Don't Overlook Workout Equipment!

I've mentioned it more than a few times that I live in Florida. That being said I can assure you that the weather isn't always Disney happy! We have bouts of rain, sometimes quite heavy on the Gulf Coast, as well as some extraordinary heat and we can't forget about that fabulous humidity either. The point I'm trying to make is that it's not always 'ideal' for EVERYBODY to just jump up and go outside to get your exercise. Sometimes you just need to stay indoors and wait for a later in the day walk or ride, if your not akin to rising with the roosters in the morning. You can get yourself a supplemental trainer or two, if you can afford it and will actually use it. You can get all kinds of treadmills, ellipticals, steppers, bouncers, stretchers(not the medical kind), decompression flippers, and even pool exercise equipment for those of you that are multitasker's. I still advise getting outside for the lion share of your exercising because you still need the health benefits of being in the sun, so long as you protect your skin from harmful UV exposure. Staying inside too much can affect your body and mind in a negative way so share the time with the great outdoors. I've even noticed that some people use their equipment in their garage's just to get some fresh air, but probably it's because they didn't have enough room in the house for the equipment. Cheers!

What Was the Matter With the Old Ones?

I went to work the other day and found that I no longer knew how to get out of the building. Due to the fact that we do employ a number of 'other language' people we needed to sign the building for them to know how and where to go to leave the building. What? They have had no problem finding the doors before this and nobody ever complained about it because they knew enter signs and exit signs looked like and they understood the wording but someone got a hold of a little used county ordinance that required us to put up new signing. I have no problem with bilingual signs anywhere. If it gets everybody to observe the same rules I'm all for it. Really! My issue is why they took down the required English signs to do it. Over 95% of the people who tour our facility are English speaking and would need to know where to go if suddenly there was smoke or fire present. Right? Of course I'm right. I'm thinking that these English speaking administrators should maybe become English reading administrators. The ordinance that they posted said they were required to post 'bi-lingual' emergency signing in the building. I think they may need to go with non-verbal signage like European roadways in the future so that everyone will understand equally what they see.

Try Before You Dry!

I really feel for teenagers when it comes to the their skin and trying to put their 'best face' forward. The only trouble is that there are pimples, or acne, present and can be very unnerving to teenagers. Of course acne is not just for the young. Adults can be prone to acne as the body changes and hormonal influences take control, or lack of control, producing the annoying whiteheads and blackheads of acne, to a different degree. Cleaning is the simplest and most effective way of keeping your skin in good order. There was one product I used as a teen and it's still effective today, phisoderm deep cleaning cleanser. This product does what the others can't and that's to work with your body's Ph. Too much acid or alkaline will make your skin react in ways that don't look too nice, especially when your a teen.

The teens of today have a marked advantage over when I was a teen. There is quality skin care and acne cream to make outbreaks short-lived. We used to have to do the washes and exfoliation with scrubs along with benzoyl peroxide creams. Today's acne treatments are a simple process with quick results, sometimes at the expense of your skin's long term health. Benzoyl Peroxide products tend to over-dry the skin and can create issues of their own down the road for the quest of clear skin now! Today there is no excuse for anyone to not hit that trendy holiday party or ask that special someone on a date because of a pimple. Treatments are ready and waiting!

Trying to Break the Old Mark

I recently hit a new low - the good kind though! I hit the 256 pound mark and it felt like it wouldn't happen for a long while. I felt like I hit a plateau going downwards and I was beginning to get a bit frustrated. You know the type of frustration I mean? It's when you feel that you've done everything you can and your no further ahead than you were doing nothing, so maybe doing nothing is better. I fought off this type of thinking because when I was stuck in the 270's and couldn't break through to the 260's I considered looking into what the best diet pills and diets for quick weight loss were and maybe if I did this or that but I was doing enough right now. I cut out soda, desserts, all forms of candy, starches like breakfast bars and loaf bread. I even asked my wife when she was making my lunches to just give me the meat and no bread and I'd eat it with my sugar free drink. I was getting mad too. I'd weigh in at 260 and then do some yard work in the Florida sun, sweat like hell, jump in the pool for a bit and weigh in again - 262. What the? How could I have actually put 2 pounds on? I felt like I had sweat out 5 pounds of fluid. Evidently I didn't. That night I had some ice cream with my wife made because I figured what's it going to matter. The next day I weighed in after work and I was now at 258. I give up, I'm just going to go with the flow on this one.

The way I figure it, I hit a point and my body retools to that new base weight ( I never went above 262 again) before it went further down. I know fat cells have a memory, oh yes they do. If you lose a lot of weight quickly your body will want to return to it's last known base weight or Body Mass Index. If you allow it to learn another, lower, BMI you can slip a bit but you shouldn't fall a lot.

