Info-Leeches and other E-Invertebrates

When you buy a vehicle like a car or a motorbike, you’re not expecting to get a tailored vehicle, instead you’re presented a selection of fully-tested and engineered vehicles that have required years of design and development. However, when it comes to websites it appears to be different. Most people assume that their site will be designed to their rigorous specs. This is absolutely natural of course, and in many cases it’s unavoidable.

But hold on a minute - is that really the best way to go about things for all cases? Ask yourself this : how can I create a website? Consider content managed websites for instance : feature-rich websites, with rigorous security prerequisites, a backoffice area so the site owner can update the content on the site. All of this, while requiring the website to be effortless to browse and purchase products for shoppers. Resolving all those needs is no light undertaking, and if anything goes wrong, you’re going back to the developer to ask for fixes. Tailor-made websites in this way carry a large burden.

Nevertheless, there’s another option to this way which is much more cost-effective, potentially gives you a lot more facilities, and offers more reliability, stability and security - shopping cart templates.

People recognize today that custom website development frequently isn’t necessary and that in a lot of cases, it’s better to alter your goals even ever-so slightly so they meet a robust, popular and proven website template than to take a chance with a custom-made web design to fit your goals. But why is this? Because of the demands a contemporary website asks for. You want a strong, tried and tested codebase that runs your website, not freshly-minted code that hasn’t been tested. Not just that, but templates normally are updated often and these updates patched to your site, so your site is following all the cutting-edge advancements on the internet the ability to copy and paste fashionable widgets onto your pages.

Possibly the greatest selling point is this however: website templates are far more money saving than tailor-made sites. Why would you pay £5000 on a site when you can get a ste with more features for only £500, for instance?

The above reasons should cause you to think twice about your online business plan and whether to choose a custom site or a templated site.

Gastric bypass surgery is on the rise, and so too are the rates
of hospitalizations and early postoperative deaths related to
complications. “Medical interventions for weight loss do not
have such dramatic and persistent weight loss associated with
them, making surgical intervention attractive to individuals who
have been unable to successfully lose weight,” wrote David S.
Zingmond, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues at the University of
California at Los Angeles. But those interventions — while
reducing the frequency of associated conditions such as
diabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and sleep apnea — come
at a price. In a retrospective study of 66,077 California
patients who underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery from
1995 to 2004, the rate of hospitalization in the year following
surgery was more than double that in the year before bypass, Dr.
Zingmond and colleagues reported. Among nearly 25,000 bypass
surgery candidates for whom three-year follow-up data were
available, a mean of 8.4% were admitted to the hospital a year
before surgery, primarily for obesity-related problems such as
osteoarthritis, and cellulitis of the lower extremities. In
contrast, 20.2% of patients were hospitalized in the year after
surgery, 18.4% in the second year, and 14.9% in the third.
Postsurgical hospitalizations tended to be for complications
that were likely related to surgery, such as gastric revision
and ventral hernia repair, the investigators noted. A second
study of bariatric surgery performed on Medicare beneficiaries
found that risk of death within one year of surgery is higher
than that suggested by other studies, and that among patients 65
and older the risk of early death is nearly three times greater
than that of younger patients. David. R. Flum, M.D., M.P.H., and
colleagues at the University of Washington in Seattle took a
retrospective look at data on 16,155 patients (mean age 47.7
years) who underwent bariatric surgery. They found that in
contrast to other series, which suggested a perioperative death
rate of about 0.5%, the rates of 30-day, 90-day, and one-year
mortality were 2.0%, 2.8%, and 4.6%, respectively. At every time
point, men were about twice as likely to die as women (3.7% vs
1.5%, at 30 days, 4.8% vs. 2.1%, at 90 days, and 7.5% vs 3.7% at
one year, P<0.001). Summarizing, the rate of hospitalization in
the year following surgery was more than double that in the year
before bypass. The rates of 30-day, 90-day, and one-year
mortality were 2.0%, 2.8%, and 4.6%, respectively. The risk of
post operative death is even higher for those over 65. There
were an estimated 13,365 gastric bypasses performed in 1998 and
72,177 in 2002. Experience and technique of the performing
surgeon are crucial factors for a successful outcome.

“These studies demonstrate that there are vulnerable patient
populations and potential additional costs associated with
surgery but suggest that surgical volume helps mitigate these
risks and costs,” wrote Bruce M. Wolfe, M.D., of Oregon Health &
Sciences University in Portland and John M. Morton, M.D.,
M.P.H., of Stanford in an accompanying editorial.

