Jumat, 31 Januari 2020

5 Sweater Hacks That Will Blow Your Mind

How to Fix a Stretched-Out Sweater

Are the cuffs or neckline of your favorite sweater starting to get stretched out? Bring them back to their original size again by blowing them with hot air from your hairdryer! Just wet the cuffs or collar with water, set the hairdryer on its highest setting, and then blow-dry until no longer wet. The heat will shrink them slightly, bringing them back down to the right size.

What to Do if You Shrunk a Sweater

If you’ve accidentally shrunk a sweater in the dryer, there may still be hope. Let it sit in a bucket of water with a generous amount of hair conditioner mixed in. The chemicals in the conditioner can untangle the fibers in your sweater, making them expand back to their original condition. If that doesn’t work, it’s time to cut up the sweater and make some new mittens!

See Also: What to Do If You’re Out of Dryer Sheets or Fabric Softener

Make An Old Sweater Look Like New

If your favorite cashmere or angora sweater is looking a little worn, put it in a plastic bag and place it in the freezer for half an hour. The cold causes the fibers to expand, making your sweater look new again! Who knew there was such a thing as sweater cryogenics?

Sweater Storage Secrets

To eliminate moth damage or mildew from your wool sweaters and down jackets, wash the garments before storing, and never keep them in plastic bags or airtight containers. Your clothes need air, so consider a trunk made of wicker, cedar, or rattan, and avoid hot attics or damp basements. When putting away your sweaters for the spring and summer months, wrap them in newspaper and tape the sides. The newspaper will keep away both moths and moisture.

Rejuvenate a Cedar Chest

Cedar chests are wonderful because they not only look great, but their scent keeps moths away, too. But what to do when they begin to lose their scent? Get out some fine sandpaper and go to work! Gently sanding the inside of the chest will bring its scent back to life, making sure your clothes are safe and your room smells wonderful.

For more ways to solve everyday problems from all around the internet, check out our Lifehacks board on Pinterest. And don't forget to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on...
Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

5 Surprising Facts About Rejection Sensitivity

Remember the first time you asked someone out? Whether it was in middle school or well into adulthood, I bet it was at least a little bit nerve-wracking. What if they say no? Worse, what if they make fun of you or show pity? What if they make it seem like it was ridiculous for you even to ask?

These hypothetical nightmare scenarios make even the bravest of us fear rejection. But in general, we don't walk around expecting people to reject us. We're also not constantly on the lookout for clues that rejection is about to happen.

For some people, rejection appears to be around every corner.

For some people, rejection appears to be around every corner. They “anxiously expect, readily perceive, and intensely react” to rejection or possible rejection.  Psychologists call this “high rejection sensitivity.”

Rejection sensitivity might seem like a phase middle schoolers go through as they awkwardly navigate puberty, trying to figure out more adult-like social relationships. But it happens to adults of all ages. And it’s not the same thing as being a little shy or emotionally sensitive. There are specific ways that our brains and bodies behave when we're highly sensitive to rejection, and often very real consequences.

Here’s what neuroscientists and psychologists have learned about rejection sensitivity, including clues for how to get some relief from its grasp.

1. Your body and brain physically manifest rejection sensitivity

Like every psychological phenomenon, rejection sensitivity has a place in the brain. What might surprise you is how much and how specifically it takes on a shape in our biology.

For rejection-sensitive people, it’s not just that their brains respond more to unpleasantness in general. It’s rejection, specifically, that lights up those neural fireworks.

First, everyone's brain responds to rejection. During a brain imaging study, participants’ emotion-processing brain areas were activated when they looked at pictures showing rejection, compared to when they looked at pictures showing acceptance or abstract shapes. The brains of participants with high rejection sensitivity didn't activate the cognitive control areas as much as their peers. It's not that the brains of less rejection-sensitive people were immune to rejection cues; it's that they were better able to regulate them and keep them from running rampant.

For rejection-sensitive people, it’s not just that their...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

Kamis, 30 Januari 2020

High Odds or Low Odds?

High odds mean that if you’ve placed a bet, you’ll win a high payout; and low odds mean that if you’ve placed a bet, you’ll win a lower payout.

What are low odds?

Low odds are something like 2-to-1 against. These odds mean something is somewhat likely to happen.

  • The odds are low that Squiggly will ask for a chocolate dessert. Squiggly loves chocolate.
  • The odds are low that there will be an earthquake in California in the next decade. 

If you had made a 2-to-1 bet for $1 that Squiggly would ask for a chocolate dessert, and he did, you would win $2.

What are high odds?

High odds would be something like 99-to-1 against. If you bet on a team with those odds, you’d be happy if they won because you'd win a lot of money, but these aren't the odds you want if you need something to happen because 99-to-1 is a long shot.

Here are two more examples:

  • The odds are high that Squiggly will participate in the X Games.
  • The odds are high that there will be an earthquake in Phoenix in the next hour. 

If you had made a 99-to-1 bet for $1 that there’d be an earthquake in Phoenix and then there was one, you’d win $99. High odds yield a high payout.

If that feels backwards to you, don’t feel bad. I found it confusing too—so much so that I consulted with a mathematician to make sure I was getting it right. 

Odds and probability are not the same thing

Mathematically, odds and probability are not the same thing. A high probability does mean that something is more likely to happen. But colloquially, outside the world of mathematics, many people treat odds and probability as the same thing.

Further complicating matters, odds for the same event can be presented in different ways. For example, one person might think of the odds of rolling a six on a regular six-sided die as 1-to-5 in favor, and another person might think of the odds as 5-to-1 against.

‘High odds’ and ‘low odds’ are confusing

The problem is that the phrases “high odds” and “low odds” are confusing. When you talk about odds being high, your reader can interpret that as meaning that something is likely or unlikely. The same goes with calling odds “low.”

What should you say?

To be clear in your writing, to make sure everyone understands what you mean, it’s better to describe the likelihood of something happening in a different way. Instead of saying the odds are high or low, you can say there's a “good chance” or a “high probability” of something happening if you mean it's likely. And if you must use odds, it’s better to...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

Sign Up for Grammar Girl's Beginning and Intermediate AP Style Webinar

You're about to hit send on your latest pitch, story or newsletter when you're stopped in your tracks.

"Did I correctly use numbers in the headline?"
"Did I misplace that semicolon?"

No matter what you're writing, mistakes can hurt your credibility and block your path to success. That’s why writers have long turned to the AP Stylebook as their go-to reference guide. With all that’s packed into its pages, though, how do you prioritize key points?

Whether you're a beginner or an intermediate writer, learn valuable writing skills during my Guide to AP Style Webinar from 2-3:30 p.m. Eastern time on Feb. 25, 2020.

I'll share the tips you need to properly use punctuation, write abbreviations, and make sense of complex grammar rules. Start feeling confident in your work!

Join by yourself or with a group—all participants will be able to ask questions and will receive the presentation slides, the handouts and an on-demand recording.

Save money when you sign up here!

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

Rabu, 29 Januari 2020

12 Hacks for Your Super Bowl Party

Buffalo Wing Secret

We’ve got the secret to crispy chicken skin: salt! If you’re making buffalo wings, sprinkle chicken with about a tablespoon of coarse salt and place it uncovered in the refrigerator overnight. The salt and the dry air in the refrigerator will draw out moisture—the enemy of crispiness—and you’ll have extra-crispy wings. And make sure to add the sauce at the end!

Make Sour Cream Last Longer

To help sour cream last longer, add white vinegar right after you open it (1 teaspoon for a small container and 2 tablespoons for a large container). You won’t notice the taste, and the sour cream won’t go bad as quickly.

How to Make a Lot of Hot Dogs at Once

It may sound surprising, but you can actually cook hot dogs in the slow cooker. If you cook them for four hours on low, they’ll taste like they were cooked on a roller grill at the ballpark! Don’t add any additional water to the Crock-Pot, as the hot dogs will release water as they cook. This is a great time-saving tip for a barbecue when you’ve got lots of other things to prepare like hamburgers, salads, toppings, and sides!

