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6 Best Online Tests For Borderline Personality Disorder (BDP)

borderline personality disorder

If you have difficulties regulating your emotions, and you feel emotions intensely, you may suffer from Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).

It is a serious mental health disorder, that can influence the way you think and act and cause problems with managing your emotions. This difficulty can lead to a poor self–image, difficult relationships, impulsivity, and even dangerous behaviors such as self-cutting.

According to the statistics, most of the people who experience this mental disorder are women, 75%, while it is estimated that 1.4 % of the adult U.S. population is struggling with it. (1)

It begins in early adulthood and gets better with time, so if you have it does not discourage you, it will improve as you age.

It is common to have an important person in your life whom you prioritize and spend a lot of time with. However, for individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), this kind of intense relationship can become all-consuming; what is bpd favorite person may end up being their only source of happiness and validation and can have a significant impact on their sense of self, mood, and confidence.

Main Characteristics  Of Borderline Personality Disorder (BDP) 

People with Borderline personality disorder (BPD), have extensive mood fluctuations, and trouble regulating their emotions, especially anger.

In addition, people with Borderline personality disorder (BPD) have an intense fear of abandonment and do not tolerate being alone.

They have impulsive behavior and have an urge to take part in irresponsible activities such as drug abuse, and gambling sprees. When they are extremely depressed, they have an impulse for self–harm and may cut themselves with razors.

They are emotionally unstable and may experience intense negative emotions like panic, shame, rage, and sorrow and can even feel suicidal when in despair.

People with Borderline personality disorder also have disturbed patterns of thinking and can even experience hallucinations, strange experiences such as hearing strange voices outside their head and believing that someone is talking to them.

How To Handle Romantic Relationship With Someone With Borderline Personality Disorder?

All these characteristics can influence their romantic relationships and they may become unstable, intense, conflicted, and characterized by turmoil and dysfunction. (2)  

Some of the symptoms that can affect romantic relationships of people with Borderline personality disorder (BPD) are as follows:

Obsessivity

They will constantly phone their partner, even in the middle of the night, refuse to let them go, and physically clinging on to that person. They are rather obsessive.

Lying

People with Borderline personality disorder (BPD) tend to lie which can ruin intimacy and trust in the relationship. This behavior is not listed in formal diagnostic criteria for BPD, but most family members and friends indicate it as a symptom that makes most of the concern. This way people with Borderline personality disorder (BPD), try to avoid abandonment and it is not generally pathological.

Emotional switchbacks

They have trouble maintaining relationships, due to their emotional switchbacks that are very difficult to handle. They have constant back and forth demands for isolation and attention and shift their emotions from fear to intimacy.

Verbal abuse

People with BDP experience may also feel fear and anger because they may think that others want to control or crowd them or when they sense a shift in their partner’s feelings. This will make them leave and will emotionally shut themselves or use verbal abuse.

Uncomfortable public scenes

They will even make uncomfortable public scenes, pleading, or making threats that they will harm themselves if their partner leaves.

Issues with sexuality

As some research indicates, people with Borderline personality disorder (BPD) are associated with child sexual abuse, emotional abuse, or physical abuse. (3) That is why they may have issues with sexuality and can make sex complicated, which may include casual sexual experiences, more partners, and earlier sexual encounters. (4

However, similar to other mental disorders, it is thought that it is passed down in families and has genetic links. (5

Fear of abandonment

People with Borderline personality disorder (BPD) live in constant fear that someone may abandon them which may lead to frantic efforts to avoid abandonment, even by physically preventing the other person to leave.

Need of extra love

People with Borderline personality disorder (BPD) are not dangerous or manipulative, and there is a strong chance that they will hurt themselves, more than others. They love big, but just need some extra support from a supportive partner and a therapist.

However, relationships with people with BDP are possible and can lead to positive experiences, just it requires a lot of work. In fact, some people can be attracted to the intensity, excitement, and emotionality this type of relationship offers. (6

If you want your relationship to work you can:

  •  Offer your partner emotional support, patience, and understanding
  • Seek professional help from a therapist to understand your partner and learn how to be supportive
  • Learn more about this meatal disorder and how your partner feels and experiences it so you can be both protected from the emotional chaos  

Criteria For Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline personality disorder (BPD), is in most cases, diagnosed using the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders 5th edition (DSM-5). The American Psychiatric Association gives and specified the list of symptoms for every psychiatric disorder, including this one. (7)  

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is marked by impulsivity that can start in early childhood. People with BPD have unstable interpersonal relationships when adults. To be diagnosed as an individual with Borderline personality disorder (BPD), you should have at least 5 or more symptoms of the following:

  1. Constant anger, continuous fights, and difficulty in controlling the anger
  2. Disturbed self–image of sense of self, intensely marked
  3. An unstable romantic relationship, characterized by two extremes ( devaluation and idealization) 
  4. Emotional intense reaction to everyday activities ( irritability, anxiety that lasts for several hours, too few days) 
  5. Continuous feeling of emptiness 
  6. Panic efforts to prevent real or imagined abandonment
  7. Self–damaging impulsive behavior ( for ex.: drug abuse, dangerous driving, sex, enormous spending, having eating disorders, like binge eating) 
  8. Suicidal behavior, threats, and gestures that occur continuously 
  9. Paranoic ideation that is provoked by stress and or severe dissociative symptoms

World Health Organization International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems 11th Revision (ICD-11) comprises all needed diagnostic criteria for this mental disorder. (8

BPD can also cooccur with other illnesses and this condition is called co-morbidity. According to the NIMH-funded National Comorbidity Survey Replication—the largest national study to date of mental disorders in U.S. adults, almost 85% of people with BPD have another mental disorder.

Most of the co-morbidities are bipolar disorder, dysthymia (a chronic type of depression), substance abuse, major depressive disorder, eating disorders (such as anorexia, bulimia, binge eating), and narcissistic personality disorder, and self-injury.

There are also subtypes of BDP, such as quite BDP that are not proven and is not a recognized diagnosis. You cannot be diagnosed with quite BDP. This type of BDP is called a high-functioning BDP and may cope with everyday situations quite well.

When you have a quiet BDP means that the intense emotions you experience are forwarded toward yourself, not letting others see them.

The most obvious symptoms of quite BDP include people pleasing, social anxiety, mood swings, suppressing feelings, fear of being alone, and withdrawing when feeling upset.

6 Online Test For Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is one of the ten personality disorders and living with its symptoms can be rather challenging. The first thing you need to do if you want to have a happy and stable life is to get an accurate diagnosis.

There is no definitive test for this mental disorder, but you will be diagnosed with the help of an interview with a mental health provider. They can use either the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire (PDQ-4) or the McLean Screening Instrument for Borderline Personality Disorder (MSI-BPD) to assist their diagnosis. 

However, there are online borderline personality disorder screening tests that are not definite diagnostic tools and are for educational purposes only. A valid and professional diagnosis can be made only by a trained medical professional.  

If you want to get online, you should read the questions carefully and answer them according to the challenges you faced in the everyday life in the past few weeks and see whether they apply to you or not.  (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14)

10 Health Benefits Of Swimming

Swimming health benefits

In addition to being fun, swimming is a great way to get a full-body workout and stay healthy. For example, swimming for an hour can help you burn nearly as many calories as running.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this is the fourth most popular sport in the U.S., and it’s no wonder considering the fact that it offers many health benefits (1). Read on to find out how swimming can benefit your health.

What Are The 10 Health Benefits Of Swimming?

1. It Helps Keep Your Heart And Lungs Healthy

Swimming is an excellent form of cardiovascular exercise. One study, which included 20 overweight young men, found that eight-week swimming training decreased carotid arterial stiffness and systolic blood pressure and increased blood flow velocity in participants (2).

Another study, which included 62 women with hypertension, has found that low-volume high-intensity swimming is a fast and effective way to improve glucose control and insulin sensitivity (3).

Moreover, some researchers claim that swimming may even lower your risk of death.

2. It Helps You Burn Calories

If you’re looking for a way to lose weight, know that swimming can help you succeed in that effectively. A person weighing 160 pounds can torch around 423 calories an hour while swimming slowly or at a moderate pace, and if they swim at a faster pace, they can burn up to 715 calories an hour. Now, that same person would only burn approximately 314 calories while walking for an hour and 183 calories while practicing yoga in that hour.

Now, it’s clear why swimming is a sports activity that can help you burn calories fast and effectively.

3. It Works Your Entire Body

Swimming efficiently works every part of your body. The reason for this is that when you swim, you’re using nearly all of your muscles, regardless of your swimming style. In addition to toning your muscles, swimming helps you build strength and endurance and increases your heart rate.

