Experts reveal how the pressure of a healthy lifestyle could be having the opposite effect

Over the past few years wellness trends have grown in popularity – from yoga and meditation to gut-friendly foods. 

And while being invested in looking after our physical and mental health is a good thing, experts have questioned if the fixation and constant bombardment on self-improvement actually making us happy. 

Life coach and NLP practitioner Rob Brennan told FEMAIL: ‘The trend of wanting more, wanting to be happier, wanting to look perfect and to have the perfect life, is ironically creating deep rooted unhappiness and discontent.’ 

And from cutting out food groups to eat ‘cleanly’ to tucking into protein bars, experts said there are a number of different ways following wellness trends could be damaging your body.

Here FEMAIL reveals the four trends not to follow…

Experts reveal how the pressure of a healthy lifestyle could be having the opposite effect

Life coach and NLP practitioner Rob Brennan, from London, told FEMAIL the four different wellness trends which could actually be damaging your health – including eating protein bars (stock image)  

1. ‘POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE’…CAN BE TOXIC  

According to Rob, a positivity overload, as in pretending everything is ok when it isn’t and trying to ignore life’s ups and downs, can actually have a negative impact on our mental healthy. 

This the expert coins as ‘toxic positivity’, which he said has come from ‘hijacking of good mental health advice and suggestions by the uninformed influencers’ as well as magazines, the media and celebrities.  

While ‘good vibes only please’ or ‘I choose to surround myself with positive people only as I don’t want to be dragged down’ sound like positive principles, they force us to ignore sadness or pain because it’s unsettling.  

He uses the example of telling people it’s okay not to be okay while wearing a new ‘good vibes only’ hoody to illustrate how this can send people mixed messages and put people off discussing difficult matters.

He said: ‘Life is not all good vibes at all, it’s hard, complicated, tiring and has ups and downs all the way from start to finish; pretending it’s all good vibes and silencing ourselves and others with toxic positivity leads to unhappiness, anxiety and pain.

‘I think I’ll get a hoody made “good vibes only” on the front then “toxic positivity – making people feed bad for feeling sad” on the back, I think it’ll sell well once people get it.’

No one is positive all the time it’s not normal to be so, everyone has trials and struggles and this should be normalised. 

The life coach explained that everyone struggles sometimes but when people feel on the outside or not normal because they are sad, they don’t necessarily get the help that they need. 

Rob said: ‘Whilst society and social media remains riddled with toxic positivity, the clear message to those who aren’t okay is that it is very much not okay and that no one wants to hear about it if you aren’t.’ 

2. INSTA-INSPO… ISN’T REALISTIC  

Unpacking wellness further, Rob described how many people can feel inadequate when confronted with images of what ‘wellness’ and ‘happiness’ looks like.  

He said: ‘These images are simply unattainable to the vast majority and they are created in entirely false situations where reality is a distant consideration.’ 

‘It can take hours to create the right the shot, whether it be the perfect plate of food or position on a yoga mat, when in reality some people may not have the time to engage in a full yoga session first thing or the money to buy in the ‘best health foods’.  

What people don’t see is the deleted shots that weren’t right or what they look like unfiltered, or what they eat 90 per cent of the time. 

Rob wants to remind people that wellness ‘is not associated with actual happiness and health but with the perception of it, and these two things are very different.’

He warns that sharing pictures of ‘healthy lifestyle’, whether it be food, exercise, or taking time for yourself are heading towards toxic territory because it isn’t the norm and often unattainable for most people juggling busy lifestyles, and so they may only ever feel sad and inadequate when they try to incorporate wellness into their lifestyle. 

It’s not just the pressure of leading an active, healthy lifestyle that can be detrimental to overall wellness but nutrition can also have a negative impact.  

3. ‘CLEAN EATING’…COULD BE DEPRIVING YOUR BODY OF NUTRIENTS

Jordan Storey, a nutritionist and personal trainer, explained: ‘Wellness trend “clean eating” – bland chicken and broccoli type training diet focusing on food as fuel can shift our perception of eating as one of life’s pleasures towards seeing it as a chore or with guilt.’ 

