Diet culture believes that appearance and body shape are more important than physical, psychological, and general well-being. Diet culture normalises labelling foods as good or bad and thinking that food is either something you earn or don't deserve depending on how you've eaten and exercised. People also label themselves as good or bad for eating certain foods. They may have a poor self-image, talk negatively about themselves, and believe that a thin person is better.

The diet culture is harmful

It is a toxic idea to think that food is only fuel and must be earned. Food is more than fuel. It is a social and cultural part of our lives. Thinking of food as good or bad fuel prevents you from enjoying food as a more meaningful part of your life. Restricting your food intake so that you do not obtain the correct amount of nutrients for optimal functioning can be detrimental to your health.

Food is more than fuel

Labelling yourself as good or bad based on the foods you eat can lead to an eating disorder, such as orthorexia, sticking rigidly to consuming food that the person believes to be the "correct" healthy diet. This obsession leads to interference with everyday life, including social, emotional and more. Examples include avoiding gluten when you're not intolerant or allergic, extreme versions of veganism, extreme low-fat or low-carbohydrate diets, detoxes, cleanses and avoiding all non-organic foods.

Diet culture as an unhealthy obsession

While it is impossible to avoid the diet culture due to its pervasive nature in all aspects of society, you can limit your exposure to diet culture and advocate against it. <ul><li>Avoid social media, forums, or online groups that make you feel like you are not good enough for the way that you look.</li><li>Practice body neutrality - the idea that you should focus on what the body can do right now, not what you want it to look like.</li><li>Educate yourself on what overall health is. It might help you understand how focusing solely on thinness and food restriction can be detrimental to your health.</li></ul>

How to combat diet culture

Diet culture is the belief that physical appearance is more important than overall well-being. It can lead to disordered eating when it becomes obsessive.

food

Food

habits

Habits

What Is Diet Culture?

Catching the northern lights, or aurora borealis, used to be a chance occasion, a rare fluke for those lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. But nowadays, scientists have figured out more accurate ways to predict when and where the northern lights will appear. You can also check out the <a href="https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/">Space Weather Prediction Center</a>, where scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration monitor and track the likelihood of the aurora happening. <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/my-aurora-forecast-alerts/id1073082439">My Aurora Forecast</a> app shows a map of the best locations in the world for viewing the lights now or weeks from now.

The Northern Lights

Generally speaking, the best time of year to see the northern lights is from late August to mid-April, because those are the darkest months of the year, but you can certainly catch the aurora in midsummer if you time it right. The best sightings will occur during the darkest hours of the night, between 10 P.M. and 2 A.M.Picking a geographic location close to the North Pole will help boost your chances of seeing the northern lights—northern-latitude places like Iceland, Canada, Alaska, Norway, Finland, and Sweden are often sure bets

Go See The Lights

This 218,000-acre national park is one of the most remote northern spots in the lower 48. The <a href="https://www.darksky.org/">International Dark-Sky Association</a> designated it an official dark sky park in 2020, meaning there’s minimal light pollution way out here. Pitch a tent at one of the park’s more isolated campgrounds—there are 15 hike-in or boat-in backcountry campsites—for the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/voya/learn/nature/northern-lights.htm">best viewing spots in the park</a>.

Where to Go to Watch the Northern Lights: Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota

Backcountry skiers visit Norway’s Lyngen Alps in winter for the legendary ski touring. While there, they might be treated to a brilliant showing of the northern lights. Stay at the eight-room boutique <a href="https://www.lyngenlodge.com/en/">Lyngen Lodge</a> (from $234) and you’ll have guided backcountry skiing by day and northern lights photography classes by night. To get here, you’ll fly into Tromsø, a popular northern lights destination, then drive 2.5 hours into the Lyngen Alps, where the lodge sits on the edge of a fjord.

Djupvik, Norway

From August to April, you can see the northern lights in Fairbanks on most clear nights. The city even has its own <a href="https://www.explorefairbanks.com/explore-the-area/aurora-season/aurora-tracker/">aurora tracker</a> for the latest status from six prime viewing locations around the area. Sign up for an aurora tour if you want a guided perspective: <a href="https://www.northernalaska.com/">Northern Alaska Tour Company</a> offers tours by ground or air. Sleep in a geodesic igloo with a clear roof or a tiny cube with floor-to-ceiling windows at <a href="https://www.borealisbasecamp.net/homepage">Borealis Basecamp</a>, 25 miles outside of Fairbanks, where two-night packages (from $980) include dogsledding and snowmobiling.