To make your swimming workout more interesting and fun, you can try swimming different strokes, such as:

  • Backstroke
  • Breaststroke
  • Sidestroke
  • Freestyle
  • Butterfly

4. It’s Good For People With Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

Swimming can benefit people suffering from MS as the water supports their limbs during exercise and provides mild resistance.

One study, which included 73 patients with MS, found that doing Ai-Chi exercise in a swimming pool significantly improved spasms and pain in participants. It also led to an improvement in other symptoms such as fatigue, disability, and depression (4).

5. It’s Suitable And Safe For People With Osteoarthritis And Injuries

In addition to being suitable and safe for people with osteoarthritis and injuries, swimming is an appropriate exercise option for individuals with a disability or other health problems that prevent them from doing high-impact exercises.

Moreover, swimming may even aid your recovery from an injury or help decrease pain. For example, in one study, 48 middle-aged and older adults with osteoarthritis were asked to engage in a three-month swimming or cycling training. The results showed that swimming regularly improved muscle strength and considerably decreased joint pain and stiffness related to osteoarthritis. Participants also reported feeling less physically limited after swimming. The study also showed that the benefits of swimming were similar to those of cycling (5).

6. It Helps Relieve Stress

Swimming is one of the most relaxing and calming forms of exercise. In addition to helping you feel relaxed, swimming can make you feel energized and lower your stress levels. The stress-reducing effects of swimming have been confirmed by science too (6).

7. It’s A Safe Exercise For Pregnant Women

Swimming is safe for pregnant women during all three semesters. Moreover, one study has found that there are no adverse effects of swimming in pool water, which contains disinfection by-products, while pregnant. In addition, women that swam in early or mid-pregnancy had a lower risk of premature labor or giving birth to a baby with congenital defects (7).

8. It’s A Good Exercise Option For People With Asthma

Swimming in indoor pools can offer asthmatics many health benefits due to the humid environment. Besides this, the breathing exercises that this sport includes, such as holding your breath, can help improve the function of your respiratory muscles and alter the elasticity of your ventilator muscles and chest and lung wall (8).

However, it’s worth mentioning that swimming may trigger symptoms of asthma due to the chemicals used in pools. So, if you have asthma, it’s best to swim in a pool that uses salt water and consult your doctor about the possible risks of swimming.

9. It’s Great For Children As Well

It’s recommended that children do aerobic exercise for an hour every day. Swimming is a great choice for them as it is fun and relaxing and doesn’t feel like a formal workout.

Whether kids are part of a swim team, engage in recreational swimming, or do structured swimming lessons, swimming can keep them healthy.

10. It Can Improve Your Mood

In one study, 11 people with dementia were recruited and asked to participate in a 12-week exercise intervention that included aquatic exercises for balance, strength, flexibility, and relaxation.  The results showed that this type of exercise improved psychological well-being in participants (9). And we believe there’s no need to mention that exercise, regardless of its type, can help improve mood in other people too.

What Happens When You Start Swimming Regularly?

Swimming every day can offer you the following health benefits:

1. It Can Benefit Your Lungs

Swimming breaststroke can help keep your lungs strong and healthy. This swimming style strengthens your upper body and chest. In addition, when you swim breaststroke, you need to breathe out into the water, and this raises the resistance on your chest, thereby contributing to the function of your lungs.

2. It Can Improve Your Mental Health

In addition to allowing your mind to take a break from persistent digital stimulation, swimming relaxes your whole body and helps you feel less stressed. Some researchers even claim that swimming over a period of 12 weeks is comparable to yoga in terms of decreasing stress and anxiety.

3. It Can Improve Your Sleep

Aerobic exercise has been associated with improved sleep duration and better quality of sleep.

So, there’s a high probability that swimming, being one form of aerobic exercise, can help you fall asleep more easily and faster and stay asleep for longer.

4. It Helps You Build Strength And Increases Your Muscle Mass

As we already said, swimming works every part of your body as you’re moving nearly all of your muscles while swimming. If you swim regularly, especially at a vigorous pace, you’ll notice how the muscles in your upper body, arms, and thighs quickly get toned up.

How Long Do You Need To Swim To Get A Good Workout?

To get a good workout, i.e. burn more calories and eventually lose weight, it’s recommended that you begin swimming for 15 to 20 minutes every other day. After several days, if your body allows, start swimming for half an hour five days a week. Just make sure how you modify your swimming routines since if you don’t do that the right way, this could lead to fatigue and muscle soreness.

What Happens To Your Body After Swimming?

After two minutes of swimming, your blood flow, and heart rate increase. The extra oxygen produced in your body helps you feel more alert and focused. Your body also produces heat which is released while you’re swimming.

Since when you swim, all of your muscles are engaged, after swimming, your body will need 24 to 48 hours to rebuild and recover your muscles.

Can Swimming Reduce Belly Fat?

Like we already said, swimming helps you burn a lot of calories. It also improves the shape of your body. Research has even shown that swimming can reduce body fat percentage in overweight young adults (10).

When it comes to reducing belly fat, you need to know that there are specific swimming techniques that can optimize its effect on this body part. So, if you want to get that flat belly by swimming, follow these three tips:

  • Swim straight

Swim with your whole body as straight as it can be. This will help strengthen your core, improve your performance, and protect you from potential injuries.

  • Cardio swimming

Incorporating cardio swimming into your swimming routine means that you need to swim for 15 to 20 minutes without taking a break. While you’re swimming, you’re also required to measure your heart rate and keep it constantly in the fat-burning zone. To do this, you can use a device that will help you control your pulse.

  • Treading water

Take a break from doing laps and go to the deep end of the pool and begin treading water fast. Practicing this technique will help build your stomach muscles.

Which Style Of Swimming Is The Best For Weight Loss?

Those of you who are trying to lose weight by swimming, know that swimming the butterfly stroke can benefit you the most. Although it’s not the fastest stroke and it’s the most difficult to learn as well, the butterfly stroke can help you burn the most calories.

Swimming butterfly for 30 minutes can help you burn approximately 450 calories.

This swimming style is also very effective in toning your back muscles, arms, chest, and stomach. It also helps improve your flexibility and body posture.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is It OK To Swim Every Day?

Swimming in a local pool in your town or nearby lake or sea every day can do wonders for your body and mind. Swimming is a great sports activity since unlike other cardio exercises such as running or cycling, swimming works every part of your body. And fortunately, you don’t need to swim thousands of yards a week like Michael Phelps so as to reap all of the health benefits of swimming.

Here are several reasons why daily swimming is good for your health:

  • It increases your heart rate without stressing your body
  • It helps keep your lungs and heart strong and healthy
  • It’s a total body workout
  • It helps you burn calories
  • It builds muscle strength and endurance
  • It improves your flexibility
  • It doesn’t put pressure on your joints, muscles, and ligaments
  • It makes you feel relaxed, calm, and less stressed
  • It improves your mood
  • It improves your sleep

Is Swimming 3 Times A Week Enough?

Swimming for half an hour three times a week while also making sure that you eat a healthy, balanced diet is one of the most effective ways to keep your body in shape and maintain optimal health.

However, if you’re trying to lose pounds, try swimming for 4-5 days a week for the best effects.

Does Swimming Change Your Body Shape?

Yes, it does. Swimming improves the shape of your body, even when it’s not accompanied by other types of exercise.

Swimming improves your body shape by helping you burn calories and body fat and tightening up your whole body. So, it’s no wonder all swimmers have an elongated, fit body shape, sculpted arms and legs, broad shoulders, and, of course, awesome abs.

Is Swimming Better Than Going To The Gym?

Let’s get one thing straight: Both swimming and doing gym workouts can benefit your health. Now, when it comes to which of these two is better, the answer depends on your preference and training goals.

For instance, if you enjoy lifting weights or treadmill running, do gym workouts. But if you prefer activities with less impact, you should choose swimming.

In addition, if your goal is to build endurance, strength, muscle, and cardiovascular fitness and burn more calories, swimming is a better choice than doing gym workouts. Doing workouts at the gym can’t really help you achieve this.

Is Swimming Better Than Running?

Again, if your goal is to build cardiovascular fitness, swimming is a better choice than running since the resistance is greater in water than in the air.

Then, if your goal is to gain muscle, swimming is also a better choice than running since more muscles are engaged during this activity. On the other hand, running mainly engages your lower body muscles.

In addition, swimming puts less pressure on your ligaments, joints, and muscles than running.

If you’re looking to improve the strength of your bones, then running is a better choice than swimming since it’s a weight-bearing activity.

What Are The Disadvantages Of Swimming?

Swimming every day can damage your hair.

The salt in sea and ocean water and the chlorine in pool water dry out your hair by stripping away the natural oils in your hair. They also damage the cuticle.

