Food Health & Fitness 

How To Deal With Your Love-Hate Relationship With Food

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In the modern age when there is an abundance of food, many people have developed a certain kind of relationship with food which was not in existence earlier. If you are one among those who are upset and stressful about their relationship with food, you have come to the right place. This article explains to you the reason behind your emotional roller coaster ride with food and shows you the best way to deal with it.

Let’s talk about the core issue; the one that is at the root of all. What is it that makes you crave for food even if you are not hungry? You may have a well-designed diet plan. You may intend to eat well. You may desire for weight loss and have a great body. But, all these accounts for nothing if you do not curve your craving for unwanted food. Overeating and diet dilemma are in many ways related to depression, anxiety and trauma. What we need to understand here is that food is not at fault. There are certain factors that cause these cravings. Here is what makes you crave for food and how to deal with it:

Alcoholic beverages

Alcohol and alcoholic beverages increase your food craving. It lowers blood sugar level and disrupts levels of brain chemicals. Cut down the consumption of alcohol and see what happens. You will likely find that your cravings will become less intense and eventually go away entirely.

Emotional eating

If you ever did observe, you might have realized that you eat a lot more when you are stressed. This ultimately results in more calorie-intake. Manage your emotional eating and you will stop your cravings.

Unfulfilling breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Make sure to have a wholesome breakfast loaded with all the essential nutrients that can help you keep going through the day. This will help you to stay away from food cravings in between your meals. Here is a quick breakfast recipe that is delicious and full of essential nutrients. 

Lack of variety in your meals

When you stick to a routine diet, it might help you keep track of your calories, but it will most likely leave you feeling unfulfilled. Add variety to your diets and try new combinations of foods to stop cravings.

Sleep

While lack of sleep is already associated with poor brain functioning and insulin resistance, research shows that lack of sleep also causes food cravings. Getting the right amount of forty winks can help you stop those cravings.

 

The Bottom Line

Food is a fuel for our survival on this planet. This is more than enough a reason to love food. However, when you believe that food has become a reason for your unhealthy lifestyle, you need to change your perception (and your diet). It is not food that makes you unhealthy. It is the choice of food and the amount of food you consume that takes a toll on your body and your health. So, next time when you stuff that slice of pizza into your mouth, give it a second thought and measure the consequences. Love food but practice moderation. Only then will you be able to maintain a balance between food and a healthy lifestyle.

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Food Health & Fitness 

Indian Food Sources For Vegetarian Bodybuilding Diet Plan

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One of the most common myths in the world of bodybuilding is that you can’t build your body with a vegetarian diet. The reason for this belief is that bodybuilding requires your diet to be protein-rich. But, what is overlooked here is the fact that there are a lot of vegetarian sources of protein that can fulfil the protein requirement for the body. Apart from proteins, bodybuilding requires a lot of other nutrients like minerals, vitamins, healthy fats and carbs. Vegans get the required nutrients from whole grains, nuts, fruits, seeds and vegetables. This article is about the top foods sources that must have their place in an Indian vegetarian diet plan for bodybuilding.

 

  1. Low-fat milk and milk products

Milk’s protein profile is comprised of 20% whey protein and 80% casein protein. The benefits of whey are well known in the bodybuilding industry. It is one of the top choices as supplements for most bodybuilders.

 

  1. Banana

Banana helps the protein reach your muscles. Being a great source of carbs, it works as a great post-workout food.

 

  1. Nuts

When it comes to getting protein, fibres and healthy fats all from one source, nuts are the perfect choice for you. A handful of almonds has more protein than an egg. It contains energy-boosting manganese and copper. Walnuts are full of Omega-3 which increases synthesis and decreases degradation which is necessary for muscle growth.

 

  1. Peanut Butter

It is a good source of protein. It is immensely beneficial for heart and muscle health. It builds and repairs your muscles and hence works as a great source for bodybuilders to bulk up and get into shape.

 

  1. Oats

Oats contain essential nutrients like folic acid, thiamin, vitamin E, biotin and elements like zinc and iron which helps in increasing the speed of muscle recovery.

 

  1. Shatavari

This is an Ayurvedic herb which is known to be a good source of vitamins A, C, E and K and chromium. It has antioxidants. It neutralizes cell-damaging free radicals. It has high levels of amino acids which help the body to soak the excess water from the body and release the same through urination.

 

  1. Ashwagandha

This is an Ayurvedic herb which is also known as Indian Ginseng. It increases the testosterone level and helps in increasing strength and muscle building. It also improves cardiovascular health and controls cholesterol levels.

 

The Bottom Line

 

With these food sources in mind, you can start working on your Indian vegetarian diet plan for bodybuilding. The overall health benefits of a vegan diet plan have been underrated form a long time. Now that you know the fitness benefits of these plant-based diets, you can go ahead and give vegan bodybuilding a shot.

