LIFE HACKS – Page 2 – Agapi.Style

How to get into HLS true (my experience)

Stories about how a person became a healthy person usually begin with the fact that he was either very ill or lost a lot of weight (although obesity is also a disease), and proper nutrition helped him become healthy, beautiful and happy.

But everything was very different for me. I am the person who suddenly discovered a passion for cooking delicious food. Given the fact that I am very thorough, I did not limit myself to just cooking. I began to study a lot of materials about what types of products there are (where they grow or live, how they are grown or mined, how they are stored, transported, etc.), what kind of kitchens, production technologies of a particular dish, secrets of eminent chefs … and, of course, I got acquainted with the basics of proper nutrition. And when all this knowledge began to “make friends” in my head, I found my personal balance. How to eat everything you want, necessarily tasty, but not harmful to the body.

Now, looking back, I can draw a few conclusions that can help those who are going on a healthy path too:

1. Motivation.

Globally, there can be two motivations: to preserve / improve your appearance and / or health. Appearance is usually important when you are young and fresh, and when you have already begun to feel the first signs of aging or infirmity – that’s when motivation number two is connected here.

The sooner you start living healthy, the easier and more natural this path will be for you. It’s just that when you suddenly become weak and old, it will be 100 to 500 times more difficult to start doing something with yourself. But it is possible!

And about “There he is all his life eating what he wants, drinking and smoking, and nothing.” Yes, it happens, but not for everyone)) This must be recognized.

2. Knowledge.

I personally ate wrong, for two reasons: I didn’t realize that I was actually eating evil and eating too much in principle, and secondly, I just didn’t know HOW to do it. That is, I have never liked salads with a liter of mazik, sandwiches with a thick piece of butter and a raw smoked sausage, terrible sweet cakes, etc. I just didn’t know that it was harmful and how to replace it all when everyone in my environment was eating and eating it)

Therefore. It is necessary to find a good competent and understandable source of reliable information for you, or several, and try to integrate recommendations into your life. Look at the personal reaction of the body, try not to buy anything garbage at home, change everyday habits, etc.

3. Take your time.

Do not require yourself to take and rebuild in 1 day. It’s normal that everything will be quite slow, but it’s natural and not stressful either for you or for your family members. It took me 3-4 years to figure out what a balanced diet is, what amount of food I actually need, how to properly organize my life in order to maintain this very healthy lifestyle.

And once again, go to the bright side when you are still doing well. Maintaining health is much easier than restoring.

4. Readiness for possible difficulties at the beginning of the journey.

I am touched by the appeals of all sorts of healthy lifestyle gurus who offer to teach healthy lifestyle without diets and restrictions. Like these are completely different things and diet is hard and bad, and healthy lifestyle is easy and cool. Kind of yes, but no.

Yes, of course, a healthy LIFESTYLE is not a diet. Diets are usually aimed at achieving some specific goal and have little to do with health, so they are short-term.

But when you switch from the wrong diet to the right one, then in fact you have quite a lot of unusual restrictions in your life. Both in terms of the amount of food and its quality.

And to say that diets are difficult, and healthy lifestyle is easy is wrong! Because changing long-term eating habits is perceived at first as a diet, and it can be difficult. It’s then you feel and see the bonuses, get used to it, and don’t understand how you used to eat so much before.

That is, discomfort may be normal. It’s just that everything is unusual. And it is possible and necessary to work with habits. Although, my transition was imperceptible and easy, because it was slow and with interest. And so, discipline and awareness will help you.

5. Healthy lifestyle is really simple.

Do not overeat, do not undereat, eat in a variety of ways to get all the macro and micronutrients the body needs, eat enough fiber, do not eat food garbage, limit saturated and trans fats, sugar and processed foods, drink enough water. So much for the whole healthy lifestyle;)

Everything will work out if you want to do it!

PS If you have signs of RPP (eating disorders), then first of all you need to solve this particular problem, work it out with a specialist. Unfortunately, RPP prevents you from leading a really healthy lifestyle, even if you have all the necessary knowledge about proper nutrition and sports.

