Monday, June 18, 2012 10:43 PM EDT

With the temperatures in the high 70s last week, most people had to hunt for their summer wardrobe. But, if you get organized now, youll never have to hunt for clothes again. Lets start with your bedroom closet. This closet should only have your current wardrobe, in style, in season and for us people on perpetual diets, two or even three sizes (at the most).

Your bedroom closet is just for your clothes, shoes, accessories, so take everything out that does not belong in your closet and put them in the right places. If you have a laundry basket that is empty, put all of the items that you removed from the closet into the basket. Then bring back the empty basket and put it on the bottom of your closet for your dirty laundry.

What about your scrapbooking materials baseball cards, old nighties from the 90s? Take out all unnecessary items and put them in a storage area such as your garage, basement or attic. Neatly box or bag the items before storing them as this will protect them from possible damage. Make sure you label what is inside and secure them with tape. Suitcases can be used to store athletic gear and other things that are not used on a weekly basis, and all memorabilia (that concert ticket from the 1980s) needs to be stored in acid-free boxes found in arts and crafts stores. Above all, your closet should be for your clothes, shoes, and accessories (like belts, ties and handbags) thats all.

Take out the first item of clothing and answer the following questions: Do you love it? Have you worn it in the past year? Does it fit? Is it in good condition?

If you answer yes to all the questions, keep it and move on to the next item. Next, decide what clothing you are keeping and what you are donating. Then you have one more chore to do: Buy good hangers. I recommend Huggable Hangers. They are available at Target or on the Home Shopping Network. Sturdy, colorfast, strong and work great, but buy only the suit ones; they are the best, in my opinion. (Im not a paid spokesperson for the company but wish I was!)

Use these hangers to put all of your clothes on and put all of the donated clothes in a garbage bag and put it in your trunk, as you do your weekly chores, you will drive by a Goodwill or Salvation Army or a clothing box and you can just drop them off.

When you have clutter around, it takes more time and energy to find something then if everything was in its right place. If every time you bring an item of clothing into your home, you take an item of clothing out, you will never have to do this closet exercise again.

Have an organized day!

Leslie Jacobs is an organizational consultant and motivational speaker in New Britain. You can reach her at Leslie@lesmess.com.

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Getting Your Life Together: Hunting for a summer wardrobe? Try these tips

WHAT WORKS FOR YOU? Different kinds of diets work for different kinds of people. For Dr. Davis' patients, it's getting rid of wheat. Screen grab from YouTube

MANILA, Philippines - Its one thing to posit that organic lechon (roasted pig) may in fact be healthier than transfat-logged fastfood meals.

Its quite another to be advocating an ample amount of meat in ones diet.

The hypothesis is more than enough to raise a few people's eyebrows in curiosity, and yet is easily dismissed due to age-old correlations between meat, cholesterol and heart disease.

Yet this is exactly what a new wave of nutritionists are doing. The startling thing about it: the way these nutritionists champion eating food that has traditionally been deemed unhealthy.

They also fight against what people have considered to be a staple in many countries around the world: grains, whether they come in the form of steaming hot rice or the breakfast pan de sal (bread of salt).

Cardiologist Dr. William Davis is quick to suggest the elimination of wheat in his patients diets whenever they have an unexplainable ailment. He narrates in his best-selling book Wheat Belly how his patients quickly lost much of their unhealthy weight, effectively cured their diabetes, regained energy and even slowed down their aging process by doing so. A myriad of glowing testimonials are also included in the book; theyre almost too good to be true.

He suggests that much of the United States obesity problems started when the countrys Food and Drug Administration began to advocate wheat products.

Dr. Davis noticed a pattern among his patients who consciously tried to live healthy lifestyles with proper diet and exercise. Most will say, I dont get it. I exercise five days a week. Ive cut my fat and increased my healthy whole grains. Yet I cant seem to stop gaining weight, Davis writes.

He cites many reasons as to why wheat is a culprit of poor health: the wheat we eat today is not the wheat that our grandparents used to consume (thanks to rampant and uncontrolled cross-breeding); high glycemic indices in wheat products that raise blood sugar more than table sugar or a bar of Snickers; wheats addictive properties that cause overeating, and more.

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Eating like a caveman

SAN FRANCISCO, June 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --As Sonoma prepares for the upcoming Toyota/Save Mart 350, select Walmart stores will offer authentic NASCAR merchandise and host exclusive fan events starting June 21. Customers are invited to attend these special events and enjoy show car and simulator displays perfect to safely get behind the wheel and feel the power of NASCAR June 21-23 from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., depending on the location.

Race Time at Walmart

In addition to the fan events happening in Walmart parking lots, area Walmart stores will feature savings on all the food and snacks you need to enjoy the race, plus authentic NASCAR merchandise such as T-shirts and racing flags, with an even bigger selection of exclusive products available at Walmart.com/NASCAR.

