Saturday, 3 August 2013

Washington Monument

> Construction begun: 1848
> Construction compete: 1885
> Cost to build: $1.188 million
> Admission fee: None
> Average annual visitors: 481,170

The monument to the country’s first president has been closed since August 2011 to repair earthquake damage. The cost of the repair has been estimated at $15 million, with half coming from a private donor and the other half from a federal grant. A restoration project begun in 1996 and completed in 2000 was supported by private donations totaling about $5 million. The obelisk itself is 555 feet high and, until the Eiffel tower was completed in 1889, the Washington Monument was the tallest man-made structure in the world.

The Lincoln Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial, which alone had nearly 6.2 million visitors last year, is not just the most visited presidential monument or memorial in the country, but the most visited memorial or monument of any kind in the country. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed some of the other memorials and monuments devoted to the U.S. presidents. Each site gets an average of more than 100,000 visitors each year, and combined, they get more than 13 million a year. Based on numbers from the National Park Service, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the seven presidential monuments and memorials that had the most visitors last year.
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While most presidents, particularly the famous ones, have several historic visitor sites located all over the country, these are usually located at places that are specifically notable to the life of the president they are honoring. An example is the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park, which gets more than 150,000 visitors each year.
These seven monuments and memorials, on the other hand, are based primarily in Washington, D.C., where these men served, and where a larger number of visitors can be expected. The top five memorials are all located in Washington on or nearby the National Mall.
Most of these monuments were built in the late 19th century or in the first half of the 20th century. These monuments are all large, marble structures with columns. The few built after the 1950s, including the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove, are less traditional. The FDR Memorial features a group of statues forming a bread line, commemorating the president’s actions during the Great Depression.
Combined, these memorials and monuments dedicated to presidents account for close to half of the combined 30.5 million visitors to national memorials and monuments each year. Other popular locations include sites dedicated to wars, like the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the World War II Memorial and the Korean War Memorial. Martin Luther King Jr.’s memorial also receives more than 2.6 million visitors each year.
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Based on the National Park Service’s database of places, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the seven most popular memorials dedicated to presidents. To make the list, the site needed to receive more than 100,000 visitors each year, based on a five-year average between 2008 and 2012.

7. General Grant National Memorial
> Cornerstone laid: 1891
> Construction compete: 1897
> Cost to build: $600,000
> Admission fee: None
> Average annual visitors (2008-2012): 101,832

Friday, 2 August 2013

The Scariest Water Slides in the World

Water slide season is in full swing, so we decided to showcase some of the scariest rides under water. From Indiana to Austria, get ready to virtually ride by sharks, down massive vertical drops, and even through two loops. Two loops! If these rides don't cool you off, they'll definitely make you pee your swim trunks.

Tuesday, 30 July 2013

Princesses in north India win a royal fortune

NEW DELHI (AP) — It has all the makings of a best-selling novel. An Indian maharaja crowned as a toddler and rich beyond imagination falls into a deep depression in old age after losing his only son.
After his own death a few months later, his daughters, the princesses, don't get the palaces, gold and vast lands they claim as their birthright. Instead, they are given a few dollars a month from palace officials they accuse of scheming to usurp the royal billions with a forged will. The fight rages for decades.
On Saturday, an Indian court brought the chapter to a close, ruling that the will of Maharaja Harinder Singh Brar of Faridkot was fabricated.
His daughters will now inherit the estimated $4 billion estate, instead of a trust run by his former servants and palace officials.
Chief judicial magistrate Rajnish Kumar Sharma, in the northern city of Chandigarh, finally gave his ruling on the case filed by the maharaja's eldest daughter, Amrit Kaur, in 1992, a court official said Monday. The court official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The Faridkot riches were legend in India's Punjab state.
The estate includes a 350-year-old fort, palaces and forests lands in Faridkot, a mansion surrounded by acres of land in the heart of India's capital New Delhi and similar properties spread across four states. The 18 cars include a Rolls Royce, a Daimler and a Bentley, all in running condition.
In addition, there is an aerodrome in Faridkot, spread over 200 acres, which is being used by the Punjab state administration and the army.
And more than 10 billion rupees ($170 million) worth of gold, jewelry studded with diamonds, rubies and emeralds.
Brar himself was a boy-king who grew up amid the final gasps of India's royal families. He was crowned maharaja of the tiny kingdom of Faridkot in western Punjab — the last maharaja it would turn out — at the age of 3, upon his father's death.
After India won independence from Britain in 1947, Faridkot and hundreds of other small kingdoms were absorbed into the country, royal titles and power were abolished and the royal families were given a fixed salary from the Indian government. That payment, the "privy purse," was abolished in 1971.
Some royals slipped into penury, some converted their former palaces into luxury hotels to provide them an income.
A few, like Brar, held onto their enormously profitable real estate and continued to live a rarefied life.
But in 1981, Brar's only son, Tikka Harmohinder Singh, was killed in a road accident and he tumbled into a deep depression. It was then, his three daughters' argued, that his trusted aides connived to deprive his family of their fortune. They set up the Meharawal Khewaji Trust, naming all the maharaja's servants, officials and lawyers as trustees.
A short time after Brar's death in 1989, a will leaving all his wealth to the trust became public. The two younger princesses, Deepinder Kaur and Maheepinder Kaur, were given monthly salaries of $20 and $18 respectively. Brar's wife, mother and oldest daughter — the presumed heir — were cut off without a penny.
The trust told the court that Amrit Kaur had been shunned by her father for marrying against his wishes.
Kaur told the court that her father had never made a will and that she had remained with him until his death.
In the two decades that it has taken for the court to give its ruling, much has changed. The value of the estates has increased manifold. The New Delhi properties alone are worth about $350 million. One of his daughters, Maheepinder Kaur, died. Amrit and Deepinder are in their 80s.
The family's lawyer, Vikas Jain, told India's Financial Express newspaper that some of the fortune had been squandered.
The trust is weighing a challenge to the Chandigarh court order in a higher court, news reports said Monday.
"The will was real and it was not forged. The trust, after going through the order in detail, could challenge it in an upper court," Ranjit Singh, a lawyer for the trust, was quoted as telling The Times of India newspaper.

McDonald's McDouble: Cheapest, Most Nutritious Food in History? No Way.

Thank heavens for the McDonald’s McDouble cheeseburger, “one of the unsung wonders of modern life.” Right?

Wrong!

More on Shine: McDonald's Alums' Big Bet on Healthy Food

Though the unhealthiness of fast food should be pretty much a given at this point, New York Post columnist Kyle Smith has giddily praised the McDouble not only as an unsung wonder but also as a wonderful way for people to eat cheaply and healthfully. In his nearly-800-word opinion, published Monday, Smith praised the McDouble’s $1 price and pitted “class snobs, locavore foodies and militant anti-corporate types” against “the poor.” He mysteriously called organics “the Abercrombie and Fitch jeans of food,” and even challenged the notion that fast food is linked to obesity.

More on Yahoo!: Vegetarians Live Longer and Prosper: Study

Smith’s column was inspired by a recent Freakonomics radio podcast titled “A Burger a Day,” in which host Kai Ryssdal based his show around a comment from a listener (Ralph Thomas) calling the McDouble “the cheapest, most nutritious and bountiful food that has ever existed in human history.”

