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Be Energy Efficient This Winter. This is the Best Wood To Heat Your Home
Be Energy Efficient This Winter. This is the Best Wood To Heat Your Home
Those who choose to heat their home with wood are becoming fewer and fewer. However, with more interested in a self-sustaining lifestyle and going off the grid, those numbers may begin to rise again. If you decided to heat your home with wood, there are simply some types of wood that are better to burn in your home.
Those who choose to heat their home with wood are becoming fewer and fewer. However, with more interested in a self-sustaining lifestyle and going off the grid, those numbers may begin to rise again. If you decided to heat your home with wood, there are simply some types of wood that are better to burn in your home.
There is nothing quite like a roaring fire to stand next to while listening to the crackles and pops on a subzero winter day while there’s a raging snowstorm blowing through. If you live in an area where those days are common in the winter, you probably know the benefits of having a wood burning stove firsthand. The heat is immediate and fills the space quickly as opposed to waiting for propane or electric heat to keep up. It’s also oddly comforting.
When talking about burning wood inside for heat, it is important to first talk about the quality of your wood burning stove. Using wood as the main heat source in your home is not for everyone. It’s actually lifestyle choice. Many summer days will be spent cutting and splitting wood to be used during the winter months and if you choose to buy firewood, the cost may not outweigh the benefits.
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6 Reasons to Bundle Up and Get Outside During Winter
6 Reasons to Bundle Up and Get Outside During Winter
Brrrr! Winter is here, and if it is chilly in your neck of the woods, you might be tempted to hunker down and stay indoors until Spring arrives.
Winter can really take a toll on our moods, making even the warmest personalities turn as chilly as the air outside. It’s getting dark at 5 pm now, and you might find yourself making excuses to stay inside, bundled up in cozy blankets in front of the fire.
However, staying indoors during the colder months won’t do anything to improve your mood or your health – in fact, research suggests the opposite is true.
You don’t have to spend hours outside to reap the benefits. Just a few minutes a day has been proven to improve mood and physical health.
So, bundle up and get out there!
Here are six reasons to get outside during winter.
Sunlight helps your body produce Vitamin D.
On sunny days, go outside and soak up some of the “Sunshine Vitamin” – Vitamin D. It is unique in that it is a vitamin AND a hormone your body can make with help from the sun. Research suggests that low levels of vitamin D are associated with mood disorders and depression.
Vitamin D deficiency is not uncommon. Because we spend more time indoors during winter, it can be hard to get enough – which is why getting some sunlight is so important during the colder months.
Some vitamin D researchers have found that somewhere between 5–30 minutes of sun exposure between 10 AM and 3 PM at least twice a week to the face, arms, legs, or back without sunscreen usually leads to sufficient vitamin D synthesis. Indoor light therapy can help, too.
Time outdoors boosts your immune system.
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Minutes a Day: How Stretching Improves Your Physical Wellness
Minutes a Day: How Stretching Improves Your Physical Wellness
Stretching in an instinctive movement and one we see in not only our physical behaviors but in the observation of animals. Looking more closely at our domesticated pets, we see this as a biological response that is ingrained in animals. As a result, they are more agile predators, with better balance and better muscular coordination.
Why is this movement ingrained in animal’s natures?
Stretching is a form of gentle massage for your major muscle groups and important to do before you exercise for the same reasons. It oxygenates the muscles you’re going to use, and at the same time prepares those muscles prior to doing work with them. This will prevent tearing or injuries. That in itself is worth the effort! You stretch before your workout, and after the workout is completed. Stretching will help with your flexibility and will also aid you in offsetting any muscular soreness post-workout.
Don’t become confused: stretching is not the same as warming up or cooling down, but you can combine elements of stretching with both of those to obtain good results. The flexibility portion is very important as well. There are two types of stretching you should be aware of.
- Static stretches involve flexing or extending the body part and enabling the stretch to occur gradually and carefully.
- Dynamic stretching is more akin to what we talked about with waking up in the morning…a combination of stretching, extension, and massage.
