#to get through that like. six hour period of school between 1:30 and 6:45 :/

[vulpinesaint]

did 90 pages of my reading for three different classes is everyone proud of me :) finished the chapter on judaism for my sacred texts class, read "an apology for poetry" by sir philip sidney for my lit theory class, and did my two chapters of reading from the truth about stories by thomas king for my folklore and mythology class. and wrote a summary paper on that sacred texts chapter. and did my little writing assignment for my french class. all while sick. who is going to kiss me on the forehead and tell me i did a good job

[mangodrama]

30 day thinspo challenge

Day One- Your stats

SW - 135//CW - 122//UGW - 108-112

Day Two- How tall are you? Do you like your height?

I’m 5’4’’. I do like my height. I think it makes lots of things easier! Airplane travel, dating (if dating someone taller is a preference), finding short skits that aren’t to short to wear, wearing heels, etc.

Day Three- A picture of your thinspiration. What features do you like about this person?

Ariana grande is my thinspiration of the moment. I really love her arms and also how narrow her hips are. She reminds me of what I looked like at my LW and what will look when I reach my UGW 🙌🏼🤞🏼💪🏼

Day Four- Your greatest fears about weight loss.

Not making enough progress in time 😞

Day Five- Why do you really want to lose this weight? Are you doing it for you?

Definitely for me. It’s all about living at my full potential. I honestly was happier when I was at my lowest weight. I really really want to get back to that ASAP.

Day Six- Do you binge? If so, explain why you think you do.

Yes I do 😣 I’ve struggled with bulimia on and off since I was about 12. While I had the tendency to overeat since a very young age, I haven’t really practiced a more stereotypical type of binge purge activity until the past year. I really really hate it but so much of it is addicting and reinforcing—the act of binging (huge dopamine hits from eating ‘forbidden’ foods especially after a period of extreme restriction), getting on the scale the next morning and not seeing it go up after a night of hedonistic eating (not usually the case, and typically it will go up even more the following day after rehydrating or giving in to extreme urges after putting my body through the trauma of purging).

I’ve also noticed that now I’m in my 20s the after effects of a b/p session are much worse. I wake up feeling terrible (I b/p at night, never AM yet and I’m normally I’m a morning person), my face is swollen, my mouth burns and tastes bad for the next 2 days, my stomach cramps when I exercise, etc. etc. etc...

I think I’ve identified a few things that either trigger or increase my chances of b/p’ing: stress at work, anticipating an event, not regularly exercising, restrictive eating, drinking, going over my calorie budget.

Day Seven- Do your parents know you’re trying to lose weight? Do they care?

I love alone, 3,000 miles alway for my parents so not really pertinent but my mom knows I’m trying to get down to my “normal weight” (I don’t think she knows what that number means to me). I’ve never been scary thin so they have no reason to worry other than my past know/diagnosed issues with bulimia.

Day Eight- Your workout routine.

I looooove to exercise. It puts me in such a good mood so I try to eat a large portion of my calories 2 hours before my workouts so I’ll perform better even when I’m restricting.

At the moment I’ve been aiming for 4 workouts a week—3 cardio hip hop classes and 1 cardio/body weight/yoga fusion class. I’ll typically burn 400 active calories in each of these classes (based on Apple Watch). I also aim for 400 calories of active calories/day (but will usually only hit 350 on non-workout days. I walk to and from work (1/2 mile each way) and always carry my groceries home each week.

I want to add in daily abs in November (maybe just 1 min plank x 3) since I’ll be in a bikini in December ✈️🌴🌊

Day Nine- Did people ever make comments about your weight in a negative way?

No I’ve been lucky enough to never experience this. I think it’s because I’ve always been a healthy weight (never too heavy or too light) and my life has been really sheltered. There was one time in 8th grade when my friend and i were fighting and she said something kind of mean but i won’t even repeat it because it was so dumb/silly 😂. Although it did really bother me.

I think if someone made a negative comment about me being too heavy it would really really upset me. Like trigger a mental break down kind of upset. If someone were to comment on me being too skinny on the other hand...well I don’t see this happening but you know what they say: you can never be too rich or too thin.

Day Ten- What was the hardest thing you gave up during this “weight loss.”

Probably studying for my grad school admission test. I just don’t have the energy anymore. Oh well...once I reach my goal weight I’ll start, right? Lol.

Day Eleven- Your favorite thinspo blog and why!

Don’t have one yet I’m still new to all this...

Day Twelve- What do you normally eat?

6:45 AM - ACV with cinnamon and hot water first thing every morning

7 AM Big breakfast (350-450 cals)

10 AM coffee with a little oat milk (30 cals)

Noon Big lunch (400-500 cals)

Then I fast until the next morning, which usually comes out to be 18 hours of fasting (18:6 intermittent fasting).

Ive been aiming for 950 cals per day. This past week was hard with Halloween and I didn’t do too well 😞.

Day Thirteen- Are you losing weight in a healthy or unhealthy way?

Unhealthy. I’ve lost weight before in a healthy way, which was much more sustainable and ultimately successful (and faster too, at least overall). Oh well.

Day fourteen- What’s your UGW? When you expect to reach it?

UGW is 108. I don’t expect to get there this year with travel and holiday plans but I’m hoping by March ‘20.

Day Fifteen- Are you vegan or vegetarian? If so, has this helped you lose weight? If not, would you ever consider turning vegan or vegetarian?

I am not. I was briefly a (bad) vegetarian who only ate carbs and gained a lot of weight. I would consider giving it another go for environmental reasons but not to lose weight.

Day Sixteen- When did you first decide to lose weight?

Day Seventeen- Do you have an eating disorder?

Day Eighteen- What food is your weakness?

Day Nineteen- When is the last time you ate fast food?

Day Twenty- Favorite diet?

Day Twenty-One- What are your clothing sizes?

Day Twenty-Two- What was your lowest weight? How and why did you gain?

Day Twenty-Three- Did the media play a role in your wanting to lose weight?

Day Twenty-Four- How do you feel about the terms pro-ana/pro-mia

Day Twenty-Five- Have you ever purged? If you have, describe your first experience.

Day Twenty-Six- What excites you most about reaching your ugw?

Day Twenty-Seven- How do you deal with being around food?

Day Twenty-Eight- Do you want that “gap” between your legs? Why?

Day Twenty-Nine- Your definition of beauty.

Day Thirty-10 facts about you! And now, what are your stats?

[andrebearakovsky]

This Week in Caps: Week 3

Welcome to This Week in Caps, a weekly newsletter where I recap everything important that’s been going on in the world of the Washington Capitals this past week.

This Week’s Games

10/17/18 vs New York Rangers, W 4-3 (OT)

I hope you like the Caps on Wednesday Night Hockey, because the Caps have hosted that particular nationally televised game for three straight weeks. The Caps took on an old rival in the rebuilding Rangers, and Alex Ovechkin faced Henrik Lundqvist, the goalie he’s beaten more than any other.

The first period was fast-moving, with not a lot of stoppages and little to no shenanigans. Brett Connolly was robbed by Lundqvist, and Mika Zibanejad scored on a rebound in front about six minutes into the game. 1-0 Rangers. The action got going with about seven minutes left in the period; the Rangers had a mad scrum in front of the Caps’ net, and Christian Djoos made a huge save by sweeping the puck off the goalline, keeping a goal off the scoresheet. The defensive efforts paid off about a minute later, when John Carlson scored a booming slap shot goal directly off a Nicklas Backstrom faceoff win, trying the game 1-1.

Shortly into the second period, Ovechkin was back at it again against Lundqvist. On a power play, Carlson kept the puck in the zone and flipped it over to Ovechkin, who slapped a one-timer from the very back of the Ovi Office and caught Lundqvist off guard, giving the Caps a 2-1 lead. But the Rangers would be quick to tie the score, with them getting their own power play and Jimmy Vesey tapping in a goal to make it 2-2. Ovechkin made sure to have the last laugh of the period, scoring yet another one-timer power play goal, eerily similar to the first one, to make it 3-2 Caps.

But the lead wouldn’t last, and Chris Kreider scored a tip-in goal on a power play for the Rangers that tied the score 3-3. And despite everyone’s best efforts, this game would go to overtime.

Evgeny Kuznetsov drove play when he had the puck in overtime, eventually faking at shooting the puck at the net. Matt Niskanen, hovering nearby, dunked home the rebound to score the overtime winner, giving the Caps the 4-3 win.

The Caps outshot the Rangers 38-32 and had the advantage on faceoffs at 53%. Each team went 2/4 on the power play, and Braden Holtby saved 29/32 shots. This game was closer than the Caps probably would have liked, but it’s a win all the same, and the Caps will be happy to take it.

10/19/18 vs Florida Panthers, L 5-6 (SO)

The Panthers came into this one winles on the season, and the Caps were looking for two in a row. And when all was said and done, this game ended up being a wild one.

Joe Beninati described the Caps’ first period as “sleepy,” and that’s how it felt. Defense was not good, and they just did not look good in the first at all. Vincent Trocheck scored halfway through the period. The Caps responded five minutes later on a John Carlson goal, throwing home a puck in front of the net to make it 1-1. But the Panthers pounded the Caps the rest of the period, scoring the next goal just thirty seconds later. Florida got goals from Evgenii Dadonov, Colton Sceviour, and Jared McCann to make it 4-1 Panthers by the end of the first.

Things changed for the Caps between the first and second periods — Braden Holtby was taken out of the game in favor of Pheonix Copley, and the lines were put in a blender. It seemed to work, as the Caps were completely revitalized and were dominating play, with the defense especially looking a lot better (the Panthers did not get their first shot on Copley until halfway through the period).

They got the comeback rolling with just under two minutes in the frame — Brett Connolly scored on a sharp angle to make it 2-4. Later, the Caps got an odd-man rush and Jakub Vrana scored from his knees to make it 3-4. And just a few minutes later, Devante Smith-Pelly took advantage on a bad bounce off the Panther goalie, and scored on the second shot to complete the comeback and tie the game at 4. The Panthers were also forced to make a goalie change, pulling James Reimer and replacing him with Michael Hutchinson.

However, the Caps were a bit undone by all the penalties at the end of the period. Alex Ovechkin was called for interference against Aaron Ekblad at 17:18 and the Caps were called for too many men at 18:03, giving the Panthers a two-man advantage for 1:15. Matt Niskanen, Brooks Orpik, and Nicklas Backstrom put up a great defensive showing, but the Panthers capitalized and Jonathan Huberdeau scored at 19:09 to make it 5-4 Panthers, and they still had about fifty seconds of power play time. Then the refs didn’t like what Evgeny Kuznetsov said to them and sent him to the box for unsportsmanlike conduct with eight seconds left in the period. The Panthers would start the third with three seconds of five-on-three, and then 1:45 of power play time, which the Caps killed.

The Caps got a power play at 16:52 of the third, and they pulled Copley for the extra attacker halfway through the power play, and Backstrom scored the tying goal, tapping one into the net at 18:35, trying the game at 5. But then Niskanen took a penalty with 23 seconds left in the game, and there was no more scoring in regulation, so the Panthers had just over 1:30 of four-on-three power play time to start overtime. The Caps killed that, and there were no more whistles in overtime and the rest of it was played four-on-four. The Caps had many chances in overtime, particularly a Dmitry Orlov shot off the post, but this game would be decided in a shootout.

The shootout went thus: T.J. Oshie goal, Aleksander Barkov goal, Kuznetsov goal, Nick Bjugstad no goal, Ovechkin no goal, Trocheck goal, Backstrom no goal, Huberdeau goal. The Caps lose the shootout 2-3 and the game 5-6.

The Caps outshot the Panthers 31-30 and were barely beaten on faceoffs, winning 49.2%. They went 1/3 on the power play, while the Panthers went 2/7. Holtby saved just 7/11 shots in his short start, and Copley saved 18/19.

The new third line (Vrana, Connolly, and Lars Eller) looked excellent tonight, and was the most prominent forward line. Orlov also had a couple of very strong looks. Copley was excellent in relief and kept the Caps in the game, even though the Panthers shooters made the rookie look a little silly in the shootout. Were it not for the shootout, he might have gotten his first NHL win.

The game was wildly entertaining, and even though the Caps got down and looked bad early, they showed great resilience in making that three-goal comeback and then tying it yet again late in regulation. This looked like it was going to be a horrible loss, and ending this game with a point is something they’ll gladly take.

Current record: 3-2-2

What’s Going on in the World of the Caps

Wilson Appeal

Tom Wilson met with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on October 18th to discuss the appeal of his twenty-game suspension. The hearing lasted seven hours, and Bettman’s decision is expected sometime midweek.

Brett Connolly Leaves Yet Another Teammate Hanging

[gif by @faceoffs]

Remember last year when Kuzy was looking for a fist bump from Brett Connolly, and Connolly left him hanging, resulting in Kuzy fist bumping himself? Well, Friday against the Panthers, Conno left another teammate in the dust, and the victim this time, Jakub Vrana, was left to fist bump himself. This seems to be becoming a trend for Connolly, and if history repeats itself, we may already have the winner of gif of the year. (x)

Special Teams

The Capitals’ power play this season has been absolutely deadly. They’re currently cashing in on an unreal 38.5% of power play opportunities, which is best in the league. The big guns have been doing their job. The penalty kill, however, is stuck near the other end of the spectrum. They’re killing 72.4% of penalties, which is 24th in the league. Ideally, you’d like to be somewhere around 80%, or maybe even 85%, to have a really effective penalty kill. They’ve been letting in too many chances and need to tighten it up a bit. Maybe the loss of Jay Beagle or the absence of Tom Wilson, both excellent penalty killers, is really hurting them, but they’re going to have to do something about it and get better.

Faceoffs

Winning faceoffs? Never heard of her. Overall, the Capitals have won 46.0% of faceoffs, which is 29th in the league. Not good. The funny thing is that not everyone is doing horribly; Nicklas Backstrom is winning 54.5%, which is quite good, and Lars Eller is winning 51.2%, which is not shabby. But Nic Dowd is winning 43.8% and Evgeny Kuznetsov is winning only 36.2%, which is very bad, especially because he has taken the second most draws on the team (after Backstrom). The loss of Jay Beagle certainly hurts in this department, but the centers, especially Kuznetsov and Dowd, need to pick it up. Winning faceoffs can really help possession and even lead directly to goals.

Other Miscellaneous Happenings

Ovi repaired one of his teeth, which was broken in the Stanley Cup Final

Ovi doesn’t need pants

Brooks Orpik was inducted into his high school’s Hall of Fame

Wanna see pics from Casino Night? Here ya go

Player of the Week

John Carlson is putting up his very early case for the Norris Trophy and reminding people how much of a mistake it was he wasn’t an All-Star and Norris finalist last season. In two games this week, he tallied two goals and two assists for four points. He is second on the Caps in goals, assists, and points, trailing Ovechkin, Backstrom, and Kuznetsov respectively. He is currently the second-highest-scoring defenseman in the league, trailing only Morgan Rielly of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Social Media Post of the Week

nastyashubskaya: 2 месяца ❤️two months! #happybirthdayson #weloveyou

The Ovechkins posted an adorable family photo on the day baby Sergei turned two months old.

Stars of the Night Season Leaderboard

Over the course of the season, I will be keeping track of the Caps stars of the night, translating them into points, and organizing them into a leaderboard.

1st star = 5 pts, 2nd star = 3 pts, 3rd star = 1 pt

1. Kuznetsov — 13 2. Ovechkin — 8 3. Backstrom — 4 4. Carlson — 3 T-5. Eller — 1 T-5. Holtby — 1 T-5. Oshie — 1

Achieved and Upcoming Milestones

Jakub Vrana played in his 100th career NHL game on 10/17/18 vs the New York Rangers With two power play goals on 10/17/18 vs the New York Rangers, Alex Ovechkin advanced to 9th on the all-time NHL power play goals list, tied with Dino Ciccarelli (232). With one more, he can stand in 9th place alone, and with two more, he can be tied for 8th with Marcel Dionne (234). Nicklas Backstrom is 2 assists away from 600 career NHL assists Nicklas Backstrom is 1 power play goal away from being tied for 5th in Caps history in power play goals (67) John Carlson is 2 points away from being tied for 6th in Caps history in points among defensemen (345) John Carlson is 2 power play goals away from being tied for 7th in Caps history in power play goals among defensemen (25) Evgeny Kuznetsov is 7 assists away from 200 career NHL assists Dmitry Orlov is 5 assists away from 100 career NHL assists T.J. Oshie is 9 goals away from 200 career NHL goals Devante Smith-Pelly is 6 points away from 100 career NHL points Madison Bowey is searching for his first NHL goal Nic Dowd is searching for his first assist as a Capital

Next Week’s Upcoming Games

10/22/18 @ Vancouver Canucks (10 PM) 10/25/18 @ Edmonton Oilers (9 PM) 10/27/18 @ Calgary Flames (4 PM)

[georgewagner]

Winter Economy Plan: The latest coronavirus government support for tradespeople

In the latest Winter Economy Plan, the government has included measures to support UK businesses that are facing decreased demand or are legally required to close their premises, due to the coronavirus (or COVID-19) pandemic. We’ve summarised the initiatives available for small and medium-sized (SME) trades businesses below.

Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) extension

What is it?

The government has extended the SEISS, which was due to end in November 2020. The SEISS now includes two more direct cash grants.

The first grant will cover 40% of your average monthly trading profits, capped at £3,750 in total. It’ll be paid as a single instalment, covering the three-month period from November 2020 to the end of January 2021. The second grant will also cover a three-month period, from the start of February to the end of April 2021. The government is set to release more information soon about how much the second grant will be.

Both grants are taxable income and are subject to National Insurance contributions.

Who’s eligible?

Anyone who’s self-employed, or a member of a partnership, that:

Was previously eligible for the SEISS. However, you don’t need to have actually claimed it. The SEISS eligibility criteria is:

A trading profit of less than £50,000 in 2018-19 or an average trading profit of less than £50,000 from 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.

