Archives for May 2023

Changing Bad Habits — for Good!

May 28, 2023 by Vicki Griffin - [rt_reading_time label="Reading Time:" postfix="minutes" postfix_singular="minute"]

Habits — we all have them. American author Elbert Hubbard said: “Habit is the great economizer of energy.” He was exactly right. Habits are our friends — when they’re good ones. Habits are routines that help us repeat safe and effective behaviors and build consistency and security into our lives.

But bad habits can become addictions. In the past, the term addiction was used only to refer to problems with substances such as drugs, alcohol, or nicotine. But addictions can include many behaviors and activities including gambling, shopping, overwork, sex, internet abuse, and food.”((Substance Use Misuse 1997:32(11)1573.))

Brain on a Binge. A hallmark of addiction is continued self-destructive behavior despite adverse consequences. When an addiction develops, what is happening in the brain? For one thing, the pleasure circuits in the brain become “hijacked” by the addictive substance or behavior, producing intense cravings.

The Tangled Roots of Addiction. Addictions have many possible roots, including emotional, spiritual, physical, environmental, and genetic. Addictions are strong — but the weapons available to win the war against addiction are even stronger. In any war, it is important to have a plan in order to achieve a decided victory.

If you think you have an addiction, work closely with a health care professional, and especially if the addiction includes drugs or alcohol.

The Learning Brain. Can bad habits be broken? God has designed the human brain — even in adulthood — with a powerful capacity to reshape itself according to what it learns and even grow new connections, or neurons. Psychiatrist John Ratey explains: “Experiences, thoughts, actions, and emotions actually change the structure of our brains. By viewing the brain as a muscle that can be weakened or strengthened, we can exercise our ability to determine who we become. Indeed, once we understand how the brain develops, we can train our brains for health, vibrancy, and longevity.”((Ratey J. User’s Guide to the Brain (New York, NY: Vintage Books, 2002) p. 17))

Good habits can become just as strong as bad ones! Creating good habits works the same way as creating bad habits. Doing the same thing over and over sets a pattern in the brain that creates a habit.

Freedom Keys. Potent, powerful, and protective weapons are available to help you make and maintain permanent change over time. They include:

Creating an Environment — Internally and Externally. Pay attention to your internal environment — your thoughts. Cultivate thankfulness in place of negativity. What you make up your mind to be, you will be. “As man thinks in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 23:7. John Ratey states it this way: “We can actually change our brains. By altering the external environment or the internal environment of our bodies, we can take better advantage of our strengths and amend our weaknesses…One necessary precursor to change, though, is often a change in attitude.”((Ratey J. User’s Guide to the Brain (New York, NY: Vintage Books, 2002) p. 356))

Pay attention to your external environment — the things that surround you. Make sure your surroundings are helping you, not hurting you. Create an environment where it is easier to make the positive choice. Remove temptation. Practice new behaviors. For example, place a bowl of fresh fruit on the counter to replace the candy dish or ashtray. Keep your walking shoes by the door. Have your gym bag in the car for ready access.

Creating a Lifestyle. Positive lifestyle choices protect the brain and body, making it easier to cope with stress and enjoy new things to do in life. Daily exercise improves learning, increases energy, and lowers anxiety. Eating plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, beans, and nuts — builds mental strength and eases stress. Regular rest and plenty of water refresh the body and mind and prepare it for new challenges.

Creating Connections. Get connected with friends who will encourage you in your new choices. Personal growth takes place as we interact with others. Connecting with church and community resources makes our world bigger than our circumstances.

It creates opportunities for giving, receiving, and learning communication skills, and building meaningful experiences. Connections can provide support and accountability that increase long-term success.

Establish or strengthen your connection with God. This will give you power to make positive choices and stick with them over time. God will help you discover your true value and purpose in life.

Practice on Purpose! We have all heard the expression “practice makes perfect.” Purposeful repetition builds good habits. The more times a positive thought or action is repeated, the more it is cemented in the brain. Successful people are not mistake-free — they just refuse to give up. Adopting healthful habits of living and thinking requires determination. But knowing that the brain can recover from addictions and move forward provides hope.

Call to Action

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path.” Proverbs 3:5-6. You can trust your Redeemer who died to create a new heart in you; new desires, new motives, new strength.

“Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness” (Isaiah 41:10 WEB). God sees your potential. You are here for a reason. Jesus is reaching out to you. Will you take His hand right now and say, “Yes, Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. Strengthen me and guide me in your way.”

