7 Ways to Stay Positive Even During the Toughest Times

It's fun to learn more about ourselves and to feel understood — that's why we take personality tests so incessantly. And since we live in an age of increased self-awareness, we can apply those tests to so many things, like our Hogwarts house and makeup preferences. Clearly, knowing thyself has taken on a whole new meaning lately, and we love the things that these tests can tell us — but did you ever wonder how your personality might affect your dreams? In a new study, Best Mattress Brand set out to discover whether specific types of people had particular types of dreams. Read on for their fascinating results.

The test explored each component of the Myers-Briggs types, which can be broken down into eight characteristics:

Extraversion or Introversion: This is the way you focus your energy. Extroverts focus on the outside world, and Introverts focus on their inner world.

Sensing or Intuition: This is the way you process information. Sensing individuals focus on the facts, and Intuitive individuals interpret the facts.

Thinking or Feeling: This is the way you make decisions. Thinkers process decisions logically, and Feelers make decisions with context and emotion in mind.

Judging or Perceiving: This is the lens through which you interpret the world. Judgers prefer decisive action, while Perceivers like to keep their options open.

Together, your individual combination of these eight traits creates your personality type. Given these traits as variables, the study surveyed 1,000 people on their Myers Briggs traits and their sleep habits.

As you'd imagine, there were a lot of discrepancies between Introverts and Extroverts. Interestingly enough, Extroverts are 17.7 percent more satisfied with their levels of energy during waking hours than their introverted counterparts. Perhaps it's because of their dream habits: Extroverts also have 8.3 percent fewer nightmares than Introverts. Extroverts also dream about traveling 13.9 percent more often than Introverts do.

What about the content of these dreams? If you're Intuitive, you're 16.8 percent more likely to dream about being killed than Sensers are. ­Apparently, Intuitive individuals' dreams are more violent across the board: They also dream about getting attacked and “punching something with no effect" more often.

There's also a substantial difference between Thinkers and Feelers when it comes to dreams. The more emotional Feelers dream about getting pregnant more often than Thinkers do, and they dream about their friends more often too. Perhaps Thinkers are just thinking too hard; they talk in their sleep almost 10 percent more than Feelers do.

The Judgers and Perceivers have their differences as well; in fact, Perceivers have night terrors 10.2 percent more often than Judgers, probably due to the fact that they experience reality so deeply.

Does your personality type match up with these findings? Let us know @BritandCo.

(Photo via Brit + Co)

This post has been updated.

Many an infomercial has promised health results from dubious kitchen gadgets or exercise contraptions “in just minutes a day.” But there’s one practice that really could make a difference for weight loss and healthier eating in a small daily window, and it can be as simple as pen and paper. (Thank goodness, because who really wants to fork over “nine easy payments” or make room for a space-age fitness doohickey in your closet?) That simple solution? Keeping a food diary. Dietitians have long recommended food journaling as a tool for helping clients develop awareness around their eating habits. Now, new research reveals the major results that can come from putting even minimal effort into food journaling.

What the Research Says

As far back as 2008, one of the largest and longest-running weight loss trials ever conducted spelled out the benefits of food journaling. The research on nearly 1,700 weight-loss hopefuls found that people who kept careful track of what they ate each day shed twice as many pounds as those who did not. The best predictors of success were how frequently participants maintained their food journals and how much support they received from others. Simply put, said the study’s lead author, Dr. Jack Hollis, PhD, “The more food records people kept, the more weight they lost.”

Think keeping track of every little nibble and sip sounds like an arduous task? Think again. A 2019 study looked at exactly how much time people spent keeping detailed food journals. An average of 14.6 minutes a day was all it took to see improved rates of weight loss. Tellingly, an even bigger indicator of success was the frequency of log-ins to a food tracking app. People who lost 10 percent or more of their body weight in six months logged in an average of 2.7 times per day, compared with 1.7 times per day from those who lost less than 10 percent.

Why Food Journaling Is So Effective

Writing down the food you eat certainly isn’t rocket science, but it seems to be extremely effective. So what is it about this practice that could make such a big difference for reaching your weight loss goals? To get the lowdown, we checked in with dietitians who use food journaling to help their clients.