You must have traded in the 2018-19 tax year and submitted your Self-Assessment tax return for that year, on or before 23rd April 2020.

You must have traded in the 2019-20 tax year.

You must intend to continue trading in the 2020-12 tax year.

More than half of your income during 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 tax years must have come from self-employment.

Declares that they intend to continue to trade moving forward, and:

Is actively trading but is impacted by reduced demand due to coronavirus, or

Was previously trading but is temporarily unable to do so due to coronavirus.

If you trade through a limited company or trust, then you won’t be eligible for the SEISS extension.

How can I access it?

Applications aren’t open yet. HMRC will provide more guidance soon – we’ll keep this article up to date.

Bounce Back Loan Scheme extension

What is it?

The government has introduced a new Pay As You Grow option, to allow all businesses that used the scheme to repay their loan over a period of up to 10 years, instead of the 6 years initially offered. This will cut average monthly repayments by almost half.

The extension also allows businesses to temporarily move to interest-only payments for periods of up to six months, up to three times. Repayments can also be paused entirely for up to six months, but only once and only after you’ve made six payments. 

If you haven’t applied for a Bounce Back Loan yet, then the application deadline has been extended until Monday 30th November 2020. The Bounce Back Loan offers SMEs that are negatively affected by coronavirus a loan of £2,000 to £50,000, capped at 25% of their total turnover. This will be based on the calendar year 2019, or new businesses can estimate.

No repayments need to be made for the first 12 months of the loan, and the government will cover the first 12 months’ interest payments. After 12 months, you’ll be charged a fixed 2.5% annual interest. You can read more details about the scheme on our Trade Advice Centre.

Who’s eligible?

UK businesses established before 1st March 2020, that are currently trading and have been negatively affected by coronavirus. Banks, insurers, reinsurers, public-sector bodies, further education establishments that are grant-funded and state-funded primary and secondary schools are excluded.

Your business must not have been ‘undertaking in difficulty’ on 31st December 2019. Also, if you’ve already secured a loan under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, then you won’t be eligible. However, you can speak to your lender if you’d like to transfer a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan of up to £50,000 into the Bounce Back Loan Scheme. This option is available until the end of November 2020.

How can I access it?

Applications are currently open until 30th November 2020. Fill in the online form on the British Business Bank website to apply.

Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme deadline extension

What is it?

A loan of up to £5 million. The government has extended the repayment term to 10 years as part of the Winter Economy Plan, to help businesses that may be otherwise unable to repay their loan. The first 12 months of interest payments and fees are also covered by the government.

A successor loan guarantees programme is also being set up to start in January 2021.

Who’s eligible?

UK-based businesses with an annual turnover of less than £45 million. You must also:

Have a borrowing proposal that the lender would consider practical, if not for the coronavirus pandemic.

Self-certify that you’ve been adversely affected by COVID-19.

Not be classed as a ‘business in difficulty’, if you’re applying to borrow £30,000 or more.

How can I access it?

Applications have been extended to 30th November 2020. To apply, visit the British Business Bank website.

New Payment Scheme for VAT deferrals

What is it?

Businesses which deferred their VAT due between March and June 2020 now have the option to spread their payments into 11 equal instalments over the 2021-22 financial year. This replaces the original deadline of the end of March 2021.

Who’s eligible?

All businesses that used the VAT deferral option.

How can I access it?

You’ll need to opt-in to the New Payment Scheme once it’s put in place in early 2021. We’ll share more information on how to do this once HMRC releases more details.

Enhanced Time to Pay service for Self-Assessment taxpayers

What is it?

A further deferral for Self-Assessment tax bills that were due on 31st July 2020, and those due in January 2021. This means that these Self-Assessment tax bills won’t need to be paid until 31st January 2022. There’s no penalty for using this service.

Who’s eligible?

Anyone that’s self-employed.

How can I access it?

Use HMRC’s Time to Pay service to secure a payment plan.

Job Support Scheme

What is it?

Replacing the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (also known as furlough) which is running from June to December 2020, the Job Support Scheme will be a government grant to help employers pay the full wages of employees that are working shorter hours. The scheme will begin in December 2020.

For each hour that an employee isn’t able to work, the employer and the government will each pay one third of the employee’s usual pay. The government contribution is capped at £697.92. So, the employee will get at least 77% of their pay, if the government cap isn’t reached.

You can claim both the Job Support Scheme and the Jobs Retention Bonus, which you can read more about in our Coronavirus: government support for construction businesses blog post.

Who’s eligible?

All SMEs are eligible for the Job Support Scheme.

To be eligible, employees must:

Be working at least 33% of their usual hours.

Not be on a redundancy notice.

As an employer, you must:

Have a UK bank account.

Have a UK PAYE scheme.

How can I access it?

The employer will be reimbursed in arrears for the government’s contribution. Further information on how to claim hasn’t been released yet. Keep an eye on this article for updates.

The team at Rated People are working hard to keep new job leads coming in. We’ve even seen a rise in demand for gardeners, painters, carpenters and more! Check out the latest job leads. 

For more information on the government support available for construction businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, head to our Trade Advice Centre.

Note: If there’s a lockdown announced in the regional area(s) that you work or live in, in addition to the national lockdown, the government says that you must follow all instructions from the relevant local authority.

Note: The government has confirmed that there is no limit to the group size when you are meeting or gathering for work. But, workplaces should be set up to meet the COVID-secure guidelines – follow the government’s guidance on how to return to work safely.

Further coronavirus support from Rated People:

For more information on staying safe whilst working, check out our Coronavirus: How to keep safe whilst working article. 

For FAQs about using our service, head to our Coronavirus: FAQs for tradespeople.

The pros and cons of walk-in showers

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    Gas Safety Week 2020: How to protect your home

    Coronavirus: FAQs for homeowners

    The best times of the year to post your home maintenance job

The post Winter Economy Plan: The latest coronavirus government support for tradespeople appeared first on Rated People Blog.

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[hizokucycles]

30 Great Benefits of Cycling

Riding bikes boosts your brainpower, relationships, health and happiness.

written by Matthew Barbour from www.BikeRadar.com

1. You’ll get there faster

Commute by bike in the UK’s major cities and you’ll get there in half the time of cars, research by Citroen shows. In fact, if you drive for an hour in Cardiff’s rush hour, you’ll spend over 30 minutes going absolutely nowhere and average just 7mph, compared to averaging around 12-15mph while cycling. And even in bike-friendly or less congested cities outside of the UK, you'll still generally get around the city centres faster on a bike.

2. You'll sleep more deeply

An early morning ride might tire you out in the short term, but it’ll help you catch some quality shut-eye when you get back to your pillow. Stanford University School of Medicine researchers asked sedentary insomnia sufferers to cycle for 20-30 minutes every other day. The result? The time required for the insomniacs to fall asleep was reduced by half, and sleep time increased by almost an hour.

“Exercising outside exposes you to daylight,” explains Professor Jim Horne from Loughborough University’s Sleep Research Centre. “This helps get your circadian rhythm back in sync, and also rids your body of cortisol, the stress hormone that can prevent deep, regenerative sleep.”

3. You'll look younger

Scientists at Stanford University have found that cycling regularly can protect your skin against the harmful effects of UV radiation and reduce the signs of ageing. Harley Street dermatologist Dr Christopher Rowland Payne explains: “Increased circulation through exercise delivers oxygen and nutrients to skin cells more effectively, while flushing harmful toxins out.

Exercise also creates an ideal environment within the body to optimise collagen production, helping reduce the appearance of wrinkles and speed up the healing process.” Don’t forget to slap on the factor 30 before you head out, though.

4. Boost your bowels

According to experts from Bristol University, the benefits of cycling extend deep into your core. “Physical activity helps decrease the time it takes food to move through the large intestine, limiting the amount of water absorbed back into your body and leaving you with softer stools, which are easier to pass,” explains Harley Street gastroenterologist Dr Ana Raimundo.

In addition, aerobic exercise accelerates your breathing and heart rate, which helps to stimulate the contraction of intestinal muscles. “As well as preventing you from feeling bloated, this helps protect you against bowel cancer,” Dr Raimundo says.

5. Increase your brain power

Need your grey matter to sparkle? Then get pedalling. Researchers from the University of Illinois found that a five percent improvement in cardio-respiratory fitness from cycling led to an improvement of up to 15 percent in mental tests. That’s because cycling helps build new brain cells in the hippocampus – the region responsible for memory, which deteriorates from the age of 30.

“It boosts blood flow and oxygen to the brain, which fires and regenerates receptors, explaining how exercise helps ward off Alzheimer’s,” says the study’s author, Professor Arthur Kramer.

6. Beat illness

Is cycling good for you? Yes! Forget apples, riding’s the way to keep the doctor at bay. “Moderate exercise makes immune cells more active, so they’re ready to fight off infection,” says Cath Collins, chief dietician at St George’s Hospital in London.

In fact, according to research from the University of North Carolina, people who cycle for 30 minutes, five days a week take about half as many sick days as couch potatoes.

7. Live longer

King’s College London compared over 2,400 identical twins and found those who did the equivalent of just three 45-minute rides a week were nine years ‘biologically younger’ even after discounting other influences, such as body mass index (BMI) and smoking.

“Those who exercise regularly are at significantly lower risk of cardiovascular disease, type two diabetes, all types of cancer, high blood pressure and obesity,” says Dr Lynn Cherkas, who conducted the research. “The body becomes much more efficient at defending itself and regenerating new cells.”

8. Save the planet

Twenty bicycles can be parked in the same space as one car. It takes around five percent of the materials and energy used to make a car to build a bike, and a bike produces zero pollution.

Bikes are efficient, too – you travel around three times as fast as walking for the same amount of energy and, taking into account the ‘fuel’ you put in your ‘engine’, you do the equivalent of 2,924 miles to the gallon. You have your weight ratio to thank: you’re about six times heavier than your bike, but a car is 20 times heavier than you.

9. Cycling improves your sex life

Being more physically active improves your vascular health, which has the knock-on effect of boosting your sex drive, according to health experts in the US. One study from Cornell University also concluded that male athletes have the sexual prowess of men two to five years younger, with physically fit females delaying the menopause by a similar amount of time.

Meanwhile, research carried out at Harvard University found that men aged over 50 who cycle for at least three hours a week have a 30 percent lower risk of impotence than those who do little exercise.

10. It’s good breeding

A ‘bun in the oven’ could benefit from your riding as much as you. According to research from Michigan University in the US, mums-to-be who regularly exercise during pregnancy have an easier, less complicated labour, recover faster and enjoy better overall mood throughout the nine months. Your pride and joy also has a 50 percent lower chance of becoming obese and enjoys better in-utero neurodevelopment.

“There’s no doubt that moderate exercise such as cycling during pregnancy helps condition the mother and protect the foetus,” says Patrick O’Brien, a spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

11. Heal your heart

Studies from Purdue University in the US have shown that regular cycling can cut your risk of heart disease by 50 percent. And according to the British Heart Foundation, around 10,000 fatal heart attacks could be avoided each year if people kept themselves fitter. Cycling just 20 miles a week reduces your risk of heart disease to less than half that of those who take no exercise, it says.

12. Your boss will love you

No, we don’t mean your Lycra-clad buttocks will entice your superiors into a passionate office romance, but they’ll appreciate what cycling does for your usefulness to the company. A study of 200 people carried out by the University of Bristol found that employees who exercised before work or at lunchtime improved their time and workload management, and it boosted their motivation and their ability to deal with stress.

The study also reported that workers who exercised felt their interpersonal performance was better, they took fewer breaks and found it easier to finish work on time. Sadly, the study didn’t find a direct link between cycling and getting a promotion.

13. Cycle away from the big C

There’s plenty of evidence that any exercise is useful in warding off cancer, but some studies have shown that cycling is specifically good for keeping your cells in working order.

One long-term study carried out by Finnish researchers found that men who exercised at a moderate level for at least 30 minutes a day were half as likely to develop cancer as those who didn’t. And one of the moderate forms of exercise they cited? Cycling to work. Other studies have found that women who cycle frequently reduce their risk of breast cancer by 34 percent.

14. Lose weight by riding your bike

Loads of people who want to shift some heft think that heading out for a jog is the best way to start slimming down. But while running does burn a ton of fat, it’s not kind to you if you’re a little larger than you’d like to be. Think about it – two to three times your body weight goes crashing through your body when your foot strikes the ground. If you weigh 16 stone, that’s a lot of force! Instead, start out on a bike – most of your weight is taken by the saddle, so your skeleton doesn’t take a battering. Running can wait…

15. You’ll make more money

If you’re cycling to lose weight then you could be in line for a cash windfall… Well, sort of. Researcher Jay Zagorsky, from Ohio State University, analysed data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth – which saw 7,300 people regularly interviewed between 1985 and 2000 – to see how their obesity and wealth changed over that period.

Zagorsky concluded that a one unit increase in body mass index (BMI) score corresponded to an £800 or eight percent reduction in wealth. So, shed a few BMI points on the bike and start earning.

16. Avoid pollution

You’d think a city cyclist would suck up much more pollution than the drivers and passengers in the vehicles chucking out the noxious gases. Not so, according to a study carried out by Imperial College London. Researchers found that passengers in buses, taxis and cars inhaled substantially more pollution than cyclists and pedestrians.

On average, taxi passengers were exposed to more than 100,000 ultrafine particles – which can settle in the lungs and damage cells – per cubic centimetre. Bus passengers sucked up just under 100,000 and people in cars inhaled about 40,000. Cyclists, meanwhile, were exposed to just 8,000 ultrafine particles per cubic centimetre. It’s thought that cyclists breathe in fewer fumes because we ride at the edge of the road and, unlike drivers, aren’t directly in the line of exhaust smoke.

17. Bike riding means guilt-free snacks

Upping your salt intake is seldom your doctor’s advice, but in the few days leading up to a big ride or sportive, that’s exactly what you should do. This gives you the perfect excuse to munch on crisps and other salty foods you might normally avoid. The sodium in them helps protect your body against hyponatraemia, a condition caused by drinking too much water without enough sodium that can lead to disorientation, illness and worse.

18. Enjoy healthy family time

Cycling is an activity the whole family can do together. The smallest tyke can clamber into a bike seat or tow-along buggy, and because it’s kind on your joints, there’s nothing to stop grandparents joining in too.

Moreover, your riding habit could be sowing the seeds for the next Bradley Wiggins. Studies have found that, unsurprisingly, kids are influenced by their parents’ exercise choices. Put simply, if your kids see you riding regularly, they think it’s normal and will want to follow your example. Don’t be surprised, though, if they become embarrassed by your tendency to mismatch fluorescent Lycra when they become teenagers.

19. Get better at any sport

Whether you want to keep in prime shape or just improve your weekly tennis game, a stint in the saddle is the way to begin. A recent medical study from Norway carried the title Aerobic Endurance Training Improves Soccer Performance, which makes it pretty clear that the knock-on benefits to other sports and activities are immense.

20. Make creative breakthroughs

Writers, musicians, artists, top executives and all kinds of other professionals use exercise to solve mental blocks and make decisions – including Jeremy Paxman, Sir Alan Sugar and Spandau Ballet. A study found that just 25 minutes of aerobic exercise boosts at least one measure of creative thinking. Credit goes to the flow of oxygen to your grey matter when it matters most, sparking your neurons and giving you breathing space away from the muddle and pressures of ‘real life’.

21. You’re helping others

Many cyclists turn their health, fitness and determination into fundraising efforts for the less fortunate. The London to Brighton bike ride has raised over £40 million for the British Heart Foundation since the two became involved in 1980, with countless other rides contributing to the coffers of worthy causes.

22. You can get fit without trying too hard

Regular, everyday cycling has huge benefits that can justify you binning your wallet-crippling gym membership. According to the National Forum for Coronary Heart Disease Foundation in the US, regular cyclists enjoy a fitness level equal to that of a person who’s 10 years younger.

23. Boost your bellows

No prizes for guessing that the lungs work considerably harder than usual when you ride. An adult cycling generally uses 10 times the oxygen they’d need to sit in front of the TV for the same period.

Even better, regular cycling will help strengthen your cardiovascular system over time, enabling your heart and lungs to work more efficiently and getting more oxygen where it’s needed, quicker. This means you can do more exercise for less effort. How good does that sound?

24. Burn more fat

Sports physiologists have found that the body’s metabolic rate – the efficiency with which it burns calories and fat – is not only raised during a ride, but for several hours afterwards. “Even after cycling for 30 minutes, you could be burning a higher amount of total calories for a few hours after you stop,” says sports physiologist Mark Simpson of Loughborough University.

And as you get fitter, the benefits are more profound. One recent study showed that cyclists who incorporated fast intervals into their ride burned three-and-a-half times more body fat than those who cycled constantly but at a slower pace.

25. You’re developing a positive addiction

Replace a harmful dependency – such as cigarettes, alcohol or eating too much chocolate – with a positive one, says William Glasser, author of Positive Addiction. The result? You’re a happier, healthier person getting the kind of fix that boosts the good things in life.

26. Get (a legal) high

Once a thing of myth, the infamous ‘runner’s high’ has been proven beyond doubt by German scientists. Yet despite the name, this high is applicable to all endurance athletes. University of Bonn neurologists visualised endorphins in the brains of 10 volunteers before and after a two-hour cardio session using a technique called positive emission tomography (PET). Comparing the pre- and post-run scans, they found evidence of more opiate binding of the happy hormone in the frontal and limbic regions of the brain – areas known to be involved in emotional processing and dealing with stress.

“There’s a direct link between feelings of wellbeing and exercise, and for the first time this study proves the physiological mechanism behind that,” explains study co-ordinator Professor Henning Boecker.

27. Make friends and stay healthy

The social side of riding could be doing you as much good as the actual exercise and health benefits. University of California researchers found socialising releases the hormone oxytocin, which buffers the ‘fight or flight’ response.

Another nine-year study from Harvard Medical School found those with the most friends cut the risk of an early death by more than 60 percent, reducing blood pressure and strengthening their immune system. The results were so significant that the researchers concluded not having close friends or confidants is as detrimental to your health as smoking or carrying extra weight. Add in the fitness element of cycling too and you’re onto a winner.