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This article was originally published on the Time to Get Ready website.

This information is adapted from the book Living Free: Finding Freedom from Habits that Hurt. Visit us at LifestyleMatters.com or call 1-866-624-5433 for your resources to build a better brain, body, and lifestyle.

A Secret for Boosting Your Self Esteem

May 21, 2023 by Dr. Cesar Vasconcellos de Souza - [rt_reading_time label="Reading Time:" postfix="minutes" postfix_singular="minute"]

Do you like yourself? Is it possible to like ourselves, even if we have character defects, as we all do? Is there any difference between how society conceptualizes self-esteem and how God our creator defines it?

I came across a good article by the journalist Emanuelle Sales, entitled: The Different Way God Treats Self-Esteem.

In addition to being a journalist, she is the creator of a blog and author of books such as: “Mirror, Mirror, Now the Mirror is God”, as well as the book “Image and Likeness” and “Daughter of the King”. I now bring you insights from her text and my own thoughts on the subject of self-esteem. Between 2005 and 2007 I studied and worked in a Lifestyle Center in Wildwood, GA, when I changed my concept of self-esteem, living with a couple of scientists, Dr. Bernell Baldwin, Ph.D. in Neurophysiology from George Washington University, and his wife, author Marjorie Baldwin, a physician specializing in the digestive tract and nutrition. Both had been professors at Loma Linda University School of Medicine in California.

I often had lunch with them in the cafeteria of that institution, where I learned, among other things, a new concept about self-esteem. As Christian scientists, they based their ideas about self-esteem on biblical teachings. And one of them commented to me about how he can have self-esteem if we look at our spiritual contamination.

I kept thinking about this as I began to understand that I would need to change my concept of self-esteem. But what is self-esteem anyways? One of the definitions may be: Self-esteem means a value we give to ourselves and has to do with our ability to love ourselves. Self-esteem relates to self-respect, self-acceptance, and self-knowledge.

A person can have good or bad self-esteem. You can have high, low or normal self-esteem. When you keep putting yourself down, disrespecting yourself, and rejecting yourself, then your self-esteem is low. On the other hand, exalting oneself is not synonymous with good self-esteem. It can be the result of insecurity, pride, or arrogance.

Part of developing good self-esteem is self-understanding. When we improve our self-awareness, we can become more humble, because we see that we have strengths and weaknesses and that we are not better than anyone else. Emanuelle cites in her article a survey conducted by photographers Viola Gaskell and Alisson Luntz, who asked the following question: What makes you feel beautiful? They asked the question to people passing through the streets of Seattle and New York. The survey was part of a project called: What Makes Me Feel Beautiful? created for Ebay’s fashion and style blog.

The two photographers heard testimonials such as people saying: The only thing that makes me feel beautiful is my body and my heels. A girl always feels beautiful with her curves and high heels. Another person said: my smile, my skin. Those are some of my favorite things about myself.

One person commented on what makes her feel beautiful, saying: Getting all dressed up like I am now! I’m just going out for a walk with some friends, so I put on this dress and this jewelry, which I love. It definitely makes me feel beautiful.

An interesting comment came from someone else who said, in a more spiritual way: I think your beauty is your posture, you know? A person can be very beautiful, but when he opens his mouth he can kill all his beauty.

One person commented: My self-esteem is much better when I’m painted and made up, I feel prettier with well-designed makeup and beautiful high heels.

A woman with a face mask, hair treatment and sunglasses, trying to lift her self esteem

It’s funny how people generally link self-esteem solely to what they can see in the mirror. And when you grow old? And the skin is not silky anymore, what now? And the age wrinkles appear? Will plastic surgery fix everything? If you build your self-esteem based solely on your image, this parallels what Jesus said about the danger and imprudence of building a castle on sand.

The journalist Emmanuelle went on to write that a woman is likely to feel more powerful and confident, standing in beautiful high heels, using careful make-up, wearing expensive designer clothes, and exhaling the smell of an imported perfume. And a man is likely to feel confident, wearing a suit custom-made by an elite tailor, wearing a gold watch, putting on designer shoes, and having spent some good money to trim his beard.

But what do you feel for yourself? When you get back home, you take off your makeup, throw your expensive dress on the bed, take off your imported suit, take a shower, and stay in your natural body, without paint, without makeup, without jewelry, without perfume. Do you like what you see or not?

