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Archive for September, 2009

Fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, legumes are all words you may think to yourself what is that? Well they are the support system of your body. Fruits and vegetables have lots of phytochemicals in them and you can get about 100 different phytochemicals per serving of fruits and vegetables.  What are phytochemicals? Well the most commonly known phytochemical is the antioxidant. Antioxidants help to protect our cells from toxic substances and free radicals. You want to keep your cells strong for the long haul of life ahead.

Cholesterol. Yes we all have it and no we don’t want to have to worry about it. Well unfortunately we all must in this day and age worry about our cholesterol. A good way to lower your cholesterol is with oats. Just by eating three grams of soluble fiber a day, the same amount found in a large bowl of one hundred percent oat bran or three packages of instant oatmeal, can lower your LDL cholesterol by at least five point six percent in six weeks. That is an awesome decrease in LDL cholesterol and can save your life.

Do you know what is in your food? Did you ever think about what could be there and not there? How about what it is doing to you or your loved ones? Is there something good in your food other then making you not hungry? Yes there is! Your food is consisting of several awesome parts. Try looking at your food differently now. Try looking at it as a challenge and a conquest for better health and life. We laugh at vegetarians, but why? They are very healthy and happy. Vegetarians are getting more of the daily recommend dose of vegetables and fruits then the meat eating population. They are also getting more of the phytochemicals that help fight off the viruses that are in society today.

Still worried about your cholesterol and hate the thought of oatmeal three times a day? Try cooking with olive oil. If you are unhappy with the flavor of olive oil the try canola oil. Both are a great source of monounsaturated fat; A great reducer of cholesterol. Other sources of monounsaturated oils are Peanut oil, Walnut oil, Sesame Oil, and Soybean oil. What ever you do though do not, I repeat, do not go overboard with any oil. They all have fourteen grams of saturated fat and one hundred twenty calories per tablespoon. Lets face it we are an obese society; we need all the help we can get to not add extra fat to our bodies.

Did you know the benefits of Nuts? They are surprisingly good for your heart. Macadamia nuts are the best for you as far as monounsaturated fats go. Walnuts are the lowest on the scale for monounsaturated fats. Apparently replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fats found in nuts reduces your risk of heart disease.

Omega three fatty acids found in fish oils are superb at lowering blood fats such as triglycerides. Omega three fatty acids also help reduce blood pressure and may ease the symptoms of arthritis. You should eat fresh fish two to three times a week, however do not take fish oil supplements with out talking to your doctor first.

Vitamin E, is the great protector. Vitamin E helps to fight cancer, heart disease, and cataracts. Now that is one tough antioxidant! Spinach! I know why Popeye ate his spinach, because it is a powerhouse in the antioxidant family. Not to mention it has every nutrient out there. It is a great source of folic acid, which can reduce the risk of neural tube birth defects. It also protects against cervical displaysia which is a condition that precedes cervical cancer. Women! You must eat your spinach. Women who eat spinach daily are forty three percent less likely to suffer from a stroke, then those women who only ate spinach once a month or less. Now I don’t care those numbers are hard to beat. Eat your spinach ladies and live long happy lives. Women you also need to eat your squashes, which are high in beta carotene.  Those of us who eat fruits and vegetables high in carotene reduce our risk of cataracts by thirty nine percent.

These five steps are designed to help you be more open to your own style and the inspiration that the world holds for you. If you work with these steps, you will be able to find a balance of comfort and design while avoiding some of the stresses and find yourself in a real sense of home that you love.

Many people have said that interior design is the process by which we connect with people, and connect with the world while staying safely within our own space. It is safe to say that through interior design, we connect with some energy, some force, and some thing that expresses who we are and how we want to live. And it is through this connecting process that we have the opportunity to use our homes to effect change in our lives.

If we choose, we can become more comfortable or more expressive. Through this process, we can show others how we like to live and invite them to share part of our lives. We can focus on comfort, style, and/or art, truthfully anything we want to express.

