com-offer.net

Kenzy and Braydens mom asked:


My boyfriend and I are considering the idea of a cruise this winter and want to make it a family vacation, I have looked into some cruise lines but they all seem to only accommodate 5 people. Is there any way around this and if so what would be the best way to do so? It would be myself and boyfriend and our kids (blended family) ages 14, 10, 3 and 1. I cant imagine having to leave any of them at Grandma’s while on vacation. Any suggestions or personal experiences? Thanks

Michael

omgnowayxo asked:


I am taking the Princess Cruise to the Easter Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale this February vacation. My friend last minute decided she wanted to come. The cruise is booked but isn’t it true that you can get a room if you are on the waiting list and someone who is on the ship cancels last minute? How far in advance do you know if you get on the ship? My friend lives in Boston and it would be hard for her to get a flight to Florida in short notice. We are trying to plan this messy situation, but don’t know where to start.

Leslie

Sandra Goldstein asked:


The Mediterranean diet is one of the hottest things you can do today as any experienced dieter may tell you. It’ quite easy to follow as its less restrictive than other diets and wine consumption is encouraged (with moderation, what did you think?)

Many individuals whether being medical professionals, nutritionists and dieters seem to believe this is the ideal diet if you want to maintain a healthy weight; keep your blood pressure lowered and minimize your risk of coronary heart disease.

I would like to point to the basics of this wonderful and unique diet. Fresh fruits and vegetables reign supreme, a large amount of vegetarian dishes are traditionally prepared with fresh produce, plenty of fish, some poultry and little beef or pork. It does sound extremely healthy and the fact is, they do have fruits and vegetables which are in season year round. As many people know, this isn’t the case in Europe and the Unites States. It’s not likely for anyone living in these regions to discover organic produce at reasonable prices.

One thing which irritates me when it relates to the Mediterranean diet is that olive oil is considered to be an ultimate source of phenolic compounds. It’ known to help reduce cholesterol and decrease the risk of the development of certain types of cancer. It’s wonderful to replace animal fat with unprocessed vegetable fat. Olive oil is not the only thing that which can help you if you are after more phenolic compounds in your diet.

Phenolic compounds could be found in berries, prunes, red grapes, red grape juice, kiwifruit, currants, apples, apple juice and tomatoes. A note to any Med diet fan – red wine is not necessary, red grapes and red grapes juice will be just adequate if you aren’t comfortable with daily alcohol consumption. The last thing which stands between many of us and this diet is time. This diet can take lot of time.

You must prepare every single meal from fresh produce. If you’ve ever traveled to that region of the world, you’ll notice people true to their roots and traditions cook with fresh produce for every single meal. In addition, it should not be discounted that life on the Mediterranean is generally conducted at a slower pace than life in the United States and Western Europe.

Another important factor of this diet is not only what they eat, but also how they eat it. Many people in the Mediterranean are consuming their healthful meals during a long and relaxing midday break.

Reducing unhealthy stress may help keep your heart healthy and certainly cut down on the amount of stress-induced eating that we do, whether or not we eat Mediterranean food.

A good diet plan will make the transition from a dedicated evening eater to a healthy morning eater seem easy and enjoyable. And the whole purpose of a diet plan is to make life and food enjoyable even when it’s served in small, healthy bites. Dieting is supposed to be fun, to make you feel happier, healthier and ready to try even more nice new things in your life!

For more helpful dietary information, Go Here!



MORRIS

Adam Peters asked:


The beauty of the Mediterranean. What elements comprise Mediterranean style and how you can incorporate them into your home.

The Mediterranean style is the style derived from the countries located along the northern coast of the Mediterranean seas, such Greece, Spain and Italy. Many homes today are adopting this style of decorating since its palette of rich colors in earth tones is so attractive. In addition, there are so many attractive accent pieces available to enhance this style.

If you decorate your home in the Mediterranean style, you will incorporate some beautiful colors and textures. Walls are textured or rough to reflect the stucco walls of the region and they are painted in earth tones. Clay pots in rust or sienna cover the window sills and are full or herbs or geraniums. Herbs also play a role in the art work and you will frequently find posters or tiles with the herbs of the area, such as oregano or thyme decorating them.