Fairbanks, Alaska

Twenty minutes outside the Yukon city of Whitehorse, <a href="https://northernlightsyukon.com/">Northern Lights Resort</a> recently added three new glass chalets, with prime nighttime viewing of the northern lights and three-night packages (from $1,190). Or catch the lights from a hot tub: the new <a href="https://eclipsenordichotsprings.ca/">Eclipse Nordic Hot Springs</a> in Whitehorse is slated to open this year with four outdoor soaking pools. Want even more of an adventure? Fly into Old Crow, the northernmost community in the Yukon, and take a tour with <a href="https://www.josiesoldcrowadventures.com/">Josie’s Old Crow Adventures</a>, an Indigenous-led guided operation that leads night tours and dogsled excursions.

Whitehorse, Canada

If Santa Claus lives anywhere, it might be Levi, a charming village fit for elves 100 miles north of the Arctic Circle in the heart of Finnish Lapland. In winter, Levi is home to one of the biggest ski resorts in Finland, but many people also come here for the northern lights. Sleep in one of 24 glass-roofed igloos at <a href="https://leviniglut.net/">Levin Iglut</a> (from $274), where even the on-site restaurant has entirely glass walls and ceiling.

Levi, Finland

Here’s a hotel amenity we can get behind: at the 51-room <a href="https://hotelranga.is/">Hotel Rangá</a> (from $428) in southern Iceland, if you select the aurora wake-up service, the hotel will buzz your in-room phone whenever the lights appear at night, ensuring you won’t miss the spectacle. Once you’re awake, you can watch the night sky from three geothermally heated hot tubs or the hotel’s own rooftop observatory. This hotel is located between the towns of Hella and Hvolsvöllur, about an hour’s drive into the countryside from Iceland’s capital city of Reykjavík.

Hella, Iceland

The best way to catch aurora borealis in all its lit-up beauty: go to the darkest places on earth, at just the right time, and hope for the best

travel

Travel

scienceandnature

Science & Nature

The 6 Best Places in the World to See the Northern Lights

<ul>
<li>Take one small step every day to initiate a lifelong positive habit.</li>
<li>People form habits over time through repeated behaviors.</li>
<li>A mini habit is the smallest possible iteration of a positive habit, like one push-up.</li>
<li>A mini habit is “too small to fail” because it requires only a tiny bit of willpower, and you quickly accumulate a record of success.</li>
<li>When your motivation for an activity is high, you don’t need much willpower. When your motivation is low, you need a lot of willpower, which most people don’t have.</li>
</ul>

Mini Habits: Too Small To Fail

<ul>
<li>Mini habits work because they deplete little of your willpower reserve.</li>
<li>On the mini-habit plan, you divide your goals into “stupid small” but effective actions.</li>
<li>The mini-habit rules are: don’t cheat, be glad when you succeed, give yourself rewards, stay with your new routine, and drop back and go smaller if it gets hard.</li>
</ul>
Also, enjoy the ease of your new small steps, recognize why they work, and don’t set bigger goals – just repeat your new mini habit a few extra times.

Mini Habits: Rules And Workings

To make changes last, you need to stop fighting against your brain.
Instead, decide that you’re better off taking a step, even a small step, than staying in the same place. Taking one small step daily leads you in the right direction and sets you on your way to developing a lifelong habit. The small step requires little willpower, but its results are enormous.

Stop Fighting With Yourself

Mini habits are low-willpower Trojan horses that can leverage their easy access into the brains control room into big results.

Smart willpower management is key to personal development as smart money management is key to financial success.

Contrary to common belief, the average time it takes to form a habit is not 21 to 30 days. Studies show it takes anywhere from 18 to 254 days to form a habit. The average person needs 66 days. 
You’ll know when a behavior becomes a habit when you experience a decrease in resistance. Instead of forcing yourself to meet your one push-up goal, for example, you’ll head to the gym without giving it much thought.

