Selasa, 30 Juni 2020

Should You Beware of Glucose Syrup?

A listener recently asked me to look into an ingredient called glucose syrup. It’s often used as a sweetener in processed foods, such as cookies, candy, and other confections. She’d read that it’s a very concentrated source of sugar that supposedly contains four times the sugar and calories per tablespoon as regular table sugar. The implication? That one should avoid foods made with glucose syrup.

I tracked this specific claim to an article written by a dietitian for Healthline.com. This is a site that I consider to be a very reliable source. In general, I’ve found their nutrition articles to be thorough, accurate, and very well-referenced.

And sure enough, the statement that glucose syrup contains four times the sugar and calories found in regular sugar was footnoted and linked to the USDA’s food and nutrient database, the gold standard for nutrient data.

One footnote linked to the nutritional analysis for light corn syrup (which is another name for glucose syrup). One tablespoon contains 17 grams of sugar and 62 calories. The other footnote linked to the nutritional analysis for regular table sugar. One tablespoon contains 4 grams of sugar and 16 calories. Case closed.

Actually, make that: Case overturned on appeal. Unfortunately, this second listing was inaccurate.

You see, in addition to the tens of thousands of foods that have been analyzed by the USDA to create their amazing food and nutrient database, they also include nutrient information for tens of thousands of additional packaged and processed foods based on information provided by the manufacturer. And there are frequent errors. In fact, there’s a disclaimer right on the page Healthline cited stating that the info was provided by food brand owners, who are responsible for descriptions, nutrient data, and ingredient information.

In this case, it was a simple typo. The manufacturer chose the wrong serving size. The nutrient info they uploaded (4 grams of sugar, 16 calories) was for a teaspoon of sugar, not a tablespoon. And for those of you who don’t bake or use metric measures, a tablespoon contains 3 teaspoons.

A tablespoon of corn syrup does not contain four times as many calories as a tablespoon of sugar. It’s actually about a third higher—17 grams of sugar versus 12 grams. And this is simply due to the fact that sugar crystals aren’t as dense as sugar syrup, something that manufacturers adjust for in their recipes. 

What...

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Salon at Home: How to Tweeze Your Eyebrows

Use Good Tweezers

To get good brows, you need good tweezers—and the difference between good and bad tweezers is sharpness. Even if you don’t have expensive tweezers, you can keep yours sharp with the help of a nail file or emery board. Just scrape it along the edge of your tweezers to keep them nice and sharp.

Defining Your Brow Line

Defining your brow line with a pencil and a little plucking is a great way to open up your face and make your eyes sparkle. But how do you know where your brows should begin and end? To determine exactly where your brow should begin, imagine a vertical line or hold a make-up pencil straight alongside one nostril. Where the pencil lands by your brow is where it should begin. To work out where the brow should end, imagine a line from the outside of your nostril to the outer corner of your eye, then extend it out to your brow.

See also: 13 Homemade Hair Care Solutions

Get to Tweezing

There’s no way around it—now you have to pull a bunch of hair out of your head. Use a magnifying mirror to make the job much easier, and try to pull the hair out in the direction that you pulled. If it hurts afterward, apply an ice cube to the area. Make sure to clean it thoroughly to prevent pimples.

Take Care of Unruly Hairs

If you have some eyebrow hairs that are particularly long, you may need to trim them (use the smallest scissors you can find). If you don’t want to trim them, you can also groom them with a toothbrush (yes, really). Spray it with a bit of hair spray and use it as an eyebrow brush. Alternatively, just use a little dab of petroleum jelly—or even lip gloss in a pinch—to run along your eyebrows to keep a sleek, sophisticated line.

For more all-natural remedies from all around the internet, check out our Health and Beauty Tips board on Pinterest. And don't forget to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Facebook and Instagram!

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

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What Does Science Say About Mixing Alcohol and Exercise?

It probably won’t come as a surprise to you that during the COVID-19 lockdown, there has been a 70 percent rise in the number of people riding their bikes for exercise in the UK, while running is booming in North America. These faster-paced and outdoor sports are seen as a fun, safe way to stay fit while social distancing measures continue.  

While there has been this rise in (outdoor) exercise, there has also been a rise in alcohol consumption. According to the University of Utah, in the US, Alcohol distributors reported a 50 percent increase in the sales of alcohol from one week in March during the 2020 coronavirus outbreak compared to the same week a year ago. Home delivery of alcohol has increased dramatically, and one report notes a 300 percent increase in alcohol sales in March as compared to January. That’s a whole lotta booze, people!

Reading about these exercise and alcohol trends made me wonder how going for more runs and rides, while also consuming more alcohol, affects our endeavors to get and stay fit. Are we better off, worse off, or somewhere in between?

In the past, headlines based on the results of a study called The Effect of Post-Match Alcohol Ingestion on Recovery From Competitive Rugby League Matches, instructed us to stay far away from alcohol if we wanted to maximize our workout results.

For alcohol to impair workout recovery, you need to drink the equivalent of about four to six servings right after you finish exercising.

And sure, this study, and others before it, did show that alcohol can negatively affect your exercise efforts. But what the headlines missed was that for alcohol to impair workout recovery, you need to drink the equivalent of about four to six servings right after you finish exercising. Yes, four to six servings! At that amount, not only will the alcohol hurt recovery but it will also give you lots of empty calories. Not to mention, a lightweight like me would probably do nothing but lie around nursing a hangover the next day.

To give some perspective, in North America, “legal intoxication” is defined as having a blood-alcohol level of 80 mg / dL (17.4 mmol/L) or 100 mg / dL (21.7 mmol/L) or above. This is a different way to look at it than we're used to. Most of us are more aware of the legal measurement...

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Digital Detox—The Key to Unplugging from Work on Vacation

What do you think of when you hear the word "vacation?" Many of us imagine things like sitting on the beach sipping cocktails with tiny umbrellas in them, exploring new cities, or dining in hot new restaurants. But in the summer of 2020, those pleasures probably seem out of reach. Might as well cancel those vacation days, right?

You may not be able to venture far from home right now, but it's important to give yourself time to unwind.

I may be your Modern Mentor, but I can't tell you what to do. Even so, I can urge you to keep those vacation days locked in. You may not be able to venture far from home right now, but it's important to give yourself time to unwind, even if that looks less like "umbrella drinks by the beach" and more like lazing around your backyard with a blow-up pool and a great book.

Why you should take a staycation

Burnout is at an extreme high. According to global coach Sabina Nawaz, “While the number of hours worked is soaring, people’s capacity to focus and produce quality work is diving.”

A digital detox—a true disconnect—is about more than being able to fully indulge in an exotic destination (a thing you might recall having done in other years). It’s about giving your mind and body some time to recover from stress, demands on your attention, and the constant state of alertness to the needs of customers, colleagues, and your boss.

So how, in this moment of high anxiety, do you effectively unplug during a vacation so your mind and body get the benefit?

How to plan your vacation digital detox

Commit to and communicate your digital detox plans

Successfully unplugging begins with your commitment to it. If you don’t truly believe in the power of the break, then all the suggestions to follow will fall flat.

In a 2017 study in the journal Applied Research in Quality of Life, researchers found that technology use had a hand in determining a person's work-life balance. Being constantly connected digitally had an impact on job stress, the feeling of being overworked, and overall job satisfaction. So, unplugging, even just to do nothing, is the greatest gift you can give yourself. And it truly will pay off at work when you return refreshed.

Consider all you’ve been carrying—the stress, the juggling, the multitasking—and imagine how much value a true break of even a few days could offer.

But—for all kinds of reasons both practical and personal—it...

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Senin, 29 Juni 2020

Is It Aliens? A Science Writer On UFOs and Her Visit to Area 51

I sat down for a chat with Sarah Scoles. She's a science writer and the author of They Are Already Here: UFO Culture and Why We See Saucers. Sarah's written for many publications like Scientific American, The Verge, Vice, Science, and Outside. Not only has she written about UFOs and the people who are fascinated by them, but she's also visited, Area 51, a highly classified US Air Force base in Nevada that lies at the center of many a UFO conspiracy theory.