Weight lifting for beginners can be overwhelming. There is so
much to learn and there are so many resources available to get
help from. Where do you begin? While it’s true there is a lot to
get your hands around when it comes to the world of weight
lifting, I want to provide some basic tips to get you started on
the right foot.

Before we discuss the basics to make weight lifting for
beginners easier, let’s talk about the human body for a minute.
There are three main body types: endomorph, ectomorph, and
mesomorph. Each body type has its own unique charasterics. A
person with an endomorph body type is considered to be carrying
around too much fat and tends to have trouble losing weight.
Someone with an ectomorph frame does not have enough fat or
muscle and has a tough time building muscle or gaining weight. A
mesomorph is perhaps the ideal body type with a well-formed body
and can gain or lose weight fairly easily.

Understanding what body type you have is important so that you
can set realistic weight lifting goals. An ectomorph, for
example, is going to have a tough time putting on muscle and
will probably never look like Arnold schwarzenegger in his prime
(who has a mesomorph body type). You can’t get a sedan to
perform like a sports car and the same is true of our bodies so
the first thing the beginner should do is set realistic goals.

After setting realistic goals, here are some basic tips that
will make weight lifting for beginners easier, safer, and more
effective:

Understand the Lingo

The lingo can make Weight lifting for beginners confusing when
they first get started. The two basic terms that every beginner
must know are “reps” and “sets.” A rep is simply one exercise,
or movement. For example, doing one pull up is considered “one
rep.” Consecutive reps without a rest form a set. For example,
“10 reps” of doing pull ups is “one set.” So if a weight lifting
routine that you’ve come across calls for you to do pulls ups of
“3 sets of 10,” you’ll know that means you need to do 10 pull
ups, three times (3 sets) - with rest in between in each set.

Consider Hiring a Personal Trainer

If you’re tight on cash, don’t pass by this tip so quickly
because personal trainers aren’t as expensive as you might
think. I’m not talking about hiring a personal trainer
full-time. Hiring a personal trainer for one to two sessions can
go a long way in getting you off to the right foot and making
weight lifting for beginners safer and more effective. A
personal trainer can show you how to correctly execute your
weight lifting exercises to prevent injuries and to make sure
you are working the muscles properly for the best results. They
can also correct any bad habits you might have developed. Weight
lifting for beginners can be so simple with just one or two
sessions with a personal trainer so consider it if your budget
allows.

Avoid Spending Too Much Time in the Gym

A lot of guys make the mistake in believing that if they start
seeing results with just 45-60 minutes in the gym, then more
time would reap even greater results! Nothing could be further
from the truth. In fact, overtraining of any kind can actually
hamper your results. Spending too much time exercising can wreak
all kinds of havoc in the body. For example, after about an hour
of rigorous exercise, levels of the hormones in your body
responsible for muscle growth start to diminish. Other hormones,
such as cortisol, are released instead and they can actually
destroy muscles and ruin all your hard work. Instead of getting
bigger, you may actually get smaller! Weight lifting for
beginners should not require more than 60 minutes in the gym per
session. Beginners can achieve results with as little as 30
minutes of weight lifting per session so long as the session is
focused and the exercises are done correctly.

Be Focused When You’re at the Gym

Nothing drives me nuts more than seeing a guy reading a
newspaper in between sets. I want to smack the guy in the head
and ask him if he’s here to read or lift weights! Save the paper
for after your workout. When you’re at the gym, stay focused on
the task at hand and you’ll get better results and you’ll spend
less time in the gym. A lot of guys who say they lift for more
than an hour, probably spend half the time talking with other
people or reading newspapers. If you have that kind of time,
then go for it. For me personally, I don’t like to spend a lot
of time in the gym. I like to get my work done and get out of
there.

Concentrate on Large Muscle Groups

There are so many different exercises to learn that weight
lifting for beginners can be down right overwhelming. The best
thing the beginner can do is concentrate on exercises that will
work the large muscle groups. These groups include the legs,
chest, and back. You’ll get more bang for your buck spending
your time doing weight lifting exercises that work those muscle
groups. The more muscle mass you build, the more fat you’ll burn
throughout the day. Since these are large muscle groups, it
makes sense to make them bigger so you can burn more fat! These
are also the muscle groups that will be the most noticeable to
others. What woman doesn’t notice a guy with a well-formed
“V-shaped” back or muscular legs in the summer when you’re
wearing shorts? Let’s not forget about the chest. The chest is
one of the first muscle groups everyone notices! As a beginner,
don’t waste your time with small muscle groups because those
muscles don’t do nearly as much fat burning and they’re not
nearly as noticeable to others.

