Posts Tagged ‘advice’

Try it – Organizing your life…starting with your inbox

March 2nd, 2010

Do you often complain about never being able to catch up, being stressed out at work or feeling unorganized? While some organization tips may serve you well, you might also want to take as look at your email situtaition. A full inbox often means unopened messages, backlogged responses, and unnecessary stress. Here are three ways to clear your inbox and your mind:

1. Read email in batches. Don’t scan your email for urgent messages and leave everything else for later; that’s how you begin to get buried. Check your email at set times during the day and immediately file messages into one of three folders: follow-up, hold, or archive.

2. Use the “two-minute rule.” If an email will take less than two minutes to respond to (and many should), respond right away and get rid of it. Letting those easy-to-respond-to messages pile up can wreak havoc on your inbox.

3. Unsubscribe! Are you getting email alerts from companies or organizations that overload your inbox and don’t offer any value? Don’t you realize you can STOP them?! Think about which lists you enjoy being a part of and unsubscribe from the rest

Are you an inbox neat freak or a clutter bug? Have any other tips to share?

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Posted in Try It | 15 Comments »

Try it – Banish cravings, one sip at a time

January 5th, 2010

For those of you who are hoping to nip those cravings in the bud this year, I have a trick for you. I’ve found that it normally has a 95% success rate (yes, there are times when chocolate cookies are 100% called for and that’s where the other 5% comes into play
!). What is it you ask? Tea.

But are all teas created equal? Studies have shown that green tea, specifically may have an upper hand on the other varieties. Easy to find in your local grocery store, green tea is considered a metabolic stimulator and a diuretic.

A study conducted in 2000 found that rats given an extract of green tea had a significant decrease in food intake and body weight.

In addition, green tea contains beneficial substances called polyphenols, which promote the burning of fat. Green tea also contains caffeine, a stimulant and diuretic. Like any beverage that contains caffeine, just be aware of your intake so you don’t get the mid-morning jitters!

No, not the crazy green tea powder concoction that annoying people push at your local mall kiosks, but just plain, simple…green tea bags.

For me personally, I find that my sweet tooth is calmed by ANY tea — green, black, white, chai, – perhaps my sweet tooth is color blind? But seriously, I find that sipping any tea helps put cravings at bay and also serves as a great pick-me-up.

Some of my favorites:

Yogi – Vanilla Tahitian Hazelnut

Harney and Sons – Tropical Green (frequently enjoyed at TAZA)

Zhena’s Gypsy Tea – Chocolate Chai (The Coconut Chai is another fave!)

Any fresh concoction from Teavana.

To kick things up a notch, add a splash of milk, a bit of agave nectar or honey! Well, I’m off to fill my cup – cheers!

hot tea

hot tea

What do you do to keep cravings away? And what is your favorite flavor of tea?

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Posted in Try It | 23 Comments »

Work it – Should you workout with a cold or stay on the couch?

November 4th, 2009

As temperatures decrease, snot levels increase. Gross, but true! (effective visual, no?) But according the an excerpt from the American College of Sports Medicine, the incidence of colds can be greatly reduced by making exercise a part of daily life. David C. Nieman, DrPH, FACSM, explains “that multiple studies have shown a 25- to 50-percent decrease in sick time for active people completing at least 45 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise (such as walking) most days of the week.”

“This reduction in illness far exceeds anything a drug or pill can offer,” Nieman said. “All is takes is a pair of walking shoes to help prevent becoming one of the thousands predicted to suffer from the common cold this winter.”

But what do we do if we are already sick? Do we hit the gym or stay tucked in bed watching cartoons intellectually deep movies??

Nieman offers these tips:

- DO exercise if your cold is confined to your head, such as illnesses with runny noses and sore throats.

- DON’T overdo it. If you have a cold, keep exercise to a moderate-intensity level (i.e., walking). Studies have not shown any negative effects of moderate exercise for those suffering from common colds.

