Monday, 31 August 2009

Exercise at Work
It is hard to find time to exercise, especially for those of us who work in an office. Studies have shown that sitting can contribute to weight gain, high cholesterol and heart disease. Exercising at work may seem impossible, but it is one option for staying fit and keeping your energy up.

It takes some creativity, but there are opportunities to exercise at work if you pay attention. All it takes is a little planning and some inspiration to squeeze in a little movement all day long.

The Basics
You probably know a few tricks for staying active at work. Taking the stairs when you can, parking further away from the door and walking around the office when you can are good places to start. Beyond that, there are a few other options to keep you moving:

• Set an alarm to go off every hour to remind you to stand up and move around. Even if you just swing your arms or take a deep breath, you will feel more alert.

• Use the restroom on another floor and take the stairs.

• Fill 1/2 of your water container at the cooler or pantry so that you have an excuse to walk back over every hour or so for a refill.

• Leave something important in your car (your lunch, your briefcase, etc.) so you have to run out to get it (and take the stairs).

• Deliver documents or messages to co-workers in person rather than by email.

• Go out for lunch and park on the opposite end of the food court. Don't forget to buy something healthy.

During the day, you should also try out these exercises:

Relieve Low Backache & Pressure (Standing or Sitting)
• While exhaling, slowly lean forward, bring your head toward your knees and let your hands drop to your ankles. Hold for 5 seconds.
• Inhale while you slowly unwind and return your head to its normal upright position.
• Exhale and stretch your arms toward the ceiling.
• Do this five times.

Relieve Upper Back and Shoulder Tension (Standing or Sitting)
• Lift your hands to your shoulders
• Keep your elbows down and push your shoulders back
• Hold for 15 seconds
• Do this five times


Relieve Wrist Tension and Stiffness (Standing or Sitting)
• Place your palms together, chest high, as if in prayer.
• Slowly push your palms together while lifting your elbows slightly and hold for five seconds
• Rotate your hands so the tips of your fingers point to the floor and press your palms together. Hold for 5 seconds and release.
• Do this five times


Relieve Neck and Shoulder Tension (Standing or Sitting)
• Inhale and slowly turn your head to the right until you feel your neck muscles pull. Hold for five seconds.
• Exhale and return your head to face straight ahead.
• Inhale and slowly turn your head to the left until you feel your neck muscles pull. Hold for five seconds.
• Exhale and return your head to face straight ahead.
• Do this five times

Be creative. Any movement is better than none, so don't feel like you have to do sprints all day long. Adding short bouts of exercise throughout the day will help you burn more calories and will also reduce stress.

Credit goes to:
SH e-magazine



Wednesday, 19 August 2009

15 Tips to Lose Weight and Become Slimmer!

Here are some of the best tested and proven tips for fat-loss:

1. Never starve yourself. Eat three small meals and two to three healthy snacks a day. Taking small meals regularly will keep your metabolism high and help you to burn more fat.

2. Eat your breakfast. A nutritious breakfast is especially important as it not only kickstarts your metabolism and keeps you energized but also prevents hunger pangs later in the day.

3. Do regular resistance training. This builds muscle tissue that gives you a higher metabolic rate. Concentrate on exercises that work out the larger body parts like legs, back and chest for faster results. Training twice a week is all you need to get good results. Resistance training has been proven to help you maintain your weight better than any other forms of exercise.

4. Do short, high intensity cardio. Alternating between exercises of different intensities like jogging (easy cardio) and sprinting (hard cardio) is an effective way of losing fat. Higher intensity cardio exercises focus on increasing metabolic rate while slower cardio exercises focus on burning fat

5. Don't believe in magic. Genuine weight loss requires consistent effort on your part. If you learn about a weight loss solution that is fast, easy and effortless, it is too good to be true.

6. Get adequate rest. Lack of sleep can contribute to weight gain. Get at least seven to eight hours of sleep daily. If that is not possible, try taking short naps whenever you can.

7. Prepare for setbacks. Losing weight is not an easy ride. You must always be mentally prepared for obstacles and lapses if you want long-term success. Instead of reproaching or sabotaging yourself by giving up when you face a setback, encourage yourself to get back on track. Remember two wrongs don't make a right.

8. Get social support. Let your family members, friends and colleagues know that you are on a weight loss mission so that they will encourage and help you by not tempting you with unhealthy snacks or invite you to buffets.

9. Have a good coach. Make your weight-loss program easier with a good coach. He/she can design a customised program to guide and motivate you. Even Tiger Woods has a personal coach!