Of course, if you'd like to hear the interview, click the audio player above or listen on your favorite podcast platform.

So just a few weeks ago, the Pentagon released—or I should say rereleased—three videos of what they call "unidentified aerial phenomena." These were videos taken by military pilots of strange things in the sky. What are we looking at? Are we looking at aliens?

I would say there is no evidence to support the hypothesis that we're looking at aliens, but the bottom line is that we don't know what we're looking at. It's possible someone somewhere in some government agency knows what we're looking at, but we definitely don't.

And as far as we know, the department of defense classifies these things as unidentified.

I presume for your book you've read thousands of pages of unclassified government documents on UFOs. If these videos aren't evidence for UFOs, is there anything else to suggest we've found evidence?

I think what's intriguing about government studies of UFOs is that they've had investigations programs off and on for decades.

Most of the [UFO sighting] reports you can solve have been solved. But in every study, there has been some portion that remains unidentified.

And most of the [UFO sighting] reports you can solve have been solved. They are things like Venus, or spy planes, or atmospheric phenomena. But in every study, there has been some portion that remains unidentified. And that is not evidence of aliens. It's partly evidenced that for a lot of these settings, we don't have enough data to determine what they actually are or are not. So it's possible they have an explanation that's super normal and we just don't have enough data to know what that is.

You touched on this in the book. It does make sense that people remain suspicious of what the government may or may not be telling us because [our government does have] these official programs, as you just mentioned, to study unidentified aerial phenomena. Which makes sense! Of course, the military would be interested in these things. And so it does seem like there's a disconnect between ...

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Minggu, 28 Juni 2020

6 Ways to Savor Summer With Your Family

There’s something dreamy and magical about the start of summer. On the coldest, dreariest days of winter, the mere thought of sitting on the beach with my toes immersed in the cool, wet sand while my kids happily build sandcastles close by is often enough to keep me warm until those sunny days finally arrive.

But once those carefree weeks of summer land on my doorstep, so does something else—my kids!  School’s out and although that means the tight, hectic schedule we navigate between September and June is now over, it’s quickly replaced with 10 full weeks of having kids home 24/7.

RELATED: 6 Tips to Transition Kids from School to Summer

When I think of summer I think of lazy days where rest and relaxation go hand in hand, but realistically that’s not usually the case. Instead of chilling out, families tend to burn out because suddenly they've got 8–10 hours of free time each day and the kids complain that they’re bored or fill the time by staring at electronic gadgets, squabbling with their siblings, or getting into trouble.

If this sounds familiar, worry not!  Mighty Mommy has 6 tips that can help you reclaim summer without setting up a 3-ring circus in your backyard. 

Here are 6 simple tips to make this summer your best summer ever:

1. Do one thing as a family each day

The one thing kids remember is the time their parents spend with them.  Even if you’re a full-time working parent like I am, there are plenty of opportunities each and every day to have fun and connect with your child. 

On the days I can devote extra time to my kids I do silly things like calling the home phone from my cell phone and then telling whoever answers to please report to the kitchen immediately because there’s a problem. When the kids arrived sheepishly, they found me waiting armed with bathing suits, towels, and all our beach gear. “I decided to take some time off today for us to go to the beach,” I explained.  

RELATED: 5 Ways to be a More Playful Parent 

Because it was completely unexpected, it really made the beach day more fun and special. 

2. Don’t forget structure

The school year is crammed with schedules, activities, homework, and so when summer arrives, everyone breathes a sigh of relief because the pressure is off.  While that’s definitely a good thing it’s also important...

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Jumat, 26 Juni 2020

7 Simple Tips to Help You Stop Feeling Inadequate

Have you ever sat in a classroom or work meeting and felt small, like you didn’t belong there, as you listened to other people make seemingly smarter comments than you can think of? Have you ever cringed at your own reflection in the mirror, seeing a body that's nothing like the ones you see in magazines? Or have you doubted your own sanity when you thought you were awesome but discovered that someone else seemed to think you didn't measure up?

Each of us has someone in our life who makes us feel as invalid as an expired password. Sometimes that someone is a parent, a partner, a total stranger, or even a friend. Often, that someone is actually something, like an academic institution or a whole cultural stereotype. And sadly, sometimes we buy into it ourselves.

Each of us has someone in our life who makes us feel as invalid as an expired password.

Recently, I was listening to Michelle Obama’s autobiography in audiobook form, and I stopped dead in my tracks when she described how in high school, a guidance counselor told her she was not “Princeton material.” Even more surprising than this was that she doubted herself, too. So much of what she did in her youth was aimed at answering the question, “Am I good enough?”

I wondered, “If Michelle Obama could question her own adequacy, what hope is there for the rest of us?”

Imposter syndrome is real. Every one of us can relate to this type of self-doubt on some level. And it’s not just about academic ability. Snuggly couples pop out from every corner whenever we feel lonely. Ridiculously attractive people seem to materialize next to us on the beach when we’re feeling especially bloated. We rejoice at passing the exam, but feel deflated as the kid next to us shows off a big "A." We try not to make eye contact with passers-by as we park our years-old Corolla between a Porsche and a Land Rover.

What do you do when life leaves you feeling like you're just not good enough? Here are seven ways to hit the reset button and see yourself anew.

1. Trust that everyone has their stuff

First of all, I’ll bet you my last box of Thin Mints that the kid next to you showing off their “A” grade feels deeply inadequate, themselves. Same thing for your Instagram influencer friend who looks perfect in every post and can’t stop bragging about how many “likes” they get. True adequacy doesn’t feel the need to advertise.

While we can’t know if these people in our lives are searching for affirmation, trying to build themselves up by comparing down to others, or simply...

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Kamis, 25 Juni 2020

8 Tips for Natural Outdoor Pest Control

Guard Your Garden From Insects 

Aphid Invasion? Go Orange

Place orange peels at the base of the plants that aphids are attacking. A substance found on the peels destroys the insects’ waxy outer coating, causing them to suffocate.

A Cure for Cutworms

If you’ve come outside to find your plants' stems cut as if by a tiny axe, you have a cutworm problem. But you can fix it with a simple toothpick. Place it next to the plant’s stem—half in the soil, half above the ground. That bugger won’t be able to circle the plant stem to cut it off!

Pest-Proof Your Yard

Hide Away the Sandbox

Cats trying to make a sandbox a litterbox? Design a more protected play area by setting up a small tent, then cover the bottom with sand. Comb a cup or so of ground cinnamon into the sand to keep out ants, centipedes, and other pests, and zip up after each use.

See also: DIY Solutions to the Six Worst Bug Problems

Recycle Dog Hair

Have a dog that sheds like crazy? Save the clumps and poke them into an old grapevine wreath. Hang it (and its repellent scent!) on a stake in the garden to chase away rabbits, raccoons, squirrels, and other unwanted creatures.

Toy with Squirrels

You can buy expensive baffles to keep squirrels from climbing poles to your bird feeder. But there’s a simple solution you may already have around the house: a slinky! Just wrap it around the top of the pole so that it extends down around it and creates a bouncy obstacle.

Call Old CDs into Action

Tie them wherever you want to scare away birds. They’re perfect to keep the flocks from feasting on your fruit trees!

A Not-So-Welcome Mat for Deer

It sounds crazy, but laying old rugs or carpet samples around the outside of your garden in a path about 4 feet wide will turn deer away. They’re suspicious of the texture and won’t put a hoof on it!

A Deer Barrier Border

Plant thick rows of gladiolas around garden areas you don’t want deer to enter. Deer don’t eat glads and also won’t cross through them—no matter how tempting the plants on the other side.

