Life By Design Podcast

May 2019
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Thu, 30 May 2019

The amount of low and no calories sweeteners that children get in their diets has increased two hundred percent in recent years. Obesity rates have also been climbing with one-third of children between the ages of two and nineteen overweight or obese.

The obvious (maybe not so obvious) conclusion that children's weight should be decreasing or staying the same has made researchers question what's going on. It would be safe to assume that fewer calories and less sugar should amount to a decrease in weight.

There's an important disclaimer that needs mentioning - weight loss does not necessarily amount to good. We don't have objectively measurable qualifiers for health, only for disease.

Some studies are suggesting that swapping artificially sweetened drinks for those high in sugar might promote weight loss in children and teens, but there is also data to suggest that doing so increases health risk in other areas.

Bottom line there are better ways to lose weight and improve health than drinking artificially sweetened drinks.

The purpose of this podcast is to discuss the study and give it interpretation from a Life By Design perspective.

What we covered

The study itself - how the data was collected and some of the pitfalls from doing it that way.
Interpretation - did drinking artificially sweetened drinks make an impact in calories consumed, are calories a useful marker for health, what else could be at play?
Ways we've found helpful for changing diet in our kids.

Direct download: 323.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:07am EDT

Tue, 21 May 2019

#322 Does Free Time Make Us Unhappy?

I recently finished Cal Newport's book, Digital Minimalism and really enjoyed it.

There were two concepts which I found to be both urgent and vital to include in my life as soon as possible. The first was a distracted mind's intrusion on our solidarity - a topic for another day. And, two, the issue of free time and how it affects our mind.

I'm paraphrasing what I've read and what my takeaways are so, please feel free to dismiss both if you'd like. But at least give me the change to share what I think and see if it resonates with you.

The purpose of this podcast is to have a closer look at 'free time' and see if there is a better way to spend it than just mentally drifting.

What I covered

Is free time a paradox? We spend most of our time 'wanting some time off,' even though when we get it; it doesn't seem to make us any happier.
What is happiness and is it important?
Does a lack of structure, free time, generate more happiness or less?

Direct download: 322.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:01pm EDT

Mon, 13 May 2019

#321 Exercise, Sleep, Screens and Kids Under 5

"Drvo se savija dok je mlado" - Croatian Proverb

The above statement translated into English means that the "tree is bent when it is young." This saying can also be a metaphorical statement implying that the habits and environment experienced as a child tends to continue into adulthood.

The is precisely the mindset the United Nations Public Health Agency had in mind when they made their newest recommendations for sleep, exercise and screen time in 1-5 years olds.

Previously, there were no recommendations for children below five years old. However, due to the idea (and evidence) that children who are obese, tend to become adults that are obese (obesity increases all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes) the United Nations Public Health Agency is trying to help 'bend the tree' in the healthy direction by creating guidelines surrounding screen time, exercise and sleep, for children under five.

The purpose of this podcast is to review those guidelines and offer suggestions on how to make them a reality for your family.

Here's What I Covered:

A review of the World Health Organization recommendations if your child is under one year old.
A review of the World Health Organization recommendations if your child is between one and two.
A review of the World Health Organization recommendations if your child is three to four years old.
How to make these recommendations a reality...it's easy to read something and understand it, much harder to implement something and start doing it regularly. We help share our tips and tricks for making this a realistic plan in your household.

Direct download: 321_Sleep.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00pm EDT