Introduction Type 2 Diabetes is a disease where patients have elevated glucose (sugar) levels in their blood all the time. That sugar can get deposited into different areas of the body and cause problems. For example, it could get deposited in the eyes and cause blindness, in the brain and cause a stroke, in the kidneys and cause kidney failure, in the heart and cause heart attacks. Symptoms of diabetes include increased hunger, increased thirst, frequent urination, and extreme fatigue. Image Source Western View on Diabetes Western medicine focuses on the hormone called insulin, which is made in the pancreas and pushes glucose molecules from the blood into cells. The cause is thought to be genetic or due to lifestyle factors such as eating too much processed foods and not exercising enough. There is also research showing that too much fat in the diet can lead to diabetes because the fat clogs up the blood and covers cell walls, which makes it hard for insulin to move glucose into cells. Western Treatment of Diabetes The way western medicine treats Type 2 diabetes is through diet and exercise. The diet needs to remove processed foods and any foods that have added sugar. This prevents your blood sugar from spiking. Exercise also improves insulin sensitivity, which means insulin can do its job better. Doctors might give insulin pills or other pills that lower blood sugar levels. TCM View on Diabetes The American Diabetes Association published a great article that explains how TCM views and treat diabetes. TCM attributes the symptoms of diabetes to three main factors: Improper diet: too much sweet, fatty, oily foods; alcohol; hot drinks such as coffee or tea Emotional disturbances: stress, anxiety, depression Yin deficiency, which leads to fatigue TCM also divides diabetes into three types: upper, middle, and lower. Upper diabetes is associated with the lungs and is characterized by excessive thirst. Middle diabetes is associated with the stomach and is characterized by excessive hunger. Lower diabetes is associated with the kidneys and is associated with excess urination. TCM Treatment of Diabetes Whereas western medicine is focused on the blood sugar levels, TCM is focused on the symptoms, such as excess thirst, hunger, urination, and fatigue. Acupoints A TCM doctor may do acupuncture on the patient, which has been show to help reduce blood glucose levels in diabetic patients. Image Source A typical session would involve 4 to 12 needles that would be put in place for 10 to 30 minutes. The doctor may also use moxibustion in conjunction with acupuncture. If the patient has an aversion to needles, Tui Na Massage can be used instead of acupuncture. Herbal Medicine Herbal medicine would be prescribed based on the patient’s specific symptoms. For example, a patient with excessive thirst has lung yin deficiency, so they might be given Yu Quan Wan. Image Source Diet Therapy Since TCM views diabetes as characterized by a deficiency in yin and an excess of internal heat, a TCM doctor would advise the patient to eat more foods that nourish yin and reduce heat. Many vegetables are cooling and beneficial for diabetes, such as pumpkin, soybeans (i.e., tofu, soymilk), string beans, sweet potato, yam, tomato, and millet. Many fruits also help, including crab apple, guava, plum, strawberry, and mulberry. TCM also recommends eating meals at regular times of day. Image Source The patient should also reduce foods that cause create heat and inflammation such as meat, greasy or oily foods, processed foods, and junk food. Qi Gong Qi Gond involves breathing and exercises that are mentally calming, similar to yoga.. Although Qi Gong is not the main treatments for diabetes, it has shown to be a valuable add-on to diabetes treatment plans. There are specific Qi Gong exercises for diabetes. Conclusion Both western medicine and TCM emphasize the importance that food plays in Type 2 Diabetes. Both tell the patient to get rid of processed foods, highly oily and fatty foods, and sugary foods. Western medicine focuses on the blood sugar levels and insulin, with treatments mainly being diet and exercise and maybe pills. TCM focuses on treating the symptoms. Depending on the symptom you have, a TCM doctor would give different treatments regarding acupoints, herbs, and food. Personally, if I got Type 2 Diabetes, I would probably do both the western and TCM recommendations except the pills from western medicine. The lifestyle changes are fairly aligned under both medical systems, with a focus on healthy eating. TCM also offers more treatment options such as acupoint massage and herbs, which I would be willing to try.

I recently watched Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and being the self-improvement philosopher that I am, I couldn't help but reflect on the life lessons from the story. Image Source Here are 7 life lessons I took away from the film: 1: You don't have to be good at everything, but it's important to be good at one useful thing. For example, Katy is really good at driving, which was essential for Shaun's team. Katy's driving skill actually saved them multiple times. Another example is Trevor the jester. His useful skill was being able to communicate with Morris (the little faceless creature), but that turned out to be key to the team's success. In life, people often compare their weaknesses to other people's strengths and feel bad. What we should do instead is reflect on if we've cultivated one useful strength and then focus on using that strength to help others. 2: Active listening is not easy When Shaun was trying to explain that his real name is Shang to Katy, Katy couldn't understand because "Shaun" and "Shang" sound really similar. But she did the right thing of repeating back what she heard until she got it right. Image Source It's a humorous scene, but it illustrates how to do active listening! 3: People need cheerleaders not critics Katy's mom and friend often criticized her for not living up to her full potential. The constant nagging gave her stress and made her seek outside pleasure like late night KTV. When they went to the village of Tao Ao, the grandma there acted as a cheerleader, encouraging her to learn archery. Later, the grandpa allowed her to go into the battle field with her archery skills, encouraging her to "come back alive." It's thanks to these cheerleaders that Katy built up her confidence and was able to save Shaun and Xialing with her arrow. 4: Trust takes years to build and one event to lose. Shaun promised his sister he'd be back in 3 days. His sister waited for 3 days, then 3 months, then 6 years. Therefore, we shouldn't make promises so lightly. It's no wonder she was so upset and resentful towards Shaun. Later, in the battle with the Dweller-in-Darkness, Shaun refused to forsake his sister again, and that's how he was able to regain her trust. 5: Softness overcomes hardness The great sage Lao Tzu once said, "Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong." Ying Li and Wenwu demonstrate this principle well. Ying Li was the only person who could defeat Wenwu. Image Source Ying Li's martial arts style was very fluid and soft, while Wenwu's fighting style was very aggressive and hard. In their fight, you could see that Ying Li looked very relaxed while Wenwu was very tense. Hence Ying Li was like water, while Wenwu was like rock. Later when Shaun was fighting Wenwu, he initially fought like his father: very hard and aggressive, and he lost. The second time, he fought more like his mother, and that's when he was able to overcome his father. In life, when faced with obstacles, if we are hard like a rock, then we will break when we collide with a bigger rock. But if we are soft like water, then we can simply flow around obstacles and overcome them that way. 6: Love needs to be balanced with logic Popular media often glorifies hot emotional love, but in real life, hot emotional love cannot sustain a relationship. People need a good balance of emotional love with sound reasoning. Wenwu loved Ying Li greatly, which was why he was able to give up being a villain to start a family with her. After his wife died, he was understandably extremely upset. But when he heard his wife's voice telling him she's trapped in a cave in Ta Lo, that just doesn’t make any logical sense. He saw his wife's dead body; there's no way the people of Ta Lo revived her and then kidnapped her and put her in a cave. But because he was so emotionally attached to her, he wanted to believe that she was there, so he got upset when Shaun said "Mom's dead" and refused to listen to logic. While we might think we would never act like Wenwu, in reality, people's logical brain shut down when they're emotional brain is overactive. For example, we're initially head-over-heels for someone, all we see is their good points. When others tell us logically what might go wrong in the relationship, we just ignore them. But later, after the breakup, we look back at think, "How could I have been so blind back then?" Therefore, when we feel very strong emotions for something, we need to realize that our logical brain probably isn't working so well, and we appreciate the opinions of a neutral third party observer. 7: Good relationships with family is key to our happiness and inner peace Relationships are one of the main keys to people's happiness, and family relationships are among the most important. Shaun saw his mother sacrifice herself to save him and his sister when he was young and helpless. He later ran away from his father and abandoned his sister. Although he doesn’t show it on the outside, he feels very troubled deep down by his poor family relationships. When he was training with his aunt Ying Nan, she told him his problem is that he hasn't come to peace with himself. That inner tension prevents him from devoting 100% of his energy into the present moment. When he decided he would kill his father, he cried, which showed that deep down, he didn't want to do it. Later in the lake, he flashed back to his mother telling him that the family needs him. Then he finally came to peace with himself, understanding that he is part of the family and he needs to save his dad, not kill him. When he then fought his dad the second time, he was much calmer and was able to overpower his father, but he chose not to kill him and instead to try to save him. During the fight with the Dweller-in-Darkness, he also chose to not abandon his sister a second time. If he had actually abandoned her, then even if he defeated the Dweller-in-Darkness, he would still be haunted for the rest of his life. The lesson here is that we should take initiative to nurture loving relationships with our family while we still can. Good relationships with family is key for happiness and inner peace, while strained relationships create long-term stress and misery. Conclusion I really enjoyed watching Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, not just because it was a really cool martial arts Marvel film with a compelling story and good humor, but also because there were lots of insightful life lessons to be learned! If you have any other life lessons you took away from the film, I'd love to hear about them.

