When I first started on my workout journey, many years ago, I made a lot of mistakes. Partly due to my own ignorance. But mostly due to the huge amount of misinformation that is published online and in magazines here in Canada. Canadian diet and workout supplement companies make a lot of money from this misinformation. And it can be difficult to sift through the lies and find the truth.

One of the biggest mistakes I made wasn’t actually concerning my workouts at all. Rather it was my diet that was the issue. People often underestimate just how important diet is in the grand scheme of getting physically fit. But the truth is that all the working out in the world won’t matter if you don’t fix your diet first.

Today we are going to talk about the impact your diet has on your exercise. How your eating habits can be changed to help you see better results. The types of food you should be eating. And debunking some of the more harmful diet lies put out there by diet companies.

How Your Diet Helps

Our bodies are complex machines. And, like any machine, they need fuel to function properly. Too many fad diet plans will promote unhealthy eating habits such as reducing your caloric intake and essentially starving yourself. This should be totally avoided! If you are working out regularly then you actually need to be eating more.

Our bodies burn calories to create energy. And they need protein to repair our muscles and help them grow stronger. If you aren’t getting enough calories and protein then your workout sessions are essentially useless. You won’t see any improvements and could actually end up causing your body harm.

While diet is the most important step in effectively working out, there may be a number of other reasons you aren’t seeing results. One of these could be linked to low testosterone. The growth hormone responsible for muscle growth. Testosterone production in the body can be hindered by eating a lot of trans fats. So changing your diet to include all natural and healthier foods will help to stem this.

Certain foods like legumes, fatty fish, and eggs can help the body produce more testosterone naturally. If this still isn’t helping you should consult a doctor. It could be that your body is unable to produce enough testosterone alone. They might suggest you start a steroid treatment. Steroids, when paired with a healthy diet, will help you workout for longer and promote healthy muscle growth.

You can either get a prescription or buy them online. Pg Anabolics is a favorite of mine. I favor them because they offer a huge range of options and these are the best steroids in Canada to help you get your body to a healthier point.

When To Eat

There is a lot of information out there about the right time to eat during the day in relation to when you workout. The most important thing you need to know is that working out on an empty stomach is not advisable at all! Not only will it mean you have less energy to workout with, but it can cause health issues in the long run.

Ideally you want to eat a couple of hours before your workout. Digested food will act as fuel for your workout. So it isn’t advisable to go right after your meal. But, if you have to, it should be fine. Just try to avoid making a habit of it.

You should then try to eat within the two hour segment after your workout. This will ensure your body can begin the muscle healing process and replenish your energy. It is vitally important that you do eat after a workout!

What To Eat

What you eat is just as important as when you eat. You should try to have three meals a day, with some snacks in between. Try to avoid processed foods as much as possible. But you can enjoy them from time to time. Moderation is, as always, the key.

For breakfast consider having plenty of high energy fruits such as bananas, oranges, apples, berries. Pair that with some natural greek yogurt and granola. I am also a big fan of protein yogurts as well.

For lunch you should try to get your daily intake of leafy greens and vegetables. A nice salad, perhaps paired with chicken, is an ideal choice. If you are planning your workout for after lunch you could incorporate a pre-workout shake as well.

For snacks you could have protein bars, nuts, fruit, yogurts, vegetables with hummus, or flapjacks. Try to avoid anything that is high in sugar or artificial sweeteners. If you are a coffee drinker you should consider having your coffee without sugar going forward.

For your dinners you should consider dishes that contain chicken, salmon, ground beef, turkey, or meat substitutes like jackfruit. Pair with rice, couscous, potatoes, leafy greens, tofu, and vegetables.

Unfortunately, for many people, taking pain medication is a normal practice. However, they care little about how their diets affect the medication’s efficacy and overall well-being. Whether you are an acute or chronic pain patient, your food will help determine your body’s response to pain management medication.

This article will help you determine whether you should alter your eating habits if you take pain medicines. It will also discuss what foods to avoid and what foods can be helpful for your healing process.

First, let’s look at the relationship between diet and pain management.

Diet and Absorption

The nutrition you eat determines the extent to which your body will be able to absorb pain-relieving drugs. Your body also dictates how some foods can compound the effect of the drugs you are taking or even neutralize them.