 

We hope you found this article helpful and informative. If you think we missed out something from the list, feel free to add those in the comment section below. Also, let us know if you have any questions or suggestions. We would love to know your point of view. Thank you very much for reading!

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Gaming 

How to check if gamertag is available to register ? Xbox

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I am addicted to Xbox & I was looking for a good Gamertag checker to check if a name is available to register on Xbox. This article is about these checkers which allows you to easily find a great name to make gaming even more fun!

 

Follow the Steps below to check Gamertag availability –

 

  1. Visit Getgamertag.com
  2. Search for any word that you want to use as your Gamertag
  3. Click Check Gamertag button
  4. Wait for the site to connect to the Xbox server
  5. The site will tell you if the word you suggested is available to register or not
  6. All done! Go ahead and register it!

 

What this tool basically does is search for the tag you enter on Xbox server, if it finds a profile with a similar name it simply says gamertag not available. If it does not find any Xbox profile with that name, it says the name is available to register

If you are wondering that what’s the price for using this tool, don’t worry! This tool is absolutely free to use without any time limit or query limit.

Please note: This app is in no way affiliated to Xbox, due to this the results of this tool might be inaccurate.

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Food Recipes 

What are the best thickening agents for cooking?

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I grew up eating my mom’s beef stew.  I always thought the tiny balls of flour in that stew was the norm.  Till this day my dad still won’t eat stew!  Now that I know a thing about cooking I understand.  Those little balls of flour dont do much to flavor that stew but it does thicken it.  Actually it kind of gave that beef stew a kind of flour taste.

 

Now that I learned a thing or two about thickening agents for food that was called a bad white wash.  A white wash is a quick way for a cook to thicken something.  Usually the cook would wisk water and flour together and drop it into the boiling pot of stew, soup or sauce.  YUCK!  What really should have been used to thicken that stew create a roux, cornstarch or ARROWROOT.  The easiest way to thicken that stew and give it a great look and feel to it is to use ARROWROOT.   ARROWROOT  will not lose thickening  properties through the cooking process.  The only major draw back is that it is expensive.  That brings us to CORNSTARCH.  CORNSTARCH is a inexpensive thickening agent but does lose it’s thickening properties after cooking it for more the 10 minutes.  CORNSTARCH also has a gloss to it.  Think of chinese food how shiny it is.  If you want your stew to have a nice shine to it this may be your choice.  Roux on the other hand  the choice of most chefs.  It is a stable agent for most stews, sauces and soups.  Think of New England clam chowder.  Its nice and thick and no shine to it.  YUM!

 

Being in professional kitchens for many years I have seen other methods used to thicken a sauce or stew in a pinch. I remember one time when we had no flour I used potato flakes.  It was great to give that chicken pot pie sauce and texture.  The only problem with that system is that it can break down very easily and you can lose that texture quickly.  Speaking of losing texture did you ever see a roux break down?  YUCK!  It looks like someone threw up in your soup.  Oh so many cooking stories to tell!  I have much more but that will come in future posts.

 

Back to thickening agents!  Here is my list of thickening agents and what you should use them for.  This will be a helpful list for people trying new ideas and not following recipes:

 

  1. Roux:  A roux is equal parts flour and butter.  The butter should be clarified and then the flour mixed  making sure all lumps are gone.  A blond roux if you continue cooking that roux for approximately 5 minutes.  You will begin to smell a nutty smell.  This is great for white sauces, soups and chowders.  A brown roux is a roux cooked for 20 minutes chaning the color to a dark tan or light brown.  This will have a very nutty smell to it.  It is good for thickening a dark sauce, beef stew or lamb soup etc.  Another way to make that brown roux is by putting the flour in the oven and baking it till it turns light brown.  You have to spread it out and turn it often for about 20 minutes then add it to the butter.  I think it is easier to cook it with the butter in a pan on the stove.
  2. Cornstarch:  As I said earlier corn starch is very glossy when used.  It is mixed with water or stock and added to a very hot liquid to thicken it.  It takes about 3 ounces of cornstarch to thicken 1 quart of stock.  Don’t forget you cannot keep cooking cornstarch for more then 10 minutes because it will break down.
  3. Arrowroot:  My favorite but expensive.  Arrowroot is used like cornstarch but it will not lose its thickening properties over time.  It also does not produce that glossy shine to the stock.
  4. Other thickening agents:  Blood (yuck!)  yes it can be used.  Starch, think of using the water you used to cook you pasta in.  Again yuck!

If anyone wants to add to this little lesson on thickening agents please feel free.  I would love to have open discussions and bring new ideas to this new website.

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General 

Information vs Entertainment

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The average yearly salary of a teacher is about $45,000.
The lowest yearly pay of a professional Baseball player is about $180,000.

America obviously values education.

But, should the pay of a teacher be raised all that much?

Think about this: If a teacher’s anual salary is raised to an amount that would be considered wealthy, would the quality of our teachers go down? Would there be more people going into the profession simply for the money? People who don’t, at all, care about actually enlightening their students, and just go into the job for the pay?

