March 2024 - Jeff Cassman

The Weight Loss Diet That Cuts Belly Fat

The diet helps people control their blood sugar more effectively.

Going on a vegan diet accelerates weight loss and reduces harmful belly fat, research suggests.

People following a plant-based, vegan diet for 16 weeks lost an average of over 12 pounds, including almost 9 pounds of fat mass and belly fat.

More fibre is the most critical element of the diet, researchers think.

Plant-based diets contain plenty of fibre which helps to boost healthy bacteria in the gut.

The study included 147 overweight people who were randomised to a vegan diet or no change for 16 weeks.

The results revealed that a vegan diet reduced weight significantly.

A vegan diet also helped people control their blood sugar more effectively.

The study’s authors write:

“A 16-week low-fat vegan dietary intervention induced changes in gut microbiota that were related to changes in weight, body composition and insulin sensitivity in overweight adults.”

The diet also increased the health of the gut.

People with a greater abundance of critical healthy bacteria in the gut lost more weight.

Bacteria that a vegan diet boosts include Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Bacteroides fragilis.

The authors conclude:

“A plant-based diet has been shown to be effective in weight management, and in diabetes prevention and treatment.

We have demonstrated that a plant-based diet elicited changes in gut microbiome that were associated with weight loss, reduction in fat mass and visceral fat volume, and increase in insulin sensitivity.”

Fibre is the key to weight loss and a healthy gut, the authors write:

“The main shift in the gut microbiome composition was due to an increased relative content of short-chain fatty acid producing bacteria that feed on fibre.

Therefore, high dietary fibre content seems to be essential for the changes observed in our study.”

The study was presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Barcelona, Spain (Kahleova et al., 2019).

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Hello, and welcome to PsyBlog. Thanks for dropping by.

This site is all about scientific research into how the mind works.

It’s mostly written by psychologist and author, Dr Jeremy Dean.

I try to dig up fascinating studies that tell us something about what it means to be human.

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Author: Jeremy Dean

Psychologist, Jeremy Dean, PhD is the founder and author of PsyBlog. He holds a doctorate in psychology from University College London and two other advanced degrees in psychology. He has been writing about scientific research on PsyBlog since 2004. He is also the author of the book “Making Habits, Breaking Habits” (Da Capo, 2013) and several ebooks. View all posts by Jeremy Dean

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Are Local Calls Still a Thing? Not Really

A local call is one that is placed and received within the same zip code—or technically within the same switching center. Below, we’ll break down what a local call is, how it differs from a long distance call, and why local calls are now irrelevant.

An Example of a Local Call

A common example of a local call is whenever an individual dials the phone number of a local business close to their home to get information about the store’s hours of operation. Since the caller is located within the same zip code as their call’s final destination, it only passes through a single switch center (and is therefore deemed a local call).

If you’re calling a friend in the same city, even if you’re in the suburbs and they live downtown, that’d be a local call. Same for businesses—if you’re working in the office and need to call your local paper supplier in the same city, it’d count as a local call.

This doesn’t just apply to landlines. If you use your cell phone to order pizza at a nearby restaurant in your city, that also counts as a local call. It doesn’t matter if you’re on a cell phone calling a nearby landline or another person’s cell phone—as long as they’re in the same zip code, it’s all considered to be local.

It’s all pretty straightforward. VoIP phone services even work the same way. If you’re using a VoIP service like Nextiva or RingCentral to call a local landline or cell phone number, it’s also considered to be a local call.

An Example of a Long Distance Call

By contrast, a long-distance call is any call made outside of a defined local area. A simple example of a long-distance call would be a caller in New York City…

The Confident Sign That Your IQ Is High

This bold and confident sign is linked to higher academic achievement.

People who are very sure of their intellectual abilities are, in fact, smarter than others, research finds.

Intellectual arrogance was linked to achieving higher grades in the study.

People who are intellectually arrogant tend to agree with statements like, “I believe my own ideas are superior to others.”

People are seen as intellectually arrogant by others when they are extraverted and dominate the group, wanting to be the centre of attention.

Professor Wade C. Rowatt, study co-author, said:

“One possibility is that people who view themselves as intellectually arrogant know what they know and that translates to increases in academic performance.”

For the study, the work of 103 students was followed over a semester.

The results showed that those who felt they were superior to others performed better in their coursework.

However, people who were more humble about their abilities were liked better by their peers.

So, intellectual arrogance may come with a penalty to social relationships.

The study’s authors were surprised by the results: they had predicted that intellectual humility would be linked to better performance.

However, this was not the case.