You will find that it can help you if you have high physical activity in your workday and if you’re on your feet all day long. For the latter, some deep knee bends and then take a seat to massage the thighs and calves, and some calf-raises can help to get the circulation going and delay fatigue.
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Nature’s Multivitamin: The Ultimate Guide to Sprouting
Nature’s Multivitamin: The Ultimate Guide to Sprouting
While many of us are awakening to the dangers (ahem chemicals) that are in our food sources, not enough awareness is being made about some of the dangers that lie in over-the-counter vitamins. That’s right, some of your vitamins could be doing more harm than good.
Finding the right supplements can be a tricky endeavor. But, what if I told you it’s really not? In fact, you could easily grow your own vitamins naturally from the convenience of your kitchen window. What am I talking about? I’m talking about sprouts.
Sprouts are Power Packed
Sprouts are nature’s multivitamin and provide the highest amount of vitamins, minerals, proteins, and enzymes of any of food per unit of calorie. They are commonly referred to as a complete food because they are packed with high levels of complete proteins, vitamins, minerals, enzymes and extraordinary amounts of protein.
How Do Spouts Benefit the Body?
- Assists in healing the body
- Cleanse the body
- Prevents diseases
- Enhances the general functioning of bodily organs
- Aids in digestion
- Removes gas from the stomach
Some of our favorites are:
How To Get Started
You’re going to love this – almost anything can be made into a sprout (except for nightshade varieties like tomatoes and eggplants). The most common types of seeds to sprout include alfalfa, grains, peas, lentils, radish, broccoli, cabbage, mustard seed, garbanzos, quinoa, nuts, and red clover. Sprouts can be grown every week for continuous staggered batches. In fact, there are sprout kits available to help you expand your sprouting palate.
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5 Easy Ways To Boost Your Immune System Naturally During Cold And Flu Season
5 Easy Ways To Boost Your Immune System Naturally During Cold And Flu Season
Not everyone is on board with the flu shot once winter rolls around. If you are one of those who doesn’t want to get the shot, this guide is for you! It is possible to boost your immune system naturally and give your body the extra edge this cold and flu season without getting the controversial shot.
1. Cut Back On The Booze And Smoking
The first thing to do to get your body ready to fight off all those germs is to cut back on alcoholic drinks. Excessive consumption of alcohol impairs the immune system and increases vulnerability to lung infections. Consider cutting back or quitting smoking too if you enjoy this indulgence. Tobacco smoke undermines basic immune defenses and raises the risk of bronchitis and pneumonia in everyone including in those around you who breathe in the second-hand smoke. It’s been known to aggravate and increase the likelihood of middle ear infections in kids.
2. Eat More Citrus Fruits, Veggies, Nuts, and Seeds
You can also begin eating healthier. Even if dieting is not your thing, having a well-balanced and vitamin and mineral rich diet will benefit your body in several ways, including that much needed immune system boost. Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits, and try to get in healthier fats, such as seeds and nuts. On top of feeling better in general, add citrus fruits specifically. Fruits such as oranges, grapefruits, and lemons have high vitamin C content, and that’s one of the most powerful vitamins to boost when feeling ill.
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This Small Change Increased Bee Populations by 45%
This Small Change Increased Bee Populations by 45%
We’ve known for years that bee populations all across North America and Europe are collapsing at an alarming rate.
Our very existence relies on the tiny buzzing creatures, as we explained in Will the Extinction of Bees Really Mean the End of Humanity?
This is a huge threat to our food supply. One-third of all the food we eat comes from plants that are pollinated by insects, and 80% of those crops are pollinated by bees. It also has big implications for our meat supply as well: plants (like alfalfa) that feed animals are pollinated by bees.
The largest international survey of insect pollinators found that just 2 percent of wild bee species now account for 80 percent of global crop pollination.
Put bluntly, if all the bees die, humanity will follow.
There is one place where bee populations are growing and flourishing – Amsterdam, the capital city of the Netherlands.
According to a recent report from NBC News, the diversity of wild bee and honeybee species in the Dutch capital has increased by 45 percent since 2000!
The city of 2.3 million people attributes the success to creating bee-friendly environments like the overgrown, sunburnt patch of shrubs that commuters pass by daily.
