If you are someone that has been in the dating game for some time now, something that you will know is that dating can be incredibly awkward. If you are an extrovert, meeting and speaking with a stranger may not be something that is too difficult for you. However, if you are someone that considers yourself to be quite shy, then the idea of meeting someone new for the first time maybe something that you hate the idea of.

If you have been looking for advice on how to cope with your first date, it is likely that a lot of people have told you that it is very important to break the ice at the start of any date. Breaking the ice is the best way to avoid any awkwardness and start a flowing conversation, but not everyone knows how to do it.

Dates can make you incredibly nervous and you may notice that you are doing and saying things that you may not usually say. Dates can be a lot of pressure on you and you may be desperate to break that initial ice, but you still want to be careful about what you are saying as you don’t want to say something awkward or even offensive. Here is how not to break the ice on your next dinner date.

Don’t Say Anything Offensive

Something that you may have heard is that right now we are living in pretty politically correct times. If you look back at the shows and the comedy that used to be expressed on TV and in the media, a lot of the jokes and the topics that were once explored and shown would not be acceptable in this day and age.

If you are feeling nervous, naturally you may reach for a joke to try and make your date laugh and feel more comfortable. A lot of the jokes that you may laugh at could be incredibly offensive and just because they make you laugh does not mean that you should necessarily tell them.

There are a lot of jokes out there that you can choose from that are not offensive, your date would probably rather hear some cringeworthy bad jokes rather than something that is offensive. If you are not sure what is considered to be offensive, I would set a basic rule that if your joke is told at the expense of another person or minority, you should probably avoid telling it to your date.

If you want to make your date laugh, I would recommend going for the classic cheesy jokes or dad jokes, as these are always guaranteed to make someone laugh and get everyone in a good mood.

Don’t Ask Personal Questions

Another great way to break the ice is by asking the person you are on a date with plenty of questions. The more you know about them, the more you can discuss and the more conversations you can have.

Though you may want to know about your date, something that you should avoid is asking very personal questions. You have to remember that this is your first date and you don’t really know each other yet. This means that if you want to get to know them, you should keep the questions light and try not to get too personal.

Ask them about all of their favorite shows and movies, or even just ask them what they like to do. Don’t ask them about their family life or similar topics, as this can be a quite personal question and it may leave your date feeling very uncomfortable and out of their depth.

Don’t Mention Politics or Religion

Something that you likely know is that there are some discussions that you should avoid when you are on a date. First of all, politics is something that you should avoid entirely. Right now, politics is as rife as ever and everyone seems to have an opinion. Even if you share the same political beliefs as your date, talking about the injustice in the world can be a real downer on the date.

Talking about religion and the differences can also put a damp mood on the date and so you should avoid talking about it as much as you can.

Whether it’s for summer or just a life choice losing we all have times when we feel like we need to lose a few pounds. There are many fad and popular diets out there, like Keto, Paleo, liquid spiders and many others. To avoid the complications of rules and restrictions many people jump on the calorie. Punting method, the main rule? Just count your calories.

Now onto the math, to count calories you have to know your limit, it is recommended that the average person should eat around 2000 calories a day, though this is dependent on what you eat as well as the amount of calories. Some websites recommend that you eat 1500 calories day to ensure weight loss.

How it works. The idea is that you lose more calories than you put in, this is called a calorie deficit, if you stay in a calorie deficit than you will more than likely lose weight, it is why people of a bigger stature naturally lose more weight quicker.

Obviously a good way to stay in that deficit is exercise, a really good and almost underrated exercise is Yoga which can help you more in your weight loss journey.

If you’re looking at fat loss, high fat foods without sugar is the way to go. Sugar retains fat, whereas when you are in a sugar deficit, fat then is burned for energy increasing your fat loss. So to take away from this is;

 

• Stay in a calorie deficit.
• Reduce your sugar not your fat intake.
• Try not to follow fad diets they do nothing and you bounce back into bad habits.
• Stay healthy and enjoy results.

Like the name would suggest the key difference between the two is how they are fed, with the typical question being that of ethics. A cow on a natural diet of grass is more likely to be living an organic lifestyle living off the farmland, an overall more natural life. Especially when compared to corn fed cows, who live in cramped quarters where the profit line is key, the cows are shown to live a far more stressful life when corn fed. It is quite a hard stance to take as everyone’s moral compass does differ, grass fed cows are shown to be happier, but they do take up more environmental space and cause more environmental damage, both do face the same fate of death, so if you really want to make a difference go vegetarian.

It has been shown that grass fed beef is better for you than corn fed beef. As a study by The European Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed grass-fed beef had significantly more omega 3 fatty acids and a higher anti-oxidant content while also being leaner, and therefore healthier than grain-fed beef.

What the majority of people really care about is the difference in taste. The diet of a grass-fed cow is obviously a lot less micro managed so there is far more variety in their diet meaning more variety in the flavour of the beef and is also typically a lot more lean and less fatty.

Corn fed cows all face the same diet so there is less variety in the flavour, but there is a consistency in its fat and texture, as every corn-fed cow will taste extremely similar there is less risk involved, you know what you are going to get. This is all subjective, and most people do carry their own preference.

If you look at the facts above, I would say if you are looking for health benefits then go for grass fed beef. If you are looking at this from an ethical stand point, I do not think there is a clear winner as both cause mass eco damage. Finally, from a taste stand point I would recommend trying both and just choosing a preference. It is important to remember that grass fed beef is typically more expensive so do try think with the facts above if it is truly worth it.

You do not want to cheat anymore and buy the microwavable stuff, you want the natural excitement of making your own popcorn. Though the task of making popcorn can seem impossible, wanting enough kernels to pop but to not burn too many at the same time it is not an easy task, but once you learn the little secrets everything will begin to add up.

So obviously for your popcorn you are going to need oil this is where my first trick comes, when choosing your oil go for coconut every time, honestly from personal experience it will provide your popcorn with a separate type of tang that normal oil simply can not provide. Now when using this coconut oil you are going to encounter the problem I mentioned earlier, oil heat burning your kernels or not popping enough, so I would simply put in a few kernels into the oil to see how they react then decide whether you need to turn up or turn down your oil. The more unanimous the pops the better.

A secret tip is once the popcorn pops reach a point of four seconds a pop then you know you have got the perfect cooking time. Once removed from the pan it all about the flavouring on top of your coconut oil. It is essential you use sea salt as it will allow for a greater burst of flavour than simple table salt, and with butter I would highly recommend grass fed butter, which compliments your coconut oil perfectly. Not only does this allow for a cleaner and more ethical butter but the taste is so much creamier and simply delicious than your plain salted or unsalted butter.

So these are the essential secrets to cooking the perfect popcorn, coconut oil, unanimous pops and the right ingredients especially the coconut oil.