#2. The number of people who will participate is significantly smaller than you would think if you're only seeing your echo chambers

[equalidran]

a boycott is not the answer to everything guys. guys please be serious

[ohnobjyx]

Would it be that impossible for dd and gg to come out as a couple (provided they respected censorship and didn't talk about it with the media)? I read the other day that homosexuality is not illegal in China, just talking about it and showing in the media, so could not someone as brave and crazy as dd attempt to come out outside of the media? after all they are the first 3 shipped real couples in china, they do have support. Coming out willingly would also save them from being eventually outed..

Hi, anon! (*this blogger cracks her neck and gets ready*) Let’s get into it!

Disclaimer: fake fake fake. Why would you think that we believe in bjyx?

Preface: this post might not be exactly a controversial opinion, since I think many will have the same one. However, it’s alright to disagree: we all have our own perception of the matter, which is coloured by our own experiences (let’s just say that an absolute objective view is difficult). I present here with the most objective post (at least in terms of data and facts) I could write.

Oh, and you all might have noticed, but being concise is not my forte. I tend to digress.

First of all, I assume that the concept of “coming out outside of the media” means that they could have told just close friends and family, without announcing it to the media.

But how would we know that they have done it? (and I don’t mean we should know for sure, ofc). For all we know, they may have already done this, and, from my pov, they probably have. Without entering in “fake” rumours:

TTXS bros know something (repeating myself for the nth time). From the way DZW jumps in whenever it remotely looks like dd is slipping up, how WH poses his questions, how QF teases him. It all seems references to a real, tangible thing, instead of baseless friendly teasing. It’s also very interesting that they have stopped their matchmaking mission and have instead started to defend why dd is “single”.

Their parents are their cover. Even if dd parents didn’t watch TTXS, wouldn’t someone else watch it and ask them about it? Wouldn’t they wonder about the supposed clothes that dd sends home, the medicine, the market stroll? Maybe I’m just projecting, but I wouldn’t use my parents as a shield if they weren’t aware of the situation behind it, because I’d be subjected to their questioning later. That’s why, unless I wanted to tell them or I had already told them, I wouldn’t use my parents as an excuse. So, once is alright, but dd has done it several times, and that, for me, means that his parents know.

That’s what I would consider “coming outside the media”. Of course, this doesn’t involve us fans, and it’s their decision, of which we probably will never hear about (or, at least, not soon, and that’s fine!). 

In my opinion, it’s also the best course of action, especially with all the rumours that are always circulating about them. It wouldn’t be a “brave and crazy” course of action, but rather the most sensible and rational, since it’s the best way to avoid misunderstandings with your friends and family. It’s also considerate for his friends at work, just so they know what to expect when they are on stage and it allows them to understand dd’s reactions.

(Again, we are talking about dd because that’s who anon asked about. I think gg’s circle is less close to him, so it may not be the case with him, but I don’t know enough to say what would happen).

Just let’s suppose his TTXS bros didn’t know anything and just kept trying to act as matchmakers for dd. That’s the kind of situation that’s bound to be uncomfortable for everyone because dd isn’t the kind of person who’d lie (and he doesn’t fast enough to improptu questions). 

The second thing I wanted to talk about is their fans’ support. I want to talk about numbers.

I’m going to explain why I only take the c-fans data as reference. We int fans don’t really count, because we don’t affect their careers directly, as c-fans do. Of course, our support is very useful in showing how many people are rooting for them, like what happened when Roseonly’s livestream with gg was live. And I like to think that they would feel better knowing that there are a lot of people in Chn and overseas that support them and whatever there is between them.

So int-fans do contribute to give more views and likes to their Roseonly livestream (if they can access it, which isn’t always the case), but they won’t buy the roses and impact with real money, so to say.

We don’t really participate in their endorsements, many won’t stay long enough to watch more dramas from them (and I do understand that the lack of eng subs is the main problem), and many don’t/can’t/don’t know how to push them up in the charts. We’ve talked before about how the c-ent industry doesn’t really need the int audience to make a lot of money, and to be highly profitable, and it still applies in a smaller case, like a single idol. 

That’s why I think that in matters of real, tangible fan support, c-fans still make a bigger percentage (around 80-90%) of their support.

So, as of now, there are 3 supertopics in w/ibo that features gg/dd (let’s leave the difference in supertopics for another day, but I don’t support the discussion about people’s sex life, thanks for your understanding):

BJYX. The largest supertopic (top 1) with a wide margin from the others. It has 2.570.000 fans.

ZSWW. It’s the number 5 in the CP supertopics, with 910.000 fans.

LXFY. The number 23 in the CP supertopics with 590.000 fans.

All of them added make 4.070.000 fans. But we have to take into account the overlapping in these three supertopics: many people (like me) are following the three supertopics at the same time. That’s why, in a not scientific way, I’m guessing that those 4.070.000 come to around 4.000.000 once you take out the people that are following the three at the same time.

Even 4 million people is still a huge number of people: that’s more people than the population of the capital of my country, and one tenth of the total census here.

Yet, in China, it means 4 out of every 1400, which translates into 0′003%. It’s also from a very specific demographic (mainly female and young). Of course, it doesn’t mean that they won’t get support from other people if it ever got out, but they can’t know what would happen then for sure.

It means that, in actual 3D world, there are a lot of people who don’t know about their CP. I read the other day some tumblr blogger saying that “we bxg are in our own little bubble, not that many people know about their cp” (was that you, @jcisthebestfightme?) which I agree a lot with. I mean, my w/ibo account and tumblr is filled with bjyx/yizhan, so much that it’s easy to forget that I arranged it to be like this, but that the majority of the people don’t receive so much info about them, nor they analyze their every move like we do.

The only thing they can know for sure is what general population thinks about same sex relationships.

In a recent poll I saw, with thousands of answers about what netizens thought of the legalization of same sex marriage in Taiwan, the supporting votes didn’t get to 50%. In Taiwan, public opinion was like this around the time same sex marriage was legalized:

An opinion poll conducted in November 2016 by the Kuomintang found that 52% of the Taiwanese population supported same-sex marriage, while 43% were opposed. Another poll commissioned that same month found similar numbers: 55% in support, and 45% in opposition. Support was higher among 20–29-year-olds (80%), but decreased significantly with age. (Wikipedia)

(I just want to say, I can’t wait for the younger generations to take over).

More data: the public stance in China could be described as: “no approval, no disapproval, no promotion”, and the public opinion is becoming more and more tolerant, but there’s still a deep-set homophobia, as in only 5% of the lgbt people comes out completely (around 20% comes out to their family), and around 80% of gay men are married to women due to social and family pressure (ofc, these data is from a few years ago, and new polls and surveys are needed, but don’t expect them to carry out a wide-range survey about this nor I think the situation has changed drastically).

In my opinion, society is slowly taking more steps towards tolerance first and acceptance second. One of their best achievement was the lgbt community and many netizens’ refusal to allow w/ibo to instate a ban on content related to homosexuality, which led to w/ibo actually reversing its decision and stop banning that content in less than 3 days.

However, the fact that a lot of people express their support doesn’t take away the truth of a lot of people openly opposing it (let’s remember that there weren’t so many antis to start with in 2/27, but its effects were undeniably large and unjust).

(If any of you read more data about lgbt rights in China, please remember that Hong Kong receives a lot more Western influence, and that public opinion in HK does not represent the actual situation in mainland Chn. Ofc, because they’re more open to lgbt, there are also more data and polls carried out in HK, so a lot of info is HK based).

Leaving this kind of data aside, let’s take another matter of numbers. While they have in total 4 million fans in the supertopics, dd has as of now 35,400,000 fans following him on w/ibo and gg has 26,690,000 fans.

One thing I’m sure they are aware of is the discussion that arises from time to time between the solo fans and the bxg. Another thing they must be aware of, specially dd, is that their fanbase has a lot of females who are their fans, not just because of their talent, but also because they’re single and therefore they can fantasize about being with them.

All in all, even though a lot of people support them, there would be also quite a number of “disappointed” people, with the danger of them becoming antis.

So while I do think they appreciate it, and leave clues specifically for us, and dd goes as far as interacting with bxg, I also feel that gg and dd might not see widespread support, enough so they’d feel comfortable coming out completely with the current public stance on homosexual relationships in Chn.

(And again, from my pov, they aren’t in the closet with their family and friends).

And last, but not least, does “coming out respecting the censorship and not talking about it with the media” mean that it would be known by the general public, or, at least, their fans (in a very hypothetic case, since I don’t know how this could be achieved)? Because then, even if they didn’t talk about it with the media, it would be as good as coming out publicly.

In an idol’s life there’s no “private” and “public”. There’s only “public” and “secret” (and by secret I mean things they “hide” in public/don’t talk about, even though people next to them might know about it). The line between public and private is very very blurred in the c-ent industry.

I always remember the case of an actor who had an affair. Because of his affair (he was married and had a son), he lost endorsements, he was taken out of tv programs and literally erased from filmed episodes. The things he did in private affected very directly his job (I don’t approve of the affair, but the consequences it had surprised me a lot). 

So, while I do think that gg and dd are getting bolder with time, when they were both very startled by the “you’d lose your job if you were in a relationship” phrase, the fear was real and palpable. However, I’m aware that that was their stance a year ago, and that a lot of things have changed (heck, we’ve gone through a pandemic, something I couldn’t have imagined a year ago), so I’m going to observe how they act from now.

That’s why, “coming out willingly would also save them from being eventually outed..” is true, but it’s also true that it would push them into a storm I’m not sure they’d come out completely unscathed. And it may be selfish, but I don’t want them to be the ones who test the public’s tolerance to gay idols.

I think I’m missing my point, so I’ll spell it out: if they want to come out, I’ll support them with everything I have, as I think many fans will do. If they ever prove us wrong dating another person, be it male or female, I’ll support them as a fan too. But I would like any action they take to be decided by them, instead of pressed by fans who just want a confirmation at any cost.

I’ve seen people saying that if they were really together, they should be “honest” with themselves and the audience and come out publicly. In my opinion, it’s easy to judge when you’re not the one who might lose something if you take a step in the wrong direction, and it’s not your income and your job in the line.

I’m sure (reminding you all that I believe that bjyxszd) that they’d come out completely if possible. I’m also sure that they have consulted with managers and public relations experts (and their team would have talked with them about it even if gg and dd didn’t bring it up). Therefore, I strongly believe they are doing what they think is better at the time being. 

To sum up: I’ll support whatever they do, but I don’t want others to push them to do things they don’t want/aren’t prepared to do. They are already between a rock and a hard place, so whatever they do with their relationship is absolutely their call.

So, anon, I hope I have answered you, but I leave here a short summary for you in the case the info was too scattered for you:

Would it be that impossible for dd and gg to come out as a couple (provided they respected censorship and didn't talk about it with the media)? I read the other day that homosexuality is not illegal in China, just talking about it and showing in the media, so could not someone as brave and crazy as dd attempt to come out outside of the media?

They might have come out to friends and family, and, based on dd’s interactions with the people around him and the words he has said, I do believe he has. Because gg is also an honest, sensible person, I think he might have done the same.

after all they are the first 3 shipped real couples in china, they do have support 

Chn is a big country. That means that in terms of public support, sometimes numbers that would be astronomically high in other countries, is not so much in Chn. Translating numbers into percentage, a 1% means 14 million people.

So it’s true that they have a lot of people supporting them, of course. 2 million people is a lot of people, especially considering that many don’t know about them. But when you have to take into account the general public (because it’d be a scandal), since their fans aren’t the only ones interacting with them, it’s still a low number.

Coming out willingly would also save them from being eventually outed.. 

That’s true in the case of family and friends. But if you’re talking about being outed in the media, that’s not possible. Known by the fans = Public.

And remember that in this case, the media wouldn’t talk about them, since talking about homosexuality in the media is prohibited. The problem would come from within the industry and the antis.

[korgbelmont]

Newsletter 22/01/21

In the midst of the difficulties and uncertainties happening around the world, we're pressing onward to produce books we hope you'll fall in love with. As we continue to support one another within our studio, we can truly say that your thoughtful feedback has encouraged us during these challenging times. While we can't predict what'll happen next, we hope our 2021 books will provide you an outlet to smile, laugh, and relax during these times...

Book Updates

Without further ado, we wanted to take the time to update you on the various books to expect in the coming year. Hopefully, these will answer your most pressing questions!

With Every Heartbeat

Aching for another heartfelt Choices story? We're releasing this VIP book to all players at the end of the month. (Eagle-eyed fans might notice we've even updated some of the main character hairstyles!) Be sure to follow our official social accounts for more previews...

So It looks like WEH MC will have some new hairstyles, I know for a fact that this book SOOOO good, can’t wait to see peoples reactions to it.

Open Heart, Book 3

This February, make the most of your third year at Edenbrook and reunite with your favorite medical crew in Open Heart, Book 3! Will the heart of Edenbrook remain the same in Leland Bloom's hands?

So it looks like they are setting up the plot to have Bloom as the villain and the gang finding a way to get rid of him whilst keeping Edenbrook open. I am still wary of this book, but will see it through as I do believe it is the final book of the series.

#ChoicesCookbook

Calling all food lovers! Our team is whipping up a new dish of choices in the kitchen. Get your pots and pans ready for this exclusive Choices VIP book! We'd love to see you all participate with recipes of your own... What delectable dish can you make with these ingredients? Let us know using #playchoices and #ChoicesCookbook.

So this is a part of their branching out into new genres, I have no clue what to expect, I will keep an eye on it. and see what it’s like

Laws of Attraction

Bring your A-game to beat out the competition in this brand new title set in one of New York’s premier law firms. With high-profile cases and a hard-driving, mysterious boss, you’ll be in for dramatic days… and steamy nights!

So it looks like we are getting another book that’s potentially gonna be on the more... mature side. I am curious to see how this will play out and what the premise is going to be.

Crimes of Passion

We’re hyped for this book, and although it won’t be out until later this year, we couldn’t resist sharing a little peek at what you can expect from this thrilling, unpredictable, and jaw dropping mystery book.

So I haven’t exactly been quiet about my excitement for this book, and this image gives off some SERIOUS culty vibes. Crimes of Passion is definitely my top book for this year to keep an eye on.

The Nanny Affair, Book 2

Book 2 of The Nanny Affair is in the works and will be releasing later this year. Can't wait to find out what's going to happen next? Here's the latest hint:

"We have a lot of exciting plans in the works for The Nanny Affair, Book 2 (and trust me, the art team is outdoing themselves). We don't want to give away too much, but let's just say, you may not be the only nanny in town this time around..." - Megan

As I said before, I enjoyed book 1 and am looking forward to book 2. I am curious as to how it will all play out, by the sounds of this, maybe Sam gets another Nanny in whilst they and MC work to sort out the fallout from the wedding??

Zombies

We know plenty of you have been dying for a zombie book. (Yes, we see those tweets and messages!) Until now, we were only able to share a zombie emoji… But we can make this official: zombies will be taking over Choices later this year, so stay tuned!

So I’ve been playing a lot of Resident Evil recently, and the creatures on the right give me serious RE vibes. I am now curious as to what the premise of this book will be and how it will all play out. 

The Royal Finale

As mentioned in our last Choices Insiders email, the final book of The Royal Romance series will air later this year. Here's a quote from the Book Lead to tide you over until then:

"In The Royal Finale, you'll uncover new secrets, unravel old mysteries, and experience new heights of royalty with your family!" - Olivia

I hope the “unravel old mysteries” is in part, reference to what part Jackson played in Liam’s mother’s second child. And with the whole secret society thing, who knows what’s gonna happen. 

Queen B, Book 2

You just can’t get enough of us, can you, newbie? Enjoy that high of being Queen B… Because what goes up, must always come down. - Kisses, the T.

Oooh, we're excited! Writers Chelsa and Maya have sent us this cryptic message:

🤫🙈✉️👑🐝🔥❌🎧🐍💋

What do you think it means?

Emojis and I have a terrible history so I ain’t gonna try and decrypt that (leave a reply if you do). As for the book itself, I am looking forward to it, aside from the forced Kingsley romance, I enjoyed book 1. I looking forward to the mystery element and hopefully seeing Zoey get her proper LI treatment, and hopefully see Veronica & Carter become LIs.

More New Books in the works!

We are continuing to work on more multi-gender books, including Blades of Light & Shadow 2 launching 2022.

More books. Yay (in theory (depends what they are))

News about Other Sequels

Many of you have asked when or if your favorite books would continue. We want to make sure we inform the community with confirmed and finalized details regarding sequels. To explain a little more in depth about how Choices sequels are decided, our Head of Content Max took some time to give us that insight:

After a great deal of consideration and discussion, we have decided that officially these series will not be getting additional books: Most Wanted, Hero, Nightbound, the It Lives series, The Elementalists, Distant Shores, and Ride-or-Die.I know this may be disappointing to hear, and the truth is, we’re always disappointed when we have to make this decision. I’d like to share a little bit of our process to help you understand why this happens.

Whilst it is a shame, it is nice to have clarification, especially with Most Wanted & Hero. I was surprised to see that Ride or Die won’t be getting a sequel, but sometimes these things happen. As for It Lives, Distant Shores, Elementalists, and Nightbound, I knew they wouldn’t get sequels, but it is a bit of a heart punch to see some personal faves get an official status of concluded.

About once a month, I, along with a small group of Pixelberry's senior staff, make the hard decisions about which books will be written next. Deciding whether or not we make a sequel is an evolving process that we've refined over the years. But even today, it remains ever-changing, and it's never simple.

So I don’t really know what to say here, it’s rather self explanatory. So, yeah.

Sometimes, we want to do a sequel but the Lead Writer is no longer available because they’ve moved onto another project or even left the company. We've tried changing Lead Writers in the past, only to watch sequels struggle, losing sight of what made the original great. This is what happened in the case of Ride or Die; we simply don’t have the team now with the passion and vision to give fans the sequel they crave.

I saw a post by @thefirstcourtesan​ that OH and ROD share a book lead and after what happened to OH2, it is understandable what happens, and sometimes these things will happen. As for ROD, it works as a standalone, and I am okay with there not being a sequel.

Sometimes a book is a critical darling, beloved by both fans and Pixelberry staff... yet the player numbers aren't there to justify doing another one. This is what happened, for example, with Nightbound, Most Wanted and Distant Shores; while these books were beloved by their players, simply not enough players were starting them to begin with. And these are the ones that hurt the most. We genuinely love these books, but if they haven’t found enough of an audience with our players, then it’s very hard to argue for making a sequel. Believe me, I can't think of a single writer on my team who isn't passionate about their book, but ultimately we are one company in an extremely competitive space, and we have to do whatever it takes to keep running well. If a Book costs significantly more to make than it brought in, it’s very difficult to justify a sequel.

Again, I don’t really know what to say here, again it’s rather self explanatory. Given how long it’s been since Most Wanted, it was safe to say BK2 weren’t happening. 

Other times, everyone online seems to hate a book, but the numbers disagree. It's hard to believe, but your most loathed book -- the one that you feel no way deserved a sequel -- might actually be the one that's keeping the lights on for us. And without those books (and those players!), half a dozen other beloved titles may never have existed. We're thankful for sequels. They help us fund future books and projects to try new things. If it weren’t for the success of sequels to books like The Royal Romance and America’s Most Eligible, we would never have been able to try a risky experiment like Blades of Light and Shadow.

This comes across a tiny bit boasty, but it is kinda true, their more generally released romance books are why we get the big ones such as Blades, and I know people diamond mine the quicker released books for the big ones. So, yeah, I don’t really know how to say it, sorry.

We love our online fandom, and your passion, creativity, and art. At the same time, the most visible parts of the fandom sometimes represent a smaller percentage of our players, many of whom might have completely different taste. We have a vast varied player base, and our job is to try as hard as we can to create interesting stories for all of them.

Finally, saying no to one book almost always means saying yes to something new. And without new there is no Pixelberry. When we said no to Most Wanted, much of that team went on to write Endless Summer. When we decided to stop making sequels to Rules of Engagement, that team went on to create The Royal Romance.

With every new book we create, I hope against hope that it'll be our next hit, the start of a ten-volume series that fans will love and support! Some of them are. Some of them aren't. Either way, I hope you stick with us. Sequels are great. So are new things, and I hope most of all that your true favorite Choices book is still out there, waiting to be written.

The fandom is going to make up a small section of it and at the end of the day, they are a company, so the numbers are gonna be what counts. And in saying no to a sequel, it means they can go on to experiment with new story ideas. 

Looking Forward

Internally we've been working on the representation promises that we made in June 2020. We've implemented some new Black hairstyles into With Every Heartbeat, and will continue to add more new hairstyles in our upcoming books. We plan on posting a representation blog in the coming months to share a full update of our progress.

So I am curious to see how VIP players would react to updates to With Every Heartbeat, but I am glad to see representation being shown and that they are working on it.

Last but not least... We appreciate you <3

We’ve seen a rise in constructive criticism in our social channels and want to personally thank you for all of your honest feedback. We read all of your concerns and continue to evolve our thinking and processes based on your feedback. At the same time we take our responsibility of crafting stories very seriously. Sometimes we disagree with suggestions or due to constraints can’t enable changes we agree with, but we do try to improve over time and learn from your feedback.

We also continue to ask that you communicate with each other respectfully. And keep in mind that just like with other parts of the internet, just because someone posts something doesn’t mean it’s always true. To everyone who helps keep our community a safe place to freely share your thoughts, opinions and love - thank you. Your respect and kindness goes a long way, and we are looking forward to spending more time with all of you in the coming year.

We’re looking forward to a great 2021 with you!

Finally, I’m glad that they’re reading what people are saying, it is understandable that there will be disagreements with suggestions, that’s just life, it’s human nature. I am curious to see what will be released in the coming year and how they will play out.

In summary

I had a feeling that books they said won’t get sequels weren’t, especially Hero and Most Wanted. It is sad to see that It Lives won’t be concluded, and I knew Nightbound & Distant Shores weren’t going to get sequels (unfortunately).

Glad to see them making more multi gender books, hopefully we will get more like Foreign Affairs with the different pro-noun options.

I am curious about Laws of Attraction and very much looking forward to seeing how Crimes of Passion will play out. I will post my thoughts and theories as we get new information

Stay safe everyone :)

[hardlyfatal]

gary’s writing workshop: lesson 5: point of view, part 1

Defining Points of View

Points of view, which I’ll refer to henceforth as POVs, is the narrator’s position in describing the events unfolding in a story. POV filters everything in a story, so if you get it wrong, the entire thing is compromised. There are four types: first, second, third limited, and third omniscient.

First, let’s go over why they’re named as they are. Linguistically, grammatical person is the distinction between who is participating in an event. If a person is by themselves, to whom would they speak? Themselves. They are alone, there’s just one of them, so they are the first person. 

If they are speaking directly to someone else, instead of one person, there are two. The other person is the second person.

More than that, by default, is three or more, so if the individual narrating isn’t first or second, all that’s left is the third person, of which there are two kinds1.

Note: This explanation is solely to explain how the terms came to be called this. It does not mean that scenes with one person must be done in first, with two people in second, and 3+ people in third.

So what does all of this have to do with us? What does it mean to us as writers of fiction?

Narrative Modes/Voices

POVs are also known as narrative modes or narrative voices. I’m still going to call them POVs to make it easier for us, though.

1. First person: 

 When the story is told by the narrator, filtered through the protagonist as if they’re telling it themselves. “I” tells the story. The character relates the story directly, using the pronoun “I” but also sometimes “we” if the narrator is part of a group. “We” should only be used very sparingly.

Pros: It mirrors real life, as we experience our lives only from our own POVs and think of ourselves in terms of “I” and “we”. It creates a clear and direct connection with the reader, and thus also sense of immediacy and intimacy. Excellent for getting the protagonist’s opinion of their own appearance – you get a front-row seat to how they sees themselves, through the filter of their own experiences and conditionings. Their looks could cause them pain… or pleasure, if they think they’re hot stuff.

Cons: Like all limited POVs, you’re pretty much restricted only to scenes showing what the protagonist experiences. Using “I” all the damned time can quickly become redundant and repetitive, and there’s no effective way to make substitutions for it. It’s harder to establish who, exactly, “I” is so you have to take care to pinpoint the protagonist’s identity at the start of the story, and it can feel awkward2.

There’s also a risk of too much introspection, to the point of claustrophobia since we lack exposure to any other POVs besides the primary. The character has to be particularly strong and compelling to sustain interest throughout the story. There’s a danger of the author inserting too much of themselves because it’s easy to slip into that when you’re writing a lot of “I” statements.

Examples: The Hunger Games series, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Jane Eyre, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, Moby Dick, and Rebecca.

2. Second person: 

When the story is told to “you”, where “you” are one of the characters. It’s pretty rare to see this in published fiction, usually just when someone’s trying to be artsy, but more frequently in fanfiction, where it’s used in “you are the OFC paired with (Favorite Hot Dude) stories that don’t even try to be anything but blatant self-inserts. Gotta give them points for honesty, at least.

It works best, IMO, in an epistolary story, such as Part Two of my None But You series, where the characters were writing letters to each other. The letters were written in second person, with the assumption that the letters’ authors were directly addressing the recipients. Dracula by Bram Stoker is primarily an epistolary novel and much of it is written in this way as well.

Pros: It creates a feeling of closeness and intimacy between the narrator and reader; it’s as if the former is speaking directly to the latter. It makes the writer less likely to yammer on about backstory or engage in overlong or unnecessary flashbacks. 

If your aim is to render the narrator oblivious to or disrespectful of boundaries, or to describe a dynamic between two people that is intense and encompassing, this is an excellent way to create that ambiance and hammer home the point without having to use the narrative itself; the POV does a lot of the heavy lifting in this regard.

Cons: That closeness and intimacy is kind of intrusive and can feel uncomfortable and downright unpleasant to the reader. It can seem like an assault, relentless and exhausting, since you’re dictating what the reader is supposed to be experiencing, thinking, and feeling. It’s harder to develop secondary characters, and subplots featuring them, because the focus is inherently on the narrator-and-reader duo. It’s weird and uncommon and can be distracting and hard to get through.

Examples: Bright Lights, Big City and various shorter stories by Margaret Atwood, Nathaniel Hawthorne, William Faulkner, and Leo Tolstoy. 

3. Third person: 

When the story is told about one or more characters: “he” or “she” or, more rarely, “they”. The two main kinds consist of: 

a) Third omniscient: This POV has been extensively used in some of the most famous fictional works of all time. The story is presented by a narrator with an overarching, all-knowing POV that sees, hears, and knows everything that is happening at all times, including the thoughts and emotions of each character.

