#I just think logging thing in a physical checklist is just so much more satisfying that on a website

[ur-local-neighborhood-scene-kid]

So from my most recent toy haul, I got a lot of mlp g4 minis and HOLY SHIT this one is my new favorite

The GOLD GLITTER. The TRANSLUCENT LIME GREEN. Her RASPBERRY RED HAIR. And the rarity pose? She is SO SLAY I LOVE HER

She IS beauty, she IS grace

[dreamylove444]

🌸 Study Motivation: Finding Joy & Peace in Your Studies 🌸

Hey lovely,

Studying doesn’t have to feel like a chore. It’s a chance to nurture your mind and set the stage for your bright future. Every little bit you do brings you closer to where you want to be. 📚 remember, everything starts with an idea, all you have to do is make a decision and stick to it, you are not alone in this journey, let me be there for you in your hard times, may my blog inspire you to study and reach all your academic, social, fitness and health goals! You got this!🎀

✨ Tip 1: Make Your Space Cozy

Create a little sanctuary for your study time. A soft pink blanket, your favorite sparkly pens, and a cozy corner can turn studying from a task into something that is very peaceful. Take your time—there’s no rush. Enjoy being in the moment and the state of flow that kicks in after 20 mins or so…🌸

✨ Tip 2: Take It One Step at a Time

You don’t need to do everything all at once. Break things into smaller chunks, and allow yourself little breaks in between. Focus on one task, then reward yourself with a few minutes to breathe and reset. (A good app to break down tasks is Neurolist, an app for ppl w ADHD, it’s truly a life saver!!!) 🌷

✨ Tip 3: Be Kind to Yourself

If you’re feeling frustrated, that’s okay. It’s part of the process. Don’t be hard on yourself—take a deep breath and remember: you’re doing your best. That’s enough. 💖

✨ Tip 4: Keep a Study log

Whether it’s a tumblr account, an instagram , your notes app, a physical bullet journal, it can really encourage you if you see pics of your studying notes, your completed checklist, the number of hours you have done in a week, a month, a year. I know I take pics of my work laid out on my table and it just makes me wish I had done more.

✨ Tip 5: Just start

The hardest part of studying is starting, I know from experience that once you start there is no stopping until you finish all that you have planned to do. Transform your environment in a way that encourages studying and discourages procrastination. Have a cute desk, light a candle, put your phone far away from you or use your timer so you can feel satisfied after you spent so much time studying. My method is counting to 3 then immediately starting, sometimes I don’t even take my copybook and I start on plain A4 paper. I only use electronics to watch videos of the lessons or have exercices and their correction afterwards!

Bonus tips:

- change your mindset: it’s a hobby not a chore

-plan cute snacks and nice healthy 0 cal drinks and water.

-buy cute pencil cases pens and notebooks that almost make you salivate from the thought of using them.

-be a perfectionist but forgive yourself when you can’t do it all, as long as you have done your 115% that day then you deserve a reward.

-take micro breaks but don’t open apps that distract you

-if you think you have ADHD, try to get a diagnosis ASAP!!! Being medicated changed my life.

-make sure you have a healthy sleep schedule, healthy eating habits and be active, (how does one expect to outperform everyone if they aren’t healthy, a healthy mind resides in a healthy body)

-Never get discouraged by a bad grade & never give up. The secret of straight A students is that no matter what happens they stick to the plan and they do they best everyday.

