Hat Toss

Learning How to Build Confidence

Royale Scuderi — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 15:00:20 +0000

We’re all plagued by doubts sometimes, some more than others. Even the charismatic politician, the inspirational speaker, and the millionaire success story have moments of insecurity. Self-confidence is a tricky thing. Some seem to be born with it, others are taught it and the rest of us have to build it. Our level of confidence in large part determines our level of success and happiness. Confident people tend to take on more challenges, realize their goals, and achieve higher success. At the same time, confident people also tend to be more able to enjoy their success and have greater personal happiness.

Your level of confidence affects your thinking, behavior, speech, body language, relationships, career, and even health by lowering stress and anxiety. Some clear signs that you may need some confidence building are; negative self-talk, unwillingness to take risks or try new things, feeling the need to justify or explain yourself, letting others take advantage of you, taking criticism personally, defensiveness, hunching posture, or avoiding personal or professional social situations.

The good news is that confidence can be strengthened, just like any other muscle. It just takes time, effort, and attention.

Confidence-Building Strategies

Be willing to fail. The more you challenge yourself, the more you’ll probably fail, but learning that you can fail and recover, pick yourself up and keep going builds confidence.
Record your achievements. Keeping a list of the things that you’ve accomplished helps you to have a more positive and realistic view of your abilities.
Stop comparing yourself to others. We all do it, some more than others, but how we see others is often not real. Comparison is a destructive and inaccurate measuring stick.
Pay attention to your dress. The way we dress affects the way we feel about ourselves and the way others perceive us. It’s not necessary to spend a ton of money on clothes, but make sure they fit well, are in good repair, and complement your body.
Sit up front. Many people automatically gravitate to the back row, usually because they want to blend in with the crowd. Sitting up front helps us to get over our fear of being noticed and seen.
Practice good posture. People with low self-confidence usually tend to have bad posture. Stand up straight and keep your head up. You’ll instantly feel more confident and others will respond.
Increase your knowledge. The more you learn, the more you know, the more valuable you are, the more confident you are.
Exercise. Physical exercise not only results in better body confidence, but it also gives you an endorphin boost that carries throughout your day.
Strike up a conversation. The next time you’re in a social situation, instead of hanging out with people you know, and are comfortable with, start a conversation with someone you don’t know well or know at all. Eventually you’ll become more comfortable meeting new people.
Do it anyway. When you find yourself making an argument for why you can’t do something, do it anyway. You’ll learn that you don’t have to listen to that doubting voice.
Make mini-goals. Make a list of tiny goals, steps, or things that have been nagging at you and start completing them. Smaller goals are simpler to achieve, but success generate momentum to carry you through larger goals.
Insist on respect. When we allow others to disrespect us, even tiny little digs of disrespect, we allow our confidence to erode.
Put your hand in the air. Volunteer for projects that challenge you. You will learn that you can do more than you think and others will respect your willingness to try.
Spend time with confident people. Surround yourself with “can-do” people rather than “can’t” people. Their confident attitude is likely to rub off.
Talk like a friend. When you hear yourself engaging in negative self-talk – blaming, attacking and mentally abusing yourself – ask yourself if you would talk to a friend that way.
Be yourself. Don’t try to play a role or be the person you think others want you to be. When you’re being yourself, you won’t have the fear that you’ll accidently let the real you slip out. Fear is an enemy of confidence.
Give yourself credit. When it seems like everything is going wrong, give yourself credit for what you’ve done right.
Admit you’re wrong. Truly confident people aren’t afraid to admit when they’re wrong, because they know it does not define who they are.
Trust your instincts. When you listen to your intuition, you’ll gain confidence in your ability to know what’s right for you. Your gut usually knows best.
Practice, practice. Develop skills that you need to succeed, work skills, conversation skills, presentation skills. The more you practice something, the more confident you feel. Even practicing sports or hobbies help your overall confidence.

One thing to remember, building confidence affects everyone differently and shows up differently for each individual. Confidence allows people to be more certain, more secure and in many cases more assertive, however it need not be aggressive or bullying. A truly confident person has a calmness about them. They’re comfortable in their own skin and in their value and abilities. They do not need to feel superior to others to feel valuable. A truly feeling of inner confidence makes that unnecessary.

5 Best Ways to Use Your Vacation Time

Royale Scuderi — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 15:00:56 +0000

Vacations are an invaluable way to recharge the batteries and recover from the mental and physical stresses of your job. Time away also gives us time to regroup, ponder our choices, and make plans that we don’t have time for when we’re immersed in our day-to-day scheduled lives. An added benefit of vacation is the ability to completely shift the way we use our minds and bodies if we choose.

If you’re in a facts, details or repetitive task oriented type of job, use your vacation to explore the creative side of your brain. Conversely, if you’re in a marketing, design, or development kind of job, you might want to focus on perfecting or learning a skill instead of creating something. If you sit all day long, include lots of activity or if you’re on your feet all day, try less physically demanding activities.

