What is the "set point"?

Set point is one's ideal body weight which the body aims to achieve. This body weight is "defended" over time, by interacting physiological processes which are not under conscious control.

This means that if one's set point is on the heavier side, it would be next to impossible to maintain long term weight loss as the body physiology will keep adjusting to maintain the set point.

What is N.E.A.T.

N.E.A.T.  stands for non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or the energy expended during normal life which does not include sleeping, eating, or exercise.

N.E.A.T includes things like walking to work, fidgeting, housework, and/or yard work.

Office workers have low N.E.A.T.; farm workers have high N.E.A.T.

N.E.A.T. also increases with overfeeding and decreases with underfeeding.

The mechanism which regulates N.E.A.T. is unknown.

What is productive confusion?

A 2012 study from the University of Notre Dame, University of Memphis, and University of Munich found that confused learners can learn more effectively than leaners who are spoon fed new information.

Many people, when confused, give up. But confused learners who take the effort and time to clarify ideas, learn and remember more effectively.

The key is that learners are productively confused, not hopelessly confused. The information must not deliberately be presented in a way that would never ever make sense.

People who want to learn must accept the challenge offered by confusion, must be willing to risk failure, and also be able to manage negative emotion.

What is anosmia?

Smell can be defined as an olfactory experience . Humans have about 12 million olfactory receptor cells which can detect about 10 thousand odours. (Dogs have 100-200 million receptors which can detect 40 thousand odours).

Anosmia is the loss of sense of smell. It can be a result of a head injury, stroke, Parkinson's Disease, or aging.

Anosmia can contribute to depression and loneliness. Smells trigger the limbic system of the brain via the olfactory nerve. The limbic system regulates memory, mood, and emotion which is why smells can trigger old memories. So if a person can't smell, their limbic brains are not triggered, contributing to depression.

Studies show that humans subconsciously transmit emotions via smell. This may explain why dogs seem so sensitive to human feeling (we call it intuitive, but it may be smell).

Studies show that the fear of smell is contagious.

What is Interleaving?

Interleaving is a learning style whereby you mix-up practising or learning different skills in the same session.

Studies show that mixing up learning can increase performance compared to practising the same thing over and over again.

This probably works better because of forcing the mind to work harder when learning.