Finding An Alternative To Fad Diets

We’re used to living our lives at a million miles per hour, and we expect results quickly. This applies to everything from finding a product online and ordering a coffee to go to losing weight. The trouble with rapid weight loss is that it’s often unsustainable. While fad diets may seem like the solution if you’ve over-indulged over the festive season, there are alternatives that are much more likely to help you achieve your long-term goals. 

Fad diets have become incredibly popular, and this is largely due to the fact that they promise swift results. Fad diets usually contribute to rapid weight loss, and this often involves restricting calorie intake, cutting out food groups and dropping pounds without having to exercise. On the surface, fad diets like the Keto and Paleo diets may seem like a great idea, but it’s wise to proceed with caution. Eliminating food groups can contribute to nutrient deficiencies and make you crave foods you enjoy, and drastically reducing calorie intake can leave you hungry and increase the risk of sudden weight gain once you come off the plan. Ninety-five percent of people who lose weight on fad diets regain those pounds within 5 years.

Rather than resorting to fed diets, which can impact your mood, your health and your bank balance, it’s a good idea to take the advice shared in this infographic on board. Aim for a nutritious, balanced diet, which champions fresh produce, whole grains and vitamin-laden fruit and vegetables. Plans like the Mediterranean diet are proven to help weight loss and improve health at the same time and they produce sustainable results. People who live in Mediterranean countries are less likely to develop life-threatening diseases. 

Before you reach for a diet book or think about giving up all your favorite foods for good, why not take a closer look at the infographic below?


Infographic Created By University of Southern California

The Smart Box: Introducing Healthy TV Watching Habits To Our Kids

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Picture – CC0 Licence

When we consider the ways of keeping our kids healthy, it’s not just about the obvious things like eating right and exercising but it’s about encouraging healthy habits in life. We can look back and realize that we made certain mistakes or instilled unhealthy habits because we do them ourselves. A very good example is television. The latest Infinity Dish statistics show how television plays a role in almost everyone’s life. Perhaps there were a few times when you needed a break so you put your children in front of the television but this has now spiraled out of control and now you’ve got couch potatoes for kids! But when we look at the idea of watching television there are ways for us to encourage some healthy habits. 

Being Aware Of Questionable YouTube Content

It’s something that we think is pretty harmless, especially for toddlers. When we put on a kids YouTube channel that plays nursery rhymes we may not realize that there is a lot of unhealthy and questionable content out there that individuals are trying to sneak into the videos. We should monitor our children’s living habits but we should also think about the streaming services we use. If you have a Firestick it’s so easy to install apps that have various questionable shows and cedars. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is something that might help and if you’re wondering why would you use a VPN for Firestick it is a good way to keep yourself anonymous so you’re not easily targeted with specific content. Using a VPN can also be useful when travelling abroad, as some of your child’s favourite shows may be blocked by the local internet. For this reason, if you’re traveling to a foreign country like China, make sure to have a reliable service like ExpressVPN China at hand to ensure a fast and secure connection without encountering any common restrictions. Whether you are at home or abroad, once we get into certain viewing habits the algorithm kicks in and so we are suggested more and more questionable content, so having a degree of privacy can be important.

Turn The Television Off

It sounds obvious, but the television becomes a background to our lives. Turning the television off when visitors come by, eating meals, or doing other tasks means that you don’t rely on the television to become a babysitter of sorts. Our children can easily become distracted by what is on television and when our children are young, this is the perfect opportunity to make sure they don’t rely on this for the rest of their lives. This can mean a lot of harsh lessons for ourselves when we are used to watching television. But when you live by the rules yourself it’s far easier to enforce them. It’s a good idea to impose certain time limits. For example, if your children have started school, two hours should be the maximum. And when you start to schedule their day after school it gives you an opportunity to incorporate other important skills. 

Choosing Educational Content

This is such a difficult topic to get our heads around. It’s easier when your children are preschoolers because there’s a lot of shows out there about counting and giving your children certain nuggets of knowledge. But as your children get older it can be harder to monitor this. Not allowing your children to plan their own weekly viewing schedule can seem a little bit on the harsh side but when you allow a certain time limit consider incorporating things that you think are educational into their TV watching time.

Television can be a good thing, just as long as we approach it with the right balance.

Be The Dad Your Kids Need You To Be

Stepping up to the mark as a father is not easy. Some dads are thrown into the role without really thinking about it. It seems to be common that babies are being born due to an ‘accident’ between the parents. So, often the dad doesn’t have a choice. Every child is a blessing, and even though some might not be planned, they should all be seen as a blessing. The moment you saw your little baby we just know your heart would have melted. But then it turns into a rock solid ball of stone again, and dads seem to take a back seat when it comes to parenting. Some dads turn into a ball of mush and can’t help but do everything for their little baby. But for some, being a dad is just totally alien, and not something that comes naturally. It’s just like some moms. Everyone expects moms to be this super mom right from the get go, but it’s not always that easy. So, we’re going to talk to you about becoming the dad that your kids need you to be, so that your family can have the best life possible.

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The Provider

This is the one role that men like that take on wholeheartedly. Just like mothers have the natural instinct to be a mom, fathers have the natural instinct to want to provide. It’s like an unwritten rule. Plus, the family is going to rely on you until your partner can return to work, which should be after nine months to a year. Even after that, your family needs you to be the provider. Raising a child is just so expensive, especially as they get older. So being career driven and money driven is going to give you and your family the best life possible. Always make sure you’re looking out for a career that will help you to achieve that, rather than settling for a job that doesn’t!

Healthy & Happy

Everyone wants to be happy and healthy, and you’ll no doubt want to be around for many years to come to see your children grow up into their own adult life. However, dads are notoriously terrible at speaking about their health and well-being. Issues as simple as hearing issues are ignored for years because they don’t want to face the problem. Sound like you? Or does it now, if you’re struggling to hear. A hearing instrument specialist will find the best solution that’s compatible to your lifestyle, so you don’t have to be paranoid about people judging you for having a hearing aid!  Any other health issue that you have that you keep ignoring, get to the doctors about it!

Hands On

Being hands on is so important. If you want to build a bond that means your kids can come to you for everything, you have to be involved with everything. Don’t be the dad that just sits back and waits for it to be play time. Cook their dinner, wash and dress them, take them to school meetings. The more involved you are, the stronger the relationship.

An at-home dad on a mission to keep it real when it comes to food, fun, and raising a healthy, happy family.