Why do you wake up in the morning? Do you have a strong sense of purpose that gets you up? Or are you going through life without a clear purpose? If you already have a strong sense of purpose, that's fantastic! If not, you're not alone. The Cato 2019 Welfare, Work, and Wealth National Survey asked Americans if they believe their life has meaning and purpose, and it found that 46% strongly agreed, 37% somewhat agreed, and 16% disagreed. That means around half the population could use some help with having a more meaningful purpose in life! Image Source Having a strong purpose isn't just a nice-to-have thing. It's extremely important for our mental AND physical health. In his book, The Stress Solution, Dr. Rangan Chaterjee explains how lacking a meaningful purpose is inherently stressful, while people with a meaningful purpose have much better health, including lower chances of heart disease, strokes, and depression. In the five Blue Zones (areas of the world where there's the most number of healthy centenarians), people all have a strong purpose that they can articulate clearly. That means having a strong purpose and being clear on it helps us live longer, healthier lives. The Journal of Research in Personality even found that a strong purpose is linked to greater economic success. Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash Now that we recognize the importance of purpose, the big question is, How do we get a strong, meaningful purpose? This article will go over four steps: Know the difference between a meaningful and non-meaningful purpose. Self-reflect to learn more about yourself. Experiment with purposes to confirm if they resonate with you. Find meaning in whatever you are doing now. Step 1: Know the difference between a meaningful and non-meaningful purpose. 1.1 A Meaningful Purpose A meaningful purpose is something that the world around you needs, which you also enjoy providing. Notice there are two key parts: Other people benefit from it You enjoy it. In his book, Principles, Ray Dalio explains how both neuroscientists and spiritual leaders agree that the human brain is evolutionarily programmed to try to help the group and build meaningful relationships. That's why helping others is key to a meaningful purpose. Notice that whether or not you are good at something does not make it meaningful. There are many people in the world who do things they are talented at but don't feel fulfilled from it. But if you discover a purpose that is meaningful to you, then even if you are not good at it, you will have the drive and perseverance to get good at it. Also, just because you enjoy something does not mean it will be meaningful and fulfilling. If you really enjoy something such that you could do it all day without getting bored, we call that a passion. Being able to spend time on your passion is already a great blessing that not everyone gets. But even higher than passion is a meaningful purpose. A meaningful purpose has to be something that you enjoy which also makes a positive difference in the lives of others. As Gandhi once said, "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." The Stoic Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, explained that a meaningful purpose has three parts: being a good person, improving my moral character, and helping the greater good. Image Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 These three things all benefit others and bring ourselves long lasting joy. Moreover, we can fulfill these three goals no matter what role we have, whether it is as a child, parent, friend, spouse. We can also do these three goals no matter what career we choose. 1.2 The Four Levels of Motivation In his book, Think Like a Monk, Jay Shetty explains how to live with peace and purpose every day. One of the key ideas in the book is the four levels of motivation: Fear — being driven by negative things like sickness, poverty, and death Desire — being driven by personal gratification through wealth, success, and pleasure Duty — being motivated by gratitude, responsibility, and doing the right thing Love — being motivated by helping and caring for others Fear is not a pleasant emotion, but it can be motivating. For example, if we are afraid of illness, perhaps because of past experience, then we would be motivated to start taking better care of our health. The important thing is what we do to respond to our feeling of fear. Getting sucked into fear and become paralyzed is not helpful, but directing our fear towards productive action is. Desire can be good or bad depending on what it is for and the degree. It’s very reasonable to want enough money to live a moderate life, or to want enough time to spend with family, or to enjoy some pleasures in due degree. Desires become problematic when they are excessive. The great stoic philosopher Seneca said, "It is inevitable that life will be not just very short but very miserable for those who acquire by great toil what they must keep by greater toil." When we have too much desire for something, we either end up stressed or end up stressed. That's not a typo. If we don't get what we desire, then we're stressed. But even if we do get what we desire, we only get a temporary sense of relief. Soon, we're afraid losing it or stressed about the next bigger desire. Being motivated by duty and love is a strong purpose, and it will lead to much more happiness and fulfillment than being motivated by fear or desire. For example, Lewis Howes is a former pro-athlete and the host of The School of Greatness. In his conversation with Jay Shetty about the four motivations, he said, "Most of my life, one of my main motivation was desire: seeking personal gratification through success, wealth, and pleasure…In the last seven years, it's been more duty and love…And there's an amount of happiness I've never felt before until I reached practicing duty and love. I remember I was never able to fall asleep at night until about 7 or 8 years ago without an hour or hour and half of just anxious anxiety, stress, concern, worry. And when I shifted from seeking personal gratifications to being motivated by a mission and love and gratitude, I started to fall asleep within minutes." We mentioned early that a powerful purpose includes being a good person, improving our moral character, and serving the greater good. Why? Because it is our duty. We received a lot of gratitude and kindness from our parents, teachers, ancestors, nation, and the world, so the least we could do is be a good person and help them back. Image Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Our parents and teachers all hope for us to be a useful member of society, to give more than we take. Our ancestors have advanced the world for us, so we should leave the world better than when we arrived. The nation and all citizens support our daily lives, so we should contribute something back. When we think about all the gratitude we received, we will naturally feel motivation to improve ourselves and serve the greater good. Now that we know the difference between a meaningful and non-meaningful purpose, the next step is to figure out how you can implement a meaningful purpose. Step 2: Self-reflect to learn more about yourself. 2.1 Ask yourself some deep questions Recall that a meaningful purpose is something that benefits others and that you enjoy providing. In other words, it is the combination of service (helping others) and passion (what you enjoy). Here are some questions to reflect on regarding passion: If I had all the money and time in the world, what would I do (after I've travelled and bought all the stuff I want)? What excites me? What am I happily willing to do even when I am exhausted? What could I talk about for hours without getting bored? Here are some questions to reflect on regarding service: What problems do I like to help people with? What am I most grateful for? How can I provide that to others or repay that gratitude? What is my biggest pain? How can I help prevent that pain for others? To help yourself get clear on your purpose, journal down your answers to these questions and talk to people who know you well about your answers. Image by lilartsy on Unsplash Example: To use myself as an example, I was a white-collar office worker after I graduated from business school. Soon after I started working, I realized that even though I was good at my job, I didn't find it fulfilling or meaningful. I just felt like I was helping big businesses make money. When I reflected on my passion, I realized that I really enjoy sharing useful knowledge about improving our lives. If I didn't have to care about money and time, I would spend all my time sharing useful knowledge with others. Despite long work days, I would use my evenings and weekends writing blog articles instead of seeking entertainment or relaxation. I could talk about self-improvement for hours without getting bored. When I reflected on service, I realized I often try to help others solve their life problems, whether it be relationships, career, or health. Aside from my parents, I'm most grateful for all the authors I found on the internet. It's through their books, podcasts, and articles that I learned most of what I know for little to no cost. My biggest pain is not knowing these useful knowledge earlier. From this reflection, I've made my purpose to be sharing useful knowledge that I've benefited from and that I wish I had learned earlier. I'm doing this out of duty and love to help others improve their life and avoid the suffering that I went through. That's why I spend my free time writing articles, and I even switched my career from a corporate business job to a high school teacher, which has improved my sense of happiness and fulfillment in life greatly. Common Purposes Although my purpose is to help others through sharing useful knowledge, that purpose may not resonate with you. Here are some other common purposes that people find meaningful: To advocate for a cause To nurture and care for others To make useful things To create new useful things To create art and beauty To entertain others To maintain order and stability To help those in bad circumstances Perhaps one of those purposes jump out at you. If not, consider using personality tests to learn more about yourself. 2.2 Vedic Personalities A useful tool to help with self-awareness is personality tests. When it comes to helping you find your purpose, Jay Shetty uses the Four Vedic Personalities: Guides are compelled to learn and share knowledge. They value wisdom more than fame or money. Their purpose can be to share useful knowledge or to use knowledge to help people. Leaders like to influence and provide. They are led by morals and seek to inspire cooperation and support society long-term. Their purpose can be to maintain order and stability or to help those in bad circumstances. Creators like to make things happen, and they are good at innovating and networking. Their purpose can be to create new and useful things for society. Makers like to see things tangibly being built. They are good at inventing, supporting, and implementing. They are motivated by stability and security, as well as supporting those in need. Their purpose can be to make useful things or art and beauty. To find out which Vedic personality type is your primary one, you can take this online survey: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/prasann.prem/viz/TheVedicPersonalityTest-ThinklikeaMonkbyJayShetty/HomePage 2.3 16 Personalities Test Another useful personality test is the 16 Personality Tests. You can read a detailed explanation of the 16 Personalities here, but for this article, we'll just look at the four categories of personalities: Analysts are driven by logic and ideas, so their purpose can be to solve big problems for society and innovate new ideas. Diplomats are driven by compassion and ideals, so their purpose can be to advocate for an important cause and to help those in bad circumstances Sentinels are driven by duty and morals, so their purpose can be to maintain order and stability in the world. Adventurers are driven by novelty and fun, so their purpose can be to entertain others, whether that be through films, music, art, or sports. To find out which one you are, you can take this survey: https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test The 16 Personalities website provides many famous examples of people from each category. We can see that Analysts include famous logical thinkers and innovators like Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, and Elon Musk. Diplomats include famous social advocates and compassion people such as Oprah Winfrey, Martin Luther King Junior, and Mother Teresa. Sentinels have less famous people because they tend to support others from the background rather than being in the center of attention, but some well-known ones include Captain America, Hermione Granger, and George Washington. Explorers include famous actors, singers, and athletes such as Tom Cruise, Adele, and Michael Jordan. An important note to make here is that personality does not define your best career choice, but rather your purpose for choosing that career. For example, a Diplomat could choose to work in the technology industry for the purpose of using technology for social good. A Sentinel could choose to work in the entertainment industry for the purpose of using media to bring more stability in society. Hopefully, you've identified a potential purpose for yourself now. If so, the next step is to confirm if that purpose resonates with you. Step 3: Experiment with purposes to confirm if they resonate with you. Once you've learned more about yourself and have an idea of your passion and how you want to serve others, look for opportunities to try out that purpose. Use your free time, such as your evenings and weekends, to experiment with your purpose. A 2017 Statistica survey showed that the average person worldwide spends 134 minutes a day using online entertainment. That's over 2 hours a day, 15.6 hours a week! We may use online entertainment to destress, but it's just temporary pleasure. Online entertainment doesn't provide us with long-lasting happiness and peace, whereas working on your purpose does. For most of us, we could probably replace some entertainment time with time spent experimenting with purpose. Once we've confirmed our purpose, we would naturally want to work on that more and spend less time on