Secret to Tender, Tasty Chili

Marinate the meat for your chili in beer. It’s a great tenderizer for tough, inexpensive cuts of beef, and it will add great flavor. All you need to do is soak the meat for an hour before cooking, or marinate it overnight in the refrigerator.

What to Do with Leftover Beer

Leftover beer makes great fertilizer for potted plants! Pour it all into a bucket and use it for watering your plants until you use it all up.

Keep Burger Patties Together

Keep your hamburgers from breaking apart on the grill by sticking them in the freezer for five minutes before cooking. The brief shock of cold will help them keep their shape.

Burger-Making Tip

Here’s a simple tip: If you wet your hands with cold water before shaping hamburger patties or meatballs, the mixture won’t stick to your fingers.

Make Better Burgers

The secret to juicy burgers is simple. Just let them sit, covered, at room temperature for an hour before you cook them. This is safe to do as long as it isn’t too hot (over 80ºF) where they will be resting. 

Having a Super Bowl Party?

Having a Super Bowl party? Consider having two TVs—one of which is reserved for the hardcore fans only. A lot of people will come to the party just looking to socialize (and maybe watch the halftime show), so let them watch away from the football freaks, who will want to be able to catch every moment of pig-skinned glory.

Tips for Party Prep

Having a party and need an extra trash bin for your guests? Just repurpose your hamper. (Your...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

8 Things You Must Give Up for More Financial Success

We talk a lot about what you need to do to be financially successful. But sometimes succeeding isn't about what you do so much as what you don't. 

I recently watched Last Chance U, a Netflix docuseries about collegiate football players who are struggling for success despite being incredibly talented athletes. Each of the young men got kicked out of Division I schools for different reasons. Now, they’re forced to prove themselves by playing ball at the junior college level. They hope to graduate and catch the attention of a recruiter so they can return to Division I football.

Last Chance U is a great series, and not just because the boys are full of personality. As a viewer, it’s easy to see what’s holding the players back, and you’re rooting for each one to turn it around while there’s still time.

The show inspired me to consider that making positive changes in your life and finances isn’t necessarily about doing more but instead may come down to what you should get rid of. Let's talk about eight things you must give up to have more success, no matter how you define it. 

1. Give up unhealthy habits

Getting sick can not only drain your energy, but it can drain your finances. It’s challenging to enjoy success when you’re not physically and mentally healthy. Taking care of yourself by dropping unhealthy habits is where it all starts. 

There’s no end to the benefits that come from eating high-quality, unprocessed foods, and giving up too much fast food, alcohol, and sugar in your diet. Living longer, maintaining a healthy weight, and feeling good are just a few of the upsides. We often forget that nutrition affects us on a cellular level, and a poor diet is the cause of many chronic illnesses.

Getting plenty of exercise and sleeping at least eight hours a night can work like a miracle. You’ll have more energy, feel happier, look better, and crank out better work. Adding extra movement into your routine—such as a quick 10-minute walk, taking a yoga class, or playing on a sports team—will clear your mind and help you stay focused on what’s most important to you.

RELATED: Nutrition Diva and Get-Fit Guy

2. Give up perfectionism...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

Selasa, 28 Januari 2020

Can You Absorb Nutrients Through Your Skin?

 

When we think about taking nutrients into our bodies, we usually think about swallowing them, in the form of pills, powders, or that radical format known as food. For that matter, when we talk about nutrient absorption, we’re usually talking about the absorption of nutrients from the digestive system into the bloodstream.

But a handful of companies are trying to change the way we think about nutritional supplementation. Instead of swallowing a handful of pills and worrying about whether or not they are being absorbed, why not bypass the digestive tract altogether and apply them directly to your skin?

Nicotine, estrogen, testosterone, and certain pain medications can all be delivered through the skin through medicinal patches, gels, or creams. Why not vitamins and minerals?

Are nutrient patches the future?

The US military, for example, is working on a skin patch that could deliver nutrients and other compounds to soldiers “during periods of high-intensity conflict,” when getting adequate nutrition from food might be challenging. Scientists working on the project don’t expect to have anything ready for field testing for another ten years or so.

But you don’t have to wait for those fusty old scientists to dot every i and cross every t. There are companies who will take your money RIGHT NOW for patches, gels, and bath salts containing magnesium, vitamin D, CoQ10, and various other herbs and nutrients that claim to alleviate nutrient deficiencies, boost your energy, and (of course) help you lose weight.

However, I’m skeptical that any of these substances will actually end up in your bloodstream. And you should be too.

Your skin is tougher than you think

The skin is actually designed to be a fairly impenetrable barrier. And good thing, too. Imagine for just a moment if everything that touched your skin ended up in your bloodstream!

Lotions and cosmetic potions often tout their vitamin-drenched formulas. And...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

5 Ways Peer Review Can Benefit You

Many students dislike, or even fear, one or both sides of the peer review process. Some feel like they don’t get worthwhile feedback, while others may be afraid to come across as too harsh. However, there’s nothing to be afraid of—there are significant benefits both to reviewing others’ work and getting peer feedback of your own. Peer review can help you strengthen your writing abilities, teach you strategies to give and receive feedback, and allow you to learn how to write for different audiences. Keep reading to learn five ways peer review can benefit you.

Peer review can strengthen your future writing

It may seem obvious that peer review can improve your work at the moment, but how does feedback on one particular essay today affect your future writing? When you participate in peer review, you’ll learn more about how people react to your writing in a general sense. Do they have trouble following your logic? Are there certain phrases or grammatical mistakes that are frequently identified? Or do you often receive feedback to use stronger verbs or avoid repetition? Once you’ve noticed similar comments a few times, you’ll be able to better spot those issues in your own work.

You can become a better reader through peer review

When you train yourself to critically read your classmates’ work, you’ll learn how to absorb the information more completely and analyze it as you go. We’re often used to skimming over what we read. When you’re reading purposefully to give feedback, however, it’s natural that you’ll be more thoughtful and absorb the information with a more analytical eye. You can use this skill not only in peer review, but also in reviewing your own work.

Peer review will help you learn how to give and receive constructive feedback

This is a valuable skill in many areas of your life, even those that have nothing to do with writing. For example, if you find yourself in a career someday where you’re supervising other employees, being able to communicate feedback clearly, fairly, and effectively will be one of your most important roles. Also, it’s important to learn how to receive feedback without becoming overly defensive or hurt, and to learn from others’ opinions. You’ll likely face many occasions in your school or working life when you’ll be asked to collaborate with others. It’s helpful to learn strategies for doing that successfully and not taking to heart suggestions for improvement.

It’s important to learn how to receive feedback without becoming overly defensive or hurt, and to learn from others’ opinions.

Participating in peer review will encourage you to produce multiple drafts

You know how it...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

Stars Are Suns, Suns Are Bright—So, Why Is the Night Sky Dark?

Why is the night sky dark? This seemingly simple question has some significant implications. 

We take for granted that the night sky is dark. At the day’s end, the closest and brightest star in our sky, the sun, sinks below the horizon. It leaves behind the vast blackness of space, which is dotted with the light from distant stars, sometimes the Moon, and maybe, if you’re lucky or in the southern hemisphere, a look at the rest of our Milky Way galaxy and our extragalactic neighbors, the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds. So why should we expect anything different? 

Should the night sky be dark?

In the 1820s, the astronomer Heinrich Olbers pointed out that, based on our understanding of the universe at the time, the night sky should not be dark at all. We considered the universe to be steady and unchanging. And this is a very reasonable assumption. We can be sure that at the start of every day, the sun will rise and that the stars in the sky will move in predictable patterns. We also considered the universe to be uniform and infinite in extent. The idea that there could be a Truman-show-esque edge beyond which the universe ceased to exist seemed ridiculous. 

Olbers’ Paradox tells us that the entire night sky should not only not be dark, but it should be about as bright as the surface of the sun in all directions.

But if that were all true, then looking out into the night sky into an infinite universe should mean that in any direction, we will eventually see a star. Imagine looking into a dense forest. Although there's space between the trees, you see what appears to be a wall of trees. That's because a tree always falls within your line of sight. In our infinite universe, you may have to look back increasingly far to see a star in a given direction, which could mean that star is too faint to see.

