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There are many New Year’s resolutions that people make, but one of the most common, not to mention most important, involves exercise. This makes the #3 spot in our Healthier New Year Resolution series.
Not only is exercise essential to a healthy lifestyle in general, but is more important than ever in today’s day and age, where the majority of people are overweight and unhealthy. Regular physical activity is an important part of effective weight management, and it helps to control your weight by using excess calories that otherwise would have been stored as fat in your body.
It is important to realize that your weight is basically determined by the number of calories that you eat each day minus those that your body uses up. Obviously the less active you are throughout the day the fewer calories you are going to be using up and therefore the more you are going to have to watch what you eat. Balancing the number of calories that you expend through exercise and physical activity with the calories you eat is going to help you greatly in terms of achieving your desired weight.
Keep in mind that the key to successful weight control and improved overall health is making physical activity a part of your daily routine, even if you’re one hell of a busy parent with 8 kids!
The Health Benefits of Exercise
Whether you are already interested in exercise or not, by understanding the overall importance of exercise you are going to grow more interested with it and therefore benefits from it even more. Research shows that regular exercise, combined with healthy eating of course, is the most efficient and healthful way to control your weight and leading a generally healthy lifestyle. In addition to helping control your weight, research shows that regular physical activity can also help you by reducing your risk of various physical conditions and ailments.
Regular exercise can help by preventing heart disease and stroke by strengthening your heart muscles, lowering your blood pressure, and raising your HDL cholesterol, which is considered as being the good cholesterol. It also helps by lowering LDL or bad cholesterol, improving blood flow, and increasing your heart’s working capacity. It also aids in reducing blood pressure, controlling and even preventing diabetes, and relieving back pain and the symptoms of osteoporosis.
You will also have increased energy because by working out on a regular basis, your body becomes more efficient at burning calories. In turn, you feel more energetic and awake, rather than tired and exhausted. This gives you tons more energy throughout the day and allows you to get done what you need. You also will have an increased metabolism, which means that you will be able to lose weight easier in the future and that you will be generally healthier. Increased exercise leads to a strengthening of the immune system, which means that you are less likely to get sick.
You won’t enjoy the benefits of exercising if you don’t have the motivation to exercise in the first place. That’s why it is important for you to also learn to want to exercise!
The Best Exercise
There are a few types of exercise that are going to be particularly helpful to you here. Although any type of exercise is going to be good for you, there are some which are going to be more productive and help you see results quicker. Cardiovascular activity for one is important and great because it helps you burn fat and gain muscle. Know that, depending on your goals and particular body type, different amounts of cardio are going to be required. Cardiovascular exercise is an incredibly important component of general health and there are many methods for training which have their advantages, cardio offering more than any other type of exercise.
There are various types of cardio exercise that you can partake in, and find cardio that you enjoy and which you are not going to grow tired or bore of. It is true that your body will utilize more fat for energy during this period, and moderate cardio means that your body will recover more quickly, and your heart rate will return to normal within a shorter period of time.
Getting Help
If you are not sure about the different types of exercise or perhaps are just not sure how to get started, then one of the best things you can do is talk to a nutritionist and a personal trainer. They are people who are specially trained in the area of nutrition and fitness, and who will be able to help you with your dietary choices. They can help people who wish to lose weight and who are interested in creating healthy diet and exercise regimes. Weight Loss Research is an online site with lots of exercise and weight loss resource where you can start.
Also keep in mind that if you want to get really healthy and fit and add years to your life, you need to continue this way of healthy living for the rest of your life. Healthy living should be a regular part of your life and something that you eventually do not have to force, but rather want to live by.
Healthy Lifestyle Blogzine provides information on a combination of factors to maintain good health - from eating healthy food to exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy weight to being smoke-free, getting sufficient sleep to taking time to de-stress.
And this view from atop the Morgan Stanley building; this is from the roof of the Doubletree hotel; this is a ground-level shot from Charley O’s; here’s a bit of blatant self promoting look at the jumbo screen; and, get up close and personal, if you dare, with the good folks near the Hawaiian Tropic Zone.
Click on the link below to be connected to Dawn TV and live streaming of their coverage from Pakistan of the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto:
Mashatu Game Reserve — Life images from another incredible African safari site, courtesy of National Geographic and submitted by Christine Powell and her kids.
