Habits to Lifelong Fitness

1. Sleep an essential tool to maximize fitness. Sleep provides incredible benefits to any workout session. It has a huge impact on muscle repair and regeneration. We all know the exhausted feeling that we get the next day when we did not have enough sleep. This can affect our workouts thus we do not get the full benefits. According to studies done by scientists, inadequate REM sleep causes us to feel like we are working harder in our training sessions than we really are and it greatly affects our performance.

2. Nutrition, eating a diet rich in nutrients will allow your body to grow stronger. Food that you ingest should be sufficient to meet the requirements of your physical activity. The nutrition you get from the food you eat will have a positive effect on your brain, promote energy, and will perk up your overall performance. A healthy, well-balanced diet is the best nutrition that will affect your fitness level in the long run. Healthy foods deliver key nutrients to all the cells in the body.

3. Vitamins and Supplements, are taken to improve overall health or as dietary supplements in case of any deficiency of that particular vitamins or minerals. These are products that intend to supplement a diet and contain vitamins and minerals to improve diet.

4. Regular Exercise has a great benefit in the improvement of your overall fitness. Appropriate exercise improves endurance, muscular strength, flexibility, body composition, and cardio-respiratory endurance.

5. Flexibility Training increases physical performance and decrease your risk of injury. It balances overused muscle groups. Flexible joint has the ability to move through a greater range of motion and requires less energy to do so, while greatly decreasing your risk of injury.

6. Everyday abdominal work-out affects your overall fitness and the ability to burn more calories. Our abs holds our core strength, working it with abdominal exercises promotes improved balance, stability and good posture.

7. Resistance training or strength training can help you define and build muscles that can contribute to weight loss. It increases your lean muscle mass which is the key to overall strength and to your body's ability to burn calories. It can also increase your bone strength and reduce risk of osteoporosis. It also improves the strength of your connective tissues, which increases joint stability and also increase your muscle functional strength.

8. Breathing has a huge effect on your mind. You are incapable of thinking right if you are not breathing right. Our body requires a constant source of clean air. You are not maximizing the effect and benefits of your exercise work-outs if you are not breathing right when you are doing it.

9. Mental conditioning is probably the main key to lifelong fitness since you cannot do all the things that I have mentioned above if you do not have a proper mindset. Your mind is the most important factor in causing you to exercise daily and do the habits to lifetime fitness

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Keeping the Kids Active on Holiday

When the kids are on holiday it can be hard to drag them away from the TV or their computer games, but we all know it's important for them to get out and about. So to help you out we've come up with some activities that will both encourage them to get out in the first place, and secondly get active and learning while they're at it.

Indoor activity zones

Great for younger kids, indoor activity zones allow them the opportunity to play in a safe environment without direct supervision. The most common kind of indoor activity zones are can often be found next to pubs around the country.

Farm Parks

Farm Parks provide kids with the opportunity to explore a whole host of new activities, while also providing a great day out for the parents. With constantly changing seasonal activities, the sort of things you can expect to find at farm parks range from animal feeding and falconry, to activity zones both indoors and outdoors. With all the options available, Farm Parks cater for everyone and provide a great family day out.

Paintballing and Laser Games

Ideally suited for older children, paintballing and laser games provide great exercise but can be expensive, especially if you are taking a group with you. Paintballing is especially expensive as the companies will often charge a low initial fee and then charge for the paintballs which can all add up.

Leisure Centres

Most towns will have a leisure centre and these offer a great selection of activities to suit everyone's needs. Throughout the holidays these centres often put on activities designed for kids and range from swimming sessions to football tournaments. This is a great opportunity to get them trying out new sports and can introduce them to activities they may have never otherwise tried.

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The Heart of Ancient Rome

From the window of any hotel, Rome centre offers you the chance to see the architecture that made Rome a truly great city. During its time, Rome ruled the world. All roads did lead, sometimes literally and always figuratively, to this powerful and influential city. Although considered touristy, it is essential you go at least once in your lifetime to experience many of these sights to give you a brief glimpse of the glory that was once Rome.

The Forum

The problem with Rome is there is so much to see and so little time to see it. It would take a lifetime to explore all that Rome has to offer. From any hotel, Rome centre whispers or blatantly shouts about the history you can explore. While it is not possible to see it all in one day, start off with a visit to the Forum - once the centre of all commercial, judicial and political life.

The Forum consists of several fragmented buildings with columns jutting skyward. Trajan's Column is an elegant marble construction dating from AD 113, while the eight remaining columns of the Temple of Saturn, with their Ionic capitals, attest to its early date of 42 BC. This is quite young compared to the fragments that make up the Temple of Castor and Pollux. This, the oldest temple in the Forum, dates from 484 BC. Unfortunately, all that remains are stones, rubble and three Corinthian columns. If you want see the smattering of what remains of the sculpture, pottery and even mosaics from the site, visit the Antiquarium of the Forum.