But, Olbers’ Paradox tells us that if the universe is infinite and unchanging, it must also be infinitely old. Even light from the most distant stars has had time to reach our eyes as they look out into the night sky. The entire night sky should not only not be dark, but it should be about as bright as the surface of the sun in all directions

This seeming contradiction became known as Olbers’ Paradox, even though Olbers was far from the first person to bring up the problem. We've all been there—a few different people may have a similar idea, but whoever says it the loudest and with the most confidence gets the credit. The trouble with the night sky being dark had been mentioned before by other astronomers, including Kepler...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

Senin, 27 Januari 2020

5 Ways to Be More Productive By Managing Your Energy

Productivity is all about output. The more you achieve, the more accomplished you feel. But more isn’t always better. The quality of what you produce is just as important as the quantity. And one of the most powerful ways to maximize the quality of your output is to manage your energy.

Your energy is like the fuel in your car—an empty tank won’t take you far.

But the biggest difference between your car’s fuel tank and your own is that what refuels your car is universal. Unless you’re driving a high-performance vehicle, fuel is fuel. But when it comes to your personal fuel tank, what fuels or recharges you is specific to you.

To maximize your productivity, you’ll want to spend time getting to know yourself. Understanding your signals, your rhythms, and your greatest sources of energy will bump your productivity up exponentially.

When it comes to your personal fuel tank, what fuels or recharges you is specific to you.

5 tips for managing your energy to boost your productivity

Let me share some of my favorite tips on how you can keep your energy in the max productivity zone.

1. Know your low-energy tells

Let's go back to the car analogy. Imagine the feeling you get when you’re stuck in traffic. You look at your dashboard, and the emergency fuel light has come on. It’s a stressful moment to bear, but it’s also a gift. You never have to wonder how your car’s fuel tank is doing. Blissfully, it carries no emotional baggage. When the needle hits "E," it’s time to refuel.

You, on the other hand, are not always so clear in your signaling. I know, for example, that when my ten-year-old starts rolling on the floor like a toddler, her tank has hit empty. Her 12-year-old sister, on the other hand, sends a similar message through sass and attitude.

Know what behaviors tend to signal the need for an energy recharge.

What I’ve just described are my daughters' tells. You're an adult, so I'm guessing you don't tend to roll on the floor. But I’d bet there’s something you habitually do when your body is trying to send a signal. It may be reaching for a cookie, daydreaming, or experiencing a sudden intolerance for the lady in the next cubicle whose laugh is more like a cackle.

The advice here is to pay attention to you. Know what behaviors tend to signal the need for an energy recharge. We can’t solve a problem until we’ve spotted a problem. Consider keeping a journal for a couple of days and note the trends. You’ll spot your tells quickly.

You’ll never produce your best work on an empty tank. So, learn how to spot when it’s...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

7 Tips for Baking Better Bread

Using a Rolling Pin?

Store your rolling pin in the freezer. It’s much easier to roll out pastry dough and pie crusts with a frozen rolling pin.

Whole Wheat Tip

Whole-wheat flour absorbs water at a slower rate than other types of flour do. If you make bread with 100 percent whole-wheat flour, it will be moister if you add the flour to the water slowly and mix gently. Reserve 1/4 cup of flour and knead in a tablespoon or so at a time as needed.

How to Make Bread Rise Faster

It’s not always a good idea to artificially cut the amount of time it takes your bread dough to rise (the flavor of the bread may not be as full), but if you’re in a time crunch, it’s nice to have a backup plan. To speed whole-wheat bread dough’s rising time, add 1 tablespoon lemon juice to the dough as you are mixing it. For other breads, a little heat does wonders when it comes to cutting down on rising time. Set the dough (either in a bowl or a loaf pan) on a heating pad set on medium, or over the pilot light on a gas stove. You can also use the microwave to help speed the rising process by as much as one third. Set 1/2 cup hot water in the back corner of the microwave. Place the dough in a well-greased microwavable bowl and cover it with plastic wrap, then cover the plastic wrap with a damp towel. With the power level set at 10 percent, cook the dough for 6 minutes, and then let it rest for 4–5 minutes. Repeat the procedure if the dough has not doubled its size.

The Secret to a Crispy Crust

We love this secret to a perfect, crispy crust, which a baker friend passed along: Put some ice cubes in a shallow pan and place in the oven with your loaf of bread. This will produce a dense steam, and as the water evaporates, the crust becomes hard and crispy. The steam also will allow the bread to rise more evenly, giving you a firm and chewy inside.

Freezy Does It

Did you know you can freeze bread dough for later use? Let it rise once, then punch it down, wrap well, and freeze. Don’t forget to label it!

Stop Squashing Your Bread

You just baked a beautiful loaf of freshly baked bread, and now it’s time to slice it. Avoid squashing it when slicing it by flipping it over and cutting through the soft bottom first. Your knife will move through it smoothly, and you’ll be able to cut the crusty top without flattening the whole loaf.

Butter Bread Better

Have you ever tried buttering a piece of bread only to end up tearing holes into it? Try buttering before you slice it off of the loaf. That way, you’ll have a firmer base and will be less likely to tear the tender crumb.

For more food tips from all over the internet, check out our...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

Minggu, 26 Januari 2020

6 Simple Stress-Busters for Busy Families

Most families work hard to keep up with their overcommitted schedules. Juggling home, work, and school doesn’t leave much free time to connect and chill as a family. Worse, because we’re constantly running at full throttle, when life throws us a simple challenge (the washer machine continues to eat socks and we haven’t a clue where to find them!) we lose it and succumb to the pressure.

Here are some easy-to-implement stress busters that will allow your family to flourish when life tries to get the best of you.

1. Keep calm and slow down

One reason families are super stressed is that we move at such a fast pace. We hurry from one activity and obligation to the next, barely making time to stop and share a meal . It seems obvious, but sometimes we forget that an effective and easy way to combat stress is to slow down and shift gears from panicked to peaceful.

When my kids were younger, I would charge out of bed each morning, barking orders while I ran from kid to kid getting them fed and dressed for school. By the time the bus rolled into our neighborhood, we were all frazzled and miserable. Even the dog was wound up.

As parents, we set the tone for how our household responds to pressure.

As parents, we set the tone for how our household responds to pressure. My kids were feeding off my anxiety each morning, so they were nervous wrecks each day. I realized I needed to shift gears from harried to calm—fast. 

I started with my voice. Instead of riling them up in a loud, excited tone, I greeted them in a quieter, gentler voice. I also got into the habit of moving more slowly while getting them ready, which had an unexpected bonus—it was particularly helpful for keeping our lively dog more relaxed. When I implemented a strong morning routine, it eliminated the frantic scurry. Everything was organized in advance.

Be mindful of the pace you keep. Slow it down, and you’ll cause a peaceful ripple effect for the rest of the household to follow. 

RELATED: 5 Mindfulness Habits for Better Parenting

2. Chew on it

A favorite way for many families to release pent up...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

Jumat, 24 Januari 2020

Struggling to Make Good Decisions? It's Time to Trust Yourself

How can you learn to trust yourself and your ability to make the “right” decision?

Recently, I found myself stuck at Home Depot. Like in a surrealist movie, I was unable to leave because I was in the paint aisle staring at a wall of sample colors, unable to decide between falcon gray and flannel gray.

Is falcon grey too dark? But flannel seems a little too warm. How will it look under the lighting we have? What if one of these will bring down my house’s resale value? Should we even have bought a house in this uncertain economy? Have I made the biggest mistake of my life? Falcon or flannel?

Choosing paint colors may seem like a silly thing to fret over—and it is! But indecision and doubt can follow like shadows in more significant parts of life, too. Maybe instead of being torn between two shades of gray paint, you're torn between staying at your current job or switching to a different career. Or perhaps you feel unsure about your relationship, but you can’t tell whether it’s a phase to be worked through or you should call it quits. Maybe you and your partner have each gotten coveted job offers in different cities. Who should make the sacrifice? Or should you try long-distance dating? Or break up?

