Article: It's easy to lose track of what your body is telling you and get into the habit of eating when you're not really hungry. If you want to eat something, stop and ask yourself how you're feeling. Are you actually hungry, or do you just want to eat because you're stressed, bored, or craving a particular flavor? If you're hungry, grab a snack. If not, find a way to distract yourself until the urge passes. Pay attention to cues such as hunger pains, a growling stomach, or lightheadedness and irritability. If you're not sure whether you're really hungry, try drinking a glass of water. It can be easy to confuse feelings of hunger and thirst. When you eat, take your time and be mindful of how you are feeling. Stop eating when you feel satisfied, before you feel uncomfortably full. When you have a plate full of food in front of you, it's hard to resist the urge to polish it offeven if it's way too much! One good way to avoid overeating is to put smaller portions on your plate. At every meal, try to stick to about 1 cup (240mL) of carbs (such as pasta, rice, or cereal) and the same amount or more of fruits and vegetables. Keep servings of meat no bigger than the palm of your hand. A 1 cup (240mL) serving of food is about the size of your clenched fist. You can also try dividing your plate into equal quarters. Fill 1 quarter with a whole grain (such as whole wheat pasta or brown rice), 1 quarter with a lean protein (such as fish, poultry breast, or tofu), and the other 2 quarters with vegetables. If those portions seem small, try eating your meals on a smaller plate. If your plate is filled up, it can trick your brain into thinking you're eating more food. When you're trying to lose weight, you may be tempted to skip eating altogether sometimes. However, doing this can often backfire, because you'll be hungrier and more likely to overeat at your next meal. Try to eat at 3 healthy, satisfying meals each day. It's especially important to eat a good breakfast, since this will energize you and prevent you from getting too hungry later in the day. To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you eat each day. Keep a food journal to help you count how many calories you're eating in an average day. Ask your doctor or a dietitian how many calories you need to be eating each day based on your age, weight, current eating habits, and activity level. You can find out how many calories are in a serving of prepackaged food by checking the nutrition label. Many restaurants also have calorie information in their menus. When eating fresh or homemade food, you can use a guide like this one to approximate how many calories are in each meal: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/calorie-checker/.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Pay attention to your body's hunger cues. Watch your portion sizes. Avoid skipping meals. Keep track of your calories.
Article: It is easy to focus on the things that you do not like about yourself or the areas that need improvement. When you focus on the negative, you forget about all the other wonderful attributes you have. It is important that you acknowledge the things that you are good at and make time to do those things. Examples of good qualities you may have include being smart, funny, kind, generous, creative, loving, caring, etc. Talents and skills you may have include being an athlete, dancer, musician, writer, artist, poet, singer, volunteer, etc. How much time do you spend doing these any of these activities? How will you make these activities part of your everyday life? A lack of confidence can stop you from trying something new or doing something that you enjoy. What would you do if you had more confidence? What is stopping you from doing it? Write down the following sentence, "If I had more confidence, I would..." What type of support or encouragement would you need to try this? How would you feel if you actually tried this? For example, maybe you are a good writer and would like to work on your skills. However, you are not confident enough to write for your school newspaper. You may write, "If I had more confidence, I would join my my school newspaper. I know that I am a solid writer, but I am afraid of other people reading my work. If I joined the newspaper, I would become a better writer and make new friends." Every person has strengths and weaknesses. These are different for each and every girl. When you compare yourself, you are often comparing a weakness you have to someone else's strength. If you continue to do this, you will never feel good about yourself. When you find yourself comparing yourself to another person, direct your attention back to yourself. Remind yourself that you are unique and have your own strengths and talents. Go back and read the list of positive attributes, talents, and skills that you made. It may help to post the list by your bed or on your bathroom mirror. There may be areas that you would like to improve upon or things you would like to accomplish. When you achieve things, you prove to yourself that you can meet expectations. Setting a goal and achieving it can help build your confidence. Write down your goal and then write down steps you can actually take to achieve it. Your goals and the steps you take should be realistic. Setting a goal that you are unable to reach may backfire and make you feel worse. For example, if you want to start running, running a 5k is a better goal than running a half-marathon. Trying to go from not running very often to running a half marathon is a huge jump, and you are setting yourself up for failure. A 5k is very realistic, and you can find a couch to 5k running program to help you set your daily and weekly goals.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Write down your talents, skills, and good qualities. Challenge yourself to do more. Stop comparing yourself to other people. Set goals for yourself.
Article: Gnats cannot bite through clothing, so an easy way to avoid getting bit is to wear clothing that fits loosely. Tight clothing can stretch over the skin and provide holes in the fabric that gnats can bite you through. Long sleeve shirts, gloves, and jeans, for example, provide good coverage. This is especially helpful in summer and early autumn when bugs are more active. This is a good short-term solution when you are faced with a large number of gnats. Tie ordinary garden netting over your head. Wearing a hat makes this easier. Throw the netting over your head or hat, wrap it loosely around your neck, and either tuck it into your shirt or tie loosely with a piece of strong. This will protect your head and neck while still allowing you to see. In extreme cases, you may wish to buy permethrin-treated clothing to cover your entire body. It is the only insect repellent currently used during clothing factory production. You may choose to buy this clothing instead of spraying your own clothing with permethrin. It is EPA-approved as safe for everyone, including children, to wear, and kills and repels bugs.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Wear loose-fitting clothing. Choose long clothing. Use netting to protect your face and neck. Try permethrin-treated clothing.