-The true studying happens after the homework. Don’t just do the homework. Revise, do layers and layers of revision, revise in all different kinds of ways. That’s the secret of academic success!

~~~~~~~~~~~

🎀lastly here’s a message from your older internet sister 💬 🎀

_____________________

You're capable of so much more than you think. Trust the process, and let yourself enjoy the journey. 🌸

________________________________________

~ 。 🎀 。~

[ivanoconnorhorrorbooks-blog]

“Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.” Norman Cousins

 Chapter 1

            I stared out the window soaking up the majestic beauty of tall fir trees lining the old road.  The Great Northwest Country provided shade from the mid-afternoon sunlight, blaring down from an unusually cloudless sky. A thick scent of pine filled the car, a smell usually noticed at Christmas time.

           Douglas fir trees. The thought made me smile. It reminded me of watching Twin Peaks with my husband, before things went wrong. I’d been too young to watch the show when it first came out so we caught it just before the new series dropped on Showtime. I’d been taken with the charm, especially after growing up in Washington state.

           Agent Cooper drove down a similar road in the show, heading to an imaginary town to solve a murder. He’d been drawn in by the natural beauty of the area, speaking into his tape recorder to remind himself to ask what they called the trees. I wished I had the same enthusiasm for my surroundings.

           I honestly believed I’d reached the end of my story before it all came crashing down. Married to someone who seemed wonderful. I had just held a fantastic job with people I enjoyed working with. The next stage sat at the horizon, having kids but fortunately, we didn’t quite get there.

           Henry, his friends called him Hank (or Shank during parties with drinking), couldn’t keep his eyes from wandering. I didn’t consider myself perfect by any stretch of the imagination but I never cheated on him. The thought of being with another man hadn’t crossed my mind. Our wedding vows meant something to me, even if he forgot them.

           Hank claimed he still loved me, even the day after I caught him screwing a girl fresh out of high school. He told me how much he cared about me in the same breath he confessed having an affair with  seven different women this past year. When I asked him why he did it, his shocked expression made me laugh despite the situation.

           “They did things you wouldn’t,” Hank replied.

           I had to weigh how much I wanted the gritty details of his wrongdoings against a need to know how I’d failed as a wife. Since the first stage of separation for me involved taking the blame. I didn’t know where this wrong-turn in my life came from. My mother certainly didn’t seem like the type of woman to accept responsibility for something like that.

           It happened all the same.

           “Sexual things?” I asked but immediately shook my head. “No, I don’t want details. I don’t want to know. But you could’ve told me about your fetishes before we took those vows. You could’ve asked some frank questions. Let me know what you wanted to keep satisfied before we joined our lives!”

           Hank didn’t have an answer for me. He just said he still loved me and wanted to make it work. But I didn’t possess enough denial of reality to fall back in his arms. On the contrary, my fighting nature made me stubborn and far more harsh than was probably necessary.

           He deserved it. My thought turned into a mantra, using it whenever I felt soft hearted about the process of the divorce. I seemed to be at loose ends. Where to live, furniture, career, family.  All of it seemed so stable, then suddenly swept away. Hank’s shady activities ruined it all, and starting over from scratch made my head spin.

           So I decided to put things off by visiting my father. I couldn’t call it going home because dad sold the place I grew up in. Ivan Peterson, the best selling horror novelist, no longer lived among the rank and file in some normal neighborhood. No, his work had done very well.

           Two of his short stories were chosen for some terrifying films. Not a big success with the critics but the producers paid dad a fortune for the rights. The result of his success meant he bought a house on Lake Cavanaugh for just under one million. I visited during the house warming and couldn’t believe the step-up in wealth.

           A tiny dock went right into the water from his private part of the beach. The house, a five bedroom oversized cottage, was built with that sort of Northwestern warmth typically reserved for log cabins out in the middle of nowhere. The chimney stonework was modern.  A warm heat always radiated from the heavy steel stove, wood logs stayed piled high.

           This was exactly like what I needed. A chance to recover from the blows life being thrown my way.

           We lost mother several years earlier. Dad stayed quiet about how it happened but she was buried just after I finished nursing school. That had been a rough time, especially when dad started acting more strange about the situation. I had to contact the police to find Mother’s cause of death.