It's not always easy to make decisions

In uncertain times, it’s hard to trust yourself and be decisive. This doubt feeds anxiety that feeds more doubt. To make matters worse, second-guessing tends to result in worse decisions. Sometimes—even after making long pros-and-cons lists, consulting your trusted friends, and resorting to throwing a dart with a blindfold on—you just can’t seem to get to that magical, cathartic confidence that you’re making the right choice.  

Doubt feeds anxiety that feeds more doubt. To make matters worse, second-guessing tends to result in worse decisions.

 

Four steps to making decisions

Let’s take a step back from the nitty-gritty of the decision itself and look at your overall psychological and philosophical approach. In other words, forget for a moment whether falcon gray or flannel gray is the warmer shade. Let’s see what you can do to boost your decision-making confidence overall.

1. Accept that sometimes you'll make mistakes, and this is not...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

Kamis, 23 Januari 2020

How to Write Anything

I’m going to make a lot of money, and I’ll hire someone to do all my writing for me.” That was the rationale offered by a student many years ago for why he should not have to take a required writing course. A snarky comment crossed my mind, but instead I mentioned to him that if he had to hire someone to ghostwrite everything he would have to write in his life, it could cost him a small fortune.

The idea that there was more to writing than college term papers seemed to satisfy him. For me, it raised a new concern: just how do we help people write effectively about so many things—about practically anything?

Whether it’s a résumé, catalog copy for chocolate or flowers, a profile of a scientist, an endorsement of a political candidate, a safety manual, or a users’ guide, the key is to find some good models and study the rhetorical moves that other writers make. “Rhetorical moves” is a term introduced by linguist John Swales, and it refers to the different steps that a writer makes in constructing a text in a given genre—a bit like the standard opening strategies of a chess game.

Swales originally pursued the idea of rhetorical moves to analyze academic research writing, with its steps of establishing a territory, a niche, and a claim. But the idea of analyzing a genre of writing into a set of purposeful steps can be—and has been—fruitful beyond the domain of research writing.

It pays to create a personal guide to different types of writing.

For someone aiming to be a general-purpose professional writer, it pays to create a personal guide to different types of writing. When you find a piece of writing that you think is especially effective, sketch out its structure move-by-move. Doing this doesn’t require hours of pondering or a PhD. It can be a quick sketch, like the one below that captures the shape of many an opinion essay.

  • Describe what many people think about an idea in the news.
  • Introduce a new perspective that suggests there is more to this.
  • Offer a quotation or two from an expert or a relevant personal anecdote about the new perspective.
  • Sum up by explaining what we should do next.

This bare bones skeleton has four moves—conventional wisdom, a new insight, expertise, and call to action—and it leaves plenty of room for a writer to personalize an opinion essay. The rhetorical moves are a skeleton not a straightjacket.

Here is another example. A personal profile might have a structure like this:

  • Tell who the person is and why...
Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

Should You Exercise While Sick?

Note: This article was updated on January 27, 2020. Contents will not exactly match podcast audio.

I'm currently getting over a cold. In fact, as I write this I have a warm drink and a box of tissues right beside my laptop. It isn’t a bad cold (or even a man cold), it’s just enough to annoy me, interrupt my sleep, and cause me to miss a few workouts. It's my off-season (I'm not training for any events or races), so it isn't a big deal. But when it happens in the spring or mid-summer, I am not so cavalier about missing training sessions. In fact, I can get downright ornery.

It doesn’t seem to matter how many times I get sick during the race season or how many times the athletes I coach fall prey to the seasonal flu; I still do a lot of hand-wringing over whether or not I should exercise while sick. Should I be jumping on my bike or doing a heavy lifting session?

Well, don’t worry. This wouldn’t be Get-Fit Guy's Quick and Dirty Tips if I didn’t have a few guidelines for you to follow. But before I get to those, let’s talk about the immune system.

What is the immune system?

Your immune system is comprised of six components that do their best to protect you from foreign invaders.

  1. Lymph nodes and lymphatic system, which recognize and fight invading pathogens
  2. Respiratory system, which creates mucus, coughs and sneezes to trap and remove contaminants
  3. Skin, a relatively thin but very effective barrier against invading pathogens
  4. White blood cells, which attack pathogens in your blood and other tissues of your body
  5. Your spleen, a major organ that helps protect you from bacterial infections
  6. Your stomach, which contains acid that kills harmful bacteria and also contains good bacteria that help to fight pathogens and absorb nutrients. (Antibodies secreted by your intestinal cells also help to fight off foreign invaders.)

What does immune health mean?

Every day we come in contact with thousands of different viruses and bacteria. We touch things like a seat on a bus or a cart at the grocery store and then we touch our face. The bugs can then get access to our bodies through our mucosal surfaces (eyes, nose, mouth, or a break in our skin).

We actually swallow a surprisingly high number of bacteria and pathogens every single day.

The majority of the time the invading foe will be thwarted by our mighty white blood cells, which capture and kill the bugs before they can replicate and enter our bloodstream.

As gross as it sounds, we...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

Rabu, 22 Januari 2020

How to Get Rid of Bad Breath Naturally

Surprising Use for a Coffee Bean

To freshen your breath, try sucking on a coffee bean. It’s much cheaper than a breath mint, and tastes great to us coffee addicts!

See also: The Health Benefits of Coffee

Eat Apples for Better Breath

Here’s yet another reason to eat your apple a day: It can reduce bad breath! Apples contain pectin, a natural breath freshener, so make them a regular part of your diet for a clean mouth. Crunchy raw vegetables like celery and carrots can help as well—the roughage scrubs the inside of your mouth, reduces plaque, and improves your breath.

Get Rid of Garlic Breath

That garlic bread you had at dinner was delicious, but now no one will get close to you! To neutralize breath odor after a garlicky meal, mix together a tablespoon or two of lemon juice with a pinch of sugar. Swirl it around your mouth and then swallow it. It will neutralize the smell so you can breathe out without fear!

Yogurt for Bad Breath

Bad breath? Eat some yogurt! The “good” bacteria in yogurt has been found to be effective in targeting the odor-causing bacteria in your mouth. Make sure you go for the plain kind, no sugar. Breath mints and sprays mask the odor but they don’t help the underlying problem—eating yogurt does.

DIY Mouthwash

You don’t need expensive mouthwashes to get better breath. Simply gargle with a mixture of 1 cup water, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and ½ teaspoon salt. This combo will knock out any germs that are causing your bad breath.

Go for Tea Instead of Coffee

Drink black tea to decrease your morning breath! It contains polyphenols, an antioxidant that helps prevent odor-causing plaque from sticking to your teeth. Polyphenols are also thought to inhibit bacteria growth.

Does Tongue Scraping Work?

You may have heard that tongue scrapers are great for bad breath. That’s because they can help remove odor-causing bacteria that your toothbrush simply can’t scrub away. But why spend a cent on one when you’re got the perfect solution in your silverware drawer: a spoon! With either a metal or plastic spoon, scrape your tongue from back to front several times (don’t forget the sides of the tongue). Who knew fresh breath could be so simple?

Practice Good Brush Hygiene

To keep your toothbrush from harboring smelly bacteria, keep it stored brush-side down in hydrogen...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

Your Guide to Claiming a Legit Home Office Tax Deduction

I’d bet that on just about every city block or long country road, someone is operating a business from their residence. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, about 50 percent of businesses are home-based, with a larger percentage (60 percent) working as solopreneurs with no employees.

Having a home-based business is one of the easiest and least risky ways to become an entrepreneur, test your business ideas, and increase your income. No matter if you run a business full-time or as a side gig, claiming the home office deduction can significantly reduce your taxes.

No matter if you run a business full-time or as a side gig, claiming the home office deduction can significantly reduce your taxes.

I received an email from John, who says, “My New Year's resolution is to earn more money working during my off-hours and on weekends. Since the work will likely entail making deliveries for different mobile apps, I’m not sure if it qualifies me for the home office tax deduction. Can you explain more about it?”

Thanks for your great question, John! In this post, I’ll give an overview of the home office deduction. You’ll learn who qualifies, which expenses are deductible, and how to legitimately claim this money-saving tax break no matter what type of business you have.