Forming A Habit

An inverse relationship connects motivation and willpower. 
<ul>
<li>When your motivation is high and you’re enthusiastic about something, you only need a little willpower to get going. </li>
<li>When the initial buzz wears off or you must face a task you don’t want to do, your need for willpower rises. </li>
</ul>
When an aspirational activity requires lots of willpower, you’re less likely to stick with it.

The Problem with Motivation

You already have all the inspiration you need inside you, but it may be dormant. Awaken it with mini habits.

Studies show that human beings have only a limited supply of willpower.
The five primary causes of weakening willpower or self-control – called “ego depletion” – are:
<ul>
<li>effort</li>
<li>perceived difficulty</li>
<li>negative affect</li>
<li>subjective fatigue</li>
<li>blood glucose levels.</li>
</ul>

Managing Willpower

<ul>
<li>Write a list of positive habits you’d like to have. </li>
<li>Break each habit down into a stupid small step, the minimum possible action, such as sorting one email or saying thank you to one person a day. </li>
<li>Try a mini habit for a week and evaluate the results. </li>
<li>Then choose to either focus on that mini habit (the “Single Mini Plan”) or to accomplish multiple mini habits a day (the “Multiple Mini Plan”). </li>
</ul>
If you have one primary goal, such as getting in shape, the Single Mini Plan will be the more effective approach.

Choose Your Mini Habits And Habit Plan

Ask yourself why you want to instill a mini habit into your life, and delve deeply into the answer by asking the question more than once. 
Make sure that your mini habits align with your values.

Use The Why Drill On Each Mini Habit

Habits are either “time-based” or “activity-based.” Identify which cue works for each new mini habit. 
Do you want to exercise at a specific time, such as nine every morning, or give yourself more flexibility, such as before dinner? If specific cues tax your willpower, assign yourself general cues, such as completing the mini habit before bedtime.

Define Your Habit Cues

Many habits don’t offer immediate rewards. Sculpting your abs, for example, takes time. Give yourself mini rewards to accompany your mini habits. 
For example, allow yourself a 10-minute power nap or watch a fun video as a reward for meeting your mini goal.

Create Your Reward Plan

Writing something down grants it importance. Visually track your mini habit success to reinforce your sense of accomplishment. 
Crossing your performance off on a calendar each day gives you a graphic representation of your progress. Several digital apps can help you reinforce your mini habit by tracking your development.

Write Everything Down

The advantage of mini habits is that repetition strengthens your willpower. Each task requires just a little willpower to complete and the frequency of repetition forms a habit over time. 
Once a habit is in place, you can build on it more easily. That’s why stupid small is powerful.

Think Small

While having a positive belief in your capabilities is good, setting your expectations too high can hold you back. 
When you’ve exceeded your stupid small goal several days in a row, your expectations will naturally rise. You won’t be content with one push-up when you’ve done 25 every day. Resist the urge to increase the mini goal to match your elevated expectations. Feel good about your accomplishment and focus on consistency.

Meet Your Schedule And Drop High Expectations

Several signs will tell you that you’ve developed a positive habit:
<ul>
<li>You’ll feel less resistance and perform the activity without much thought. </li>
<li>The activity will become less emotional and more routine. </li>
<li>You incorporate it into your identity, such as “I’m a writer” or “I’m a cyclist.”</li>
</ul>

Watch For Signs of Habit

Following the rules of the mini-habits program will keep you on track and ensure success:
<ol>
<li>Never, ever cheat</li>
<li>Be happy with all progress</li>
<li>Reward yourself often, especially after a mini habit</li>
<li>Stay level-headed</li>
<li>If you feel strong resistance, back off and go smaller</li>
<li>Remind yourself how easy this is</li>
<li>Never think a step is too small</li>
<li>Put extra energy and ambition toward bonus reps, not a bigger requirement.</li>
</ol>

Eight Mini-Habit Rules

Personal development blogger Stephen Guise offers a self-improvement program that is “too small to fail.”

