David's Blog

3 Tips and 5 Myths on Weight Loss and Exercise!!!

David Soto - Chicago Real Estate Expert (Apartment Brokers) — Tue, 26 May 2009 15:15:24 -0500

Hello and I would like to welcome everyone to my brief article on weight loss and exercise myths. I will present three weight loss tips and five fat loss myths about exercise. This is good for for all those starting off on a diet and exercise plan or if you are already on one. These are basic tips but definitely something we must know.

Tip # 1 - Nutrition
One basic step we must do is eliminate sugar., just by doing this simple step it will put you way ahead of the game. There is much more and goes beyond than just eliminating sugar but this is a very good place to start. After sugar we will need to work on eimanating processed foods A sample of process foods would consist of rice cakes, which many people think its good for you just because there low on carbs, which is true but they don't do anything for you , it just like eating air, there is no nutritional value to rice cakes, so you will still have to eat something nutritious for your body to benefit from it,

Tip # 2 - Exercise
Most people right after new years starting looking to exercise, they jump on the treadmill or the elliptical and start burning a lot of calories, might even loss a few pounds in the first couple of weeks or so, which is good but most only do it for short term. We have to look at it for the long term, mainly to get the metabolism up, that how the weight will stay off. When exercising have to look at not only burning calories but developing lean body mass, so the calories keep burning even Thur out the day even when we're not exercising..

Tip # 3 - Lifestyle
This is a major component of any exercise plan, this will decide if your program will be successful or not, all of us been down this road plenty of times, where we hit the exercise plan hard for two or three weeks than stop, and go back to our normal lifestyle before the exercise. In order for us to make it successful, we have to manage it into our lifestyle and see it as a natural part of our life that we love and not as something that we have to do like a chore or deed. If we see it as something natural and as something that we really enjoy we'll find a way to live it out for the lorn term. if you can stick with it and live with it for at least 21-30 days there is a good chance you'll be one of the lucky ones that will see it all the way Thur.
An import fact to keep in mind is in order to truly be successful with any weight loss plan, all three tips must play into effect at the same time not just doing one or two of the three. When all three are done results will be notice.

5 Fat Loss Myths: Why Long, Slow Boring Cardio is not the Best Fat Loss Program to Increase Your Metabolism and Burn Belly Fat.

Myth #1 - You Have to Do Cardio in the Morning on an Empty Stomach in order to Burn Fat
There is no fat loss magic to doing cardio on an empty stomach. In fact, most trainers "in-the-know" are using intervals instead of slow, boring cardio to help their clients burn fat fast. Plus, who wants to be doing boring cardio at 6am while their stomach is rumbling? If you could find better home fitness workouts to burn fat, wouldn't you do those instead?

Myth #2 - You Have to Do Cardio in the Fat Burning Zone
By exercising in the fat burning "Zone", as some folks like to call it, you only burn a few extra calories than if you weren't doing any exercise at all! Slow, boring cardio workouts are not the best way to lose belly fat. If you truly want to change your body, you need to use short, burst exercise home fitness workouts.

Myth #3 - You Have to Do Cardio 7 Days Per Week
You don't need to workout everyday. The truth is, you only need to do 3 short home fitness workouts per week of 45 minutes.

Myth #4 You Have to Do Cardio for at Least 20 Minutes Before You Start Burning Fat
We're burning fat all the time, even while you sit here and read this message. Sure, exercise increases our fat burning, but it's not as though the first 20 minutes of any workout don't burn fat. That makes no sense at all! I'll show you how the short, burst exercise system helps you achieve more fat loss in less than half the time of a regular cardio workout.

Myth #5 - You Can't Lose Fat and Gain Muscle at the Same Time
Scientific research says, "Yes, you can!" A recent study found that men and women can gain muscle and lose fat at the same time , there are plenty of exercise out there that not only focus on burning calories but at the same time focus on building lean body mass.

Hope you enjoy the three tips on weight loss and the five myths about fat loss exercise
If you would like to learn more about burning fat or building lean body mass Click Here! for an excellent program I found online that will help you shed those pounds away!

Best regards,

Your Weight Loss Enthusiast

A Spring Checklist for Your Home

David Soto - Chicago Real Estate Expert (Apartment Brokers) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:34:16 -0500

Whether you're selling or not, check these 5 home trouble spots

Don't let problems around the house turn into money drains. To help you protect your most valuable asset -- your home -- Consumer Reports suggests you should be on the lookout for these five potential issues and learn how to fix them:

1. Hazardous deck. Look for water stains where the deck ties to the house. Ongoing water leakage can lead to wood decay, weakening the deck structure and the house. If you have any doubt about the structural integrity of the deck, call a professional to investigate. Rid your deck of moss and mold with the help of pressure washers. Remember, if you see wood damage, like raised fibers, increase the distance between the spray nozzle and the decking.

2. Dirty air conditioner. Disconnect electric power to the outdoor condenser on your air conditioner and clear it of leaves and debris with a vent brush, power blower, garden hose or the brush attachment on your vacuum cleaner. If the cooling fins are exposed, be careful not to bend them. (If your yard has lots of trees and plants, wrap fiberglass mesh around the condenser coil to capture pollen and leaves. Replace the mesh as needed. Don't allow debris to block airflow.) Vacuum the grille and register inside the home to ensure good airflow. And change your furnace filter.

