Diet and Fitness ? Help from Your Hobbies
January 31, 2006
Everybody battles with their weight from time to time. It’s either too much junk food or not enough exercise. In many cases it is a poor diet and no exercise. We go to work and sit behind a computer or a counter, and we sit. Then we get up for coffee, and then we sit. On and on, day after day. It’s the ritual that many people get used to. They are creatures of habit. But the trend can be broken.
In many cases, folks just need to get out and about to enjoy life a little. As funny as it might sound, there are many hobbies that keep some people from being stagnant and growing fat. True fitness doesn’t have to come from the gym, there are plenty of fit people who simply watch their diet and do something everyday.
Golfing and Fitness
This is the one I struggled explaining to my wife. Then she bought some clubs and started coming along. It’s great exercise. Buy the backpack style straps for your bag or get a pull cart. Take the initiative to walk the course. If the weather is ninety five degrees and humid, ride a cart. On the nice days, walk it. It’s not only good for your body, it’s also good for your mind. The great outdoors has a lot to do with your happiness. And it doesn’t hurt if you make a couple nice birdie putts.
Getting out a couple times a week to play either nine or eighteen will keep your blood flowing and challenge your thought process. Golf is a game for life, in more ways than one.
Join a League for Health
There are organized sporting leagues for just about every sport that is played. Whether they are managed by your local community or your favorite watering hole, leagues offer not only a good time, but some good exercise as well. It doesn’t take too much to get your body involved in some good physical activity. You’ll circle the bases in a softball league, or cruise around the rink from red line to red line.
Leagues are designed to keep people active doing what they love. All ages are welcomed, and lots of good times are had. Softball, volleyball, tennis and more get your body moving and involved in the social arena. Where else can you ground out and meet friends?
Diet Hiking
It doesn’t take a game with eight hundred year old rules or an organized sports team to get outside and enjoy some exercise. Plenty of people enjoy the great outdoors just for what it is: the great outdoors. An activity as basic as hiking is some of the best exercise you’ll ever get. You control the level of difficulty that you want to endure.
All you need to do to participate is throw on some comfortable clothes and strap on your shoes. Go search for agates or take the dog for a walk. Get your exercise and keep your diet going.
It really doesn’t take a whole lot of effort to get your body moving. Once you get started, your routine will become easier and you’ll want top expand it. Health and fitness quickly becomes addicting. Choose your poison.
Robb Ksiazek writes and publishes diet advice and body moving tips for Body-Mass-Index-4U.com. He believes in simple common sense solutions to keep your body, mind, and soul in a state of wellbeing.
Goal Setting for Kids
January 31, 2006
Goal setting is essential for building a successful life. However, teaching kids how to set and achieve goals is not part of most school curriculums, nor is it taught in most homes. Many parents never learned the techniques of goal setting, and are still struggling with their own. You don’t need to know it all. While you develop your own goal-setting skills, you can also be helping and encouraging your children to develop theirs. Goal setting is a life-long skill. It helps your child to focus their unique gifts and talents, it helps to cultivate and strengthening your child’s self-worth, and equips them to lead a life full of meaning purpose, and direction, regardless of the professional or personal paths they choose.
Things to consider when setting goals with your kids
CAREER - school grades, skill development, future plan (ambition);
PERSONAL- character development, and personal growth (self-image, sense of responsibility, ability, sefl-esteem), appearance;
HEALTH - exercise, diet, over-all well-being, balance;
COMMUNITY - commitment to serving others (volunteer work);
FINANCIAL - understanding the value of money, earning, saving;
FRIENDS - expanding their circle of friends, choosing friends wisely; HOUSEHOLD - chores, contribution to building home life;
RECREATION - hobbies, relaxation, fun activities (movies, parties, etc.)
Things to remember Expect resistance; Be firm; Look for performance, not perfection; Kids need to see the end before they begin (incentive - what will happen if…); Kids need rewards; Kids need praise.
Results
As kids learn how to set goals and experience the difference goal setting makes in their personal destinies, it will encourage them to take action. They will begin to create lives for themselves that they want and “Dare to live their Dreams!” As your kids become more aware of greater possibilities in their lives, and tap into their respective talents they will develop a stronger sense of self and of their contribution to society.
Success - the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. Failure - Lack of success. When we make mistakes and truly learn from each respective lesson these corrections are directly correlated to our eventual and inevitable success.
