moments of smooth sailing, but towards the end, things definitely got much harder and that was also partially used as a motivator to get me through.”
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Focus was difficult to maintain during the entire run, MissMikkaa says. Playing a FromSoft game, whether that’s Bloodborne or Sekiro, can already seem like an insurmountable challenge requiring tons of concentration. These are punishing games, after all! Adding a second layer on top—that is, playing another instance of the same game but with a separate controller simultaneously—increases both the level of difficulty you’ll face when playing and the focus required. Gravity killed her, a lot, because she “lost track of [her] character’s position and instead focused more on attacking and dodging.” But navigation got better as time went on.
The Bosses Were Equally Challenging
As you might expect with a FromSoft game, the bosses were a particular sore spot for this “Ultimate Challenge Run.” MissMikkaa says she died some 198 times to Malenia and her long sword alone. It doesn’t compare to the level 1 dance pad run she did back in October, in which she died over 500 times to the goddess, but she still points to Malenia as a true test.
“Malenia was by far the hardest boss in this run,” MissMikkaa admits. “She is a true test of skill and experience in most challenge runs. It was a lot of trial and error to kill Malenia both in regards to figuring out what build I wanted to use and just trying to survive when I got two waterfowl dances at the same time. But besides the obvious answer, I had a lot of trouble with Margit due to falling out of the arena. I was also struggling a lot with Mohg, specifically with his second phase transition since I didn’t use any in-game items like Mohg’s Shackle or Purifying Crystal Tear.”
That she prevented herself from using specific equipment also added to the difficulty. MissMikkaa says she not only tried to “not use any weapons or Ashes of War that would be considered too ‘OP’,” but she also couldn’t summon anyone or use any of the spirit ashes in battle.
It was just her, the enemies in front of her, and her two controller inputs. That’s it. In addition to these self-imposed limitations, MissMikkaa explains that she relegated herself to certain kinds of character builds, starting with a strength-focused one in the beginning before switching to an arcane one for the late game. Thankfully her gear of choice—bleed weapons such as the Great Stars great hammer and high-defense armor like the Bull-Goat set—helped ease the restrictions a little bit by letting her “outpoise [a boss’] poise damage in order to hit them through their attacks.” She’s tanky. And of course, because she’s playing two copies of the same game, she’s forced to have equipment parity between her two characters.
Giving Up On This Was Never In The Cards
Regardless of how challenging this “Ultimate Challenge Run” has been for MissMikkaa, she promises that she “never once thought about giving up.” The difficulty is a big reason why she was so motivated to finish the challenge. She found herself adapting to the process after every livestream and, once she got to Malenia, who is already an optional endgame boss, MissMikkaa said she was “pretty confident” that she could beat the queen of rot alongside many of the game’s other brutal enemies.
“The easiest part of this run was keeping myself motivated throughout,” MissMikkaa explains. “It was a fun challenge and I enjoyed every aspect of learning and mastering it. I love finding new ways to challenge myself, especially in Elden Ring. This idea was not really seriously considered at first, but when I found myself with an extra capture card in my streaming PC I started thinking to myself, ‘What would happen if I played two games at once?’ At first, I was unsure if the challenge was even possible to begin with, and so were the people around me. But I was kind of curious to see how far I could go. I’ve got to say…I’ve never had so many people coming in and questioning my sanity as I have during this run.”
I mean, I’m questioning MissMikkaa’s sanity, too. It’s hard enough stepping into a FromSoft boss arena on just one platform. Doing that twice, at the same time, with one of your controllers being essentially a slipper bath mat, and still walking away victorious makes me both envious of her skills and stoked about her accomplishment. Talk about “getting good.”
MissMikkaa tells us she finished Elden Ring around January 8, performing an All Remembrances playthrough which requires you beat a FromSoft game by defeating all the bosses that drop consumable “boss souls.” Since then, she’s been bouncing between games on Twitch, like Forspoken and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, while embarking on another “Ultimate Challenge Run” in Dark Souls Remastered. At some point, she said she wants to play through Elden Ring with “a real guitar,” with actions like attacking and healing tied to full chords instead of just individual strings. Lord help her.
Knowing Your Blood Type Is Crucial: 3 Easy Ways to Find It Out
Knowing your blood type is crucial for numerous reasons. I was recently filling out a volunteer application and was asked to provide my blood type. Luckily, I knew off the top of my head that I’m type O-positive, but I wanted to find documentation to confirm that. I called my mom to see if blood type is listed on my birth certificate — no luck. I checked my physician’s health portal — also no luck.
So how does someone figure out their blood type if they don’t already know it?
If you have no clue what your type is, you’re not alone. According to a 2019 CBS News poll, only 66% of Americans reported knowing their blood type. Considering blood type can be vital to understanding your health, including your heart health — and saving you in an emergency situation — it’s important to know what kind of blood courses through your veins. The good news is finding out your blood type is relatively simple and you have options. Below are three easy ways to find out your blood type.