Are the pests inside? Check out How to Get Rid of Indoor Pests

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How to Write Action Sequences

Joshua Essoe has been a full-time freelance fiction editor for more than 10 years and just came out with his first book: "Essoe's Guides to Writing: Action Sequences & Sex Scenes." We focused on action sequences and talked about the following:

  • How to use emotions as an essential part of action sequences.
  • Why it's usually important to keep your dialogue short.
  • The one thing he cuts most often from fight scenes: turning and looking.
  • Which words you should use only once or twice: "charged" and "roared."
  • Why sex scenes are just a different kind of action sequence.
  • How he got his first gig as a fiction editor. (It's a great lesson for aspiring editors!)

Find Joshua on Twitter, Facebook, and JoshuaEssoe.com.

You can listen to the interview using the player at the top of this page or read a complete rough transcript.

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How Humans Cause Pandemics and How to Stop Them

QDT interviewed Dr. Michael Greger, M.D., to gain insights from his upcoming book, How to Survive a Pandemic, available now in audiobook format.

How coronavirus outbreaks happen

Where did the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak originate?

Ground zero for the COVID-19 pandemic was the Hua’nan Market in Wuhan, China, to which most of the first human cases could be traced. First thought to be a SARS-coronavirus, it was found to be a virus later named SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It's the cause of coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19. Before it became known as SARS-CoV-2, however, it was known as the Wuhan seafood market pneumonia virus.

Described as the largest wholesale seafood market in Central China, the Hua’nan Market reportedly also sold seventy-five species of wild animals. Although there are fish coronaviruses, more than 90 percent of the samples that turned up positive for the virus were found in the section of the half-million-square-foot seafood market that trafficked in exotic animals sold for food.

The current theory is that COVID-19 originated in bats before jumping to humans after passing through an intermediate host, thought to be the pangolin. Between the demand for their meat as a delicacy and their scales for use in traditional medicines, pangolins are the most trafficked mammal in the world. Coronaviruses found in two different groups of diseased pangolins being smuggled into China were found to be about 90 percent identical with the COVID-19 virus. As well, the pangolin coronavirus spike protein’s critical receptor binding region is virtually identical to the human strain.

The current theory is that COVID-19 originated in bats before jumping to humans after passing through an intermediate host, thought to be the pangolin.

Regardless of which animal it was, that one meal or medicine may end up costing humanity trillions of dollars and millions of lives.

What are the links between animals/livestock and pandemic diseases? How do modern farming practices assist in the evolution of new viruses?

There is a single species responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic—humans. Over the last few decades, hundreds of human pathogens have emerged at a rate unprecedented in human history. Emerged from where? Mostly from animals.

The AIDS virus is blamed on the butchering of primates in the bushmeat trade in Africa. We created mad cow disease when we turned cows into carnivores and cannibals. SARS and COVID-19 have been traced back to the exotic wild animal trade. Our last pandemic, swine flu in 2009, didn't arise from a wet market in Asia; it was...

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Rabu, 24 Juni 2020

How to Be Assertive Without Being a Jerk

Do you know how to be assertive? Let's say you’re at Starbucks. You’ve been patiently waiting for 10 minutes in line and you really need that caffeine hit. Then someone cuts right in front of you. Which one is the assertive response? Do you:

  • Silently resent them and throw daggers into the back of their head with your eyes,
  • Loudly tell them they should be ashamed of themselves and demand their immediate retreat, or
  • Make snide comments to your friend, just loudly enough for the offender to hear, about how some people are so entitled?

That was a trick question! None of those responses is assertive.

Silence is passive. Public shaming is aggressive. Throwing eye daggers and making snide remarks are passive-aggressive, the worst of both worlds. Some of these methods might get you what you want—closer to your coffee—but at the cost of not being very gracious.

Maybe you don’t care about being gracious at Starbucks, and that would be a totally okay choice. But sometimes the stakes are even higher than coffee. (That's hard to imagine, I know.)

Let’s say your boss keeps making sexist comments that make you uncomfortable. The wrong reaction could affect your job. When the pressure's on, it’s even harder to walk the line between keeping peace and standing up for yourself.

So what to do when you’re in an awkward or unfair situation and you want to both get what you need and avoid stepping on toes? What if you don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings or don’t want to be known as the “dramatic one,” but you also want to keep your dignity intact? Be assertive!

Being assertive doesn't mean being aggressive

“But wait," you say. "What if I don’t have a very dominant or aggressive personality?”

No problem. You don’t need to dominant or aggressive to be assertive. In fact, being assertive is the opposite of bulldozing others’ opinions. You're not shutting down anyone's right to express themselves, hurting or humiliating them, demanding special treatment, or sticking to your selfish demands no matter what. Being assertive has nothing to do with threatening, coercing, or even raising your voice.

Being assertive means respecting yourself and others.

Being assertive means respecting yourself and others. It means clearly and honestly stating your position or your needs. It means being fair, direct, and open-minded.

Being assertive not only sounds ideal, but it’s also associated with better mental health. A 2013 study published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology...

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Easy Ways to Increase Your Earning Potential Today

Are you sick of feeling as though you always have more bills than income? Every month, you work hard to bring home a decent wage to support your family. Yet, somehow, when you need funds, there never seems to be anything available in your bank account. Sometimes, the problem might be that you’re struggling to manage your budget. Not knowing how to properly look after your money could mean that you spend too much, too fast. In other circumstances, your issue might be that you’re not taking advantage of opportunities to increase your earning potential. If you’re already doing everything you can to reduce excess spending and improve your financial habits, but you’re still facing money worries, then the following earning boosters could be just what you need. Let’s look at some quick and easy ways to turn your life around.

Consider a new job

All jobs have their pros and cons to consider. However, some roles definitely pay more than others. If you feel as though you’ve already gotten everything you can out of your current position, and there’s no room left to grow, a new role might be the best option. If you don’t want to switch away from the current company that you’re with, you could ask about switching to a different department. If there’s nowhere else for you to go in your current business, then it might be a good idea to see what someone can offer you elsewhere. Many people who switch jobs can take advantage of looking to improve earning potential than those that stick with the same role. Remember, if you do decide to switch to somewhere new, take your time to find something that actually appeals to you. Don’t just jump at the first offer you get. Play the field first.

Stick with learning about topics that you’re genuinely interested in. This will give you an opportunity to get a job in a space that you enjoy.

Improve your reputation

Reputation can make a big difference in your earning potential these days. In a world where we’re constantly connected to the internet, your image online might help you to find a new or higher-paying job. For instance, if you’re connected to the right people on LinkedIn, then you might speak to someone who can give a good word for you in a higher-paying department in your company. Start by auditing your existing personal brand online. See what people will find if they look for your name. If you have any unprofessional social accounts that are set to public, make them private immediately. Once you’re ready to...

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15 IRA Rules You Should Know

Since the coronavirus pandemic has caused so much economic uncertainty this year, it’s the perfect time to get serious about funding your retirement. There are a variety of accounts you can use, but an IRA or Individual Retirement Account is one of the best options.

I’m a fan of using retirement accounts because they come with tax advantages that make your money go further. The downside is that you must follow strict rules to qualify for the tax benefits, which can seem confusing at first.

If you’ve been shying away from using an IRA, this post covers everything you need to know, including what’s new in 2020 related to the coronavirus. We’ll review 15 IRA rules so you can use an IRA confidently, no matter if you’re employed, self-employed, or unemployed.

1. You must have earned income to contribute to an IRA

The only qualification for using an IRA in a given year is that you have earned income. It can be any kind of taxable compensation, such as a salary, wages, tips, bonuses, commissions, or self-employment income.

Here are the IRA rules 2020: You can contribute an amount equal to your taxable compensation up to $6,000 or up to $7,000 if you’re age 50 or older.

2. Your contributions to a traditional IRA are tax-deductible

In general, you don’t pay tax on contributions to a traditional IRA until you withdraw them. Both your contributions and account earnings grow tax-deferred until you take distributions in retirement.

This year, the SECURE Act changed the age when you must begin taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) from 70½ to 72.