Dr Benjamin R. Meagher, the study’s first author, still thinks humility is a vital trait:

“What I think is important about intellectual humility is its necessity for not only science, but for just learning generally — and that applies to the classroom, a work setting, wherever.

Learning something new requires first acknowledging your own ignorance and being willing to make your ignorance known to others.

People clearly differ in terms of their willingness to do something like that, but that willingness to learn, change one’s mind and value the opinion of others is really needed if people and groups are going to develop and grow.”

The study was published in the Journal of Research in Personality (Meagher et al., 2015).

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Hello, and welcome to PsyBlog. Thanks for dropping by.

This site is all about scientific research into how the mind works.

It’s mostly written by psychologist and author, Dr Jeremy Dean.

I try to dig up fascinating studies that tell us something about what it means to be human.

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Author: Jeremy Dean

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How to Safely Set Up Your Own Wake Up Call Service

Imagine the convenience of a hotel concierge, but with a recording that you can customize. That’s the draw of an at-home wake-up call service—which is far more affordable than booking a hotel room just to get access to a concierge. In any case, for less than the cost of a continental breakfast, you can schedule regular wake-up calls to make sure you never show up late to the office or miss a morning meeting.

If it sounds too good to be true, that’s because sometimes it is. In this case, it’s very easy to encounter a so-called service that doesn’t work—or worse, one that puts your phone number on a ton of spam calling lists.

That said, there are still several legitimate options out there, and they’re worth giving a try if you need help getting up in the morning.

Our Recommended Wake Up Call Service

WakeUpLand is our top choice for a simple, customizable, and affordable wake-up service. It has everything you need to get started right away, plus a few fun add-ons like different voice options and unique daily greetings.

Of course, waking up in the morning isn’t the only reason to use the service, as you can also use WakeUpLand to set custom text or phone call reminders for all of your important events. This can be anything from work deadlines to your mother’s birthday—or even the day of a solar eclipse.

Both features are available with any of WakeUpLand’s paid plans, which go for $3.99, $4.99, and $6.99 per month, good for 20, 60, and 200 respective credits—with each credit being good for one call or reminder text. Alternatively, you can also choose between prepaid plans for flat rates of $3.99…

This Psychological Epidemic Is Killing Millions Worldwide

One-third of people over 45 have this chronic psychological problem — as do many who are younger.

Chronic loneliness affects 42.6 million people over 45-years-old in the United States, research finds.

That is one-third of people in the age-group.

Being socially isolated and lonely could be worse for public health than obesity.

Over 100 studies have found that being lonely is linked to a 50% increase in risk of death.

The danger to health of being lonely is similar or greater than that of being overweight.

Professor Julianne Holt-Lunstad, was discussing the studies at the 125th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association:

“Being connected to others socially is widely considered a fundamental human need–crucial to both well-being and survival.

Extreme examples show infants in custodial care who lack human contact fail to thrive and often die, and indeed, social isolation or solitary confinement has been used as a form of punishment.

Yet an increasing portion of the U.S. population now experiences isolation regularly.”

More than one-quarter of the US population now lives alone.

Over half the US population is unmarried and marriage rates continue to decline.

Professor Holt-Lunstad said:

“These trends suggest that Americans are becoming less socially connected and experiencing more loneliness.”

The conclusions come from two meta-analyses: these involve adding up the results of lots of different studies.

The studies involved people from all around the world, including North America, Europe, Australia and Asia.

Professor Holt-Lunstad explained the results:

“There is robust evidence that social isolation and loneliness significantly increase risk for premature mortality, and the magnitude of the risk exceeds that of many leading health indicators.

With an increasing aging population, the effect on public health is only anticipated to increase.

Indeed, many nations around the world now suggest we are facing a ‘loneliness epidemic.’

The challenge we face now is what can be done about it.”

While people are encouraged to prepare financially for their retirement, little mentions is made of preparing socially.

It’s all very well having a nice steady income, but it’s little comfort if you’ve got no one to talk to.

How on earth did we become such a lonely society?

The study was presented at the 125th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in Washington, D.C..

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Hello, and welcome to PsyBlog. Thanks for dropping by.

This site is all about scientific research into how the mind works.

It’s mostly written by psychologist and author, Dr Jeremy Dean.

I try to dig up fascinating studies that tell us something about what it means to be human.

→ Get FREE email updates to PsyBlog. Join the mailing list.

Author: Jeremy Dean

Psychologist, Jeremy Dean, PhD is the founder and author of PsyBlog. He holds a doctorate in psychology from University College London…

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Tap the Power of the FORD Method

The FORD Method has nothing to do with cars.

You struggle to build relationships because connections begin gently with small talk. Maybe you hate doing it.