Blood type basics
Blood type is categorized into one of these eight groups: A-positive, A-negative, B-positive, B-negative, O-positive, O-negative, AB-positive and AB-negative. But what determines blood type and what does that blood type mean?
Blood types are determined by antigens — a substance that triggers an immune response — on the surface of red blood cells. There are ABO antigens, which designate ABO blood types. This is determined by the ABO gene. For example:
- Type A blood type has the A antigen
- Type B blood type has the B antigen
- Type AB blood type has both the A and B antigen
- Type O doesn’t produce any A or B antigen
There are also Rhesus (Rh) antigens, which determine if blood is “positive” or “negative.” If you have Rh proteins on the surface of your red blood cells, you are Rh positive. If you don’t have Rh proteins on the surface of your red blood cells, you have negative blood.
Blood type is categorized into one of these eight groups: A-positive, A-negative, B-positive, B-negative, O-positive, O-negative, AB-positive and AB-negative.
Ekachai Lohacamonchai/EyeEm/Getty Images
How can you type your blood?
Here’s three main ways to type your blood:
- Have your doctor do a blood test
- Donate blood
- Use an at-home blood test
1. Clinical test
One of the easiest and most effective ways to determine blood type is to have your doctor perform a test. A professional will draw blood and then perform two tests on the blood sample: forward typing and reverse typing.
During forward typing, the blood sample is mixed with antibodies against type A and B blood. Based on whether the blood cells stick together when mixed with the antibodies, your blood type can be determined from there. If your blood cells stick together when mixed with antibodies against type B blood, you have type B blood. If your blood cells stick together when mixed with antibodies against type A blood, you have type A blood.
To confirm the result, the next step is reverse typing, meaning the blood sample without red blood cells — called a serum — is mixed with type A and type B blood cells. Type A blood will have antibodies against Type B blood in the sample and type B blood will have antibodies against Type A blood. Type O blood will contain antibodies against Type A and Type B. So, if sticking occurs when the serum is mixed with type B blood cells, you have type A blood, and if sticking occurs when the serum is mixed with type A blood cells, you have type B blood.
I recommend calling your doctor’s office to see what a blood type test costs out-of-pocket and if it’s covered by insurance.
2. Donate blood
This is an easy — and free — way to determine blood type, but results are not immediate.
If you donate to a blood drive, you can simply ask the staff about your blood type. Blood usually is not tested right away, so it may take up to a few weeks to get results.
With at-home kits, you can determine blood type in the comfort of your own home in just a few minutes.
EldonCard
3. At-home blood test
At-home tests are relatively straightforward. You will usually start by wiping your finger with an alcohol wipe and then be required to prick your finger with a disposable lancet to draw blood. Then, you will wipe blood on the provided card. Depending on how the blood dries, clumps or spreads, you will be able to compare your blood stain to a results card. Within minutes, you’ll be able to determine which blood type you are.
More for your wellness
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
Personal trainer: These are the signs you have a slow metabolism and quick ways you can boost it
A personal trainer has shared the 13 signs you have a slow metabolism, and how you can boost yours to achieve your goal weight fast.
Rachael Attard, from Sydney, said while you might not think about it, metabolism has a ‘huge impact on our health’, particularly when it comes to weight loss and gain.
‘Simply put, metabolism is the internal process by which your body expends energy and burns calories,’ Rachael wrote on Instagram.
‘It works 24/7 by converting the food and nutrients you consume into energy.’
Rachael said some of the factors that can impact your metabolism include your genes, hormones, lack of sleep, diet, dehydration, age, stress and the medications you’re taking.
A personal trainer has shared the 13 signs you have a slow metabolism, and how you can boost yours to achieve your goal weight fast (Rachael Attard pictured)
Rachael (pictured) said some of the factors that can impact your metabolism include your genes, hormones, lack of sleep, diet, dehydration, age, stress and medications you’re taking
Some of the most common signs your metabolism is low include chronic fatigue and low energy, not feeling hungry in the morning and weight gain for no apparent reason.
Those with a slow metabolism might also experience constipation, depression, thinning hair, dry skin and brittle nails, as well as brain fog, hair loss and feeling cold all the time.
‘Other common signs frequent headaches, a low pulse rate and constant cravings for sugar and carbohydrates,’ Rachael said.
But you can address your metabolism – and the PT uses a few simple ‘tried and tested tricks’ to give hers a boost, like eating a protein-rich breakfast (pictured)
But you can address your metabolism – and the PT uses a few simple ‘tried and tested tricks’ to give hers a boost, particularly after the holiday season, when you might be feeling sluggish from over-eating and drinking.
The first thing Rachael said she does is she will have a hot cup of water and lemon.
‘Lemons are a great way to boost your metabolism, because they are high in vitamin C and antioxidants, which help your immune system,’ Rachael wrote on her website.