entertainment. For example, if you think taking care of others might be meaningful to you, try volunteering at a food shelter or senior home. If you think entertaining others might be meaningful to you, try joining a comedy club or making online videos. If you think advocating might be meaningful to you, try joining a local government organization or attending community events. If you think creating new things is meaningful to you, try making stuff in your free time. Personally, when I started working my corporate job, I decided to try writing a blog to share useful information with others. After I wrote articles, I would share them with my friends and colleagues. Not only did I enjoy researching and writing these articles greatly, but I also got great feedback from people who read them. I also tried volunteering at a senior's home. It was okay, but it didn’t resonate with me as much as sharing useful knowledge. I remember in high school, I tried entertaining others during a talent show, and it was not my thing. I also remember visiting the robotics club where they were making cool robots, but I just wasn't that interested. From trying all these different things, I could then confirm that, indeed, sharing useful knowledge resonates most strongly with me. Nowadays, I spend almost all my free time on my purpose, and it's much more gratifying than any entertainment could be. Step 4: Find meaning in whatever you are doing now. "You can't find positivity in everything, but you can find meaning in everything." —Jay Shetty While you are experimenting with your purpose, you can also find meaning in whatever you are doing now. When you can link what you are doing to your purpose, you will naturally feel more satisfaction and fulfillment in life. Example 1: Building a Wall versus Building a Cathedral Below is a relevant story from the book Start with Why by Simon Sinek: "Consider the story of two stonemasons. You walk up to the first stonemason and ask, "Do you like your job?" He looks up at you and replies, "I've been building this wall for as long as I can remember. The work is monotonous. I work in the scorching hot sun all day. The stones are heavy and lifting them day after day can be backbreaking. I'm not even sure if this project will be completed in my lifetime. But it's a job. It pays the bills." You thank him for his time and walk on. About thirty feet away you walk up to a second stonemason. You ask him the same question, "Do you like your job?" He looks up and replies, "I love my job. I'm building a cathedral. Sure, I've been working on this wall for as long as I can remember and yes, the work is sometimes monotonous. I work in the scorching hot sun all day. The stones are heavy and lifting them day after day can be backbreaking. I'm not even sure if this project will be completed in my lifetime. But I'm building a cathedral." Image Source The first stonemason didn't have a strong purpose because he's only thinking about himself and paying his bills. The second stonemason has a strong purpose because he's thinking about all the people that the cathedral will serve. Example 2: Student in School Let's say you are a student in school, and you feel school is so burdensome and tiring. You especially find math class boring, but you have to pass math class to go to university. You can reflect on the questions in Step 2, such as "What am I most grateful for? How can I repay that gratitude?" and "What could I talk about for hours without getting bored?" You reflect that you are very grateful to your parents and teachers because without them, you'd be nothing. You also reflect that you love art and design, and maybe you want to be an architect. Now, you can find meaning in your math class. Firstly, your parents and teachers hope you will do well in school, so doing your best in the class is repaying their gratitude. Secondly, math is needed for you to study architecture in university, so even if it's boring right now, it is needed for your future goals. When you can keep these two things in mind, you will naturally feel more motivation. And of course, don't forget to use some of your free time to use art and design to help others! Example 3: Typical Office Worker Let's say you're a typical office worker. You just do your job to earn a pay cheque to pay your bills. You don't feel a strong purpose at work. You reflect that two of your biggest pains growing up was not having financial stability and family time. You could see your job as contributing to the success of the company, which provides a stable pay cheque for hundreds of employees. You could also use your lunch hours to chat with colleagues, encourage them to prioritize family, and give them recommendations for family activities. Doing these two things would give you new meaning to your current job. Example 4: Going Through Hardship I can use myself as an example for this one. I had a year of health hardship where I had a really bad skin condition. The steroid creams I got from doctors only suppressed the symptoms, but the symptoms came back worse as soon as I stopped using the creams. It was one of the most painful times of my life. Since my purpose is to share useful knowledge to others, I viewed my illness as a catalyst for me to learn more about health. I learnt that in modern urban societies, chronic illnesses have becoming alarmingly common. Since we basically have nothing without our health, I started using all my free time to learn about health, whether that was reading books or listening to podcasts or watching YouTube videos. I used my body to experiment with all the things I was learning so that I could later share my experiences to help others. So despite the physical pain I was going through, I also felt a sense of purpose that pushed me to study health and persevere through the pain. Later, I ended up helping my mother with a lot of her health problems, and I even ended up teaching a course on healthcare! Conclusion Having a strong, meaningful purpose in life is all about doing something you enjoy that also helps others. If you only focus on your own enjoyment without helping others, then you're living for personal pleasure. Personal pleasure is short-lived, whereas a meaningful purpose provides long-lasting happiness. Aside from benefiting our mental health, having a fulfilling purpose also improves our physical health and economic success. Photo by Fuu J on Unplash To find a meaningful purpose, reflect on what you love doing and how you can use it to help others. We should also use duty and love as our motivation for doing things rather than fear or desire. Some common purposes are To advocate for a cause To nurture and care for others To make useful things To create new useful things To create art and beauty To entertain others To maintain order and stability To help those in bad circumstances If you're not sure which one resonates with you, you can do personality tests such as Vedic Personalities and 16 Personalities. After you have an idea of what your purpose might be, use your evenings and weekends to try it out. Only by trying it out can you confirm that it feels meaningful and fulfilling to you. Lastly, regardless of what you are doing right now, you can find more meaning in it by linking it to your purpose.

Nutrition is a very complex topic, and the scientific research on nutrition is always making new discoveries. This article will explain some basic information about nutrition and healthy eating. First, we will look at the three types of macronutrients: carbohydrates (carbs), fat, and protein. At the end, we’ll look briefly at vitamins and minerals. 1. Carbohydrates (Carbs) Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for your body. There are many types of carbohydrates: Simple carbs Complex carbs Processed carbs Natural carbs Simple vs. Complex Carbs Simple carbs have one or two sugar molecules in them. The most common sugar molecule is glucose. Think of glucose as 1 unit of energy for your body’s cells. It is very quick and easy for our bodies to use simple carbs. When we eat simple sugars, we get very quick energy that also fades away quickly. Examples of foods with simple carbs Candy, cookies, chocolate, etc. Fruit White flour: white bread, cakes, muffins, donuts, pancakes Sweeteners: white sugar, brown sugar, honey, maple syrup Complex carbs have long chains of sugar molecules. It takes more time for the body to break down these chains into glucose to use for energy. Therefore, complex carbs give us a steady release of energy over a longer time period. Examples of foods with complex carbs are Whole grains: whole grain bread, whole grain pasta, brown rice, quinoa, millet, oats Starchy vegetables: Potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkins Legumes: green beans, soy beans, red beans, black beans, chickpeas, lentils, peanuts When choosing what to eat, we should eat more complex carbs because they give us sustained energy. Simple carbs taste good, but we will get hungry very fast afterwards. In terms of their healthiness and nutrients, we need to look if it is processed or natural. Processed vs. Natural Carbs Processed carbs (also called refined carbs) are carbs that have been striped of all the outer bran, fiber, and nutrients due to factory processing. Examples include white flour, white rice, white sugar, and breakfast cereals. You might be wondering why people would remove all those nutritious parts. One reason is because it makes cooking them easier and faster. But that’s not necessarily a good thing, because as we talked about earlier, complex carbs keep us full and provide us with energy for a longer time period. The main reason is because of profit. Processed carbs are addictive. They taste good and they give the brain a quick “high” that makes the brain crave more of it in the future. Have you ever felt stressed or sad and instinctively felt like reaching for a sweet snack? That’s proof of processed carbs’ addictiveness. Natural carbs are carbs that have not been processed. Examples include whole grains, fruit, and vegetables. Natural carbs are healthy. Many people mistakenly label fruit as unhealthy because it has simple sugars. Although fruit does have simple sugars, its sugars are not processed, which means those natural sugars are bonded to lots of vitamins and minerals inside the fruit. In other words, if you crave something sweet, eating fruits is a great and healthy choice. Switching to Healthy Carbs Now that we know about four types of carbs, it’s clear that complex and natural carbs are healthy. Here are some simple things we can do in our diet to switch to healthy carbs. 2. Fats Fat is necessary to support cell growth, protect organs, keep our body warm, and produce important hormones. Fat is needed for a healthy body because our cells have fat. But too much fat, especially unhealthy fat, can lead to obesity and even disease. There are two main types of fats: saturated and unsaturated. Saturated vs. Unsaturated Fats Saturated fats tend to be solid at room temperature, such as the fat found in meat, butter, and cheese. Many sugary snacks are also high in saturated fat, such as cakes, pastries, and chocolate. They are called saturated fats because they are saturated with hydrogen molecules. Unsaturated fats tend to be liquid at room temperature but not always. Examples include plant oil, nuts, seeds, and avocado. They are called unsaturated fats because the hydrogen molecules are broken up, so there’s more space between the molecules. Generally speaking, saturated fats are unhealthy, while unsaturated fats in moderate amounts are healthy. Keep in mind that saturated fats are often found in processed foods with little nutritional value, while unsaturated fats are found in natural foods dense in nutrients. According to a Harvard Health article, eating a lot of saturated fats will increase bad cholesterol in the blood, and replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats is a great way to lower the risk of heart disease. Trans Fats There’s a third type of fat called trans fats. Trans fat was invented by food companies when they took vegetable oil and chemically altered it to stay solid at room temperature, which makes them last longer. It was for the purpose of profit, and now it is common knowledge that these trans fats are seriously unhealthy. Trans fats are found in many processed foods, and the US government is starting to ban them. According to a Healthline article, trans fats significantly increase the risk of heart disease. It also increases inflammation in the body, which can lead to many chronic diseases such as diabetes and arthritis. To avoid trans fat, we need to read food labels carefully and not eat foods with anything that says “partially hydrogenated.” Restaurants also often cook with oils that have trans fat. Examples of foods that are likely to have trans fat are Some vegetable oils and margarines: Check the label Fried foods: fried chicken, fried fish, French fries, hamburgers Bakery products: muffins, cakes, donuts, pastries, pies Other junk foods: Potato chips, pizza When it comes to oil, healthy options include extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil. If you see cheap vegetable oil, you should check the label to see if it says anything about “partially hydrogenated”. That would indicate trans fat. Many processed foods and even restaurants use oils with trans fat because it is cheaper. Therefore, the easiest way to avoid trans fat is to avoid processed foods and junk foods. Switching to Healthy Fats Now that we know about three types of fats, it’s clear that natural unsaturated fats in moderate amounts are healthy, while trans fat and most saturated fats are not. Therefore, people should limit meat, dairy, and cheese because they are high in saturated fats. People should also avoid processed food, fried foods, and junk foods because they are high in trans fat. People should get healthy fat from foods like plant oils, nuts, seeds, and avocados. 