corbanfilms

Introducing 4 ways to make your workout routines fresh and push you pass your threshold and get the weight loss results that you have always dreamed of!

Getting constant results from your workout programs is really a tough thing to handle. This is because our bodies are funny in a certain way and responds in a certain way as well. Did you ever feel that one day your abs routines feels like a killer routine and then next day you don’t feel it working that well anymore?

This is what I am talking about. We need to get you out of the rut and make you exercise routine fresh again! When you constantly overload and surprise your body with exciting new workout routines, your body will respond and produce great results! You have to give the body a reason to change and improve.

Workout Routine Spicer 1

Do most of your exercises on unstable ground. That is right. This is one of the rare times that we want instability. You can do your exercises on one leg, on a fitball or instead of placing your feet on the ground; you lift them up in the air to make your body unstable. This is simple step increases the difficulty of the exercise because it automatically incorporates the core muscles. Don’t believe me? Try it, I can guarantee that you will sweat excessively!

Workout Routine Spicer 2

Include high intensity weight training or advance training techniques like supersets. Just like the name, supersets will give you a superburn! Instead of just doing the same old boring one set, rest and then one set, do a set of exercise and do another set of exercise on the opposing muscle group immediately with no rest in between! Sounds crazy? Well, it will give you crazy results!

For example, let us the chest and back muscle group. Both of these muscle groups have are opposing muscle groups. First, do a set of bench press of 12 heavy reps. Then, rack the weight and immediately rush over to the lat pull down machine and do 12 reps on controlled pull downs to the front. Even if you are out of breath, don’t give up! Finish off the set! Do three rounds and by the end of the third round, you will feel super pumped!

Workout Routine Spicer 3

Execute your arm movements’ one arm at a time. Again, I want to take you away from the conventional method of weight training. Usually, we use two hands when we lift weights. That is just normal right? How about try using one arm at a time or alternate arm for a change? You don’t do this without any purpose. Using one arm at a time can help incorporate the core muscles! Now you get t spice up your exercise routine, build that muscle and get a solid core all at the same time!

Workout Routine Spicer 4

Do circuit training instead of just the old fashion do weights first and do cardio later technique. Circuit training is a technique where by you would combine cardio and weight training together to form a solid one-hour workout. Typically, a circuit has 5-to6 intervals and one interval is made up of 2 exercises of 2 sets each and the one 3 minute high intensity cardio session.

You have to spice up your exercise program if you want to optimize your exercise results. Our body is something very special. It adapts easily to things hence we can only get fabulous results if we keep the body guessing. Hope you have a pleasant workout!

Leong is a professional personal trainer. He is certified by the American Council on Exercise and has helped many people achieve their fitness goals safely, quickly and effectively. For limited time only, you can download his power pack Fat Loss E-Mag package absolutely free at Fat Loss E-Mag Package.

Curling hair is considered to be a challenging and time consuming job, though the hair style of curled hair looks extremely beautiful and charming to many. But there are some other techniques and ways available to quickly achieve the desired lustrous curls. There are hot rollers available to attain quick and softer curls of various sizes. Though, you do not have more control over the individual curls but the curls attained by hot rollers may last longer. There are different types and sizes of professional curling irons available to get more variety of curls than any other hair curling tool.

The different sizes of professional curling irons serve various types of curves. To get the small and springy curls, the desired size of barrel of curling iron is required to be 0.75. Then, the desired size of barrel to get the basic and natural shape curls is to be of 1 inch. While a larger barrel of 1.5 to 2.0 is more desirable to attain the voluminous and cascading waves.

Then, there is variety of different types of professional curling irons such as the metal-plated curling irons, ceramic curling irons, and the more advanced and latest tourmaline ceramic curling irons. The metal plated curling irons are not recommended as these irons may fry your hair due to the positive ions produced by the metal. Often, the metal curling irons damage the hair when used over a long period. Besides, the metal curling irons neither produce the evenly controlled heat nor these irons are able to give softer and more shaped curls. On the other hand, the ceramic and tourmaline ceramic curling irons produce much better results. The ceramic and tourmaline ceramic curling irons are more efficient as these are able to produce gentler curls and produce the evenly controlled heat, which does not damage the hair as these irons produce the negative ions. The negative ions seal the hair shaft trapping the moisture, which protects the hair from the heat of the plate.

