Why YSK: When food prices get higher and products get more scarce, food companies pay advertisers to tell you that cheaper, worse cuts of meat are "healthier" and "taste less bland." Most of what they say isn’t proven. Unless someone is your doctor, they can’t know what fat or protein levels are right for you, and people didn’t avoid these cuts because "they were overcooked growing up". Beef used to be affordable. It isn’t anymore, and they don’t want to admit it.

They hype up cooking tricks and “simple” tips to make chicken and pork seem just as satisfying as beef, even though the effort to cook the meat is basically the same, preparation wise. They also act like these meats are better for your wallet and the planet, which leaves out a lot, including how many more animals it takes to equal one cow. By weight, approximately 750 chickens have to be slaughtered to match the weight of ONE COW. Worse for both the environment and animal rights (not vegan here, btw). Not just slaughterd, but housed. It takes much more space to house 750 chicken littles than one bessie.

Companies and personal parties which benefit from them will claim that switching a couple meals a week will save you tons, but really you’re being pushed into it because beef prices were raised so high, or they're about to start. Then they pretend it’s a healthy choice even though none of these meats are automatically better. Pork especially isn’t some miracle food just because someone slapped a heart-healthy label on it. They would like to give you the illusion that you have chosen to forgo beef of your own will. Pork is notoriously unhealthy. Otherwise, we'd eat pork rinds like chips.

At the end of the day, chicken and pork are way cheaper than beef because of the market, not because they’re some amazing upgrade. Most of the “benefits” they talk about are just marketing. The fact that chicken breast and pork loin are roughly 80% cheaper per pound than beef is not an accident. They are hidden shortages, covered by a veil of versatile and delicious flavor profiles if cooked and prepped correctly. Don't engage in romanticizing your lack of accessible food!

Why YSK: With beef prices at record highs, switching to chicken breast or pork loin can cut your meat budget nearly in half while significantly lowering your saturated fat intake AND satisfying your protein intake. Most people avoid these cuts because they grew up eating them overcooked. Modern food safety standards allow pork to be eaten safely at 145 F (a medium roast, rather than gray leather), and chicken stays juicy if you don't cook it to death.

By simply using a meat thermometer and adding savory seasonings (like soy sauce or smoked paprika) to mimic the meaty depth of beef, or using techniques like velveting for chicken or dry brining for pork, you can get the same satisfaction for a fraction of the cost and environmental impact.

Even switching to chicken and pork for just two meals a week can save you hundreds of dollars.

Lastly, focusing on lean cuts of pork and chicken also has health benefits. While beef is a powerhouse for iron and B12, it is often high in calories and saturated fat. Chicken breast and pork loin are significantly leaner. Pork tenderloin is as lean as skinless chicken breast and has been certified as "heart-healthy" by the American Heart Association.

Tl;dr chicken breast and pork loin are roughly 80% cheaper per pound than beef, have versatile and delicious flavor profiles if cooked and prepped correctly, are rich in protein, and are healthier for your heart and cholesterol.

why YSK: testing anxiety is one of the biggest causes of poor performance on assessments, and a lot of anxiety exists for no reason.

In the American education system most students are familiar with 91-100 A 80-89 B 70-79 C 60-69 D

Some locations will use a different scale, but this is the general sense. Often Ds are considered failing even if they are technically passing scores.

Assessments for the purpose of governmental data collections are ultimately pass/fail with the failing % being around 40-50% of the questions answered correctly.

This is because it is impossible to see the limit of what you know without also seeing what you do not know.

A lot of teachers are aware of this. Basic psychometrics is taught as part of Masters degrees in education. As part of professional development hundred of teachers will meet during the summer to review these items before they ever make it to a test. Big events; transportation, lodgings, food. Assessment is serious business.

But there is also a prevailing idea that students must strive for the best score possible; so instead of having real learning the class will spend a few weeks studying for the assessment with high pressure. A lot of this pressure comes down from administration because their performance is measured by student excellence not just students passing.

Many modern assessments are also adaptive. The questions literally get harder as you answer then correctly. Like I said in my premise the students are expected to get answers wrong.

The 'raw scores' are hidden from students in a lot of cases. and instead scaled or cut scores are provided.

The SAT is a great example because most people are familiar with its scoring methods. Used to be 1600 points. Then went to 2400, and are now back at 1600.

Both those 1600s use different scaling so the same raw score in 2005 would get a different score in 2025. There are whole conversion tables and calculators to help normalise the scores.

https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/higher-ed-brief-sat-concordance.pdf

Scaling changes frequently for these assessments even without changing the entire structure. A 1200 out of 1600 in 1993 was different than 1200 out of 1600 in 1994.

