Want to Lose Weight? Start Watching TV

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team aadam
August 06, 2025

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Hey everyone, hope your mind's been kind to you lately šŸ˜„ 

Hereā€™s some useful reads to keep you sharp!

  • Want to Lose Weight? Start Watching TV

  • Lagom Picks ā˜•

  • Give Up and Let Chaos Rule Your Garden

Want to Lose Weight? Start Watching TV

 

Losing weight can feel impossible.

The gym feels overwhelming. Workout videos are difficult to follow along. When nothing works, it can be really tempting to just give up.

But what if the problem isnā€™t you? What if itā€™s how weā€™ve been taught to approach exercise?

A recent piece in The Guardian by writer Rhys Thomas offers a refreshingly human solution: stop trying to make yourself love the gym. Start pairing movement with something you already enjoy.

In his case? That was television.

After years of struggling to stay consistent (trying everything from CrossFit to Zumba) Thomas finally made peace with movement by putting an exercise bike in front of his TV and treating workouts like a side-activity.

ā€œThe rule is: no telly unless Iā€™m working out,ā€ he writes.

ā€œSo I pedal moderately while the football is on, and sprint during the ad breaks.ā€

Football, rugby, tennis, even podcasts. He now clocks around six hours a week. Not because he loves working outā€”but because it finally fits into his life.

Thereā€™s a bigger lesson here: exercise doesnā€™t have to be difficult or hyper-structured. It just has to be something you can stick with for an extended period of time. Consistency matters most.

So if youā€™ve been struggling, maybe the solution isnā€™t more motivation. Maybe you just need to put a bike in front of the TV. šŸ“ŗ

Lagom Picks ā˜•

  • New research says that eating ultra-processed foods (breakfast cereals, soft drinks, microwave dinners) can seriously slow down weight loss. Even when the nutrition looks the same on paper, people shed twice as much weight by eating homemade, zero-preservative food.

  • Turns out, even young kids can spot a show-off. A new study found that children as young as 5 years old prefer adults who show humility over those who are overly confident. The findings suggest our preference for personality traits like humility begin very early in childhood.

  • After selling their startup Buddy Media to Salesforce for $745 million, Kass and Mike Lazerow were left feeling numb and disoriented instead of happy. Despite making a lot of money, they struggled with a sudden loss of structure, identity, and purpose that had driven them for years. It took over a year (and a shift toward investing and advising) to rebuild a fulfilling routine.

Give Up and Let Chaos Rule Your Garden

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Itā€™s the gardening version of a mystery box: scatter some random seeds, wait, and let nature reveal what it wants to grow.

This new trend is called chaos gardening. Itā€™s taken off on TikTok, where gardeners share before-and-after clips of chaotic flower beds bursting with color.

Inspired by natural meadows and English cottage gardens, it embraces the wild and the wonky. Chaos gardening is a quiet rebellion against symmetry and controlā€”why not just let nature decide?

How it works: Instead of carefully planning what goes where, just mix some seeds (wildflowers, herbs, even vegetables) and simply scatter them across a patch of soil. No color schemes. No meticulous rows. Just toss, water, and wait.

As garden designer Zachary Westall said, ā€œItā€™s a slow motion show, just for you.ā€

Want to try it? Here are some quick tips:

  • šŸ§¤ Lightly scratch the soil before scattering

  • šŸ’§ Mist gently, donā€™t drench

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