“Small talk is not exactly an introvert’s favorite pastime. In fact, the simple phrase small talk can be code for torture.” Susan Cain

The FORD Method is about connecting with people. I’m not sure where it originated but searching Google for “FORD Method” delivered over 30,000 results. I guess it’s been around awhile.

The FORD Method:

F: Ask questions about family.

O: Ask questions about occupation.

R: Ask questions about recreation.

D: Ask questions about dreams.

Before the question:

The FORD Method is a conversation strategy, not an interview technique. When you ask one question after another you sound like an interviewer.

Create a comfortable runway for questions.

Use sentences before the question to soften your approach.

Before you ask, “Do you have family in the area,” Or “What do you do for a living,” say, “I’m just curious.”

Jumping from one question to the next feels like an inquisition.

Give a little of yourself before you ask the next question. “Oh, you work in the tech industry. I work in healthcare. We rely on technology all the time. How did you get into that?”

Soften questions by declaring intention. “I’d like to learn more about that. Do you mind if I ask how you got started?”

Transition from “O” to “R” (Recreation) by saying, “That sounds like a challenging job. What do you do for fun?”

Transition from “R” to “D” (Dreams) by saying, “I admire people who paint. Have you ever thought about doing that for a living?” If they haven’t thought about being an artist, ask, “What would you love to do for a job?”

What’s your best tip for building a connection with someone you don’t know?

Still curious:

If You Hate Small Talk Read This

Have better conversations using the FORD method

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Call Center Outsourcing Costs: How Much Is It REALLY?

For most business owners, the main reason why they would outsource their call center services is that it’s usually the least expensive option. Be that as it may, there are several factors that go into the final cost of doing so—including the type of call center, its location, and the specific pricing structure offered by the provider.

In short, most inbound and outbound call centers in the U.S. and Canada have rates around $40 per hour on average. Meanwhile, an outsourced solution housed in locations like India and the Philippines can cost as little as $9 per hour.

Of course, figuring out the true cost of outsourcing your own call center takes a bit more nuance than comparing average prices. In any case, depending on your specific situation and needs, a third-party vendor might still be the right choice for you.

Call Center Outsourcing Costs: The Variations

Location Matters

When you’re looking to outsource your customer service operations or certain back-office business processes, the geographic location of your provider can affect many things, including cost.

Here’s some intel on the average prices you can expect for different locations:

United States and Canada: $25 to $65 per hour, depending on the area of specialty
Western Europe: $40 or more per hour
Eastern Europe: $9 to $25 per hour
Australia: $35 to $55 per hour
Africa and the Middle East: $15 to $20 per hour
Latin America: $9 to $20 per hour
Southeast Asia and the Philippines: $5 to $14 per hour
India: $6 to $12 per hour

Inbound Call Centers

The price structure of an inbound call center can vary based on the complexity of your business needs. For example, a provider that offers a shared model will split its agents’ time between your business and other…

How To Get More Email Subscribers (Fast and Easy)

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How Screen Time Is Sabotaging Your Learning Abilities (M)

Find out why your digital habits could be hindering your cognitive performance.

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3 Ways to Energize People during Conversations

Lousy conversations with the boss drain people.

Successful leaders energize people. Focused energy makes success more likely.

3 ways to energize people during conversations.

#1. Focused attention.

People hate meeting with you when they feel like an inconvenience.

You have a million things to do and now it’s time for a conversation with one person. Maybe you’re thinking about all the problems you need to solve. Or perhaps you’re frustrated because of all their weaknesses and mistakes.

People won’t tell you this, they don’t like talking with you when you don’t like talking with them.

#2. Applause.

Two of our granddaughters slept over last night. One is learning to play the recorder. Mimi and I asked her to talk about things she’s learning. I asked her why she bobbed her head while she played. She explained she was counting. We listened with wonder.

Before long she decided to put on a show. She wrote a dozen notes on some paper and performed in front of us. We applauded. She added some notes and announced her show again. We were delighted again. Then she decided to give us a quiz about music.

I didn’t tell you her older sister played the flute in a concert last night.

Applause energizes people.

#3. Action plans.

Turn conversations into practical action. You energize people when they identify next steps.

Action plans begin in the past.

What happened?
What did you try?
How did it work?
What worked?
What didn’t work?

Actions plans turn toward the future.

What’s next?
What do you need to stop?
What are three things you might try? Which one do you choose to do?
What challenges might you face when you do that?
How will you know you’re succeeding?

How do you energize people during conversations?

Still curious:

12 Questions Guaranteed to Energize People

Quick Strategies to Energize One-On-Ones

How to Have a Fun Conversation Again (NYT)

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