28. It'll make you happy

Even if you’re miserable when you saddle up, cranking through the miles will lift your spirits. “Any mild-to-moderate exercise releases natural feel-good endorphins that help counter stress and make you happy,” explains Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation.

That’s probably why four times more GPs prescribe exercise therapy as their most common treatment for depression compared to three years ago. “Just three 30-minute sessions a week can be enough to give people the lift they need,” says McCulloch.

29. Feeling tired? Go for a ride

Sounds counter-intuitive but if you feel too tired for a ride, the best thing you can do is go for ride. Physical activity for even a few minutes is a surprisingly effective wake-up call. A review of 12 studies on the link between exercise and fatigue carried out between 1945 and 2005 found that exercise directly lowers fatigue levels.

30. Spend quality time with your partner

It doesn’t matter if your paces aren’t perfectly matched – just slow down and enjoy each other’s company. Many couples make one or two riding ‘dates’ every week. And it makes sense: exercise helps release feel-good hormones, so after a ride you’ll have a warm feeling towards each other even if he leaves the toilet seat up and her hair is blocking the plughole again.

[metaphysikal]

Star Children - Star Seed

Star Kid/Star Seed Identification Questionnaire © 2003 by Richard Boylan, Ph.D. - (Note: This Questionnaire may also be used by adults suspecting they are Star Seeds.)

Directions: Circle score number at end of each question answered “yes”, and add up the scores at the end.

Rating Schedule: Score of 12= probably a Star Kid Score of 16 = most likely a Star Kid Score of 20+ = absolutely a Star Kid

1. The child has a larger than average head for his/her age and height, especially in the front or top of the head. = 1

2. The child has an average body temperature of below 97.6 F [36.4 C] degrees = 1

3. The child’s birth was notable for there being a strange presence or figure in the delivery room. or an aura (glow) noted around the child or their crib. = 2

4. The child began saying a number of words clearly by six months of age (at least one year before the average talking age of 18 months.) = 1

5. The child began walking by one-half-year-old ( before the average walking age of one year old.) = 1

6. When the child began speaking, s/he used phrases or whole sentences almost immediately, not just single words = 1

7. People notice that the child seems extremely mature for their age, almost like an adult in a child’s body. = 1

8. In childhood the child sought out more advanced activities, being bored with and underchallenged by the games the other children his/her age wanted to play. = 1

9. The child mentioned recalling his/her “other parents” out among the stars, or expressed a longing to go back to his/her “real home” out in the cosmos. = 2

10. The child’s gaze seems unusually mature and penetrating/knowing. = 1

11. The child’s entire childhood is notable for growing up very much faster physically and intellectually than the other children the same age. = 1

12. The child is very sensitive, and is put off by, or shrinks away from the destructive, mean, cruel, violent, or wasteful behavior of the other kids, and cannot understand why they are that way. = 1

13. Sometimes, when the child goes by an amber sodium-vapor-plasma streetlight, the light goes out, particularly if the child is emotionally charged = 2

14. The child exhibits mental telepathy (silent mind-to-mind communication). = 1

15. The child has more than once foretold something in the future that later actually happens, or has a “Dream” which later comes true (precognition). = 1

16. The child has made an object move by focused mental concentration effort, such as influencing a pinball game, a basketball shot, or a bowling ball’s direction. =1

17. The child can mentally see something going on at a different location, or in the past, or in the future (clairvoyance/remote viewing). = 1

18. The child acquires new information spontaneously, apparently by mental “downloading”, either in awake-state awareness or by being shown things during sleep. = 1 [If the child knows the data came from Star Visitors, =2]

19. The child is adept at cross-species communication, both knowing what an animal (e.g.., pet dog, a dolphin, etc.) is thinking, and communicating telepathically with that animal, and the animal responds to the silent communication. = 1

20. The child “just knows” something intuitively about a person, a place, or a situation, which then turns out correct, (i.e., the child is “psychic”). = 1

21. The child affects certain electrical appliances repeatedly by his/her mere presence, (such as a TV changing channels, a radio turning on, a wristwatch not working any more, or a lamp turning on or off without touching it ) = 1

22. The child has admitted using mental thought to influence the behavior of another, and is effective at this silent influencing (e.g. a parent for a second dessert helping) = 1

23. The child reports seeing Visitors that the parents/others cannot see, or sees things out of the corner of the eye which disappear when stared directly at; (inter-dimensional viewing). = 1

24. The child can see auras around other people or animals (quasi-visible energy fields, often visible with Kirlian photography). = 1

25. The child sees or feels color, patterns or “textures” in those auras, which provide information about the other’s health, emotional state, psychic attunement, etc. = 1

26. The child is able to use psychic diagnosis (intuitive “seeing”, or passing a hand above the patient’s body) to correctly locate an area of illness, injury, or disease. = 1

27. The child uses internalized energy (psychic energy/prana/chi/cosmic force) and directs it outward to the place on another person’s/animal’s body that needs healing, and that person/animal very soon experiences improved health.=1

28. The child has made him/herself “invisible”, either by relocating elsewhere by mental effort, or more commonly, by causing those around not to notice that the child is present. When the child “turns it off”, others suddenly notice him/her. = 1

29. The child has caused an object to relocate from one location to another without touching it [teleportation], or made it rise from the ground and move [telekenesis], solely by mental effort and intention. = 2

30. The child has been observed at least once to self-levitate (rise several inches or more above the ground), whether intentionally or spontaneously, = 2

31. The child engages in actions, rituals or ceremonies of their own design which are intended to impart healing to a person, an animal, a plant, or a particular place on the Earth. = 1. [If the child has brought a completely-dead animal, plant, person, or ecological area back to life by such healing, then the score for this question = 5.]

32. The child has deliberately influenced time by causing an event, such as a road trip, to complete very rapidly (e.g., a 1-hour trip in ½ hour, without speeding up). = 1

33. The child has caused a lengthy event to occur in a brief time, by the clock; (e.g., in 15 minutes events stretch out so that everyone believes an hour had passed. = 1

34. The child can tell when a future event, (e.g., an earthquake, car accident, a fire ), is going to happen, warns others about the event, which then occurs. = 1

35. Sometimes at night the child’s consciousness/personality goes elsewhere, via out-of-body/astral travel), (even though the physical body remains in bed,) and returns later and reports experiences had elsewhere. = 1 [If visits the Star Visitors, = 2]

36. During waking state the child has traveled out-of-body to have experiences elsewhere. Those near the child merely note that s/he seemed “tuned out”. The child later returns with recollection of these experiences elsewhere. = 1

37. The child has served at times as a communication channel for off-planet intelligences, and has some awareness of which Star Visitor is speaking through him/her. = 2

38. The child reports visits by the Star Visitors (ET’s).= 1

39. The child’s parent(s) have had visits by the Star Visitors. = 1

40. The child reports that the Star Visitors are family from an earlier existence. = 2

41. The child has experienced at least one episode of sharing their mental space with a Star Visitor, who utilizes the child’s mind and body for limited periods to experience life on Earth. = 1

42. The child has demonstrated the capacity to summon one or more Star Visitors or their spacecraft (UFO) successfully, and they later show up as requested. = 1

43. The child is obsessed and driven with a sense of special mission on Earth, even if that mission is not yet entirely clear to the child at the present time. = 1

44. The child exercises unusual adult-like initiatives for the social good, (such as contacting their Senator or a television personality to present a plan for achieving peace in a specific situation); or, if an adult, uncharacteristically begins such world-healing activities. =1

45. The child reacts with an unusually intense positive recognition or emotion to realistic photos or drawings of Star Visitors in magazines, on television, or in a movie. = 1

46. The child after age 6 hardly ever gets serious flus or other illnesses that sweep through their classroom or neighborhood [increased infectious resistance], and heals extremely rapidly from cuts, fractures, and other injuries, or, some Star Kids go the alternate path: are extremely sensitive to environmental contaminants, the sensitivity expressed as allergies, and have low digestive tolerance for certain substances (for instance, cannot tolerate dairy products, are mildly allergic to even whole-wheat products, and find meat-eating repulsive) , or develop disorders (labeled as “Asperger’s”, ot “Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity”) which suggest an incompatibility between their neurological wiring and the nervous system of regular Humans. = 1.

47. The child has an unusual eye iris color, or iris pattern, or pupil shape, or overall eye configuration in the head. = 1

48. The child is drawn at an early age to a non-church natural spirituality which incorporates reverence for the Earth as a living organism/consciousness, the sacredness of life in all creatures great and small, and an awareness of the cosmic reach of life. = 1

49. The child, without any coaching, has a natural affinity for correctly using crystals, energetic stones, or other power objects to amplify psi energy, e.g., for healing purposes. = 1

50. The child has complained about wanting to “go home” elsewhere and feeling alienated from the coarseness of Earth society and typical human behaviors. = 1

51. The child is strongly drawn to other Star Kids, and they, too are also strongly drawn to and feel an affinity with the child as a Star Kid. = 1

52. Score only ONE of the following two Sub-Questions [(a) or (b)]: (a). The child does exceptionally well in school, easily mastering subjects without much or any study, is bored with the pace of instruction in most schools, and is comfortable in a learning environment well ahead of his age, (e.g., an elementary student taking high school classes, a high schooler doing college or graduate work, or a child bored in a Gifted School;) = 1[or] (b). The child is misunderstood by the school system, mislabeled “Attention Deficit Disorder” or “Learning Disability” (because s/he is bored, under-challenged, or put off by the “normal” children’s learning pace); or mislabeled “Hyperactivity Disorder” (because of fidgetiness in the classroom out of boredom, or because of their thoughts directed to more challenging subjects, or because the child is highly focused on a topic of interest and perseveres much longer than is considered “normal”); or mislabeled “Learning Disabled” (because s/he sees and points out the connections between the subject being taught and other subjects, (such as history-math-science-art connections) when the teacher only wants to hear about the one subject being taught.) = 1

53. The child has experienced a “Walk-In” or replacement of the original human (dying) personality by a new (off-world) personality, which takes on the existing body and continues the life, having memory of earlier years but with different abilities and personality = 1

54. The child has an unusually large bioelectromagnetic-photic field extending outward from their body, (e.g., over 3 feet [1 meter]), as measured by dowsing rods.= 1

If the child (or adult) scores 12 or above, please suggest to the parent that they contact Dr. Richard Boylan, Director, Star Kids Project©, about further information available on Star Kids or Star Seeds, and about a Workshop for them, families and friends, so that they can better understand the phenomena, grow more comfortable with their advanced abilities, and to meet other Star Kids and families, and clarify their Star Kid/Star Seed mission.

Richard Boylan, Ph.D., LLC

Seen at: http://www.drboylan.com/starkididqstnr.html

[yuniesan]

Glitter and Stardust - Chapter 50

Glitter and Stardust: (Cross Posted to WattPad )

Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Riley Matthews got the shock of her life when she realized that her best friend Maya Hart had feelings for the boy Riley had been in love with since middle school. Instead fighting for the love her Lucas Friar, Riley stepped back so that her friend would have the chance at a relationship with him. The only problem was that Riley was hurting on the inside. Riley decides to hop onto the first train the Philadelphia to go see her Uncle Josh in hopes of gaining perspective on where she should stand in the relationships between the two people she cares about the most. Or will this trip cause more heartache for her?

Chapters [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [8.5] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [27.1] [27.2] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47] [48] [49]

Chapter 50 – Second Anniversary

When Riley woke up the next morning she was on top of Lucas’s bare chest, and although she remembered what they had done she felt completely embarrassed to wake up naked next to him. She was happy that he was still sleeping so it would give her a chance to find her clothes at least because her carry-on was still downstairs. As she looked around but she couldn’t figure out where Lucas had thrown her underwear. His pants and boxers were on the floor and her shirt was nearby, she decided she would have to wear that until she could get to her bag to look for a fresh set of clothes. As she moved forward off the bed she fell onto the floor head first, she hadn’t realized that her legs were tangled up in the sheets. She was half naked on the floor with the sheets tangled up to her waist.

“I’m such a spaz,” she mumbled.

“No you’re not,” Lucas said. “But why are you trying to get out of bed, lets sleep in. It’s our anniversary.”

Riley looked down at her bare chest and quickly started pulling the sheet towards herself to cover up. “Lucas, I can’t be naked all day. We have to get back to Philly.”

“Yeah I know it’s just that I don’t want to move,” he said.

She knew he still felt sadness in his heart but they couldn’t leave their lives behind, they had scholarships. But she also knew that he needed the time to mourn the loss.

“Sorry about what happened,” she said looking around at the room for the first time. Before she had only looked at the clothes but now it was a different story. “Um Lucas is this… um…”

“Yes, it’s Pappy Joe’s room, and no before you freak out he didn’t die in this bed. He died in the barn,” Lucas said as he pulled himself closer to the edge of the bed. When his head popped out over the side Riley couldn’t help but feel tears in her eyes. “Don’t cry,” he put his arms around her. “I’ve felt enough sadness over the last few weeks and honestly I just want to feel happiness for once. I know he would have wanted that too, in fact he told me so.”

“What do you mean he told you?”

“Well…” Lucas told her about the letter that Pappy Joe had left him, and about how stupid he had been staying in Texas for so long. He told her about how he felt lost, and about how Pappy Joe had left him the farm and his parents the house, but they decided to leave it for him.

“Does that mean that you want to stay here?” she asked him afraid of what he would say.

“No, Riley I’m not staying. The farm will run itself and maybe one day I would love to live here but for now I just want to finish school and be with you.”

She let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding inside, she was afraid of losing him. “Lucas, I have a compromise for you, if we finish school and I get through medical school I will do my residency here in Texas so you can run the farm, but this… is… um I sort of ten-year plan. I want to go to med school in New York to be close to our parents for a little while, and when I finish we could move down here, raise our family, run the farm.”

“That sounds like a plan,” he smiled at her. “How long have you been thinking about this anyway?”

“When you didn’t come back after the funeral, I waited for you, and waited, and waited. I got scared that you wouldn’t come back so I started thinking that maybe you never wanted to go back, and I didn’t want to be apart so I started making plans in my head.”

He kissed her head and looked into her eyes, “You’re the best person in the world you know that.”

“It’s not that I try to be, it just comes naturally when you want to hold onto something that’s special in your heart.”

“I also came up with a plan, it’s not as detailed as yours but it’s still a plan,” he said sliding down to the floor next to her.

“Let me hear your master plan,” she said as she laid her head on his shoulder.

“Let’s get married for real, not wait until graduation but get married on Christmas since it’s the best time to be a Riley,” he smiled at her.

“My dad would flip out if we did that,” she told him thinking about how her parents would react to her just having sex but marriage on top of that they would freak out completely. “But,” she started before Lucas could say anything. “I will.”

“Really,” he smiled at her, like a thousand stars had exploded around him and showered them with their blessings.

“This Christmas is going to be perfect,” she smiled before kissing him. “But first we have to get back to Philly, you’ve missed too much school and you have to make up some time you’ve missed with me.”

“Let’s get dressed and head to the airport,” he said as he stood, the sheets wrapped around his waist like a toga. Riley couldn’t help but smile, everything was changing so quickly but she knew it was for the better. She felt nothing but happiness as she stood up and walked downstairs to grab her clothes.

They rode to the airport in a cab, Riley held onto Lucas’s hand the whole time wondering if she was dreaming about what had happened. Would she wake up in their room alone hugging his pillow hoping that it would still smell like him? She wanted it to be real and she felt that if she closed her eyes it would be a dream. They couldn’t get a flight until late Sunday morning but when they arrived at their little apartment a few hours later she knew it was the best day of her life because it had been real. They both fell asleep as soon as they got inside, when Riley woke up Monday morning alone, she was afraid that it had been a dream except for a note from Lucas saying that he went to work.

She jumped out of bed and skipped towards the bathroom only to stop when she saw Maya sitting on top of the toilet seat staring at the wall.

“Maya are you okay?” she asked worried that something was wrong. Maya just looked at her and started crying. “Peaches what’s wrong? Why are you in my apartment?”

“I’m late,” Maya said after crying for another minute.

“Maya you don’t have to be worried about being late for class, just send the professor an email.”

“No Riles, I mean my period is late. I don’t know how this could have happened Josh and I are always safe but I realized this morning that I hadn’t gotten my period and it’s six weeks late.”

“Oh,” Riley said as the realization hit her. “Okay first things first, you have to take a pregnancy test, and you have to tell Josh, and you should probably wash those tears off of your face. Remember you’re a fierce warrior.”

Maya laughed at Riley before getting up to wash her face. Riley ran to her room and threw on some clothes before running back out to the bathroom to wash up herself. Leaving Maya in her room she left to go to the nearby drug store to grab a pregnancy test. By the time she got back she realized that she was going to be late for her class only to check her email on her phone to remember that it was a holiday and she didn’t have class. She had caught a lucky break and she knew it.

“Okay Maya off you go just read the instructions and do what it says,” Riley said setting the box down on her nightstand. “Maya come on Peaches, just go to the bathroom and read the instructions, it’s not that hard.”

Maya nodded and stood up walking to the bathroom. Riley brought back four boxes, and each on had two inside. She had given Maya only one box hoping that was all she would need. After a few minutes Maya opened the door and stood in the doorway.

“It says to give it a few minutes,” she whispered.

“Okay… um, when it’s done I’ll check the results and we will know for sure okay?” Riley said putting a timer on her phone

Maya nodded and started pacing back and forth, Riley just followed her with her eyes not knowing what to do. Everyone she loved was going through one crisis or another. When the time went off Maya ran to the bathroom, Riley went after her only to see her best friend slumped over on the toilet.

“What am I going to do?” Maya said, Riley took the test and saw the two lines and took the second test and saw the same thing.

“Maya this isn’t the end of the world you know,” Riley said hoping that she would be able to get through to her friend.

“Are you kidding me you saw what happened to my mother when she married my dad, if it wasn’t for luck I wouldn’t have gotten a chance to have Shawn as my dad now. I don’t want that to happen to me. I don’t want Josh to leave me.”