Immerse yourself in a hobby

Is there something that you love to do, but never seem to have any free time to do it? Maybe you love to paint, sketch, sculpt, fly fish, write music, garden, build things. Maybe you enjoy photography, tennis, cycling, gaming, or yoga. Whatever your favorite hobby, use your vacation to immerse yourself in it. Go on a yoga retreat, attend a tennis camp, take a fishing trip with your buddies, close yourself in your workshop/studio and create away, wander and take pictures or sketch everything you see. Completely throw yourself into doing that thing your love and forget your work responsibilities.
Try something new

If you’re like most people, you have a long list of things you always wanted to learn or try. Vacation is the perfect time to choose something from this “bucket list” and give it a try. You have free time; use it. Have you always wanted to try skydiving, rock-climbing, scuba diving, sailing, horseback riding? Maybe you want to learn a foreign language or sign language, or how to dance or play a new sport. Find a group class or try private instruction. You may even be able to find an intensive or weeklong course in your area. Go ahead, do it, sign up. Then learn, practice and have fun.
Volunteer

Would you prefer to use your vacation time to help others? There are lots of opportunities to do just that. Use your skills or just lend a hand, help build something, teach something, heal something, or beautify something. Join a Habitat for humanity crew. Do missionary work if that appeals to you. Teach in an impoverished village. Help treat sick children or care for endangered wildlife. Plant or harvest crops. Clean up or protect natural resources. However you choose to volunteer, your vacation will be valuable and meaningful.
Take an active vacation

Vacation is a great time to get away from the office and out into the natural world. Active vacations have become a popular choice for our increasingly indoor, sedentary working population. Go on a white water rafting trip down the river, hike the Appalachian Trail, take a trek through the rainforest, backpack through a canyon, go on a safari through the wilds, or join a bicycle tour. Choose something that interests you and excites you. Just make sure that you are in the proper physical condition before you tackle any kind of physically demanding expedition.
Do absolutely nothing

Maybe you’re just exhausted, burned out; you have no energy to even think about what to do you’re your vacation, let alone energy to engage in activities. There’s a vacation option for you too. Here it is…Do absolutely nothing. Give yourself permission to do, plan, try absolutely nothing for the duration of your vacation. It’s harder than it sounds. Often we think we’re doing nothing, but yet we still have a to-do list, a schedule and expectations. Stay home or go away, whichever allows you the most freedom and fits your budget. Then simply sit in a chair, on the beach, under a tree, take naps, walk and wander with no destination, and eat whenever you feel like it. This is a bit more complicated when you have a family, but if everybody is on board it can be an amazingly restorative way to use your vacation time.

Perhaps the hardest, yet most important aspect of any vacation is determining if, how and to what extent you can disconnect, from work, and the demands of a 24/7 connected world. Can you refrain from checking work email and voicemail? In addition, if you truly want to maximize your respite, set your computer and phone aside and give Facebook and Angry Birds a rest. Vacation time is so scarce and so valuable, whatever you decide, make the most of it.

The Secret To Power Napping

Jennifer Cardona — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 18:57:07 +0000

Counter to popular belief that napping makes you a lazy couch potato, research shows that power napping is more than beneficial to our health. Learn how to fight drowsiness, find the best way to take naps, where to take them, and how they are advantageous to our mental and emotional health.

Siesta anyone?

Perhaps the last time you took a nap was when you had a nasty flu. You woke up, called in sick, filled your tummy with broth, and slept throughout the day, waking up to feel much better than you did that morning. This type of napping is quite different than the planned power-napping that revitalizes your brain.

Napping fall into three distinct categories:

People that nap before they actually become tired take Planned Naps. These naps allow people to stay up later than their actual bedtime.
Ever felt so sleepy in the middle of the day that you could hardly keep your eyes open to write your term paper? That type of drowsiness calls for Emergency Naps.
You’ll find that some people use the technique of Habitual Naps, where they train their brain to take a nap at the same time each day.

Research from NASA shows that astronauts and pilots that took 26-minute naps displayed increased signs of performance by 34% and alertness by 100%. But be weary of napping for too long though, as sleep inertia can make one feel drowsier than before since you enter into a deeper level of sleep. That is because instead of just entering into the first and perhaps second stages of sleep where you begin to relax, longer naps allow people to fall into the third and fourth stages of sleep that are harder to wake out of.

Why You Should Nap

The benefits of napping outweigh the disadvantages. Here are six convincing reasons why you should seek some shut-eye during the day.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, 20- to 30-minute naps restore alertness, reduces the frequency of errors or accidents, and enhances performance without making you feel spacey when you wake up.
Napping combats exhaustion and relieves stress by flooding your brain with serotonin, the neurotransmitter that improves your mood.
Napping decreases your risk of heart disease, stroke, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, and other cardio vascular diseases. It also gives your body time to heal.
Frequent napping aids in weight loss by decreasing your desire for sweets and increasing the production of growth hormones that reduce body fat.
Just a few minutes of shut-eye allows your creative juices to start flowing, giving you the boost you need to come up with innovative and inspiring ideas.
From Thomas Edison to Salvador Dali, you’d be surprised at how many inspirational people nap (and you wouldn’t call them lazy sloths).

Napping Tips

You might think that napping at work would give your boss the wrong impression, but there are ways around the stigma. You work hard, so why not rest when you need it.