About The Author
Cecile Peterkin is a trained Career/Life Coach and speaker whose work centers primarily on middle managers and their various challenges. She also works with individuals who are ready to move forward, take action, achieve goals and experience overall life improvement, both in personal and in career.
Cosmic Coaching Centre
416-486-5000
cecile@cosmiccoachingcentre.com
How To Choose The Right Home Water Filters and Water Purifiers For Your Needs
January 31, 2006
When it comes to home water filters and water purifiers, consumers have many choices. You can choose from leading name brands such as Brita, Culligan, PUR, and Braun. You can go with counter top water filters, under the sink models, or whole house water filters. You can pick from systems that use carbon filters, reverse osmosis water filters, and ultraviolet (UV) light technology. It’s great to have so many options, but how do you know which home water purifier is right for you?
Do You Need a Home Water Purifier?
The first question to ask when considering a residential water purifier is whether you even need one. If you have a municipal water source then your water is already treated. But many people don’t want to drink the chlorine or other additives that city’s use to treat water supplies. And there have been many instances when city water supplies have become contaminated despite treatment procedures.
If you feel secure about your city water supply and enjoy the taste of chlorinated water, then you may not need a purifier. If you’re not sure what’s in your water, you can ask to see a water quality report that all cities are required to provide.
Although well water isn’t treated, it comes from an underground source that can often be cleaner than municipal water. But if you live in areas with farming, manufacturing, and other industries that may inadvertently or purposely dump chemicals into the water table, your water is at risk.
Additionally, well water may contain sediments, such as iron, that can cause discoloration and odor. These sediments can also build up in dishwashers and other appliances and cause malfunctions. Many home water filters and purifiers can help improve the taste and quality of well water. To find out what type of impurities are in your well water, purchase a home testing kit or for more reliable results, have your water professionally tested.
What Contaminants Do You Want To Target?
If you’ve decided you need a home water purifier, the next step is to decide what type of contaminants you want to filter out or protect against. Are you concerned about bacteria and other microorganisms? Do you want to remove chemicals and compounds such as chlorine? Maybe you know your water contains sediments and high mineral content. Or perhaps like many people, you’re concerned about all of these things and you want a comprehensive home water purifier/filtration system.
Bacteria and microorganisms
If bacteria and other organisms are your targets, then you want to consider home water purifiers that use UV technology. Of the three most common water purification technologies, UV is the only one that effectively immobilizes bacteria. However, it does not remove sediments, chemicals and other contaminants.
Chemicals and sediments
Home water purifiers that use either carbon filters or reverse osmosis technology will remove suspended solids such as sediments, dissolved chemicals, and many other contaminants. Of the two, reverse osmosis is effective on a wider range of contaminants. However, neither of these technologies is effective at removing bacteria.
For a comprehensive home water purification system, it is important to combine UV technology with one of the other options. A carbon pre-filer is the most common choice. It’s also critical that you change your home water filters regularly and follow manufacturers’ maintenance schedules. If you don’t routinely change the filters on your home water filters and water purifiers, you could wind up creating an even bigger problem with bacteria than the one you may be trying to avoid in the first place.
Where Will You Put Your Home Water Purifier?
Where you want to locate the filter/purification system can also influence your decision. Faucet mount and countertop water filters typically only come in carbon filter technology. You can usually find both carbon filters and reverse osmosis water filters in under sink systems. And both reverse osmosis and UV technologies come in whole house systems. Each of these can also be fitted with a carbon pre-filter for comprehensive treatment.
If your only concern is your drinking water, then you may prefer one of the many countertop or under sink water filters. They are less expensive than whole house systems, ranging from about $20 to $30 for a countertop pitcher or faucet filter to around $200 or $300 for an under the sink model. The under sink water purifiers are capable of processing water much more quickly, and the filters tend to last longer.
If you want to treat your bathing water and keep sediments and bacteria from building up in your appliances, then you will need to consider a whole house system. They start at around $400 for basic models and can cost upwards of $1000 for high-end systems. In the end, your budget may be the ultimate factor in your decision.
Installation and Maintenance
One final aspect to consider when choosing between different home water filters and purification systems is whether or not you want to install and maintain it yourself. Faucet mounts and countertop models basically require no or minimal installation. And the only maintenance is changing the filters, which is a simple process.
Depending on your mechanical aptitude, under sink models and whole house water purifiers may require professional installation and maintenance. Some companies require that their technicians perform all the work. The companies say this is to avoid mistakes and improper setup. Others say it is simply another means of charging more money.