“Maya listen to me,” Riley said pulling her crying best friend towards her. “Josh loves you, he told me a million times in the last two years.”

Maya collapsed in Riley’s arms and started crying until she couldn’t cry anymore, Riley laid her on the bed and covered her with a throw she had for when she took naps. Walking out into the living room she did the only thing she could think of and sent a text message to Josh for him to come over as soon as possible. When Josh showed up at her door frantic she pulled him in knowing that she would have to explain everything as fast as she could.

“Riley what’s wrong? I was picking up the ring, I was going to propose tonight,” he said when he saw the look on Riley’s face. “What’s wrong?”

“You have to talk to Maya,” was the only thing she could say.

Riley walked Josh to her bedroom and let him in, she stood in the doorway watching as Josh sat down on the bed and looked at Maya’s tear stained face. He shook her trying to wake her up, it took a couple of tries before she woke up but as soon as she did she started crying again.

“Maya what’s wrong?” he asked between her broken sobs. “Love, you have to tell me so I can help you, I don’t know what to do.”

Maya was still crying when she handed the positive pregnancy test to Josh before trying to pull away, instead Josh pulled her close and put his arms around her.

“Maya, not matter what happens I will always be there for you, and for this little baby,” he said hugging her close to his chest. “I’m not leaving you, I’m not your father. I love you more than anything I could ever have imagined.”

“But why?” Maya hiccupped.

“Because you have a heart that embraces change whether good or bad, you have the biggest capacity for love as anyone I have ever known, and you love me someone who has constantly pushed you away thinking that it was for your own good when it hurt us both the most. You’re a strong person, someone who has had to go through a lot in her life to be able to appreciate the little things, like tacos and the friends and family who are close to you. How your art can bring life to the world around you, and even to those little kids that you will one day teach and even the kids we will have. I won’t leave you remember that, because you have my heart and if I leave I wouldn’t know how I could live without you next to me.”

When he finished Maya stopped crying and looked at his eyes, Riley knew that her best friend had finally found the ultimate happiness. Something that she had looked for all of her life, she no longer needed to hold herself together because she had so many people around her who truly loved her.

“Maya Penelope Hart,” Josh said standing up from the bed. “I was going to wait until tonight to do this but now is the best time to offer you forever,” he kneeled down on one knee never taking his eyes off of Maya. Pulling out a small wooden box and opening it to reveal a small diamond engagement ring. “I went to New York to get your mother’s permission, and I even got Shawn’s so now I just need your permission. Can you make me the happiest man in the world and become my wife?”

Maya looked at Josh and looked at Riley who stood at the door watching everything that was happening. Maya smiled at Josh and nodded as more tears began to fall down her face. Riley was smiling at her best friend who was about to become her aunt, and give her a niece or nephew someday. Maya was officially going to be her family.

Riley walked out of the room to give the two of them some privacy, she walked into the kitchen and took out a glass to get something to drink. She heard the front door slam, as she looked towards the sound she saw Lucas’s smiling face coming towards her. She smiled at him and told him about everything that had happened, the only thing she hadn’t been able to do was tell Maya and Josh that she was getting married to Lucas on Christmas day. That would have to wait until another day.

[pinguinalakadabra]

how to get fit as a teenager

How to Get Fit As a Teenager.

Your body will grow and change during your teen years. So, during this period of your life, it’s important to keep physically fit and develop healthy dietary and exercise habits. If you’d like to increase your level of fitness, start by eating a healthy diet. Try to spend less time lounging around or watching TV, and be active for at least one hour a day. If you’d like to start taking your fitness more seriously as a teen, you can even join a gym or put together an at-home workout plan.

Method 1 Improving Your Diet. 1. Stick with foods that give you a healthy, balanced diet. The first—and most important—part of staying fit as a teen is a proper diet. Avoid unhealthy meals, including most processed foods and fast food. Instead, focus on eating plenty of dairy and proteins to help you grow. These can include milk, yogurt, chicken, beef, fish, and beans or tofu. If you (like most teens) still live at your parents’ house, ask them to help with your diet. Ask them to buy healthy snacks and to serve non-processed, whole foods for meals. 2. Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits. Veggies and fruits should form a significant part of your daily diet. Aim to eat four servings of fruits and five servings of vegetables each day. For example, have a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice and a handful of berries with breakfast, a side salad and an apple with lunch, and a serving of cooked vegetables with dinner. Fruits and vegetables provide healthy sugars (much better than the sugars added to many processed foods) and fiber that your body needs. 3. Eat foods that give you calcium and iron. These two minerals are crucial for teens’ growing bodies. Plan to consume at least 1300 milligrams of calcium a day, which means drinking plenty of milk and eating dairy products, including hard cheeses and yogurt. Iron is especially important for young women. Iron is found in many foods, including beans, nuts, beef, pork, poultry, and eggs. If you are trying to cut back on sugar, then you might consider including whole milk rather than skim or 1% milk because whole milk has less sugar than lighter versions. 4. Consume foods with vitamins, minerals, and fiber. It’s important for teens to get vitamins through their diet. Vitamins encourage healthy growth and are valuable parts of overall fitness. Fiber will keep your digestive tract healthy and will also help you feel full, since fibrous food takes up room in your stomach and breaks down slowly. Find fiber in foods like celery and beans. Find vitamin A in eggs, dairy products, and dark-colored leafy greens. B vitamins are commonly found in meats and fish, and vitamin C can be consumed in citrus fruits, berries, and tomatoes. Healthy minerals can be found in foods like broccoli, potatoes, and citrus fruits (potassium); red meat, chicken, and seafood (zinc and phosphorous); and whole grains and nuts (magnesium). In addition to finding important vitamins in the foods you eat, you can take a daily multivitamin pill. This will supplement your diet and help you get the nutrients you need. 5. Hydrate by drinking six to eight glasses of fluids each day. Your body needs plenty of water and other fluids to function well. This is especially true if you’re increasing your daily activity levels or if you’re starting an exercise regimen. Keep hydrated with water, fruit juices, tea, and other healthy options. Avoid soft drinks and energy drinks. 6. Eat healthy snacks in between meals. Your teen years are the time in your life when you will grow the most, so when your stomach does grumble, don’t reach for a slice of cake or a packet of chips. Try healthy snacks like yogurt, fruit, or smoothies instead. Don’t worry if you’re often hungry; increasing exercise and activity will increase your appetite.

Method 2 Staying Active Daily. 1. Be active for at least one hour every day. An hour of daily activity will help you become more fit, and cut back on negative effects from a slow-paced lifestyle. You don’t have to visit a gym or take up a sport to be active. Try walking or riding your bike to a friend’s house instead of driving, or visiting a local pool and swimming after school. Increasing your daily activity has various health benefits. One hour of daily activity on most days of the week will reduce stress, gain energy, and reduce risk for certain diseases. 2. Get involved in a sport or active after-school activity. Sports and athletic group activities are great ways to increase your daily activity level and boost fitness as a teen. If you enjoy athletic participation, try out for your middle or high school’s intramural teams. Or, find an active after-school club you could join, like a swim team. The activity you choose doesn’t have to be a conventional team sport like football or basketball. If you have an interest, you could try other activities like gymnastics, horseback riding, skateboarding, or karate. 3. Join a gym or sign up for an exercise class. These options will help keep you active and can even help you transform your body by providing regular exercise and periods of activity in a fun, social setting. Look into nearby gyms that hold popular types of exercise classes in the afternoon or evening, so you could attend after school. If you’re not interested in more traditional gym or exercise classes, check out other types of physical group activity, including Zumba or Pilates and martial arts. 4. Walk or bike to school. If you live close enough to your school that you can safely walk or bike there in a reasonable about of time (say, under 30 minutes), try to build this into your weekly plans. A 30-minute walk to school will take care of half of your daily activity time, and will help your health by raising your heart rate and working out leg muscles. If you have a part-time job after school or on the weekends, walk or bike to this too. 5. Take a short walk during school breaks. If you have a 15-minute passing period or 45-minute lunch break during your school day, take a quick walk during this time. This will help boost your fitness and activity levels. Or, if your school has stairs, then go up and down the stairs a few times. In the evenings, do the same thing during your time devoted to homework. Take one or two 15-minute breaks and spend this time walking or jump roping or go for a quick jog. Don’t feel like you need to wait until you have hours of free time to start being active. 6. Limit screen time to two hours a day. Many teens spend hours a day watching TV or movies and playing video games. These activities will harm your fitness level and can lead to weight gain. Limit your screen time to two hours (or fewer) every day. This will give you more time for physical activities. You can even build activities into your screen time. If your parents have an elliptical machine, walk on that while watching a movie. Or, try doing lunges during every commercial break of your favorite show.

Method 3 Putting Together a Workout Plan. 1. Start an at-home exercise routine. Consider putting together a basic routine to boost your fitness level. Whether or not you have access to a gym, start with the basics at home: push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups and, if you have access to weights, basic squats, curls, and bench presses. If you’re not sure of where to begin—what exercises to include in your routine, what weights to lift, etc.—talk to your gym coach or check online for teen weight-training recommendations. 2. Warm up and cool down before and after your workout. Before each workout, start with about 10 minutes of mild stretches. Warming up helps prevent injury and can help to maximize the calories burnt during your entire workout. Similarly, if you take the time to taper off your workout with cooling-down stretches you will feel less taxed when you are done. Over time, if you find that you enjoy running, think about joining a cross country team. 3. Exercise with a friend. Find a friend who also wants to be active during the week and exercise with them. You can also ask members of your family (siblings, cousins, even parents) if they’d like to exercise with you. It’ll be easier to stay motivated to be fit if you have a friend or family member to exercise with and who can provide moral support. Having a friend to support you will make you more likely to stick with your exercise regime.

Community Q&A. Question : How can you stay fit if you are busy all the time? Answer : Juggling school and homework, and possibly a part-time job, can leave you feeling too busy to stay fit. Staying fit is a commitment to a lifestyle of eating healthy and fitting in activity whenever you can. If you feel stressed about staying fit, try writing down priorities to help you find the time you need. If you miss a day of running because you are studying for a test, this is ok. Just know that you will run the next week or after your test. You can plan your workouts around your homework...maybe take push-up breaks while you are studying. Every little activity counts! Question : How old do you have to be to do this? Answer : Getting fit and staying fit can start at any age and optimally should continue into your older years! Although this information is geared toward a teen, eating healthy and getting more activity into your life is important no matter how old you are. If you are younger than a teen, you can talk to your parents about what fruits and vegetables are best for you.

Tips. Be creative and have fun with the types of activities you do on a daily basis. Try Dance Revolution, Wii Fit, swimming, horseback riding, water polo, dancing, or going to a gymnasium! Listen to music; it will not only help boost confidence, but it will also keep you motivated.

Warnings. If an exercise that you’re doing is painful, stop doing it. If you experience severe pain after exercising, or pain out of proportion with the amount of exercise you’re doing, notify your doctor of the problem. Avoid skipping meals, and never deliberately deprive yourself of food. While it can be tempting to cut that many calories from your diet all at once, it’s unhealthy for your body. If you’re concerned that you’re performing an exercise incorrectly, talk to your athletic coach or check out an online tutorial to see how the exercise is performed correctly. To stay fit and healthy as a teen, avoid smoking and underage alcohol consumption. Smoking especially is terrible for your health and alcohol can have negative health effects too.

[kennethherrerablog]

Here’s How Much it Cost One Woman to Fund Her Drug Abuse, Then Get Sober

The first time Amanda McKiernan took drugs intravenously, she was sitting on the edge of her then-boyfriend’s bed. At 21, she was nervous but ready for a stronger high.

She had used opioids in the past but had stuck to swallowing the pale blue, 30mg Roxicodone pills whole or snorting them crushed. This was different.

“It was an overwhelming, foreign feeling,” McKeirnan, now 30, told The Penny Hoarder. “This really strong drug just hits you all of a sudden. You just feel it throughout your whole body. I remember panicking for a minute.

“It passes, but then that feeling is what it becomes about,” she added. “That’s the feeling you’re trying to get to. It’s terrifying at first, but then that’s all you’re after.”

It’s impossible to quantify everything McKiernan lost each time she got high in her 10 years of misusing drugs  — a relationship with her younger sister, lifelong friendships, the career in photography she dreamed of as a high schooler. It’s easier to measure those years, and her three years of sobriety since, in cash.

That high cost her $15.

Cough Syrup, Then Cocaine, Then Opioids

Her addiction didn’t start with opioids.

When McKiernan was a 14-year-old cheerleader, a friend told her if she took enough cough medicine, she’d feel a buzz. After that, it was marijuana.

By 16, she was using cocaine.

For her first six months on the drug, she and a friend would spend $60 on 1 gram of cocaine every Friday. That would be enough to last them the weekend.

By the end of her junior year of high school, that went up to 2 grams. Her senior year, it was 3 1/2 grams, or an “eight ball.” That would last them the week.

She and the friend she used with had their daily ritual: They both caught the bus to school, and whoever got there first would wait for the other in the bathroom near the art classrooms. They could usually count on that hallway being deserted.

The walls and floors in the small two-stall bathroom were covered in white tiles. The first stall was larger — big enough for both girls to fit inside.

“We definitely tried to make sure — if at all possible — that no one was in there. But if someone was, we would either flush the toilet or turn the sink on, so if we were snorting a line, they couldn’t hear it.”

They wouldn’t talk much in there. They had to be quick if they were going to make it to class. At lunchtime, they met up again — this time in the concrete outdoor bathroom near the cafeteria.

Estimating conservatively, McKiernan and her friend used more than $9,300 worth of cocaine during their final two years of high school.

That doesn’t include the money she spent on Parrot Bay rum nearly every weekend or the times she was short on cash and someone else would cover the cost. It doesn’t even include her summertime drug use, which was often more frequent but varied too widely to calculate.

To fund the drug abuse, McKiernan worked part time at a grocery store, and then at a pizza shop. Her friend worked as well, and the two split the cost of the drugs.

After high school, McKiernan’s drug use rose and fell depending on how much money she was making, and which friends she saw most often.

First, she stuck to cocaine. Then she tried meth and crack, but neither became a habit. Later, she tried muscle relaxers. By 21, her drug use grew to include heroin and powerful prescription painkillers.

Prescription opioids and illegal opioids like heroin caused more than 42,000 overdose deaths nationwide in 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. Last year, President Donald Trump said the ubiquitous cases of opioid addiction and deaths had become a national health emergency.

The first time McKiernan tried the Roxicodone pills, she balked at the $15-per-pill price tag.

But then, “I did it and it was so strong, and I thought, ‘This is why this costs so much money,’” McKiernan said.

Within a year, she was shooting up Roxicodone with the help of her boyfriend, who would eventually father her daughter Calie, now 8.

At Least $300 a Day on Drugs

By 22, McKiernan was a single mom to a 6-month-old daughter. She took a job as a dancer at a South Florida strip club.

There, she could make more than $1,000 in a single night. Suddenly flush with cash, McKiernan and her friends had more access to drugs.

She went from one pill at a time to buying 30 pills at once. At the time, that was only enough to last three days. Then she moved on to the Dilaudid pills, an even stronger opioid that cost her up to $30 each.

She spent two years taking between six and 10 Dilaudid pills a day.

While working at the strip club, McKiernan said she got close to one of her regulars, a wealthy South Florida businessman. Soon, she stopped going to the club, because he covered her expenses.

He rented her an apartment in a building near the beach. He bought her a series of high-end cars that she either wrecked or failed to maintain. And every time she saw him, he’d give her money that she would spend on drugs.

One weekend, he gave her $14,000 and she spent every penny of it on a hotel suite, drugs and alcohol for a party she had with a few friends.

On an average day, she spent about $300 on Roxicodone, Dilaudid or other drugs.

A conservative estimate of the cost of her regular drug abuse over the span of a decade is nearly $385,000.

That number does not include the amount she spent on alcohol or the periods she spent using less expensive street drugs. During those times, the cost of each drug and the length of time she used it varied too widely to come up with an accurate estimate.

Still, those costs were only slightly lower. When she was tight on cash and couldn’t afford the painkillers, she’d get heroin instead. That could cost between $80 and $120 a day.

Except for a few brief stints in rehab — one lasting 24 hours and the other 48 — that were each thwarted when the withdrawal symptoms kicked in, McKiernan didn’t give quitting a serious try until she was arrested in Martin County, Florida, with pills, marijuana and a crack pipe in her car in 2015.

She was 27 and faced a felony drug possession charge.

The Cost of Getting Sober

To avoid a felony conviction, McKiernan agreed to enroll in drug court, a substance abuse treatment program for first-time offenders. The agreement was that if she made it through the program successfully, her charges would be dismissed.

But as she soon learned, sobriety comes with costs, too.

McKiernan went through two rounds of drug court. The first lasted about four months. Each week, she had to pay $30 to cover the cost of mandatory drug testing and another $30 for counseling. If she missed or failed a drug test, she was off to jail.

That happened twice. The first time, she spent three nights in jail, and the second time it was two weeks.

“I used to pray for her to get arrested,” McKiernan’s mother, Pam, said. “If she’s in jail, she can’t do drugs. She won’t die.”

After being jailed the second time, McKiernan had two options left: Spend a court-ordered 10 months in a Pembroke Pines, Florida, rehabilitation facility for mothers fighting addiction or spend that time in jail.

She chose rehab, where she could be with her daughter.

For the next 10 months, McKiernan’s parents bore the brunt of the cost of their daughter’s addiction.

Every Friday, they drove the 90 miles south from their home in Hobe Sound, Florida, to Pembroke Pines to see McKiernan and pick up Calie. Then every Sunday, they would drive down again to bring Calie back to her mother. It cost about $45 in gas for the two round trips each weekend.

Over the span of 10 months, that’s $1,800 in gas alone.

On average, her parents spent another $100 a week paying for food and clothing for McKiernan and her daughter, while also making sure Calie had toys. That’s another $4,000.