Eat a Balanced, Healthy Diet

Weight lifting for beginners is more than just pushing iron! A
poor diet will prevent the beginner from achieving significant
gains. The body you have today is the result of what you have
been putting in it for the past several months. Get plenty of
protein, carbohydrates, and essential fatty acids and limit junk
food, sugars, alcohol, and fast food.

Get Plenty of Rest

Again, weight lifting for beginners is about more than just
pushing iron. Along with a healthy diet, you need to get
adequate sleep. Believe it or not, but your muscles repair
themselves and grow when you sleep - NOT when you’re at the gym
lifting. If you’re not getting enough sleep, you’re not giving
your muscles enough time to repair and grow. Furthermore, if
you’re not fully energized when you hit the gym, how effective
do you think your lifting will be? I can lift a lot more weight
and I can push myself harder when I’ve had a good night’s sleep.
Aim to get eight hours of sleep every night.

These are the basics that should make weight lifting for
beginners easier, safer, and more effective.

Have you ever wondered why you are fat and have considered going
on a weight loss dieting program? If you did, then you must know
why certain food makes you fat.

Most if not all of us are somewhat carbohydrate addicts. We have
pastas, pizzas, white rice, spaghettis, bread, refined flour
food and confectionaries in almost if not all our meals. Just
look at the queues at the fast food joints on a regular day and
you will know what I mean. Bread and sweet sugary drinks are the
menu of the day, naturally.

Some of us are reluctant to embark on a weight loss dieting
program to lose that excess baggage (body fat) because we think
it is an exercise in sheer willpower and futility.

“You are asking me not to eat bread/rice/pizzas/hamburgers,
chocolates and ice-creams my entire life? You must be nuts!”
Sounds familiar? For those who incessantly snack on biscuits and
chocolates between meals to stave off hunger while working at
the office, here is why.

You unwittingly and naturally reach for such snacks because of
the food you chose to eat earlier at an earlier meal. If you
start the day with three or four slices of white bread spread
with fruit jam or margarine and then wash it down with coffee
and sugar, you can be sure you will be craving for snacks by
mid-morning even though your breakfast was a filling one.

When your food made up primarily of carbohydrate, especially
refined carbohydrate like white bread and pizzas, with little
protein or fat, not to mention high in sugar, your blood glucose
surges crazily following that meal.

To counter the effect of extreme glucose surge in your blood
stream, your pancreas will pump more insulin than usual to bring
your blood glucose level down. What happens then is that your
blood glucose surges will then dip lower than your pre-meal
level. When this happens, you start to get hungry and crave for
more sweet stuff and more carbohydrate. This is why you reach
for sweet snacks and drinks instinctively. Thus the vicious
cycle continues again and again and you are eating more and more
calories. So choosing the food in your meal is important so that
you will not get hungry fast and then consume more calories to
satisfy that hunger upsetting your natural weight loss dieting
program.

When more carbohydrate is consumed than can be stored by your
liver and muscles as glycogen, they are naturally converted to
fat. So what should you do?

Well, you can start to limit your carbohydrate consumption (note
that I said limit and not stop) and on top of that, choose slow
digesting carbohydrates especially carbohydrate with fibers like
fibrous vegetables, fruits, legumes, brown rice and brown bread,
your insulin spike will not be so eccentric and therefore you
will not get hungry or having your sweet tooth so often.

Now think about it, if you do not reach for your snacks and
sugary drinks that often, it means that you are consuming fewer
calories. So if your caloric consumption is less than your
caloric expenditure, you are right on a natural weight loss
dieting program without even realizing it. Better still, you are
not going on a hunger and starvation diet because you will not
get hungry that easily.

Just imagine now that you are losing weight naturally, what if
you incorporate an exercise routine into your natural weight
loss dieting program to burn off some more calories? Your
natural weight loss result will be amazing wouldn’t it?

Now that you know why you are fat, let’s get started on this
natural weight loss dieting program.