Oh, Thomas and Smith, where to even begin to tear down your crazy claims?

Let’s start with the plainest of facts: nutritional content. One McDouble contains 19 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat and 1 gram of trans fat, representing a whopping 29 percent, 42 percent, and 65 percent of your USDA daily allowance intakes, respectively, in just a single meal. The cholesterol content is at 22 percent of daily allowance—so if you’ve already had more than one egg for breakfast, you’re sunk, way before dinnertime. Fiber is at a woeful 2 grams, or 7 percent of the daily recommended intake (DRI). And the sandwich contains 850 mg of sodium, which is a pretty high 35 percent of the daily limit.

“It’s a pretty extreme claim,” Jim White, a registered dietician and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, told Yahoo! Shine about Smith’s column. “My main problem is it’s got 40 percent of the saturated fat for the day,” he explained, which can only add to the problem of lower-income populations having higher rates of disease. "I'm worried about heart disease. And I hate to hear a claim like this," he added, "because affordable foods can still be healthy."

So, taking cost in to account, what's the alternative?

As a guest on the Freakonomics broadcast, Mother Jones food columnist Tom Philpott wisely suggested that you “get a pound of brown rice, organic, and a pound of red lentils for about two bucks each. And a serving size, say a cup of each of those things, would be about 75 cents.” And check out the nutritional benefits: That serving size of red lentils contains 57 percent of DRI for fiber, 18 grams of protein (compared with 23 for the double burger), less than one gram of total fat, zero percent sodium and no cholesterol. The brown rice, meanwhile, adds 14 percent of daily fiber and 5 grams of protein, with a scant 1.8 total grams of fat and no sodium or cholesterol.

But Smith responded to that solution by snarkily dodging the issue. “Great idea,” he wrote. “Now go open a restaurant called McBoiled Lentils and see how many customers line up.”

He basically echoes an opinion shared on Freakonomics, in which guest Blake Hurst, a corn and soy farmer, declared, “I’m sorry, there is no amount of marketing that’s going to make me prefer brown rice and lentils over a McDonald’s cheeseburger.”

Are people like Smith truly concerned about feeding poor people nutritiously and cheaply? Or are they perpetuating corporate, agri-business myths that help to brainwash Americans into believing that healthy, plant-based whole foods are snobbish, while fat-drenched and antibiotic-laden meats and processed foods are cool?

While the cheeseburger may cost a mere buck, it brings with it less obvious costs related to healthcare. A constant stream of studies show that fast food contributes to heart disease and high blood pressure; a recent study found that vegetarians live longer than meat eaters due to having lower blood pressure. And while McDonalds has worked to lower the amount of antibiotics in its meats, it has not eliminated them entirely—something that concerns many health experts.

All of this does not even touch on the large carbon footprint and the inhumane treatment of animals that go into the making of McDoubles. But that kind of talk is what Smith is waiting for. “Activists will go anywhere to wave the banner of caring and plant their flagpole of social justice right in the foot of the working class,” he wrote. So I’ll save that part, and let the nutrition facts speak for themselves.

Lady Gaga Broke Her Hip, But ‘Nobody Knew’

Lady Gaga has been lying relatively low for the past six months following a hip injury that halted her Born This Way World Tour in February. While the hip injury was public knowledge (her camp issued a statement that she was suffering from a labral tear for which she underwent surgery), most people didn't know just how bad the injury really was.

Now the pop star has revealed it was much worse than she initially let on. "My injury was actually a lot worse than just a labral tear,” she says. “I had broken my hip. Nobody knew, and I haven’t even told the fans yet. But when we got all the MRIs finished before I went to surgery there were giant craters, a hole in my hip the size of a quarter, and the cartilage was just hanging out the other side of my hip. I had a tear on the inside of my joint and a huge breakage. The surgeon told me that if I had done another show I might have needed a full hip replacement. I would have been out at least a year, maybe longer.”

In an interview with Women's Wear Daily, the singer (born Stefani Germanotta) said that the recovery process was very difficult for her because she had to stop performing – and she hadn't gone two weeks without performing since she was 14 years old. It also meant she had to be wheeled around in a wheelchair that was more than just a fashion accessory. But it wasn't all bad.
"I had six months to beef up my brain and my body," Gaga says. "I got to put a giant white or black sheet of paint over my whole canvas and I got to review ARTPOP again. I was given the time to really be creative because it’s a gazing process, it really is. I have to gaze into the work for long periods of time for it to be good."
The time off the road allowed her to rehabilitate and gave her the space to work with her creative team, known as Haus of Gaga, to brainstorm ideas for her forthcoming ARTPOP album and multimedia art project. The album, which is due out November 11, will be preceded by the single, "Applause," on August 19 – the date of the album's presale. Gaga has revealed the cover artwork for the single, which features the 27-year-old singer in smeared, colorful clown-like face paint with her hair hidden underneath a dramatic black wrap.
The "Poker Face" singer said that she chose the cover image from the "Applause" video shoot, which took place recently in Los Angeles. "When I look at it I see that there is a longing for the applause," she says. "I see that there is a void that is leaking onstage, that the performer is leaking, that the art is sort of becoming something else in front of your eyes. Something more human, something more honest."

As for the sound of her new music, Gaga remains very tightlipped. But Little Monsters only need to be patient a little while longer, as the pop star is scheduled to return to her high heels for a performance at the MTV Video Music Awards on August 25, where it's rumored she'll sing "Applause," and she's sure to get plenty of it!

Friday, 26 July 2013

Mini hints at its future look with disco-floor Vision concept

Seven years can be an eternity in automotive design, even for a car like Mini whose very appeal lies in decades-old styling cues. Eager to continue Mini's growing global sales, its BMW overlords have been prepping a re-engineering of the Mini line, with the first models scheduled for a reveal this fall. Today, Mini's design director provided a preview of sorts with this concept, called the Mini Vision — showing that many things old will be new, again.

If you're not a Mini fan, this car will look mostly similar to the hundreds of thousands of Minis on the road, but the acolytes will spot a number of alterations — of which the LED ring around the headlamps that serves as a daytime running light may be the most production-ready feature. The grille has been chiseled outward into a more geometric shape, there's a cooling inlet ahead of the front wheels and the cladding takes some interesting detours around the body.
With such a constricting set of rules to work with on the exterior, Mini's designers focused much of their energy on the interior. Once again their efforts range from the realistic to the sci-fi; the "Driving Experience Control" that changes the color of the dashboard and interior lighting sounds well within reach. The "disco-like" floor with light-up arrows underneath the passengers' feet seems less so unless Mini has a special Studio 54 edition in the works. We'll see more of the future in September.

13 “Diet” Foods that Sabotage Weight Loss

Just like us, you're probably used to reaching automatically for items with a "health halo," such as spaghetti sauce (love that lycopene!), or labels like reduced fat!, low sodium!, and whole grain! But unless you're a super savvy shopper, be warned: Your diet may conceal some nasty surprises. That low-fat cottage cheese you love? It could be higher in sodium than potato chips. And the low-fat dressing you drizzle on your salad? It could contain nearly as much sugar as two chocolate chip cookies. The truth is that no manufacturer wants to compromise on flavor, so even healthy-sounding products can contain appalling levels of sugar, salt, and bad fats. To save you time, we've flushed out some of the most surprising diet food offenders--and found some truly healthy alternatives.

