Tips for Everyone

Lose weight. If you are 20 pounds overweight, then it's like you are carrying a 20-pound chair tied around your back. Your knees will bear the burden of this weight.

Keep bones strong. Starting from childhood, we should take calcium-rich foods like milk, fish, green vegetables and tofu. Limit your intake of meat. Alcohol and smoking also makes one lose bone strength. For ladies, take your calcium supplements daily.

Health Benefits of Alugbati or Malabar Spinach

This is one of my favorite vegetables of all time. Since I was a kid, I love alugbati mixed with the other vegetables. In the family, it is me and my mother who love this vegetable, and the rest; they don't like it because of the sticky sap.

Anyhow, the vegetable is also known as Malabar Spinach, Ceylon Spinach or the red vine. There are two types of alugbati, the red and green vine, but both are good source of essential nutrients. It is excellent source of calcium, iron, Vitamin A, C, B, and iron. It contains saponins that act as phytochemicals. It fights cancer and other diseases and good source of fibers as well.

How about you, do you like or eat alugbati?

Live a Clean Life

By "clean" living, we mean not just physically clean, but we should try to avoid unhealthy behavior like smoking, drinking alcohol, using drugs, engaging in risky sex, and gorging on fatty foods. Smoking kills. Alcohol destroys brain cells. You may have tried them, but it doesn't get you anywhere. So, why continue the habit? Avoid risky habits and prolong your life.

Attracting Birds to Your Garden

Many home owners take a lot of pride in the appearance of their gardens. While some people prefer to distract birds and other animals, others believe that these creatures give the garden a natural, appealing look. If you want to attract birds to your garden rather than send them away, start to add things to your garden and around your home so that birds will stop to visit.

One of the most obvious things that will attract birds into your garden is food and drink for them to feast on. A bowl of fresh water will serve as a nice cool drink or even a small bath for the little birds. Remember to change the water at least once a day, otherwise it won't be fresh and birds won't be as willing to drink from it. Placing a couple of bird feeders in your garden will have the birds, both large and small, flying down into your garden to have a snack during the day. Peanuts, oats and bits of dried fruits are all good foods to add to the bird feeders, and you'll find that all of the birds enjoy these tasty extras. Again, make sure that you replenish the bird feeders on a regular basis so that the food doesn't go stale and distract the birds rather than attract them.

Putting a bird house in your garden will catch the attention of many birds, especially during the colder weather. Whatever the time of year, large and small birds will love to take shelter in the comfort of a bird house. Bird houses are not expensive to purchase, and it's very easy to make your own if you have some wood and basic DIY skills. If your garden is big enough and you want to allow lots of birds into the bird house, purchase a fairly larger one; however, if you want a small one that a few little birds can take shelter in, consider one that is much smaller.

Antioxidant Fruit

I have learned that blueberries are called superfood for they contained more antioxidants than any other vegetable or fruit. Blueberries are also one of the highest-ranking foods to fight cancer and are excellent sources of vitamin C, manganese and fiber.

Why not try this easy to prepare smoothie.

Ingredients:
1 cup frozen mixed berries
½ cup apple juice
¼ cup silken tofu
½ banana

Directions:
Combine all the ingredients in a blender, blend until smooth.

Note: Photo not mine.

For better relaxing, buy an eco-friendly mattress.

In a family house or apartment, there will be more than one bedroom to keep under control, and one of the most important things in the bedroom is our bed. When you retreat for the night, the last thing you want to feel is the comfort of your bed. When you turn or move your body anywhere on the bed, you wanted to be relaxed and not be annoyed.

This is my son’s grumbled for a month now. He wanted me to buy a new mattress on his bed for he is not comfortable with it anymore. The mattress is too old I know. If I remembered it right, I bought it when he was 10 years old, which means it is more than a decade now. I kept on promising him that I will buy so soon, but I always fail to remember until I observed that I also need to change the mattress of my bed. Now I need mattresses for the two beds, and I wish I could find a good-quality mattress that will last long just like the old mattresses that I have right now.

However, it would be nice if I could get a memory foam mattress. I have read that this mattress is eco-friendly. I have not checked yet the cost of this mattress, but I wouldn’t mind the price if the quality is absolutely relaxing. Oh! By the way, my cousin knows that I will buy mattresses for the two beds one of these days, and she made a joke for me. She said that each time I need to buy something new, something else has to go through – into the trash, to charity, but the best place is to throw it in their bedrooms.

Fun in the Sun!

Summer is right around the corner, bringing with it the smell of freshly cut grass, beautiful flowers, swimming suits and outdoor parties. There is nothing that can compete with outdoor summer parties; lots of friends, kids running and playing, the smell of barbeque in the air, a baseball game and, of course, an ongoing game of beer pong!

The secret of college fraternity parties has leaked out and the world loves it. Beer pong is a ‘major player’ of most parties these days for a good reason; it is FUN! (Any adult can play it without the aches and pains associated with an afternoon of baseball or football games!). The beer pong tables also bring a festive note to any party with the cool designs that are available. In my opinion, summer is the ideal time to play beer pong; the beer pong table is set up outside making clean up a matter of hosing off the table!

There are a few things to consider when planning an outdoor party that includes beer pong. First is the question of ‘where to set up the beer pong table’. Try to find a location that will be shaded throughout the afternoon. Alcohol and direct sunlight are not a good combination. This will also help to prevent sunburns. Secondly, place a cooler or tub with ice close to the table and stock it with beer and bottled water so that the players have everything they need close at hand. Place or hang a small basket with extra ping-pong balls near the table. Offer a prize for the ‘grand champ’, this can be something small, or a gag gift.

Finally, if any of your guests appear to be a little ‘tipsy’, have an open offer for them to spend the night at your house or provide a ‘designated driver’ to get them home safely.

TIP: If you are a family that does not drink alcohol, you can still set up a beer pong table, and play beer pong. Just substitute the beer for juice or kool-aid. It is still a fun and exciting game.