           Which explained why dad didn’t want to talk about it. I knew I could be insensitive at times. During my evaluations as a nurse, it proved to be the biggest criticism. The fact I’d been so blind about how my dad dealt with mom’s death frustrated me. I’d hoped to have been far more observant, especially given my original career plan.

           Long before I diverted my attention to nursing, I went to college for criminal justice. I even graduated from a fantastic school, the University of Puget Sound, and fully intended to join the police right after. Then I met Hank and he absolutely swept me off my feet.

           Hank was charming and sexy, a real gentlemen when we started dating. I couldn’t deny our chemistry. I reserved a spot in the police academy but before I started, I fell hard for him. He’d expressed concern about my chosen career anyway and as things became serious, I swayed to his way of thinking.

           I wasn’t asked out by the boys in high school that often. I didn’t blossom until my first year of college and by then, I’d been so used to being plain, hot was beyond comprehension. Nevertheless, I fell into it easily enough. My natural long blonde hair and slender figure seemed to be noticed more.  Men weren’t hard to come by, not when they were always expressing interest.

           Hank stood apart from other men because he put on a show of how much he admired me. It went beyond physical, at least I thought so. When we started dating, he focused on my intellectual qualities and we really talked. Not the sort of mundane drivel about our days at work or school, but about important topics. World politics, books…it was lovely.

           So after a lifetime of wanting to work in law, I turned my attention to a nursing program. Hank worked in commercial real estate and when I got into the work force, we made a comfortable living together. Marriage followed, a mortgage then infidelity. It was as if Hank had a different checklist to follow.

           Turned out his father fooled around on his mother so maybe the cheating gene could be inherited.

           Being with Hank deadened my natural observation skills, my ability to assess a situation thoughtfully went into hibernation mode. Even after I caught him, it took a couple days to process what happened. Then, it all came back. Razor sharp focus returned as if it had been on vacation somewhere.

             That’s when I found the strength to leave, to give Hank hell for what he’d done and ultimately, bury my feelings of betrayal and love beneath a demeanor of a tough exterior. Crying happened at the beginning. Anger took over. The trip to a cozier part of the world was meant to get my life back to the way I wanted.

           Which meant getting back my original career choice.  I’ve pursued law since I was old enough to talk about jobs.

           I worried about seeing dad again. We hadn’t spent any time together since mom’s passing. He tended to keep our interactions to email and the occasional phone call. After my wedding, I assumed he didn’t approve of Hank but then, paranoia suggested he didn’t approve of me either.

           He never said it verbally, but I believed he didn’t like the fact I walked away from my original dream. He spoke constantly against compromising. How he got along with my mom baffled me because relationships were about give and take. Growing up, they never seemed to argue but they held to old fashioned beliefs.

           That meant any fighting happened behind closed doors. Just stay quiet enough that no one else would be dragged into their affairs. I tried to live by that idea but my passion tended to overcome subtlety. Hank and I got into some pretty loud arguments in our time together, the kind of fights that made the walls vibrate.

           Our neighbors in our first apartment must’ve been thrilled.

           I rounded the bend and the sight of the lake dragged me back to the present. All negativity faded in light of that beautiful landmark, the trees stretched out in all directions, the water rippled with a gentle breeze all presided over by fluffy white clouds far too happy to rain. I felt tears stain my cheeks just then, a second bout of crying I thought might happen.

           I embraced it, letting emotion control me for several minutes. With only the sound of the road as company, I released the ache in my heart. Whether my makeup would survive the encounter was another story, Dad never seemed to notice such things.

           His head lived in the dark clouds of horror stories and terror. Perhaps the events of my life for the past few months would inspire a new tale. The thought didn’t make me particularly happy. Despite an obsession with Hemingway, his writing reflected the Stephen King side of the house.

           I always knew that if I ended up a character in one of dad’s stories, I must’ve done something truly wrong. So far, I’d avoided the grim fate. I hoped to continue the luck going forward. Maybe reconnecting would settle my mind about how the old man felt about me. It seemed a worthy goal as I started a new phase of my life.

 ***

[mittensmorgul]

I feel like this is probably something you have a lot of thoughts on, but you don't have to go in depth if you don't want (if you do that's also great!) Do you think about cas classifying dean as family and vice versa is a hurdle to be overcome if textual d/c is a thing that's happening? Obviously family includes your significant other, but as far as fiction, I feel like it's code for platonic feelings, because I try to think of any tv couple that started as "family" and I can't. Thanks :)