So, when swimming in a pool, make sure you wear a swim cap. When it comes to swimming in the sea or ocean, it’s recommended that you wet your hair with fresh water prior to going for a swim. After swimming, you should rinse your hair with water and add more conditioner.

Swimming every day can irritate the skin on your shoulders.

When swimming sidestroke, you turn your head to breathe, which causes it to brush against your shoulder. This can irritate the skin on your shoulders and cause a red patch of skin.

Swimming in a pool regularly can lead to chlorine rash.

Often swimming in pool water containing chlorine can cause you to develop an itchy rash with symptoms like swollen or reddened skin, bumps, and hives. You can develop an itchy rash even if you’re not allergic to chlorine.

Daily swimming in a pool increases your risk of developing chemical conjunctivitis.

When pool water treated with saline and chlorine gets into contact with your eyes, these disinfectants interact with the tear film on your eyes’ surfaces, thereby causing the water in it to evaporate. This leads to a condition known as swimmer’s eye, which makes you more prone to develop chemical conjunctivitis.

To protect your eyes while swimming in pools, wear goggles and rinse your eyes with fresh water right after swimming.

Daily swimming can lead to a swimmer’s ear.

It has happened to all of us. When water gets into your ear while swimming, this can be quite uncomfortable and annoying. If that water stays trapped in your ear for a longer period of time, it makes it easier for bacteria to grow and cause an ear infection called otitis externa. This condition is also known as the swimmer’s ear.

Note: If you have health issues, you should consult your doctor about whether it’s safe for you to start doing aerobic exercises, including swimming.

Look After Your Body, Look After Your Mind – Methods for You to Consider

self care

Your physical health and mental health go hand in hand. If one is failing, the other probably isn’t doing so well either. The opposite is often also true – when your physical health is great, your mind is more at peace. That’s why looking at your lifestyle and habits could be a good start if you’re not feeling your best. By practicing certain methods, you could see a huge improvement in your overall well-being. Not sure what we mean? Read on for more.

Exercise

Although we’re constantly told that exercise is the way forward, as it releases endorphins, gets us fit, and makes us feel better about ourselves, many people struggle to stick to an exercise regime. Feel like you’ve already tried everything?

Well, what about a City of London personal training session once a week? If you have your own PT, you’re much more likely to stick to your workouts, as they will hold you accountable and encourage you every step of the way. If you’re a people pleaser, as many of us are, this could be a fantastic way of getting fit. You’ll enjoy it too! You’ll get all the benefits from the exercise, which could include improved sleep and a clearer mind. This is a good option for somebody who has mental health struggles, as long as you feel you’re ready to get stuck in. If it sounds overwhelming then you can start smaller with the end goal of speaking to a personal trainer to help you out. (1)

Yoga

Following on from the above, yoga is famed for its mind soothing, body bending benefits! As well, if you want to, yoga can easily be practiced from the comfort of your own home. Find videos or classes that include meditation sections, as this is really beneficial for you if you’re anxious, worried, or unhappy. It gives you a chance to escape your mind.

Gut Health

Huge breakthroughs have been made in recent years in regard to the link between mental well-being and gut health. Your gut communicates with the brain through nerves and hormones, so the healthier it is, the better. To achieve a happy gut, you need to look at your day-to-day. The food and drink you consume, how much sleep you get, stress levels, and so on. Certain foods are great for boosting your gut health – find out which via the link.

Skincare

By keeping up a skincare routine, you’re not only taking care of your body but also subconsciously sending a message to your mind that you’re cared for. Self-love and self-care are vital to make you feel good in your own skin – pun intended. Cleanse, tone, moisturize – do whatever works for your skin, morning and night. This will do you the world of good physical in the long term, with a fresher complexion, and it will also be a soothing, therapeutic act for your mind.

Even just applying one of these ideas could transform the way you feel and think. Try one of them out when you can. (2)

4 Strategies To Build Your Self-Esteem And Feel Better About Yourself

building a self esteem

Self-confidence is self-respect and belief in your own capabilities and knowledge and a sense of comfort with yourself.  Self-confident people can even invite trust and inspire confidence in others. 

It can be situation-specific and you may have self-confidence in one area of expertise while having less – confidence in other areas of your life. People usually are confident about the areas they are passionate about in their lives, for example in their cooking abilities if they are fond of cooking and less confident in their athletic abilities if they are not into running. 

If you are naturally self–critical and people can influence your thoughts easily and put you down, you can easily become an individual with low self-confidence. 

However, being self-confident is very important and can add many benefits to your life, like loving and respecting others and loving yourself, tackling new job tasks with ease, trying and accepting new things in life easily, acknowledging your mistakes, and using them as learning opportunities. 

Everyone has a chance to build their self-confidence in life, although it might take some time and can involve a lot of ups and downs and in this article, we offer you some tips that you keep in mind and start using and become a new version of yourself. 

How Can You Build Your Self-Confidence? 

Self-confidence along with the feeling of security, identity, sense of belonging, and feeling of competence is one factor that defines self-esteem. 

Your self-confidence may be impacted by your age, disability, genetics, illness, physical abilities, socioeconomic status, thought patterns, etc. 

Before starting building your self–confidence, you can check whether your self–confidence is healthy and you are not overly self-confident or your self-confidence is rather low. 

 If you have healthy high esteem you: 

  • openly express your needs and feel confident
  • have a positive outlook on life
  • say no when you want to
  • believe that you are equal to everyone else 
  • can understand your overall strengths and weaknesses and accept them 
  • never let others manipulate you
  • see life realistically and accept things and people as they are
  • love and respect your partner
  • enjoy everyday activities and grow as a person and easily find meaning in their life
  • do not take it very seriously when someone criticizes you and do not depend on other people’s opinion

But, what if your self–esteem is low how you can recognize it? 

There are a lot of ways to improve your low self-confidence. First of all, you need to find out the reason why your self–confidence is low. 

People with low esteem do not believe in their capabilities and never put their worthiness on themselves.

People with low self-esteem will usually:

  • Have low confidence
  • Try to please anyone and have a hard time saying no
  • Are very indecisive 
  • Get angry and irritated very easily
  • Do not take risks and try new things in life
  • Experience self–doubt, worry, and fear pretty often
  • Believe that other people are better than they are

So, you should make a plan and start practicing the ways that suit you well and your lifestyle. One of the best practices you should do is not to take yourself so seriously, or your current problems. You should always keep in mind that nothing is permanent and you need to make decisions that make you feel good about yourself.

You can use these 4 strategies and build self-esteem activities that are effective and as building a self – esteem is a matter of concern today, thanks to the scientific research and advancement in literature, there are books available on self–esteem that are practical and evidence-based. You can also find online some worksheets and activities for managing your self-esteem and download them for free. (1

What Are 4 Strategies For Building Self-Esteem?

There are plenty of ways in which you can improve your self-esteem. Some of the strategies we propose are:

1. Improve your Mental and Physical Health 

Taking care of your mental and physical health means that you always check up on yourself, listen to your body and make doctor appointments when it’s necessary. In order to improve your health you should take your vitamins, regularly go for a walk or take exercise at least three times a week or do yoga and meditate for one hour per day, and also drink a lot of water daily.  

2. Identify and Challenge your Negative Beliefs

The key to positive thinking is to never underestimate the power of a positive attitude. You should identify and challenge your negative beliefs and keep working until you find their roots and what is causing them in order to work in your favor.

3. Become more Assertive and Learn to Say No

The key is to always know when, why, and whom to say no to and stand behind that decision without regrets. Making your time a priority it’s not selfish it’s part of building your self-esteem.

4. Build Positive Relationships – and Avoid Negative Ones

When you build positive relationships with yourself, your mind, and your body you’re doing yourself a favor. Only with a positive relationship with yourself, you can keep going and make positive social relationships with people, engage with friends, meet new people and work in your social circle without being exhausted. 

How Can You Build Self-Esteem And Confidence Yourself?

You can work with the strategies mentioned before and also add some new habits in your everyday life just to keep sure that you are working on gaining more self-esteem and confidence. 

Write your emotions on paper or in your diary every day or at the end of each week. So you can keep track of how your emotions impact your self-confidence. 

Practice positive self-talk, also is more gentle and patient with yourself. Dance to your favorite playlist, work out, go swimming or hiking to take some deep breaths, and fulfill your mind and body with energy, more oxygen, and positive thoughts.

You can also ask for some feedback from people that know you and appreciate you and you can even write down the feedback and refer it to it when you have a hard time struggling. 

