Decorating doesn’t have to be expensive. A few cost-effective tips from an expert can save time, money and frustration while giving your home a whole new feel.This weekend Russell Hemmis, experienced house flipper and well-known carpenter, will reveal some of those priceless hints at the Inland Empire Home Show in the Ontario Mills parking lot.

In a phone interview, Hemmis, seen on HGTV’s “24 Hour Design” and “Design on a Dime,” shared some of the money-saving topics he’ll be presenting.

“The biggest change you can make for the least amount of money is paint,” Hemmis said. “It can completely change a room and make your furniture pop.”

Hemmis likes to use good quality paint with a flat finish, usually from a national brand.

“Don’t go with cheap paint,” he said. “It doesn’t go on as well, and walls end up needing more coats of paint.”

Painting is a room change where the homeowner doesn’t have to play it safe.

“Avoid white,” he said. “Go looking for a nice color.”

Hemmis admits that choosing a color isn’t easy, but what might make it a little less stressful is perusing the designer samples. After choosing a designer color, be thrifty by matching it to a national brand paint.

A great way to revamp a bedroom is to replace the linens, Hemmis said.

“Change the duvet cover, get new pillow shams, add a bed skirt,” he continued. “You can get them at a discount store or on clearance, and it will make a big difference; completely change the mood of the room.”

Economical bathroom overhauls can include changing old knobs, towel bars, toilet paper holder, rugs, towels, shower curtain and counter accessories.

Flooring might be moving into a pricier area, but with modern laminates, it’s getting more affordable.

“They’re not only economical, they’re easy to put down and look great,” he said.

Forget the myth of years ago that the house needs to have the same wall-to-wall floor covering.

“You wouldn’t want green carpet down the hall leading into bright pink carpet in the bedroom, but the same flooring doesn’t have to run throughout the house,” Hemmis said. “You can mix carpeting with flooring.”

Before starting a project, Hemmis strongly suggests being prepared.

“A lot of people underestimate a project,” he said. “Know what you’re getting into. Things take longer than you think and usually cost more than you think.”

Measure things twice, make sure you have the right tools and materials. If there’s new furniture involved, think about the route it needs to take. Is the stairway wide enough? Can it fit through the door? Will the existing television fit on the new shelf?

A well-considered design plan is worth the time and effort.

No matter how great the end result, nothing kills the look of a room like clutter, Hemmis said.

“Simplify,” he said. “I walk into a new house every week, and too many times one of the biggest problems is too much stuff,” he said. “Take out what you don’t need and organize what you do. Rooms will feel larger and you’ll feel less stress.”

These ideas and so much more can be found at home shows. They are good places to learn about the latest tips, techniques and products for home improvement, Hemmis said.

“By attending shows you can pick up decorating concepts, designer ideas and how to incorporate your existing furniture into a new design,” he said. “There will be new innovations in home products, new tools that allow you to do a lot of simple projects yourself and save money.”

Source: http://www.sbsun.com/living/ci_10584435

Recently I’ve been doing quite a few posts on fibre.  My plan was to continue writing about diet and nutrition but because of what has happened to me over the last week I decided to write about something different for this post.

Let me explain a little further.  I took this week as a holiday from work.  Since I live with students in a student area, I imagined that there would be quite a bit of partying happening during my week off.  However, I thought that although I might be consuming a little (or even a lot) more alcohol my diet and exercise regime would not suffer.  Sure, maybe I would have a lie in and miss one of my mini meals in order to sleep off any hangover but I thought overall I would still be able to eat reasonably well and get myself to the gym at least four times per week.

That was the plan.  The reality was that I got myself into the gym on Monday and managed to eat reasonably well.  Then from Tuesday onwards my diet and exercise regime started to suffer big time.  As a result of partying hard and drinking far too much I really didn’t feel like eating or exercising.  I didn’t go to the gym or do any exercise with the exception of a few short walks to the shops and when I did eat it was in the form of low quality, processed, junk food.