Hi! I’m sorry I’ve been sitting on this message for a couple of days, but it’s not actually something I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about. At least not specifically like this.

I mean, the first thing that came to mind at your question was @destieldrabblesdaily‘s post from back during s11 (aah, s11 gave us so much...) about how they were slowly ticking off all these things from a checklist labeled “Obstacles to Canon.”

http://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/145130443365/hello-all-the-episode-did-in-general-was-tick

There are four main points on Shirley’s list, only two of which I think are so completely obvious in canon now that there’s really nothing more to say on either subject:

the vessel consent issue: It’s Cas’s body. There’s no Jimmy in there. Cas has been rebuilt and resurrected multiple times by God, died and been burned, and came back from the empty with what must be yet another entirely new physical body. That is Castiel’s body. Period. There’s no “but what if...” left to argue on this point.

the concern that the show would morph into something it’s not: the focus of the show wouldn’t somehow shift to Dean and Cas’s romantic adventures. It wouldn’t become a comedy, or exclude Sam. The tone and format of the show wouldn’t need to change at all, and that was pretty conclusively proved not only back in 11.19 with the way Jesse and Cesar’s relationship was presented, but *waves hand across all of s13* the show’s gonna do what the show’s always done. Nothing needs to change about the show’s format or structure.

The other two points might be conclusively obvious to some of us (and honestly I have personally been satisfied by how they continue to handle these issues), but there’s still ground they CAN cover toward making these things more explicit for the general audience. And I’d argue that they HAVE been doing just that consistently, and even rather explicitly now in s13:

Dean’s sexuality: Shirley’s original post covered this extremely well from where we were back in s11 (so go read that right now if you haven’t already). I’ve added a heck of a lot to my Dean Is Bi tag since 11.19, so I’d argue that at the very least it’s not something they’ve tried to back away from over the last few seasons. They may not have come out and explicitly said it in so many words, but the show has continued to escalate the subtext to the point where even the general audience has been noticing it in droves.

The Bromance Zone: Back in Shirley’s original post, this was accepted as fairly conclusively evident from Dean’s pining for Cas back in s11, and how it was made painfully and explicitly clear in 11.18... but whoa have we ever had a lot of logs thrown on the bromance pyre since then. And I think this is the point you’re concerned about in your question above.

You stated you couldn’t think of a single romantic couple in fiction that began as “family” or, I suppose in this case as “found family,” or “family of choice.” But I’d like to suggest that most successful romantic couples do begin as friends, regardless of whether they consider each other “family” before their relationship becomes romantic.

Confession time: I have never watched the show Friends, but I believe they considered themselves a sort of found family, right? And there was at least one pair of them that were actually brother and sister? And didn’t several of them become romantically involved by the end of the series? I remember seeing posts to this effect, but correct me if I’m wrong...

Another canon ship that’s often been paralleled to destiel is Castle/Beckett. If you’ve never watched Castle, they’re a pretty textbook enemies to friends to lovers to HEA, and it took like five seasons for them to get to that point. Thing is, the nature of the work they did together (police work) created the same sort of “found family” feelings that the Winchesters’ collection of allies and friends has. And their relationship included so many of the same tropes that Dean and Cas has... right down to the “deathbed love confessions,” amnesia, miscommunication, mutual pining... you name it... And we thought FIVE YEARS was a slow burn. Thing is, every time they seemed to get close to making some sort of dramatic love confession, for years, they’d back down at the last moment for one reason or another. For YEARS, they settled for what could arguably be considered a sort of familial closeness, because that’s all they thought they could have. Circumstance just kept stepping in the way...

So on that note, I’d argue that practically EVERY slow burn romantic endgame story progressed through this “awkward found family” stage. They’re closer than what could be called “friends” in the strictest platonic sense of the word, but short of confessing undying romantic love and attraction, the strongest word in their vocabulary for the care and affection they feel they’re allowed to demonstrate to one another is family.

So back to Supernatural...