Jordan, who was a former bodybuilding, explained how he has trailed many diets within his 15 years of experience. 

He explained: ‘People tend to fall out of love with food easily and even create a negative feeling towards the food they eat, which can impact their mental wellbeing.’ 

Jordan revealed that people may be missing out on the vital vitamins that their bodies need if they are following wellness trends. 

In addition, by eating what you think you are supposed to eat takes the fun out of food.  

He said: ‘My quote “Add love back into your food” simply meaning you should enjoy the foods you are cooking and eating, and not only will your body thank you for it but your whole mindset will change too.’

4. HIGH PROTEIN SNACKS…ARE PACKED FULL OF SUGAR 

In addition, wellness food trends such as ‘high protein snacks’ are all over social media. 

These can include high protein yoghurts, puddings and drinks claiming to be packed with protein and low calorie. 

However Jordan described how they are usually high in sugar and so will spike insulin levels. 

In addition, the protein content they use doesn’t always come from a full complete protein source such as milk protein. 

He said: ‘Can I also just note once you spike your insulin levels they do have to come back down which then they will crash leaving you wanting even more sugar to help stable your blood sugars. 

‘I am not saying to avoid these totally as that wouldn’t be a healthy lifestyle.

‘I do believe in the 80/20 lifestyle rule…however if you do crave something sweet you might as well just enjoy your favourite chocolate bar than go for these. 

‘The high protein is definitely used in the title to make you buy these products. 

‘A burger from McDonalds is much higher in protein than these puddings but they do not claim its a high protein burger.’

Healthy meal delivery company in Tampa grows

TAMPA, Fla. — ReBuilt Meals was born in the kitchen area of an Ybor Metropolis dwelling 7 decades ago and has grown into a multi-amount output facility in Tampa which ships foods to a lot more than a dozen states, according to CEO and Pres. Brandon Assaf.


What You Need To Know

  •  ReBuilt Meals has 30 pick-up spots within 100 miles of Tampa
  • Weekly subscription services delivers keto, plant, effectiveness and way of living strategy meals
  •  Owner Brandon Assaf explained the firm grew from a household kitchen area to a multi-degree facility in 7 a long time
  • The company’s main benefit is to ‘keep up the very good vibes’

“As the trend keeps likely, we’ve by now outgrown our new facility,” he stated. “A new creating is on the horizon.”

ReBuilt Foods offers fresh new, wellness-acutely aware, chef ready meals for supply or pickup. Assaf stated what sets his corporation aside from the competition is the assortment of meals presented weekly and free pickup locations at gyms or nutritional supplement stores.

“We have about 30 locations that we deliver our foods to,” he explained. “Those are identified as our select-up spots in 100 miles of Tampa.”

The fresh macro-based mostly meals arrive thoroughly cooked, have in no way been frozen and can be heated up in a microwave. Assaf said the parts have been very carefully measured and prospects can track their meals.

“If you’re hoping to eliminate pounds, get ready for a opposition, or just wanting to get pleasure from healthy foods throughout your way of life,” he stated. “You can observe and truly feel confident that the meals are what they say they are on the label.”

The company’s weekly membership support presents keto, plant, overall performance and lifestyle approach foods.

Personalized trainer Rafael Jimenez, 47, explained he purchases about 20 meals for each week. At 1st, he had them shipped to his dwelling in Lutz, but afterwards switched to buying them at a diet centre to conserve on shipping and delivery expenditures.

“Knowing that I can occur property and just pop just one of these in the microwave for two to three minutes,” he reported. “I’ll even now hit my numbers without having obtaining to devote a ton of time executing meal prep and all the things.”

Assaf mentioned his company is environmentally helpful and employs Go-Green packaging.

“We’re incredibly mindful in the types of plastics that we use,” he said. “These trays are manufactured with the the very least amount of money of squandered plastic in the complete sector.”

The company’s main value is ‘keep up the good vibes.’ Assaf explained they give absent no cost foods to several charity corporations.

“We’ve donated our time at Feeding Tampa Bay,” he claimed. “We’ve donated 1000’s and thousands of meals to distinct results in and distinct folks in need.”