This year, the SECURE Act changed the age when you must begin taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) from 70½ to 72. RMDs dictate a schedule for withdrawing money from a retirement account paying tax on it.

Another significant change is that you can make contributions to a traditional IRA for as long as you have earned income. Previously, you couldn’t contribute past age 70½. Now, you have more time to grow your nest egg if you’re still working into your 70s.

3. Your contributions to a Roth IRA are not tax-deductible

Tax on a Roth IRA works the opposite of a traditional IRA because you must pay tax upfront on your Roth contributions. However, your contributions and account earnings are completely tax-free when you make withdrawals in retirement. This valuable benefit can save you a massive amount of taxes.

Your contributions and account earnings are completely tax-free when you make withdrawals in retirement.

Like with a traditional IRA, you can make contributions at any age, as long as you have earned income. But there are no required...

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Selasa, 23 Juni 2020

8 Grooming Tips to Look and Feel Your Best

Get a Confident Smile

Beat Bad Breath on the Go

Certain herbs and spices are natural breath fresheners when you chew on them. Repurpose an old pill bottle to carry cloves, fennel, or aniseed with you.

Keep Mints Sugar Free

If you go the traditional route with mints or gum to freshen breath, make sure the label says “sugar-free” or else you could be worsening the situation. Sugar feeds bacteria, which can contribute to bad breath.

See Also: How to Get Rid of Bad Breath Naturally

Reach for a Cup of Tea

Whether you enjoy green or black, tea provides polyphenols, which prevent the growth of bacteria.

Shaving Sense

Natural Creams

If you’re looking to go the natural route, both pure aloe and coconut oil make amazing shaving creams. They’re both moisturizing and antibacterial—just in case of nicks. You can use them alone, or combine with a bit of castile or hand soap and water for a foamier result you can dispense from a clean soap pump. Shake before each use.

Know Your Directions

Most people who shave their legs tend to shave from ankle to knee, but that’s working against the direction of growth and can lead to ingrown hairs. Reverse your direction and go from knee to ankle for a smoother shave.

Treat a Nick Quickly

Slipped and nicked yourself while shaving? Simple pressure usually works best. But if you’re in a rush and can’t keep up pressure until the bleeding stops, here’s a little shortcut. Dab on a little astringent to staunch the flow, then follow with a rub of antiperspirant. You’ll be set to head out!

Stay Fresh and Clean

Treat Your Feet to JELL-O!

Prepare JELL-O and pour it into a basin. Soak your feet until it sets; wash off with soap and water. What’s the benefit? The gel blocks sweat glands. Many commercial deodorants rely on a similar effect.

Pull Out Odors with a Potato

Did you know that we release toxins through the soles of our feet? To pull out those odor-causing toxins, place raw potato slices in your socks. Wait a few hours before removing. You’ll be amazed at how the compounds in the potato work—the slices will likely be black to show the results!

See Also:...

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How Endurance Sports Affect Appetite

A Nutrition Diva listener recently wrote in with a familiar dilemma: She and her husband were training for an endurance event, but as she increased the duration of her workouts, she noticed that her appetite was also increasing sharply.

“Even though I was eating more, I was still hungry all the time,” she wrote.  And so she experimented with the timing and the composition of her meals, but nothing seemed to help. And she started to get worried that despite all the extra exercise she was doing, she might end up gaining weight just because she was eating so much more.

Joining me to talk about how exercise—and endurance exercise, in particular—affects our appetite is Brock Armstrong, host of the Get-Fit Guy podcast. Brock is also my cohost on a brand new podcast called Change Academy.

But more to the point, Brock is himself an endurance athlete. He's coached hundreds of others through endurance sports and training.

Click the audio player above or listen on your favorite podcast app. You can also read the transcript here.

What do we mean when we say endurance exercise? Is there a definition for that?

When people talk about endurance sports, it's generally something long like a marathon or a half marathon or an iron man or an ultra-marathon or something like that. So, for this conversation, let's focus on those longer, slower efforts, not necessarily the shorter quicker ones.

Are long duration, low-to-moderate intensity workouts the best way to get fit?

I always define fit as being able to move through the world and do the things you want to be able to do with a certain amount of ease and a certain amount of confidence. So endurance is definitely part of that, but it's not the whole picture. So it's not necessarily the best way to get fit, but it is a component of what I would consider to be fitness along with things like flexibility, strength, having the speed as well for shorter, higher intensity efforts. That all works in concert to equal fitness.

I define fitness as being able to move through the world and do the things that you want to be able to do with a certain amount of ease and a certain amount of confidence.

How does that type of training affect hunger levels? Does it have different effects in different timeframes—while you're exercising, immediately afterward, or maybe much later in the day?

Generally, what happens when we start to exercise is our blood circulatory system moves our blood and focuses its energy on the muscles or the parts of our body that are being used...

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9 Exercises to Get Huge Quads at Home

Recently I got a call on the Get-Fit Guy hotline from Dionne asking:

I just have to know—what is the recipe for huge quads? I know you have to eat right and do resistance training but what exactly will make my quads huge?

While I am not a bodybuilder, nor do I think we need to have huge muscles in order to be fit and healthy, I do appreciate where Dionne is coming from. We all have bucket list goals that go beyond being healthy and fit. Personally, I have done more than 50 races of varying lengths between 5k runs to Ironman triathlons knowing full well that I was going too far (literally and figuratively). So, without straying too much from my own fitness for health raison d'être, let’s look at how to build some powerful (and perhaps huge) quads. 

We all have bucket list goals that go beyond being healthy and fit.

What is the quad?

The quadriceps (or quads) are the four muscles located on the front of your leg or thigh. Those four muscles contract together to either flex (lift) the hip or extend (straighten) the knee. Sounds simple right? Well, it kind of is. 

The four muscles that make up the quadriceps are:

  1. Rectus Femoris

  2. Vastus Lateralis

  3. Vastus Medialis (which includes the often envied vastus medialis oblique, or VMO)

  4. Vastus Intermedius

So, when we think about exercising the quadriceps, we focus on moving the hip from an extended to a flexed position by bending the joint and also moving the knee from a flexed to an extended position by straightening the joint.

Anatomically speaking, the quadriceps are the primary muscles that support your knee bone. So, if you have weakness in your quads, that can lead to knee instability. And if there is too much instability in your knees, that can lead to an increase of wear and tear within the joint. Not to mention that people who often exhibit quadriceps weakness end up also exhibiting these conditions (you runners may recognize a few of these):

  • Patellofemoral stress syndrome

  • Iliotibial band friction syndrome

  • Patellar tendonitis or tendinosis

Why quad strength matters

The quadriceps are involved in several important daily tasks, like standing up from a seated position and also supporting your knees while you stand or walk. So, as I said earlier, if you have weakness in your quads, that can lead to knee instability. And too much knee instability can lead to excessive wear and tear within the joint.

In a 2019 study published in ...

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8 Rules for Picking the Right Sunscreen According to Science

This week marks the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere—the longest day of the year. For many of us, that means we are starting to spend more time in the sun. With the large quantity and variety of sunscreens available, it can be a challenge to pick the best one. Does the SPF really matter? Should I go organic? What about the warnings on possible carcinogens—cancer causing agents—in sunscreens? Is it better to avoid sunscreen altogether?

Luckily, science can help us with some of these answers. Here are 8 science-based tips for choosing the best sunscreen to protect your skin from the summer sun.

1. Choose a “broad spectrum” sunscreen

As an astronomer, I know well that clouds are able to block some ultraviolet radiation from reaching the Earth’s surface. That is why we have to launch our UV telescopes into space. However, clouds can’t block all of the UV radiation that the Sun emits so we still have to protect ourselves here below the atmosphere. The spectrum of UV light that reaches us is split into two kinds of radiation: UVA and UVB. UVA rays are blamed for premature aging of skin like wrinkles and age spots, while UVB rays are what give us those nasty sunburns. Both are known to cause skin cancer. Sunscreens are only rated for their protection against UVB rays (more on that next) so choosing a sunscreen that is labeled “broad” or “full” spectrum means that it is proven to protect against UVA as well as UVB rays.