So why am I telling you this?  Well as regular readers may recall, I previously made a light hearted post about it being OK to have an off day so long as “you do not let these off days get you down and have them turn into a full weekend or a full week where you do not train properly and you do not eat right”.  But isn’t that exactly what I have done?  The answer is quite simply…YES.

When I wrote that post I never envisioned that I would have a week where my fitness regime fell apart in the way it has this week.  However, given the circumstances there was a certain inevitability about it.  I train alone most of the time and so would have to rely on myself for motivation.  On top of this being around the party atmosphere and other temptations such as junk food and alcohol, made it much more difficult to exercise than if I were at work and walking past the gym every day on my way home.  Overall, the lack of structure to my week off coupled with the temptation means I probably should have planned my weeks a bit better.  I should have made plans to prepare all my days food the night before, I should have made plans to go to the gym at a certain time on certain days and I probably should have exercised greater willpower BUT I didn’t.  It’s all in the past now and short of finding Bernard’s Watch I can’t change what happened last week.  That is what I want to talk to you about more in this post.

Ideally, my original message that we shouldn’t let off days turn into off weekends and off weeks is a valid one.  However, with hindsight I have discovered that life isn’t that predictable.  Although in this situation the circumstances were within my control, a lot of the time our fitness regimes may collapse for a few days or even a few weeks, despite our best intentions.  Whilst I still believe it is OK to have an off day and we should do our best to make sure these off days don’t affect our future fitness efforts, I now realise this is not always possible.  What is possible is to make sure that when we do slide we get back on track.

So how am I going to be making sure that I get back on track this week?  Quite simply by replicating my diet and exercise from before my weeks holiday and also making some additional improvements which are discussed below:

1) PREPARING MY FOOD:- I still strongly believe that preparation is the key when it comes to diet.  If I had prepared wholemeal sandwiches for my week’s holiday in the same way I do when I am at work then I would have been much more likely to reject offers of junk food during the week.  The main reason I went for the junk food was convenience and if I had something healthy prepared, the junk food would not have been any more convenient.

So quite simply I will be planning and preparing everything I eat next week.  For breakfast I will either be eating a bowl of Fruit and Fibre, a banana, a slice of wholemeal toast with peanut butter or a protein shake with milk.  For my mini meals at work I have prepared my wholemeal sandwiches for tomorrow and will continue to do so every evening this week.  For my evening meals I have a number of meals that I have cooked previously in the freezer and I will also be cooking a lasagne later this week.  Doing this will ensure that I have much more control over the foods that I eat.

2) GOING TO THE GYM AT A SPECIFIC TIME:- Like with diet I believe planning and preparation are very important when maintaining an exercise routine.  Although I cannot guarantee it, I am quite sure that I would have got to the gym more frequently last week if I had said to myself “today I am going to the gym at this time and it is a priority”.

Therefore, I will be going to the gym at 6.30pm on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday plus at 10am on Saturday.  On the week nights mentioned above I know that I will be getting off my train home from work at this time and therefore will be in the gym shortly after 6.30pm.  For the Saturday morning session I am partially relying on myself getting out of bed early.  Whilst getting up when I don’t have to be up is not one of my strong points, it is something I am working on.  Hopefully, by putting it on this blog in writing and getting to bed by 11pm on week nights (see below) I will be much more likely to achieve it.

3) GETTING TO BED FOR 11PM ON WEEKNIGHTS:- This is not so much an action that will help me get back on track because even before my week off I very rarely managed to get into bed before 11pm.  Really it is more of an action that will help me improve my existing fitness regime.  Whilst I never feel overly tired during the week I do believe that part of the reason I struggle to get up when I don’t need to be up (i.e. on the weekends) is that I’m not getting enough sleep on week nights.

So to improve on this I will try to make sure that I am in bed for 11pm on most week nights.  To be honest there is no reason that I cannot achieve this.  Most of the time I don’t get to bed early enough I am just watching a DVD or browsing the Internet.  In the future I will try to make sure I switch off the computer or DVD player and get myself in bed for 11pm.  I am also planning to write more on the topic of getting enough sleep so keep your eyes peeled for future posts.

