| How to Eat Slowly Posted: 01 Nov 2016 05:00 PM PDT Eating slowly is not only a good trick for weight loss, but it's also a way to savor and appreciate your food. Eating slowly is however a habit that needs to be acquired and practiced. To start, make sure you eat in the right environment. Sometimes, a simple change of setting can encourage you to eat more mindfully. From there, work on chewing your food slowly and enjoying each bite. Altering your overall eating habits can also help. Try to be more aware of when you eat and also practice good portion control. EditEstablishing the Right Environment - Sit down for each meal. If you're eating on the run, or in front of the TV, you're more likely to scarf your food. You will not pay as close attention to your food in an area filled with distractions. Make a point of sitting down at your kitchen table for every meal.[1]
- Even if it's just you eating, make a point of setting the table. This can make the experience of eating feel more personal and intimate, which may encourage you to eat slowly.
- You can also do something to make meal time feel special. For example, light a candle or set down flowers. You can also cook your own food. If you made a meal yourself, you may be more likely to savor each bite.
- Try to eat with others. If you're engaged in conversation while eating, this may slow you down some. Whenever possible, try to eat with other people.[2]
- If you live with your family, try to make family meal nights a regular occurrence. Not only will this slow down your eating, it can also increase the feeling of family togetherness.
- If you live with roommates, consider having a dinner with your roommates a few nights a week. Everyone can agree to prepare a dish.
- If you live alone, try inviting friends over for dinner or eating out at a healthy restaurant a few nights a week.
- Do not do anything else while you eat. If you're watching television, reading, or doing something like a crossword puzzle, you're unlikely to pay attention to your food. This can encourage you to scarf your food down instead of taking the time to enjoy it.[3]
- Eliminate distractions before meal time. Leave your phone in the other room, turn off your laptop, and turn off your television set.
- Do not bring reading materials to the table. Try to make meal time into a ritual where you make a point of appreciating your meal.
- Try to look at your food just before eating. Strive to appreciate the meal in and of itself.
- Get a drink for yourself. Never neglect a beverage when eating. Drinking can help slow the pace of your eating as you'll have to stop to take sips of a drink. Liquid can can also help fill you up, which can prevent overeating. Before sitting down for a meal, make sure to pour yourself a drink.[4]
- It's a good idea to go for low calorie or calorie-free beverages, especially if slow eating is part of a weight loss regimen. Water, diet soda, and seltzer water are good options.
EditMaking an Effort to Eat Slowly - Chew more. Chewing your food more will help bring your focus back to your meal. It will also help you delay the time between taking a bite and swallowing. Try to chew between 10 to 15 seconds before swallowing.[5]
- It can also help to opt for meals made from foods that are difficult to swallow. For example, try to eat a diet rich in vegetables, fresh fruits, and lean proteins. Softer foods, like casseroles and mashed potatoes, may be harder to chew for prolonged periods.
- Concentrate on the flavor and texture when you chew. Try to be aware of the fact you are eating, and stop to think about how much you're enjoying your food.
- Sip water between each bite. This is why pouring yourself a drink before a meal can help. Water is especially helpful, as it contains no calories. Between each bite, make sure to take a sip of water. This will slow down the pace of your eating and help fill you up faster.[6]
- It can help to flavor your water to make it more enticing. You can buy flavored water at the supermarket. You can also add pieces of fruit or vegetables to tap water to give it extra flavor.
- Set down your utensils between bites. This is a small change, but it can really slow down the pace of your eating. If you hold onto your utensils for the entire meal, you will go into shoveling mode. Setting down your utensils between each bite will force you to stop and savor the meal a little more.[7]
- You can also try eating with smaller utensils. This can encourage you to take smaller bites.
- Try switching up the utensils you use. You can, for example, eat with chopsticks for a change to slow down the pace of your eating.
- Time yourself. If you're really struggling with the pace of your eating, try actually setting a timer. This will challenge you to increase the amount of time you spend eating your food.[8]
- Ideally, it should take you around 20 minutes to finish a meal. Try setting the kitchen clock for 20 minutes. Keep an eye on the clock as you eat, and strive to take 20 minutes to finish your plate.[9]
- You can try to eat your food in servings. For example, eat your salad first, then your side dishes, then your main course.