Assaf reported he acquired the strategy for the enterprise when he commenced cooking healthier meals at residence and his friends preferred some way too.

“Started just to make foods for ourselves and then as that food generation commenced,” he stated. “Some buddies claimed, ‘Hey, if you are cooking now and portioning these foods, then do it for me.’”

ReBuilt Meals will ship to a residence wherever within two times of floor shipping and delivery from Florida, in accordance to Assaf.

California Looks to Spend Some Medicaid Money on Housing

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — At the commence of 2022, Thomas Marshall weighed 311 lbs .. He experienced been hospitalized 10 moments in five several years, like six surgical procedures. He had an open wound on his remaining leg that refused to recover — produced even worse by living in a dirty, moldy home with 5 other people today, two ball pythons, four Chihuahuas and a cage whole of rats.

A lot more than a 12 months afterwards, Marshall has missing just about 100 lbs .. His wound has healed. His blood pressure has returned to typical stages. His foot, which experienced nerve destruction, has enhanced to the place he goes on frequent walks to the park.

Lots of components are at participate in in Marshall’s dramatic turnaround, but the one he credits the most is lastly owning secure housing, just after the nonprofit Sacramento Covered assisted him get a a single-bedroom, 500 square-foot (46.4-sq.-meter) apartment in a downtown higher increase. He has hardwood floors, white pine cabinets and a glass jar on the counter stuffed with Bit-O-Honeys.

“To me it really is the most crucial 500 sq. toes I have ever experienced,” he explained. “Living listed here has just enhanced my well-getting in each individual feasible way.”

Marshall’s story is aspect of a radical rethinking of the partnership concerning housing and wellness care in the U.S. For decades, Medicaid, the joint point out and federal wellness insurance policy program for persons with disabilities or very low incomes, would only pay back for healthcare expenditures. But very last yr the Biden administration gave Arizona and Oregon permission to use Medicaid income for housing — a nod to reams of research demonstrating men and women in secure housing are healthier.

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California Looks to Spend Some Medicaid Money on Housing

Now California wants to be part of individuals states, creating on the good results of programs like the a person that bought Marshall housing. Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed shelling out a lot more than $100 million for each year in the state’s Medicaid method to pay out for up to six months of housing for men and women who are or risk starting to be homeless are coming out of jail or foster care or are at possibility for hospitalization or unexpected emergency space visits.

It would be the biggest examination nevertheless of employing Medicaid dollars for housing. California has the nation’s major Medicaid system, with much more than 13 million sufferers — or about a 3rd of the state’s populace. California also has approximately a third of the nation’s homeless population, according to federal data.

“It’s a substantial phase towards breaking down the silos that have gotten in the way of having treatment of the total particular person alternatively than limb by limb and disease by illness,” claimed Anthony Wright, govt director of Health and fitness Obtain California, a customer advocacy group.

It would also be an expensive action. California is anticipated to have a $22.5 billion spending budget deficit this year, and it could get bigger in many years to appear. Meanwhile the state’s Medicaid paying out is projected to improve by $2.5 billion around the upcoming three years, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office environment.

“What we are really performing is expanding the welfare condition, which is likely to come to be just a substantial money trouble,” explained Wayne Winegarden, senior fellow at the Pacific Analysis Institute, a team that advocates for free-current market guidelines.

California experimented with applying Medicaid cash for some housing-similar charges in 2016 when it introduced a pilot challenge in 26 counties. Though Medicaid did not shell out for hire, it paid for items like safety deposits and furniture.

In Marshall’s case, he pays his possess lease, making use of some of the $1,153 for every thirty day period he gets from Social Safety and Supplemental Stability Income. But Medicaid paid out for his stability deposit, bed, sofa, table, chairs and approximately 3 1/2 gallons of Pine Sol. Marshall explained preserving his condominium cleanse is one particular factor that assisted his leg wound to lastly recover.

Over five several years the system has lowered high-priced medical center stays and unexpected emergency room visits for individuals on Medicaid, preserving taxpayers an normal of $383 for every affected person for each calendar year, in accordance to an examination by researchers at UCLA.