The Bible advises us not to build our self-esteem on external things, because they pass and will not sustain us forever. She recommends that we build the notion of value as people, in things that moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in to steal. The physician Dr. Luke narrated these words of Jesus in his Gospel like this:

Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.
Luke 12:23

Our self-respect, our self-esteem must be based on what God sees in us if we are to submit to his help through his power called grace.

A radiant woman demonstrating a healthy self esteem

Whenever Jesus was meeting a person, no matter how bad his behavior was, he looked and dealt with that person, thinking about what he could become if he surrendered to him and followed him by practicing the master’s instructions. Emmanuelle commented in her article that self-help books and self-love gurus, raise banners that collaborate to inflate the ego in search of the applause of crowds and a feeling of power. But our creator looks at us and says:

“All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.”
Isaiah 40:6-8

In other words, we are small, mortal, limited, and we die. This comment in Isaiah is not a depreciation of life and the human person, but a statement of our limitation, smallness, and finitude. God so loved and loves people, his creatures, that God himself, Jesus Christ comes into the world to lift us up, heal us, save us, and restore our self-esteem. Your value as a person and your self-esteem needs to be based on the value that the creator gives you, and not on your outward appearance, because that will change. Think it through deeply.

We can respect ourselves, even being imperfect as we are. Along with the bad characteristics of our personality, God sees that there are potential virtues that he can develop if we want to, if we let him act in our life, and if we surrender to him and follow the beauty and simplicity of the Master Jesus Christ, as described in the Gospels.

Proper self-esteem depends on what God establishes in our character. Think about it. Leave aside this idea of constructing only your exterior. Of course, you are not going to be a relaxed person, wear poorly ironed clothes, or not have proper personal hygiene. It’s okay for you to take care of your body aesthetics, that’s healthy. It just can’t become an obsessive thing. It’s not good for your mental health if you put that external view, what you see in the mirror, as the only source of satisfaction, the only source of self-worth. Think about it, God will give you a wonderful self-esteem.

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Caffeine Makes You Borrow Energy, But You Pay The Bill

May 14, 2023 by Emma Beckett - [rt_reading_time label="Reading Time:" postfix="minutes" postfix_singular="minute"]

Many of us want (or should I say need?) our morning coffee to give us our “get up and go”. Altogether, the people of the world drink more than two billion cups of coffee each day.((Surma, S., Oparil, S. Coffee and Arterial Hypertension. Curr Hypertens Rep 23, 38 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11906-021-01156-3)) You might think coffee gives you the energy to get through the morning or the day – but coffee might not be giving you as much as you think.

Caffeine Makes You Borrow Energy, But You Pay The Bill

The main stimulant in coffee is the caffeine. And the main way caffeine works is by changing the way the cells in our brain interact with a compound called adenosine.((Timothy Roehrs, Thomas Roth, Caffeine: Sleep and daytime sleepiness, Sleep Medicine Reviews, Volume 12, Issue 2, 2008, Pages 153-162, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2007.07.004.))

Getting busy, getting tired

Adenosine is part of the system that regulates our sleep and wake cycle and part of why high levels of activity lead to tiredness.((Tarja Porkka-Heiskanen, Lauri Alanko, Anna Kalinchuk, Dag Stenberg, Adenosine and sleep, Sleep Medicine Reviews, Volume 6, Issue 4, 2002, Pages 321-332, ISSN 1087-0792, https://doi.org/10.1053/smrv.2001.0201.)) As we go about our days and do things, levels of adenosine rise because it is released as a by-product as energy is used in our cells.((Huang Z et.al. The Role of Adenosine in the Regulation of Sleep. https://doi.org/10.2174/156802611795347654))

Eventually adenosine binds to its receptor (parts of cells that receive signals) which tells the cells to slow down, making us feel drowsy and sleepy. This is why you feel tired after a big day of activity. While we are sleeping, energy use drops lowering adenosine levels as it gets shuffled back into other forms.((Bjorness T et.al. Adenosine and Sleep. https://doi.org/10.2174/157015909789152182)) You wake up in the morning feeling refreshed. Well, if you get enough sleep that is.

If you are still feeling drowsy when you wake up caffeine can help, for a while. It works by binding to the adenosine receptor, which it can do because it is a similar shape.((Fredholm B. Adenosine, Adenosine Receptors and the Actions of Caffeine. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0773.1995.tb00111.x)) But it is not so similar that it triggers the drowsy slow-down signal like adenosine does. Instead it just fills the spots and stops the adenosine from binding there. This is what staves off the drowsy feeling.

