Mar 28

Just as it’s important for you to keep detailed records of your home business, your bills, income tax information or medical history, so too is it imperative that you keep a detailed records of all maintenance you perform on your home.  After all, it is your biggest investment, and the one thing in your house that requires constant TLC to maintain its value and to ensure it continues to be able to protect your family from the elements and keep them secure.  However, when you think about everything you have to do to take care of a home, setting up a manageable way of keeping accurate and detailed records can be a overwhelming task.  But with some creative thinking and a commitment to accuracy and organization, it can make a daunting task quite simple. 

Whether you are just purchasing your home or you’re just committed to setting up a manageable database of information regarding your home’s maintenance, a home maintenance diary might be just the thing you need to get organized and stay organized on this matter.  Begin with taking stock of your home’s current condition.  Be brutally honest when you’re assessing the situation.  You might want to categorize your diary by section of the home such as the exterior, kitchen, master bedroom or basement, or you may choose to divide it according to task, like painting, electrical, insulation, roof, landscaping, or climate control.  Treat your initial walk-through as a real estate agent or investor might do.  Study each corner, each tile and brick, and notate any damage, defect, or upkeep that needs to happen. 

As you look through your completed home maintenance diary, don’t let it become overwhelming to you.  Devise a plan with the rest of your family that works for everyone involved to complete needed tasks.  Perhaps you’ll devote this weekend to painting the exterior and the following weekend you’ll focus on maintaining the landscaping.  If there are tasks in your diary that you feel ill-equipped to handle, call a professional.  The peace of mind knowing the job was handled by a professional is well worth it. 

Be sure to have a separate section available for renovations, updates, or remodels that you’ve completed as well.  Be sure to date these events, and if there’s any notes regarding specific equipment used or products purchased, be sure to jot that down as well. 

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Mar 28

How many times have you gone to sleep at night, swearing you’ll go to the gym in the morning, and then changing your mind just eight hours later because when you get up, you don’t feel like exercising?

While this can happen to the best of us, it doesn’t mean you should drop the ball altogether when it comes to staying fit. What people need to realize is that staying active and eating right are critical for long-term health and wellness — and that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The more you know about how your body responds to your lifestyle choices, the better you can customize a nutrition and exercise plan that is right for you. When you eat well, increase your level of physical activity, and exercise at the proper intensity, you are informing your body that you want to burn a substantial amount of fuel. This translates to burning fat more efficiently for energy.
In other words, proper eating habits plus exercise equals fast metabolism, which, in turn gives you more energy throughout the day and allows you to do more physical work with less effort.

The true purpose of exercise is to send a repetitive message to the body asking for improvement in metabolism, strength, aerobic capacity and overall fitness and health. Each time you exercise, your body responds by upgrading its capabilities to burn fat throughout the day and night, Exercise doesn’t have to be intense to work for you, but it does need to be consistent.

I recommend engaging in regular cardiovascular exercise four times per week for 20 to 30 minutes per session, and resistance training four times per week for 20 to 25 minutes per session. This balanced approach provides a one-two punch, incorporating aerobic exercise to burn fat and deliver more oxygen, and resistance training to increase lean body mass and burn more calories around the block.

Here’s a sample exercise program that may work for you:

* Warm Up — seven to eight minutes of light aerobic activity intended to increase blood flow and lubricate and warm-up your tendons and joints.

* Resistance Training — Train all major muscle groups. One to two sets of each exercise. Rest 45 seconds between sets.

* Aerobic Exercise — Pick two favorite activities, they could be jogging, rowing, biking or cross-country skiing, whatever fits your lifestyle. Perform 12 to 15 minutes of the first activity and continue with 10 minutes of the second activity. Cool down during the last five minutes.

* Stretching — Wrap up your exercise session by stretching, breathing deeply, relaxing and meditating.

When starting an exercise program, it is important to have realistic expectations. Depending on your initial fitness level, you should expect the following changes early on.

* From one to eight weeks — Feel better and have more energy.

* From two to six months — Lose size and inches while becoming leaner. Clothes begin to fit more loosely. You are gaining muscle and losing fat.

* After six months — Start losing weight quite rapidly.

Once you make the commitment to exercise several times a week, don’t stop there. You should also change your diet and/or eating habits,’ says Zwiefel. Counting calories or calculating grams and percentages for certain nutrients is impractical. Instead, I suggest these easy-to-follow guidelines:

* Eat several small meals (optimally four) and a couple of small snacks throughout the day
* Make sure every meal is balanced — incorporate palm-sized proteins like lean meats, fish, egg whites and dairy products, fist-sized portions of complex carbohydrates like whole-wheat bread and pasta, wild rice, multigrain cereal and potatoes, and fist-sized portions of vegetable and fruits
* Limit your fat intake to only what’s necessary for adequate flavor
* Drink at least eight 8-oz. glasses of water throughout the day
* I also recommend that you take a multi-vitamin each day to ensure you are getting all the vitamins and minerals your body needs.

I suppose that’s all I can think of for now. I should extend my thanks to a doctor friend of mine. Without him, I wouldn’t be able to write this article, or keep my sanity.

Enjoy life, we all deserve it.

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Mar 27

Is your personal life in an uproar, how is your self esteem? Everyone always has room for improvement; yet, some of us need more than others do.

There are ways to improve yourself once you ask yourself “what do I need to do to improve.” Maybe sitting down and writing a list of things that you don’t like about yourself could help. Make sure you prioritize them making the most important one on top and the less important on the bottom. Everyday work on this list checking off each one as you feel it is getting better. Remember don’t stop improving them just because you’ve put a check beside it. It takes time to make changes but you can do it.

Are you working full or part time, if not volunteer if need be? Get busy and don’t just lie around the house doing nothing. Keeping busy and helping others always helps. By helping others, you learn that someone else in the world has it worse than you do.  A job always helps especially if you are stressed out about paying a bill and there is no money to pay. Every dollar you make is one dollar more than you had yesterday.

Volunteer to work at the library a couple of hours a day or maybe just one day a week.  The nearest hospital is probably in need of a volunteer if nothing just to talk to the ones that are alone and no one comes to see them. Helping others always makes you feel better especially if you can see they enjoyed or benefited from it.

Take a little time out of each day for yourself. You can’t be any good to other people if you don’t take care of yourself. Draw a bathtub of bubbles and relax, go for a walk alone or maybe go to the library and read, bring a book home to read and relax. A little something for yourself each day really helps to relax you and it can make you feel better.

How about doing a little exercising; if you’re not already doing it try it and see how it helps relieve stress. After a while, you’ll notice how you will look forward to exercising alone or with a friend. If you walk with a friend don’t talk about your problems, keep the pace up and talk about the weather or maybe something you’re going to do for your tomorrow.  Eventually you’ll notice how much better you feel getting out and taking care of yourself.

Do you watch much TV? Sometimes the news can make a person depressed but then again it can be educational and give you something to discuss with friends or family. Watch the weather and when you’re walking talk, about what is supposed to happen tomorrow; will it rain or snow. The news makes a good conversation when talking to other people.

Go out and visit someone once a week maybe. Get out of the house and be with a friend other than cleaning house when you’re at home. If you don’t have, many friends go make some new ones. Meeting friends is something you can do when you’re volunteering your time; when at the library talk to the librarian when you are checking out that book.  New friends can be anywhere if you’re willing to talk. Don’t be afraid if you don’t make a new one every time you talk to someone; just is, yourself and someone else will be there to be the friend you need or want in your life.

Remember life is short, if you need a little improvement here and there, that’s ok.  No one is perfect and you can only change the quality of life you have.

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