4) GOING JOGGING IN THE MORNINGS:- Jogging in the morning is something that I have tried to do in the past.  When I do manage to get myself out of bed early enough to go for a jog before work (which as I already mentioned I do struggle with) I find it fantastic.  The first few minutes are a real struggle but then after that I feel much more awake and alert and this feeling carries on for the full day.  However, I’ve never managed to keep it up consistently so again it is really an action to improve my current fitness regime.

By getting early nights more frequently I hope that I will be able to get myself up and go jogging before work.  This in turn will allow me to focus on resistance training during my time at the gym and do my cardiovascular training in the mornings.  Jogging is another area I plan to do more reading and writing on as stamina is one of my strengths and I would really like to test myself further in this area so look out for future posts on this topic too.

5) STRETCHING DAILY:- Another fitness area that I have been neglecting for quite some time is stretching to improve my flexibility.  I used to be quite flexible but have really let my flexibility slip over the last few months.  Therefore, this is yet another action to improve my current fitness regime.  The best time for me to do this will be after my early morning jog.  So once I get back from my jogs I will also try to incorporate some stretching in there too.  Like with the above topics I also plan to do a few posts on the topic of stretching once I get back into it because I believe it is a particularly important aspect of fitness since we lose a lot of flexibility as we age.

So to conclude, next time your fitness regime starts to suffer, make plans to get back on track as soon as possible.  Life often throws obstacles in our paths and our fitness may suffer because of these.  However, by making plans similar to the ones I have discussed above you can ensure that you get your fitness regime back on track and perhaps even improve upon where you left off.

What do you guys think?  Have you ever let your fitness regime slide?  How did you get back on track?  Do you have any additional suggestions?  If so I would love to hear your thoughts.

Source: http://blog.freefitnesstips.co.uk/get-back-on-track.html

In the city that never sleeps, there is always someone working out. Before work, between meetings, during lunch and on the way home, New Yorkers are adding tone and muscle whenever they can. Jesse Itzler is a case in point. The 40-year-old co-founder of Marquis Jet, a private airplane service, burns calories in an unusual but time-efficient way. Every weekday, the same rickshaw driver meets Jesse at his East Side office. The exec loosens his tie and rolls up his pinstripes, then jumps behind the handlebar and pedals the half-hour home—from his Park Avenue office across Central Park to the Upper West Side—with the driver in the back. “It takes too long to go home after work, change, get my stuff and go to the gym,” says Jesse, who even pedals throughout the winter months in order to keep his abs, glutes and legs in shape—and pays the driver $30 per day for the privilege. “By putting the rickshaw guy in the back and with me pedaling?, I kill two birds with one stone. I get home faster than a cab and I get an insane workout.”

Of course, not every work-weary New Yorker wants to kill themselves during their downtime. Some want to meditate. Or dance. And Manhattan yoga studios, gyms and fitness centers are catering to them—and A-listers like Beyoncé, Susan Sarandon and Pierce Brosnan—with fast classes, endorphin-boosting routines and calming sessions. Catch one, grab a shower and return to your cubicle with a spring in your step. Or head to happy hour just a bit healthier.

The Office Mediator’s Yoga
For a low-key class, yoga fits the bill. The East Village’s Yoga to the People (12 St. Marks Pl., between Second and Third Aves.; 917-573-9642) is packed all day long, and its hour-long lunch class attracts college students and corporate titans, as well as Be Kind Rewind actress Melonie Diaz. “We’re here to get you connected to your breath and body in the studio and inside yourself,” says founder Greg Gumucio, who offers the class for no set fee, just a donation (although most yogis donate $10-$20). “There are no gurus here,” says Greg. “Just people who want to recenter themselves before heading back into the daily grind.” Kathi Von Koerber, 29, a filmmaker who lives in Williamsburg, breaks up her days of busy meetings with classes. “I love the connection with the breath, and the simple presentation and vibe,” she says, “I get energized.”