The appearance of dreams: food + physical activity

I will say banal things, but they are understandable for everyone and give a general understanding of the picture of the world on the way to the appearance of dreams. I would have this information a few years ago, information for an ordinary person who does not know where to start and just “drowns” in the ocean of healthy lifestyle recommendations.

3 important platitudes:

1. amount of food

The more food is consumed, the greater the body weight becomes, and vice versa. This is an axiom. Of course, everyone has personal characteristics (heredity, hormonal background, age, etc.), which also have an impact, but they do not change the aforementioned system.

2. Food Quality

The better the food (in the sense that the product contains a lot of vitamins, minerals and other substances necessary for the body), the less the body needs the amount of food consumed. Also, the quality of food affects the condition of body tissues. Externally, this can be seen on the skin, hair, the amount of subcutaneous fat / water accumulation, etc. That is, with a varied healthy diet, you consume the necessary amount of trace elements for your beauty, and do not overeat. And if the diet is dominated by junk food such as fast food, sweets, etc., then the body does not receive the necessary, and you overeat, because this type of food is usually very high in calories. Useless calories.

3. Exercise

Here, too, everything is simple: the number of loads is directly proportional to the state of your body. Saying “quantity”, I mean quality, because incorrectly performed exercises or incorrectly selected complex, even in large quantities, will not bring the desired result.

What do I do with this knowledge:

Goal

I choose my goal (they can change) and act on it. As systematically as possible (this is very important) and consciously. It is necessary to lose weight-I eat less and choose the appropriate activities for the body. It is necessary to pump the ass-most of the training is associated with this part of the body, and nutrition is focused on gaining muscle mass. If you set yourself a goal, but act chaotically or do nothing at all, then it is completely logical that the goal remains unattainable. It happens to me too, I don’t even get upset))) Still natural.

Time

Everyone has a certain number of hours a day for all their affairs. We spend a certain amount of time on each of them. When we need to “pump” some sphere of life, it is logical that other tasks will “sag”from this. I am very often told that there is simply no time to exercise or cook in my style, and I understand this very well. But if you decide to train, for example, then you need to accept the fact that other tasks/parts of them will have to be abandoned or delegated. That is, you need to sit down and choose which cases will become secondary, and redistribute your precious time.

Landmarks

Do not compare yourself with people who have a completely different life situation. Marital status, age, nature of work, financial situation and other factors impose their obligations on each person. It means that you should not compare in a negative way (complain that you are not good enough, condemn, envy), but learn from others, take into your life some suitable techniques can and should! I read people, work(!) the main thing is to keep your body in perfect athletic shape. Having studied their training and nutrition plan, I conclude that I am simply not ready for this and, accordingly, I will not compare my abs with the press of a bodybuilder, but I will take note of the exercises and will be glad of the results I have achieved.

Success

All sorts of things happen in life, but most often I notice success where work, attention and love are invested in what you do.

Most importantly, beauty always comes from health. On the way to the dream appearance, the most important thing is to be healthy, not to hurt yourself. And it is better to always contact specialists who will guide and prompt the right way. Success to all!

Don’t eat up food if you don’t want to

Unfortunately, the head sits so many rule that you have to eat everything that’s on the plate. The reasons are many. Here are some of them:

Fear of hunger, which unobtrusively passed on from our ancestors and are literally built into the subconscious. It makes not to leave any crumbs, and if tomorrow nothing will be there, so the survival instinct.

Children’s habit.
Often in childhood, stubbornly trying to finish everything from the plate, although the little man is objectively well-fed and literally can’t trambovetsky, but obediently suffering.
This childish habit is perfectly transformirovalsya when growing up. Repeatedly observed in many families, as women make their men eat/drink something when they have finished the meal. Ordinary logic, such that a spoonful of salad and 1 meatball uncomfortable to hold, and throw a pity.

Greed.
In restaurants, a live cannot leave, lost their money.

I am very against this stretching of the stomach. And similarly against malnutrition. I don’t know which is worse.