Be consistent.At first it may be very difficult to shut your brain off, as brain chatter commonly inhibits napping. But a schedule will regulate your circadian rhythms. After time, you will notice that it becomes easier to just relax and take some time out for you.
Set the right environment. If you can nap in your office, shut off the lights and your computer monitor. Consider buying a sound machine with white noise to drown out distractions. Keep a light blanket in your desk and use it to help regulate your body temperature. If you can’t nap in your office, try your car or an unused space in your building.
Don’t hit snooze. You’ll be tempted to sleep just a bit longer, but avoid it. As soon as that alarm goes off, get up immediately. Turn on the lights. Do some jumping jacks. Engage in any activity that gets your blood pumping for 30 seconds. You’ll feel rejuvenated and ready to attack the second half of your day.
Drink caffeine before you nap. Yes, you read that correctly. It takes caffeine about 40 minutes to take into effect, just enough time to get a power nap in. When you wake up, the caffeine will have hit your bloodstream. It’s the perfect combination to boost your energy levels.
Don’t nap too late. Most people begin to feel tired after lunch. This is a great time to nap, as it separates your work-day. Napping earlier in the day gives you enough energy to withstand the remaining hours without disrupting your nighttime rest.

Now that you know the value of napping, kick your feet up, take a load off, and shut your eyes for 20 minutes. You won’t regret it when you wake up.

3 Signs You’re an Impulse Buyer — and How To Stop It

Jeffrey Trull — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 15:02:05 +0000

With all your frugal defenses up, impulse buying can still bring you down. Even the best of budgets are no match for the sudden purchases that happen without a second of consideration.

Impulse buying isn’t just about your habits, either. Retailers work to exploit our tendency to make unplanned purchases. What does this mean? You need to keep your guard up, especially if you show the warning signs of a repeat impulse shopper.

Look For the Warning Signs

Are you an impulse buyer? If you’re unsure, here are some warning signs:

You’re always making unexpected shopping trips and purchases.

If you find yourself taking shopping trips on a whim, you might be an impulse buyer. Perhaps you intend to stop at just one store, but ending up shopping the entire mall.

Maybe you feel bored, angry, or depressed and go out to buy stuff to entertain yourself and to feel better.

Or perhaps you decide you want something, so you hop online and buy it immediately.

Any of these actions mean that you’re not thinking over your spending but just buying things whenever you feel like it.
You’re constantly over-budget.

If you’re not paying attention to what you can afford to spend, you might be an impulse shopper. Rather than making well-planned and researched purchases, impulse buyers simply decide they want something and get it with little thought for how much they can afford to spend. It’s about getting the item now and worrying about paying for it later.

This can result in blowing your budgets out of the water for groceries, clothing, electronics, or others categories.
You have credit card debt.

If you’re constantly running a balance on your credit card, you might have an impulse buying problem.

Impulse buyers go out and shop whether they have money in their accounts or not. They might spend an entire paycheck before it’s even been earned but justify it by saying they’ll pay off their purchase with the coming payday. It’s not until later that they realize that they can’t afford to pay off their credit card balance, landing them in debt.

Curing an Impulse Buying Habit

Impulse buying isn’t incurable – you just need to set up systems to prevent it.

If you can make your purchases more conscious and intentional, you’re less likely to buy stuff when you don’t really intend to spend. Here are some ways of doing just that.
Create a Waiting Period

Don’t allow yourself to buy things without having some sort of a waiting period first. For example, if you decide you need a new pair of jeans, require yourself to wait a week before actually making that purchase.

Take this time to stop and ask yourself “What is my reason for buying this? Should I be buying this?” before making any purchases. Drawing attention to the situation forces us to act with our conscious minds rather than our emotions. You might realize that you don’t actually want to spend your money on jeans because you don’t really need them.
Avoid Emotional Purchases

You should never shop when the mood isn’t right. If you’re feeling sad, angry, lonely, or even happy, it can affect your shopping patterns and how much you spend. Some get a temporary high from shopping and spending money, but it might then wear off quickly.

Don’t be an emotional shopper! Find other outlets for dealing with your feelings instead of heading for the mall. Try exercise or talking with friends whenever you have the sudden urge to shop.
Be Careful with Online Shopping

Online shopping makes impulse buying extremely easy. In less than a minute, you can order just about anything and have it delivered to your house in just a couple days. Since we now have almost constant access to the Internet and some online retailers only require a single click to purchase, it’s easy to spend money online no matter where we are.

Avoid signing up for programs that offers free and fast shipping. Unsubscribe from promotional emails, too, since these will merely remind you to visit the retailer’s site and buy stuff. Avoid browsing online stores when you’re bored since it will increase the likelihood that you’ll spend money.
Let Go of Credit

If you can’t control your impulse spending and credit cards are your weapon of choice, stop using them altogether. You’ll be able to do just fine without credit. You can never go into debt when you’re only dealing in cash you have in the bank.

If you don’t want to be limited to just cash, debit cards are okay, too, since you can’t carry a balance. Just be careful since using debit cards are still a lot like spending with credit, potentially making it easier to go over-budget.
Keep Lists

To avoid going crazy at the grocery store, keep a list and stick to it. You’ll save more money at the supermarket if you don’t make purchases on impulse but keep track of what you actually want to buy.

For anything else, write down what you want and wait until it goes on sale. You’ll either save money or won’t end up buying at all – it’s a win-win.
Allow Yourself to Spend Sometimes

Don’t set yourself up for failure by setting your budget at $0 on things that you know you’ll spend on. Expecting to spend nothing on the fun things you love to do and buy most isn’t a realistic goal.

Instead, set aside money to spend on whatever you’d like each month. If you let yourself have a fund to spend on anything you want, even impulse purchases can be allowed as long as you stay within your set limits.