PLUS: While dieting can definitely help you reach your ideal body weight, make sure not to ditch these 7 supposedly "forbidden" foods that actually help you lose weight.

SNEAKY SALT Even foods that sound healthy can be loaded with salt--and that can spell trouble. Most Americans already consume double the recommended amount of sodium--currently set at 1,500 mg, or about 2/3 teaspoon of table salt. (The limit was just lowered by the National Academy of Sciences and the American Heart Association from 2,300 mg a day.) If you're in the high-intake group, that could significantly escalate your blood pressure and increase your risk of strokes and heart attacks (even if your blood pressure is normal), says Elisa Zied, RD, author of Nutrition at Your Fingertips.
1. Fast food chicken caesar salad

Culprit: McDonald's Premium Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken contains 890 mg of sodium--more than half the recommended daily limit. And that's without the Caesar dressing, which can pile on another 500 mg. (Select the low-fat Italian and it's even 30% higher!) In these ready-to-go salads, says Lona Sandon, RD, an assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, "the worst part is usually the chicken, which is often cooked in a high-sodium marinade for flavor and may also be injected with a sodium solution to keep the meat moist."

Smarter choice: Skip the entrée salad and go for the burger with a garden salad on the side. A McDonald's plain hamburger has 520 mg of sodium (250 calories, 9 g fat); add the side salad (20 calories, 0 g fat, 10 mg sodium) or snack-size fruit-and-walnut salad (210 calories, 8 g fat, 60 mg sodium).

2. Frozen chicken and pasta dinner

Culprit: Bertolli Roasted Chicken and Linguine packs a whopping 1,350 mg of sodium in a serving. And if you eat both servings in the 24-ounce package (it's not a stretch), you'll consume almost double your daily sodium in one sitting. Like other manufacturers, Bertolli uses the preservative sodium phosphate--in addition to table salt to flavor this frozen entreé.

Smarter choice: Amy's Kitchen Light in Sodium Black Bean Enchilada has just 190 mg of sodium per serving.

3. Boxed rice pilaf

Culprit: Near East Spanish Rice Pilaf contains 910 mg of sodium in its 2.5-ounce serving (240 calories, 0.5 g fat)--nearly two-thirds of the recommended daily dose (and more if you add butter as suggested). That's high, even by the standards of these supersimple dishes, which generally contain about 500 to 800 mg of sodium.

Smarter choice: Near East Original Plain Whole Grain Wheat Couscous contains no salt; simply season with your own spice blend. Bonus: Many herbs and spices like cilantro and turmeric are packed with disease-fighting phytonutrients.

4. Fat-free cottage cheese

Culprit: Breakstone's Fat-Free Cottage Cheese has 400 mg of sodium per 4-ounce serving (70 calories). That's like eating 2 ¼ 1-ounce bags of Lay's potato chips. In order to give cottage cheese its curds-and-whey consistency, manufacturers must add salt during production. This salt, plus the natural salt contained in the milk used to make the cheese, gives this typical health fixture a surprisingly high sodium level.

Smarter choice: Equally creamy and still diet friendly, Sorrento Low-Fat Ricotta (140 mg sodium and 100 calories per 4 ounces) is worth trying.

Try This: These 25 Delicious Detox Dishes make eating clean easy.

SNEAKY SUGAR You know that treats such as soda, ice cream, and cookies are loaded with the sweet stuff and could derail your diet plan. But various forms of sugar--especially high fructose corn syrup--sneak into a wide array of savory items, too, where you would hardly expect to find them. "When you remove fat, you also remove moisture, so manufacturers add sugar to help retain moisture and flavor," notes Sandon. Besides the obvious danger to your teeth and your weight, excess sugar ups your risk of heart disease. Remember: Your recommended limit is 25 g of added sugar a day (about 6 teaspoons, or 100 calories). *A glass of cranberry juice cocktail can have more sugar than 7 chocolate chip cookies!

5. Regular jarred tomato sauce

Culprit: Prego Traditional Italian Sauce sounds like a healthy food. (How could "traditional" marinara be anything other than wholesome?) But its third ingredient is sugar, which is added to balance out the acidity. Combined with the natural sugars in the tomatoes, that makes for a total of 10 g.

Smarter choice: Muir Glen Organic Garlic Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce has only 4 g of sugar. For an option that's also low-salt, try Amy's Organic Low Sodium Marinara Sauce (5 g sugar and just 100 mg sodium).

6. Fruit juice cocktails

Culprit: At 33 g per 8-ounce glass, Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Cocktail has as much sugar as a can of soda. (The word cocktail is a red flag.)

Smarter choice: For a refreshing (and guilt-free!) alternative, try flavored seltzer, such as Vintage Raspberry Seltzer (0 g added sugar).

7. Low-fat ice cream

Culprit: Häagen-Dazs Low-Fat Vanilla Frozen Yogurt has 21 g of sugar in a half-cup serving--nearly double the amount in real ice cream such as Edy's Grand French Vanilla (11 g) and close to your limit for the entire day.

Smarter choice: Edy's Whole Fruit No Sugar Added Fruit Bars will satisfy your sweet tooth with just 2 g of sugar and only 30 calories per serving (0 g fat).

8. Fat-free salad dressing

Culprit: Maple Grove Farms Fat Free Honey Dijon Salad Dressing has 8 g of sugar in 2 tablespoons. That's like tossing 10 jelly beans into your salad.

Smarter choice: Newman's Own Lighten Up Balsamic Vinaigrette has just 1 g of sugar (and 4 g fat). Wish-Bone Light Italian has 2 g of sugar (2.5 g fat).

RELATED: Fill up and boost your energy with these 12 Hunger-Fighting Power Salads.

SNEAKY FAT If low-fat foods add sugar to make up for missing flavor, then full-fat varieties must be healthy and satisfying, right? Not when you look over labels with an expert eye. One pitfall is heart-stopping saturated and trans fats, which increase blood sugar levels, blunt insulin resistance, and decrease your ratio of good to bad cholesterol. Then there's the serving size, which can trick you into thinking you're getting a dollop of fat-when you are actually getting most of a day's serving. Overall, try to keep fats to 35% of caloric intake. (In a 1,600-calorie diet, that's 62 g.)

*A serving of whole-milk Greek yogurt can have more fat than 3 small vanilla ice-cream cones! +

9. Baked veggie chips

Culprit: Calbee Snack Salad Snapea Crisps may be vegetable-based-and baked-but they still have 8 g of fat per 1-ounce serving. That's almost as much as a small bag of Lay's potato chips.

Smarter choice: For a chiplike feel with a protein bonus, try Glenny's Lightly Salted Soy Crisps, which have just 1 g of fat per serving (5 g protein and only 170 mg sodium). If you're looking for vegetable chips as a healthy snack, try Just Tomatoes, Etc.! Just Veggies, a mix of freeze-dried carrots, corn, peas, peppers, and tomatoes that has 1 g of fat (4 g protein and just 40 mg sodium).