EditChanging Your Overall Eating Habits - Eat every 2 to 3 hours. Waiting long periods between eating can leave you feeling starved. If you're extra hungry, you're more likely to wolf down food. Instead of eating 3 large meals a day, make a point of eating a small meal every 2 to 3 hours.[10]
- Make sure to be aware of calories. If you're eating every 2 to 3 hours, you need to keep the caloric content of your meals lighter than you would when eating 3 meals a day.
- In addition to helping you eat more slowly, this can rev up your metabolism.
- Do not let yourself get too hungry. If you end up starving by the end of the day, you're likely to binge eat. If your stomach is growling and you're feeling extreme hunger pangs, you've let yourself go too long between meals. When you feel a small amount of hunger building, start planning on what to eat. Strive to have a snack within the next half hour or so.[11]
- Eat smaller portions. Small portions can force you to savor your food and eat more slowly. Work on being aware of serving sizes. Strive to eat nutrient dense meals in smaller portions.[12][13]
- Make sure to read nutrition labels. This will give you the idea of an actual serving size. A bag of chips may say it's only 150 calories, but the serving size may be half the bag.
- Use small visual cues to determine portion size. A serving of carbohydrates is about the size of a hockey puck. A serving of protein should be no bigger than a deck of cards.[14]
- Snack on shelled foods. If you feel hungry between meals, have a snack. Stick to something like peanuts or pistachios. If you have to open the shell of a food to eat it, you will have to slow the pace of your eating.[15]
- Be careful, however, when eating nuts. They tend to be high in calories.
- You can also try eating foods that you eat one at a time. For example, snack on blueberries but don't eat them in handfuls. Focus on one blueberry at a time.
- Practice eating like a gourmet. Get a variety of foods that you love (for example, chocolate, cheese, garlic bread, strawberries, etc.). Cut them into bite-sized pieces and put a sample of each on a plate. As you eat, close your eyes and really taste each bite. Notice the scent, texture and taste of each of the foods. This can encourage you to eat slowly and appreciate your foods more.
- Make sure you talk to a doctor before starting any new weight loss program.
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| How to Check if Your Dog Is Healthy and Happy Posted: 01 Nov 2016 09:00 AM PDT Do you ever wonder if your dog is truly doing all right? As a dog owner, you have a responsibility to care for your furry friend's physical and mental well being. It is a great idea to stop every now and again and ask yourself if the dog is happy and healthy. In order to assess this, you will need to look for physical wellness, as well as looking for any psychological problems, including boredom and frustration. With regular check-ups you can keep up to date with whether your canine pal is truly content and in tip-top shape. EditAssessing Your Dog's Mental Well Being - Get to know what's normal for your dog.[1] Keep the big picture in mind and get to know what's normal for you dog. Make yourself familiar with how far the dog likes to walk, how it reacts when you come in from work, how sweet-tempered or grumpy it is, how much water it drinks, what its stool looks like, how often it moves its bowel a day, what the inside of its ears look like, and what its breath smells like.
- For example some dogs are greedy eaters whilst others are finicky. If your dog is usually a greedy eater, it's significant if the dog refuses its food. However, if you own a lapdog that turns its nose up at anything but best steak, then refusing a bowl of food it less of a worry.
- If you know all of these things like the back of your hand, you are ideally placed to spot changes that could indicate the dog is unwell.
- Assess your dog's emotions through its behavior and body language.[2] Dogs experience emotions, such as grief, depression, boredom and frustration. The trick as an owner is to recognize these emotions. Most commonly, the first sign to be aware of is a change in behavior or body language.
- For example, be suspicious when the outgoing dog who is always at the door to greet you becomes withdrawn and does not get out of its bed when you return home.
- Pay attention to your dog's usual body language. Is it holding its ears or tail lower than normal or is it shying away or taking a dominant stance when approached? These are body language signs that there could be something wrong.[3]
- A hint that your dog is bored or frustrated includes destructive behavior, digging, whining, barking, and crying. In this case the dog is adopting a displacement activity, such as chewing the furniture, as an outlet for his frustration.
- Look at the dog's facial expression. Many dogs are capable of expressing emotions, such as depression, on their faces. If your dog doesn't usually have doleful looking eyes or sad expressions, but suddenly does, then it is probably an expression of the dog's current emotions.[4]
- Be aware of any physical changes to your dog. Physical changes could be symptomatic of mental stress or depression. For instance, pay attention if your dog stops grooming itself. Depressed or sick animals often stop taking care of themselves and their coat condition drops, becoming harsh, stray, and unkempt.