3. Proteins Proteins give us amino acids, which are the building blocks for muscle. When our body digests protein, it breaks it down into amino acids, which the body then uses to make proteins for itself. If our diet lacks carbs, then our body is actually able to convert protein in our body into carbs. That’s why when people don’t eat for many days, they start losing muscle. Proteins are found in both animals and plants. Animal based proteins include chicken, beef, pork, fish, eggs, and dairy. Plant-based proteins include tofu, whole grains, nuts, seeds, lentils, chickpeas, soy beans, and other beans. There are also plant-based proteins that have a very similar texture to meat, such as seitan and tempeh. Animal protein has become extremely common in modern societies and modern diet. According to a Harvard Health article, if people eat too much animal protein, they have a higher risk of diseases like kidney stones, heart disease, and colon cancer. However, a diet high in plant-based proteins may not have such risks. Balancing the Macronutrients By now, you’re probably wondering, “How much carbs, fats, and proteins should I eat every day?” First of all, there is no easy way to give you a clear answer. Secondly, don’t focus so much on nutrients. Remember, we don’t eat nutrients, we eat food. Healthy eating is not about hitting a particular number for our macronutrients, it’s about eating healthy foods in a healthy proportion and avoiding unhealthy foods. For a guide on how the proportion of macronutrients we should eat, we can check the Canada Food Guide and The Harvard School of Public Health. From the above pictures, we can see that around 50% of our foods should be vegetables and fruits. Around 25% should be whole grains, and another 25% should be protein and fats. Keep in mind that this is just a suggested guide, and different people may need different things. Proteins, Fats, and Illness According to the Medical Medium, our current food industries promote protein heavily due to profit. If food companies really had the health of people in mind, they would promote fruits, leafy greens, and vegetables more. They would tell us to choose foods based on their vitamin, mineral, and antioxidant value, not on protein. The Medical Medium also explains that the liver is responsible for turning amino acids into proteins for the body. Most of the proteins the liver makes are actually created from fruits, leafy greens, and vegetables, not from meat, eggs, tofu, fish, dairy, nuts, and seeds. We should not eat too much of the later mentioned foods because they are all high in fat, and a high fat diet is a big contributing factor to the development of chronic illness, and autoimmune diseases. How does too much fat lead to disease? It’s because fat stays in the blood and makes it thick, which then makes it harder for our cells to get oxygen from the blood. The liver cleans out our blood, so when our blood is thick with fat, the liver can’t do its job properly, resulting in thick and dirty blood. It’s like when a garbage bin gets filled faster than it gets emptied. The garbage piles up in the body and makes us sick. When you eat too much fat, it doesn’t matter if the fat comes from meat or plants, too much fat burdens the liver. The good news is that protein is actually found in all natural whole foods, so our options are endless. Raw spinach, potato skin, bananas, and tomatoes are just some examples. The Medical Medium urges us to eat more fruits, leafy greens, and vegetables, and if we eat animal protein, then limit it to one small serving per day. If you’re worried about getting hungry too fast, then you should eat more complex carbs for a slow, long-lasting release of energy. Vitamins and Minerals Whereas carbs, fats, and protein are macronutrients (macro = big), vitamins and minerals are micronutrients (micro = small) that our body needs for normal functioning. Most of them cannot be made by our bodies, so we need to get them from food or supplements. A diet rich in vegetables, fruits, and whole grains should provide enough vitamins and minerals. Many people wonder if they should take vitamin pills like multivitamins. Harvard Health asserts that most studies show no health benefit from taking multivitamins. The Medical Medium explains that multivitamin pills are usually a guess blend of various vitamins in forms that may or may not be beneficial. And they put so many vitamins in there that there's very little of each, and such a small amount won't really help our health. Vitamins from real food is much better and more easily absorbed into the body. Here is some basic information about common vitamins and minerals from Harvard Health. *Regarding vitamin B12, the Medical Medium explains in this article that the best form of bioavailable B12 that our body can actually use is from unwashed or lightly-washed produced freshly picked from a garden. Examples include tomatoes, kale, herbs, sprouts, and microgreens. To re-emphasize, this is very basic information, and the role that vitamins and minerals play is very complicated. Personally, I check with Medical Medium information when it comes to health and nutrition. According to his books, there are many types of the same vitamin and mineral. For example, real whole foods have bioavailable versions of vitamins and minerals that are easily digested into the body, whereas the vitamins in a pill are not as easily absorbed by the body. Another example: The copper in an apricot is very different from the copper in copper pipes. The copper from copper pipes is toxic to the body, whereas copper from an apricot can help remove the toxic copper from copper pipes. Conclusion When it comes to nutrition, the three main categories are carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. We should eat natural over processed carbs, and eat more complex than simple carbs. For fats, we should avoid saturated and trans fat, and focus on getting a small amount of healthy unsaturated fats. For proteins, it’s important to get some but not too much since proteins are usually accompanied by fat in food. To balance our macronutrient intake, experts recommend our plate should be 50% fruits and vegetables, 25% whole grains, and 25% protein and fat. For vitamins and minerals, people will be fine as long they eat a well diversified diet rich in fruits and vegetables. Multivitamin pills, despite all their advertising, don’t actually help with people’s health. It’s best to get vitamins and minerals from real food.

When it comes to healthy eating, there’s a lot of different research and advice out there. This article will go over the basics. There are lots of food that taste great but are horrible for our health. Unfortunately, these foods are extremely common, and people think it's normal to eat them. This article will point out which foods to avoid, which foods to be careful about, and then the healthy foods that we can love, and they will also love us back. Image Source: Unsplash Part 1: Foods to Avoid While health experts might disagree on what foods to eat for health, pretty much all health experts agree on which foods to avoid, which are junk food and processed foods. Most of eating healthy is actually avoiding unhealthy food. In our current society, unhealthy food is everywhere. Unhealthy food is easier to access than healthy food. Why? Because unhealthy food is addictive, and businesses can make lots of profit on unhealthy food. No one knew how harmful these foods are in the long-term, so no one banned these foods. Chronic illness and mental illness are both higher than ever before in history, and our unhealthy food system is a major reason. 1: Junk Food Almost everyone knows junk food (e.g., burgers, fried food, ice cream etc.) is unhealthy. But people still eat them because the taste is addictive and they don’t feel anything bad one day after. But if they keep eating that kind of food, over many years, they will get serious health problems. Image Source 2: Processed Food Pretty much every doctor and health professional agree that packaged and processed foods are the first foods to cut out. These are any foods that are processed in a factory. They usually come in a box or bag, such as cookies, chips, ice cream, chocolate, canned food, frozen dinners, etc. Image Source The reason these foods are unhealthy is because the companies add a ton of artificial sugar or salt or other flavoring to make it taste addictive. They also add a lot of preservatives so that the food can stay “fresh” for years. Think about that…if the food can stay fresh for years because of the preservatives, just think what those preservatives will do to your body! 3: Restaurant Food (especially if the price is low) Restaurants are businesses, and most of them nowadays care about profit and not the health of their customers. They use cheap, unhealthy oil in their cooking. They add lots of flavoring like salt and MSG to make the meal taste better, but that’s very bad for the customer’s health. Part 2: Foods to be Careful About 1: Non-Organic Meat Meat is not the same as 200 years ago. In our modern society, meat comes from factory farmed animals. These animals are injected with growth hormones to make them extra big and grow really fast. They live in extremely crowded spaces with no hygiene. They barely have breathing space. They live extremely stressful and short lives, so their body is full of hormones related to fear, stress, and anger. They are also sprayed with lots of chemical pesticides to kill insects that carry disease. Moreover, the food that they eat is sprayed with up to 20 times more pesticides than what is allowed for human consumption. When we eat meat from the grocery store or a restaurant, we are also eating all those dangerous chemicals and unhealthy hormones. In the short term, that creates stress and inflammation in the body. Compounded over time, that leads to disease. 2: Non-Organic Produce (Fruits and Vegetables) Even produce is not the same as before. They have been genetically modified to be bigger, prettier, and resist bugs. Their taste is also much more bland as a result. Fruits and vegetables are grown in sick soil that’s filled with chemical fertilizers. These fertilizers are like the growth hormones injected into animals: they make the plants grow faster and bigger, but it’s not natural. The chemicals in the fertilizers hurt the soil, which then hurts the plants, which then hurts the people who eat them. The farmers also spray the fruits and vegetables with A LOT of pesticides. They use so much that they have to wear full-body suits with masks because breathing in those pesticides is harmful. And farms will have a “Do not enter” sign because it’s dangerous to breath all those pesticides. Image Source When we eat fruits and vegetables, it’s very important to wash them thoroughly because we can’t see or feel the pesticides on the produce, and eating it is very harmful. 3: Common Allergens There is a diet called the Elimination Diet for people who have conditions like skin rashes, headaches, tiredness, stomach pain, or even mental illness. If you have any such symptoms, you can experiment with removing these foods for a period of time (usually 2-3 weeks), then reintroduce the foods one by one and see if the symptoms come back. Common allergens include soy, nuts, gluten, corn, dairy, MSG, artificial flavors, food coloring, and preservatives. The Medical Medium gives a similar list of foods to avoid: Image Source Here is a quick video of Dr. Daniel Amen explaining how he used the elimination diet to heal one of his patients from depression and suicidal thoughts: Video Source Part 3: Healthy Food Now that we’ve looked at some unhealthy foods, let’s talk about the healthy ones. 1: Organic and Free-Range When you buy fruits and vegetables, try to get organic if your budget allows it. For animal products, look for free-range, which means it’s not factory farmed. It’s more expensive, but it’s much healthier for you and for the Earth. Organic food also tastes so much better. You will enjoy the taste of the actual food and not want the taste of sugar, salt, or artificial flavors. For example, I compared the taste of store tomatoes with organic tomatoes from my garden. The store tomatoes look nice and big, but have almost no taste. My garden tomatoes have 100 times more flavor than the store tomatoes. That’s the difference between organic and non-organic. 2: Home Made Food Instead of eating fast food, packaged food, and restaurant food, try to eat home-cooked food with fresh ingredients. Why? Because you know exactly what went into your meal. You know there’s no artificial flavorings or preservatives. Cooking can be very easy and simple. Just cut up a bunch of different colored vegetables and stir fry them in pan. Add a bit of salt for flavoring, and you have a great tasting meal. Now, for many people, that meal might taste bland, and that’s because their tongue is so used to the excessive artificial flavors from fast food, packaged foods, and restaurant food. But if you stop eating those unhealthy foods for some time, your tongue will be able to taste vegetables again. And if you use organic ingredients, the taste will be very rich. 3: The Holy Four In his book, Life Changing Foods, the Medical Medium explains four food groups that have healing powers for the body: fruits, vegetables, herbs, and wild foods. Fruits fight cancer, vegetables clean the body, herbs build the immune system, and wild foods help us adapt to stress. Here are just a few examples: Fruits: Apples, bananas, berries, grapes, lemons, mangoes, melons, oranges, papaya, pears Vegetables: Asparagus, celery, broccoli, leafy greens (spinach, lettuce), potatoes, onions, cucumbers, sweet potatoes Herbs: Garlic, ginger, turmeric, cilantro, licorice root Wild Foods: Aloe vera, seaweed, mushrooms, coconut, raw wildflower honey, wild blueberries It would take far too long to explain each food in detail, but he has a whole book on the healing benefits of over 50 foods in his book. What about drinks? It’s probably not surprising to you that we should avoid processed drinks made in a factory, such as sodas and juices. These drinks have a lot of sugar, artificial flavors, and preservatives added to them. The easiest way to be healthy with our drinks is to drink water. If you want, you can also drink natural fruit juices without added ingredients. You can even drink the juice of certain vegetables such as celery, which has tremendous health benefits. Conclusion Most of healthy eating is actually avoiding unhealthy food, which are extremely common in our current profit-driven society. We should avoid especially processed foods and cheap restaurant foods because they are made to taste really good but are very harmful for our health. We also need to be careful with non-organic food. Finally, we should try to add organic and home food foods into our diet, especially fruits, vegetables, herbs, and wild foods.