2. Use at sunscreen with at least an SPF 30

SPF, short for “sun protection factor” quantifies how much solar energy in the form of UVB radiation is required to burn sunscreen-protected skin relative to unprotected skin. It does not, contrary to a common misconception, indicate how many hours the lotion will keep you burn-free while under the Sun’s rays.  In 2011, the Food and Drug Administration released a mapping between SPF value and sun protection. Specifically, an SPF of 15 protects against 93.3% of UVB radiation while an SPF of 30 will filter out 96.7% of UVB rays. An SPF of 50 correlates with protection against 98% of UVB radiation. Thus, the SPF scale is not a linear one. So, while there is some increase in protection to be gained by swapping out your SPF 30 for an SPF 50 lotion, the tiny percentage increase may not be worth a...

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Senin, 22 Juni 2020

How to Use LinkedIn to Be a Rockstar at Work

Many people use LinkedIn as nothing more than an online Rolodex, a means of finding a job, or a quick daily glance through professional updates and eye-roll-inducing humblebrags. But when you look for the tips and tricks hidden away in its many nooks and corners, you can do some pretty amazing things on LinkedIn's virtual platform.

With so much uncertainty persisting today, we’re all looking for ways to go above and beyond just getting our projects done on time. It's more important than ever to really shine at work. Today we’ll talk about some strategies you can use on LinkedIn—all from the comfort of your likely-virtual office—to stand out.

With LinkedIn, you can:

  • Be the bringer of industry trends and insights
  • Introduce new practices to your team
  • Deliver more creative and fleshed-out ideas
  • Be a great ambassador for your company

Let's dive in!

Spot insights and trends

Raise your hand if your primary engagement with LinkedIn is a periodic check of whatever comes up in your organic feed. (Don’t worry; I can’t see you. Go ahead and raise it.)

This is the default behavior on LinkedIn. It means you’re seeing whatever has been posted by your connections—those in your network. What do you find there? Usually a combination of job updates and shared articles, maybe sprinkled with some promoted content.

Spending five to ten minutes seeing what’s happening in your network can be interesting and relevant. But if you really understand the power of LinkedIn, you can use those same five to ten minutes to spot industry-shifting trends and insights from leading thinkers and institutions—insights you can bring to your team to shift or challenge thinking.

Next time you’re on the platform, pull yourself away from the not-so-riveting feed and focus instead on curating the content you see. Choose people (thinkers and business leaders), institutions, and hashtags you’d like to follow. Here's a screenshot of a few thinkers I follow.

I may not have access to people like Brene Brown, Dan Pink, or Adam Grant in real life. But LinkedIn is where they share deep, insightful pieces that shape my thinking and perspective, as opposed to snippy tweets or Insta-worthy photos.

You may be completely unsurprised to hear that I follow hashtags like leadership, workplace success, communication, and podcasting, just to name a few. This ensures that heated and popular conversations on these topics will dominate my feed instead of vanilla job updates.

As a...

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5 Critical Bike Safety Tips to Protect Your Family

Do you remember your first bike? For many of us, having a bike brought a sense of freedom to explore and adventure without Mom and Dad hovering. That's one of the many reasons kids have a natural love for bike riding. Bike time is not only fun, but it's also a super way to stay fit while enjoying quality time with Mother Nature.

But without proper bicycle safety precautions, biking can lead to injuries and even deadly accidents. A report by Stanford Children's Health showed that a staggering 200,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for bicycle-related injuries. Of course, not every accident is preventable, but by taking some essential safety measures, you can drastically reduce the chances that a bicycle calamity will affect your family.

Choose the proper bike size

If your child's bike doesn't fit her body size, she's at risk for a cycling accident. Manufacturers have long recommended sizing a bicycle according to wheel size and a child's height, but that's not the only consideration—the bike's frame size and seat height range can vary from brand to brand.

TwoWheelingTots offers great advice for finding the right bike size for your child.

What's the best way to find the right size bike for a child?

Using your child's inseam in relation to the bike's seat height is the best and most accurate way to ensure a perfect bike fit. The frame and the tire size work together to determine the seat height of a bike. So by selecting a bike based on seat height versus tire or frame size, you can ensure a great bike fit for your child even if they've never had a chance to try out the bike before you buy it!

Kids Bike Sizes Guide – A NEW Trick to Finding the BEST Fit

Their video explains precisely how to measure your child's inseam for perfect sizing.

Make sure your kids know that helmets are non-negotiable

Safety gear is essential when it comes to enjoying a safe ride, but the piece of equipment that matters most is a helmet. Sadly, almost 40% of parents of children ages 5 – 14 years old admitted that their child did not always wear a helmet.

Some kids think wearing a helmet isn't cool. Others are...

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Jumat, 19 Juni 2020

Remembering the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre with Author Tim Madigan

On June 1, 1921, a mob made up of thousands of white people descended on Tulsa, Oklahoma's Greenwood community, then known as the Negro Wall Street of America, home to thriving black Americans. The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 (recently renamed the Tulsa Race Massacre) turned 35 square blocks into smoldering rubble, leaving an estimated 300 people dead—the vast majority of them African Americans—and 10,000 homeless. 

What do we understand about the circumstances and rising tensions leading up to this event?

I think it’s vitally important to remember that what happened in Tulsa was completely consistent with what was going on in the nation at the time, unique only in its terrible scope.

During that moment of the Jim Crow era, lynching was a spectator sport of sorts, reported in Southern newspapers. The KKK had become one of the most celebrated fraternal orders in the United States, popular in the North and South alike.

The first blockbuster movie, released in 1915, was Birth of a Nation, which celebrated the Klan and invoked the most odious racial stereotypes. The film was endorsed by President Woodrow Wilson and the chief justice of the US Supreme Court.

Thousands of African American men had fought and died for their country in World War I, expecting that because of their sacrifice, they would return to a different world.

Places like Greenwood, where black Americans prospered, inspired resentment among many white Americans. Meanwhile, thousands of African American men had fought and died for their country in World War I, expecting that because of their sacrifice, they would return to a different world. Instead, the dehumanizing nature of segregation and racial violence had gotten worse in the United States, not better.

All these tensions came into play in Tulsa. The place was a pile of dry straw, just waiting for a match.

Who was Richard Lloyd Jones and what role did he play in the massacre?

It could be argued that if not for Jones, the publisher of the Tulsa Tribune, the massacre would never have happened. Having arrived in Tulsa just the year before, Jones found himself in a newspaper war against the Tulsa World and fanned racial flames in an attempt to boost circulation.

In late May 1921, an African American shoeshine boy named Dick Rowland was arrested for allegedly assaulting a white elevator operator named Sarah Page. (The two had known each other and were probably romantically involved.) Local police had more or less determined there was no validity to the assault accusation. They kept Rowland behind bars mostly for his own protection.

But on May 31, the Tulsa Tribune published a front-page article with inflammatory and largely...

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Are You Dissociating? Here's What to Do

Like gluten or ozone, dissociation is one of those things everyone has heard of, but few can really define. This week, we’ll talk about what dissociation is, how it develops, and three ways to counter it if you recognize it as a problem in your life.

What is dissociation?

Dissociation is detachment, whether from your body, your emotions, or your surroundings. In short, dissociation is the opposite of being present in the here and now.

Everybody dissociates at least sometimes. Think about all the times you’ve had to read a page over because your mind was elsewhere, or you pulled into your driveway but didn’t remember the drive home.

Even the highly sought-after state of flow is technically dissociation: you become completely absorbed in whatever you’re doing—writing, painting, coding, or the like—and disconnected from your surroundings and the passage of time.