- DO stay in bed if your illness is “systemic” – that is, beyond just the sniffles of a regular cold. Respiratory infections, fever, swollen glands and extreme aches and pains are all good reasons to rest up instead of work out.

- DON’T jump back in too soon. If you’re recovering from a more serious bout of cold or flu, gradually ease back into training after at least two weeks of rest.

Do you plan on receiving the flu shot? If so, Nieman also advises exercising prior to receiving the injection. “Moderate-intensity exercise just before getting the shot has been shown to improve the body’s response to the vaccine, boosting immunity.”

common cold

Do you normally continue working out or take it easy when you have a cold?

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Posted in Work It | 2 Comments »

In the news…

October 2nd, 2009

OK, so I may not be able to impress you with the Cleveland Indians or The Cleveland Browns (as much as I hate saying this, we SUCK – but the CAVS still have Lebron! – and now Shaq, so I’m hopeful ;) )

Let’s be honest, everyone knows the true winner in this town is The Cleveland Clinic. Home of Dr. Micheal Roizen, The Cleveland Clinic is one of America’s top hospitals. (Ranked one of the “Best Hospitals” in America and No. 1 in the nation for heart care and surgery by U.S. News & World Report)

The Cleveland Clinic has taken their expertise and wellness practices to the web and has created a space for a broader audience of wellness seekers.

Intoducing 360-5. At 360-5, the Cleveland Clinic will show you how and why you can sleep better or have more energy, among many other topics, by looking at how you handle stress, your exercise habits and diet.

The Cleveland Clinic understands that it takes work to be healthy, so they’ve made the information as simple (and — gasp — as fun) as possible. With easy to read articles, videos and interactive quizzes, getting healthy can actually become addicting (I’ve already spent almost an hour on the site!)

360-5 provides three ways for you to start improving your health today: a web site, guided online programs and an online wellness store.

At 360-5, the science is accessible and easy to follow (often using humor!), giving you a deeper understanding of the complex and often mysterious nature of your mind and body. With the best info, actionable ideas and a dose of inspiration, you’ve got the golden ticket to wellness. Whether you are from Cleveland, Chicago, Saskatchewan or the middle of nowhere, you’ll benefit from all the great information on this site. Enjoy!

360-5

What are some of your favorite healthy on-line resources?

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Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Work it – Get your pedal on!

September 23rd, 2009

Looking to spend less time in the gym? Looking to burn MORE fat? Well, if you are ready to sweat a lot, curse (you can use my name!) and feel the burn, you can shave time off your workouts and inches off your waistline!

As explained in an issue of Men’s Health, Research from the The University of New South Wales has proven that Interval training will accelerate weight loss. What’s interval training? Well interval training involves a series of intense efforts (think very difficult hill) with recovery periods in between (think downhill). The University of New South Wales developed an exercise bike workout routine that burned 3 times the fat compared to a group of that only conducted aerobic training on the bikes. Added bonus? The exercise was done in half the time!

Want to have access to that secret, super effective workout? Look now further! I’ve tracked it down for ya. Behold the ridiculously simple (in theory, anyway) routine…

After thoroughly warming up, follow the following workout routine for 20 minutes:

Intense effort 8 seconds
Recovery 12 seconds
Intense effort 8 seconds
Recovery 12 seconds
Intense effort 8 seconds
Recovery 12 seconds
Intense effort 8 seconds
Recovery 12 seconds
Intense effort 8 seconds
Recovery 12 seconds
Intense effort 8 seconds
Recovery 12 seconds

If you’d been following the plan, you would have now cursed my name roughly 40 times completed 2 minutes of a twenty minute interval workout. Depending on your fitness level, you may need to increase the recovery time at this point. There is no point exhausting yourself before half way.

Try to get through as many minutes as you can, every other day. You’ll be hitting 20 minutes before you know it!

 exercise bike

How often do you interval train? Do you find it to be effective for you?

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Posted in Work It | 2 Comments »

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