How To Make Healthy Food Choices On The Go

Try as you might, it’s not always possible to prepare all your meals. No one has the time or energy to spend hours preparing dishes packed with nutrients.

 

It’s also not easy sticking with a diet plan when you’re busy rushing from one meeting to the next. Sometimes, it’s just easier to grab food on the go. But the problem is that fast food isn’t always healthy food.

 

Because we know how important your health is, we rounded up some practical tips to help you make healthy food choices on the go.

 

Let’s get started.

 

Be Honest with Yourself

 

As with any new habit or lifestyle change, the first thing you have to do is be honest with yourself about a few things. Have an open, serious conversation about what your schedule is like and assess your busiest days.

 

These will probably be when you don't have time to prepare healthy meals. Thus, you’ll need to prepare a couple beforehand, so you can just grab them and go.

 

Another thing you have to be honest about is the types of food you eat. Luckily, we now live in a time when almost any food can be healthy.

 

Craving a burger? Try a veggie burger or use lettuce instead of patties. Need some chocolate in your life? Grab a bar of dark chocolate for your sweet tooth and a nice boost of antioxidants as well.

 

Understanding your likes and dislikes can go a long way in helping you make healthy food choices on the go.

 

Get the Right Tools

 

Making healthy food choices isn’t just about knowing what to buy at the grocery store. It’s also about getting suitable tools and materials to help make the process easier.

 

For example, two great buys are to-go boxes, such as microwave-safe bento and lunch boxes. Simply fill them up the night before. Then, just grab them from the fridge, pop them in your bag, and you’re set for the day.

 

For batch cooking, consider investing in a Dutch oven, Instant Pot, or crockpot. Each of these cookware is guaranteed to make meal prep quick and hassle-free. You just add the ingredients, set the timer, and leave it to their thing.

 

Think Ahead

 

Why not take a couple of hours out of your weekend to organize a meal schedule for the busy week ahead? You can go old school and use a pen and paper.

 

Or you can take advantage of today’s technology and download one of the many meal-planning apps available. These apps help you schedule meals, prepare shopping lists, and even help you manage your budget.

 

Other benefits of using a meal-planning app include the following:

 

• Focus only on the items on your grocery list, so you only buy what you need

• Suggest new and fun recipe ideas

• No more stressing over what you’ll eat or how much time it’ll take you

• Calculate how much carbs, fat, proteins, and other nutrients you’re consuming each day

• Know your total caloric intake for the day

 

Choose Wisely

 

It’s hard choosing healthy foods when you’re eating out or passing through a drive-thru. However, the good news is that now almost every fast-food place has a handful of healthy food options to choose from.

 

Thanks to the growing demand for healthier food choices, fast-food chains have amended many of their items. Some have even added brand-new ones that are all about being healthy.

 

In the meantime, try these tips:

• Pick the smaller portion sizes

• Opt for a side salad instead of fries

• Choose the grilled chicken instead of fried chicken or a beef burger

• Order water, diet soda, or unsweetened coffee or tea

 

Be a Smart Snacker

 

Sometimes we’re just so swamped with work that we don't have time to eat. So, we go to the vending machine and get a bag of chips or a bar of chocolate with a bazillion calories.

 

Sure, it’ll satiate you for about 15 minutes. But then, because they’re also loaded with carbs, your blood sugar levels will take a nose dive. Soon, you won’t be able to focus on your work, and you’ll be dying to take a nap.

 

To avoid putting yourself through all that, learn how to snack smart. This means choosing snacks that keep you feeling full for hours without all the loaded carbs, sodium, and fat.

 

Below is a list of some nutritious snacks you need to have in your bag at all times. From the sweet to the savor, these yummy snacks will ensure you always make healthy food choices.

 

• Trail mix

• Nuts like almonds, cashews, peanuts, and walnuts

• Chopped vegetables with a side of salsa or hummus

• Cut-up or whole fruit

• Rice cakes and granola

• Frozen yogurt

• Sugar-free protein bars

 

Idiopathic Craniofacial Erythema (Excessive Facial Blushing) - What Is It?

Idiopathic Craniofacial Erythema can be characterized as uncontrollable, unprovoked and severe facial blushing. This blushing occurs mainly when one comes into contact with other people, especially when one talks with others. One may notice some kind of redness on sufferer’s face when he interacts in the society. This redness shows his anxiety as well as embarrassment. The sufferers of this problem often avoid being social and building relationships. 

 

Symptoms of Idiopathic Craniofacial Erythema

 

•           Extreme blushing that too without any evident reason.

•           Heat sensation on the face.

•           Humiliation and shame.

•           Minimum eye contact.

•           Minimum social activities such as meeting people, friends and relatives.

•           Sweating on feet, palms and under arms.

 

Idiopathic Craniofacial Erythema is quite severe and requires time for treatment. Sometimes a person may blush even in a simple group conversation without any reason which is not a good sign. This makes that person feel very uncomfortable in social as well as professional interactions that leads to social phobia. Sufferer of Idiopathic Craniofacial Erythema hesitates to get social as he thinks that someone may notice his anxiety and embarrassment. As the time passes, the sufferer starts losing his confidence thus he may suffer failure in both personal and professional life. Thus, immediate treatment is always advised to treat Idiopathic Craniofacial Erythema. 