TRY THIS: Snacks That Power Up Weight Loss

10. Greek yogurt

Culprit: Fage Total Plain Classic Greek Yogurt has 23 g of fat (18 g saturated) and 300 calories in 1 cup. That's not to say there aren't good reasons to buy this ultrathick and creamy yogurt. It's a great source of calcium (you'll get 25% of your daily value in a 1-cup serving) and protein (15 g), plus it has those good-for-your-gut live active cultures. But the whole-milk variety has 5 times the fat content of the 2% fat version and twice the calories (300, versus 150 in the 2% product).

Smarter choice: Fage Total 0% Plain Greek Yogurt is made with fat-free milk so it still provides all the calcium and cultures, and it even has a power-packed 20 g of protein, all with no fat and just 120 calories.

11. Movie theater popcorn

Culprit: When you survey the king-size choices at the concession stand, a smaller size popcorn seems like a smart choice. But think again: According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Regal (the country's biggest movie theater chain) serves a medium-size popcorn with 60 g of saturated fat (and 1,200 calories)--as much as five Burger King Whoppers. The problem: It's popped in artery-clogging oils, then topped with even more offending fats in the buttery topping. "They don't call them tubs for nothing," says CSPI senior nutritionist Jayne Hurley, RD.

Smarter choice: BYO. Newman's Own 94% Fat Free Microwave Popcorn has just 1.5 g of fat per serving, none of it saturated or trans fat. (Just don't get caught.) Popcorn addict? Avoid chemicals, calories, and sodium with these tips to prepare the perfect bowl of popcorn at home.

12. Poultry sausage

Culprit: Aidells Smoked Chicken and Apple sausage has 11 g of fat (3.5 g saturated) and 160 calories per link (and really, who eats just one link?). Many brands of poultry sausage have only slightly less fat than typical sweet Italian sausage (12 g) because they're often stuffed with some of the fattiest parts of the chicken, including the skin and dark meat.

Smarter choice: Low-fat grilled chicken breast has only 3 g of fat (and 140 calories) in 3 ounces

13. Frozen meatless Indian dinners

Culprit: Amy's Indian Paneer Tikka has 19 g of fat (and 320 calories) in a 9 1/2-ounce serving. You'd think going meatless would be a healthy choice, but you can blame the cheese (made with whole milk), as well as the oil the dish is cooked in.

Smarter choice: You don't need to swear off Indian completely. Amy's Indian Mattar Tofu provides protein (12 g) and also delivers fiber (5 g) with just 8 g of fat.

Federer stunned by Brands

Federer stunned by Brands in Swiss Open

Top seed Roger Federer suffered a shock 6-3 6-4 defeat by Germany's Daniel Brands in his opening match at his home Swiss Open on Thursday - the latest setback for the former world number one.The 17-times grand-slam champion was beaten in 66 minutes by the 55th-ranked Brands in the second round in Gstaad, a week after beating the same player in the Hamburg tournament."It helped that I already played him in Hamburg last week," Brands said on the ATP website (www.atpworldtour.com)."Of course you are very impressed when you face him on the court for the first time. It's completely different from what you see when you watch him on TV once you see him on the other side of the court."Federer, 31, slipped out of the world's top four for the first time since 2003 following a shock defeat by journeyman Sergiy Stakhovsky at Wimbledon and last week lost in the Hamburg semi-finals to then 114th-ranked Argentine Federico Delbonis.Losing in his own backyard will be particularly galling for Federer, who is now ranked fifth in the world and who recently switched to a larger-headed racket.When he arrived at the tournament for the first time since winning it in 2004, Federer was presented with a cow named Desiree to mark 10 years since his first Wimbledon triumph.Brands, who gave Rafael Nadal a scare in the French Open first round, was offering no gifts though as he saved all five break points he faced and served 11 aces.Defeats against players ranked outside the top 10 used to be almost unheard of when Federer dominated men's tennis but they are now happening on a more regular basis.Federer's only title this year came on grass at Halle and he has reached only one other final, losing to Nadal in Rome.

Wednesday, 24 July 2013

Wealthy $5 Million

What Does It Take to Be Wealthy? $5 Million

Are all millionaires wealthy? Not if you ask them.
A whopping 70% of those with at least $1 million in investable assets don't consider themselves to be wealthy, according to a survey of 4,500 affluent investors by UBS. Rather, it's only when they hit the $5 million mark that millionaires begin to feel "wealthy."
Why $5 million? Apparently, that's the level at which most rich people feel they have "no constraints on activities," according to the survey. For them, feeling wealthy requires more than never having to work again or ensuring a comfortable lifestyle for future generations of their family.
Related: Best advice now for getting richer
In addition to feeling like money is no object, most wealthy people are more confident about investing if they hold about 20% of their assets in cash for emergencies.
And while they're aware and worried about inflation, wealthy investors say they still need significant cash holdings to give them peace of mind.
"Investors aren't quick to forget the significant losses they endured in 2008," the UBS report said.
The survey asked respondents about their investable assets, not including the value of their homes.
Related: China's fastest-growing cities for millionaires
Even though they're setting aside a sizable portion of their assets for a rainy day, a majority of respondents are optimistic about the economy and their personal financial situations over the long term.
Most of them aren't too worried about the Federal Reserve's eventual policy changes either, according to the survey. Although recent messages from the central bank and Fed chief Ben Bernanke have sparked volatility in the stock market, most affluent investors believe that the central bank's eventual move to end its stimulus policies will help stabilize the economy.
And a majority of them aren't changing their investment strategy in light of the Fed's upcoming changes.

How I Retired at 30

Meet Mr. Money Mustache. Hundreds of thousands of readers follow his bold advice on his self-titled blog — and for good reason. He has cracked the retirement code while many of us were struggling with student loans. At 23 years old he began working and saving…and saving some more. By age 30, he’d amassed some $800,000 in cash and investments, and then entered early retirement.

How, exactly? I flew to his home in Longmont, Colorado, where the now 38-year-old lives with Mrs. Money Mustache and Mustache Junior, for the scoop.

The Rule of 70%

While a popular rule of thumb is to try to save 10% of your income every month, in the race to retirement Mr. Money Mustache saved and invested close to 70% of each paycheck until he had about $800,000 racked up. At that point he felt comfortable quitting his job, as the dividends from his stock portfolio and income from a rental property were finally enough to support his family’s lifestyle. “I just figured based on a 4% withdrawal rate of your savings, if you have $800,000 saved, you could draw an income of $32,000 a year from that. Our needs are less than that, so we actually don’t need $800,000 in savings.”

Also see: Daily Habits of the Wealthy

Live Simply

But wait. How does the family live on less than $30,000 a year with a child? “It’s by cutting out stuff, the invisible stuff, that’s most expensive. I kept the headline items, like a house, trip to Australia and good friends and good food, but I cut out stuff like spending $50 on coffee a week or having a brand new car every few years,” he says. “We do a lot of stuff ourselves. We go to parks. We do music together. We ride our bikes, go to the library. Kids love it. Costs almost nothing to do.”

Also see: 30 Days to Financial Health

Treat Debt Like Your Hair Is on Fire

We should mention that Mr. Money Mustache graduated without any student loans. He never really had any credit card debt and advises his readers, who aim to retire early like him, to treat debt like a scary emergency, as if their hair is literally on fire. “If you have credit card debt, you don’t make little payments on it. You don’t go to the movies and put $10 on the credit card. You stay home, you earn as much money as possible, you eat the cheapest food possible and get that emergency solved,” he says.