10. Find a good role model to inspire yourself. An ideal model should be someone who has a background, body-shape and lifestyle similar to yours. Observe their diet and the obstacles they have to overcome to achieve their goal in shedding the flab.

11. Set your weight loss goal as one of your priorities and stay focused. Every other less important matters such as socialising, spa and watching TV programs MUST take a back seat. Without a laser sharp focus, it is easy to get sidetracked and eventually fail to achieve your goal of losing weight.

12. Start slowly. Trying to do too much too soon will backfire on you. Allowing yourself ample time to experiment and try out the new lifestyle will pave the way to a successful long-term weight loss program.

13. Don't waste time in abdominal exercises for a slimmer waistline. Many people think that spot-reduction is effective but that is just a myth. Fat from other parts of your body will be lost regardless of which part of the body you work out more. To lose abdominal fat, you need to create a calories deficit where the calories input is less than the calories output.

14. Find ways to burn extra calories. Parking your car or alighting from public transport further away from your destination; using the stairs instead of the elevator/escalator; carrying groceries in a basket instead of using trolley; these are some practical ways to generate additional calories output which can be substantial when added up.

15. Manage your stress and emotions. Many people resort to binge eating when they are in stressful or emotional situations. Learn to relax. Try deep breathing, stretching, meditation or go for a jog rather than resorting to binge eating. You can also minimise stress with good time management and proper work planning.

Credit goes to -
Paul Kuck is the only Advanced Health and Fitness Specialist in Singapore who is "Gold Certified" by the American Council on Exercise (ACE). He holds a Msc in Exercise and Nutrition Science and is also the founder of Fitness Tutor (http://www.fitness-tutor.com/), a personal fitness consulting firm that helps busy professionals to keep in shape through customised programs with his 'Natural Kinetic Exercises' and 'Eat-On-Demand' strategies.



Tuesday, 18 August 2009

Flash Games

Everybody enjoys flash games and here are some sites with relatively interesting flash games and not too heavy on the advertisement. I like them bandwidth friendly!

gamedesign.jp
orisinal


Sunday, 16 August 2009

2009 Movie Year of Sandra Bullock

I recall as a teen, Sandra had successfully thrilled many viewers with her cool, candid acting skills in movies like Speed and The Net.
She has this spontaneous look when she engages with the camera.
Armed with a beautiful yet warm shy smile, she has won many hearts.
She is back, not only looking sexier, she keeps what she started out with and evolves with sophistication and immensely charming as ever.
Perhaps her secret is modesty.
For me, Sandra gives a down-to-earth, real person with humility feel.
My intuition says she probably enjoys making those around her happy and smiley.
Well done babe, well done ;)

The Proposal
My take: I have never seen this sleek sexy side of Sandra.
She played really well as the part of an anal, selfish, ambitious, office [b/w]itch, Margret Tate.
All she wants was to achieve her takes, she manipulates and guards her keeps.
She was able to demonstrate how 'plastic' superficial she could be, in her effort to mingle with her fiancee's family and even tries hard to be friendly with his ex-gf.
All for the glory to be accepted and get on with her planned act of blissful matrimony.
My favorite scenes would be parts where Sandra attempts and gradually trusts and shows signs of being able to care for another being.
It was funny how she toggles in between to save and sacrifice cute samoyed puppy Kevin.
For anyone who undergoes similar experience, it especially moved me when she admitted that she had forgotten how feels like to be in a family.
On a personal note, losing parents at a young age may cause such aloof behaviorism but I dare say by products of Margret Tate will likely result the same cycle, ie. having parents but estranged, having no family at all.
The winning move was how she coolly turns around and gives up everything she has.
She remained steel like, unmoving while packing up.
Love how Sandra choked and showed the sharp contrast when she breaks 'I'm scared' in a weak smile. Good thing it was met with strong reassuring embrace.
A perfect fairtale ending for any one who has been longing for reliable partner.
Cute tag line "I wanna marry you to date you" Lovely :)
What I can say, this movie's got talents in the production crew and actors.

All about Steve
My take: Movie yet to be release in my town, watch out for this space.

The Blind Side
My take: Movie yet to be release in my town, watch out for this space.

I hope she gets an academy award nomination for any of the above movies.
Imo, hardworking, talented actresses like Sandra Bullock deserves that golden pat on their backs.

Links on Sandra:
Wiki
imdb
Latest news




Friday, 14 August 2009

Random surveys and polls

How Different Groups Spend Their Day

The American Time Use Survey asks thousands of American residents to recall every minute of a day. Here is how people over age 15 spent their time in 2008.