 

Treatment

 

Nowadays as science has reached the level of excellence, there are hundreds of treatments that are available for Idiopathic Craniofacial Erythema. The most popular and successful treatment is CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) that helps sufferer to pull off the extra anxiety and embarrassment. In some cases when extra treatment is required ETS (Endoscopic Transthoractic Sympathicotomy) is very helpful. This treatment is advised only if the sufferer is going through extreme case and the treatments that were previously opted proved to be ineffective. 

 

Social Anxiety and Facial Blushing - Are The Two Related?

Social anxiety and facial blushing are deeply correlated to each other. It is not necessary that people who blush are prone to social anxiety and people who are prone to social anxiety always blush. According to some studies and professionals’ social anxiety may be one cause behind facial blushing. The symptoms are feeling embarrassed and anxious in the society, losing confidence while talking to friends, inferiority complex, being unsuccessful, excessive sweating, avoiding eye contact in a group and feeling of humiliation. All these factors reduce one’s self esteem and it ultimately lowers his morale.

 

Facial blushing and social anxiety are related in a number of ways. It is the fear of blushing that stops one from getting involved with people due to the feeling of embarrassment. As the time passes, one starts blushing even more and this makes the person even more nervous and he gradually loses confidence in himself. Social anxiety and facial blushing causes feeling of discomfort, worthlessness and insecurity in the minds of people suffering from it. Sometimes these disorders may also lead to frustration and then to depression thus the only way to get rid of it is proper treatment.

 

To get rid of the problem of facial blushing and social anxiety one needs to undergo certain treatments. Sufferers must try to think positive and they should never under-estimate themselves. They must interact with as much people as possible to gain confidence and ultimately, they will find that their excessive facial blushing has stopped. Some medical treatments include social anxiety disorder treatment, Antiperspirants, CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), medication, Botox injections and related surgeries. The type of treatment as prescribed by the doctor depends upon the severity of the problem.

 

One must have clear understanding of both the terms social anxiety and facial blushing to go for a right treatment. 

 

Why Do Some People Blush Too Much?

Blushing means displaying of redness over one’s face and this redness is a result of some strong emotions like embarrassment, anxiety or love. Excessive blushing may be termed as a medical condition that is called as Idiopathic craniofacial Erythema. 

 

There are some people who blush too much and this can be medically explained. Medically too much blushing is caused due to following reasons:

 

Embarrassment - Some people feel really embarrassed interacting socially due to many reasons such as lack of confidence, lack of forgiveness and lack of integrity. 

 

Social anxiety - Some people get over excited while communicating with their friends, family or relatives. This may also cause too much blushing as blood circulates very fast in the vessels when anyone feels excited. 

 

Frustration - This is caused due to tension and stress leading to high blood pressure thus causes blushing. 

 

Happiness - Sometimes uncontrolled laughter may cause people to blush because while laughing people loses their self-control. This consumes more energy and physical movements resulting in blush. 

 

Spicy food - Some people are habitual of eating spicy food and their face shows this through blushing. They blush more than those people eat less spicy food. 

 

Too much blushing sometimes may be an indication of physical and psychological disorders. Nowadays blushing is common among people due to some or the other reasons especially certain social situations. 

 

As there are many causes behind one’s blushing face, some people blush more whereas some blush less. There are many treatments available to treat excessive blushing disorders such as surgeries, drug treatment, psychological treatment to minimize social anxiety and cognitive behavioral therapy. One must make sure that, a well-qualified and experienced doctor must be considered otherwise minor problem may grow to a major one with serious complications. Determine the exact cause behind it to treat it well. 

For All Blushing - Why Is It Important To See A Doctor?

Seeing a doctor for any kind of health problem is very important because they are professionals in their field. There are medical reasons for every problem and treatments accordingly that a simple person cannot understand. Seeing a doctor means taking preventive measures before the problem grows to a serious one. If one thinks that blushing is limiting his daily activities then immediately consult a doctor before it becomes a serious issue. Facial blushing means occurrence of redness over the face due to several reasons. Such reasons may include social anxiety, embarrassment, humiliation, nervousness and happiness. 

 

Sometimes people do not care about facial blushing at initial stages and do not see the doctor. This may lead to excessive blushing in the later stages thus causing irritation, excessive sweating and awkward feeling. Certainly no one will like to experience such kind of situation in their life. If one really thinks so, see a doctor as soon as possible. As the time passes minor blushing problems may grow and take the shape of serious problems. Thereafter some major surgeries may be required to treat it causing certain side effects to the skin. Those side effects may range from skin paralysis, anger, depression, referred pain, paresthesia, hair loss, emotional changes, chronic pain, slow healing, no vascular control, affects mental functionality and chronic fatigue. 

