Is Watermelon Seed Flour Good for You?

This topic was suggested by a long-time Nutrition Diva listener, Staci, who sent me a picture of something called watermelon seed flour. "Is this another hyped up thing or is it legit? Does it work like wheat flour?"

I have to admit that Staci's email was the first time I'd heard about watermelon seed flour. Come to think of it, with the advent of seedless watermelons (which surely ranks as one of the top accomplishments of the modern era), I can't remember the last time I even saw a watermelon seed. Apparently, all those seeds that are no longer clogging up our fruit salads have now been ground up and rebranded as a low-carb, grain-free flour alternative. 

Is watermelon seed flour nutritious?

A quarter-cup of watermelon seed flour provides 15 grams of fat, 9 grams of protein, and just 3 grams of carbohydrate.  The high fat content meants it's relatively high in calories, too. A quarter cup of watermelon seed flour has 180 calories, compared with 160 in almond flour, 130 in coconut flour, and 110 calories in whole wheat flour.  The nutritional profile of watermelon seed flour is most similar to that of almond flour.

Click here for a nutritional comparison of grain- and gluten-free flours.

But what's not in watermelon seed flour appears to be just as important.

What's not in watermelon seed flour?

According to one of the leading purveyors of watermelon seed flour, it is not just grain- and gluten-free but also "Big 8 free."  That means that it doesn't contain any of the eight foods responsible for 90% of all food allergy reactions. The "Big 8," as they are called, are (roughly in order, from most to least common): dairy, shellfish, fish, wheat, eggs, nuts, peanuts, and soy. 

Contrary to some mistaken impressions, eating a food like wheat or soy does not increase your chances of developing an allergy to it.

Being free of common allergens might seem like a pretty big plus. And, indeed, many consumers interpret this sort of front-of-package labeling as an indication that foods that are free of these allergens are somehow more healthful or nutritious. But for the 95% of the population who do not have food allergies, there is no advantage to avoiding them.  Contrary to some mistaken impressions, eating a food like wheat or soy does not increase your chances of developing an allergy to it.

The Big 8—Should You Avoid These Common Food Allergens?

Paleo pancakes (and other oxymorons)

Watermelon seed flour also seems to have been...

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6 Ways to Personalize Your Dorm Room

A couple weeks ago, I saw a story online about two girls who did a ridiculous makeover on their dorm room. The before pictures of the room had the standard fixings of collegiate housing: block walls, industrial flooring, and boring furniture. The after images make the room almost unrecognizably glam.

Now I realize that most college students aren’t going to invest the time and money to decorate their dorm rooms to this extent, but it doesn’t hurt to use a few of their ideas. Talk with your roommate and see if they are on board, and start putting together ideas for how you can makeover your dorm room. If you all agree, you can start making a few small changes to a dorm room that will make it feel much less industrial and more like home.

Paint

This first idea is highly dependent on your school’s rules. Some colleges allow the students to paint the dorm rooms, so long as they are painted back to the original color at the end of the year. If your school is one that allows dorm rooms to be painted, it is the biggest thing you can do to make your room feel like home. Many dorm rooms are painted a bright white, so being able to change the walls to pretty much any other color will give it personality.

By painting the walls a light neutral color, you can create a cozy atmosphere that will make the dorm room feel like a normal bedroom. If you want to add a pop of a brighter or darker color, pick a wall to make an accent wall for that color. The girls in the story painted their walls a tan-ish gold color which set the base for their glam décor. Whatever the vibe you want to create, painting the walls is a great way to start.

Add curtains

Most college dorm rooms come with standard window treatments, usually blinds. These are a great start for window coverings because they provide privacy and block out the early morning sun, but they don’t offer much personality for the room. Curtains can do a lot to change the feel of a room, and if you are not allowed to paint your dorm, they can actually allow you to change the color of a wall without paint. All you need is a long curtain rod or track and a couple extra curtains.

By using longer curtains, 96” at least, and a long curtain rod, you can hang the curtains to almost completely cover a wall. Don’t be afraid to do this even if the window in your dorm room is on the small side.

The large curtain can trick the eye in to thinking that the window is bigger, which can make your room feel more luxurious.

Cover the floor

College dorms are notorious for having unattractive industrial flooring. I can’...

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How to Detect BS with John Petrocelli

Ah, bullshit. We see it—and call it—all around us: with kids, partners, colleagues, advertising, politics, etc. You name the domain and we’ve seen its BS. Sometimes it’s innocuous and frustrating, but other times it can detrimental, holding us back from trading in truth and reality. 

 

So how do spot and combat the BS swirling around us? John Petrocelli, social psychologist and author of the new book The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit joined me for a conversation to help decode, demystify, and push past the BS. And yes, it’s science.

What is the meaning of bullshit?

 

Borrowing from a definition developed by moral philosopher Harry Frankfurt, BS, John explains,  is “a communicative substance that results from intentionally or unintentionally, consciously or unconsciously… communicating something that one knows little to nothing about” often to impress, to fit in, to persuade, or simply to hide the fact that one doesn’t know what they’re talking about.

 

“Essentially,” he continues, “it just involves talking about something with little to no regard for what we would call truth, genuine evidence, or established knowledge.”

 

And this matters because, as John told me, “the research so far suggests that BS can have a longer-lasting and more impactful effect on a person’s attitudes and beliefs.” In other words, BS carries consequences we need to attend to.

How does bullshit show up in the workplace?

“You would think,” he began, “that the workplace would be a place that people would engage in evidence-based communication and reasoning more than any other place, but you find just as much BS there as [anywhere else].”

 

Much of this is driven by people feeling obligated to have an informed opinion about everything. This is exacerbated in the workplace, where we are, after all, supposed to be experts at our jobs. So, when a question is posed, we should have an answer. When an idea is challenged, we should have a defense at the ready.

 

“But the reality is oftentimes we do not have well-informed answers and evidence-based beliefs about the things we do.”

 

I shared with John some of my own personal...

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Are Sit-Ups and Crunches Bad for You?

Sit-ups and crunches are popular exercises for working the abdominal muscles. They’re the go-to for most people who want to strengthen their core or develop six-pack abs. However, sit-ups and crunches have come under increased scrutiny over the last several years as potentially dangerous movements that should be avoided. Are these exercises really as bad as some say they are? If so, what makes sit-ups and crunches so dangerous and what exercises should we be doing instead? 

The sit-up controversy: too much bending is harmful 

Let’s start by looking at where the idea that sit-ups and crunches are potentially dangerous comes from. This idea is based on studies showing that repetitive bending of the trunk, like the motions used in sit-ups and crunches, damages the discs of the lower back. These studies provide useful insights into how disc herniations (also called bulged, slipped, or ruptured discs) can happen. But the findings of these studies should be interpreted with a fair amount of skepticism. Why? Because they’re all based on research using the dissected spine of dead pigs that were continuously taken into sit-up or crunch-like motions from 4,400 to more than 86,000 times using a machine in a laboratory setting. Based on these studies, well-meaning rehab and fitness researchers began touting sit-ups and crunches as dangerous movements that should be avoided by most people. 

The body has an incredible ability to repair itself and most cases of painful disc herniations are able to heal within a few weeks.

I prefer a pragmatic approach when weighing in on these issues by considering both the research as well as the reality. We are, of course, living and breathing humans, not dead pig spines placed in bending machines for countless hours without pause. What we can take away from this line of research is that too much of the type of bending used in sit-ups and crunches does lead to damage of the spinal discs. But in reality, how many people do you know actually perform anywhere near the number of sit-ups or crunches used in the studies? Some researchers may point out that it’s the...