Did you know that around 40% of our daily actions are actually habits? Despite habits being such a big part of our lives, many of us don't actually spend much effort to optimize them. But we should. The importance of habits cannot be understated. F.M. Alexander said, "People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures." James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, says, “The quality of our lives depends on the quality of our habits.” Photo by Prophsee Journals on Unsplash Can you think of a healthy habit you want to start? Or perhaps a bad habit you want to break? Have you tried changing your habits before but it's just too hard? No worries, this article will teach you what you need to know to feel empowered to optimize your habits. Here is a clickable table of contents to help you navigate this article: Part 1: How to Build a New Habit 1.1 Make it convenient so it's not a hassle 1.2 At the beginning, make it quick and easy so you can't say no 1.3 After a while, make it a little bit challenging so it's not boring 1.4 Have a memorable cue and use pairing 1.5 Savor the good feeling 1.6 Get a streak going 1.7 Get accountability 1.8 Optimize your environment Part 2: How to Break a Bad Habit Step 1: Acknowledge that the bad habit served you well at one point Step 2: Understand your motivation and move up the motivation ladder Step 3: Know every single trigger Step 4: Remove the triggers that you can Step 5: Create if-then rules for the triggers you cannot remove Step 6: Have someone you can call if you're about to fail Step 7: Replace lower tastes with higher tastes Part 3: Other Tips for Habit Change 3.1 Clean Slate 3.2 Lightning Bolts 3.3 Clarity 3.4 Safeguards 3.5 Abstainer vs. Moderator 3.6 The Four Tendencies Conclusion Part 1: How to Build a New Habit First, let's talk about adding a new habit to your life. If you can't think of any new habits you want to add to your life, consider this list of common new years resolutions that people have: Start exercising Start eating more vegetables and fruits Start meditating Start reading Start saving money Start spending more time with loved ones Note that this list is goals, not habits. To turn any of these goals into habits, we need to add a frequency and time duration to each. For example, we can say "exercise for 10 minutes every day." Alright, hopefully you have a habit in mind that you want to build. That thought is a seed. We need to give that seed the proper nurture and care for it to grow and thrive. Image Source If you want a habit to stick, there are 8 important things to take care of: Make it convenient so it's not a hassle At the beginning, make it quick so you can't say no After a while, make it just a little bit challenging so it's not boring Have a memorable cue and use pairing Savor the good feeling Get a streak going Get accountability Optimize your environment 1.1 Make it convenient so it's not a hassle In our modern society, most people live busy lives, and it's hard to find time to start a new habit. Habit experts all agree that convenience is one of the most important things to starting a new habit. Let's use exercise as an example. Even though people sign up for a gym membership, the obstacle of having to change into gym clothes, going to the gym, then showering afterwards...it's just too inconvenient! If we want to start the habit of exercising, we're much better off doing some exercises at home, doing some simple exercises that don't require changing into gym clothes. I heard an example of someone putting a yoga mat right next to her bed so that when she wakes up in the morning, she literally rolls out of bed onto her yoga mat and starts doing some yoga. It's hard to get more convenient than that! Another example is eating more fruits and vegetables. Some people feel like washing, cutting, and cooking fruits and vegetables is a big hassle. If that's the case, buying pre-cut fruits and vegetables that can be eaten right away is a great solution. Furthermore, keep these fruit and vegetable platters on the kitchen counter in clear sight rather than at the back of the fridge. That way, it's convenient for you to eat some whenever you want, and you don't need to go through the hassle of reaching into the back of your fridge to get them. If you want to start saving money, you could get your bank to set up automatic transfers from your checking account to your savings account, or set up monthly deposits into a certain investment. 1.2 At the beginning, make it quick and easy so you can't say no One of the big reasons we don't stick to a habit is because we start off too big. We might have high motivation at the beginning, but over the long-term, our motivation will vary due to certain days being more tiring than others. That' why new habits need to start small. Habit researcher BJ Fogg literally named his book Tiny Habits, saying, "The essence of Tiny Habits is to take a behavior you want, make it tiny, find where it fits naturally in your life, and nurture its growth." Image Source For example, when I wanted to start exercising, I felt like going to the gym for 3 hours a week was too time consuming. Later, I found this 5-minute kitchen workout from Dr. Rangan Chaterjee, and then I told myself to exercise for just 5 minutes a day. No matter how busy I was, I can't really say I'm so busy that I don't have 5 minutes. That helped me get the habit started. If you want to start reading (or some other habit), you could start by just reading for 5-10 minutes a day, or whatever you feel is so small that you can't say no to. 1.3 After a while, make it a little bit challenging so it's not boring In order for us to enjoy something and to feel like we're improving, we need to set the difficulty level to be just a little bit challenging. If it's too easy, we'll get bored. If it's too hard, we'll get discouraged. Image Source For example, I started exercising by doing at least 10 push-ups every day. Over the period of a month, I added more and more push-ups, until I felt like I was doing too many push-ups and it was getting boring. Then I decided to try one-handed push-ups. It was an exciting and fun challenge that took me another month to get good at. But if I had started with one-handed push ups, I probably would have quit after day 2. For eating more fruits and vegetables, don't feel like you need to go from eating 10% fruits and vegetables to 50% fruits and vegetables immediately. Big changes are often not sustainable because they just feel like too much of a shock. Make small, gradual, and natural increases. The exception to his rule would be if something drastic happened in your life that calls for a drastic change, such as finding out you got some major disease. But for most of us, small incremental changes are best. 1.4 Have a memorable cue and use pairing In order to remember to do your new habit, you need to have a cue, which is something that reminds you to do the habit. The more memorable the cue, the more likely you'll remember to do your habit. For example, I put a dumbbell on my bathroom floor to remind myself to do some curls and push-ups before leaving the bathroom. I also put some fruit right on the kitchen counter so that whenever I pass by, I see the fruit and remember that I need to eat one today. To start my journaling habit, I put a journal and pen right on my bedside table. Pairing means tagging the new habit you want onto an already existing habit that you already have. You could do that new habit before, during, or right after the existing habit. For example, I started exercising by telling myself I need to do 5 minutes of exercise before I eat lunch. I also started meditating by telling myself to do 20 minutes of meditation right after waking up. I heard an example of someone counting gratitudes while waiting for the kettle to boil in the morning to prepare her morning tea/coffee. Dr. Chaterjee and his wife agreed that in the morning, from when they're making tea to until they finished drinking their tea, they would chat with each other and not be distracted by anything else. It only takes about 5 minutes or so, but he said it's had a huge positive impact on their relationship. 1.5 Savor the good feeling It's very important that habits help us feel good afterwards, and that we savor that good feeling. The memory of that good feeling is what will make the habit stronger and long lasting. When we start a new habit, we should consciously look for positive changes. For example, I noticed that after a week of doing push ups, I was able to go from 20 to 30. I savored the good feeling of making progress. After a week of doing one-handed push ups, I was able to go from 0 to 3. Again, I savored that good feeling. After eating more variety of fruits and vegetables for a while, I noticed my skin got better. By putting in effort to notice these changes and then savoring the good feeling, that got me excited and naturally wanted to keep going. 1.6 Get a streak going The feeling of making progress is very satisfying, and it also builds our self-confidence as someone who is able to persevere. You can make a habit chart, or journal about your habit completion. Image Source For example, I spent a few minutes a night journaling about my day every night, and I simply added "exercised" into my journal. When I noticed a big improvement in my ability, I'd also journal it down to savor the feeling. You may have heard the common saying that it takes 21 days to form a new habit. But research from University College London shows it actually takes on average 66 days for a new behavior to become automatic. While two months may seem like a long time, there's some good news too. Firstly, it just re-emphasizes the need to make a new habit really convenient and quick. Second, if you haven't found yourself doing the new habit automatically after 21 days yet, you don't have to worry. It's supposed to take longer. Third, the researchers found that making a mistake once or twice doesn’t impact the long-term habit formation as long as we get back on track quickly. In other words, it's okay if you miss a day, just reflect on why you missed that day and then get back on track the next day. 1.7 Get accountability Accountability means having someone we report our progress to or someone who does the habit with us. For example, you might get a personal trainer who's waiting for you at the gym. Or you might join a book club that discusses a chapter every week. Since humans naturally are social creatures who care about the opinions of other humans, accountability can help us stick to a habit. Personally, I have a meditation buddy with whom I chat with once a week about how our meditation sessions went over the past week. Accountability doesn't even have to be human. A habit streak tracker is a form of accountability too. I remember doing a 21-day no complaint challenge, and from the beginning I knew I wanted to write a blog article on it to share with my friends, so that was a form of accountability too. 1.8 Optimize your environment Humans are heavily influenced by our environment. In this context, environment includes our physical and mental environment, as well as the people we surround ourselves with. Let's take the example of eating healthier. For the physical environment, we should eliminate junk food from the house and replace them with healthy snacks. That way, treating ourselves to junk snacks isn't even an option anymore. For our mental environment, we should eliminate reading about delicious junk food or unfollow people on social media who post delicious junk food. Instead, we can follow people who post delicious healthy food. For the people we surround ourselves with, we should avoid people (to the degree that we can) who eat unhealthily and spend more time with people who eat healthily. In fact, research shows that if your close friend becomes obese, the likelihood of you becoming obese increases by 57%! Surrounding ourselves with helpful people and environment cannot be overlooked. Part 2: How to Break a Bad Habit Now that we've talked about building a new habit, the next topic that we probably all need help with is breaking existing bad habits. If you can't think of a bad habit you want to break, you can consider these common new year's resolutions: Eat less junk food Drink less alcohol Watch less TV Quit smoking Play less video games Where as good habits are like flowers that we want in our garden, bad habits are like weeds that we don't want. Furthermore, just like how weeds tend to be stubborn and persistent in their growth, bad habits tend to be deeply ingrained because we've been doing them for so long. Therefore, it's important to treat ourselves with patience and kindness when facing a bad habit. Image Source Jay Shetty, author of Think Like a Monk, gives an excellent 7-step process for changing bad habits: Acknowledge that the bad habit served you well at one point Understand your motivation and move up the motivation ladder Know every single trigger Remove the triggers that you can Create if-then rules for the triggers you cannot remove Have someone you can call if you're about to fail Replace lower tastes with higher tastes Let's go through these steps with examples. Step 1: Acknowledge that the bad habit served you well at one point When we realize a bad habit is hurting us, we might try to push it away with a lot of force. But that pushing away is still a form of attachment; our hand is still on it. Hating something and liking something are both a form of attachment; they are two sides of the same coin. If we can acknowledge that this behavior was useful for me at one point in the past, but it no longer serves me now, then we can gently open our palms and let it go. For example, I used to play a lot of video games. I used to feel bad about wasting so much time in the past on video games. But that negative emotion is still a form of attachment, and attachment makes us unhappy and stressed. When I am stressed, I am more likely to do bad habits like playing video games. After hearing Jay's advice, I realized