Fun Friday Links

Happy Friday!

Robots who watch you while you sleep and draw pictures? Interesting...
I love caramel shortbread and this recipe with a twist looks awesome!
Christmas present idea? Everyone should be encouraged to read more, books are brilliant, and even though I have a Kindle which I love, I still buy proper books too- one day I'll have my Beauty and the Beast library!
Has anyone else tried kale? I bought some this week, and am loving trying something new.

I also want to mention this article- it's quite long, but well worth the read if you have time. I thought it presented some really interesting points.

It discusses "food addiction" and how the dopamine in certain foods actually triggers the same brain response as heroin and cocaine. Tests showed the people get the same "high" from eating sugary, fatty foods as from drugs, and the more they eat, the less the response is, so then they have to eat more to get that "high". You can change your eating behaviour to reduce this, so you still get the same sense of pleasure from one Tim Tam as opposed to having to eat the whole packet.

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It also talks about epigenetics which are environmental changes in genetics- how you eat, your lifestyle, stress factors. Epigenomes switch certain genes off, so over time your behaviour will actually alter your genetics. So some people may be more predisposed to being obese, due to their actions altering the way their body functions.

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It all comes down to what we already know! To be healthy you need to eat the right foods, because it can actually affect your genetics, reduce the stress in our lives, and do some exercise. The study actually said that physical exercise repaired the pathways in the brain created by food addiction, and improved IQ and brain function.

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Definitely something to consider...

I had a really good run yesterday evening- the absolute definition of an easy run, I didn't even break into a sweat! (granted it was freezing outside) But I just kept it slow and enjoyed myself, it was great 🙂

5min warm-up
30min run
5min cool-down

Sweet.

My sister is coming to stay this weekend- I'm picking her up from the train station this evening- yay! So there will be a bit of brownie baking, marshmallow hot chocolates, movies and shopping- looking forward to it. She turns 18 in a few weeks- my baby sister all grown up! (She's still taller than me though...)