Top 25 reasons to get running (Benefit of Running)

Running is one of the best forms of exercise, not only for getting fit but for weight control too. A 30-minute run, three to four times a week, trims your waistline, strengthens the cardiovascular system, improves muscle tone and definition and helps foster a positive mental attitude. Running can also be a great social activity. Here are the top 25 tips on why you should start running today.

1. Running is the quickest way to cardiovascular fitness. You get fitter faster by running regularly.

2. Running is one of the cheapest forms of exercising. You only need a pair of running shoes and shorts and T-shirt to get started.

3. Running is easy to learn. Most people have run at some point in their life, either competitively or at school/college, so there is no steep learning curve involved.

4. Running makes you feel good, not only physically, but mentally as well.

5. Running is excellent for reducing stress levels. There is nothing better than a run to clear your head and concentrate the mind. Many great ideas have been formulated on training runs.

6. Running is one of the most flexible methods of training around. Wherever you are in the world, it is nearly always possible to get out for a run. You can jog, steady run or sprint depending on how you feel that particular day.

7. Running is good for your heart. It not only strengthens the heart but also reduces the actual resting heart rate.

8. Running is accessible to all. As long as you are physically able, you can go for a run virtually anytime and anywhere. There are no race barriers to running.

9. Running helps you to lose weight and tone muscles. The more your train and run, the more weight you will lose. Also by toning up, you are getting rid of the excess fat and converting it to muscle.

10. Running is for people of all ages. Old or young, everyone can benefit from running.

11. It is good for your sex life! By being more physically active you increase your sex drive.

12. When run training, you can get away with eating chocolate and legitimately say it is part of yourtraining program.

13. Running is a great way to recover from a hangover. A run will help clear your head faster than sitting around feeling terrible.

14. Running is a great safety aid. Being able to run away from people puts you in a much better position if you are chased.

15. You can use running to change other people's lives. Run for a charity and raise money to help the needy or less able.

16. Running with friends gives you time to catch up on gossip and get fit at the same time.

17. Running is a time-efficient way to get fit and lose weight so you have more free time after exercising to enjoy yourself.

18. Running is a challenge that can be motivational and bring great personal satisfaction.

19. Running is a great way to see a new place if you have limited time available for sightseeing. Just think how much more of a place you can see when running around it compared to walking.

20. Running improves your concentration as you are forced to concentrate more when running. This in turn improves your concentration when you have to focus in other areas of life.

21. You nearly always work better after a run because you are still on a runner's high and feel ready for anything.

22. Running is a great way to meet people, especially if you join a club or enter a race.

23. There are no monthly subscriptions with running. You just put your running shoes on and go.

24. Endurance built-up through running can be transferred to other sports.

25. If you drink alcohol you can just run a little bit further the next day to work off the extra calories.

Top 10 diet foods that can make you fat

Juices and smoothies

When totting up our daily intake of calories, many of us forget to take into account those that come in liquid form. However, the drinks you consume throughout the day can vastly contribute to weight gain. While smoothies and juices count towards your daily intake of fruit (and swapping fry-ups for a morning smoothie would certainly do wonders for your waistline!) supplementing meals with these sugary fruit drinks could add hundreds of extra calories on to your daily intake. Smoothies and juices contain more sugar but less fibre than whole fruit, making fresh fruit a much better snacking option.

Cereal bars

Many of us believe that cereal bars are the perfect healthy snack and breakfast-on-the-go. However, most breakfast bars are packed with cane sugar and corn syrup, not to mention high levels of fat. In fact, despite their healthy image, cereal bars can contain as much fat, sugar and calories as an average chocolate bar, and can cause crashes in blood sugar levels which will leave you craving more food.

Dried fruit

As with smoothies and juices, dried fruit has many beneficial properties and counts towards your daily intake of fruit. However, due to the concentration of sugars that occurs when fruit is dehydrated, it is also very high in calories and sugar when compared to the same amount of fresh fruit, and is much lower in fibre and nutrients. On top of this, many brands add sugar to dried fruit to improve the flavour, which boosts the calorie content even further.

Diet drinks

Many of us turn to sugar-free versions of our favourite drinks to help stay trim, yet diet drinks may actually be causing you to pile on the pounds. Research by the Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio found that those who consumed diet drinks daily experienced a 70 per cent greater increase in waist circumference than those who drank none, while a previous study showed that obesity risk increased by 41 per cent for each diet drink consumed. A suggested reason for this is that artificial sweeteners trigger appetite, and they may also inhibit the brain cells that make you feel full.

Salads

When eating out or buying food on the go, salads are generally presented as the "healthy option". However, often this is not the case. While salads contain vegetables and other healthy ingredients, these are often buried under a layer of oily, sugary dressings which can be high in both fat and calories. Many salads do contain good fats that can help with weight loss (such as in the case of avocados and olive oil), yet this is not always so. Avoid those sneaky calories by drizzling your salads with a light dressing such as balsamic vinegar, or skipping the dressing entirely.