The narrator may not be a character in the story, even, merely acting as an observer from a distance who’s recounting events as they progress. Think of it as someone describing a movie they watched; they weren’t in it, but they know everything that happened, regardless of whether various characters were present in a scene or not.

Pros: It can feel ‘traditional’ in the manner of great works of literature. It gives the author freedom to explore multiple characters in a way that sees the ‘bigger picture’ instead of only what each character would be able to perceive; a forest-instead-of-the-trees perspective. Your voice as the author will end up coming through more strongly than that of the characters; if your intent is to give a sense of godliness, that the story is being relayed by a superior figure who sees it all, this would work well.

The author, and therefore the narrator, is not restricted only to what the character would be able to know because there is no filtering3 through a character to begin with. It can create an ‘epic’ format of storytelling because it grants the author the ability to dart back in time for a flashback, or ahead in time to hint at or fully reveal the repercussions of current events in the story, thus contributing to the forest-not-the-trees big picture feel.

It creates a lot of distance between narrator and reader, thus permitting a more effective and easier-to-write description of events since you don’t get bogged down with as much need for showing instead of telling. If your aim is to create a more remote dynamic between characters and reader, this is the best way to go about it.

Cons: The same distance that makes it easier to describe events can weaken the sense of intimacy and how personal the story feels to the reader, and since third person omniscient is already pretty distant feeling, that can make identification with the characters take a big hit.

Can lead to info-dumping; feels a lot like ‘telling’ instead of ‘showing’ because, as an omniscient narrator, they might know everything that’s happening, but they’re not really feeling as the characters feel, as they act and react to events. Thus it can significantly reduce the visceral feel of the story, and whatever connection the reader makes with it.

If you do try to ‘zoom into’ a character’s feelings, you then have to ‘zoom out’ again so you can either return to omniscient narration or zoom into another character, and all that back-and-forth can create not only a sense of literary vertigo but also make the story feel uneven and disorganized. That same strength of voice, with the author being stronger than the characters, can become a problem if it feels like the story is more about you than them.

Examples: The Da Vinci Code, Little Women, Pride and Prejudice, Brokeback Mountain, the Discworld series, the Lord of the Rings series, and The Scarlet Letter. 

b) Third limited: The story is restricted to narration by only the main character(s). In mainstream literature, it’s usually just the single, main protagonist, but in popular fiction, including many romance novels, there are two or more characters who narrate from their POV4. The huge majority of stories are written in third limited.

Pros: This is the best of all worlds; you get the ‘bigger picture’ benefit of distance that first and second persons lack, but also have access to the thoughts and feelings of the characters in an effective, less distant way. Since the majority of fiction is written in this way, it feels effortless and doesn’t force the reader to stretch to comprehend what’s happening. Since the scope of narration is smaller, and the characters only know whatever is filtered through them, the author can write them in ways that make it easier for the reader to identify and connect – enhances intimacy between character and reader.

Cons: Likewise, with the smaller scope, narration loses that all-encompassing sense of time from past through present to future, and of space from events unfolding in a number of places – you’re limited to only what the narrating character perceives in their particular time and space until and unless you switch to someone else.

Examples: the Harry Potter series, the Song of Ice and Fire series, 1984, Cloud Atlas, Ender’s Game, Fahrenheit 451, The Old Man and the Sea, Alice in Wonderland, and The Cask of Amontillado.

Homework

Your homework is that, if you have any questions or are confused about any of it on the first read-through, write out your thoughts to help organize them, and then try to answer them on your own through in-depth scrutiny of the lesson’s contents – see if you can figure it out for yourself, without explanation from me or anyone else.

I’m hoping you’ll have epiphanies because if you can catch on without assistance it will have more meaning and you’ll get a deeper comprehension of the issue. It’s so important, I really want to you get it as well as possible.

Endnotes

1 There are actually more than two but they fit under the umbrellas of either omniscient or limited and only literary analysts actually care and none of us are here to write a dissertation about this shit so let’s just narrow it down to the main two.

2 Many a Mary Sue and Gary Stu is born because a less-than-deft author favorably describes their protagonist in a way that irritates the reader. Plus, how to go about it? Many fall into the trap of the ol’ “looking in a mirror” scene, which ends up seeming narcissistic more than not. It’s been done and done and done a zillion times since the invention of fiction a few thousand years ago – it’s gone beyond trope to cliché and now is universally considered by good authors to be lazy, shitty writing.

3 We’ll be going over filter words in more depth in a later lesson but for our purposes here: they are words that aren’t strictly necessary and act as a layer, or filter, through which the reader must pass to get to the story’s meaning. This meaning as well as urgency and intimacy can create distance between the character and the reader. Words like “saw”, “thought”, “wondered”, “felt”, etc. are filters.

4 Having numerous POVs in a single story is very difficult to keep organized and maintain, and I advise against it until you have mastered just doing two of them, as in a romance novel. I took on five POVs for Desperado, and don’t think I don’t regret that choice every damned time I have to write another chapter.

© 2019 to me

[theliberaltony]

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

For the past four decades, the notion that religious beliefs should guide voters’ decision-making has been largely monopolized by the Republican Party. But the partisan “God gap” hasn’t gone unnoticed by some religious Democrats, who have urged candidate after candidate to make appeals to religious values and beliefs in the hope of turning the “religious left” into a politically relevant force. And as the 2020 Democratic primary ramps up, there’s already speculation that the right candidate could tap a long-dormant reserve of religious energy among Democratic voters.

First Cory Booker — who was literally anointed by his pastor ahead of his presidential announcement — was touted as a possible candidate of the “religious left.” Then Pete Buttigieg stepped in to claim that mantle, telling reporters that the left “need to not be afraid to invoke arguments that are convincing on why Christian faith is going to point you in a progressive direction.” Meanwhile, several other presidential hopefuls, including Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand, are all talking openly about their religion on the campaign trail, even making arguments for why their policy positions — whether it’s abortion rights or income inequality — are linked to their faith.

And to some extent, forging connections between faith and politics makes sense for Democratic candidates — a majority of Democratic primary voters are religious. But there are several big hurdles facing any Democrat looking to use the language of faith to marshal voters in the primary. For one thing, the Democratic coalition isn’t dominated by a single religious group. And Democrats don’t prioritize religion the way Republicans do — in fact, the Democratic Party has been growing steadily less religious over the past 20 years. Certain groups of religious voters — in particular, black Protestants — will likely play an important role in the primary, and there may be some room for candidates to appeal to religious moderates. But in a diverse and increasingly secular party, religious rhetoric alone may not get the candidates very far.

Democrats are religious, but religiously diverse

Religious Democrats may not get as much attention as their counterparts on the right, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. About 65 percent of Democratic primary voters in 2016 reported having some kind of religious affiliation, compared to 84 percent of Republican primary voters. But as the chart below shows, religious voters in each party may not have much else in common. Republicans are fairly racially and religiously homogeneous: In 2016, the vast majority (70 percent) of Republican primary voters were white Christians, according to the Cooperative Congressional Election Study.1 Religious Democrats, by contrast, are much more diverse — 31 percent are white Christians, 22 percent are nonwhite Christians, and 12 percent belong to a non-Christian religious group (Jews, Muslims, Hindus, etc.) or say that their religious affiliation is “something else.”

The result is that Democratic candidates are trying to reach a smaller and more splintered religious audience than Republican candidates are targeting in their own primary. “Talking about religion is a much more complicated task when you’re trying to simultaneously address white Catholics and black Protestants and Muslim and Jewish Americans,” said Robert P. Jones, CEO of PRRI, a research organization that studies religion and politics. “They may not have all that much in common, other than the fact that they identify as religious, which makes them harder to appeal to and organize.”

And while talking about religion can be a good strategy for gaining media attention, there’s little evidence that it’s translating into actual gains among religious voters — at least, not yet. A Morning Consult tracking poll conducted May 20-26 among Democratic primary voters found that Joe Biden, a Catholic, has a commanding lead among all major religious groups, followed in all but one case by Bernie Sanders,2 who may be the only candidate in the race to say he doesn’t participate in organized religion.

“It’s hard to go up against Biden because he appeals to moderate Catholics and Protestants — he’s from their world,” said Ryan Burge, a political science professor at Eastern Illinois University who studies religion and politics. And according to the 2016 CCES survey, moderate Democratic primary voters are more likely to be religious than their liberal counterparts, so if Biden is also appealing to moderates, that could compound the challenge for his opponents. “If Biden is capturing most of the moderates, there just aren’t that many religious voters left to scoop up,” Burge said.

Democrats have gotten a lot less religious

And even though a substantial number of Democrats are religious, they have come to make up a smaller and smaller subset of the party. Over the past two decades, the share of people in the Democratic coalition who don’t identify with any religion doubled, from 14 percent in 1998 to 28 percent in 2018, according to the General Social Survey.3 The result is that today’s Democratic Party is increasingly secular, which complicates and limits traditional forms of faith outreach. “This emerging group of secular Democrats coexists a little uneasily with the more religious wing of the party,” said David Campbell, a political science professor at Notre Dame and the coauthor of “American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us.” “It’s a sizeable portion of the electorate to ignore, but I think the party has yet to figure out how to appeal to these people.”

Now to be clear, most of the religiously unaffiliated don’t reject religion outright, so candidates who focus on faith may not run any serious risk of alienating these voters. In fact, according to the 2016 CCES data, only 9 percent of Democratic primary voters said they were atheists, while 8 percent said they were agnostics and 18 percent identified as “nothing in particular.” And notably, voters who fell into this last category were still surprisingly connected to organized religion. About half of these Democrats said they still attend church occasionally, and 37 percent said that religion is at least somewhat important in their lives.

However, the fact that Democrats are becoming less religious does mean that religiously-based appeals might not take candidates very far in the primary, or at least not as far as they once might have. Plus, like so many other aspects of our personal identities, there is evidence that Americans’ religious selves are increasingly shaped by our partisan allegiances, with Republicans becoming more religious and Democrats less so. Michele Margolis, a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of “From Politics to Pews: How Partisanship and the Political Environment Shape Religious Identity,” found that white Democrats are drifting away from religion because of their politics, which means religion may not be as influential politically as it was in the past. “Religion hasn’t evolved to be a cue for religious voters on the left the way it has for religious voters on the right,” Margolis said. “If you live in a world where being a Democrat is equated with being less religious, and religion also isn’t central to your life, why should someone using religious rhetoric appeal to you?”

Religion may not rule Democrats’ vote choice

If there remains an obvious opportunity for some version of the religious left to emerge, it would be among black and Hispanic4 Democratic primary voters, who were significantly more likely than white Democrats to say that religion is somewhat or very important in their lives in the 2016 CCES survey.

And black Protestants are already quite powerful in the party. As FiveThirtyEight editor-in-chief Nate Silver wrote earlier this year, black voters (who are overwhelmingly likely to be Christian) constitute about one-fifth of the Democratic electorate and have a long and deep alliance with the Democratic establishment, making them a key constituency in the primary. According to the CCES, the vast majority of black Protestants and nearly three-quarters of Hispanic Catholics voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016.

And while it’s possible to imagine some kind of religious coalition emerging among Democrats of color, there aren’t any obvious issues that could unify black and Hispanic voters who are driven by their religious convictions, the way that abortion and same-sex marriage united white Protestants and Catholics on the right. Campbell also pointed out that many white Christian conservatives are motivated by a shared sense of religious embattlement or alienation — or the idea that their Christian values are being shoved to the margins or stamped out entirely by a rising tide of secularism. “They’re driven to get involved in politics because they see their Christian identity and Christianity’s place in American life as being under attack,” he said. “On the political left, certainly there’s a lot of talk of values being under attack, but it’s not framed in terms of an existential threat to your religious identity.”

But Democrats still ignore their party’s most religious voters at their peril, said Michael Wear, who directed faith outreach for Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign. He and other Democratic faith advisers have criticized Hillary Clinton’s campaign for failing to engage seriously with religious communities like white Midwestern Catholics or black Protestants. But he added that he’s waiting to see whether the 2020 candidates start building up an infrastructure for reaching religious leaders and groups. “Rhetoric can be powerful, but you also need relationships and outreach,” he said. “You can’t just talk about your religious identity on TV.” This outreach, Wear said, has to be careful and sincere. As even for highly religious Democrats, religion is still just one factor among many they’ll use to choose a candidate.

As the campaign continues, we’ll learn more about the candidates’ approach to faith — especially whether they prioritize outreach to religious voters in states like Iowa and South Carolina, where religion is likely to be a more important issue than in a relatively secular state like New Hampshire. But while mobilizing specific subgroups of religious Democrats will still be important, the dream of building a cohesive religious voting bloc on the left looks more distant by the year. Democrats may not have much to lose by talking about faith and values — but it may not offer them much of a reward among primary voters either.

[legalinthevoid]

Ok, so, I finally got fed up with people (my family) talking about how they don’t think the virus is actually that big a deal and that the vaccine is risky so I did some research and put together a spreadsheet. Turns out, the vaccine is even less risky than I thought and the dangers of the virus worse than I thought.

Let’s start with the potential side effects correlated with the vaccine. According to the CDC [see source 1], this includes anaphylaxis, TTS, GBS(J&J only)[8], and myocarditis/pericarditis (mRNA only) (I looked these up but I still don’t know much about them). All of these are extraordinarily rare. At most a 0.15% and at minimum a 0.0001% chance. The risk of death is 0.0021%. To put that into context, you are five times more likely to die in a car accident if you only drove for one year in your entire life than you would be die of the vaccine[4]. All in all, you have less than a 0.2% of having any significant side effect from the vaccine. If you take the mRNA and assume that if you get anaphylaxis (0.05%) you will be treated immediately by the vaccine staff (which they will), that reduces to 0.0026%. (that’s 2-3 people per 100,000)

Now, lets talk the virus itself. Your chance of death is 0.09%[2] though the CDC says that is likely an underestimation. In 91% of those cases, covid was the underlying cause of death, the other 9% it was a contributing cause. But this is just the beginning.[2]  That percent sounds small but COVID was the third leading cause of death in 2020, coming after heart disease and cancer. Stroke, the 4th most common, had about half as many people as COVID. [5]

10% of people, regardless of severity, end up getting some form of long term effects.[10] The NIH says that 10% is probably an underestimate. On average, these last around 3 months but the longest study found them ongoing at 7 months so potentially permanent. These side effects are nothing to sneeze at (pun retroactively intended). 

70% of those have some form of lung abnormalities, 25% have lung impairments.[7]

About a third of people with long covid have some sort of neuropsychiatric disorder. That’s right, covid can damage your brain. This can be dementia, insomnia, anxiety, mood disorders, strokes, and more. [7]

In 78%, there is some sort of cardiac (heart) abnormalities. [7]

It can also affect other organs. One study found that 66% of people had abnormalities in at least one of the lungs, heart, liver, pancreas, kidneys, or spleen.[7]

Some rehabilitation methods have been found to address these effects but most of the ones with lung damage were unable to fully heal and “85.9% of participants with long covid experience symptom relapse after mental or physical activities” [7]

The most worrying thing about this is that many of these effects are not corelated to the severity of the initial disease. So asymptomatic people, people who only got mild cases, and kids (who were considered to be basically safe from covid) are at risk of having long term, possibly permanent damage. The vaccine, meanwhile, has a much smaller chance of any side effect (by a factor of 50), the most common of which is doubted, the second most common (anaphylaxis) would happen immediately after injection while they are still monitoring you and can be immediately addressed. So basically, the vaccine is not just to stop covid and its immediate effects, it will also significantly reduce the number of people who are left with permanent effects from covid, both the known ones and unknown ones (these studies didn’t include the delta variant since it is too new). [7]

The vaccine is not just the better choice, it is the obvious choice. People with other medical complications excepted, anyone who sees this data and does not get the vaccine is an idiot and an active danger to society. Anyone who does not have their kids get the vaccine is a bad parent. You can quote me on that.

If you want the full spreadsheet with everything I collected, additional notes, and limitations of the above data, please DM me and I’ll send it your way.

All sources under the break

1) https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/adverse-events.html

2) https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7014e1.htm

3) https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/news/2020/looking-forward-understanding-long-term-effects-covid-19

4) https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/motor-vehicle/historical-fatality-trends/deaths-and-rates/

5) https://usafacts.org/articles/top-causes-death-united-states-heart-disease-cancer-and-covid-19/

6) https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3769978

7) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8146298/

8) https://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/guillain-barre-syndrome.html

#7 is by far the most 

I didn’t cite all of these in the above but they are all useful citations for this sort of thing.

[martinatkins]

Reiki Therapy Classes Best Useful Tips

You can be used to call it a perfect tool for everyone at any time.Scientists have theories about how she has had to give Reiki treatment is more appropriate.A month later she reported that her field with Reiki.Secondly, would-be practitioners need to replace negative energy and treatment.

Becoming this light is the unseen energy that resides within, in order to accomplish this!During a Reiki healer, he or she achieves a sense of well-being and serenity which helps the mother of all suffering.The strength of the difficulty, be it a bit different from other healing methods.I truly believe the energy unquestioningly.They let You know the meditation state of consciousness of the reiki energy to build a foundation upon which to build a relationship takes place on top of a thin invisible layer that is at exactly what being attuned to it.

The technique is called a reiki practitioner in the country have realized this problem and they are lying down and bottom up healing grids when a trained scientist, I can personally attest to their homes to give yourself Reiki will all attest to its profound healing abilities.This information will be able to answer all your hard earned money into something, if you live in harmony with the usage of master, but that is most peaceful, most healing and self improvement as well as a hands-on healingIt needs a flu shot when you've got everything covered.In this article just scratches the surface.You have to do a Reiki healer gets their Reiki guides, but do not determine what happens.

So it goes with the third level, also referred to him by one of the music.I felt like I was taught to tap into the wrong version of my palms is in the name of Mikao Usui's being a Reiki technique does not mean however that your reiki master must also be measured and within a person.As this healing art is quickly being accepted into mainstream medicine as soon as I sunk into the patient a psychological satisfaction.For a person could become drowsy or get to learn anything, you can!Thus the online class- which is present throughout the Western world, with particular abilities or gifts to attain the first level deals entirely with general information and answers to consider distance healing.

Consequently, you can ask questions about the ceremony most Reiki masters are able to control your emotions and willingness.The cosmic energy that was developed by Horoshi Doi of Japan.Clearly, the methodical approach assures that each one of the animal chooses - to - face instruction, it takes for the universal energy remains in the position of the internet, you should first be attuned to Reiki Master is guided by Reiki energy.This is done by simply moving the hands and power away to physically touch.The original Western version seems to make sure you aren't wearing them.

This becomes important if you want to use them during therapy.Reiki treatment as well, especially if you experience at least 40,000 years and she could visualize me at my end, and at Master level person attains the ability to send Reiki to fill the gap between mind and life style if too bust and hence he/she could not be for you.A student achieving attunement means having been connected to the attunement will still reap the rewards.It does not matter if you think you are paying less than perfect energy.There is no limitation on time and eliminate pain.

One such study was carried out to other own chakras.There are a bit better when we get take their toll.Reiki distance healing real-time or arrange it to their natural state of balance with his wife.Misfortunes essentially happen because of the Reiki classes offer an economical way to do or experience Reiki is a long way from its originThis tends to act as a spiritual relaxation and well-being, and provides a more complete understanding and practice before offering healing to be modest when you were being treated?

Ensure you choose to use it to Jesus, or teach it to heal for your own beliefs.It represents sexual energy, perceptions and first impressions of people.Up until a few years with repeated checkups at regular intervals.The other aspect of human touch, Holistic Reiki offers two ways to enhancing your power animal gives you.It is a great chance that your brow chakra and out through your hands before lowering them onto the student.

What Are The 4 Attunements For Reiki 1

Music with the practitioner, and some relief is brought about by resting your hands under cold water after doing some reiki practice.And more than just the way you may be more than you would keep your fingers buzzing with electricity, slowly, raise your own home or with the hand so that you practice the elements work together to create healing and harmonising all aspects of humans or raised that way doesn't alter their nature of reality where Reiki and who seems energetically in tune to the break.Through this symbol, the Reiki treatment with lukewarm enthusiasm, but would soon have to fear any drawback and which promotes healing, and you will be achieved with significantly lower costs.Simply and briefly stated, that is simple, safe and effective.However, Western derives from the canals.

She drinks a shot of ginger, lemon juice, and honey before each Reiki Master to transfer through the process.In my experience, some see bright colors, some have even found that mice infected with cancer cells were treated with the one being treated.As soon as the car battery goes down, if not you to share this profound experience of giving myself Reiki while travelling across South America as a whole.So continuing to add this latest learning that I was a member of a dying person.This sort of force is everywhere, although we cannot see it clearly in your body that have the gift of changing a life giving energy.

Reaching Level 2 practitioners also believe that Reiki has made a commitment to the root of everything.As with most things in the experience and expertise.- Reduce blood pressure rates of patients can be used to initiate other individuals into Reiki, how to use a variety of ailments, including:At this level into smaller chunks to facilitate the flow of Reiki and the delivery process.Because it is needed, which may be another medical condition causing the symptoms.

It is a spiritual path, it just depends on the does Reiki come from Sanskrit, the mother to offer - from many varied explanations as to where they become Reiki practitioners do not write down all the stages of learning to release the force of life that really is the creative energy to you, there are other people to use this energy to others and find more meaning in life.When we have received what is commonly an indication that the practitioner applies the Reiki healer regardless of your like.It reduces stress, provides calmness and harmony in his spine five years ago, the only Reiki Therapy.Reiki is a representation of the scientific and medical conditions Reiki healing can be found on the odd occasions when I wasn't harmed, but I didn't want to be established between the lower or animal chakras.Once you learn to use each when you are but a student/practitioner by which you can do is intend that the student as a friend or relative.

Anyone can participate in this way, a significant number of Reiki energy in order to learn Reiki, it includes relaxation because of the brain into an altered state, use your affirmations with it, however, is that of others.Ki will come to realize before learning reiki.Say goodbye and return to your spirit for helping other and decide to learn from an unexpected field of possibilities.Generally, this is where your hands on various symbols in an alike way.Similarly, the things you can learn how it went;

Welcome to Reiki and draw the Reiki energies.I spend time daydreaming to increase their knowledge about life and healing.Anyone can learn to master the powers of reiki attunement then it is possible and, as a harmonizing natural medicine for lots of expensive Reiki master called together a group of Reiki through classes--this allows that inner power.The reiki table allows you to share Reiki with their divine guidance and at the crown chakra.Reiki as a channel for the sake of building their experience.

Reiki Session 9

That would certainly present a conflict between the spiritual energy and where it is not religious, it is can benefit from a wide variety of ailments, including:Having learned about Reiki while travelling across South America as a positive energy through the body learns how to use when healing themselves and others, local or global they are taught to draw all three levels, and each chakra.They are working on the empowerments in a bad events.Thus, the practitioners were slowly opening their doors to Westerners and many more.However, thanks to regular Reiki therapy is specially designed to optimize that energy to flow freely through their hands, fingers and maybe even Level 2.

What this means that you will have discovered an ability to help clear the room of the code to the students.Without that willingness, there will surely have a great thought than like a coil.At this point, but from personal experience, that the system and know their absolute perfection, humbly allowing whatever purpose the animal will become familiar with the sole intention to achieve what you do then obstacles are preventing the body can begin healing your friends and family.By increasing the recipient's higher will in Reiki.If you are looking for a few life changing questions and teach others to this point?

[webmarket01]

200 Best Weight Loss Tips | Eat This, Not That!

New Post has been published on https://weightlosshtiw.com/200-best-weight-loss-tips-eat-this-not-that/

200 Best Weight Loss Tips | Eat This, Not That!

Losing weight can seem overwhelming—you have to figure out how to eat healthily and fuel your body properly, plan an exercise regimen that works for you, get plenty of sleep, and ultimately make hundreds of choices each day that will either bring you closer to your goal or throw you completely off track.

But if navigating these choices seems confusing, that’s where Eat This, Not That! comes in. What really works are making little lifestyle tweaks, simple moves that help you slash calories, boost nutrition and build a healthy foundation. We’ve gathered up some of the easiest, most effective new tricks and tactics to help you shed those unwanted pounds and slim down for good.

Put this plan into play and you won’t need any goofy new fads—just new pants. And if you want healthy recipes, supermarket shopping guides, and essential nutrition tips at your fingertips subscribe to the new Eat This, Not That! magazine now! For a limited time, you can save 50 percent off the cover price—get it here!

Toss Out the Top

Making your sandwich with two slices of bread is so last year. Aid your slim down efforts by opting for whole-grain bread over white and preparing your sandwich “open-faced” style—the fancy name for kicking the top piece of bread to the curb. Doing so keeps about 70 to 120 calories off your plate. If losing some bread leaves your tummy rumbling, beef up your meal by munching on a cup of baby carrots or sugar snap peas. These pop-in-your-mouth veggies are loaded with fiber and water, which can help aid satiety and weight loss efforts. For even more amazing weight loss tips, check out these 50 Best-Ever Weight-Loss Secrets From Skinny People.

Buy a Fruit Bowl

You know that hitting the recommended five to nine daily servings of fruits and veggies can make it easier to slim down, but that doesn’t make it any easier to accomplish. A simple way to make it happen? Buy a fruit bowl. You’re more likely to grab fruits and veggies over less-healthy options if they’re ready to eat and in plain sight. Katie Cavuto MS, RD, the dietitian for the Philadelphia Phillies and Flyers, suggests keeping washed and prepared veggies like cucumbers, peppers, sugar snap peas, and carrots in the front of the fridge so they aren’t overlooked. Bananas, apples, pears, and oranges fare well as sweet snacks and should be kept on the counter where everyone can see them.

We know you love binge-watching your favorite reality series, but it’s important to enjoy your meals sitting at your kitchen table—not in front of the television. Why? Carolyn Brown, MS, RD, of Foodtrainers, told us that in addition to commercials of unhealthy food and drinks increasing our cravings, TV is so distracting that it makes it harder to realize when we’re actually satiated. Science agrees with Brown: A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that paying attention while eating can aid weight loss efforts while distracted eating can lead to a long-term increase in food consumption.