There are many benefits of the professional curling irons as far as the hair treatment and styling is concerned. The professional curling irons are very effective and efficient tools for styling different types of hair textures and lengths without damaging the hair. There can be enormous hair styles, which can be achieved through the professional curling irons. A professional hair curling iron is more versatile and flexible in terms of styling different types of hair curls than any other equipment of its kind. A professional curling iron gives the more controlled size and shape of the individual curls. Moreover, the professional curling irons are more feasible and practical to use while traveling.

The professional curling irons can be mastered to use effectively with practice of just a few styling sessions. Besides the hair irons, hot hair rollers are also used to curl the hair but when it comes to the variety of styles, the hair irons are more efficient than any other type of curling tool.

So, taking a professional curling iron is a more suitable and practical choice to get those fantastic curves and curls. Moreover, the shape and styles of the curls achieved by using the professional curling iron look so beautiful, that whosoever meets you there in the party, gets attracted and impressed by your hair style and hence cannot remain appreciating your beauty and styles.

Kristy is a professional hair stylist and writer for My Hair Styling Tools where you can find the Best Flat Iron . Visit us at: http://www.myhairstylingtools.com

You don’t turn a book into a bestseller by accident. It’s the result of multitudes walking into bookstores and logging onto websites with your author’s title in mind. But for that to happen, your author must first establish himself as a respected authority whose name comes to mind when the audience has an itch that needs scratching—and that’s called branding.

Now, there’s a valid scientific background to branding audiences with your author and his book. Ivan Pavlov won the Nobel Prize for branding in 1904. Of all things seemingly unrelated to marketing, he was investigating the gastric function of dogs by analyzing their saliva. Imagine that. And he noticed they were salivating before he actually gave them their food. Pavlov found this “psychic secretion” intriguing because salivating is an automatic reflex in dogs. So he immediately abandoned his original experiment and redirected his focus. The new study entailed ringing a bell and then rubbing meat paste on the dogs’ tongues in an attempt to establish an associative memory between the two occurrences. Sure enough, the dogs were soon automatically salivating every time to the sound of the bell in anticipation of the meat paste!

It’s important to note that Pavlov chose meat paste because meat is something that always matters to dogs. A bowl of limes would not have produced the same reaction because dogs simply don’t have it in their hearts to care about limes. It’s the same sort of thing with readers. You can publish the best book that’s ever been written, but if it doesn’t speak to what matters to the heart of your audience, they’re going to pass it by for something that does.

What does the audience care about? Does your author’s book focus on important values of the audience? If it does, that’s a good start toward a strong marketing platform, and good marketing platforms lead to book sales. But if you want your author to be the one people think of first and feel the best about when they go searching to fulfill a value, then encourage him to utilize the three fundamental elements of branding: frequency, consistency, and anchoring.

Frequency is all about repetition. Pavlov rang that bell and distributed that meat paste day after day after day. He didn’t take a day off every now and again just to test the dogs’ memories. And neither should an author take a day off when he’s attempting to build a significant brand or marketing platform for his book. He has to find creative ways to keep getting in front of his audience on a regular, frequent basis, such as creating an online newsletter, arranging interviews on TV and the radio, setting up an Internet blog where he can have daily interaction with prospective and current buyers of his book. Suggest these possibilities to your author to get him into that frequency mode. And maybe you even know some people who would interview him. A little helpful info goes a long way.

Consistency has to do with your author always delivering a valued experience to the audience. Pavlov rang the same bell before every feeding. He didn’t mix and match between a multitude of high-pitched sounds. Nor did he vary what came next. He wanted those dogs to recognize that bell and associate it immediately with one thing, the taste of meat—just as you want people to associate your author and his book with a particular valued experience every time they think of that value. Is his book about a new management technique? Then suggest he offer to speak for free at local business college and community colleges, and encourage him to keep using the keywords and phrases that encapsulate his insightful business concepts. If he’s got a logo, then make sure he consistently displays that whenever and wherever he can.