But the thousands of dollars they spent in the 10 months McKiernan was in rehab was just the most recent of the expenses her parents took on from her addiction.

“The emotional part you can imagine,” Pam McKiernan said. “Lots of sleepless nights, lots of crying, lots of begging… But there’s the financial part, of course. We took care of Calie most of the time. So we had the extra expense of that.”

Before Amanda McKiernan went to rehab, most of the responsibility and the expense of child care for Calie fell on her parents’ shoulders. Day care alone cost between $85 and $120 each week for four years — more than $17,000 total.

Pam McKiernan estimates she and her husband spent at least an additional $10,000 helping to care for Calie and buying groceries for Amanda over the years.

And the expenses didn’t stop once McKiernan left rehab. She immediately had to begin her second round of drug court. That meant another six months of drugs tests and counseling sessions for $60 each week.

Her parents covered the cost for the first three months before McKiernan got a job at Dunkin’ Donuts. Her minimum wage pay was nothing compared to what she had pulled in as a dancer.

If she made that kind of money now, she probably wouldn’t be sleeping in a bottom bunk bed in her parents’ two-bedroom house. Her daughter sleeps on the top and her sister sleeps in a separate twin bed in the same room.

McKiernan said she visited her old strip club a couple times after she completed rehab and drug court.

“I would have to be high to work there, and I didn’t want to get high,” she said, making it clear that even if sobriety meant a financial setback, it was worth it.

The Lasting Costs Are Financial, Emotional

This summer, McKiernan was invited to speak to a group of people in drug court. Some were graduating, while others were just starting.

Among them was a graduate who managed to stay sober even after her sister’s overdose death and another just starting out who wasn’t sure if she’d be able to go without using for the next two weeks before her drug court officially began.

“I’m scared for them and their families,” McKiernan said after she spoke to the graduates who would no longer be required to take weekly court-ordered drug tests. “Tonight is going to be a hard night.”

For McKiernan, the past three years of sobriety have been about slowly forgiving herself, regaining the trust of her parents, rebuilding the relationship with her sister and making up for all the years she lost.

Weeks before her drug court speech, she quit her job at Dunkin’ Donuts. She graduated from a medical assisting program and got a new job that pays a bit better. She still can’t move out of her parents’ home yet, but that’s OK. She doesn’t want to rush things and get in over her head.

Her father is proud. He said he never thought he’d get to see her graduate from the medical assisting program. He couldn’t be happier about the change he’s seen in his oldest daughter.

The costs her parents bear now are minor in comparison to the years prior — their electric bill is a bit high because of the extra people at home.

But they don’t focus on that. Instead, they revel in having their daughter back. They work quickly to build up their retirement funds now that they have the money to do so.

“You don’t see the pain and the hurt that you’re causing while you’re in it,” McKiernan said. “Now, I have a kid. I would never want to go through what my parents went through — just not having any control and just wanting and wanting and wanting your kid back, and you can’t do anything about it.”

Occasionally, McKiernan will drive past where she was arrested or a place she used to use drugs. She has even crossed paths with her old dealer. He was happy to see her sober and didn’t try to offer her drugs.

These run-ins with her old life were tough at first. Now, they simply remind her of how far she has come.

If you or a loved one is in need of addiction treatment, click here to learn about affordable options.

Desiree Stennett (@desi_stennett) is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.

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Here’s How Much it Cost One Woman to Fund Her Drug Abuse, Then Get Sober published first on https://justinbetreviews.tumblr.com/

[suruxukuth]

[Quiz takes place in the new canon, days before escape.]

Quiz 2 [Retcon]

   1. Do you ever doubt the existence of others than you? Oh, we hit the ground running with this quiz! Actually, yes. Sometimes I feel like I'm a character in a video game. It helps with my line of work, honestly, when you don't think about targets as people.

   2. On a scale of 1-5, how afraid of the dark are you? Bitch I AM the dark.

   3. The person you would never want to meet? I don't know, I kind of met them all? I guess if Zra'ha isn't my mother, I might be kinda nervous to meet her (my mother). Who the fuck gives up their clearly awesome in every conceivable way twin boys?

   4. What is your favorite word? Huh ... is there one I use a lot? I know I'm slipping into some bad habits with slang-- oh, right. "Fuck"

   5. If you were a type of tree, what would you be? Do you remember the tree in the Charlie Brown Christmas Special? That's me. I am that tree.

   6. When you looked in the mirror this morning what was the first thing you thought? You stupid bitch, what the fuck are you doing? You're going to get everyone killed. Also, why do I want to punch myself in the face?

   7. What shirt are you wearing? Like, RIGHT now? None, and I'm too lazy to look and see what I'm going to be wearing in a sec.

   8. What do you label yourself as? Well I thought I was the protagonist ...

   9. Bright room or dark room? Bitch I AM a dark room.

   10. What were you doing at midnight last night? Getting fucked, probably.

   11. Favorite age you’ve been so far? Being six was fun, that was the least stressful year I've ever had in my fucking life.

   12. Who told you they loved you last? Ussta che.

   13. Your worst enemy? The fucking matron.

   14. What is your current desktop picture? Me, sliding across Bird's desk in a seductive pose while he works. I've knocked everything off the desk. Everything. I may have a rose in my mouth. Wait, what was the question again? Oh, I thought you meant a literal desk top.

   15. Do you like someone? This is kind of a stupid question, doesn't everyone like someone? Also, I'm married.

   16. The last song you listened to? That music sex Bird was listening to last night, holy shit.

   17. You can press a button that will make any one person explode. Who would you blow up? The matron, but that would be too quick.

   18. Who would you really like to just punch in the face? The matron, but that wouldn't be enough.

   19. If anyone could be your slave for a day, who would it be and what would they have to do? The matron, who would have to suck my dick non-stop. I'd just. Tie her under the desk and get real interested in doing paperwork too. You could make a goddamn scholar out of me yet.

   20. What is your best physical attribute? (showing said attribute is optional) My abs. :D My eyes, my hair, my ass ...

   21. If you were the opposite sex for one day, what would you look like and what would you do? Funny you should ask. Anyway, probably me, but female, and I spend six hours getting violently fucked by my husband who may or may not be actually turning into a monster each time he busts a nut. I then black out. I'm pretty sure he's still fucking me and I think I'm okay with that but I'm going to have to do some more soul searching to figure out what the fuck is wrong with me.

   22. Do you have a secret talent? If yes, what is it? None of my talents are secret, I'm a huge show off.

   23. What is one unique thing you’re afraid of? Ilhars. That answer hasn't changed from last time, so go ahead and look it up.

   24. You can only have one kind of sandwich. Every sandwich ingredient known to humankind is at your disposal. Obviously I'd get a sandwich with every ingredient known to humankind and then dissect it and eat the individual parts over a long period of time. That's just being smart.

   25. You just found $100! How are you going to spend it? I have exactly no concept of money or how it works. Bribes, I guess?

   26. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere in the world, but you have to leave immediately. Where are you going to go? Is there a plane that flies underground? Because I need that shit if I'm getting out of this place.

   27. An angel appears out of Heaven and offers you a lifetime supply of the alcoholic beverage of your choice. “Be brand-specific” it says. Man! What are you gonna say about that? Even if you don’t drink booze there’s something you can figure out… so what’s it gonna be? I'd pull it's wings off, tape them to my back, and go cliff diving. Fuck if I know shit about alcohol, are you fucking serious? Also what the fuck kind of heaven is full of alcohol? That's the most boring, useless piece of trash I've ever heard. Heaven doesn't exist, and if it did, it'd be me watching over my husband and fucking smiting the shit out of people that get near him with goddamn lightening bolts. Then he dies and we snuggle on a fucking cloud or whatever until the end of time.

   28. You discover a beautiful island upon which you may build your own society. You make the rules. What is the first rule you put into place? If you sexually assault ANYONE I will mutilate your genitals and personally flay you alive, making sure you have enough toxin in you to keep you wide awake through the experience. You die when I let you.

   29. What is your favorite expletive? FUCK.

   30. Your house is on fire, holy shit! You have just enough time to run in there and grab ONE inanimate object. Don’t worry, your loved ones and pets have already made it out safely. So what’s the one thing you’re going to save from that blazing inferno? I'm wearing all my clothes, right? ... That's ... kind of the entirety of everything I own that I love? So I guess I'd go and see if I can grab something Bird wants. If he doesn't want or need anything, I guess I go in and save the preserved heart of my most hated enemy.

   31. You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be? That's actually a way tougher question than you might think. Does erasing it mean I only forget it, or that it never happens? If I only forget it, I'd want to erase my Zra'ha and I getting attacked last. If erasing it means it never happens, as fucked up as it sounds, I'd need to erase the engagement between Bird and Kora, that shit has kept me traumatized for years, and it would help serve to protect Bird as well, who is always my priority first. Zra'ha is tough, but Bird is ... well ... I get stuff stuck in my head a lot, and it's always been about Bird getting hurt this way, and it's the one thing that makes me want to stab myself in the guts until I finally get it out of my head.

   32. You got kicked out of the country for being a time-traveling heathen who sleeps with celebrities and has super-powers. But check out this cool shit… you can move to anywhere else in the world! Who the hell wrote this quiz? A four year old? I wouldn't fucking bother with sleeping with celebrities, for one, that sounds fucking creepy as hell. Also I don't fucking care about anywhere else in the world, I just want out of HERE.

   33. The Celestial Gates Of Beyond have opened, much to your surprise because you didn’t think such a thing existed. Death appears. As it turns out, Death is actually a pretty cool entity, and happens to be in a fantastic mood. Death offers to return the friend/family-member/person/etc. of your choice to the living world. Who will you bring back? Well hello there handsome stranger that I absolutely do not know or find familiar what-so-ever. Sorry, but nobody I know is dead right now. Could you give me a rain-check? I want my fucking husband back.

   34. What was your last dream about? Getting fucked by mythological monsters.

   35. Are you a good….[insert anything you’d like here]? In bed? Fuck no, I just got pounded like that side of beef in Rocky. I LITERALLY only just experienced sex like, twenty four hours ago for the first time. I don't know what the hell I'm doing. At least getting fucked means I probably don't need to figure that shit out immediately.

   36. Have you ever been admitted to the hospital? Nah, but my husband is a doctor, so every day is like me being in the hospital.

   37. Have you ever built a snowman? No, do you wanna?

   38. What is the color of your socks? Realistically speaking I should be wearing socks so my feet don't get blistered in my boots, but I don't think anyone really cares for being super realistic, so ... no.

   39. What type of music do you like? Metal, Jpop/Kpop, Rock...

   40. Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets? You know, I bet I answered this before... Oh, I didn't? Okay, uh... sun... ...set. Seems like that's the more romantic one? Or maybe sunrise-- actually yeah, I like that better. That means we stayed up all night.

   41. What is your favorite milkshake flavor? I don't know? Chocolate? I've had so few sweet things in my life that I don't really have a preference.

   42. What football team do you support? (I will answer in terms of American football as well as soccer) The fuck is this? I don't care.

   43. Do you have any scars? No, but I bet'cha I'm gonna just from my sex life.

   44. What do you want to be when you graduate? I've literally never attended a day of school in my life, except when I went with Bird, but he was the one doing the "school work", not me.

   45. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? My height! Also maybe the length of my

   46. Are you reliable? When it comes to assassinations? Yes. When it comes to dealing with stress? No.

   47. If you could ask your future self one question, what would it be? What's it like not existing anymore, bitch?

   48. Do you hold grudges? No, of course not, but I swear on my life that I will hold the heart of my greatest enemy in my hand before my life has ended. By which I mean yes I fucking hold grudges. I hold them closer than I hold my own fucking husband.

   49. If you could breed two animals together to defy the laws of nature, what new animal would you create? Well my husband associates with birds (obviously) but he's also revealed a more wolf-ish side, so ... can I get me a winged devil wolf? I don't care if it's black or white.

   50. What is the most unusual conversation you’ve ever had? Oh, probably a bunch. I guess right now it's when Bird had to stop us in the middle of sex to try to explain some stuff about basic sex ed. I felt embarrassed, because I kinda knew that part and I was referring to something else, but I didn't exactly have the heart to correct him and just went with it.

   51. Are you a good liar? Apparently!

   52. How long could you go without talking? Three seconds on a slow day.

   53. What has been you worst haircut/style? When we were younger, one time when Bird was really, REALLY stressed, I tried shaving it super short because I know my naturally messy hair kind of pisses him off. It was the dumbest goddamn thing I ever did and I looked like a fucking idiot. He ended up having to fix it because it was so uneven. On the bright side, he stopped freaking out. After that I spent like a half a year miserable and looking like an army rookie.

   54. Have you ever baked your own cake? No, but that sounds like it could be fun.

   55. Can you do any accents other than your own? I'm working on my common accent, actually. I guess that'd be "English" for some people.

   56. What do you like on your toast? I kind of prefer it dry, actually.

   57. What is the last thing you drew a picture of? I've been trying to teach myself how to draw by tracing my manga so I can draw pictures of me and Bird. It's ... not going well. I should stick to daggers.

   58. What would be you dream car? I don't know, one with wheels that's really low to the ground and kind of pointed in the front?

   59. Do you sing in the shower? Or do anything unusual in the shower? Explain. I don't have to explain my masturbation to you, you dirty fucker. Also we don't own a shower and I don't jack off. I might get familiar with my new anatomy though. Like, real familiar.

   60. Do you believe in aliens? Aren't aliens basically just sky mutants?

   61. Do you often read your horoscope? We don't actually have horoscopes down here. No stars to really be born under, you know?

   62. What is your favorite letter of the alphabet? D. Because of this: 8===D

   63. Which is cooler: dinosaurs or dragons? Uh, dragons, duh?

   64. What do you think about babies? I'm going to start crying, I'm so happy and so fucking scared right now. I feel better knowing Bird's onboard, though, I was kind of worried about whether or not he'd even be interested, but it turns out he REALLY is. I hope that means he'll love it as much as I do. I hope it makes him happy.

   65. Freebie! Ask anything interesting you can think of. Oh, I get to ask a question now? Uh. Okay. I'm just kind of screaming into the void, though. What is the one thing you want most in the entire universe? It can be literally anything. It can be material, immaterial, it can be a power, or the ability to change an event, something on a cosmic or divine level, etc.

[spiritualgravity]

The day I left.

A few months back, I shared a story with my husband that fascinated me. A friend from high school, who I reconnected with over Facebook, told me that once a month, she leaves her home and checks into a hotel. It’s usually out of town, too. She’ll get in the car, and drive a few hours to a city she’s never visited before. The twist? She’s a Mother of two girls and is married. 

She literally leaves, escapes, for mental health. Once a month. By herself. To sleep. And to do whatever a Wife and Mother of two girls does by herself for an evening in a hotel room.

I thought that was the most brilliant idea, EVER. And when she told me this admirable life-saving monthly decision, I was pregnant and had absolutely, unequivically no clue how monumental this idea actually is for a stay-at-home parent, much less any parent at all.

Fast forward to 2018, Mother’s Day arrived. One would think I gloated from all of the “First” Mother’s Day attention messages, cards and texts. Soaking up the well wishes and getting to wear an invisible crown for the day. My sweet husband spoiled me with two dozen roses and special jewelry from our favorite shop. Instead though, I was a hot, hot mess. I cried countless times. And I didn’t really know why in the moment. I think in retrospect it’s because deep down at a subconscious level, all I truly wanted in the depths of my core was some time to myself. To sleep, uninterrupted. To not only take a shower, but a long shower. To pamper myself at the salon. I realize that time is now priceless and always will be from this point forward.

I guess when you’re going through the thick of being a new parent, particularly to an award-winning challenging baby, you’re sorta just, numb. You go through the motions, trying your best, trying to forgive yourself for all of your mistakes. For saying things at 3 o’clock in the morning that absolutely mortify you. Your marriage suffers. Your undereye bags suffer. You just...get by and push through the suffering. That’s what I have been doing. 

Surviving the suffering. And Mother’s Day inadvertently caused me to look in the rear view mirror and face all of it.

My daughter turns 8 months old tomorrow. Day one through month 5 were...

I can’t even type the words because I don’t want to appear ungrateful for the gift of being a Mother. But I’ll just say it, they were awful. She wouldn’t sleep, she wouldn’t be placed down in any contraption, she was up every 2 hours breastfeeding throughout the night vs. stretching out longer feeding periods like “normal” babies do {and the word “normal” is a joke, I realize}, she was fussy, colicky, and generally unhappy. She hated car rides, and took 30 minute naps. She had countless allergies that forced me to cut out countless foods as her sole source of nutrition. 

It was awful, yes — pretty much all of it. My clinical postpartum depression sucked me dry from the inside-out. I generally consider myself a warrior. I am competitive, I like to do good at whatever I put my heart into, I am disciplined, and try to make myself proud. But the depression was a dark cloud. The depression was just a disguise for sleep deprivation. By the grace of God, a sleep coach entered our lives and she saved us. Our daughter learned how to sleep {literally}, and she’s been relatively happy for the past three months.

I generally stick to reading non-fiction books, and have fantasized about being a published non-fiction book author for several decades. The one and only fiction author I have followed is Emily Giffin. She wrote a book that was made into a movie, “Something Borrowed.” I registered for a women’s blogging conference years ago in Atlanta just to meet her {and I did, and it was awesome}. I learned that she checks herself into a hotel when she’s on deadline to finish her books. Ever since I learned this insight about her, I fantasized about writing a book in a hotel room. Locking the door for 48-72 hours, drinking delicious red wine, and ordering room service.

My original excuse was that I didn’t have time to write, I was too busy. Then I quit my full-time job and became an entrepreneur — my new excuse was that my original book topic was outdated and I needed a new one. Now I have a baby and she’s my new excuse. 

And I suppose I shouldn’t be so hard on myself this time around because now I literally don’t have time. To take a shower. To go to the gym. To eat a meal sitting down. To go to sleep, and wake up, whenever I want. To pretty much do anything that I used to do daily and took it for granted. 

