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Energy-Draining Foods

FitSugar — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:00:00 PDT

How we fuel our bodies will certainly affect our energy levels. If you are what you eat, there are some energy-draining foods you should avoid.

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4 Lazy Moves That Boost Your Health

Prevention — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:05:16 PST

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Prevention here on FitSugar!

You don’t have to go on a deprivation diet or spend hours exercising to ward off disease and be your healthiest self! Instead, try these supersimple tips
By the editors of Prevention

Staying healthy can feel like so much, well, work (think: logging hours at the gym and whipping up nutritious meals from scratch). However, there are plenty of small moves that you can make in your everyday life that will have big health benefits. We’ve rounded up 15 practically zero-effort ways to fight disease, whittle your waist, lower stress, and more. Bonus: many of these good-for-you moves feel good, too. So say sayonara to the old adage “no pain, no gain” and try these tips today.

Lazy Move No. 1: Protect Your Ticker by Snoozing
Need a good excuse to grab your comfiest set of pajamas and hit the sack? Skimping on shut-eye may do more than make you cranky or unproductive - it also boosts your risk of a heart attack. According to one Norwegian study, people who reported that they did not wake up feeling refreshed in the morning had a 27 percent higher risk of a heart attack, those who had trouble staying asleep almost every night in the last month had a 30 percent higher risk, and those who had trouble falling asleep almost every night in the last month had odds that jumped to 45 percent.

Twenty Ways to Sleep Better Every Night

Some researchers speculate that insomnia might trigger your body to release more of the stress hormone cortisol. High levels of cortisol have been linked with high blood pressure and diabetes, which are both risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Plus when you’re exhausted, you may be more likely to make unhealthy choices that up your heart disease risk, such as skipping your workout or reaching for fatty or sugary snacks for a quick energy fix.

Keep reading for three more lazy ways to improve your health.

10 Simple Ways to Winterize Your Home

Business Insider — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 09:30:25 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart Business Insider story here on Savvy!

'Tis the season to crank your thermostat. Unfortunately it could cost even more than normal. Americans will pay 15% more for heating expenses than last year, according to the EIA.

At this point you've got no excuse not to follow this simple guide for winterizing your home.

Dodge the Draft

Problem: Cold air is rushing in from underneath your door, and warm air is rushing out.

Solution: The draft snake, adopted during the Great Depression era, is one of the easiest ways to cut back on energy waste. A draft snake can be easily made by rolling up a towel or filling up a pouch of fabric with kitty litter or sand, advises The Daily Green. Or you can buy one pre-made.

Money/Energy Saved: According to the U.S. Department of Energy, drafts can waste 5 to 30% of energy use per year.

Read on for more tips.

13 Things That Are Causing Your Bills to Skyrocket

Emily Co — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 13:48:40 PST

To err is human; to make budgeting mistakes, totally human as well. Most people are not aware of the little budget traps we get caught in, because life is so busy that it's hard to keep track of the smaller money details. But being careless can rack up higher bills. Pretty soon, you might be wondering where your money is going - you don't spend that much every month but your bank seems to be emptying itself on its own. Here are things you need to watch out for:

Buying things that are not on sale: Most items generally go on sale if you wait for it. Whenever I buy greatly discounted items at a big annual sale like Black Friday, an outlet mall, or on some flash sales site, I wonder why I ever bought items at full-price.

Not preserving your groceries: Even if you're good about saving on your groceries and avoiding the items that are greatly marked up in the supermarket, those savings will be worth less if you don't know how to properly preserve your groceries. If you're throwing away food, you're wasting money. Do things like only cutting fruits and vegetables when you need them, putting your bread in the fridge or the freezer, and making perishable items more visible in your fridge. For more tips on lengthening the life of your groceries, read this.

Never checking your bills for mistakes: Monitor your receipts, bills, and statements to see if there are any mistakes being made. Get into a habit of giving your receipts a quick once-over as soon as you receive them. This may save you money and it'll definitely save you the time and effort of having to go back to the store or calling them to deduct the mistaken charges. Now that big banks are trying to slip in more fees to the unsuspecting customer, you have more reason to monitor your statements. Be a responsible consumer - the sooner you catch on to suspicious fees, the more chances you'll have of getting your money back.