that video games served me well when I had a lot of free time and didn't know any better ways to use my time. Now that I know better, I should let go of that past habit just like letting go of my old clothes that are too small for me now. It is a natural and relieving feeling, not a forceful feeling. Step 2: Understand your motivation and move up the motivation ladder If we want to stay motivated to changing a habit in the long-term, we must do it out of our own free choice. We must not feel like we are forcing ourselves to do something we don't want to do. If we feel forced, then we will be unhappy and eventually stop trying. For example, let's say you want to replace junk food with healthy food. You don't need to think of it as "I need to stop eating junk food," or "I can't eat junk food anymore." That just feels like you're restricting yourself, which will make you feel unhappy, and then when you're unhappy you'll eat more junk food. Instead, frame it as, "I choose to live a healthy lifestyle so that I can set a good example for my family and grow old to see my grandchildren and not be a sick burden to my family." In his book Think Like a Monk, Jay explains that we are motivated by four motivations: fear, desire, duty, and love. Fear is the lowest, love is the highest. It is hard for us to jump from fear to love, so we need to move up the ladder one step at a time. Jay gives the example of himself trying to eat healthier. He loves fried foods. But he learned how harmful fried foods are. That gave him fear. Then he desired visible results, so that motivated him to keep eating healthier. Then he thought about his duty to his family to be healthy. Then he thought about how much he loves his family and his body and how eating healthy is a way to show them love. Step 3: Know every single trigger. Jay gives the analogy of playing Mario. The first few times you play, you lose because you get caught by traps. As you keep trying, you take note of every single trap along the way to your goal. Then you can finally succeed by avoiding or dodging all the traps. The same is true for our bad habits. We all have triggers for our bad habits. We need to write down every single one. For example, Jay realized a common trigger for him was getting hungry at the studio. Then he would just eat whatever unhealthy snacks were available. For me, I often played video games as a way to take a break after doing some work. A very common trigger for bad habits is stress. I remember in the past, whenever I got really stressed, I just wanted to go play some video games for a while. It was a way for me to distract myself temporarily and forget about my worries. The problem is, afterwards, I still have to deal with my problems, and the procrastination often made them worse. Therefore, if we have bad habits, it's highly possible that there's some major stress in our lives that we're suppressing, and we need to improve our stress management abilities and respond in healthy ways. Step 4: Remove the triggers that you can For example, Jay and his wife changed the snack drawer in their home to only have healthy snacks. That way whenever he wanted a snack, it was impossible for him to eat anything unhealthy. Jay also gave the example of a friend who was trying to quit pornography, and that person blocked all the websites on his computer and phone, making it nearly impossible for him to commit the bad behavior. Step 5: Create if-then rules for triggers that you cannot remove For example, Jay decided to carry about a packet of dried dates and nuts. If he gets hungry at the studio, he would eat that healthy snack instead of anything unhealthy available at the studio. Step 6: Have someone you can call if you're about to fail This one is really interesting and useful. Essentially, calling that person helps to break our habit cycle. They can intervene and remind us of our goal and why we want to quit that bad habit. The fact that they gave us a pep talk will also motivate us to not disappoint them. Step 7: Replace lower tastes with higher tastes I really like the phrasing of this. If we simply try to remove a bad habit but don't replace it with something better, we probably won't succeed. But when we see our bad habit as a low taste, and we see a healthier habit as a higher taste, we will naturally prefer the higher taste. In Atomic Habits, James Clear explains that habits are actually a four-step loop: cue, craving, response, reward. Image Source For example, I used to crave sweets like candy and chocolate. My triggers (cues) include getting hungry between meals or getting stressed. My old response was to eat unhealthy snacks (lower taste). The reward is I feel pleasure and not hungry anymore. Then I change the response from unhealthy snacks to healthy snacks like sweet dates and nuts. At first, these health snacks didn't give me the same pleasure high (reward) as unhealthy snacks, but over time, I've come to prefer and enjoy the healthier snacks more. I became accustomed to the higher tastes and don't have any desire to return to the lower tastes. To give another example, playing video games is a low taste, and the reward is stress relief. Reading literature is a higher taste. Although at first it doesn't seem as enjoyable as playing video games, after I got accustomed to the new taste, I like it a lot better than the lower taste. Now, I would rather read and write over play video games. I have learned to seek meaningful joy (higher taste) over mindless entertainment (lower taste). Now that we've learned about starting new habits and replacing old ones, let's talk about some other useful tips for habit change. Part 3: Other Tips for Habit Change In her book Better Than Before, Gretchen Rubin explains 21 different tips for habit change. Many of them have been covered by this article already, but here are some of her other tips that I found to be highly useful: Clean Slate Lightning Bolts Clarity Safeguards Abstainer vs. Moderator The Four Tendencies 3.1 Clean Slate When we get a fresh start in life, it's often easier to let go of past habits and start new ones. Examples include a new year, a new school year, a new season, a birthday, a new job, a new relationship, or a new home. Take advantage of these new beginnings to start healthy habits and replace unhealthy ones. 3.2 Lightning Bolts Lightning bolts refer to when we encounter some new idea or information that suddenly makes it easy to change a habit. It's rare, but if it does happen, we should use it to our advantage. For example, some people become vegan overnight after watching a certain documentary that really moved them (again, rare, but possible). In one of the Doctor in The House episodes, the family was able to suddenly switch their entire diet from junk food into healthier food because they found out the mother got Type 2 Diabetes, which she had been fearing for a long time. Personally, when I was sick with a skin illness, and then I found out dairy and eggs is likely related to it, it was easy for me to give them up even though I really enjoyed dairy and eggs prior. 3.3 Clarity The more clear we are on why we want to do a habit, the more motivated we will be to do. For example, if you just say you want to lose weight, that is not very clear. But if you say you want to lose 10 pounds in 2 months because you want to feel more energetic throughout the day and fit in some old clothes, then your motivation is much more clear. We also need to be clear about what exactly we should do. For example, don't just say I will exercise more. Be specific about what exercise, when, and how often. For example, I heard B.J. Fogg, author of Tiny Habits, say that he created a habit where after he uses the toilet, he would do at least 2 push-ups. If he felt like doing more, he could, but he would do at least 2. That was extremely clear and specific. 3.4 Safeguards Safeguards are about anticipating what might make you go off track and then creating an IF-THEN rule to prevent yourself from going off-track. We talked about this in part 2 about changing bad habits, but this point is so important that it deserved to be stated again. For example, let's say you want to avoid junk food and eat healthier. You need to anticipate what might make you eat junk food. What if while hanging out with your friends, you pass by a café with lots of sweet snacks and drinks? You can create an IF-THEN rule "IF I end up at a café, THEN I will order a green tea instead of a sugary drink, and I will order their fruit platter instead of their sugary baked goods." Then if the situation actually arises, you won't be caught off guard. Another example, "IF I am so busy that I forgot to do my 5 minutes of exercise today, THEN I will do 10 push-ups when I go write in my journal before bed." Fortunately, this never happened to me, which shows that I did a good job setting up the habit. 3.5 Abstainer versus Moderator When facing strong temptations, it's easier for Abstainers to just abstain all together; it's very hard for them to indulge in moderation. On the other hand, Moderators do better if they can indulge just a little bit; it's very hard for them to abstain completely. For example, when it comes to eating less junk snacks, an Abstainer would do better to just not eat any chocolate at all. Ever. If they eat a little piece of chocolate, they end up eating the entire chocolate bar. On the other hand, Moderators do better if they can eat a little piece of chocolate once in a while; they won't feel the need to eat the whole bar. It's useful to know which one you are. 3.6 The Four Tendencies In her book, The Four Tendencies, Gretchen Rubin explains that there are four personalities according to how people respond to outer expectations (from other people) and inner expectations (from yourself). Upholders — readily meet outer and inner expectations Questioners — readily meet inner expectations only Obligers — readily meet outer expectations only Rebels — resists outer and inner expectations Each personality forms habits differently. Upholders form habits quite easily. Questioners must be very clear on why they want to do the habit, otherwise it won't stick. Obligers must have outer accountability, such as someone they're reporting to, someone to do the habit with, or someone they're setting a role model for. If it's only themselves that want to do something, they most likely won't succeed. Rebels hate the idea of self-restriction, so the habit needs to align with their authentic self-expression. For example, rather than exercising because they "should" exercise, they would do it because it aligns with their identity of who they want to be. The Four Tendencies is one of the most useful things I've ever learned, and I summarize it in depth in this article. Conclusion “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” — Will Durant Photo by Samuel Scrimshaw on Unsplash In modern society, we are all busy people with limited time and energy, working hard to improve our lives. When it comes to where we can spend our energy, optimizing our habits is one of those few things that could really make a drastic difference in our life. Most of us probably tried changing our habits in the past, but it didn't stick because we didn't do it well. Hopefully, from this article, you now realize why your past efforts didn't work and what you can do differently this time to improve your habits!

The Four Methods of Guidance is basically how the Buddha taught people to nurture relationships and build new ones. Most of my friends know I'm a big advocate of The Five Languages by Gary Chapman, and I was shocked to discover that the Four Methods of Guidance is basically the same thing as the Five Love Languages, minus the fifth language of touch. The Five Love Languages came out in 1992, but The Four Methods of Guidance has been been passed down for 2500 years! I'm always excited to find when ancient wisdom totally matches with modern wisdom. The Four Methods of Guidance are Giving, Loving Words, Beneficial Action, and Activities in Common. Each one corresponds with one of the Five Love Languages: Giving — Gifts Loving Words — Words of Affirmation Beneficial Action — Acts of Service Activities in Common — Quality Time Image Source: Yours Truly Image Source Giving is similar to Gifts in the Five Love Languages. But aside from just material things, Giving can also mean giving our time, energy, positive emotion, and useful knowledge. Loving Words encompasses Words of Affirmation in the Five Love Languages, such as appreciation and encouragement, but it also just means anything said with a loving intention, including admonishment. Beneficial Action is basically the same as Acts of Service in the Five Love Languages; it's about doing things to help them. Activities in Common is similar to Quality Time in the Five Love Languages; it's about joining them in the activities they like to do. That way they feel that you have commonalities. What I like about the Four Methods of Guidance is that it's broadly focused on all relationships, while the Five Love Languages sound like it's something more for romantic relationships (especially since touch is one of the languages). My Experience As a teacher, it's important for me to build good relationships with my students. To tell people I use The Five Love Languages to do that might give the wrong impression, so now I can say I use the Four Methods of Guidance. For Giving, probably the most important one is positive emotion. Emotions are contagious, so if I'm calm and happy, my students will be calm and happy, and then they will naturally enjoy my class. For Loving Words, I have to give both encouragement and admonishment, though I try to give a lot more encouragement compared to admonishment. For Beneficial Action, I take initiative to check in on my students and provide tailored guidance. For Activities in Common, I learn about their interests and see where we have commonalities to chat about. From personal experience, I can affirm that these Four Methods of Guidance are really effective at building relationships!