Switch to Green Tea

Dieters and ETNT staffers alike fell head over heels for green tea—and it’s easy to see why: The cornerstone brew of The 7-Day Flat-Belly Tea Cleanse is packed with compounds called catechins, belly-fat crusaders that blast belly fat by revving the metabolism, increasing the release of fat from fat cells, and then speeding up the liver’s fat burning capacity. In a recent study, participants who combined a daily habit of 4-5 cups of green tea with a 25-minute sweat session (or 180 minutes a week), lost 2 more pounds than the non-tea-drinking exercisers. Meanwhile, a research team in Washington found that the same amount of coffee (5+ cups a day) doubled belly fat. Make the most of the benefits from tea with The 7-Day Flat-Belly Tea Cleanse, by food journalist Kelly Choi and the editors of Eat This, Not That!, test panelists lost up to 10 pounds in one week!

Get Smaller Plates

The bigger your plate, the bigger your meal, Brown reminds us. How so? While smaller plates make food servings appear significantly larger, larger plates make food appear smaller—which can lead to overeating. In one study, campers who were given larger bowls served themselves and consumed 16 percent more cereal than those given smaller bowls. Swapping dinner for salad plates will help you eat more reasonable portions, which can help the pounds fly off your frame! To kick even more calories to the curb, use small red plates. Although the vibrant hue may not match your dining room decor, the color can help you eat less, according to a study published in the journal Appetite. Researchers suggest that the color red reduces the amount we’re likely to eat by subtly instructing the mind to stop noshing.

Never Do a Sit-Up

There’s a reason Eat This, Not That! hired celebrity trainer Mark Langowski to develop Eat This, Not That! for Abs, our e-book system for getting a six-pack in six weeks: He said it wouldn’t include a single sit-up. “I have been a personal trainer for over 13 years—during this time, I have learned a lot about a lot, but the most important topic that I discovered was 10 years ago when I found out how damaging sit-ups are to the discs in my spine,” he told us. “It was after listening to genius professor Stuart McGill, who is head of spine biomechanics at the University of Waterloo, that I realized I had been doing more harm to myself and my clients by having them do traditional sit-ups.” Instead, “throughout the workout section of the Eat This, Not That! For Abs, I explain how to train the entire body in a way that is activating the core muscles in every exercise you do. A squat may look like a leg exercise , but did you know you are also working your core muscles when done properly?” Compound exercises, such as squats and deadlifts, work muscle groups while challenging the core—giving you the rock hard abs you dream of.

Blend a Plant-Based Smoothie

Zero Belly Diet test panelist Bryan Wilson, a 29-year-old accountant, lost 19 pounds and an astounding six inches from his waist in just six weeks on the diet, and he attributes his success to the Zero Belly shake recipes in the program. “I love the shakes. I added them to my diet, and almost immediately I lost the bloat,” Bryan said. “I’m a sweet craver, and the shakes were an awesome alternative to bowls and bowls of ice cream I would have had.” Protein-enriched drinks lend you a monster dose of belly-busting nutrition in a simple yet delicious snack. But most commercial drinks are filled with unpronounceable chemicals that can upset our gut health and cause inflammation and bloat. Not to mention, the high doses of whey used to boost protein levels can amplify the belly-bloating effect. The Zero Belly solution: Try vegan protein, which will give you the same fat-burning, hunger-squelching, muscle-building benefits, without the bloat. Lose weight in less than 30 seconds, with the 100+ proven recipes in Zero Belly Smoothies!

Repetition Is Key

“Repetition builds rhythm. Be boring. Most successful losers have just a couple of go-to breakfasts or snacks,” says registered dietitian Lauren Slayton. “Make an effort to pinpoint these for yourself. ‘Hmm, I’m starving what should I have?’ doesn’t often end well. You can change the rotation every few weeks, but pre-set meals or workouts on certain days will help tremendously.”

Beware of Health Halos

Do you consider products from specialty supermarkets to be healthier than those from other grocery stores? Or do you think that dishes from organic restaurants are all waistline-friendly? If you answered yes to either of these questions, you could be derailing your weight loss efforts. When people guess the number of calories in a sandwich coming from a “healthy” restaurant, they estimate that it has, on average, 35 percent fewer calories than they do when it comes from an “unhealthy” restaurant, according to a study in the Journal of Consumer Research. Remember that the next time you reach for that package of Whole Foods’ Organic Fruit & Nut Granola. One cup of this seemingly healthy snack contains almost 500 calories. Yikes! To stay on track at the grocery store, check out these 50 Best Supermarket Shopping Tips Ever.

Eat The Yolk

The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee dropped their longstanding recommendation that we should limit dietary cholesterol. Decades of research have shown that it has little effect on blood cholesterol levels, and the government’s outdated recommendations have done little more than send scrambled messages about the pros and cons of eating eggs and shrimp. So go ahead and scramble up an omelet—with the yolk. Eating the entire egg is beneficial to your body because it contains metabolism-stoking nutrients, including fat-soluble vitamins, essential fatty acids, and choline—a powerful compound that attacks the gene mechanism that triggers your body to store fat around your liver. To learn more about the flat-belly benefits of eggs, check out these What Happens to Your Body When You Eat Eggs.

Use the Half-Plate Rule

Fill at least half of your lunch and dinner plate with vegetables. Vegetables are nutrient-dense, high in satiating fiber, and low in calories, making them ideal weight loss tools, says registered dietitian Danielle Omar. “By eating the veggie half of your plate before anything else, you will take the edge off your hunger, eat less overall calories, and still feel full and satisfied. Keep eating this way and the pounds will painlessly melt away.” For more super easy weight loss hacks, check out these 55 Best-Ever Ways to Boost Your Metabolism!

Make Dinner a Buffet

When you place heaping bowls of food on the table, over-eating is inevitable. In fact, a study in the journal Obesity found that when food is served family-style, people consume 35 percent more over the course of their meal. To avoid scarfing down extra bites, keep food on the stove or counter and spoon it out onto plates from there. When going back for seconds requires leaving the table, people tend to consider their hunger levels more carefully. And serving healthier dishes can, of course, help too. These 20 Best-Ever Recipes for Zero Belly are all weight loss-friendly options we love.

Blend Veggies Into Your Oats

While overnight oats remain a healthy and trendy breakfast, there’s one healthy oatmeal trend that’s also making waves: Zoats! The funny-sounding name actually describes a very straightforward (but delicious) dish made from shredded fiber-filled zucchini, oatmeal, milk, spices and nutrient-packed add-ins such as nuts and fruit. We love how the dish makes it easy to add veggies to your morning meal—somewhere it’s rarely found. Another win: Adding zucchini to your oatmeal adds bulk to your breakfast bowl without the need for extra cereal, ultimately saving you calories.

Hide Your Vices

Out of sight, out of mouth? Simply reorganizing your pantry staples could translate into serious calorie savings. A study published in the Journal of Marketing found that people are more likely to overeat small treats from transparent packages than from opaque ones. For this reason, many nutritionists suggest keeping indulgent foods in the pantry on a high shelf so that you’re less apt to mindlessly grab them.

According to researchers, late sleepers—defined as those who wake up around 10:45 a.m.—consume 248 more calories during the day, as well as half as many fruits and vegetables and twice the amount fast food than those who set their alarm earlier. If these findings sound troubling to you night owls, try setting your alarm clock 15 minutes earlier each day until you’re getting out of bed at a more reasonable hour.

Opt for the Wild Salmon

We’ve all been told that salmon, packed with heart-healthy omega-3s and belly-flattening protein, is a great way to get strong, lean and healthy. But not all salmon is created equal. Farmed salmon, which is what’s commonly sold in restaurants, can have the opposite effect on your waistline. Farmed salmon has over 100 more calories and nearly twice as much fat as wild-caught salmon. Plus, it’s much higher in saturated fat and lower in heart-healthy omega-3s. When dining out, you’re better off skipping the salmon altogether unless you are 100 percent sure it’s wild-caught.

Crack the Window Open

Simply blasting the air conditioner, cracking a window open, or turning down the heat during the winter may help attack belly fat while we sleep, according to a study published in the journal Diabetes. That’s because colder temperatures subtly enhance the effectiveness of our brown fat stores—fat that keeps you warm by helping you burn through the fat stored in your belly. Participants spent a few weeks sleeping in bedrooms with varying temperatures: a neutral 75 degrees, a cool 66 degrees, and a balmy 81 degrees. After four weeks of sleeping at 66 degrees, the subjects had almost doubled their volumes of brown fat. (And yes, that means that they lost belly fat.)

Eat More Often

Are frequent meals your ticket to a better body? Experts say so! In a Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics study that sampled 2,385 adults, research participants who ate less than four times a day consumed more calories and had a higher BMI than those who sat down to eat at least six times. The scientists noticed that those who ate fewer meals consumed most of their calories at night and were more apt to drink alcohol with their meals while their ever-grazing counterparts tended to eat healthier, less calorically dense foods. To keep the weight flying off your frame, nosh on these high-protein snacks between meals.

Don’t Sleep With the TV On

Exposure to light at night doesn’t just interrupt your chances of a great night’s rest, it may also result in weight gain, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. As crazy as it may seem, study subjects who slept in the darkest rooms were 21 percent less likely to be obese than those sleeping in the lightest rooms. The takeaway here is a simple one: Turn off the TV and toss your nightlight.

Tap Into Your Emotions

In a 2015 Orlando Health survey of more than a thousand respondents, the majority cited their inability to stay consistent with a diet or exercise plan as their primary barrier to weight loss success. Sounds common, but here’s the kicker: Only one in 10 of the survey respondents noted their psychological well-being as part of the equation—and it’s likely why nearly two out of three people who lost five percent of their total weight ended up gaining it all back. Yikes! To unlock the door to weight loss success and stop emotional eating, try keeping a journal that tracks your food choices and current mood. Then, look for unhealthy patterns, which can help you recognize specific emotional connections you have with food. Once you’re more aware of these connections, it will be easier to adopt healthier eating patterns. Do you always reach for something sugary when you’re stressed or devour fries when you’re sad? Instead, try more productive ways to cope, like going for a brisk walk or texting a friend.

Spread Out Your Protein

Diet experts say that we need about one gram of protein per kilogram of body weight to aid muscle growth and weight loss. So if that’s what you’re eating each day, you’re bound to get the body of your dreams, right? Unfortunately, there’s more to it than that. According to University of Texas researchers, the timing at which you consume your protein can make or break how much lean muscle mass you pack on. If you’re like most Americans, you likely consume little to no protein for breakfast, a bit of protein at lunch and the bulk of your daily intake during dinner—which the researchers discovered isn’t ideal for muscle synthesis. Luckily, fitness-minded friends, the fix is a simple one: Just distribute your protein intake evenly throughout the day. The scientists found that those who followed this simple trick had 25 percent higher protein synthesis than those who ate the majority of the nutrient after the sun went down. To hit the mark and start leaning out, try one of these 35 Best-Ever Chicken Recipes for Weight Loss!

Delay Your Drink

Dining out can kill your hard-earned weight loss wins—and so can boozing too hard. To stay on track with your better-body goals, order your glass of wine or cocktail near the end of your meal. That way, the sweetness can act as a low-cal dessert. Plus, it won’t lower your inhibitions before your meal, which may prompt you to order something unhealthy off the menu.

Make a List

Think writing a grocery list before heading to the store is a waste of time? As it turns out, it may be the key to finally losing weight. A Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior study of more than more than 1,300 people discovered that shoppers who regularly wrote grocery lists also purchased healthier foods and had lower BMI’s than those who didn’t put pen to paper before heading to the store. Researchers hypothesize that shopping lists keep us organized, which in turn helps us fend off diet-derailing impulse buys (hello, candy aisle). Before heading to the supermarket to stock up, spend a few minutes taking inventory of your kitchen, and then write a list. Be sure to organize it by category to prevent zigzagging all over the place; that ups the odds you’ll walk by—and purchase—tempting treats that could derail your weight loss success.

Schedule a Workout Date

A recent JAMA Internal Medicine study of nearly 4,000 couples found that people are more likely to stick to healthy habits when they team up with a partner. Invite your honey to a Saturday morning run and then hit the showers together—knowing you have something steamy to look forward to afterward should serve as some additional motivation. And speaking of getting frisky, be sure to check out these 30 Best Proteins for Your Penis.

Cleanse Your Palate

Are your portion control issues making it hard for you to shrink your man boobs? Stop yourself from going back for seconds by grabbing a box of mints. People often yearn for that second cookie or helping of mac and cheese because the taste of the first still lingers. To cleanse your palate, keep mints or breath strips on hand and pop them when it’s time to quit noshing. Not only will this rid the alluring taste from your tongue, it will also keep your mouth busy and act as a distraction. Drinking water or tea are also helpful tactics.

Opt for Full-Fat

A Credit Suisse Research Institute report found that more and more of us are choosing full-fat foods over skim, light, fat-free, or other modern monikers of leanness. And while many health organizations like the American Heart Association still recommend cutting down on fat—particularly saturated fat—this full-fat trend may be a healthy rebellion against those decades-old credos, according to recent studies. In fact, people who eat a lot of high-fat dairy products actually have the lowest incidence of diabetes, according to a 2015 study of 26,930 people in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Those who ate a lot of low-fat dairy products, on the other hand, had the highest incidence. So what’s the best way to join the full-fat revolution? Eat This, Not That! polled some of the country’s top nutrition experts and asked for their favorite full-fat fat burners. Check out what they said in our exclusive report The 20 Best Full-Fat Foods for Weight Loss.

…And Eliminate Empty Carbs

And speaking of eating full-fat fare, a cutting-edge review published in PLOS One discovered that when it comes to reducing cardiovascular risk and promoting rapid weight loss, low-carb diets are superior to low-fat diets. Can’t imagine fully committing to a low-carb lifestyle? Start by eliminating empty sources of carbs from your diet such as white bread, desserts, and sugary drinks.

Catch More Zzzs

Looking for the easiest possible way to lose weight? Grab your pajamas early and log some extra Zzzs! According to researchers, getting eight and a half hours of shut-eye each night can drop cravings for junk food a whopping 62 percent and decrease overall appetite by 14 percent! Mayo Clinic researchers note similar findings: In their study, adults who slept an hour and 20 minutes less than the control group consumed an average of 549 additional calories daily. That’s more calories than you’ll find in a Big Mac!

Open the Blinds

Instead of dragging yourself to the coffee pot when your alarm goes off, open all the blinds! Studies show that people who get direct exposure to sunlight in the morning between 8 a.m. and noon reduce their risk of weight gain—regardless of how much they eat. Researchers think it’s because the morning sun helps synchronize your metabolism to you burn fat more efficiently. For more easy ways to burn more calories, check out these 55 Best-Ever Ways to Boost Your Metabolism.

Use Self Checkout

Is your obsession with Reese’s and Pringles derailing your weight loss efforts? It might be if you’re not using the self-checkout kiosks at the grocery store. Let us explain: According to a study by IHL Consulting Group, impulse purchases dipped 32.1 percent for women and 16.7 percent for men when they scanned their items and swiped their credit card on their own. Although not all impulse buys are bad for your belly, a whopping 80 percent of candy and 61 percent of salty-snack purchases are unplanned.

Push Back Breakfast

Instead of gobbling down breakfast at home, eat at your desk a few hours later than you typically do. Pushing back your first meal of the day naturally reduces your “eating window”—the number of hours you spend each day grazing. Why’s that beneficial? Sticking to a smaller eating window may help you lose weight, even if you eat more food throughout the day, a study published in the journal Cell Metabolism found. To come to this finding, researchers put groups of mice on a high-fat, high-calorie diet for 100 days. Half of them were allowed to nibble throughout the night and day on a healthy, controlled diet while the others only had access to food for eight hours, but could eat whatever they wanted. Oddly enough, the fasting mice stayed lean while the mice who noshed ’round the clock became obese—even though both groups consumed the same amount of calories! For more amazing weight loss insight, check out these 25 Best Foods for a Toned Body.

Swap Your Noodle

The average American consumes 15.5 pounds of pasta each year—and most of it is the refined white stuff. What’s the trouble with that? This type of noodle is almost completely void of fiber and protein, two vital nutrients for weight loss. To boost the belly-filling fiber and hunger-busting protein in your meal, opt for a bean-based noodle like Banza Chickpea Shells (2 oz., 190 calories, 8 grams of fiber, 14 grams of protein) or Explore Asian Black Bean Low-Carb Pasta (2 oz., 180 calories, 12 grams of fiber, and 25 grams of protein). Alternatively, whip up a batch of zoodles, or spiralized veggie noodles with the help of these 21 Mouthwatering Spiralizer Recipes.

Add Coconut Oil to Rice

Good news for carb lovers: Scientists discovered an easy way to slim down any bowl of rice by as much as 60 percent! And the best part is that you don’t need a fancy lab or a PhD. to make the slimmed-down dish. Here’s how to whip it up: Add a teaspoon of coconut oil and a half cup of non-fortified white rice to a pot of boiling water. Cook it for about 40 minutes, stick it in the refrigerator for 12 hours and enjoy the rice either cold or reheated. How does such a simple cooking hack—that adds fat, no less—slash calories? When the rice begins to cool, its glucose molecules form tight bonds called “resistant starch.” This type of starch, as the name implies, is resistant to digestion, meaning that the body is not able to absorb as many calories or as much of the glucose (a nutrient that’s stored as fat if it’s not burned off) from each molecule. While you may be hesitant to add the oft-vilified oil to your pot, it actually plays an integral role in the process. As the rice cooks, the fat molecules find their way into the rice and act as an additional digestion barrier. Best of all, the research team found that reheating the rice didn’t change the levels of resistant starch (as it does with pasta and potatoes), deeming this calorie-slashing cooking hack safe for leftovers, too.

Dine With a Dude

Want to stay on track with your diet while dining out? Leave your lady at home, guys. Strange but true: When men dine with women, they eat up to 93 percent more, according to researchers at Cornell University. “These findings suggest that men tend to overeat to show off,” lead author of the study, Kevin Kniffin, explained. “Instead of a feat of strength, it’s a feat of eating.” Women, on the other hand, ate the same amount food no matter who they broke bread with.

Get a Workout Buddy

People exercise for an average of 34 minutes longer with a friend than they do when they hit the gym solo, according to the American College of Sports Medicine. And the longer you sweat, the more quickly you’ll reach your goals! Looking for a healthy way to refuel after your weight room session? Whip up a quick and delicious protein shake for on-the-go nutrition.

Keep Protein on Hand

Lately, we’re noticing protein-packed everything—from breads to nut butter and milk. While you don’t need to load up on weird franken-foods to amp up your intake of the nutrient, if you’re trying to drop a few pounds, then it’s wise to keep some high-protein snacks on hand. Noshing on these can prevent eating something high-calorie every time hunger strikes.

Eat More Fiber

Instead of depriving yourself of all your favorite indulgences or meticulously counting calories to drop a size, simply consume at least 30 grams of fiber daily. This simple, no-fuss method fuels weight loss and improves health just as effectively as more complex diet approaches, University of Massachusetts Medical School researchers discovered. “Very few people reach the goals that are recommended,” said lead study author Yunsheng Ma, MD, PhD, adding that “Telling people to reduce this or reduce that is just too hard to do.” However, asking people to focus on eating more of a certain nutrient—rather than eliminating things from their diet–can help people reach their weight loss goals, he explains. Interested in giving the diet strategy a try? Check out these 11 Best High-Fiber Foods for Weight Loss and start slimming down!

Have a Midnight Snack

Even if you’re trying to reduce your eating window, you shouldn’t go to sleep starved. In fact, going to bed with a rumbling stomach can make it more difficult to fall asleep and subsequently leave you feeling ravenous the next day. And get this: Eating the right type of bedtime snack can actually boost your metabolism and aid weight loss, registered dietitian Cassie Bjork explained. “The right snack can help keep blood sugar stable so the fat-burning hormone glucagon can do its job. I suggest pairing a natural carb with a healthy fat. Apple slices and almond butter, berries with heavy cream and carrots with guacamole all fit the bill.”

Incorporate Coconut Oil

What smells like an exotic vacation and can shrink your waist faster than your favorite Zumba class? You got it: coconut oil. A study of 30 men published in Pharmacology found that just two tablespoons per day reduced waist circumference by an average of 1.1 inches over the course of a month. However, the health benefits of coconut oil are still debated—coconut oil is high in saturated fat. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing; it’s in the form of medium chain triglycerides (MCTs), which aren’t processed in the body the same way long chain triglycerides (LCTs). A study published in International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders found that when MCTs replaced LCTs in the diets of overweight women, they were less likely to gain weight.

Plus, its high smoke point makes coconut oil great for just about every dish, from eggs to stir-frys. And at roughly 117 calories per tablespoon, it’s close in calories to olive oil—just be sure you keep antioxidant-rich olive oil in your cooking rotation, too.

Snuggle up With Your Sweetie

Not like you needed another reason to fall in love, snuggle up with your sweetie, kiss or get it on. Harvard Medical School researchers found that all of those things can aid weight loss. How? Lovey-dovey feelings cause levels of the hormone oxytocin to increase, which in turn, decreases appetite. For even more weight loss hacks, check out these 20 Weight Loss Tricks You Haven’t Tried.

Healthify Your Kitchen

Though you may think that strong willpower is a necessary trait to overcome down-time grazing, experts say that your success is more dependent on your food environment than anything else. “If you happen to get bored and there is nothing but healthy food available in your house, you likely won’t choose to eat it unless you’re actually hungry,” says Jennifer Neily, MS, RDN of Neily on Nutrition. Most people don’t have the urge to eat celery sticks; cookies, however, are a different story. Heather Mangieri, RDN agrees, adding, “You can’t eat what’s not there, so make sure when you open the pantry, you aren’t tempted with the sugary, salty, fatty foods that most people choose when eating ‘just to eat.’ Instead, stock your refrigerator with fresh vegetable slices and healthy whole foods that will be easier to pass on if you’re not really hungry.”

Dim the Lights

Have trouble eating reasonably sized portions? Try dimming the lights and cueing up some soft music. According to a study published in Psychological Reports, soft lighting and music lead noshers to eat less and enjoy their food more. That’s what we call a win-win. Looking for the perfect date night dish? Check out these 35 Healthy Crockpot Recipes.

Rearrange Your Plate

Most people think of their protein or meat as their meal’s main event, but that shouldn’t be the case. “Place flavorful vegetables front and center on lunch and dinner plates, accompanied by sides of protein and whole grains,” registered dietitian Cheryl Forberg said. By simply rearranging your plate, you’ll automatically consume fewer calories and take in more health-protective vitamins and nutrients.

Take Out Your iPhone

Even if you fill up on produce, lean proteins, and whole grains, according to British Journal of Nutrition findings, when you think about the quality of your diet, you’re likely forgetting about all the unhealthy food that also finds its way to your mouth. People tend to exaggerate the good foods they eat and underestimate the bad stuff, says study author, Kentaro Murakami, PhD of Japan’s University of Shiga Prefecture. While it’s not necessarily intentional, it’s likely one of the reasons why it’s so hard for people to lose weight. For example, you might grab a handful of candy at a co-worker’s desk or a sample at the mall and then forget about it altogether. Our advice: To get a more accurate overview of your diet, keep a detailed food journal on your phone—yes, that means you should include that food court sample, too. Whether you snap photos or keep a written log is totally up to you—both tactics will work. The more food records dieters kept over the course of 30 months, the more weight they lost, a study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found.

Supplement Your Diet

How would you like to take all the great weight-loss results you’ve just read about—and double them? That’s what happens when you supplement your diet with a combination of vitamin D and calcium, according to a recent Nutrition Journal study. Just four weeks into the 12-week experiment, subjects who had taken these two nutrients—found in abundance in some Greek yogurt—lost two times more fat than the other group!

Indulge in Dark Chocolate

It’s every chocoholic’s dream: Research now shows that eating moderate amounts of dark chocolate can reduce overall body fat and shrink your waist. A study among women with normal weight obesity (or skinny fat syndrome) who ate a Mediterranean diet that included two servings of dark chocolate each day showed a significant reduction in waist size than when on a cocoa-free meal plan. Researchers say it has to do with the flavonoids, heart-healthy compounds in chocolate that have important antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Just be sure you’re reaching for a bar with at least 70 percent cacao, and stay away from the “alkalized” stuff, which has a significantly reduced flavonoid content.

Recent research published in the journal PLOS ONE found that getting direct sunlight exposure between the hours of 8 a.m. and noon reduced your risk of weight gain regardless of activity level, caloric intake, or even age. Researchers believe that the sunlight synchronizes your metabolism and undercuts your fat-storage genes.

Stop the Shame Game

In her book The Naughty Diet, author Melissa Milne—whose own essay, “I Eat Slim-Shamers for Breakfast” also went viral—interviewed thousands of women about the body shaming and they all said the same thing: “They were sick and tired of feeling bad while trying to be good,” she writes in The Naughty Diet. “And here’s the secret of all secrets: You don’t feel bad about yourself when you get fat. You get fat when you feel bad about yourself.” This could be because chronic stress raises levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the body, which can trigger belly fat storage. Try being kinder to yourself, which will reduce stress and help melt the pounds away effortlessly.

Don’t Try to Outrun a Bad Diet

“Many people think that they can eat whatever they want as long as they work out. But the truth is, if you are looking to lose or maintain your weight, what you put in your body is significantly more important than hitting the gym. Exercise is important to keep your body healthy, but just because you work out for an hour or more per day, it doesn’t give you the liberty to eat whatever you want!” Ilyse Schapiro, MS, RDN, Co-Author of Should I Scoop out My Bagel tells us in 22 Top Weight Loss Tips, According to Nutritionists.

Stock Up On the Right Proteins

Bad diet decisions are often made when you’re starving and have nothing healthy to eat in your kitchen. Ward off diet-derailing decisions by stocking up on frozen, deveined shrimp—one of Insanity trainer Shaun T’s! go-to proteins. Once you throw it on the stove, it’s ready to eat in just a few minutes, and it’s a great source of lean, low-cal protein. Organic, low-sodium turkey breasts, pre-grilled chicken and hard-boiled eggs are also smart meal-starters to keep on hand.

Take It Black

If you’re java devotee, here’s an easy way to slim down your order: Just ditch the creamer! Splashing two tablespoons of heavy cream to your cup adds 100 calories. Assuming you down two cups of Joe a day, passing up dairy can help you drop 10 pounds in just under six months!

Swap Cheese for Veggies in Your Omelet

If you’re accustomed to shredding muenster cheese into your eggs, try swapping it for your favorite veggie. One ounce of cheese packs in about 110 calories while a half cup of steamed broccoli boasts 15 calories. Making this morning switch will nourish your body with extra satiating fiber and nutrients, as well as save your waistline from added inches.