Leaving your electronics plugged in: It's easy to be lazy and leave your electronics plugged in because you figure you'll be using them soon. Electronic items still suck power even when they aren't turned on. In fact, they draw five percent of the energy in American homes, according to a study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The amount of energy wasted is equivalent to the output of 18 power stations!

Read on for more budget drains.

Work-Life Balance Tips For Newbies

Anna Monette Roberts — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 05:05:38 PDT

When you are new to the workforce, you will quickly learn that entry-level positions do require you to prove your worth and dedication to the company. Aka, working a lot of overtime. You want to be sure that you are taking care of yourself and your life outside of work, so that you remain energized, happy, and motivated. Implement our savvy tips so that you can feel your best self in and outside of the office.

Stay focused while at work. Use the Pomodoro Technique to time your productivity. It's so easy to migrate away from your work to check your email or browse the web, which just drains you of your energy and time. If you concentrate only on one task for 25 minutes, you're more likely to complete your work in an eight-hour day rather than take it home with you.
Complete a daily achievement and something pleasurable. Jim Bird, the publisher of WorkLifeBalance.com recommends that every day you should be saying, "I just want to achieve something today and I want to enjoy something today. And if I do both of those things today, I'm going to have a pretty good day. And if I do both of those things every day for the rest of my life, I'm going to have a pretty good life."

The Law of Diminishing Orgasms and Other Economic Aspects of Your Sex Life

LearnVest — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:15:58 PDT

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

Sex. You want more of it - in theory.

But after running from meeting to client lunch to after-work Pilates to the grocery store and home, you’re too tired to even think about sex, much less actually do the deed. So, when your honey curls up next to you in bed and starts kissing your neck, you might call upon that handy feigned headache or pretend to be asleep.

It’s a common scenario among career-driven couples and those with kids. But according to the authors of a new book, it’s not necessarily an issue of sex drive. You can use simple economic principles to put a little jump kick into your sex life.

Want to know how it's done? Read on for tips after the break.

10 Tips to Improve Your Running Technique

Shape — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 04:58:44 PDT

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Shape, here on FitSugar.

Don’t Run Heels First. Avoid striking the pavement with your heels - save that for your power walks. "When you walk, you keep one foot in contact with the ground, while running has a moment of weightlessness in the stride," says Alex Figueroa, a running coach and creator of Priority1 Wellness in Miami Beach. Running with a heel landing can contribute to back and knee pain.
Do Land on the Midsole of Your Foot. Landing on your forefoot (instead of your heels) allows your muscles to catch the weight of your body in flight, reducing the effects of impact on the joints and bones, says Figueroa.
Don't Use a Long Stride. Leaping forward while you run is inefficient and an energy drain. Instead, stand tall and lean forward, and when you feel like you are going to fall, step forward just enough to catch yourself. This should be the length of your stride. It takes less energy to fall than to reach your foot in front of you.

Read on for seven more tips to improve your running technique.

25 Ways to Waste Your Money

Kiplinger — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 00:15:53 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart Kiplinger story here on Savvy!

Has your budget sprung a leak?

Nearly everyone has spending holes. And as with other kinds of leaks, you may have hardly noticed them. But those small drips can quickly add up to big bucks. The trick is to find the holes and plug them so you can keep more money in your pocket. That extra cash could be the ticket to finally being able to save, invest, or break your cycle of living from paycheck to paycheck.

Here are 25 common ways people waste money. See if any of these sound familiar, then look for ways to plug your own leaks:

1. Carrying a balance. Debt is a shackle that holds you back. For instance, if you have a $1,000 balance on a credit card that charges an 18% rate, you blow $180 every year on interest. Get in the habit of paying off your balance in full each month.

2. Overspending on gas and oil for your car. There’s no need to spring for premium fuel if the manufacturer says regular is just fine. You should also check to make sure your tires are optimally inflated to get the best gas mileage. And are you still paying for an oil change every 3,000 miles? Many models nowadays can last 5,000 to 7,000 miles between changes, and some even have built-in sensors to tell you when it’s time to change the oil. Check your manual to find the best time for your car’s routine maintenance.

