I found something I found to be pretty interesing online. With everyone always talking about the price of gas, it's interesting to see how our bodies compare to our cars. If you would like to see how many miles per gallon your body gets, click on the link below. If you would like, post your score in the comments section of this post.

42 miles per gallon

Created by The Car Connection

5 Daily Steps to Sanity

Researchers have come up with a list of 5 things that should be done every day that will help you stay happy and sane. They include:

Steps to happiness

1. Connect - Developing relationships with family, friends, colleagues and neighbours will enrich your life and bring you support.
2. Be active - Sports, hobbies such as gardening or dancing, or just a daily stroll will make you feel good and maintain mobility and fitness.
3. Be Curious - Noting the beauty of everyday moments as well as the unusual and reflecting on them helps you to appreciate what matters to you.
4. Learn - Fixing a bike, learning an instrument, cooking – the challenge and satisfaction brings fun and confidence.
5. Give - Helping friends and strangers links your happiness to a wider community and is very rewarding.

Read More.....

Workout Videos for your home

If you like a lot of variety and you would like to workout at home, I found a great website that will help you do just that. My Pypeline is a great website for accessing and downloading videos that you can use anytime you want. It is probably cheaper than joining a gym and you can repeat or select a new workout whenever you want. The great thing is that it is on your schedule. Use it whenever you want.

iStik

This is an interesting device that helps you stick your ipod to your clothing. You can find out more information on http://www.goistik.com/ or you can visit their blog at http://planetistik.blogspot.com/

It looks like a great device to keep your ipod in place no matter what you are doing. The problem I have with most ipod cases is that you can only put the ipod in one place depending on the case you have. This is interesting because you can move it whereever you need to.

Sleep Tracker

Here is an interesting device. It monitors your sleep and tells you when to wake up. Personally, I think my alarm would normally go off before the device will tell me that it's time to wake up, but I guess that's why it's important to use something like this. Here is some information from the Sleeptracker's website:

How does SLEEPTRACKER® work?

SLEEPTRACKER® continuously monitors signals from your body that indicate whether you are asleep or awake. Because you wear SLEEPTRACKER® on your wrist like a watch, its internal sensors can detect even the most subtle physical signals from your body. SLEEPTRACKER® finds your best waking moments, so that waking up has never been easier.

When you sleep, your body goes through a series of sleep cycles. The average adult experiences 4-5 full sleep cycles over an 8-hour period. Each cycle lasts about 90-110 minutes and comprises five different stages, as illustrated by this chart.

No two people have the same sleep cycles, and nobody has the same cycle twice. Many factors can influence sleep cycles, including diet, exercise, medications, drugs or alcohol, stress, sleep disorders, and sleep deprivation. Age and gender can play a role, too: women tend to sleep more soundly than men, and as we age, we sleep more restlessly.

A typical sleep cycle has five stages and takes 90-110 minutes. During Stage 1 of your sleep cycle, you sleep lightly. At Stage 2, your sleep gets progressively deeper. At Stages 3 and 4, also known as "Delta Sleep," you sleep most heavily; this is when your body rebuilds itself.

Stage 5 of sleep, also known as REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, is marked by extensive physiological changes, such as accelerated respiration, increased brain activity, rapid eye movement, and muscle relaxation. People dream during REM sleep.

In the first third of the night, Delta sleep stages last longer than REM stages. As the night progresses, Delta sleep diminishes in length. By the last third of the night, Delta sleep usually ceases, while REM stages lengthen.

SLEEPTRACKER® may find multiple almost-awake moments within the sleep cycle. Almost-awake moments may also vary in frequency throughout the night.

By monitoring your sleep cycles for optimal waking moments during the preset ALARM WINDOW, SLEEPTRACKER® finds those almost awake-moments and gently wakes you when you're most alert. The result? You wake up refreshed instead of groggy. Waking up has never been easier.



They have 2 styles. One for $179 and one for $149. If you are interested, visit http://www.sleeptracker.com/

The Mental Aspects of Weight Loss

6 Misleading Food Labels

Here are 6 potentially misleading food labels:

1.) Free-Range or Free-Roaming:
You probably most often see this term stamped on eggs, but it's also used on chicken and other meat to suggest that the animal has spent a good portion of its life outdoors. Consumer Reports says, though, that the standards for these terms are weak, and the rule for the label is only that outdoor access be made available for "an undetermined period each day." So those free range eggs could mean that the chicken who laid them lived in a coop where the door was open for five minutes a day. Roaming free? We don't think so.

2.)Natural or All Natural:
People often assume this label means organic or healthy. But no standard definition for natural exists. Consumer Reports says the term only has meaning when it's applied to meat and poultry products and means that the items contain no artificial flavoring, colors, chemical preservatives, or synthetic ingredients. But the producer or manufacturer decides whether or not to use it, without having the claims verified.

3.) No Additives:
Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher or Consumer Reports, says that a no additives label is often used to imply that a product has not been enhanced with the addition of natural or artificial ingredients. But there is no official definition for the term and it isn't verified when used.

4.) No Animal By-Products:
You might see this label on everything from condiments and meat (to indicate the animals were not fed any animal by-products), to cleaning and personal care products. This term is used to suggest that no ingredients are by-products from slaughtered animals. This might be helpful when it's not obvious; natural flavor could come from vegetables or animals, for example. But Consumers Union says the label is tricky because there isn't a standard, precise definition of "animal ingredients" and the label isn't used consistently. It also isn't verified by an outside body.

5.) 100% Vegan:
Vegans generally avoid animal products for food and clothing, and often want to avoid products that were tested on animals. But this label does not have a standard or consistent definition and isn't verified. Alternatively, a Certified Vegan label is a registered trademark signifying that products are vegan--meaning they contain no animal ingredients or by-products, use no animal ingredients or by-products in the manufacturing process, and are not tested on animals by any company or independent contractor. The logo is administered by the Vegan Awareness Foundation, also known as Vegan Action.

6.) Raised Without Antibiotics:
Consumers Union says this term implies that no antibiotics were used in the production of a food product. The USDA has defined it to mean that meat and poultry products came from animals who were raised without the use of low-level or therapeutic doses of antibiotics. But a recent case of this label being used inaccurately by a major poultry producer illustrates some of the problems: there is no formal definition and while the USDA can hold a manufacturer accountable for the claim, no other organization is behind or verifies the claim.

Source: http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/misleading-food-labels-44101608

Are you "blocked" from losing weight?

Dallas Morning News published an article that showed that those who had the hardest time losing weight had more "mental roadblocks".

"Overall, the overweight and obese women told of more perceived obstacles than their slimmer counterparts. They were more likely to feel self-conscious about how they looked while exercising, felt they lacked self-discipline, hated to fail so didn't try, had minor aches and pains and felt too overweight to exercise."

The Key to Long Term Weight Loss

The USA Today did a story on what the differences are between those who lose weight permanently and those who never seem to reach their goals. The key habits among successful dieters:

• Are physically active for about an hour a day, burning about 2,600 calories a week with exercise.
• Do high-intensity activity, such as jogging, aerobics, biking, for about 70 minutes a week.
• Are highly restrained eaters who are always aware of calories.
• Are less likely to binge or overeat for emotional or environmental reasons than obese people.
• Have fewer TVs than heavier people.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Interval Training - Cardio