The Multitasker’s Workout
For a little bit of everything—yoga, Pilates, physical therapy and core conditioning—Core Fusion is the key. “It’s exercise for smart people, as it connects you physically, emotionally and intellectually,” says Elisabeth Halfpapp, co-creator of the Core Fusion fitness program at Exhale spas (150 Central Park South, between Sixth and Seventh Aves.; 980 Madison Ave., between 76th and 77th Sts.; and 68-70 Spring St., between Broadway and Lafayette St.; 212-249-3000). The hour-long class, which costs $32, emphasizes alignment and positioning, rather than repetition, to enhance the body’s structure, flexibility and joints. “You come to Core Fusion to give yourself a quick transformation. It’s about keeping you in the moment in a way that gets the blood flowing,” Elisabeth says.

At Exhale’s three locations, lawyers, doctors and real-estate brokers sweat next to celebrities like Cameron Diaz, David Duchovny and Ivanka Trump, choosing to shape up and expand their lung capacity all before 2 p.m. “You tone your arms, strengthen thigh and leg muscles, tighten your rear and work your abs in the safest, most intense way possible,” says Lizanne Rosenstein, a stay-at-home mom who has taken Core Fusion for more than two decades. “Best of all, it’s just an hour. I find ways to sneak it into my schedule because
I know it works.”

The Aggressive Boss’ Workout
For speed and adrenaline—and a good dose of masochism—Aerospace, a fitness center in the West Village, offers half-hour Aero-blast one-on-one sessions (332 W. 13th St., between Eighth Ave. and Hudson St.; 212-929-1640). No machines are involved: The full-body workout of cardio and muscle-sculpting requires just a jump rope, boxing gloves and a willing participant (and it’s not just for Aerospace members—anyone can book a $60 bout). “It’s like training for a title fight,” says former number one–ranked middleweight boxer and super-fitness instructor Michael Olajide Jr., of the routine, which tones the arms, slims the waist and pumps up the legs. “You’re feeling the power and energy that a real fighter feels, because a fighter’s training is efficient, extremely effective and always challenging.”

Keric Kenny, 33, a lawyer at a downtown bank, digs the intensity and bang for his buck at Aerospace. A new father, Keric spends a few lunch hours a week hitting the pads and working the rope so he can get home to his family in Brooklyn right after work. “I’m sweating within five minutes,” he says. “I feel great when I get back to the office, really invigorated. I want to be able to get home to see my baby before she goes to bed, so this definitely meets my needs.”

The Office Flirt’s class
Pop into Dance Times Square’s Latin Lunch (156 West 44th St., between Sixth Ave. and Broadway; 212-994-9500) and you’ll find suits shaking their hips and twirling on the dance floor. Steve Biespel, a lawyer, happened upon the Midtown studio four years ago, and he’s been sneaking off at lunchtime to boogie down ever since. “I tell my co-workers and colleagues I’m going for a mambo lesson and they don’t believe me,” says Steve, 52, a former marathon runner and swimmer. He sticks to the class for the “sheer elation on the dancers’ faces” and the physical challenge of the steps and rhythm. “It recharges my batteries,” he says.

Melanie LaPatin, co-founder of Dance Times Square and a coach on So You Think You Can Dance, has taught Susan Sarandon, Celine Dion and Pierce Brosnan her moves. She often conducts the small, sizzling class, which is popular with both creative and corporate types, including people who work at nearby Condé Nast and The New York Times, who have been known to dance in the studio’s elevators. The workout, which involves ballroom, mambo, salsa and cha-cha, tones the abs, rear and legs. “It’s a very healthy addiction,” Melanie says. “Women first come in sneakers, then as they get into the class they buy heels and the next thing you know, they’re breaking out the sequins.” As for Steve, the energy stays with him long after lunch is over. “When I get back to the office, I practice in the men’s room,” he says. “This is New York—your dance partners expect you to know what you’re doing. And if you don’t, they’ll tell you to shape up.”

Source: http://www.nypost.com/pagesixmag/issues/20080928/Fitness+Your+Moment+Zen