Thats how a morning lark turns to a night owl

Millions of studies have been made about which one is the right way; to be a night owl or a morning lark. In everyday life you have to wake up, doesn’t matter if its school, work or just the family. If you're a night owl, and you struggle to convert yourself into a morning larks, here's a little help.

Even if you are not forced to wake up early, it’s worth to try. Researches also showed that the morning larks are much more productive and effective than those who just get out of bed after 8-9 hours.

1. Forget the snooze button!

This is the hardest of all: when you know it's there as an option, it is very difficult to say no to it. But the snooze button only deceives your body and makes it more difficult to wake up. Typically you have just to reach a deeper state when the alarm ruins it again. If you do it to yourself every morning two or three times, you'll be more tired during the day. A good solution to the problem can be putting far away your phone (or whatever you use as an alarm) from the bed - by the time you get up and walk for it, you will be ready to start your day.

2. Prepare in advance!

It's much easier to get up and start the day if there are no decisions waiting  for you to do decide at the morning, even if it’s just "What clothes to wear today?" or "Where do I put the coffee bottle?". Prepare everything the night before: your clothes, your purse, your laptop, breakfast, coffee). If everything is at reach, it is much easier to get up and less time prepare yourself.

3. Proceed by 15 minutes!

If you'd like to get up much earlier, than you are used to, take your time. Don’t rush anything! Work with 15 minutes - the first day wake up 15 minutes earlier, do it for couple of days, then add 15 minutes again, and so on.

4. Let the sun shine in!

If you want to get up at a time when the sun is already up, you can help your body to recover if you just pull the curtains, pull up the blinds and open the windows a little bit! When your body realizes the brightness outside, it will wake up much easier, than in the dark. 

Tips to be a good marathon runner

As during the month of March are taking place two marathon races in the cities of Paphos (already celebrated the last day 5th) and Limassol (the next weekend 18th and 19th), what I´m going to write in this post is directly related with two big events, and this is how to be a good runner in long distances, tips and advices to get succeed in your run.

Before Your Run

Drink enough that you're no longer thirsty, but don´t drink more than necessary, otherwise Mr toilet will be waiting you.
Unlike camels, human being can´t store more water than estimated so it can´t be used later. The worst thing it can happen is you may have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the race, which is not a drama, but it is annoying the fact of interrumpt the rhythm of your run.
Warm up. This point is as important as the previous one. A good preparation before the run is essential to avoid injuries and to be ready since the first second.

During Your Run

If you get significantly thirsty during your workout, reach for a water bottle. If that thirst is coupled with a high level of fatigue, however, you may need to reach for something more.
When the level of thirst and fatigue is so high, it´s very important to ingest sport drinks to solve this and also provides you an energy source that also reduces dehydration. 
It´s also important to drink just enough to quench the thrist, otherwise we could get in trouble, for example gastrointestinal problems.
A good solution to finish with the lack of nutrients during the race is to combine the ingestion of drinks with gels.
Pay attention to the signs of your body. If during the race your body warns you to reduce the speed because of tiredness or over effort, do it. It´s completely unnecessary to take risks unless you are a professional runner and earn your living in that way.

After Your Run

 After the race, the most important step to follow is to take our beatings back to the normal rhythm. Moreover, it´s also necessary once again to hydrate, and now that the run is over, taking some food

Tempted to reach for a cold beer after a race? Don’t. A protein shake? Nope.
Runners should consume fluid to rehydrate, carbohydrate to replenish muscle fuel stores and protein to repair muscle damage. It doesn't really matter what form these nutrients come in, but I prefer to see runners get them from natural, unprocessed sources such as water, yogurt, and fruit.

As you can see, here some tips and info that can be very useful for a long-distance race. If you are thinking to start with such a big challenge, keep in mind this recommendations.

Cookie Craving

What is it with cookies? Everyone loves them. But then, who wouldn’t love a miniature dessert intended to be eaten with your hands—one that leaves traces of chocolate or jam to lick from fingertips, makes a child happy, or cheers up a friend? (Who doesn’t want to sneak one for breakfast?)

No dessert comes in more flavors, textures, sizes, and shapes than cookies —yet they are the simplest recipe in a baker’s repertoire.

That means there is a cookie for every personality and predilection, every mood and motivation. If you crave something crunchy to dip into your coffee or wine—there’s a biscotti to satisfy you.  If you want gooey, or seductive, oozing with chocolate or caramel—from pudding bars to brownies, your options are endless. Soft and cakey, chewy or flakey, spicy with ginger, or tangy with lemon: there are cookies for all of these cravings and countless more. 