Also see: How We Got Out of $50,000 Worth of Debt

Location Matters

The Mustaches intentionally live in a town with a relatively low cost of living. Their property taxes in Longmont are only $200 per month, and the home’s solar design and insulation keep energy bills to under $40 per month.

Also see: Best Reward Credit Cards in July 2013

Who Needs a Car?

Longmont is also a bike-friendly town, which encourages even more saving. By biking to most places, Mr. Money Mustache figures it helps the family save roughly $10,000 a year on transportation costs. “I kind of have a rule: You do not drive the car for trips within the city, because you don’t need to. The bike will do it just as fast, and it’ll be better for you,” he says.

Vitamins You Can Do Without

Vitamins and supplements are some of the most unregulated things we put in our bodies. In this episode Dr. Stork highlights which vitamins you might not need to take and how overdosing on these supplements can negatively impact your health.

A Great Way To Propose

Man Uses 42 Bed Sheets to Write 'Will You Marry Me?' on Girlfriend's Farm

A Tennessee man's desire to make his wedding proposal "unique" led him to a truly down-to-earth idea.
Clifton Smith, 25, of Clarksville, Tenn., used bed sheets to spell out "Will You Marry Me?" in 15-foot-tall letters he strategically placed together in a field on his girlfriend's family farm.

"I had just talked to my parents a few months ago and thought of some really outlandish ideas," Smith told GoodMorningAmerica.com. "And one of them was to see something in a plane. I originally thought about getting paint or something, but I wanted it to be more unique.

"So I thought about the idea to use thrift store bed sheets," he said. "I went around and collected 42 sheets and cut those into uniformed strips and built the letters from there, using staples and wood to piece them together."

Smith's girlfriend, Rachel Weakley, 25, had no idea what was in store for her when he asked her to join him for a casual plane ride overlooking some land as part of his "graduate work." The pilot, a family friend, was totally on board to help with the proposal.

"I told her a story that it had to do with some of my graduate work," Smith said. "My roommate and I were supposed to go up, and he conveniently backed out a couple days before so she could go up. I told her we could fly over the farm before getting to the school stuff.
"She was really excited because we were getting close and she could see her neighbor's houses, and then we get right over her parent's house and she could see what it said."
Even Weakley's father was in on the plan, as he strategically cut an acre-sized heart shape into the field for the letters to be placed.
"He actually had the idea to cut the heart into the field," Smith said. "He's an engineer, so he used surveying equipment they have and we plotted the points and he used an aerial photo to draw it out and cut the heart into the field."
Bride Tosses Bouquet from Giant Human Sling Shot
Once Weakley noticed Smith was actually popping the question, she immediately turned to him and started crying.
"Once we saw the big heart in the field and the letters I turned around and looked at him and he had the box out and I said, 'Yes,' and started crying," Weakley said. "It was just awesome. It was unbelievable."
The happy couple credits Smith's aunt for their relationship.
"We actually were on the same baseball team when we were about 8 or 9 years old," Smith said. "We didn't really have connections after that, but the reason we started dating is because my aunt goes to church with her family and she thought we'd be really good together."
Turns out she was right, as they plan to wed next March.

Tuesday, 23 July 2013

Judge Orders $1 Million Returned to Exotic Dancer

A federal judge has ruled that Nebraska cops must return over $1 million confiscated at a traffic stop from a woman who saved the money $1 at a time during her 15 year career as an exotic dancer.

The money belongs to Tara Mishra, 33, of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., who began putting aside her earnings when she started dancing at age 18, according to an opinion U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon wrote last week. The money was meant to start her business and get out of the stripping business, the judge wrote.

State troopers confiscated the money in March 2012 when they pulled over Rajesh and Marina Dheri, of Montville, N.J., for speeding in Nebraska, according to court documents. The Dheris are friends of Mishra and had been given the cash so they could buy a nightclub in New Jersey. Mishra would own half of the business and the Dheris would own the other half.

Mishra had packaged the money in $10,000 bundles tied with hair bands and placed in plastic bags, and it was stashed in the trunk of the Dheri's rented car, which the Dheris were driving to Chicago. When they were pulled over for speeding, a state trooper asked the Dheris if he could search their vehicle, which they allowed, Bataillon explained.
The state trooper found the money and after suspecting it was drug money took the Dheris into custody, according to the judge's opinion. But police did not find any evidence of drug activity in the car and a K-9 analysis found only trace elements of illegal drugs on the cash, according to Bataillon.
Neither Mishra nor the Dheris could not be reached for comment.
"The government failed to show a substantial connection between drugs and the money," Bataillon wrote in his opinion. "The dog sniff is inconsequential…The court finds the Mishras' story is credible…Ms. Mishra did have control over the money and directed the Dheris to deliver the money to New Jersey for the purchase of the business."
Bataillon ordered that Mishra receive cash or a check in the value of $1,074,000 with interest.

Odyssey Exploration recovers silver from shipwreck

Odyssey Senior Project Managers Andrew Craig and Ernie Tapanes inspect the first silver bar recovered in 2013 from the SS Gairsoppa site, which lies 4,700 meters deep 300 miles off the coast of Galway, Ireland. In July of 2013 from the site, which yielded 1,574 (60 tons) silver ingots. In July of 2012, Odyssey also recovered 1,218 (48 tons) silver ingots from the site.

20 hours ago

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- A U.S. deepwater salvage and exploration company said on Monday that it has recovered more than 61 tons of silver bullion this month from a British cargo ship that was torpedoed during World War II.
Odyssey Marine Exploration said the recovery includes 1,574 silver ingots weighing about 1,100 ounces each. The silver was recovered from a depth of nearly three miles, and marks a record for the deepest and largest precious metal recovery from a shipwreck, the company said.
The company said the silver has been moved to a secure facility in the U.K. It said its contract with the U.K. Department of Transport calls for the company to retain 80 percent of the salvaged value of the cargo. At current prices, the silver would be worth over $35 million.
The SS Gairsoppa is a 412-foot steel-hulled British cargo ship sunk in 1941 by a German U-boat about 300 miles off Ireland's coast. It sits 15,420 feet deep.
Odyssey said 2,792 silver ingots have now been recovered from the Gairsoppa, which is more than 99 percent of the insured silver reported to be aboard the ship when it sank.
The company said sources including Lloyd's record of War Losses show that uninsured government-owned silver may have been aboard the ship, but so far, no uninsured silver has been found.
Odyssey used remote vehicles to recover the silver. The company said the recovery was complicated by the size and structure of the Gairsoppa, and the latest silver was stored in a small compartment that was difficult to access.

Monday, 22 July 2013

These Interesting Business Ideas

Keep Your Day Job and Earn Some Extra Money with These Interesting Business Ideas

Are you interested in finding some ways to earn extra money on the side to supplement your 9-5 job? Would you like to set aside money for a family vacation, a new car or to pay a few bills? Finding ways to supplement your income may not be as challenging or time-consuming as you think. Here are some quick and creative part-time business ideas to help you achieve your financial goals with little or no investment while maintaining the steady income of your current job. Who knows, maybe your new part-time venture will blossom into something you truly love!
• Garage Sales
if you have ever had a garage sale, you know this is a fairly easy way to generate decent cash without a ton of effort. What if you could generate that income every weekend? You could host a weekly garage sale at your home and sell not only your own items but those of family and friends while splitting the revenue with them. A lot of people are anxious to get rid of their clutter but do not want to put the effort into hosting their own garage sale--making this a great service for you to offer.
• Handyman Services
You would be surprised how many people need help with odd jobs around their homes. If you are a handy person, you should have no difficulty generating regular income from this business idea. Another advantage of this side job is that a lot of your customers will appreciate your availability during off-hours, as they have regular 9-5 jobs as well.