As I do:

Now all kinds of utensils for storage of food, including a meager amount. Don’t want to keep – throw away. Believe me, the body will thank you for the fact that I hear it. Feed when he wants, feed when you do not want. Do not force yourself and others.
As for restaurants/cafes. Almost every have the opportunity to take meals with them. Realized that he had eaten, ask to wrap. If the dish is that it is required to have in place, then screw it, don’t eat it. This way you of your priceless health save, it is more important than the cost of any dish.

Summary:

When we fill the needs of the body (regularly overeat/not eat up), the body ceases to adequately feel and the feeling of hunger and feeling of fullness. Since my childhood I had a special preference in the schedule of supply, which does not fit into the schedule of the meals in the garden/school/home.

Only in the age of I noticed all the nuances and the needs of your body and learn to recognize hunger and satiety. To separate the body needs, to the needs of the head. I can say for sure that appearance is affected very much. For the better, of course)

But I’m not perfect, of course, and sometimes make gastronomic madness. Sometimes is the key word;)

All I wish to hear himself, to go his own way, no matter what anyone said.

Satiated, but not satisfied

For me it is very important that the food was very tasty and high quality, otherwise I see no point in wasting space in her stomach. This applies even to the simplest dishes (tomato with olive oil, for example). The tomato should be ripe, sweet and juicy, and the oil fragrant unrefined.

If I eat something mediocre, I feel that I am objectively full, but since I did not get any pleasure from eating, I always want to eat it with something really tasty. And I’m jamming. It is for this reason that I used to overeat.

Then I developed for myself 3 rules that I want to share:

1. if not tasty-do not eat.

Here I do not take into account some direct critical situations in which there may be other priorities.

2. I make harmful “harmless” without loss of taste.

I try to “lighten” my favorite sweet, fatty, high-calorie dishes, redo the recipe into a more tasty one. Then I do not want to return to the classic versions of dishes.

3. healthy make tasty.

As for the right-healthy dishes, then they will play with delicious colors, if you think a little about serving, come up with a delicious sauce, play with spices, etc. These little things turn even the most boring recipes into a culinary masterpiece.

All Bon Appetit!

How to store greens that it wanted to eat

I love greens, and this applies to lettuce leaves, and spices (parsley, cilantro, etc.).

But I confess frankly that until recently, I reluctantly used it in cooking for only one reason – I was too lazy to wash it and dry it every time I needed her. But that all changed when I began to keep the greens otherwise!

Now the first thing after the purchase, I washed it all. This is only 1 time to wash and forget this time-consuming process. I my way: first rinse the greens, then put in a large container with clean water, soak for 10 minutes, then washed greens again. During soaking all the dirt exactly it will go.

Then grass, large spinach and all that can be collected in a bouquet, I put in water containers, and salad greens I dried on a kitchen towel and put them in sealed containers. Store in the refrigerator.

Important nuances. Do not pour too much water into the glasses, but enough that all the stems came up to her and does not dry out. And too much greenery in a glass don’t let it be relatively spacious. And a container of salad you can top a paper towel to put, it will absorb excess moisture if the leaves stand out. It can be changed if necessary.

Thus you are always at hand already clean, dried ready greens. Comfortable is not the word! In addition, its shelf life is greatly increased with this approach. Try it;)

In addition, I want to share the same life hack about garlic. It’s not greens, but the principle is similar, so I will write here. I the garlic is cleaned, rinsed, dried and put in a glass jar. Store in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks, it is perfectly preserved and always at hand. Try too, very convenient!

How to think about menus for the festive table

I have a few principles of party organization:

1. All meals must maintain a presentable appearance and taste for a long time.

So no salads that are limp, no cuts that saveresource etc.

2. Most of the dishes can be done the day before.

I absolutely don’t like in the holiday to strain, so my Desk consists of such dishes that can be prepared in advance and on the day of the celebration they just need to serve.

3. Maintain a balance diet even on a holiday.

That is on the table will be a lot of vegetables and fruits, adequate amounts of protein and long carbohydrates, and less fatty and sweet.