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A Heart Surgeon's View of the Heart

In this excerpt from Reinhard Friedl's The Source of All Things, the author introduces his facination with the heart. 

Most of the time you don’t hear it, but if your heartbeat were suddenly to stop, you’d stop too. You live from one beat to the next. In between, death resides. If after one heartbeat there isn’t another, the clock of life stands still. It might happen while we’re sleeping — or shopping. None of us knows the hour of our death.

Your heartbeat is my profession. Sixty to eighty times per minute, this sound creates life. Most hearts beat calmly and strongly, some in a constant rush. Even if the heart stumbles occasionally, it always tries to go on. I have seen many hearts laboring with their last ounce of strength. The heart knows no weekend, no holiday. On your seventy-fifth birthday, it will have beaten about three billion times. It started its work eight months before your birth, twenty- two days after procreation. The heart is the first organ to develop, long before the brain and the first breath. Nothing works without the heart. It throbs through the years and decades, unnoticed—until something ceases to function. Or until a high-tech scan, by accident, discovers a defect that has not yet been felt.

Afflictions of the heart are always dramatic. A pain in the chest is completely different from a pain in the hip. We perceive everything to do with the heart as an attack on our lives, on our inviolability. Even if later it turns out not to be life-threatening, an aching heart is a cause for concern and often triggers a fear of dying. A headache can also be a harbinger of danger; it can eventually lead to death by stroke or brain hemorrhage. Yet a severe headache worries us less than a light pressure in the chest. Deep inside, human beings sense that the heart is the source of all life.

As a heart surgeon I have held thousands of hearts in my hands. I have operated on premature babies and repaired the heart valves of patients well advanced in years. I have implanted artificial hearts and stitched up knife wounds to the heart. As an organ, the heart has been investigated down to its smallest parts. We seem to know everything about it—and yet we know nothing. Every week there are hundreds of new scientific findings published about this organ that has not changed since Homo sapiens emerged 300,000 years ago. It seems that the French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal is still correct: “The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing.”

All great cultures, from the Stone Age to the present, and all religions and spiritual movements perceived and continue to perceive the heart as a symbol, as the biological center for love...

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De-stress Back-to-School with Trauma-Informed Parenting

Everyone has experienced stress in the last year because of the constraints of COVID-19 and ever-shifting CDC guidelines, which only makes this year's back-to-school period more intense.

Ever since the pandemic began, parents in my practice have described aggressive, impulsive, or “numbed out” behaviors in their children and in themselves as a response to this stress. Isolation and inequitable access to basic needs like food, housing, healthcare, and education, all took a toll on mental health. Parents struggled to work from home while monitoring remote learning. Other parents had no options but to travel to work—potentially putting their whole family at risk—and felt exhausted by the hypervigilance involved in keeping everyone safe.

Black and brown people have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Police brutality and the historical trauma of racism led to anti-racist uprisings and conflicts. As if that weren’t enough, families have dealt with contentious divides in political ideologies, especially the politicization of pandemic safety measures. The new Delta variant only adds to the stress and uncertainty.

While we know there are mental health benefits to children returning to school, for some parents it can still feel like choosing between your child’s emotional health or their physical well-being. Kids and families may be overwhelmed with the fear that someone they love might get or die, or that they could lose resources allowing them access to food, housing, or health care. Younger kids not yet eligible for a vaccine may be worried about their own safety and that of their unvaccinated peers or siblings.

How can parents help children with their stress or trauma as they transition back to school in such uncertainty, while also managing their own anxiety at the same time?

What is trauma?

Resmaa Menakem, author of My Grandmother’s Hands, explains that trauma is not an event or an emotional response, but a bodily experience. He describes it as a "spontaneous protective mechanism used by the body to stop or thwart further (or future) potential damage."

Your body's protective response to a stressful event or a series of stressful events—real or imagined—overwhelms your ability to cope. Your brain senses danger and tells your body to engage your nervous system’s survival mode. In survival mode, your brain perceives and responds to the world only in terms of good or bad; the ability to perceive nuance and think clearly goes offline. Your nervous system can become mobilized, ready to fight or flee, or...

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Never Use Secret Tests in Your Relationship

It can be frustrating when a partner, or potential partner, behaves in a way that makes you feel uncertain:

"Why aren’t they texting me first? I am always the one texting first. What if they are interested in other people when they are out with friends? Do I have to worry about them flirting with other people? If another romantic opportunity presented itself, would they actually flirt with them, or worse, try to pursue something with them?"

This uncertainty is normal as feelings grow in a new relationship, or as you start to become more serious with a romantic partner. But watch out: these feelings can sometimes manifest in some pretty unhealthy behaviors as we try to understand our partner’s intentions or how they really feel. One of these behaviors is known as a "secret test."

What is a secret test?

If you're worried about a partner's lack of interest, a common piece of advice you might hear is to withhold sending that first text. If you feel like you always make the move to initiate conversations, try to force their hand! If your partner reaches out to you, then it's a sign they're interested, but if they don’t, then they aren’t actually interested in you and you should move on.

This is an example of what researchers call a “secret test.” Secret tests are when you behave in a predetermined way to see how your partner will respond in order to assess the state of your relationship.

Don't follow this advice! Secret tests can be harmful to your mental health and to your relationship. They can make you ruminate about your problems, make up scenarios in which your partner fails, and then stress about whether your partner is going to live up to your expectations. Secret tests are often a sign of a deteriorating relationship, one where trust isn’t present, or the self-esteem of the partner creating the test is low.

Secret tests can be harmful to your mental health and to your relationship.

7 categories of secret tests

What behaviors actually qualify as secret tests? Here are seven categories of secret tests researchers have identified:

1. Asking third parties. Going to a third party, such as a friend or family member of your partner’s, to ask them how your partner feels about you is a secret test. Although indirect, you are seeking out information about how your partner is feeling about you...

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5 Steps to Becoming an Ally

Have you looked around and thought, “Geez, we really are serving up the planet flambé-style.” The ocean has literally been on fire. Violence continues against BIPOC people. Immigrants’ rights, women’s rights, and trans rights have all been under attack. This isn’t even a complete list! It can be hard to figure out how to be an ally when there is so much happening.

In this episode, I’ll be reviewing 5 basic steps to get you started and keep you going on the path of allyship.

The world is overwhelming. When my patients come in, they aren’t just experiencing depression, they're talking about how world events are affecting their mental health. They are opening up about how the various forms of oppression are impacting their daily lives. I have Asian patients who are afraid to walk down the street because of the rise in violence, and I live in NYC, which is supposed to be one of the most diverse and welcoming cities in the world.

When my patients come in, they aren’t just experiencing depression, they are talking about how world events are affecting their mental health.

I have black patients who are fatigued from trying to stay on top of it all and suffer from Superwoman Syndrome or John Henryism. I have white patients who are outraged about what they see and want to help but don’t know how. You also might find the prospect of allyship daunting, even if you have good intentions. I encourage you to take a deep breath, because all you need to be an ally is a little heart.

H.E.A.R.T is an acronym I created so that my patients could have a basic outline of the steps needed to be an effective ally.

Do you have H.E.A.R.T.?

H is for Heed the call

The first step is to not walk around pretending like these things aren’t happening. Perhaps you’ve heard the line, “silence is compliance.” Don’t let the cries of the oppressed fall on deaf ears. Don’t let headlines dictate what you care about. Many people do the opposite and create safety silos that keep them completely disconnected from what’s happening in the world. Please resist this urge, because it will give you a false sense that everything is OK when it’s not. Systemic oppression means that it’s in the foundations of our everyday lives. The same way that the Earth is constantly turning and you can’t feel the motion, the wheels of systemic oppression are churning and you won’t always hear the commotion.