• Tutoring
Many parents are looking for people to tutor their child in subjects ranging from reading, writing to math. If you excel in one of these areas and are good with children, this is an excellent way to earn some extra cash during your off hours. Parents will be especially appreciate if you can come to their home to offer your services giving them one less place to drive their children.

• Babysitting
You may think babysitting was something reserved for your teenage years. However, a lot of parents struggle to find a reliable babysitter for their children during evening and weekend hours. With the average hourly rate around the country ranging from $10.00 to $14.00/hour, this is a great way to earn some extra cash on the side. Once you establish a good reputation, you will be surprised how quickly you will receive referrals from satisfied parents.
• Cleaning Service for Businesses
Businesses need cleaning services during evening and weekend hours as they are occupied during regular business hours. This makes a cleaning service business a fantastic business idea for people looking for side work. You can earn some extra money working a few evening or weekend hours each week.
• Freelance Writing
Are you good with the written word? There are a lot of business owners looking for people to write content for them including articles, blog entries, press releases and marketing materials. These jobs are usually fairly flexible and can be done online on your own time. Take the time to search out the internet for freelance writing jobs.
Hopefully, these business ideas have inspired you to think about some quick and easy ways you can supplement your current income without sacrificing the security of your 9-5 job. If none of these ideas appealed to you, brainstorm with friends and family about places in their lives where they could use some assistance. This might inspire you to offer a service you had never considered before. Wishing you much success on your journey!

Bulk SMS Marketing Strategy?

There are about 4.5 billion mobile subscribers all over the world, with mobile marketing fast becoming an effective investment option for MNCs and entrepreneurs. Mobile phones have become an important aspect in our life and reaching out to people through short messaging service has been an unparalleled appeal. With cost efficiency, dependability and faster turnaround, bulk SMS marketing is proving to become a better mechanism in the present day marketing arena. It is estimated that by the year 2014, use of mobile internet is estimated to take over desktop internet. The response time of SMS is 8 times more than the email.
The number of mobile users is also growing and this device has become an important point of access allowing company and business owners to reach out to potential customers with ease. About 98% of SMSes are opened and read by people, which makes mobile marketing an efficient strategy in the present day competitive business arena. These statistics clearly pinpoint the relevance of SMS marketing as an effective tool. Previously, entrepreneurs and businesses had to depend on the providers of bulk SMS service for sending out bulk messages to customers. However, today, software provides entrepreneurs the benefit of conveying updates within a single click.
This is one of the cost efficient and simplest modes of reaching out to a large audience within a short period of time. Bulk SMS services allow you to send your ad message directly from the excel database, either from your PC or from your mobile. With the increasing popularity of bulk messaging in the field of advertising, the service is being constantly used in corporate houses, financial institutions, FMCG marketers, educational institutions and other sectors. The software allows you to send out personalized messages to prospects, remaining in their inbox unless deleted by the customer.
Even if the user does not have any immediate requirement for the promoted product, they can get in touch with your business in the future whenever there is the need since your contact is saved in their inbox. Since it has efficient performance, large scale organizations have started using this strategy for enhancing business productivity. This is why entrepreneurs should choose the software based on their requirement. The software with advanced functionality allows you to access a large number of audiences at a go. It is a successful means of staying ahead of competitors.
Most businesses resort to sending bulk SMS to their clients. The bulk SMS service is an effective way of reaching out to customers.

Sunday, 21 July 2013

A peculiar witch dashes into the outlook.

Decking the Walls

Wallpaper can be a stylish, modern way to update a room. (photo: Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images)

Painting and finishing the walls can yield major results without a major overhaul.

Wallpaper or an accent color on one wall can add vibrancy and make a bold statement, says Meyer. She looks to decorative plastering and stenciling to keep up with trends.

"You can even incorporate murals, either right on the wall or on panels," she said, adding that painting on panels is better for those who may not plan to stay in their home for long.

In terms of trim, she says less is more. However, Ashley Thompson, a designer at Raleigh, North Carolina-based Design Lines, points out that trim styles vary based on people's preferences.

"So often they don't like a space, but they aren't sure what it is about it they don't like and it ends up being the crown molding," she said. "Usually, we like to transition from a single crown to a double crown. If you change that, you can update any space."

She also says wainscoting can add depth to a space, especially in the dining room or bathroom. In the kitchen, she says, the backsplash — the section of material added onto the wall behind a sink or a counter — has potential to speak loudly.

"You can choose a neutral ceramic tile, you can put granite or marble, or you can go really bold," she said. "There are endless ways to make a statement with a backsplash."

Thompson also says wallpaper is a great way to modernize a home, but it can be pricey.

"I hate to even throw it out there, but you'd be amazed at all the contemporary, bold wallpaper that's out there," she said, adding that large-scale florals or geometrics (such as the harlequin design) are particularly stylish choices.

"Wallpapers really offer that wow factor we like as designers," she said. "It adds up quick, but it can give you a lot of bang for your buck."

Stay Fit, Stay Safe

Stay Fit, Stay Safe: Exercising in the Summer

In the summer, we lose so much fluid so it is important to replace lost fluids with electrolytes -- liquids containing sodium, magnesium and potassium.
— Joy von Werder, USAT triathlon coach and owner of Train to Tri coaching

The heat of the sun can be merciless during warmer months, especially for those who like to exercise outdoors. Whether you're a cyclist who hammers out hours in the saddle or just someone who enjoys a morning jog or an occasional boot camp, there are safety precautions you should keep in mind when exercising outdoors in high temperatures. Heat stresses the body and causes responses that could be dangerous when left untreated. Keep your body cool and your workouts safe by being mindful of a few factors, such as exercise times, nutrition, hydration and clothing.

Your Body's Response To Heat

Your core temperature rises when you exercise in the heat, and your body responds with its natural cooling mechanism: sweat. As sweat evaporates from your skin, it helps to reduce your body temperature. However, prolonged exposure to the heat can result in excessive sweating and dehydration, which in turn can cause you to develop heat-related illnesses such as heat exhaustion, heat cramps, and the most dangerous -- heat stroke. Fortunately, there are several preventative measures that you can take to avoid getting sick in the sun.

What Should You Drink?

Sports drinks are meant to aid in hydration and replace vital nutrients lost during intense exercise. If you're just going for a morning jog or doing a moderate workout in the gym, water is fine. However, for workouts lasting more than an hour or taking place in extreme heat, a sports beverage will help your body replace sodium and electrolytes lost through excessive sweating. Sports drinks may also help prevent dehydration because they're more flavorful -- many people are more likely to keep on sipping a sports drink than plain water because it's tastier.