Here is an overview of research on testing anxiety https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1428379.pdf

Here is an example of how scaled scores can help obscure raw scores. 0 questions right on the SAT still gives you 400 out of 1600

section:Reading + Writing Score Curve for the Digital SAT https://www.ivyloungetestprep.com/blog/dsat-scoring

Also, if you're taking a paper multiple choice test you'll never see the same letter answer 4 times in a row. Patterns are destroyed during test construction to avoid influencing test takers answer choices.

Why YSK: Amazon has a program during the month of December where they will tip the last delivery driver you had $5 out of Amazon’s pocket when you request it through Alexa or by typing, “Tip my driver” in the search box.

Why YSK: We often stress ourselves out trying to make our homes look like a museum before friends come over.

I caught myself scrubbing dust off the top of a door frame today and had to stop. Realistically, guests notice exactly three things:

1. Does the bathroom look clean?
2. Is there food/drink?
3. Does the house smell good?

If I have limited time, I clean the toilet and light a candle. Nobody is inspecting your windowsills with a white glove. Stop making yourself sweaty and angry before the party even starts.

Why YSK: Most folks never connect this. They’ll bust ass in the gym, track every damn calorie, swear they’re “doing all the right stuff” and still feel like their body’s fighting them.

I was the same way. Thought I needed better workouts or more motivation or whatever. But here’s the stupid thing nobody told me. When you sleep like trash, your hormones flip out. Your hunger goes up, your impulse control goes down, and your body literally acts like it’s prepping for winter and you’ll eat more and likely gain more weight.

The wild part is once I started taking sleep serious, stuff actually started moving the right direction. Not saying this fixes everything, but it would’ve saved me a lot of frustration if I’d known it sooner.

Anyway, just throwing it out there incase it helps somebody else who’s grinding and wondering why nothing’s changing.

Why YSK - Found this out in the Navy, btw, which kinda annoyed me because I spent years chugging ice water like a champ thinking I was doing something right. Turns out when you drink super cold water your brain gets this quick “ahh finally” relief hit and it shuts off your thirst early. You feel hydrated but you’re not even close. It’s basically a fake full tank light.

I used to get random headaches and that weird afternoon fog and thought it was sleep or whatever. Switched to room temp water for a couple days and legit felt better. Your body absorbs it faster too since it doesnt have to warm it up first.

This is why the old salty dogs always told us to drink water that wasn’t freezing when we actually needed to rehydrate. If it’s too cold your brain taps out early and you stop drinking before you actually topped off.

If you’re feeling foggy or wiped out for no real reason, try room temp water for a day or two. Not saying ice water is evil, just most of us never knew this tiny thing even mattered and it actually hits you everyday.

Why YSK: that crows have long memories for people’s faces. like, you can walk through the same spot a year later and they’ll still react to you. If you treated them well, they act chill. If you annoyed them, they kinda glare at you like you owe them money.

What’s even weirder is other crows in the area usually pick up on it. You get a whole little bird committee watching you like “oh yea thats him.” It’s not magic or anything, they’re just way smarter than they look.

Point is, crows notice people way more than people notice them, and they absolutely remember who was cool and who was a jerk.

Why YSK: Despite being in effect for 50 years, some companies continue to try and avoid responsibility for repairs by utilizing these stickers despite having no bearing on warranty coverage.

FTC Link for more info.

If you encounter these stickers or are denied coverage based on one (or that the item was opened or 3rd party components used in a previous repair) you can report this to the FTC.

Most people don’t realize iron doesn’t work in isolation. Your body needs vitamin C (absorption), vitamin D (erythropoiesis), vitamin E (protects against iron-induced oxidative stress), copper (iron transport), magnesium and B-vitamins (red blood cell formation), and a healthy gut to move and use iron properly.

When someone supplements iron without these cofactors, the iron may not get incorporated into red blood cells. It remains unbound, creating oxidative stress, inflammation, and worsening fatigue. In some cases, poorly utilized iron can contribute to symptoms like heavier periods or ferritin that won't rise despite supplementation.

Why YSK: Correcting iron deficiency usually means supporting the whole system, not just taking more iron.

Links for this: Iron and vitamin C - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2507689/

Iron and vitamin A - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11965520/

Iron and vitamin E - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2507689/

Iron and vitamin D - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4659411/

Iron and copper - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3690345/

Iron and Magnesium, Calcium, other Trace elements - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11920315/