Maybe a teacher’s pay being low ensures that the people who seek that profession really want the profession, and really want to teach, rather than anything involving economic gain. Someone must have to want to be a teacher to be in a classroom for eight hours a day, then have to go home and spend more time correcting papers and the like, right?

Is… that reason really good enough, though?

That same logic can then be used to justify any low-paying job. Every job in the US could lower its pay to minimum wage, and claim, “Well, we do it because we want to make sure the people we’re hiring really want the job.” – And, we all know that, that won’t ever work. There are a lot of highly paid professions that people go into because they want to. We, as a country, have hundreds of experts in many of them.

Why is it, then, that America “values education” so much, but people who can hit a ball with a stick and run around get payed multiple times of what the people who educate the country do? Someone who can throw a ball into a basket gets payed millions, while the person making sure our children can read and write has to live week-by-week.

We, as a country, seem to value entertainment far more than anything of importance. To be entertained is much more valuable than to be informed, or to be educated. Even the news has conformed to this concept. The news channels that have the most gossip, or the most coverage of some teenage pop-star’s life, gets the most ratings. Thus, said news channel makes more money. What channel would be silly enough to pass up the opportunity for more money!?

There is a war going on. There’s been a war going on for years. America has been in a war for years. A war. Our people go there, kill, and get killed. Though, I can assure you that, at any given moment, there will be ten times as much coverage on the life of Britney Spears than there is on any war we’re immersed into. And, if there is coverage on the war?

It’s not coverage. It’s an action movie.

We have a serious problem on our hands, and one that may not ever be fixed; no doubt, people would rather watch the Football game than fix the problem.

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Computer & Internet 

What are Bitcoins? | An introduction

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In a world where it is becoming more and more insecure, to have physical currency in your hand or even saving it in a bank, with the advancement of technology, the need for an alternative to physical cash increases day by day. One such alternative is Bitcoins.

Bitcoins are a form of digital currency that are created and transacted electronically. Bitcoins are not printed or minted, hence, the control of the currency does not come under any single authority, and instead, bitcoins are created by people, and businesses, by solving increasingly complex mathematical problems.

Why are bitcoins different from conventional currencies?

The answer to that is very simple, since the production and control of bitcoins, does not lay in the control of any particular organisation or authority (the production and control is decentralised), the users of bitcoins, feel they are more in control of their money.

Who came up with the idea?

The invention of bitcoins as a method of payment is largely believed to be a brainchild of a Software Developer called Satoshi Nakamoto, who proposed the conversion of an already existing electronic payment system which used mathematical proof to process transactions, into a currency that was independent of any central authority, transferable electronically, with a very low processing fee.

Although the actual existence of a Developer named Satoshi Nakamoto, is widely debated amongst bitcoins users, and the actual identity of the inventor is still a mystery, most people believe Satoshi Nakamoto to be an organisation of Japanese origin as the Japanese translation of Satoshi means; “clear thinking, quick witted or wise” while Naka means; “medium, inside or relationship” and moto could mean either origin or foundation.

Who prints or mints bitcoins?

No one does, as mentioned before; this currency is not under the control of any single authority, thus giving them the opportunity to print the currency without the knowledge of the larger population, hence devaluing the currency. Instead, bitcoins are produced digitally, by a ever growing community of people like you and me, who mine bitcoins using computers in a distributed network. People use Bitcoin QR code to simplify the process.

If anyone can mine for bitcoins, wouldn’t that mean there would be an unlimited supply of bitcoins?

According to the bitcoin protocol (the set of rules and regulations, that govern the production and usage of bitcoins), there are only a total of 21 million bitcoins to be mined. But, these coins can be broken down to smaller parts, the smallest of which is 1/100,000,000 (one hundred millionth) of a bitcoin, which is called a ‘Satoshi’, in honour of the founder of bitcoins.

What is the base of using bitcoins?

Conventionally, when you trade with normal currency, it means you are trading with the value of gold. Which means instead of trading the actual gold, you trade a certain percentage of the value of the gold you have, for another item/service of the same percentage of the value of gold (although this is not exactly what is being practiced, this is the basic idea behind transactions). But, bitcoins are not based on gold, instead they are based on mathematics. Effectively, when trading bitcoins, what is actually means is, that you are trading a certain percentage of the mathematical problems that you have solved, for a service/item of the same percentage of the mathematical problems.

People around the world, solve these problems and mine for bitcoins by using software programs that use mathematical formula for each problem. These mathematical problems and the software used to solve them are both available for the public to download for free, hence, anyone could check and make sure that, everything is doing whatever it is supposed to do.

Since everything is open to the public, and is free for everyone, people like you or me also could join this network and start mining for bitcoins. Once you start mining for bitcoins, you could also start trading them, which puts you in a somewhat elite group of people, and gives you a head start to the future, as experts believe the use of bitcoins, is slowly but surely replacing the conventional form of transactions, and will one day be the primary form of transactions.

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