10 Ways To Build Your Self -Esteem Yourself

Here are 10 ways you can use to build up your self–confidence yourself:

  1. Be curious about new things in life
  2. Fight and stand up for your own ideas 
  3. Step out of your comfort zone
  4. Learn from your failures and see them as learning opportunities
  5. Never compare yourself to others 
  6. Have respect for yourself
  7. Have some positive self–talk
  8. Pursue passions that make you feel happy 
  9. Set up big goals in life
  10. Strive for the best, but accept that nobody is perfect

In addition, you can use the following activities whenever you feel like having low self–esteem: 

7 Activities To Raise Your Self-Esteem

Everyone deserves to be happy and have healthy self–esteem to enjoy their life and feel good about themselves, so here are 7 activities to achieve it easily:

1. Use positive affirmations

This is a very well-known tool for improving your self–esteem and confidence. You can always go for some gentle affirmations and do not use exaggerating ones such as:

“I am capable of doing hard things.”

“I will carry on and survive this.”

“I can always grow and learn from my mistakes.”

You can even write them down and place them somewhere to look at them while at home or work.

2. Set a goal and work towards it

Probably the best way to boost your self–esteem is by reaching a goal in your life. This will make you feel proud and will certainly boost your self–esteem even a little bit.

The important thing is that the goals should always be realistic and important for you. For example, if you like running, you can sign up for a race.

3. Practice mindfulness

One systematic review has shown that mindfulness can have a very positive effect on the self – esteem. Still, more research is needed to relate this research to low self–esteem because they had some methodological weaknesses. (2

Mindfulness is a 2500-year-old Buddhist practice. It is about having a clear mind, being fully present and aware of what you are doing, without any interference in the past and in the future. It has already been deployed in Chinese psychiatry as a method for reducing stress, anxiety, and even drug addiction. (3

4. Stop comparing your real life to other people’s highlight reels

Sometimes you may feel bad because of the achievements in the life of some people, especially those who are on social media. But, you must know they have real lives as well, and everyone experiences hardships, vulnerability, and imperfections, and nobody is perfect.

Start having your own life and spend more time on self–care. You can even start volunteering to see that there are people less fortunate than you and with even bigger problems. When you start some positive and meaningful difference in the world you live in, it will surely boost your self–esteem.

5. Keep a self-esteem journal

You can start keeping a journal and write down all the positive things that happened during the day. It is very simple and it takes only a few minutes of your time.

Cultivate your gratitude as well by writing down things you are grateful for in life, giving some compliments about yourself when you look in the mirror, make some gratitude expressions like “I am grateful for my health and all the great people I have in my life”.

6. Spend more time with people who boost your self–esteem

Self–esteem can be affected by people and events coming from outside. If you spend time with people who criticize you very often, it will be hard for you to improve your self–esteem.

Try to spend some time with people who motivate and inspire you, and tell all of your friends who criticize you that criticizing is not acceptable and that you will no longer spend your time with them.

7. Always accept compliments

According to one study, people with low self–esteem have problems with accepting positive feedback and it is more likely that they will accept negative one. (4

Just practice saying “Thank you “ or “That means a lot, thank you “ when someone gives you a compliment, and do not be shy and have that good feeling most people have when receiving a compliment. It will sure make you feel better.

How Can You Stop Being So Insecure?

When you feel insecure your self-esteem probably is very low for some reason. Keep in mind that your insecurity is caused by some reason, try to identify why you feel that way. There is no one given answer which will make you stop being insecure instantly. You should work on lowering insecurities until no longer you have them. The best way to feel more secure is to believe in yourself, your capabilities, and your powers. Remember that no one is you, we all have different paths and you’re responsible for your life decisions. Waking up in the morning with the attitude that life is beautiful, worthwhile and everything is possible if you truly want, is far away the best decision you can make to feel less insecure.

Where Do Our Personality Come From And Is It In Our Genes?

where do personalities come from

What makes you unique is your personality, and it certainly is your personality that grabs the attention when you meet new people. It represents who “you really are” and contributes to your personal development and it is very important for creating relationships and the way you think and act in everyday situations.

Many factors influence personality, including parenting, society, genetics, environment, and the ongoing interaction with other people. All of these influences continuously shape our personality in life.

When we are born, part of our personality exists, and there are some inborn features like mood, demeanor, and emotional responsiveness. They can lead our learning experiences that shape our personality later in life.

Our personality is composed of 3 different components:

  1. Character – it is what we learn from experience, and it determines how we behave and feel ( it evolves through life, but it mostly depends on the inborn traits and early experiences) and strongly influences our moral development.
  2. Temperament – is the key part of the personality, and it presents a set of inherited traits and determines your approach to life.
  3. Environment – it includes all the adaptive patterns, and according to many psychologists, one of the most important factors together with the temperament for the development of our personalities (factors like family and culture are very important for building values in life)

How Does Our Personality Develop?

According to psychologist Erik Erikson, our character develops in 8 phases that are accompanied by a psychosocial crisis that must be managed, so we can go to the next one successfully. All these stages influence your development, but the first 5 are the most important.

  1. Infancy ( trust vs. mistrust) – In infancy, during the first 2 years of life, the basic optimism, trust, and security develop, so if the infant doesn’t receive the needed love, it will feel insecure later in life
  2. Toddlerhood – this page starts from 18 months of age and may last until the infant reaches age 3 or 4. This stage includes negativism, stubbornness, and tantrums, which depend on the character of the child. The child teaches how to find self-control. 
  3. Preschool – the child starts to be imaginative and uses fantasy and cooperation to become a leader or a follower. It depends on adults to develop their imagination, and, in this stage, if it is not successful, the child becomes fearful.
  4. School-age – during this age, the child learns how to play more structured games and require teamwork and basic intellectual work, and relate with peers according to rules. If the child has been successful in the previous phases, it will be autonomous and full of initiative and learn how to be industrious. A child that is mistrusted will feel inferior.
  5. Adolescence – at age 13 or 14, maturity starts to develop, and the young person starts to acquire self-certainty and the sexual identity is established. The child tries to find someone who inspires him or her and develops ideas.
  6. Adulthood ( 19 – 40) – at this age, people learn how to form intimate and loving relationships (full of honesty, love, and closeness) and if they do not succeed in it they will end up being lonely and isolated.  
  7. Middle adulthood (40 to 65) – adults create things that will outlast them, like parenting and making changes that will benefit others.
  8. Old age ( 65 years to death) – People tend to look at their past lives with integrity or despair at this age. If they look back with integrity, it means that they will look at its accomplishment and fulfillment. If they look back with despair, it means that they feel bitterness, shame, and disappointment.

Where Does Personality Come From? Is It Born Or Made?

How are personalities formed? This is still a question that has not got any definite answer. But, there are a few theories, and one of the most famous theories is the psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freud, which proposes that the personality is a reflection of the work of the unconscious mind.

Freud believed that the personality of 3 sections and each section has its distinctive functions:

  1. Id – this section is located in the unconscious mind and is responsible for our natural temperament, natural urges, and basic human instincts and is present at birth. These innate traits are instinctual and do not depend on our experiences.
  2. The ego (Self) is both the conscious and the unconscious mind and develops between birth and age 3. It expresses the impulses of the ID and how you make decisions to express your feelings in the outer world. It helps the ID gets what it wants by applying judgment.
  3. Superego is the section responsible for using guild and pride and morality. It controls the impulses and is composed of two other elements: the ideal self and conscience. The ideal self towards which you aspire in life drives the conscience.

Four Different Personality Types 

According to this theory, there are 4 personality types, which, when combined, make every personality unique, and they are known under the names:

  • The thinker
  • The supporter
  • The socializer
  • The director

The theory of the personality types was created by the two cardiologists Friedman and Rosenman, who discovered Type A behavior.

But, it is important to note that there are various personality tests that you can take, but in this article, we will discuss personality types A, B, C, and D. 

Each one of us has dominant traits of one of these four personality types, although he or she may have elements from another type. 

Type A personality (The Director) 

Type A personalities are in charge of everything, very practical in finding solutions, are goal-oriented, and are known as the director.

They have high standards and are extremely competitive, risk takers, and work well under pressure. Sometimes they work so hard that they can be workaholics and want to finish their job done by the highest standards.

They are usually found in leadership positions, or they try to get there and achieve their life goals.

Type B personality (The Socializer) 

These people have laid-back personalities and are peaceful and very well grounded. They love being surrounded by people, being liked and acknowledged by everyone, and talking too much about themselves, not to show off, but to be liked. They can improve the working environments by building relationships between different personalities and are very good at turning ideas into workable solutions. This type is known as The Socializer.

Type C personality (The Thinker) 

These personalities are stable, rational, and logical and can thrive in controlled environments. They value logic over emotion, they want facts and data, and they do not like drama in their lives.