For instance, fats can enhance the uptake of some drugs by reducing the rate at which the food is passed through the small bowel, enabling the drug to be absorbed into the bloodstream. However, some foods containing high levels of fiber may help improve digestion and metabolism, decreasing the effectiveness of certain pain-relieving medicines. Thus, some foods can either enhance or diminish the effects of the medication that you’re taking.

Diet and Side Effects

Diet also has a direct influence on the side effects of pain medication. Some drugs for regulating pain, such as Kratom tablets (7-OH Kratom) and Opioids, come with certain side effects like nausea, constipation, pains in the stomach, and increased possibilities of ulcers. These pain medication side effects necessitate one to be keen on what you take as it may either escalate the effects or help you cope with them.

For example, in the case of Kratom, it is a powerful and popular alkaloid prevalent in the Kratom plant. The online or over-the-counter medication contains effective psychoactive properties that provide natural and highly potent pain relief. Even though this is quite rare, Kratom tablets have been known to cause some dehydration. Hence, it is advisable to maintain a proper fluid intake when taking Kratom tablets (or 7OH tablets) for pain management to reduce some of the possible adverse effects characterized by dryness in the mouth and constipation.

On the other hand, opioids, which are used for more severe pains, have been known to cause constipation. To balance this, it is advised to consume a fiber-rich diet. Dietary food such as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables and adequate water intake can lead to regular bowel movements, hence minimizing constipation.

Foods To Avoid When on Pain Management

Alcoholic Beverages

While on pain management, combining alcohol and paracetamol is a very dangerous act. Alcohol increases the sedating effects, responsible for causing more drowsiness, dizziness, and, in extreme circumstances, respiratory arrest, which is usually fatal. Alcohol is known to also be a substance that affects the liver and, therefore, should not be taken alongside acetaminophen, which is also metabolized in the same body organ.

High-Sodium Foods

When taking pain relievers like Corticosteroids, often used in inflammatory diseases, one should pay close attention to sodium intake. These medications lead to sodium and water retention, hence increased blood pressure and generalized swelling. These side effects could be minimized by avoiding increased sodium intake of products such as processed snacks, canned soups, and fast foods.

Grapefruit or Juice

Grapefruits and even grapefruit juice should be disregarded if one is under medication. They have compounds that inhibit enzymes, which pass through the liver to metabolize the drug. This may result in a build-up of the medication in your system, raising the likelihood of adverse side effects. In any case, you should consult your doctor or pharmacist and ask if it is safe to take grapefruit or juice with the prescribed medication.

Foods That Aid Pain Management

Here are some foods you are recommended to change to when taking painkillers.

Anti-Inflammatory Foods

Consumption of anti-inflammatory foods is useful in supporting the administration of pain relief medication for chronic pain and inflammatory diseases such as arthritis. Fish, flaxseeds, and Nevada Enhanced for omega-3 fatty acid content inform the body to decrease inflammation. Also, foods rich in antioxidants, such as berries, green leafy vegetables, and tomatoes, may benefit from fighting oxidative stress and inflammation.

High-Fiber Foods

If you are in a group that uses opioids, it is advisable to take high-fiber foods as this will counter the effect of constipation, which is a common side of opioids. A proper diet includes oats, beans, lentils, and fresh fruits that enhance bowel movement in the body.

Ready meals. Love them or hate them they have become a staple of our food culture here in the west. Pre-prepared meals, often simply shortened to prepared meals, provide exactly what you would expect. An entire meal ready to go. Often requiring only a brief warming up in a microwave or oven.

This industry is by no means a new one. Prepared meals as we know them first took shape around the time of the Second World War. From a necessity to provide nutritious and sustainable meals to the troops in the front. But since then the industry has evolved. Now, in the digital age, it has become worth nearly $23.8 Billion dollars. So how did the prepared industry become so big?

The Age Of Television

While prepared meals took form during the WW2, it wasn’t until the 50’s in America that we really saw them hit the commercial scene. It was in 1953 that the first Swanson ‘TV Dinner’ hit store shelves. By 1954 Swanson had sold over 10 million TV Dinners. And the numbers kept going up year to year.