Seth Godin, author of the bestseller Purple Cow, understands frequency and consistency in a book marketing and public relations campaign. He practices frequency and consistency through——

1. Permission marketing is a process by which marketers ask permission before sending ads to prospects. Godin pioneered the practice in 1995 with the founding of Yoyodyne, the Web’s first direct mail and promotions company. He sold it to Yahoo! three years later and became VP of Permission Marketing for Yahoo!.

2. Fast Company magazine, where Godin is a long-time contributing editor.

3. Seth Godin’s Blog is one of the most frequented blogs in existence.

4. Public speaking. Successful Meetings magazine named Godin one of the top 21 speakers of the 21st century. Words used to describe his lectures include ‘visual’, ‘personal,’ and ‘dynamic.’

5. ebooks. In the year 2000, Seth made his new release, Unleashing the Ideavirus, available to everyone through a free download. More than one million people responded. And that sparked huge sales of the hardback copy of the book.

Anchoring, the third and final piece of the branding puzzle, poses the greatest challenge. Anchoring has to do with creating an association between your author and something already valued and rooted firmly in the audience’s heart and mind. Pavlov chose meat paste because meat already exists as an important matter in the heart of a dog. This is anchoring at its finest. As Seth Godin puts it, “Create something they want to talk about and make it easy for them to do so.”

Because you are publishing his book, you know your author has something that thousands of people value and are interested in. To help your author anchor his book in the hearts of that potential audience, refer him to books by marketing gurus such as Roy H. Williams (The Wizard of Ads, Secret Formulas of the Wizard of Ads, Magical Worlds of the Wizard of Ads), Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg (Call to Action, Waiting for Your Cat to Bark), and Chip and Dan Heath (Made to Stick). As he learns great techniques for stimulating the attention, interest, and desire of his audience, he will create book marketing efforts that link and anchor their values to his book.

What is your author doing to help people think of him first, and feel good about it, when an important value of theirs comes to mind or when their itch needs to be scratched? Is he just irritating the dogs?

Questions about publishers helping authors with branding may be directed to Michael R. Drew at the Austin, Texas, headquarters of Promote A Book: 512-858-0040. You can also contact Michael via email at Michael@promoteabook.com.

Mike Drew

If you talk about arthritis your not talking about just one disease, it is a name for more then 100 different diseases. There is probably not a part in the body that can not get inflamed or become painful because of this disease. Many types are common but two of them are the most diagnosed and they are rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.

We talk about osteoarthritis when the disease is the result of the effect of physical pressure on the body that results in wear and tear. Rheumatoid arthritis, on the other hand, happens because the immune system attacks the cell lining of the joint.

It is understandable that there are so many related foundations when you consider the fact that there is such a commonality between arthritic conditions. When an organization is based around one of the many related diseases and helps the patients who suffer from the disease then we consider it an arthritis foundation.

The Arthritis Foundation

The only national non-profit organization that supports all the, over 100, different types of arthritic variants and who are recognized for it is the, self titled, “Arthritis Foundation”. They are one of the top centers out there the moment.

Another fact of this foundation is that they are the largest contributor to research in the world. They partner with a lot of other organizations out there and together they try to fight against this all to common but serious disease.

In Singapore the largest public organization for arthritis is The National Arthritis Foundation and they are registered charity over there. They are helping patients and their families. Their motto is to care for patients, do research and ultimately cure the disease. They also want to educate people around the world about the conditions of it.

The members of the National Arthritis Foundation come from all walks of life. Apart from the main organization they also oversee the “Juvenile Arthritis Club”, the “Singapore Ankylosing Spondylitis Club” and the “Juvenile Lupus Club”.

All these and other organizations are mostly volunteer clubs and need our support to survive and stay alive. They depend on donations made by people like you and me, donation in the form of money but also in the form of time we give up to help out on the different projects they undertake. Most of the research that is done these days is made possible because most foundations spend a big part of the donations they get on funding that research.

If you would like to find out more about an arthritis foundation close to you, then start a search on the internet. Maybe you are looking for a foundation that is more specific to your, or that of a family members, form the disease. Then also the internet is a good place to start you search.