"The Way of Confucius is but Devotion and Consideration." —Analects of Confucius (Original Text: 夫子之道，忠恕而已矣) Devotion means to do your utmost, to be strict with yourself. Consideration means to be empathetic, tolerant, and forgiving towards others. Image Source We can apply this teaching to interpersonal relationships. We’ve probably all asked ourselves, “Why won’t the other person listen to me?” Ego says, Ugh what’s wrong with them? If they don’t know what’s good for them, that’s their problem. They better listen to me or else… Devotion asks, Have I done my utmost? Have I set a good example? Do I walk my talk? Have I built trust with them? Have I given a lot in this relationship? Am I actually trying to help them, or am I just imposing my own will onto them? Have I done my audience analysis? Have I prepared my message and timing to make it easy for them to receive? Consideration asks, What in their background, childhood, and education made them like this? Do they actually find my efforts helpful? Or annoying? What do they need from me? In what way do they need it delivered? My Example: Why do my parents always misunderstand me? I remember a period in my past where I always felt misunderstood by my parents. Back then, I blamed them for jumping to conclusions and not making the effort to understand me. Now that I use devotion and consideration, I have much less conflict with them. Upon reflection, here's how I could have used devotion and consideration back then. Devotion: I was very extremely busy, and my parents told me to take better care of my health. I didn't, which means I violated their trust. Obviously then, they wouldn't trust my words. I also didn't contribute much to the family, so they felt like I didn't care about the family. I also didn't take initiative to communicate my situation, so of course they would end up guessing based on incomplete information. Consideration: Parents obviously care a lot about their children, so it’s natural for them to worry about me. If I were them and saw what I was doing and told what little I told them, I would probably be worried too. They need me to show them that I care about them and that I have good judgment. Hypothetical Example: Why won’t my employees / followers follow rules and instructions properly? Devotion: Perhaps it’s because I or other leaders do not follow the rules and instructions properly. Perhaps I haven’t built trust with them, so they don’t care. Perhaps it’s because they are confused and need me to teach them. Perhaps my messaging doesn’t resonate with them. Consideration: Are my rules and instructions actually helpful for them? Or do they feel like it’s an unnecessary burden? What mentality and habits did they come here with? How easy is it for me to change, let alone other people? What they need from me is to affirm their goodness and encourage them to improve, not for me to focus on their bad points. Conclusion Relationships are key in our interdependent society. Confucius lived a very joyful life because he followed the two principles of devotion and consideration in his relationships. If we can do the same, we will have much more joyous relationships too!

I'm a pretty introverted person who doesn't have many close friends, but I hope that I can be a good friend to those that I'm close with. Growing up, I always thought that people who share similar interests and hobbies make good friends because it's easy for you to talk and do stuff together. But now I realize there's a big hole in that logic. The purpose of friendship isn't to talk and do stuff together. That's just avoiding boredom. The purpose of friendship should be to support each other along the journey of life. Image Source: Unsplash Recently, I learned about the Buddha's standards for being a good friend from this talk by Venerable Jing Kong, and I find these standards to be highly logical and useful. The talk is in Chinese, so I'll translate it here. The Buddha gave five responsibilities that friends ought to fulfill: 1: Friends should advise each other to correct faults and bad habits. If we see a friend do something bad and we don't say anything, then we have not acted as a true friend. However, we must advise them with good etiquette. For example, we should advise them in private, not in front of others. We can advise them on the same fault up to three times, no more. Otherwise they may resent you. 2: If our friend encounters difficulty or illness, we ought to help in any way we can. For example, we can help them find a good doctor or fix unhealthy habits if they want to. 3: Friends should not gossip, expose private shame, or speak ill words of each other towards other people. If our friends have bad behavior, we can advise them privately, but we should not speak of their faults to others. 4: Friends should have mutual respect, keep consistent communication, and let go of any resentment. Remember each other's gratitude, not wrongdoings. Everyone makes mistakes, especially when younger and immature. They didn't know any better. We should often think of their gratitude and let go of any resentment. 5: If wealth levels differ, friends should help each other, not resent or slander each other. Friends with more wealth should help, not look down on, friends with less wealth when they are in need. Friends with less wealth should not resent or be jealous of friends with more wealth. Self-Reflection: Upon learning these five responsibilities, I realized I have quite some improvements to make, such as Advising friends on correcting bad habits: When I saw a friend started smoking, I didn't say anything. Not gossiping: I shouldn't talk about people's personal lives when they are not there. Keeping consistent communication: I've gone months without messaging my friends. Oops. I didn't know any better before, but thankfully now I know and can improve. Hopefully this information will help you create better friendships too!

I recently heard the saying, "You can either be right or you can be in a relationship." Upon Googling, I didn't find an attribution, but I did find another version that goes, "You can either be right or you can be happy." Both are very thought provoking! For a relationship to be healthy, we have to care more about the relationship than ourselves. Stated in mathematical terms, Healthy Relationship = Selflessness > Selfishness Our desire to be right is a sign of a strong ego, and the ego only cares about itself. Satisfying the ego may result in short-term pleasure but leads to long-term pain. For example, your partner may yield to your stubbornness a few times, but after a while, they might explode in rage or turn completely cold. So how can we overcome this bad habit? The best way is to care about the other person more than yourself. Their happiness is your happiness. Their frustration is your frustration. In an argument, you would naturally focus more on consoling their emotions and less on debating logic. It might be hard for us to make a 180 degree shift from always wanting to be right to suddenly being very emotionally caring, so a stepping stone is to contemplate the logic of being right. The fact is, everyone sees things differently, so even if I can't see things from their perspective right now, I can at least accept that they are seeing the situation from a different set of eyes and background, and their view is no less valid than my view. To give a concrete example, some people see a young woman in this picture, while others see an old woman: Image Source Both perspectives are valid. (In case you don't see it, the young woman's ear is the old woman's eye. The young woman's necklace is the old woman's mouth. The young woman's jaw is the old woman's nose.) Given that different perspectives are all valid, a motto I follow in relationships is "Harmony is always right." In other words, if I yield my perspective to harmony, then I am right. My Experience I have a bad habit of always wanting to be right, but I'm working hard on correcting it. For example, recently I went to buy some groceries. My mother told me to not buy too much because there's lots of stuff in the garden. When I came home, my mother said, "Why did you buy so much?!" To which I replied, "What do you mean? I didn't buy much at all. Plus it's mostly stuff that can last a long time in the fridge." That response showed that I instinctively valued my ego more than the other person's feelings. If I truly had the other person in mind, I would have said, "Oh I'm sorry for startling you. I didn't forget your instructions, but maybe I didn't understand what you mean by 'too much' so could you explain so that next time I won't make the same mistake?" This situation is analogous to the picture above. I see the groceries and think it's not much. She sees the groceries and thinks it's a lot. Both views are valid. The important thing is to value the other person's emotional wellbeing above my own ego. Conclusion The next time you feel the urge to be right, remember that both your perspectives are valid, and harmony is always right.