3. Foundation fissures. Hairline cracks in foundation walls might be the result of concrete curing or minor settling and aren't automatically cause for alarm. Mark them with tape and check them again in a few months. If they've worsened, call a structural engineer. If they're stable, fill them with an epoxy-injection system. Also, fill in holes in siding and foundation walls with expandable foam. Check that the ground around the foundation slopes away from the house (about 1 inch per foot). Look for pellet-shaped droppings or shed wings from termites. Clear the area of leaves, in which rodents can nest.

4. Faulty garage-door opener. To check that the door is balanced, release it into the manual mode and lift it by hand. The door should lift easily and smoothly and stay open on its own about 3 feet off the ground. If it doesn't, hire a garage-door technician to counterbalance its overhead spring . Next, set the reversing force on the opener as low as possible. Place a 2x4 board on the ground under the door, wide side down. The door should pop back up when it hits the 2x4. If it doesn't, call a garage-door pro. Test the photoelectric eyes by holding the 2x4 between them. The door should reverse direction. If it doesn't, have it checked by a pro.

5. Leaky roof. Leaks typically occur around an inadequately flashed chimney, skylight or other opening. They're easiest to spot in the attic; inspect the rafters for water stains. Patching leaks is best left to a professional. While the contractor is on the roof, have him clean leaves from roof valleys. Examine the siding under roof eaves, and the ceilings in the rooms below, for water or discoloration, indications that ice dams might have created leaks along the roof edge.
Inspect the roof for cracked, curled or missing shingles. Asphalt shingles typically last 20 years.

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If your buying, selling or financing a home, call your local real estate expert: David Soto ---- www.davidsoto.point2agent.com

Selling a Home Requires Savvy

David Soto - Chicago Real Estate Expert (Apartment Brokers) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:25:20 -0500

by Jonathan Clements
Friday, February 29, 2008

If you're selling a car or a house in today's sluggish economy, make sure the price is right.

Americans are constantly buying stuff. But most of us don't do a whole lot of selling -- which means we don't have much experience at setting prices.

Want to improve your odds of finding a buyer? As you try to unload your car or your home, consider these four pricing tricks.

• Looking slim. We all know that $1.99 is barely less than $2. Yet retailers continue to use this trick -- because there's ample evidence it works.

"When we look at prices, we make judgments in a fraction of a second," explains Manoj Thomas, a marketing professor at Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management. "We read from left to right. We anchor our judgment on the first thing we see."

For instance, if you're trying to sell your old car that you think is worth $8,000, you might set the price at $7,999. Potential buyers will read the seven first -- and have a sense the car is cheaper than it really is.

Alternatively, you might start at $8,222 and then quickly drop the price to $8,111. One study of price comparisons found that, if the left digits are the same, buyers will focus on the right-hand numbers.

At that point, buyers perceive the discount to be larger if those right numbers are declining from, say, two to one rather than from nine to eight. Even though the decline is the same in dollar terms, "people think they're getting a better deal," says one of the study's co-authors, Robin Coulter, a marketing professor at the University of Connecticut.

• Stacking up. As buyers check out your car or your house, they'll have in mind a price they are willing to pay. The good news: You can influence that price.

"You should list higher than you're willing to accept," says Alan Cooke, a marketing professor at the University of Florida's Warrington College of Business. "If you ask a high price, people use that as information in setting their reference price. But there's also evidence that, if you set a price that is implausibly high, the impact will be less than if you set a price that's more reasonable."

In addition, you can affect the reference price of buyers by, for instance, telling them your car's book value or sharing the price of competing properties in the neighborhood. The obvious caveat: Only pass along this information if the comparisons are in your favor.

• Sending messages. Imagine you're selling your house, which you figure might fetch a little under $600,000. A round number, such as $595,000, will convey quality, while a precise number, like $595,385, will indicate a bargain.

The reason: We associate precise numbers with lower-priced goods. A precise number may also signal that you have given a heap of thought to the price and you aren't inclined to negotiate.

Trying to settle on an asking price for your home? "If it's a new development and you're trying to give the impression of prestige, you would want to go for the round number," advises Vicki Morwitz, a marketing professor at New York University's Stern School of Business. "But if you're going for the quick sale and you want to give the impression of a bargain, you would want to go for the precise number."

• Cutting prices. In today's housing market, many homeowners are struggling to find a buyer.

Thinking of dropping your asking price? Suppose that, as in the above example, you initially asked $595,385. If you lower the price to, say, $578,495, potential buyers may perceive the price drop as relatively modest.

"You want to make the computation as easy as possible," Cornell's Prof. Thomas says. "If you use digits that make computation difficult, it will lead to a perception of a small difference."

What to do? You might specify the dollar discount -- or, alternatively, lower the price from $595,385 to maybe $580,385 or $575,385. That way, it will be easy for buyers to calculate the price drop.

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If your buying, selling, or financing your home, feel free to contact your local real estate expert... David Soto http://davidsoto.point2agent.com