But for those who don’t want to deal with the fuss and possible mess, a service plan may be well worth the extra money. In addition, a service plan often covers the equipment if it malfunctions or breaks down.
There are several factors to consider when choosing between the various types and styles of home water filters and water purifiers. The best place to start is with an analysis of your water. Different water purifier technologies target different types of contaminants, and a water test will help you determine which technology will meet your needs. Considering how much we depend on clean water for drinking, cooking, bathing and other daily activities, a home water purifier can be an inexpensive way to provide safe and healthy tap water for you and your family.
About the Author:
C.J. Gustafson is a successful writer for Water-Filters-N-Purifiers.com, providing consumer information on water purifiers. She uses a system employing whole house water filters to remove iron and other contaminants from her well water. Her gifts of counter top water filters have been greatly appreciated by family and friends.
Developing a budget? Watch out for Those Budget-Bursting Gremlins
January 31, 2006
If you’ve developed a household budget to get your spending back in line or to just reduce stress, good for you! Creating and sticking to a budget isn’t easy by all means. But it represents the best way by far to manage your finances so you can relax and worry about other things.
A budget can also be a very useful tool for ending financial arguments — assuming that you and your spouse agree how much to allocate for each of the categories in your budget.
The big categories are usually the easy ones. You know how much you pay for rent or your mortgage. Ditto other items such as your car payment(s), heating bill, phone bill and the like.
These are all fixed expenses. In other words, they are expenses that cannot be easily cut. They can be reduced but not without a major effort. For example, you could sell your home and buy one that requires a monthly mortgage payment.
However, many of the other items in your budget are discretionary expenses. In other words, they are expenses you can control and cut. This category includes items such as clothing, entertainment, insurance (yes, you can cut the cost of your car and health insurance), cable or satellite and groceries.
Some of these categories can also become budget busters or what I call budget gremlins if you are not really careful.
One of the biggest of these is entertainment ? which should include the cost of eating out. You may find there’s only a little money left over for entertainment. Yet, it’s very easy to overspend by "rewarding" yourself after a hard week or month by taking your family out to eat at an expensive restaurant. Or by treating you and your spouse to a night on the town, complete with a babysitter for the kids. If you’re not careful, you can lose track of these spur-of-the-minute expenses. Come the end of the month, you might wake up and realize that these little "rewards" have cost you $100, $150 or even more over budget.
Another category that can be a budget gremlin is clothing. In the first place, it’s a difficult budget category as it is next to impossible to forecast with complete accuracy what your family will need in the way of clothing over the next 12 months. Even if you budget very accurately, there is always that great suit or dress that’s on sale, or that really neat athletic jacket your son is begging for. Again, you need to be very careful or you may find that what you spent on clothing last month was actually50% more than you had budgeted.
Here’s another potential budget gremlin. If you have a pet, make sure you budget for pet care and supplies. Just one trip to the vet with your furry friend can cost big dollars. And what about gifts? This is also a category where costs can get away from you unless you watch them closely.
Finally, for a budget to work, you and your spouse need to have some "miscellaneous" money or money that doesn’t have to be accounted for each month. For example, you might allocate $50 or $100 monthly for each of you. That way, you could each "splurge" on something without feeling guilty because you’re breaking the budget or taking money away from other, more important things.
Creating and sticking to a budget isn’t easy, but it can be a real life and marriage saver.
For FREE help with debt and credit, subscribe today to Douglas Hanna’s free email newsletter "8 Simple Steps to Debt Relief" at http://www.all-in-one-info.com
Death, Aging, Rejuvenation (Part 1)
January 31, 2006
I would like to raise a question: Is Rejuvenation possible and how to approach it? This is just my own opinion about possible procedures. I used certain techniques based on a theory. As strange as it sounds some of those techniques and procedures might actually worked.
There are several hundreds theories of aging. New and old ones. Different authors classify them differently.
I would divide all those theories into 2 groups :
1. Theories of Deterioration from external cause. “Wear and tear”. Theory of free radicals damage is most fashionable at present time. Antioxidants are considered a cure. Benefits of caloric restriction are often explained by that theory. The theory has good objective support in scientific literature. Other theories of this group included changes of bacteria in the gut, radiation and accumulation of mutations during life of an individual, etc. - many more of those theories were discussed in the XX century. 2. Internal clock - theories.
I would divide the “internal clock” theories into 2 more subgroups: 1. Internal clock on the level of cell. Telomeres shortening is the most discussed in literature at present. 2. Internal clock on the level of organism. Growth hormone changes was a recent example of discussion.
Authors are usually very cautious and objective in scientific literature. Telomeres are usually discussed in connection with “immortal” cancer cells. Caloric restriction is discussed as a mean of longevity (not rejuvenation per se). Level of growth hormone (GH) or insulin-like growth factor drops in aged persons.
Mass media speculates wider: telomeres restoration - possible immortal life, growth hormone will rejuvenate you, etc.
Original scientific studies usually do not speculate about this. In no way for example drop of GH level in elderly means that just giving it back will make you young again.
Scientific literature rarely discuss “Rejuvenation” as it is. Authors mostly talk about “longevity”. This is very different story. Longevity in a wheelchair is very distinct from a youth playing soccer. One proven method to reach longevity is caloric restriction. Often they say it is the only proven technique. Using antioxidants as a method to prolong life is in the same category. To put simple, the Theory says: nutrition produce products of oxidation - peroxides, etc. These products damage DNA, proteins, etc. Cell ages. Caloric restriction switches metabolic pathways. There are less free radicals. Hence longevity. Antioxidants work in similar way - they remove free radicals. Another speculation is that caloric restriction starting at young age delays reproductive age in animals and this slows down biological clocks and prolongs life until an environment with high nutrition supply is found. Animals look small and undeveloped.
Caloric restriction significantly (25%-100% and more) prolonged life in worms, flies, spiders, rats, mice, etc. Experiments on monkeys and humans are under way and will take decades.
Well, it is all good in experiments and theories. Some argue: why in this case prisoners of concentration camps do not live longer. Another example came from “Scientific American” - a person had caloric restriction of something 20 years or more - no effect - he just looks like very thin undernourished person of 50 years. Examples of opposite opinion also exist (tribes or groups with low food consumption or high antioxidants consumption have more centenarians than general population). Maybe you really need to start at 10 years of age, look malnourished and weak for the whole life and live to 100 years, getting to your puberty at 25. Antioxidants also bring many controversy. Vitamin E did not show many benefits though it was a big hope for prevention of many diseases of old age. And so on. Today there are big trials that disprove the theory. Tomorrow - great experiments that confirm the theory, at least partially. Many big trials and experiments are published in leading journals - Science, Nature, PNAS, New England JM, JAMA, etc.
One bias for caloric restriction experiment in my opinion is following. Rats live in cage 30cmX60cm for their whole life. There are at least five rats or 20 mice. They live couple years and die. During the experiments they are celebrities when they live 5 years - some lucky ones. The Food is a balanced mixture of nutrition. Caloric restriction is - 60% of their regular meal. They practically don’t move - there is no space in cage. Mostly they sleep whole day. Sometime they fight and mate. They live in those conditions at Yale, at Med U of South Carolina, at Russian State Medical University and I think everywhere else. To compare our fellow humans we would place 10 people on area of 20 square metres (200 sq. feet) for 50 years in a row, feeding them with what they want but all the same - let say junk food from McDonalds.
I remember my cat (who was partially wild) stole meat and ate until it started to vomit. He repeated it many times when he was able to steal some steak or whatever. The same happens in wild - lions have maybe one successful hunt out of ten. When they catch a prey, they eat like crazy. Much more than they can digest at the moment. So it looks like there is an instinct. Eat as much as possible. This is not a joke - 60% of people in western countries are overweight. Abundant high calorie food and lack of activity. It does not seem that for these people any internal mechanism restricts food consumption. Applying this back to rats, we can see that what is considered normal consumption - “ad lib” - maybe actually big overfeeding of the animals in these cages.
In this case 60% of caloric restriction would be just what rats need, just what the calories they spend in lazy, uneventful daily life. So called “control”, “normal” rats - that fed as they usually fed might be compared for fat overweight humans. They consume junk food. They prone to the bunch of diseases of obesity and low activity. Heart diseases, strokes, variety of cancers, arthritis, etc.
In this case all the hype about caloric restriction would just be brought to the business of mere balancing diet and activity in so called “calorie-restricted animals”. I haven’t seen any discussion of this problem. I might be wrong. This is why I use caloric restriction for myself. I did not work with worms and spiders. But my guess would be that they all are also in artificial standardized conditions. “Control” worms might be also overfed. To put rats into bigger cages (to increase activity in control group and balance calories and catabolism) would be incredibly expensive.
Even at present conditions because of “animal lovers” and bunch of other regulations and considerations (e.g. sterile conditions), the price of animal housing is sky-high.
You would say animals in wild would live longer because they balance activity and consumption. Well, recently I read that life span of animals in wild is shorter than animals in captivity. Correct me if I am wrong: pandas live 15-20 years in nature and 20-30 in zoos, bears 20-25 in nature and 30-40 in captivity. Civilization has certain benefits - vaccinations, good medical care, more or less good hygiene. So just moving into wild conditions wouldn’t make you younger or allow to live longer.
Now, to discuss rejuvenation procedures, I would need to talk about aging first. In this case Rejuvenation could be considered as reversal of aging (deterioration). Longevity is different story - it is prolonged life span. Rejuvenation supposedly should lead to longevity. But longevity is not equal to Rejuvenation. Aging leads to Death eventually. It is easier to discuss from that end.
All written here is just plain speculation, take it with a grain of salt.
- continued in Part 2
About The Author
Aleksandr Kavokin, MD,PhD
http://www.geocities.com/aging_rejuvenation/
http://www.geocities.com/usmle_test
Where Will YOUR Kids Get A Job?
January 31, 2006
Let’s face it.
The job market is getting tougher every day.
Computerization is making many jobs redundant.
The Internet and modern telecommunications have allowed companies to outsource jobs to third-world countries where wage costs are much lower.
In fact thousands of jobs have already been shed in the United Kingdom as several major banks have outsourced their call center operations to the Indian subcontinent.
Other companies are following suit, sending their back- office and Information Technology jobs the same way.
This is a major trend that’s only going to accelerate.
Have you ever wondered how your kids will get on when it’s time to look for a job?
With the population increasing and with more people competing for fewer jobs, companies can now pick and choose from the very best applicants.
But wait a moment….
What do we mean by “the best”?
Whether you like it or not, “best” generally means the best qualified.
Employers, of course, have always used academic qualifications to shortlist job applicants for the interview stage.
But what is emerging now is a reliance on exam results for even seemingly ordinary jobs.
For example, did you know that the average call center employee in India is educated to degree level?
Qualifications are becoming more important than ever before.
And while not everyone is a natural-born exam prodigy, there are steps parents can take to help their kids gain better exam passes.
Here are 5 tips to get you started:
#1. Make learning enjoyable
We all do things better when we enjoy them, so bring out the joy of learning for its own sake.
One way to achieve this is by having family discussions about exam-related topics. Try to inject some drama (or at least some interest!) into the topic.
Another way is to embrace different technologies outside of the classroom. The Internet, multimedia CD-ROMs, and TV services like The Discovery Channel all help to liven up learning.
#2. Develop problem-solving skills
Practicing mental activities like quizzes and crossword puzzles helps nurture the intellectual problem-solving part of the brain.
It also develops other important skills like concentration and creativity.
So get your kids into the habit of solving problems every day.
Their exam skills will develop naturally, plus they’ll be able to solve problems more easily in the real world outside of the exam hall.
#3. Encourage the study habit
Who hasn’t tried to cram themselves full of information the night before an important exam?
Unfortunately, that’s doing it the hard way.
“A little, often” works much better.
Ensure your kids set aside at least 20 minutes a day for peaceful study. Every day.
After a few sessions of enjoyable learning, you’ll find they actually look forward to their study period.
#4. Learn exam technique
Studying for exams includes studying exams.
Get hold of some past examination papers - you can buy these cheaply in most bookstores - and have your kids study the questions.
Exams have a consistent formula, and once you know the formula, you’re halfway to success.
Familiarity also instills confidence - an important quality when it comes to facing a real exam situation.
#5. Pay for performance
If all else fails, or your kids are having trouble getting motivated towards a forthcoming exam, try offering them an “incentive”.
(Well they have to learn about “performance-related pay” someday.)
You’d be surprised how a little motivation can improve exam results!
Whichever way you do it, try to help your kids get the best grades they can.
“Qualifications doth not a person make.”
But they certainly help when it’s time to earn a living.
About The Author
Murdo Macleod is a software developer and co-author of the ‘Fun With Figures’ mental math course.
‘Fun With Figures’ shows anyone how to gain an unfair advantage in math. Visit the website today and find out what they didn’t teach you in school.