3. Keeping unhealthy habits. Smoking costs a lot more than just what you pay for a pack of cigarettes. It significantly increases the cost of life and health insurance. And you'll pay more for homeowners and auto insurance. Add in various other expenses, and the true cost of smoking adds up dramatically over a lifetime - $86,000 for a 24-year-old woman over a lifetime and $183,000 for a 24-year-old man over a lifetime, according to The Price of Smoking (The MIT Press).

Another habit to quit: indoor tanning. There is now a 10% tax on indoor tanning services. As with cigarettes, the true cost of tanning - which the World Health Organization lists among the worst-known carcinogens - is higher than just the price you pay each time you go to the salon.

Read on to find out what other budget leaks you should avoid.

10 Easy Ways to Save Water in Your Home Every Day

Elka Karl — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 11:40:15 PDT

Today is World Water Day, which is an international observance of the importance of this limited and precious resource in our lives. You can check out this link to see if there is a World Water Day event in your city. However you're observing the day, there are plenty of ways you can save water each and every day. Here are some easy ways to save water in your home.

Check for hidden water leaks at your house. Just recently, I realized that the piping for my home's deck spigot was leaky. I cut off the water supply to the deck spigot, moved more of my deck plants down to the patio, and now water the plants by hand. To get an accurate check of your water use, read the house water use before and after two hours, when no water is being used. If the meter does not show the same reading, there is a leak.
Your toilet may have a leak, too. To check, drop some food coloring into the back of your toilet (the toilet tank). If the color begins to appear in the bowl within half an hour, and you have not flushed then there's a leak. No worries though - in most cases this is a cheap and easy repair.
Transform your toilet into an economical, no-installation, low-flow toilet by placing plastic bottles in your tank. Take one or two individual-sized plastic bottles, put some sand in them to weigh them down, fill the bottles with water, and then put them in your toilet tank. You can save over 10 gallons of water a day with this simple method.

Want to know the rest? Then

Take shorter showers. Try to limit your showers to five minutes or less. A shower timer might help.
When you brush your teeth, turn the water off, don't let it run down the drain! This seems obvious, but I know plenty of people who practice this bad habit (including one I'm marrying, though he's been cured of that habit by now).
When washing dishes by hand, don't leave the water running for rinsing. If your sink has a double basin, fill one basin with dish soap and water, and the other with rinse water. Then dip your dishes in the rinse water instead of using the faucet.
Use the proper amount of water for the job. If you're boiling water for pasta, only use the amount needed; don't fill the pot all the way up with water, which can be a waste of water and energy.
Conserve water left over from boiling and steaming vegetables and pasta. You can use this water, once it cools, to water your houseplants and garden plants. In fact, the extra nutrients will actually improve your plants' health.
Only run your dishwasher on full loads. In almost all cases, modern dishwashers do not require dishes to be prerinsed.
Only run your washing machine on full loads.

Have more suggestions? Leave them in the comments!

What American Idol Can Teach You About Interviewing

Emily Co — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 12:15:42 PST

While I was watching American Idol last night and rooting for my favorites to make it to the top 10, I realized there are a couple of lessons that job hunters can take away from the hit show. I mean, American Idol is the ultimate interview - millions of Americans are judges, so if you make it through to the final rounds, you are definitely doing something right. Here's what you can learn from the contestants:

Don't feel bad if you didn't get the job. You are competing against extremely talented people for the job so be proud of the fact that you've gotten this far. There's no telling why you didn't get the job - there can be a whole host of reasons why you didn't. It's just going to drive you crazy if you keep lingering over the reasons why. I thought some of the Idol candidates who got cut should've stayed, so it's all a matter of fit and timing. Maybe there isn't a good reason at all. Don't let your rejection letter get you down - there may be other opportunities out there waiting for you, so keep trying.
Nice and humble gets you far. Being nice and genuine really does go a long way. I noticed that the contestants who weren't as nice in the beginning didn't make the cut. Clint didn't make it to the final 10, although he was very talented. In an earlier episode, he kicked 15-year-old Jaycee out of his singing group, which left Jaycee stranded, tearful, and group-less for a long while. Judges and viewers tend to gravitate toward candidates like Jacob, who seems genuine and down to earth.

For more interviewing tips you can learn from American Idol, read on.