Archives for October 2019

Does reading a bedtime story to our kids really help them go to sleep? Or is it just an out-of-date, pre-electronics tradition?

You probably won’t be surprised to learn that the ritual isn’t as common these days as it was a generation ago. A recent survey found that only 64% of respondents read bedtime stories to their kids, even though 91% of them were read to when they were young.

Parents report they are “too stressed” and don’t have enough time to continue the tradition. Fewer than half of children under the age of 5 in the United States are read to daily, says the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Nevertheless, current parenting experts still recommend reading a book to your child as part of their bedtime routine. Mostly praised for its cognitive benefits, reading to kids has been shown to improve vocabulary and creativity.

The Real Magic of a Bedtime Story

But a new study confirms what Grandma seems to have known all along… fairy tale magic in bedtime stories not only causes a prince and princess to fall in love, but also causes the whole kingdom to fall into a deep sleep. Reading induces drowsiness.

When the goal is to calm overstimulated nerves for bed, concludes a stress-reduction study, losing yourself in a book is the ultimate relaxation. Researchers believe the distraction of being taken into a literary world eases the tension in muscles and the heart. In fact, subjects lowered their stress levels by 68% after just six minutes of reading, compared to playing video games which lowered stress by only 21% from their highest levels.

Few of us are lucky enough to have a grandma nearby to read our kids a bedtime story. But fitting in a sleep-inducing fairy tale after an evening of rushing home from soccer practice, setting food on the table, getting the laundry washed, and finishing homework for the next day, just might be worth the effort for both kids and parents

Tips for a Sleep-Inducing ‘Bedtime Story’ Routine

Dim the lights. Bright lights stimulate our internal clock, so include dim lighting as part the bedtime story atmosphere.

Avoid using an ebook.  One Harvard study links e-reading to sleep deprivation. Light-emitting ebooks caused participants to take ten minutes longer to fall asleep.

Create feelings of well-being. Along with the soothing effects of predictability, bedtime routines that include reading a book with a parent create feelings of comfort and closeness. There’s a warmth in cuddling up together and cracking open the doorway into an imaginary land through the words and pictures of a book.

Help kids share their concerns. The American Academy of Pediatrics says reading together can encourage kids to share their feelings about the day as they identify with a character or event in the story. Younger kids may connect with their emotions through the pictures. Discussing concerns can relieve the mental stress that might otherwise have contributed to sleeplessness.

Are you including the kids in your New Year’s celebration this year? For most of us, that means we bring the kids to the party, but send them off to play with their friends while we mingle with ours. It’s like having two separate parties under the same roof. This year, bring the two parties together with laughter and entertainment for all ages. These eight family-friendly games will help you get it started.

Tablet – like Telephone, but for today’s world – Write down an object and an action (like a monkey climbing a tree) on an index card. Using a dry erase board, the first person picks a card and draws a picture based on what he reads. He then shows the picture to the person next to him without letting anyone else see the picture. That person will erase the board and write what he thinks was drawn. He will then pass it to the third person who will draw what he reads. This continues around the circle until it gets back to the first person.

The Human Knot – Everyone stands in a circle and puts both their hands out, grabbing a random hand from someone else. While not letting go of anyone’s hand, try to untangle the group. For less of a challenge, try using just one hand.

Doubles – Ask every guest to bring two small, wrapped gifts. This can either be white elephant or dollar store items. Pile all the gifts in the center of the table. Everyone sits around the table and rolls a pair of dice, trying to get doubles. If they get doubles, they choose a gift from the center. If not, they pass the dice to the next person. If you are playing with younger children, you might want to limit the amount of gifts each person will get.

The Balloon Game – Write down funny actions, tasks or riddles on slips of paper. Roll up and insert into balloons. You will need two balloons for each person as you need to tie one to each person’s ankles. On go, everyone tries to stomp and pop a balloon. If your balloon is popped, you have to read the riddle, do the task or perform the funny action. This game is guaranteed to keep everyone hopping!

The Silent Snowman – This is a game that goes on all night. Make a snowman out of paper or felt. Attach two sided tape or removable adhesive putty on the back of the snowman. One person starts out with the snowman on his back. As the night goes on, someone tries to steal the snowman and put it on their own back. The person left wearing the snowman at midnight gets a prize.

Auld Lang Syne Scrabble – Write the words to this popular New Year’s Eve song on separate index cards. (You will need two sets). Break your guests into two teams. On go, ask the teams to put the words in the correct order. The first one to get it correct wins. For a real challenge, do both verses. For a variation, use the words to a current top forty song that the kids know.

Line Up Blind – Break your group into teams. Blindfold one of the teams and have them stand in the middle of the room. Now, ask the team to line themselves up in order – alphabetically, by height, by age, etc. The unblindfolded team can tell them if they are correct or not, but cannot say why. When they are in the correct order, the teams switch places.

Cherry Pie – Place a maraschino cherry in a pie plate. Tell the guests the object is to pick up the cherry without using their hands and eat it. Alas, things are never as easy as they seem. Before the challenge begins, fill the plate with whipped cream. This is a great photo opportunity!

By Pam Molnar, a freelance writer and mother of three. Parties at their house include good food, lots of laughs, and of course, games.