E is for Educate yourself...

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'Where' Versus 'In Which'

Today, we’ll be looking at the words “which” and “where.” In some sentences, either one is correct, but which one you choose depends on your audience.

'In which' versus 'where'

Consider these two sentences: “This is the store at which I met my friend” and “This is the store where I met my friend.” As you can probably guess, “which” is more formal than “where.”

Relative pronouns

In the two sentences about the store, the words “which” and “where” both function as relative pronouns. Relative pronouns, such as “who” and “that,” introduce dependent clauses. (1) So in the sentence “The dog that I adopted needed its shots,” the clause “that I adopted” is a dependent clause headed up by the relative pronoun “that.” The relative pronouns “which” and “where” specifically describe place.

When to use 'which'

If you want to discuss where you adopted the puppy, you might say, “The pound at which I found Spot was on State Street.” That’s a pretty formal-sounding sentence, though. You might say that sentence in a courtroom or in another formal situation.

Other than maintaining formality, there are two valid reasons you might want to use “which” instead of “where.” Many times, you can add a preposition before the relative pronoun “which” to make your sentence quite precise. (2) For example, “The house at which I saw you” has a slightly different meaning from “The house in which I saw you.” In the second example, you were definitely inside the house. If you use “where,” you lose the subtle distinction: “The house where I saw you” could mean you were inside or outside the house.

The other reason you might want to use “which” is to avoid using a preposition at the end of a sentence. That isn't wrong, but quite a few people still think it's wrong, so it can be distracting or risky in some situations, like writing a cover letter for a job application. For example, the sentence “This is the desk in which the papers are stored” is probably safer than “This is the desk the papers are stored in.” However, in that sentence, a more natural-sounding solution is to use "where," as in...

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The History and Meaning of the word 'Honeymoon'

Alan on Twitter asked us to look into the origin of the word "honeymoon" after getting a sentence in Duolingo Spanish that included the phrase "la luna de miel," which also seems to translate literally to "moon of honey." What does honey have to do with it? Let's start with the idea of a honeymoon in general and moon cycles.

A honeymoon was originally a length of time

Do you know that most couples get married in the months of May through October in the United States? Even if you didn’t know that, you probably know what follows a wedding: the honeymoon! Today, we tend to think of a honeymoon as a vacation for newlyweds. But, it used to refer simply to the 30 days or so after a wedding, hence the word “moon” in “honeymoon.” 

Honeymoon feelings wane like the moon

A lunar cycle is 29.53 days and begins with a new moon. That’s when the moon, if you can see it, looks like a black disk in the night sky. As the moon orbits the Earth, Earth orbits the sun, and the angles between sun, moon, and Earth change resulting in changes in the amount of sunlight reflected off the moon. In the first quarter of a lunar cycle, you see a little bit more of the moon each night in its waxing phases. Then, in the last quarter, you gradually see less and less of the moon during its waning phases.

Waxing, in that context, means growing or increasing. Conversely, waning means to decrease, decline, or diminish. Both waxing and waning can be used to describe more than moon phases. Many things wax and wane, and that brings us back to the word “honeymoon.”

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, John Heywood, an English writer of plays, poems, and proverbs, is credited with first using “hony moone” in print in 1546, to refer to the first month of marriage. Through the centuries, various spellings, such as “honney moone” or “hony moon,” have appeared in print, but they all referred to the same thing: mirthfulness that grows at the beginning of something new and then gradually wanes. That new thing could be marriage, employment, or some other new phase or experience in life when those initial...

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Churchill's Iron Curtain

In the first week of March 1946, a gruff, heavy-jowled British gentleman could be seen boarding a train at Silver Spring Station, in Maryland. The gentleman in question was Winston Churchill, leader of His Majesty’s opposition, and he was embarking on a twenty-four-hour overnight journey to Missouri in the Ferdinand Magellan, President Truman’s armored railcar.

Churchill had been invited to make a keynote speech in Truman’s home state and he intended it to be his most important address since losing the 1945 election. He was accompanied on his journey by the American president himself, along with Truman’s twenty-two-year-old daughter, Margaret, and the usual entourage of aides and Secret Servicemen. Also in the party was the president’s close advisor Gen. Harry Vaughan.

Churchill was in ebullient form during the voyage, drinking five large Scotches before the onboard dinner and reciting anecdotes about his youthful skirmishes against the Boers in the parched backlands of Natal.

The two protagonists got along famously and agreed to call each other “Winston” and “Harry.” They played poker into the late hours and watched the darkening plains unfurl into the endless horizons of Indiana and Illinois. At one point, Churchill put down his cards and gushingly expressed his desire to live in the United States, although he swiftly added that he deplored some of its more recent customs. When Truman inquired as to which customs he had in mind, Churchill said, “You stopped drinking with your meals.”

On the following morning, as the train chased the sluggish flow of the Missouri River, Churchill handed his speech to Truman and asked for his opinion. “He told me he thought it was admirable,” wrote Churchill, “and would do nothing but good, though it would make a stir.”

The first stir of that historic day was caused by Churchill himself, and it happened within minutes of his arrival in Fulton. “[His] desire for liquid refreshment became something of a problem, [for] Fulton was a dry town.” So wrote the young Margaret Truman, who was astonished by Churchill’s capacity for alcohol. After a frantic search, General Vaughan managed to find both liquor and ice for the insatiable Winston. “Well, General,” joshed Churchill as he poured himself a generous sharpener, “I am glad to see you. I didn’t know whether I was in Fulton Missouri or Fulton Sahara.”

The speech was due to take place just a few hours after his arrival, in the gymnasium of Westminster College. Although Fulton was an unremarkable midwestern town, Churchill was performing on a world stage, and he dressed to impress his audience, donning the scarlet robes and plush black cap of Oxford University....

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How to Manage Cybersickness

Do you ever feel like the light of your computer screen is burrowing into your eyes and making your head pulse? Or feel dizzy or nauseous after looking at your phone? While you might think these sensations are just eye strain or fatigue from looking at your screen for too long, they’re actually symptoms of a condition called cybersickness.

These issues may seem like a necessary evil with the rise of work from home, remote learning and days spent endlessly scrolling online. But I can assure you as a researcher in human computer interaction specializing in cybersickness that there are ways to anticipate and avoid feeling sick from your screens.

What is cybersickness?

Cybersickness refers to a cluster of symptoms that occur in the absence of physical motion, similar to motion sickness. These symptoms fall into three categories: nausea, oculomotor issues and general disorientation. Oculomotor symptoms, like eye strain, fatigue and headaches, involve overworking the nerve that controls eye movement. Disorientation can manifest as dizziness and vertigo. And several cybersickness symptoms, such as difficulty concentrating and blurred vision, overlap categories. These issues can persist for hours and affect sleep quality.

People can experience symptoms of cybersickness through everyday devices like computers, phones and TV. For instance, Apple released a parallax effect on iPhone lock screens in 2013 that made the background image seem like it floated or shifted when a user moved their phone around, which many people found extremely uncomfortable. As it turns out, this was because it triggered cybersickness symptoms. Parallax scrolling on websites, where a background image remains static while foreground content moves as you scroll, can also elicit these symptoms.

...

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8 Ways to Upgrade Your Pasta

Stop pasta from sticking...

...With vinegar

Adding a bit of white vinegar to the cooking water will lower the pH level and stop starch from getting pulled into the water, creating a sticky situation.

...Or with olive oil

If your pasta came out too sticky, let it cool, then sauté it with enough olive oil to lightly coat each noodle. Be sure to stir or toss while reheating.

Stop the pasta from boiling over...