The golden age of TV was the perfect time for prepared meals to hit the market. Back then TV was new and exciting. Spending time with your family around the TV was considered the stylish thing to do. TV Dinners allowed families to not miss a single moment of their favorite shows.

The Age Of Delivery

Food delivery isn’t anything new. But you might be surprised to learn that the first ever instance of takeaway delivery was in 1995. And this was a complete game changer for the prepared meals industry. Suddenly people could have their favorite restaurant foods brought to their door. The age of TV Dinner was replaced by the age of Pizza delivery.

The restaurant delivery industry did take a while to properly get going. Due mainly in part to the fact that delivery drivers often had to provide their own mode of transportation. Unless working for one of the bigger brands like Pizza Hut. And most people weren’t too attracted to the idea of wearing their car out for minimum wage.

But, as it has always done, the automotive industry began to catch up. Insurance rates dropped. Cars became more fuel efficient and affordable. And now that GMC car covers are available everywhere in the United States, people are far less worried about their cars becoming damaged while delivering food.

As we moved further into the digital age we saw the meteoric rise of delivery apps like Deliveroo and UberEats. Suddenly every restaurant had access to a delivery service without having to hire their own staff. These apps were hugely successful. Again, boosted by the fact that most people had access to a car or bike. And, for the last decade or so, delivery apps have been the king.

Delivery Fatigue

But over the last few years we have seen a shift in people’s habits. As a society we are becoming exhausted with the delivery apps. There are too many of them all vying for your custom. Prices are going up and tipping culture is making it too expensive to enjoy a takeaway. People are turning back towards the idea of a healthy home cooked meal. But, sadly, most people lack the time or money to make that happen.

And this is where we see the return of the prepared meals industry. Companies like Huel, Gusto, Blue Apron, and Simply Cook emerged. These companies took the original idea Swanson popularized in the 50’s and improved upon it in so many ways.

Now the focus was on providing customers with fresh ingredients and simple recipes to utilize them. Offering customers the ability to pick and choose what food they want and find recipes that fit into their schedules. Anyone who has used these services will attest to how convenient they are.

Meal Prepping

The type of prepared meals Swanson provided still exist. But many companies have strived to make them healthier. PrepUK is a prime example of this. The meals they provide are extremely healthy and varied. They require little to no work on the customers part either. In our fast paced digital world, where we are more health conscious than ever before, companies like this are thriving.

Say what you want about the original Swanson TV Dinners. But it is undeniable that they forever changed the food industry. So much of our modern food culture in the west can be tied back to that fateful day in 1953.

The kitchen is the heart of every home, where everyone derives their daily meals and satisfies their appetite. It’s also a place where you can interact with your loved ones as you prepare breakfast or dinner. Therefore, unlike all other rooms, the kitchen has a unique place in your home and should be designed to meet your needs and those of your family.

Therefore, if you want to create your dream kitchen, it may not be easy to master everything, and some details may need help during construction. However, designing your own can be an exciting experience. From designing the layout to choosing materials and interior colors and installing appliances, you will love every process when building your dream kitchen.

So, If you are not sure where to start, this article will help you with all you need to consider to create a space that is functional, stylish, and tailored to your needs.

List Your Preferences

Before you can begin designing your precious kitchen, take some time to identify your needs and how you want it to fit your lifestyle. Determine how you will use your kitchen daily, your cooking style, and the number of family members who will use it. Determine the size of your storage facilities, the working space, and any specific features. In order to be aligned with future trends, consider universal design elements, smart technology, and sustainable materials in your ideas.

Design the Layout

After enlisting the ideas and needs of your to-be kitchen, your next step is to put them down on paper in the form of a layout. The best layout is one that maximizes the available space as well as the shape of your kitchen to ease traffic flow, as well as access to key features such as the sink, stove, and refrigerator. The most common layouts you may try are the galley, L-shaped, U-shaped, and open-plan designs.

Prioritize on Neatness

Your kitchen may be well-designed with all the good features, but it will only look smart and stylish when every item is kept in the right place. When allocating storage space, ensure it is also effective in organizing your stuff neatly. Otherwise, a cluttered kitchen is not functional and will erode all other good features.