Ask for references if you plan to make a donation, ask around if other people know the foundation if it is not a national known organization. You want to be sure that your money or your time is well spend.

Jonathan Mitchell knows from personal experience what it means to wake up with pain. Telling the world about arthritis and the things you can’t and can do with it is the reason his blog exists where he talks about subjects ranging from tysabri and arthritis side effects to pathophysiology of gout arthritis and everything in between.

Giving birth to a child is one of the most wonderful moments in a woman’s life. One look at the newborn and the mother knows that the pain and hardships of the pregnancy were not in vain. It also means that life must return to normal with new responsibilities of bringing up the child.

Soon after the child birth, the mother starts thinking about how to lose weight gained during pregnancy. Many young mothers resort to quick fix diets, diet pills or cardio programs to lose weight.

However the weight loss will be gradual. After all you didn’t gain the weight in a day! So don’t expect to lose the excess weight in few days.

Plus it is now a medically accepted fact that the body and metabolism of a woman who gives birth undergoes a number of changes that can sometimes make losing those extra pounds more difficult. And some mothers do not lose the last few pounds till the breastfeeding continues.

In order to lose weight after pregnancy both safely, and effectively, you should undertake a program of slow and steady dieting along with exercise that will produce long-term benefits.

You should concentrate on the health of your child and your own health and diet. After all now you have to think about how to regain your lost strength as well as provide good nutrition to your baby.

An ideal diet for a new mom would consist of:

* 2000 calories per day

* Small amount of fiber

* About 50 percent intake of Carbohydrates

* 30 percent intake of proteins

* 10 percent intake of fats

And you can start taking your favorite foods again that you may have stopped during pregnancy. But remember, do not indulge too much as you are looking to knock off the extra pounds gained during pregnancy. And before trying any quick fix diets or diet pills, make sure the diets and pills are absolutely safe because what you eat also becomes the food for the baby.

Combined with a healthy diet, exercise is one of the most effective methods for weight loss after pregnancy.No doubt you will be busy as a new mom, but exercise is still important especially at the early stage as it will help build up your stamina and return the muscle tone you lost during the pregnancy.

Exercise is also a good way to improve moods providing it is not overdone and will help to ensure you do not begin to see it as a chore. The idea is to reduce the overall body fat while improving muscle tone at the same time although this should be a gradual process.

It must be re-iterated that the loss should not be looked upon as something that must be done as quickly as possible as it should really come off about the same sort of pace it was put on.

With a good nutritional program and with moderate exercise, you can expect to lose the weight you gained during pregnancy within a reasonable time rame.

Did you know it is possible to lose weight after pregnancy without spending a fortune on quick-fix diets, diet pills or cardio workouts? To learn how, click the link below: Weight Loss After Pregnancy

The benefits of color choice for your rooms and furnishing in Feng Shui can make vital differences not only for appearance sake but for the vital Feng Shui flow of power and luck within your home, office or vacation residences. Why not use Feng Shui color principles and choices to your and your families’ advantage? The psychological effects of color are well known. Color can make room seem longer or smaller, warmer or cooler. Color can also make a room cheerful, more inviting or even depressing.

In Feng Shui compass points have particular colors associated with them. Ideally the main color or colors in your rooms should be the colors that complement those of the directions that the room faces. You do not have to use the color in its primary state – you can use tones that are more suited to your personal taste and of course that particular space.

If for example, and for instance, that your bedroom or the room in your hotel faces east, then it will catch the warm morning or afternoon sun no matter what the color of the room. Then during the nighttime periods you of course will want to room to be more than restful. Thus it would be wise to make a choice for your room of the blue / green color ranges. Blue / green color ranges are more closely associated with the element and elements of wood and nature.

Next if you find that you do not like or have a personal preference for that color or the colors associated with a particular geographic, building or architectural orientation then you can always revert to a more neutral shade or color choice. Neutral shades and pastels can be chosen for those walls of your rooms – be it your own rooms, or rooms that you may choose in locations for vacation spots. It is wisest to choose these Feng Shui color preferences as accents in soft furnishings and / or ornaments. You may well find for example, that black accents combine well with these more natural tones.