Who can claim the home office tax deduction

If you work for yourself in any type of trade or business, either full- or part-time, and your primary office location is your home, you have a home business. The designation applies no matter whether you sell goods and services, are a freelancer, consultant, designer, inventor, Uber driver, or dog-walker.

If you work for yourself in any type of trade or business, either full- or part-time, and your primary office location is your home, you have a home business. 

You can have a home-based business even if you’re like John and mostly earn income away from home. This is common for many trades and solopreneurs, such as musicians, sales reps, and those working in the gig economy. If you’re self-employed and do administrative work like scheduling, invoicing, communication, and recordkeeping at home, you have a home business.

Note that employees who work from home can’t claim a home office deduction. W-2 workers used to be allowed to include certain expenses if they itemized deductions. But tax reform took away that benefit starting with...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

Selasa, 21 Januari 2020

Best and Worst Diets of 2020 with Jill Weisenberger

Every year in January, US News & World Report comes out with their ranking of popular diets. It contains the details and data around a few dozen of the most popular diet plans. The diets are ranked from best to worst overall and in a number of sub-categories like heart health and weight loss. Behind these diet ratings is an expert panel of nutritionists, dietary consultants, and physicians specializing in diabetes, heart health, and weight loss.

Joining me today to discuss the results of this year’s rankings is my colleague, Jill Weisenberger. Jill is a registered dietitian nutritionist and certified diabetes educator. She’s the author of four books, including her most recent, Prediabetes: A Complete Guide.

Jill was also a member of the panel of experts that rated the diets this year for US News and World Report. So I thought it would be interesting not just to talk with her about the results but get a behind-the-scenes peek at the process.

Here are some highlights from our chat, but I encourage you to click on the audio link to hear the entire conversation.

Nutrition Diva: What's the process by which the panel ranks the diets each year?

Jill Weisenberger: A lot of people ask if we meet as a group and hash things out, but that's not the way it's done. We work on our own. The folks at US New provide a profile for each diet along with research summaries. And I've been a dietician and a diabetes educator for many, many years. So, we answer the questions based on the research as well as our own experience. It's a very long survey about how each diet holds up against general healthy eating principles, what we think it will do in terms of weight loss, heart health, diabetes, and that type of thing.

ND: Topping the overall rankings this year was the Mediterranean Diet, which has been at or near the top of the list for years. Other diets in the Top Ten included the DASH diet, Flexitarian Diet, the MIND diet. In your view, what do the top-rated diets seem to have in common?

The top diets all tend to be more whole-food-based. They may not be vegetarian and they aren't vegan, but these diets definitely have a plant slant.

JW: The top diets—particularly the top three—are very, very similar. They all tend to be more whole-food-based. They may not be vegetarian and they aren't vegan, but these diets definitely have a plant slant. It doesn't surprise me which ones rank at the top.

ND: Another thing that these top diets had in common is that they were not so much a set of...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

What Can We Learn from Our Sweat?

Yesterday morning, I was riding my bike up a pretty significant hill. To get up that hill, I was pedaling as hard as I could. I had nearly reached the top when I felt that familiar trickle of moisture run down my forehead. Even though it was only 6ºC (42ºF), I was sweating. 

Our human meat-sack bodies work optimally when their internal temperature hovers around 98.6ºF (37ºC). When the body gets warmer than that, the brain doesn't like it, so the hypothalamus (the part that controls temperature) sends a message to your body saying "Let's cool down!" That's when your sweat glands spring into action, and you start perspiring. 

Perspiration is made almost completely of water, with smaller amounts of other chemicals in it as well. (We'll get to that in a moment.) Perspiration leaves our body through tiny holes in our skin called pores, and when the sweat meets the air, it begins evaporating (turning from a liquid to vapor) and cools us down.

Sweat is a great cooling system, but it is also a great way for our body to remove certain elements from our bloodstream. Salt, ammonia, potassium, glucose, lactate, and urea, to name a few. Our sweat also contains biochemical markers such as metabolites, electrolytes, and even heavy metals, which can give doctors and researchers a window into a person's health and even aid in diagnosing some diseases. 

In recent years, scientists have developed sweat sensors in the form of patches, bandages, and tattoos that can make these types of measurements on the fly. A team of scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, is developing wearable skin sensors that can detect what's in your sweat. But before we get into that, let's look at how we measured sweat in the past, and how we're looking at it today.

Measuring sweat in the past

Back in 2014, I reviewed a product called a Fuelstrip, which the manufacturers called a Sweat Testing Sports Nutrition Technology. Not surprisingly, they don't seem to exist anymore. And yet, they had seemed promising. 

Fuelstrips were small pieces of paper you were supposed to dab in your sweat periodically during a workout. The results would tell you whether or not it was time to replenish your glycogen stores. The darker the color on the strip, the more you needed to refuel. Luckily—and I say with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek—they also sold a "scientifically formulated" sports drink powder along with the strips. 

The upshot was that the strips did indeed change color as my workout progressed. But the strips were not convenient, easy to use, or all that accurate

You can watch the...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

How to Make Idea Curation Your Workplace Superpower

We live in a knowledge economy—ideas are the currency of success. They fuel new products, new customer acquisition strategies, and new ways of conducting business. One great idea can make you a hero. And who among us doesn’t aspire to be a hero?

But the thing about ideas is that there's a massive surplus of them. Google darn near anything you can think of and a bare minimum of 100 ideas—articles, products, solutions—will be staring back at you in an instant. In the digital age, anyone and everyone can put their ideas out there in the world. And anyone and everyone does.

So, if having too many ideas is the problem, maybe creating new ideas isn’t the best use of your time and skill. What if we used our critical thinking capabilities to curate them, instead?

What is idea curation?

Imagine an art museum. As you walk through it, you notice and appreciate the paintings and sculptures. The experience you’re having was crafted by a curator: someone whose job wasn’t to produce the art, but rather to group, arrange, and purpose it with intention. Curation is a separate skill that complements creation.

The artist is famous. The curator rarely is. But that doesn’t make the curator less of a hero.

Curation is a powerful yet often undervalued capability. It’s the talent for seeing the swath of ideas already out there and extracting something fresh from them. Spotting themes and patterns, finding new applications for old ideas—these are all real ways of delivering value without creating something new.

The artist may be famous. The curator rarely is. But that doesn’t make the curator less of a hero.

How to curate ideas

So how can you demonstrate curation heroics by repurposing and organizing (rather than producing) ideas to deliver value? Here are some tips.

1. Apply an old solution to a new problem

Agile is a methodology that was developed to streamline and expedite the process of software development. With developers and decision-makers from so many different parts of the company needing to participate in product development, the coordination was often complex, and the process bottlenecked and arduous. The Agile method was designed to overcome these challenges by bringing the right decision-makers together—briefly. outside of their day jobs—to attack the challenges in short coordinated bursts, in turn streamlining the entire process. It worked beautifully.

Old solution repurposed—new idea not necessary. Genius.

So now imagine a different but parallel problem. I once worked with a team tasked with redesigning the new employee onboarding process in a large organization. The project was dragging...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

Senin, 20 Januari 2020

Why Do Skunks Smell so Bad and What Can You Do About It?

My household was recently hit hard—nausea, vomiting, watery eyes. No, it wasn’t the flu. It was a skunk.

In a valiant effort to protect the backyard, our dog was sprayed right in the face. She then tore through the house like a tornado, trying to run away from the smell (and her own face) for 30 fateful seconds before we realized what was going on.

The smell was everywhere.

At first I hadn’t been able to place the incredibly strong smell, but it set off alarm bells in my brain. I remember thinking that perhaps something was burning.

If you’ve been unlucky enough to smell skunk spray up close, you know it smells very different from the odor you may catch a whiff of when you encounter roadkill or otherwise pass at a distance. At first, I hadn’t been able to place the incredibly strong smell, but it set off alarm bells in my brain. I remember thinking that perhaps something was burning. In the immediate aftermath, all of us vomited, including the dog. Our eyes watered and burned as if the air was thick with tear gas.