Participating stores in the Sonoma area include:

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Displays free and open to the public include the Hefty Show Car Simulator, No. 24 Pepsi MAX Show Car, No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew Show Car and the Coca-Cola 2-Seat Simulator at:

Store #2553 6650 Hembree Lane Windsor, Calif. 10 a.m. 4 p.m.

Displays free and open to the public include the M&M's Show Car, Simulator Pod and Trophy Display, Kingsford Ultimate Tailgate Truck, 5-hour Energy Show Car and Oreo Ritz Show Car at:

Store #1755 4625 Redwood Drive Rohnert Park, Calif. 11:30 a.m. 5:30 p.m.

Friday, June 22, 2012

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Sonoma Area Walmart Stores Offer NASCAR Authentic Merchandise, Fan Events Starting June 21

Todays final edition on special needs diets is focused on cerebral palsy. Children with cerebral palsy may have a harder time getting sufficient nutrients due to the physical difficulties of chewing and swallowing.

Ensuring a proper diet is extremely important. First, we will cover brain physiology and the most common physical symptoms associated with cerebral palsy. Food choices can help or worsen some physical symptoms and knowing which ones should be a steady part of the diet and which ones to avoid can have a tremendous impact.

Cerebral palsy refers to several neurological disorders that appear in infancy or early childhood and affect muscle coordination and movement.

According to Harvard Medical School, it is caused by brain abnormalities that disrupt the ability to control movement and posture. Cerebral palsy manifests as brain lesions that occur before the age of 3.

These brain lesions are a result of damage before, during or after birth and the symptoms can range from mild, where no special assistance is required, to severe and requiring lifelong care. It is the leading cause of childhood disability that affects bodily function and development.

Specific brain lesions may affect the ability to move the face, mouth and head, creating difficulties with chewing and eating. Because chewing can be affected, the main goal in a diet is to provide high quality foods that are easy to eat or drink.

Proper nourishment is the main concern for children with cerebral palsy. According to the MyChild organization, up to 35 percent of children with cerebral palsy are malnourished. This slow down growth and make gaining weight difficult.

Healthy, high calorie foods are especially important since it can be difficult for many children to physically eat enough to meet their nutrition requirements. Constipation and acid reflux are the most common physical symptoms. This is due to poor muscle tone that affects the ability to push stool through the colon and of the lower esophageal sphincter, which causes the stomachs contents to wash back up into the esophagus causing acid reflux.

Make every bite count. Limit processed foods with low nutritional value as much as possible and focus on calorie dense, nutritious foods and high quality fats.

Consider adding calorie rich smoothies to the daily diet containing high calorie fruits (bananas, dates, mangos, avocados) and green leafy vegetables along with powdered greens for extra vitamins.

Continued here:
Foods for children with cerebral palsy

Lionel WIJESIRI

Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) have become an acute global crisis these days. People from developing countries are at most vulnerable status to NCDs. When Health Ministry Additional Secretary, Dr. Palitha Maheepala stated recently that, 71 percent of the total deaths reported from hospitals were caused by NCDs, it became obvious that NCDs have become an acute problem in our country, also.

NCDs, which include diabetes, cardio-vascular disease, chronic respiratory diseases and cancers, are largely preventable, since their main risk factors of tobacco use, unhealthy diets, harmful use of alcohol and physical inactivity can all be modified. Despite this, what made NCDs to reach such epidemic proportions across our country? It is time we sit up and begin to take stock urgently.

Managing this national challenge requires collaborative solutions, involving government, civil society and private companies.

First of all, we must be bold and ambitious in setting national targets to reduce the burden of NCDs. These targets should push comprehensive and evidence-based concrete action to address the diverse and complex drivers of this epidemic. Targets should include an overall reduction in the incidence of new cases, a reduction in the prevalence of major NCDs.

Sound leadership across government to work with the full range of relevant National and International agencies will then be required to promote and implement cross-sector action to meet these targets. This will ensure a coordinated, cross-border response to NCDs. All future infrastructure development policies should be subject to health impact assessments and cross-sector food policy should address the full spectrum of nutrition-related issues both under-nutrition and over-nutrition.

Whilst specific targets to reduce deaths from NCDs may not have been achieved in the past decade, there is much to be learned from our experiences. More dedicated work is now needed to commit to reducing avoidable deaths from NCDs by 25 percent by 2025 - a target that the World Health Organization (WHO) believes is achievable.

Children are especially vulnerable and powerless. They often have no voice to advocate for their own needs, and yet they face unique challenges and have special needs. The period of rapid growth and development that occurs in childhood has a profound impact on future health and quality of life enjoyed in adulthood, and represents a 'golden window' of opportunity in terms of improving the overall lifetime health of populations and promoting rights to health for all.

It is, therefore, imperative that childrens issues are an integral part of our national NCD discourse. A predominant focus on adults will systematically neglect important opportunities to reduce NCD risk factors from the earliest possible stages. By contrast, a focus on children promotes generational and population-based change, and empowers a pro-active approach to the primary, secondary and tertiary prevention of NCDs.

