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Many women are concerned with how their bodies look. Dieting and weight obsession are very real parts of life for many women. Body building and women really fit together well when you think about it. Focusing on healthy weight gain and muscle fitness makes a woman look and feel a lot better.

Body building is a lot more than just dieting and lifting weights. Much of the advice given in previous chapters can apply to both men and women. But women do need to change a few things when it comes to a workout plan that will work.

Some women have never considered body building as a sport because they are afraid that they will get big, bulky, and become masculine looking. Nothing could be further from the truth. A trim, solid body on a woman is extremely sexy and very healthy.

Women cannot naturally produce the amount of testosterone that men do, so it is impossible for women to increase their muscle size in the same ways that men do just by picking up a weight or two. Without artificial substances, women won’t be able to get the same bulk as men do.

However, many of the same workout advice that we give to men apply to women as well: eat 5-6 small meals per day, drink plenty of water, and get lots of rest. The workouts are the same as well although some women may want to limit their reps initially until their strength is built up.

Many women struggle with excess fat and flabby muscle tone on their thighs and in their buttocks. Because women are naturally curvier than men, working these areas makes for a very flattering figure.

To work these areas, you will want to do a lot of dumbbell squats, leg curls, standing calf raises, and leg presses. Add some lunges as well as dumbbell squat dead lifts as well for maximum effectiveness. You may want to invest in an exercise ball so that you can work your abs and make them tight and defined.

Change your workout every time you perform it and focus on one or two body parts each day you train. By doing this, you are not over-exerting muscles without giving them time to heal. Recovery is very important to the body’s muscles, so give them the time they need to heal and grow.

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Chapter 8: The Thermostat

There is another aspect of your home that needs careful consideration. That is the thermostat. What temperature you set it at is really a personal comfort situation. Yet, more and more, people are finding that there is cost savings in using the right thermostat and the right level of comfort to boot.

For example, during the summer months, do you have the air conditioning set low enough that it feels comfortable to wear a long sleeve shirt or pants? Do you grab for a blanket? This is a signal that perhaps you could raise the thermostat and still be quite comfortable.

In the winter, you shouldn’t want to put the fan on or want to wear shorts. You can see how just lowering the heat a bit can save you a good deal of money. Yet, there is no magical number here.

Unfortunately, there is a great deal of money that can be saved by just dealing with the heat in the summer or the cold in the winter. Yet, you do not have to flip it off altogether to gain some benefits of extra money in your pocket.

The Right Temperature

Finding and setting your home at the right temperature is the first goal. It is said that during the winter, setting the heat at 68 F degree is the best starting point. In the summer months, you goal is that of 76 F degrees. Every time that you can either move this number up or down for cost savings; you can save a decent amount of money per two degree movement.

Therefore, if you are in the winter months and you have your thermostat set at 70 F degrees normally, if you can still feel comfortable by lowering it to 68 F degrees, you will be able to save a good deal of money.

In the summer, keep the air conditioning set at just 76 F degrees and turn on a fan. Doing this will pull out all of the humidity in the air and keep the temperature at a great level. If you can tolerate moving these more so, you will save money.

But, beware. If you continuously are moving them up and down, you are not doing yourself any favors. In fact, if you get cold so you raise the air conditioning, only to become hot again and lower it, you will be wasting money.

As the air in the home cools down; it does not take as much energy to keep it at that level. But, if you raise the temperature and the home heats up, the air conditioning needs to work twice as hard to get it back down. This causes quite a bit of money to be lost in the turn.

Pick and stay at the right temperature in the home and you can benefit from energy savings.

Programming Help

One thing that you really do want to take into consideration is that of programmable thermostats. These are not too expensive. They are probably just a few dollars more than a standard model and make a large difference.

What can they do? First off, they still work the same as other thermostats to. When the home’s temperature changes so much so that there is a need to call to the air conditioning unit or the furnace to balance it out, they do so. Yet, they have additional features as well.

For example, you can program them to turn on before you come home from work. Let’s say that you are at work most of the day and the kids are at school. There is no one in the home. Why keep the heat on full blast? If the period of time is longer than a couple of hours, these programmable thermostats are a blessing.

You simply set the time in which you will be home (usually about an hour or so before so) and at that time they will kick on. Better models will be able to be programmed for various days of the week too (such as Saturdays you may be home all day.)

When the time comes to turn on, they do and get the home to the right temperature. You do not notice any difference until you notice your heating or cooling bills have dropped.

You can also program them for different temperatures at night, when you are sleeping. By raising the temperature in your home during the summer a couple of degrees, or lowering it a couple of degrees in the winter, you can save a great deal of money.

You do not need to remember how to do this when it comes to using your programmable timer in the thermostat as it will take care of that for you.

If you are looking to save money in energy costs, installing a programmable thermostat is one of the best moves for you to make. It is simple to install and easy to use. It will save you a good deal of money too.

Chapter 9: Energy Star: Understanding What It is

Have you heard of Energy Star? If you have not, this is your friend for sure.

If you are purchasing any new unit for your home, from a dishwasher or refrigerator to the hot water tank and the furnace, Energy Star is something that you do want to take full advantage of.

This is a term, a distinction that you should have on any of the appliances or major systems within your home. When a product is deemed to be Energy Star ready, it is capable of providing the necessary service to you but through reduced energy costs.