The Tree at 30 Rock — Live images of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, courtesy of WNBC-TV, Channel 4
Central Park — Live images of New York City’s playground, courtesy of WABC-TV, Channel 7
Gilgo Beach — Live images from Long Island surfing mecca
Centennial Light — That’s right, a Webcam dedicated to a light bulb! But not just ANY bulb. Viewer Megan Page points out that this one’s been burning since 1901!
African Safari — Hypnotizing — over there, I see something! — live images of wildlife, submitted by Candice Smith
Giant Ocean Tank — New England Aquarium in Boston, submitted by “Sue in Michigan (a FOX News addict)” who also sent us…
Yangshuo — South central China… thanks, again, Sue!
San Francisco Bay and skyline — I left my heart with these great images, submitted by Vance Kozik, who also submitted these:
Alaska — Live image from Fairbanks, submitted by Jeff DeWitt
Pikes Peak — Live image from Colorado Springs natural wonder ("America the Beautiful"), submitted by Gwen Ingram; and this image of Pikes Peak from Springs, submitted by R. Popescu
Port Canaveral — Live images from south Florida,with camera controls, submitted by “islander”
Soo Locks — Live images from Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., submitted by Kevin Much, salvaged by “Sue”
Costa Maya — Changing still images from resort in Mexico, submitted by Wayne Jonosky
Prague — Live images from Old Town Square, submitted by Jody Page, who says the twin spires are Our Lady of Tyn Church and the white domed building is Saint Nicholas Church (can take a LONG time to load, though)
Mammoth Mountain — Live images from eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, submitted by Vicki Siamas
Littleton, Colorado — Live images from the “Copula Cam,” submitted by Chris Harguth
Boca Raton — Live images from South Beach Park, submitted by Andy Engle
Port St. Charles — Fine looking Barbados resort, submitted by Michael Wyatt, who also sent in this link to a bunch of Key West, Fla., cams, just make sure you have ActiveX:
Florida Keys — be sure to click on the bar cams and watch people acting like their having a good time (and you get to listen to the band without having to pay the cover)
Sekiu, Washington — FINALLY, we should have the right link up there, courtesy of our FOXNews friend Sandy. Thanks for you patience!
Mt. Rushmore — A couple of links here, one that says it refreshes often but I’m looking at it at 11:20 p.m. EST and the sun is shining, so you decide… submitted by Shane Penfield; the other is a state department of tourism camera that works… then doesn’t, but give it a try. Thanks, Shane!
Virginia City, Nevada — ah, I remember my ‘60s Westerns and the ol’ “stagecoach from Virginia City,” submitted by Jacquie Obos
Maui — Another “please take me” destination, as I write this with a nor’easter pounding the rooftop… submitted by Rob Latzko
Sawtooth Mountain, Idaho — Finally, someplace that looks like it really is having winter… submitted by Dave Stewart
Empire State Building — Once you register you’re treated to some great live images from atop the most famous building in the world, sans Kong… submitted by staff, along with these:
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The campaigning is intense and while there is no clear favorite in both parties, all eyes will be on Iowa this Thursday as everything will come front as Democrats and Republicans hold caucuses to begin the state-by-state process for choosing presidential nominees.
Meanwhile, Republican Candidate Mike Huckabee stopped by NBC Studios to meet with Tim Russert of “Meet the Press.” Watch as Huckabee gets grilled below.
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Most of us make New Year resolutions, and that includes to have a healthier lifestyle. One of the main ingredients of a healthy lifestyle is to have an ideal weight. In order for you to have an ideal weight, you have to maintain a long term fat fighting weight loss system. Make long term weight loss as your #1 Healthier New Year Resolution!
We all know that losing weight and keeping it off is no easy task. We all want to look and feel at our very best, but it can really get hard, especially in today’s world where it seems that everywhere we look we are surrounded by fatty, sugary foods. It is rather strange, that although the image of beauty has altered so much and the ideal body type is now stick thin, that at the same time more and more unhealthy food products are being released on to the market. It can be hard to turn down these delectable goodies, and as a result many of us find ourselves overweight before we know it.
Another factor to blame is technology. After all, in the high tech world that we live in today we really do not have to leave our homes for anything anymore, as everything can be done online over a computer. This may be convenient, but it also takes away from people getting outside and being active, and this too has resulted in causing obesity around the world.