Soup

While soup can be the perfect weight loss food when prepared correctly, not all soups fall into the diet food category. In fact, many soups can rack up a significant amount of fat and calories, particularly those containing dairy products such as cream or cheese. On top of that, many soups are very high in salt, which can lead to bloating. To help stay trim and cut calories, try purchasing (or better yet, making your own) vegetable-based and cream-free soups.

Dips

Hummus is often perceived as the perfect diet-friendly dip. However, while the healthy snack is undoubtedly nutritious, it is also packed with calories and fat from its principle ingredients of oil and tahini. Another dip for dieters to watch out for is guacamole which, while traditionally packed with nutrients and good fats, often contains calorie-laden double cream. While most dips can be eaten in moderation, if you want to splurge guilt-free go for a homemade tomato salsa which is packed with nutritious ingredients and is almost fat-free.

Vegetable crisps

Many people view vegetable crisps as the "healthy" alternative to the potato variety. However, while some vegetable crisps contain slightly more fibre and vitamins than potato crisps, this is not always the case and the difference is generally very slight, with most of the vitamins derived from fresh veggies being lost in the process of making them into crisps. On top of this, vegetable crisps are often just as high in fat and calories as potato ones and contain just as much salt.

Popcorn

Air-popped popcorn is a great nutritious, high-fibre and diet-friendly snack. However, when butter is added into the equation, the tasty snack can quickly lose its healthy credentials. Store-bought and cinema popcorn can be extremely high in fat and calories due to its liberal coating of butter and/or sugar, and is often also served in large quantities. Furthermore, as the TV-friendly snack is often eaten in front of a screen, we can easily consume far more than we intend to due to mindless snacking.

Granola

It's marketed as a health food, is sold in health food stores and even looks remarkably healthy, so it must be a diet food, right? In the case of granola, sadly the answer is no. While granola is undoubtedly nutritious and full of fibre, it also contains high quantities of sugar and oil, making it extremely high in fat and calories. To help save your waistline, try eating granola in small portions or, better yet, switch to a lower fat sugar-free muesli which will deliver the same health benefits without the calories.

50 Most Romantic Things To Do With Your Girl Friend

50 Most Romantic Things To Do With Your Girl Friend the sunset together.  2. Whispers to each other.  3. Cook for each other.  4. Walk in the rain.  5. Hold hands.  6. Buy small gifts for each other.  7. Gift Roses.  8. Find out their favorite cologne/perfume and wear every time you're together.  9. Go for a long walk down the beach at midnight. 10. Write poetry for each other.  11. Hugs are the universal medicine.  12. Say I love you, only when you mean it and make sure they know you mean it.  13. Give random gifts of flowers/candy/poetry etc.  14. Tell her that she's the only girl you ever want. Don't lie!  15. Spend every second possible together.  16. Look into each other's eyes.  17. Very lightly push up her chin, look into her eyes, tell her you love her, and kiss her lightly.  18. When in public, only flirt w/ each other.  19. Put love notes in their pockets when they aren't looking.  20. Buy her a ring.  21. Sing to each other.  22. Always hold her around her hips/sides.  23. Take her to dinner and do the dinner for two-deal 24. Spaghetti? (Ever see Lady and the Tramp?)  25. Hold her hand, stare into her eyes, kiss her hand and then put it over your heart. 26. Dance together.  27. I love the way a girl looks right after she's fallen asleep with her head in my lap.  28. Do cute things like write I love you in a note so that they have to look in a mirror to read it.  29. Make excuses to call them every 5 minutes  30. Even if you are really busy doing something, go out of your way to call and say I love you.  31. Call from your vacation spot to tell them you were thinking about them.  32. Remember your dreams and tell her about them. 34. Tell each other your most sacred secrets/fears.  35. Be Prince Charming to her parents.  36. Brush her hair out of her face for her. 37. Hang out with his/her friends.  38. Go to church/pray/ worship together.  39. Take her to see a romantic movie and remember the parts she liked.  40. Learn from each other and don't make the same mistake twice.  41. Describe the joy you feel just to be with him/her.  42. Make sacrifices for each other.  43. Really love each other, or don't stay together.  44. Let there never be a second during any given day that you aren't thinking about them, and make sure they know it.  45. Love yourself before you love anyone else.  46. Learn to say sweet things in foreign languages.  47. Dedicate songs to them on the radio.  48. Fall asleep on the phone with each other.  49. Stand up for them when someone talks trash.  50. Never forget the kiss goodnight and always remember to say,"Sweet dreams."

