【推荐2】Many people who want to lose weight often choose to go on a diet. But is this really the best way? With celebrities (名人) speaking about new diets that have helped them become slim (苗条的) in advertisements (广告), more and more people are turning to dieting. Some shops begin to sell diet products such as diet milkshakes, snack bars and even diet pills. However, such popular products and diets are often found to be extremely unhealthy.

Most of these popular diets work by cutting down on a certain nutrient (营养素) from your food intake (摄入量). For example, some diets work by cutting down on carbohydrates (碳水化合物). This means the body must use its fat reserves for energy. This might help you lose weight. However, by cutting a particular food group out of your diet, you are starving your body of a nutrient that it needs, which could leave you feeling weak, tired or even bad-tempered. Besides, these diets are often unsuccessful in the long run.

Generally, one of the most effective ways of losing weight is to cut down on calories. The recommended (推荐的) calorie intake for an adult male is 2,500. If a man consumes more than 2, 500 calories each day, then he is likely to gain weight. However, if he consumes less, then he is likely to lose weight.

In fact, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals all play an important role in staying healthy, which is why they all should be included in your meals. Of course, some foods can be eaten in moderation (节制) as an occasional snack. For example, a bar of chocolate every once in a while won’t cause you any problems.

So, instead of spending money on popular diet pills or special weight loss foods, try to eat healthy balanced meals containing foods from all food groups. So, next time your friends tell you that they are going on a diet, tell them that eating a healthy balanced diet is a much better choice.

【推荐3】Many Americans spend more time in cars these days than in the kitchen. But as lives grow busier—and waistlines grow larger—a number of health experts are calling for Americans to reduce their risk of cancer and other diseases by cooking at home more and eating out less.

“When dining out, people are likely to gravitate towards all the wrong thing,” says Rachel Brandeis of the American Dietetic Association. “People take in 50% more fat and sodium when they eat out than when they cook at home. And they often miss out on fruits, vegetables and other vitamin-rich ‘powerhouse foods’ that may reduce the risk of cancer.”

Nutritionists know it’s not easy to break old habits. Many people say they hardly have time to exercise, let alone fix dinner.

Brandeis says her secret is organization. She cooks six nights a week, even though she and her husband both work. She spends 20 minutes thinking about a week’s worth of menus and writing a list. She shops just once a week. Brandeis says she chooses easy cooking methods, too. Since she is not quite good at cooking.

The American Institute for Cancer Research has produced a guide filled with tips like “Homemade for Health”. Melanie Polk, the institute’s director of nutrition education, says cooking at home has many advantages. It teaches children about nutrition as well as the importance of sharing housework.

The 39-year-old homemaker Kirstin Kristinus of Washington, D.C. says cooking at home brings her family together. She also tries to reduce her family’s cancer risk by preparing every meal with many different kinds of food.

“The only way to know that you are getting all the good things is to expose yourself to a wide variety of food,” says Steven Shiff, a doctor in New Jersey. “If you eat out at a restaurant, it’s a lot easier to choose unhealthful things.”

However, “families don’t have to give up restaurants,” Shiff says. “It is possible to eat healthfully if you eat outside the home. But it takes probably the same sort of planning that you would have to do to prepare meals at home.”

【推荐1】Apart from psychological illness, we are all largely responsible for our own emotional health. What we say to ourselves over and over for days, weeks, months, and sometimes years, has a great effect on how we see ourselves. This also contributes to many mental health disorders.

Many of us have problems with negative thoughts playing on the channel of our minds, but if you’re buried in them and believe them, they could be wearing your sense of self-esteem. Here are a few beliefs that indicate you may need to switch the channel: I’m not good enough?/ I don’t deserve..?/No one likes me?/I’m a failure?

Negative thoughts remind you of your bad feelings and they bring your focus on your failures, and they get you nowhere.

What can you do? Here are some suggestions:

Switch the channel when negative thoughts appear. Self-talk is not so obvious that we often don’t notice its effect on our mood and belief systems. Key things to notice are “if only” or “what if” statements: the former keeps you caught in the past with regret, while the latter keeps you fearful of the future. There is nothing you can do about the past, and the future isn’t here yet, so stay in the present moment.

Recognize that actions always follow beliefs. You’ll find yourself behaving in ways that are consistent to your beliefs. So, start believing the best about yourself, act as if you believe that you're a valuable and worthy person.

Develop positive self-talk rather than negative self-talk. Instead of always looking down upon yourself in your head, think of some things you actually like about yourself. What are your strengths? What are you good at? Instead of saying “I’m a loser”, try saying, “I am capable./I’m good at../I accept myself the way I am.”

Thinking poorly about ourselves gets us nowhere and is extremely self-limiting. Decide today to turn off the negative self-talk channel in your mind and develop your true potential.

【推荐2】Calling all book lovers! Support your reading habit without paying a cent or even taking a trip to the library.

The Library of Congress

If you’re looking for classics online, the Library of Congress has got you covered. With more than 60 classic books available, this is the perfect website if you have a specific classic you’re looking to read. It also includes children’s classics like Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella.

Project Gutenberg

Founded in 1971, Project Gutenberg is the oldest eBook collection online. While the website asks for donations (捐赠), no fees are required for reading the free online books they offer. There are more than 56,000 eBooks to choose from, and they are Kindle-compatible and easy to download.

BookBub

If you’re a book lover who's always looking for something new to read, BookBub is a site you need in your life. To access this site and its thousands of available eBooks you need to create an account (账户), but it’s totally free. Once you’ve created an account, the site asks you to pick your favorite genres so that it can provide the best reading recommendations (推荐). If you want to learn more about BookBub, click here.

BookRix

BookRix allows readers to download free ebooks onto their iPads? tablets? eReaders, and smartphones. The site offers books from self-published authors as well as books that are part of the public domain. The homepage group books into different types including fiction, fantasy, romance, thrillers, so you can easily find a new book to read.

【推荐3】A blocked airway (呼吸道) can kill someone in three to four minutes, but it can take more than eight minutes for an ambulance to arrive. So a simple procedure such as opening someone’s airway can save their life while they’re waiting for emergency medical help. This means you’re more likely to give first aid to someone you know than a stranger.

There are many misconceptions (误解) surrounding first aid. Below are the ‘most popular’ ones with details of what you should do.

You should put butter or cream on a burn. The only thing you should put on a burn is cold water — keep the butter for cooking. Put the affected area under cold running water for at least ten minutes.

The best way to treat bleeding is to put the wound under a tap. If you put a bleeding wound under a tap you wash away the body’s clotting agents (凝血剂) and make it bleed more. Instead put pressure on the wound with whatever is available to stop or slow down the flow of blood. As soon as possible call 999. Keep pressure on the wound until help arrives.

Nosebleeds are best treated by putting the head back. If you put the head back during a nosebleed, all the blood goes down the back of the airway. Instead advise them to tilt (倾斜) their head forwards and ask the person to pinch (捏) the end of their nose and breathe through their mouth.

You need lots of training to do first aid. You don’t — what you mostly need is common sense. You can learn enough first aid in a few minutes to save someone's life — whether it’s from a book, attending a course or watching videos online.

Remember: anyone can save a life.