As defense mechanisms go, skunk spray is impressively effective. Skunks can reportedly aim their "weapon" accurately as far as 7-15 feet away. And it turns out that what makes skunk spray so powerful comes down to chemistry. 

Why does skunk spray smell so bad?

The contents of a skunk’s spray depend on the species of skunk. In North America, there are six: the Eastern and Western spotted skunks, the hooded skunk, two species of hog-nosed skunk, and perhaps the most recognizable, the striped skunk. But despite their differences, all species employ a spray that contains smelly molecules called thiols. These are chains of carbon and hydrogen atoms with one sulfur atom and one hydrogen atom attached on one end. 

What makes skunk spray so powerful comes down to chemistry.

Sulfur atoms are known for making things stink, like rotten eggs, burnt rubber, or raw onions. Thiols have the additional quality of being easily spread or dispersed in the air. So the initial punch of skunk spray is already pretty deadly. 

Scientists studied skunk spray in the 90s to determine its specific components. The group, led by William Wood at Humboldt State University, needed a sample of an organic compound called trans-1-butene-1-thiol for some of their other work. The compound isn’t something you can just buy on the internet, so they decided to find out if they could extract it from skunk spray. They sedated...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

Minggu, 19 Januari 2020

Everyday Practices to Help Your Child Feel Safe in a Scary World

Raising well-rounded kids can be challenging in today’s hectic and unpredictable world, but you can provide them with the emotional tools they need to feel secure.

If you want to cradle your child with a loving security blanket when life seems scary and uncertain, here are some everyday ways you can keep him feeling safe and sound.

Provide your child with “The Four S’s”

As a huge fan of audio books, I’m thrilled to find a good listen that will help me better understand what makes my kids tick. I recently found a fantastic title that gave me, a veteran mom of eight, some helpful advice for helping my kids feel protected. It's The Power of Showing Up by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson.

Stress is a common part of every child’s life. When they feel a secure bond with their parent, they can navigate through these insecurities with less anxiety and tension. In The Power of Showing Up, Siegel and Bryson promote “The Four S’s." That means helping your child feel:

  • Safe
  • Seen
  • Soothed
  • Secure

Find ways to disconnect with the outside world. Turn off your phone when you’re having dinner as a family, schedule regular time to hang out and play a board game, or talk quietly after a meal. These are just a few simple but effective ways to show up and be present on a regular basis. These will become times you and your kids treasure and hold sacred.

"When children feel safe, seen (being known and understood), and soothed (being helped to feel calm and good again) most of the time (not perfectly), they develop security (where their brain wires to expect that people will see their needs and show up for them). ...Parenting isn’t easy, but showing up and being present is something we can all try to do."

Tina Payne Bryson

Establish boundaries and routines

One of the easiest ways you can offer your child a safety net in today’s hectic world is to establish boundaries and routines. Our kids not only need guidelines and structure but they actually crave them. Yes, I kid you not! Deep down, all kids (even moody teens) crave boundaries regardless of individual temperament. When they have structure, routines, and rules in place it offers them a sense of security because they know what’s expected of them. Boundaries help your child thrive by teaching them...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

What Is a Caucus?

In the US, some states have caucuses instead of having people go to the polls to cast their votes to narrow down the field to just one political candidate for each party. At the caucuses, Republicans gather together and Democrats gather together and decide among themselves who the candidate will be for their party. It happens in small local political party meetings where people can give speeches or have discussions, and sometimes people can change their minds and switch to support different candidates.

Everyone is talking about caucuses right now because the Iowa caucuses are coming soon: February 3, 2020, and it's the first time voters get to weigh in on the 2020 presidential candidates. But this is Grammar Girl, not Political Girl, so I wondered, why do we call these meetings caucuses.

Native American Origin?

The word "caucus" appeared in Boston in the 1760s, but nobody knows for sure where the word came from. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "caucus" may have come from an Algonquin word "cau′-cau-as′u," which meant “one who advises, urges, or encourages.” 

Greek Origin?

In 1763, John Adams mentioned a social and political organization called the Caucus Clubb in his diary, and clubs in New England were known to adopt Indian names sometimes, so that would fit with the Algonquin origin. However, the Online Etymology Dictionary speculates that it's also possible the club got its name from the Greek word "kaukos," which means “drinking cup.” The Native American origin seems most likely, but really, nobody knows for sure.

John Adams and the Caucus Clubb

Adams' description of the Caucus Clubb sounds a lot like caucuses today though. He described it like this in his diary:

They choose a Moderator, who puts Questions to the Vote regularly, and select Men, Assessors, Collectors, Wardens, Fire Wards, and Representatives are Regularly chosen before they are chosen in the Town. 

He wrote his diary during a time when English writers capitalized a lot more words than they do now.

Verbing Nouns

A caucus was originally a thing, a meeting. It was a noun first, but because it’s...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

Jumat, 17 Januari 2020

Family Estrangement—Why Families Cut Ties and How to Mend Them

Family estrangement is one of my most requested topics from listeners and readers coping with the loss and isolation they feel when someone cuts family ties. In a way, the grief of family estrangement can be more painful—or at least more complicated—than the grief over a loved one who has died. When a family member voluntarily walks away, you may miss them and feel confused, ashamed, frustrated, and disappointed, especially if the hope of reunification is dashed. 

So why do people excommunicate their family members? Are there any ways to cope or remedy the situation?

Four things researchers have learned about family estrangement

There hasn't been much research about family estrangement, in part because it’s a difficult thing to study—many people don’t want to talk about their parents or children cutting them off. But in recent years, researchers have been paying more attention, especially to estrangements between parents and adult children. Here are some things they've learned:

1. Estrangement between parents and adult children is more common than you probably guessed

Given how much we talk to each other about family—in the news, in the movies, in our daily getting-know-each-other small talk, and even in our complaints about holiday disputes—you would think that almost all families are intact, even if there is conflict.

About 17 percent of college and graduate students at universities in the northeastern US experienced estrangement from an immediate family member.

A large survey of young adults, all college and graduate students at universities in the northeastern US, found that about 17 percent experienced estrangement from an immediate family member, most commonly from the father. Surveying older adults found that about 12 percent were estranged from a child or children.

It’s the adult children that usually cut off contact, while only about 5-6 percent of parents initiate excommunication. This is possibly because, from a parent’s perspective, a child is almost always the strongest bond. But for a child, they grow up to meet a partner or have children of their own, and their responsibilities and bonds shift primarily to their own nuclear family.

2. Parents cut off children usually because they object to their kids' other relationships

In the rare cases where the parents cut off the child, ...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

Kamis, 16 Januari 2020

'Could Care Less' Versus 'Couldn't Care Less'

When people tell me their pet peeves, they often mention the phrase “could care less.” They claim it should be “couldn’t care less.” 

“It’s illogical. If you could care less, you still care. Don’t people get it?” they say.

Celebrities have even jumped on the cranky bandwagon. Both David Mitchell and John Cleese have made popular YouTube videos ranting about the illogical phrase “could care less.” Interestingly, both men are British comedians, and they’re both complaining, in particular, about Americans who use the phrase.

Do Americans Say ‘Could Care Less’?

Are Americans really more likely to say they could care less? It appears so, at least when you look at how often that phrase shows up in American books Google has scanned versus British books Google has scanned. It shows up a lot more often in the American books. 

That could mean that Americans use it more, or it could mean that British editors are more strict about changing “could care less” to “couldn’t care less.” But the Oxford English Dictionary calls “could care less” a “U.S. colloquial phrase,” and the linguist Lynne Murphy, who blogs about the differences between British and American English, also notes that Americans say “could care less” far more often than the British.

I think we’re busted! Maybe we Americans are just more caring, so that even when we’re annoyed, we reserve some caring just in case we want to use it later. But probably not.

A Google Ngram showing that could care less is more common in American English

The Origins of ‘Could Care Less’ and ‘Couldn’t Care Less’

The phrase "I...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

8 Things You Didn’t Know About Nuts

Shelling Secret

The easiest way to shell pecans, walnuts, and other nuts? Freeze them first. This shrinks the nut away from the shell and makes the job a breeze. Another easy way to shell nuts is to soak them in boiling water for 15 minutes. If you can't open a pistachio, use the half-shell of an already-open nut to pry it open.