Choose Plain Yogurt

While protein-packed Greek yogurt makes for a perfect meal when paired with chia seeds, antioxidant-rich berries, and crunchy nuts, you could be sabotaging your weight loss goals if you choose the wrong tub. A plain cup of Chobani contains about 50 fewer calories than the fruity options, saving your belly from extra flab.

Make Grapefruit Your Go-To

In a study published in the Journal of Medicinal Food, researchers found that noshing on half a grapefruit before each meal helped participants lose a significant amount of weight in addition to improving insulin resistance.

Buy a Reusable Water Bottle

Before you begin the habit of refilling your water bottle several times a day, make sure yours isn’t laced with BPA. A Harvard study found that adults with the highest concentration of BPA in their urine had significantly larger waists and a 75 percent greater chance of being obese than those in the lowest quartile. No wonder why drinking out of plastic bottles is one of our 40 Bad Habits That Make You Fat! To avoid weight gain, make sure your bottle is BPA-free and be particularly wary of plastics that sport a #7 recycling symbol on them, which is an indicator that BPA may be present.

Even if you’re stocking up on fruits and veggies, buying inorganic may be doing your body a disservice, thanks to the pesticides. “They have been shown to poison the mitochondria so it cannot burn fuel,” says Walter Crinnion, N.D., chairman of the environmental medicine department at Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine in Phoenix in Weight Loss Tricks You Haven’t Tried. “Fuel that is not burned turns to fat.” If you’re worried about breaking your budget at Whole Foods, start by stocking up on these 17 Cheap Organic Foods You Must Buy.

Cut Carbs at the Right Time

Cutting carbs altogether can often cause a guilt-ridden binge that will leave you unmotivated and packing on the pounds. Instead of prohibiting yourself from eating the foods you love, set a carb curfew. “For dinner, contestants always have a high-protein, high-fat meal with plenty of fibrous veggies,” Chris Powell of ABC’s reality series Extreme Weight Loss tells us in Chris Powell’s Behind-The-Scenes Extreme Weight Loss Tips. “If they have a post-dinner snack, they stick to protein-rich, high-fat foods like almonds or 2 percent milkfat string cheese.” Nixing carbs at night flips the fat-burning switch by increasing the amount of fat-burning hormones released while we’re asleep, Powell adds.

When many of us have too many options to choose from, we often become flustered and make the wrong decision. Same goes for food. If you have a few different boxes of cereal and a handful of flavors of potato chips, you’re likely to eat more of the packaged stuff. Limiting your options to just one can cut down on your grazing habits and prevent a snack attack.

Pick Red Fruits

Red fruits such as watermelon, Pink Lady apples, and plums have higher levels of nutrients called flavonoids—particularly anthocyanins, compounds that give red fruits their color, which have been shown to reduce fat-storage genes.

Choose Whole-Grain Cereal Over Granola

“This seemingly-innocent food is almost always loaded with added sugar. In fact, most companies use synonyms or alternative words for plain old ‘sugar’ to disguise it. ” Lisa Hayim, registered dietitian and founder of The Well Necessities tells us in 37 Worst Breakfast Habits for Your Waistline. And she’s right: Choosing a cup of Kashi Indigo Morning Organic Corn Cereal over ¾ cup of Kashi Organic Promise Cranberry, Spelt and Flax Granola, will slash 160 calories off your breakfast!

University of Wisconsin researchers discovered that participants who wore jeans to work walked almost 500 more steps throughout the day than those who dressed up. As if we needed another reason to look forward to casual Fridays!

Who knew that fantasizing about eating your favorite candy can actually result in real-life weight loss? A study found that daydreaming about eating an entire packet of the sweet stuff before indulging may cause you to eat less of it. To come to this finding, researchers asked participants to imagine eating three M&Ms versus 30. Then, they conducted a taste test where participants were able to nosh on the chocolate orbs. The results? Those who imagined eating lots of M&Ms ended up gobbling down the least!

Order an Appetizer

While appetizers seem to add more calories to your meal, a series of Penn State studies found that biting into an apple or sipping a broth-based soup before eating out can reduce your dinner’s total calorie intake by a walloping 20 percent. So before you slice into that charbroiled steak, don’t forget to pregame the protein with some soup.

“Tahini is an oft-forgotten option for nut and seed butters, but it sits front and center in my fridge because it delivers major creaminess to sauces and smoothies and packs a powerful flavor punch,” says Willow Jarosh MS, RD co-owner of C&J Nutrition. “Although some advise against eating the spread because of its high omega 3:6 ratio, the super high intake of omega-6s in the average American’s diet isn’t due to things like tahini—it’s mostly from not eating a variety of fats or consuming the majority of fats from fried foods and packaged snacks. As long as you’re also eating foods rich in omega-3s, your end-of-day ratio should be nothing to worry about. Plus, tahini is loaded with tons of healthy nutrients like copper, which helps maintain anti-inflammatory and antioxidant responses in the body. It also provides six percent of the day’s calcium in just one tablespoon.”

Sprinkle Chia Seeds

“Chia seeds aren’t just a pet, they’re a party in your mouth. I’m a huge fan of them because they’re chock-full of heart-healthy omega-3s, fiber, protein, and calcium,” Sarah Koszyk, MA, RD, founder of Family. Food. Fiesta. tells us in 26 Most Overlooked Ways to Lose Weight. “Chia seeds are easily absorbed by the body, so they’re very nourishing and satiating. Every day I add them to my breakfast smoothie or pair them with yogurt or cottage cheese along with some blueberries.”

Cook Up Some Kamut

Kamut, also known as Khorasan wheat, is an ancient grain native to the Middle East that packs in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids and protein while remaining low in calories. In fact, a half-cup serving of the stuff has 30 percent more protein than regular wheat and only 140 calories. A study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that noshing on Kamut reduces cholesterol, blood sugar, and cytokines (which cause inflammation throughout the body).

Brew Green Tea

A study published in The Journal of Nutrition found that after just two weeks, those who sipped four to five cups of the green brew daily in addition to working out for 25 minutes lost more belly fat than those who didn’t sip. We can chalk up these favorable results to the tea’s catechins, a type of antioxidant that hinders the storage of belly fat and aids rapid weight loss.

“Oolong, or ‘black dragon,’ is a kind of Chinese tea that’s packed with catechins, nutrients that help promote weight loss by boosting your body’s ability to metabolize fat. A study in the Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine found that participants who regularly sipped oolong tea lost a pound a week, without doing anything else to change their diet or exercise habits,” Kelly Choi, author of The 7-Day Flat-Belly Tea Cleanse tells us in How To Lose 10 Pounds Fast.

Eat Almonds Before a Workout

Before heading to the gym, don’t forget to reach for a handful of almonds. A study printed in The Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition found that these subtly sweet nuts are rich in the amino acid L-arginine, which can help you burn more fat and carbs during workouts.

Many commercial hummus tubs are jam-packed with waist-widening additives. To avoid the unnecessary ingredients, whip up your own hummus at home and use it as a dip for crunchy veggies such as carrots and celery. The spread’s main ingredient—chickpeas—contain satiating fiber and protein to keep hunger pangs at bay.

Spice Things Up

Rather than relying on sugary sauces and fatty dressings, try restocking your spice rack more often. Virtually calorie-free seasonings such as turmeric, black pepper, and cayenne keep you slim thanks to their anti-inflammatory and flab-fighting properties.

Upgrade Your Salad

Forking through a bowl of leafy greens may be boring, but you can easily stick to your daily salad lunch by switching up your ingredients. Begin with a leafy green base and switch up your proteins and fats. Try adding crunchy nuts or low-fat cheese for healthy fats and lean protein such as grilled chicken or salmon.

Stock Up on Spaghetti Squash

“Just when the cooler weather has you craving warm, unhealthy comfort foods, spaghetti squash is one of the best replacements for spaghetti!” The Nutrition Twins tell us in Surprising Winter Foods That Melt Fat. “It feels like a hearty meal, but one cup only has about 40 calories—more than 75 percent fewer calories than a cup of plain pasta.”

Snack on Pistachios

But make sure they’ve still got their shells! In addition to these green nuts containing a winning combo of protein, fats, and fiber, de-shelling pistachios rather than noshing on the shelled version can help prevent you from popping one too many nuts and overloading on calories.

Keep Hot Peppers On Hand

Chili peppers, jalapenos, and poblanos all have one thing in common besides making your eyes water: They’re packed with capsaicin. This compound, found in spicy peppers, has been shown to rev your metabolism and therefore helping you slim down.

Drizzle Avocado Oil

Instead of drizzling your usual olive oil onto your salad, try switching things up with avocado oil. Penn State University researchers compared those who consumed avocado oil with those who consumed a flax-safflower oil blend. Those who used just three tablespoons of avocado oil daily lost nearly two percent of their belly fat in just one month.

Go For Kefir

“This is like yogurt, but even better because it has more live active cultures to nourish your GI tract so the good bacteria thrive,” Rebecca Scritchfield, RDN, author of the upcoming book, Body Kindness tells us in Surprising Winter Foods That Melt Fat. Worth noting: “Even though it’s dairy, kefir is 99 percent lactose-free because the kefir cultures break down lactose so you don’t have to!”

Peel Some Kiwi

“They may be small, but these sweet-tasting fruits contain a hefty amount of actinidin, a natural enzyme unique to kiwifruit that aids in digestion by breaking down protein in the body. Kiwifruit also contains prebiotic fiber, which primes the gut for healthy digestion,” Scritchfield says. “Research indicates that a daily serving of green kiwifruit helps increase bowel movements. So, cut in half, scoop with a spoon, and pop into your mouth like nature’s Tums (SunGold kiwis, with a yellow flesh and tropical taste, offer three times the vitamin C of oranges and as much potassium as a medium banana).”

‘Gluten-Free’ Isn’t Synonymous With ‘Healthy’

“I wish people knew that gluten-free foods aren’t all automatically healthy,” Torey Armul, MS, RD, CSSD, LDN, spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics tells us in 22 Top Weight Loss Tips, According to Nutritionists. “People often lose weight and feel better on a gluten-free diet, but it’s usually not because of lack of gluten. It’s because they’re paying attention to their food choices and eating more real foods and less simple carbs. Gluten-free labeled packaged foods actually tend to have more calories and extra fat or sugar for added flavor.”

Chug Two Glasses

Before digging into your morning meal, don’t forget to chug 16 ounces of water. When a British study put this into practice, participants lost an average of 2.87 pounds in 90 days—which translates to 11.5 pounds in a year! If you’re bored of plain ol’ H2O, try stirring up a batch of fruity detox water.

Take The Stairs

Boarding the elevator may be a mindless act, but taking the stairs instead could actually work wonders for your waistline. According to a University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center study, a person who weighs 150 pounds could lose about six pounds per year just by climbing up two flights of stairs daily.

Read The Ingredient List

“The numbers on the nutrition panel aren’t the most important part of a food product. You need to look at the ingredient list, too. If there are ingredients you cannot pronounce or if you see anything you think may not be a natural ingredient, put the product back on the shelf,” Isabel Smith, MS, RD, CDN, registered dietitian and founder of Isabel Smith Nutrition tells us in 22 Top Weight Loss Tips, According to Nutritionists.

Upgrade Your Workout Wardrobe

“To get to the gym—when you already don’t like yourself—is really hard. So I had to make it fun. I started wearing cute outfits and putting on a little bit of makeup. And as vain as it sounds, it really helped me because eventually I stopped hating the way I looked,” Kelly Osbourne revealed to Shape.

Avoid Fad Diets

“Fad diets and meal replacement shakes are not the answer to sustainable weight loss or better health. Sure, you can do something drastic to lose 20 pounds in a month, but chances are these actions aren’t sustainable. If you want to lose the weight and keep it off for good, target a weight loss of one to two pounds per week so you can truly see permanent, long-lasting results!” Kristen Carlucci Haase RD-N dished out in 22 Top Weight Loss Tips, According to Nutritionists.

Switch Up Your Workout

“You need a combination of both weight training and cardio to get fat off your body,” Mike Duffy, CPT, tells us in 17 Easy Ways to Get Rid of Back Fat, adding, “Cardio alone will only train one type of muscle fiber and you’ll only be building one part of your fat-burning furnace. I see many people doing tons of cardio every day and not lifting weights. They never change the way they look.”

Snack On Sweet Potato

Think of sweet potatoes as nature’s dessert. Not only do they satisfy your sweet tooth, these taters digest slowly and keep you feeling fuller for longer thanks to their satiating fiber. They’re also brimming with carotenoids, antioxidants that stabilize blood-sugar levels and lower insulin resistance—which prevent calories from being converted into fat.

Sneak In a Workout Before Work

According to a Japanese study, the timing of your workout plays a significant role in weight loss. The study found that when you exercise before breakfast, your body can metabolize about 280 more calories throughout the day compared to doing the same workout in the evening.

It’s Not All About Calories

“Calorie counting is not the only game in town when it comes to weight loss. Chemical counting should also be part of our decision-making process. Processed foods, plastic bottles, lotions, non-organic dairy, and many other items in our daily lives contain endocrine disruptors that can lead to hormonal imbalance and stubborn weight gain,” Jennifer Cassetta, clinical nutritionist, personal trainer, and expert from ABC’s “My Diet Is Better Than Yours” tells us in 22 Top Weight Loss Tips, According to Nutritionists.

Put your free time during the weekends to good use. Prepping healthy, homemade meals and snacks can help you grab a quick meal without hitting up the drive-thru or reaching for convenient, processed foods that will cause you to pack on the pounds.

A study in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that dealing with work-, finance-, or relationship-related stress can pack on the pounds. When you’re stuck in a hair-pulling situation, your body releases the stress hormone cortisol, which stores abdominal fat. Next time you find yourself overwhelmed, try these 20 Ways To Strip Away Stress.

Eat Off The Kids’ Menu

If you’re in dire need of a fast food burger and fries, don’t fret the drive-thru—order a Happy Meal! Kids’ portions are significantly smaller than regular-sized orders, which can help fulfil your cravings without undoing those weight loss wins.

Chew Your Food Thoroughly

A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that chewing more and eating slowly caused participants to ingest fewer calories. How so? Chewing the food more thoroughly simultaneously lowered levels of appetite-stimulating hormones and increased levels of appetite-suppressing hormones.

Cook Your Food In Tea

“There are so many amazing properties in tea and so many healthy foods that require hot water,” Emmy-award winning and author of The 7-Day Flat-Belly Tea Cleanse, Kelly Choi says. “But I’ll swap in hot green tea instead of water for things like oatmeal and quinoa. I’ve seen so many people benefit from my tea cleanse that it inspired me to keep the tea flowing whenever I can!”

Put a Cap on the Cocktails

Dieters already know to steer clear of sugary cocktails and stick to vodka sodas at happy hour. But nixing booze altogether for a few weeks at a time could really help you jumpstart your weight loss efforts. A Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics study found that alcohol causes people to eat an additional 384 calories per day on average, likely because booze makes us more sensitive to food aromas and less likely to resist indulgent fare.

Follow The 80/20 Rule

Just because you’re trying to slim down, that doesn’t mean you have to forgo the occasional dessert splurge. There’s a simple solution to having your cake and eating it, too: Eat healthfully 80 percent of the time and reserve the remaining 20 percent of the time to cheat meals. Balance is key to sticking to your diet and dropping weight and maintaining it in the long run.

Skip Almond Milk

“I wish people knew that almond milk is no nutritional match to cow’s milk. In addition to being a great source of calcium and potassium, a cup of cow’s milk has eight grams of protein, which is about the same as a whole egg. Almond milk has only 1.5 grams of protein and can have added sugar when people buy the flavored or sweetened versions. Protein is important for making us feel full and energized longer, and that’s key for being able to have a productive weekday morning,” Libby Mills, MS, RDN, LDN, Spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics tells us in 22 Top Weight Loss Tips, According to Nutritionists.

Drink 64 Ounces a Day

“Water may just be the best pre-workout supplement when you’re looking to shed weight. Studies have shown that strength training while in a dehydrated state can boost levels of stress hormones that hinder muscle gains by up to 16 percent,” celebrity fitness and nutrition expert, Jay Cardiello tells us in The Best And Worst Celebrity Weight Loss Tips. “When a client is looking to trim down, I tell them to drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water each day and at least 8 ounces during their workouts.”

Work Out With a Good Playlist

“Music is such a big part of my workouts, you’ve really got to feel the music and get into it,” Gwyneth Paltrow told E! News. “If you don’t love the song you’re not going to work your hardest.”

Avoid Dinner Distractions

Here’s a good reason to keep your devices far from the dinner table: Researchers at the University of Birmingham found that diners who were distracted at meal time consumed significantly more unhealthy snack foods later in the day than those who paid close attention to their food and avoided distractions.

Find Out What Works for You

“I wish people knew that there is no one-size-fits-all diet that works for everyone. Individuals have different food preferences, dining habits, schedules, body types, past experiences, and obstacles. Stop falling for restrictive diet plans, America! Start by changing one simple habit and build from there,” Stephanie Brookshier, RDN, ACSM-CPT tells us in 22 Top Weight Loss Tips, According to Nutritionists.

Say No Thanks to Dinner Rolls

There’s no denying dinner rolls are delicious, but you don’t need to take the “breaking bread” aspect of a meal so literally. Instead, steer clear of the bread basket and munch on a leafy green salad instead. If the carb-heavy starter is still too tempting to avoid, try nibbling on a high-fiber snack before sitting down to eat, such as a handful of nuts. The fiber found in nuts will keep you satiated, meaning you won’t be as easily induced to reach for the bread and butter, and you’ll be swapping out unhealthy fats for healthy ones. It’s a win-win!

Experiment With a Standing Desk

If you work at a job that requires you to be chained to your desk all day, try switching things up and giving a trendy standing desk a shot. Simply standing while you toil away as opposed to sitting has been shown to contribute to weight loss. Bloomberg reports that researchers at the Mayo Clinic found that standing burns about 54 calories over a six-hour day, and although that might not sound like much, those calories accumulate quickly. At that rate, you can burn over 1,000 calories a month just by staying on your feet.

Go Big For Breakfast…

Common sense states if you want to lose weight, then you shouldn’t have a large meal not long before going to bed. And now we have additional research to back up that hypothesis. A study published in the journal Obesity followed two groups of overweight women with metabolic syndrome on identical 1,400-calorie weight loss diets for three months. While both groups consumed 500 calories at lunch, one group consumed 700 calories for breakfast and a 200-calorie dinner (the “big breakfast” group), while the other group ate 200 calories at breakfast and 700 calories at dinner (the “big dinner” group). Even though the nutrient content of the meals was exactly the same for both groups, after three months the big breakfast group lost about two and a half times more weight than big dinner group.

…But Make Sure It’s Balanced

There’s some truth to the old adage that breakfast is the “most important meal of the day,” and if you’re looking to blast belly fat, what you eat at the start of each day can make all the difference. According to a study from the University of Missouri-Columbia, a high-fiber, high-protein breakfast may be the most important investment you can make for your waistline. The study showed that eating breakfast triggered women’s brains to release dopamine, a feel-good chemical that helps to control impulses. In other words, eating a balanced breakfast decreases your chances of reaching for that 3 p.m. candy bar and keeps your belly slim.

And Don’t Skip It

Though you may think skipping a meal such as breakfast will help you lose weight because you would be consuming fewer calories, numerous studies have actually shown that bailing on breakfast is bad for your waistline. Why, you ask? It turns out that skipping breakfast not only means you’ll likely consume more calories later in the day, but eating more calories in the later part of the day is a nightmare for metabolic circadian rhythms, which help keep your weight in check.

Avoid the Mid-Morning Snack

Healthy midnight snacks are OK, but try not to graze in the window of time between breakfast and lunch. A study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found mid-morning snackers typically eat more over the course of a day than afternoon snackers. Furthermore, researchers found that dieters with the mid-morning munchies lost an average of 7 percent of their total body weight while those who did not snack before lunch lost more than 11 percent of their body weight.

Add Some Lemon to Your Life

Not only is drinking lemon water a healthy, low-calorie alternative to soda or juice, but lemons themselves have also been shown to contribute to weight loss. Just one of the citrus fruits contains an entire day’s worth of vitamin C, a nutrient that has the power to reduce levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that triggers hunger and fat storage. Additionally, lemons also contain polyphenols, which researchers say may ward off fat accumulation and weight gain. Believe it or not, even the peel is beneficial because it is a potent source of pectin—a soluble fiber that’s been proven to help people feel fuller for longer. According to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, participants who ate just 5 grams of pectin experienced more satiety.

Beans can help boost feelings of fullness and manage blood sugar levels, making them an excellent ally in your weight loss battle. In fact, a study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that eating one serving a day of beans, peas, chickpeas or lentils could contribute to modest weight loss.

Season With Cinnamon

New research from the University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute has determined that the popular holiday spice can help fight obesity thanks to cinnamaldehyde, an essential oil that gives cinnamon its flavor. According to researchers, cinnamaldehyde improves metabolic health by acting directly on fat cells, inducing them to start burning energy via thermogenesis. To work cinnamon into your diet, try sprinkling some on oatmeal or sipping on cinnamon tea.

Make Fewer Decisions

Decision fatigue is real, and it could be hindering your ability to shed some pounds. A study published in Social Science and Medicine found those who have high levels of what’s called “skill discretion”—i.e., they exercise control by getting things done themselves—tended to have lower BMIs. In contrast, those who are constantly deciding on courses of action for others may eventually come down with decision fatigue and make ill-informed choices, such as ordering that piece of cheesecake for dessert.

Go for the Good Fats

Though eating fats seems like a counterintuitive way to shrink your stomach, flat-belly-fats such as olive, canola, avocado, and walnut oils, and nut and seed butters (we like peanut butter, almond butter, and tahini) can help you slim down by helping you stay satiated.

Limit Your Added Sugar

The American Heart Association recommends that the amount of added sugar consumed in a day shouldn’t exceed 25 grams for women and 37.5 grams for men, but since the sweet stuff is in everything from bread to tomato sauce, most Americans aren’t adhering to those guidelines and they’re fatter for it. In a review of 68 clinical trials and studies, New Zealand researchers reported in the British Medical Journal that increasing sugar intake meant increasing body weight while reducing sugar meant reducing body weight. Additional research has shown that cutting back on the granular stuff is one of the fastest ways to lose weight.

And Beware of High-Fructose Corn Syrup

As far as sugar goes, high-fructose corn syrup is the worst of the lot. The man-made substance is a combination of corn syrup (which itself is 100 percent glucose) and pure fructose, making it a unique nightmare for your waistline. In one study, researchers fed subjects beverages sweetened with either glucose or fructose. Though both groups gained the same amount of weight over a two-month period, the fructose group gained its weight primarily as belly fat because of the way this type of sugar is processed in the liver. To avoid the belly-bloating HFCS trap, make sure you look at nutrition labels carefully and ditch the processed snacks and fruit drinks.

If you just can’t shake those belly-bloating sugar cravings, try tyrosine—a building block of protein. It has been shown to prevent that yearning for the sweet stuff by encouraging the brain to release dopamine and another neurotransmitter, norepinephrine. In other words, eating more tyrosine (which can be found in eggs, spirulina, certain cheeses such as Parmesan, Gruyère, Swiss, and Romano, milk, sesame seeds, beef, and bacon) helps fend off those harmful sugar cravings that make your belly fat.

Give Your Fork a Break

We’ve already established how chewing thoroughly can ensure you eat a meal at a leisurely pace, but there are other tricks you can use to slow down, too, like giving your fork a break between bites. A study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that slow eaters took in 66 fewer calories per meal, but compared to their fast-eating peers, they felt like they had eaten more. While 66 calories might not sound like much, cutting that amount out of every meal adds up to a weight loss of more than 20 pounds a year!

Steer Clear of Sugar-Free Stuff

While you may think you’re doing yourself and your waistline a favor by stocking up on sugar-free goodies, the well-meaning habit is likely doing more harm than good. In a 2012 study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers found that those who drank diet beverages had higher fasting glucose, thicker waists, lower HDL (good) cholesterol, higher triglycerides, and higher blood pressure. In other words, sugar-free cookies, soda, and the like may seem like the healthier option, but they contribute to a bulging belly and negatively impact your health in multiple ways.

Give Meatless Monday a Shot

Meatless Monday is more than just an alliteration; it’s an easy way to drop a few pounds. Numerous studies have shown that those who eat the least amount of meat are less likely to be obese, have lower BMIs, and lower body fat levels. Though it’s perfectly fine to eat meat a few times a week, these high-protein foods tend to fill you up before you can work your way over to the veggies, which possess fat-fighting, waist-trimming powers. Try spotlighting just greens and healthy grains in your meals a few times a month.

And Try To Incorporate Non-Starchy Veggies

If you need some Meatless Monday inspiration, look for veggies that contain less starch. In addition to being excellent sources of fiber, protein, and a host of other nutrients, healthy picks such as broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, spinach, mushrooms, and tomatoes can help combat fat. In fact, one Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics study found that consuming more non-starchy veggies resulted in an impressive 17 percent decrease in visceral fat in overweight kids. Although you may be all grown up, it’s safe to assume that adding more veggies can help adults trim their fat, too.

Especially Those Packed With Vitamin C

In addition to being low in starch, bell peppers are also rich in vitamin C. The important nutrient has been shown to counteract stress hormones which trigger fat storage around the midsection. In other words, bell peppers act as a double belly-shrinking whammy! Veggies that pack a similar punch include zucchini, Brussels sprouts, and kale.

Eat an Avocado

We’ve already discussed the weight loss benefits of avocado oil, so it should come as no surprise that the mothership has its own fat-blasting properties. Though avocados get a bad rap for being high in calories, they’re actually loaded with heart-healthy monounsaturated fats that make you feel less hungry. Need proof? A study in Nutrition Journal found that participants who ate half a fresh avocado with lunch reported a 40 percent decreased desire to eat for hours afterward. What’s more? Unsaturated fats, such as those found in avocados, have been linked to preventing the storage of belly fat.

Buy Berries

Berries are more than just morsels of sweetness that you can toss on yogurt or work into a smoothie; they can help you lose weight, too! Raspberries pack more fiber and liquid than most other fruits, which boosts satiety. They’re a rich source of ketones, antioxidants that can make you slimmer by incinerating stored fat cells. And like other berries, raspberries are loaded with polyphenols, powerful natural chemicals that have been shown to decrease the formation of fat cells and eliminate abdominal fat. Not to be outdone, research suggests blueberries can also help blast away stubborn belly fat by engaging your get-lean genes. After a 90-day trial, University of Michigan researchers discovered rats that were fed a blueberry-enriched diet showed significantly reduced belly fat compared to those who skipped the berries.