She said if you want to up the metabolism kick even more, you can add some cayenne pepper and ginger, which will help to promote a healthy digestive system, ‘making it easier for your metabolism to power through calories’.
Rachael (pictured) also recommends drinking a cup of warm water with lemon and making your regular water is icy cold
Next, the fitness pro always recommends that you drink icy cold water, as studies have shown this can help your metabolism.
‘By drinking cold water, your body has to work harder and burn more calories to process it. The study mentioned above found that you can burn 25 per cent more calories just by drinking cold water,’ Rachael said.
You can also still enjoy your cup of coffee, as studies have also shown that coffee and green tea also help with your metabolism – leading to more calories burned through the day.
Finally, Rachael (pictured) said increasing your muscle mass will work wonders at boosting your metabolism, and this comes from lifting weights
‘There are some foods that naturally increase your metabolism and protein is one of them,’ Rachael said.
‘Your body burns lots more calories digesting protein than it does compared to fat and protein.’
For this reason, she recommends a protein-rich breakfast like healthy protein smoothies, yoghurt or eggs, taking care to limit sweeteners.
Finally, Rachael said increasing your muscle mass will work wonders at boosting your metabolism.
She said the amount of calories you burn per day is made up of three things:
‘First, it’s your resting (or basal) metabolic rate – so how many calories you burn at rest,’ she said.
‘Then, it’s Thermogenesis – how many calories you burn through digestion (this sort of falls under the resting metabolic rate category).
‘Finally, it’s your physical activity – so how many calories you burn during exercise.’
But it’s the resting or basal metabolic rate (RMR or BMR) that makes up 60 to 85 per cent of your daily calories burned, and the only way to increase that is to boost your muscle mass.
The PT recommends you do this by lifting some weights at the gym or adding some resistance training into your workouts.
For more information about Rachael Attard, you can visit her website here.
Clever Ways to Manage All Your Cords and Cables
With so many devices (and their various accessories) needing to be charged—not to mention the lights, appliances, and other electronics that need to remain plugged in—your cords and cables situation is probably out of control. Keeping cables neat and well organized is tough, whether it’s for the stuff you use every day, or the battery charger for an emergency flashlight you use twice a year.
There are some tricks you can use to keep things tangle free, however. Here are a few of the best.
Store your cables separately and keep them organized
When it comes to storage for cords you don’t keep plugged in, storing them separately is a must. The more they interact with each other, the more chances they have to get tangled up, even when just sitting in a drawer. You can buy a special case with elastic pockets that keep cords perfectly organized, but you can also use a tackle box, a jewelry organizer, or a hardware box you already have around to get the job done. Anything with compartments sized for small parts will work, so you can get creative with what kind of organizer you use.
Labeling is key
The real game changer when you’re storing cables that aren’t in use: Label everything so that you remember what it’s for. You might think you’ll remember what a certain cable does when you put it away, but speaking from experience, I’ve moved a box of cords with me throughout my entire adult life because I never know which one I’ll need or what each one specifically does. Using a sharpie or a label maker to note the device(s) the cord works with with can really help when you’re struggling to remember which battery pack/tablet/portable speaker some tiny cord belongs to.
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Keep plugged-in cords organized
If you’re struggling with tangled cords that stay with your devices, that can be more trickier, since you often don’t have a lot of control about where they will be plugged in. Cables can fall behind desks or get lost under furniture, making it hard to get things to their proper charger. Using a cable wrap that’s reusable and doesn’t stick to anything is an excellent solution. Anchoring cords to a furniture leg so that they don’t come undone when you’re not using them is also a good way to keep them together. A slotted cable organizer that fits on your desktop is one solution to this problem, keeping the chargers you use regularly at your fingertips. You can also use an under-desk tray to hold cables, whether you have a desk or not—they can also be used on a shelf or wherever you want to set up your charging station.
String lighting and entertainment cords along your baseboards
For lighting and appliance cords that you need to leave plugged in most of the time, using a baseboard cord channel can keep things neat and cords less noticeable. If you have some distance between an outlet and your cables, this will make it much more streamlined and also keep cords from getting tangled. For cords that need to travel across the floor, a rubber cord protector will prevent tripping and keep the cord from getting damaged by regular foot traffic. (These aren’t meant for heavier traffic like furniture dollies or hand trucks, so if you’re moving or doing renovations, it’s best to unplug power cords while you’re working.)Rather than packing a nest of cables into a power strip with a short cable, use a corded outlet cover, so you can run just one cord from the outlet instead of a few.
Kitchen cords
For kitchen appliances, as well as some tools, a cord winder can be very handy to cut down on messy tangles. To keep appliance cords off of the counter top, you can also use cord clips mounted underneath your cabinets. When you’re not using the appliance, leaving an extra clip under the cabinet to store the plug will keep it handy when you need to plug it back in. For items that are stored in a cabinet or cupboard, a velcro cable tie can help keep the mess to a minimum.