...With butter 

Keep pots of pasta from boiling over by adding 1 tablespoon butter to the water when you add the pasta.

Butter will also keep rice from boiling over. 

...Or with a metal spoon

Stop your pasta water from spilling over with this trick: Add a long metal spoon to the pot, and it will absorb the excess heat and let your pasta cook at the correct boiling point.

Just be careful, because the spoon will get quite hot!

Make your pasta taste its best...

...With its own water

Before you drain pasta, scoop out a cup of the cooking water. When you toss the pasta with the sauce, add a little bit of the water. The starchy water will help the sauce cling to the pasta, making for a tastier dish.

...With cold water

If you forgot about your simmering pot of pasta on the stove, and your noodles are now limp and mushy, try this trick. First run them under the coldest water possible—this will stop the cooking process immediately, and make the starch inside them contract. If you’re making a dish with tomato sauce, heat them back up directly in the sauce, as the acid will help them hold up even better.

...By keeping it warm

Here’s a trick that will keep freshly cooked pasta warmer longer. Place a large mixing bowl underneath your colander as you drain the pasta. The hot water will fill the bowl and heat it up. Once the bowl is warm, dump out the water and put the pasta in the bowl instead. Then cover the bowl, and take your time as you finish cooking the rest of your meal.

Bonus tip: fresh spaghetti in small spaces

Homemade pasta doesn’t need to take over your entire kitchen. Forget those hefty, commercial drying racks. A simple, clean plastic coat hanger hung from a pot rack or cabinet handles can work just as well.

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Should You Pay Off Debt Before Investing?

One of the most common financial dilemmas is whether to use spare cash to pay off debt or to invest. It’s important to accomplish both, but with only so much money to go around, how do you know which to focus on first? If you’re not sure about the next move to make, it’s easy to feel stuck and never make progress with your personal finances.

In this post, I'll cover the main pros and cons of paying off debt before investing. Plus, you'll learn a simple method to prioritize your precious resources so you accomplish key financial goals and build wealth as quickly as possible.

Free Resource: Laura's Recommended Tools—over 40 of the best ways to earn more, save more, and accomplish more with your money!

First Understand the Big Picture of Your Personal Finances

Too often we get bogged down by a specific financial decision or dilemma without considering the big picture. To make the best decisions, it’s wise to step back and take a holistic view of your entire financial life.

I created a simple, three-pronged approach called the PIP plan, which stands for Prepare, Invest, and Pay Off. Use it as a touchstone when considering how to allocate your money wisely. 

1.    Prepare for the unexpected.

Life is full of surprises and many of them drain your bank account! So before spending a dime on debt or investments, ask yourself if you’re really prepared for the unexpected.

In an instant, you could lose your job, see your business income dry up, get a serious illness, lose a spouse, or experience a natural disaster. It’s not fun to think about these types of devastating situations, but they happen.

In an instant, you could lose your job, see your business income dry up, get a serious illness, lose a spouse, or experience a natural disaster. It’s not fun to think about these types of devastating situations, but they happen every day.

While no amount of money can reverse a tragedy, having a financial safety net can make it so much easier to cope. What you need depends on factors such as your living expenses, debt payments, income, and whether you have dependents.

At a minimum, strive to maintain an emergency fund equal to three to six months...

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Midlife weight gain isn't due to a slowing metabolism

Most of us reach our final adult height at around age 18 to 20. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean we stop growing! On average, Americans continue to gain a pound or two a year, every year, from the time they reach adulthood until age 60, when this trend starts to reverse. Of course, by then, a lot of damage has been done.

Although gaining a single pound or two over the course of a year isn’t going to make a big difference in your health, gaining thirty or forty pounds over the course of your adult life span can have a significant negative impact on your risk of diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and other conditions related to obesity such as knee pain and sleep apnea.

What drives weight gain in middle age?

There’s long been an assumption that this seemingly universal trend is due—at least in part—to a slowing of the metabolism in midlife. We’ve been told that our bodies’ engines simply rev a little faster when we’re young and that there’s not much that can be done. If we want to avoid gaining weight in midlife, we’re going to have to spend more time exercising and/or adjust our food intake to compensate for this inevitable slowing of the metabolism.

Now, if you refuse to go gently into this good night, you can find all kinds of special diets, workouts, and supplements promising to goose up your middle-aged metabolism. To the extent that any of these actually succeed in boosting your resting metabolic rate, the effect is likely to be quite small. As I’ve said before, trying to lose weight by boosting your metabolism is like trying to row a boat with a butter knife—you're going to be rowing for an awfully long time without moving very far.

See also: Is Your Metabolism to Blame?

But a new study is throwing all of these assumptions about midlife metabolism into the blender.

Surprise: Your metabolism doesn't slow down after 40

Researchers used a sophisticated technique (called the doubly-labeled water method) to measure energy expenditure in a diverse population of over 6,000 people. The subjects ranged in age from newborn to 95-years-old and came from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds and cultures. And the results were almost exactly the opposite of what our observations might have led us to believe.

Not surprisingly, our metabolic rate is highest when we are babies, peaking at about 12 months of age. It then declines steadily until we reach early adulthood. But then our metabolic rate is remarkably stable from age 20 to 60. There is virtually no slowing in midlife.

The next...

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5 Exterior Home Remodeling Trends for 2021

Regular home remodeling projects are necessary to ensure the functionality of your home and keep it up-to-date with the contemporary market, both factors that are critical in solidifying its resale value. To this effect, while interior projects such as kitchen expansions and master bathroom makeovers are exciting, it is the exterior projects that will create the stunning first impression.

While interior projects such as kitchen expansions and master bathroom makeovers are exciting, it is the exterior projects that will create the stunning first impression.

From enhancing curb appeal to insulating the home from the forces of nature, the following 5 exterior home remodeling trends are set to grow throughout the remainder of 2021, making for great places to start if you are searching for a place to invest your renovation budget.

1. Contrasting colors

Homeowners are moving away from the notion of one solid color being the classiest option for home exteriors. In 2021, homeowners are getting a bit more creative in their quest to create stunning curb appeal, using innovative siding materials and robust color contrasts to create a home that truly stands out. These contrasts can be achieved in a number of ways, such as dark navy with off-white accents or a creamy white with black elevations for an exceptionally bold appearance.

In order to make a contrasting color scheme work, it is essential to use high-quality siding that will maintain its color and shape in the face of the various forces of nature.

Products such as wood planks look nice when new, but need assiduous maintenance to prevent cracking and peeling from UV-exposure, while vinyl siding is known to loosen or detach when exposed to heavy wind gusts.

This makes metal lap siding a strong choice, as it is extremely durable and will maintain its color throughout the life of the house with little maintenance, keeping the contrasts in your exterior just as pronounced as the day you made the renovation.

2. Pergola additions

The COVID-19 pandemic created the need for more functional space in homes. With nowhere to go, people quickly realized the need for diversity in their property to keep from going stir crazy. This has led to the continued rise of functional exterior living areas in 2021.

To ensure the livability of exterior spaces, a popular trend is to add an architectural pergola to decks, patios, and outdoor kitchens. This is especially relevant as summer quickly approaches and the need for shade intensifies. In addition to the functional protective aspect of pergolas, they can also help...

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The Confidence Equation: Can You Use Math to Decide Your Future?

How can you be confident you are doing the right thing? How can you know if you are in the right job? If your partner really is the love of your life? You might just be wondering whether or not your vacation plans will turn out as you hoped. Or you might be more concerned about your social interactions with others. Do they treat you fairly? Do you treat everyone equally? What gives you confidence that you are the type of person you would like to be? 