Before you get started on a weight loss program, consider the following tips. They should help you reach your goal of obtaining and maintaining a healthy weight.
Set the Right Goals
If you want to lose weight and not only that but, just as importantly, keep it off, then the first and most important thing you need to do is set the right goals. Setting effective goals is crucial and will be largely determining on the success that you have with your weight loss and management. Most people just focus on losing weight and looking better but you really have to have a broader picture than that.
Remember that the most productive way to lose weight is by looking at it in the sense of your health, rather than making it more about vanity. Keep in mind that effective goals will be specific, attainable, and forgiving. For instance if you want to lose fifty pounds, instead of starting off and making that your goal right away, try for ten. This will be more reachable and you will not get disappointed or discouraged as much if you do not make it.
Reward Your Success
It is also very important that you reward yourself as you go along, so that you can stay motivated and feel good about yourself. As you lose one pound or five pounds for instance, the specific numbers which you can set for yourself, reward yourself with something, just not food. Perhaps if you reach your goal of losing twenty pounds in three months, then you could treat yourself to a night out with the girls or even go on a trip if you can afford it. This is your time and you deserve some special treatment.
Balance Your Checkbook
Another good idea is to keep your budget in check here, especially in terms of food. You should take a look at the food that you are buying and how often you are going grocery shopping. You may be quite surprised at how much money you could be saving. Once you take away the junk food on your list, you most likely are left with very little. This is also why it is very important that once you finally get determined and begin concentrating on losing weight and getting healthy, that you should empty out your fridge and cupboards and go out and get healthy food.
Avoid a Chain Reaction
This basically means that you need to determine what triggers are present in your life and that cause you to overeat. You also want to remember that the first couple of months are going to be the hardest, and many people feel as though they just can’t make it past this tough time. The key thing to remember here is to never give in. After all, if you cave and eat one cookie, what difference does five make? Obviously there is quite a difference but to an overeater not so much of a difference.
Get the Message
This tip mainly refers to how you need to listen to your body and know when you are full. For one, when you start eating your brain actually does not even realize that you are eating. Only twenty minutes later does the signal kick in and your brain and body begin to show signs of fullness. This is why the best idea is for you to take your time while you are eating, and try to take over twenty minutes to eat so that you can determine whether or not you are actually still hungry as you go along.
Get Trusted Help
If you are having serious difficulties losing weight and need a bit more help, then you should get an extra help with a trusted fat fighting weight loss product such as Proactol. It is a clinically proven fat binding product that will:
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Proactol is 100% certified organic, suitable for vegetarians and has no known side effects. Everyone wishes to lose weight during the New Year and Proactol guarantees that not only you will won the fat fighting battle, you will also become the attractive person that you always dreamed of being. Get healthier weight in the new year now!
Healthy Lifestyle Blogzine provides information on a combination of factors to maintain good health - from eating healthy food to exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy weight to being smoke-free, getting sufficient sleep to taking time to de-stress.
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The question I’ve been surprised I haven’t gotten more often is “why do you list Hawaii as a country on your list of places?” Hawaii clearly is as much a country as Kansas, so it would seem odd to list it separately as a “country”. Moreover, I have Okinawa listed separately, which is also not a country.
I’m writing this because it is going to get really weird in Indonesia and Malaysia and I don’t think I’ve ever really given a proper explanation behind the list and why it is what it is. Also, travelers seem to love lists. Almost every article in every travel magazine and website is of the format “X ways to do Y”, so I figure going into detail about my list should pique some people’s interest.
How Many?
It all revolves around the question “what is a country?” It is a simple question, but answering it is really complicated. The obvious place to start is the list of member states in the United Nations. There are currently 192 members nations in the UN. I think everyone would agree that if you have a seat in the UN, you are a country. Vatican City has chosen not to become a member of the UN and has observer status. (Switzerland was an observer until 2002). They have diplomatic relations with many governments around the world so are widely considered a country. (technically, the Holy See has diplomatic relations, not Vatican City, but I’ll leave that to another day when I’m in Europe)
Beyond that it gets tricky.