They tend to analyze everything before they take any steps and are very detailed prepared, logical prepared, and careful before moving on to the task they need to undertake.

They are very meticulous with information at work, and you will find these personalities in roles like medicine, law, and science.

Type D personality (The Supporter) 

This type of personality shows compassion, thoughtfulness and caring for others and is the existentialist one. They have hard-working nature and are people pleasers, but not to be liked, similar to personality type B, but not be validated, but for the work they do.

They are well-organized, cautious, stable, and have great attention to detail, so they are very good at delivering repetitive tasks in a working environment because they do not like change. They are a good part of the team and act as paternal figures to help others to achieve their goals.

Other personality type models are also popular such as:

1. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
2.16Personalities
3. The Big

Is Personality In Our Genes? 

The personality is considered a multifactorial trait, so many factors can influence its development that can be both environmental and genetic. But, what does science says about it? Is it the environment or the genetics that make us introverts or extroverts?

According to studies and research, some traits are inherited, and these are:

  • extraversion
  •  neuroticism
  •  agreeableness 
  • conscientiousness 
  • openness (1

But, environmental factors like different types of education, nurturing and even nutrition can influence personality development. Of course, how the child is raised and the culture he or she is raised in can also influence the development of the personality, and it is important to know that personality development is multifactorial and is influenced by many factors. 

Still, when you are born, you already have certain personality traits called temperament, and some studies confirmed that 20 to 60% of temperament is in our genes and it influences the following: 

  • The energy level 
  • Mood 
  • Distractibility ( how easily they are distracted) 
  • Regularity ( how often they use the bathroom, sleep, and eat) 
  • How do they approach situations ( are they comfortable in new situations) 
  • Adaptability to new situations 
  • Sensory threshold – how many sounds are needed for the child to respond 

Why Do You Feel That You Do Not Have A Personality?

Do you sometimes feel that you do not have an opinion and feel blank, you do not have anything to contribute? When you doubt too often and retreat too often into your own shell to avoid undesirable situations and want to protect yourself emotionally, you prevent your personality shine. (2)  

There are a few reasons why this happens: 

  • You feel intimidated by others and you want to impress them, but you feel they judge you.
  • You feel depressed, and this makes you feel negative about you
  • You have labeled yourself as awkward and inadequate 
  • You feel people look down on you if you have been mocked and bullied as young
  • You put other people on a pedestal and elevate their status instead of yours.

If you want to improve your personality, you can:

  1. Learn how to defeat your self-doubt, never overthink your problems and become more self-conscious.
  2. Take more action and initiatives in life.
  3. Practice storytelling and see how other people respond to them if they become easily bored.
  4. Identify the personal qualities in other people that you admire and try to create goals for yourself and see how you can similarly develop your own personality.
  5. Accept that you are willing to change NOW! You are reading this article, so accept that you need to change your life and personality.
  6. Start sharing your ideas with other people even though you sometimes feel uncomfortable. Sharing ideas helps broaden perspectives.

Online Assignment Help in the USA

Online Assignment

Students in the USA receive so many tasks that each of them may come to the point when high-quality assignment help is needed. Luckily enough, one can easily get the required online assignment help in USA for example with Ninja Essay Writers. Use this brief introduction to get acknowledged with the topic and do not hesitate to contact specialists who can help with the assignment.

How to get assignment help online?

First and foremost, remember that you can find such an option as assignment paper buy online. These services usually work as follows:

  • You post a task and specify all the details about it.
  • The company selects an expert and sends tasks to him free of charge.
  • The expert will offer prices and then you can agree or disagree.

Generally, it is more convenient than searching for someone online. However, you need to search for a reliable vendor of this service and carefully read all the terms and conditions. (1)

How to select a resource for help with the assignment?

Pay attention to reviews about the work of the company and feedback from other users. That is the easiest way to find out the needed details about the resource.

Always find out whether the support team is available round-the-clock and what are the main channels for communication.

Also, check the following points:

  • Who are the experts that the company works with?
  • Do you need to pay additionally for the revisions?
  • Is there a money-back guarantee?

For example, Ninja Essay Writers guarantees the high quality of the assignments in all scientific areas as well as the qualification of the author of this work. In addition, the pricing policy is transparent and affordable. Therefore, you will easily understand all the rules and will get the result that you are looking for. (2)

Top 5 Tips to ACE the CFA Exam

studying for exam

Chartered Financial Accounting, commonly referred to as CFA, is the post-graduate qualification that enables people to upgrade their investment and financial accounting skills. It allows professionals to diversify their portfolios in constructing and managing funds for businesses across different sectors. Certified financial analysts are the decision-makers in the world of investments, banking, and business, occupying positions like the chief financial officer, chief executive, consultant, portfolio manager, and research analyst.

Despite being a promising qualification, few people opt for the qualification due to the difficulty level of the exam. It requires 300 to 400 hours of study and work experience to become eligible for the charter. In the March 2022 exam, only 22% of exam takers could pass the Level 1 module of the exam. This percentage indicates the need for smart study solutions and sheer hard work to be successful in CFA. This article details some of the top tips to ace the CFA with flying colors.

Tip # 1. Get Professional Help

Since CFA is a professional qualification, it tests individuals in various capacities to prepare them for investment world challenges. Given its difficulty level, it is advisable to seek professional help while preparing for the exam. One of the best ways to do so is to register with institutes or platforms that already have a proven record of success for their respective students. One such platform is Wiley. Wiley CFA offers a brilliant study solution to prepare for the CFA exam. Wiley is also a multinational publisher that sells reliable learning materials. At the same time, it provides virtual learning opportunities to make it easy for professionals to juggle between their job and education.

Tip # 2. Focus on Conceptual Study

Although CFA comprises investment and financial accounting, it is not essentially about solving mathematical problems. Moreover, the role of financial analysts has shifted towards providing advice instead of crunching numbers, as that is where AI has taken over the financial world. Keeping that in mind, the CFA exam is becoming more conceptual over time. Therefore, it is essential that your grasp of the concepts is solid and you have a clear understanding of the logic behind the movements in numbers. To succeed, you must focus on conceptual study and analytical aspects of the exam so that you can apply them in any scenario.

Tip # 3. Practice

“Practice makes the man perfect”! Therefore, while prepping for the exam, you must practice enough so that the exam’s structure is at your fingertips. It is crucial to practice by setting a timer so one can confidently manage time while attempting the exam. Moreover, practice enables you to become familiar with the style of the exam. It helps to deal with the anxiety one feels while solving the exam. Consequently, you will not be overwhelmed by the exam, which will save time and boost confidence.

Tip # 4. Diligent Preparation

Study and preparation for CFA should be focused on areas that carry the most weight in the exam. Weights of subject matter are clearly stated on the CFA website, and listed in their learning outcomes statements. On the Level 1 exam, wealth planning, portfolio management, derivatives, and technical analysis have the least number of questions, as compared to ethical and professional standards. Accordingly, you should focus the maximum amount of your time on concepts related to ethical and professional standards.

One of the common mistakes students make while preparing is that they procrastinate a lot.  The goal should be that one month before the exam, you should have completed all the respective syllabuses and completed one practice run. The last month is to be set aside for self-evaluation and revision. During this period, the focus should be on repeatedly practicing and reviewing weak concepts. Throughout the last stage, one should solve past papers in the exam setting.

Tip # 5. Develop a Strategy to Attempt the Exam

To ace the exam, an individual should have a strategy he will use while attempting the exam.

Study the question paper

First, read through the question paper carefully. Avoid starting the exam as soon as you receive it. Carefully mark the questions which you have comprehended in the first read. Leave the questions which seem to be totally out of the blue. While reading the exam, do not get overwhelmed with the questions that seem difficult.

Break down questions

After carefully skimming through the paper the first time, give it another read. This time, you will be able to grasp new information that you might have missed during the first read. The reading also highlights crucial information, such as command words in the questions and key parts of the questions’ requirements.

Conclusion

CFA is a challenging and demanding qualification. However, it is not impossible and only requires rigorous study and smart learning in the right direction with ambition and persistence.  You should have a suitable, well-organized study plan which must include the number of hours you plan to dedicate to preparation. It would be best if you implemented this plan with rigor and determination. The diligent study of financial concepts, strategic planning, practice, and preparation will help you ace the exam.

8 Effective Ways To Stop Eating

how to stop eating when not hungry

How Can You Stop Being Hungry All The Time To Lose Weight?

Appetite and hunger are normal and yet complicated processes which are affected by various external and internal factors, which can sometimes make decreasing one or both of them hard. These processes signal that your body is craving food or needs energy.