Therefore, allocate enough cabinet space, drawers, and pantry storage to accommodate your kitchenware and foodstuff. Some innovative storage solutions include pull-out shelves, lazy Susans, and custom organizers. Choose durable materials and hardware that can withstand daily use for longevity and enhance the beauty of your kitchen.

Set Your Budget

Once you have identified the kind of kitchen, the design and the features you wish it to have, it all goes down to cost. You need to come up with a budget in order to know whether you can afford your dream kitchen project. Although having the best means more funds needed, there is also the limit you’re willing to invest in either renovating your existing or constructing a new kitchen. If the cost is more than you can afford, be realistic about the design and prioritize your needs and preferences.

Use Quality Interior Finishes

The quality of finishes that you choose will determine how classy your kitchen will look and how long it will last before you can renovate. Selecting high-quality materials may seem costly at first, but it is cost-effective in the long run. Prefer such materials as ceramic or porcelain, solid wood cabinets, and granite countertops that can withstand the test of time.

Purchase Insurance Cover

When investing heavily in your modern kitchen, it is important to think about safety and protection, as the kitchen is a volatile place for fires and other accidents. Hence, you may want to consider home insurance covering your household assets. And in case the damage, such as from fires, results from a neighboring house, you can file a claim against their home insurance provider. That ensures that your kitchen is restored back to its intail position incase of an eventuality.

Install Proper Lighting

A well-lit kitchen is inviting, able to keep clean, keep away crawlers, and is functional. Ensure the ambience from accent lighting is sufficient to light up all corners of your kitchen and enhance visibility. You may prefer to use recessed ceiling lights and pendant lights over the island. If your budget allows, you have additional under-cabinet lighting for task areas and decorative fixtures for added beauty.

There are so many beautiful places on the planet. But very few are as stylish or as trendy as Gangnam. Most people in the western world will know about Gangnam from the popular song ‘Gangnam Style.’ But very few of these people actually know where it is, or what it is all about.

Gangnam is a district in Seoul, South Korea. And Gangnam is most famous for being one of the most affluent and stylish districts in, not only South Korea, but the world. It is filled to the brim with trendy restaurants and bars. It has a number of beautiful museums and tourist attractions. But the main draw, in our mind, is the amazing shopping scene. Gangnam is filled to the brim with shops and salons for every taste and style. Today we are going to be looking at the best Salons in Gangnam.

Jenny House

Founded back in 2002, Jenny House is one of the most popular hair salons in Gangnam. Located not too far from the river, the salon is extremely popular amongst some of the biggest stars in South Korea, including people like Park Shinhye and the popular K-pop band PENTAGON. The salon’s staff are experts at their trade. Able to work wonders on your hair and have you leaving feeling like a brand new person.

Jenny House is also a popular cosmetics brand. In the salon they use and sell all of their own products, which are all eco-friendly. So you can take home some of the magic with you when you leave. And don’t worry about language barriers either. Jenny House has translators on site at all times.

Gangnam Play Shirt Room

Located in the heart of the district, Gangnam Play Shirt Room is one of the most popular shirt rooms. If you aren’t aware, a Gangnam shirt room is an adult only entertainment salon. The services offered by shirt rooms does vary from location to location, but the goal is always to provide a relaxing entertainment experience for individuals or business parties.

The Play Shirt Room is one of the more elite shirt rooms in the city. Offering a wide range of packages including amazing food selections, private shopping experiences, car show room tours, and so much more. Staffed by a small army of some of the most stylish women in Gangnam, guests are guaranteed friendly service from start to finish.

The Play Shirt Room is only available to business parties, so if you’re looking for your next big business outing, this might be the palace for you.

Juno Hair

First opened way back in 1982, Juno Hair has become one of the most recognisable salon brands in Seoul. Over the years it has worked on a number of high-end clients, including some of the most popular K-pop stars in the world. The staff are knowledgeable and experts of their craft. And with so many locations around Seoul and South Korea, you are sure to be able to book a slot without any issues. If you really want a high-end experience, they have a premium location in Cheongdam, which is one of the neighborhoods within Gangnam.

Overmars

If you have spent any time on TikTok in recent years, you may have seen a lot of influencers going to a particular salon in Gangnam named Overmars. Run by a prestigious London hair stylist, Overmars salon is one of the hottest locations in the city right now.