It is undisputed that smoking is harmful to your health. It
increases chances of a heart attack; is a leading cause of lung
and other types of cancers; and is also an expensive habit. But,
smokers who try to quit will attest to the fact that quitting is
not easy. The nicotine found in cigarettes is highly addictive
and most smokers who try to quit attempt to do so several times
before being successful.

It is best to prepare yourself for quitting by removing all
cigarettes, ashtrays and other signs of smoking from your
environment at home, work and in your car. Seeing them is only a
reminder and will hamper progress. Decide you want to quit and
be determined. Do not smoke during this time even a little. The
one cigarette you have may encourage you to have more, impeding
your ability to quit altogether.

A support system is very important to quit. Make sure family and
friends are aware of your decision to quit and will help support
you in your decision. If you have family and friends who smoke,
ask them not to do it near you for awhile so you don’t have the
urge to smoke with them. There are many support groups available
as well. You can find telephone support or group therapy in just
about every major city. Most of these are free and can provide a
valuable boost to your morale during this difficult time.

Try to reduce the stress levels in your environment. Stay busy
and active to promote good health. Taking long walks, indulging
in a hot bath, spending some time at a day spa or getting a
massage are great ways to reduce stress levels while keeping
occupied. Ensuring you are distracted will help curb cravings
for cigarettes.

Nicotine replacement is helpful in overcoming the addiction
while allowing you to concentrate on the removal of the other
harmful effects of smoking. Most entail a gradual reduction of
nicotine so your body becomes more used to not having it. There
are many types from skin patches to gums and lozenges. Studies
indicate one method is no better than the next and is dependent
on personal preference. Acupuncture and hypnosis have gained
popularity as ways to help quit smoking. Consult a physician for
a referral to a reputable hypnotist or acupuncturist before
committing to this type of treatment.

Making the decision to quit smoking can be one of the most
difficult things to do but will greatly benefit you in the long
run. With a little support from friends and family the process
will be much smoother. Try to stay active to distract from
cravings. If you have intense withdrawals use a nicotine
replacement such as a patch or gum to help curb cravings. The
advantages of living a smoke-free life are many. Improve your
health and the health of those around you by quitting.

Article 2. Weight loss diary.

Diary, Day 2, February 6 2006

- Stopped having newspapers delivered from yesterday. Today I
walked into the village to pick up my newspaper. (A return
distance of around 1.2 miles [1.9 kilometers].

- Decided that today will be a no bread day. This is the only
food that I will give up in today’s weight loss program. I
usually eat 4 - 6 slices of wholegrain bread each day.

- Weighed in at 197 pounds (97.5 kilos).

- Breakfast was a bowl of cornflakes with two Tablespoons of
fruit Muesli added. (This is a mixture of whole grains, nuts and
dried fruits). Followed by a small carton of yogurt with some
fresh fruit added (I used kiwi fruit today - very high in
vitamin C.) Plus a cup of lemon, green tea. (I’m only allowed 2
cups of coffee each week so I keep them for the weekend.) You
could take milk or fruit juice if you prefer.

First problem: Around 11am I felt really hungry. This is to be
expected because I usually eat a very big breakfast. Slight
temptation to make a sandwich but I resisted it and had a small
apple instead. After eating the apple I still felt hungry but
resisted the temptation to eat more because I know that it takes
20 minutes for the message from my stomach to reach my brain.

- Obviously the wait was worthwhile because it is now almost 1pm
and I haven’t thought about food since eating the apple.

- 1pm. Lunch: This is a challenge because I like a sandwich for
lunch but today is no bread. I have a 3 ounce (85 grams)piece of
cheddar cheese, coarsely grated carrot, lettuce a sprinkling of
pine nuts with a glass of water. (I like water but you can drink
what you prefer - providing it isn’t fizzy) A banana and an
apple follow this.

- Time for a walk. Immediately after lunch I take a 15-minute
walk. The plan is to increase my pulse rate for a very short
period by 40% to 50%. Placing your right wrist into your left
hand and finding the pulse with your fingers can check pulse
rate. Count how many beats in six seconds; add a zero and this
will give you beats per minute before you start. Check when you
are midway through your walk and it should have risen by
40%-50%. Then slow down and return home.

- At the end of the walk I take another large glass of water.

Dinner is my main meal but if you can make it lunch this is much
healthier. My dinner consisted of:

- Fillet steak, about ¼ pound (110 grams), baked potato (done in
the microwave), chili asparagus and salad. I drank a glass of
red wine with it and my usual glass of water later.

