”Healthy Cooking” – Ep# CAULIFLOWER, CARROTS
Posted: February 25, 2012 at 2:06 pm
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''Healthy Cooking'' - Ep# CAULIFLOWER, CARROTS
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Sneak Peek of Fitness Center at Colorado Center for Health and Wellness – Video
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Sneak Peek of Fitness Center at Colorado Center for Health and Wellness - Video
Progress update #1 – working out and bodybuidling – Video
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Progress update #1 - working out and bodybuidling - Video
Rick Warren and Dr. Oz on Faith and Fitness – Video
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Rick Warren and Dr. Oz on Faith and Fitness - Video
Fitness studio opens in Jonestown
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Melanie Wells, left, owner of Melanie Wells Fitness and Whole Living in Jonestown, instructs a RIPPED class Thursday in the fitness studio. (LEBANON DAILY NEWS JEREMY LONG)
A Lebanon High School teacher has opened a fitness studio in Jonestown that is focused on total health and wellness.
Melanie Wells Fitness and Whole Living, 183 S. Lancaster St., is where Becky Millard's Dance and Fitness Studio was located previously.
Wells said in an email that she has "taken the studio to another level" by offering more classes.
In addition to Zumba workouts, which remains the core of the studio, Wells has added RIPPED classes, which include an hour of resistance, interval, power, plyometrics and endurance training. Other classes include weekly yoga, Pilates and kung fu.
Christopher Bookwalter is teaching a ballroom dancing class, featuring a date night that includes a dance class followed by dinner
Melanie Wells, left, shows the correct way to use weights during a RIPPED class in her Jonestown fitness studio on Thursday. (LEBANON DAILY NEWS JEREMY LONG)
at a local restaurant.
Reiki, a Japanese technique used for stress reduction and healing, "is a non-invasive holistic modality used to restore balance and relax both mind and body by gently placing the hands on or above the client," Wells wrote.
Special events are planned each month to provide in-depth instruction, and a children's area was recently added.
Wells teaches health and physical education and has an undergraduate degree in kinesiology, with minors in health and nutrition. She is working on a master's degree in holistic health.
"I am a strong supporter of natural healing modalities and learning to live in harmony with nature," Wells wrote. "Health comes from knowing your body's natural rhythm and learning to live a balanced life."
For more information, call 609-351-2396 or visit the website at melaniewellsfitness.com.
stevesnyder@ldnews.com; 272-5611, ext. 152
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Fitness studio opens in Jonestown
Top health/fitness apps: track your sex life, buff your biceps, and repel mosquitoes
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Around the globe this week, the most popular health and fitness apps in the iTunes store include apps to track your lovemaking, to perfect your pushup, and to mix your own soothing music to calm rattled nerves.
Details on best-selling iTunes apps by country/region for the week, recorded on February 24, can be found below.
France: SexTrack
This app is your bedside companion to track your lovemaking skills on the basis of movement -- how long it lasts, how often you have sex, how fast, and how intense.
http://itunes.apple.com/fr/app/sextrack/id431509019?mt=8
Germany: CaloryGuard2
This app lets you access a database of 20,000 meals in four languages to count calories. Share your favorite meals via Bluetooth with friends, or synchronize with your iPad.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/caloryguard-2-simply-lose/id296183276?mt=8
US: iTriage
iTriage lets you research a range of health symptoms, learn about medical conditions, and locate a medical facility near you.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/itriage/id304696939?mt=8
UK: Pushups Pro
This app leads you through a variety of pushup exercises (with voice instruction) in addition to sending motivational emails from an e-trainer. Pre-set workouts with four difficulty levels.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/push-ups-pro/id486234050?mt=8
Hong Kong: Relax Melodies Oriental Premium
This app lets you personalize your own soothing sounds by intergrating with iTunes songs. Features 38 sound effects, six binaural beats, and 22 music tracks.