No free ride

But there is a catch. While it feels energising, this little caffeine intervention is more a loan of the awake feeling, rather than a creation of any new energy.

This is because the caffeine won’t bind forever, and the adenosine that it blocks doesn’t go away. So eventually the caffeine breaks down, lets go of the receptors and all that adenosine that has been waiting and building up latches on and the drowsy feeling comes back – sometimes all at once.

So, the debt you owe the caffeine always eventually needs to be repaid, and the only real way to repay it is to sleep.

Timing is everything

How much free adenosine is in your system, that hasn’t attached to receptors yet, and how drowsy you are as a consequence will impact how much the caffeine you drink wakes you up. So, the coffee you drink later in the day, when you have more drowsy signals your system may feel more powerful.((Smith A. P. The effects of caffeine, impulsivity and time of day on performance, mood and cardiovascular function. https://doi.org/10.1177/026988119100500205))

If it’s too late in the day, caffeine can make it hard to fall asleep at bedtime. The “half life” of caffeine (how long it takes to break down half of it) is about five hours.((Caffeine for the Sustainment of Mental Task Performance. Formulations for Military Operations. Chapter 2. National Academies, 2001)) That said, we all metabolise caffeine differently, so for some of us the effects wear off more quickly.((Nehlig A. Interindividual Differences in Caffeine Metabolism and Factors Driving Caffeine Consumption. Pharmacol Rev. 2018 Apr;70(2):384-411. doi: 10.1124/pr.117.014407)) Regular coffee drinkers might feel less of a caffeine “punch”, with tolerance to the stimulant building up over time.((Ammon HP. Biochemical mechanism of caffeine tolerance. Arch Pharm (Weinheim). 1991 May;324(5):261-7. doi: 10.1002/ardp.19913240502.))

Caffeine can also raise levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that can make you feel more alert.((Lovallo WR, Whitsett TL, al’Absi M, Sung BH, Vincent AS, Wilson MF. Caffeine stimulation of cortisol secretion across the waking hours in relation to caffeine intake levels. Psychosom Med. 2005 Sep-Oct;67(5):734-9. doi: 10.1097/01.psy.0000181270.20036.06.)) This might mean caffeine feels more effective later in the morning, because you already have a natural rise in cortisol when you wake up. The impact of a coffee right out of bed might not seem as powerful for this reason.

If your caffeinated beverage of choice is also a sugary one, this can exacerbate the peak and crash feeling. Because while sugar does create actual energy in the body, the free sugars in your drink can cause a spike in blood sugar, which can then make you feel tired when the dip comes afterwards.

A clock symbolized by a coffee cup and sugarcubes.

While there is no proven harm of drinking coffee on an empty stomach, coffee with or after a meal might hit you more slowly. This is because the food might slow down the rate at which the caffeine is absorbed.((Caffeine. The Nutrition Source. Harvard School of Public Health))

What about a strong tea or fizzy cola?

Coffee, of course, isn’t the only caffeinated beverage that can loan you some energy.

The caffeine in tea, energy drinks and other beverages still impacts the body in the same way. But, since the ingredients mostly come from plants, each caffeinated beverage has its own profile of additional compounds which can have their own stimulant effect, or can interact with caffeine to change its impacts.((Barbara Penolazzi, Vincenzo Natale, Luigi Leone, Paolo Maria Russo, Individual differences affecting caffeine intake. Analysis of consumption behaviours for different times of day and caffeine sources, Appetite, Volume 58, Issue 3, 2012, Pages 971-977, ISSN 0195-6663, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2012.02.001.))

Caffeine isn’t magic. To create energy and re-energise our bodies we need enough food, water and sleep.

For more information on the negative impacts of caffeine, continue with this article:
What Caffeine is doing to You and Your Child?

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This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

7 Ways to Reduce Stress in Your Relationships

May 7, 2023 by Martin Neumann - [rt_reading_time label="Reading Time:" postfix="minutes" postfix_singular="minute"]

Relationships can be a wonderful thing. They’re a chance to connect with someone on a deeper, more emotional level, and even discover new things about yourself. However, when you’re sharing your life with someone else, things can sometimes be stressful too.

7 Ways to Reduce Stress in Your Relationships

The unfortunate truth is that everyone will feel stress connected to their relationship at one time or another. You might be worried about approaching a complex topic with your partner, or you could be facing a challenge together, like an unpaid bill.