You may well find that color can also be used as remedies or as a specific remedy in Feng Shui in conditions when you cannot physically change the layout of a room. If a home is already purchased , if alterations to your living spaces are not possible or affordable or perhaps you are in a rented spot for an extended summer of winter vacation then the option of physically changing the layout or orientation of the room or rooms may not be available to yourself or your pocketbook. A change of colors can be the remedy here. For instance, to make the qi of Feng Shui flow more slowly in a study room, you should use quiet yin colors like cool blue and green colors as well as color shades.

Lastly for rooms facing northward to Canada in the northern hemisphere or in a southward direction in the southern hemisphere (Australia and New Zealand) will be cooler and will more than benefit from the yang of warm and warmer red shades and tones; while the south in the Northern hemisphere and the north in the Southern hemisphere will be warm and are best in cool yin blues and greens. It’s always a choice of colors and personal preferences. Why not include personal color choices to best serve your Feng Shui as well as your good luck. Feng Shui.

Hotel Vacation Resources Winnipeg Food Banquet Catering Fortuna Cooks

Got an important presentation coming up?

Don’t want to miss an important date because of flu which everyone around you seems to have?

What can you do to beat the flu bug?

Antibiotics aren’t going to work on influenza as that is caused by a virus. Antibiotics kill bacteria, not viruses.

So what can you do to beat flu?

You best bet is to boost your immune system. In other words, take care of your health.

What do you eat? Do you get enough rest.

1. Sleep early every night.

I can’t overemphasize the importance of sleep. Notice how lousy you feel if you go without sleep. It is when you sleep that your body repairs itself. That’s when your body produces the white blood cells and everything else it needs to fend off invaders. That way, when confronted with the flu viruses, your body is in a better shape to defend itself.

2. Get your annual flu jab.

The young children and the elderly are most susceptible to flu, so youo might want to get the young ones and the elderly immunized. There are flu jabs available which must be taken every year if you want to keep the virus at bay. The flu virus mutates rapidly, so what works this year wouldn’t bother next year’s bug. The jabs won’t necessarily prevent flu, but at least if you do contract flu, if you have been immunized against it with a vaccine that is effective against that particular flu strain, that bout of flu would be less severe.

3. Stay away from crowds

Especially when the flu bug is in the air. The flu virus is extremely contagious. One sniff and lots of viruses are scattered in the air, waiting for the next victim. Maybe your body would fight it off and you wouldn’t sucuumb to the infection, but if you can minimize exposure to the bug better still. Avoid crowded places as far as possible.

4. Wash your hands before you eat.

Wash them thoroughly too with soap, for at least a minute, rubbing the soap all over the hands thoroughly, then rinsing it off. Have you any idea how many viruses your hands inevitably pick up as you go through the day. Opening the door, resting on a table.. things you barely notice you come into contact with everyday. Wash your hands before you eat so you don’t put more germs than necessary into your mouth.

5. Keep your hands off your face.

Throughout the day, avoid touching your nose and mouth with your hands as far as possible as that’s the surest way to get the germs from you hands where they can easily invade your body.

6. Exercise

Keep fit. Get active. A healthy body is less likely to fall sick so go for a walk, or a jog every single day. Ride a bike. Walk in the park. The exercise and fresh air will be good for you.

7. Carry an umbrella or raincoat with you.

Prevention is better than cure. Some people are more likely to succuumb to flu if they get soaked in the rain and stay wet for a long period of time. Are you one of them? If you get soaked, as soon as possible, take a hot shower or warm bath after that to warm up. If it rains, use the umbrella or wear a raincoat.

8. Take your vitamins.

Do you have a balanced diet? Are you getting all the nutrients you need in your food. Even if you eat plenty of veggies, would you have all the nutrients? Is the soil in which the veggies were grown depleted of the necessary nutrients? Vitamin supplements would help you ensure you get the necessary vitamins and minerals your diet might lack. Even then, that’s no excuse for eating junk. Take your vitamins. Eat fresh food, fresh fruits and vegetables and cut down oily, sugary snacks.

