Practical Tips
From tying shoelaces to becoming ambidextrous
Tying shoelaces
When I started running on the cross-country team in high school, I quickly learned that I did not want my shoelaces to come undone while I was running. A simple solution is to tie a Double Shoelace Knot. I nearly always do that now, and it is a habit.
There are also times when it is difficult to keep laces tight when starting to tie them. I looked online and found the Double Starting Knot, which is helpful for this problem. Now, I often use both a Double Starting Knot and a Double Shoelace Knot when tying my shoes.
These two knots and many more can be found on a useful Web site on tying shoelace knots: Ian's Shoelace Site
Drinking water
Have you ever started to drink water and accidentally breathed a little of it in? This is followed by an uncontrollable urge to cough, which often results in spewing the water on whatever is in front of you at that moment, usually followed by more coughing. It is a distinctly unpleasant and messy experience. It is especially common if you try to drink water when you are breathing hard, such as immediately after running, and you breathe in while you start drinking. There is a simple way to avoid this problem.
The trick is to take a deep breath to fill your lungs before you drink. This has two positive aspects: it prevents you from breathing in while drinking, and your lungs are already full of air if you need to cough. All that is necessary is to take a deep breath immediately before drinking. This may seem to be a difficult thing to remember to do, but it can easily become a habit with a little practice. After that, you will almost never need to cough out what you are drinking again.
Swallowing pills
Everyone needs to swallow pills from time to time, whether of medicine or of dietary supplements. It is common to drink water to help in swallowing a pill. However, when I do that, I often feel as though the pill is stuck somewhere in my throat, and I often burp small amounts of air after swallowing a pill in that way. I then often feel that I need to drink more water.
I found a better way to swallow a pill that avoids these issues, at least if you can take food with the pill. Take a bite of food, chew it, and pop the pill into the back of your mouth just before swallowing. I never have any feeling of the pill getting stuck, and I do not burp air after swallowing a pill in that way.
Cleaning teeth after eating
I do not have a nearly perfect set of teeth, unlike one of my siblings. I have had plenty of cavities, and I have a number of fillings (silver amalgam or ceramic), and two gold crowns. Most of the damage was done when I was relatively young. I do still have a full set of 32 teeth, however, including all four wisdom teeth.
When I was 25 years old, I developed a habit of drinking and rinsing my mouth with water after eating or drinking almost anything, but especially after foods or drinks containing sugar. In more recent years, I have made it a habit to check my teeth with my tongue for any food particles after eating, and I usually have a toothpick available to remove food residue. I will also use a floss pick when it is needed (I once thought that floss picks were a dumb invention, but I changed my mind quickly once I tried them).
I cannot say that I am a very strict person when it comes to regularly brushing or flossing my teeth, but, given my considerable earlier experience with dental work, I have found that a habit of cleaning the teeth after eating has made a positive difference, and I rarely need further dental work now.
Making use of things
Perhaps it is due to my training when a child or my education as an engineer, but I do not like to waste food or other items. Whenever I see something in excess that will inevitably be discarded, I try to think of a way to use it. This can also save money or be considered as good for the environment, but I simply take some satisfaction in finding a use for things instead of throwing them away.
Some simple examples are condiments that come in small packages (salt, sugar, pepper, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, etc.). All of these can be purchased in larger containers, of course. In an institutional setting that has catering or takeout food, there always seems to be an abundance of these condiment packages, and they either accumulate or they are discarded. In my thinking, they can be used instead of being discarded. This sometimes requires making an effort to utilize them in cooking, or to specifically eat foods that allow their use. For example, I mostly only eat mustard on pretzels, so I can use up a lot of small packages of mustard if I keep pretzels around.
The same idea of utilization applies to paper towels, cardboard boxes, or plastic containers, and the list is endless. I will readily recycle items that can be recycled, unless I already have another use for them. I will also give away or donate to charity any items of some perceived value for which I have no use. I will discard other items, but often only after considering what I might be able to do with them.
Making deodorant
By the time I was in high school, I was using deodorant, and I had a favorite brand and scent. After some years, that particular type of deodorant was no longer available, and I have never found a completely satisfactory substitute, although I have checked quite a few. I do not use anti-perspirant, because I have always been fairly active, and I do not believe that avoiding sweating is a good idea.
A few years ago, I was looking online for a particular type of soap product, and I came across the topic of making of deodorant at home. I quickly realized that I would be able to do that, and that it was actually easy. All that is needed is corn starch, baking soda, and some type of oil (it is also possible to add scent). The base (baking soda) and oil combine to make a soap plus water, and the corn starch helps to make the mixture a sort of paste by absorbing some of the water.
