Exercise FAQs

Will daily walking help me to lose weight?
It can if you walk regularly, walk at a brisk pace, and if you eat a healthy diet.  If you walk irregularly (only when you remember), walk slowly, and eating whatever you want, then no, you will not lose weight.  Remember that not only does walking help you to lose or maintain your weight; it also helps energy levels and cholesterol levels.

Will weight training help me to lose weight?
YES!  If you are afraid that you will look like a buff body builder, no need to fear.  You need to do a lot to look like a body builder.  But for the typical person, weight lifting will help you to lose weight during and after exercise.  Weight lifting helps you to increase your metabolism and with a faster metabolism, you burn off more calories.  When you work out, you need to work out till exhaustion (where you cannot lift weight anymore).  If you finish your workout and are able to go dancing, you did not work out to your full potential.  When you do decide to go weight lifting, you want to make sure to have a pre-workout snack – preferably something with carbs as this is your source of energy for your workout.  You also want to have a post-workout snack as well.  This will help with the recovery of your muscles.  You want to have a protein shake if possible.

Will dancing help me to lose weight?
Yes, with conditions.  If you dance that is high intensity, such as Zumba, then yes.  However, if you already know the motions and your body adapts to the dance and utilizes its momentum to go to the next dance move, then you might not get as good results as when you first started.  Dancing should also be a regular routine (just like walking).  If you are irregular, you won’t lose weight.  Again with dancing, just like walking, you need to be on a healthy diet as well.

Remember:
-With any exercise, make sure you have plenty of water.  2 cups before your exercise, 2 cups after your exercise, and sips of water as needed during your exercise. 
-You start to lose weight if your calories in (eating) is less than your calories out (exercising).

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HON for Free?

Received an email from HON....FREE account for a few days!  Yay...

To kick off the HoNiversary celebration, we are offering 11 days of FREE-to-play. Starting today (Thursday, May 12) at 9 p.m. EST new players will be able to sign up and play at no cost. Grab your friends and get your game HoN. The F2P session ends Sunday, May 22nd at 12 a.m. EST. To join, new players simply need to download the game and register a HoN nickname at:
http://www.heroesofnewerth.com/create_account.php

1 Month Free Trial for Netflix

go to: netflix.com/tellfriend

Enter One of the Priority Codes Below:
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Free trial offer ends June 19, 2011.
You can enjoy a moth of free movies!!   You can watch movies on your computer, or the old fashion way by DVD, or by the wii, PS3, Xbox, or sometime even your phone.

If you are interested, use one of the codes above for a free trial!!

Tips on saving gas

Save on gas
More MPG
less gas
more miles
cheap gas
there are many more ways to to say it.
These are my tips on saving gas...some are easy, some are quite extreme.  I've been reading about how to save gas and was obsessed for a while and I will be passing on my knowledge to you now :)

Some Easy Ways

1. Lighten the Load - You know the stack of books that you've been carrying in your car...take it out.  The more weight your car has to carry, the more gas it uses.  Look through your trunk and the back seat of your car.  Those empty bottles, that half full bottle of coke, that box full of random stuff...take it out!
2. Fill up those tires when you fill up your gas - When you go and fill up for gas, pump those tires full of air (read the max PSI first).  Guess what, air is free in CA (I'm sure other states are free as well).  All you need to do is see the attendant and ask him/her to turn on the air.  Feeling lazy? When you go in for an oil change, ask your friendly mechanic to fill up your tires.  Most places will do so out of courtesy.
3. Ease off the gas pedal - Are you blazing down the freeway at 80+ miles an hour?  Slow down...stop slurping up gas.  Driving 60 mph is much more economical than 80 mph.  I read somewhere that each mile you drive over 60 mph decreases your fuel efficiency by 1% each mile over.  You'll not only save money on gas, but also decrease your chances on getting a hefty priced ticket for speeding.
4. Speed racer status off - When you see that red light turn green, slowly accelerate, don't step on your gas pedal full blast.  Doing so will save you lots of gas.
5. A/C off, windows up - Ideally your A/C off and Windows Up will save you gas.  If possible, windows down over A/C if you are driving local, if you drive 50 mph or more, A/C on over windows down, if you need to.  Locally, windows down will save you more gas if you want to cool down.  If you drive faster than 50 mph, then turn on the A/C and close your windows.  The wind drag of having your windows down is more costly than closing them and turning on your A/C.
6. Don't Idle - Do you warm up your car in the morning.  Guess what? Most new cars do not need to be warmed up.  Just keep it easy for the car in the morning.  Don't overwork your car in the morning.  You waste more gas idling (after all you are going 0 miles per hour/gallon). [I also read that it is a myth that starting your car takes a lot more gas than idling - your car uses about the same amount of gas as when your car is idling for 10 seconds] So, if you are at a drive thru, or that train track with the train, turn off your engine.  But don't do so at red lights...what if your car decides to die on you :P
7. Avoid rough terrain - When you are driving down the highway and you see bumps in the road, or dips, or holes, potholes, etc...avoid them.  Driving on smooth terrain will save you some gas (less resistance).
8. Level one - If you do decide to turn on the heater/air conditioner, leave it on the lowest setting.  The higher you set that thing, the more gas it will eat.