- Dessert was a nectarine and peach - both fresh because they
are in season here in Australia right now.

- After dinner I took another short walk (about 10 minutes.)

Today hasn’t been difficult to get through and I know that the
first day of any diet is the toughest.

This article is copyright © David McCarthy 2006. This article
may be reproduced in its entirety with no additions.

Why Flax Seed?

Flax seed seems to be popping up everywhere. In my own daily
life I see people consuming it at the gym as a nutrition
supplement, I see people grinding it and topping their salads
with it. Flax seed is used for it’s fiber content along with
it’s containing the omega-3 fatty acid, alpha linolenic acid.
The fiber of course we all know to be necessary for proper
function of the digestion system and for regular bowel function.
Most questions arrive with the omega-3 alpha linolenic acid.
Benefits of the omega-3 are seen in the heart, hair, nails,
joints and skin. Most importantly it fights hormone influenced
cancers such as breast and colon cancer. Are all forms of flax
seed the same?

NO! They are not. All forms of flax seed have particular health
benefits but not all forms contain the fiber, protein and
omege-3 fatty acids. Milled flax seed often contains only the
fiber and protein of the flax seed as the oils have all been
extracted to leave the dry powder. This is great for some
cooking purposes but the health benefits of the flax seed have
been greatly diminished. The omega-3 is the most beneficial
portion of the flax seed. Flax seed oils are very popular and
contain the omeg-3 acids but do not contain the fiber, lignan or
protein. There are hi-lignan oils that have had the pulp put
back into the oil after crushing.

For the most comprehensive health benefits the whole flax seed
contains all of the benefits offered by the flax seed. The best
way to get all of the contents of flax is to include the whole
grain into your daily diet. Flax seed can be easily ground at
home with a small hand-held grinder that is available from most
flax seed providers.

You’ve eaten and drunk well over the Christmas and New Year
period, but you now find your self sluggish and slow and not
ready to get into the swing of things again.

Well one way of getting yourself up and going again is to start
a detox programme. The whole idea is to remove the toxins from
you body caused by substances such as alcohol, tobacco and food
consumed during the festive period. A detox programme helps your
body by cleaning out the toxins that you have absorbed by
passing them from your skin, liver and kidneys, which act as
cleansing filters. The whole idea of a detox diet is to
strengthen up the organs that your body uses to carry out
detoxification of the toxins on a normal day-to-day basis and
release the toxins that have become stored up in your body.

You may find that the detox programme you decide to use could
have a number of different elements to it i.e., diet,
nutritional supplements and herbs, exercise and possibly a
number of alternative treatments. You may even decide to
purchase a detox course from any good pharmacy or health shop.

The best and probably the most cost effective way of being able
to remove the toxins from your body is to start eating more
fresh fruit and vegetables and also drinking plenty of water.
Wherever possible the fruit and vegetables that you eat should
have a good source of fibre and one such fruit is a banana. Also
try and drink at least 2 litres of water each day. If you find
that water is a little bland, then try and jazz it up a bit with
some lemon juice or even flaxseed, both of which act as a fairly
good laxative.

When preparing the fruit and vegetables that you are going to
eat, make sure that you prepare them as simply as possible, try
not to add too many spices or oil to them. A good way of
preparing vegetables for such diets is to steam them, thus you
are retaining many of the vital nutrients that you require to
assist your body during the detoxification period.

By following such simple rules you will find that your body is
more effectively able to absorb the nutrients that it requires
and will assist with the effective removal of the toxins that it
has absorbed during the festive season. Also you may also find
that your body has more vitality and stamina and there may well
be an improvement in your digestive system as well. Finally, you
may also find that you are more focused and able to deal more
effectively with the stresses and strains of every day life.

Career changes always require a painful transition period. A few
years back I lost my job as a stage manager for live television
shows, and I was feeling the heat. As I sat in my tiny little
apartment staring at a huge pile of overdue bills, I could feel
the pain coursing through my soul. I suddenly had the
uncontrollable urge to just run.

I am an avid runner who loves running in the wilderness. The
feeling of breaking a sweat with a good stride in the great
outdoors is like no other for me. Your heart is pumping blood
through your body like a turbo-charger, your lungs are sucking
in precious oxygen as fast as you can breathe it in, your pores
are excreting sweat and toxins like crazy, and all of your
senses are at their peak of performance. You can feel the world
around you and you know you are part of it. It is a wonderful
feeling; a healthy addiction if you will. My drug of choice is
endorphins.