The Colosseum 

Another must-see is the single most-well-known symbol of Ancient Rome - the Colosseum, or Flavian's Amphitheatre. This was the ancient and Imperial Roman world's most impressive amphitheatre. During its peak performances, it held upwards of 70,000 spectators, 10,000 of which stood to watch the games take place. Today, you can see the travertine exterior as you drive by, or arrange for a close up look at this building that once covered six acres.

Upon leaving your hotel, Rome centre offers you a chance to explore some of the former homes of Rome's notables. Two examples of opposing styles and approaches to life are the Domus Aurea and the House of Livia.

Domus Aurea

The opulence and overwhelming nature of Nero is legendary. He made his most obvious statement of his character in the design and content of his Domus Aurea - the Golden House. A tour through this famous Roman Emperor's domicile gives you a slight hint of his eccentricity, wealth and madness. The Octagonal Room features a domed salon with a hole in the centre, intended to follow the movement of the sun in its passage. The building still has elegant fresco work and amazing trompe l'oeuil work. Some terraces have also survived the centuries of neglect. You can see the fountains and visit the distinctive underground chambers. The mechanisms and rotating banquet hall were uncovered in 2009.

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5 Tips for First Time Cruisers

Cruise lines: how do you choose? The best way to do that is based on who is going. For a family I recommend Royal Caribbean, hands down they are the cruise line that will have something for all ages. Are you traveling in a group? Where does everyone want to go? Itinerary is probably most important. 

Do some research and decide where you want to go based on what time of year you are planning to travel. If you are going as couple you should probably choose based on your age and what the cruise line has to offer as far as activities. Do you want a nice spa with a thermal suite? Do you want a cruise that has cooking or wine classes? Do you like to go dancing at night? 

These are all things to research for you trip. Staterooms: how do you choose a stateroom? Now I know everyone says they are not going to spend a lot of time in their room so who cares what kind they get? I care! I am sorry but for me I am not going to enjoy cruising in a closet. No windows, no balcony, really? I don't think so. You are on the ocean and you want to see it. 

And you don't want to see it necessarily squished up against strangers. If you are going to cruise you should feel, hear and smell the ocean breeze. It is part of the experience. For me nothing less than a balcony will do. If you are traveling with kids, spring for the closet across the way to put them in. It will do wonders for your relationship. Trust me.

Shore Excursions: do you or don't you go on them while you are on your cruise. Well here is the thing, shore excursions over all are a great adventure. I am not saying they always end up perfect or go the way you plan but more than likely either way you will have some stories to tell when you get home. Honestly for every cruise I have been on when I have done shore excursions, that cruise was better. Walking around the town and shopping is okay but a shore excursion will make you feel like you are part of the culture. You are learning something you wouldn't if you just walked around and shopped. I am not saying do one in every port. Just most ports. Take a break and walk around the town of the port that has the best shopping. Do some research. See what everyone else liked doing there. Take an excursion. Have an adventure.

Dining: Lots of people want to know early, late or my time dining? Which is best? Well in all honesty it is different for every cruise and for every person. Early is great if you don't have a lot of late port stops or you plan to get back on the ship by 3 or 4. Also if you want to catch the early show and do some of the other night life such as dancing or the piano bar, start early. Late is good if you are going to be in port late and are going to be just going to the show and going to bed because you are going to be up early to go into port. Now the difference between my time and traditional is a little bit of a different question. If you like meeting new people at dinner and dining with them for the rest of your cruise. Traditional is the way to go. The thing with My Time Dining is you may have to wait. If you aren't traveling with a large group and you just want to eat when you want for the whole cruise My time dining is the way to go. If you are with a group but you want a different time than the traditional dining My Time is a great option. Make a reservation for your group first thing in the morning so you don't have a long wait.

I am going to give you a bit of a trick to My Time Dining with a group. You don't have to make a reservation everyday. The first full day on your cruise call to make your reservation for My Time Dining when they open in the morning. When you go to dinner that night if you like your table, your wait staff and the time you are eating go to the Maitre 'd before you leave and tell him how much you loved it and ask if you can keep that table and time for the rest of the cruise. He will do it for you and you don't have to think about it again. If you didn't care for it, do it again the next night and if it is better keep it!

