There are at least 1.5 million charities world-wide. Which ones should one give to?
That’s a hard question, and I don’t have an answer for everyone, but with some research and reading I do have an answer for me. Each of the charities represents a theme that is important to me.
So a short while back (erm, January 2015) I promised an update on fasting. This post isn’t it. Instead I want to share my retrospectively obvious tip for consistently doing both each week: Do them on the same days. If I run, I fast. If I fast, I run.
I’ll write more soon, but just a quick tease: I am very excited! I have made great progress so far and the I foresee a future so shiny I shall have to wear shades. Tasteless, tacky shades!
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As of 20 July, I’ve started the 5:2 fasting diet. And that’s diet in the sense of “the food pattern of my life” and not “a particular (de)selection of food prescribed to lose weight”. I mentioned it for the first time in my previous post on this blog. Here’s the first follow up report.
Of everything that I gained from studying at Oxford, my friendship with Alex, Akshat and Xiao is one I truly treasure. When we were all in one place it was incredible, and now that we’ve scattered ourselves across 3 or 4 time zones I still look forward to our monthly video chats with excitement. One recent weekend, we all met to talk about a single novel. What was going on?
Tying together the latest neurology, psychology and neurology research, Charles Duhigg’s book The Power of Habit presents a compelling description of habits: how we get them, how we change them and their wider appearance in companies and entire societies. With the framework he builds it becomes possible to understand why I can’t resist sugar and why Rosa Parks (and no one else) truly set the Civil Rights movement in motion. What’s more, it becomes possible to change my sugar addiction and understand how BigRetailChain is pulling my psychological levers to make me buy more. Well written, interesting and enjoyable, I strongly recommend this book. Continue reading
My smartphone is amazing. It checks my email, lets me Skype my friends and, with the combined power of GPS and apps using OpenStreetMap, it mostly stops me getting lost. But as well as making my life easier and more convenient, it ultimately makes it better too. And I’m not talking about Angry Birds or Instragram. I’m talking about apps that help me eat better, be happier and wake up refreshed and full of energy.