Discover the Life-Changing Strategy of This Worldwide Bestseller in 17 Languages! UPDATED: Includes the best habit tracking apps of 2017. Lasting Change For Early Quitters, Burnouts, The Unmotivated, And Everyone Else Too When I decided to start exercising consistently 10 years ago, this is what actually happened: I tried "getting motivated." It worked sometimes.I tried setting audacious big goals. I almost always failed them.I tried to make changes last. They didn't. Like most people who try to change and fail, I assumed that I was the problem. Then one afternoon--after another failed attempt to get motivated to exercise--I (accidentally) started my first mini habit. I initially committed to do one push-up, and it turned into a full workout. I was shocked. This "stupid idea" wasn't supposed to work. I was shocked again when my success with this strategy continued for months (and to this day). I had to consider that maybe I wasn't the problem in those 10 years of mediocre results. Maybe it was my prior strategies that were ineffective, despite being oft-repeated as "the way to change" in countless books and blogs. My suspicions were correct. Is There A Scientific Explanation For This? As I sought understanding, I found a plethora of scientific studies that had answers, with nobody to interpret them correctly. Based on the science--which you'll find peppered throughout Mini Habits--we've been doing it all wrong. You can succeed without the guilt, intimidation, and repeated failure associated with such strategies as "getting motivated," New Year's Resolutions, or even "just doing it." In fact, you need to stop using those strategies if they aren't giving you great results. Most popular strategies don't work well because they require you to fight against your subconscious brain (a fight not easily won). It's only when you start playing by your brain's rules and taking your human limitations seriously--as mini habits show you how to do--that you can achieve lasting change. What's A Mini Habit? A mini habit is a very small positive behavior that you force yourself to do every day; its "too small to fail" nature makes it weightless, deceptively powerful, and a superior habit-building strategy. You will have no choice but to believe in yourself when you're always moving forward. The barrier to the first step is so low that even depressed or "stuck" people can find early success and begin to reverse their lives right away. And if you think one push-up a day is too small to matter, I've got one heck of a story for you! Aim For The First Step They say when you aim for the moon, you'll land among the stars. Well, that doesn't make sense, as the moon is closer than the stars. I digress. The message is that you should aim very high and even if you fall short, you'll still get somewhere. I've found the opposite to be true in regards to productivity and healthy behaviors. When you aim for the moon, you won't do anything because it's too far away. But when you aim for the step in front of you, you might keep going and reach the moon. I've used the Mini Habits strategy to get into the best shape of my life, read 10x more books, and write 4x as many words. It started from requiring one push-up from myself every day. How ridiculous is that? Not so ridiculous when you consider the science of the brain, habits, and willpower. The Mini Habits system works because it's how our brains are designed to change. Note: This book isn't for eliminating bad habits (some principles could be useful for breaking habits). Mini Habits is a strategy to create permanent healthy habits in: exercise, writing, reading, thinking positively, meditating, drinking water, eating healthy foods, etc. Lasting change won't happen until you take that first step into a strategy that works. Give Mini Habits a try. You won't look back.

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

books

Books

Mini Habits

It takes many forms, from the tiny particles that are emitted when we cook or clean, to the spores released by mold when it’s damp, and the chemicals that are embedded in our furniture.Small particles that are inhaled can travel to the lungs and cause problems. Studies suggest that indoor air pollution is linked with an increased risk of certain respiratory problems, such as asthma and bronchitis.

Indoor air pollution is widespread

<ul><li>Cooking releases particulates into the air, and that levels can remain elevated long after cooking is finished.&nbsp;</li><li>Open a window when you cook and use the extractor fan if you have one.&nbsp;</li><li>Put the pot on the back burner, where it will ventilate to the fan more efficiently.&nbsp;</li><li>Keep the fan on for at least 10 minutes after cooking ends.</li><li>Cook with electricity, if you can. It’s more environmentally friendly and less polluting than gas, because gas appliances generate carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide.</li></ul>

Use the back burner

Open fires and older wood-burning stoves emit a mixture of gases and tiny particles. Burning wet wood is worse than dry, seasoned wood.&nbsp;The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) recommends burning wood that has a moisture content of less than 20 per cent, along with certain stoves that are less polluting.

Use your log burner sparingly

Candles and incense can also impact air quality.&nbsp;One study in Danish homes found that candles were the main source of indoor pollution.