Dissociation isn't a genetic trait. Instead, it’s a response that gets honed through experience and necessity. It can be useful sometimes—think of heroic soldiers wounded on the battlefield who blocked out their pain to save others. Even the highly sought-after state of flow is technically dissociation: you become completely absorbed in whatever you’re doing—writing, painting, coding, or the like—and disconnected from your surroundings and the passage of time.

Dissociation can also be an emergency survival tactic during intense pain or trauma. It cuts you off from your experience, making you numb when pain or panic would otherwise overwhelm you. This means that in the short-term, dissociation is necessary for survival.

But sometimes, this comes with a cost in the long-term. Australian researchers examined adults who were admitted to Level 1 trauma centers after traumatic injuries. They were assessed during admission and within one month, and then re-assessed three months later. They found that those who had more panic symptoms immediately after their injury also had more dissociation, which makes sense—the more overwhelming the experience, the more likely for someone to tap out of reality. But this higher dissociation also predicted more likelihood of posttraumatic stress disorder three months later. It’s as if the initial tapping out of reality only postponed the psychological pain, making it worse later.

This might be the case for survivors of childhood sexual abuse too, in some very specific ways. Adults who hallucinate—hear or see things that aren’t there—are more likely to have...

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Kamis, 18 Juni 2020

‘Clue’ or ‘Clew’?

I've been doing a lot of reading lately, as you can imagine, and decided I would start reading one of my favorite detective series from the very start: the incomparable Ellery Queen. 

Ellery Queen was the author as well as the main character of more than 30 mystery novels. Set in New York City in the late 1920s and 1930s, Ellery helps his police inspector father, Richard Queen, solve difficult and complex murders. I've been reading Ellery Queen since my own father introduced me when I was 10 years old, although I haven't read them all, and I've certainly never read them all in order. So I started with the first novel, “The Roman Hat Mystery,” which was published in 1929.

Ellery Queen was actually a pseudonym created by Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee, two cousins who created the amateur detective. And being writers in the 1920s and '30s, they used a lot of terms and spellings that we might not be familiar with today.

For example, nearly everyone smokes in a Queen novel, and in the first several novels, the term "cigarette," is spelled C-I-G-A-R-E-T, not C-I-G-A-R-E-T-T-E.

Ellery's father, Richard, preferred his tobacco in the form a snuff, made from finely ground and dried tobacco leaves which are inhaled through the nose.

While fewer people smoke or use snuff these days, it's interesting to see how they enjoyed their vices 90 and more years ago.

But let me give you a clue as to what really caught my eye in these stories: The spelling of the word “clue."

Normally, when we talk about those small hints that help guide a detective toward solving a case, we spell it C-L-U-E.

But for the first several novels, with one or two exceptions, the authors Dannay and Lee spell the word C-L-E-W.

In the first several Ellery Queen novels, the authors used 'clew' instead of 'clue.'

I had never seen this particular spelling of the word, having only been familiar with C-L-U-E in the past. And now every time I see it, I pronounce it in my head like another famous detective, Inspector Clouseau, played by Peter Sellers: CLEW.

Inspired by my favorite amateur detective, I began to do a little investigating of my own to see if I could find any — oh, what do you call it? — indications or hints about this linguistic mystery.

Where did we get the "clew" spelling?

According to Merriam-Webster.com, the C-L-E-W spelling has been around since before the 12th century, and originally meant a "ball of thread." That word came to us from the Old English word “cliewen,” before becoming C-L-E-W-E in Middle English....

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8 Tips for an Organized Garage

Bucket It

Hanging buckets or paint cans make easy, inexpensive organizers. Use them to store all your car washing supplies together and tucked away. A hanging bucket also works well to hold a hose and sprinkler—wrap the hose around the outside and tuck the sprinkler inside.

Window of Opportunity

A plastic window-box planter is another great on-the-wall organizer. Try gathering your garden or auto tools inside to store and carry where you need them. The planters are also the perfect size to hold cans of spray paint.

Organization in the Bag

Make your neighbors think you’re a golfer! Look for a cheap golf bag at a yard sale. It’s perfect to stash in a garage corner as an organizer. Stuff long-handled tools like rakes and shovels in the main compartment. Pockets can house work gloves and smaller hand tools.

Repurpose an Old Filing Cabinet

Storing more files electronically these days? Move your old filing cabinet to the garage. Turned on its side with the drawers removed, it can hold anything with a long handle. Use the drawers to hang or stack in another place.

Hold More Than Concrete

Cardboard concrete-forming tubes are inexpensive buys from home improvement stores (under $10) that can store tools, sports equipment, and more. Secure each tube to a garage stud with a plumbing strap.

Simple Sorter

Don’t throw those old egg cartons away! Use them to sort small items like nails, screws, and nuts.

Have a Ton of Hardware?

Cut the tops off laundry detergent containers, and use them to organize your nails, screws, bolts, and other hardware. Label the handle side and stash them on a shelf, so it’s easy to grab what you need. Old jars secured to the underside of shelves by their lids can also contain all those little bits.

See also: 8 Clever Tips to Organize Your Entire Home in a Weekend.

Bungees for Balls

Shelving systems work great for garages. But what do you do when it comes to sports balls that want to roll to their escape? If totes or laundry baskets won’t fit, simply string a few bungee cords vertically across the open area, from the bottom shelf to the top shelf, to create a ball cage. No more rolling!

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'Systemic' or 'Systematic'?

Steve M. from Springfield, Missouri, wrote, "[What are your] thoughts on the difference between using 'systemic' and 'systematic'?"

Both words come from the same root word, “system,” which we get from an ancient Greek word that described an organized whole that is made up of multiple parts, and it could apply to many things. For example, the Oxford English Dictionary gives examples that include a group of men but also a group of connected verses.

‘Systematic’

“Systematic” is the much older of the two words and the more common word. It arose in English in the 1670s, and it describes something that is thorough and intentional, methodical, or implemented according to a plan.

Doctors began a systematic treatment plan.

Ending systematic discrimination is a worthy goal.

‘Systemic’

“Systemic” entered English much later, in the early 1800s, and it seems as if it was first coined by doctors to describe something that happens or exists throughout a whole biological system, like the whole nervous system or even a patient’s whole body. 

He has a systemic infection.

“Systemic” also has a special meaning in the plant world where it can describe a type of pesticide that is safe for the plant itself but makes the entire plant poisonous to pests. These so called “systemic pesticides” are water soluble, so they are usually applied to the soil and are then taken up by all the parts of the plant as it sucks up the water.

Finally, “systemic” has taken on a broader meaning outside of medicine and biology to describe something that exists in multiple parts of an entire system like a government or business sector. For example, “Barron’s” reported in April that the Fed had averted a systemic financial crisis, and Reuters reported a few weeks ago that multiple people working the Italian healthcare system had been arrested because “systemic...

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Why Everyone Should Invest and How to Get Started

Most people know that if they want to have true financial security, they need to think about the future, not just the present. Often, this means making sure that you don’t spend all of your hard-earned income all at once. Instead, it’s a good idea to put a portion of cash away every month into a savings system. There are a lot of different ways that people can prepare for the future. One option is to have a retirement account that’s supplemented by an employer. Another solution is to combine retirement funds with a personal savings account full of money reserved for emergencies.

There’s no one size fits all strategy to go about building future wealth.

Although both of those techniques have their value, your plan for future wealth isn’t quite complete without one thing: an investing strategy. Years ago, buying and selling securities to grow cash was a concept reserved only for the richest people. Now that we have the internet, endless opportunities, and even penny stocks as a trading opportunity, anyone can get involved. Today, we’re going to discuss why everyone should be looking for ways to grow their money with investing.

Why should you invest in the stock market?

There are lots of ways that you can make your money work for you if you’re willing to find the right strategy. Usually, financial advisors suggest starting with stocks. When you buy a share or a security, you essentially purchase a small amount of a company. As the business gains value over time, your stake becomes more valuable, too. When you eventually decide to sell, this means that you can get more cash back out of an asset than you put in.