Now California would like to go even further by utilizing Medicaid income to directly shell out some people’s hire. Democratic Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula, who chairs the price range subcommittee that will vet Newsom’s proposal, stated lawmakers are supportive. Arambula expended a 10 years as an unexpected emergency home health practitioner.

“I became pretty great at staying in a position to get cockroaches out of people’s ears,” Arambula claimed. “The residing situations of lots of of our communities, specifically in our rural communities, genuinely can impact a person’s capacity to get sufficient rest, to be well prepared for the up coming day and to stay healthful.”

Advocates for homeless individuals say they welcome these systems but expending much more funds on hire isn’t sufficient, noting the point out even now has a significant scarcity of cost-effective housing.

Kelly Bennett, founder and CEO of Sacramento Protected, reported that in the course of California’s first experiment with applying Medicaid revenue for housing companies, it would normally just take up to eight months for workers to place a patient in an condominium. In some cases, men and women have waited for yrs to locate a spot.

“Even when you have the deposit revenue and you have some rental subsidy, it is nonetheless pretty, quite demanding to obtain models — and to discover units wherever the landlords will lease to our purchasers,” Bennett said.

Marshall claimed he grew up in Sacramento and obtained a degree in dietic technological innovation and culinary arts. But a 30-yr dependancy to meth landed him on the streets from the late 1990s by means of about 2006. He camped at an old landfill, usually feeding on leftovers from people’s picnics at a close by park.

He utilized for residences at various sponsored housing structures, but in no way manufactured it off the wait checklist. It took him about a year to get his recent condominium, where by he pays $186 for every thirty day period with the aid of a subsidy.

“I really feel like I’m electric. … I have electric power and means to do points that I could not do for a incredibly prolonged time,” Marshall, 64, mentioned. “Whatever decades I’ve acquired left now, I am going to spend them up below in the glass tower.”

Copyright 2023 The Related Push. All legal rights reserved. This substance may possibly not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Inside the largely unregulated market for bodies donated to science: “It’s harder to sell hot dogs on a cart”

Watch the CBS Reports documentary “Body Brokers” in the video player above. 


Every year, an estimated 20,000 people donate their bodies to science for the purpose of medical research and education. But unlike organ donation, these body parts can be bought and sold for profit — a market with very few federal regulations.

Special Agent Paul Micah Johnson, an investigator for the FBI’s Detroit Division, has spent the last decade looking into what he called a “vast gray and black market of dead human bodies.”

The Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, a statute adopted by 47 states, is one of the few regulations governing the non-transplant tissue industry. It outlines the standards for body donation, and most significantly, it requires that donors, or their loved ones, must provide informed consent before donation takes place. 

These consent agreements between donors and tissue banks typically stipulate that the body will be used for research and education — but what that means in practice can vary.

“Medical research and education, particularly education, is a vague term and it is not clearly defined even in the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act,” says Johnson. “The misleading of families across the industry is quite common.”

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Special Agent Paul Micah Johnson

CBS News


While most donors consent to donation for research and education, legally, the agreements can include addendums that allow for donors to be used for “non-medical projects” that can include “crime scene investigation” and “vehicle safety.”

Steve Hansen had always wanted to be an organ donor, but when he died in 2012 from cirrhosis of the liver, doctors said his organs were not healthy enough to be transplanted. Steve’s wife Jill Hansen says hospice workers at the time suggested whole body donation as an alternative.

“What I envisioned was him being in some medical facility,” Hansen says. “I just thought, what a great candidate for them to learn about the results of alcoholism and what it does to a body.”

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Steve and Jill Hansen

CBS News


Steve’s body was eventually sent to the Biological Resource Center in Phoenix, Arizona, which then sold his remains to the Department of Defense. 

“They told me specifically that my husband had been used as a crash test dummy in a simulated Humvee explosion,” Hansen says.

Hansen’s husband’s body was sold by Biological Resource Center founder Stephen Gore to the DOD without her consent. Court records showed that those donors were used in a variety of military and ballistics testing, with some resulting in “the complete mutilation and desecration of the donor’s body.”

