Healthy Bacteria

Probiotics is the technical name of those healthy, live bacteria in yogurt. Probiotics are essential for our bodies because they fight off the "bad" bacteria living in our intestinal tract.
So to keep away the bad bacteria, eat the good bacteria!
Tip: Look for yogurts that have the "contains live & active cultures" seal on the product. Don't buy yogurt if it does not have this seal: you're not getting your healthy bacteria if the stamp is absent!
Many grocery chains carry very cheap, very healthy brands of yogurt with this "live & active culture" seal. My favorite is Dannon "Light & Fit" Plain Vanilla Yogurt, which costs about $.88 at the grocery store.
Another benefit of yogurt is that it contains tons of calcium, which is great for any active person because it keeps bones strong and fends off osteoporosis later on in life. Take a Vitamin D supplement to help your body absorb all that wonderful calcium!

Save Your Soles!

Here's a great idea to make your shoes last a bit longer: Shoe Goo. Apply a thin coat of "shoe goo" to the areas of your shoes that get the most wear, and your shoes will last a little while longer. Shoe Goo can be found at specialty running stores, sporting goods stores like Dick's Sporting Goods, and possibly outdoor apparel stores like REI. Superstores like Wal-Mart and Target may even carry Shoe Goo or a close alternative. Check around and save your soles!

What To Do When You Hit a Plateau

Do you exercise, eat right, and still can't lose those pesky extra pounds? What are you doing wrong? What should you do?
Should you cut even more calories and eat less, or should you exercise more?
Exercise experts suggest the answer: exercise more.
The reason for this is that if you cut out too many calories in order to lose weight, it will actually cause your metabolism to slow, because your body will be going into starvation mode, trying to conserve all the energy it gets. Of course, this is for extreme dieters and calorie-cutters, but the fact remains for the rest of us, that you should up your exercise routine if you're already watching your caloric intake.
If you're a runner, the experts suggest alternating between running fast & slow, for that extra calorie burn. Running slow for long periods of time builds endurance & teaches your body to burn more calories throughout the day. Running fast burns more calories during exercise, so combining both is recommended for the ultimate calorie burn.
This fast & slow combination can apply to any sport or physical activity: walking, swimming, cycling, weight lifting, etc. All you have to do is alternate your speed. But caution: start out slow you don't hurt yourself!
Some experts only recommend doing this "speed work" once or twice a week.
Try this suggestion for a few weeks, and you'll probably see results and lose those last few pounds!

Healthy Food Swap

Instead of eating traditional brown rice, try swapping in quinoa grain instead. Quinoa, pronounced "keen-wa" provides 8 grams of protein. This is more than any other type of grain!
Quinoa also contains lots of carbohydrates and magnesium, folate, iron, and fiber. All of these nutrients are necessary for our bodies' peak function. Quinoa also cooks up in half the time as brown rice. It usually takes 15 minutes to cook, and the proper ratio is 2 to 1 water-to-grain.
This grain can be found in bulk at most "whole foods" or "fresh fare" markets.
(idea found in Runner's World magazine, March 2009)

Blooms & Berries Farm Market

One of my best friends, Jeff Probst, owns & operates a farm market in Loveland, Ohio (about 1 hour north of Cincinnati), called Blooms & Berries Farm Market.
This family-owned farm market specializes in fresh produce and beautiful flowers of all kinds. Jeff takes great pride in offering only the best of the best, and visitors will find his produce to be fresh, wholesome, and healthy.
This is his blog: http://bloomsandberriesfarm.blogspot.com/
These are his 2 company websites: http://www.bloomsandberriesfarmmarket.com/ and http://www.squidoo.com/VegetableGardener

Restoring Your Marriage

Is your marriage in a rut? Do you feel unloved, lonely, and unknown by your spouse? Do you even remember why you married them in the first place? Are you thinking about giving up on your marriage?

Before you give up, try and make it work. You've probably tried everything you can think of to revitalize your marriage, right? You probably have. But here's a few other ideas you may want to consider & try.