It’s important not to rush into investing. If you spend your money on shares too quickly, then it could mean that you don’t have enough left over to protect yourself. Most advisors recommend starting by ensuring you have a good savings account and an emergency fund first.

Ideally, you’ll want to pay off all of your debts, make sure that you’re paying your bills on time, and have an emergency account that includes at least three to six months of your wages.

An emergency fund is a cash reserve that you can tap into if anything goes wrong in your life. For instance, if you suddenly need money to repair a tire, or replace your washing machine, your emergency fund can help. This cash also...

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Rabu, 17 Juni 2020

When to Cancel a Credit Card? 10 Dos and Don’ts to Follow

Maria O. says:

I’m a huge fan of the Money Girl Podcast and am also a Get Out of Debt Fast student. I’ve taken your financial advice and am glad to say that my husband and I are in a much better financial situation now.

We both have travel rewards credit cards with zero balances that we haven’t used in over a year. We know that canceling cards isn’t advisable, but we really want to stop paying the $95 annual fee. My husband’s credit score is 780 and mine is 818. What do you recommend?

Maria, thanks so much for your question and for being a part of the Money Girl community!

Before you cancel a credit card, it’s critical to understand how it will affect your entire financial life. Whether you should get rid of a card depends on a variety of factors, including your future financial goals.

In this post, I’ll cover 10 dos and don’ts for when to cancel a credit card. You’ll learn how to manage these accounts wisely so they improve your finances and don’t hurt them.

Before I cover each of these dos and don’ts, here’s an overview of why building good credit and using credit cards the right way is so important.

The benefits of building your credit

Having good credit simply means that you have a reliable financial track record according to the data in your credit history with the nationwide credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Different credit scoring models use that data to calculate credit scores, which act as shortcuts for various businesses to evaluate you quickly.

When you have high credit scores, potential lenders and merchants have more confidence that you’ll be a good customer who pays their bills on time. That’s an incentive for them to give you top-tier offers, which saves you money.

Having good credit scores allows you to get the most competitive interest rates and terms when you borrow money using credit cards, mortgages, car loans, student loans, and personal loans. For instance, paying just 1% less for a mortgage could save you over $100,000 on the cost of a 30-year, fixed-rate loan, depending on the total amount you borrow.

However, even if you never borrow money to finance a home or charge a vacation to a credit card, having good credit gives you other significant benefits, including:

  • Lower auto insurance premiums (in most states) 
  • Lower home insurance premiums (in most states) 
  • More opportunities to rent a home or apartment
  • Lower security deposits on utilities 
  • More government benefits 
  • Better chances to get a job

RELATED:...

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Selasa, 16 Juni 2020

8 Tricks for Cleaning Pots and Pans

Club Soda Cookware Cleaner

Here’s a dishwashing trick that will save you a lot of scrubbing time! After you’ve finished cooking, add some club soda to empty pots and pans (just enough to cover their bottoms). By the time you’re done eating, the bubbles in the soda will have loosened the grime, making your cleaning job much easier.

Getting Gunk off Glass Dishes

To remove baked-on stains from a glass casserole dish, fill it with warm water and add two tablets of Alka-Seltzer or denture cleaner. Leave for an hour and the stains will be gone.

Removing Stains from Aluminum Pots

To remove stains from aluminum pots, fill the pot halfway with water and add a quarter cup of vinegar or lemon juice. Bring to the boil, and simmer for several minutes before washing as usual. For particularly stubborn stains, try cream of tartar. Sprinkle a few teaspoons cream of tartar on the stain, and add a cup or two of water. Bring the mixture to the boil for a few minutes, then wash as usual.

Cast Iron Cure

The best way to clean cast iron pans is to cover any stain with a paste of cream of tartar and white vinegar. Apply liberally, let it sit, then scrub with a damp, soft cloth.

How to Get Burned Food Off Pots and Pans

Feeling hopeless about the seemingly permanent baked-on gunk on your pots and pans? Don’t trash them yet: Hydrogen peroxide will come to the rescue! Mix peroxide with baking soda until the mixture forms a paste. Coat your dirty pan with it, making sure you rub the mucky areas particularly well, and let stand for at least an hour so the grime-fighting powers can work their magic. Soak in warm water and wipe down with a scrub sponge, and the nasty crud will miraculously wash off.

Freeze Stuck-On Food

If the bottom of your pot or pan is a burnt-on mess, another thing you can try is popping it in the freezer for an hour or two. The stuck food will freeze and be easier to remove.

Cut Grease with Ammonia

Ammonia helps cut grease better than practically any other ingredient. To clean a really greasy pan, add a few drops of an ammonia-based cleaner like Windex to the dishwashing...

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What's the Best Diet After Gallbladder Removal?

Several of you have asked me to devote an episode to diet and nutrition following gallbladder removal. This is one of the most commonly performed surgeries--and it's getting more common. Not only that, but the average age at which the procedure is performed is trending down. As a result, there are more people running around the world without gallbladders, and for longer. 

The vast majority of people who undergo gallbladder removal do very well and go on to live normal lives. But the removal of this digestive organ does have some ongoing implications for your diet and nutrition. Before we talk about how you might want to adjust your diet following gallbladder removal, let's talk briefly about why this surgery is getting more common.

What is the gallbladder

The gallbladder is a small sac that stores bile, a digestive fluid produced by your liver. After you eat, the stored bile is pumped from the gallbladder into the small intestine, where it helps to break down fats in food so they can be absorbed.

If a gallstone completely blocks the bile duct, it can cause very serious complications, including inflammation, infection, and even damage to other organs such as the pancreas.

Sometimes, however, gallstones form in the gallbladder. Most gallstones are asymptomatic but about 20 percent of the time, they cause abdominal pain, often after eating. If a gallstone completely blocks the bile duct, it can cause very serious complications, including inflammation, infection, and even damage to other organs such as the pancreas. That's why doctors often recommend removing the gallbladder if people have recurring problems with gallstones.

Who gets gallstones? 

Women are more likely to suffer from gallstones than men and the risk increases with age. Gallstones have a genetic component, meaning that they tend to run in families. Certain ethnic groups are also more susceptible. In particular, Native American tribes indigenous to the Southwestern United States and people of Mexican heritage have a much higher incidence than non-Hispanic whites. People of African heritage have a much lower incidence. These links are referred to as non-modifiable risk factors—ones you can't do anything about. 

Rapid weight loss can trigger gallstones, so our societal addiction to extreme diets also plays a role.

But the reason that gallbladder disease is getting more common and affecting people earlier in life has to do with risk factors that we do have some control over. Gallstones occur more frequently in people...

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Is BODYCOMBAT a Good Virtual Workout?

Before I get into my review of Les Mill’s BODYCOMBAT™ workouts (and yes, it is meant to be in all caps), let me set the scene.

I received a voicemail from a listener named Lee who had read my review of BODYPUMP and was wondering if I had reviewed any of the other Les Mills workouts. Leslie Roy Mills is a retired New Zealand track and field athlete and was Mayor of Auckland from 1990 to 1998. He represented New Zealand at the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games over two decades, competing in the shot put and discus throw. He opened his first gym in 1968 and now is most famous for lending his name to Les Mills International, a company that brought the fitness world workouts such as BODYPUMP, BODYCOMBAT, BODYBALANCE, RPM, LES MILLS GRIT and more.

When Lee reached out, it was nearing the middle of March 2020 and most of the world was either in lockdown from the Covid-19 pandemic or was about to be locked down.

I told Lee that I would review more workouts once the lockdown was over and it was safe to congregate in close and sweaty environments once again. But then Lee pointed out (rather astutely) that the workouts were all available online. So, happily, I was able to do some of the classes in the safety of my own living room.

Eventually, I plan to try BODYCOMBAT up-close-and-personal. But for now, I'll review what I have access to—the online, on-demand workouts.

What is BODYCOMBAT?