The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, along with the US Department of Energy is the sponsor of Energy Star programs. Their goal is to help each person to save money as well as to help each of us to protect the environment by using energy efficient products and by using energy benefiting practices.

The Energy Star program has been able to help people to save quite a bit of money. The EPA claims that in 2005, Americans were able to save someplace around $12 billion dollars by using Energy Star products and therefore saving on their utility bills.

But, it does not stop there. They also claim that by using these products, Energy Star has helped to avoid greenhouse gas emissions that would be about the same as that of 23 million cars in 2005 alone. Therefore, it is a good program to take note of.

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Chapter 3: Tools and Materials for Your Greenhouse

Remember that you are not limited to a certain variety of plants to grow in a greenhouse. Bear in mind, however, that your preference for certain fruits, vegetables and plants will determine the type of greenhouse you like to build. "Know thy crop" is an important factor before deciding on the greenhouse type you will install.

You will need a good soil for planting seeds. Compost, potting or gardening soil and a little sand or perlite are a good start. Read all directions in your seed packets.

Keep some of those black plastic flats that nurseries use to display their plant containers. These are useful for starting sees and transplants.

Benches in greenhouses are essential, as they hold trays of plants that have already sprouted from seeds.

Styrofoam cups - have several of these handy. Seeds sprout quickly and once they grow large enough to move into separate containers, they can be gently lifted and transferred into ordinary Styrofoam cups.

You can also use yogurt plastic cups, and large commercial type containers that can hold more than one plant. In fact, any container you can think of will be suitable.

Other materials you should have on hand are broken clay pots, cracked walnuts, marbles, charcoal or gravel. These help in proper drainage. Be sure to soak clay pots in water a few minutes before using them. This will prevent the clay from absorbing the moisture from the potting soil.

If you want to have trellises inside your greenhouse, you can make them out of coat hangers, which you can bend to any shape your heart desires.

Herbs are perfect for keeping pests at bay. They are what one writer calls "nature's insecticides". Have a variety of them inside your greenhouse. You can make a natural insecticide by adding onions or garlic to a jar of water. Leave it for a week and spray on your plants.

Other garden tools that will help you run your greenhouse efficiently are air coolers for the hot summer. This is to maintain the temperatures at desired levels. Power vents in the roof are also a good idea to release hot air that can build up suddenly in the summer.

In the winter, a good heater would be nice to warm the greenhouse. Other accessories you need are a humidifier, a CO2 generator, and a mister.

Greenhouse lighting system.

A type of light called high intensity discharge lighting (HID) used to be employed by commercial growers in large greenhouses. However, the idea of artificial lighting to stimulate plant growth became increasingly popular.

H.I.D. lighting not only adds to natural sunlight, but can actually serve as a substitute during long winters when natural sunlight is in scant supply. They are energy efficient and operational costs are low. Here are just a few of the benefits of HID lighting:

Increases the health and strength of plants, and stimulates growth and yield rates,

Supplements natural sunlight; by using HID lighting, you also extend "day length",

Enables container outdoor plants on decks and patios during the summer to be moved indoors during the winter,

Are definitely more powerful than conventional fluorescents.

Greenhouse tables, shelving and plant holders

These are indispensable, especially when you need to work inside your greenhouse and to maximise and organize your greenhouse space. As your plant varieties grow, you will need shelves and tables and plant holders to facilitate your gardening. One popular type of bench that greenhouse hobbyists like is the cedar double layer bench. They are durable and efficient to use.

For shelves, you can opt for two and three section lengths made of aluminum.

Given that watering your plants is an essential -indispensable -part of any greenhouse gardening, a good watering system is required. You can choose either the automatic or hand held watering system to make your watering needs more efficient.

For automatic irrigation systems, there are models that come equipped with an automatic drip irrigation and fertilizer system. Day or night, they regularly water the plants and adjust the flow of fertilizer. Some have a tank in which the water and fertilizer are mixed and are distributed to plants via hoses, Y-connections and drip pins.

Greenhouse garden coil indoor/outdoor watering wand

This is a "self-coiling" garden hose made of rugged and durable polyurethane tubing. It produces ultra-fine

mists and sprays in soft, gentle streams. Some wand models extend to as long as 50 feet. No hassle storage because of self-coiling mechanism.

Greenhouses constantly evolve in style and design. It follows then that tools and accessories will grow in number or existing ones will be considerably improved. Manufacturers are probably inventing more tools and accessories this very moment that will make our work in greenhouses easier and quicker.

The ones we just described are already being used by many greenhouse enthusiasts. In a few years, new products will definitely appear in the market.

Chapter 4: Tips for Your Greenhouse

If you're growing carrots, beets, turnips and other root crops, they thrive well in deep boxes which can be put under benches. Those that require tub-type containers are tomatoes, peas, cucumbers and pole beans, while lettuce, or other low leafy vegetables may be planted in the tub with the taller vegetables.

You can plant corn directly on the floor of the greenhouse, in a special bed prepared for it. To save space, you can plant pumpkin between the rows of corn.

Use room temperature water to water your indoor plants. Let tap water stand for a day to get rid of the chlorine substance. This way you avoid your plants getting brown tips.

Distribute crushed egg shells in your garden to stimulate growth. Sprinkling coffee grounds will add acid to the greenhouse ground.

Before bringing vegetables and fruits from the greenhouse to your house, rinse them well outside; this way dirt and bugs stay outside and will not make your kitchen dirty.