Remember that you not only love your spouse, but you like them, too. Remember when you could sit and talk for hours on the phone or in the car? You have things in common; some parts of your personality are similar to theirs. Engage in conversation about anything deeper than the normal, superficial "how are you?" The typical response to that is "fine." Let your spouse know that you are genuinely interested in them and their thoughts and feelings.

Do things together that you used to like doing, like watching your favorite sitcom, taking evening walks, working outside, going to the park, or eating out. The bottom line is: you can be in love with someone, but you're marriage is only going to last if you remember all the reasons why you actually like that person. Loving is easy; liking goes beyond feelings and involves the mind, personality, and emotions. If you don't like someone, then you'll never be close because you'll never connect. You won't be able to engage in deep & interesting conversations and stimulate each other's minds for years to come. And you won't have anything fun to do together. So remember why you liked your spouse when you were dating!

And if you think they have changed and you realize that you don't like your spouse, take time to examine their lives, hearts, character, and opinions. Chances are, you'll be able to create a long list of things that you like about your spouse. And that will help you re-connect.

Realize that the one thing you want from your spouse may be different than the one thing they want most from you. For example, it is common knowledge that men crave the respect of their wives more than anything else, and that women desperately need to know that their husbands love them. If either of these is thrown into doubt, even for an instant, it can wreak havoc on the person's state of mind, and will cause a gap in your marriage.

Your husband needs to know that you respect him. He believes that if he feels respected by you, then he automatically feels loved. Feeling respect is the gateway to how men perceive love.

Wives, on the other hand, desperately need to be convinced of their husband's love. If they doubt that fact, they will be confused, anxious, over-analyzing, suspicious, and ultimately devastated. Women tend to personalize and internalize everything, so if the woman doesn't feel loved, she'll assume that her husband must not love her and that she is somehow the source of the problem. When a woman feels loved by her husband, she automatically feels respected. There's no question about it for her, because everything else easily falls into place as soon as she feels secure in her husband's love.

So now you realize that men & women want and need different things from each other. Take action! Find out how your husband most wants to know & feel respected, then do it! For example, if you merely say, "Honey, I really respect you," and your husband still doesn't really feel respected, what did you do wrong? Perhaps you simply missed his pressure points. Perhaps what he really needs is for you to let him make a decision in front of your or his friends. Or trust him to take care of something and not nag him about it. Perhaps he wants more respectful "actions" from you, rather than just words. Find out which he responds to best!

All you husbands out there! Does your wife ask you all the time, "do you really love me?" Or some version? Or do you see the question in her eyes, always nagging at her? Why can't she quit worrying if you love her or not? Of course you love her; you married her and you provide for her!

But your wife may simply need you to show her or tell her that you love her in a different way. Instead of words, maybe she really loves it when you hug her and touch her face. Or maybe she really feels your love when you do something around the house without having to be asked. Explore the different ways that your wife wants to feel & hear your love. You won't be disappointed!

Pursue your spouse. This means not waiting for them to make the first move to apologize after a squabble. This means going that extra mile to do something nice for them, like filling their gas tank, without any thought of acknowledgment or gratitude. Remember when you were dating and you did all those sweet and wonderful things for each other? You made her handmade things, you bought him stuff, you went fun places just to be alone? What happened? What made you think that she stopped liking those things? Why do you think that he no longer wants to go to all those fun places?

Do nice things for your spouse, and don't wait for them to make the first move, even if you feel like you've been the only one trying. Sooner or later, your spouse is going to recognize the difference in you and will begin to appreciate all the sacrifices that you're making for them. Keep your chin up and keep going!

These ideas are only suggestions, and they are certainly not the only ideas out there on the subject. But I think you'll find if you really get to know what your partner needs and then cater to those exact needs, you're marriage will be revitalized, revamped, and re-romanced! Before giving up on your marriage, give these suggestions a try.

Easy Ways to Save $$$ and Go Green in Your Own Home

Here's some ideas for small & easy ways to save money, go green, and learn how to re-use some ordinary stuff at home. My husband and I use all of these techniques and they help us save money and feel like we're cutting back on waste.