Here are the five steps to finding your style as well as some tips to implementing these styles.

Start with a passion for your project and with these five steps and think about whom you are, you can show whom you are thru “your place” as you never thought possible.

Step 1: The decisions

Is your home are filled with trinkets, gadgets, and dust catchers? That you don’t need? Or are these things treasures possessions that you cannot part with for all the tea in china? These items (typically bought for time saving) end up costing us precious space in our homes. We can free up space otherwise saved for these items or display them as they are meant to show who and what you are to the world! For example, imagine how much space is tied up in the books we bought but have never read? If you’re not going to read it, find another home for it. Donate to a library or give it to a friend that may find they will treasure it.  A good rule of thumb is if you haven’t used something in a year, you don’t need it or want it. If the book is treasure for it’s beauty or worth then displaying it in a room would be much better then letting it collect dust in a box somewhere. We all need to make these decisions, love it or leave it!

Design tip #1:  Most likely, it’s on your list of things to, go thru “things”, and has been there for months or even years. Sometimes we don’t know something unwanted because we have been putting up with it for so long and have gotten used to it. Like that pile of stuff in a basket by the sofa or a drawer in an old unused desk that you don’t really need anymore even when you have to walk around to get a wanted daily used items. So make sure to take care of the things to do list! A good way to do this is to stand back and think about all the things you own and if you are unsure if you use an item. Place a dot sticker on it with the date. If you use that item within a year, remove the sticker. If you do not use the item within a year, find it a home somewhere that it will be used.

Step 2: Find your style

Create a clear idea of what it is you would like to portray of yourself. Perhaps you are a person into comfort and easy maintenance, or perhaps you are a creative individual who would like to use your home to highlight new projects, new relationships, or a new career. Whatever your personality, begin now by narrowing down the specific style you will be comfortable living with. Remember, being specific is the key here. Make a list of qualities, draw a picture, cut pictures out of magazines do whatever you can to get as specific a picture as you can. Find thing that inspire you.

Step 3: Assistance

The keyword here is ASK! Asking where someone got his or her ideas will not kill you! Look for ideas in the world around you. Sometimes we are afraid to ask where someone we admire shop for the beautiful things that fill their home, but if you admire someone’s interior then let them know it! Other kinds of collaboration can include asking for help to clean out your garage in order to build your new studio, asking friends to come over for a dinner party because you want to get a prospective on how your living space will be used and where people gather, or asking someone to look over your drawing and pictures, a new look into what you are trying to achieve can get some great ideas offered. You don’t have to do it alone!

Step 4: Confidence

The number one attitude you should have is confidence. This can be achieved by realizing that interior design is something you cannot fail at, become you are going to live in it! If you are comfortable, you can be confident and enjoy it. So take a look at the ideas you are coming up with and whether or not you are keeping them to use. Take a look at your ideas, pictures and drawings. They’re full of decisions you have made. Deciding what you really want gives a wonderful feeling. But don’t take my word for it try it out!

Interior decorating tip #2: Many stores have wallpaper books with great images to go with the wallpapers. And magazines have ideas, too

Step 5: Take the first step

Start arranging and stepping back to see what you have done! Buy something you love and put it in the place of honor and work from there. Once you have de-cluttered and arranged just go for it! Anyone can do interior decoration. If you want to go by a rule, look in books and follow the steps. Many good interior-decorating books will tell you the difference between art deco and Elizabethan and most have steps you can follow. So you have many options and can get your home to be comfortable for you. So jump in and let your personality shine!

Interior design has often been the easiest form of self-expression. Somewhere in every person is an interior designer just waiting to jump out. This may seem unrealistic to some but most all forms of design are based in how we want our homes to feel. This brings along with it a picture of what our home is, what function it serves, and how we want to portray ourselves to others. The decorating process remains one of the great mysteries of the average person. How do we create the home we want to invite others into?