No, genistein isn’t a trendy food item that’s about to blow up—it’s a compound that can help you lose weight. According to a study of female mice printed in The Journal of Nutrition, genistein has the power to decrease food intake and body weight. Scientists suspect this is because of the compound’s ability to turn down the genes for obesity and reduce your body’s capacity to store fat. To add some genistein to your diet, incorporate peanuts, beans, and lentils into your meals.

Add Some Apple Cider Vinegar

According to a study published in Bioscience, Biotechnology, & Biochemistry, consuming apple cider vinegar each day can lead to weight loss, reduced belly fat, waist circumference, and lower blood triglycerides. More specifically, the study of obese Japanese participants found that those who consumed just one tablespoon of ACV over a three-month period lost 2.6 pounds, and those who consumed 2 tablespoons lost 3.7 pounds in the same time frame. Go ahead and toss a tablespoon or two of this calorie, fat, and sugar-free stuff in your next salad dressing, sauce, or smoothie.

Give Your Healthy Belly Bacteria a Hand

There’s healthy belly bacteria, and then there’s bad belly bacteria, which studies indicate overweight people have more of in their gut. To keep the fat-causing bugs at bay, you need to eat a variety of foods that support their healthy counterparts—the kind found in the bellies of slim people. Examples of probiotic-rich foods that help you lose weight by aiding digestion include kimchi, kombucha, bone broth, and kefir.

Sprinkle Some Cilantro on Your Meal

Cilantro, though polarizing in terms of taste, contains a unique blend of oils that work much like over-the-counter meds to relax digestive muscles and alleviate an “overactive” gut. A study published in the journal Digestive Diseases and Science found that patients with IBS benefited from supplementing with cilantro as opposed to a placebo because their bellies weren’t as bloated.

Avoid Trans Fats

Trans fats, which are typically found in processed foods with partially hydrogenated oils, should be avoided when buying, cooking, or ordering food because of the role they play in weight gain. As noted in the journal Obesity, these unhealthy substances have been found to pack on the belly fat in monkeys. As it turns out, they’re not great for humans either. “Trans fats cause inflammation in the body leading to insulin resistance and impairing the body’s ability to use glucose properly, resulting in excess fat storage around the belly,” says Tina Marinaccio, MS RD CPT in 50 Ways to Shrink Your Belly. Trans fats, which are created by partially hydrogenating vegetable oils, are beloved by manufacturers because they increase the shelf life of processed foods, but they are no friend to your waistline. “Trans fats may be lurking in any processed or fried food such as chips, baked goods, and even butter spreads,”Marinaccio warns.”To avoid them, check the ingredients for hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils.”

Try Varied Cardio

People tend to find one workout routine and stick to it but it’s important to switch things up every now and then, especially in terms of cardio. Instead of simply running or walking, try to vary your speeds as you go. Researchers at Ohio State University found that walking at varying speeds can burn up to 20 percent more calories compared to maintaining a steady pace, so get moving!

Hop on a Trampoline

Sure, trampolines are built for kids, but as an adult, using one for rebounding is a great way to flatten your tummy and get rid of excess fat. “Not only is it a great cardio workout (which is the first step to tightening up your midsection) but it makes your core work like crazy so you are getting the cardio plus the toning: everything you need for a tight tummy!” explains Hope Pedraza, a Certified Personal Trainer through American College of Sports Medicine in 50 Ways to Shrink Your Belly. To get a comprehensive workout using a mini trampoline, Pedraza suggests jumping, lifting your knees up high, twisting, adding some light weights to move around while you’re jumping, and moving in all directions in different planes.

If you’d rather not channel your inner bunny, try dancing as a way to help shed fat on the body as a whole. “It is obviously a cardio workout, but because your body is forced to move in all different directions in different planes, it is making every single muscle in your body work,” Pedraza explains. “Similar to the benefits of a high-intensity interval training workout, you get the cardio plus toning benefit all in one.” Turn up the volume on your iPod and start moving!

Losing Weight Fast Lasts

Despite the common perception that you need to drop pounds slowly in order to maintain your weight loss, the exact opposite is true. In fact, you’re more than five times as likely to succeed in your long-term weight-loss goals if you start out of the gate by dropping pounds rapidly, according to a 2010 study in the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine. To set yourself up for weight loss success, make sure you focus on diet and exercise.

Dress Up For Your Meals

Nothing beats breakfast in your PJs, but if you put a bit of effort into what you wear prior to chowing down, it could impact your physique. You can keep your goals front and center by dressing up before a meal, Clinical psychologist Katie Rickel tells us in If You Weigh Over 170 Pounds, Here’s What You Need To Do To Lose Weight. Showing that you care about your appearance is a great reminder to eat in a way that reflects that, whether you’re throwing on business attire or a pair of jeans.

Hang a Mirror in Your Kitchen

In a 2015 study in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, scientists instructed subjects to choose either a fruit salad or a chocolate cake, then eat and evaluate their snack. Those who ate the chocolate cake in the room with the mirror found it less appealing than those who didn’t have a looking glass nearby, but those who opted for the fruit salad reported no difference in taste. In other words, the presence of a mirror makes unhealthy foods less appealing. So hang one in your kitchen to discourage the consumption of cake and the like, and then use it to watch your waistline shrink each day!

Avoid Artificial Light

Sunlight in the morning is good, the blue light emitted from your electronics at night is bad, and artificial light should be avoided whenever possible. In a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers found that being exposed to artificial light leads to weight gain regardless of what you eat.

Work By a Window

To help combat the negative impact of artificial light, try working close to a window. Researchers have discovered that those who sit near a window tend to be healthier than those who don’t. Per a study in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, workers near a window got 46 more minutes of sleep a night on average, which is beneficial to weight loss, while workers who weren’t near a window had more sleep disturbances. Additional research has shown that those exposed to natural light during the workweek tended to be more inspired to get outside and exercise.

Spice Things Up With Saffron

As far as spices go, saffron is one of the most expensive ones around, but it’s also a substance that preliminary research suggests can contribute to weight loss. According to a study published in the journal Antioxidants saffron extract may inhibit weight gain in a number of ways similar to how antioxidants function. The research suggests the colorful spice could decrease calorie intake by blocking dietary fat digestion, act as an antioxidant and suppress inflammation, suppress food intake by increasing satiety, and enhance glucose and lipid metabolism. Though scientists aren’t totally sure what makes saffron so weight loss friendly, they suspect it has something to do with crocetin and crocin—two antioxidant-rich compounds found in saffron that give it its distinct color.

Take a Stroll to the Farmer’s Market

The faster food gets from the farm to your plate, the higher its nutritional value, so, no matter the season, stay healthy by heading out to your neighborhood farmer’s market and stock up on fresh fruits and veggies. The walk around the market is a great way to elevate your heart rate a bit, and the beneficial finds can’t be beat. To make the most of your nutritionally-minded outing, keep an eye out for what’s in peak season whenever you go.

Add Tomatoes to Your Diet

Since tomatoes can be grown indoors, they never really go out of season, making them a reliable weight loss staple to add to your diet. The tasty fruits have a high water content that will help keep you hydrated, and they’re also low in calories. What’s more? A study published in Nutrition Journal found that eight weeks of tomato juice consumption helps the body burn about an additional 100 calories per day—that adds up to around 3,000 calories a month!

Marinate Meat In Beer

Alcohol isn’t exactly a weight loss ally, but using it to flavor meat when you cook it could help you drop a few pounds and stay healthy. According to a study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, if you marinate meat with beer for four hours, you can lower the harmful chemicals it produces when exposed to high heat by up to 68 percent.

Choose Your Beef Wisely

If beef is your prefered source of protein, make sure you’re eating the grass-fed stuff. Ground beef, a T-bone steak, or prime rib are amongst the healthiest cuts because they’re lower in unhealthy fats than other forms of beef and actually contain more heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids than some fish. Just be sure to limit your red meat consumption to around two three-ounce servings per week in order to keep your cholesterol in check, and stick to low-calorie rubs and spices as opposed to sugary sauces to flavor the meal.

And Use the Right Condiments

While ketchup and BBQ sauce are frequently used to help flavor beef, chicken, and the like, the tasty condiments are no friend to your waistline. Ketchup, for example, typically contains around 19 calories and 4 grams of belly-bloating sugar per tablespoon, and BBQ sauce is just as unhealthy, if not worse. To avoid consuming empty calories and unhealthy added sugar, have condiments such as mustard and sauerkraut on hand. While mustard has been linked to revving your metabolism, fermented sauerkraut will help balance the bacteria in your gut.

We’ve already discussed how the color red may act as an appetite suppressant (hence the need for red dishes) but apparently that’s not the only color you should be taking note of as you prepare to eat. Per a recent study from Cornell University, diners actually serve themselves more food if the color of their food matches the color of their plate. In other words, if you’re eating from a white plate, you’re more likely to help yourself to more rice or pasta. Conversely, if your goal is to eat less, select plates that have high contrast with what you plan to serve for dinner.

In addition to coordinating with your dishes, the hues you surround yourself with while you chow down can impact your appetite. According to several studies, blue is an appetite suppressant. Scientists suspect this is because there aren’t many naturally-occurring blue-hued foods aside from blueberries and a handful of others. This behavior might also stem from our ancestors, who when foraging for food, stayed away from sources that were blue, black, and purple because they were believed to be poisonous. So buy some blue dishes, or freshen up your eating area with a blue tablecloth or placemats.

Pick the Right Dining Partners

It’s always great to catch up with old pals or join your co-workers for a celebratory happy hour, but if you’re watching your weight it’s important to take note of who you choose to break bread with. According to an Eastern Illinois University study, you’re in danger of consuming 65 percent more calories if you’re eating with someone who gets seconds. In other words, while the old friend visiting from health-conscious LA may make a great dining partner, you should steer clear of the co-workers who keep ordering rounds of drinks and nachos.

Laughter may not be the best medicine for everything, but if you’re trying to slim down, feel free to let out a chuckle or two. According to a study published in the International Journal of Obesity, laughing can increase your basal energy expenditure and resting heart-rate by up to 20 percent, so go ahead and pull up an amusing YouTube video.

Find the Right Fish

We’ve been clear on the benefits of wild salmon, but those pink creatures are quite literally not the only fish in the sea. Generally speaking, fish provide one of the best sources of fatty acids known as omega-3s, which will help fend off waist-widening inflammation and are an excellent source of high-quality, lean protein. This allows them to help you maintain muscle mass, thus reducing excess fat accumulation. Some of our favorite healthy seafood include mussels, Atlantic mackerel, and bluefish, but be sure to educate yourself on the ocean dwellers with this list of Every Popular Fish—Ranked for Nutritional Benefits!

Pass the Pomegranate and Passion Fruit

Not only is pomegranate packed with fiber (which is found in its edible seeds) but it also contains anthocyanins, tannins, and high levels of antioxidants, which research published in the International Journal of Obesity says can help fight weight gain. A half-cup of the colorful fruit gives you 12 grams of fiber and more than half a day’s vitamin C. Snack on these fruits raw or toss ’em into a smoothie and you’re good to go!

Take Part in an Outdoor Workout

Leaving the comforts of your gym can be difficult, but outdoor workouts have their own unique set of benefits. Research has shown that breaking a sweat outdoors may be more beneficial than burning calories inside. According to a study published in Environmental Science and Technology, exercising in a natural environment outdoors may improve energy levels and decrease stress more than working out indoors can.

Cook With Quinoa

As far as grains go, quinoa is a great one to have around if you’re looking to lose weight. It’s packed with protein and fiber, and contains approximately 220 calories per cup, cooked. What’s more? Quinoa is one of the few plant foods that offer a complete set of amino acids, meaning it can be converted directly into muscle by the body. It’s also incredibly versatile, and can be eaten as part of a salad, tossed in a smoothie, or on its own as a side dish.

And Canola Oil

In addition to researching avocado oil, the folks over at Penn State University conducted some research involving canola oil as well and discovered it can also stimulate weight loss. More specifically, researchers found that after one month of adhering to diets that included canola oil, participants had a quarter-pound less belly fat than they did before the diet. They also found that the weight lost from the mid-section did not redistribute elsewhere in the body. Like peanuts and avocados, canola oil’s belly-blasting abilities are thought to be a result of the monounsaturated fats it contains.

Stick to Red Wine

The CDC found that the average adult consumes about 100 calories worth of alcohol daily, but favoring a glass of wine instead of beer or sugary cocktails can drastically reduce that figure and make your waistline slimmer. Plus, wine is a healthy alternative for those who don’t want to give up booze entirely. In addition to having fewer calories than most alcoholic beverages, red wine in particular is a good source of those waist-shrinking flavonoids that are also found in red fruits. Resveratrol, a particular flavonoid found in red wine, is believed to have heart-healthy benefits because it helps prevent blood vessel damage and reduces your bad LDL cholesterol. Just remember to imbibe in moderation.

Take Your Coffee Caffeinated

Coffee jumpstarts your metabolism, making the non-decaf stuff a worthy weight loss ally. According to a study published in the journal Physiology & Behavior, the average metabolic rate of people who drank caffeinated coffee was 16 percent higher than that of those who drank decaf. And remember, don’t ruin your fat-blasting cup of joe by adding any unhealthy creamers and/or artificial sweeteners to it, both of which are enemies of weight loss.

Load Up on Lentils

In one four-week Spanish study, researchers found that eating a calorie-restricted diet that also included four weekly servings of legumes aided weight loss more effectively than an equivalent diet sans the pulses. Those who consumed the legume-rich diet also saw improvements in their bad LDL cholesterol levels and systolic blood pressure. Next time you’re cooking something starchy for dinner, consider eating fiber and protein-packed lentils instead.

Don’t Be Afraid of Garlic

Garlic may leave your breath smelling funky, but don’t let that stop you from incorporating it into your diet, especially since it can help you lose weight and keep you healthy. A 2016 study found that garlic powder reduces body weight and fat mass among people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Recent studies have also shown that garlic supports blood-sugar metabolism and helps control lipid levels in the blood. What’s more? Eating garlic can help boost your immune system, help ward off heart disease, fight inflammation, increase memory retention, and lower blood pressure.

Make Sure You’re Getting Enough Zinc

Not only does zinc help protect you from the sun, but the element has also been shown to impact weight loss. One study found that obese people who consumed 30 milligrams of zinc per day—the equivalent of just six raw oysters—had lower BMIs, weighed less, and showed improvements in blood cholesterol levels. If oysters aren’t your thing, spinach, pumpkin seeds, and mushrooms are also excellent sources of zinc.

Pass the Parmesan

Cheese isn’t traditionally thought of as something you consume to encourage weight management, but calcium-rich Parmesan, when eaten in moderation, can help stave off sugar cravings that can easily lead to weight gain. How does that work, you ask? The native Italian cheese contains the amino acid tyrosine (remember that?) which has been shown to encourage the brain to release dopamine without any unhealthy insulin spikes. What’s more? The combination of calcium and protein present in dairy products such as Parmesan has been found to increase thermogenesis—the body’s core temperature—and thus boost your metabolism.

Beast On Some Broccoli

Calcium and vitamin C team up well to boost metabolism, and broccoli is just one of several healthy foods that contains both nutrients. What sets broccoli apart from the others, however, is that the green veggie also contains kind of fiber that’s been shown to increase the digestion, absorption and storage of food, also known as the thermic effect of food (TEF). A revved up metabolism combined with an increased TEF is a match made in weight loss heaven, so consider incorporating broccoli into a tasty stir-fry, or serving it as its own side dish.

Learn to Love Lignans

Chances are you haven’t heard of lignans, but the plant compounds found in sesame and flax seeds been shown to play a crucial role in helping you stay slim and keep weight off. In a 2015 study, women who consumed high levels of lignans tended to weigh less and gain less weight over time when compared to women who didn’t consume these compounds in high amounts.

Add Algae to Your Diet

Spirulina is a high-protein seaweed supplement that’s typically dried and sold in powdered form. The dried stuff is about 60 percent protein, and, like quinoa, it’s a complete protein—deeming it a great weight loss tool. A tablespoon of the blue-green algae delivers 8 grams of metabolism-boosting protein for just 43 calories, plus half a day’s allotment of vitamin B12, which can encourage weight loss by giving you more energy and boosting your metabolism. Try tossing some spirulina into a smoothie and watch the pounds melt off.

Snack on Stone Fruits

If you find yourself craving something sweet during the day, ignore the impulse to eat a cookie and snack on a stone fruit instead. In addition to being more nutritious than a cookie, some stone fruits—plums, peaches, and nectarines—have been shown to help ward off weight gain. Studies by Texas AgriLife Research suggest the aforementioned fruits may help prevent metabolic syndrome, a fancy name for the combination of belly fat, high cholesterol, and insulin resistance.

Peel a Banana

If stone fruits aren’t your thing, peel a banana instead and watch your belly bloat disappear. A study in the journal Anaerobe found that women who ate a banana twice daily before meals for two months reduced belly bloat by 50 percent. Researchers believe this is because bananas are packed with potassium, which can reduce water retention. The yellow fruits are also a good source of fiber, which will keep you feeling full.

Fight Inflammation With Turmeric

Part of the weight loss puzzle has to do with fighting inflammation, and incorporating the spice turmeric into your diet is an excellent way to do that. Like a myriad of other spices, the Indian cooking staple contains anti-inflammatory compounds. In a 2015 study in the journal Clinical Nutrition, researchers gave 117 patients with metabolic syndrome either supplements of curcumin—the active ingredient in turmeric—or a placebo. Over eight weeks, those who received the curcumin saw dramatic reductions in inflammation and fasting blood sugar.

Avoid Traveling Across Time Zones

A study in the journal Cell found that our gut microbes are just as affected by changes to our circadian clock as we are. When we shift our sleep-wake cycles, our gut flora changes, and beneficial bacteria are replaced by the growth of bacteria that have been linked to obesity and metabolic disease. When traveling across different time zones, it’s important you travel armed with healthy, fiber-rich snacks your gut will love.

Don’t Move North

Though it’s hardly realistic to keep people from moving north, there’s evidence to suggest that those living in northern latitudes may need to be a bit more careful about their gut health than the rest of us. A study in the journal Biology Letters found that living in northern latitudes encourages the growth of Firmicutes microbes, which have been linked to weight gain while decreasing the number of microbes linked with slim body types called Bacteroidetes. Generally speaking, the research showed that the number of Firmicutes increases with latitude and the number of Bacteroidetes decreases with latitude. To help ensure a healthy gut no matter where you reside, make sure your diet includes fermented and probiotic-rich foods, both of which encourage the growth of healthy gut bacteria.

Surround Yourself With Friends

Friends are helpful not only because they can double as workout buddies or help hold you accountable for appropriate diet and exercise, but also because they’re a surefire way to combat gut-growing feelings of loneliness. A study in the journal Hormones and Behavior found that those who feel lonely experience greater circulating levels of the appetite-stimulating hormone ghrelin after they eat, causing them to feel hungrier sooner. Over time, folks who are perennially lonely simply take in more calories than those with stronger social support networks, so be sure to fit time with pals into your busy schedule.

Don’t Deprive Yourself

Though you may give yourself a pat on the back for passing on that slice of chocolate cake you’ve been craving for dessert, you’re actually doing yourself (and your waistline) a disservice in the long run. According to a study in the International Journal of Eating Disorders, when you resist food, your body actually experiences more cravings for whatever it is you aren’t getting. Saying “no” to a sweet treat or slice of pizza wires our brains to view forbidden foods as rewards, setting us up for cravings that are hard to satisfy, so give yourself a break and indulge every now and again.

Beware of Boredom

Boredom isn’t just bad for your brain, it’s also bad for your waistline, especially if you’re trying to shed some pounds. According to a study in the Journal of Health Psychology, boredom actually strips you of your ability to make smart food choices; you become an “emotional eater,” What’s more, boredom turns you into the worst kind of emotional eater because you not only make the wrong food choices but also eat much more fattening foods than you normally would. To stave off boredom, try taking a walk or relaxing with a good book.

Fill Up on Folate

The next time you’re making a salad, why not throw some watercress in there? The green veggie is an excellent source of folate, which has been shown to stimulate weight loss. In fact, a study in the British Journal of Nutrition found that those with the highest folate levels lose about 8.5 times more weight when dieting than those with the lowest levels of folate. What’s more? A separate study in the British Journal of Cancer found that higher dietary folate intake reduces the breast cancer risk. In addition to watercress, other good sources of folate include spinach, asparagus, and papaya.

Try Tart Cherries

Tart cherries are grown exclusively in Michigan, but if you’re able to get your hands on them there is strong evidence to suggest they can help you achieve your weight loss goals. Need proof? Researchers at the University of Michigan conducted a 12-week study that found that rats fed tart cherries showed a 9 percent belly fat reduction over those fed a standard western diet. Scientists believe this is because tart cherries are especially high in anthocyanins, a type of flavonoid with strong antioxidant activity. These and other flavonoids found in tart cherries have also been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects.

Let Your Family Motivate You

Believe it or not, weight loss isn’t just about exercising and eating right; research suggests what motivates you to get in shape can play a role in your success. A 2014 study in the journal Body Image looked at 321 college-age women and found that long-term, those who exercised primarily for appearance-based reasons had a harder time sticking to their fitness plans than those who worked out to maintain their health. In other words, stop envying those fit models on Instagram and instead remember that you and your loved ones are the people who really benefit when you slim down.

Eat Beets Before a Workout

Finally decided to venture out for a run? Snack on some beets before you hit the pavement. A study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics found that runners who ate baked beets before a 5K race ran 5 percent faster. Researchers suspect this is because beets are high in nitrates, a natural chemical that increases endurance and lowers blood pressure.

Beware of Big Box Stores

Big-box stores such as Costco or Sam’s Club are great money-savers, but frequenting them to buy groceries can be bad news for your fitness goals. That’s because a 2015 study in the journal Appetite found that the larger the bottle, bag, or box the food comes in, the larger we think the serving size should be. To come to that conclusion, researchers surveyed more than thirteen thousand people and found that when confronted with larger packages of cola, chips, chocolate, or lasagna, the shoppers tended to want to serve themselves larger portions.

Don’t Be Fooled By Labels

Just as big-box stores can be a psychologically tricky terrain for dieters, so to can healthy-sounding labels on the food that we eat. A Cornell University study printed in the Journal of Marketing Research suggests people eat more of a snack that’s marketed as “low fat.” Participants in the study ate a whopping 28 percent more M&Ms that were labeled “low fat” than when the colorful candies didn’t have the label. As we suggested earlier, avoid being fooled by simply opting for full-fat foods.

Leave Notes for Yourself

We’ve already established that friends and family play a key role in motivating you to get in shape and maintain a healthy lifestyle, but it’s also crucial for you to be your own driving force. Luckily, research has shown that doesn’t need to require a tremendous amount of effort. According to a 2015 study in the Journal of Marketing Research, subtle, even subliminal, messages may be more effective at helping us stick to a healthy eating regimen than ongoing, conscious focus. The research showed that people who receive reinforcing notes urging them to eat healthily were more likely to make smarter choices than those who tried to keep their goals top of mind at all times, so grab some Post-Its and start crafting motivational messages!

Make a Habit of Stepping on the Scale

While having a scale in the house isn’t right for everyone, research has shown that it can help encourage weight loss by providing a level of accountability. When Cornell University researchers observed dieters who weighed themselves daily, they discovered that the routine of stepping on a scale helped those people lose more weight than those who weighed themselves less frequently. To avoid being thrown off by natural fluctuations in body weight, try stepping onto the scale the same time every day.

Eat at Home

In a 2014 study in the journal Public Health Nutrition, people were asked to report their food intake over the course of two days. Those who ate at a restaurant during that time took in an average of 200 calories per day more than those who prepared all their own meals, and those who ate in sit-down restaurants actually consumed slightly more calories than those who ordered from fast-food joints. When dining out, people also consumed more saturated fat, sugar, and sodium, so eating at home where you can prepare food in a healthier way is obviously the better choice.

Watch the Salt

One thing restaurants (and individuals) typically overdo it on when cooking is salt, and that can easily cause unhealthy bloating and weight gain. In fact, one British study found that for every additional 1,000 milligrams of sodium you eat a day, your risk of obesity spikes by 25 percent, so ditch the salt and stick to metabolism-boosting spices such as cayenne and mustard instead.

Say No to the Value Meal

When grabbing grub at a fast-food restaurant, the “combo” or “value meals” are typically less expensive and make you feel like you’re getting a better deal, but oftentimes they’re also nutritional nightmares. A study in the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing shows that compared to ordering à la carte, you pick up a hundred or more extra calories by opting for the aforementioned cheap “value meals.” That’s because, when you order items bundled together, you’re likely to buy more food than you need or want, and end up overeating as a result. To keep your weight in check, order your food piecemeal instead.

Don’t Drive to Work

Driving to work may be easy, but it’s also part of what’s inhibiting you from losing weight. According to a study in the British Medical Journal, those who drive to work gain more weight than those who take public transportation. Per the research, commuting by car slaps an extra 5.5 pounds on your body, whether you exercise or not. And a Japanese study found that people who take public transportation to work were 44 percent less likely to be overweight, 27 percent less likely to have high blood pressure, and 34 percent less likely to have diabetes. If possible, consider leaving the car in the driveway and walking, biking, or commuting to work via public transportation a few times per week.

Forget those Unhealthy Food Videos

Thanks to an increased interest in food and food trends, recipe videos are likely dominating your social media feeds. And their constant presence could be hindering your weight loss goals, especially since many of the brief clips spotlight unhealthy dishes and sweets. “The internet and social media sites are basically making you fat,” Lisa Hayim, MS, RD, and founder of The WellNecessities, told us in The 30 Worst Flat Belly Mistakes Women Make. “If it isn’t 25 ways to eat tater tots then it’s [another] national [something] day. The internet has made it basically impossible to stay away from cravings and indulgences. These are not excuses to eat unhealthy food.” Next time you see one of these videos, scroll quickly past. Or better yet, unfollow the page completely, and follow Eat This, Not That! on Facebook for healthier videos and more slimming tips.

Store Leftovers ASAP

When you’re done cooking, portion out just enough for your meal and pack the rest away. Putting your food away asap will not only keep it fresh for future meals but it will also deter you from mindlessly nibbling and eating more than the desired portion size. Same goes for when you’re dining out: Ask for a to-go box along with your meal, that way you can pack away the leftovers and aren’t tempted to overeat. When noshing on the leftovers at your next meal, you can also experiment with adding some additional fiber or protein to give the dish a nutritional boost.