4. 90% of the dishes – snacks.

I notice that usually before the main course and dessert is not reached))) So what good will it do to prepare and to torture myself and then their stomachs when you can just do snacks and to relax.

5. To prepare an adequate amount of food.

I don’t like to overeat and do not like to throw food. To avoid this, I just don’t cook too much. Recommend roughly estimate how much time will last the holiday, who will attend, and calculate the amount of food based on that;)

Freeze vegetable milk and cream in the form of ice

I used to have periodically left from cooking the coconut milk/cream, and if they couldn’t use it in the next few days after opening, all was spoiled. I was very upset, because I’m in a factory and don’t like to throw food. Then one day I came up with the idea to freeze leftovers milk in Lednice, which was incredibly convenient!

Now I’m thrown and have a portion of coconut cubes. Take out the right amount, defrost and use as directed. To cook porridge even easier, just throw the cubes straight into the hot saucepan. Even easier than pouring on the eye from the jar. I think this can be done with any vegetable milk;)

By the way, after complete freezing, the milk ice cubes can be removed and put into a container, so as not to occupy the centre of Lednice, and to have the opportunity to freeze her in something else.

Why do I need to wash cans and jars before opening

Any Bank (tin or glass with a lid) lying in the warehouses, transported, and laid in stores, etc., That is, they are quite dirty. However carefully we never opened them, but the dirt will inevitably get in the content.

So I before opening, rinse them under running water with a little mild detergent. This is how to wash vegetables and fruits;)

By the way, after opening the store the contents of the cans for a long time in a tin as it (the content) takes on a metallic taste.

All types of lentils and how to cook them properly

I will not tell you that lentils are an excellent source of protein, slow carbohydrates, fiber and many nutrients it is. I want to briefly talk about lentil species (some of them much better to use), so you can competently introduce it into your diet.

So, the three main parameters:

1. The size of grains (lentils sometimes small, sometimes large).

2. Processing grains.

2.1. Grains come in the shell, are already treated without it, and there are unwrapped and chopped, that is crushed grain.

2.2. Seeds in the shell keep their shape, do not boil soft and perfect for side dishes, salads, for stews, for soups, which need whole beans.

2.3. Grain without a shell – soft and well suited for soups, mashed for side dishes in the form of mashed potatoes, to cereals, to sauces, spreads, dips.

3. Varieties.

Varieties are very many, they, perhaps, understand only a botanist, but the average person could remember are the main types of lentils, which we offer manufacturers:

3.1. Brown (the most popular variety-representative – Spanish Pardina).

This variety in the shell – don’t fall apart, it is recommend to soak before cooking. I put it in meat soups and stews, in salads, as a garnish, too.

3.2. Green is unripe brown.

Everything is the same as with brown, but only soak it is not necessary.

Separately say about the French green Puy variety. She has a small grain green-black marble color, the taste is very pleasant. Pay attention to her.

3.3. Yellow is the green beans without shell.

The taste is very pleasant, a little nutty. Fall apart quickly, so it is suitable for dishes requiring a consistency (mashed potatoes, thick soups, porridge, sauces, etc.).

3.4. Red/pink (Egyptian) – it is brown lentil without skin.

As yellow and fall apart quickly, even faster. Apply similarly. Keep in mind that in the process of cooking it becomes yellow.

3.5. Black (Beluga).

This is the most glamorous kind of lentils, like Beluga caviar. Lentils in the shell, do not fall apart, but quite tender and tasty. Perfect as a garnish and in salads.

Thus, knowing just these basics, you can properly choose what kind of lentils to use. I recommend to try each variety to determine from taste preferences.

How to search for posts on the website

The search differs slightly from the search in the “search engines”. If Google/Yandex you can afford to write a misspelled word, in any case, etc., and results are likely to be relevant in standard search on the website this trick will not work: here the system searches for exactly what you entered.

So to find all posts with a particular keyword, I recommend typing it in the search box without the ending. For example: instead of “strawberry” or “strawberry” to write “straw”;)