Get Fit Without Paying For a Gym Membership

Jeffrey Trull — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 19:36:50 +0000

When you think about exercise and getting in shape, is your first thought “I better hit the gym!”? Perhaps your excitement lasts for one or two gym outings and then dies down.

If you’ve felt this way, you’re not alone: 80 percent of the 40 million Americans that have bought gym memberships aren’t using them according to Medical news today. That’s a lot of money to waste when you’re getting zero from your investment.

Luckily, there are many others cheaper and more effective ways to get and stay in shape without buying into the gym. Here are a few examples to test out.

Home Workout DVDs

Home workouts aren’t just for spandex-clad aerobics nuts or hoping to quickly get better abs or buns. These workouts are structured for all types of goals, whether it’s losing fat, building muscle, or improving cardio. For less than a price of a few months’ gym membership, you can work out from home and get incredible results.

Home workout DVDs offer many advantages over choosing the gym, like:

Convenience of exercising from home. If you find yourself struggling to get up early to head to the gym before work, or lacking the motivation to make your way over after a long day at the office, home workouts take the hassle of travel out of the equation.
Structured workouts without a trainer. This takes the guesswork out of which exercises and when, and frees you from the cost of hiring a trainer to guide you every step of the way. If you feel like you’re never sure about how to work out, these systems will make it easy on you. Just follow the calendar, show up at your TV, and pop in the DVD.
Low, one-time cost. Workout DVDs are pretty cheap, ranging from $50-$200 for some of the most popular options. You won’t have to worry about canceling a membership later. In addition, there’s typically little equipment required, and you might already own some of it.

Some examples include P90X, which focuses on lifting weights and building muscle. If you’re more focused on losing weight, Turbo Jam might be a good option for you. Whatever your needs, there’s bound to be a program that will work for you.

Races and Competitions

If you’re lacking motivation or the money to go to the gym, a good alternative is signing up for road races, triathlons, and other competitions that don’t require a gym to train.

Running requires no equipment and can be done almost anywhere. To train for a 5k, all you need is a pair of shoes and a place to run. If you’re interested in a longer race or a marathon, you can find free training guides online that will take you through the process.

If you’re bored with just running, many athletes have taken up extreme races. Check out Tough Mudder, a “hardcore 10-12 mile obstacle courses designed by British Special Forces” that continually tours around the globe. Others have found fun and fitness at Run For Your Lives, a 5k run where “ you’re running from brain-hungry, virus-spreading, bloody zombies.”

No matter what the event, these types of activities and the training it takes to complete them will surely keep your body in stellar shape.

Fitness Blogs

There’s no shortage of fantastic and free content on the web, including fitness blogs. You can get some truly great workout guidance completely without cost.

On Nerd Fitness, Steve Kamb teaches you how to “level up your life.” Steve’s approach is to help normal people get fit by interjecting fun to your workout with superheroes and video games. You can find even more motivation by teaming up and getting encouragement from others in the Nerd Fitness community.

There’s no shortage of other sites out there to choose from, and there are different approaches for everyone. For more options, check out this list of 60 fitness blogs on Greatist. No matter what your interests and motivations, there’s probably a fitness site out there for you.

Intramural Sports

There’s probably no more effective way to stick with workout than making it into a hangout with friends. A great way to do that is intramural and social sports.

In New York you can join the NYC Social Sports club and join teams for dodgeball, kickball, soccer, cornhole, and more. Team up with friends or meet new people and compete in fast-paced, gym-class style sports to have a blast and get a great workout, too. Similar options now exist in other cities, too, so check in your local area.

Afterwards, you can go out and enjoy a drink with your friends after hard-fought competition on the court or field.

Eating Healthy at Home

Getting and staying fit isn’t just about working out. You need to eat healthy, too, or you might be wasting your time working out in hopes of getting the body you want.

Of course, the best way to do this is to learn to prepare healthy meals yourself from home. You can find recipes that are a great combination of healthy eating and getting in shape at Eating Well or No Meat Athlete. If you do your grocery shopping right, you can enjoy these tasty and healthy meals inexpensively from home.

Hack Your Life for Fitness

Living without a gym doesn’t mean that exercise has to get complicated. In fact, it can make getting in shape even easier. To make things really simple, figure out how you can work exercise into your everyday life.

Can you walk or bike to work instead of driving? Can you take to the stairs instead of riding the elevator? These steps don’t have to require a lot of energy or effort but a few small changes can still have a big impact.

Lifehacker has even more fantastically simple ways to squeeze in more opportunities to exercise into every day of your life.

If you’ve been inspired by these options, get rid of that gym membership and give something else a try.

What You Need to Know About Calories

Jennifer Cardona — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 19:35:52 +0000

Calories are infamous for having a bad reputation. It’s as if they are the sole culprit behind weight gain and failed diets. Ask a person what they know about calories, and a common response would be that too many calories are harmful to your health. While this has some partial truth to it, calories do much more for us than we give them credit for.

Calorie Facts

What is a calorie, you ask? Put simply, a calorie is a unit of energy. This unit of energy can be used to measure not only food but also how much energy an item contains. For example, one gallon of gasoline has about 31 million calories. Calories provide humans with the energy needed to exist, just like we need air to breathe. Without calories, all of our metabolic processes (like breathing, moving, cell repair, and cell growth to name a few) wouldn’t have any fuel to function.

