Smart Living Tips

Walk 2000 More Steps a Day and Never Gain Another Pound

Walking is great exercise. Benefits include:

Gets you outdoors to (hopefully) fresh air
Strengthens your legs and calves
Keeps your hip, knee and ankle joints well lubricated
Improves circulation
Builds stamina
Improves your mood by reducing stress

If you add just 2000 more steps a day to your regular activities, you may never gain another pound. So says research by Dr. James O. Hill of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. To lose weight, add in more steps.

Sedentary people generally move only 2,000-3,000 steps a day. Previous studies have shown that moving 6,000 steps a day significantly reduces risk of death, and 8,000-10,000 a day promotes weight loss.

How far is 2000 steps? It is about a mile. But the benefits for health and weight management don't depend on you walking a mile all at one time, but simply adding in more steps throughout the day.
Pedometers Simply Count Steps

By wearing a pedometer all day, you are motivated to add in extra steps whenever you can. There are many little trips that can add up to a mile or two a day - parking further from the door of your destination, taking the stairs rather than the elevator, pace around as you talk on the telephone, take a marching-in-place minute once an hour.

Here are some ways to add steps to your day - remember your goal is 10,000:

Park in the far back of the parking car park work, or at shop car parks
If you take a bus, get off the bus a few stops before your usual stop and walk the rest of the way
Take the stairs
Pace while waiting for meetings to start or while making phone calls
Rather than phone or email, walk to a coworker's office or neighbors house and talk to them in person.
When people stop to talk with you, make it a moving meeting and walk around together while chatting.
Hide the TV remote and walk to the TV to change channels.
Get up and walk around during commercial breaks
Dedicate a few minutes to walking each hour
Walk during your lunch break
Form a workplace, neighborhood or friends walking group
Make a family habit of walking in the morning or after dinner (or both)
Take an extra trip up and down your stairs, just for fun
Bring your groceries into the house one bag at a time
Take the dog for a walk, they’ll love you for it. Take your neighbors dog for a walk if you don’t have one!
Pace while waiting for a meal to cook

"All in all, it is entertaining to ponder that such a seemingly insignificant gadget may be of practical importance in the war on obesity!" said Catrine Tudor-Locke, Ph.D., Department of Exercise and Wellness, Arizona State University in the conclusion of a report by the President's Council of Physical Fitness and Sports, June, 2002.

Walking Steps Equivalents

1 mile = 2100 average steps.
1 block = 200 average steps
10 minutes of walking = 1200 steps on average
Bicycling or swimming = 150 steps for each minute.
Weight lifting = 100 steps per minute
Roller-skating = 200 steps per minute

Why do you need to monitor your heart rate?

Measuring heart rate gives very important information about your health. Any change from normal heart rate can indicate a medical condition. It can help determine if the patient's heart is still pumping, particularly in emergency situations.

The pulse measurement has another use as well. During exercise or immediately after exercise, the heart rate can give information about your cardiovascular fitness level and health. To receive the complete benefits of a workout, you need to stay in your working heart rate range for at least 20 to 30 minutes continuously. Therefore, proper pacing during exercise is important.

There are three different heart rates which you should keep in mind:

Resting Heart Rate

This is a person's heart rate at rest. The best time to find out your resting heart rate is after sitting quietly for a while or before you get out of bed after a good night sleep. The normal resting heart rate is about 60 to 80 beats a minute when we are at rest. Resting heart rate usually rises with age, but generally lowers in physically fit people. Moreover, resting heart rate is used to determine one's training target heart rate and to find out if you are over-trained.

Working Heart Rate

Working heart rates let you measure your initial fitness level and monitor your progress in a fitness program. This approach requires measuring your pulse periodically as you workout and staying within 50 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate. The table below shows estimated target heart rates for different ages.

Working Heart Rate Range

Chart Beats Per Minute (BPM)

Resting Heart Rate	Age
Resting Heart Rate	30 & Under	31-40	41-45	46-50	51-55	56-60	61-65	Over 65
50-51	140-190	130-190	130-180	120-170	120-170	120-160	110-150	110-150
52-53	140-190	130-190	130-180	120-170	120-170	120-160	110-150	110-150
54-56	140-190	130-190	130-180	120-170	120-170	120-160	110-150	110-150
57-58	140-190	130-190	130-180	130-170	120-170	120-160	110-150	110-150
59-61	140-190	140-190	130-180	130-170	120-170	120-160	110-150	110-150
62-63	140-190	140-190	130-180	130-170	120-170	120-160	120-150	110-150
64-66	140-190	140-190	130-180	130-170	130-170	120-160	120-150	110-150
67-68	140-190	140-190	140-180	130-170	130-170	120-160	120-150	110-150
69-71	150-190	140-190	140-180	130-170	130-170	120-160	120-150	120-150
72-73	150-190	140-190	140-180	130-170	130-170	130-160	120-150	120-150
74-76	150-190	140-190	140-180	130-170	130-170	130-160	120-150	120-150
77-78	150-190	140-190	140-180	130-170	130-170	130-160	120-150	120-150
79-81	150-190	140-190	140-180	130-170	130-170	130-160	120-150	120-150
82-83	150-190	140-190	140-180	140-170	130-170	130-160	120-150	120-150
84-86	150-190	150-190	140-180	140-170	130-170	130-160	120-150	120-150
87-88	150-190	150-190	140-180	140-170	130-170	130-160	130-150	120-150

Recovery Heart Rate

One way to determine if you are gaining the benefits from exercise is to calculate your Recovery Heart Rate, which is a measure of how quickly you return to your resting heart rate after a workout. Nevertheless, the heart rate is a convenient and reliable indicator of the intensity of your exercise. It is good to monitor it so that you can adjust depending on your fitness level and the goals you want to achieve by exercising. Thus, heart rate monitoring brings benefits to all levels of users.