So, if you’re trying to shed pounds, struggling with certain health issues, or making changes to your diet, such as adopting an intermittent fasting diet, you may be thinking about how to stop feeling hungry all the time.

So, to make it easier for you to lose weight and keep your health optimal, in what follows, we’ve presented 8 ways you can reduce appetite and hunger.

Feel Hungry

1. Eat More Foods Rich In Fiber

Consuming foods rich in fiber increases feelings of fullness by slowing digestion and stimulating the release of hormones that control appetite and increase feelings of fullness (1,2).

In addition, viscous fibers, such as guar gum, pectin, and psyllium, when mixed with liquids may promote feelings of fullness. Such fibers are naturally found in plant foods but they are also often used as supplements (3,4,5).

One study has found that whole oats, rye, and barley can promote feelings of satiety. It’s also been found that foods like beans, lentils, peas, and chickpeas, which are all rich sources of fiber, can increase satiety too (6,7).

It’s worth mentioning that studies that have examined what effect intake of dietary fiber has on appetite haven’t always used consistent methods. So, some researchers claim that making a generalization about the relationship between appetite and fiber may still not be a good idea.

However, diets rich in fiber have been associated with few adverse effects. Additionally, foods high in fiber often contain other nutrients, such as minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants. So, choosing to eat a diet that contains vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts, and other foods high in fiber and protein can benefit your health long term and increase feelings of fullness.

 

2. Incorporate More Protein Into Your Diet

Consuming foods rich in protein can help make you feel full, decrease hunger hormone levels, and even potentially lower subsequent food intake (8,9,10).

Twenty healthy obese or overweight people were included in one study and asked to eat either egg (food rich in protein) or cereal (a low protein food) for breakfast over the course of one week. The results of the study showed that those participants who consumed eggs for breakfast reported increased feelings of fullness and decreased hunger hormones (11).

The good thing is that in addition to getting protein from animal sources, such as eggs and meats, to keep yourself satiated and control your food intake, you can get protein from vegetables, such as peas and beans.

3. Eat Mindfully

When you eat slowly and mindfully, your body and brain are able to recognize when you are satiated or hungry.

But eating distracted or too fast makes it harder for them to recognize these signals. So, to help your body and brain identify these signals more easily, you need to focus on the foods on your plate and remove all distractions when eating.

Research has found that mindful eating may weaken negative mood cravings and can particularly benefit individuals prone to impulsive, reward-driven, and emotional eating, which all have an effect on appetite and hunger (12,13,14,15).

Another way practicing mindful eating can reduce your food intake is by making you stop eating when you’re not feeling hungry since it’ll make it easier for your brain to recognize that you’re already full.

How To Stop Eating Mindlessly

  • Serve your food on smaller bowls and plates
  • Eat slowly
  • Buy smaller, individual-sized packages of snacks
  • Get rid of all distractions when eating, such as your phone or computer
  • Replace snacks with healthier foods, such as almonds, celery with guacamole, or carrot sticks with peanut butter
  • Before reaching for something to eat, ask yourself if you’re really hungry or if you’re eating just because you’re anxious, bored, or in bad mood.
  • Keep your favorite foods in out-of-the-way cabinets in the kitchen or pantry
  • Avoid buying snacks, pastry, and other sweet foods in bulk

4. Drink A Lot Of Water

It’s been shown that drinking water may help reduce hunger and aid with weight loss for some individuals.

One study showed that consuming 568 milliliters of water before eating increased feelings of fullness and lower energy intake in healthy young males (16).

Moreover, beginning your meal with soup may also have the same effect. It’s been found that consuming foods that are low in energy such as soup as a first course can promote satiety and decrease energy intake (17).

However, eating soup as a first course may not have the same effect on everyone. The type of soup you consume, whether you have certain health conditions, and genetics are important factors at play. For instance, adding umami seasoning, monosodium L-glutamate (MSG), to a vegetable soup has been found to make it more satiating than other soups (1819).

It’s worth mentioning that it’s also been found that consuming water and thirst status may have a greater effect on your preferences for certain foods than on your food intake (20).

However, we can conclude that while it’s essential that you keep your body constantly hydrated, you should not replace your meals with drinking water. What you should do is drink a glass of water before a meal or sip water throughout the day, including during meals.

drink water

5. Eat Slowly

When you’re starving or have an enormous appetite, you can easily eat more than you should or planned to eat. Eating slowly is one way to prevent yourself from overeating, i.e., decrease your meal energy intake (21,22).

Another study, which included 146 participants, found that those participants that ate at a faster rate took larger bites and consumed more calories (23).

On the other hand, another study showed that foods consumed at a slower rate were more satiating than foods consumed fast (24).

6. Eat Solid Foods To Alleviate Hunger

It’s been found that liquid and solid calories have a different effect on body weight and areas of the brain related to reward. It’s also been found that chewing may reduce food intake and hunger. (25,26).

Studies have also found that solid foods or foods that are harder, more viscous, or chunkier considerably increase feelings of fullness and decrease hunger compared with low viscous or liquid foods (27,28).

Similarly, in one study, 50 participants were included and asked to consume hard foods for lunch to investigate the effect of solid foods on energy intake at lunch. The results showed that consuming solid foods decreased participants’ energy intake at lunch and their subsequent meals compared with those participants that ate a lunch consisting of soft foods (29).

Another reason why solid foods help alleviate hunger is that increased chewing allows your taste buds to be exposed to solid foods for longer, which may also increase satiety (30).

7. Exercise Regularly

Exercise is believed to reduce food cravings, which can lead to a decreased motivation to consume foods rich in calories and an increased motivation to consume foods low in calories (31,32).

Exercise can also decrease energy intake, curb appetite, and decrease levels of the hunger hormone leptin (33,34,35).

One study also found that exercise led to a decrease in participants’ preference for foods high in fat (36).

exercise

8. Get Enough Quality Sleep 

Studies have found that short sleep duration may lead to irregular eating behavior,  an elevated risk of obesity and metabolic disorders, and increased total energy intake (37,38).

In another study, a night of sleep curtailment has been associated with increased hunger, portion sizes of food, and food cravings (39).

Moreover, another study suggests that sleep deprivation affects the regulation of leptin, a hormone that regulates food intake and energy expenditure, which may cause type 2 diabetes and obesity by increasing food intake and appetite (40).

Short sleep duration has also been found to increase the levels of ghrelin, which is also an appetite-regulating hormone (41).

How To Fight Hunger Quickly

Learning how to fight hunger may require patience and a little self-control, but it’s worth every effort since once you learn how to do that, it can help you maintain a healthy lifestyle.

So, next time you feel yourself getting hungry, don’t reach for snacks or something sweet to satisfy your hunger. You can do that in the following ways:

1. Drink A Glass Of Water

As we already said, drinking a glass of water before a meal can make you feel more satiated. Additionally, drinking a glass of water can help you see whether you’re really hungry or you’re feeling hungry since you’re bored, anxious, or in bad mood. You can also feel hungry because you’re just dehydrated since feelings of thirst can be commonly mistaken for feelings of hunger.

2. Drink Green Tea

In addition to being rich in antioxidants, green tea is a natural appetite suppressant. So, when you’re hungry, drink a hot cup of this tea and you’ll quickly notice that you feel full and more energized.

3. Try Exercising

Exercising when feeling hungry can help shift your focus from eating to other things. Plus, while letting your mind focus elsewhere, you’ll get your body in shape. If you’re feeling hungry because you’re in bad mood or stressed, going for a fast walk or a quick swim, or jogging can help you get rid of your hunger pangs.

4. Try Breathing Deeply

Taking slow, deep breaths can help alleviate hunger pangs. All you need to do is take a deep breath through your nose and breathe out through pursed lips slowly. Repeat this breathing exercise 5-10 times while focusing on your breathing the entire time.

5. Do Something Fun

Whether it’s drawing, cooking, playing a musical instrument, listening to a podcast, or playing video games, keeping your mind off your hunger will prevent you from reaching for food or even overeating when feeling hungry.

6. Postpone Eating For 5 Minutes

When you feel yourself getting hungry, remind yourself to wait for 5 minutes. And while you’re waiting, try to see whether you’re actually hungry. If you don’t feel hungry anymore, then postpone eating for another 10 minutes, then 15 minutes and etc. Your hunger pangs will disappear in the blink of an eye.

How To Make Yourself Not Feel Hungry Without Eating?

Before we explain how you can make yourself not feel hungry without eating, we’d like to emphasize that in order for you to increase feelings of fullness, it’s important that you consume foods rich in nutrients, fiber, protein, and complex carbs, and healthy fats. Consuming such foods will help keep you more satiated during the day.