Taiwan really wants to be in the UN
Taiwan is the next hard one. Taiwan is recognized by several countries as the true “China” but they are mostly small countries. They used to have a seat in the UN as the Republic of China, had China’s current permanent Security Council seat, and used to be recognized by the US and most countries in the world. It is a de facto independent country, but it is not a recgonized country.
On top of that, you have non-independent countries. These would be territories of other countries which are geographically and culturally separate from the mothership. Examples would include Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Gibraltar, Falkland Islands, several Caribbean islands, Hong Kong and Macau. Many of these territories have separate Olympic teams.
If you total up all these, you have about 250 “countries”, not all of which are independent or recognized.
Distant Relatives
For a traveler, that list is still far from complete. For example, Easter Island is part of Chile. It is not a separate territory or jurisdiction. Yet, if you have been to Easter Island, have you really been to Chile? In a very technical sense, yes, but in a more realistic sense, no. Historically, culturally, geographically and linguistically, Easter Island is its own thing. The bond with Chile is political.
Likewise, Hawaii and Okinawa are sort of odd balls in their respective countries. Hawaii is isolated from the rest of the US, has a culture and history totally separate from the rest of the US (it used to have a monarchy 100 years ago). Okinawa is similar.
The list I used is the one assembled by the Century Travelers Club. They have basically set up criteria to determine what is and what isn’t a country. According to their list, there are 317 “countries”. Other lists include the countries with top level domain names. For the most part, I think the Century Traveler Club is a good and reasonable one and that is why I use it.
The Cook Islands have a compact of Free Association with New Zealand. They do not have a seat in the UN, but do have an Olympic team.
Given its criteria, Indonesia (because it is an archipelago) is actually seven “countries”. For the purposes of my website, I’ll stay consistent with the TCC list on the left, but each of the Indonesian places will all link back to a single “Indonesia” category in the database. I don’t foresee having much to write about in Kalimantan for instance. Ditto with Malaysia which is divided into three seperate places. (Oddly enough, the Philippines, which is also an archipelago, is only one “country”.)
Don’t Stop at 300
Some lists don’t stop at 317, however.
The ham radio community keeps their own list of places. Their list currently includes 338 places , and includes uninhabited rocks in the Atlantic (Peter and Paul Islands), a single building in Rome (Sovereign Military Order of Malta, I’m going to have a blast writing about that someday), and islands off Antarctica (Peter I Island).
Personally, I think uninhabited islands are taking it a bit too far…
But the list building doesn’t end there.
Not all of the lists overlap nicely. One guy, Charles Velay, set out to break the world’s record for being the most traveled person. He created a mega list made up of all the other lists. This list has 673 places and includes all states and provinces in the US, Canada, UK, Russia, Brazil, Australia, India and every Antarctic territory. It also expands into small islands lying off the coast of countries. The list is now determined by members of his website who vote. Charles has been to 629 of the 673 places listed on his site. However you define it, I think he definitely owns the record.
Things Instead of Places
Personally, I think it has been taken to a bit of an extreme when you start including uninhabited rocks which have no historic, cultural, or political value whatsoever. You might as well include every island in the world and every possible political division.
Sign showing UNESCO World Heritage attractions in Macau
That is why I include the second list right below the countries, the UNESCO Heritage sites. Let’s face it, if you haven’t seen the Statue of Liberty, you haven’t really been to New York. If you haven’t seen the Eiffel Tower, you haven’t been to Paris. There are some things which do not involve putting your foot on soil that really defines traveling. I think that the UNESCO list is a pretty reasonable list of “great places”, at least historic and natural places.
The UNESCO list however doesn’t include things like the Hong Kong skyline, great museums or modern buildings. Howard Hillman has created his own list of World Wonders. He has 1000 things scattered throughout the world. It too is a pretty good list as they go.
Before I left on my trip I purchased a copy of the book 1,000 Places To See Before You Die. It turns out that about a quarter of the places are hotels and an abnormal number of places are the UK. I think the book is garbage. If the author went to even 1/3 of the places in the book, I’d be amazed.
Lists are Fun
I don’t travel to cross stuff off a list, but if you are going to travel, having a list can be fun. Hell, most travel magazines and Travel Channel shows are nothing but top 10 lists.
Anyway, if you wanted to know why Indonesia is listed so many times, but Australia is only listed once, that is why.