Modern cookies play savory—bacon, Parmesan cheese, herbs, sea salt—alongside sweet.  While there is no shortage of classic chocolate chip and oatmeal cookie recipes, you can also find versions with cocoa nibs or whole grains, or vegan, raw, gluten- or grain-free.

There’s no excuse not to treat yourself to a cookie.

And the freedom! When you walk into a cookie shop or approach a cookie platter, you get to choose your own favorite without sharing or compromising. From paper-thin wafers rolled into crispy cigarettes to the soul-satisfying chew of melt-in-your mouth meringues, the choice is yours. It’s no wonder that the child in each of us loves a cookie!

     EAT COOKIES!!!!

It’s time to wake up! Do you want to know the truth of what is happening across the globe?

We live in a wonderful world but in recent years our world has been devastated by hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and droughts. There is no doubt in the world scientific community that this is the direct results of human activity and the effects of climate change will become worse in the future.

From oil spills to overflowing landfills, man’s unsustainable quest to live a better life with little regard for the environment has caused a staggering amount of environmental disasters to be formed. At present, pollution is labeled to be the N°1 killer, affecting more than 100 million worldwide.

Following are shocking photos which capture man-made disasters and their effect on the environment. If these photos don’t inspire you to collect trash when you see it, it’s time to wake up.

The photos shown above expose the truth of what is happening across the globe. If you think your plastic isn't ending up in nature, think again. Much of it ends up there without you realizing, from flying out of your garbage can, the garbage truck, or the landfill. Animals are constantly being suffocated, starved, or weighed down due to ingesting plastics. Everything that we can do to reduce our plastic usage as individuals counts.

Climate change could destroy the word where we live in, there is still time for us to save our word, there are many things that we can be doing, things that you and your family can do together.

You can REDUCE the amount of waste that you produce, and we you can, REUSE it,

You can RECYCLE many items in your home, make sure you put the trash in the correct bins!

You can follow the fb page of Rob Greenfield, he was a physical representation of the american trash output for 30 days.

Check out his video to see how and why he did it and head to www.trashisfortossers.com to learn tips and tricks on how to reduce your everyday trash output in ways that are simple, cost effective. If you are also interested in being a part of the solution to food waste you can find important information here. 

Lastly, on Sunday (19/01/2017) will take place the Eco Teaching Event,  don't miss the opportunity to learn more about this topic.

Be part of the solution!

7 Things to Pack When You Travel

New Year, new plans, hopefully a lot of traveling for all of you.

Before every trip the question always comes up, what are key things what you need to have in your backpack?

What can’t you leave at home?

1. Extra money on a credit card - with credit card you can almost pay everywhere for everything, much more safe and practical than carrying tons of cash – the amount depends on what kind of trip you are going.

In the 99% of the cases you will not need this, because luckily there will not be an unexpected/emergency situation, and at the end you will have some extra money, which you can use to make some special memories (still unexpected event, but a positive one)

2. Your hobby - especially for longer trips, it’s a good idea to take with you the thing what makes you relaxed at home. It will help you to connect yourself with the new environment.

3. Travel book (Lonely planet) - first it can look like a lame thing, but it’s not at all. In some countries you have to be prepared that maybe you won’t reach the 4G internet. At the end it will have an emotional connection with you and with the trip

4. One book/ebook - trips are not always about endless action, you will stay a lot of times at airports/train stations/bus station and other stations, or just rest in your bed. In this situation its very useful, and somehow the trip has an effect on the book itself and how it affects you.

5. Tour sandals - yes.yes.yes. "How will I look like?? Nooo!!!"

Who cares!? It’s the most practical thing ever. For hiking, city tour, beaches, you can use it everywhere. Small, easy to clean, you can use it everywhere and durable...and ugly, but still, who cares? You are on a trip, not on a ball.  The mountain tribes will give a 100% shit about what kind of shoes you wear.

6. Half of the cloths you would think - takes a lots of space, its heavy and most of the time totally for nothing. Check the weather of your destination, add an extra pullover and then just leave the half of the cloths at home that you prepared to take with you.

7. One towel - you always need one towel.

If you have some extra tips, don’t keep it in yourself, share it with us!