8 important manners you should teach your little ones

We all want to raise our little ones to be polite and well behaved, and learning those lessons starts at home. It's never too early to teach your little ones basic manners! Here are eight of the most important manners you should try to teach your little ones before they go to school. They won't remember them all, or get them right every time, but patience and perseverance should get you through:

1.    Always say please and thank you.
Whether they're activities as small as giving your little one a snack, or them asking if they can play in the garden, always reinforce the importance of saying please and thank you. No matter how young your children are, you can't start enforcing this rule too early!

2.    Table manners
When your tiny tots are just learning to eat at the table, start teaching them the manners you'd like them to have for the rest of their lives! Rules like not eating with their mouths open, or not putting their elbows on the table, are good life lessons for your children to learn as soon as possible.

3.    Play dates
When you're little ones go on play dates, or to birthday parties, remind them to thank their friends parents for having them over. If you aren't going to be attending the play date or event with your little one, ensure your little ones know they should treat their friends parents (and all grown-ups) with the same respect they treat you.

4.    Birthday party etiquette
It's often said that kids go wild at birthday parties - all the sweet snacks and fun can make little ones get excited, and sometimes forget their manners. But no matter how excited your little one is on their birthday, there are some manners they shouldn't forget: to open their presents thoughtfully (not ripping off the paper, or tossing the present to one side as soon as they've seen it) and to say thank you for every gift, and to every attendee.

5.    Mind the language
There will come a moment every parent dreads: the moment your little one swears. And then finds it funny! The worst thing you can do in this scenario is laugh. Let them know that you already know that word, you think it's unpleasant, not funny, and ask your little one not to use it again!

6.    Don't be mean
Kids tease each other, and they find it funny. But this can sometimes go a step too far and lead to bullying. Make sure your little ones don't call others mean names, and don't make fun of anyone for any reason. Ganging up on someone else is cruel, not clever.

7.    Excuse me!
Once your little ones have mastered saying please and thank you, teach them to say excuse me. It's the polite thing to say when you have to interrupt someone, or bump into somebody.

8.    TMI!
There are some things that are too much information, and that your little ones shouldn't talk about in public! These include genitals, poo, nose picking, and all the other gory things that amuse kids!

15 ways to save money at home!

Money saved is money earned they say. How true! Every homemaker can change her role from money user/spender to money earner by doing her bit. These 15 tips do not call for any education or any great knowledge of finance. All that is needed is a little time and the eagerness to save money for the household. At first look, these may look like trivial stuff, but on hindsight, they could prove to be tips, which save 2-4 K a month for you!

Kitchen

1.    Plan for what is to be cooked right through the day. Basic boiling of vegetables, precooking can be done together. Will save gas and precious time.

2.    Don't just dump leftovers. Particularly vegetables cooked in the morning if not fully used can be kept in the fridge and slightly modified for dinner. Many a time the beans or the brinjals of the morning with a little onion, tomato and masala go quite well with the rotis in the night.

3.    Keep all your spoons dry and clean. This can save your rice, wheat, dal and other stored food items from bugs and insects. Saves your groceries from wastage, apart from being hygienic.

Shopping

4.    Make a shopping list before going out shopping. A shopping list will help you stay focussed and in control of your purse strings. Guaranteed!

5.    Leave your credit card behind. Sure shot way to ensure you don't overspend, at least never more than what you have.

6.    If you are taking kids out shopping, feed them something before stepping out. Will save you a lot of money buying snacks on the way to keep them busy and a lot of embarrassment at the shopping place.

Electricity

7.    Understand the costs of cooking fuel. Most kitchens use a combination of cooking gas, electricity, kerosene, wood (???!!! not among readers of this column I guess). In most cities electricity costs can go completely out of control if it crosses certain threshold levels. You might have to carefully optimise use of the induction stove, microwave oven etc.

8.    Those fans running and lights burning bright in unoccupied rooms / bathrooms, is money being flushed down the drain.  A reminder near the door that says, "Have you switched off the light (with a winking smiley)" may do the trick.

9.    LED lights, power saving equipments are god's gift to mankind, really! Use them.

Children

10. If you have two children in the house — remember to utilize the elder one's outgrown clothes, toys, books, furniture. These are used for short periods and thrown away and will serve the purpose fine. Your child will not know the difference.

11. For older children, give them an allowance. They will learn to manage their expenses within limits and you can keep within your budgets.

12. Plan for important events in their life too — school, college, post graduation, marriage etc. If you save regularly early on, you can avoid borrowing or selling key assets later.

Personal care and grooming

13. Do whatever you can at home — like you may not be able to colour or trim your hair at home, but you can definitely shampoo it at home. Most grooming these days can be done with "Do it yourself at home" products.

14. Even the fanciest salons and spas give offers and discounts. Ask for them. Collect coupons and use them.

15. If you can time your important purchases to coincide with offer seasons like monsoons and stay clear of festival times, you may be in for a lot of luck with great deals and discounts.

Although the above may look too basic, however they are time-tested and effective means of saving that little bit of money to put into your personal piggy bank. In fact you will also be contributing your bit to the environment and betterment of our world!