There is no more free time, ever. Breastfeeding has been all-encompassing. It is something I have been incredibly passionate about since staying up reading literature on my phone for hours on end {while breastfeeding} about the mindblowing benefits to babies. But it came with challenges from the start. Inverted nipples that required a miniature plunger to perk them up for her first week of life in order to eat? I didn’t see that one coming. A baby who is lazy and doesn’t eat much unless it’s in a bottle? Drops in milk production whenever I was acutely stressed? 

At her 4-month Pediatrician’s vist, we were advised to feed her an ADDITIONAL 1-3 ounces in a bottle to “top her off” as she was underweight {per the pressure cooker 1 in 100 average baby weight guidelines that can make a breastfeeding Mother feel inadequate and like a shitty failure}. This meant that after every single solitary breastfeeding session, I had to then immediately pump for 20-30 minutes. I couldn’t store or freeze the pumped milk, I had to turn around and put it right back in her belly through a bottle. I would have been happy to use formula at this point to nourish my child, and save my sanity, but her soy, egg and dairy allergies made that nearly impossible. I was trapped. I already felt like a prisoner in my own home with a colicky baby who screamed bloody murder in a motor vehicle, but now I was strapped up to the damn breastpump around the clock.

In some of my lowest moments, half asleep and delusional, I had visions of leaving. Laying down in the back seat of my car and sleeping. Not actually leaving the driveway, but just temporarily escaping to pretend I didn’t have to personally be responsible for keeping her alive for more than three-to-four hours at a time. On three occassions, I’ve had 24-48 hour out of town excursions in eight months, and everytime leading up to the trip, it was like I was training for a milk marathon, trying to pump extra-extra above and beyond what I already was just to keep her alive while I was gone. I understood why the average woman I’ve chatted with stopped breastfeeding after six weeks.

All I know is, this baby hasn’t been sick one time since her birth day. Sure she’s been a prison cellmate with me in our home together, but I’d like to think that my magical milk has been a contributing factor {at least I tell myself that to ease the pain}.

Today was a pivotal day. I checked myself into a hotel.

My daughter is evidently going through some kind of 8-month sleep regression because her baby brain is growing at warp speed and teeth are piercing through her top gums with vengence. She still feeds once a night, anywhere between 2 a.m.-4 a.m., which I was hoping to phase out soon — since according to a professional sleep coach — baby girl is 100% ready to do so. However, instead, she’s done a 180 degree tap dance in the opposite direction. Last night she woke up at least 6 times — twice to eat and the others were simply random, unexplainable cry fests. 

Meanwhile, my adult brain has felt hungover all day today, but I haven’t had a drop of alcohol to drink. I am so exhausted, it physically hurts. I haven’t had a decent night’s sleep since my second trimester pregnant. My husband overheard me crying to a friend on the phone. A bit later while he was gone out of the house, he texted, “Would you like to get a hotel room tonight and I’ll take care of the baby? I can’t stand seeing you so upset. I haven’t seen you genuinely happy and smiling in too long.”

My heart simultaneously sank, and soared. The text was both disturbing and comforting. That my husband believes I’m unhappy; that breaks my heart. And it’s incredible that he remembered the hotel story; that makes my heart swell.

I drove 4.8 miles away from our home after we put the baby to bed, and will be sleeping solo in a King size bed, on the executive floor, and so far have been treated pretty damn good thanks to my husband’s Hilton Gold Status, thank you very much. 

Forget showering. Have I envisioned myself covered in a bubble bath many-a-times? Yes. For tonight’s escapade, did I strategically pack Epsom salt and bath oils in Ziploc bags? Yes. Did my hotel room only have a stand-up shower? Yes. Did I laugh out loud? Yes. Have I been pumping while typing this blog post with my elbows at a 45-degree angle? Duh.

Serendipity is something I whole-heartedly believe in. Earlier today I received an email from my girl Emily {Giffin}. Are you ready for this? She’s releasing another book, ha! I wonder how many Hilton rewards points she has by now.

Also, today, the fancy-schmancy, lactose & chemical-free, stupid-expensive formula made in Germany arrived on our doorstep for the first time. My breasts took a collective sigh of relief to have some tag-team partners on deck.

I think it’s safe to say that today, the Universe conspired to give me a get out of jail free card. And for that, I am grateful. 

[lostbellyfatguid-blog]

Lose Belly Fat Quickly

Let’s face it: that marshmallowy middle you’re sporting didn’t get there overnight. Stressful days at the office, indulging in one-too-many cheat meals, or finding excuses to skip a day, week, or month’s worth of workouts are all making it easy to pack on the pounds and making it difficult to get them off.

Watching that extra junk around your trunk turn your body into a full-blown Buddha belly puts you at an increased risk for heart disease, diabetes, and early death. Luckily, losing the weight doesn’t have to take forever; with these 22 belly fat-fighting tips, you can shave two inches off your waistline in as little as two weeks. Think your age will stand in the way of your weight loss? The 20 Ways to Lose Your Belly When You’re Older will help folks of any age get on track to their best body ever.

1

Start Your Day Early

Don’t let extra hours lounging in bed stand between you and a flatter belly. While getting enough sleep can help boost your metabolic rate, sleeping in may undo any benefit you’d enjoy from catching a few extra winks. One study reveals that late sleepers who snoozed past 10:45 in the morning ate nearly 250 more calories over the course of the day, despite eating half as many fruits and vegetables as their early bird counterparts. Even worse, they chowed down on more salty, sugary, and trans fat-laden fast food than those who woke up earlier. If you happen to head out of the house early, you’re in for an additional metabolic boost; researchers at Northwestern University have found that people exposed to just a short period of early morning sunlight had lower BMIs than their late-waking counterparts.

2

Bring on the Berries

Instead of satisfying your sweet tooth with some refined sugar, turn to berries and enjoy a slimmer waistline in no time. Berries are loaded with antioxidants, which can help reduce inflammation throughout the body, and research from the University of Michigan reveals that rats given a berry-rich diet shaved off a significant proportion of their belly fat when compared to a control group. Berries like strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries are also loaded with resveratrol, an antioxidant pigment that has been linked to reductions in belly fat and a reduced risk of dementia, to boot.

3

Skip the Hydrogenated Oils

Those trans fats on your menu are hiding out in plain sight and sabotaging your lean belly plans every time you eat them. If a food product says it contains partially hydrogenated oils, you’re eating trans fat, which can increase your risk of heart disease, high cholesterol, and obesity with every bite. In fact, research conducted at Wake Forest University reveals that monkeys whose diets contained eight percent trans fat upped their body fat by 7.2 percent over a six-year study, while those who ate monounsaturated fat gained just a fraction of that amount. Instead of letting harmful trans fat take up space on your menu, fill up with the 20 Healthy Fats to Make You Thin.

4

Switch to Sprouted Bread

While it’s often assumed that bread is off-limits when you’re trying to lose belly fat, the right bread may actually expedite the process. Switching to sprouted bread can help out carb-lovers eager to get their fix without going up a belt size, thanks to the inulin content of sprouted grains. The results of a study published in Nutrition & Metabolism reveal that found that pre-diabetic study subjects whose diets were supplemented with inulin shaved off more belly fat and total weight than those whose meal plans didn’t pack this healthy prebiotic fiber.

5

Lift

Do you even lift, bro? If you’re serious about getting rid of that belly fat fast, resistance training might just be the key. A study from the Harvard School of Public Health found that adding weight training to adult male test subjects’ workouts significantly reduced their risk of abdominal obesity over a multi-year study period, although doing the same amount of cardio had no such effect. Research from the University of Maryland even found that just 16 weeks of weight training boosted study participants’ metabolic rates by a whopping 7.7 percent, making it easier to ditch those extra inches around your middle.

6

Say So Long to Sweeteners

While many people turn to artificial sweeteners in a misguided attempt to whittle their waistlines, those fake sugars are likely to have the opposite effect. According to researchers at Yale, artificial sweeteners are actually linked with an increased risk of abdominal obesity and weight gain, possibly because they can trigger cravings for the real stuff and spike insulin levels in a similar fashion to real sugar.

7

Make Fiber Your Friend

The secret to a slimmer stomach in no time? A whole lot of fiber in your diet. Although many people are loath to add carbs to their diet when they’re trying to lose weight, adding the right, fiber-rich ones can have inches off your belly in a hurry. In fact, researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center found that every 10-gram daily increase in soluble fiber was associated with a 3.7 percent decrease in dangerous visceral fat over five years. Those who were active got even leaner, shaving off twice that much fat in the same amount of time. To start ditching that extra belly fat today, add the 30 Best Foods For Fiber to your menu!

8

Swap Out Ketchup For Salsa

Sure, ketchup is tasty, but it’s also a serious saboteur when it comes your weight loss efforts. Ketchup is loaded with sugar — up to four grams per tablespoon — and bears little nutritional resemblance to the fruit from which it’s derived. Luckily, swapping out your ketchup for salsa can help you shave off that belly fat fast. Fresh tomatoes, like those used in salsa, are loaded with lycopene, which a study conducted at China Medical University in Taiwan links to reductions in both overall fat and waist circumference. If you like your salsa spicy, all the better; the capsaicin in hot peppers, like jalapeños and chipotles, can boost your metabolism, too.

9

Score Some Rays

While few would suggest you start hitting up the tanning beds for better health, getting some natural sunlight can help you get rid of those extra inches on your waist in a hurry. Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center found that vitamin D-deficient overweight women between 50 and 75 who upped their intake of the so-called sunshine vitamin shed more weight and body fat than those who didn’t. To practice safe sun, make sure you’re limiting yourself to 15 sunscreen-free minutes per day.

10

Nosh on Some Nuts

Sometimes, to whip your body into shape, you have to get a little nutty. While nuts are high in fat, it’s that very fat that makes them such powerful weapons in the war against a ballooning belly. In fact, research from Reina Sofia University Hospital reveals that study participants who consumed a diet rich in monounsaturated fats, like those in nuts, over a 28-day period gained less belly fat than their saturated fat-consuming counterparts while improving their insulin sensitivity.

11

Think Fast

Instead of subjecting yourself to another endless workout, crank up the intensity and you’ll see results faster than you ever thought possible. The results of a study conducted at McMaster University in Ontario reveal that adult male study subjects who exercised intensely for a single minute had equivalent respiratory and metabolic changes to those who worked out at a slower pace for close to an hour, so if you want to burn through that belly fat, say so long to slow and steady.

12

Flavor Your Food With Garlic

A little garlic in your meals could mean a lot less weight around your middle. The results of a Korean study found that mice given a high-fat diet supplemented with garlic lost significantly more weight and abdominal fat than those who just ate fatty foods. Even better, they also improved their liver health, making it easier to stay healthy and burn off that excess fat in the long term. For more flavorful ways to make your food more enjoyable, turn to the 20 Spicy Recipes That Fire Up Your Metabolism and watch those pounds melt away.

13

Brush Up

Keeping a toothbrush handy can do more than polish up that smile (and counter the effects of all that belly-slimming garlic); brushing your teeth throughout the day can also help you ditch that belly fat fast. A study conducted a sample of over 14,000 participants found that brushing after every meal was linked to lower weight. That minty toothpaste flavor not only clashes with virtually every food, brushing may also trigger a Pavlovian response that tells your brain the kitchen’s closed.

14

Fill Up on Fish

If you’ve got weight to lose and you want it gone fast, try swapping out your usual proteins in favor of fish. Not only is fish lower in calories than an equivalent amount of beef or chicken, a study published in Obesity reveals study subjects who added omega-3 fatty acids, like those found in fish, to their diets shed more weight and had an easier time keeping it off than those who skipped them.

15

Don’t Give Up on Grains

You don’t have to go low-carb to ditch those extra pounds around your waist in a short period of time. In fact, opting for more whole grains might just get you there faster. Researchers at Tufts University have linked eating three or more daily servings of whole grains to as much as a 10 percent reduction in visceral body fat, the kind that ups your risk for chronic diseases, like diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure.

16

Add Some Acid

Don’t buy your tickets to Bonnaroo just yet; the kind of acid that will help you slim down is the stuff right inside your cabinet. A 12-week study published in Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry reveals that obese study subjects who made vinegar part of their diet dropped more belly fat than a control group, and other research suggests that acidic foods, like vinegar, can increase the human carbohydrate metabolism by as much as 40 percent.

17

Snack on Some Veggies

Your parents weren’t kidding about how important veggies are for a healthy body. What they probably didn’t tell you, however, was that snacking on veggies is also one of the easiest ways to shed unwanted belly fat, too. According to a study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, opting for non-starchy veggies, like cauliflower, broccoli, and cucumber, as snacks helped overweight kids shed 17 percent of their visceral fat while improving their insulin sensitivity over a five-year period. Think snacking on veggies will leave you hungry? The 20 Most Filling Fruits and Veggies will have your belly satisfied in no time.

18

Crank Up the Calcium

Say cheese! Adding some extra calcium to your diet could be the key to getting that flat stomach you’ve been dreaming about. Over just 12 months, researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville found that obese female study subjects who upped their calcium intake shed 11 pounds of body fat without other major dietary modifications. To keep your calcium choices healthy, try mixing it up between dairy sources, calcium-rich leafy greens, fatty fish, nuts, and seeds.

19

Snack on Some Tart Cherries

That sour cherry is pretty sweet when it comes to your health. The results of a study conducted at the University of Michigan found that rats given high-fat foods along with tart cherries ditched nine percent more body fat than those in a control group over just 12 weeks. Cherries are also a good source of antioxidant pigment resveratrol, which has been linked to reductions in belly fat, dementia risk, and lower rates of macular degeneration among the elderly.

20

Hit the Track

You don’t have to be the next Usain Bolt in the making to enjoy some serious belly-slimming results from hitting the track from time to time. Even a moderate-rate jog a few times a week can blast through that belly fat; in fact, a study conducted at Duke University Medical Center found that, over the course of an eight-month study, overweight adult study subjects who jogged 12 miles a week lost the most belly fat and burned 67 percent more calories than participants who did an equivalent amount of resistance exercise, or a combination of cardio and resistance work.

21

Sleep It Off

Want to lose that belly fat? In your dreams! Seriously, though: a good night’s sleep is one of the best ways to get rid of that extra fat around your waist for good. Among the 60,000 women participating in the Nurses’ Health Study, those who snoozed for fewer than five hours a night were at the greatest risk of becoming obese and gaining 30 or more pounds over the course of the 16-year study period when compared to those who slept for seven or more hours.

22

Close Up Shop

Stop treating your kitchen like an all-night diner and you’ll stop seeing those unwanted pounds piling onto your frame, too. The results of a study published in Cell Metabolism found that mice who only had access to food during an eight-hour period stayed slim over the course of the study, while those who ate the same number of calories over a 16-hour period gained significantly more weight, particularly around their middle. When you’re finished with dinner at night, shut the fridge and don’t look back until morning — your belly will thank you. When you do head back to the kitchen in the A.M., make sure the 40 Things Healthy Cooks Always Have in Their Kitchen are there waiting for you.

[pinguinalakadabra]

how to stay fit as a stay at home parent

How to Get Fit As a Teenager.

Your body will grow and change during your teen years. So, during this period of your life, it’s important to keep physically fit and develop healthy dietary and exercise habits. If you’d like to increase your level of fitness, start by eating a healthy diet. Try to spend less time lounging around or watching TV, and be active for at least one hour a day. If you’d like to start taking your fitness more seriously as a teen, you can even join a gym or put together an at-home workout plan.

Method 1 Improving Your Diet. 1. Stick with foods that give you a healthy, balanced diet. The first—and most important—part of staying fit as a teen is a proper diet. Avoid unhealthy meals, including most processed foods and fast food. Instead, focus on eating plenty of dairy and proteins to help you grow. These can include milk, yogurt, chicken, beef, fish, and beans or tofu. If you (like most teens) still live at your parents’ house, ask them to help with your diet. Ask them to buy healthy snacks and to serve non-processed, whole foods for meals. 2. Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits. Veggies and fruits should form a significant part of your daily diet. Aim to eat four servings of fruits and five servings of vegetables each day. For example, have a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice and a handful of berries with breakfast, a side salad and an apple with lunch, and a serving of cooked vegetables with dinner. Fruits and vegetables provide healthy sugars (much better than the sugars added to many processed foods) and fiber that your body needs. 3. Eat foods that give you calcium and iron. These two minerals are crucial for teens’ growing bodies. Plan to consume at least 1300 milligrams of calcium a day, which means drinking plenty of milk and eating dairy products, including hard cheeses and yogurt. Iron is especially important for young women. Iron is found in many foods, including beans, nuts, beef, pork, poultry, and eggs. If you are trying to cut back on sugar, then you might consider including whole milk rather than skim or 1% milk because whole milk has less sugar than lighter versions. 4. Consume foods with vitamins, minerals, and fiber. It’s important for teens to get vitamins through their diet. Vitamins encourage healthy growth and are valuable parts of overall fitness. Fiber will keep your digestive tract healthy and will also help you feel full, since fibrous food takes up room in your stomach and breaks down slowly. Find fiber in foods like celery and beans. Find vitamin A in eggs, dairy products, and dark-colored leafy greens. B vitamins are commonly found in meats and fish, and vitamin C can be consumed in citrus fruits, berries, and tomatoes. Healthy minerals can be found in foods like broccoli, potatoes, and citrus fruits (potassium); red meat, chicken, and seafood (zinc and phosphorous); and whole grains and nuts (magnesium). In addition to finding important vitamins in the foods you eat, you can take a daily multivitamin pill. This will supplement your diet and help you get the nutrients you need. 5. Hydrate by drinking six to eight glasses of fluids each day. Your body needs plenty of water and other fluids to function well. This is especially true if you’re increasing your daily activity levels or if you’re starting an exercise regimen. Keep hydrated with water, fruit juices, tea, and other healthy options. Avoid soft drinks and energy drinks. 6. Eat healthy snacks in between meals. Your teen years are the time in your life when you will grow the most, so when your stomach does grumble, don’t reach for a slice of cake or a packet of chips. Try healthy snacks like yogurt, fruit, or smoothies instead. Don’t worry if you’re often hungry; increasing exercise and activity will increase your appetite.

