tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13137670280589186912011-07-08T10:02:41.006+10:00The aim of this blog is to talk about personal development ideas and for me to share and trial ways to improve yourself.Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460946045686206652noreply@blogger.comBlogger251100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313767028058918691.post-14992270701823365552010-01-16T19:43:00.009+10:002010-01-16T21:39:21.489+10:00

In school, the food pyramid that has been taught offers grains as the largest group, followed by vegetables and fruit split in to the second group, with nuts, dairy and meat following after that. Fats are then the absolute smallest food group so this encourages people to stop eating fat, which can lead to health problems. That appears to be the current approved food guide pyramid but there have

Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460946045686206652noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313767028058918691.post-45179440681239817212010-01-15T13:52:00.003+10:002010-01-15T14:34:44.768+10:00

A problem with eating healthy is that sometimes you run in to a food that you do not like to eat that has health benefits you need. For example, I recently included raw walnuts in to my diet because they are a rich source of unsaturated fat and omega-3 fatty acids. I was barely able to eat any because the flavour was unsatisfactory to me. But, after following a simple method, in no more than 2

Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460946045686206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313767028058918691.post-33804263982113359402010-01-10T12:10:00.011+10:002010-01-15T18:34:18.714+10:00

In developed countries, meat eating has become a regular part of the human diet because of factory farming and the ability to create meat more efficiently and profitably than before. This fad has lead to the assumption that humans are omnivores, capable of eating meat and plant food regularly. Consumption of meat products this often leads to poor health and increases the risk of heart attacks,

Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460946045686206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313767028058918691.post-876910227385870362010-01-03T11:55:00.009+10:002010-01-03T14:23:42.919+10:00

Vaccinations are usually given credit for the reduction of disease in developing countries. People fear that without them, many people will start dying from diseases such as polio and that the only reason they no longer exist is because of vaccinations. In some places, a child requires mandatory vaccinations before he or she is accepted in to public schooling. Infants also are sometimes given

Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460946045686206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313767028058918691.post-44016761264997119892009-12-29T10:43:00.006+10:002009-12-29T11:20:56.425+10:00

Unfortunately I have to announce that I am going to be switching back to monophasic sleep. This morning I woke up at about 5:00am and was as awake as a zombie. But I thought it was 6:30am and time to get up then because I was hardly conscious at all. So I switched off my alarms even though they weren't going off and tried to go upstairs and have some breakfast. I managed to get a few things out

Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460946045686206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313767028058918691.post-58039675776393693742009-12-27T23:16:00.007+10:002009-12-27T23:40:27.898+10:00

Probably the most significant thing that happened was that I somehow managed to go to sleep about 2 hours early for my core sleep this morning. So instead of going to bed at 2:00am I went to bed at midnight. I have no idea how I managed to do that but the last thing I remember is being very confused and tired lying down attempting to set my alarm clock for 6:30am. I woke up at 6:30am, but later

Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460946045686206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313767028058918691.post-3845204537715710232009-12-26T00:10:00.004+10:002009-12-26T00:42:12.761+10:00

I held off writing for a few days because I wanted to build up and have more to write in one post. Each day itself did not offer much to write about so I left it three days to see what would happen in those days. It is actually day 16 right now because it is past midnight, but I'll write like it is still day 15 for convenience.For the last three days I have napped three times a day like planned

Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460946045686206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313767028058918691.post-27381967536463415652009-12-22T23:34:00.003+10:002009-12-23T00:17:00.824+10:00

I wasn't going to post again today because I thought it would be better if I just start posting every few days. I was wrong though and now I have made some more progress worth it's own post.I actually napped three times today instead of two. Once late in the morning, in the middle of the afternoon, and late at night. I've just been sleeping when it feels like I should sleep and at 2:00am instead

Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460946045686206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313767028058918691.post-35404553902522393562009-12-21T22:37:00.003+10:002009-12-21T23:09:41.163+10:00