I hurried down the stairs to the parking garage. The woman who
lived below me was just getting out of her car when I entered
the garage. She was a cigarette-totin’ Maggie with ashen-grey
skin and a raspy voice that sounded like it was the product of
damaged vocal cords due to years of yelling too loud at parties
and breathing tobacco smoke relentlessly. She was tall, rotund
and barrel-chested, with bleached white hair that she wore way
too long for her age, which I guessed was somewhere around
forty. She wore black clothing everyday that made her look like
an albino witch. She was also a single mother of a teenage
daughter that was seemingly out of control. I often saw this
daughter coming home at four in the morning as I was just
leaving for work. She was only thirteen, but she seemed to be in
a big hurry to become an adult. Her mother didn’t seem to care
about her too much. I drove to a nearby street and parked my car
next to a couple of other cars at the entrance to a fire trail.
I stretched for about five minutes, and then I was on my way up
my favorite wilderness trail that led into the foothills of the
Santa Monica Mountains (California).

I grew up playing and exercising in those hills. It is my
favorite place to go when I need to get away from it all. There
are fire trails everywhere that accommodate anyone who is
looking for exercise in a wilderness area that includes rolling
hills, bush-covered chaparral, and majestic mountains.

About a mile into my run I began to work up a sweat. A group of
dark clouds passed overhead and it started to rain. It was
winter. I was only wearing a tee-shirt and shorts, and the rain
was cold, but it felt good. The rain drops splashed over my face
and body like a fire sprinkler from heaven that was released
right on cue.

The sun burst through the clouds and I was soon bathed in warm
sunlight again. I entered a rocky area filled with caves that
were formed by millions of years of wind and water erosion. The
Chumash Indians once lived in those caves before the Europeans
came. I looked up to the right and saw a group of teenagers
hanging out in a big cave that was about fifty feet up on the
face of a cliff. One of them noticed me running down below and
threw an empty beer bottle in my direction. The bottle hit a
rock about twenty feet away from me and exploded into a million
pieces. This explosion was immediately followed by an eruption
of laughter from the group. I was thinking about stopping to say
something, but I did not want to ruin my good mood.

I made a couple of left and right turns on trails that I
originally explored when I was about eight years old. I ran
deeper into the hills. Soon I was running up a series of steep
switchbacks trails.

I eventually arrived at the top of the highest hill in that
area. I stopped for a rest, and to take in the beautiful three
hundred and sixty degree view all around me. I had mountains in
front of me, hills all around me and the San Fernando Valley off
in the distance behind me. I watched the sunset over the
mountains and meditated for a moment at my favorite spot on
earth. When I turned around I could see the lights of The Valley
glistening like a million fire flies. I was about five miles
away from the nearest civilization, but it felt like it was five
hundred.

A half hour later I started my run back towards civilization. It
was now dark, but I was not worried about getting lost, for I
knew those trails like the back of my hand. Rattlesnakes were
all hibernating, coyotes aren’t much to worry about, but
mountain lions were a different story. Although attacks on
humans were rare, there had been a couple of people killed in
California in recent years. I did not want to be the next rare
event, so I made sure to announce my presence by singing loudly
(and slightly off-key).

Suddenly, I saw a shadowy figure of a person up ahead on the
trail in front of me. I was not used to seeing other people that
far back in the hills. I approached with caution. As I got
closer and closer to this dark silhouette, I noticed that this
person was just standing still at a fork in the dirt road. When
I was about to pass this person I noticed that it was a young
teenage guy. He was wearing brown nylon shorts and a yellow
tee-shirt that said Calabasas Cross Country Team on the front.
He looked very worried, and seemed to be lost.

The thin young man politely asked me if I knew which one of the
trails he was standing in front of was the one out of there. He
explained that he was training for an up coming cross-country
competition and did not realize how far he had run, or how
quickly it got dark “now that daylight savings was over”. I told
him that I knew that area quite well, and that he could follow
me out of there.

I made a right turn at the fork in the road, and the kid
followed behind me. As we were running down the switchback
trails it started to rain again. We ran out into a large valley
with tall grass, and then the kid began to fall behind a bit. I
slowed my pace down a little until I could see him again slowly
running behind me on the trail.