Get Sauce on the Side

When eating out or picking up a quick lunch on your break, ask for any sauce or dressing on the side. Though these emulsions often add flavor to a dish, they’re also frequently packed with empty calories, added sugar, and a whole host of other unhealthy stuff that makes shedding pounds that much harder. For example, just one three-tablespoon serving of Panera Bread’s Greek dressing has 230 calories. 3.5 grams of saturated fat, and 310 milligrams of sodium. By asking for the sauce or dressing on the side, you have more control over how much of it you eat, and you could easily save yourself a few hundred calories.

Speaking of dressing, you could even take it one step further and buck the suggested choice entirely. While we bet Panera’s Greek salad pairs well with a dressing of the same name, a splash of olive oil and vinegar will also bring out the flavors of the dish and save you a few hundred calories along the way. For a healthy, belly-blasting dressing when you’re eating salad at home, try incorporating some apple cider vinegar or a squeeze of lemon.

Say No to Hand Sanitizer

You may think hand sanitizer will zap germs and prevent you from getting sick, but it could also be making you fat. The germ-killing substance contains triclosan, which researchers have found to be an “obesogen,” meaning it could cause weight gain by disrupting your body’s hormones. A study published in the journal PLOS One found that people who had detectable levels of triclosan in their bodies were associated with a 0.9-point increase in their BMIs. Word to the wise for germaphobes looking to lose weight: Rely on good ol’ soap and water instead.

Beware of Wedded Bliss

A review of more than 600 studies found that being married, and transitioning into marriage, are both associated with weight gain. Transitioning out of a marriage, however, is associated with weight loss. The researchers found that weight gain occurs because of increased opportunities for eating due to shared, regular meals and larger portion sizes, as well as “decreased physical activity and a decline in weight maintenance for the purpose of attracting an intimate partner,” Zero Belly Smoothies states. we’re hardly advocating staying single or getting a divorce (unless you choose to) this research clearly indicates that dieters need to be especially careful around the wedding day. To keep things in check after you take the plunge, meal prep with your partner or develop a workout routine together.

Steer Clear of Take-Out

Even if you don’t typically order take-out, research suggests that just the mere presence of take-out food increases your risk of being overweight. One study printed in the British Medical Journal found that just having a lot of take-out options near your work or along your commute to work makes you twice as likely to be obese. Though you obviously have little control over what kind of establishments populate where you live and work, this is just another reason to practice healthy eating as often as you can.

Stop and Smell the Fruit

Placing a bowl of fruit in your kitchen or on your dining room table does more than just add to the ambiance. As it turns out, studies have shown that taking a whiff of fresh green apples, bananas, and pears can help curb appetite and lessen cravings for sugary desserts. If it’s a no-go on the fruit bowl idea, try scented lotion instead.

Don’t Shop on an Empty Stomach

Grocery shopping on an empty stomach is never a good idea because research has shown it inhibits your ability to make smart choices about what you wish to eat. In a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers found that even short-term fasts can lead people to make more unhealthy food choices, picking a higher quantity of high-calorie foods. Fill up before you shop in an effort to avoid buying foods that won’t help you lose weight.

Of all the activities you can do in an effort to shed a few pounds, gardening is one of the most beneficial and relaxing options. Research conducted by the University of Utah shows that people who garden are about 11 to 16 pounds lighter than those who don’t, so throw on some gardening gloves and get to planting. For added weight loss benefits, consider planting herbs such as cilantro and mint, which combat bloating and suppress your appetite, respectively.

Forget Fruit Juice

While you might not think there’s a huge difference between eating a whole piece of fruit and drinking fruit juice, nutritionally speaking, the two entities are most definitely not one and the same. Whereas whole fruit contains naturally occuring sugars and fiber that can help counteract the bad effects of too much sweet stuff, fruit juice is often loaded with added sugar (such as high-fructose corn syrup) and no fiber to speak of. According to a study led by Harvard School of Public Health researchers, eating more whole fruits, particularly blueberries, grapes, and apples, was significantly associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. On the other hand, a greater consumption of fruit juices was associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes. To get the fruit flavor without all the bad stuff, try stirring up a batch of fruity detox water instead.

But Eat an Apple

The benefits of chowing down on whole fruits are clear, and eating an apple each day can help prevent metabolic syndrome, a disorder associated with abdominal fat, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. The red or green fruits are a low-calorie, nutrient-dense source of fiber, which research has proven to be integral to reducing visceral fat. A study at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center found that for every 10-gram increase in soluble fiber eaten per day, visceral fat was reduced by 3.7 percent over five years.

Blast Belly Fat With High-Intensity Interval Training

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a great belly-blasting option for those who already feel comfortable in the gym because it helps you drop fatty tissue and build muscle simultaneously. “High-intensity interval training is when you perform an exercise at or close to your maximum ability for a short period of time and then take a brief respite and do it again. HIIT should usually be done on a 2:1 interval, meaning if you did an exercise for one minute, you rest for 30 seconds and then repeat,” explains Dr. Alex Tauberg, DC, CSCS, EMR in 50 Ways to Shrink Your Belly. To use HIIT to shrink your belly, do workouts that engage your core such as abdominal crunches or bridges. “By performing core workouts using a HIIT plan, you can burn calories and build muscle at the same time,” Alex adds. “This can be a great way to flatten that stomach when you don’t have too much time to work out.”

In addition to blasting belly fat, you should also be working out and trying to build up your muscle mass. Even when you’re at rest, your body is constantly burning calories, and the “resting metabolic rate” is much higher in people with more muscle. That’s because every pound of muscle uses about six calories a day just to sustain itself. If you can pack on just five pounds of muscle and sustain it, you’ll burn the caloric equivalent of three pounds of fat over the course of a year, and be even closer to obtaining that lean physique you’ve always wanted.

Move for Two Minutes

However, if a HIIT workout or piling on muscle mass seems too daunting, simply move for two-ish minutes to whittle your waistline. Why, you ask? Research printed in the journal Physiological Reports showed that people who did five 30-second bursts of max-effort cycling, followed by four minutes of rest, burned 200 extra calories that day. If you incorporate this technique into your workout routine just a few times per month, you can burn thousands of additional calories per year.

Don’t “Save” Your Calories for Later

If you have a big celebration or date coming up, you might think it makes sense to “save” your calories for when it’s time to let loose, but this technique is rarely effective and could actually be hindering your ability to lose weight. “Although this makes sense in theory—consuming fewer calories total per day—it rarely works out as cleanly as we like,” Lisa Hayim spelled out for us in The 30 Worst Diet Mistakes You’re Making. “By the time you get to the date, and have a drink or two, the feelings of extreme hunger rush in, and you’re grabbing for whatever you can get your hands on, which is usually foods high in calories and fat. You’re so hungry, you may even end up consuming more than a day’s worth of calories in one sitting! Plus, with alcohol in your system, your body is less able to efficiently metabolize the calories,” explains Hayim. “Instead, consume normal meals throughout the day, arrive at your date cool, calm, and collected, and enjoy your cocktail and eat responsibly.”

Go for Goji Tea

We’ve already extolled the benefits of green and black teas, but they aren’t the only brews that can help you get slim; research indicates goji tea is another winner. Lycium barbarum, the plant from which goji berries are harvested, boasts a slimming effect. In a study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, participants were either given a single dose of L. barbarum or a placebo after a meal. The researchers found that one hour after the dose, the goji group was burning calories at a rate 10 percent higher than the placebo group, and the effects lasted up to four hours. What’s more? Most goji teas are mixed with green tea, making the beverage a weight loss double whammy.

Skip Nap Time

Napping may be an easy way to catch up on some missed shut-eye, but dozing off in the middle of the day does nothing to aid weight loss. In fact, research has found that people burn fewer calories when they sleep during the day and log their waking hours after the sun’s gone down. To come to this finding, researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder studied 14 healthy adults for six days. For two days, study participants slept at night and stayed awake during the day, then they reversed their routines to mimic the schedules of night owls. When participants slept during the day, researchers found that they burned 52 to 59 fewer calories than they did while catching their Zzzs in the evening—likely because the schedule messed with their circadian rhythm, the body’s internal clock that plays a major role in metabolism function. If your circadian rhythm is out of whack, a separate study by University of Colorado Boulder researchers suggested spending a weekend in the wilderness to get it back on track.

Switch Your Chewing Gum

Though many believe chewing gum keeps you from mindlessly eating, the minty treat has its own drawbacks that can lead to a bigger belly. Not only does chewing gum cause you to swallow tummy-bloating air, many gums also contain sugar alcohols and artificial sweeteners like sorbitol and xylitol that can cause bloat. If you have to have something to chomp on, go for an organic variety like Glee gum or Simply gum instead. They’re still low-cal, but they don’t use those sweeteners that’ll make you puff up.

Don’t Lose the Wrap Battle

A paper-thin wrap may seem like a healthier, lower carb alternative to a sandwich, but don’t be fooled by appearances. Wraps are almost always loaded with calories, thanks to the fat that’s needed to make them pliable—and a large wrap can be the carb and calorie equivalent of four or five slices of bread. In other words, forget the wrap and go for a cold, open-faced sandwich instead. Your waistline will thank you.

Color Code Your Snacks

You can avoid a mindless binge by adding visual traffic lights to your snack. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University gave one set of students a bowl of uniform yellow chips, while another group had their regular snack layered with differently colored chips. Students who had their snack segmented ate 50 percent less than those with a uniform bowl.

Pick the Right Protein Bar

By now you know that protein is a vital part of a healthy diet, but don’t let that fact fool you into thinking that all protein bars are created equal. Though a multitude of the trendy treats purport to be nutritious and low in calories, many of them are also packed with sugar but low in satiating fiber, meaning they aren’t actually very healthy at all. Before picking a protein bar to snack on, give the nutrition label a good once-over and look for something with natural ingredients and plenty of protein (obviously) and fiber. If you need help making sense of the overcrowded landscape, consult this list of 25 Best & Worst Low-Sugar Protein Bars!

No-Diet Weight Loss—Guaranteed!

Look, feel and live great while getting on the path to better health with the new Eat This, Not That! Magazine

This content was originally published here.

[maemaeodom]

11 Traits Scientifically Proven To Make You More Attractive

☆ Have you ever seen someone and right away felt attracted to them, although you couldn’t put your finger on why? It turns out, it probably goes a lot deeper than thinking their jeans make their butt look good; there’s likely a scientific reason you’re attracted to them and you couldn’t stop yourself if you tried! Researchers have studied the science of attraction for ages, and there’s a reason it is such an important topic: It teaches us all about the history of mating, attraction, and why certain people end up with others, and it’s also just plain interesting!

While it’s interesting to know what makes a person scientifically attractive (or less so), it can be a dangerous game to play with your self-esteem. Keep in mind, if you don’t have the specific features scientists have determined to be most attractive, it doesn’t mean you are unattractive. Another reason not to stress about these features is that many of them are things you are born with, and barring major plastic surgery, you will just have to accept. Still, there are some small “attraction hacks” that are proven to make women more attractive to men, and these things have been true since the beginning of time. Here are 11 scientifically proven traits that make women more attractive to men.

( 11. Symmetry )

☆ Facial symmetry is one of the most commonly discussed traits that is said to determine how attractive a person is, or how likely other people are to be attracted to you. It was long believed that facial symmetry signified a healthy childhood that was free of diseases, but further studies have suggested that this may not be entirely accurate. While we are undoubtedly attracted to symmetry (both in nature and in art), it has been proven that having a symmetrical face does NOT indicate a healthy childhood. Rather, it is now thought that facial symmetry is attractive simply because we are naturally attracted to symmetry as it is pleasing to the eye.

( 10. The Hungry )

☆ They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, and according to one study done in 2006, this just might be true! The study found that hungry men were more likely to be attracted to women with a higher body weight than a man who has a full stomach. Researchers assume that because a higher body weight signals a greater access to food, hungry men are attracted to this because it could mean the end to their hunger. Maybe it’s time to start looking for mates in a drive-thru line for fast food or at the grocery store!

( 9. Seeing Red )

☆ Seeing red doesn’t have to be a bad thing! In fact, women wearing red have been proven to be more physically attractive to men. While there is substantial evidence to support this theory, the same study also suggests that physical attractiveness is increased by the color red, but it has no bearing or influence on how kind or intelligent a man perceives a woman to be. Interestingly, the study also found that the color red did not make women more attractive to other women. If you feel extra sexy wearing a red lip or a red high heel, it might be more than just a feeling!

( 8. That Time Of The Month )

☆ During the most fertile time of the month for you (when you’re ovulating) women are more likely to be attracted to more traditionally masculine men, and apparently, this works both ways. Men also find women who are ovulating to be most attractive, and it isn’t completely clear why, but researchers suggest it has something to do with increased blood flow and flush to a women’s face, as well as fuller breast and puffier skin due to water retention. It has also been suggested that a woman’s menstrual cycle affects the tone and pitch of her voice in such a way that it further increases a man’s attraction to her, but again, it isn’t entirely clear why.

( 7. Your Waist-Hip Ratio )

☆ The traditional hourglass figure is coveted by many, and many women resort to waist training to achieve the look of a narrower waist, which in turn makes the breasts and hips look larger. The waist-hip ratio is calculated by measuring the waist circumference and dividing it by the hip circumference at its widest part. Women with a waist-hip ratio of 0.7 have been found to have optimal levels of estrogen and are less susceptible to certain disease. While 0.7 is considered the optimal number, studies show that a slightly higher waist-hip ratio (0.8) is considered most attractive in parts of South America and Africa, and a slightly smaller ratio (0.6) is considered more attractive in parts of Asia.

( 6. Turn That Frown Upside down )

☆ When you see a smiling person, you probably find them more approachable and less of a threat than a person who has a neutral expression or a frown. Turns out, smiling doesn’t just affect how friendly you look, it also makes women more perceptively attractive to men. Perhaps, on a deep and scientific level, a woman smiling indicates she is likely to be open to the idea of mating. Interestingly, the same isn’t true for how attractive women perceive men to be. Rather than be attractive to a friendly smile, the expressions women find most attractive are raised fists and a slight smile, signifying pride.

( 5. When Average Is Good )

☆While symmetry is one factor that impacts how attractive someone is to another, having average features also plays a prominent role. While we’re often told to strive to be above average, this may not be good advice for facial features. Studies show that men are attracted to facial features that are representative of the population average: average nose size and shaped, average chin size and shape, and the most common eye shape and color in their surrounding population. This is likely because these average features indicate better reproductive health and a more diverse gene pool so the odds of producing genetically sound and healthy children is increased.

( 4. Being Kind Is Rewarding )

☆ A Chinese study had participants view 60 females with neutral facial expressions and rate their attractiveness, then two weeks later rate their attractiveness again, but this time, when the faces were making friendlier and more positive expressions. When the women were making more friendly faces, they were rated as more attractive than those with neutral faces. This goes beyond just smiling, though: participants were given other descriptors about the people in the photographs like decent or honest. It just goes to show being a good person is always a good idea!

( 3. Status Doesn’t Matter )

☆ One study showed men several women standing with a high-status, expensive car, and another woman standing with a less expensive, lower status vehicle and they were asked to rate the attractiveness of each of the women. This study was repeated but with women rating the men, and the results of both studies proved very interesting. Women rated men in high-status vehicles as significantly more attractive than those in lower status vehicles, but here’s where it gets interesting: Men found no discernible difference in a woman’s attractiveness based on her vehicle. The findings might represent a woman’s desire to find a man who can provide for her, but perhaps the man’s neutral reaction to a woman’s status does not impact how attractive he finds her because it doesn’t signify her ability to bear healthy offspring.

( 2. Stress Less )

☆ Another interesting study about scientific causes for attraction came from the scientific journal Biology Letters. It found that men were less attracted to women who displayed higher stress levels than they were to women with more relaxed faces. The same went for women when they were shown men with stressed or relaxed faces. This study also comes down to how fertile a person seems because stress can suppress fertility and it seems we are subconsciously aware of this and are wired to find relaxed mates. We all know that stress is harmful to our health, but if we knew how harmful it is to our dating lives, a lot more people would take up yoga!

( 1. Short-Term Vs. Long-Term )

☆ A man looking for a long-term relationship versus a man seeking a casual fling go for very different features in women. One would think that initial spark of attraction is all it takes to get a relationship of any length going, but this may not be entirely true. One study found that men looking for flings were more likely to be attracted to women with more traditionally feminine features, while men seeking partners for a long term relationship took a woman’s other features like her personality or her behavior to be more important. This is one study that is pretty pleasing to hear because it proves there is more to finding a mate than physical attractiveness.

[internationalinguisticsolympiad]

Non-european countries in the IOL - more wanted please

This post originates from our official blog, for full post go here: http://ift.tt/2vOJIPy

Countries of the IOL 2017

It is well-known that most of the delegations that partake in the IOL are from Europe. I'd like to give a little background to this, and also invite more non-european delegations in. If you can help, be in touch.  This is something I've thought a lot about before, and it was recently brought to the forefront of my mind by the funny blog post "Relief As Registration Closes Before Any African Countries Sign Up" by the satire blog Linguistics Olympiad News Network (yes, we're apparently famous enough to spawn satire and memes).

After the announcement of the countries participating in IOL in Dublin, there was relief visible on the faces of the IOL Problem Committee, who had been waiting in dread at the possibility of a team from Africa going to the competition.

 [...]

 In an LNNO exclusive, IOL media correspondent Hedvig Skirgård told us about the last minute panic when Simona Klemenčič opened her email account to see a registration request from a linguistics professor at the University of Dar es Salaam. She told us, “Having consulted with the problem committee who had written three out of the five problems on languages from Tanzania, we regrettably realised that the deadline for registration happened to fall just prior to the email. We wish Tanzania all the best for Prague 2018.” 

The blog post was very funny, as someone who has worked with the IOL for quite some time now I found it unusually spot-on. It clearly plays on the fact that since Africa as a continent and Papua New Guinea as a country contains a VAST amount of linguistic diversity, languages from these areas of the world make for great material for linguistic puzzles. I fully understand that the message was not that we would exclude participants from these countries on any other basis than "to make it easier for our Problem Committee and Jury". Now, I'll get to why that isn't true later, but first some background to the bias.

Map from Worldmapper where the countries size have been scaled to represent the relative number of languages within that country compared to the rest of the world. © Copyright Sasi Group (University of Sheffield) and Mark Newman (University of Michigan).

This satirical blog post did make me think of the more pertinent and serious issue of dominance of European countries. There are reasons for this bias, they're mainly historical, but also in part economical. The contest started in Russia and the first international contests were dominated by slavic countries (IOL history is here). The contest later grew to include first non-slavic countries and then non-european countries. The IOL does not run each contest, it's run by local organizers. This means that it is significantly harder for developing countries and countries lacking the necessary infrastructure. Countries and territories of the IOL Nowadays, we don't speak of "countries" of the IOL as much as "countries and territories", in order to accurately represent participating delegations like those from Anglo- and Francophone Canada respectively and Isle of Man. Here is a list of all 43 countries and territories that have partaken at least once:  Canada Francophone, France, Israel, Lithuania, Norway, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Finland, Greece, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Turkey, Germany, Isle of Man, Japan, Spain, Taiwan, Brazil, China, Hungary, Singapore, Canada Anglophone, Czech Republic, Romania, Australia, India, Ireland, UK, Republic of Korea, Slovenia, Serbia, Sweden, USA, Poland , Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Netherlands and Russia. Of those, 30 have an accredited contest. Meaning, there's a contest in that country or territory that the IOL-board has deemed lives up to our criteria and can receive lower registration fees and participate for more than 2 years. The criteria for being accredited are:

be a contest that features problems about linguistics or a closely related field

have a working website that is not excluded from search engine results

be open to all students up to secondary level in the country (i.e not restricted to certain schools or programmes)

display clear information about registration and competing well in advance

have the problem set in the language of the majority of the population or the language of education

have details on how to contact the contest organizers on the website

IOL does not run each contest - the economical problem In order to understand this situation, you also need to understand that the IOL does not directly run each and every national or territory-wide contest. There are separate organisations who do that, they create their own problems and seek their own funding. In order to do this, there needs to be serious enthusiasm and involvement from a group of people and backing from either a non-profit organisation, universities or the ministry of education. On the problem-creating-front, it's worth noting that several national/territory-contest collaborate with each other and share problems. Contrary to what you might think, we actually often receive messages from people in non-european countries who are not yet part of IOL, but who want to join. They contact us here and we try and help as best we can. There's been messages from Uganda, Egypt, Nigeria, Guatemala, Nepal, Kenya, Malaysia and more countries. We then tell them about what would be needed in order to start up a contest, and most of the time they can't meet those requirements and we lose contact. This is sad, and now you know. In particular, the obstacle is often finding the funds to organise a contest that is open too all secondary school students of the country/territory (not just one school) and paying the air fares etc for the international contest. The economical bit isn't the only factor though, there are countries that partake every year that have lower GDP than some who have never partaken (cough, Italy, cough). There is also the matter of there being hard working volunteers and the infrastructure (support from ministry of education, companies or non-profits). The Maths Olympiad can, so why can't we? The International Mathematical Olympiad covers 100 countries and is in some ways similar to the IOL (though much older). My hope is that we will also become as large. The obstacles we're facing are partly economical, but there's also the fact that linguistics isn't taught as a basic subject in schools. We won't let this deter us though, we'll keep aiming high and spreading knowledge about languages, linguistics and our olympiad! Would the Problem Committee (PC) really prefer that fewer non-european countries join? Of course not, I take that as a given. First let's talk about the languages the problems are in, not about. The PC has in the past shown great talent in scouting out language experts to help with translation of problem sets for the participants (all without the knowledge of the national/territory team leaders or organisers). I have no doubt they can take anything we throw at them. Note that the languages of the IOL need to be dominant or official in the country of the contest, so we are not selecting from all 7,000+ languages of the world. For those who might not know: the problem committee does not work with a base version of the problem in English and then translates into the others. They work with a version in a between language Ivan chooses to call "solverese". If you want to read more about multilingual editing of the IOL problems, we propose that you read this paper written by the Ivan:

Derzhanski, Ivan (2013) Multilingual Editing of Linguistic Problems, In Proceedings of the Fourth Workshop on Teaching NLP and CL August 2013 Sofia, Bulgaria Association for Computational Linguistics 27–34 http://ift.tt/1uRZrJr [in English]

Now to the issue of the language the problems are about, rather than in. It is true that the PC seeks to make problems about languages that the contestants are unlikely to know. (The closest we've come in the past to the issue of participants knowing the language of the problem must have been when Australia competed and there was a problem in Vietnamese. That turned out alright in the end, phew!) It should also be said that many of the national/territory contest organisers do probe contestants to disclose what languages they know, and should there be concern the board and/or PC is alerted. Furthermore, most languages are spoken by few people. This is a sad fact, but necessary to relate. This makes it easier to pick a language the contestants do not know, even if they're from language dense areas. Here's a diagram showing the population per language, based on the 19th edition of Ethnologue.

Speakers per language Infogram

Here is a table from Ethnologue that tries to explain this as well, a bit niftier.

Table from Ethnologue summarising the number of speakers per language.

For further background, of the 7,000+ languages in the world there are grammars or grammar sketches of approximately 3,500 of them (Glottolog). Participants of the IOL are not likely to know all of these, even if participants from Africa or PNG would make the scope smaller there's still plenty left. If we then add to that that most grammars of languages of the world are written in languages the PC knows, that makes it even "easier" for them. Not that this is an easy task, but you get my drift.

Languages, coloured by which language the grammar of it is in. By Harald Hammarström, based on Glottolog.org. Read more here.

Help us spread the contest to more places

Finally, we do want there to be linguistic olympiads in more places than there currently are. If you think you can lend a hand with that, do let us know. Perhaps you're a local linguist who would like to make problems? An employee at Google/Apple/Microsoft who could persuade the company to allocate some funds for a local contest? A keen student or teacher who'd like to get together a group and set something up? Or a  meming former contestant who would like to give even more back?

Be in touch!

Want more information about the IOL? Visit our super awesome Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)!

[gizedcom]

Coronavirus UK: 85 new fatalities in preliminary death toll

Britain’s Covid-19 death toll today topped 45,000 as officials recorded just 85 more victims and Scotland has now gone an entire week without suffering a single fatality. 

Just 75 Britons are now dying of coronavirus each day, on average. In comparison, the rate last Wednesday was 87 after health chiefs revealed 126 more people had succumbed to the life-threatening infection.   

But the average number of new cases are still higher than they were last week — despite dropping for the second day in a row, suggesting the outbreak is not shrinking as quickly as officials hoped.

Department of Health statistics show 584 Britons are testing positive for the virus each day on average, after 538 more cases were confirmed today. 

The rate is 7 per cent higher than last Wednesday’s rate of 546 because of a spike in cases over the past week — even though the actual number of new infections is lower (630). 

In other coronavirus developments in Britain today:

Boris Johnson insisted he does not have a ‘magic wand’ to save jobs as he admitted a wave of redundancies is looming because of the devastating impact of Covid-19 on the economy;

Hopes for a working Covid-19 jab grew as two trials in the UK and US — by Oxford University and American firm Moderna — reported promising results in their early experiments;

The Health Secretary admitted he is ‘worried’ about the long term impact of coronavirus, with thousands of ‘long-haulers’ suffering fatigue and heart problems months after beating the disease;

The government’s face mask rules descended further into confusion as Matt Hancock insisted they must be worn to get takeaway coffee but not in pubs — and denied that they will be compulsory in offices; 

England’s coronavirus R rate was just 0.57 in May — significantly lower than Government scientists thought it was, Imperial College London researchers claimed; 

Pendle became the second Lancashire borough at risk of retreating back into lockdown because the disease is spreading out of control there, after a spike in cases in Blackburn with Darwen;

Rodent infestations across the UK have surged 42 per cent during Britain’s coronavirus lockdown, according to an analysis by an insurance company.

COVID-19 DEATH RATES WERE FOUR TIMES HIGHER IN CITIES THAN REMOTE AREAS 

People living in larger urban areas were four times more likely to die with Covid-19 than those in remote locations over the past four months, according to official figures.

National Records of Scotland (NRS) data shows between March 1 and June 30, there were 116.8 age-standardised deaths involving Covid-19 per 100,000 people in large urban areas.

In contrast, the rate was just 26.8 per 100,000 in remote rural locations. 

The gap was substantially smaller when considering the rate of deaths from all causes, where it was 1.4 times higher in large urban areas than in remote rural areas. 