Overmars is a hair and make-up salon that offers a huge range of services to anyone and everyone. Having worked on a number of k-pop stars and celebrities over the years has earned Overmars a reputation for flair and style. So if you are looking for a lively and authentic Seoul look, this is the palace to go.

Boboris

Another of the most popular salons in the city, Boboris is a salon and spa that offers its clients a relaxing salon experience that is second to none. Like many salons on this list, Boboris has a clientele list that includes some of Seoul’s biggest celebs. There are a huge range of services on offer, including full dye jobs and perms. And the price isn’t too eye watering considering the high quality service they provide.

A vape is a type of electronic cigarette that was created to feel like smoking without having as many negative health impacts. A vape is made up of a power source, usually, a battery, an atomizer, and a container like a small tank. It was called a vape as instead of inhaling smoke the user would be inhaling the vapor. How it works is that you pour liquid into the small tank and the atomizer heats this liquid up turning it into a vapor, there is usually a button on a vape and when you press this the liquid will heat up and you can smoke it. As the vape was only invented in 2003 the history of vaping isn’t a long one, when the product was invented back in 2003 they were not widely used or known about but the marketing of vapes has led to a rapid increase in how many people are using them, in 2011 there were 7 million people using e-cigs and by 2020 this had massively increased to 68 million and every day this number is growing. In 2008 the World Health Organisation released a statement saying that vaping was not a legitimate way to quit smoking and that anyone selling these products must remove anything that claims the WHO are in support of them, but this didn’t deter people from taking up vaping. Since this statement from the WHO many states and countries have tried to prevent people from using vapes but the marketing of vapes has been so successful that even this did not prevent them from becoming popular. 

The health impacts

One of the reasons why marketing for vaping has been so successful is because a vape really is a product that sells itself. Smoking cigarettes is one of the most harmful things that people can do to their bodies and their health. Smoking is associated with many health issues including increasing your blood pressure, increasing your risk of a stroke, and increasing your risk of heart disease. Over 30% of deaths from heart disease can be traced back to either smoking or second-hand smoke. There are hundreds of dangerous chemicals in tobacco that wreak havoc on your body and your health as they cause damage to almost all of your organs. Smokers are aware of this but as nicotine is one of the most addictive substances there is, studies have revealed that it is just as addictive as cocaine which makes it hard for smokers to quit. 7 out of 10 people who smoke want to quit smoking but can’t, this is what makes marketing for the vape so easy as all of these smokers are looking for a way to quit, and vaping instead of smoking is a great step in the right direction. It gives the same feeling as smoking without being as damaging and it allows you to lower the amount of nicotine you’re inhaling gradually until you’re no longer dependent on it. 

Social Media

Like many other products, social media has been a fantastic tool to help companies market their products. Social media allows marketing campaigns to reach more people than has ever been possible before, Instagram has millions of active accounts that will be engaging and spreading things that you post, helping them to reach more people and promote your product further. The popular vape brand Juul has massive success by marketing on social media sites like Instagram and Facebook. Their marketing plan heavily relied on social media as they were aware this is the new best way to reach people, a recent study on how vaping became so popular claims that Juul spent over $1 million on online marketing. They also used Twitter and YouTube to make their products look like they were cool and to try and associate Juul vapes with fun, freedom, and sex appeal. This was a really successful marketing tactic which many people will likely follow, a study revealed that the more Juul-related tweets there were, the more sales Juul were making. Before the campaign, there were on average around 700 tweets a month mentioning Juul products but after the campaign, this increased to over 30,000 tweets a month in 2017. As this campaign spread so much awareness, by the end of 2017 Juul was taking at least half of the e-cigarette market share and they are still the most well-known vaping brand. 

Fun Flavors

To try and deter people from smoking, flavored cigarettes and menthol were banned as many smokers only smoke menthol. This gives e-cigarettes a unique selling point as e-cigarettes can be any flavor. E-cigarette companies use this laxation in regulations to target the youth by creating youth-friendly flavors like bubblegum and candy floss. A study revealed that over 40% of young vapers took up vaping as they were interested in trying all of the different flavors. As there were many high school students involved in this study, following this, regulations were tightened but this was mainly aimed at the packaging and any flavor e-liquid is still allowed. With so many different flavors to promote this is a great marketing technique, there are tasty flavors like strawberry and to keep people interested there are also less appealing flavors like crab and roast chicken which are more of a novelty but the variety helps to keep people vaping. 