These questions aren’t limited to your own life. How do we know if a company is guilty of sexual discrimination when hiring? How do we decide if our legal and health-care systems are fair to everyone? When a Black person applies for a job and a white person is hired, how can we be confident that this is racism? Amazingly, a single equation answers all these questions and many more. Voilà, the Confidence Equation.

Here’s how you can put it to use in your own life:

Jess isn’t sure about her career choice. She has a job at a human-rights organization. It is definitely a worthwhile cause, but her boss is horrible. She rings Jess up all hours of the day and makes unreasonable demands. Meanwhile, Jess’s friend Steve has been with Kenny for six months. Their relationship is volatile; one minute it’s hot, the next it’s cold. The arguments are terrible, but when it works, it is wonderful. 

The confidence equation can offer guidelines to both Jess and Steve—for exactly how many days she should stay in her job, and how long he should give his relationship before he gives up on Kenny. How? To see, let’s first detour into a smaller-scale problem. 

You are looking for a hotel on TripAdvisor. You are happy to stay at a place that gets 4-star reviews or better, but are skeptical about anywhere with 3.5 stars or less. 

Star reviews vary a bit on TripAdvisor. There are always a few enthusiasts who give straight 5s and a few disgruntled individuals who dole out single stars. To deal with all the variation in the reviews we start by calculating the standard deviation. This is done by summing the square differences between the average review and each of the individual reviews, then taking the square root of the...

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Stationary Lunges Versus Squats--Which Is Better?

Lunges and squats are fantastic full body exercises to increase muscle mass, build strength, and improve body tone. Both exercises target several important muscle groups, including your glutes, quads, hamstrings, calves, abdominals, and back. 

Few other exercises can deliver so much at once. So if you’re not doing some form of squats or lunges at least once a week as part of your fitness routine, I’m sure you have a good reason, because otherwise you’re missing out big time.

But if I had to choose between lunges or squats, lunges would be my choice hands down. And if you asked me to select among the different variations of lunges, stationary lunges would be the clear winner. As a physical therapist and a strength and conditioning coach, I find stationary lunges to be the safest and most effective exercise for the majority of people.

It’s true that for athletes working on performance optimization, different variations of the squat or lunge may be more beneficial. For example, jump squats and plyometric lunges are great for basketball players who want to jump higher or run faster. But even for these athletes, I believe the stationary lunge is an important foundational exercise.

Lunges Versus Squats

Before we explore why I prefer lunges over squats, let's define what exactly a lunge and a squat is just so we’re all on the same page. A lunge refers to any position of the human body where one leg is forward with the knee bent and foot on the ground while the other leg is behind. A squat refers to any position where the legs are side by side with the knees bent and feet on the ground.

A lunge refers to any position of the human body where one leg is forward with the knee bent and foot on the ground while the other leg is behind. A squat refers to any position where the legs are side by side with the knees bent and feet on the ground.

Why Are Lunges Better Than Squats?

The most important reason why I prefer lunges over squats is because of how common right-left asymmetries are in the body. These differences are often overlooked but are essential for preventing injuries and optimizing performance. As it turns out, squats tend to exacerbate these differences while lunges work to resolve them.

Squats tend to exacerbate [right-left asymmetries] in the body while lunges work to resolve them.

One study looking at elite young soccer players found at least one side-to-side asymmetry in 65% of athletes using the Functional Movement Screen (FMS), a popular screening tool in sports medicine. It’s easy to develop strength differences between the two sides because of past injuries or...

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How to Assert Your Own Needs With Your Child

Do you find it easy to provide warmth and support to your child, but have a hard time setting limits and holding boundaries? Do you feel like you have to do something your child is insisting upon, like you don't have any choice but to meet their demand? If you’re a parent who feels like you must constantly meet your kids’ needs at the expense of your own, then listen up.

As a parent, you may find it difficult to speak up when your children are behaving in ways that don't work for you. Do you tend to stop yourself from saying what is true to you out of fear that the other person will be hurt, or that they'll be dismissive or angry? You might feel that way because that actually happened when you were vulnerable with others. It could be that the adults you depended on as a child couldn't accept what you said as true for you. Perhaps they couldn't hear your feelings or concerns as mattering as much as their own. You might have concluded that your feelings must not actually matter. The good news is that with conscious effort, it's possible to start giving your needs some air time in your relationship with your own child.

When you understand parenting from a zero-sum perspective, it’s hard to believe that it’s unnecessary to coerce or bribe a child into obedience or compliance or that you don’t need to abandon your own needs just to keep the peace.

Before learning about respectful parenting, you might think there are only two ways to resolve conflicts with children: the adult "wins", or the child "wins," which means that someone always "loses." You might worry that if you don’t win, your child won’t behave appropriately in the future, will have all the power, or, ultimately, won't respect you. If you tend to be a "loser," you might be anxious that your child will have a meltdown if you don't give in to their demands.

When parents either make unilateral decisions or have difficulty identifying and/or asserting their own needs with their children, not only do someone’s needs go unmet, but children also miss out on practicing valuable relational skills. When you understand parenting from a zero-sum perspective, it’s hard to imagine that there's a win-win. But in fact, it’s unnecessary to coerce or bribe your child into obedience or compliance, and you don’t need to abandon your own needs just to keep the peace.

4 questions from parents learning to assert their needs

Here's how I have commonly responded to parents who have struggled to assert their personal boundaries with their children:

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What is Ghosting and Why Do People Do It?

Ghosting is an unfortunately common experience for people who are dating. What is ghosting? Ghosting refers to the experience of one person cutting off contact with a partner and ignoring their partner’s attempts to reach out, typically through texting or other forms of social media. Although ghosting itself may not be new (can anyone remember sitting by the phone waiting for someone special to call?), it seems to be a more common phenomenon in today’s dating world. Studies have found that 80% of single millennials have reported being ghosted by a romantic partner.

In today’s dating world, it seems like it's inevitable that you will be ghosted by someone.

Being ghosted can be a disappointing and confusing experience. You’re often left asking yourself: did I misinterpret the date? Was I the only one who had a good time? Did I do something to offend the other person? Did something come up at work and they’re busy so haven’t had time to respond to me? If you’ve had any of these thoughts or feelings, you are not alone! People report feeling sad, angry, ashamed, and lower self-esteem after being ghosted by a partner.

Why do people ghost?

Studies have found that although 75% of people have reported ghosting a romantic partner in the past, 74% of people agree that it is an inappropriate way to break up with someone. So, if people know ghosting makes others feel bad, and it’s not a particularly appropriate way to break up with someone, why do they do it? Researchers have found a number of explanations for ghosting instead of having an outright discussion with a partner about breaking up:

1. They feel like they need to protect themselves. For example, they may fear some sort of retaliation from their partner, whether that is a physical or emotional response they didn’t want to deal with. Alternatively, people reported that they felt they weren’t ready for a relationship and...

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5 Ways to Navigate Generational Conflict at Work

Raise your hand if you’ve ever found yourself saying, thinking, or even being the victim of one of the following:

 

• Boomers are so old-school! They’re out of touch, they’re stuck in old ways, and technology mystifies them.

• Gen X-ers are so cynical! They don’t do collaboration and they’re hard to work with.

• Millennials are entitled! They grew up winning participation trophies and they need too much feedback and validation.

 

Seriously, raise your hand. I can’t see you.

 

The truth is, these and many other stereotypes exist out there. Sometimes, they’re harmless—just silly assumptions we carry through our days. But they can also be destructive. These stereotypes can inhibit trust and teamwork and ignite conflict, limiting what we’re all able to achieve professionally. So let’s talk about how the different generations can play better together in the professional sandbox. Regardless of your birth year, you have a role to play.