The installation of “insect hotels” and a ban on the use of chemical pesticides on public land also appear to have played a role.
Geert Timmermans, an ecologist who works for the city, explained that four years ago, Amsterdam set a goal to convert half of all public green spaces to native plants. He added that residents and local businesses are provided with information on how to avoid using pesticides and the use of alternative treatments:
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Simple Ways To Help You Get Enough Leafy Greens During Winter
Simple Ways To Help You Get Enough Leafy Greens During Winter
Getting your daily dose of greens seems difficult for most people on a sunny day in the summer when they have those vegetable readily available. But come winter time, some all but stop eating those nutritious veggies that help keep the body running in tip-top condition. Because of that, we’ve come up with this helpful guide to show you how easy it is to still get your veggies in even when that blizzard rolls through!
Dark leafy greens like spinach, kale, or swiss chard are one of the items missing out of winter diets and can easily be grown indoors, but are often put on the wayside. That is unfortunate because those veggies are packed full of essential vitamins and nutrients. The United States Dietary Association (USDA) food guide also underscores this necessity. The food pyramid states that most adults need only 3 cups (servings) of leafy greens per day, but nutrition and health experts say that number is actually 5-9 cups per day, depending on your size. But that number is daunting to so many – even when conditions are ripe to consume that amount of leafy greens.
But the easiest way to make sure you’ve got enough is to simply eat a big salad for either lunch or dinner taking care of your leafy greens for the day. Of course, feel free to add any other vegetables you may like so the salad is flavored to your taste. After all, you’ll be trying to eat the entire thing in one sitting. Also, you should consider eating some healthy fat with the salad. You can try drizzling olive oil on it.
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Colorado Declares A Disaster Emergency Over A Lack Of Propane
Colorado Declares A Disaster Emergency Over A Lack Of Propane
An emergency declaration was made in Colorado on Christmas Eve. The state was suffering from a lack of propane. A series of problems led to the emergency declaration, but even minimal prepping could have helped those who were among the allegedly affected.
The propane supplies are now on the rise after the shortage prompted the state’s governor, John Hickenlooper to declare a disaster emergency over the Christmas holiday. Many are crediting the governor for his quick action (signing a piece of paper declaring an emergency is allegedly “helping”) to avert a crisis. While the shortage could have left thousands without heat in Colorado during winter, it seems like if you live in a colder climate, you’d have a backup source of heat anyway. The governor’s “action” was likely nothing more than simple fear mongering brainwashing the public to believe they cannot survive without the government on their own.
There have even been some reports claiming there never was a shortage, adding even more evidence that the disaster declaration is nothing more than a confusing bit of fear mongering. Officials say the shortage stems from in-state production issues, which have forced propane suppliers to turn to out-of-state resources. But many in the industry don’t know where these so-called officials have gotten their information. As part of his declaration, Hickenlooper relaxed his own restrictions on how many hours drivers can work, allowing more propane to be delivered. But this would have all been useless propaganda and immediately labeled as nothing more than fear mongering had those affected by the disaster declaration been adequately prepared and not subjugated by the fear of a shortage that may never have existed, to begin with.
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Workout Like the Pros: How Pre-Loading Meals Get You the Best Workouts
Workout Like the Pros: How Pre-Loading Meals Get You the Best Workouts
Ready Nutrition guys and gals, let it never be said that I under-emphasize weight training and physical conditioning. I believe it to be the centerpiece of keeping yourself in good health both physically and mentally. That being said, you need to give yourself an “edge” in your training. Train intelligently and with purpose, and you will garner significant results. Nutrition is the cornerstone of proper training. That being mentioned, we’re going to cover pre-loads in terms of both supplements and “standard” foods that will help you prior to a workout.
Everyone varies, and everybody is different. In the morning, I can’t stand to eat anything just before I lift. The food never sits well in my stomach. My pre-load comes the night before, in the form of high protein and ample carbohydrates. Let’s discuss this. Your body will digest the food slowly from the night before…especially if you eat very late at night, such as 10 pm or later. I like to finish up my meal about 7 pm if possible.