Pay Attention to Additonal Hydration and Nutritional Needs

The single most important element to safely exercising in the heat is hydration. When you're planning to train in heat, take a preemptive strike against dehydration by beginning to consume water an hour or two before your workout begins. During exercise, strive to drink about seven to 10 ounces of liquid every 15 to 20 minutes. Joy von Werder, Florida-based USAT triathlon coach and owner of Train to Tri coaching, is very familar with the brutality of outdoor training in hot conditions. "In the summer, we lose so much fluid so it is important to replace lost fluids with electrolytes -- liquids containing sodium, magnesium and potassium," recommends von Werder. Your nutritional needs also increase during workouts, especially in the heat. Vitamins play a critical role in energy production, and since they're often lost through excessive sweating, it may be a good idea for those who regularly train in hot temperatures to supplement with a multivitamin.

Wear Clothing Designed For Exercise in the Heat

Working out in a cotton t-shirt is a thing of the past. These days, the market is flooded with high-tech clothing and fabrics to help you stay cool in the heat. Wear lightweight, light-colored clothes made of sweat-wicking materials like CoolMax, Drymax or Smartwool, to keep from becoming a hot, soggy mess. Remember, sweat cools your body as it evaporates from your skin, so clothing that keeps sweat trapped on your body will interfere with this natural cooling mechanism. There are also special materials available that block a portion of the sun's harmful UV rays which can lead to sunburn and overheating. These fabrics are rated by an Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF). Like SPF in sunscreen, UPF measures the degree to which fabric disrupts UV rays, ranging from 15 (good) to 50+ (excellent). Although these fabrics can help prevent sunburn, it is still very important to wear and reapply a sweat-proof sunscreen every 90 minutes, suggests von Werder.

Acclimate to Hot Environments

(photo: Ryan McVay/Photodisc/Getty Images)

To prevent overheating outside, give your body the chance to adapt to hot environments. If you live in a cool, dry region, the heat and humidity of other areas will come as a shock to your system. Ease into training in these environments over a couple of weeks by slowly increasing your exercise intensity and duration. When possible, save your highest intensity training for cooler months. For example, if you're planning to run a marathon, choose a race in early summer or winter. This will allow you to complete your hardest training in the cooler spring and fall months.

Create a Backup Plan

On days when the heat is just too much for your planned workout, have a backup plan that either shortens your workout or takes it inside. When the heat is too intense, "some people prefer to exercise indoors and take part in an indoor cycling or spinning class, or swim," says Von Werder. Working out indoors may seem boring, but you'll be able to train harder and longer without putting yourself at risk for developing heat-related illnesses. Finally, make sure you discuss your medical risks with your doctor. If you have a condition that leaves you prone to overheating, plan your workouts accordingly.

What Should You Drink?

Saturday, 20 July 2013

In a Bad Mood?

In a Bad Mood? Try These 7 Foods

There are some days that we feel angry, anxious, or just plain unhappy. Try one of these seven foods to lift your spirits:

Whole Grains. If you’re feeling hungry and angry, these dense carbs will help increase serotonin, a mood enhancer. Try brown rice or beans.
Leafy Greens. For those down in the dumps days, the B vitamin folate can help break down homocysteine, which may be linked to depression. Other great sources of folate are beans, citrus fruits and fortified grain products.
Turkey. To help calm your anxiety, try some tryptophan, which can help the brain produce feel-good chemicals. You can also try chicken, eggs, cheese, nuts and seeds.
Greek Yogurt. Being irritable is no fun for you or anyone around you. Healthy snack foods every 3 or 4 hours will help prevent a drop in your blood sugar. Try some yogurt with berries or almonds and fruit.
Black Tea. Stress less by sipping some hot or cold black tea—it may decrease cortisol, a stress hormone. It may also improve your memory and could help get rid of headaches.
Dark Chocolate. For women experiencing PMS symptoms, the flavonoids in dark chocolate may help get rid of crankiness. Just one more reason to treat yourself.
Fish. To improve your brain health and help you think more clearly, the omega 3s in fish can improve the communication between your brain’s cells. Try salmon, trout, sardines, herring or anchovies.

Lower Your Blood Pressure Naturally!

6 Ways to Lower Your Blood Pressure Naturally!

High blood pressure (HBP) is an easily preventable condition, but according to studies it plays a contributing role in more than 15% of deaths in the United States. It doesn’t have any visible symptoms, but can boost the risk of heart attack, stroke, cognitive decline and kidney failure. Thankfully, many most people can reduce their blood pressure the natural way. Your first step should be to get to a healthy weight, then try these strategies for added health benefits.

Walk it off! Take a brisk walk every day. Exercise helps the body to use oxygen more efficiently, thereby lowering your pressure if even by just a few points.

Just breathe. Slow breathing and meditation decrease stress hormones, which elevate renin, a kidney enzyme that raises blood pressure. Try 5 minutes in the morning and at night. Inhale deeply and expand your belly. Exhale and release all of your tension.

Remember the three Ps: pack in the potassium-rich produce. Loading up on potassium-rich fruits and vegetables is an important part lowering blood pressure. High potassium foods include sweet potatoes, tomatoes, potatoes, bananas, kidney beans, peas, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, prunes and raisins.

Cut the salt. Certain groups of people are more likely than others to have blood pressure that's particularly sodium sensitive. There’s really no way to tell who is sodium sensitive and who isn’t, but if your HPB is a problem, it’s probably worth cutting out some salt. Experts recommend a diet with a max intake of 1,500 mg of sodium daily. Check the labels on your processed food and season foods with spices, herbs, lemon and salt-free seasoning blends.

Indulge yourself with dark chocolate. Dark chocolate varieties feature flavanols that make blood vessels more elastic. Have up to ½ ounce of dark chocolate with 70% cocoa daily.

Hug a cat. Entertain the idea of owning a pet or spending time with animals. Animals have a natural calming ability and studies have shown people who interact with pets have decreased blood pressure.

Simple Tips to Keep Your Kidneys (and Arteries) Clean

3 Simple Tips to Keep Your Kidneys (and Arteries) Clean

Kidneys play a key role in cleansing your body, including your arteries. If your kidneys are backed up or clogged, they aren’t able to clean out your blood as well as they should, which can lead to aging in your arteries. Follow these easy tips to help keep your kidneys working at their optimal levels. asdf

Drink water. Dehydration can increase your risk of kidney problems by 20%. An easy way to incorporate more water into your day is to carry a BPA-free water bottle with you as much as possible--in your car, at your desk and even when you’re eating a meal.
Try yogurt or milk. Keep your blood pressure in check with 2 cups of yogurt and one glass of milk per day. The calcium in yogurt and milk can lower your risk of blood pressure surges by 25%.
Reduce salt. Diets high in salt increase the risk of kidney stone, since extra salt in your diet pushes calcium into your kidneys, rather than into your bones, where it’s supposed to be. Try eating less processed food and substituting dried herbs as a food topping rather than table salt. (But not all salt is created equal!)

Impossibly-Easy Coconut Pie

This is Jennifer Nettles's great-grandmother Mildred's coconut pie, called "impossible" because it seems to miraculously form its own crust while baking. The toasty coconut around the edges is delicious. More Delicious Pies and Tarts

Impossible PieImpossible Pie
INGREDIENTS
1 stick unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 cup self-rising flour
2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
2 cups milk

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 350° and butter two 9-inch glass pie plates.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the melted butter with the sugar. Add the eggs and beat until smooth. Stir in the flour, coconut and milk. Divide the mixture between the pie plates and bake in the lower third of the oven for about 1 hour, until the pies are firm to the touch and golden. Transfer the pies to a rack and cool completely before serving.