1. Acknowledge our different histories

To the extent that generational stereotypes hold water, there may be reasons why. In broad strokes, Baby Boomers were raised by survivors of the Great Depression—parents who may have valued scrimping, saving, and doing things by the book. Gen X was raised by two-income parents experiencing high rates of divorce. They were the latch-key generation, coming home from school to an empty house. So teamwork may not be the thing that comes naturally. And Millennials have spent most of their lives with modern-day devices in hand—devices that deliver regular feedback and instant gratification. So those needs may be hard-wired.

 

The first step to overcoming generational differences is appreciating why they exist. Give history its space—no good or bad. Just recognize reality for what it is. Understanding why someone may behave the way they do can give us a little more patience and willingness to let it be.

2. Create connections

Problematic though they may be, stereotypes have emerged for a reason. They help our brains quickly make sense (often erroneously) of what we don’t understand. According to this Nature article, “…since the 1960s, cognitive researchers… have argued that stereotyping is a general feature of human social categorization.”

 

We stereotype in the absence of information. And we overcome this by getting better information. And getting information about people—actual people and not categories of them—is achieved by...

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Money Talk: Andrew Simonet on Becoming an Artist

Money Girl Laura Adams: When did you decide that you wanted to become an author (or other career)?

Andrew Simonet: I decided to be a choreographer in September 1988, after my first week of dance class at age nineteen. That’s quite old to start dancing, but male dancers get a lot of leeway. It was sudden and complete. Dance was something I had been searching for without knowing it. Dance was my portal.

Writing showed up in my life at age 35. Specifically, a story showed up, an odd bunch of friends who have to protect themselves and their town from a benignly evil corporation. I dictated dialogue into a tape recorder while driving to my dance teaching job. I wrote scenes in spare moments when I traveled. I lost most of it in a computer crash and assumed I would stop, but the characters wouldn’t leave me alone.

I didn’t decide to become an Author; I decided to write. I wanted to dive into sentences and characters and story. For my own mental health, I am very careful about the difference between wanting to write (generative, expansive) and wanting to have written (paralyzing, stressful). The artist life quickly becomes brutal for those who want to have created.

I worked on that first novel for seven years—it has never been published—while running my dance company. The solitude of writing was a reprieve from the social intensity of dance making and collaboration.

I was interested in writing when I was young, but, seen from the present moment, I was not ready. I wrote clever, bloodless things. I had dreadfully linear things to say, restrained and over-rational. I needed twenty years of making dances to bring my body and senses and all the terrible magic of the present moment into my language.

MG: Do you write full-time? 

AS: N.B.: Over the past fifteen years, I’ve worked with thousands of artists on these questions: intentions, time and money, making the art and impact that matters to you. That project, Artists U, has an open-source book with principles and tools I gathered from artists. It is how I earn half my income, the other half coming from writing.

I don’t care for the term “full-time writer/artist...

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Common Home Injuries and How to Prevent Them

All content here is for informational purposes only. This content does not replace the professional judgment of your own health provider. Please consult a licensed health professional for all individual questions and issues. In an emergency, contact 911.

You should always feel safe and sound at home, but accidents happen. Every day people visit the emergency department for home injuries. Although there are many cases in which we simply can't control what happens, home accidents are extremely preventable with the right measures. In this guide, we will look at five of the most common home injuries and show you how to prevent them. With the right knowledge and preparation, you can protect yourself and your loved ones.

Falls

Falls are the leading cause of injury among the elderly, but senior citizens aren't the only ones who are hurt by slips and falls at home. Children and adults both experience fall injuries that can range from mild bruises to broken bones and, in severe cases, head trauma. The best way to go about preventing this is to first examine the potential fall risks indoors and around your home's exterior. Inside, falls typically occur on stairs or slippery floors, namely tile and stone. Additional risks include throw rugs, loose cords, poor lighting and toilets that are too low to the ground. 

Outside, sloped driveways and walkways can be major fall hazards, especially during the winter when ice and snow make paths slicker. To prevent falls, consider installing non-slip runners along stairs, improving support rails and modifying anything that has an uncomfortable height. You may also consider installing a personal lift. Utilizing home lifts not only raise your property value but also provide a safer way to move between levels. This can be helpful at preventing falls from moving objects between floors, such as groceries and laundry.

Burns

Burns may come from stoves, hot water or beverage spills. Children under the age of 5 have a high risk of grabbing cups or containers of hot liquids. Left alone, they may turn on faucets to scalding temperatures. This is why they should never be left unattended when they have access to running water of any sort.

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7 Ways to Spot a Predator

Have you ever worried about your safety? Missed potential red flags with a new partner? Been the victim of a con? Today we will address warning signs of a potential predator. 

The #metoo movement has been in the news lately with the release of Bill Cosby and New York City Governor Andrew Cuomo resigning his position after an investigation confirmed sexual harassment. It's something that came up with many of my patients since the topic of victimization is, unfortunately, commonplace in my work as a psychologist. While much of what I do is dealing with the aftermath of trauma, I think it's also important to help others avoid these circumstances whenever possible. I wish we could live in a world where there weren’t folks looking to do harm, but that's unrealistic. I also want to be clear that being the victim of a predator is never your fault; however, being aware of potential warning signs can be one way we arm ourselves against those who have a mind for malice.

Trust Your Gut

Many of us don't trust our "gut," or intuition, because of past experiences, general self-doubt, or agreed-upon social norms. Well, I’m here to tell you that gut health is about more than probiotics. In a mental health context, we can train our gut through the use of mindfulness to generate more situational awareness.

The first step is to throw out your preconceived notions of what a predator looks like. We know from news reports and documentaries that many predators come from "good families," whatever that means, or appear to be "nice." Now, I don't want you to leave this podcast being paranoid about everyone you encounter. What I do want you to do is use your mindfulness skills to be curious about your environment and the people around you, and use it to tune into your gut or intuition about your experience. Not all masks are worn by criminals, and not all sweaters are worn by Mr. Rogers.

I will be using gendered language in this scenario. Most often I will use the pronoun "he" for the perpetrator and "she" for the victim. The rationale for this is that these kinds of crimes are overwhelmingly committed by men. However, these strategies could be used by any gender, and all genders can be victimized.

Gavin de Becker is an author and security expert. He wrote The Gift of Fear, which outlines what he calls Pre-Incident Indicators, or PINS. PINS are early warning signs that someone is possibly up to no good. Examples can include a con artist, or someone who intends to physically assault, kidnap, sexually harass, or sexually...

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Starting a Sentence With 'However': Right or Wrong?

Today's topic is how to use the word "however" in a sentence. It's probably more complicated than you think it is.

Can you start a sentence with the word 'however'?

The question I get asked most frequently about "however" is whether it is OK to use "however" at the beginning of a sentence, and the answer is yes: it is fine to start a sentence with "however." You just need to know when to use a comma and when to use a semicolon.

'However' without a comma: modifier

The comma is important because "however" is a conjunctive adverb that can be used in two different ways: 

• It can join main clauses. 
• It can modify a clause.

If you use "however" at the beginning of a sentence and don't insert a comma, "however" means “in whatever manner,” “to whatever extent,” or “no matter how.”

For instance, Winston Churchill said, “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results,” and for those of you who like more modern examples, on the TV show "Supergirl," while talking about a world-wide  earthquake, Querl Dox said, “however you choose to describe this event, one thing is absolutely certain. We have...  [J'onn J'onzz:] A major crisis on our hands.”