Don’t go overboard with candles

Cleaning products and indoor fragrances produce various volatile organic compounds which can be suspended in the air or settle in dust and on surfaces.&nbsp;Spray cleaning products close to the surface, then wipe with a dry cloth, then wipe again with a cloth that’s been dampened in water.

Clean with care

Fabrics and certain furnishings are treated with flame retardants, and formaldehyde can be found in some furniture, floorings, and building materials.&nbsp;Although we can’t yet confidently identify the extent of any health effects that are caused, we need to establish set emission standards and a clear labeling system for these items.

Furniture as a source of indoor pollution

Outdoor studies hint that plants can help provide a barrier against some forms of pollution, but the evidence from indoor studies is still lacking.&nbsp;It is not yet knows if specific plants can reduce air pollutants in the home, but they certainly look good and are great for our wellbeing.

Indoor plants

Help to prevent damp by cleaning away condensation and mold, and ventilating rooms as thoroughly as possible.&nbsp;If your windows have trickle vents, keep them open.

Be aware of damp

Cleaning products… candles… cookers… How much does indoor air pollution really affect us, and what can we do about it? Respiratory specialist Dr Jonathan Grigg explains all.

health

Health

A scientist's guide to life: How to protect yourself from indoor air pollution

Insomnia affects between a third and a half of U.S. adults at some point in their lives. Worldwide, 10 to 30 percent of the population experience insomnia, but other studies find it is as high as 60 percent.
We can increase the quality of life if we can change how we think about sleep. Instead of worrying about how we can fall asleep, we need to start considering sleep for its transcendent significance.

Changing how we view sleep

We all know that sleep improves our well-being, and lack of sleep is harmful. Yet, we don't sleep enough. Common reasons are poor sleep, work, stress, and young children. Another reason is "bedtime procrastination" - when we put off going to bed because we think other things are more important.
A variant of bedtime procrastination is "revenge bedtime procrastination," where people put off sleep as a form of rebellion against their own inner authority - until the morning, when waking up fills us with regret.

Sleeptime procrastination

According to psychologist Daniel Kahneman, we have two brain systems: System 1 is our automatic, reactive brain. System 2 is our metacognitive brain that we use to reason, analyze and manage our decision. The trick is to move the bedtime decision from System 1 to System 2.
<ul>
<li>Consider how you might be sabotaging your sleep.</li>
<li>Then, set a realistic and sensible bedtime.</li>
<li>Half an hour prior, tell yourself that you are choosing to go to bed at this time. It may be a way to quiet your inner squalling child.</li>
</ul>

Quell the rebellion against your inner tyrant

You may feel that sleep is a necessary but boring investment, like eating your vegetables. But sleep is an intrinsic source of wisdom.
Our conventional understanding is that we are conscious when we are awake, not when we are asleep. But when we sleep, we often find solutions to problems that we struggle to solve. Before you retire for the night, try thinking of the life puzzles you want to solve. Then go to sleep and see what you learn from your slumber.

Go from physical to metaphysical

To get better sleep, stop treating it like a chore.

The Lie We Tell Ourselves About Going to Bed Early

To suffer from burnout is to be used up, like a spent battery that can't be recharged. Defining symptoms are exhaustion, cynicism, and loss of productivity.
The World Health Organization recognized burnout as an occupational phenomenon in 2019 but it is not listed as a medical condition. Multiple studies suggest burnout symptoms are identical to depression.

Burnout as an occupational phenomenon

The diagnosis suffers from two confusions:
<ol>
<li>If everyone suffers from burnout, it's meaningless and just part of life.</li>
<li>If burnout is a recent problem, then the question is what caused it?</li>
</ol>
The term 'burnout' got its name in 1973 and by the 1980s, everyone was burned out. One Swiss psychotherapist stated that Moses, mentioned in the Old Testament, was burned out. Research suggests that three out of five workers feel burned out globally, but a recent book claims all Millenials suffer from burnout.

The world is suffering from burnout

Herbert J. Freudenberger, the psychologist who defined burnout, became involved in the 'free clinic' movement in the late 1960s. It was a community-based clinic that served alienated populations in the US, including hippies and drug abusers.
Volunteer staff helped with drug abuse treatment and detoxification. The people talked about being "burnt out" by drug addiction. Freudenberger worked his second job at the clinic until midnight until he finally found himself in a state of exhaustion. In his self-diagnosis, he borrowed the metaphor drug users invented to describe their suffering.