“I was devastated,” Hansen says. “I would’ve never done it if I had known. I just kept telling him I was sorry.” 

When the FBI raided Gore’s warehouse in 2014, they found conditions of the donors’ remains so abhorrent that agents “required trauma therapy due to the disturbing, graphic scene they encountered.”

Gore pleaded guilty to Illegal Control of an Enterprise for violating donor consent agreements and was sentenced to four years probation and one year in jail. Because there are few laws defining ethical treatment of remains, no charges were filed relating to the warehouse conditions.

Disturbing evidence also emerged during Special Agent Johnson’s investigation into body broker Arthur Rathburn, whose Detroit warehouse was later described by investigators as a “house of horrors.”

“He cut up bodies with a chainsaw. He cut up bodies with a bandsaw,” Johnson says. “He had a bucket filled with brown liquid that had fetuses and human brains floating in it.”

As in the case with Gore, prosecutors had no way of charging Rathburn for how donors’ bodies were treated. Rathburn was ultimately sentenced in 2018 to nine years in prison for falsifying his donor’s medical information in order to fraudulently sell bodies infected with hepatitis and HIV.

“He had trash cans filled with human heads,” Johnson says. “Just the disrespectful way of treating the remains. And yet we prosecuted him for fraud.”

In 2009, Donor Referral Services owner Philip Guyett Jr., pleaded guilty to wire fraud for falsifying medical information in order to offload tissue designated for transplant with infectious or communicable diseases. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.

“As I told the judge, I had no business being in this business,” Guyett says in an interview with CBS News. “A person with no medical experience, no funeral director’s license, was able to open up a whole body donation program, take possession of a human body, dismember it, send it throughout the nation without any type of licensing oversight. It’s harder to sell hot dogs on a cart than it is to get into this business.” 

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Philip Guyett Jr.

CBS News


Before opening his own tissue bank, Guyett got his start running a university’s Willed Body Program, overseeing the donations of bodies for research education. 

In the wake of industry controversies, some tissue bankers have been working to promote trust with potential donors. 

Garland Shreves is the founder of Research For Life, a non-transplant tissue bank based in Phoenix that distributes body parts for use towards the advancement of science in lifesaving fields like first-responder training, medical device development and surgical practice. 

“I don’t think we can ever lose sight of the fact that these are human beings and they have so graciously donated their body to the advancement of medicine,” Shreves says. “Whole body donation and my organization, through the wonderful gift of that donor, makes it possible for us to have the innovative medicine that we do today in this country.” 

Shreves says the best way to clean up the industry is transparency. 

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Paramedic training at Research For Life

CBS News


“Bad actors are bad for business. If the consumer is being harmed by a business that’s not operating at a very high level of professionalism, everyone in the industry suffers,” he  says. “It is that transparency, the sunlight, the disinfectant, if you will. It’s what we need to do as an industry and we haven’t done enough of it.”

Johnson says the whole body donation industry is necessary for the advancement of science, and that it is vital the industry works to restore the public’s trust. 

“It would be nice if there was one playbook for everyone. And so that would ideally be federal and it would cover everyone that deals with human body parts — for-profit, nonprofit, all of them under one set of rules.”

In September 2022, a body broker bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate which would impose federal regulations on the process of body donation, but no vote has been scheduled.

Puget Sound-area health care facilities will continue requiring masks

Patients, staffers and visitors will continue to be required to mask up inside many health care clinics and facilities throughout the Puget Sound region, a group of Washington hospital and public health leaders decided Friday.

About 20 public health departments and health care systems around the region made the announcement a couple weeks before the state’s remaining indoor masking requirements are set to come to an end on April 3. Most of the Department of Health’s masking mandates have expired, except those in health care or correctional facilities.

Now, the organizations are “working together to establish an approach for continued masking in health care facilities” to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the statement said.

Health departments from King, Snohomish, Tacoma, Kitsap, San Juan, Clallam and Jefferson counties have signed on to support the recommendation, in addition to hospital leaders from UW Medicine, Seattle Children’s, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, MultiCare Health System and Kaiser Permanente Washington.