I stack up the high protein, and medium to high carbohydrates, the latter in the form of potatoes or pasta. I prefer the potatoes: they are more readily-absorbable and digestible for your system. The carbs and proteins provide energy and tissue repair, in that order. They “fortify” you by giving you a load of energy to work with after you arise in the morning. This may not sound important, but it is. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but it does not detract from the fact that they’re all important.
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How To Prevent And Naturally Treat The Dreaded Stomach Flu This Winter
How To Prevent And Naturally Treat The Dreaded Stomach Flu This Winter
It always seems like this time of year brings the stomach flu along with all of the other viruses floating around in public. But there are simple things you can do to prevent yourself from getting sick, and there are natural and healthy ways to ensure you feel better faster if you do come down with this nasty bug.
What is the stomach flu?
The stomach flu, also known as gastroenteritis, is an infection of the intestines. The viruses responsible for this illness are often the norovirus and the rotavirus. The symptoms of the stomach flu include nausea, vomiting, watery diarrhea, a low-grade fever, and abdominal pain. Usually, these symptoms subside in less than two days or even 24 hours in some cases. The Mayo Clinic suggests contacting a doctor if vomiting has persisted for more than two days, there’s bloody diarrhea, you have vomited blood, or have a fever about 104. All of these can be signs of a more severe infection, one not caused by the norovirus or rotavirus.
Noroviruses: Both children and adults are affected by noroviruses, the most common cause of foodborne illness worldwide. Norovirus infection can sweep through families and communities. It’s especially likely to spread among people in confined spaces. In most cases, you pick up the virus from contaminated food or water, although person-to-person transmission also is possible.
Rotavirus: Worldwide, this is the most common cause of viral gastroenteritis in children, who are usually infected when they put their fingers or other objects contaminated with the virus into their mouths. The infection is most severe in infants and young children. Adults infected with rotavirus may not have symptoms, but can still spread the illness — of particular concern in institutional settings because infected adults unknowingly can pass the virus to others.
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How To Put Measures Together to Weatherproof Food and Water in Winter
How To Put Measures Together to Weatherproof Food and Water in Winter
In those articles, I stressed the importance of a thermos during the winter to carry (at a bare minimum) hot water. I recommend the water over coffee for several reasons. First, coffee is a diuretic, and this means that an excessive amount will cause you to lose water through urination. If you drink as much coffee as I do, it is not so much an issue there, as your body will compensate with the increased intake. Secondly and more importantly, you can do more with a thermos of hot water than you can with coffee.
Hot water can be used for soup (think “Vitamin R,” as we called it in the Army or Ramen), and if you are the way I am…you can pack either a jar or a Tupperware container with instant coffee. The hot water is invaluable to restore your core temperature if you need to do so. One thermos is good, and two is even better. Be sure to insulate your thermos, at a bare minimum by wrapping a heavy blanket around it. I have two old sweatshirt sleeves, very thick. The wide part goes over the top and to the bottom, folded, and the other sleeve wide part over the bottom, and up to the top. Voila! Just this little measure extends the heating time/life of the thermos by about 4-6 hours. No, really: it works.
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25 Hardcore Healthy Foods You Need in Your Emergency Pantry
25 Hardcore Healthy Foods You Need in Your Emergency Pantry
Normally, enough notice is provided to allow time to run out to purchase items prior to a storm’s arrival. It is tempting to stock up on convenient comfort foods before a disaster, but this isn’t ideal. For example, many freeze-dried foods are notorious for having excessive amounts of sodium – thus causing you to consume more water to make up for it (oops, there goes your stored water supply!). Staying hydrated in winter is especially important – your body needs more water during winter than it does during the warmer months. And, remember – you will need to store enough water for drinking AND for cooking.
Surviving on your favorite junk foods may leave you feeling dehydrated, drained, and stressed, which will make enduring a sustained emergency situation even more difficult.
Building an adequate emergency pantry takes time and planning to make it fully functional. Ideally, you will store nutritious shelf-stable foods that your family normally consumes (and enjoys), as well as foods that serve many purposes.