 

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Whether you’re hoping to shed some pounds from last month’s food marathon (a.k.a. the holidays) or you’re serious about starting your year off with a real-deal lifestyle change, now is the time to start. But with so many different diet options out there, it’s hard to decide which one is right for you. You’re probably familiar with the usual suspects: Weight Watchers, veganism, Atkins, juicing, etc. Maybe you’ve even tried them all.

There are some newer diets on the scene that you’ve likely seen making rounds on social media or heard whispers of at the gym (you know, that place with the workout equipment?). Unlike the healthy forms of diet from this article in prodiets.org website, these new diets a little harmful but they do help in getting the desired results too. So what are these new diets and do they really work? Here’s a quick rundown.

Keto. The Ketogenic Diet is also known as the “low carb, high fat” diet. The idea is to avoid carbs, which cause your body to produce glucose and insulin. This causes you to enter a metabolic state called ketosis, at which point the body will burn fat for energy. Benefits include weight-loss, improved mental focus, and increased energy.
Does it work: Yep, and probably pretty quickly.
Critics say: It’s a very strict diet that one must follow closely in order to see results, and as there is no specialized company such as My Prep which even today is one of the best meal prep delivery companies in UK in our country, thus resulting in giving complete attention to what we eat. As in any extreme dieting, it could be an unhealthy way of losing weight.

Raw. The Raw Food Diet is centered around the belief that cooking food destroys its nutrients and makes it toxic. It consists mostly of uncooked, unprocessed, organic foods like raw fruits, vegetables, and grains. Some raw foodies even eat unpasteurized dairy, raw eggs, meat and fish.
Does it work? Yes, you will likely lose weight.
Critics say: It’s a tough one to stick out, and you might not be getting all the nutrients your body needs. Additionally, consuming certain raw foods increases your risk of food poisoning.

Paleo. The Paleolithic Diet is also known as the “caveman diet.” It involves eating like our hunter-gatherer ancestors of prehistoric times. It’s high in fiber and protein like lean meats and fish, and free of processed foods, wheat, dairy, grains, legumes, potatoes, salt and sugar.
Does it work? Yes, the foods you will avoid on a paleo diet will lead to weight loss.
Critics say: There are more foods that are a “no” than a “yes,” making it difficult to follow for long. It’s also a pretty costly diet; buying mostly meats, fish, and fresh veggies isn’t cheap.

Whole30. This 30-day plan is designed to “reset” your body by cutting out major food groups for 30 days, then slowly adding certain foods back into your diet to see how your body reacts. It’s less of a diet and more of a way to change your eating habits altogether. You can’t have alcohol, sugar, grains, legumes, dairy, or additives – and you can’t cheat or step on a scale either.
Does it work? Since it’s not technically a “diet,” the focus isn’t supposed to be on losing weight. But you will lose weight anyway.
Critics say: There is no margin for error. Even the tiniest slip-up means starting from square one, which can be extremely discouraging for dieters.

Alkaline. The Acid Alkaline Diet focuses on the belief that certain foods effect the pH balance of your body, helping you lose weight and stave off disease. Dieters should stay away from any acid-forming food like red and processed meat, fried and fatty food, alcohol and caffeine, yeast and wheat, and a long list of others. Foods that are good for your pH include various fruits and vegetables, miso, sprouts, almonds, lentils, and tofu.
Does it work? Most likely. There is no calorie counting or weighing yourself, but healthier choices will lead to weight loss.
Critics say: There isn’t enough evidence to support the chemistry behind the diet’s claims. Some scientists say you can’t truly change your body’s pH levels with food.

Dukan. This four-phase diet by Dr. Pierre Dukan includes mostly high-protein foods and veggies with limited carbs. And if you were to browse this site, you’d know that kratom strains are one of the components of this diet, and are quickly being replaced by other alternatives. There are a lot of rules to follow but successful dieters will shed pounds quickly without feeling like they’re starving.
Does it work? Like most high-protein, low-carb diets you’ll likely see fast results.
Critics say: Very high-protein diets could be harmful for your health in the long term. In addition, many healthy foods seem unnecessarily omitted.

HCG. The HCG Diet requires injections of the pregnancy hormone HCG, while eating just 500 calories per day for 8 weeks. There are other forms of taking HCG, but those may be less effective than injections. The goal is to boost metabolism in order to lose up to a pound per day without feeling hungry.
Does it work? Yes, anyone ingesting just 500 calories per day will absolutely lose weight.
Critics say: Studies show that the weight loss from this diet is due to low calorie intake alone and is unrelated to the presence of the HCG hormone in the body. Additional research shows the hormone didn’t stave off hunger after all.

Teatoxing. If you follow a few big celebs on Instagram, you’ve probably seen endorsement for tea-infused products that claim to help you detox and lose weight.
Does it work: Not likely. There is little evidence to support the idea that tea promotes weight loss.
Critics say: Some of these “teas” are likely to be more harmful than helpful, often imitating the effects of a laxative and causing discomfort or possible even damage to your body.

The list of potential diets can go on practically forever, but there’s no denying there’s an underlying theme forming here. The highest ranked, most successful diets all seem to call for lean protein, limited carbs, and lots of fresh veggies and fruit. Paired with enough exercise (remember that place with the workout equipment?), it’s a no-fail way of feeling and looking your healthiest.

By Jeannine “just put the bread down!” Cintron.