Method 2 Staying Active Daily. 1. Be active for at least one hour every day. An hour of daily activity will help you become more fit, and cut back on negative effects from a slow-paced lifestyle. You don’t have to visit a gym or take up a sport to be active. Try walking or riding your bike to a friend’s house instead of driving, or visiting a local pool and swimming after school. Increasing your daily activity has various health benefits. One hour of daily activity on most days of the week will reduce stress, gain energy, and reduce risk for certain diseases. 2. Get involved in a sport or active after-school activity. Sports and athletic group activities are great ways to increase your daily activity level and boost fitness as a teen. If you enjoy athletic participation, try out for your middle or high school’s intramural teams. Or, find an active after-school club you could join, like a swim team. The activity you choose doesn’t have to be a conventional team sport like football or basketball. If you have an interest, you could try other activities like gymnastics, horseback riding, skateboarding, or karate. 3. Join a gym or sign up for an exercise class. These options will help keep you active and can even help you transform your body by providing regular exercise and periods of activity in a fun, social setting. Look into nearby gyms that hold popular types of exercise classes in the afternoon or evening, so you could attend after school. If you’re not interested in more traditional gym or exercise classes, check out other types of physical group activity, including Zumba or Pilates and martial arts. 4. Walk or bike to school. If you live close enough to your school that you can safely walk or bike there in a reasonable about of time (say, under 30 minutes), try to build this into your weekly plans. A 30-minute walk to school will take care of half of your daily activity time, and will help your health by raising your heart rate and working out leg muscles. If you have a part-time job after school or on the weekends, walk or bike to this too. 5. Take a short walk during school breaks. If you have a 15-minute passing period or 45-minute lunch break during your school day, take a quick walk during this time. This will help boost your fitness and activity levels. Or, if your school has stairs, then go up and down the stairs a few times. In the evenings, do the same thing during your time devoted to homework. Take one or two 15-minute breaks and spend this time walking or jump roping or go for a quick jog. Don’t feel like you need to wait until you have hours of free time to start being active. 6. Limit screen time to two hours a day. Many teens spend hours a day watching TV or movies and playing video games. These activities will harm your fitness level and can lead to weight gain. Limit your screen time to two hours (or fewer) every day. This will give you more time for physical activities. You can even build activities into your screen time. If your parents have an elliptical machine, walk on that while watching a movie. Or, try doing lunges during every commercial break of your favorite show.

Method 3 Putting Together a Workout Plan. 1. Start an at-home exercise routine. Consider putting together a basic routine to boost your fitness level. Whether or not you have access to a gym, start with the basics at home: push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups and, if you have access to weights, basic squats, curls, and bench presses. If you’re not sure of where to begin—what exercises to include in your routine, what weights to lift, etc.—talk to your gym coach or check online for teen weight-training recommendations. 2. Warm up and cool down before and after your workout. Before each workout, start with about 10 minutes of mild stretches. Warming up helps prevent injury and can help to maximize the calories burnt during your entire workout. Similarly, if you take the time to taper off your workout with cooling-down stretches you will feel less taxed when you are done. Over time, if you find that you enjoy running, think about joining a cross country team. 3. Exercise with a friend. Find a friend who also wants to be active during the week and exercise with them. You can also ask members of your family (siblings, cousins, even parents) if they’d like to exercise with you. It’ll be easier to stay motivated to be fit if you have a friend or family member to exercise with and who can provide moral support. Having a friend to support you will make you more likely to stick with your exercise regime.

Community Q&A. Question : How can you stay fit if you are busy all the time? Answer : Juggling school and homework, and possibly a part-time job, can leave you feeling too busy to stay fit. Staying fit is a commitment to a lifestyle of eating healthy and fitting in activity whenever you can. If you feel stressed about staying fit, try writing down priorities to help you find the time you need. If you miss a day of running because you are studying for a test, this is ok. Just know that you will run the next week or after your test. You can plan your workouts around your homework...maybe take push-up breaks while you are studying. Every little activity counts! Question : How old do you have to be to do this? Answer : Getting fit and staying fit can start at any age and optimally should continue into your older years! Although this information is geared toward a teen, eating healthy and getting more activity into your life is important no matter how old you are. If you are younger than a teen, you can talk to your parents about what fruits and vegetables are best for you.

Tips. Be creative and have fun with the types of activities you do on a daily basis. Try Dance Revolution, Wii Fit, swimming, horseback riding, water polo, dancing, or going to a gymnasium! Listen to music; it will not only help boost confidence, but it will also keep you motivated.

Warnings. If an exercise that you’re doing is painful, stop doing it. If you experience severe pain after exercising, or pain out of proportion with the amount of exercise you’re doing, notify your doctor of the problem. Avoid skipping meals, and never deliberately deprive yourself of food. While it can be tempting to cut that many calories from your diet all at once, it’s unhealthy for your body. If you’re concerned that you’re performing an exercise incorrectly, talk to your athletic coach or check out an online tutorial to see how the exercise is performed correctly. To stay fit and healthy as a teen, avoid smoking and underage alcohol consumption. Smoking especially is terrible for your health and alcohol can have negative health effects too.

[riskyminhaz110-blog]

tattoo old school

101 Tattoo Details

1: An Ohio restaurant focusing on cheeseburgers provides a lifetime 25% discount for anybody with a tattoo of the cheeseburger and also at an unrelated tattoo studio inside a nearby town, they are supplying a 25% discount on cheeseburger tattoos- Sounds suspicious. To know more about kit tattoo , visit our website today!

2: Tattoos are hardly ever completed in ink, what's generally known as inks, are really suspended solid color particles, mostly metal salts and plastics, although not vegetable dyes as generally believed.

3: There aren't any reported installments of Aids infection from the tattoo within the U.S., but you will find three from dentist's offices.

4: More women than males are getting inked today.

5: Tattoos are thought a small surgical procedure.

6. Until 2006 it had been illegal to obtain a tattoo in Oklahoma

7: Lucky Gemstone Wealthy of recent Zealand is easily the most inked person on the planet, after not having enough space, has began putting lighter tattoos on the top from the more dark ones, and the other way around.

8: Robbie "the coon" Koch lately broke the earth's record by inking 577 tattoos in 24 hrs. That old record occured by Kat Von D from the tv program, "LA Ink." Update- Hollis Cantrell really owns the record by 2009 (801 tattoos) but Robbie the coon sounded better. Hollis's final tattoo was on his leg.

9: The very first recorded tattoo is considered to have been discovered on the mummified iceman in 3300 BC. He'd 58 tattoos, mostly dots and contours.

10: In 1876 Thomas Edison invented a piece of equipment that ultimately grew to become the tattoo supply, however it required modifications by Samuel O'Reilly in 1891 to evolve the unit for tattooing.

11: The record for that longest tattoo session is 43 hrs and 50 minutes and it was performed by the observant and gifted artist Melanie Grieveson, of Australia. The inked was Stephen Grady.

12: In 2005 Kimberly Cruz was compensated $10,000 to possess Golden Palace.Com inked on her behalf brow through the casino, to assist purchase her daughter's education. The casino is recognized for its outlandish promotions.

13: Thomas Edison had five dots inked on his left forearm, like the dots on dice.

14: Lip tattoos only last 1 to five many have to be frequently retouched, the most typical a cosmetic lip liner.

15: The 2nd most typical reason behind tattoo removal is mistranslation.

16: This Year Funnel will unveil its new type of fashionable temporary tattoos. The group of 55 tattoos costs $75.

17: Most tattoo supplys hold between 1 and 10 needles and a few ancient methods using rakes support 27.

18: Anil Gupta is recognized as NYC's most costly tattoo artist in excess of $350 each hour.

19: In nearly all cases, the outline of the tattoo should not bleed whatsoever, and also the shading for just a couple of minutes.

20: By 2006, one in 4 women aged 18 to 50 have a minumum of one tattoo.

21: U.S. President James Polk is stated is the first white-colored man to possess a Chinese character like a tattoo.

22: A brothel in Perfume, Germany is providing any patron who will get a tattoo from the companies emblem, by their internally artist, free entrance for existence ($6.25 US) and discounts on lap dances ($25.00 US. ea)

25: The term "tattoo" has developed in the top looked terms since Lycos began tracking search engines like google.

26: Democrats are more inclined to possess a tattoo then republicans, 18% to 14%.

27: The month of january 23, 2010. A brand new US Marine Corp directive prohibits anybody having a full sleeve tattoo from just as one officer. Additionally, it prohibits tattoos around the hands, wrists, fingers, and within the mouth area.

28: This summer 17th, 2009. 18 years old Kimberly Vlaminck sues a Romanian tattoo artist within the 56 stars that they woke up to, scattered across her face, 53 greater than see requested for. She later accepted that they lied within the suit coupled with requested for those fifty six.

29: Blues singer Janis Joplin were built with a wristlet tattoo along with a small heart on her behalf left breast.

30: In Or, it's a legal to rehearse tattooing with no license or perhaps in an unlicensed shop.

31: Heiress and socialite Paris Hilton had one tattoo to her credit, the then boyfriend Nick Carter on her behalf right butt oral cavity. It's since been removed by laser.

32: The standard Samoan tattoo, pe'a, covering against mid torso towards the knees, takes 3 several weeks to accomplish and as much as 12 months to completely heal. An average session lasts from beginning till dusk, or before the discomfort becomes too great, and resumes the following day unless of course your skin requires a couple of days to heal.

33: Inside a 2002 survey, 8 from the top ten voted, "most breathtaking people on the planetInch had tattoos.

34: Tattoos done today don't turn blue once they age, unless of course these were initially blue, the inks tend to be more stable.

35: The very first occurrence from the word tattoo within the Oxford British Dictionary arrived 1769 and it is credited to Captain John Prepare.

36: A rooster inked on a single leg along with a pig alternatively is stated to safeguard a sailor man from drowning. Neither animal can go swimming.

37: Queen Kamamalu of Hawaii (1808-1824) was the very first lady to possess her tongue inked.

38: Most tattoo artists won't tattoo an expectant lady.

39: Some tattoo artists declare that should you shield a brand new tattoo from sunlight for that first couple of years it'll remain better and clearer for many years.

40: Over 40 million individuals the U.S. have tattoos.

41: 26% of american citizens having a tattoo say they create them feel more appealing, with females voting this way almost 2 to at least one over men.

42: Tommy Lee of Motley Crue supports the record for greatest altitude tattoo, getting been inked in 2008 at 45,000 ft. The tattoo was stated to cost $150,000 dollars.

43: 73 years old Isobel Valley, the earth's most inked women, has every sq . inch of her body inked, except her face, and has fifty piercings, 15 which are visible. A lot of the piercings are underneath the belt because she would like to jingle when she walks, she states.

44: An growing number of individuals are getting medical alerts inked to assist doctors in situation of the emergency.

45: 43 years old former soldier Shawn Clark has got the names of 232 British soldiers wiped out in Afghanistan inked on his back.

46: Previously red ink was recognized to fade not too with today' inks.

47: The title from the "Sturdy Boys" #47 is "The Mystery from the Whale Tattoo."

48: When Cortez arrived around the Mexican coast in 1519 he was horrified to obtain the natives practicing demon worshiping coupled with in some way permanently marked pictures of their idols on their own skin. He known as it the job from the demon.

49: A tattoo of the anchor on the sailor man signifies they've traveled the world over the Atlantic.

50: 1 / 3 of american citizens with tattoos say they create them feel sexier.

51: Tattoo ink is injected in to the second layer of your skin, the skin, and be encapsulate through the body like a defense mechanism, departing the look stable and intact.

52: Gabrial Carbona, a united states teenage hit man for any Mexican cartel, has his eyelids inked so that they never look closed. His idea isn't being employed as well for him imprisonment.

53: Jimmy Buffet sings about tattoos within this song of the identical name, "It is a permanent indication of the temporary feeling."

54: Within the 1920's, American circuses employed greater than 300 individuals with full tattoos and compensated them as much as $200 per week, lots of money during individuals occasions.

55: The proportion of men and women with tattoos has become statistically equal.

56: Tattoo devices are sterilized within an autoclave, a higher pressure steam machine, much like a pressure oven and just how hospitals do their own.

57: 57% of individuals with no tattoo believe that individuals together tend to be more rebellious and threatening.

58: 35 0f the very first 43 U.S. Presidents apparently have tattoos.

59: Tattoo inks aren't controlled through the by government departments so there's not a way of knowing exactly what's inside them.

60: Winston Churchill's mother, Lady Randolph Churchill, were built with a tattoo of the snake on her behalf wrist. These were popular for wealthy aristocrats in that period. She decided on a snake because it may be easily included in a bracelet.

61: U.S. President Andrew Jackson were built with a giant tattoo of the tomahawk that ran lower the size of within his leg. Nobody knows precisely why.

62: Just about all U.S. corporations have some type of limitations or policy regarding tattoos at work.

63: By Sept. 29th 2009, the 19 years old ban on tattooing was lifted in DeKalb, Illinois.

64: Actress Halle Berry includes a tattoo of the sunflower on her behalf rear finish masking the her ex, baseball player David Justice.

65: The recognition of tattooing throughout the latter area of the nineteenth century and first area of the last century owed much towards the circus sideshow.

66: Individuals with antisocial personality disorder are more inclined to possess a greater quantity of tattoos in additional visible locations, and covering a bigger number of their physiques.

67: Ancient Egyptians used tattoos to distinguish between slaves and peasants.

68: Throughout the late 1700s in Europe, collecting the inked heads of Maori people grew to become very popular that lots of were murdered to satisfy the demand. The heads were generally compensated for in guns.

69: Within the 1870s japan government outlawed tattoos forcing the practice subterranean where it flourished.

70: 3% of american citizens say getting a tattoo means they are feel more sports.

71: The earth's most inked women, Isobel Varley got her first tattoo, a flower, at 49.

72: 4% of shoppers spend over $1000 on the tattoo.

73: If you notice someone's tattoo you're viewing it with the lower layer of your skin, the skin.

74: 50% of tattoos have no coverage up by clothing and therefore are freely visible.

75: tattoo supplys could make up to 200 hits per second, that's as much as 12,000 occasions one minute and 720,000 an hour or so.

76: In ancient A holiday in greece and Rome, tattoos were considered crude and were only accustomed to mark slaves and crooks.

77: 52% of individuals imprisonment are inked.

78: In recent reports, memorial tattoos happen to be proven to overwhelmingly turn grief into pleasure and morning into celebration by developing a lasting memory.

79: A 2009 study conducted at Liverpool Hope College found that individuals with 3 or more tattoos had considerably 'abnormal' amounts of self confidence.

80: 4% of american citizens state that their tattoos make sure they are feel healthier.

81: It's false that white-colored or lighter colored inks tend to be more painful to make use of.

82: A tattoo is art, only, when the person doing the tattoo is definitely an artist along with a skilled specialist.

83: President James Buchanon were built with a tattoo of the scantily clad lady on his chest using the initials BFL (bachelor for existence).

84: In 2002, 18 years old hair stylist Lee Becks was shocked to discover the tattoo he thought stated, "Love, recognition, and obey" really converted to, "in the finish during the day, it is really an ugly boy."

85: New You are able to City outlawed tattoos from 1961 to 1997 due to a tattoo related outbreak of hepatitis "C".

86: Inside a 2002 study several male senior high school and faculty students viewed images of models with and without tattoos, and graded them in 13 groups. The models with tattoos scored reduced in 9 from the 13 ratings.

87: Many people experience discomfort or perhaps a burning during sensation throughout an MRI due to the metallic particles in certain inks.

88: The United States Navy prohibited tattoos of naked women during The Second World War, a lot of future mariners had to have their tattoos reworked to incorporate cloths.

89: The very first recorded demonstration of dying following tattooing was reported in 1837 in France. The youthful lady, a prostitute, was masking another undesirable tattoo and died in the infection that adopted.

90: Apr. 30, 2009. To celebrate Barbie's 50th birthday Mattel arrives using the new "Totally Stlylin' Barbie dolls, including a group of place able tattoos, one a lesser back tattoo featuring the name Ken.

91: 35% of National basketball association players have tattoos. Jordan has none and teammate Dennis Rodman has a minimum of 22.

92: Lorette Fulkerson was the final lady to operate the circus sideshows, retiring in 1995 at age 80.

93: Eyeball tattoos aren't completed with a piece of equipment, but instead, a lot of it is directly injected in to the eye having a syringe.

94: Urine was sometimes utilized in early ink mixtures.

95: 5% of american citizens having a tattoo say they create them feel smarter.

96: The very first situation of the syphilis being transmitted with a tattoo arrived 1853. The performers ink was drying out so he spit inside it, transferring the condition.

97: Never return to the one who gave a bad tattoo to get it fixed, it won't improve.

98: Time to inquire about questions is before getting a tattoo.

99: Good tattoos aren't cheap and economical tattoos aren't good.

100: Women tend to be more than two times as likely to possess a tattoo removed as men.

101: 50 PlusPercent from the tattoos produced today is going to be removed by laser at great expense, intense discomfort and permanent minor scaring. Save time before you ink. For more information about tattoo supply visit our website to know more.

[d-i-y--projects]

21 science-backed reasons you should take a nap

Siestas are more beneficial to your health than you ever imagined. ❤️💛💚💙💜

by Brittany Smith

"More than 85 percent of mammalian species are polyphasic sleepers, meaning that they sleep for short periods throughout the day," according to the National Sleep Foundation. We're the odd mammals out. For the most part, our days are divided into two distinct periods, one for sleep and one for wakefulness, and still 40 percent of us get less than the recommended seven hours of sleep each night, according to a 2013 Gallup poll. Now, naps can't make up for our sleep deficit, but they can certainly improve our efficiency at work, enjoyment of activities, and overall well-being in life. But before we get into all the health benefits, take a look at the NSF's tips for good napping.

It may seem silly, but there are actually three types of naps.

Planned or preparatory napping  For the planner among us who strategically takes a nap even before sleepiness sets in as preparation for an overnight shift or three-night bender.