The measure of a food’s potential energy level can be measured by its mass, or weight. Carbs contain 4 calories per gram, protein 4 calories per gram, alcohol 7 calories per gram, and fat 9 calories per gram. Nutrients like vitamins and minerals, and h20 do not supply calories.

Calories from solid fats (like butter, milk fat, beef fat, and shortening) and added sugar (like those found in soft drinks, candy, and pastries) provide you with no nutritional content and are filled with empty calories. Think of it this way, you could guzzle down a can of orange soda that is filled with added sugar and lacks nutritional content or you could sip on a small glass of orange juice and reap the benefits of vitamins and minerals (albeit some natural sugars). Choose your calories wisely, as empty calories count for big losses in gaining important nutritional content. A good rule of thumb is if the food product is processed, it is probably filled with more empty calories than necessary.

Understanding the Math and Science Behind Calories

When you read a nutrition label, the daily intake values are based on a 2,000-calorie diet. This generalization for the average person (not a recommendation) costs people hundreds of unwanted calories because the data is misinterpreted. Since each individual person needs different levels of energy to function, we all need varying quantities, particularly if we are trying to lose weight or maintain the same weight.

To find out how many calories you are supposed to consume, there are a few factors to consider.

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) – the amount of energy your body needs to function at rest. This is determined by your age, weight, height, diet, and exercise habits.
Active Metabolic Rate (AMR) – the number of calories you normally burn in one day
Level of Physical Activity – how many calories your body burns for all activities you perform (yes, that includes vacuuming the living room)
Thermic Effect of Food – the amount of energy your body uses to digest food

Online Calculators

Find your BMR by using the Harris-Benedict formula.Adult Male: 66 + (6.3 x body weight in lbs.) + (12.9 x height in inches) – (6.8 x age in years)
Adult Female: 655 + (4.3 x weight in lbs.) + (4.7 x height in inches) – (4.7 x age in years)
Determine which physical level of activity best matches your day-to-day lifestyle.
- Sedentary Physical Activity Level – Do you sit at a desk all day or do work that requires you to be seated for most of your work day? If yes, your score is 1.1.
- Light Physical Activity Level – Are you on your feet for half of the day? If yes, your score is 1.2.
- Moderate Physical Activity Level – Are you on your feet for most of the day, with very little sedentary breaks? If yes, your score is 1.3.
- High Physical Activity Level – Do you perform physical laborious tasks all day (carpenter, construction worker)? If yes, your score is 1.4.
Find out how many calories you burn during exercise. Most people tend to overestimate how many calories they burn (we like to be lofty). Use this chart to help you determine your exercise expenditure.
To find your AMR, take your BMR and multiply it by your physical level of activity score. Then add your exercise expenditure. This number tells your total energy requirement for each day.

For a quick calculator, or to compare your math with an online calculation, see the Mayo Clinic’s Calorie Calculator.

Example: According to these formulas, I currently need roughly 1,953 calories to maintain my current weight. Suppose on a single day I consume 2,000 calories. I have consumed 47 more calories than my body has expended. Regardless if these calories came from protein, carbs, alcohol, or fat, my body will take these calories into a reserve and store it until needed for energy. For every 3,500 extra calories stored, my body gains one pound of weight. Conversely, for every 3,500 calories as a deficit, you lose a pound of weight (you also lose some muscle and tissue as well).

For more information on reducing the amount of calories in your diet, see this calculator on calorie deficits.

Knowing Your Caloric Intake

You know how much cash is in your wallet, right? Well, you should also know how many calories you consume in a day. This information helps you make better decisions about what you choose to eat, the quantity of how much you eat, and makes you aware of the nutritional value of your food. Most of us know what is unhealthy right off the bat (that bag of chips you ate with your sandwich was probably more than one serving). But sometimes there are hidden calories in foods that we believe are healthy (like peanut butter, for instance). The only way to really find out how your eating habit affect your health is to analyze it.

Keep a food journal. That’s right, and don’t skip out on a single item that you eat. Try keeping the journal for more than two weekdays and one weekend, that way you can get a well-rounded idea of where your strengths and weaknesses are. While many foods caloric data is listed on the label, you can also check food databases for their caloric content.
Wear an activity tracker. Activity trackers will tell you how many steps you’ve taken in a day, how your activity levels affect your calorie burn, and if you’ve met your daily goals. Check out a FitBit or a Nike Fuel Band.
Measure your food. Buy a digital scale and measure out how much food you will eat at each sitting. This will guarantee that you are not over eating and can help you accurately measure your caloric intake for that meal.
Download an app. You know, there’s an app for that. Check out some amazing apps for your fitness and health.

7 Tips to Help You Plan a Stress-Free Vacation

Royale Scuderi — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 14:00:44 +0000

Vacations are supposed to be a respite from the pressures of work responsibilities, but often there is so much to think about, so much to plan, and so much to do, that it hardly seems worth it. You come back feeling more stress than before you left. The key to stress-free vacation is in the details. Once you take care of the details, you’ll have the peace of mind necessary to enjoy a stress-free break. If you do the heavy lifting up front, you can relax and give your brain and body the rest it so much deserves.

Try following some of these simple tips for planning a stress-free vacation and get down to the business of enjoying your time away.