Some Difficult over the top ways

1. Neutral - Yup...you know the downhill area...yeah, neutral your way down the hill.
2. Once in motion, always in motion - This is hard.  Try not to brake! Think about trying to move a boulder.  If it was in motion, would it be easier to keep pushing it.  Now imagine the boulder and it was at a complete stop.  Think how hard it would be to try to move it...but once it is moving it's easy to move.  Same concept with the car.  The car uses more gas to go from a complete stop rather than a rolling one.  So if you see the car ahead of you is slowing down, you should have already eased off the gas and coast (or neutral).  Also, if you see that the next traffic light is red, again, ease off the gas pedal and coast.  Hopefully it will turn green and you can continue on your way...if you stop...meh... a little gas wasted.
3. Neutral out of your parking spot - Yes, like pushing your car when there is no gas.  You push your way out and in your parking spot.  Over the top? Yes! but it does save some drops of gas.  WARNING: This method does not activate your power steering or power braking.  You may lose control of your car so beware.
4.   Drive behind a truck - WARNING: Dangerous.  Driving behind a truck will put you in his blind spot.  Not only that, but you are also pretty blind behind the truck.  You will have less drag and will save gas, but you are also jeopardizing your safety.

If I am missing something, I'll edit.  If you have more ideas, shoot a comment!

New Credit Card Rules

I am a real stickler for credit.  I need to have excellent credit.  And after the rules changed, my credit is okay...but it could be better.  I needed to find out ways to improve my credit score, and take advantage of certain rules.

First rule.  Never go over your credit limit.  Better yet, try not to go over 50% of your credit limit.  Here are some guidelines:
1% - 10% Ideal.  You want to use your credit card to keep it active, but want to show credit companies that you are in control of your credit.  Some drawbacks is that card companies are now looking at your credit utilization and are cutting your credit limit if you do not use enough of it.
11% - 25% Good.
26% - 30% Okay.
75% or over NEVER!  Never, ever do this.  Once credit companies see that you are using more than a third of your credit, they will begin to worry and start closing your cards thinking you are out of control.  This includes balance transfers.  I transferred my balance from one card to another to benefit from a lower APR, but I was also using about 95% of my credit on that one card.  After about a month, card companies started sending me letters saying that they are closing my account.  On that note...

Rule #2
Spread your debt among your cards.  It is better to have a bunch of cards using about 25% of your credit on each card than having it all on one card using 50%.  For example, it is better for you to split your $5,000 debt among 5 cards with a $5000 dollar limit than have it all on one card with a $10,000 limit.

Rule #3
Never be late.  Don't ever send a late payment.  That really hurts your score.

Rule #4
Pay off your debt ASAP.  Carrying a high balance on your cards is also hurtful to your score.

Rule #5
Keep those cards active and open.  You don't want to have credit card companies lowering your credit or closing your credit.  The higher your limit, the higher your score.

Rule #6
Keep that card you got in High School Open!!  No matter how much you hate that card, keep it open.  That card is keeping your score up.  The moment that card closes, it will look like you lost a few years in your credit history.

Easy to find; easy to make recipes - Mole

No. Not the animal.  The name is pronounced Moh-Lay.  This is kind of like a curry.

Ingredients
-A can/glass/container of mole (there are different varieties.  Mild, spicy, green, red... My favorite is the red mole, mild or spicy).  You can find these at a Spanish store like Cardenas, Northgate, Superior.
-Chicken leg quarters or Chicken drumsticks
-Water
-Knorr (Chicken Broth)

Materials Needed
Two Pots (One large, One medium)
Blender

Directions
First, you want to get a large pot of water boiling.  Add some knorr (chicken flavor).  You want to taste it so that it is just over the bland taste.  To the point where you question whether you should add more salt, but it is still sufficient.  Then you want to wash the chicken.  You can peel off the skin if you want, or buy it without skin.  After that, put the chicken into the water (boiling or not) and bring it to a boil.  You want the chicken to be cooked thoroughly.  You can check the internal temperature of the chicken if you'd like, but what I do is I poke the chicken to the bone.  If it bleeds, it still needs more cook time.  If not, your chicken is ready.

In the blender, you want to add some of the chicken broth to the blender (about one to one and a half mole container worth).  Any excess chicken water/broth you want to pour out.  Add the mole and blend.  You want this to be a consistency of spaghetti sauce to tomato soup.  Then you want to transfer it to a pot and boil it.  After it boils you want to put this sauce into the pot with the chicken.  Let it simmer for a while and you are done.  You can serve this over rice, or eat it with bread, or eat it with tortillas.  It is all up to you!

Easy to find; easy to make recipes - Spaghetti

Ingerdients:
Barilla Spaghetti
Prego Sauce (can be any that you like)
Salt
Olive oil
Cooking oil
Garlic
Onion (white or brown)
Mushroom (precut or whole)
Ground beef (1/2 lb)
Optional: Meatballs

Supplies:
2 Pans (one for spaghetti, one for sauce)
Knife for cutting
Cutting board
Cooking spoon (wooden or anything that won't transfer heat)

Preparation and Cooking
Bring a pot of water to boil for the spaghetti.  Add about a teaspoon of olive oil and a little dash of salt (this is going to be thrown away after the spaghetti cooks, so use sparingly.  While the water is coming to a boil, cut mushrooms in slices (like pizza topping).  After, cut the onion (minced).  An easy way to do this is to cut slices (like a checkerboard) but don't cut all the way through, just about half way through the onion.  After that, you can slice the other way, and you will have minced onions every time you slice. (video to come).
Mince the garlic (about 1 tooth).
In another pot add about a tablespoon of cooking oil (I use canola or vegetable oil) and add the ground beef and cook.  When the meat looks cooked, add the minced onion, the prego sauce, and the minced garlic.  The fire should be about medium to medium high (you can judge this by making sure the sauce bubbles, but not violently where sauce gets everywhere.
After that, your water should be boiling.  Add a teaspoon of olive oil, and some salt.  This is to add flavor.  I know some people say it is pointless, but I like to do it.  Add the spaghetti.  Cook according to box directions.  Drain and rinse spaghetti after cooking.
After that, turn off the fire from any pots, serve sauce over spaghetti, add some cheese on top (optional) and enjoy!