 

Of course, nobody would want his life to get affected with this problem of blushing. So, why to undermine the facial blush? Stop blushing by adopting different suitable treatments such as regular exercise, cognitive behavioral therapy, surgeries, NLP and many other treatments. One must make sure that he consults a well-qualified doctor for such kind of treatments that too after analyzing the real causes. Do not be afraid of a doctor because seeing a doctor is not a bad thing if one wants to get rid of the problems that affect his life. 

What Are The Treatments Available For Extreme Blushing?

Blushing occurs due to certain reasons like involuntary redness that appears on the face. Sometimes normal blushing takes the shape of extreme blushing and it needs to be treated because it is a disorder. Main symptoms of blushing include embarrassment, social anxiety, humiliation, shame, under confidence and stress. Blood starts flowing very fast in the vessels in such kind of situations causing extra redness to one’s face. Some other symptoms also include extra sweating on hands and palms which is not good for health both physically and psychologically.

 

Extreme blushing is also known as Idiopathic Cranio Facial Erythema. There are many treatments available for extreme cases of blushing that are very effective. The treatments are divided into three different categories. First is psychological treatment, second is drug therapy and third one is surgery that is done to treat extreme blushing. 

 

Psychological treatment includes CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy), breathing techniques and confronting fears. This treatment helps in removing fear from sufferer’s mind under proper guidance of professionals. Many exercises are also involved in this therapy and it is also called natural treatment having no side effects.

 

In the second one that is drug therapy anxiety medication, beta blockers and clonidine are involved. These medications help the sufferers to calm down and manage themselves. Medication is recommended by doctors when they see an extreme case of blushing. The third one is surgical treatment including ETS (Endoscopic Thoracic Sympathicotomy). Blushing is operated with the help of instruments to remove the involuntary nerves controlling the flow of blood-to-blood vessels.

 

Sufferer must see the concerned practitioner on time so as to avoid complications. Try to treat this problem in the initial stages as it wont demand for any surgeries at that point of time, one will only require to apply some therapies. 

How Far is Endoscopic Transthoracic Sympathicotomy (ETS) Beneficial?

Endoscopic Transthoracic Sympathicotomy (ETS) is the treatment recommended for extreme facial blushing. Blushing is the extra redness over the face that may occur due to stress, embarrassment, fear and shame. Many types of treatments are available to cure it such as psychological treatments, drug therapies and surgical treatments. ETS is a surgical treatment that is recommended to the people suffering from extreme cases of blushing. 

 

ETS is performed with the help of telescope that is passed through the chest from cut close to armpit. This method of treatment is divided into two parts; one is to affect sweat glands directly and second is the modification of sweat glands. ETS is helpful to attain complete and long-lasting results when no other treatment produces effective results. This treatment is basically used to treat some severe cases. Main indications when this treatment becomes the necessity are Hyperhidrosis and excessive blushing. A complete diagnosis and deep study is performed before using ETS to ensure that there is no room for side effects. Those parts are being disabled through ETS that are providing signals to brain.

 

The results of ETS are not possible to predict but it proves to be very beneficial to cure extreme cases of blushing. The family history of the sufferer is also studied to know the suitability and effectiveness of treatment. This treatment must be performed by highly qualified, experienced and professional surgeon for greater accuracy. Some times by not giving proper attention before and after the ETS one may suffer from many side effects. No surgery in this world is totally risk free so one must take proper care of himself so that he can lead a happy life after the treatment. According to some studies the post-operative immediate results on some patient proved to be excellent. Just remember to consult only professionals and do not compromise with health. 

 

Are Natural Treatments Better Over Surgical Treatments?

Where there is a will, there is a way. This statement is very true for those who own a strong willpower against any kind of situation. Finding the best cure for blushing is little bit difficult but not impossible. Extra redness that appears over the face or other body parts such as neck is called as “blushing”. When it goes beyond the normal condition it becomes an extreme case of blushing. There are many treatments available for blushing such as psychological treatments, drug therapies and surgical treatments that includes ETS. What if natural treatments are providing effective results than surgical treatments?

 

Of course, natural treatments are better than surgical treatments because they do not have any side effects. Psychological treatment is a natural blushing treatment that includes regular exercise and makes the sufferer psychologically strong. As the main causes behind extreme blushing are embarrassment, fear, stress, humiliation, shame and social anxiety. These all causes are very natural thus should be treated with natural treatments. Surgical measures are recommended only when case goes beyond the limits and need immediate cure but this may involve certain side effects. 

 

Relaxation exercises such as YOGA is the most effective way to decrease stress, fear, embarrassment, humiliation and social anxiety from the mind of the sufferer. This helps to make a person psychologically as well as physically strong through different exercises and concentration techniques. Sufferer of blushing can perform such natural treatments and check the difference. Natural treatments take few months to produce results but those are really remarkable for whole life. Such kind of treatment helps to cure the disease from its roots which is not possible through surgical treatments. The most important thing is that natural treatment does not involve heavy cost and provides unbeatable results. So always go for natural treatments as they do not have any side effects and are all the more effective.