This post was written by Anastasiya. Follow me on Twitter or StumbleUpon and keep your life balanced!

Summer is the best time of the year for exercise. Whether you just love being active or whether you have to exercise in order to lose those few extra pounds that can’t be camouflaged by your summer clothes, summer is still the time to work out. (For me personally both of these reasons are true :-)) From my point of view the best part about summer activities is that there are a hundred of different things that you can do outdoors and the excuse “Oh, it’s too cold to be outside” simply does not work. Some of the activities that come to my mind are playing basketball with your kids, swimming in the nearby pool, playing beach volleyball or throwing the Frisbee with your friends. Boot camp classes, running, nature trail hiking, and outdoor yoga are also a few more ways to really knock off those extra pounds. By being outside you supercharge your body with vitamin D that is so important for bone health, calcium absorption and a strong immune system. Oh and did I forget to mention that you also have fun? (just look at the girls below:-)) Read the rest of this entry »

This post was written by Anastasiya. Follow me on Twitter or StumbleUpon and keep your life balanced!

If you are a normal person then you probably always have a conflict between work and rest in your life. If you rest too much, then you do not get anything done and your income is probably going to suffer (unless you have been lucky to inherit a fortune from your billionaire uncle:-)). If you work too much then you start suffering from stress and overexhaustion that eventually leads to health problems and depression. Both the work and rest areas of our lives are very important and our main goal is to learn to balance them properly. Read the rest of this entry »

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When I was a teenager I think I could have given a million dollars (if I had it :-)) to somebody who could have told me how to make people like me. Unfortunately, as I grew up I didn’t get a million dollars but I did find out how to make people like me. If you are looking for advice in this area then you can get it absolutely free if you just keep on reading.

Over the years I have learned one golden rule that has made my life so much easier than the lives of other people around me. This rule has helped me to have excellent professional relationships in the work place and with all senior management. It has helped me get timely pay raises and appreciation and help from my colleagues. It has helped me to have friends who will never turn their backs on me and who can help me in any situation. On top of all that I think that this rule is also one of the main rules of all successful people. But enough talking, let’s get down to business now. Read the rest of this entry »

Being too skinny sounds like a dream for millions of people out there who are fighting nasty pounds. I can say that sometimes even I envy some of those girls who eat whatever they like and still look as skinny as a straw. I never had a problem of not having enough weight but my husband did. When he was a teenager he was struggling trying to get at least a few extra pounds on because at his height of 6 feet his weight was 123 pounds. That was a real problem for him. Let me tell you now how he tried to change this situation. Read the rest of this entry »

Staying in shape is the ultimate goal of millions of people around the world. But no matter how eager they are to lose some weight or to tone their muscles their attempts still fail time after time. Working out at home seems like a great idea for all those people who do not have money or time or even confidence to go to the gym. But again their efforts fly away in the wind without ever producing any result. “Been there, done that?” Well, I can say that I’ve been there and I am not ashamed to admit this, but I discovered a few mistakes that I’ve made that actually led me to these unfortunate results. If you are trying to exercise at home but week after week your exercise DVDs are collecting dust somewhere in your junk room, your running shoes see the light only when you go to the grocery store and your super exercise machines turn into fancy clothes hangers then stick with us to learn how you can change this “vicious” cycle. Read the rest of this entry »

This is the first Pilates video that I’ve made. It is not perfect but everybody needs to start somewhere:-). I am planning to post at least 1 Pilates video every week. Depending on how much time you have and your goals you can practice just one workout at a time or combine a few of them to create a 30 minute to 1 hour routine. If you are not sure why you need to practice Pilates, please feel free to look through Pilates benefits: 25 reasons to give Pilates a try. Feedback for this video will be greatly appreciated. Enjoy! Read the rest of this entry »

Pilates has come a long way in the last 50 years. It started by being a means of conditioning for a very small group of people (dancers primarily in New York), gradually progressed through the years and exploded as a exercise trend about 10 years ago. Now its glory is fading away while giving place to other new fads. True Pilates followers (like me) stick with it and continue to improve their lives with this method, getting inspiration for everyday life from it and using it as a nice retreat when they need a time-out in life. When Pilates became popular everybody was talking about its benefits and how great it is but today almost every reputable source is trying to disclaim all its benefits simply by saying that there is no scientific research to prove anything that links Pilates with being an exercise that should be respected. Read the rest of this entry »

I can’t believe that this is the last week of my budget cooking project. I must confess that I am happy that I do not have to write any more recipes for a while because it was not the most exciting job to do. At the same time I am happy that I finished this project because when I started it I was not even sure if I will be able to find enough tasty recipes that will use only the original 13 ingredients. It was a challenge for me and I am glad that you stayed with me through these 4 weeks. Enjoy your last week of meals on a budget! Read the rest of this entry »

This is week 3 of our healthy and cheap cooking marathon. I must say that the further I am into this project the more difficult it gets to come up with interesting supper ideas that would use only 13 initial ingredients. But I always finish what I start so if you are new here please feel free to check out the following articles: Read the rest of this entry »

Addiction to Chili by malias

Every member of my family is a huge fan of hot sauce. Our favorite meals are chili beans with tons of chili, spaghetti with hot tomato sauce, beans with hot sauce, shrimp with hot sauce, chicken with hot sauce, bread with hot sauce (this is my mom’s favorite) and anything else with hot sauce. I think my husband and my father-in-law can even eat ice-cream with hot sauce! We noticed that when we buy hot sauce it always says on the bottle that it is a heart healthy choice and I was always wondering what the health benefits of this concoction are. I know that it does not have any cholesterol and it’s very low in sodium but I knew that there must be something else behind it. Read the rest of this entry »