http://itunes.apple.com/fr/app/relax-melodies-oriental-premium/id448200679?mt=8
Brazil: Anti Mosquito Sonic Repeller
To enhance your outdoor experience, this app emits a high-frequency sound to fend off mosquitoes. According to the app maker, the pitch of the sound is so high that most humans won't notice.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/anti-mosquito-sonic-repeller/id385921289?mt=8
Spain: iD-Stress
In this app from Le Centre Enlace de Barcelona, a French-English health center, therapist Ana Lombard guides you through a stress-relieving program. Claims to help improve concentration and relieve insomnia.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id-stress/id459140976?mt=8
Japan: Sight Recovery 3D
This app aims to give your eyes a workout by leading you through strengthening exercises based on 3D images.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sight-recover-3d/id453629018?mt=8
Canada: Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock
Place your iPhone in your bed and the app works by measuring your movements while you sleep, waking you in a phase of lighter sleep.
http://itunes.apple.com/app/sleep-cycle-alarm-clock/id320606217?mt=8
Ireland: Pro Pts Tracker
This self-contained app (no Internet access required to retrieve database) lets you monitor and track your daily points based on the Weight Watchers system.
http://itunes.apple.com/ph/app/pro-pts-tracker/id454964655?mt=8
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Top health/fitness apps: track your sex life, buff your biceps, and repel mosquitoes
Light Mulls Retirement – Video
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Light Mulls Retirement - Video
Can Baby Boomers Cope with Retirement Realities?
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The tsunami of baby boomers rolling into retirement age will continue for the next twenty years, with approximately 10,000 people daily reaching the age of 65. The journey into the retirement years can be surprisingly emotional. Most baby boomers realize they will soon be forced to confront their retirement preparedness. They will also find out if they are mentally ready to retire.
[See 10 Important Ages for Retirement Planning.]
Retirement can generate a variety of conflicting emotions and new challenges to deal with. Here’s a look at some of the emotions that can be part of the retirement mindset:
Anger. Financial losses from the recent recession have taken a bite out of most retirement nest eggs. During the most recent recession, 43 percent of retirees expressed anger at the impact on their retirement plans, and 39 percent remain worried about their financial situation, according to a SunAmerica Financial Group survey. Baby boomers may also experience frustration because they cannot easily make up for lost time and savings. Many people will be forced to continue working and delay retirement beyond their original plans. In addition, many perpetually active baby boomers will need to face their diminishing physical and mental capabilities. It can be frustrating to finally have time to do what you want to do, but not the energy or ability to do it.
[See The 10 Best Places to Retire in 2012.]
Fear. Baby boomers have witnessed their parents aging and know there is no avoiding their own journey down that path. They will be forced to deal with health issues and dependency on others. They may also have to struggle with finding a new purpose in life, avoiding boredom, and staying mentally sharp.
Expectation. Over half of baby boomers (54 percent) view retirement as an opportunity to reinvent themselves, SunAmerica found. Whether experimenting with a new career or pursuing a life-long passion, retirement affords baby boomers the time they need to try something new. Most baby boomers can expect to live long and productive lives. Two-thirds of respondents say their goal is to live a productive life to age 100.
[See 7 Misconceptions About Retired Life.]
Opportunity. Demanding careers prevented many driven baby boomers from spending quality time with family. Although they cannot make up for missed opportunities, seniors now have a second chance to renew family ties and build stronger relationships.
Dave Bernard is not yet retired but has begun his due diligence to plan for a satisfying retirement. With a focus on the non-financial aspects of retiring, he shares his discoveries and insights on his blog Retirement–Only the Beginning.
How to Raid Your Retirement Plan
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It's a move of desperation: Raiding your retirement plan to get at the cash because life has thrown you a curve ball.
But desperate economic times may call for desperate measures; sometimes you just have to get cash from somewhere. And if that's the case, there are some ways to get at that retirement money before age 59, without paying the hefty 10% penalty which generally applies for touching those funds early.
Of course, it's better not to withdraw money from your 401(k)s or individual retirement accounts before you've retired -- since it is an uphill battle to rebuild savings and few are able to do it.