Let's start with the description from their website:

Step into a BODYCOMBAT workout and you’ll punch and kick your way to fitness, burning up to 740 calories along the way. This high-energy martial-arts inspired workout is totally non-contact and there are no complex moves to master. A LES MILLS™ instructor will challenge you to up the intensity and motivate you to make the most of every round. You’ll release stress, have a blast, and feel like a champ.

Side note: The calorie-burning link in that website statement took me to a broken page, which I thought was ironically apt. I’ll get into that later.

BODYCOMBAT is available as either a 55-, 45-, or 30-minute workout. Again, since I was doing the online version, I started with BODYCOMBAT INVINCIBLE Workout #1. It was a fun 8-minute warm-up video, and I have to say it succeeded in thoroughly piquing my interest. The punching and kicking movements were just complex enough for me to feel challenged but not complex...

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Without Plate Tectonics, Earth Might Not Support Life

The ingredients for life to exist on our planet are liquid water, oxygen, and … plate tectonics? 

What is plate tectonics?

Looking at a map of the world, the coastlines of certain continents appear to complement each other. If we could just nudge them a little closer, they look like they could lock together like puzzle pieces. This isn’t just a trick of the eye! Geologists now think that North America, Africa, South America, and Europe were once one continuous landmass or one big continent called Pangaea

PangaeaPangaea eventually split into pieces sometime around 230 million years ago. Those pieces spread out to form the continents we know today. Geophysicist Alfred Wegener first proposed this theory of continental drift in the early 1900s, but at the time his idea didn’t gain much traction—people thought it was too strange. After all, the ground beneath our feet is rock solid and steady, right?

Evidence began to grow to support the idea of continental drift. Fossils from the same plants and animals were found on both sides of Earth's oceans, suggesting that those distant coastlines were once connected. Similarly, the age and types of rock matched up. 

Then in the 1950s, geologists discovered the mid-Atlantic ridge, a mountain range that runs along the ocean floor. The ridge is the largest geological feature on the planet and has been classified as a World Heritage Site. Most of the ridge sits far below the depths of the ocean. But in a few spots—including Norway, the UK, and Brazil—the mountains pop up above the surface of the water to form island chains. 

When studying the seafloor around the ridge, geologists learned that the farther from the ridge they looked, the older the seafloor. In 1962, geologist Harry Hess proposed that this age differential arose due to seafloor spreading. At the ridge, rock was being forced up from the Earth’s interior forming new a seafloor, which effectively pushed the older layers out of the way. 

The theory of plate tectonics brings all of this evidence...

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Senin, 15 Juni 2020

Listen Up! Not Listening Is Holding Your Career Back

Hey, there—are you listening? I mean, really listening?

The modern world sometimes feels like a constant run through a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant. Things are flashing and binging at us all day, small rewards are ever-available with a single click, and sitting still, letting it all wash over us, is hard to do.

It's no wonder Kate Murphy, author of You're Not Listening: What You're Missing and Why It Matters, claims that so many of us have gotten so bad at listening.

And while being a bad listener doesn’t make you a bad person, it may hold you back professionally. Whether your goal is landing a new job, getting promoted, building better relationships, or bumping up your productivity or innovativeness, listening is something you definitely want to improve.

Click the audio player above to listen to my interview with Kate to glean everything you can from her wisdom and insights. I'll distill the essentials below.

Listening skills—the good, the bad, and (hopefully not) the ugly

In conducting countless interviews for her book, Kate quickly learned that nearly everyone is able to describe a “bad listening” experience. The telltale signs—someone looking at their watch, interrupting you, checking their phone, changing the subject—are universal.

We’ve all been on the receiving end of bad listening. It leaves us feeling disrespected, as though our time, ideas, concerns, or opinions aren’t worth the other person’s attention. We feel devalued.

How to listen better

Leaving others with that experience of disrespect is not only, well, disrespectful, but it has an actual impact on your professional success. And not a good kind of impact. So let’s start by looking at Kate’s suggestions around how to bump up your listening game.

Focus. Don’t multitask or check your phone. Recognize listening as an active process that requires your full attention.

Let the speaker finish. Kate says “the brain is a predicting mechanism.” When someone is speaking, our brain is trying to finish their sentence or idea. But you may be mistaken about where they’re headed. So practice letting go of assumptions.

Let go of "prebuttals." It’s become common practice to begin formulating a response before the other person has completed their idea. Our brains can’t listen and formulate well at the same time. Don't think about how you're going to respond until the other person has finished speaking. It's okay to ask for a moment to think, too!

Ask probing questions. Listening isn’t...

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5 Loving Ways to Create a Strong Father-Daughter Relationship

Each parent/child relationship is special, but the father-daughter bond is significant. The term "daddy's little girl" evokes tender thoughts of a nurturing father wrapping his warm, strong arms and his full heart around his daughter to keep her safe and loved no matter what.

A father's role in a child's life is unparalleled, particularly for daughters. Studies have shown that young women who reported healthy relationships with their fathers were less likely to become clinically depressed or anxious, and overall, they reported better emotional and mental health.

Here are five ways you can create a loving relationship with your daughter, no matter what her age is, and help her emerge into a vibrant, irrepressible woman who can hold her own in today’s fast-paced world.

1. Take the Dad-Q test

Loving fathers aren't perfect; they're present. With so many families keeping such a harried pace, it's easy to lose sight of the little things that can make a big difference in your child's life. The Associated Counselors and Therapists have a free online self-assessment quiz for dads and daughters that can help busy dads take stock of their parenting.

Loving fathers aren't perfect; they're present.

Here are some examples of the types of activities dads can assess whether they do often, sometimes, or hardly ever.

  • I spend 1/2 hour, 1-on-1with her, doing something we both enjoy
  • I know what my daughter is concerned about today
  • I tell my daughter what her strengths are

There are approximately 30 questions geared at the father-daughter relationship. The gist of the quiz isn't to belittle fathers but to help strengthen their parenting skills. A father is the first man in a girl's life that she will have a close relationship with. When he's a positive role model, he sets the standard for her future interactions with men.

Take a moment for some self-reflection. Are there any habits you need to break? The Dad-Q test will give you some ideas about where you might want to refocus your attention so you can connect with your daughter in a positive way.

2. Shower your daughter with affection

In the HuffPost's article, The Important Role of Dad, Dr. Gail Gross, (a human behavior, parenting, and education expert) explained that a child's primary relationship with their father can affect all of their relationships from birth to death, including those with friends, lovers,...

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Jumat, 12 Juni 2020

It's Okay (And Even Useful) to Be Angry

"Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die." As a young adult, when I first heard that quote (often wrongly attributed to Buddha), I thought it was wise. I thought it meant we should try to never be angry because anger is a poisonous emotion.

Science seems to back this up. Anger has been associated with increased risk of hypertension and worse pain management. For people with mental health conditions, those who also have pathological levels of anger also have higher levels of suicidality and self-harm.

Our cultural intuitions match this view of anger too. The Internet’s self-help communities are littered with quotable advice about anger, like, "If another can easily anger you, it means you are off-balance within yourself." Or, "Anger doesn’t solve anything. It builds nothing, but can destroy everything." Even, "Anger is your biggest enemy. Control it."

Our society has dismissed voices calling for social change by labeling people 'pathologically angry.'

These sayings make it clear that we not only fear anger, but we also condemn it as immoral, manipulative, or a sign of weak character. In fact, our beliefs about anger sneak their way into the way we hold prejudices—our society has dismissed voices calling for social change by labeling people "pathologically angry." Psychiatrist Jonathan Metzl wrote about this in his book Protest Psychosis, which details how Black Americans protesting for civil rights in the mid to late 20th century were diagnosed with (and medicated for) schizophrenia.

This societal-level gaslighting still exists. Even after America elected a black president, First Lady Michelle Obama recounted in her autobiography how she has felt reduced to "Angry Black Woman" by her husband’s critics.

Conversely, we praise people who don’t show anger as "well-bred," "intelligent," and "sophisticated....

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