However, when you feel yourself getting hungry, instead of reaching for unhealthy foods, such as snacks, cookies, or fast food, make yourself not feel hungry in the following ways:

  • Keep yourself properly hydrated
  • Get enough quality sleep
  • Reduce your stress levels
  • Exercise
  • Chew a piece of gum
  • Brush your teeth
  • Walk for 15 minutes

fiber food

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Do I Feel Hungry All The Time?

Feeling hungry all the time is an issue that may be a result of your food choices. Many dieticians agree that in addition to sleep deprivation and being often stressed, a lack of fiber, fat, and protein in your diet causes unnecessary hunger pangs.

Understanding how certain foods influence your feelings of fullness and the function of your hunger hormones can help you get rid of this problem.

To increase feelings of fullness, it’s important that you consume foods rich in nutrients and complex carbs, such as oatmeal and quinoa, as they can help keep you full longer than foods containing refined carbohydrates. Consuming foods rich in fiber, healthy fats, and protein can also help keep you satiated throughout the day and curb your cravings for snacks and sugar.

Foods rich in fiber include:

  • Barley
  • Chickpeas
  • Lentils
  • Pears
  • Berries
  • Brussels sprouts
  • Chia seeds
  • Sweet potatoes
  • Almonds
  • Carrots

Foods rich in healthy fats include:

  • Seeds and whole nuts
  • Avocados
  • Egg yolks
  • Olive oil
  • Nut butter

Foods rich in protein include:

  • Eggs
  • Lentils
  • Fish and seafood
  • Lean meats
  • Chicken
  • Tofu
  • Greek yogurt

So, consuming foods rich in fiber, protein, healthy fats, and complex carbs throughout the day will help keep you feeling full longer.

The Hunger Hormones

1. Leptin

When your fat cells are “full,” they produce leptin so that your brain knows you’ve had enough food.

The main purpose of this hormone is to keep us from gaining weight. However, in people with obesity, the brain doesn’t sense this hormone. Research suggests that consuming foods rich in simple carbohydrates and sugar can block leptin’s effects. So, to help your brain register leptin and help yourself feel full instead of feeling hungry all day long, you need to reduce your intake of simple carbohydrates and sugar.

2. Ghrelin

This hormone has the opposite effect of leptin. Ghrelin increases your appetite. It’s released when your stomach is empty and acts on your brain’s receptors to make you feel hungry.

The problem is that not only does ghrelin cause you to feel hungry, but it also activates areas of the brain related to reward, which makes you crave unhealthy, addictive foods such as chocolate, cookies, or pizza.

So, in order to reduce the production of ghrelin, you need to make sure you drink water or eat foods low in calories or rich in fiber at meal times.

3. Neuropeptide Y

In addition to being a brain neurotransmitter and a chemical that makes you want to eat, many consider it to be a hunger hormone.

This chemical is released into your body when you eat a diet high in fat and sugar or are under stress.

So, obviously, if you don’t want to feel hungry all the time, you need to decrease neuropeptide Y levels. You can do this by managing your stress levels, avoiding eating foods rich in sugar and unhealthy fats, and practicing intermittent fasting.

4. Cortisol

Cortisol is a steroid hormone whose levels are high when you don’t get enough sleep or are under stress for a long period of time. High levels of cortisol make your appetite stay high as well.

5. Insulin

This is a hormone whose function is to make you store fat, and it is released when your blood sugar levels increase.

Foods such as cereals, pasta, bread, and other foods rich in sugar cause your blood sugar levels to rise and the extra sugar ends up being stored as body fat. When your blood sugar levels decrease, you feel hungry and this cycle starts again.

The most effective way to ensure high blood sugar doesn’t make you feel hungry is to not eat foods that increase your blood sugar.

Another factor that can make you feel hungry all the time is having two copies of the “Fat Gene,” or FTO gene, which prevents you from feeling satiated when you eat. A lot of people with obesity have two copies of this gene.

How Not To Feel Hungry All The Time

  • Fill your stomach with foods low in calories and rich in fiber and drink water during meals. This will help suppress ghrelin production.
  • Get enough sleep every night to keep leptin levels high and ghrelin levels low.
  • Minimize your intake of simple carbs and sugar to keep the levels of neuropeptide Y and insulin low.
  • Avoid eating foods high in unhealthy fats.
  • Manage your stress levels each day.

Is It Bad To Be Hungry All The Time?

If you don’t eat for several hours, it’s normal to feel hungry. However, if you constantly feel hungry, particularly after you’ve just finished eating a meal, this could be a sign that you have health issues. In what follows, we’ve presented several reasons why you may feel hungry all the time.

  • Having a poor diet, like eating white bread, fast foods, pastries, and packaged meals, which are all packed with unhealthy carbs and fat and don’t contain nutrients
  • Diabetes
  • Sleep deprivation
  • Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)
  • Often feeling stressed
  • Dehydration
  • Thyroid problems
  • Taking certain drugs, such as antidepressants, antipsychotic drugs, antihistamines, steroids, and diabetes medicines
  • Exercising a lot
  • Polyphagia (extreme hunger)

Why Do I Feel Hungry After I Eat?

There are various reasons why you may feel hungry after eating. First of all, this could be due to the poor nutritional composition of your meal. If you eat a diet that is low in fiber and protein, you’ll likely find yourself feeling hungry after eating. So, in order for you to feel full after eating, make sure you include foods rich in protein and fiber in your diet. Foods that are packed with protein include lean meats, poultry, eggs, dairy products, fish, and seafood. Foods that are a rich source of fiber include vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts, and grains.

Then, you may also feel hungry after eating due to the stretch receptors in your stomach whose role is to induce feelings of fullness after or during eating. The thing is that they rely on the meal’s total volume. So, to feel full after eating, make sure you eat foods that don’t have many calories but are high in volume, such as fruits, vegetables, chicken breast, popcorn, turkey, and shrimp. Also, drinking water before or during a meal can add volume to the meal, thereby inducing feelings of fullness.

And last but not least, you may feel hungry after eating due to leptin resistance. Leptin is the primary hormone that signals your brain that you’re full. But, sometimes this hormone doesn’t work properly in the brain, particularly in some individuals suffering from obesity. This is known as leptin resistance.

When leptin doesn’t work properly, this means that your brain doesn’t detect that there’s enough or plenty of this hormone in the blood, so it keeps thinking that you’re hungry, even after eating.

Science suggests that eating foods rich in fiber, consuming less sugar, getting enough sleep, and exercising regularly can help lower leptin resistance.

Besides the factors explained above, there are other lifestyle and behavioral factors that may explain why you don’t feel full after eating, such as:

  • Eating too fast
  • Not eating enough during the day
  • Eating distracted
  • Exercising intensely
  • Feeling often stressed
  • Not getting adequate sleep
  • Having high blood sugar levels
  • Insulin resistance

Is It Normal To Be Hungry After Eating A Meal?

Feeling hunger and having an appetite are normal signs of your body that it’s craving food or needs energy. However, it’s neither normal nor fun to feel hungry all the time, particularly if you’ve just eaten a meal. This may mean that your meals don’t include the right combinations of foods or that you’re eating less food than you should. In addition, you may feel hungry after eating due to all the factors presented above.

How Can I Eat Breakfast Without Feeling Hungry All Day?

If eating breakfast makes you feel hungry all day, this is most likely because you have the wrong type of breakfast. Eating foods such as cereals, toaster pastries, cereal bars, and white bagels for breakfast can trigger hunger and spike your blood sugar. So, to make sure you don’t feel hungry after breakfast, eat foods rich in lean proteins and fiber in the morning.

How Can I Stop Eating Late At Night?

  • Use a routine: Get enough quality sleep, have 6 meals a day, and eat small portions.
  • Eat foods high in protein at every meal
  • Eat regularly during the day.
  • If the reason you eat late at night, even when you’re not hungry, is that you’re anxious or stressed, make sure you reduce your stress or anxiety in other ways, such as practicing meditation, breathing exercises, or yoga.
  • Distract yourself.
  • Check whether you’re suffering from night eating syndrome or binge-eating disorder. If you are, you might want to consult a doctor.

Is It Ok Not To Eat For A Day?

Not eating for a day is generally safe unless you have other health conditions. Moreover, it’s been found that occasional fasting for 24 hours can contribute to cardiovascular health.

However, going a day without eating can have a negative effect on some people, which we’ve presented below, so they should avoid 24-hour fasting. 

  • People taking medications that must be taken with food
  • People suffering from eating disorders
  • Pregnant women or women who are breastfeeding
  • People having diabetes
  • Children and adolescents

How Do I Train My Mind To Stop Eating?

If you’re often thinking about food, here are several tips on how to make yourself not want to eat.