Consider a travel agent

Many people don’t even consider using travel agents anymore. The ability to plan nearly every aspect of your vacation over the Internet makes using a travel agent seem like a waste of time and money, but that’s not always the case. A good travel agent can alleviate the stress of vacation planning and help get you the vacation you desire without all the headache. They have experience when it comes to planning enjoyable vacations; they know the shortcuts, can offer recommendations, and often have access to connections and resources that you don’t. Contrary to what most people believe, a savvy travel agent can plan a trip for the same amount of money as you can, and sometimes save you money with group rates and discounts.

Set a budget

Before you start planning your vacation, you first need to determine the amount you can reasonably spend without breaking the bank. The biggest key to planning a stress-free vacation may be this: Don’t plan more vacation than you can afford. Paying for a vacation you can’t afford adds an incredible amount of stress to the entire vacation, especially if you have to borrow on credit cards. It’s better to plan a less expensive vacation and be able to relax, than to plan the vacation of your dreams and be plagued by stress the whole time. One last tip, when planning your vacation budget pay in advance if you can. Knowing the major expenses have already been paid for when you embark on your vacation adds another layer of stress-free enjoyment.

Do your homework

The more research you can do about your vacation destination ahead of time, the more prepared you’ll be. Find out about the area, what there is to do, where the closest hotels are, what modes of transportation are available, and what other visitors have said. Trip reviews and vacation forums can be a valuable source of tips, discounts and dos and don’ts. The more information you have, the easier it is to make informed decisions. You will get better rates if you put a little bit of effort into researching and comparing options.

Don’t forget to consider safety and travel conditions. It’s unfortunate, but necessary in these times to be knowledgeable about any potential for danger or violence in the area. You’ll be more likely to stay safe and have the ability to explore without worrying about your safety. Get to know your destination well. Surprises can be stressful, and costly.

Outline your vacation

Once you’ve done your research, you’ll want to put together a plan for your vacation time. Some people prefer to plan each day down to the detail, others prefer to just have a general idea of what they’d like to do. Your vacation plan doesn’t need to be a tightly scripted itinerary, just an outline that covers the basics of what you’d like to get out of your vacation. Make a list of activities you’d like to do, places you’d like to go and things you’d like to see. Consider your priorities. What activities are the most important to you? Give those top priority, so you don’t miss the highlights. Where would you prefer to spend your money? Nicer lodging, more expensive meals, entertainment or vacation purchases?

You’ll get more out of your vacation if you have at least thought ahead and have a rough vacation plan. But don’t go overboard. It’s important not to become a slave to your vacation schedule. Trying to adhere too tightly to your plan can backfire, causing you additional stress. Try to be flexible. Many factors, weather, budgets, other people, time constraints, etc. can cause plans to change. Go with the flow as much as possible. As long as you’re enjoying yourself, that’s all that counts.

Uncover the hidden costs

Don’t be caught unawares by hidden costs. Even small unanticipated fees can add up to a lot of money and a lot of stress. Ask hotels about additional fees, taxes, and costs that aren’t part of your reservation bill. Often these hidden costs don’t show up until you check out. Don’t forget about transportation costs, baggage fees, tips, meals en route, and other incidentals along the way. Miscellaneous expenses can make a huge dent in your vacation budget. Bring some extra cash just in case and make sure you’ve left room for these unknowns in your budget planning.

Schedule extra time off

The days leading up to and coming down from your vacation can be the most stressful. You often feel overwhelmed by last minute details you need to take care of before you leave and all of the things that you’ll need to catch up on when you return. Give yourself a buffer if you can. Plan an extra day of vacation time before you actually leave so that you aren’t rushing to pack, go to the bank, arrange for mail pick-up, etc. And give yourself extra time when you return to unpack, recover, sort mail, replenish food supplies, and prepare to return to work. You’ll feel more relaxed and enjoy your vacation more.

Pre-vacation work wrap-up

Having the strain of unfinished work piling up and waiting for you when you return can ruin even the most well planned vacation. It’s important to do a pre-vacation wrap-up before you leave so that you can fully leave work behind. In the days or weeks before you leave for vacation, take a look at what you need to finish. Make sure you know what your deadlines are so there is no room for procrastination. Define what an acceptable outcome is. Somewhere in between adequate and perfection is usually a good aim. If you’re up against a deadline, there isn’t time for perfection. And if perfection is critical, see if you can extend the deadline to sometime after vacation. Determine what actions are most essential; there is no room for busy work or wasted effort. Once you have a pre-vacation wrap-up plan, eliminate any non-essential work, focus on what you absolutely must get done in the time you have left and dig in.

A stress-free vacation is possible. With some advance planning your entire vacation experience will be more enjoyable. Don’t let a lack of information and preparation jeopardize the satisfaction and benefit you derive from time away. The key to the stress-free part is knowing how and where you want to spend your vacation, what you’d like to do when you get there, and how you’re going to pay for it. Then the enjoyment part is up to you.

Coffee Shop or Couch? Why Where You Study Matters

Bethany Perryman — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 21:25:04 +0000

A public library in Dublin. Photo: Flickr.

Where do you study? Most college kids hit up the library, a coffee shop, or study from the comfort of their couches. Some prefer to study outside, and you may even see a handsome coed sunbathing with a book. But, does where you study make a difference?

Your study location can influence how much information you retain, but the most important facet of your study life is efficient and effective use of time. It’s not about the background music, or the cute guy that pours your (espresso) shots. It’s about getting down to business, and gettin’ ‘er done.