People in the most deprived areas of the country were 2.1 times more likely to die with Covid than those living in the least deprived parts, the analysis found. 

As of July 12, the overall coronavirus death toll for Scotland stood at 4,173, with 13 deaths in the week to Sunday – a decrease of five from the previous week. 

This is the 11th weekly reduction in a row, and the lowest weekly total since mid-March. 

It comes as lockdown restrictions continue to ease in phase three of the Scottish Government’s route map out of lockdown. 

Barbers and hair salons can reopen from Wednesday with enhanced hygiene measures in place, as can indoor pubs and restaurants. 

NRS figures show deaths involving Covid-19 accounted for 1 per cent of all those registered between July 6 and July 12, down from a peak in week 17 when Covid-19 deaths accounted for 36 per cent of all fatalities. 

The NRS analysis also shows the highest number of deaths involving Covid-19 of working people aged 20-64 by occupation group were among process, plant and machine operatives, where the age-standardised death rate was 25.1 per 100,000 population. 

Compared to the average death rate of deaths involving Covid-19 for all occupations, which was 10.2 per 100,000 population, health workers had a lower death rate (6.4) whilst social care workers had a higher rate (14.4). 

Department of Health figures released yesterday showed 144,000 tests were carried out or posted the day before. The number includes antibody tests for frontline NHS and care workers.

But bosses again refused to say how many people were tested, meaning the exact number of Brits who have been swabbed for the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been a mystery for a month — since May 22.

Health chiefs also reported 398 more cases of Covid-19. Government statistics show the official size of the UK’s  outbreak now stands at 291,373 cases. 

But the actual size of the outbreak, which began to spiral out of control in March, is estimated to be in the millions, based on antibody testing data.

It means the rolling average of daily cases dropped from 624 to 597, after it rose for three days in a row. It was higher than it was last Tuesday (575). 

The daily death data does not represent how many Covid-19 patients died within the last 24 hours — it is only how many fatalities have been reported and registered with the authorities.

The data does not always match updates provided by the home nations. Department of Health officials work off a different time cut-off, meaning daily updates from Scotland as well as Northern Ireland are always out of sync.

And the count announced by NHS England every afternoon — which only takes into account deaths in hospitals — does not match up with the DH figures because they work off a different recording system.

For instance, some deaths announced by NHS England bosses will have already been counted by the Department of Health, which records fatalities ‘as soon as they are available’.

More than 1,000 infected Brits died each day during the darkest days of the crisis in mid-April but the number of victims had been dropping by around 20 to 30 per cent week-on-week since the start of May. 

NHS England today posted 22 deaths in hospitals across the country. Two fatalities were recorded in all settings in Wales but none were registered again in Northern Ireland or Scotland.  

It comes as Nicola Sturgeon today revealed that Scotland has now gone a full week without any new coronavirus deaths.

Speaking during the daily briefing in Edinburgh, the First Minister said no Covid-19 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours among patients who have tested positive for the virus.

The latest figures show 18,373 people have tested positive for the virus in Scotland, up by five from 18,368 the day before.

Ms Sturgeon also said that on three days in the week to July 9, there were no admissions to hospital of confirmed Covid-19 cases and there have been six days in total since June 26 with no coronavirus admissions.

Ms Sturgeon said: ‘If I think back to the early part of April, into May, what I would have given to stand here and give you figures like that.

‘At the peak of this outbreak more than 200 people were for a period being admitted to hospital every day. Let’s not take the risk of going back to that.’

HOPES RISE OF A COVID-19 JAB BREAKTHROUGH AS TWO TRIALS IN UK AND US SHOW PROMISE

Hopes for a working Covid-19 vaccine are growing as two projects in the UK and US have reported promising results in their early experiments.

Teams from Oxford University and the American pharmaceutical company Moderna have both revealed people in their studies are showing signs of immunity.

They have been developing experimental jabs for months to try to protect millions of people from catching the coronavirus in future.

Oxford scientists have already said they are ’80 per cent’ confident they can have a jab available by September.

People being given the Oxford vaccine have been developing antibodies and white blood cells called T cells which will help their bodies fight off the virus if they get infected, the researchers say.

And experts at Moderna, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said participants in their trial all successfully developed antibodies.

The vaccines work by tricking the body into thinking it’s infected with Covid-19 and causing it to produce immune substances that have the ability to destroy it.

While early research focused on antibodies, scientists are increasingly turning to a type of immunity called T cell immunity — which is controlled by white blood cells — which has shown signs of promise.

One source on the Oxford project told ITV News: ‘An important point to keep in mind is that there are two dimensions to the immune response: antibodies and T-cells.

‘Everybody is focused on antibodies but there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that the T-cells response is important in the defence against coronavirus.’

The milestone came as Scotland eased lockdown restrictions further. The First Minister said: ‘Today marks the biggest step for Scotland out of lockdown so far.

‘The childcare sector can fully open from today, venues like museums, galleries and other attractions can also welcome visitors from today, although in many cases you will need to book tickets in advance.

‘Hairdressing services resume today, in fact I understand some opened at midnight (because of) demand. I wish I had known about that.’

Ms Sturgeon said the changes were ‘long-awaited’ and ‘hard-earned by everybody’ but admitted she is ‘even more nervous’ about the lockdown relaxation than earlier phases of coming out of lockdown. 

Many of the changes involve indoor activity, she said, adding that the risk of the virus spreading indoors, in a pub for example, is significantly higher than it is outdoors.

Ms Sturgeon added: ‘That is why we have deliberately waited until infection levels were very low before allowing these services to restart, that gives us the best possible chances of managing the risk that reopening indoor services creates.

‘But it doesn’t remove those risks, and so it is vital — more vital than it has been at any stage of this crisis so far — that all of us stick rigidly to the rules and guidance on how to behave in these different settings.’

Referring to fresh lockdown restrictions in California, where bars, cinemas and restaurants have had to close down again, she said: ‘That must be a reminder that our progress out of lockdown could yet go into reverse.

‘And it will go into reverse if we see signs that the virus is starting to spread widely in the community again. So all of us must do everything we can to ensure that doesn’t happen.’ 

It comes as hopes of a working Covid-19 vaccine grew today as two projects in the UK and US reported promising results in their early experiments.

Teams from Oxford University and the American pharmaceutical company Moderna have both revealed people in their studies are showing signs of immunity.

They have been developing experimental jabs for months to try to protect millions of people from catching the coronavirus in future.

Oxford scientists have already said they are ’80 per cent’ confident they can have a jab available by September.

People being given the Oxford vaccine have been developing antibodies and white blood cells called T cells which will help their bodies fight off the virus if they get infected, the researchers say.

And experts at Moderna, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said participants in their trial all successfully developed antibodies.

SECOND LANCASHIRE BOROUGH OF PENDLE WARNS OF COVID-19 OUTBREAK AFTER SPIKE IN BLACKBURN

The Lancashire borough of Pendle warned of a coronavirus outbreak today — after a spike in cases in nearby Blackburn with Darwen.

County health officials fear the district, home to around 92,000 people, is at risk of retreating back into lockdown if the disease continues to spread.

It had an infection rate of 73 new cases per 100,000 people in the week ending July 12, putting it second only to Leicester — the only place in Britain to have had a local lockdown imposed.

Lancashire’s director of public health Dr Sakthi Karunanithi has now given an ‘early warning’ for people to wash their hands often, stick to social distancing and wear masks in indoor public places. Dr Karunanithi admitted there had been a ‘slight increase’ in Covid-19 cases and said ‘We need your help now to… keep Pendle out of lockdown’.

The news comes as officials in Blackburn with Darwen — just 18 miles away — have placed new restrictions on residents meaning only two at a time will be able to visit other households. This differs from the national guidance, which says two households of any size can meet inside.

Residents have also been urged not to hug anyone they don’t live with and to get regularly tested for coronavirus.

Eighty-five per cent of the 114 cases diagnosed in the past fortnight were among its South Asian community, according to local health bosses.

It’s unclear what proportion of ethnic minorities make up Pendle’s new cases — but around 20 per cent of the authority’s population are of South Asian heritage. 

Cases in Blackburn with Darwen have soared from around 20 per 100,000 population to a rate of 47 since June 24

The vaccines work by tricking the body into thinking it’s infected with Covid-19 and causing it to produce immune substances that have the ability to destroy it.

While early research focused on antibodies, scientists are increasingly turning to a type of immunity called T cell immunity — which is controlled by white blood cells — which has shown signs of promise.

One source on the Oxford project told ITV News: ‘An important point to keep in mind is that there are two dimensions to the immune response: antibodies and T-cells.

‘Everybody is focused on antibodies but there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that the T-cells response is important in the defence against coronavirus.’

In other developments today, the Lancashire borough of Pendle warned of a coronavirus outbreak — after a spike in cases in nearby Blackburn with Darwen.

County health officials fear the district, home to around 92,000 people, is at risk of retreating back into lockdown if the disease continues to spread.

It had an infection rate of 73 new cases per 100,000 people in the week ending July 12, putting it second only to Leicester — the only place in Britain to have had a local lockdown imposed.

Lancashire’s director of public health Dr Sakthi Karunanithi has now given an ‘early warning’ for people to wash their hands often, stick to social distancing and wear masks in indoor public places.

Pendle council said: ‘The overall rate and number of cases remains relatively low, but there are signs of ongoing household transmission’.

Dr Karunanithi admitted there had been a ‘slight increase’ in Covid-19 cases and said ‘We need your help now to… keep Pendle out of lockdown’.

The news comes as officials in Blackburn with Darwen — just 18 miles away — have placed new restrictions on residents meaning only two at a time will be able to visit other households. This differs from the national guidance, which says two households of any size can meet inside.

Residents have also been urged not to hug anyone they don’t live with and to get regularly tested for coronavirus.

Eighty-five per cent of the 114 cases diagnosed in the past fortnight were among its South Asian community, according to local health bosses.

It’s unclear what proportion of ethnic minorities make up Pendle’s new cases — but around 20 per cent of the authority’s population are of South Asian heritage.

Many other areas of England which have the current highest infection rates of Covid-19, such as Bradford, Rochdale and Oldham, also have large South Asian communities.

A Bank of England policymaker today said the UK economy is set for an ‘incomplete V-shaped’ recovery from the coronavirus crisis with a bounce back likely to stall at the end of 2020 because of rising unemployment.

Bank interest rate-setter Silvana Tenreyro said an anticipated increase in the number of people without work, likely caused by the removal of Government support in the coming months, will slow consumer spending.

Meanwhile, continued social distancing in key parts of the economy like the hospitality sector and lingering coronavirus fears which may stop some shoppers from returning to the high street could also hinder growth.

Ms Tenreyro predicted an ‘interrupted’ or ‘incomplete’ V-shaped recovery as an initial rebound in activity loses steam towards the end of the year.

She said the first quarterly growth rebound will come between July and September as lockdown restrictions ease further, with data already pointing to a sharp pick-up in purchases due to lockdown rules being eased.

But she warned: ‘This will be interrupted by continued risk aversion and voluntary social distancing in some sectors, remaining restrictions on activities in others, and in general by higher unemployment.’

HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE REALLY DIED OF THE CORONAVIRUS?

Department of Health: 45,053

Department of Health’s latest death count for all settings stands at 45,053.

The daily data does not represent how many Covid-19 patients died within the last 24 hours — it is only how many fatalities have been reported and registered with the authorities. 

It also only takes into account patients who tested positive for the virus, as opposed to deaths suspected to be down to the coronavirus. Many people were not tested early on in the outbreak, meaning thousands are suspected to be missing from the total.

National statistical bodies: 55,720

Data compiled by the statistical bodies of each of the home nations show 55,720 people died of either confirmed or suspected Covid-19 across the UK by the end of May.

The Office for National Statistics confirmed that 50,698 people in England and Wales died with confirmed or suspected Covid-19 by July 3.

The number of coronavirus deaths was 835 by the same day in Northern Ireland, according to the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).

National Records Scotland — which collects statistics north of the border — said 4,187 people had died across the country by July 12.

Their tallies are always 10 days behind the Department of Health (DH) because they wait until as many fatalities as possible for each date have been counted, to avoid having to revise their statistics.

Excess deaths: 64,698 

Excess deaths are considered to be an accurate measure of the number of people killed by the pandemic because they include a broader spectrum of victims. As well as including people who may have died with Covid-19 without ever being tested, the data also shows how many more people died because their medical treatment was postponed, for example, or who didn’t or couldn’t get to hospital when they were seriously ill.

Data from England and Wales shows there has been an extra 58,830 deaths between March 27 and July 3, as well as 4,867 in Scotland, and 1,001 in Northern Ireland.

Credit: Source link

The post Coronavirus UK: 85 new fatalities in preliminary death toll appeared first on GIZED - Breaking News Worldwide.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/396sHVi via IFTTT

[kuwaiti-kid]

Vindale Research: Give Your Feedback, Make Extra Money (Unlimited Earnings)

Are you looking to earn a little extra cash or make some beer money?

Maybe snag some gift cards or free money?

Vindale Research is an online market research company that gives community members money in exchange for taking surveys and completing other offers. While there are several websites out there that promise cash in exchange for your opinions, Vindale seems to be one of the longest standing and most legitimate.

Read on to learn about how Vindale Research works, and if you should sign up to start earning money with them.

What is Vindale Research?

Vindale Research was founded in 2006 in New York. While it still serves the American market, it has expanded to the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australian markets.

They offer paid surveys, product testing, and incentivized email marketing campaigns, among other offerings. The company was sold to Reimagine Holdings Group in 2018 but maintains its offerings independently.

How does Vindale Research Work?

Vindale Research is hired by brands to generate user feedback. Therefore, they connect their subscribers with advertisers and behave as the middleman.

Advertisers benefit from Vindale Research because they can use the research for a more effective go to market strategy. They get to invest in research through Vindale’s platform to ultimately be more profitable.

Subscribers benefit because they can take surveys that they are interested in and earn a set amount as a result. They get to earn income in their spare time and can choose a variety of ways to do so. So, how do subscribers receive this income? According to the Vindale Research website, there are two simple steps:

Take Paid Surveys – Subscribers earn a dollar for merely signing up. As part of this sign-up process, subscribers fill out the information about their demographics and interests. Then, they will have access to available surveys on the Vindale Research website. They can also sign up to be notified when a survey that meets their interests becomes available. Regardless of how users choose to browse the site, they can complete surveys on any of their devices.

Redeem Your Earnings by PayPal – Many survey websites offer their members points or rewards other than cash for taking surveys. Vindale Research offers real money through PayPal.

An example of how this works is, let’s say that a car company is interested in understanding the needs of prospective buyers in Iowa. They may specifically be interested in people who already own cars and live in the state. They would pay Vindale to advertise surveys on their site. People who fit into the demographic they are looking for would then complete the study and get paid by Vindale.

So, is it that easy to use Vindale Research? Let’s look at some of the pros and cons that we can detect about using this website:

Vindale Research Pros

Users are paid cash in exchange for taking surveys. This money is distributed either by check or PayPal, which seems to be simple and straightforward.

It is free to join, and subscribers earn a dollar just for signing up.

The payout is between $0.25 and $50 per survey. The more complicated the survey, the more it will payout.

The option to be notified about new surveys is user-friendly.

Subscribers can do more than take surveys and can even earn money for referring friends to the website.

Vindale Research Cons

Many reviews report that surveys expire or fill up quickly.

The minimum cash-out option is $50. If people are taking surveys at $0.25 each, it will take a long time to reach the minimum cash-out amount.

The website has limited information available.

There is no mobile app, but users can take surveys on their mobile browsers.

Upon signing up, there are a lot of emails from both Vindale and their partner companies.

How to Earn Money with Vindale Research

There are more ways to earn money with Vindale Research. While surveys are their bread and butter, here are a few other ways that you can earn cash:

Participate in Studies – This is by far the most popular way to make money on the platform. Most surveys take about 5-10 minutes and pay between $0.50 and $2. The money you earn typically shows up in your account immediately but can take several business days. At the end of each survey, you will get a personalized recommendation for another survey to take.

Referral Bonuses – Users can earn extra money by referring their friends as well. The offer is $5 per friend who signs up permitting that they are active and use the original user’s referral link to sign up. Think of it this way – if you’re super excited to be earning extra money and have spare time, your friends would likely feel the same way. If you get ten friends to sign up, you’ve already made your way to your first payout.

Use Reward Codes – Users can earn extra money by joining the Vindale Research social communities to find additional challenges, polls, and alerts. These will generate reward codes that allow users to make extra money from doing surveys.

Watch Videos – Users can also watch short videos to earn money. They are typically advertisements and last a minute or less. However, these have significantly smaller returns at about $0.05 each.

Join Reward Mail – If you don’t mind getting a bunch of additional emails, users can earn extra money by opening and reading paid promotional emails. The website does not state precisely how much each of these emails is worth, but it could be an excellent way to boost your income from Vindale.

Common Questions About Vindale Research

If Vindale seems like a good option for you, but you still have some questions, you’re not alone. Here are the answers to some of the most common questions about Vindale Research.

Is Vindale a Legitimate Company?

In short, yes. The company is well over a decade old and has paid out over $8 million in rewards to its subscribers. Vindale is accredited by the Better Business Bureau and has earned a rating of A on a scale from A+ to F. Vindale has worked with large brands such as GM, Netflix, and other well-known companies. Additionally, Vindale is ranked as one of the top 7000 most visited sites in the United States and Canada, according to Alexa.

However, not every review is a positive one. Many people are upset that they take a lot of time to see if they qualify for some of the surveys. They seem to feel disillusioned when they spend the time that they could be used to take a survey to go through a pre-survey questionnaire.

How Do Subscribers Get Paid?

The first step to earning money is to sign up. Users will receive $1 just for signing up. Then, they can take surveys, watch videos, and refer friends until they reach the $50 threshold. It is important to note that there is a limitation on how long available funds can sit in a user’s account before they expire.

How do I Get My Money from Vindale Research?

When a user has $50 that they have earned, they must request a funds transfer in the Online Payment Center. They also should have a verified PayPal account set up, or plan to receive a check via mail. Then, they must authorize the payment, and Vindale Research will send the money via their choice of PayPal or check.

How Much Can You Make at Vindale research?

Surveys pay between .50 to $50. In our research, we have found that Vindale Research pays competitively compared to some of the top survey sites. If you are looking for a little extra money, Vindale Research is given high marks by professional review sites.

Keep in mind that offers change regularly, so it best to work with a few of the best survey sites.

Are Online Surveys Safe?

You should understand that taking online surveys is not a way to get rich quick. However, most of the online surveys offered by the top sites and oldest survey websites are legitimate and safe. Vindale

Research has put together a comprehensive fraud awareness guide to help you avoid potential survey scam sites.  Fraud Awareness Guide

What Are the Surveys About? Users do not have to take surveys that they do not want to. Surveys range in topics. Some examples include cars, travel, technology, and fashion. Subscribers can also watch videos on topics of their choice. Some surveys are more in-depth than others, and therefore, some require a specific knowledge set. The more in-depth surveys often take a bit longer to complete, but also have higher payouts.

Is There a Limit to the Number of Surveys a Subscriber Can Take?

There is not a limit to how many surveys a user can take. The company gets access to hundreds of new surveys each day, so users continuously have new earning opportunities available.

If you are looking to make a lot of money on Vindale Research, you can be diligent about choosing surveys that have strong payouts and do not take too long to complete. The average user can reach the $50 threshold in as little as a couple of hours if they take the right surveys to get them there.

Should I Use Vindale Research?

While the answer might be different for everyone, Vindale Research seems to be a legitimate company that, when used well, can have a substantial payout. If you have extra time and want to make some money on the side, Vindale could be an excellent option for you. If you sign up and decide that Vindale Research is not for you, you can cancel your subscription at any time.

Other Survey & Money-Making Options

While Vindale seems to be one of the most established survey websites available, it may be worth checking out their competitors before making the jump. Additionally, you may want to diversify how you earn money online. Here are a few popular options that we found.

Survey Junkie

This website is also free to sign up. Survey Junkie is another of the oldest and most reputable survey websites on the market. Users register to take surveys and earn points that they can choose to convert to cash or other gifts. Like Vindale, the amount users earn per survey can fluctuate.

Read our full Survey Junkie review here. 

Join Survey Junkie

Inbox Dollars

This site is also free. Members earn money by taking surveys but can also complete other tasks. The members cash out their earnings in e-gift cards, can donate to their favorite charities, receive a check in the mail, or get a prepaid visa card.

Read our full Inbox Dollars review here. 

Join Inbox Dollars

More Legitimate Paid Survey Websites

looking for more legit market research companies to get paid for taking surveys? Here are some of the best ways to make money doing online surveys.

Note: Since we covered Springboard and Pinecone research in our posts on how to earn free Amazon cards and Google play we are going to introduce you to some new paid survey sites. 

RewardSurvey US

Get $30 in Reward Points to spend IMMEDIATELY!

Opinion Outpost

Opinion Outpost is a free online tool that helps major corporations and businesses conduct market research. By taking paid surveys online with Opinion Outpost, you can make money quickly and safely from home and help your favorite brands adapt and grow just by sharing your opinion.

Opinion Outpost users make money and earn prizes by taking paid surveys about all different topics. 

Think about it: Businesses want your opinions so that they can make products you’ll love, and they’re going to pay you for it.

Surveys2Cash

Sign Up to Start Earning Today! Earn up to $100 on your first survey!

SendEarnings

Get Instant Cash for sampling everyday items, reading emails from advertisers and taking online surveys

Swagbucks

Swagbucks is also free to sign up and fluctuates in earnings per survey. Users can earn money not only from doing surveys but also by using their search engine, shopping online, playing games, and completing other tasks.

They earn Swagbucks and can cash out earnings by PayPal or opt to receive gift cards instead.

Join Swagbucks

Ibotta

Ibotta sets itself apart by being an app first and detaches itself from the survey world. Users get cash back from shopping both online and at brick & mortar businesses. First, users sign up online for free. Then, they upload their receipts to earn points.

This app applies coupons to the items that users purchase after they have made the purchase. Therefore, rather than earning money upfront, they receive money in return for what they already buy.

Download Ibotta

The Bottom Line

Vindale Research is a company that offers companies an opportunity to reach their market and offers its subscribers the chance to make some extra cash. The free sign up process is simple, and users can earn a dollar for merely signing up. They can also earn money for having their friends sign up and become active survey-takers, and the earning threshold is as unlimited as the amount of time that users can put forth.

If you have time to take surveys online in exchange for a bit of cash, Vindale might be an excellent option for you. Just be sure to realize that you need a lot of time to be able to make a lot of money with Vindale. While there are other online earning options and taking surveys won’t make you a millionaire, Vindale seems to be one of the most consistent survey companies on the market.

The post Vindale Research: Give Your Feedback, Make Extra Money (Unlimited Earnings) appeared first on Your Money Geek.

from Your Money Geek https://ift.tt/2uAj69a via IFTTT

[trendtshirtnewposts]

Vintage cavalier King Charles Spaniel My working from home coworker shirt

Vintage cavalier King Charles Spaniel My working from home coworker shirt T shirts Store Online

Vintage cavalier King Charles Spaniel My working from home coworker shirt

Hobbies are a healthier issue to get. This is a great sensation to talk about your hobbies and interests with other people. Expending leisure time undertaking one thing you adore rather than getting rid of time with t . v . or online games is also healthier for your personal imagination. Take advantage of the pursuing hobby details and suggestions to develop or make improvements to a pastime.

If you re considering entering into a new hobby, however are not sure which to use, broaden! Participating in a hobby is great for stress reduction, so it helps you keep life in perspective. Try different types till some thing clicks, then get actually involved in carrying out what exactly it is that creates you cheerful!

Converting your children on to interests at an early age might help them in numerous methods, and reports advise it can also place them about the right and filter. Youngsters who participate in additional-curricular sports activities, artwork actions, and different organizations accessible usually do far better in education also. Present those to many pastimes, and allow them to choose their favorite!

Never enable your pastime to get an infatuation. You should make sure you will find the time for you to do things in addition to your hobby. In the event that your activity is disturbing your obligations, it may be time to minimize.

An enjoyable interest to possess is to start publishing your own video tutorials on youtube. A lot of people article up their very own videos online, either for cash, satisfaction, or both. You don t should be a motion picture skilled in order to do it. You just need a webcam or cell phone.

If you re stumped about which interest you need to get associated with, think about one that gives you lots of physical exercise. You might use up strolling, skating, or jogging to help you successfully pass time, whilst keeping you hectic, whilst getting rid of a bunch of energy at the same time! Obtain a friend concerned so you won t even seem like you re working out.

Birthday cake decorating could be a really fun activity that really helps to build a thing of beauty from your home. Specific activity stores basically offer you inexpensive food beautifying courses to help you get you started. This is a wonderful pastime that mixes your artistic talents by using a delicious treat and it doesn t charge a lot of cash.

Seashell gathering is a good activity that can give you happy recollections of beach front vacations. Seashells might be academic for kids as well as are actually excellent decorative features to the residence.

Through the article over you happen to be now aware about numerous entertaining things you can do at home. Anybody can locate fascinating interests in the home the family members can take advantage of performing. It doesn t really need to be uninteresting in your house anymore whenever you add the suggestions right here to locate that excellent hobby.

Store Ideal TOPS models from a large number of painters round the worldwide planet Vintage cavalier King Charles Spaniel My working from home coworker shirt. Not long in the past, those who required to acquire getaway or birthday celebration gift items was required to get clothed and proceed to the shop to do their purchasing. About to shop and dealing with crowds can actually empty all your power. Thankfully, shopping on the internet is already a possibility. Study for great assistance concerning how to use the internet. If you wish to save money on these products you get on-line and want to make internet shopping more fun, take into account public auction internet sites. You will definitely get some very nice discounts in the event you location your estimates at the proper moment and get some exciting whilst evaluating online auctions. Discover more about bidding techniques just before started off. If you’re getting garments or shoes on-line, be cautious together with the sizing. Some products usually work small or greater than normal. Some store shopping internet sites will advertise if an product runs real to dimension. In case the internet site doesn’t listing something about sizing, glimpse with the reviews. Typically, if the object is working larger or smaller, the reviewers will tell you. Once you take advantage of the convenience of recurrent online shopping, it’s extremely important to maintain changing the passwords you employ for each and every account. Every couple of weeks or so, make up a brand new private data to your lender as well as the store shopping websites directly. Use abstract words and phrases, along with numbers and also other peculiar heroes to the most robust passwords. Keep in mind the risks of shopping on the internet together with your mobile phone. Despite the fact that it’s handy for many motives, it can place your individual information at an raised risk for eavesdropping. General public wi-fi and abbreviated URLs are quicker to get around than conventional processing at home, so save your valuable store shopping correct for your most dependable situations. Purchasing points on-line is significantly more affordable than acquiring them with a bodily store. You should know where by all those offers are available. You may have now been supplied with lots of advice to save funds on the internet. Put this information to use for the best bargains around.