Emergency napping For the serial napper who's overcome with sudden bouts of sleepiness that simply cannot be shaken—or the guy who works with heavy, dangerous machinery, or drives a truck for a living.

Habitual napping For those of us who love the notion and practice of siestas and take a nap at the same time each day. This also includes young children who nap after juice and cookies.

The NSF recommends 20-30 minute naps for short-term alertness and improved performance. Just be sure you don't take one too early or late in the day; your body may not be ready for sleep yet early in the morning, and taking one late in the evening can throw off your natural sleep patterns, disrupting restorative sleep through the night. Remember, naps aren't reserved for children, the elederly, or the lazy. In fact, a power nap can be just the antidote for laziness.  

1. You'll feel happier

You probably already realized taking a mid-day nap boosts your mood, but now there's new scientific evidence from the University of Hertfordshire to back it up. In a study of over 1,000 participants, 66% of those who took short naps (30 minutes or less) during the day reported feeling greater overall happiness than those who took longer naps (over 30 minutes), or no naps at all.

2. You'll boost alertness

A quick 20-30 minute nap can boost short-term alertness, according to the National Sleep Foundation. It won’t leave you in a grumpy, hazy fog or interfere with sleep later at night either.

3. You'll prevent mental burnout

A midday snooze shouldn’t be frowned upon or chalked up to laziness. A nap can reverse information overload and protect your brain from mental burnout, according to a news release from The National Institutes of Health. Subjects who were allowed to take a 30-minute nap after after performing two of four visual task sessions on a computer prevented extended deterioration of their performance, while a one-hour nap actually boosted their performance in the remaining third and forth sessions.

4. You'll battle the slump

The midday slump is programmed into our circadian schedule, so it’s only natural to feel an onset of sleepiness around 3 p.m. There are numerous ways to get past it, but taking a nap is most effective, according to material from Harvard Health Publications. Napping helped restore alertness better than preemptive nighttime sleep and using caffeine to cope with afternoon sleepiness.

5. You'll avert mistakes

Naps can improve work performance and reduce mistakes and accidents, according to information from the National Sleep Foundation. In fact, NASA conducted a study on sleepy military pilots and astronauts and found a 40-minute nap improved their performance by 34 percent and alertness by 100 percent.

6. You'll lower blood pressure

Midday naps appear to lower blood pressure levels and decrease the number of necessary antihypertensive medications in men and women with high blood pressure, according to a press release from the European Society of Cardiology. Patients who slept for 60 minutes midday had significantly lower blood pressure compared to patients who didn’t sleep midday. The researchers add: “We found that midday sleep is associated with lower 24 hour blood pressure, an enhanced fall of BP in night, and less damage to the arteries and the heart. The longer the midday sleep, the lower the systolic BP levels and probably fewer drugs needed to lower BP.”

7. You'll boost memory

Researchers at Saarland University in Germany tested the theory of power napping on 41 students, Independent reports. They split the group in two, taught each 90 words and 120 unrelated word pairs (like “milk taxi”), then allowed one half to nap for 45-60 minutes while the other watched a DVD. The snoozers’ memories were amplified five-fold, according to the study, which was published in the journal Neurobiology of Learning and Memory.

8. You'll amplify creativity

Research from Georgetown University’s Center for Functional and Molecular Imaging in Washington indicated that when people nap, the left brain—known for logic and analyzing—rests and is relatively at peace quietly, while the right side of the brain—in charge of creativity and big-picture thinking—communicates with itself and the right side of the brain. And you thought napping was mindless.

9. You'll bolster your immune system

If you’re sleep deprived, take a 30-minute nap; it can help your immune system, according to a small study published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. The researchers collected urine and saliva samples from 11 young, healthy men each day to measure their levels of norepinephrine—a substance typically released when the body is under stress, which increases heart rate, constricts blood vessels, and raises blood pressure and blood sugar. Half the men slept normally for one night, then restricted to two hours the second night, and allowed to sleep as much as they liked on the third. The other half followed the same schedule, only they were allowed to take a 30-minute nap the day after their sleep was restricted. When the men were only allowed to sleep for two hours, their norepinephrine levels were more than doubled (in the afternoon) compared to when they were allowed to sleep normally. However, there was no change in norepinephrine when participants were allowed to nap.

10. You'll help your heart

People who took afternoon siestas of 30 minutes or more at least three times a week had a 37 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease than those who didn’t, according to research from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and the University of Athens Medical School in Greece. The study, which was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine included 23,681 seemingly healthy men and women, ages 20 to 86, and went on for more than six years, Scientific American reports.

11. You'll curb cravings

Sleep deprivation is linked to junk food cravings, according to a study from UC Berkley. When you skimp on shuteye, the lack of sleep impairs activity in the brain’s frontal lobe, which governs complex decision-making, and increases activity in deeper brain reward centers so you’re more apt to reach for cronuts and pierogis than steamed veggies and salmon.

12. You'll flush toxic waste from your brain

When we sleep, our brain is busy clearing out the toxic waste that’s been accumulating all day. In a study conducted on mice, published in the magazine Science, researchers found when mice napped the space between cells in their brains increased by 60 percent, allowing the flow of cerebrospinal fluid—as well as an Alzheimer's-linked protein—to flush through the brain very quickly. When they were woken, the flow in their brains was constrained.

13. You'll stifle your hunger hormone

When you're tired, you usually get hungry because you're body is urging you to get energy. Likewise, when you're asleep your body reduces levels of ghrelin, your hunger hormone. A study in the journal PLoS Medicine showed a strong correlation between short sleep duration with high levels of hunger-inducing ghrelin, low levels of satisfaction-inducing leptin, and higher rates of obesity. Instead of reaching for a Snickers, take a quick snooze.

14. You'll fight less with your girl

Berkley University had participants complete a daily survey for two weeks. When they woke up each morning, they recorded how well and for how long they’d slept the previous night, and each night before bed they said whether, and how much, they’d fought with their partner that day. As you can imagine, the poorer people slept the night before, the more they bickered.

15. You'll learn more efficiently

If you’re learning a new task at work or undergoing a graduate degree, you need all the help you can get when it comes to learning and retaining information. A University of California study found that naps can actually clear information from your brain’s temporary storage areas, effectively making room for new knowledge to be absorbed. Researchers asked participants to complete a challenging task midday, then at 2 p.m. half the volunteers napped for 1.5 hours while the rest stayed awake. Later that day, at 6 p.m., the nappers performed better than they had that morning, while the non-nappers’ performance faltered.

16. You'll have better judgment

Might want to take a nap before heading out for a long night of drinking and debauchery: Sleep deprivation can trick you into thinking a woman is into you when she’s really not, reports the Daily Mail. Researchers from Hendrix College had 60 men and women complete a questionnaire before and after one night of sleep deprivation—to which they answered questions on their sexual interest, sexual intent, how interested they were in commitment, and a general interested in the opposite sex. When men were limited on the number of hours spent sleeping, they were more interested in casual sex (scores, on average, rose from 13.5 to 17.5). When you need sleep, your frontal lobe—which is in charge of judgment, impulse control, and social and sexual behavior—is negatively impacted.

17. You'll diminish your risk of injury

People who are sleep deprived are more likely to fall victim to a motor vehicle crash, industrial disaster, and medical and other occupational errors, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Taking a nap after a night of fitful sleep or no sleep at all can literally save your life.

18. You'll ward off chronic disease

If you’re not getting enough sleep on a chronic level, you’re more likely to suffer from diseases like hypertension, diabetes, depression, obesity, and cancer. Plus, you're at risk for increased mortality risk and reduced quality of life, according to reports funded by the National Institutes of Health published in Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation. Napping won't entirely make up for your sleep deficit, but it can definitely help.

19. You'll keep testosterone levels high

Sleep lowers testosterone levels in healthy young men, according to a University of Chicago Medicine study. Subjects spent three nights in a laboratory for 10 hours each night, then eight nights sleeping less than five hours each night. Researchers sampled their blood every 15 to 30 minutes for 24 hours during the last day of the 10-hour sleep phase and the last day of the five-hour sleep phase. Just one week of sleep deprivation decreased their T levels by 10 to 15 percent. If you want to keep your energy, concentration, and boners up, then take special care to get sufficient sleep, or pencil in a nap before date night.

20. You'll have more self control

Sleep-deprived employees were better able to control their impulsive behavior and resist “unethical temptations” (i.e. tell your boss off), when employees were provided with the time and space to nap during work, caffeine, and given overtime restrictions and frequent breaks, according to their new study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology.  

21. You'll bat away anxiety and mental disorders

Sleep deprivation doesn’t just make you groggy and edgy, it can up your odds for developing a full-blown anxiety disorder, according to a University of California Berkley study. When you don’t get sufficient sleep, regions in your brain that contribute to excessive worrying and anxiety light up. Naps can calm your brain temporarily, but make sure to get a full-night's worth of restorative sleep to keep your brain sharp.

http://www.mensfitness.com/life/entertainment/21-science-backed-reasons-you-should-take-nap

[touristguidebuzz]

10 Things No One Tells You About… Yangon, Myanmar

If you’re planning to visit Myanmar, you’re already journeying well outside mainstream itineraries — those hoping to find all-inclusive resorts and hotels that take Starpoints should look elsewhere (until the Sheraton opens in July anyway). Traveling to this country is like stepping back in time, a capsule sealed for decades by diplomatic isolation and military dictatorship. But the light of Myanmar is now visible to the world, and what a beautiful light it is — the entire country drips with a seemingly divine glow that cameras and photographs can only attempt to capture. If you have a knack for adventure, cultural curiosity and a little bit of patience, Yangon will surely capture your heart.

1. Cash Is King… But Only If It’s Clean

It’s rare to find Burmese businesses, save some luxury hotels, that accept Visa or Mastercard, even in Yangon. Cash is king here, but not always. The Burmese really, and I mean really, like their cash to be in tip-top condition, which can present a problem for unsuspecting tourists from nations like the United States, where even currency that’s been washed, crinkled, stained, bifurcated and then taped back together again remains perfectly legal tender for most people. Currency exchanges in Myanmar, even at the airport, may not accept a dollar bill if it has so much as a crease in it. A small tear? Those pesky ink marks left by some merchants in the States? You might as well be peddling papyrus leaf. And even once you stuff your wallet with Myanmar kyat, the same holds true for the local ducat in markets and restaurants, where merchants want their bills crisp, shiny and preferably unfolded — if you must fold, make sure it’s only once and cleanly down the middle. An easy solution is to use the nation’s growing network of ATMs. Just be sure to call your bank ahead of time. The ATMs I found offered reasonable exchange rates and minimal fees.

Whether you’re visiting a temple or paying for lunch, you’ll want to make sure you have cash — clean, unwrinkled and unadulterated cash. Image by the author.

2. Wear Long Pants if You’re Visiting Temples

The Shwedagon Pagoda is a 300-foot-tall golden spire, and something you really need to see before you die. If you go, wear long pants or a long dress. Men are required to purchase a longyi at the entry gate if they arrive wearing shorts — these cheap pieces of fabric are sold for 8,000 kyat (~$5), roughly the price of the hour-long cab ride from Yangon International Airport (RGN) to downtown. If you want to take home a longyi for yourself, they’re available at most markets or on just about any corner in town, will likely cost less and are bound to be of higher quality. Otherwise, protect your wallet and wear pants when you go to the pagoda.

A man wearing the traditional Burmese tunic and longyi, a piece of cloth wrapped around the waist and knotted in front. Image courtesy of Saeed Khan/Getty Images.

3. The Train’s the Cheapest Tour in Town

Myanmar’s intracity rail system is an experience in and of itself. Similar to the nation’s intercity trains, this thing is old, clunky and will make for unbelievable photographs. The fare is a flat 300 kyat (~$0.22), and the train encircles much of the Yangon metropolitan area, offering a window into the lives of locals and their communities and taking you to some pretty surreal places. One such stop is the Danyingone Morning Market. About 90 minutes out of Yangon Central Railway Station, Danyingone is past the point where the city opens up to green countryside and quaint villages. Merchants crowd right alongside the tracks peddling foods and other goods to passing commuters and it’s a sight to behold. If the ride grows a bit tedious, just take a taxi back to the city center.

The Yangon Central Railway offers a unique view of the city and its surrounding communities. Image courtesy of Fraser Robertson/Getty Images.

4. Beware of Fake Monks

Monks are a pleasant sight to behold in any Asian city, and as one of the bastions of Theravada Buddhism, Myanmar has a vast population of spiritual devotees. But not all who talk the talk actually walk the walk. Observe colonial Myanmar, where many a monk walks the street carrying baskets to collect money. Do they approach locals? Not very often, and there is a reason: it’s not normal for Theravada monks to aggressively beg for money on streets and while monks often carry baskets, those who pester openly are mostly impostors. If you’d like to support the Buddhist faith, make your donations at a temple or pagoda or venture to more modest temples that are less frequented by tourists if you want to make the biggest impact.

Burmese buddhist monks pray near Shwedagon Pagoda. Image courtesy of Pongsan Mabai / EyeEm via Getty Images.

5. Tea Houses Are Great Places to Enjoy a Small Meal

Everyone in Yangon has a favorite tea house. They are easy to spot, filled with squatty tables and plastic chairs, and will be crowded so long as the sun is up. These modest establishments also offer food, which can be delicious. In addition to your order of tea — I prefer le pe ye, or tea with condensed milk — try an order of Burmese dumplings, called baugh se (pronounced “bot-see”), or sticky shan noodles, served with chicken (kyaatsarr), beef (aamellsar), Burmese yellow tofu (won ta hpo) or shrimp (puhcwan).

Tea shops can also be great places to sample staple Burmese cuisine. Image by the author.

6. Watch out for Open Sewers

While Yangon’s sewer system can be an attraction for infrastructure and history nerds, for many, this quirk of an ancient city is just something to prepare for. While open sewers are not uncommon throughout Asia, Yangon’s sewer system is a unique piece of antiquity. Unlike the isolated canals you might find in Bangkok or the open sewers you’ll often come across in rural areas, Yangon has a full-fledged urban open-sewer system, a la 19th-century Chicago or New York. The byproducts of nearly six million city dwellers pass serenely below foot, separated from sidewalks (most of the time) by ventilated street tiles. In dry weather this presents no real danger to tourists, although it may produce an odor and you may want to be wary of the occasional missing sewer tile. In excessive rain, though, things get a bit more complicated, providing another reason to plan your trip during the dry period, October through May. Also, don’t wear your shoes in your hotel room — enough said.

Watch your step. Most of Yangon’s sewer network is concealed by stepping stones, which can sometimes become dislodged. Image by the author.

7. There’s Another Side to the Yangon River, and Its Not All on the Map

If you’re in Yangon and you open, say, Google or Apple maps, you’ll see a large, blank swath of land on the western shore of the city’s eponymous river. Don’t be deceived — locals estimate as many as a million people live on this side of the river, but with few schools and a solitary hospital, the community of Dala feels far from the big city. A short ferry ride costs 3,000 kyat (~$2.20) round-trip and provides a unique perspective on local life. The ride buys you just enough time to slurp down a coffee, prepared Burmese-style, thick and strong, with a layer of sweet liquefied coffee grounds lurking near the bottom.

The ferry ride between Yangon and Dala affords just enough time to enjoy a coffee and view of the cityscape. Image by the author.

8. You’ll Probably Want to Hire a Guide in Dala

Given that Apple Maps — and to a lesser extent, Google Maps — are missing some of the intricate roads in this sprawling village, it’s probably best to hire an English-speaking guide, which can be pre-arranged at a tour office. You can also find friendly English-speaking locals near the ferry terminal or on the city side of the river, in the vicinity of the Sule Pagoda. This is a very informal process and usually involves locals starting casual conversations — beware of anyone attempting to hustle you or pressure you into following them though. The Burmese people are generally gregarious and generous with their time, and a competent guide will take the time to make you comfortable.

Our guide, Ko Htoo, explains the ceramic pots used to cool and clean drinking water gathered in open ponds. Image by the author.

9. Visit One of the Morning Markets

Markets in central Yangon are crowded, bustling affairs. Dala’s morning market offers a different vibe, a one-stop shop for the cultural oddities and local charms of an ancient culture. Here you can find rats seasoned, smoked or skewered and served on a platter. A few stalls away, you might find a stout female butcher hacking organs out of a freshly-slaughtered hog, the swine’s snout, eyes and ears hanging like unfinished taxidermy from the rafters while morning shoppers thumb through warm pieces of flesh as if they were tapestry. Nearby, workers stand around large vats milling silvery-gray fish paste made of piscine innards and aged six months. Trays of spices, fruits, vegetables and traditional housewares and decorations, including portraits of 23 different spirits portrayed in Southeast Asian folklore, round out a rich experience.

Ever see an entire pig available for perusal on a table? The morning market features several pork butchers, each offering a variety of cuts to be browsed. Image by the author.

10. Face Your Fears at the Temple of Snakes

For a real thrill, ask your guide to take you to the snake pagoda. About a 45-minute ride from the ferry terminal in the middle of a large pond floats a shrine to one of the creepiest of creatures. A number of Burmese pythons (estimated by some to number around 30) live inside this Buddhist shrine, Baungdawgyoke Pagoda, where they hang from the rafters, drape themselves across the banyan tree, rest on windowsills and cuddle among four Buddhist statues. This is no zoo exhibit. There are no Plexiglas dividers. The snakes, free to come and go as they may, choose to stay here, to rest here, to, dare I say, worship here. Three nuns care for the snakes overnight and feed them a diet of cow’s milk, served in what appears to be cereal bowls. Note that there is some confusion online about the name of this landmark, so when in doubt, come armed with a photograph because local guides know where this place is — while there are several notable snake pagodas throughout Myanmar, this is the closest one to the city of Yangon.

Even open windows are largely filled by resting snakes. Don’t look up. Image by the author.

What are some of your favorite things to do in Yangon, Myanmar? Tell us about them, below.

Featured image courtesy of the author.