Unfortunately, there is a common misconception that NCDs do not affect children, but are diseases of adulthood only. This is patently false. NCDs and their risk factors have an enormous impact on the health of children. Cancer, diabetes (both Type 1 and Type 2), chronic respiratory diseases (such as asthma), obesity, congenital and acquired heart disease and many endemic NCDs all affect children and/or start in childhood. Children and young people are often targeted by companies advertising fast food, tobacco or alcohol, and many grow up today in environments that are not conducive to them adopting healthy lifestyles (e.g. participating in sport).

Continued here:
A shared commitment to fight NCDs is the need of the hour

LOUISVILLE, KY. (WDRB) --Construction work is set to begin today on the controversial Brownsboro Road project.

The plan, which has been supported by Metro Councilwoman Tina Ward-Pugh,will add sidewalks to Lower Brownsboro Road and reduce the roadway from four to three lanes between Drescher Bridge Avenue and Ewing Avenue. Mayor Greg Fischer approved the project after public meetings and numerous traffic studies.

Members of the group Save42.orgoppose the project, saying it will have a negative impact on business owners and traffic.It released a position paper last month detailing why the group of business leaders is against the $400,000 plan. They fear the current project would cripple business and only make traffic flow worse. Business owner Teresa Davis said last month, "It's just an unnecessary thing to happen, to cost so much money and not really make it any easier for business or pedestrians. Brownsboro Road is never going to be a walk-around type community like Frankfort Avenue like Tina Ward-Pugh hopes it will be, it's not designed that way."

Opponents are calling for other ways to slow down traffic, such as traffic lights or changing the speed limit, rather than reducing the number of lanes.

It started in 2001, when then-Louisville city Alderwoman Ward-Pugh began working on a project to add sidewalks on a small portion of Lower Brownsboro Road in the Clifton and Clifton Heights neighborhoods.

The sidewalks were needed to improve pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicular safety in the area where the Kentucky School for the Blind and the American Printing House for the Blind are located and where many visually-impaired children and adults live and work. Because of a tall limestone cliff that abuts Brownsboro Road, the stretch did not have sidewalks.

Initially, three construction alternatives were developed and vetted by a licensed engineering firm. The first included blasting the limestone to add the sidewalk and another suggested physically moving the road. Both were determined to be too costly and didn't achieve all of the desired results.

The third alternative, the Brownsboro Road Diet, was ultimately approved in 2007. This plan would reduce the road from four to three lanes and add a sidewalk. Based on an analysis of the number and type of accidents, the road diet is expected to have the added benefit of helping reduce accidents in the area. There have been 172 accidents in the Road Diet section over the past five years. In contrast, a similar stretch of Brownsboro Road (from Ewing to University) which handles the same traffic volume and is a comparable corridor had half that number, has had83 accidents over the past five years.

In 2008, under then Mayor Jerry Abramson and Metro Councilwoman Ward-Pugh, the project was put out for bid. When bids came in higher than expected, city leaders began to look for additional funding sources.

When Greg Fischer was elected Mayor in January, 2011, the project was re-bid. In late 2011, some citizens approached the mayor stating that they felt their voices and concerns had not been adequately heard in the 15 community meetings over the years. To ensure that all opinions were considered, Fischer opened an additional 30-day comment period.

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Construction on controversial Brownsboro Road traffic project to begin

ISLAMABAD - A Pakistan police commander has ordered tens of thousands of pot-bellied officers to diet or quit frontline duties, officials said Monday in what one newspaper dubbed the "battle of the bulge."

Habibur Rehman, police chief in Pakistan's most populous province Punjab, has ordered 175,000 personnel not to allow their waistlines to exceed 38 inches (96 cm), spokeswoman Nabila Ghazanfar told AFP.

"I'm on a diet and if I can do it, why can't you?" she quoted Rehman as telling officials last month in the province.

At least 50 percent of Punjab police are overweight, Ghazanfar said.

Local daily The News said the number overweight officers in the city of Rawalpindi, the headquarters of the army that has been hit by numerous Taliban attacks, stood at more than 77 percent, adding that "policemen appear to be losing the battle of the bulge".

Police said officers had been given until June 30 to shape up and those deemed too fat from July 1 would not be given jobs in the field.

"Police officials are joining gyms, jogging and doing other exercise, including a lot of running to become thin and slim," Ghazanfar said.

Overweight officers are ineffective and "cannot chase bandits, robbers and other criminals properly", she added, blaming the problem on under-staffing.

"We have a shortage of personnel, what can you expect when one official is doing the job of six people? They don't get time for physical fitness," she told AFP.

Another official who did not wish to be named said 100 stations were initially singled out for the exercise order, but Rehman later decided to send warning letters to the entire Punjab police force.

Excerpt from:
'Diet or quit' Pakistan tells pot-bellied cops