- Address possible causes of your dog's unhappiness. If your dog is sad or misbehaving, you should try to find the cause of the distress and then attempt to change the situation, if you can. Not all problems can be fixed, obviously, but some can!
- If your dog is stressed out about a new routine or home, for instance, that cannot always be changed but you can comfort your dog and try to make transitions as easy as possible.
EditAssessing Your Dog's Physical Health - Groom and inspect your dog's body regularly. One of your duties as an owner is to groom your dog regularly. As well as keeping its coat in good condition and tangle free, grooming your dog is an ideal time to run a mini-physical exam at home. This will help you become more familiar with your healthy dog's body. If something changes in the state of your dog's body, then the chances are that you picked up on a problem early on.
- When performing a physical it is best to follow a set inspection pattern so that you don't accidentally skip anything. Most vets have the routine where they start at the head and work backwards.
- Stand back and assess your dog overall. Watch how the dog is standing or sitting. Does it look comfortable and relaxed, or does it have difficulty getting up or down? Watch the dog's breathing and count the number of breaths it takes a minute at rest. Normal is 20 - 30 a minute.[5]
- At a regular room temperature, not in excessive heat when the dog is panting to cool off, its breathing should be unhurried and difficult to see. Exaggerated breathing movements, especially when the dog uses its stomach muscles to haul air in and out of its lungs is a sign of breathing difficulty and should be checked out.[6]
- What about the dog's weight? Is it gaining or losing weight, and does this coincide with an increase or decrease in appetite. It is worth getting weight change checked out by your vet since it can be an important clue to ill health.
- Is the dog alert, bright-eyed, and wagging its tail, or is it hanging its head and sluggish with its tail tucked between its legs?
- Check your dog's eyes. With your index finger and thumb, gently ease the eyelids apart. If its eyes are nice and clear and you can see your reflection in them, then its eyes are normal. Indications of ill health include yellowing (jaundice) of the whites of the eye, inflammation of the whites (could indicate an allergy or infection), and fogginess on the surface (an ulcer or possibly increased pressure within the eye).[7]
- Check for discharges from the eye. A thick yellow or green discharge is an indication of infection.
- Eyes are delicate structures and if you suspect a problem then seek veterinary attention. To ignore a serious problem could mean the dog losing his sight.
- Check your dog's teeth. Lift the dog's lip to see its teeth. Clean healthy teeth look much like our own (except a different shape) with pink gums and white enamel. Look for browny-yellow tartar deposits on the surface of the teeth, inflamed or bleeding gums (gingivitis), or a bad odor from the mouth. All these signs indicate dental attention is required.[8]
- Look and touch your dog's nose. It is an old wives tale that a cold wet nose is a sign of good health. Many perfectly healthy dogs have warm dry noses, so don't panic if this is the case. Get to know what's normal for your dog's nose. Certain autoimmune skin problems can affect the nose so if the leather button of the nose is inflamed, crusty, or bleeding, then seek veterinary attention.[9]
- Examine your dog's ears. Look inside its ears and compare one with the other. They should both look the same. You should see the entrance to the ear canal as a dark hole. The lining of the ear flap should look like regular skin and not be thickened, inflamed, reddened, or crusty. If you notice the latter, or if there is a discharge in the ear (ranging from thick black wax to smelly pus), then seek veterinary attention.[10]
- Don't forget to smell your dog's ears! It should smell of nothing other than "dog." If there is an unpleasant smell, which makes you recoil, seek veterinary help.
- Inspect your dog's coat. Check for flake-free fur that is glossy and smooth (in breeds that don't have wiry coats.) Part the fur to check the skin. There should be no greasy feel to the coat and no dandruff, black specks within the coat, inflamed skin, scabs, or skin discoloration. The latter all indicate skin disease and warrant fur investigation by a vet.[11]
- Look under your dog's tail. It's easy to turn a blind eye to this area, but it is important to check since problems with infected anal glands or cancerous lumps around the anus, are best spotted early on. Be vigilant for a loss of symmetry to the anal ring (if one side is more swollen than the other), sinuses (channels) that are discharging or weeping fluid, or lumps standing proud of the skin.[12]
- Check testicles or mammary glands. Make a point of checking that your male dog has testicles of an equal size. Enlargement on one side can be a sign of testicular cancer. Likewise, for female dogs, run your hand along both sides of the mammary area to check for any lumps. Any abnormalities need to be checked by a vet.[13]
- Check for lumps and bumps. Run your hand over your dog's body to check for lumps and bumps. It is advisable to get any lump checked out by your vet, for even some seemingly innocuous looking lumps have the potential to be something sinister.