Since I had corn starch and baking soda already, all I needed was the right kind of oil. I had a number of small bottles of body lotion from hotels, as well as other types of hand cream, so I tried it. I mixed the ingredients (1 tsp. each of corn starch and baking soda, and an approximately equal total volume of body lotion) in a wide-mouth small plastic jar with a screw cap. The texture of the result depends on the amounts of ingredients, especially the amount of body lotion. Initially, I found that my underarms would turn a reddish color due to sensitivity to the baking soda, but that went away after a time, and it can be avoided by using less baking soda and more body lotion. I now add a few squirts of cologne to the mixture when I am making it. Each batch lasts a few weeks. I apply it using the index finger on each hand, and any remaining amount on the fingers usually washes off fairly easily with water. More ideas for making this type of deodorant can be found on the Internet.
Exercise
Everyone knows that getting some regular exercise is a good thing for one's health. Some people are willing to spend a lot of money on gym memberships and personal trainers, and take the time needed for regular scheduled sessions. I have never been willing to do those things, and I think that they are usually unnecessary. I once lived in an apartment building which was connected with a fitness center next door, so the use of the fitness center was included in my rent. Once I bought my first house, I no longer used fitness center facilities, except occasionally at hotels while traveling.
My primary exercises are stretching, running, and fitness workouts using small weights. I can do all of these at home (although I much prefer to run outdoors), and it requires only minimal equipment. This saves both time and money, and there is no need to make a separate trip to the gym.
Over the years, I have developed a routine that takes less than ten minutes a day. I typically do this routine in the morning before getting dressed, although it can be done at any time. It includes about ten different types of upper and lower body stretches, toe raises, and reverse crunches. Some of the specific stretches and exercises were started due to physical discomfort/injury or to achieve a conditioning goal, so the routine has changed over time, depending on what I felt my body needed.
One of the keys to making progress in exercises of all kinds is to start small and easy, and then to add to the numbers or weight or severity slowly over time. This avoids injury or soreness that may be discouraging.
I used to run much more than I do now. For example, I ran several marathons when I was in my early 40s, and I usually went out on long runs. Now, I only have a modest yearly goal, and I typically run only a few miles at a time at a slower pace. I rarely run more than twice a week, and I avoid running in any type of bad weather. I mostly run outdoors along neighborhood streets, usually covering all of the streets in the surrounding area over time for variety. It is especially important to build up slowly for distance running, paying close attention to how your joints and muscles feel, and not overdoing it.
For fitness exercises related to strength, I have found that using dumbbells is quick and easy to do at home. I normally use pairs of 5-lb and 12-lb dumbbells, although I also have an 18-lb pair. By adding different types of dumbbell exercises and slowly increasing the number of repetitions, reasonable muscle tone can be developed and maintained without heavy lifting. I normally do these exercises two or three times a week.
In exercise activities, the important thing is to develop a habit and stick to it. It may help to have an exercise partner or to listen to music, because it keeps repetitive tasks from becoming too boring. I listen to podcasts or other recordings when I am running on a treadmill, but not when I run outside. I almost always carry a bottle of water when I run outdoors, and I usually stop briefly to take a drink of water every mile or so.
Becoming ambidextrous
Everyone tends to be either right-handed (more common) or left-handed. I am naturally right-handed. However, there are some things that I tend to do left-handed, and others that I can do with either hand. For example, perhaps because my left eye is stronger than my right eye and therefore dominant, I tend to do certain things with my left hand, such as cutting with scissors. I also can much more easily close my right eye and keep the left eye open than vice versa, so I tend to "sight" with my left eye for aiming or alignment, and I tend to do such activities left-handed. I also more easily use my left hand to unlock a door with a key, or to ride a bicycle with one hand, because I tend to carry items in my right hand, leaving the left hand free.
It is possible to train yourself to be ambidextrous for many actions. For example, although I am right-handed, I learned how to switch-hit in baseball (by playing wiffle ball) and to bowl with either hand, so that I could do either of these activities almost equally well either right-handed or left-handed. Although it is awkward at the beginning to use the non-dominant hand to do things, the skill develops with use, whether it is kicking a ball in soccer, using a computer mouse, hitting nails with a hammer, shoveling snow, sweeping with a broom, and so on. In my experience, it has been worthwhile to be able to use either hand for some tasks, even if it is just to use different muscles and avoid getting tired as quickly. You might want to try it.
Alaska 2005