S12 approached this issue from two directions for most of the season, with a Compare/Contrast using Mary’s story paralleled to Castiel’s for most of the season, showing us a distinct difference between what FAMILY feels and does for one another, and whatever the heck it is that Dean and Cas feel and do for one another. On the other side of the coin, they doubled down on demonstrating the blatant differences from how Sam sees Cas as a brother, and how Dean sees Cas as a /////brother/////. It was demonstrated over and over again that despite using the same word to describe what Cas is to them, it’s unequivocally DIFFERENT for Dean. That leaves us to wonder WHY.

12.10 makes it clear what the angels believe Dean is to Cas, his “human weakness.” We were shown Dean’s feelings for and connection to Cas, that Dean refused to save himself from Ishim when he knew that using the banishing sigil could possibly have injured Cas further, or even killed him. It wasn’t a risk he was willing to take. That moment may have been a small part of that episode, but right there, Dean had no reason to believe that Ishim wasn’t about to murder him. He surrendered his own life for Cas.

12.12 has Cas’s deathbed love confession, which people are still debating from a linguistic standpoint. But I’d argue that the fact we’re able to debate it at all is even further evidence that it’s something that we’re supposed to be thinking about, and wondering about. Or else why would it even be a debate in the first place.

12.15 has Cas disappearing back to Heaven, the ambiguous phone call moment where Sam hangs up with Mary and signs off with “Love you,” while Dean hangs up with Cas. Loads of us had a holy hell did Dean just say that??? moment and had to rewind to confirm that it was Sam saying it to Mary. Because of that debate left over from 12.12. Again, the fact that we all had to stop and blink at the implication shows that something is definitely different now.

Which brings us to freaking 12.19 and the goddamned mixtape. No amount of Bro and Pal and Buddy on Dean’s part can negate “It’s a gift, you keep those.” Sorry folks, them’s the rules.

And can we talk for a moment about how explicitly clear s13 has made Dean’s feelings, his grief that he textually admitted by yelling it all in Sam’s face was all about Cas. Grief so powerful it somehow activated Jack’s powers (which he had no control of at that point and didn’t even understand that his powers had any part in Cas’s resurrection even after 13.06) and poked Cas awake in the Empty.

And then we have 13.06. I still haven’t recovered from 13.06.

The connection between Dean and Cas intensifies in 13.07, both through Dean giving Cas that same line from 12.10 (Don’t do anything stupid) which he clarified back in s12 wasn’t borne of anger, but of worry. Worry that 12.12 had honed into love, and 13.01 punched us all in the face with as Dean broke down and screamed his grief at God. I mean, the differences between how Sam considers Cas “family” and how Dean does is inarguable at this point.

I’d suggest that the definition of “family” isn’t so much something the show needs to clarify at this point, but something that’s been written all over the last season and a half in invisible ink, and all they need to do at this point is hold it up to a light bulb for the entire text to become clearly visible to everyone.

[calorieworkouts]

Ashley`s Top 5 Tips for `Easy Peezy` Maintenance

One of the reasons I am so passionate about fitness and health is as a result of the extraordinary, life transforming outcomes I have actually seen in both the rehabilitative and health and fitness settings (from both my clients as well as myself). That and I'm likewise freakishly stressed with the body and how it functions.

If you have actually reviewed my initial blog, you know exactly how I really feel about locating the right recipe that makes functioning in the direction of your health as well as physical fitness goals less difficult. I believed it could be an excellent concept to follow that up with some easy-to-follow ideas that I have located helpful.

Balance

We are human which indicates that we are not ideal. In order for something to be long-term, it requires to be simple enough to keep, as well as it requires to be rather satisfying. Keep in mind that your life does not require to quit due to the fact that you have actually made the decision to be healthier. Do not miss out on obtain togethers with loved ones since you're terrified you may eat something bad. Give yourself 2 cheat meals over the weekend break and also schedule them around your obtain togethers. Believe me, you'll be sorry for missing those events even more than you will certainly be sorry for consuming that juicy burger (or whatever it might be).

Get a buddy

Scott said something to my yesterday that truly stuck - "You can't be healthy and also be an island". As soon as you hire a person to go on this journey with you, "your" trouble is no longer your own alone, and you now have a teammate. He or she can not only make your exercise much more enjoyable and help to encourage you, however they can likewise maintain you liable. You may also intend to produce little obstacles to aid keep you on course. Scott just produced a water challenge for us in which the loser has to finish a workout produced by the other person. The shear fear of Scott making me do 100 burpees maintains me from being available in short on my everyday water intake allocation. Do not try to go on this journey alone. Recruit a good friend, or come workout with among the incredible individual fitness instructors at Sandbox Fitness

Keep your stress levels at bay