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To all of our readers,
We will be redesigning the entire site and will relaunch on January 1st. The new site will be hotter than ever—tons of new content, videos, and so much more. Tune in as you see the changes go LIVE daily leading up to our BIG redesign launch on January 1st. We can’t wait!
We hope you LOVE the new front page. If there is something you would like to see, email us at info@americasreport.com. We would love to hear from you.
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Yippee, a pretty header/banner!
LightInTheBox is a world wide wholesaler from China. They wholesale video game console like the Nintendo wii (pronounced as the pronoun “we"), electronics, cell phones, mp3/mp4 players, and thousands of other products.
When I viewed the HTML source code, I was quite bemused to see the page title. Here it is in full:
[title]Wholesale PSP value pack,Nintendo DS from China,Wholesale Wii,Video Game Console,Wii Console wholesale iPhone,Wii Fit on Wholesale Price - PSP,Wholesale bluetooth,Mp3 Player,Mp4 Player Wholesale,bluetooth headset- China Wholesale - Buy Wholesale Products Dropship from China.[/title]
First word that came to my mind to describe it—“kiasu” (pronounced as kee-ah-soo). If you’re not sure what that word means, fret not, it is a Singaporean-Hokkien word that translates to “afraid of losing”.
Still, when I typed in “Wholesale PSP value pack” into the Google search bar, LightInTheBox is right there at the #1 spot, so I guess they can have the last laugh…
The website follows the Amazon.com model, so if you’re a frequent online shopper, chances are the site design is one you’ll be very familiar with. I mean, I’d buy one of the Canon IXUS models right now if I knew which one I wanted, and if I actually had more savings. I’m aiming to get one next year or so.
The testimonials page is very nice, but the messages are kind of copied and pasted directly from the customer’s e-mails, so there’s a whole bunch of typing inconsistencies that get in the way of the presentation. Still, those Wordpress-y blockquotes look spiffy.
Other good things: the live chat service works; the following took a total of about 8 minutes.
~
Chat Information: Please wait for a site operator to respond.
Chat Information: All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.
Chat Information: You are now chatting with ‘tyrael’
jess: hi
jess: i just wanted to ask on the free shipping
jess: is it on international orders? as in those products with “free shipping” can be shipped to anywhere in the world?
tyrael: yes
jess: ok thanks!
~
So yes, there’s free international shipping on many items.
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Map of Brunei
I just arrived in Brunei. No internet at my hotel, but there is an internet cafe in the building. The kids here are like the ones I’ve seen everywhere: playing Warcraft, listening to music and reading celebrity gossip.
Here are my first thoughts:
The female flight attendants on my flight didn’t wear a normal chadori. They had what I could only describe as a nuns habit. It looked like what Katherine Hepburn wore in The Lion in Winter. It was actually very elegant. They looked very graceful in it.
In addition to the normal GPS position of the flight on a map, they also had peridoic directions to Mecca in reference to the direction of the plane. (Anyone out there know if you face Mecca via the great circle route or via a linear projection on a map? This is a serious question. I’m sure this has been given a great deal of thought)
Prior to the take off, they said a prayer in, what I can only guess, was Arabic. The English translation, but for the references to Allah and Mohammad, could have been a Catholic prayer. The length of the prayer was about two minutes.
Brunei is very clean. Everything looks very developed. It is also dark so I reserve the right to change my mind.
Malay is the official language, but there are a lot of signs in Arabic and English. Everyone has spoke English I’ve met so far.
I got the feel I was landing in one of the Pacific Islands at the airport. Brunei is a small country and has a very similar vibe.
I’m going to take a bath for the first time in a month. I’m sure I’ll have more tomorrow. No Internet in my room will probably make me more productive.
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Jeepneys are the quintessential form of transportation in the Philippines. This is the most awesome one I saw when I was there. Please take special note of the monster truck morphing into a flaming cheetah on the side.
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There are many New Year’s resolutions that people make, but one of the most common, not to mention most important, involves exercise. This makes the #3 spot in our Healthier New Year Resolution series.
Most of us make New Year resolutions, and that includes to have a healthier lifestyle. One of the main ingredients of a healthy lifestyle is to have an ideal weight. In order for you to have an ideal weight, you have to maintain a long term fat fighting weight loss system. Make long term weight loss as your #1 Healthier New Year Resolution!
10/23 at 07:03 PM