Again today I had difficulty napping. I felt more awake than before so I assume my core sleep is just becoming strong and keeping me going. Staying up until 3:00am was even easier than it has been in the past and getting up was no issue. But I am still never significantly tired when it comes to napping. Sometimes I still have spots in the day where I feel tired so from now on, I'll just nap when

Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460946045686206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313767028058918691.post-38666181117953474182009-12-20T22:51:00.005+10:002009-12-20T23:33:50.666+10:00

Most of the time today I felt great and was able to sit down and do things that don't require a lot of attention without falling asleep. Before my core sleep the tiredness that I get didn't start until 2:00am so I didn't have to force myself to stay awake for too long. It looks like it is getting closer to 3:00am before I get tired so soon I should have no difficulty staying up that late. I was

Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460946045686206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313767028058918691.post-78791995658138611242009-12-19T22:59:00.003+10:002009-12-19T23:44:48.144+10:00

While last night could have gone better, this morning between 12:00am and 3:00am was not the worst it could have been. I just had to keep my mind active and I would not fall asleep too early. That wasn't too bad but I think it will be even easier tomorrow morning. Just to clear that up, I've been going by morning is from 12:00am to 12:00pm and I now call 1:00am morning not night. So when I say

Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460946045686206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313767028058918691.post-51119573584616075982009-12-18T23:42:00.003+10:002009-12-19T00:09:47.616+10:00

Not too much to report but the first nap was still in and out of light sleeping. That annoys me because 8 days of depriving myself of sleep surely I can take a nap now but no. I'm tired in the morning and I am wide awake in the afternoon and early night so I just lie there trying to go to sleep but nothing happens.I am going to nap back on the floor again because my last nap today was strange. I

Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460946045686206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313767028058918691.post-67597275115821763172009-12-17T23:21:00.002+10:002009-12-17T23:39:13.754+10:00

I haven't yet made a major break through with what I think is the final part of the adaption. Today was not very different from yesterday but I feel I have slightly progressed.From 1:00am to 3:00am was somewhat hard but I still made it all the way without falling asleep, though I came close. I slept well with no distractions for once but when I woke up I almost went back to sleep. Lucky I had set

Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460946045686206652noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313767028058918691.post-52654795525255759382009-12-16T22:37:00.004+10:002009-12-17T23:42:28.114+10:00

Today left me unsure about where I am up to. I am still quite confident that I am fairly adapted and will be in a few days, but today I was at no risk of falling asleep. I still didn't feel particularly strong and I was a little exhausted but for the most part not very tired. I actually had difficulty napping at 10:00pm and just laid there until the alarm went off. Nothing has gone wrong though,

Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460946045686206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313767028058918691.post-49609275084150337232009-12-15T22:53:00.005+10:002009-12-15T23:40:32.420+10:00

I am surprised that I have managed to get so far without failing yet. Today was challenging in the morning but now at the end of the day I am fine and have made it through. I actually left the house this morning to go shopping for a little while and being out kept me awake and although I have been getting little sleep I felt quite conscious and aware of my surroundings and I didn't have to keep

Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460946045686206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313767028058918691.post-63674938322276855842009-12-14T22:16:00.003+10:002009-12-14T22:43:46.180+10:00

Another day successfully completed. It is kind of relieving getting to the end of the day without failing. Today has been the most sleep deprived day so far. It wasn't that bad but some parts particularly early in the morning I was more tired than usual like I could not watch Lord of the Rings without becoming excessively drowsy. This could be because I did not sleep undisturbed this morning. I

Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460946045686206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313767028058918691.post-16837661950315215982009-12-14T00:04:00.003+10:002009-12-14T00:28:54.825+10:00

Today was a good day. I woke up in my warm comfortable bed at the blissful sound of my alarm clock as I got up to start the day. That's weird, because I went to sleep on the floor and somehow I woke up in my bed with the covers on. It does not really matter because I still got up fine and have only been slightly more tired than day 2.The naps went down fine and it is easy for me to get

Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460946045686206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313767028058918691.post-14574545286040347262009-12-12T23:38:00.004+10:002009-12-13T00:06:46.288+10:00

I expected today that I would be more tired than yesterday, but for the most part this is has been a repeat of yesterday. I went to sleep at 3:00am and woke up before my alarm went off and turned it off. I don't know how I've managed to do that, but if I naturally only need less than 4 and a half hours of sleep, so be it. I doubt that though, it was probably just coincidence.Well one thing that

Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460946045686206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313767028058918691.post-62950354254027214982009-12-11T22:17:00.003+10:002009-12-11T22:44:36.536+10:00

So far I've completed day 0 and 1 of my polyphasic sleep schedule detailed in my last post. I'll talk about what happened yesterday first.Day 0Day 0, yesterday, is probably going to be the second easiest day of the adaption. I didn't even sleep polyphasically which is why I called it day 0. It was a preparation day, all I did was practice napping at 2:00pm and 9:00pm to get the feel of having

Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460946045686206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313767028058918691.post-1167834559295371982009-12-10T11:38:00.002+10:002009-12-10T12:47:18.834+10:00

Recently I have been considering switching over to a polyphasic sleep schedule. Polyphasic sleep simply means to sleep more than once a day. That alone sounds pointless but the result is greatly reduced sleep time, the minimum being 2 hours daily sleep. This is done by shortening 90 minute sleep phases in to 20 minute naps, so you can get the full effect of a 90 minute sleep in just 20 minutes.

Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460946045686206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313767028058918691.post-49284528511098706982009-12-09T15:26:00.005+10:002009-12-15T23:46:53.759+10:00

Over the last year I have focused a lot of energy on learning about health topics particularly in the way of food. Consequently I have transitioned to a much healthier vegetarian diet. Sometimes it can be difficult to eat a diet that most people do not due to social pressures particularly if you are trying to go vegan in a family of meat eaters. But once you get through, it becomes normal and it

Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460946045686206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313767028058918691.post-87823091635822329382009-12-08T10:23:00.004+10:002009-12-17T23:43:03.957+10:00

While also thinking about the evolution of humans and toothpaste, I came across the idea that shampoo was unnecessary. It makes sense - commercial shampoo is a recent invention and humans did not evolve with shampoo, so why would we need it? Being adventurous, I decided I'd stop using shampoo and see if it made any difference.The theory is, if you stop using shampoo at first the hair will become

Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460946045686206652noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313767028058918691.post-12449687118651327672009-12-07T18:42:00.006+10:002009-12-07T19:34:20.660+10:00

After stopping the use of fluoridated toothpaste, I used a non-fluoride toothpaste to replace it. The main cleaning ingredient in toothpaste is not fluoride, so it was just as effective at maintaining clean teeth. But after a while I stopped using toothpaste completely. And no, I didn't replace it with something like baking soda.For a while I became interested in the origins of humans

Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460946045686206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313767028058918691.post-19495002609328304232009-12-07T17:42:00.004+10:002009-12-07T18:41:27.017+10:00

Since I've spent a lot of time researching, I've come to the conclusion that fluoride in drinking water and toothpaste is completely unnecessary. Generally promoters of water fluoridation will tell you that fluoride is a natural substance found in the Earth's crust and that people who live in areas where the water contains higher levels of natural fluoridation have less cavities in their teeth.

Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460946045686206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313767028058918691.post-57868019656625864772009-12-07T15:06:00.004+10:002009-12-07T15:18:49.370+10:00

Oatmeal cooked from rolled oats is a great way to start the day because, being wholegrains, they contain plenty of complex carbohydrates. This means the energy is slow burning and will last a long time, giving you energy for much longer than a breakfast of a piece of white bread toast.It is also simple to prepare. For one serving, place half a cup of rolled oats and 1 cup of water in to a stove

Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460946045686206652noreply@blogger.com0