Know How You Learn

You can’t know where you’re best suited for study if you don’t know how you learn. Do you need complete silence? Lots of visual interfacing? Will you learn best if you review audio notes?

There are as many ways to learn as there are places to study. Take some time to figure out which style best fits your mind, and plan your studies accordingly. How you learn will affect your ideal study spot. The folks at Online Business Degree, for example, like to study in their closet. Hey, whatever works.

So, what’s the best study strategy? That’s entirely up to you. Meredith Hudson, a law student at the University of Wisconsin, prefers to mix up her study locations. ”I’m a fan of the library in the mornings, because it’s crunch time, and I can get things done quickly.” In the evenings, she says, she “usually need[s] to change it up and head to a coffee shop or a common area. If I have to, heaven forbid, study at night, it’s usually from home.” And on the weekends she heads back to the law library. “It’s so hard to focus that I need as little distraction as possible.”

When studying for her masters, Houston-based blogger Meredith Nudo usually studied at home. “I worked in the library,” she says, “so I needed a change of atmosphere.” Financial restrictions also played a part, with Nudo smartly eschewing public areas because of a low Starbucks budget. “It’s boring and predictable,” she admits, “but grad school is expensive!”

Helpful Hints

If you don’t know where you study best, ask yourself the following questions:

Do I study better in complete silence, or do I like background noise? Think about it for a minute, and be honest with yourself. It’s OK if you can’t hang due to a high decibel level. It’s your academic life, not a rock concert.
Do I work best with visual distractions, or with a fairly static environment? Your answer to this might help dictate whether you work best at home or in a study carrel, versus in a bustling coffee shop. If your eyes are easily distracted from the pages of your textbooks, try heading somewhere with little visual noise.
Will being in public make me more or less social? This one’s about time management. If you want to stop and chat with every friend and colleague you see when you’re out, consider staying in to study. You’ll have plenty of time to schmooze once you’ve aced all your classes. If you’re an introvert, it might be edifying to study among the hustle and bustle of humanity.
Do I have financial limitations to consider? Be more like Meredith. Save your cash. You don’t need a $7 cup of stale coffee to study, but if you’re at a coffee shop, you probably think you do.

And a few classic study tips, just for good measure:

Airplane Mode. Turn off the Internet, text messages, and all push notifications on your phone and computer. Study your course materials, not your fake boyfriend’s Facebook pictures from his junior year in high school.
Try classical music. If you’ve got to have noise, you can at least have smart noise.
Organize a study group: for when you just can’t go it alone.
Start with mastering larger concepts, then move on to details.
Re-read, re-write, retain!
Eyes on the prize, people. Eye of the tiger. Study purposefully.

Further Reading:

FindCollegeCards: Great Places for College Students to Study

Academic Tips: Best Places to Study

Yahoo! Voices: Top 10 Places to Study for College Students

Lifehack: A Good Place to Study

How to Handle Friendships in the Office

Royale Scuderi — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 14:00:24 +0000

Anytime you spend a significant amount of time with people in the same environment, you’re bound to make friends. This is certainly true in the workplace. There are many pitfalls to cultivating friendships at work, but if handled correctly they can make work so much more enjoyable, or at least tolerable in a difficult job. Some of these friendships can deepen and last a lifetime; others are simply casual friendships for the duration of the job. In either case, office friendships are a valuable part of any professional network and these relationships can be a boost to your career if managed wisely. Many professional opportunities are found through people you were once friends with in the office. The key is to know how to handle these relationships in a professional manner, so you don’t damage your career.

Don’t over-share

Share with caution. Take time to get to know your co-workers before divulging personal information. It’s difficult to assess a person’s integrity until you’ve spent a great deal of time with him or her. Before sharing anything, remind yourself that one day these friends could turn into enemies or competitors. Don’t give them ammunition. Remain appropriate and professional. Be careful what you share about your personal life even with those co-workers you trust. Maintain clear boundaries about what information is “sharable” and what is not. Some things are just not appropriate for office conversation and sharing. Think “TMI” (too much information.) Family updates, hobbies, interests, educational pursuits, etc. are all fair game. Illegal activities, intimate details, and “resume exaggerations,” not so much.

Don’t complain about your boss

No matter how well you know your “office friend” don’t talk about your boss. That’s a big no-no. If you’re stressed out about your boss – and you inevitably will be at some point – don’t share that with your co-workers. It puts your office friend in a possibly uncomfortable situation and could be seriously damaging if your words ever got to the ears of the wrong person. If you need to vent, do it with your partner, family or your other personal friends outside of work.

Preserve your individuality

Office friendships can be viewed as an alliance of sorts. Don’t let that interfere with your own professional work identity. Make it very clear to others in the office, particularly superiors that while you are friends, you are not joined at the hip. Appearing so close to another worker that you are seen as a pair can diminish your own accomplishments, interfering with your ability to build an individual reputation. Especially in the beginning of your career, you need to stand out from the crowd and take every opportunity to shine. Office alliances are part of the work culture, that’s fine, just don’t overdo it so that your work is overshadowed.

Watch the gossip

It’s natural and normal for people to talk about other people. We can’t help it. It’s not necessarily all bad as long as it isn’t malicious. Nevertheless, it’s best to avoid gossip if you can. You do not want to get a reputation as the office gossip and you certainly don’t want to create enemies. Try to stay positive in your office conversations and you will never have to defend your words or repair hurt feelings. Refraining from gossiping about others will also build your reputation as a person who is respectful and who can keep information confidential.