“This is important and appropriate because the current community burden of COVID-19 remains substantial and is underestimated by case reporting,” Public Health – Seattle & King County said.

The department added that the risk for developing severe COVID symptoms remains high for those who are older, those with underlying health conditions and those who are pregnant — who all might visit health care settings on a more regular basis.

“Unlike many other activities, health care is not optional, but essential; and every patient deserves to feel safe from acquiring a preventable infection when seeking health care,” the organizations wrote.

In addition, patient care areas often “bring people close together leading to increased exposure risk and transmission of COVID-19,” the statement said. “Masks mitigate the spread of infection in these settings, including when people have minimal or no symptoms.”

Because there are no available preventive COVID treatments for immunocompromised patients, public health leaders felt it was important to extend the requirement.

“A regional consensus ensures a consistent and clear message that these healthcare facilities prioritize the health and safety of both their patients and employees,” the statement said.

The organizations said masking recommendations and requirements for health care facilities should be reevaluated from time to time as scientists continue to learn about the spread of the disease. They plan to determine new recommendations by early July.

Until then, public health leaders reminded residents to use high-quality and well-fitting masks that can fit around your nose and mouth, particularly N95, KN95 and KF94 masks.

“Masking is an important way we can help make visiting healthcare facilities safer for the many people in our community of all ages who are at increased risk for severe infections,” Dr. Jeff Duchin, King County’s public health officer, said in the statement.

Steph Curry’s wife Ayesha Curry joins Biden fitness and nutrition council after losing 35 pounds recently

Steph and Ayesha Curry have been appointed by President Joe Biden as councils for fitness and nutrition. It’s no surprise that Ayesha has joined the Council of Fitness and Nutrition after displaying a recognizable body transformation that led her to lose 35 pounds.

It was announced by the White House earlier that the couple is one of the few people that POTUS intends to appoint. The Council in Sports, Fitness and Nutrition “aims to promote healthy, accessible eating and physical activity for all Americans, regardless of background or ability.”

Not only that, the group will also address mental health “as it pertains to physical fitness and nutrition,” according to the White House.

It’s no surprise that they’ve chosen the Curry couple to be part of this group as they are both great examples of displaying a healthy physical body. Just recently. Ayesha’s diet led to her losing 35 pounds. In a 2020 interview with Harper’s BAZAAR, the famed cookbook author shared how healthy she’s been with her diet.

“Fitness wasn’t really a part of my lifestyle and I’d say the past year and a half post having all of my kids, it’s really become a staple for me and it helps me have mental clarity,” she said. “I feel like I’m in the best shape of my life. I feel happier when I work out. So I do try to work out at least five days a week.”

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You might also be interested in reading this: Ayesha Curry’s 35-pound weight loss: Speculation around Steph Curry’s wife’s body transformation explored


What was Ayesha Curry’s diet that led her to lose an incredible amount of weight?

2022 ESPYs - Arrivals
2022 ESPYs – Arrivals

Ayesha Curry has become a prime example for many who aspire to lose weight and live a healthier diet. For this reason, she has changed the way she consumes food. Back in 2020, Ayesha was interviewed by womenshealthmag.com and shared what sorts of food and exercises she does to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

According to the wife of the Golden State Warriors superstar, she started off the day by staying hydrated with some lemon water.

“Typically, I have a glass of hot water with some lemon in it,” she says. “I love it; it warms me up and makes me feel good.”

She will follow up with coffee and have half an avocado.

Before starting with lunch, Ayesha makes sure that she gets to workout. Which could be intense or not, depending on what she needs. For lunch, the Canadian-American personality will have a salad with some protein.

“After my workout, I’ll have some sort of salad with protein,” Ayesha says. “I’ve been loving shaved Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and kale with salmon.”

Ayesha Curry usually ends her day with a healthy serving of dinner. According to her, she’ll enjoy a plate of veggies with protein, but it’s usually filled with more veggies.

“Dinnertime creeps up so fast, so I often turn to the sheet pan dinner. I just throw everything on the sheet pan and pop it in a high-temp oven.”

Also read: Steph Curry shares warm-hearted message to his wife Ayesha Curry on her birthday: All you need to know

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