Take care of your skin this summer

Sunning yourself is all well and good, and a decent tan makes everyone look and feel better, but it’s easy to overlook the damaging effects the sun’s ultraviolet rays can have on the skin, not to mention the long-term dangers of overexposure.

The Oregon Scientific handheld UV monitor is a brilliant little device that can be dropped in a bag and whipped out whenever necessary to measure and record UV levels, displaying a UV reading rated from low to high. From this initial reading, it calculates UV exposure time based on skin type, sunscreen factor and UV reading, so you know how long you can sit in the sun in safety.

Particularly helpful if you have young children playing in the sun.

Common Uses of an Action Cam

Initially when the action cam was first introduced to the market, many people used them to capture their speed and actions when playing certain Extreme Sports (sometimes called X Games or X-treme Games) like kite boarding, wakeboarding, skateboarding, windsurfing, snowboarding, skiing, surfing, mountain biking, etc. Others would mount it on their bike for capturing the great scenic views as they cycle along paths or through parks, others on top of their Radio Controlled cars or on their sniper rifles when playing war games or paintball games.

However, with video sharing getting more popular, action cams are no longer restricted to sports enthusiasts. People use them for everyday entertainment to share with their friends and family. Here are some common uses of an action cam:

- On a rollercoaster ride
- Snorkeling
- Playing with your kids in the pool or at a water park
- Mount it on your pet and see their world from their eyes
- Attached to the front of your car or motorbike.
- Cycling / Mountain Biking

Plus thousands of other uses …

What is the difference between a regular projection clock and a daylight projection clock?

Many people like projection clocks because it looks cool to view time in an unconventional way.

A regular Projection Clock projects time on the ceiling or wall when you press the button or when the alarm goes off. If you would like the projection function to work all the time, plugging in the adaptor will achieve this. However, since the projection light beam is not very strong, you can only see the projected time in a dark room. If you would like the projected time on a wall or ceiling in daylight, you need a Daylight Projection Clock. The main difference between a regular Projection Clock and a Daylight Projection Clock is the brightness of the projection:

A Daylight Projection Clock with projection power is 20x the power of regular Projection Clocks. Daylight Projection Clocks will work equally well in nearly any lighting condition.

Daylight Projection Clocks include a sensor that increases the strength of the projection and automatically adjusts the LED brightness when the light in the room intensifies. This helps to preserve the clock’s projection power for when it’s needed the most.

What is DST - daylight saving time?

In countries using Daylight Saving Time (DST) system, clocks are adjusted forward one hour near the start of spring and are adjusted backward in the fall to give the opportunity to enjoy more daylight and save energy. Equatorial and tropical countries (lower latitudes) generally do not observe Daylight Saving Time. Since the daylight hours are similar during every season, there is no advantage to moving clocks forward during the summer.

In the United States, most of the areas begin Daylight Saving Time at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March and reverts to standard time on the first Sunday in November. In the U.S., each time zone switches at a different time.

In the European Union, Summer Time begins and ends at 1:00 a.m. Universal Time (Greenwich Mean Time). It begins the last Sunday in March and ends the last Sunday in October. In the EU, all time zones change at the same moment. The easiest way to adjust for Daylight Saving Time is to buy a radio-controlled clock, and let it do the work for you by receiving daily Atomic Clock time updates from radio signals.

Make your home stylish

Time is precious. Keeping up with time is essential for many people and thus clocks have become almost a necessity for every home.

Clocks come with many other functions nowadays:

- An alarm clock is obviously something indispensible for most people;
- An alarm clock with snooze function is desirable for those who always want a few minutes of extra sleep;
- A projection clock that projects the time on the ceiling may show you the time in the dark more easily.

For those who would like to add some taste and add style to your home, a daylight projection clock, which projects the time on the ceiling or wall at night or in daylight situations, will work best.

What is the perfect temperature for storing wine?

As you are creating the proper environment for your wine storage space, keep in mind that different types of wine will require specific conditions to maintain their unique flavors and textures. Temperature, humidity and light are some of the most important factors that determine whether or not your wine will age with grace. Check with your local wine dealer to understand the right conditions for your wine type of choice.

Temperature

Cooler temperatures, specifically those between 43°F and 68°F, are ideal for storing wine as it helps the wine age properly over time, lending it more body and character. However, when the temperature of your wine storage space falls below this range, the colder temperatures will slow down wine’s natural chemical reactions, causing ruinous deposits or suspensions to develop within the bottle. Furthermore, temperatures higher than 68°F will accelerate the aging process. The temperature of your chosen storage space will fluctuate, especially during seasonal changes. While seasonal temperature fluctuations within 10°F won’t damage the wine, daily or even weekly changes in temperature are likely to speed up the aging process of your wines. Typically, white wines are far more likely to spoil under temperature changes than red wines.

Humidity

While humidity describes the amount of water vapor or moisture in the air, ullage is a term that refers to the distance between the wine’s cork and the wine itself. Along with affecting wine’s flavor, the humidity of your storage space will alter the ullage, which can allow oxygen to enter the wine bottle if the cork shrinks too much. Over time, the wine’s contact with oxygen causes it to oxidize, spoiling the wine as it raises its acidity. Ultimately, oxidized wine will taste bitter. Ideal humidity for wine storage is any factor higher than 70 percent RH (relative humidity). Within this range, the cork will remain sufficiently expanded to protect wine from coming into contact with oxygen.

How can a weather station forecast the weather when it is placed indoor?

Simple weather stations use barometric measurement to determine the change of barometric pressure and the forecast weather of the next 12-24 hours. Barometric measurements do not vary to a large extent indoor and outdoor and therefore weather forecasts can be made even when the weather station is put in an indoor setting.