As we were passing through the rocky area with all the caves we
suddenly came upon the group of kids that were partying earlier.
They were slowly walking on the trail and passing around a
bottle of whiskey. A young girl noticed us approaching and broke
off from the group with the whiskey bottle in her hand. As we
were passing by the girl she held the whiskey bottle out towards
us and with a sarcastic and drunken voice she said “you guys
must be thirsty”! A full moon was now shining down on the area
and it illuminated me to the fact that this girl was the
thirteen year old daughter of the albino witch lady that lived
in the apartment below me. She was too drunk to recognize me. We
then jogged past the chuckling group of inebriated teenagers and
continued on with our run through the wilderness.

We finally reached the end of the trail and we both stopped
running. While trying to catch his breath, the kid thanked me
for giving him directions. He then disappeared into the
neighborhood. I walked over to my car and stood next to it for a
moment. I thought to myself; I may not have much money, but I
have my health. I am thankful for having parents who cared, and
that I chose to run on the right path in life.

Copyright 2006. Michael P. Connelly

A treadmill buying guide helps users to shop for the right treadmill that suits their workout requirements and budget. They incorporate a lot of information which users should consider before and at the time of purchasing a treadmill.

Treadmill buying guides specify the price ranges for the treadmills. The general break down of price ranges is Budget $500-$1500, Mid-Range $1500-$3000 and Quality $3000-up. Offers and discounts while purchasing the treadmill depend upon the season and treadmill manufacturer’s policies.

Treadmill buying guides specify the workout features which users should look for and consider while buying a treadmill. Users should choose a model that has the most pre-set and programmable workouts to vary pace and incline. Treadmill buying guide emphasize bringing fun while workouts by means of book rack on the treadmill. Some models plug into a VCR, CD, or internet.

A treadmill buying guide specifies the treadmill type which users can buy i.e. manual or motorized treadmills. It provides information on the operation of manual and motorized treadmills. Treadmill buying guide emphasize on the proper selection of motor in a treadmill. The treadmill motor matters since it gets the heaviest workout. Treadmill buying guide specifies the horsepower rating requirements between 1.5 to 2.5 HP. Treadmill buying guide also recommends looking for the longest warranty on the motor about 1 year at least.

Treadmill buying guide insist on the durability and life of belt since it’s the part which undergoes a lot of wear and tear. It also specifies that the belt thickness should be two ply which will help the belt to last longer and not to curl less around the edges.

Treadmill buying guide recommends the deck size to be the running surface size. A longer deck allows for a more comfortable stride and easier motion than a shorter surface.

The overall treadmill size specified in the treadmill buying guide is the measure of space available in the user’s room. Treadmill buying guide recommends buying noiseless treadmill so you can hear the TV or music while working out. The size of the treadmill when folded or stored should be checked as per the information given in the treadmill buying guide.

Treadmill buying guide will also provide information on shock absorption in the treadmill. The higher shock absorption, the less wear on user feet, legs, and joints. Shock absorption techniques specified in the treadmill buying guide vary from thicker belts to shock absorbers under the deck or floating decks. A treadmill buying guide will enumerate the fact that higher shock absorption equals higher price.

Treadmill buying guides specify speed details in a treadmill that should be considered while purchasing a treadmill. Users should make sure that the max speed of the treadmill suits their fitness needs. Walkers can probably get by with speeds of .5 to 6 mph while runners (or very fast walkers) need a higher maximum speed.

Inclination required in a treadmill is specified in the treadmill buying guide. Inclines vary widely with maximum inclines from 2% to 25%. The larger this range is the more variety users can have in their workouts. Treadmill buying guides recommend users to take into consideration whether the incline is adjusted manually or using controls.

Treadmill buying guides emphasize that most motorized treadmills have built in electronic feedback that will show miles walked, calories burned, heart rate, mph, etc. Preset programs and customized programs are optional and depend upon the user selection.

Treadmill buying guide considers the feature of drink holder in the treadmill as important especially when it avoids getting off the treadmill every time users need a drink.

Treadmill buying guide emphasize on the wise selection of a treadmill. Treadmill buying guide makes users aware about the information of treadmill and the points they should consider while buying a treadmill. Treadmill buying guide helps user to buy a treadmill that suits his/her fitness needs and cost.

The author of the article is Atanu. He has well known authority and can visit at http://www.treadmill-walking.com/treadmill-buying-guide.html.