One way to be sure you’ve got what you need is to take vitamin supplements. Sensible flu remedies at What to do when you have got the flu by the webmaster of http://www.cosmetics-online.org

We all know we should be doing some form of exercise don’t we? But, most of us really don’t want to leave our home and go to a gym.

No matter which way you go, you are going to need exercise equipment and a room in your home to put them. Here are a few choices for the kinds of equipment that you might want to get:

The most popular workout equipment that is sold today is a treadmill. If the weather is cold, or if it’s raining or snowing you don’t have to worry about freezing. Just go into your exercise room (or space) and walk on your treadmill. Treadmills aren’t the heavy, clunky machines that they used to be. Most can now be folded up and stowed away in a closet or behind a screen.

A universal weight set is the next thing that you should think about getting. Universal weight sets can be set up so that you can exercise a wide range of muscles in the body. Pumping iron isn’t like it used to be in the old days. This type of exercise equipment can be set up to exercise just about any part of your body, from your legs, to your arms to you back…you name it.

Using just these two pieces of exercise equipment, you can improve both your cardio and your body’s strength.

The least expensive choice as to learning the correct ways to exercise is by purchasing a fitness video. You don’t even have to use special equipment with some of these videos. Some will be for yoga and others just for dancing and aerobic exercise. Here are some things to be aware of when looking for a fitness video:

1. Decide on what kind of fitness that you want to start with and buy a video for that one kind. Don’t try to start out with twenty different kinds of exercises. You’ll just give up overwhelmed and frustrated.

2. Start slowly by following the video examples one step at a time. Maybe you’ve decided to do an aerobics dance video first. Begin the routine and then stop when you get overly tired. Take a day off and then start again, going as far as you can without overtaxing yourself. Build up your workout routine time gradually.

3. Only when you can easily do the exercise routine in the aerobics video that you purchased, then go for another type of exercise such as Tai Bo.

Fitness videos are great for those who are shy or think that they are to fat to be seen at the gym. (Why is that? That’s what gyms are for!) Once you get a few routines down, you’ll start feeling healthier and have more stamina.

Some people may do better with a personal trainer. After all, you can’t “cheat” on your exercises if you have someone telling you exactly what, how and why you should do your exercising. A personal trainer will create an exercise routine that matches your fitness level. They are there to push you a bit but not to make you do more than your body will tolerate.

Here are some tips on hiring a personal trainer:

You should be able to find a personal trainer at your local gym. You can hire one of them or ask them for a referral for one for you to use in your home.

This could get a bit expensive. You might just decide that it would be less expensive for you to work out at the gym just to get you started. You could join for just a short time. Some gyms even have a “trial period” so you can test them out. The trainer would show you how to use the exercise equipment and you’ll go and apply the same methods at home.

It would probably be better to splurge on a personal trainer to begin with so that he (or she) can start you on the routine that will be best for you level of physical fitness. They are the experts and will guide you in the right direction.

Which ever way you decide to go, fitness video or personal trainer, you must get started. The longer you wait, the more difficult it will be. Just do it!

Get all the help you need to lose weight with with the information at HealthyWeightLossGuide.com

If you have been practicing yoga, you can still be able to use these exercises - with care. Yoga is good for both mother and baby, though there has been opposing sides to the question.

Even if you weren’t doing yoga before your pregnancy, you can still begin the exercises. However, you will need to be certain that you are doing the poses correctly. There are also some poses that you will need to avoid. Ask your obstetrician if you aren’t sure about the affects of a certain pose.

Yoga benefits you by keeping you calm and serene. You learn to control your breathing and use breathing to help you relax. This is very beneficial to helping you through the childbirth process. Some mothers don’t even need pain medication because they’ve really mastered their breathing and relaxation.

Yoga can also help with the back pain that most pregnant women endure. The exercises can ease the pressure on the spinal cord and make them more comfortable.

There are some rules that must be followed when practicing yoga while you are pregnant.

1. Drink a lot of water. You don’t want to get overheated and raise your core body temperature so high that it harms your baby. Take frequent water breaks. If you feel yourself becoming flushed, it’s definitely time to stop and drink some water.