The term 'burnout' borrowed from drug users

Herbert J. Freudenberger, having experienced the state of burnout himself, wrote an essay on "staff burnout". He extended the idea to staff of all sorts, including attorneys, child-care workers, medical professionals and parents. He found burnouts everywhere and popularised the idea in interviews and self-help books.
Now, burnout wasn't what happened to you when you had nothing - it was what happened to you when you wanted it all. It made the term a yuppy problem, a badge of success.

Popularising burnout

The press picked up on burnout and filled pages of newspapers and magazines with new categories of burned-out workers, from lists of symptoms to quizzes. Everyone suffered. 
The sceptics fired back. "The new IN thing is 'burnout,'" a Time columnist wrote. "If you don't come down with it, you're a bum." Even Freudenberger was tired of burnout. Still, in 1985, he published a new book on Women's Burnout. The press loved quoting him, writing that "you can't have it all."

Burnout sceptics

For philosopher Byung-Chul Han, burnout is depression and exhaustion - it is a sickness that plagues a society bent on excessive positivity and achievement to the point of self-destruction.
Burnout keeps on spreading. With the emergence of the internet, people start speaking about "digital burnout." Social media burns you out. Gig work burns you out. It is no longer a temporary problem - it's a modern problem.

Burnout is a modern problem

<ul>
<li>Declining church attendance could be one reason with less than half of the population attending church. Wellness, mindfulness, and meditation are secularised versions of prayer, Sabbath-keeping, and worship. However, many Christians also suffer from burnout.</li>
<li>Another is overwork, but every generation claims enormous economic and social upheaval and changes in the labour market.</li>
<li>Burnout is a combat metaphor. Many feel like work is a battlefield, and daily life like a struggle. People from all walks of life feel worn down, wiped out, battered and battle-scarred.</li>
</ul>

Possible reasons for burnout

As a diagnosis, it’s too vague to be helpful—but its rise tells us a lot about the way we work.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

mentalhealth

Mental Health

timemanagement

Time Management

Burnout: Modern Affliction or Human Condition?

Dreams occur in the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) stage of sleep. We tend to remember the dreams that are seen just prior to waking up, but often the experience of time during our dream and awake stages is skewed. Swedish and German scientists studied Lucid Dreamers(People who are aware while dreaming and are able to control the dream) and found out that there is a negligible time difference in non-physical tasks done in the dream stage vs in reality.
Physical tasks, like running, took longer in dreams than in reality.

Our Experience Of Time During Dreams

How does time change when we dream? - BBC Science Focus Magazine

The two major stages in making a protein: transcription and translation.
When a cell makes a copy of the DNA, it's then called the RNA since it uses a different type of nucleic acid which is ribonucleic acid. The RNA is used in translation where it's converted (translated) into a sequence of amino acids that make up the protein.

Protein Synthesis: Transcription and Translation

<ul>
<li>Friedrich Meischer - originally discovered nucleic acids in 1868</li>
<li>Oswald Avery and his colleagues - proved that DNA contained information by experimenting with bacteria in 1943</li>
<li>Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase - supported the information role of DNA through experimentation with viruses</li>
<li>James D. Watson and Francis Crick - discovered the structure of DNA in 1953 that made them receive a Nobel Prize</li>
</ul>

The Progressors of DNA

<ul>
<li>The deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a pattern made up of four different parts called nucleotides.</li>
<li>Each nucleotide consists of a sugar (deoxyribose) bound on one side to a phosphate group and bound on the other side to a nitrogenous base.</li>
<li>There are two classes of nitrogen bases called purines (double-ringed structures) and pyrimidines (single-ringed structures).</li>
<li>The DNA has four bases: Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine, and Thymine.</li>
<li>The DNA is often visualized like a spiral staircase -- the double helix.</li>
</ul>

DNA Structure

<ul>
<li>The DNA is a long molecule that is about a millimeter long. </li>
<li>While humans have 46 chromosomes, plants and animals are complex organisms which can contain 50 to 100 thousand genes on many different chromosomes. </li>
<li>The DNA of such organisms are twisted around bead-shaped proteins called histones. They are coiled tightly to form chromosomes that are located in the nucleus of the cell. </li>
<li>Every time a cell reproduces the DNA gets copied and distributed to each offspring.</li>
</ul>