The key to success is ensuring that you don’t allow stress to take over your relationship. Instead, figure out how to work things out together, and you could make your relationship stronger than ever.

Here are some of the best ways to reduce stress in your relationship.

1. Listen

Lack of effective communication is one of the most common issues that many people encounter in their relationships. Either they don’t know how to approach their other half when they want to talk, or they don’t know how to listen when their partner comes to them.

The most important way to minimize stress and strengthen your relationship at the same time is to listen to each other. Recognize the symptoms of stress in your partner, such as moodiness, restlessness, or agitation, and ask them if they want to talk about it.

If your partner wants to talk to you about their stress, the important thing to remember is that you don’t necessarily need to fix their problem.

Most of the time, when your partner is stressed, they know you can’t handle everything for them. Instead, they just want an opportunity to vent and get some basic reassurance. Sit, listen, and only offer advice if asked for it.

2. Always Be Yourself

Relationships only work when people are honest with each other.

When you’re attracted to someone, and a relationship is just starting out, it’s tempting to try and build an image of yourself that matches what you think the other person wants. However, the reality is that it’s impossible to keep up with this charade long-term.

You’ll end up causing yourself a lot of additional stress if you attempt to be someone who you’re not.

At the same time, your other half is going to get the sense that something isn’t right. This causes stress for them because their mind will try to help them figure out what’s going on.

Ultimately, being honest will save you both a lot of stress and tension. If your partner doesn’t love the real you, it likely wouldn’t have worked out anyway.

3. Practice Self Care

Sometimes, the best way to care for a relationship is to look after yourself.

Stress is contagious. If your other half notices that you’re constantly stressed, they’re going to start picking up on that feeling too. Sometimes, this can lead to your partner becoming self-conscious, or feeling nervous that they’re doing something wrong. Even if you explain, self-doubt can linger.

Try to take care of yourself to avoid a buildup of stress in your life. Be sure to get enough sleep, do some daily exercise, and work on a healthy diet. Try to get your partner on board with that plan whenever you can.

4. Be Open in Your Communication

Communication and honesty are the pillars of a great relationship.

Most of the time, stress and arguments come from us trying to guess the thoughts of the other. For instance, if you notice that your partner is a little withdrawn one night, you might find yourself wondering whether it’s because you didn’t make their favorite meal.

Even if your partner tells you that’s not the case, if they don’t give an explanation of their state, the thought will grow larger in your head, causing feelings of resentment, anger, and upset. You start getting defensive, and that’s where arguments begin.

If you’re honest about why you’re acting a certain way, and explain your feelings to your partner frequently, there’s less room for assumptions to cause problems.

5. Use More I Instead of You in Communicating

Often we tend to enter the blame game by pointing fingers and accusing our partner. We can take off a lot of the pressure if we learn to speak more about how I am feeling about the situation instead of the mistakes that you are making. This is an important step to get out of that blame game, and it will help us a lot to get more cooperation from our partner.

For example, instead of blaming your partner: “You are coming home late again, and you do not even bother to give me a call!”, maybe you can reword that and say: “I am frustrated if I prepare supper for you and the food is getting cold. Can you call me next time when you come home late?” Instead of focusing on the mistake of the other, you are focusing on your own feeling about the situation, and you offer a solution, how your partner can help you in the future. Do you see how that can change instantly the climate of your communication?

6. Express Gratitude

Take some time to express gratitude and tell your partner what you appreciate about them. If you keep a positive mindset, it will remove a lot of tension and stress.

It is so easy to get wrapped up in negative thoughts and feelings, and more than often it is not more than our perspective of life around us. If you just take some time and express what you like about the other, and acknowledge their little acts of kindness, it can quickly change the atmosphere you are experiencing at home.

7. Stop Being Harsh to Each Other

Finally, if there’s one thing you can do to reduce stress and arguments in your relationships, it’s to give each other a break.

When we fall in love, it’s easy to place another person on a pedestal. We see them as perfect and believe they can do no wrong. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Eventually, you’ll begin to notice your partner making mistakes.

The important thing at this time is to let your partner know that, while you might be disappointed by the mistakes they made, you can get through it together.

Giving each other a break and forgiving your loved one for the things they do wrong is essential to reducing stress. Remember, you’re both only human.

Keep these ideas in mind. They can help you to reduce relationship stress on a daily basis and make your lives more fun and fulfilling.

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