Don’t play favorites

It’s great to have a friend in the office, but don’t play favorites. Don’t always work with the same person on projects; spread yourself around. Get to know other co-workers, so that they don’t feel excluded. It may be better to have many casual work friends than one close one. In addition, if you do have a close office friend with whom you socialize outside of the office, make sure you have clear boundaries separating the office part of the relationship from the personal. Make it clear that you will not show preference or extend special favors, nor will you cover up mistakes or dishonest behavior and that you do not expect it in return. Remember that when you’re at work, you’re working. Don’t discuss personal situations or concerns at the office even if you have a personal relationship outside of the office. It makes other co-workers uncomfortable and blurs the office/home line.

Diversify your friendships

Even though you spend the majority of time at work, don’t let your office friends be your only friends. You may have common interests and shared dilemmas with friends from work and you may even be more comfortable with them since you spend so much time together, but you need a personal circle of friends as well. You need to separate yourself from work regularly to keep stress in check. Outside friends can give your “work brain” a rest. Outside of work friends also help to broaden your circle of support and cultivate a variety of friends to keep your life full and interesting.

Handle office “breakups” professionally

It’s inevitable. For a variety of reasons, office friendships, like any other type of relationships don’t always last. When that happens, it’s extremely important to remain professional. Be polite and courteous, at least civil in your interactions. Don’t gripe about your ex-friend to other workers and if the other party is nasty to you, don’t take it personally and don’t respond. Don’t fuel office drama. Stay professional and focus on doing your job. You’ll save yourself some stress and demonstrate to management that you can handle conflict professionally.

Building friendships with fellow employees is natural and can be very rewarding in many ways. If handled properly with a professional attitude, they can add so much to your work experience and possibly create lasting friendships and benefit your career along the way. If handled poorly, they can make the office an uncomfortable, stress-filled place and derail your career in the process. Don’t let that happen to you.

From 140 to 4.0: Using Twitter to Help Your Grades

Bethany Perryman — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 21:31:05 +0000

Tweet, tweet! “What’s happening?” If you can’t get off the Internet, you might as well help it fit into your life. You can get a lot of bang for your buck — or, character, as it were — when using Twitter to improve your grades. If you’re an active tweeter on Twitter, don’t get twitterpated when your next test rolls around — follow my advice, and learn how to go from 140 to 4.0:

Do I Need A Social Media Strategy?

Absolutely not. Quit it — you’re a student, not a startup. A little etiquette, however, will go a long way.

What you really need is a little forethought and some creative vision in order to morph your timewasting activitites into academic expression and exploration. Make it clear with your updates that you care about your studies (assuming, of course, that you do).

This doesn’t mean complain about your classes ad nauseum, and it doesn’t mean to feign interest in something you don’t grasp. Just know that there’s more to Twitter than @BreakingNews, your favorite sports team, and @aplusk. There are philosophers, mathematicians, and a host of universities tweeting free information.

How To Start

Open a Twitter account. If you’re like the rest of us, you did that in 2009.
Consider opening an account dedicated to your academic and future professional life. This goes double if you frequently use the hashtag #sorryiparty. (Guilty. In fact, I may have had a hand in creating that one…)
If you plan to engage academically on Twitter, get into Twitter Chats.
Search for relevant hashtags and users. Example: #BusinessStudent, #College, or #StudyTips.
Use the list feature to create lists relevant to your life. For example, separate “Friends,” “Professors,” “My Favorite Bands,” and “Homework Help.”
If you’re an extrovert, tweet out when you start and finish projects. Think of it like signing your name to something — if you’ve put it out there, the world expects it to get done.
Celebrate your academic successes, and try to engage and share with people. Avoid comiserating about how much college sucks. It’s a waste of time, and lots of people would kill to be where you are. If college sucks so hard, try Angry Birds or getting off the Internet to vent your frustrations.

Relevancy is Key

Follow relevant people. Is the author of your textbook a power tweeter? Follow her! Best case scenario: you show off in front of classmates and look precocious for your professor. Worst case scenario: you tweet a question that goes unanswered and you have a public record of an attempt to solve a problem. Win-win.

A keen follow list makes you look proactive and generally on the ball. A warning: cool points shall be deducted for mentioning who you do or don’t follow on Twitter in any real life conversation. It’s my opinion that Twitter should be like Fight Club. Don’t talk about it — there’s no need. Seriously, people. There’s an inordinate amount of wonder and beauty in the analog world. This includes laughing at and reading things more than 140 characters long. Take a breath of fresh air. Enjoy real life. If it’s not boosting your grades, enriching you, or making you smarter, it can’t possibly be that important.

Ask Questions

Don’t be afraid to tweet out for advice, but make sure it’s advice you want to get and are willing to potentially follow. If you know that your followers don’t take you seriously, don’t bother asking broad questions to no one in particular about your courses or experience. Time is the only thing you’ve got. Don’t waste it on empty queries.

Find out if your professors have Twitter, and ask or discover how active they are. There’s no need to stalk them, but take a cursory glance and see if their Twitter (or Facebook) feeds have helpful information or reveal new details about course materials.

If you’re ever studying and have a question, don’t be afraid to tweet your professor. It’s public, so you might be helping someone else. And it forces both of you to be concise. Hopefully the public nature of the query will have you being as professional and effectual as possible.