7 Questions That May Change Your Life
Article Round-Up: 4.28.24
Enjoy this curated list of articles, podcasts, and more from the web to help you live a healthier, happier life.
Featured Thoughts - Giving Praise
Takeaway: Yesterday I received this surprise voice message from a colleague.
I couldn’t even express in words how grateful I was to get this message. I’ve been grinding for the last decade to carve a meaningful career for myself and to positively impact others.
In the process, I’ve sacrificed a lot.
This message helped reinforce that I’m on the right path.
And it made me think about how little we send messages of encouragement and recognition like this, unprompted, to others in our lives.
What if we did it more? Send someone in your life a positive message if recognition today.
Published This Week:
Six Ways Salsa Dancing Taught Me To Live Better
Takeaway: Life lessons in the most unexpected of places. Read about how social dancing has uncovered valuable pieces of life advice.
My personal favorite: “We’re all making it up as we go.”
7 Questions That May Change Your Life
Takeaway: It’s often said that the most impactful thing a person can do is ask the right questions.
This is a great list of questions to get the introspection ignited. Especially great if you find yourself a little lost or veering off course.
One question that stuck out in my mind: “If I repeated this day for 100 days, would my life be better or worse?”
Give it a skim and ponder some of the answers yourself for increased clarity.
Why We’re Spending More Time Alone, And What To Do About It
Takeaway: An important point made in this article—Loneliness is not the same as being alone.
This year more than any other, I’ve made a conscious effort to build friendships. Having spent the last decade fixated on building my career, and the sacrifices that came with that, I’ve rediscovered the importance of friendships.
Setting aside regular time tending to these relationships, even at the expense of time spent working, as already had a big impact.
If you’re in the camp of desiring more close relationships, this article gives a interesting take on why we’re all so alone and some ideas to fix it.
Reader Question:
“I typically eat my last meal of the day late in the evening, between 9-10pm. Is this bad?”
We’ve all heard the belief that eating late at night, when your body is inactive, will cause food to be turned directly to body fat…
How much truth is there to this?
It’s true that eating late at night CAN cause weight gain. However, it’s correlational and not causation.
Many people who struggle to manage their weight do eat late at night, but that doesn’t mean this is what is causing their weight gain.
The more likely cause for the weight gain, especially when it comes to late night eating, is what I like to call the Triad of Overconsumption.
The Triad of Overconsumption is the presence of three variables:
You skipped meals during the day, which led to feeling more hungry at night.
Because you skipped meals you have more calories leftover, giving you justification to choose high calorie foods.
Lastly, because it’s the end of the day you’ve already exerted your willpower—leaving nothing left for good choices at night.
As you can probably see, all three factors play into each other. When they are present, you are significantly more likely to overeat for the day.
This perfect storm of conditions often happens at night as the day winds down and can be a direct cause of weight gain.
However, it is the overconsumption of food that causes your weight gain, not the time of day.
In fact, many of my meals throughout the week occur after 10pm because of my schedule. But I don’t struggle with gaining weight because I have a plan to properly control my portions and total calories.
Or, take this example:
In 2018 I took a trip to Spain. While there I noticed that you don’t see nearly as many men and women who are overweight.
Then I experienced this unique cultural tradition…
Late-night eating is a staple tradition, sometimes until one o’clock in the morning. The few nights we showed up to restaurants at ten o’clock, we were the first people to arrive for dinner. It might as well have been happy hour.
Regular late night eating, but not a huge presence of obesity. The time of day is not causing them to gain weight because, alone, that variable doesn’t cause weight gain.
If you find it easier to eat later in the evening due to schedule or preference, then don’t be afraid to do so. Just be sure to stay within your calorie targets for the day.
If you are struggling to lose weight AND are also eating late at night, then double check that you aren’t falling into the triad of overconsumption.
P.S. Learn more about meal timing and the other variables of your nutrition plan during my live webinar tomorrow. This is your last chance to get in on the Food Freedom Webinar. Click below to register your seat now.