- If you are unsure if it's worth seeing the vet, then measure the size of the lump and write it down. Check the lump again a couple of weeks later and remeasure it. If the lump is changing rapidly, is inflamed, or bothering the dog then a vet check up is essential.[14]
- Whining is a dogs way of expressing it needs something, usually food, or water, love, or human affection. But if you have already provided your dog with these things, then it probably needs to have a check up at the vets, to make sure nothing is physically wrong.
- If your dog has picked up a disease or illness, you may feel bad for letting it happen. But remember it's not your fault; all dogs catch things at one time or another in their lives.
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| How to Celebrate Fall Through Mini Watercolors Posted: 01 Nov 2016 01:00 AM PDT Autumn is a fun and attention-getting season with its blazing colors and traditional activities. Pour a glass of cider and celebrate the fall season through art, without leaving the comfort of your home. EditPreparing Your Design - Make a list of words that represent the season. Just close your eyes and write what comes to mind as you think the word, "autumn."
- Look in magazines, online and in newspapers to see how others depict autumn. Ads closely track trends and are illustrated with nice photographs. Newspapers list fall events. Clothing ads show cooler weather apparel. Keep these pictures as references as you work.
- Cut a long strip, approximately 6" X 14" or use a piece of 11" X 14" watercolor paper from a pad. Either format will work well and give you an opportunity to fill the space with many of your favorite fall things.
- Draw freehand squares and rectangles, as many as you wish, any size you like, to use for your miniature "snapshots" or paintings of autumn. Use a pencil and break up the space on the entire paper. Make various shapes.
- Fill each space with something that represents fall. The possibilities are endless, but go back to your list of words and clipping for inspiration.
- Start by filling a shape with a fat pumpkin, if you are having difficulty facing those blank canvases. In another space, draw a fallen leaf. Add apples on branches in another space and keep going until all frames are filled.
- Set up a palette of primary and secondary tube watercolors. If desired, use a set of watercolors with dry pads you need to moisten and activate with water. You could also use water-soluable or regular colored pencils. Colored markers would be fun, too. Or, do a mixture of all those media.
- Keep the hues of fall in mind as you begin to color your design. This is an opportunity to showcase the warm colors; orange, red, red-violet, gold, rust, brown and yellow. Contrast them with the cooler ones from the opposite side of the color wheel. Blue, green, blue-violet, an an array of neutrals from pale gray to black. These will highlight the warmer, brighter colors.
- Get started by working on the main elements of each scene. Use the brightest and boldest colors to bring out the subject of each rectangle. Then color the backgrounds for each, working right up to the border.
- Keep on painting until all miniature scenes are complete. How detailed to make your painting is up to you. Any approach you pick is acceptable and will show your own personality and style.
- To do smaller details, consider outlining them with markers. Either black Sharpie or permanent colored markers. A small, pointed brush can be used for detail work, too.
EditAdding Finishing Touches - Stand up your paper. Take a look at your work from a distance and decide what to do with the white paper around the mini-paintings. Anything you do is fine, including leaving it unpainted. An all-over treatment of color will unify your page.
- Keep in mind that any background you pick can be altered, even drastically changed. Paint another color, up to three, layers over thoroughly dry paint. Or, to remove color, use a scrub brush or a piece of white kitchen cleaning sponge called a Magic Eraser.
- Allow the piece to dry overnight and evaluate it again. As the paper dries, the piece will brighten but the watercolors will appear slightly fainter. Go back in at this point and heighten any colors that need it, add more detail, and remember to intermingle colors throughout the scene. Do this by touching small areas with the color of another area.
- Enjoy your foray into fall. Don't be sad if you can't really have haystacks, scarecrows or smoking leaf piles at hand because through art, all things are possible. Even a row of noisy crows.
- If drawing objects isn't to your liking, fill each mini-picture with words, phrases, quotes, recipes, etc. Liberally color the page and your art will be as compelling and attractive as if you labored over drawing and painting representations of favorite fall things.
- Hang your work prominently to enjoy as the season progresses into winter. Bring autumn inside.
- Make place cards for a Thanksgiving table by cutting out the small pictures and adding guests' names. Make them self-standing by gluing a triangle to the back as some in some picture frames. Or, buy little dollar store frames for each painting.
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