If you've got emergency savings or taxable accounts, use those funds first. And if you have the ability to take a loan from your 401(k) -- which is generally limited to the one at the company where you now work -- that's a smarter move than an outright withdrawal. However, if you had other options, perhaps you wouldn't be reading this far.
Generally, if you need to take cash out of your retirement plan, whether 401(k) or IRA, before the age of 59, you'll owe income taxes and a 10% penalty for early withdrawal. No matter what, you'll still owe the taxes, but there are situations where you can avoid paying the penalty.
You can generally withdraw penalty-free from a 401(k) or IRA if you become permanently disabled, if you need to pay for medical expenses (if they're above 7.5% of your adjusted gross income), or if you're facing an Internal Revenue Service levy (that's a tough enough one without the extra penalty).
You can also start a regular retirement stream early, or access income from your retirement funds in regular payments for at least five years till you turn 59��.
The rules on IRAs also allow you to take some cash out penalty-free to pay health insurance premiums if you're unemployed, to help you make a first home purchase, or to cover the costs of college tuition and expenses.
The exception that flies under the radar -- and that may be most useful, especially for those in their 50s who are now struggling (or are hoping to retire early) -- is the one where you start an income stream early.
In Internal Revenue Service parlance, you won't face a penalty for withdrawals if you set up "substantially equal periodic payments" or what's sometimes called 72(t) after the section of the tax code.
"There are certain exceptions to the penalty for people who have logical, normal commitments," explains Allison Shipley, a partner in the personal financial services practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Miami. "The one I used to focus on with people is making substantially equal periodic payments. If you need to dip into your savings, but you're still trying to manage it for retirement, you could start a distribution program and save on the penalty."
Taking advantage of this "substantially equal periodic payments" strategy involves a little bit of complicated math, as these annuitized payments have to be calculated based on your life expectancy (or one of two alternate, more complex, methods), and you have follow the IRS's rules closely. But your 401(k) administrator or IRA administrator should be able to walk you through it. There also are online calculators, such as one from Bankrate.com, which can help.
Here's how it works: Say you're 50 years old and have $400,000 in an IRA, and you need some cash but hope to avoid the penalty. You'd look up your life expectancy, then divide your account balance by it, repeating this calculation each year with new figures for both your account balance and life expectancy. In this example, cribbed from the IRS's explainer on the topic, that would be $11,696 in the first year. Once you start taking these payments, you have to continue doing so for at least five years or until you turn 59 ��, whichever is longer.
It doesn't give you a huge amount of cash without penalty, but it might just give you enough. After all, the average amount of a hardship withdrawal from a 401(k) was just $5,510, according to a 2011 study by consultants Aon Hewitt.
"I wish I had known about that," says Vicki Contavespi, a public relations executive, who is still rebuilding her retirement savings with new contributions, after raiding it, in dribs and drabs, during a 13-month period of unemployment a decade ago. "I was only taking money out when I desperately needed to take it."
Since the financial crisis began in 2008, not surprisingly, the number of people raiding their retirement funds has increased: At the end of 2010, 28% of active 401(k) participants had loans outstanding, up from 22% five years earlier, and another 7% took withdrawals, up from 5%, according to the Aon Hewitt study.
If you have multiple retirement plans from multiple jobs over the course of your career, you'll need to read the fine print carefully in order to choose which one to tap first.
Not only are the rules for IRAs different from those for 401(k)s, but corporations also may add additional rules on distributions from their own 401(k)s.
"It can be very confusing, and in some cases we're talking about pretty big dollars," says Gil Charney, principal tax research analyst at H&R Block's Tax Institute. "Sometimes it's better to take a distribution from an IRA where a penalty exemption exists than thinking broadly that the penalty exception will exist for the 401(k) when it doesn't."
A final note: If you have a Roth IRA as well as a traditional one, it may make sense to tap the Roth first. That's because you already paid income tax on the money you put in, so if you've held it for five years, and meet the rules for avoiding the penalty, you likely won't have to pay any more tax now.
Hopefully, you'll never have to tap your retirement savings early. But if you do, better to do it wisely. (Editing by Linda Stern and Andrea Evans)
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How to Raid Your Retirement Plan