The progress we attain is determined by two things, our interior environment (significance just how our body systems feature) as well as exterior stimulations (exercise, nutrition habits). If your stress and anxiety degrees are high I 'd be prepared to bet that your inner atmosphere isn't optimal (digestion, recovery hormone function, digestive tract feature) and that suggests you aren't keyed for development. An ideal diet plan WILL CERTAINLY fail in a poorly working gut.

Remember that stress and anxiety can be created from points other than job, partnerships, or money. Operating, as an example, is one activity that triggers cortisol degrees to increase swiftly. If you are a runner, maintain this in mind and try to stabilize your runs with weight training and correct rest.

Plan and keep a log

When your day isn't prepared well it leaves space for missing the fitness center and also McDonalds trips. Taking some time on a Sunday to intend out your week will certainly establish you up for success. If you're an individual that needs structure to prosper, then intending your meals and also exercises is a great concept. It's additionally a good suggestion to develop a kind of "to-do" checklist that incorporates your set out meals and exercises. Like any listing, it will really feel excellent to be able to mark off each dish and journey to the gym (or whatever you select to do for activity). Additionally, maintaining a food log will enable you to review your week and also it will likewise maintain you responsible for your choices.

Reward yourself!

If you won the lotto game, you would not leave it unclaimed appropriate?! So why do individuals think it's alright to forget fulfilling themselves when they are working towards their fitness goals? I frequently see people enter into the gym as well as offer every little thing they have - yet after that they neglect to compensate themselves with appropriate remainder, nourishment, and hydration. It resembles eating warm apple fall apart without vanilla ice cream - you just don't do it.

If you do not believe that rest is necessary for your health and wellness search for adrenal fatigue. If you do not sleep, your body can not recoup, and also if your body can not recuperate after that you won't see results from every one of your difficult work. I can compose a whole short article concerning how crucial hydration is (and I possibly will eventually), and most of us recognize that nutrition is perhaps one of the most vital aspect in preserving a healthy lifestyle.

The last point I wish to see is someone functioning extremely hard in the fitness center and also not reaching their objectives. I call it "gratifying yourself" because to me, that's specifically what it is. You have decided to take a big step towards being healthier - do yourself a favour and also reward on your own by offering your body the devices it requires to help you reach your goals.

Do me a favour as well as check out my listing once again, can you find anything that appears difficult? I would certainly state it's harder to locate a parking area at the mall during the holiday than it is to apply these little adjustments, I will certainly never ever claim that making permanent life changes is a very easy job since the fact is it's not going to come totally easy. Remainder ensured that the incentive is much more than worth it - your personal health is priceless.

Ashley

[lenaglittleus]

How to Tell if You’re Really Hungry

You walk through the door after a long day at the office and make a beeline to the fridge because hunger strikes again… or are you trying to de-stress? Or maybe you’re confusing hunger with thirst? Ah, it’s all so hard to decipher when you’re truly hungry, especially if you’re trying to make healthier choices and lose weight.

Listening to your body and understanding hunger cues is becoming an increasingly popular tactic for those who want to trim down. It sounds super basic, but it’s actually quite complex because somewhere along the way we’ve disconnected from the innate ability to determine hunger. We’ve lost our mojo.

Think about it. When you were a baby, you would eat when you were hungry. If a baby isn’t hungry, she will turn her face from the milk source. Don’t we all wish we could do that?

As we get older, we are tempted to eat by smell, taste, experience, social pressure, emotional connection, time of day, social media, and the list goes on. While that “emptiness” feeling in the pit in the stomach is a good reason to eat, there are other reasons we turn to food. Give it some thought: What are your cues to chow down?

So… How Do You Know if You’re Really Hungry?

Well, let’s get a little specific. Imagine that you have a pretend scale that ranges from 0 to 10, with 0 being hangry (that angry hunger because you waited too long to eat) and 10 being glutted (you ate so much that you need to unbutton you pants). Real physical hunger builds gradually and will eventually cause your stomach to growl; if you don’t eat when you’re truly hungry, your body will nag you until you do. Eating should happen when you’re truly hungry; that means your body should feel anywhere from hangry (0) to gentle hunger (4).

The next time you feel the urge to eat something, here’s how to know if your hunger is genuine:

The desire to eat got stronger over a little bit of time.

Your stomach starts to growl.