De-salt Your Nuts

Your recipe for peanut butter cookies calls for unsalted nuts, but you only have a can of the salted variety. Make them unsalted by placing them in boiling water for a minute or two, then draining. To eliminate any remaining moisture, spread the nuts on a cookie sheet and bake in a 225°F oven until they’re dry, about five minutes. Cool, and then use your newly unsalted nuts in your recipe.

Dust Your Nuts

Nuts and dried fruit are the perfect addition to muffins, breads, and other baked goods. But sometimes, after you pour the batter into the pan, they sink to the bottom. To keep this from happening, dredge the mix-ins in flour before stirring them into the batter. That way, they’ll stay suspended in the cake and won’t all end up at the bottom of the finished product.

Walnut Cracking

Need to crack a lot of walnuts? Soak them overnight in salted water and they’ll open more easily.

Blending Nuts

Chopping nuts in a blender? Try adding a small amount of sugar, which will keep the nut pieces from sticking together.

Mess-Free Mashing

The quickest way to “chop” nuts is to place them in a sealed plastic bag, then roll over them with a rolling pin. This is also a clean, easy way to break up graham crackers or vanilla wafers to make a pie crust.

Oil-Free Nuts

If you’re chopping nuts in a food processor, more oil is released than when you chop by hand, and you’ll wind up with a sticky mess. To avoid this, simply add a bit of flour to the nuts before hitting “pulse.”

Coconut-Cracking

There’s nothing better than fresh coconut, and nothing worse than trying to crack it open. Make the process a little easier by sticking the entire coconut in a 350°F oven for about 20 minutes. Remove it, and allow it to cool for a few minutes before tapping on it with a hammer until it cracks open.

... Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

Rabu, 15 Januari 2020

3 Ways to Earn Higher Interest on Personal and Business Savings

Building savings is an essential part of a healthy financial life. Everyone should maintain an emergency fund as a safeguard against the unexpected, such as losing your job or getting a large medical bill. Additionally, you might have other savings goals, such as taking a vacation or buying a home.

But the downside of using a typical bank account for savings is that you earn a pittance in interest. Average accounts pay a fraction of a percent, making your money grow painfully slowly. While growth isn’t the purpose of an emergency fund or other short-term savings account, if you can earn more and still keep the account safe, why not?

In this post, I’ll cover three great ways to park your personal or business savings and earn more interest. Plus, you’ll learn how to switch bank accounts as seamlessly as possible when it's time to find a new one.

How to earn more interest on savings

While it’s possible to find a high-yield bank where you live, chances are you’ll need to use one that exists online. Internet-only banks have much less overhead than those with brick-and-mortar locations, so they tend to offer richer benefits.

Internet-only banks have much less overhead than those with brick-and-mortar locations, so they tend to offer richer benefits.

But if you’ve never used a banking institution without a local branch, it can seem a bit unsettling at first. You might worry that if something goes wrong, you won’t have somewhere to go for help.

In my experience, customer service at online institutions is better than at local branches. Instead of keeping “bankers” hours of nine to five, they have service representatives available by phone or chat 24/7.

Most online banks have great mobile apps that allow you to deposit paper checks remotely by snapping a picture. And you can make electronic transfers between accounts in a day or two. So, don’t be afraid to try the online banks that I’m going to cover because they can really pay off.

Here are some of the best ways to earn higher interest rates on personal and business funds.

1. Use a rewards checking account

While you might be searching for a high-interest savings account to earn more money, instead, using a rewards checking could be the ticket. These special accounts pay incredibly competitive rates and offer a variety of additional perks. The catch is that you must jump through some hoops to qualify for the rewards.

For instance, here are the monthly requirements for the free, online TAB Bank Kasasa Cash Checking Account, which pays 4% APY on balances up to $50,000:...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

Selasa, 14 Januari 2020

Plenity Is the New Weight Loss Drug in Town—Does It Work?

Nutrition Diva listener John recently asked me to weigh in on a new FDA approved weight loss drug called Gelesis100.  The drug is not yet available to the public, but it will probably be coming onto the market very soon as a prescription-only drug under the brand name Plenity. I bet it’ll be hard to miss it when it does become available; there will probably be a huge advertising and marketing push.

But is this new drug going to be the one that turns the tide against obesity?

Previous pharmaceutical approaches to weight loss have all had major drawbacks. Stimulants like phentermine are effective in suppressing appetite, for example. But they can be habit-forming, not to mention that the pesky side effect of occasionally stopping your heart.  Other drugs such as orlistat (marketed as Alli and Xenical) are somewhat effective in blocking the absorption of fat and calories from foods. Unfortunately, they also block the absorption of fat-soluble nutrients, not to mention having a rather embarrassing side effect requiring frequent underwear changes.

Plenity is designed to reduce food intake by making you feel like you’ve had more to eat than you actually have.

This new drug takes a different approach that avoids the worst of these side effects. It is designed to reduce food intake by making you feel like you’ve had more to eat than you actually have.

The drug is made from two compounds that occur naturally in foods—cellulose and citric acid. You swallow three capsules with a big glass of water before meals. The capsules release particles in your stomach, which rapidly absorb water and expand to form a harmless gel. This gel has no calories, but it takes up room in your stomach and intestines. With less room in your stomach, the idea is that you’ll eat less and lose weight.

How well does Plenity work?

In a clinical trial, people who used Plenity and also followed a reduced-calorie diet and exercised moderately lost more weight on average than those who reduced calories, exercised, and took a placebo. About 20% of those in both groups dropped out before the end of the trial, which was scheduled to last about six months. Of those who completed the six months, the group taking Plenity lost about 6% of their weight, while the group taking a placebo lost about 4%. 

The group taking Plenity lost an average of 14 pounds while the placebo group lost an average of 10 pounds. So, we’re only talking about four...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

How to Support Your Kids in Their Chosen Sport

When your kid comes home from school and announces that they want to join a sports team, you support them. Studies have shown that sports are incredibly beneficial for kids and teens. Not only are young athletes more likely to be physically healthy, but they tend to develop skills like communication, teamwork, leadership, and time management, which are widely applicable in school, work, and life.

Yet, even when a child shows interest in a sport, parents often aren’t properly supportive. On the one hand, if you don’t engage at all with your child’s new hobby, they aren’t likely to maintain their initial passion and they might quit the sport in a matter of months. On the other hand, if you are overzealous, you might push them to the point of burnout, again inspiring them to give up the sport for a lower-pressure hobby.

So what is the right way to support kids in athletics?

Learn what you can about the sport

It’s not uncommon for kids who participate in sports to have parents who are already engaged in athletics in some way, shape, or form. If you are already a tried-and-true fan of your child’s chosen athletic pursuit—if you played when you were young or if you follow the sport at the professional level—you might not need to invest much time in this supportive step. However, if your child chooses a more obscure sport that you aren’t familiar with, you should start by learning as much as you can about it. Knowing the rules of the sport, a basic history of the sport, and a few requirements for training and playing will help you become closer with your child as they navigate their new passion. You might launch into research about the sport on your own or with your child so that you can build a foundation in the sport together.

Understand what drives your child

A child’s motivations for playing a sport will determine how they engage with the activity in the short and long term. For instance, if your kid joined the softball team because all of her friends were playing softball—and not because she was interested in the sport of desired athletic activity—then she might not feel much compulsion to excel in the pursuit. In this situation, pushing your child to train harder won’t be beneficial; it could even cause a rift in your relationship. However, if your child joined the softball team because she idolizes softball players or loves team-based competition, she might appreciate your encouragement to practice hitting balls or catching flies. Throughout your child’s sports experience, you should communicate with them about why your kid wants to play the sport, what they enjoy about the sport and more, so you have a better...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

5 Storage Secrets to Make Food Last Longer

How to Make Condiments Last

It’s frustrating to have to throw out condiments like sour cream, mayo, yogurt, and mustard because you didn’t use the entire container before it spoiled. However, you can easily combat this by changing containers as you use up the item. Using a smaller container exposes the condiment to less air—and fewer bacteria. The trick, of course, is making sure you successfully transfer every bit of mayo possible from the jar to the tiny Tupperware!