The Quest for a Smaller Waistline

I started my quest for weight loss in April of last year, of course, and I've really hit the wall. For the past couple of months I can't get away from one weight , no matter what I eat. I'm even feeling awkward when I cheat because it makes no impact. I know fat has a memory and when you force weight loss in a hurry you will almost invariably always return to your base weight, the one still in fat memory. The secret, if you can call common sense a secret, is to establish a 'new' base fat memory. This thinking has brought me to another conclusion. Once my new base has been set I need to jump start to my new lower base number, which I'll probably do with my choosing of the best weight loss supplements currently available me on the open market. I just have to watch out for the herbal items as they can interfere with blood pressure meds, not to mention several others. My honest opinion to anyone contemplating this course is to make a list of your medications and go to your pharmacist and ask if there are any interactions between your Rx and the herbals in the supplements your interested in taking. Better safe than very sorry. I'd rather be overweight with normal blood pressure than skinny with a stroke, or worse. Pharmacists are your best information resource because that's what they do and what their trained to do!

The Fight Never Seems to End

There have been a lot of advertisements on television and radio, not to mention print, about getting a mesothelioma lawyer for representing victims of this devastating lung cancer. Those of you who don't know what Mesothelioma actually is, it's most common form is from the inhalation of asbestos fibers in the air. Asbestos was, from the time I was a child and sooner(of course), a very effective form of fire resistant material, not to mention providing superior insulation for such things as ventilation systems, furnace jackets, ceiling tiles and many, many other things. It was fantastic, in lieu of modern alternatives, until you breathed the dust from it in. Mineral fiber in the lungs, regardless of the size, will react with the soft tissue and your body tries to have the white cells destroy them, almost like bailing the beach back into the ocean, a futile venture which repeats onto itself until your lungs are useless blobs. My father in law passed away from this affliction several years ago, before it was known about. He was a fireman who went into burning buildings where asbestos was shredding into the air, before air tanks were standard equipment. It doesn't take a lot of exposures to start the chain going, once the fiber is inhaled it's in to stay. I know there have been class action suits against manufacturers of these products and if someone in your family or someone you are aware of is a victim it's important that they contact a lawyer familiar with this type of litigation. Mesothelioma isn't pretty but it may be preventable.

Something Different and Cool

I prearranged for my vacation at work to coincide with my wife's birthday in July so I could relax and enjoy too. We looked at brochures and theme parks and more theme parks until we both realized that they were way too expensive to consider, at least till the economy relaxed. We decided to rent a place in a location we have never been to. Let's see, that accounts for about 95+% of the United States, let alone the world. Well, we both like the east coast and love the ocean so that narrowed down the field a bit.

We live in Florida but grew up in New England so it would be somewhere in between. South Carolina and North Carolina were the narrowed down locations and S.C. has some nice amenities like golf but I gave that up, she doesn't play and combined it made no sense. N.C. has some great beach-front areas that are populated but not packed. What we decided on was one of several Outer Banks vacations, an area I've always heard of but never had the opportunity to see, let alone go to. My uncle, up till 3 years ago, lived in Charlotte N.C. so I asked his opinion and he gave it a hardy 2 thumbs up. I think it was a hardy 2 thumbs up because I called him on the phone and he said it was. He told me that since we both enjoyed the ocean that this would be a great relaxing place to go and that we should look into renting an apartment instead of a hotel due to the cost. He said an apartment had the kitchen and cooking areas that hotels don't and we could save a bunch of money shopping for food and not worry about purchases being taken from our room since we had the only access to it. He sold us on it so I made the reservations for a rental unit in a place called Bayberry Bluffs near another place called Duck Village. With names like those I don't think there will be late night parties going on too often.

Don't Just Sit There, Do Something!

I have a friend, a really good friend, who is a running nut. His wife used to be a couch potato but you know how that goes, either he becomes a 'spud' or she gets up off her duff and 'aerobicizes'. Don't go looking for that one in Webster's! I have a feeling she'll be trading in her Sketcher's for Nike's real soon. The point I'm trying to make is that they (she) just had a bouncy baby and she wants to get her 'girl' curves back and lose her mommy curves. Here come the Nike's! lol. I'm going to take the high road and get them a gift that they can share as well as use together as one big happy family. I'm going to get them a stroller, but not just any stroller. I'm getting them one made for running, or fast walking, that won't succumb to the effects of hard use. I made a general search for them and then I smartened up and got specific to weed out the gimmick junk and I got a few 'real' results. The most efficient of the strollers I found was one called the Bob stroller. I've seen these on the streets of Boston and more often in a yuppie suburb called Newton, in Massachusetts. I figure if these people will buy an affordable stroller instead of a Primo Ikea Run-isimo Stroller-O for $1000, there has to be something to it. I hate to say it but they were right and I know my friends are going to appreciate this, not to mention the fact they can use it with an infant adapter. This motor-less, street vehicle even has brakes, air filled tires and a 5 year warranty. Too cool!

Does Testing Our Children Make The Smart(er)?

*LCAT. MCAT. FCAT. ACAT. SAT. PDQ. ASAP. What do all of these abbreviations mean? It depends on what state you live in for the most part, another is the pre-college exams, and the last two are the speed you'll be taking to complete them all. When I was in grade school we actually had to learn something, which was what the teacher instructed us to learn. Nowadays, the grades are not an indication that the teachers and students have made an equitable exchange of information for gained knowledge. Today the acquired knowledge must be proven because millions of dollars in educational aid are at stake and if your students are really dumber than they look you'll be out a sizable chunk of school change. The _CAT exams are the alleged indicator of a students amassed knowledge from their studies at their particular grade level, almost like what the British have been doing for a long, long time with their students. It's important for students to be prepared for their SAT's because that's their ticket into a school that's better than good if their scores are higher the the majority of others that have taken the tests. Some parents of students will try to help teens on the edge with their grades with tutors and sat prep courses in order to give their child a competitive edge. This is by no means cheating in any possible way. This is intensive education that the student must be dialed into for it to work. If they don't want to participate, or think it's a waste of time, it won't work. Mutual cooperation is essential and there are no magic shortcuts with it. *By the way, the _CAT test names are derived from the state you live in, such as Florida which would be the FCAT.

Getting back to the title, does testing make our children smarter? No, it does not! It's just one measure of a child's accrued knowledge in a particular subject. A child could be a genius but test miserably. Failing a test doesn't mean your stupid, it's just a flag that goes up for further examination by the educators if they're doing their job correctly. Also, if your an educator and your reading this please don't correct any grammatical errors to make a point because then you'll just be proving mine. The day you stop learning should be the day you die, knowledge is a perpetual experience.

Spring's A Comin! Time to Get Ready Again.

Like I said in the title, I have a few diet product ideas and recommendations that I now need to explore, money-wise now! I spoke with my doctor and he, reluctantly, gave me some things to watch out for when I delve into diet pills and supplements. One of the things he said to be careful about was herbal substances, which many of today's diet products are based on. The problem for me and anyone else who has Hypertension (high blood pressure) is that some herbs can exacerbate your condition making it a riskier issue than it is for most people. Things like Ginseng and Guarana can actually increase your blood pressure without warning, which is why even if your doctor says no, you need to tell them you are and then what should you watch out for. Why take a blood pressure medicine if your going to negate the effects with something else and No, they will not cancel each others effects. To think that way is the same as saying that if you eat a package of Twinkies and was it down with a diet Coke there will be zero effect! I know a dumb-ass who thinks that way with a butt the size of a Lazy Boy reclining chair. There are products out there that are safe when you know what you can and can't take.

Always research the product(s) you are looking to purchase because there will always be differing opinions on the Internet about everything. Pricing, as I started to mention in the beginning, is always an issue and I have a good price shopper web site for you to check out before you buy diet pills. Be smart, research everything, keep your doctor in the loop, and as always - use as directed! If one tablet drops 1 pound, 2 will not drop 2 pounds. Playing with diet products can be harmful if abused!

Want to Get Buff Baby-Boomer Ladies?

Like the foundation of a house, our bones don't get our attention until something goes wrong. But new studies show that there's more to bone health than avoiding fractures. Toxic metals like lead can accumulate in our bones over the course of our lives and, if bone loss occurs, the toxins can be released into the bloodstream. Women, especially after menopause, are more vulnerable to bone loss than men. New research suggests that lead in the bloodstream might help explain the onset of high blood pressure in women in their 50's.

The good news is that we're also learning new ways to keep bones healthy. In the past, we've placed too much emphasis on calcium and not enough on vitamin D3. Calcium intake is most important in adolescence, when the skeleton is forming. After growth is complete, vitamin D3, "the sunshine vitamin," may be more important to maintain healthy bones.

Here's what you can do:
Avoid exposure to heavy metals like lead,
Get more vitamin D
Add weight bearing exercise to your workouts. If you can build muscle fast you can also kick your metabolism up fast and start leaning down by building up. That's right, the best way to increase your metabolism is by weight bearing exercise and eventually you will build lean muscle. Sweet deal ladies, getting buff and all. Your never too old to do something positive for your body!