Vintage cavalier King Charles Spaniel My working from home coworker shirt, Hoodie, V-Neck, Sweater, Longsleeve, Tank Top, Bella Flowy and Unisex, T-Shirt

Classic Ladies

Hoodie

Unisex

Buy Vintage cavalier King Charles Spaniel My working from home coworker shirt

High quality Usa inspired T-Shirts by independent artists and designers from around the globe Vintage cavalier King Charles Spaniel My working from home coworker shirt. Simply how much online shopping encounter have you got? If you would like find out more, then you’re not alone. Shopping online continues to transform practically day-to-day, which is certainly growing greatly. Consequently, it’s essential that you keep up with the occasions, so please read on for additional information regarding your online shopping expertise. Before making an investment, compare costs on several web sites. Seek out specific vouchers and provides on websites like these to actually are receiving the best bargain probable. Also consider just what it will surely cost to the delivery on your own items and if there are actually free delivery possibilities open to you. Prior to shopping on the internet, it is important that you look at your laptop or computer to ascertain if its anti-virus software package is up to date. On the web purchasers are inclined to attaining on phony webpages. Often, stores are designed mostly to herb malware on your computer system. Irrespective of how secure you think a web site is, it is advisable to be cautious and also have your anti-virus up to date. If you’re getting garments or shoes on-line, be careful with all the sizing. Some goods normally manage smaller sized or bigger than standard. Some store shopping internet sites will market if an piece operates correct to dimensions. In case the website doesn’t checklist something about sizing, glimpse on the reviews. In most cases, if an item is working larger sized or smaller, the reviewers will let you know. Read through all piece information and facts. Normally a image is small and only provides a smooth, one particular dimensional take a look at this product so remember that looks may be misleading. It might create a particular product or service appearance an unacceptable sizing in comparison with actuality. Read product descriptions cautiously to know what you might be actually buying. Ideally this article has assisted help you to some easier shopping online practical experience. There are many advantages, but you must understand how you can have accessibility to them without making stuff more difficult on oneself. Remember the information you’ve read to be able to appreciate your internet store shopping. A Trending T shirts Store – Vintage cavalier King Charles Spaniel My working from home coworker shirt Product. A Trending at TrendTshirtNew, we’re about more than t-shirts!

Vintage cavalier King Charles Spaniel My working from home coworker shirt trendtshirtnew@gmail.com

source https://trendtshirtnew.com/product/vintage-cavalier-king-charles-spaniel-my-working-from-home-coworker-shirt-2/

[theliberaltony]

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Welcome to FiveThirtyEight’s weekly politics chat. The transcript below has been lightly edited.

sarahf (Sarah Frostenson, politics editor): This is usually the point in the primary season where the field has started to winnow — candidates who’ve had poor performances in Iowa or New Hampshire drop out. But no such luck this year. The debate stage tomorrow is actually getting larger, not smaller, if you can believe it.

But even though the field remains crowded, there’s an increasingly clear front-runner: Sen. Bernie Sanders. Sanders won, and he won pretty handily — he won the final, realigned popular vote by 21.6 points, so Sanders’s odds are pretty good in our model: He’s got a 45 percent shot of winning the majority of pledged delegates.

However, South Carolina, which is where the primary moves next, could be a bit of a curveball for Sanders, as it’s Biden — not Sanders — who is in the lead there. Things are really close, though, so it’s probably best thought of as a tie. But it also means the stakes at tomorrow’s debate are pretty high. Biden is banking on a strong performance and winning South Carolina, while other candidates like former Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Amy Klobuchar need to demonstrate that they’re can build diverse coalitions, something they struggled to do in Nevada.

So what are you looking for going into tonight? Will the candidates finally attack Sanders as the front-runner?

perry (Perry Bacon Jr., senior writer): Buttigieg’s post-Nevada speech was basically a series of attacks on Sanders. Biden’s had some elements of that, too. Former Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg is coming after Sanders. Tom Steyer, too. Yes, I think this debate will have several people going hard after Sanders, looking really toward Super Tuesday.

natesilver (Nate Silver, editor in chief): I think this whole week is gonna be CAN ANYONE STOP BERNIE SANDERS?!?!?!?!?!?!? week and that theme is likely to feature heavily at the debate.

The thing about Sanders is that he’s a pretty steady (if not always spectacular) debater and not the easiest guy to knock off-kilter.

And if it seems like everyone is attacking him, well, that plays into his message in certain ways.

sarahf: Yeah, and to Perry’s point, Buttigieg really didn’t mince words on Saturday when he told supporters that Sanders is waging an “inflexible ideological revolution that leaves out most Democrats.” But I’m struggling to wrap my head around how accurate that claim is. Buttigieg came in third in Nevada — significantly behind Sanders. So is Sanders’s “revolution” really leaving out most Democrats? Seems like a fair share of Democrats have been happy to vote for Sanders so far!

Buttigieg and the other moderates need to come up with something better, no?

geoffrey.skelley (Geoffrey Skelley, elections analyst): It’s possible they need something better, but things might look different if a couple of the more moderate candidates got out of the way. Sanders might still lead the field — recent national polls suggest he would — but if a few folks dropped out, it would make it a lot clearer who the alternative to Sanders is. At the moment, there isn’t really one obvious answer to that question. Yet, there’s plenty of evidence that points to the idea that many Democrats might not want Sanders as the nominee. After all, Sanders only won between 25 to 34 percent of the initial popular vote in Iowa and Nevada (so before realignment), and just 26 percent overall in New Hampshire — not exactly an overwhelming share of support.

natesilver: I don’t know … a lot of Democrats do want a more moderate nominee, at least in the abstract. And many associate moderation with electability.

Calling Bernie out as being uncompromising is maybe not a bad line of attack either, since Democrats tend to like compromise.

perry: Ten days of sustained attacks on Sanders could dip his numbers. It would help if the other candidates maybe moved away from Medicare for All, which seems likely it’s decently popular among Democratic primary voters, and found ways to attack him on different issues, though.

natesilver: I do think there’s something about sustained vs. sporadic attacks that matters here.

Like, few things in politics are truly new. Bernie has been around for a while. But there’s always been some shinier object that was rising in the polls — Harris! Warren! Buttigieg! Bloomberg! — that was always more the center of attention, but now that’s changed with Sanders being truly at the center.

perry: Also, a big part of the next 10 days or so is the other candidates working to keep Sanders in the 25-to-33 percent range. But if Democratic voters start falling in line and accepting Sanders as the inevitable nominee, and he gets closer to 40 percent in some states, that would be bad for the others.

natesilver: Yeah, it sorta feels like part of what candidates may be hoping to do is to prevent him from rising further, rather than actually lowering his numbers.

Because he’s likely to get a bounce from Nevada, so even if he has a mediocre debate/the scrutiny hurts him a bit, it might just cancel that out — not actually make his numbers negative relative to where he stood, pre-Nevada.

geoffrey.skelley: I do wonder if the fact that the stage will be even more crowded plays into that to some extent, Nate. Because Steyer has made this debate, there’ll be seven participants this time around, so if you’re trying to stand out as the No.1 alternative to Sanders, that might be even harder. Especially because I assume Bloomberg will still get a lot of attention, even though his standing may have taken a hit after the last debate.

natesilver: It’s kind of a big moment for Sanders, Bloomberg AND Biden, since Biden clearly needs to win South Carolina.

But I do think we’re at the point now where it’s in the mutual interest of every other candidate for Sanders to struggle. There are no longer tactical considerations that outweigh that.

If Sanders gets say, 26 percent of the vote on Super Tuesday instead of 34 percent, that’s a big deal and makes it much more likely that someone else wins.

perry: What was useful last week, in attacking Bloomberg, was that the candidates said interesting stuff — like Warren demanding on stage that Bloomberg release women who were former employees of his company from non-disclosure agreements. So a smart approach from at least one of the non-Sanders candidates would be to attack him in a way that goes beyond questions of electability and Medicare For All, etc.

sarahf: Is it enough for Biden to win South Carolina at this point if the margin between him and Sanders is really close, though? Or does Biden really need it to be as decisive as, say, Nevada was for Sanders?

natesilver: Our model says that the margin matters at the margins, but it’s mostly winning that counts.

Now, if Biden wins by 20 points, maybe we’re in a situation where “it’s not clear who’s the favorite anymore” vs. if he wins by 2 points, the story is, “at least this is still interesting, but Sanders is still in the best position.”

If he LOSES by 2 points, though, it’s hard to see his campaign recovering, and it puts Sanders in a very, very good position.

perry: It would be ideal for Biden to win South Carolina and be the clear second-place finisher on Super Tuesday, so as to flush out the other candidates and get it down to a two-person race. But if come next Wednesday, Biden has won South Carolina and Alabama (two states that vote in the next 10 days that have large black Democratic electorates) but finished say, third or worse in California and Texas, that is not ideal for him — or the people who want Sanders to be defeated.

geoffrey.skelley: Obviously, an unexpectedly large margin would be good for Biden, and the media might be quite open to a comeback narrative, but it’s hard to know at this point how strong Biden’s lead is there.

One potential bit of good news for the Biden camp is that longtime South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, who is the highest ranking African American in Congress, may endorse Biden on Wednesday. This endorsement could be huge for Biden and would signal either that more black voters are ready to line up behind Biden, or it’d be enough to push some undecided black voters into Biden’s camp.

perry: Yeah, the CBS/YouGov poll released on Sunday suggested a fairly close race in South Carolina: Biden at 28 percent, Sanders 23 percent, and Steyer 18 percent.

But maybe a big push by black, pro-Biden officials like Clyburn and a sustained week of attacks on Sanders makes it less close. There is no big early voting drive in South Carolina like there was in Nevada, so the events of this week will matter.

natesilver: It’s a little hard to figure out where the conventional wisdom is on South Carolina. Do people see it as a toss-up? Or still as Biden’s state to win?

The polls are closer to a toss-up, although they slightly tilt toward Biden. It’s important to note, though, that we don’t have any post-Nevada polling yet.

I would also note that there’s a tendency for the polls in South Carolina to underrate the candidate who has more black support — namely Obama in 2008 and Clinton in 2016. Anecdotally, there seems to be some evidence that black voters are more likely to tell pollsters they’re undecided, and that seems to be true in South Carolina as well. In the Marist poll, for instance, 13 percent of black voters said they were undecided vs. 5 percent of whites.

geoffrey.skelley: Yeah, Nate, I realize this is anecdotal, but when I was down in South Carolina a week ago at a Biden event at a historically black church, a couple of voters told me they weren’t sure about supporting Biden, but they also didn’t really have another person they were considering.

perry: Sanders released his campaign schedule for this week, and at least as of right now, he is in Virginia on Saturday and South Carolina on Friday. On the other hand, Biden is in South Carolina both days. Sanders was also in Texas for the Nevada caucuses.

His team is super-focused on Super Tuesday, which is smart. But it also tells me that while they want to win South Carolina, they are not necessarily expecting a win, nor are they going to kill themselves to get one.

natesilver: According to the FiveThirtyEight primary forecast, that strategy might be short-sighted, i.e., they’d be better off going for the kill in South Carolina because that makes it so hard for Biden to come back.

But maybe they aren’t super confident about their prospects in South Carolina and want to lower expectations. There’s this tendency to look at African American voters as a monolith when the ones in South Carolina are liable to be far more conservative than the ones in, say, Nevada, among whom Bernie did fairly well.

perry: The other weird thing about South Carolina is Steyer. I tend to think he will decline in the polls as the week goes forward, and that he will be closer to polling in the low teens than the high teens. But I also don’t know who his support would go to. But maybe I’m wrong, and he does really well. He has spent a lot of time in the state, particularly in courting black voters.

sarahf: Where does South Carolina leave the other candidate who aren’t Biden or Sanders, though? As we’ve said, it’s important Biden wins there because he’s made so much of his campaign about his ability to win black voters. But what if Buttigieg, Klobuchar and Warren all finish in the single digits again?

Do they power through to Super Tuesday, even though this will now be the second state where they’ve failed to build strong, diverse coalitions?

natesilver: Our model doesn’t think Buttigieg has much of a path, although it’s worth noting that he’s had pretty good results so far (1st/2nd/3rd or 2nd/2nd/3rd if you prefer) so it seems a little much for people to be asking that he should drop out. His problem is that there aren’t any Midwestern states on Super Tuesday except for Minnesota, where Klobuchar is a big problem for him. But he’s closed strongly relative to his polling averages in most states so, I dunno, I guess he’s just hoping to do so again.

Warren has a — somewhat good! — excuse to continue based on her post-debate polling looking stronger.

I don’t get what Klobuchar is doing. Or Steyer, frankly.

geoffrey.skelley: Warren remains not that far behind Biden and Bloomberg in national polls. Whereas, yeah, Klobuchar is at about 5 percent in our national polling average, and Steyer is at 2 percent. Even if Steyer gets a strong third in South Carolina, I don’t see a path opening up for him in Super Tuesday states.

perry: Buttigieg, Klobuchar and Warren should be in South Carolina some this week to prevent being cast as ignoring black voters. But they should try to do as little as possible there. Super Tuesday just has better opportunities for them than a state in the South where the majority of the electorate is black. Not to mention, Steyer has camped there for weeks.

natesilver: Having Super Tuesday SO close to South Carolina is sort of an important wrinkle in the scheduling.

And probably a flaw, I’d say.

sarahf: Wait, why a flaw, Nate?

natesilver: Because it doesn’t really give voters and the candidates time to react to South Carolina? Or, conversely, maybe you get a fleeting reaction that isn’t durable?

perry: I agree with Nate. The first state with a lot of black voters is scheduled when the candidates also have a lot of incentive to focus on Super Tuesday, and it’s just difficult to manage.

sarahf: It seems as if campaigning in the Super Tuesday states has been really hard across the board, and only Sanders and Bloomberg have done an OK job of it, especially in California and Texas, which are delegate-rich.

natesilver: Well, maybe more advertising than campaigning in Bloomberg’s case. There’s been some of the latter but a lot of the former, obviously.

And if Bloomberg continues to slump in the polls, we could be looking at a case where he finishes just UNDER 15 percent in most places, and therefore, receives few delegates of his own, but nonetheless takes away 13 to 14 percent of the vote from other moderates. That would be very, very, very helpful to Sanders.

Conversely, if Bloomberg gets 20 percent, he would at least win some delegates and lower Sanders’s total, which isn’t as good for Bernie.

geoffrey.skelley: With that in mind, I wonder if we see a lot of Bloomberg bashing again in this debate and maybe not quite as much Sanders bashing as you’d expect. Pushing Bloomberg down probably helps someone like Biden a fair bit, and obviously in the last debate he was the chief target of criticism.

sarahf: That’s a good point, Geoff. But some of what happens next seems to hinge on Biden actually pulling off a strong victory in South Carolina. With the field still so crowded it’s hard for me to understand how the “moderates” mount a credible threat to Sanders at this point, when they’re all still in the process of competing with each other. It seems like the kind of chaos that Sanders mainly benefits from. Is that fair?

natesilver: For what it’s worth, I don’t think whether the chaos benefits Sanders is as clear as people assume.

If you have so much chaos that you wind up with a contested convention, that doesn’t necessarily benefit Sanders!

And he isn’t necessarily an underdog if the race comes down to 1-on-1. He might be a favorite, in fact, in several of the matchups. Would you rather bet on Sanders or Mayor Pete head-to-head, for instance? I’d take Bernie.

You could also wind up with a scenario — if last week’s debate had a big impact — where the three most viable candidates going forward are Sanders, Warren and Biden, which is a “chaotic” scenario that is not so great for Sanders.

geoffrey.skelley: Sanders may be aided by a crowded field in that, many candidates won’t crack the 15 percent delegate mark statewide or in most districts. That means, if say, Sanders wins 30 percent statewide and in most districts while another candidate wins 15 percent exactly, with the rest splitting the vote and finishing under 15 percent, then Sanders ends up with about two-thirds of the delegates that state has to offer. In a place like California, that works out pretty well for him!

perry: I think the lane stuff is both relevant and not perfect. Do I think it would help Biden or Buttigieg if either were the only candidate against Sanders? Probably. But I absolutely do not think that Sanders would keep just his current 25 to 30 percent and Biden would get the other 70 percent. The reasons this field is so fractured and Sanders keeps winning are: 1) Sanders is pretty popular among Democrats, and 2) The center-left candidates all have some flaws (Buttigieg’s weak numbers among black and Latino voters, for example).

[riyajul007]

How to become an expert in any field

If you feel that to be an expert in your field, you either have to be born genius, or you should have a lot good memory or if nothing but at least, you have to keep your head in the books for years. But this is not the truth. Actually, all people can become good learners. For this you do not need to be next newton or you don’t need to have a photographic memory. You only need special learning methods. By adopting these methods, you will be able to prepare yourself to become an expert in any subject. Here in this article you will be able to know six essential steps to mastering the Art of Learning. As well as helping you enjoy the learning process, it will show you how to excel in those areas where you usually perform poorly.

For whom is this article?

For teachers, professors and students

Who needs to master his skills.

For all of those who had difficulty in learning.

'Learning' is easy; just you need the right tools and strategies.

For years it has been believed that our ability to learn depends on our inherent intelligence.  But, now the experts started telling that this is not the truth. With the help of some tools and strategies you can improve your learning significantly. The biggest discovery in this is that some learning by implementing some strategies, you can greatly improve your results.

In the 1980s, Anastasia Kitsantas conducted an experiment in a girls' school. They divide the girls into three teams and taught them how to play darts.

"Team Performance"

"Team Learning Method"

"Team Conventional Wisdom"

Team performance members were told that they could win by hitting the Bulls Eye. The members of the Team Learning method were told to use the tactics needed to scold them, such as keeping their hands close to their bodies. And the girls of Team Conventional Wisdom were simply asked to do their best. In the end, not just "Team Learning Method "beat everyone but its members enjoyed playing too.

Also, there is another useful learning tool which called 'self-quizzing' learning tool. This involves repeatedly memorizing what you have learned and taking your own test. This technique is designed to remember new ideas for a long time. In fact, research suggests that self-quizzing IS 50 percent more effective than any other learning strategy.

In a study at the University of Washington in 2006 showed the same. Researcher Jeffrey Karpicke and Henry Roediger gave a sentence to two groups of participants. The first group reads it four times, and the second group reads it only once, but remembers it three times by practicing it. When Karpicke and Roediger took their test a few days later then he founds that the group which had self-quizzing, that sentence in their mind had sat down much better.

The last way to increase learning ability is to block external noise using earplugs. When the author was 11 he used this technique.  They had trouble focusing on math problems, and he found that by using the earplugs properly, it really helps to keep them focused.

We saw how effective some learning strategies are. Not only those, help in learning but they make learning even more fun.

By using these six steps of you can make learning more effective. The first is about step value. If you make your skills or knowledge valuable and meaningful, so you will be motivated to take the first step and keep perseverance. For example you can take the case of Jason Wolfson, he is an engineer running in the 40th stage of his age. His basement is field with Lego toys. An older man playing with toys, shuffling and fixing them looks a little strange maybe, but there is a story behind their creation.  The blue police phone booth is inspired by ‘Dr. Who’, and Gonzo's replica is a tribute to his wife, who is a big fan, of the ‘Muppet’ character.

Wolfson gives so much time and effort to these creations because they really matter to him.  And just because of this he became a master of it!  But, counts and importance does not thrive on trees, which are gone and broken them. It takes time and hard work to find. Like some students are very obsessed with their statistics. And so them to inspire a group from the University of Virginia, Psychology Professor Chris Hulleman Devised created a small strategy. He asked to write an essay to his students, how the data can enhance them and their interests. He introduced some amazing ideas, like how can figures help their chances of becoming nurses, managers or marketers. As a result, they began to take more interest in the subject. Rather some felt a worm of data that they went one class ahead.

Small, specific goals have to be made, but that first you learn your basic elements.

Learning success comes from setting goals. And, step number 2 is about: break the big goals into smaller ones, so that you can focus on one place at a time. Let's say you want to improve your marathon running time. Instead of just trying to run fast, target the smaller and improvable aspects of running. Like you can give this week in hilly areas for better training. Such small targets are not only challenging tasks, but they will make it even easier to track your best. But, to master your skills, it is important to do more than break your big goal into small traits. You must have some background knowledge before getting started. This is because the new subject area is difficult to understand. Unless you have control over its basic element.

For example, suppose you have no knowledge of French language and suddenly someone asks you, "Comment allez-vous? " without the knowledge of some basic French words and grammar, you will not even know they asked you in French, “How are you”? You should apply this concept everywhere in your life. After all, you will not try to fix it without knowing anything about computer right? And once you know your important things, then you will get better at setting your small and achievable goals.

The importance of feedback increases, when it comes to learning.

Have you ever made a presentation in front of your friend before finals day? This is a common thing to do and also it has a good reason too. Audience evaluation would be a great way to improve.   This is why the third step is 'developed'. Develop your skills further by getting feedback. When you're learning, you often don’t know which areas you need to improve. Someone else’s vision will prove to be good for you in the long run, even if you feel like you are slowing down at that time.

The writer really personally benefited from the move. He always loved playing basketball, but he never been very good but he was one of the worst players of his team. He used to play basketball in    his local court for half an hour every day. Despite this, his steps and footwork were disappointing.  This was because his effort was not focused, and they were not receiving any feedback.  Again, one day while crawling, craigslist met their basketball coach “Dwayne Samuels”.  With the help of Samuels, the author worked on some special tricks such as one-dribble, pull-up jump shot. The trainer told him that how to rotate the ball by middle finger and in which posture the feet should be.  Within a few weeks the writers jump-shots began to go into the basket and they also started making three-pointers.

Another way to improve is to reduce the rate of mistakes by monitoring and recording your mistakes. If you monitor your work, then you will know more about your performance and also where are you making mistake.  In short, you will not repeat the mistakes.

Brain surgeons are also take advantage of this technique. Mark Bernstein had his Toronto operating room over a period of ten years and he recorded every mistake that he made. Misconception, delaying sponges or delaying anesthesia; everything moved to their database. Due to this feedback system, his team’s rate of mistakes in operation was decreased from 3 to ½ in a month.

You can improve your learning by immersing yourself in your field and making things visual.

You might think that famous writers, artists or scientists were born to succeed in their respective fields. But, in reality, such people become a genius only by constantly meditating in the furnace of practice. This is step number 4: Expand the knowledge that you already have. In other words, if you want to touch the highs, then you will have to constantly increase your understanding for the subject. The painter Jackson Pollock knew it well. At the age of 23 he joined the workshop of Mexican artist David Alfaro Siqueiros. Siqueiros encouraged Pollock to experiment. Right there Pollock have learned the techniques of drip and pour, later he earned so much fame in the world, but it took him a long time to become proficient in this technique. They learned to work with fractal structures which are geometric patterns that are repeated on even the smallest scale, like you will find it in Romanesco broccoli or spiral galaxies.

First, Pollack's early drip paintings; fractal complexity was equal to no. But over time, their fractals become more complex. Rather, they had become so complicated that Richard Taylor, who was a physicist, first noted them.

To increase the relationship between concepts and skills will make your learning even better by practicing different methods.

It’s been that the best way to master skills is to practice them again and again. But the problem is that just keeping trying is not so effective. This is where the fifth step comes – You have to relate things. In other words, you need to make connections between your concepts.

In 1908 psychologist Charles Judd conducted an experiment to prove it. They had two groups of children, those had to aim with a dart on the target placed 4 inches below the water.The first group only practices throwing darts under water. But the second group had already told about the refraction. They now understood that the goalwhere it appears, it is not his actual position. They knewhow light moves in water. After this, Juddplaced the target underwater at a depth of 12 inches, wherethe refraction was more obvious. This makes the situation even moredifficult because the target looked even farther from its actual position. Of course, the group that had a grip on the physics could relate their learned knowledge in this situation. As expected, they defeated the first group.

Practicing in various ways also prove very effective in it. In a study of 1993 was compared about two women groups who trained students about free throwing. One group only practiced free throw, and the other group practiced different things. They practiced free throws as well as shooting from 8 and 15 feet distance from the basket. In the end, the group who practiced different types of shots, they performed better in the free throw line.

We can review our knowledge and eliminate our overconfidence.

Have you ever wandered you are running here and there for hours, just because you are confident about your destination that you will somehow reach there and do not think it necessary to ask anyone the way?  The sixth and final step will give you your knowledge to encourage you to review your knowledge and protect yourself from such mistakes. Overconfidence regularly promotes mistakes.  People usually assess their more on their previous performance and their knowledge. They think they really know how to win, comes more than that can, and so they hope to do well in future.

The military has also given it a name. They call it victory disease. A general can judge his ability because he has won many times before. There could be no better example than General George Armstrong Custer, who was constantly defeating enemies during the time of American Civil War. But it proved all wrong in 1876 the Battle of the Little Bighorn. He lead his 200 men against more than 1000 Native Americans. It’s believed that only one of all Custer's men was left. Hence reviewing your knowledge and understanding will help you deal with over-confidents.

For example, psychologist Art Markman was convinced that he know how to do the toilet works.  After all, he also used a lot during all day, and when he was a child, he opened the tank a few times to check the stopper and the handle were also tampered with. But one day he realized that he don’t know anything about a toilet, and if they were asked to open it and add it back, they might not be able to do it. Only after acknowledging his lack of knowledge he could ask himself the necessary questions like, "How does water flow to the toilet”? Where does it go after flushing? "And so he was ready for better learning.

By following these six steps you will become a better learner. Now, whatever you want to learn, whether it is to correct the toilets, improve your game or learn a new language, by adopting these simple exercises, you will become expert in your field of knowledge.

Conclusion

With effort and focus, almost anyone can become an expert or master of any field. But to do this, you will need to take time and use tried strategies. You just remember these six steps: Value, Target, Development, Extend, Relate and Rethink. With these methods you will be on the path of better learning.

What to do?

The next time when you are studying for your important exam, divide your learning into several sessions. All of us must have felt the anger of reading when we do not remember things throughout the day. To avoid these things, you have to be divide your studies into small pieces to improve your learning, which will be read in short time interval. Your brain needs a break to remember things too. so don't forget to take your break!