  • Don’t deprive yourself of the foods you enjoy eating
  • Drink enough water
  • Consume foods rich in fiber, protein, and nutrients. This will help keep you satiated for longer and enable you to control your appetite
  • Distract yourself
  • Identify what things trigger you to think about food when you are satiated. It could be boredom, stress, anxiety, or feeling emotional
  • Be more physically active

How Do You Get Rid Of A Lack Of Appetite?

Follow these tips to stimulate your appetite:

  • Consume more of the foods you enjoy eating
  • Cook tasty, flavorful meals
  • Eat foods rich in nutrients
  • Eat smaller meals rich in calories
  • Learn to think positively about eating and enjoy it
  • Set a phone alarm to remind you to eat

What Is Ethereum and How Does It Work?

Cryptocurrency

What is the second cryptocurrency and the first altcoin? The common answer is Ethereum. Still, it is quite special, and one needs to learn more about it to understand its differences. For example, its functions are much wider than those of Bitcoin. If you want to know why Ethereum is needed, how it works, who is behind it, and whether it is worth buying as an investment, you will find the answers further.

Ethereum

Definition and Basic Terms

Ethereum was developed to be a universal system of contracts that utilize blockchain technology. That is why it is not a cryptocurrency at all. The latter, of course, is needed to run apps inside the system and is called Ether.
The system that got the name Ethereum can be utilized for the creation of any service or app. As for Ether (ETH), it is a token that transfers information inside this service. Therefore, the latter is more similar to ordinary banknotes that we are used to.

Token, as a unit of information, can be:

•Non-fungible or unique.
•Fungible, which is true for Ether that needs this property to be used as money.

The latter is traded on the stock exchange just like traditional currencies, so its rate is volatile. Still, you can easily find Ethereum price USD at https://capital.com/eth-usd-chart and see the current changes in the situation.

The system automatically executes smart contracts. The base for this action is a special algorithm that cannot be changed after all parties sign it. The main advantage of smart contracts is the absence of intermediaries to ensure their execution.

Altogether, this financial system accepts Ether as money and concludes smart contracts for different transactions.
Moreover, this technology is beneficial because a lot of apps are launched using it. They got the name DApps because they are decentralized. According to recent statistics, this ecosystem is used by 72.9% of all decentralized applications in the world. (1)

What is the reason for such popularity? The main points are the following:

• It was conceived from the start so everyone can utilize it for any task.
• It is a decentralized system without any state control or one controlling organization or person.
• The source code is open, so anyone can read it, but there are no possibilities to change somehow the existing contracts.

How Ethereum Differs from Bitcoin

crypto analyst

Bitcoin is the first and most popular crypto. Still, it is just cryptocurrency, the main advantages of which are:

• decentralization
• anonymity
• built-in anti-inflation mechanism

Ethereum, as was shown above, is a tool for creating decentralized services, which is exactly how it was conceived. Its main advantages:

• decentralization
• anonymity
• built-in smart contract mechanism
• built-in inflation protection mechanism
• high speed of work

Ethereum differs from bitcoin in the mechanics of inflation protection. For BTC, the halving mechanism is utilized, that is, the reduction of remuneration to miners by 50% automatically every 4 years. Mining bitcoin in this way is becoming less profitable; in addition, its emission is limited to 21 million coins, and the bigger part is already on the market.

For Ethereum, the reduction mechanism is utilized. This is also a reduction in the reward for mining but in the manual mode, if necessary. Ether emission is not limited.

Transactions in the Ethereum system are faster. If Bitcoin is capable of processing four transactions per second, for Ethereum, this number is already 20.

However, the main difference between them is smart contracts, which simply do not exist in Bitcoin technology.

In addition, if Bitcoin was conceived only as a digital currency, where the only possible type of transaction is the transfer of funds, Ethereum is a system consisting of a currency and a mechanism for its use (transactions), which is unique and reliable. This is the main profit of Ethereum, which makes it both unique and popular.

Still, both systems work on blockchain technology. In both cases, the latter is a ledger where information is stored. Nevertheless, if the Bitcoin blockchain can only store data about the owners of the BTC itself, then the Ethereum blockchain was originally created to store the information in any app. In a nutshell, its main advantage is versatility. (2)

How to Spice Up Your Conversations: 4 Tips to Make Your Dates End in the Bedroom

relationship

There’s nothing worse than a boring conversation on a date you were really looking forward to. You entered the date finding her really attractive, but by the end of it, the spark isn’t quite there. While not all women will be compatible with you, most men typically suck at conversation and don’t know how to escalate an interaction.

If you’re already a great conversationalist who gets women obsessed with your words, then no need to keep reading. Otherwise, find out how you can have better dates through the power of conversation.

romantic couple

1. Be a leader

As a man, our job is to lead. We want the date to go from “hello” to something exciting in the bedroom. However, if we’re not making an effort to push the conversation towards the right direction, the girl is unlikely to help either.

Even though more women are feeling empowered through pop culture, we’re still very much in a society where men need to make the first move. A lot of women fear consequences to their reputation if they’re known as the ones making the first sexual advance.

Furthermore, men have been known to lead since the beginning of time. Leading is an attractive trait women love. Strong leaders stand out, and beautiful women go after them. Think ALPHA MALE. Therefore, it’s in your best interest to lead an interaction, especially towards sex.

2. Don’t be agreeable

Speak clearly, don’t be hesitant about your thoughts and most importantly, talk about what YOU want to talk about. If the girl says she loves rock music and you don’t, don’t become the biggest rock fan overnight. She can sense your dishonesty, which will give her red flags. Be true to yourself. In fact, disagreeing with the girl sometimes can not only spark sexual tension but create a more interesting conversation.

Agreeableness is often a trait to describe women, not men. But this doesn’t mean to be hostile either. You can have fun, heated conversations without insulting each other. In fact, being emotionally reactive is generally a turn off for a lot of women. Attractive men are grounded and unaffected by little jabs women throw at them.

If the girl is into you, you might even notice her bending her opinions to match yours. She may even qualify her strong statements just because you have a different opinion. For example, if she says she hates country music and you reply by saying that you go to country music festivals all the time, she might soften her previous statement by saying, “Well, some country music is actually not that bad.”

The goal of dating is to connect in some way or another. Even if you just wanted to have sex, it’s eventually going to get boring sleeping with people you can’t even have a fun conversation with. (1)

playing guitar

3. Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll

If you want a conversation to lead to sex, you need to take risks. Talk about topics that are associated with sex. Decades ago, people who had a lot of sex happened to do drugs and listen to rock & roll. This doesn’t mean that you should do the same to have a crazy sex life, but it does mean to talk about topics associated with sex or are at least a bit edgy.

Talk about crazy moments, parties, piercings, secrets, etc. Be playful and explore each other’s naughty sides. Not only will this be fun, but the girl will be relieved to know that you’re a cool guy she can speak openly with. You’ll be surprised to see how troublesome girls can be once they open up to you.

And if you consider yourself someone who isn’t quite exposed to these activities, just focus on the act of sex itself. Don’t be so blunt, but do build it into your conversation. Maybe start by asking her when her first kiss was. Discuss when she lost her virginity next. Create a hypothetical sexual situation and ask her what she would do. The options are endless, just have fun. If you’re not having fun, you’ll come off as a creep who just talks about sex.

4. Flirt More

The typical guy does not flirt enough. He will compliment a girl every so often and will think that is enough for flirting. It’s really not. You need to take a risk and spark attraction.

Think about how you can create more tension in an interaction. Maybe pull her close to you for a moment, then push her away. Instead of focusing on all the positive things about her, tease her on the things you’re not so sure about.

“I love those tattoos on you. Let’s just put a big sweater on you when I introduce you to my mom though.”

Start incorporating the word “we” more. It will immerse both of you into the moment and allow yourselves to play around with the idea of a potential relationship. She’ll bring up stuff she’s not so sure about and so will you. Play around and let your guys’ personalities come through. That’s the real way of getting to know each other. (2)

couple

Getting Her to Like You Is Only Half the Battle

If you can get a girl to like you, great. You haven’t really done much. Girls like a lot of guys, but they don’t sleep with every guy they like. Girls sleep with guys they are really into.

And if you want to get a girl REALLY attracted to you, you have to take some risks. You may even end up losing her, but it’s the right move in the long run. This is because she’ll either be turned on by you or realize that you guys aren’t compatible. If it’s the latter, then losing her saves you a lot of time.

Now you have some tools you can use to make your conversations fun and sexual. Be a solid guy and speak what’s on your mind. Flirt more and incorporate sexual topics. Soon enough, you’ll have the dating life of a rockstar.