Weight Loss: The Key to Discipline

Recently, two co-workers of mine were discussing their weight loss efforts and part of that conversation stuck with me. One of them said, "It sure is a lot harder to lose weight than it is to gain it." The other one answered, "Yeah, thats because gaining weight is fun." I laughed with them, because there is some truth to that statement.

Yes, it can be fun to eat with abandonment and not think about whether what you are eating is healthy or not; it is only the consequences that are painful. Examples of shorter term consequences are pain in your stomach, indigestion, and sluggishness. The longer term consequences are high blood pressure, heart disease, and shortness of breath. Seeing your appearance change for the worse is painful too. Focusing on these consequences is key to developing self-discipline.

Discipline is necessary to achieve your weight loss goals and any goal that you want to achieve in life. After all, you dont have to employ discipline to do those things that you enjoy. For example, I wouldnt have to discipline myself to eat chocolate bars because I enjoy them, however I do have to discipline myself to limit them in my life. How do I do it? Discipline requires two skills: Desire and diversion.

Desire means that you have to want the goal that your discipline will help you achieve more than anything. For example, I wanted to lose weight and get healthy more than I wanted the chocolate bars. Each time I desired the chocolate bar, I had to remind myself of the alternate goal and make it real and vivid. I had to see myself with that goal already achieved and experience the pleasure of it. I had to make that pleasure more intense than the pleasure I imagined I would receive from eating the chocolate bar.

The second skill is diversion, which is simply engaging in an activity that diverted my attention away from the undesirable activity. In the chocolate bar example, I had to either give myself something that I would enjoy eating that was healthier for me or perform an alternate activity that would help me better meet my needs. For example, if I was angry, eating a chocolate bar would not help me, but taking a long walk to cool off likely would.

My co-worker was right: For many of us, losing weight is harder than gaining it. But we need to remind ourselves that, although it is harder to lose weight, it is not impossible. It is also worth the effort. Then we use our key of discipline to help us achieve what we want. It is the only way to get the body that we deserve.

A Registered Nurse for many years, Kimberly Floyd battled obesity for much of her adult life. She achieved her ideal weight and has written a new book entitled 'Moneywise Weight Loss' which teaches others how to lose weight and save money--at the same time.

Kim has written articles for the Georgia Nurses Association publication and Nursing Spectrum Online. Now a technical writer, she has written training programs for corporate clients, including IBM, U.S. Bank, and Cingular.

Kim also teaches an online course called 'Goodbye to Shy'. This course is distributed to over 1100 colleges and universities in the United States, Canada, and Australia through Thomson Learning. An accomplished speaker and trainer, she delivers presentations on health-related topics to enthusiastic audiences.

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How To Clean Your Sink

The saying "everything but the kitchen sink" might also mean that sinks are always the last item to get considered in the kitchen. Not only is it true when choosing your kitchen design and fixture, it also holds true in terms of cleaning and maintenance.

Keeping your kitchen sink clean is not a very interesting chore to do. It precludes washing dishes and pans, and it involves a lot of home spilled food, garbage deposits and possibly bacteria that leave marks if they are left lying there for a long time. Keeping a sink clean to make the kitchen look as good as new is indeed a challenge. And yes, even for the most devout of housekeepers.

Here are some steps to help you make cleaning easy. Who knows, this way it might be a little more fun.

1. To be able to do this job, you need the right king of tools. You need a cleaning product, a cloth or scrub, and some rubber gloves for your hands. (Make sure that you have already finished washing all your dishes and pans and put them into your dryer or your cabinets. Make sure there are no items left in the sink or its surrounding areas.) Also, be sure that you are using the right cleansing agent and scrub for the type of material your sink is made of. Remember that some materials do not go with harsh cleansers or rough scouring pads as it might discolor or scratch the surface.
2. Use paper towels or a dry cloth to remove any residual food debris, spills or chunks and throw them away. So this leaves you with just the sink itself.
3. Moisten the sink with some water, while at the same time washing your scrub clothes. Sprinkle some of your cleaning agent all around the sink basin and let it set for a few minutes.
4. Put on your gloves and apply the cloth on the sink surface with small, circular hand motion, taking it one section at a time. Try to rub steadily and firmly in order to help the cleansing agent do its job. Imagine that your basin is divided into several quadrants and move from one quadrant to another until you have completely scoured its entirety.
5. Rinse your scrubbing cloth with water but allow the cleanser to continue doing its job as you finish the top area of your sink. Work on the upper section where the knobs and faucets are located as well as the sides. Wipe firmly and rub along corners, grooves and edges to remove all traces of food debris.
6. Next, rinse the cloth with warm water, then wipe down the surrounding areas of your sink.
7. Now, you are ready to rinse your sink clean. You can begin by rinsing your scrub thoroughly and use it to wipe residual cleanser detergent. You should remove your drain stopper and wash it to as well as the entry opening that leads to your drain. Be careful not to injure your fingers and do not try to force your fingers into the drain. Stick with the surface and the parts that are visible.
8. Finally, let hot water do the final finishing. You might need to wet the scrub every now and then and use it to rinse parts of the sink that your tap water cannot reach. Then use a paper towel or an absorbent clean cloth to absorb the rest of the moisture present.

Good work!

Please visit Mr. Copper's websites at Kitchen Sinks, Bar Sinks, Stainless Steel Sinks, Stainless Steel Kitchen Sinks and Stainless Steel Double Sinks.

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Hydroponic Plants Triumph in Unlikely Places

The art of growing plants without soil (hydroponic growth) is now so advanced that it can help humans to survive for long periods in previously inhospitable environments such as Antarctica.

Traditional plant growth relies on plants absorbing minerals and nutrients from the soil. Plants do not actually need to be placed in soil to obtain the nutrients they need. In fact the soil is simply there to support them. There are many areas on Earth which do not have the necessary soils to support plant growth, preventing humans from living there.

Over recent years, this restriction has been combated by growing plants hydroponically. Hydroponics uses nutrient solutions applied directly to the roots instead of soil, in order to allow the plants to grow in unlikely places.

One of the earliest hydroponic success stories happened on Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean. The island was first discovered in 1568 by lvaro de Mendaa de Nevra, who noted that it was a low, barren island. Later, when the island was surveyed in 1840 by the US Commodore Charles Wilkes, it was officially recorded as having no fresh water.

In the 1930s, Pan American Airlines began using the island as a refuelling stop between America and China. The airline constructed a village for its workers; the first time the island had been inhabited by humans. Because of the distances involved, it would have been expensive and impractical to import fresh food to the island, so the islanders relied on hydroponic methods for growing food instead for many years.

Hydroponic techniques are not as new or miraculous as some people may think; they have been developed over many centuries. However, perfecting the nutrient solutions which are used will really affect the success of hydroponic crops in remote or harsh conditions.

Perhaps the harshest environment of all is Antarctica. At the McMurdo station on Ross Island, a community of nearly 1000 people survive by relying on hydroponic techniques to grow food.

These techniques allow people at this icy station to enjoy fresh lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, fruit and herbs for use in cooking, throughout the year.

The Antarctic environment is unusual because it enjoys four months of continuous sunlight, followed by four months of darkness, not to mention high winds and extremes of temperature.

To survive this harsh climate, seeds are planted in a hydroponic mix of perlite and vermiculite and placed in a totally enclosed, insulated greenhouse at the station. Nutrient solutions are fed to the plants to ensure healthy growth and other environmental factors are dealt with by using hydroponic techniques. For example, artificial lighting is used to simulate a more normal day to night pattern in which the plants will grow best. The air is kept warm and humid by fans and hydroponic ventilation equipment, and at night an electric furnace is used to generate more heat. This gives the fresh fruit and vegetables ideal growing conditions to allow them to flourish.

Hydroponic techniques are now so advanced that we really are able to grow food anywhere on Earth, regardless of the external environment or the availability of light.

Growing food hydroponically is a fascinating process, making commercial sense for many growers who are now able to produce on a large scale without an enormous land investment.

In fact, the same techniques which keep people alive in Antarctica can be practiced in your own home using a hydroponic kit available online from Great Stuff Hydroponics. Kits and equipment for commercial growers are also available online, along with information downloads and expert advice.

Find out more about Great Stuff Hydroponics at http://www.hydroponics-hydroponics.com

About Great Stuff Hydroponics

Great Stuff Hydroponics is based in Middlesborough (UK) and supplies a vast array of hydroponic equipment for all your hydroponic plant cultivation needs. The Great Stuff Hydroponics showroom is open Monday to Friday 9am-5pm and Saturday10am-2pm. Sales can also be placed online at http://www.hydroponics-hydroponics.com

Please direct all media queries, requests for press information and editorial details, to Rebecca Appleton. Tel: 0208 123 5178 or email: press@topposition.co.uk

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