Join us on our next Passionate Travelers Meeting on Thursday evening:

https://www.facebook.com/events/377042015990337/

Riding a bicycle

In this post I would like to talk about a mean of transportation as simple as two tyres, a frame, two pedals, a handlebar and a seat. Exactly, this vehicle is the bicycle. As simple it doesn´t need anything else than the energy of our legs to make it move on. An essential tool in the early years for children in order to develop their basic movement skills and also a way to create healthy habits in their future. The bicycle is also a style of life for many people but, until what point is it necessary and important its use in general? Here I will give a series of reasons that will make you change your idea of the bicycle.

Healthy reasons. The practise of sport through the bicycle has all sorts of health benefits—physical and mental. It engages your legs and it is easy on your joints, it´s also an activity you can do everyday either as an physical activity or to go to work. Moreover, it helps you to prevent of different illness us as vascular diseases, cholesterol, heart problems and all kind of mental and psicologycal problems. 

 

Economical reasons. That way of transportation it has an insignificant cost comparing with other vehicles as for instance a motorbike or a car in terms of gasoil, parking fees, reparations and checkings,...

Environmental reasons. Using the bicycle every day we are contributing to the care of our environment, which means less polution, better air to breath and a cleaner living context for everyone. Concerning about the importance of the welfare and care of our Mother Earth in general and our cities in particular, this atittude would help a lot to decontaminate the space where we live.

But using the bicycle is not only taking the it and starting to use it in any way. There also are a series of behaviour rules for all those people to respect as drivers they are. And they must be especially aware about the driving rules when they ride in the walkside. And in the same way the must be careful with pedestrians, all drivers in general should be awared of how vulnerable cyclist are when they ride on the road.
 

The real story of plastic.

From the moment we wake up in the morning and brush our teeth, to when we watch TV at the end of the day, plastic is all around us. So much so that it can be hard to imagine leaving the supermarket without at least one item that isn’t in a plastic container.

It hasn't always been like this. In fact, there are people alive today that were born in an almost plastic-free world. Imagine going to the beach and not finding a single piece of washed up plastic trash.

What, in the course of history, caused such a change?

There are a few stories of what drove the demand for modern plastics. One version is that, in the second half of the 19th century, companies in the billiard ball industry realised they needed a substitute for ivory. By then, humans were consuming at least one million pounds of the material each year, and newspapers were reporting that elephants would soon become extinct if that pace continued.

And so the race to come up with a new material began. Over the course of several decades, chemists from Europe and US searched for solutions. After years of trial and error, they discovered plastic as we know it today, and by the beginning of the 20th century, people could buy hair combs and clothes with buttons that were not made of ivory.

Even with this scientific development, there were still no plastic bags flying around the cities, or fish being caught up in plastic rings. So, what triggered this explosion of plastic in our lives?

Two important factors pushed manufacturers to embrace this substance. First was the development of mass production assembly lines. Before that, factories required a lot of labour to manufacture even a single product, making plastic prohibitively time consuming.

The second factor was World War II. The material was used in many ways, from bazooka barrels to aircraft components, and between 1939 and 1945, the production of plastic grew by almost four times. With the end of the war, plastic companies needed to keep making a profit, so they had to switch from military vehicles to Barbie dolls. Plastic was so cheap, everyone could afford it: plastic containers, plastic furniture, plastic toys. And that's when the material gained widespread traction.

But what was a solution before is a problem now. Because plastic lasts for so long, every single piece of plastic ever made still exists, and will continue existing for at least 500 years. To put that in context, if Leonardo da Vinci had drunk water from a plastic bottle when he was painting the Mona Lisa, that bottle would not have fully decomposed yet.

Everyday, more and more plastic keeps being produced, used and thrown away. In countries where disposable cups are made of plastic, for example, it may take only seconds for one to leave the package, be used, and end up in a trash can. So much plastic is consumed that there is an area bigger than France of throw-away plastic swirling at all depths in the North Pacific Ocean. It has become so ubiquitous that birds are using it to build their nests.

And it’s not just the amount of plastic being produced. Everything related to plastic is damaging the planet, from the impact of extracting the fossil fuels used to produce plastic, to the health effects of the toxins it releases into the environment when it is burned, to the devastating impact on sea life.

There is something you can do about it. Reducing the amount of plastic you use might seem difficult, but it's simpler than you think. You can make a difference by many ways, from simple actions like bringing your own bag to the grocery store, to avoiding plastic cutlery and products containing microbeads. What is important is to be conscious about what you are consuming and how it is affecting not only your life and your surroundings, but the whole planet and its many magnificent species, large and small.