When it comes to playing video games there are many skills you can learn from them and that much has been proven by science years ago. Video games are also a very good educational tool when it comes to learning particular skills that require more studies and practice overall. This is why over the years we have seen many games be developed to help the learning of second languages or math for example. One trend that has become more and more popular though is the arrival of games that teach you a code and out to understand computers in general. So let’s take a look at some of the best games that exist that can help you learn computing and all that you need to know about programming machines. Let’s jump into it and see all the options available.

Minecraft

While many people play Minecraft to build small houses or fight zombies and Dragons the reality is that the possibilities within this game are near unlimited. Whether you choose to play around with Redstone or code one of the many SMP Minecraft servers you will be faced with a learning curve that can be quite difficult but very rewarding. To learn how to truly set up a Minecraft server you will need to learn how to code plugins as well as server text docs that are needed to run the server itself. While in the game you can use Redstone to build complex machines that are even akin to computers that run on binary systems in real life it only goes to show that Minecraft has a lot to offer especially as a learning tool. If you are looking to start your learning experience within video games Minecraft is the place to start.

Hacknet

Putting you in the shoes of a hacker in a cyberpunk kind of world this game will ask you to learn the basics of code to be able to resolve mysteries as well as break down the defenses of your enemies. While it won’t teach you to code exactly it will introduce you to the basics and force you to understand how computer programs and cyber security work which a great way is to learn about these aspects of computer science. While still more of a game than a learning tool it is a great way to introduce yourself to coding while following an interesting narrative and feeling immersed into a wild story filled with twists and turns that can be art to predict. It will please both your sense of curiosity and learning as well as your gamer side. So definitely do not overlook this game.

Baba is you

Now for something a little bit more lighthearted and completely different from the other two games mentioned. This game is going to appeal to you for computing skills not in the same way or practical way that you might expect. While it does not teach you to code or to understand machines itself it will train you to understand things from different perspectives and work on your logic skills. The game is all about tackling puzzles in different ways and changing your perspective to resolve sequences of actions with the tools available which is something that is often the case when dealing with computers and coding. It’s all about understanding the puzzles and taking them apart piece by piece to make sense of them. It is also a very fun game that is available on many platforms so even if you are playing on mobile devices you will have access to it.

Code monkey

This game is all about working with functions that are constructed the same way coding is. The game is all about helping a little monkey reach his banana. This might seem silly but the idea is to build a challenge by making it more and more difficult for you to build the path required for this monkey to reach its banana. The game is well built in a way that will allow you to learn everything that you need to achieve those goals. The end game of this game is to introduce you to pseudocode to eventually teach you the basics and the basics of the real language of Python. Python is a coding language that is used currently in many industries and is very useful for learning to code. So as you can see games can be useful for your introduction to computing.

Untrusted

Now for something a little bit more challenging let’s talk about untrusted. The way untrusted works is that you have to create a path between two rectangles. On one side you have the visual representation and on the other side, you have access to the old code that presents the screen that you can see. Part of the code is locked which means that you cannot change it but you can use it as a reference to change the other parts that are open to modification. This pushes you to look for patterns and learn to understand what terms mean and what they create so that you can change the faulty code to fit what you need. What’s great about this is that this game does not use pseudocode instead it uses real JavaScript. While it can be a challenging exercise it will help you understand the basics of JavaScript and eventually build your knowledge as you progress to the levels that get increasingly difficult.

As you can imagine these are not the only games that are available on the market to help you learn about computing as there are a large number of them that are always growing. If you want to learn coding for gaming you should keep looking for the best game that is suited to your needs as there are plenty out there that do all sorts of things for all sorts of coding languages. Learning code is the same thing as learning Spanish or French. Code is a way to be used as a real language because it works the same way with grammar and vocabulary. So definitely explore in game your way into learning new skills with the games we mentioned and so many more.