First, says registered dietitian and integrative nutritionist Anne Danahy, logging our daily intake tells us the real truth about what we’re eating — and often reveals our blind spots. “Most of us underestimate the number of calories we eat each day because we forget about mindless eating or drinking,” she says. “That handful of M&M’s that we grab when we pass by our colleague’s desk, the extra half glass of wine with dinner, or that extra spoonful of rice really adds up. When you’re diligent about keeping a journal, it’s easy to see where or what you need to trim.”

For people trying to follow a special diet, like keto or Atkins, a journal can sort out the details of macronutrient balance. “Anyone who is really trying to stay in ketosis needs to strictly limit their carb intake,” Danahy notes. “For this group in particular, food journaling via an app that calculates your carbs or macros is really helpful.”

Logging what you eat may even bring to light issues like food allergies or sensitivities that have caused unpleasant symptoms or prevented weight loss in the past. “I usually have people journal food, symptoms, and mood so we can easily look back and make connections between foods and symptoms,” says registered dietitian nutritionist Caitlin Beale. “This is less about tracking calories, protein, fat, carbs, etc. and more about making connections between intake and what may be happening in the body.”

Finally, beyond the nitty gritty of how many cups of rice or tablespoons of peanut butter you ate, a food diary can help you delve deeper into your emotional associations with food. “Food journaling can be a wonderful tool to make connections between what we eat and how we feel,” agrees Beale. You may be surprised to find your journal highlights a pattern of stress eating or an unhealthy restriction you can then begin to address.

Some Tips and Apps to Get You Started

Convinced that keeping track of your daily diet might be right for you? Danahy and Beale offer some suggestions for getting the most out of the practice. For one thing, it’s your diet and your life, so food journaling doesn’t have to look any certain way. “It can be as simple or detailed as you want to make it, depending on your goals,” encourages Danahy. Your food diary might be as low-tech as a spiral-bound notebook or as fancy as a customizable app. For the latter, Danahy recommends MyFitnessPal and Cronometer: “I always stress the importance of physical activity in any healthy eating plan. Both of these apps allow you to track not just food but exercise.”

If you really want to shine a spotlight on your eating habits, Beale advises getting as specific as possible. “Include all ingredients, even if they seem small,” she says. “Even that splash of cream in your coffee or that handful of almonds you grab as you walk through the kitchen counts.” Her go-to app is mySymptoms from Skygazer Labs, especially for anyone trying to make connections between food and physical symptoms.

Once you’ve started food journaling, you may decide to keep it up indefinitely — but even a short-term commitment can provide important insights that lead to better eating. Says Beale, “I don’t see it as a long-term necessity, but as a way to reset and open up a person’s eyes to habits, patterns, and ways to make simple changes for positive results.”

RELATED: 4 Writing Prompts to Help You Process Your Emotions

(Photos via Getty)

FacebookTaylor Swift's Eras Tour may have officially come to a close, but she only just revealed one of the biggest mysteries of the $2 billion cultural phenomenon: her cleaning cart. If you're confused, let me break it down for you really quickly. Every night of the tour, Taylor Swift had to sneak onstage before the show, and fans predicted very early on that she hid in a cleaning cart that crossed the grounds shortly before everything started. It quickly became tradition for concert-goers to cheer every time the cart made its nightly pilgrimage to the stage, applauding for what they assumed to be their favorite singer taking her place backstage.

While she confirmed her makeshift vehicle in the "I Can Do It With A Broken Heart" music video, she's finally giving us a peek behind the curtain — or rather, the cleaning cart. Here's what she posted!

Scroll to see what the inside of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour cleaning cart actually looks like!

Instagram/TaylorSwift

Taylor looks totally adorable, posing in her opening set body suit while sitting on a black chair in the cleaning cart. While understanding how the "August" singer got around in the cart would have been enough for me, there's plenty more inside to unpack, too. Here's everything I noticed in the cart:

• A floral cat illustration: Such classic cat-lover behavior.
• Printed out "Animals of the Day" flyer featuring Olivia, Meredith, and Benjamin: She's such a proud cat mom!
• A painting of a waterside town: Fans pointed out all over social media that this is potentially Cardiff, one of her many stops on the tour.
• More hanging and taped-up decor: I'm dying to know what else Taylor wants to see before she hits the stage!
• A little gold and red trinket on a ledge: Is Taylor a trinket girl?!
• A little fan in the corner: And thank goodness, because you know that girl puts in hard work on that stage!

Is there anything I missed? Let me know in the comments!

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