Healthy eating is a complex topic, and many types of diets have been created to help people be healthy. This article will talk about 6 major diet types Standard American diet Paleo diet Ketogenic diet Vegan diet Elimination diet Medical Medium diet The Standard American Diet is extremely unhealthy. Paleo and ketogenic diets were invented to reduce obesity and improve overall health. The vegan diet has been around for a long time, and it’s focused on overall health, as well as ethics and the environment. The elimination diet and Medical Medium diet are focused specifically for treating illness. Standard American Diet If someone in North America has not researched food and consciously tried to make healthy choices, then chances are, they are eating the Standard American Diet. This diet is full of Processed foods Sugar Salt Refined carbohydrates Saturated and trans fats Fast food and junk food Image Source These foods are addictive and have little nutritional value. Pretty much all health professionals agree that the Standard American Diet is horrible for our health. People who eat the Standard American Diet become at risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, osteoarthritis, digestion problems, and high blood pressure. These foods increase inflammation in the body, which is literally physical stress. The Standard American Diet brings with it the standard American diseases. For example, the American government forced Native American tribes to stop their hunter gather lifestyles by the 1890s. The government then gave them lots of processed foods. As a result, obesity and diabetes became a big problem for those tribes, whereas it had never been a problem before. Paleo Diet The paleo diet is based on foods similar to what humans probably ate during the Paleolithic era, which happened around 2.5 million to 10,000 years ago. This diet is full of Lean meats and fish Fruits and vegetables Nuts and seeds Image Source These are all foods that humans obtained through hunting and gathering. The paleo diet limits foods that became common when farming emerged about 10,000 years ago, such as dairy, grains, and legumes. The diet also emphasizes drinking plenty of water and being physically active every day. The rationale behind this diet is that humans have spent millions of years adapting to the hunter gather diet, and the human body has not genetically adapted to foods that came after farming. This mismatch is believed to be a contributing factor to the prevalence of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease today. Some studies have shown that the paleo diet may help people have a healthy weight and stay healthy, but there aren’t any long-term studies yet. Ketogenic Diet The ketogenic diet (keto diet) emphasizes high-fat foods and severely restricts carbohydrates. In fact, 60%-80% of your calories should be from fats on this diet. This diet is full of foods like nuts, seeds, and dairy, with smaller amounts of meats, eggs, and fish. Fruits and vegetables that are high in fiber and low in sugar, such as leafy greens and berries, are also allowed. Image Source This diet is used by many people to lose weight and to lose body fat. The rationale for this diet is that when the body doesn’t get carbohydrates, it will shift to use fats as the main energy source. Instead of using glucose, the body uses fatty acids to create energy. This process is called ketosis, hence the name ketogenic diet. However, it can a few days or even weeks for the body to get into ketosis. Furthermore, eating too much protein can also interfere with ketosis. According to a Harvard Health article, whether or not the keto diet works for weight loss in the long-term is still uncertain. The keto diet also has many risks, such as Nutrient deficiency due to lack of vegetables, fruits, and grains Liver problems due to too much fat Constipation due to lack of fiber Fuzzy thinking and mood swings due to lack of sugar; the brain functions on glucose Harvard Health advises trying the keto diet as an experiment because the diet is very strict and hard to do correctly, and it carries many risks. Vegan Diet Veganism is a lifestyle that excludes all animal products, such as meat, fish, eggs, dairy, honey leather, fur, and down (similar to feathers). Vegans eat a diet full of Fruits and vegetables Whole grains Nuts and seeds Legumes, beans, lentils Plant-based proteins such as tofu, tempeh, and seitan Plant-based milk such as soy milk, almond milk, and cashew milk Image Source Increasingly, more and more people are going vegan for ethical, environmental, and health reasons. From an ethical perspective, the way humans factory farm chicken, cows, pigs, and fish is completely inhumane. Any quick internet search will reveal the torture that these animals are put through. From an environmental perspective, factory farming is one of the biggest contributors to environmental pollution. These factories dump toxic waste into the soil, water, and air. From a health perspective, factory farmed meat is full of unhealthy hormones that have been injected into the animal to make them grow big and fat in an abnormally short time. When killed, these animals’ bodies are also full of stress hormones. When humans eat the meat, the also eat these harmful hormones. Vegetarianism is similar to veganism, but it is less strict. Vegetarians don’t eat meat and fish, but they do use animal related products, such as eggs, dairy, honey, leather, fur, and down. Vegetarianism is a great stepping stone to veganism for those who are trying to be more ethical, environmental, and healthy. According to Healthline, the vegan diet has many health benefits. First, it has proven to be very effective at helping people lose weight, even in comparison to a whole foods diet. Second, it helps regulate blood sugar, which reduces the risk of developing diabetes. Third it reduces bad cholesterol in the blood, which improves heart health. While causality is not certain, vegan diets are also linked to other benefits such as Lower cancer risk Less pain and stiffness in joints for arthritis patients Better kidney function Lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease According Harvard Health, “A mostly plant-based diet could prevent approximately 11 million deaths per year globally, and could sustainably produce enough food for the planet’s growing population without further damage to the environment.” Furthermore, it is appropriate for all ages, and a properly planned vegan and vegetarian diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may prevent certain diseases. They need to plan Protein: tofu, seitan, lentils, beans, nuts and seeds, plant milk Healthy fats: olive oil, nuts and seeds, avocadoes Calcium: tofu, Chinese cabbage, leafy greens, fortified plant milk Iodine: seaweed, sea salt Vitamin B12*: fortified plant milk or supplement *In his book, Liver Rescue, The Medical Medium explains that pretty much everyone is deficient in Vitamin B12, whether they are animal-based or plant-based. The reason is that our bodies can’t actually use the B12 from meat. Instead, the liver produces the B12 our body needs, and to do that, it needs elevated biotics. Elevated biotics come from organic, raw, unwashed (or lightly washed) produce like cucumbers and leafy greens straight from the garden. An important point to mention for the vegan diet is that there are still vegan junk food and vegan processed foods, such as potato chips, French fries, and white bread. To stay healthy, vegans need to avoid processed and junk foods and eat more nutrient rich foods. The Elimination Diet Unlike the previous diets, which tend to be focused on weight loss, the elimination diet is used to address any form of discomfort or even illness. It is a short-term diet that helps to identify foods that your body doesn’t tolerate well. There are two phases in the elimination diet: elimination and reintroduction. In the elimination phase, you remove all potentially harmful foods for around three weeks. Foods to eliminate include Nuts Soy Dairy Eggs Gluten (which is found in flour) Corn Pork Seafood Processed foods Artificial flavors and coloring Preservatives MSG After you’ve stopped eating all these foods for a few weeks, you should notice some improvement to your health or illness. Then add back foods 1 by 1. When you add back a food, give it 2 to 3 days and look for any changes in your body, such as Skin changes Joint pain Headaches Tiredness Bloating or stomach pain Depression Anxiety If you experience no changes when you introduce a food, you can assume that food is fine for you. Then move on to the next food. If you do find negative symptoms, then you know you have a sensitivity to that food, and you should avoid it. The Medical Medium Diet The Medical Medium diet is not a mainstream diet, but it is becoming increasingly popular because it heals sick people. This diet focuses on four food groups: fruits, vegetables, herbs, and wild foods. According to the Medical Medium, fruits fight cancer, vegetables clean the body, herbs build the immune system, and wild foods help us adapt to stress. Here are just a few examples: Fruits: Apples, bananas, berries, grapes, lemons, mangoes, melons, oranges, papaya, pears Vegetables: Asparagus, celery, broccoli, leafy greens (spinach, lettuce), potatoes, onions, cucumbers, sweet potatoes Herbs: Garlic, ginger, turmeric, cilantro, licorice root Wild Foods: Aloe vera, seaweed, mushrooms, coconut, raw wildflower honey, wild blueberries It would take far too long to explain each food in detail, but he has a whole book on the healing benefits of over 50 foods called Life Changing Foods. The Medical Medium diet also tells people to avoid troublemaker foods, which are eggs, dairy, gluten, soy, corn, and many more (see picture). The reason is because anyone who is sick with a chronic disease already has a weakened immune system and likely has a viral infection, and these foods are add stress to the body and/or feed viruses like EBV. Image Source The Medical Medium diet is actually lists many items on the elimination diet. The difference is that the Medical Medium explains why each food is harmful and which health conditions they apply to, which you can find out more about on his website or in his books. On the other hand, the elimination diet is trial and error, and you may not know why you have that food sensitivity. Healthy Diet Tips The goal of learning all these different diet types is to make healthy eating choices. We’ve already learned that we should avoid junk food, fast food, and packaged foods from the Standard American Diet. Instead, we should eat lots of natural and whole foods like vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. Here are four more tips for healthy eating: Tip 1: For produce (fruits and vegetables), look for organic Produce is not the same as before. They have been genetically modified to be bigger, prettier, and resist bugs. Their taste is also much more bland as a result. Fruits and vegetables are grown in sick soil that’s filled with chemical fertilizers. The chemicals in the fertilizers hurt the soil, which then hurts the plants, which then hurts the people who eat them. The farmers also spray the produce with A LOT of pesticides. They use so much that they have to wear full-body suits with masks because breathing in those pesticides is harmful. And farms will have a “Do not enter” sign because it’s dangerous to breath all those pesticides. When you buy fruits and vegetables, try to get organic if your budget allows it. It’s more expensive, but it’s much healthier for you and for the Earth. Organic food also tastes so much better. You will enjoy the taste of the actual food and not want the taste of sugar, salt, or artificial flavors. Tip 2: For animal products, look for free-range Meat is not the same as 200 years ago. In our modern society, most meat comes from factory farmed animals. These animals are injected with growth hormones to make them extra big and grow really fast. They live in extremely crowded spaces with no hygiene. They barely have breathing space. They live extremely stressful and short lives, so their body is full of hormones related to fear, stress, and anger. They are also sprayed with lots of chemical pesticides to kill insects that carry disease. Moreover, the food that they eat is sprayed with up to 20 times more pesticides than what is allowed for human consumption. When we eat meat from the grocery store or a restaurant, we are also eating all those dangerous chemicals and unhealthy hormones. In the short term, that creates stress and inflammation in the body. Compounded over time, that leads to disease. Free range means the animal was not factory farmed. They had the freedom to roam in a field. It’s more expensive, but it’s much healthier for humans and better for the Earth. Tip 3: Eat more home-made food Instead of eating fast food, packaged food, and restaurant food, try to eat home-cooked food with fresh ingredients. We already know why fast food and packaged foods are bad, but what about restaurant food? Restaurants are businesses, and most of them nowadays care about profit and not the health of their customers. They use cheap, unhealthy oil in their cooking. They add lots of flavoring like salt and MSG to make the meal taste better, but that’s very bad for the customer’s health. When you cook at home, you know exactly what went in your meal. Cooking can be very easy and simple. Just cut up a bunch of different colored vegetables and stir fry them in pan. Add a bit of salt for flavoring, and you have a great tasting meal. Now, for many people, that meal might taste bland, and that’s because their tongue is so used to the excessive artificial flavors from fast food, packaged foods, and restaurant food. But if you stop eating those unhealthy foods for some time, your tongue will be able to taste vegetables again. And if you use organic ingredients, the taste will be very rich. Tip 4: Drink water instead of processed drinks It’s probably not surprising to you that we should avoid processed drinks made in a factory, such as sodas and juices. These drinks have a lot of sugar, artificial flavors, and preservatives added to them. The easiest way to be healthy with our drinks is to drink water. If you want, you can also drink natural fruit juices without added ingredients. You can even drink the juice of certain vegetables such as celery, which has tremendous health benefits. Conclusion Diet is a big topic in modern society, where health research is abundant yet obesity and chronic illness are on the rise. All health experts agree that the Standard American Diet is horrible for people. But unless you make conscious effort to avoid the Standard American Diet, you are probably eating some of it. The paleo diet mimics what cavemen used to eat. The keto diet is focused on fats and risky to do. The vegan diet has been shown to be very healthy. The elimination diet and Medical Medium diet can help people recover from illnesses. Some additional tips for healthy eating are to buy organic produce and free-range animal products. Eat more home-cooked meals instead of restaurant food because restaurants prioritize their profits over customer health. When it comes to drinks, water is the easiest healthy option. Check Your Understanding Questions: What kind of foods are in the Standard American Diet, and why are they unhealthy? What kind of foods are in the paleo diet? What are the benefits of this diet? What kind of foods are in the keto diet? What are the risks of this diet? What kind of foods are in the vegan diet? What are the benefits of this diet? Explain why and how to use the elimination diet. What kind of foods should you eat and avoid in the Medical Medium diet? What are some other tips for healthy eating?

"How am I complicit in creating the conditions I say I don't want?" —Jerry Colonna Image Source: Unsplash Commentary: We can apply this idea to both matters and people. Towards matters, we should look at how we've dedicated our time and energy. For example, I fell off my usual meditation practice this past week. It's easy for me to push the blame on busy-ness, but ultimately it's my responsibility to choose how I prioritize and spend my time, which I didn't do well. Towards people, we need to realize that our actions speak louder than our words. In this short excerpt from Knowing Where to Look, author Light Watkins gives some great examples: We are always teaching others how to treat us. If we are easily reactive, we teach people to sugarcoat the truth. If we routinely gossip about our friends, we teach others to question our loyalty. If we refuse to spread rumors, we teach people to trust that we will stand up for them too... If we consistently over-give, we teach others to take us for granted. If we give thoughtfully and in accordance to need, we teach people to appreciate our efforts... Every interaction is a teachable moment. What lessons will you teach today? Action: If you're unhappy about something or someone, ask yourself, "How am I complicit in creating the conditions I say I don't want?"