Freeze Your Bread

If you find that your bread often goes stale before you use it, slice it and store in the freezer. Separate out slices and let them sit for about five minutes at room temperature to defrost, or stick them directly in the toaster. Frozen bread is also great to use for grilled cheese sandwiches—it’s much easier to butter, and it will defrost as it cooks in the pan.

Store Dairy Properly

It’s better to store milk on an inside shelf toward the back of the refrigerator, not on the door. Why? All dairy products are very perishable. The optimal refrigeration temperature is actually just over 32°F; however, few refrigerators are ever set at or hold that low a temperature. Most home refrigerators remain around 40°F, and the temperature rises every time the door is opened. Store cheese near the bottom of the refrigerator, where temperature fluctuations are minimal.

Know Which Produce to Refrigerate

Refrigerating your produce can help it last longer, but not all produce does well in the cooler temperature. The majority of fruits and vegetables handle cold fairly well, but naturally enough, the exceptions are tropical fruits, whose cells are just not used to the cold. Bananas will suffer cell damage and release a skin-browning chemical, avocados don’t ripen when stored below 45°F, and citrus fruit will develop brown-spotted skin. These fruits, as well as squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, bell peppers, and pineapples, are best stored at 50°F—so keep them out of the fridge. Most other vegetables, including lettuce, carrots, and cabbage, will do better in your refrigerator. Potatoes, however, should be stored outside of the fridge and away from light.

Save Your Spices

Spices and dried herbs keep their flavor better if stored in a cupboard away from heat, light, and moisture, all of which impair flavor, change color, and shorten life. Make them last longer by putting half into a sealed, airtight container when you purchase them. Label the container and keep it in your dark cabinet, or better yet, your freezer. When the spice on-hand loses its aroma, replace it with some from your stash, and you’ll never have to be irritated about throwing away an...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

Can Whole-Body Vibration Training Make You Fit?

Although these rather bland-looking platforms are only recently popping up in gyms and spas, whole-body vibration training (WBVT) has been around for quite a long time. According to the BioMedical Journal, the ancient Greeks were the first to think that shaking the human body would elicit faster healing.

The history of whole-body vibration training

Ancient Grecian doctors used body vibration machines as a "therapeutic methodology" to help soldiers recover from their injuries. Their version was a bow-like wooden instrument that they would pluck strings on to create vibrations over cuts and wounds. The Greek docs observed that the vibrations allowed pus to drain from wounds more freely (yuck) while also healing the wounds faster.

In the 1860s, Swedish medical student Jonas Gustav Zander explored the connection between mechanics of the body and muscle building. He went on to establish the Therapeutic Zander Institute in Stockholm, which used his machines to help workers correct physical impairments. Zander believed vibration therapy could be a way to increase weight loss and muscle gain in his patients.

Russian athletes used whole-body vibration machines to speed up their recovery after Olympic events.

In the 1960s, Russian scientists embraced vibration therapy, dubbing it rhythmic neuromuscular stimulation. They believed that they had discovered a way to support not only muscle building but also a way to help stimulate bone regeneration. Then in 1995, the cosmonaut Valery Polyakov (the Ironman of Space Flight) lived in space for 438 days without losing (much) bone density thanks to WBVT. In fact, instead of being carried from the Soyuz spacecraft to a nearby chair, as is customary, Valery walked. Not too shabby for having been in zero gravity for nearly 15 months.

The following year, Russian athletes also started using whole-body vibration machines to speed up their recovery after Olympic events. Since then, many studies have been done on the use of WBVT. And many entrepreneurs have created devices—available at lower and lower costs—for both gym and home settings.

The big question is, just because it helped one dude in space—where gravity is lower and bones lose their density quickly—does it do anything valuable for us earthbound exercisers? Well, let's see what some of the studies say.

How does WBVT work?

If you go to a gym or spa...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

How to Self-Promote at Work Without Feeling Icky

Does the idea of having to self-promote leave you feeling like you need a shower? Sometimes, it seems showy and braggy and icky. The thought of having to do it may make your skin crawl. And yet, self-promotion is essential.

The key to promoting yourself is striking the balance between humility and hubris. You need to find ways to demonstrate confidence—in the service of creating opportunities—without seeming self-congratulatory or off-putting.

Doing great work isn’t enough

Doing great work—delivering important projects, delighting customers and clients, contributing innovative ideas—is crucial if we aspire to new challenges and opportunities at work. But these successes only serve us if the leaders and decision-makers around us have a clear understanding of what we’ve achieved and how we’ve impacted the business.

If you’re looking to get ahead at work, doing great work is only half the battle. The other half is shining the light on your achievements. And this, we accomplish through self-promotion.

Getting self-promotion wrong can have real consequences. Poorly orchestrated self-promotion can hinder your ability to grow. It limits people’s willingness to follow your leadership, to choose to collaborate with you, and to support your candidacy for roles you aspire to.

If you’re looking to get ahead at work, doing great work is only half the battle. The other half is shining the light on your achievements.

There are many strategies you can use to effectively and stealthily promote yourself—your achievements, your knowledge, your capabilities—without being off-putting. Here are my five favorite ways to self-promote without making my colleagues and superiors roll their eyes.

1. Be focused and intentional about self-promotion

Think of self-promotion as a means to an end, not a general way of being. Instead of tooting your horn at every single success (icky), identify specific achievements or successes that support a goal you’re striving to achieve.

If you’re hoping for an opportunity to take the lead on an upcoming client pitch, then choose a piece of feedback you’ve received from a client that highlights your ability to listen and respond to their needs. Make sure your boss, or the key decision-maker, sees that particular feedback.

But stay on-script! Stay focused on promoting your client attentiveness and don’t go overboard touting your graphic design or writing skills. Peers and colleagues will happily celebrate along with you in occasional moments of thoughtful self-promotion.

2. Hold others up next to you

Looking good isn't a zero-sum game—there can be lots of winners at...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

The Fascinating Physics of Figure Skating

Figure skaters not only have to perform incredible feats of human strength and agility, but they also have to push the limits of what is humanly possible while making their movements look easy. Their motions appear graceful and smooth as they hurtle their bodies through the air with nothing but the hard ice below.

As spectators, we take for granted that a figure skating routine will involve multiple jumps which incorporate triple and even quadruple spins in a single jump. Executing the perfect jump requires a precise combination of speed, force, vertical velocity, angular momentum, friction, and of course timing. Let’s break down some of these crucial pieces that go into the perfect loop, flip, salchow, axel, or lutz.

Vertical Velocity

A skater’s vertical velocity, or their speed upward into a jump, helps determine how high they can go. Their altitude in turn determines how much time they have in the air before they return back to the ground and thus how much time they have to execute a spin or spins. A skater achieves vertical velocity by extending their leg downward to push down on the ice. The ice in turn pushes back providing a force upward.

A skater’s vertical velocity, or their speed upward into a jump, helps determine how high they can go.

The vertical velocity needed to reach a certain height is the same for any skater but the force needed to reach that velocity depends on the size and weight of the skater as well as how long the force is applied to propel the skater upward. Stronger muscles are required to create stronger forces. Skaters typically launch themselves off the ice skaters around 10 miles per hour and reach heights anywhere between one and four feet.

Angular Momentum

Another fundamental physics principle on display in a figure skating jump is the law of conservation of angular momentum. The angular momentum of a skater is the product of their linear momentum and their angular velocity or their rotational speed. Angular momentum works similarly to linear momentum in that spinning (or moving) things like to keep spinning (or moving) until acted on by an outside force. In other words, a larger angular momentum allows a skater to spin faster in the air until she hits the ground.

A larger angular momentum allows a skater to spin faster in the air until she hits the ground.

You may have noticed that skaters tend to begin their jumps with their arms extended but while in the air they draw their arms in toward their body to minimize their size as much as possible. This is because angular momentum must always be conserved without that action from an outside force...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips