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<title>Latest Articles by arider</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/</link>
<description>Articles at Populate.NET</description>
<language>en-us</language>
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<title>Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Health/Diseases_and_Conditions/Depression/post-traumatic-stress-disorder.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Health/Diseases_and_Conditions/Depression/post-traumatic-stress-disorder.html</guid>
<pubDate>Sun, 16 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ A form of anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is sometimes formed after someone has experienced a very terrifying ordeal, usually where serious physical damage could or did occur to the person involved.

Events that can trigger PTSD to occur include violent attacks on people e.g. muggings, rape, human caused or natural disasters, and military combat. Once someone has PTSD they often find it to be hugely disabling.

Large quantities of research has led to a much better understanding of how the brain and body are affected by PTSD, various treatments are now available.

In terms of PTSD symptoms, those affected tend to re-experience the worst parts of their horrible past in the form of memory flashbacks and nightmares/ frightening thoughts. Certain objects or events, e.g. anniversaries, that in some way remind the sufferer of these dark thoughts can spark these replays. Another symptom of PTSD is a numbness to emotions, depression, poor sleeping ability, anxiety, outbursts of anger and general irritability. Powerful emotions of guilt are also common. The majority of those affected by PTSD try to stay clear of anything that may remind them of their past ordeals. If symptoms like these endure for over one month PTSD can then be diagnosed.

PTSD can affect any age, from children right through to the elderly. Symptoms are likely to show themselves within three months of a particular traumatic event.

Around 3.6% of U.S. adults between the ages of 18-54, 5.2 million people in all, suffer from PTSD in any given year. War zones have been visited by roughly 30% of men and women with PTSD. The Vietnam War saw one million veterans develop this anxiety disorder. Soldiers that fought in the Gulf War also had a high number, estimated at up to 8%.

Once apparent this illnesses duration and severity are variable, lasting from just six months to many years.

Through research effective treatments such as those involving cognitive-behavioral therapy, exposure therapy and group therapy have been realized. This treatment works by getting the person affected to repetitively re-live their nightmares, in a controlled environment, with the aim of them becoming more able to deal with and leave behind the damaging memories. Medications have been found to lessen PTSD symptoms of anxiety and depression whilst furthering sleep. Trauma-specific treatments are currently being worked on.

Other problems can sometime become associated with PTSD, e.g. alcoholism, substance abuse, co-occurring depression and other types of anxiety disorder.

Gastrointestinal complaints, dizziness, problems with the patient's immune system, headaches or chest pains, amongst numerous other possible bodily ailments are not unusual.

What is vital is that quick, effective diagnosis and treatment of these conditions occurs, so as to provide the best chance of treatment success.

Upon diagnosis the sufferer is usually referred to a mental health professional that has specialized for years in dealing with patients displaying the particular disorder in question.

Individuals more open to developing PTSD are those that have suffered abuse when a child or people who've undergone highly traumatic experiences. More and more factors that can lead to PTSD are being found by researchers every day.

What was once believed to be a sign of recovery, emotional numbness, is now considered more likely to be a factor promoting PTSD development.

New research has identified the amygdala, a small yet highly complex structure within our brains controlling our bodies fear response, as being abnormally activated in cases of PTSD.

The memory section of our brains, the hippocampus, may be functioning abnormally in association with PTSD, providing the various re-living of past nightmarish events.

PTSD often manifests its self through unusual levels of particular hormones. Cortisol has often been seen in lower than usual quantities whilst norepinephrine and epinephrine has been found at abnormally high levels.

Natural pain-relieving opiates released when people feel they are in danger may be what contribute to emotional distancing. These chemicals are released for longer than normal durations, often lasting after the terrifying event has taken place.

Research into improved understandings of how neurotransmitter systems operate with memories of high significance may prove fruitful with reducing the early development of PTSD via psychological interventions or medications. ]]></description>
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<title>What Makes VoIP So Much Cheaper Than Traditional Phone Calls?</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Technology/VOIP/what-makes-voip-so-much-cheaper-than-traditional-phone-calls.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Technology/VOIP/what-makes-voip-so-much-cheaper-than-traditional-phone-calls.html</guid>
<pubDate>Sun, 16 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ VoIP is now firmly established in business, going from strength to strength every year. All manner of VoIP deals exist for the individual consumer through to small or medium sized businesses and also the largest corporations. One key aspect of the popular rise of this mode of communication has been price. 

Fundamentally, calls are far cheaper with VoIP than when using traditional phones due to a different cost base. Costs are shared with the computer network.

Circuit-switched calls associated with typical phone systems have ports at each of the originating and receiving switches that are tied up that are tied up for the calls duration. With VoIP virtual circuits exist that enable available network bandwidth to be more efficiently used. Both voice and data are efficiently integrated, great bandwidth consolidation results.

The equipment that enables the internet to function is taken advantage of by VoIP. VoIP protocols and hardware are typically off-the-shelf, developed by various vendors and interchangeable.

Scalability is far easier with VoIP since traditional phone networks have circuit switches that mean they are geographically limited, each service area requiring a switch. VoIP can involve soft switches installed at a regional level enabling numerous markets to use it, only limited quantities of local equipment being required.

Companies use VoIP so that call charges between their own offices are gotten rid of. This is achieved by the implementation of their own data networks for allowing inter-office calls. VoIP is also used for reducing the costs of calls made outside of the company by carrying them to the nearest network point before transferring them to the PTSN. An alternative to the PTSN therefore exists, and this can be continuously developed and scaled to fit the company's requirements.

Two networks are harder to manage than one. Additionally, exchanges with VoIP are centered around software, not hardware. Software is far easier to configure, alter and maintain. Substantial savings can be made, for example, through fewer required staff and admin costs, changing, adding or moving circuits for telephony heavily improved.

Service providers can also benefit hugely from using VoIP. Where traditional phone services use telephone switches, high specification PC servers run computer applications for VoIP, this allows smaller costs for the company delivering the service.

Albeit there are still certain areas to improve upon with VoIP, e.g. the requirement for good quality equipment and complicated user instructions, this technology looks set to stay and improve yet more in years to come. ]]></description>
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<title>What is China Doing with VoIP?</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Technology/VOIP/what-is-china-doing-with-voip.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Technology/VOIP/what-is-china-doing-with-voip.html</guid>
<pubDate>Sun, 16 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ As China looks set to continue its relentless economic growth into the foreseeable future, in all areas of its industries, how it reacts to the strong influence of VoIP will be carefully monitored by industry experts.

According to BDA, an IT based consultancy, China's China Telecom revenue got hit hard during the first half of 2005, all because of the nation's increase in VoIP use.

Dongming Zhang, BDA's research director explained to UPI that the revenue from long distance calls, for China Telecom, had fallen by 2.8% from the first half of 2004 to the first half of 2005, from $1,858 to $1,805.

VoIP has by far and away been the greatest factor influencing the decrease in revenue. With China Telecom's second largest money stream (18.2% of its total 2005 revenue) coming from long distance calling the company is worried.

Foreign and Chinese media have in the past reported that the Shenzhen branch of China Telecom started to blacklist users, block VoIP calls and threaten to punish anyone caught attempting to use Skype to maneuver around imposed blocks. All this was made to try to stop the sliding revenue in advance of the country's over 100 million internet users realizing available and free long distance PC based calling services were cheaper.

China made Skypeout internet telephone services illegal in 2004 so that its so called 'market-order' could be preserved.

China Telecom has made conversed with a number of software and hardware vending companies over efforts to be able to monitor or disable skype more when it eventually becomes more popular. Indeed, new systems of monitoring have been implemented already in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Beijing. Further implementation will happen nationwide during 2006-2007.

China Telecom, China Mobile, China Netcom, China Unicom, Satcom and Railcom are the major and dominant telecom carriers in China. Regulators from the government are able to control competition between these companies through only allowing the use of telephone to telephone VoIP services via cards that are pre-paid for by the consumer.

No other companies in China's VoIP market are allowed to operate.

Many opinions from analysts worldwide vary widely on the subject of whether lowered competition in China's VoIP market is right or not. The mainland has the highest number of government imposed VoIP laws. These laws have come in to question often, concerns have been raised over the mainland's openness with its telecoms market, alongside the willingness to adopt new service technologies and software. ]]></description>
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<title>VoIP Types that are Available</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Technology/VOIP/voip-types-that-are-available.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Technology/VOIP/voip-types-that-are-available.html</guid>
<pubDate>Sun, 16 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Increasingly popular with both today's home users and businesses alike, VoIP looks set to replace traditional phone usage in a big way. Three main types of VoIP exist:

Consumer VoIP

Numerous consumer oriented VoIP services have low cost or free voice calling. This can be through a specific adaptor connecting to broadband services at home, or through a telephone-like program on a home computer.

Consumer VoIP services allow a really cheap way of calling the public telephony network. Often consumers are able to take advantage of many cost cutting deals. Skype allow customers to call each other for free.

A problem with such services is that their mode of use is not always apparent, being more complex than the traditional phone. Additionally, if the computer required is busy processing something considerable in size the sound quality can sometimes suffer as a result. Good quality headphones, especially not cheap microphones and speakers, are best used so that the sounds aren't distorted and feedback or background noise is not an issue.

Small to medium sized company VoIP

"Centrex" is used by a lot of VoIP services. This is a phone service that performs all the central call controls and switching usually done within a box on the wall in your office is actually done at a remote internet hosting center, in a central server. Commonly quoted as a "PBX" in the sky, Centrex services involve customers having telephones on their desks that connect out, via broadband internet, to the PBX servers. This VoIP system means that:

Deployment is a simple affair, phones just requiring plugging into the internet.
Lower expenditure is required, the phone service is now generally maintained via the web.
Capital spending is lowered, phone switches are not needed.
Lowered internal phone call costs occur, in particular between offices and workers at their homes (inter-site calls).
There are increased novel ways of working and flexibility, e.g. offices can be more distributed, and people can work from home.

Big business VoIP

Possibly the oldest facet of the VoIP market is the interconnection between traditional office phone systems (i.e. the PBX) across the various corporate sites.
A lot of corporate customers get their phone systems from vendors like Panasonic or Avaya. Commonly via the use of a VoIP adaptor or converter these systems are able to be linked enabling calls that route between different company sites to be carried over the corporate internet connection (corporate VPN). In this way no additional costs are levied on the user.

In much the same way, a lot of new office phone systems are said to be "IP enabled". Multi-site connectivity which uses an internet connection may well be built in. On the other hand home-worker handsets may be connected to the head office PBX across the internet.

All kinds of cost saving solutions for businesses are offered by vendors, generally as a result of new technology. It is typically well worth discussing the various options available with current equipment maintainers, at least to begin with. ]]></description>
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<title>So, What Are Apple iPod Nano's?</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Technology/Gadgets_and_Gizmos/so-what-are-apple-ipod-nano-s.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Technology/Gadgets_and_Gizmos/so-what-are-apple-ipod-nano-s.html</guid>
<pubDate>Sun, 16 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ At this time of writing the iPod nano has its thinnest shape yet, 0.26 inches thick, 3.5 inches high, 1.6 inches wide and 1.41 ounces in weight. Available in a tough anodized aluminum case, colors are olive, blue, pink, black or white. This mp3 player also has a 40% brighter 1.5 inch display capable of detailed album art and slideshows, and there is 24 hours worth of rechargeable lithium ion battery life to boot. Three models exist, the 2GB, 4GB and 8GB, the cheapest at around $149, a max potential of 2000 songs in the largest storage model!

In addition to music iPod nano can house a staggering 25,000 pictures and play podcasts and audiobooks, all downloadable from the iTunes Store online.

Locating and playing music, or indeed anything else, is a simple affair. Various menu options can lead you, for example, by artist, composer, album, tune, genre or playlist. Songs can be mixed by utilizing the 'shuffle songs' option.

Podcasts come from all manner of places, from the well known to the obscure. ESPN, NPR, ABC News, Comedy Central, amongst many other names, are available to browse and subscribe to.

A huge variety audiobooks are on offer at the iTunes Store. If you want you can learn languages, read sci-fi's, or catch up on natural history, amidst the huge array of information available, everything is available within a few presses of the click wheel. A perfect way of getting into reading, iPod nano bookmarks and has an adjustable reading speed function.

Photos can sync from your Windows PC or Mac with iTunes to your iPod nano. Photos can be viewed in full screen by pressing the center button. Up to 5 hours of slideshows have time between slide adjustment functions and transition effects.

As extra features to this nifty device, the iPod nano has an array of useful tools like calendars, world clocks, a stopwatch, contacts pages and a screen lock to hide your secret four digit combination. Forgotten combinations are no problems since you are able to reset them when you next sync. Games such as Solitaire, Brick, Music Quiz and Parachute are there for when you want a fun challenge. Slow (1.5 hours achieving 80% battery capacity) and fast (3 hours for 100% capacity) charge time options are standard.

Menus are customizable, storage capacity can be checked, different languages and sound qualities are available. The number of songs residing on your nano, alongside the max volume and various graphic equalizer options and the backlight timer are modifiable.

The dock on the underside of the nano can be connected directly to stereo systems, and the address book can be updated through Outlook or Outlook Express on the PC. Windows system requirements are USB 2.0's, Windows 2000 with service pack 4 onwards, Windows XP Home or Professional with service pack 2 or later, and iTunes 7 onwards. Similarly, Mac specifications are USB 2, OS X v10.3.9 or later and iTunes & onwards.

All manner of accessories exist to make your nano experience yet more enjoyable. A stylish iPod Hi-Fi, nano armband, in-ear or lanyard headphones, dock, Nike+iPod Sport Kit, USB power adapter and radio remote are all available in stores.

A massive range of car companies and in-car sound system companies have teamed up with iPod to help you fully integrate your nano for a great driving experience, whether your car is brand new and already incorporates nano friendly features, or older and needs customizing.

I hope this information has been useful, check out the official Apple website for finer details. ]]></description>
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<title>Behold the JBL On Stage II</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Technology/Gadgets_and_Gizmos/behold-the-jbl-on-stage-ii.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Technology/Gadgets_and_Gizmos/behold-the-jbl-on-stage-ii.html</guid>
<pubDate>Sun, 16 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ JBL has a new product to add to its range, the JBL On Stage II, retailing at around 120.00 USD), complete with remote control, looks set to be another well evolved step forward in personal sounds in conjunction with the iPod. Available in black or white, powerful and compact, this high performance iPod sound system is also able to accommodate numerous other types of MP3 player. Circular in shape, with a round hole in the middle (this donut shape providing surprisingly even 360 degree sound), as with most docking stations this multitalented machine attaches with media devices at its centre. A powerful volume and clear, crisp JBL sounds can be selected with the remote control at up to 50m away, as well as through walls. Apart from the iPod shuffle, pretty much all iPod models are able to dock with this device, including nano, mini and 5G forms available.

A stereo mini jack connection means that you are able to relish top quality sounds from a host of other devices like desktop computers, laptops, CD and MP3 players.

Controls are simple, the volume, mute mode and other system functions are all modified with simple touches on pads. The level of the volume is remembered if a system shut down happens.

Being small and compact this device is easily transportable and lightweight.

OnePoint iPod connectors enable a connection with your computer. When the standard iPod cable is attached to the back of the JBL On Stage II your iPod will not just be docking, but also recharging and synchronizing.

Charging your iPod when not connected to the computer is a simple case of plugging your iPod wall charger into the back of the JBL On Stage II.

The majority of surfaces represent no problem with this machine since it has grippy rubber feet. An auxiliary audio input cable is also supplied as standard.

Strong neodymium magnets drive each of the four aluminum-domed transducers, enabling the full spectrum of sounds, from deep bass to the sharp, high pitches.

The graphic equalization is computer controlled. High levels of sound output are not a problem since specific compression technology is amply administered.

The nitty gritty details are:

Power output is at 6 Watts for each channel
Frequency response is 80Hz-20Hz
Input impedance is less than 5k ohms
Signal-to-nose ratio is less than 80dB
Voltage input of 120V AC U.S. (100V AC Japanese, 230V AC Europe)
Overall weight is 450g
Dimensions: 175mm diameter, 50mm height

So, although not able to compete with the vastly powerful and highest quality home theater system speakers, or even 300 USD iPod speaker systems, the JBL On Stage II holds its own in its price bracket with value and great music quality. ]]></description>
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<title>A Brief Look at the iPod History and iPod's iTunes Software</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Technology/Electronics/a-brief-look-at-the-ipod-history-and-ipod-s-itunes-software.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Technology/Electronics/a-brief-look-at-the-ipod-history-and-ipod-s-itunes-software.html</guid>
<pubDate>Sun, 16 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Massively popular today, around 20 million iPod's having been sold between the years of 2001-2005, the look, feel and functionality of this pocket-sized portable hard-drive based audio player continues to improve all the time.

The first release of the iPod by the Apple Corporation was back on the 23rd of October 2001. The initial idea that spawned this revolution in audio players came from someone by the name of Tony Fadell. Before proposing his concept to Apple, Phillips and RealNetworks had been informed yet declined the offer. Apple decided to hire Tony on an independent contractor basis, the iPod suddenly became a reality. The first model initially cost a whopping $400 in the US, far too much for most consumers. Additionally the computer support on offer was poor. Someone called Steve Jobs quickly noticed the lack of support and promised it would be improved on and available soon after the release date. The European market saw the iPod released one month later. US and European sales led to a large 125,000 iPods being sold in 2001. First generation iPods have had their various bugs found and then combated with all manner of updates from then on.

Setbacks were also experienced. Apple Corps who held the Beetles copyrights sued Apple on the grounds of previous iTunes Music Store agreements being infringed upon. It appeared that Apple Computers was only legally able to use the Apple name on items that were musically unrelated. This case was resolved by being settled out of court.

One million iPods had been moved around the world and sold by June 2003. Today it is the largest selling portable hard disk player. The marketing method of this product has played a massive part in the iPod's success.

Alongside the physical product its self there has been the development of iTunes Software enabling the user to upload photos and music from the Apple site on the internet. iTunes has been called a jukebox since it stores, organizes and plays any of the iPod's digital video or music files. Another feature is that connection through to the iTunes Music Store is possible, you can therefore look through all the current music, buy and then almost immediately after play whatever takes your fancy.

iTunes is able to work on not only the Mac OS X operating system, but also with Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 operating systems. Version 3 onwards of the iTunes software has become non-workable on Mac OS 9 and Windows 98 or ME. Downloadable for free on the internet, iTunes is installed onto the user's computer initially, using a CD provided with the machine upon purchase (or links on websites). Once in place all that remains for you to do is connect up your iPod to that computer to enter the world of fast, easy and quality music listening. ]]></description>
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<title>How to Tint Your Car Windows</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Hobbies/Collecting/how-to-tint-your-car-windows.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Hobbies/Collecting/how-to-tint-your-car-windows.html</guid>
<pubDate>Sun, 16 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Tinting is a very popular way of adding privacy and UV protection to your car. What is recommended here is that you don't try to tint the car yourself unless you are very serious about learning this extremely precise art through much trial and error. Getting professionals to perform tinting is normally by far and away the best practice. Obtaining all the correct tools can both be timely and expensive, learning how to use them effectively tends to come with lots of past experience.

What follows are simply the absolute basics concerning window tinting. Many other ways exist with which to tint cars, such information is beyond the scope of this brief article. For more help look to the various online tint-dedicated websites and their chatrooms.

1. Collect together all your materials and tools needed to do the tint job. These are:

X-Acto knife
razors
small sponges
4 inch squeegees
Bondo card or 4 inch hard card
spray bottle containing water with dishwashing soap (15 drops of soap per pint of water)
blow-dryer or heat gun
tinting film
bone tool

2. Place cutouts of the windows that are to be tinted on a surface devoted to cutting film, e.g. a glass board. Cut the film to the exact shape of the windows.

3. Use the spray bottle to cover the side window in soapy water.

4. With the careful use of a razor remove any residue from the side window.

5. With the use of the 4 inch squeegee remove stubborn residue from the top or bottom of the window.

6. It is now time to apply the tint. Remember to leave 0.25 to 0.0625 inches from the top edge of the window tint free, as this is the area of the windows that will be covered when the door and window are shut.

7. Using the bone tool the tint layer should be moved below the window's inner rubber seals.

8. With the hard card, ensure that the tint stretches to all corners of the window pane.

9. Now you should try to remove as much remaining moisture from between the pane and the tint layer. This is best done with the use of the blow-dryer or heat gun in one hand, and a squeegee in the other. The squeegee should be moved in a horizontal fashion.

10. The exact same methodology up to this point should be adopted to apply a tint layer to the front window screen.

11. Steps 3 and 5 should be followed to place the tint film to the back window. Importantly, never use razor blades to clean the window since the defrosting filaments could be damaged.

12. Count the quantity of defrosting filament lines on the rear window.

13. Tint should then be cut into the required number of panels to fit around these defroster lines.

14. Place the first tint panel on the bottom location, the second panel overlapping the first panel, the third panel overlapping the second etc. Locate where pairs of panels overlap.

15. Cut away the tint film from over the defroster filaments.

What is left should be a great looking set of tinted windows, well that's the theory anyway! ]]></description>
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<title>The Relationship Menopause has with Weight</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Health/Wellness/the-relationship-menopause-has-with-weight.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Health/Wellness/the-relationship-menopause-has-with-weight.html</guid>
<pubDate>Sun, 16 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ The menopause can be a difficult time for many women. If at all possible, being able to reduce the various problems associated with ageing can be an uplifting possibility. One such instance can be attributed to increased weight during this particular phase of life.

The unfortunate truth is that when many women hit the menopause they put on weight more easily, especially around their midriffs. Suddenly, trying to control or remove this excess fat is much more difficult. Often it is in the perimenopause that fluctuations in weight start developing, an increase of one pound per year is not uncommon.

During this point in time the normal areas of fat deposition seem to transfer from your hips and thighs to your abdomen.

Reasons for this increase in weight abound. In general you require less calories as you age, your body having stopped growth, now just requiring maintenance nutrients.

Weight gain has been seen to potentially lead to serious health problems like cholesterol build-up, increased blood pressure and insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, heart attacks and strokes, or maybe breast cancer. Weight loss, even if small, really can reduce the risk of such ailments and so is very important.

A subscription to a local gym will definitely help. Try to increase the time you spend doing physical actions you enjoy, e.g. gardening or going for a walk. Increase this basic small level of exercise slowly but surely, at the right pace. Eventually you should find yourself in the midst of a full on work out burning loads of calories every day.

What is also important is that you should try to eat less calories than you can burn, every day. Limit fat to 25-30% of your daily energy intake. As you progress into your 40's on average you will require 200 less calories per day. Eating only when you are hungry is a very useful tactic.

Being able to plan what you eat more sensibly whilst still offering your self a variety of choices is key here. At the very least you must ensure you are consuming the minimum quantity of nutrients (fats, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and minerals) required to be healthy.

The great thing about a well thought out exercise program is that is has a far wider list of benefits (e.g. increased fitness, self esteem and bone strength) than simply the loss of excess pounds.

When seeking to create a weight loss plan use a realistic program, one that you believe you can follow continuously. Try to ensure support is available to help keep you focused. This can take the form of encouragement from friends and family, nutritionists or gym instructors, amongst other less obvious but nevertheless influential factors.

If possible, start a weight control program as early as possible, you'll be healthier and leaner for longer. ]]></description>
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<title>Start Running and See Maximum Fitness Results</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Health/Wellness/start-running-and-see-maximum-fitness-results.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Health/Wellness/start-running-and-see-maximum-fitness-results.html</guid>
<pubDate>Sun, 16 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Most sports have an element of running in them so you'll be instantly improving your sporting stamina if you start to exercise on the treadmill or run round the block at least a few times each week. Running has been recognized for a long time as pretty much THE way to get fit effectively. All kinds of running are out there for you to try, e.g. road races, marathons, fun runs, fell running and cross-country. The overwhelming majority of runners simply run because they enjoy it and they remain fit and healthy.

Running and jogging are basically the same endeavor, jogging sometimes used by people referring to a slower pace of running. Which ever you decide on, the super thing about going for a run is that all you really need is a good pair of shoes and some enthusiasm.

Your lungs and heart are improved through running, no matter what sort you are doing i.e. a slow jog or short fast sprinting. Long distance runs involve aerobic muscle respiration (using oxygen) which needs a lot of muscular endurance. Sprinting requires a high level of muscle power and is classed as anaerobic exercise (doesn't use oxygen).

Due to the large amount of impact associated with running your bones density will be maintained at the very least, more often than not density is increased so as to strengthen the bone helping to reduce the likelihood of osteoporosis in later life. What must be taken into account is that increased impact can detrimentally affect the joints of some people. Lower impact activities like cycling or walking can be useful for easing the stress on people's joints.

Running is an activity that anyone can do. Providing you are healthy to begin with, and begin slowly, easing your body into the new activity, there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to increase your speed and endurance over time. It is best to see a doctor if you have any health issues, e.g. asthma, high blood pressure, diabetes, are pregnant or have just had surgery.

Warming up before a run is very important. Initially walk at a fast pace vigorously swinging your arms, then start to transfer into a slow jog.

The speed of your run should be that at which you are still able to hold a conversation with someone. If you find that you are too breathless to talk properly then simply slow down a little, or walk until you've caught your breath back. When starting out aim to run/ walk for 10 minutes in total. Try to run every 2-3 days, all the time reducing the amount of time you spend walking. Soon you should be running the whole 10 minutes.

Next you should look at increasing the duration of your run by 1-2 minutes every second or third running session. Try to reach three 30 minute runs each week. Even if you feel very healthy and alert it is best not to increase your running workout in excess of 10% per week.

Towards the end of each run you should warm down with a gradual slowing of pace to a mellow jog or walk. When you've caught your breath back have a few stretches whilst your body is still warm and flexible.

Many people come across problems with motivation, particularly in the beginning stages. Create realistic weekly aims, make running a habit that is always part of your daily routine. Record your progress and where possible try to get help from others, i.e. try and run with friends at leas once a week.

In terms of clothing and equipment your shoes should fit well and be comfortable, seamless sports socks are ideal. Clothing that is comfortable and not movement restrictive is important. During the summer shorts and a t-shirt work well. Winter typically involves a tracksuit and a lightweight windproof/ waterproof top. Thermal undergarments and a beanie or gloves can be beneficial for those extra cold days. Vaseline is useful for any regions of the body that have excessive rubbing. Women should wear a sports bra.

Safety wise, it is best to run with other people at night, sticking to well lit routes and informing people of your whereabouts. Bright/ reflective clothes should be worn at night or in poor visibility weather.

If you have an illness e.g. bacterial or viral infection only begin running when you get 100% better. ]]></description>
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