1. Use cloth diapers for diapering your children, as opposed to the widely-used plastic throw-away kinds. This may sound old-fashioned, but it is a growiong trend among environmentally-friendly mothers. Look around your neighborhood for classes that teach the best ways of cloth diapering, learn how to do it, and start saving money! Cloth diapers: not just for hippies anymore.

2. Buy cheaper toilet paper. A 4-pack of toilet paper is sold at the Kroger chain of grocery stores for 88 cents. Eighty-eight cents! Even if you have a large family and have to buy a lot of it, you'll still save money by buying several 4-packs for 88 cents apiece. It may not be as silky smooth as the other name brands, but you'll get used to it, and you're bank account will thank you. (And I don't think your bottom will even know the difference!)

3. Don't flush the toilet everytime you go #1. I know this may sound gross, but think about how many gallons of water you will conserve by flushing every other time instead of everytime. Of course, I do not recommend this if you go #2. If there's more than just pee pee in the toilet, then by all means, flush it down! If you're alone in the house for the day, or it's just you & your husband that use your toilet, then who's to know? Who's to care if the water is a little bit yellower than normal? Now, if you have guests over, or the bathroom is shared between several people, then this may not be possible or easy.

And don't worry about the smell or the stain on the toilet bowl. If the toilet lid stays down, there should be no smell at all, and if a stain forms around the edge of the water in the bowl, a quick swish with the toilet brush will wash away any stain in an instant.

4. Turn the shower water off when shaving or lathering with soap. If you're a woman and shaving your legs takes longer than your husband in a hardware store, consider turning the water off while you shave, then back on to rinse. It may be a bit of a hassle, but this little trick will stop the water from continuously running when you're not even using it.

The same goes for the sink water when you're brushing your teeth. You may not take that long to brush your pearly whites, but think of how much water gets wasted each time you leave the faucet running, and how much that would add up over the course of just a single week.

5. In the winter, use an electric blanket or heater on/by your bed, and turn the thermostat down. A home that is not well insulated, has no baseboards, or isn't properly sealed around doors & windows will let hundreds of dollars worth of heat escape in the wintertime. Turning the thermostat down just a few degrees (especially when you're not home) could save you hundreds of dollars by year's end! If you're afraid of being cold at night with the thermostat down, put an electric blanket on the bed or use a small space heater. These use electricity, but the extra little amount you will spend on electric for these items will be much less than what you'd spend for heating the whole house those extra few degrees.

6. Stop buying trash bags & Ziploc (or sandwich) plastic bags. Use plastic grocery bags as trash bags. They're not as large so they won't fit as much trash, but they will serve the purpose for absolutely free. You probably get plenty of these plastic bags for free when you shop at the grocery or the drugstore. And the smaller bags will be easier on the trash man's back, too! (Whomever that may be; a stranger, or your husband.)

Instead of using Ziploc baggies for sandwiches and lunches, use those plastic storage containers you've probably got plenty of, stacked precariously on some shelf. They need to get used; so here's their opportunity! A small plastic container may be more conspicuous and bulky than a plastic bag, but it's totally reusable and washable. And most plastic containers are made dishwasher safe nowadays, so there's no excuse!

7. Put gas in your vehicle $10 at a time, instead of filling up. This may cause you to frequent gas stations more often, but if you're tight on money for the day, week, or month, this will save your budget and your wallet. Putting only $10 into your vehicle may also help you to be more conscious about how much you drive and when; it may cause you to drive only when necessary. Putting $10 at a time into your tank also makes it feel like you can stretch that ten dollars out more. Whether it's true or not, I don't know, but it sure seems like it!

Some vehicles (like SUVs, large trucks, or V-8 engines) may need to try $15 or $20 instead of $10. Ten dollars might not even make the needle on the gas gauge move for these vehicles! But I think you'll be surprised just how far your money (and gas!) can stretch if you try this method. This works especially well if you're on an extremely tight budget.