Make Ahead The pies can be refrigerated overnight. Return them to room temperature before serving.

Things to Do in the Morning to Prevent Bloat All Day

3 Things to Do in the Morning to Prevent Bloat All Day

Feeling bloated not only makes you feel uncomfortable or self-conscious in your clothes, it can also cause you to feel sluggish and less productive. Before you're doomed to a day of sweatpants, do these three things in the morning to curb that inflated feeling.

Get moving: Constipation is often the reason you feel uncomfortably full. And if you aren't able to go to the bathroom before heading out for the day, stress from your job, time constraints, and less privacy can make it hard to relax and follow nature's call. If your body isn't quite ready to go to the bathroom, exercise can help get things moving. Drink a glass of water and eat a small snack at least 30 minutes before you work out; all that moving around is sure to offer results.
Sip on this: Getting enough fiber throughout the day is key to keeping you regular, so start your morning off right with this 280-calorie flat-belly smoothie. Pair it will a slice of whole-wheat toast for a total of 10 grams of fiber. Not into smoothies? Here are some other high-fiber breakfast ideas.
Yoga for digestion: While good old-fashioned cardio can help move things along, targeting a bloated belly with yoga poses specifically designed to aid digestion will also have you feeling better in no time.

The Beginner's Guide to the Paleo Diet

The easy way to go PaleoThe Paleo diet has been reported to eliminate bloating, clear up acne, eradicate seasonal allergies, free you from migraines, and even help you shed a few pounds. While none of this is guaranteed, cleaning up your diet and focusing on whole, fresh foods is definitely a good idea.

"Real foods in the right portions help you feel more satisfied because they help keep blood sugar levels even and your hunger hormones balanced," says Diane Sanfilippo, a holistic nutritionist and author of Practical Paleo.

The basic guidelines-skip grains (both refined and whole), legumes, packaged snacks, dairy, and sugar in favor of vegetables, fruit, meat, seafood, eggs, nuts, seeds, fats, and oils-seem easy, but to successfully go cavewoman takes some savvy. Follow these 11 rules to get started.

1. Clean Out Your Kitchen
Gather all the "no" foods-grains, cereal, vegetable oils, beans, yogurt, cheese, milk, packaged foods, you get it-and toss them in the trash. Doing it all at once has an advantage. "It's easier to avoid temptation if it's not there," says Nell Stephenson, author of Paleoista, Gain Energy, Get Lean and Feel Fabulous with the Diet You Were Born to Eat.

RELATED: 8 Surprising Sources of Nutrients

But if you prefer to baby-step your way, that works too. Perhaps you cut out dairy the first week, eliminate refined grains during week two, skip all grains the next week, and so on until you're following a Paleo diet. Either way, be sure to restock your kitchen with whole foods so you have plenty to eat.

2. Pinpoint Your Motivation
Many people turn to Paleo in an attempt to help with medical issues, such as GI problems, autoimmune conditions, and allergies. Some simply want to feel better day-to-day or believe that it's the healthiest way to eat. Your reason will help determine the guidelines you follow and what you want to be meticulous about, Sanfilippo says. And be strict about your personal rules for the first 30 days, Stephenson recommends. "This is enough time to start noticing all the health benefits."

3. Follow the 85/15 Rule
After the first month, many experts recommend the 85/15 approach, meaning 85 percent of the time you're strictly Paleo, leaving 15 percent for non-Paleo stuff, whether that's a granola bar, a hamburger (bun and all) at a cookout, or cocktails with the girls. Pay attention to how you feel after reintroducing things into your diet, Sanfilippo says. For example, if you have a scoop of ice cream and wake up bloated the next day, you may decide that future discomfort isn't worth it.

4. Expect a Setback (or 2)
"It's totally normal to go Paleo and slip back into your normal eating habits," Sanfilippo says. "But don't feel like a failure. It's a learning process." Find likeminded people following the diet through local groups, blogs, forums, and Facebook, and connect with them to help steer you back on track-and keep you there.

5. Cook!
Because Paleo is based off of whole, fresh foods, it's easier to whip up meals at home rather than a restaurant where it's harder to control what ingredients are used. Take this opportunity to experiment with new foods-maybe even challenge yourself to buy the weirdest-looking vegetable at the farmer's market and ask the seller for advice on how best to prepare it. You can also search online or invest in some Paleo cookbooks for inspiration so your meals stay flavorful and aren't just plain seared chicken breast with plain kale and carrots.

6. Be a Label Decoder
You know to skip doughnuts, cookies, and crackers, but some foods are surprisingly not Paleo: peanut butter (it's a legume); nut butters or dried fruit with added sugars; and soy sauce, malt vinegar, lunchmeats, and many marinades and sauces (some contain soy, gluten, preservatives, and sugar). So be sure to read the ingredients list closely when buying anything in a package.

7. Rethink Your Plate
You've been taught to reserve half your plate for veggies, a quarter for lean protein, and the remaining quarter for whole grains. When you change to Paleo, stop holding a place for grains: A balanced plate consists of a palm-sized portion of protein, a dollop of fat, and veggies, veggies, veggies (fill the rest of your plate with them).

8. Make an Oil Change
Instead of reaching for canola, corn, or soybean oil for sautéing, use coconut oil or lard. Really. These high-quality saturated fats are healthy to cook with because they are more stable and won't oxidize when heated (oxidation releases damaging free radicals). And when it comes to lard, "animal fats-if from grass-fed cows-pack more omega 3s, as well as a type of fat called conjugated linoleic acid, which some studies suggest may help burn fat," Sanfilippo says. Some experts also recommend butter from grass-fed cows, but many restrict dairy of any kind. (The choice is yours.) For cold applications, use olive oil, avocado oil, and walnut oil.

9. Eat Meat
"Many people have restricted meat from their diet because they believe it is harmful to their health. You can eat meat-just make sure it's high quality," says Paleo expert Loren Cordain, Ph.D., a professor at Colorado State University and author of The Paleo Diet. So say goodbye to processed meats such as bologna, salami, and hot dogs. Wild meats like bison, elk, and boar are the ideal choice, followed by pasture-fed meats and poultry, and lean grain-fed meat should be your last pick. For seafood, opt for wild-caught as often as possible, and sustainable, low-mercury choices are best. Find good options via the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch.

RELATED: 8 Carbs Worse Than White Bread

10. Fool Your Sweet Tooth
Giving up sugar is a major hurdle for many people at first. If you love to have a treat after dinner, swap the cookies or fro-yo for a piece of fresh fruit. (For major sugar cravings, Sanfilippo says a Paleo secret is a little bit of dried mango.) With time, your taste buds will adjust-and that Oreo you loved so much before might become too sweet now, Sanfilippo adds. Seriously!

11. Eat Out with Ease
A business dinner or brunch with your best friend is still doable on the Paleo diet. All it takes is a little ingredient sleuthing, Stephenson says. First look at the menu ahead of time and pick one or two options that you can Paleo-ize. That might be wild salmon with broccoli. (Request double the veggies in place of the rice pilaf.) At the restaurant, don't be shy to ask questions about how things are prepared and request changes, if necessary.