What's the best way to maintain your weight? Not by taking the best weight loss pill or going on a crash diet. You should step on the scale first thing in the morning. This will give you the most accurate weight reading since it can fluctuate by up to three pounds during the day. It's a good idea to weigh daily. A study from University of North Carolina and Brown University showed that 61% of the people who weighed themselves everyday maintained their weight within five pounds over time, mainly because it helped them catch weight gain early.

Slather on that anti-perspirant before bedtime. You read that right. Take a shower before bedtime (or just spot-wash your underarms or your smelly feet). Dry it off and apply the anti-perspirant. Why at night? Your body's temperature naturally lowers and you're less likely to sweat. This gives the anti-perspirant a chance to fully absorb and allows its active ingredients to go to work. So the next day, by the time you step in the shower, you'll be protected. Make it your nightly ritual, just like using your facial or acne products.

For a lay person who is not in the insurance industry, the terms used in any insurance policy is confusing. Just look at your auto insurance or home owner's policy, it consist of pages and pages of legal mumbo jumbo. One has to read and re-read each paragraph to fully understand what it means. Sometimes you end up more confused after reading it. That's why it pays to know someone who works in the insurance industry or at least know someone who can explain these things to you. It's very important to know what's covered and what's not so when that time comes, you know where you stand.

For someone like me who wants to lose weight, one of the factors that will contribute to that goal is how much exercise I am willing to put in. Since joining the gym is out of the question (I cannot see myself paying $20+ a month to use equipments that is already sitting in the basement), then I really need to practice self-control. That means pushing myself to exercise every day. We're not talking about running for miles. I want to make it easy to attain, so I'll do the walking thing.
If you want to lose weight, then you need to get moving. It doesn't matter what you do as long as you burn calories and you sweat. Of course, you also need to watch your calorie intake. You need to use up more calories than what you take in. As long as it is a fat burner, then it will help in your weight loss.

- If you're a beginner, start with 3 to 4 days of the cardio exercise of your choice, working at a level you can handle.
- Add time each week to work your way up to 30 to 45 minutes of continuous exercise.
- As you get stronger, try interval training once a week to help boost endurance and burn more calories.
- Work your way up to 5 to 6 days of cardio and try to vary what you do and how hard you work.

Ok, so what's the plan? Lose weight naturally, without the use of any form of diet pill like centrilean. More exercise and less food intake. I need a lot of will power for sure, where to get it, I don't know but I will surely try to find it. It would be nice to have an exercise companion. I believe having someone will motivate you to always exercise and of course, there is also some form of competition. I wonder if those online support groups really work? I guess I'd have to find out for myself. What's your secret to keeping motivated to exercise and lose weight?

I was about to throw away the old baking soda that has been sitting in the upright freezer in the basement when I remembered something. It was a DIY show where the host unclogged the drain using the baking soda. So instead of tossing the whole box, I went to the kids bathroom and pour the baking soda down the drain. I then heated up a cup of vinegar in the microwave then pour it in. It bubbled and seemed to work. I waited an hour and then flushed it with more hot water. Voila, what used to be a slow draining sink is working great again. So instead of tossing out your old baking soda, use it to clean your drains.
Now for cleaning faucets like Grohe faucets, use a glass cleaner like Windex to clean it and make it sparkly. It works.

So I'm still on my Spring Cleaning. Yeah, me and a thousand other people. It takes an army to do a complete clean-up of a household. Since I have no help, I figured I will be finished by Spring of next year. ha ha Well, it's actually not a laughing matter. Anyway, it is easier to just keep everything clean so there would be no need for a major cleaning. It's also easy to clean floors like porcelain tile since dirt doesn't stick to it as much. I like to use the wet Swiffer cloths since it is very handy and there is no need for a bucket of water. It is less messy for sure although you don't get the smell of pine (or other chemical smell). I also prefer to use those disposable toilet scrubbers. I know that it costs more but it is better than dealing with toilet scrubbers that turn yellow after a couple of months. For the faucet, I use Windex to keep it shiny. It works, I read it somewhere and was skeptical at first but found out for myself and have been using it ever since. For slow draining sinks, I use baking soda and vinegar. It's cheaper than Drano and it's something I always have in the pantry. Do you have a bathroom cleaning tip to share?

I always have this fear on the way back to my house after a long vacation, that something has happened to it. Am I the only one who has this thought? Probably not. In any case, I breathe a sigh of relief when I see the house still standing. Thank goodness! Of course, it is back to reality as usual. There are household chores that needed to be done like laundry, vacuuming and cleaning the kitchen. I wonder what I would do if I have one of those copper kitchen sinks? I'm still taking my time in doing chores around the house. The first thing I did was the laundry and it took me a couple of days to get it done. This week, I have vacuuming and dusting on my list. It definitely is back to reality for me.