~ Sugar: The bitter pill ~

We often don't pay attention to what we eat. Do watch the video & that should provide you some food for thought on the impact of Sugar consumption in your daily life. Next time you crave for those Donuts, Cake, Pastries, etc do think twice on the amount of sugar intake. 

Watch what you eat & live healthy!

~ Creativity & Walking ~

If you want to improve your creative thinking then start walking, either indoor or outdoor.

A new study by Stanford researchers provides an explanation for this. 

Creative thinking improves while a person is walking and shortly thereafter, according to a study co-authored by Marily Oppezzo, a Stanford doctoral graduate in educational psychology, and Daniel Schwartz, a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Education.

The study found that walking indoors or outdoors similarly boosted creative inspiration. The act of walking itself, and not the environment, was the main factor. Across the board, creativity levels were consistently and significantly higher for those walking compared to those sitting.

Source: Stanford study finds walking improves creativity   

~ Fastfood & Obesity ~

Just another sunny Sunday afternoon lazing at home & changing channels came across this documentary "The men who made us fat" that was being shown on BCC World.

It's a 3 part documentary on how the fast-food giants have made an impact on public health & how young people are consuming more than required food with access to cheap food. The fast-food doesn't really bring in much nutrition rather adds a lot of fat to your body.

US & UK have both experienced obesity due to fast-food chains. It's time we Indians eat some health food & not indulge much in fast-food. As fast-food chains are mushrooming across various cities & towns of India, it's up to the parents to decide what makes a good diet for kids and their health. Hope the adults have enough sense between their ears to decide what to eat.

~ Episode 1 ~

~ Episode 2 ~

~ Episode 3 ~

If you wish to read additional posts related to health.

~ Always connected ~

Off-late, have been getting into the mode of keeping my occupied w/ my smartphone when I am in a social gathering. Could be Twitter, Whatsapp, Path or Instagram. Observations regarding my behaviour from my fiancé often makes me slide the phone aside & have a conversation. 

I wasn't like that before, but over the recent months the app addiction has increased. Rather than blaming the technology or the device, its time to accept the short coming of myself. I could use the technology / device as a catalyst in making our lives simpler & better than turn me into Zombie. 

We all need to find balance that keep us sane and connected to the real world. We seem to be more interested in snapping moments on camera, sharing status messages, tweeting sporting events or music shows than ever before. Having conversations with people around is more fun than via social media apps. Definitely, the medium can't be blamed for the addiction we create for ourselves. As with every new invention, technology/device/gadget could be boon or bane based on how one adopts it!

Nick Bilton has a good piece in BITS

“Every experience is being mediated and conceived around how it can be captured and augmented by our devices,” said Mathias Crawford, a researcher in human-computer interactions and communications at Stanford University. “No place is this more apparent than our meals, where every portion leading up to, during and after a dining experience is being carved out by particular apps.”

People make dinner reservations on OpenTable; check in on Foursquare when they arrive at the restaurant; take a picture of their food to share on Instagram; post on Twitter a joke they hear during the meal; review the restaurant on Yelp; then, finally, coordinate a ride home using Uber. 

You be the judge & make the necessary changes in your lifestyle.

Additional reading: Information overload in a minute | Social engagement | Offline Paul | Smartphone: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

~ Information overload ~

Ever wondered what the netizens of the world do in 60 seconds? The infographic below is the answer to that.

Via: The Next Web

Am sure those reading this post, have an account in one of the above application & do contribute a substantial footprint. Off-late I have tried my best to share very less content on networks.

Not sure about others, but I have experienced distraction while I had Tweetdeck running. After 6 months of self discipline, I have kind of cut down twitter usage. Currently, check my TL while commuting to office {P.S: I do not use smartphone while driving. I take the company transport ;) } or during lunch. The below diagram is an ideal representation of how my mind was before.

Mental desktop of Distraction Junkie. Source: Componentowl

Am slowly getting to a different state. To see how the mental desktop of Zen Coder looks like, I suggest you read the post - Are you a Zen Coder vs Distraction-Junkie. 

I definitely need some kind of Intelligent Algo OR need to cut down on the number of people I follow in the Social Networks to filter the Noise from the Signal.

A new kind of addiction can be seen around - consuming or producing content and being hooked to a mobile device. This might lead to a different health issue if we don't know how to maintain balance b/w online & offline world. 

GoodNight! going offline :)

~ 200 Calories ~

Wish some of your favorite food might had lower calories ;)

More details here.

Via Guy Kawasaki

~ Take a walk ~

Everyone knows walking is good for health. But how many of us {urban population} walk these days? I have seen people around me, including myself, dependent on 2 wheelers even for a 5 minute walk to the local kirana store.

Nilofer Merchant's has a very interesting TED talk - Got a meeting, take a walk. As she articulates the fact that, "Sitting is the smoking of our generation". We sit for an average of about 9.5 hours & sleep for about 7.5 hours i.e. Sitting > Sleeping {At least those with a desk job, this holds true!}.

Nilofer Merchant suggests a small idea that just might have a big impact on your life and health: Next time you have a one-on-one meeting, make it into a "walking meeting" -- and let ideas flow while you walk and talk. 

~ Workout ~

I have hardly kept the habit of workout for a long time. Be it during school, college days or present; it has always been in sprints of weeks or maximum of 3 months. After that it just fades into the horizon.

Be it - jogging, yoga, walk or exercise - none of them have lasted. Today, the second day of workout, while I was enjoying it even though the legs were aching and tired in 20 minutes. Never felt like stopping & just continued it for the next 40 minutes. During those next 40 minutes I pondered upon what kept me going this time. Here are some of the thoughts

• Our habits. Habits decide our lifestyle & health
• Cultivating an habit (good or bad)* needs repetitiveness. Like it or not, bad habits are developed easily & they stick too :P 
• Procrastination - ONE major factor which has worked against me in taking up a workout

Above all, the desire to workout has to come form within. Not because my dad has been practicing yoga for the past 25 years; Not because my (ex)colleagues go to gym or do workout during lunch hour or play football; There needs to be a genuine urge from inside to take up an activity. If you try to take up a sport or do yoga or hit gym or run or go cycling just because someone else is doing. Then I bet you wouldn't last more than 2 or 3 months.

I feel everyone should have some kind of workout to stay fit & healthy. We will stop complaining for lack of time when we organized & disciplined to cultivate the habit.

Ultimately the individual has to be driven from within to achieve it ;)

Few people who have inspired me to stay focused on my workout are - Dad, Girish MP, Nilesh P, Karma B, Andy C, Bryan G, Deepak HJ, Abhijit K,  Chris S.

*BTW good or bad are just perspectives which change according to time.

Go out & workout.