Ask yourself: Will eating anything — but ideally something nutritious — satisfy you? Or will you not be happy unless you bite into that greasy or sweet snack? If it’s the latter, you’re not really physically hungry.

Wait about 10 minutes before you eat. If you’re just craving something, the desire will hopefully pass. Drink a glass of water, then wait a couple more minutes to see if you’re still hungry.

Check in with yourself before you start to eat, or, even better, when you begin to think about food. Ask yourself, “How hungry am I?” If you’re feeling peckish (5–6), you’re not really hungry… you’re just eating because it tastes darn good, that “can’t stop, won’t stop” feeling. We can get real honest and call that greedy eating. Any of you who grew up in a big family knows what I’m talking about. That gotta get-a-second-helping-of-mashed-potatoes pronto before that brother of yours packs it in first. That’s straight up greedy eating.

See what I mean? We’ve lost our true hunger cues. If only we could turn back time.

But the good news is, you can get your mojo back — that intuitive self who knows when to eat and when to stop. It will likely take some practice, but you know what they say about practice. And while there is no such thing as a perfect eater, you can be pretty darn close when you start to listen to your body, not your Facebook feed. Those Tasty videos get me every time.

Before You Eat, Try These 4 Things

The next time you get the urge to eat, pause for a minute and evaluate your body’s signals. Here’s how:

1. Begin by taking a quick assessment.

Run through a mental checklist to make note of your food triggers. What are the reasons that you’re turning to food? If you become aware and observant of your habits, you take a powerful step toward becoming a mindful eater who knows when he’s really physically hungry.

2. Grab a glass of water.

If you find yourself wanting to eat but you don’t feel a rumble in your tummy, go get a drink of water first! Plain water provides hydration and satiety without added calories. Drinking a glass of water while you contemplate whether or not to eat can also provide the pause you need to complete the first two steps.

3. Keep a log.

Use your phone’s note section (or put pen to paper, if that’s more your speed) to jot down your hunger level before you even put food in your mouth. Write down how you are feeling and what you are eating if you want to be super through, and start to make connections. You can refer back to these notes when you’re not eating or thinking about eating so you can start to see what might trigger different reactions.

4. Dig for a deeper connection.

If you’re turning to food when you’re not really hungry, change your routine. Get outside for some fresh air, do housework, or chat with a friend because putting your body in the right place (i.e. not in front of the pantry) can encourage you to get more in tune with your needs.

Tomorrow when you get home from a long day at the office, hopefully you’ll be more empowered to pass by the kitchen if you’re not really hungry.

What if You Ate, But Still Feel Hungry?

You waited until you were truly hungry to eat, but still feel hungry after finishing. Should you eat more? What gives?

Feeling hungry after you eat a reasonable amount actually isn’t uncommon — sometimes you might even think you’re hungrier after eating something than you were before you ate it. This can happen for a few reasons:

1. You ate too quickly.

Feelings of satiety result from interactions between the bloodstream, pancreas, brain, intestines, and stomach. It takes about 20 minutes for your brain to register (hormones that regulate hunger and satiety need to trigger these feelings in the brain) that you’ve eaten enough, so if you eat too quickly, you may think you’re still hungry but just need to give your body time to recognize it’s had enough.

2. You could be a bit dehydrated.

Did you really drink that whole glass of water before eating? Did you sip any water or fluids during your meal? If you didn’t eat low density foods that have a higher water content, such as leafy greens, vegetables, fruits, and soups, your body may just be telling you that you’re thirsty. Try drinking a glass of water and waiting a few minutes to reassess your feelings of hunger.

3. The food you ate didn’t contain enough protein.

Protein-packed foods can help promote satiety, so including enough of it in your meals may help you feel more satisfied. A review published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics showed that higher protein meals increase fullness ratings more than lower protein ones.

4. You might actually need to eat more.

Wait, what? If you’re trying to lose weight, or recently stepped up your workout regimen and still feel hungry after you’ve eaten and waited 20 minutes to eat more, you might just need to eat some more. Other telltale signs that you might need more calories: you’re irritable a lot, have new trouble sleeping, are consistently low on energy, or can’t finish your workouts. In these cases, it’s recommended in the Beachbody Portion Fix Eating Plan to add one of the following to your day: two servings of veggies (green container), or one serving of fruit (purple container), healthy fats (blue container), or seeds and dressings (orange container).

from News About Health https://www.beachbody.com/beachbodyblog/weight-loss/how-to-tell-if-you-are-really-hungry