Learn how to build a well-stocked pantry using a layering system: The Prepper’s Cookbook: 300 Recipes to Turn Your Emergency Food into Nutritious, Delicious, Life-Saving Meals, or The One-Year Pantry, Layer by Layer.
How to build a pantry stocked with nutritious, energizing foods
When selecting foods to add to your emergency pantry, focus on the most nutrient-dense items you can find that are also shelf-stable, with a focus on macronutrients.
Macronutrients are compounds found in all foods that humans consume in the largest quantities, providing the bulk of our calories (energy) from our diets. The three main categories are protein, carbohydrate, and fat.
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You’ll Absolutely Need This Frugal Prep in the Event of a Total Collapse
You’ll Absolutely Need This Frugal Prep in the Event of a Total Collapse
One area you may wish to invest that is within your budget is gear that you can stow due to its collapsible nature that will help you out when you need it when the going gets tough. I’m talking about more than a “mess kit” for your food, or a sleeping pad for under your sleeping bag.
I’m referring to nylon bags that you can stow in your vehicle, in your backpack, or even keep on your person.
When it hits the fan, there’s going to be a tremendous amount of disorder. In this case, we’re putting English Property Laws and the innumerable, uncountable laws of the United States, its states, counties, towns, neighborhoods, etc., aside. This is information you will need for a disaster, for a collapse, or TEOTWAWKI (The End of the World as we Know it), i.e., “this is the end” pat phrase. There will be a tremendous amount of stuff laying around, or stuff that you are going to need. Scavenge when you are able, and use the nylon bags to do it.
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Basics of Exercise and Staying in Shape Over the Holidays
Basics of Exercise and Staying in Shape Over the Holidays
If you are just beginning and can begin at least a three-day program for yourself during the week, all the better. Let’s start with the basics: What do you want for yourself? Are you looking to trim fat, or is that not a problem? Do you want size and muscle mass? Do you want to be toned and lean?
Endurance Training and Strength Training
- Aerobic/Endurance Training: This type of exercise is meant to develop the cardiovascular (heart), respiratory (lungs), and metabolic (digestion, absorption, and excretion) systems. Aerobic training helps you to control weight. The following (non-exhaustive) list outlines aerobic training activities: walking, jogging, running, swimming, bicycling, and aerobics (in the form of exercises, dance, or a combination). Sports that are aerobic in nature that develop endurance of those three systems mentioned are tennis, basketball, long-distance races/competitions, and triathlons, the latter being the pinnacle of endurance tests.
- Strength Training: This is also called Resistance training, and it amounts to weight training or lifting weights. Now, the AMA (American Medical Association) standard for Resistance Training is to find out your 1RM (one rep maximum) for a weightlifting exercise. Then take ½ of this and attempt to perform the exercise for 10 repetitions. Sounds pretty canned, and it is: keep in mind it is a basic concept that you can use as a starting point.
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Immune System-Boosting Nutrients You May Need During Fall and Winter
Immune System-Boosting Nutrients You May Need During Fall and Winter
Hibernating works for bears, bees, and bats, but unfortunately, is not ideal for humans. We require sunlight, year-round physical activity, and a steady supply of seasonal nutrients.
Fall and winter bring with them many joys (no more mosquitoes! the holidays are coming!), but they also bring with them conditions that make staying healthy a bit trickier.
For many of us, the shorter, colder days of fall and winter mean less sunlight exposure, less exercise, and less access to fresh produce.
We tend to get sick more often during fall and winter, but there are things we can do to reduce the risk.
Why do we get ill more often during colder months?
Being cold doesn’t directly cause us to get sick, but cold air may contribute to conditions that lead to illness, according to a report by Healthline. Factors related to colder weather may actually be the culprits. Some viruses prefer the chillier weather, including rhinoviruses (they cause the common cold and replicate better at cooler temperatures) and influenza viruses(they peak in winter). The dry air outside and in homes with central heating may make it easier for viruses to infect dry nasal passages. Low indoor humidity and poor ventilation may also play a role. And, because we tend to spend more time inside with other people during the colder months, we are more likely to share germs.
The “Winter Blues” and Seasonal Affective Disorder can play a role, too.
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