In both those cases, "however" isn't playing the role of a conjunction. It's not joining anything to anything else. It means “no matter how.” “However you describe this” and “No matter how you describe this” mean the same thing. I don't think anyone has ever disputed starting a sentence with "however" when it is used that way.  

'However' with a comma: connector

On the other hand, Strunk and White did say in their book, The Elements of Style, that you shouldn't start a sentence with "however" when you mean “nevertheless” or “but.”

They’re referring to sentences such as this one from "Nicholas Nickleby" by Charles Dickens: “It is a great deal easier to go down hill than up. However, they kept on, with...

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What Does Dutch Courage Mean? And 10 Other Weird Words for Alcohol

Cheers, everyone! Today we’re going to explain what “Dutch courage” is and talk about other weird words for alcohol. We’ll talk about booze, hooch, and nipperkins, to name a few.

Booze and bottle

Let’s start with “booze.” This word comes from the Middle English “bŏus,” meaning an intoxicating drink. A book from the 1500s advises that man should “not synke in watur but swymme in boos.” Good point, but that may be a bit extreme!

“Bottle,” another word for alcohol, has a dual meaning. Obviously, it can mean a glass container that might hold beer or wine. It can also refer to the drink itself, or the practice of drinking. For example, we can say that someone who’s drunk is “deep in the bottle,” or that they “like the bottle a little too much.”

In the same way, “juice” and “sauce,” which have neutral meanings, can also be slang words for alcohol. We usually see “sauce” paired with “the,” as in, “he really likes the sauce.”

A drink versus the drink

Even the generic word “drink” often substitutes as a word for alcohol. Has anyone ever asked you to “go out for a drink”? The implication is that you’d be going out for a beer or a cocktail. 

Interestingly, the meaning of “I need a drink” depends on context. If you’ve been outside on a hot day, “I need a drink” simply means “I need a big glass of water.” However, if you’ve had a rough day at work, or a big fight with your bestie, saying “I need a drink” implies that you need a swig of alcohol to reduce your stress.

On a different note, if you talk about “the drink,” it has nothing to do with beverages at all! “The drink” is slang for a body of water. For example, you could say that someone walking carelessly on a pier accidentally “fell into the drink.”

...

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How to Persuade Using Body Language

Being persuasive means choosing your words carefully. I’ve covered how to create powerful messages in previous episodes, however, effective persuasion requires the right delivery too. Your body language can either help you get your message across, hinder your influence, or worse, send the wrong message entirely. Today I’ll talk about how to successfully persuade and influence through body language.

Ask in person or through a video chat

If you have an important request, don’t send email. It’s best to ask face-to-face. Your request will be more persuasive if it’s made in person. Coincidentally, it’s much easier to say “no” to an email request than to someone’s face. But perhaps more importantly, by watching the body language of your conversation partner you can tailor your message as you speak. For example, let’s say when describing a benefit of your proposal, you notice a slight “no” shake of the head. This is a small clue that your partner may not agree with you, and you can then use that information to change the course of your conversation. 

By watching the body language of your conversation partner you can tailor your message as you speak.

In addition, your passion and emotions are more contagious in person. Don’t believe that? Ever have a laughing fit just because someone else was laughing? The point is that no matter how many exclamation points, smiley faces, or hearts you put in writing, they’re no substitute for real emotions experienced in person through facial expressions, voice, and gestures. Think about how different it is to listen to this podcast versus reading it. It’s a completely different experience! Persuading over the phone presents similar hurdles; you may not have their full attention and you won’t have the opportunity to see facial expressions or gestures of the person on the other line.

If you’re trying to persuade an audience to support your ideas, your body language must support you.

So if you’re asking something of someone, ask to meet in-person. Go to them. Perhaps invite them to a meal or for coffee. If you’re trying to persuade a group, call a meeting. Finally, if meeting in person is not possible, try the best next thing: video conferencing. You can still gauge their interest through a screen. 

Check your body...

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The Great Berlin Power Struggle

Col. Frank Howley was determined to prevent the Soviets from wresting control of the western-run districts of Berlin, but he knew it would be an uphill struggle. He was increasingly strident in his criticism of official American policy, which he described as “appeasement of the Russians at any price in an attempt to win them over.” He was also irritated by reminders from Washington that his role was to “allay their suspicions and to gain their friendship and cooperation.” He had privately vowed to take a more combative approach, even if it meant crossing swords with the White House and State Department.

“There is only one way to deal with gangsters, Russian-uniformed or otherwise,” he said with a scowl, “and that is to treat them like gangsters.”

“There is only one way to deal with gangsters, Russian-uniformed or otherwise,” he said with a scowl, “and that is to treat them like gangsters.” He would later describe lying awake at night “trying to think up ways to keep the Russians from stealing the city from under us.”

The opening shots of the ensuing power struggle were fired in the Allied Kommandatura, the four-power body established to run Berlin. It had been officially convened in the first week of July 1945, but it had proven near impossible to find a building in which it could meet. The Americans eventually suggested the half-ruined headquarters of the Nazi Labour Front, in their sector of the city. Within days it was reglazed, replastered, and repainted by 250 American workmen.

The main meeting room was sober and functional, furnished with a long banqueting table, twenty blue upholstered armchairs, and several rows of smaller seats for the advisors, stenographers, and interpreters. This wood-paneled chamber was to be the stage set for events that were, in the words of Frank Howley, “as portentous in world implications as the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles.”

The key players in the Kommandatura included Colonel Howley (for America) and Brigadier Hinde (for Britain). They represented their respective areas of western Berlin and it was they who were to fight tooth and nail with the Soviets over the city’s destiny.

If his clothing and boots sent an unambiguous message that he was on the warpath, his blunt tongue would do even more to turn the Kommandatura into a bear pit.

Colonel Howley sat next to his Soviet counterpart, with Hinde opposite him and his soon-to-arrive French comrade in the adjacent chair, all of them surrounded by advisors. Howley regarded himself as the first among equals of this four-square phalanx, a do-or-die warrior who attended meetings in full combat dress. If his clothing and boots sent...

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What Are the Different Types of Financial Advisors?

Using a financial advisor is one of the best ways to make sure you're on track for a comfortable retirement. A trusted advisor can also help you answer complex money questions, such as whether you should buy a home, get a business loan, or settle zombie debt.

But how knowing which type of financial advisor you should work with can be confusing. There are many different investment firms and advisors with different designations to choose from.

Even if you don't think you need a financial advisor right now, it's wise to understand the types of services they offer, how they get paid, and how to check their background and any complaints filed against them.  

To get clarity on what you should know about working with a financial advisor, I interviewed Rita Cheng, CFP. She's the CEO of Blue Ocean Global Wealth, an investment advisory firm that strives to be a trusted partner and educational resource. Rita is also an Editorial Review Board Member at Finder.com, a comparison site helping consumers make better financial decisions. 

I think you'll enjoy our conversation and come away with a better understanding of what it's like to work with an advisor and how to get started. We cover:

• How your goals determine if you need an advisor and which type
• If you need to be wealthy to work with an advisor
• Different types of fees that advisors charge
• Who's an excellent candidate to work with a financial advisor  
• Differences between robo-advisors and financial advisors
• Where to find potential advisors and check their backgrounds 
• Questions you should ask a potential financial advisor

Listen to the interview using the...

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How Fiber Builds Stronger Bones

One of the best ways to boost the health of your gut microbiome (the bacteria living in your intestines) is to eat foods that contain soluble fiber. Although humans lack the enzymes to digest these large carbohydrate molecules, the bacteria that live in our guts rely on them as their primary food source. Diets that are high in fiber support a healthy and diverse gut microbiome. And, as we're learning, a healthy microbiome is essential to a healthy body.