The DNA inside a cell

<ul>
<li>For the replication process to occur, it is highly dependent on whether the cells are prokaryotic or if it's a eukaryote. Regardless of where it happens, the DNA replication process is the same. </li>
<li>The DNA is shaped like a double helix that runs in opposite directions in which is able to unzip down the middles so that it may serve as a template for the other side. </li>
<li>The small area where it can unzip is called a replication fork, where it moves down the entire length of the molecule.</li>
</ul>

DNA Replication Process

<ul>
<li>The DNA carries the instructions on making protein, which is basically the determinant for our physical characteristics. </li>
<li>A protein is basically made up of a lot of amino acids and it has many functions from aiding digestion to making antibodies for the immune system. </li>
<li>Protein usually differs from one another, and the particular sequence causes the chain of the amino acids together, this then is encoded in the DNA.</li>
</ul>

How the DNA Operates

If we equate DNA as the master blueprint, we could then say that a protein is the house. There are many involved in this process such as the messenger RNA which is the working copy of the DNA, the cytoplasm, amino acids, ribosomes, and the transfer RNA molecules. 
Basically speaking, proteins are made inside cells. The instructions of how to make proteins are held inside the DNA molecules and the two major stages in making a protein are called transcription and translation.

Building A Protein

How DNA Works | HowStuffWorks

Research shows there may be beneficial effects to baking, like less stress, emotion management and social connection.
Spending time in the kitchen is a kind of self-care that's desperately needed during the long months of isolation.

Benefits of baking

Many of us instinctively know that a few hours in the kitchen gathering and chopping ingredients and getting creative can make us feel better.
Accomplishing small, creative tasks can make us feel happier. One study found that participants reported more positive emotions when they took on creative pursuits.

Getting creative with baking

The simple mechanics of cooking can make the activity appealing and stimulate crucial brain centres. Researchers found that repetitive behaviours like chopping or kneading can decrease stress and anxiety. 
Cooking on your own can increase the feeling of social interaction, partly from the people you're feeding. Altruism and positive behaviours like being kind can contribute to our wellbeing.

Getting your hands dirty

Cooking is soothing and empowering as you can be present in the moment. There is routine and a quietness about reading a recipe, and putting together a dish while you use your senses, smelling the aromas coming together.
With baking, you can do something that makes you have more control. You can read something, and in 30 minutes, you'll end up with a product that feels wonderfully satisfying.

Cooking and the feeling of control

During lockdown, so many people have run to their kitchens to bake and create. Why does cooking so perfectly fill a hole in our lives?

Why cooking and baking fill a void

The World Health Organization recommends 150 to 300 minutes of moderate to heavy exercise per week, which many of us are not doing as we overestimate our activity levels.
A vigorous exercise, where our heart rate reserve is more than 60 percent cannot be the same for every person, as one first needs to calculate their resting heart rate as well as the estimated maximum heart rate.

We May Not Be Exercising Enough

<ul>
<li>A healthy resting heart rate is usually in the range of 60 to 100 beats per minute (bpm) for an average adult.a</li>
<li>The estimated maximum heart rate can be calculated by subtracting your age from the number 220. So if you are 4o years old right now, your maximum heart rate would be 180.</li>
<li>Once the two figures are calculated, one can derive the bpm that one needs to maintain while exercising at moderate intensity. This can be done by subtracting the resting heart rate from the maximum heart rate, and then adding the desired heart rate reserve to your resting heart rate. This figure is usually above 40 percent of one’s heart rate reserve.</li>
</ul>

Calculating Your Heart Rate: Normal And Maximum

If the heart rate calculation sounds complicated, one can try a simple tracking method: The number of steps we take per minute.
To attain an intensive workout level, one has to keep the steps per minute above 100. This means that an average of 30 minutes activity per day is only effective if one does brisk walking or running without a break. Idle strolling won’t keep the steps per minute above 100.

Steps Per Minute

Around 36% of people overestimate how much exercise they get daily.

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