2. Be sure that you are eating healthy meals with plenty of nutrition. The extra effort that you use during yoga sessions will eat up a lot of calories.

3. Some poses will not be appropriate for you the further along you become in your pregnancy. Some may even be harmful. Stop doing the poses that require good balance. That means, no positions that have your head way below your feet. If you fall, you could hurt yourself and your child. Also, you will be moving more slowly when you are transitioning between positions to prevent becoming dizzy and off balance. Stand near a wall so that you have something to keep you from falling. Avoid major twisting and turning of the abdomen.

There are still many positions that you can use while pregnant. There are videos and books that you can purchase that will show you exactly which poses are best for you and your baby. You may also be able to find a prenatal yoga class in your area - if you live in a city with a higher population. They are still more difficult to find in smaller towns. A certified yoga instructor that has been trained in pregnancy related poses can be of tremendous help.

Again, be sure you consult your doctor before beginning any kind of exercise program, including yoga. This is especially important if you are having any problems at all with your pregnancy.

If you use common sense while using yoga during your pregnancy, you can’t go wrong. Listen to your body. Don’t push yourself into overdoing. You don’t want to get over-tired or strain your muscles. It’s not a marathon, but a way to prepare your body for pregnancy and childbirth.

Jude Wright is the owner of many home, garden and health related websites. Visit her http://BeginnerYogaPoses.com site for more information on yoga.

In The Writer’s Toolkit, Part One we discussed voice recognition software and web hosting in your arsenal of handy tools. Today we’ll explore software for project organization (a must if you’re a visual person who needs to see something to get their head around it), free toys to help you edit your manuscript in a smoother fashion and design programs for your creative side.

Project Organization

Are you someone who does better with a visual map or chart in front of you? Me too. I found this cool software that let’s you create visual charts with notes, attachments and even website attachments. It’s called Mindjet.

You can download a free 21-day trial to see if you like it and the tutorials walk you through how to use most of the features. I recently used it to map out a new project and it worked like a charm.

Microsoft Word Toys

If you’re editing drafts of your latest 1,000 page novel and would love to be able to have a split screen to go back and forth between drafts, here’s the best thing since, well, Windows. It’s freeware from Microsoft for XP that allows you to have two, three or four desktops.

It’s called Virtual Desktop and lets you split your screen into as many as 4 separate screens at a time. I usually only use 2 at a time but you can keep opening screens and they’ll lie atop each other.

Go to Microsoft’s website and look on the right side of the page for the Virtual Desktop download.

After you’ve downloaded the freeware, find a blank space on your XP toolbar [the one at the bottom of your screen where all your startup icons are], right click to find tools, click that and look for Desktop Manager. Click that and you should be set. There’s also a read file for these toys that will guide you through the quick setup.

This should avoid the expense of two monitors or another video card.

Design programs

If you decide that you want to design and produce some freebies (like take away cards for your next novel or bookmarks) when you make personal appearances, you’ll want to have a design program that gives you some flexibility.

You can opt for the Adobe Creative Suite but it’s pricey at over $1,300. I like working with Microsoft Publisher because it gives me the tools I need and it’s pretty easy to use.

You don’t want to do any design or creative with graphics or photos in a program like Word because, in my opinion, it’s not stable enough. Placing pictures or graphics where you want them to be and having them stay where you put them is difficult even though the makers of Word suggest that it can be used as a design program.

You can buy Publisher on its own and it’s about $150 or so. You might even find some sales out there or get it on eBay. It’s standard on XP Pro and you may already have it installed but have never used it.

Conclusion

As a writer, you need to have an arsenal loaded with helpful tools that makes your job easier. Check out some of the tools I’ve listed above and drop me an e-mail if you find something you think is worthwhile.

(Originally published on the Writing Etc. website from Filbert Publishing and reprinted with permission of the author, Victoria Rosendahl).

Victoria Rosendahl has published one adult mystery and has begun the Kathy & Martha Mystery Series with the first installment, Bitter Tastes. Check out Bitter Tastes for ideas on how to build a kid friendly web site and feel free to e-mail her at info@vbrosendahl.com.