My last biggest tip for first time cruisers is this, use a travel agent! You knew that was coming, right? I know I have a biased opinion because I am one but here is the thing, we are an underused resource. Travel Agent services are free. We travel, a lot. We have knowledge of the itinerary, cruise lines, ships, shore excursions and ports. I do hours of research for my clients to make sure they get the vacation of their dreams. I want you to come back happy, relaxed and wanting to take another vacation! All the questions you have can be answered with a phone call. You can tell your travel agent where you want to go and then go back to what your were doing.

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The Truth About Society Finches

Called Society finches in the United States, these tiny birds are actually Bengalese. This is not a species of bird found in nature. In fact, they are fertile hybrids. The history of the delightful pet is still a mystery. No one is quite sure what birds were used to create society finches. It is believed that the Striated Finch and the White-Rumped Munia played an important part in their creation, but there is no evidence to prove this.

Society finches are extremely popular on the pet circuit for a few reasons. While they don't have striking markings to attract attention on the pet market, their winning personalities more than make up for that. This bird does extremely well in captivity and enjoys spending time with humans. This probably stems from the fact that they are not a wild species, but one created in captivity.

These demure birds also excel as foster parents for other small birds. The trick to getting the birds to foster other eggs or even young birds is in the pairing. Unlike other birds, a male-male pairing of Society finches works best for fostering. This pairing works better then two females or even a male and female pairing. A pair of males will often accept eggs without hesitation.

While Society finches do not come with a brightly color coat of feathers, they instead have a quiet beauty about them. Their various shades of beiges and browns can be quite beautiful without screaming for attention. Unfortunately, their mellow colors can make it very difficult to sex them. There are two ways to attempt to sex these birds when undertaking the task of breeding them.

One way to determine the sex of the bird in question is through behavior. Male Society finches cannot help but display to attract a mate. The first step to this is to remove the bird in question from the flock and place it in a small cage. Isolate the bird so that it can neither see nor hear any other birds for several hours. After the time has elapsed, add another of its kind to the cage. If the bird in question displays for the newcomer then it is most likely a male. However, this does not determine the sex of the other bird since males will display to both males and females.

A surer method for sexing Society finches requires two birds. By comparing them side by side, you can distinguish a male from a female. Males have broader or wider heads then females. This is easily noticed when holding two birds next to each other. While holding the two birds, the under-side of the beak should also be compared. A male's under-beak is a definite "V" shape while a female's will be a softer shape, more like a "U" shape. When holding two birds next to each other, these differences will be easily noticed.

Compared to other pets, Society finches are easy to care for. All that they require is high quality millet, grit, fresh water, and some greens. A steady supply of these things will keep them healthy and happy. While not the most popular of finches, these little charmers are the best suited to being pets and will quickly charm their way into anyone's heart.

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Advantages of Bluetooth for Cell Phone

The cell phone was a path breaking development in the world of wireless communication. Giving the people a chance to communicate on the go, it is nothing short of a revolutionary gadget which has changed the way we live our lives. From being a luxury afforded to a select few, it has become accessible to the common man.

Rapid advancements in technology are being made even at this stage when the cell phone has become as advanced, if not more, than a computer. Bluetooth for cell phone is one such technology which has helped in the progression of the phone from a mere communication device to a full-fledged palmtop computer.

Bluetooth is a gift of science and now is a term known to a majority of the general public. Such has been the impact of cell phones that technical jargon has now become a part of the everyday language we use. There are many advantages of bluetooth technology.

It is wireless. So what's the big deal about it? The cell phone is supposed to be wireless. By wireless it is meant that you can now use a headphone to receive calls and listen to music which will be wireless. There is no need for connecting wires to be carried around all the time. Just switch to Bluetooth mode and go wireless.

Bluetooth has improved the efficiency with which cell phones are being used. This means that the time taken for sharing data and information has decreased which has in fact improved our lives.

Bluetooth does not cost too much money to manufacture. Companies save on the costs of production and are able to shift this advantage to the consumers in the form of lower prices which is a great advantage for all the users around the world.

It is compatible with all the makers of phones. The only requirement is that the model you are using should have a built-in Bluetooth module which will enable to use it.

Unlike infrared, Bluetooth technology is eco-friendly as it does not cause much radiation because laser technology used in making it is minimal. This means that it does not have any adverse effects on your health or the environment.

Bluetooth works automatically and you do not have to set up a connection or anything. When you are in Bluetooth mode, then it will work without any intervention on your behalf.

It only uses a little portion of the energy present in a standard cell phone battery. This means that you won't face the risk of your cell phone shutting down when you have been using Bluetooth for a while on it.

Bluetooth can be used anywhere on the planet without any restrictions. This is a great way for you to enjoy the flexibility and convenience it provides wherever you are in the world.

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