These few simple steps can be the best way to avoid pitfalls in the autumn of life.

Pet Products Are Far from Cheap

I'm constantly astounded by the prices on pet products in the stores. I have been for many years. I think in some ways it's cheaper to have a child for 10 years than to have a well kept pet for the same amount of time. Up until recently you had the option of cash, check or credit card when it came to any and all medical needs for your pet. Insurance was un thought of, only people need health insurance. It's obvious that the people that made those rules either were well off financially or never had a pet of their own. I went into the vets to get my ailing cat a few weeks ago and $300 later we got her back. Essentially, she had a couple of X-rays, an enema, and a 1 night sleep over in a cage. All for a major league fur ball that was clogging her intestines. Couldn't let the poor kid suffer. Good times were had by all! Not! I know in the stores the best profit items are produce and pet food. High markups make these must have items worth having in stock all the time. I went into a major pet store today to get some hairball treatment for our cat and found it for about what they wanted on the Internet. I needed some water clarifier for my aquarium and I was astounded to see it was on sale for $3 off. I also found some peanuts for a bird feeder and they were on sale for $2 off, and they're never on sale because they always sell out. I felt good about the deals I got but I still understood that they still made a decent profit on my transaction. Support your merchants and help the economy, within economical reason of course.

My Ailing Daughter, kind of!

It may sound weird saying my daughter has the symptoms of arthritis creeping up on her but not when you look how old she is, 10, in people years that is! In cat years she's probably about 60 or so but doesn't look a day over 3. She's been having a hard time lately jumping up on the bed and some of the chairs in the house and it's obvious she's having joint pain the way she favors her rear legs. Unlike humans, she has no way except by meowing and watching the way she moves, we have no way of knowing exactly how our pets feel. We can only guess and assume and then let the vet tell us that they're getting older, which we still deny when we look into their perky faces and bright eyes. I think I'm going to try one of those condroyton(spelling?) products for cats and see if that helps her at all. We'll see!

Snap Your Fingers and Poof!

Wouldn't it be great if all you had to do to eliminate stress and other negative things in your life was to just snap your fingers, like the genie in the lamp, and everything is wonderful once more. That would put a lot of these self help guru's and other psycho-babble based charlatan's out of business, fast! The computer age has cast the majority of us into just such a scenario. We're now the 'click here' generation of people and that's across age lines I might add. We have become, and are becoming for those who aren't yet, the fat butt generation. I say this because it's becoming the one thing that will soon make everyone in the first, second, and third world combined, have in common. The computer age is going micro and more attention is being placed on the small gadgets than there was on the bigger pc's. People are so enthralled with it that they can't stop using their Blackberry's and cell texter's long enough to see the oncoming truck bearing down on them, doing just the same thing they are. We'll all be obese with muscular, long thumbs for pushing tiny buttons. Now that's kinda funky! How about just going for a walk just for the sake of walking.

A Really Good Movie and I'm Not Lying!

I just finished watching the Ricky Gervais film, The Invention of Lying, and I thought it was great. The whole concept of the movie leaves you really thinking to yourself by the time it finally ends. It brings religious preconceptions as well as social concepts, rules of social engagement, and basic human morals to the forefront of your thinking. You will actually start to wonder if you fall into any of the persona's of the cast, whether by they way they talk to others or act in general. The one thing Ricky needed to do in this film was to have a quick weight loss so that his genetically superior girlfriend could accept him for his genetic appearance, kind of overweight and dumpy, and allow their relationship to evolve. Alas, they live in a perfect society where nobody knows what a lie is so everything comes out blunt and quite rude to everyone around them, regardless of the pain it evokes the recipient. I don't want to say much more about this film except to say that it's worth watching and I think you'll be pleased with the outcome.

Little Bit of This, Little Bit of That!

I'm going through the "what's the best color combination" phase of trying to pick out colors for my house, the outside that is. The last owner had the brilliant idea toi paint it battleship grey, which compliments absolutely NOTHING! Where was his head? I could tell you my best guess but it wouldn't be a pretty mental picture. Enough of the past, on to the future. I went to a few major paint company web sites and found one that let me upload a picture of the house, mask the perimeter of the major sections like main walls and window casings, for color matching, and then let me substitute their colors for the existing ones. After careful and lengthy trial and error I found a combo we could all agree on. I bought a sample of the two colors and I'll trial paint the screened patio area and a sunny area as well. If the colors go well I'll probably need to update the planters and get some nice modern furniture to replace my old set. The biggest issue after the colors are settled upon will be to pick a reputable painting company. Too many painters are out of business now and many of the good ones I spoke to already have had to change employment due to the tight financial times. I think this will end up being harder than picking the colors were.