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Dear healthwellness82@gmail.com, With gas prices on the rise, we all would like to save money at the pump. Rich Doble, founder of Savvy-Discounts.com and coauthor of Cheaper: Insiders’ Tips for Saving on Everything, shares eight effective strategies for doing so... including three driving habits you can change that will instantly reduce your fuel costs. How many times have you vowed to start and stick with a regular exercise routine only to give it up after just a few weeks, or even days? Preventive medicine specialist Tyler C. Cooper, MD, MPH, from the Dallas-based Cooper Aerobics Center, shares some exercise inspiration that will get you moving and help you maintain a workout routine that won’t make you miserable. Bonus: He reveals exactly how much exercise you really need to achieve maximum fitness. All the best,  Jessica Kent Editor BottomLineSecrets.com  Enjoy the 100 Greatest Books of All Time... and Never Have to Read a Word! Listen to them effortlessly in audio book format preloaded on a compact MP3 player. Includes classics like Tom Sawyer, Little Women, Moby Dick and 97 more! So simple to use -- just push 'play' and enjoy. Listen anywhere: on walks, in the car, while travelling, or at home. Your collection includes a preloaded MP3 player, car adapter, headphones, belt clip and charger. Bonus Gift: Order today and you’ll also get 50 great classical music performances. You’ll get years of enjoyment from the Library of Classics all for less than $1 per book. Makes the perfect gift too! How to Save Hundreds of Dollars at the Pump Rick Doble Little tricks that can save you big bucks when you fill up your vehicle at the gas pump... Get that "Check Engine" light checked promptly. When this dashboard warning light comes on, it often means that the vehicle’s oxygen sensor has failed -- and that could reduce the engine’s fuel efficiency by as much as 40%. Replace your air filter regularly. A clogged air filter can reduce fuel efficiency by up to 10%. Filters typically last about 12 months or 12,000 miles, but inspect yours every three months. If you see significant amounts of grime on the filter, replace it. Check your air filter every one to two months if you do a lot of driving on dirt roads. Replacing an air filter is a simple job -- the vehicle’s owner’s manual explains how. Replacement air filters typically cost less than $15. Check your tire pressure at least once every three months. Keeping tires inflated to the recommended pressure could improve your fuel efficiency by 10%. It also could extend the life of your tires and reduce the odds of a dangerous blowout. The proper tire pressure should be listed in the owner’s manual, inside the driver’s door of the vehicle or inside the glove compartment on a sticker. Use cruise control when driving on open roads. Cruise control keeps the vehicle’s speed much steadier than you could on your own. Even slight surges in speed result in noticeably lower fuel efficiency. Exception: Turn off the cruise control when driving on mountainous terrain. Trying to hold to a specific speed on steep inclines and declines tends to use more gas, not less. Stick to the speed limit. One recent study found that driving 65 miles per hour (mph) instead of 75 mph resulted in an average fuel savings of 12%. Vehicles with poor aerodynamics, such as vans, RVs and SUVs, are likely to save even more by slowing down. Avoid sudden starts and stops. Coast gently to stoplights and stop signs. Accelerate conservatively. Braking hard and accelerating rapidly reduce fuel efficiency by anywhere from 5% to more than 30%. If there is more than one way to reach a destination, select the shortest route that has the fewest stop signs and stoplights. Go easy on the air conditioner (A/C). Modern cars have efficient A/C systems, so running the A/C won’t decrease your fuel efficiency by much, but you still can save as much as 5%. Best: Try to use the A/C when driving on highways -- the drag created by open windows reduces fuel efficiency at high speeds -- but open the windows when driving slowly. Lighten up. Take stuff out of the trunk, and remove rarely used roof racks. Bottom Line/Personal interviewed Rick Doble, founder of Savvy-Discounts.com, based in Smyrna, North Carolina. He is coauthor of Cheaper: Insiders’ Tips for Saving on Everything (Ballantine). www.Savvy-Discounts.com  If You're Starting to Exercise, Expect to be Miserable Tyler C. Cooper, MD, MPH We all know that exercise is perhaps the single most beneficial action we can take to protect our health, and millions of people vow each January 1 to start -- and stick with -- a program of regular physical activity. So why are two of every three American adults still "sedentary" -- meaning they get little or no exercise? For answers, Bottom Line/Health spoke with Tyler C. Cooper, MD, MPH, a preventive medicine physician at the renowned Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas. This health and wellness organization was founded by his father, Kenneth H. Cooper, MD, MPH, the physician responsible for coining the term "aerobics," who now serves as chairman of the center. LIVE THREE YEARS LONGER! Most people who want to start exercising do so because it’s "good" for them. But to stay motivated, you should know exactly why you want to start exercising. For example, compared with people who exercise regularly, sedentary people are three times more likely to develop metabolic syndrome -- a constellation of risk factors including high blood pressure (hypertension), elevated "bad" cholesterol, high blood sugar and obesity. Regular physical activity also has been found to reduce risk for cognitive decline. And if that doesn’t keep you motivated, consider this: People who regularly exercise briskly live an average of three years longer than those who are sedentary. "Briskly" means exercising at an intensity that makes you perspire and breathe a little heavily while still being able to carry on a conversation. This is known as the "talk test." HOW MUCH EXERCISE? It’s a common misconception that you must exercise daily to achieve significant health benefits. In a study of 10,000 men and 3,000 women conducted at the Cooper Aerobics Center’s clinic, we found that walking just two miles in less than 30 minutes three days a week is all that’s needed to achieve a "moderate" level of fitness, which lowers risk for all causes of death and disease. For a less demanding workout that confers the same benefits, you could walk two miles in 35 minutes four days a week... or walk two miles in 40 minutes five days a week. If you prefer other forms of exercise, such as biking or swimming, use these frequency guidelines, plus the talk test (described above) to achieve a moderate fitness level. By increasing the frequency and/or intensity, you’ll achieve even greater health benefits. HIT THE SIX-WEEK MARK If you have not exercised regularly in the last six months and/or are overweight (for women, having a waist size of 35 inches or more... for men, 40 inches or more), the basic exercise requirement described above may be too much. You may want to start by walking only to the end of the block for a few days, then gradually increase the distance. Aim for an increase of up to 10% weekly -- for example, from 10 minutes per week to 11 minutes the next week and so on. Helpful: Expect the first few weeks to be miserable -- you’ll feel some muscle soreness for a while. Accept it -- but make the commitment to keep going. Important: If your muscle pain doesn’t go away within several weeks, see your doctor to rule out an underlying condition, such as arthritis. We’ve found at the Cooper Aerobics Center that few people quit after they’ve performed a program of physical activity for six weeks. Once people reach the four- to six-month mark, adherence to an exercise program approaches 100% for the long term. DETERMINE YOUR BASELINE If you’ve been sedentary, be sure to get a comprehensive medical checkup before starting an exercise program. This is particularly important for men age 40 and older and women age 50 and older -- cardiovascular disease risk rises at these ages. People of any age with underlying health problems or a family history of diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol or heart disease also should get a checkup before starting to exercise. Ask your doctor -- or a fitness trainer -- to give you baseline measurements for strength, flexibility and aerobic capacity, which will enable you to track future changes. Checking these measurements (along with such markers as blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar) again in about three months will give you tangible evidence of your progress and can motivate you to keep exercising. Bottom Line/Health interviewed Tyler C. Cooper, MD, MPH, a preventive medicine specialist at the Dallas-based Cooper Aerobics Center (www.cooperaerobics.com) and founder of Cooper Ventures, which helps people incorporate healthy living into every aspect of their lives. He is coauthor, with his father, Kenneth H. Cooper, MD, MPH, founder and chairman of Cooper Aerobics Center, of Start Strong, Finish Strong (Avery). Important: Help your friends get much more out of life -- forward this E-letter to them. Better: Send it to many friends and your whole family. This is a free weekly e-mail service of BottomLineSecrets.com and Boardroom Inc. Boardroom Inc. 281 Tresser Boulevard Stamford, CT 06901-3229 ATTN: Web Team You received this e-mail because you have requested it. You are on the mailing list as healthwellness82@gmail.com. Or... a friend forwarded it to you. Disclaimer: Bottom Line Secrets publishes the opinions of expert authorities in many fields. But the use of these opinions is no substitute for legal, accounting, investment, medical and other professional services to suit your specific personal needs. Always consult a competent professional for answers to your specific questions. Bottom Line Secrets is a registered trademark of Boardroom Inc. Subscribe | Unsubscribe | Update My E-mail Preferences Change My E-mail Address | Contact Us | Privacy Policy Copyright (c) 2011 by Boardroom Inc. |
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