There is already an impressive list of benefits associated with a higher fiber diet—including appetite control, weight management, digestive health, and improved immune function. Prebiotic foods can also help improve the absorption of minerals and other nutrients—and may play an important role in building strong bones early in life and preventing bone loss later in life. 

Prebiotic vs Fiber

First, just a quick clarification on the terms I'm using.  It's easy to mistake prebiotic as just another word for fiber. But the two terms are not exactly synonymous. All prebiotics are types of fiber but not all fibers are prebiotic. The term "prebiotic" is reserved for fiber sources that have been shown to selectively promote the growth of specific bacteria linked to health benefits.

Inulin, which is found in chicory root, sunchokes, onion, garlic, and leeks, is one of the more common prebiotic fibers.  And although they have not yet been officially classified as prebiotics, there's growing evidence that resistant starches have prebiotic activity. Resistant starches are found in bananas and mango (especially when they are underripe) as well as potatoes, pasta, and rice that have been cooked and then cooled. 

(See below for an infographic of the different types of fiber and their benefits.)

How do prebiotics boost bone health?

You already know that calcium is critical to building and maintaining strong bones—which is why it's important to make sure that your diet supplies enough calcium. This is especially critical during the teen and young adult years when your body is most rapidly building bone tissue. Ironically, this is also the age group most likely to fall short in their calcium intake.

After the age of 30 or so, we start to gradually lose bone mass and density and these losses accelerate for women following menopause. Keeping calcium intake up in the second half of life can help slow these losses and reduce the risk of osteoporosis and fractures.

However, your body only absorbs a fraction of the calcium in your food—anywhere from 5 to 60%.  Part of this is because calcium in foods is often tightly...

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6 Things You Didn’t Know Could Fertilize Your Houseplants

Cereal crumb fertilizer

Did you know that cereal crumbs are great for houseplants? The grains they’re made up of are also great for supplying nutrients to the soil! Each time you have some crumbs left in your cereal box, add them to your house plant and gently cover them with soil.

Plants love starch

Your houseplants need nourishment, particularly in the dead of winter when the sunlight is limited—but  there’s no need to buy expensive plant food. Just remember to save the water in which you boil potatoes or pasta, let it cool, and use it to water your plants. They love the starchy water!

Feed plants from your fish tank

If you’re cleaning your fish bowl or tank, use the old water to fertilize your plants! It contains nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus—all three function as natural fertilizers for plants. You’ll be amazed at the results.

Club soda for houseplants

If it’s been a long time since you’ve replaced your plant’s potting soil, help it get back some of the nutrients it lost with club soda. The minerals in the soda are some of the same that soil is enriched with. Just make sure to bring the soda up to room temperature before using.You can even use flat club soda!

Prevent mold and fungus

Most powdered flower “food” works by lowering the pH level of the water, so that it’s still good for fresh flowers, but bad for any bacteria that may want to grow. If you notice fungus or mold cropping up on your plant or its soil, lower its pH with aspirin. Just crush one tablet into approximately one quart of water, and stir until it dissolves. Then use this water to water your plant.

See also: 10 Hacks for Beautiful Flower Arrangements That Last

Put produce peels to work

You don’t need a compost pile to use fruit and vegetable peelings to fertilize your plants! Instead, save peels from produce in your fridge or freezer. When you have at least a cup of them, soak them overnight in cold water. Remove the peels and the water left behind is now a fertilizer for your plants that’s rich in nutrients and minerals and completely natural. 

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Productive, Happy, Focused—How Small Habits Bring Big Success

Today’s episode is a conversation with Jeff Sanders, host of The 5 AM Miracle Podcast and author of the The Free-Time Formula: Finding Happiness, Focus, and Productivity No Matter How Busy You Are. Jeff and I discuss some simple strategies he has used to define and commit to the habits that have delivered amazing results for him.

Jeff’s success story begins with simply waking up at 5 a.m. one day to run. With no specific goal or intention, he decided to give it a try. Fast forward to today, and he hosts a podcast, has authored books, and runs a business all due, in part, to that simple habit change. Just imagine what his advice might help you achieve!

I'll summarize our conversation here, but I encourage you to click on the audio player above or listen to the show on your favorite podcast app to get every juicy bit of his sage advice on being productive through finding and forming habits that work for you.

Begin by choosing the “right” habits

Whether it’s flossing more, Insta-gazing less, or jumping on that Paleo train, we all know that changing habits can have big impacts on our health, families, and careers. But what if your challenge is that you’re not sure which habits to focus on?

It could start with knowing you want something—maybe a promotion, a new job, or to start your own business. Or maybe you’re not sure what you want. Maybe you feel bored or stuck or stagnant and you’re just looking for something to change. How can changing a habit help your cause? And what habit do you start with?

There is no right answer, so just pick something. Doing anything is better than doing nothing.

Jeff’s secret? There is no right answer, so just pick something. Doing anything is better than doing nothing. Try something on, see if it fits, and be ready to let it go if it’s not serving you.

Jeff likes the “tinker and try” method. He started with a 5 a.m. wakeup. He had no specific goal; he just needed a change. And he discovered that with this simple switch to his routine, he found time to exercise and then plan and prep his day before 9 a.m. This left him energized, focused, and ultimately more productive.

He also tried habits that didn’t suit him. Meditation, something we all know we’re “supposed” to be doing, just didn’t work for him. But rather than seeing his inability to meditate as a personal failing, he simply labeled the meditation habit as "not for me" and moved on.

Make a list of 5-10 habits you'd like to try. Rank them in order of the most...

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3 Exercises to Help With Knee Pain

Exercise-related knee pain is one of the most common issues that comes up for my fitness clients, regardless of their age, activity level, or fitness goals.

Knee pain affects sedentary people who are just getting back into exercise just as much as fit people who have been exercising for a while. Not even athletes who are accustomed to pushing their bodies to the limits can escape the wrath of exercise-related knee pain.

In this post, I’m going to share a simple six-minute solution to this all too common problem that you can do right at home. But first, let’s talk more about what causes exercise-related knee pain and how to tell if this solution is right for you.

Causes of exercise-related knee pain

Believe it or not, the type of knee pain I most frequently see in my physical therapy practice is not a result of a traumatic injury such as a fall, a twist, a hard landing from a jump, or blunt force to the knee. The most common knee pain I see is a result of repetitive movements with activities such as squatting, walking, running, jumping, or stair climbing.

The most common cause of knee pain I see in my practice is day-to-day repetitive movements such as squatting, walking, running, jumping, or stair climbing.

This pain is typically located in or around the front of the knee and feels dull but it can also be sharp. Having seen thousands of cases of exercise-related knee pain, I believe it’s a result of one or more of the following:

• Underdeveloped core muscles of the trunk and side of hip muscles (the gluteus medius) that are unable to meet the demands placed on them.
• An over-reliance on the front of thigh muscles (the quadriceps) and an under-reliance on the back of thigh (the hamstrings) and butt (the glutes) during repetitive movements.
• Tension in the front of thigh muscles that places undue stress on the structures of the knee.

I can spend several episodes going on and on about why this pattern of dysfunction is so common. But I’ll save you the boredom and simply say that the way we use our bodies in the modern world are more limited than they have been in the past and this results in imbalances, instabilities, inefficiencies, and ultimately, pain.

Is the 6-minute solution right for you?

Luckily, the six minute solution is here to save the day and the best part is that you can do it on your own at home for free. My clients are always surprised and amazed to see real results with this simple program in a matter of days.

To find out if this solution is right for you, ask yourself the following five statements:

1. You have pain in or around the front of the knee with squatting, walking, running, jumping, or stair climbing that goes away as soon as you stop the...

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