The accent pieces remind one of the old fashioned pace and look of the area. Pottery pieces with olive themes, religious items that look like they came from Assisi or Sienna and depictions of vineyards and wine abound. Picture place mats or a border with bottles of wine such as Chianti or Grand Tuscany, and you have a sense of this style.

The furniture in a Mediterranean style home is a mixture of both simple and fancy pieces. The furniture is always very practical, but it may contain fancy decorative embellishments of wrought iron or carved wood. Texture plays an important role in the furnishings as well, and so you will have tapestries or cut velvets on the furniture. The style is wide with variety, but one common feature you will always find is color, either contrasting or matching. In either case, the style will be immediately recognizable.

You cannot decorate in the Mediterranean style without the use of tiles. Kitchen walls, alcoves in entryways and other areas will have tile accents, if not completely made of tile. Mosaic tile plays an important role, since the tiles used are considered art as well as building materials. The tiles used will reflect the theme, be it herbs, or vines or village scenes. The typical Mediterranean colors will also predominate, including rusts, tans and the greens of the earth. The beauty of this mosaic tile cannot be imitated.

If you live in a Mediterranean designed home, you are truly living within a work of art. Beauty abounds, yet the style is practical and functional and very easy to create.



Tricia

Josh asked:


“Design a logo for a travel company operating luxury sea and river boat cruises. The name of the company, ARK, must be included in your design. In addition show how the logo might look on a luggage label or on a signboard at an embarkation point.”
____________

How would you design your logo? What would you do?

KELLIE

Chris Chew asked:


It is a well known fact that people who live around the Mediterranean region tend to live longer and have less overweight related diseases than people in the developed countries except perhaps, Japan.

Not very long ago, the Mediterranean climate was thought to be the reason why people live longer and are healthier in the region. Now it has become rather clear that while the weather of the Mediterranean area may be pleasant and refreshing, it is the diet of the people in the Mediterranean that account for their longer lives.

The Mediterranean diet is not a designed easy weight loss diet plan like the Atkins Diet, South Beach Diet or The Zone Diet. It is the healthy dietary habits and food source of the Mediterranean people which they are eating everyday.

Many food sources that are part of a Mediterranean diet are high in anti-oxidants. Anti-oxidants are important compounds found in certain types of food that mopped up dangerous free radicals. Free radicals are produced when the body burns oxygen to produce energy.

The accumulation of these free radicals in the body accelerates the ageing process. Cellular tissues such as skin and muscles wear out and lose their elasticity. Human organs function with less efficiency. Studies have also shown that free radicals clog up arteries which may result in a stroke, high blood pressure and even heart attack. Free radicals are also blamed for other dangerous medical conditions such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

The types of fruits and vegetables that form the Mediterranean diet include richly colored leafy green vegetables which are high in anti-oxidants which are excellent free radical destroyers. Scientists have also found that the Mediterranean diet reduces the risks of certain types of cancers.

The Mediterranean diet includes very little animal fat or saturated fat. Since there is a direct link between the consumption of saturated fat and colorectal cancers, heart diseases and strokes, the risks of getting these diseases are reduced. The main fat source in the food of the Mediterranean people is the olive oil. Not only that the olive oil is a healthy fat source, it had been shown to reduce the risk of ****** cancer.

It is concluded on a firm basis that the Mediterranean diet has played a very important role in reducing the risk of coronary heart disease amongst the people of the countries around the Mediterranean region.

There is strong evidence to suggest that eliminating certain items from a diet, like processed salts can lower the risk of hypertension and high blood pressure. There are also evidence that a diet which is rich in fiber and low in animal can help to reduce the risk of hypertension and high blood pressure.

A person who eats like the Mediterranean people will get tremendous health benefits. Not only will the person live longer, because of the moderate carbohydrate, low fat high fiber Mediterranean diet, weight loss and weight control comes naturally with this healthy diet.

If you want to go on a healthy weight loss diet, then the Mediterranean diet will be indeed a good option.



Ceatina

Isla Campbell asked:


Affluent Knightsbridge has many up-market restaurants, appealing to all tastes and flavours and is also home to the infamous Lorenzo’s; an Italian restaurant regularly frequented by celebrities. Many of those establishments offer Mediterranean-inspired fare and also specialise in fish dishes, but some of them are facing a salmon shortage due to a mini-marine disaster off the coast of Northern Ireland which has resulted in the loss of over 100,000 salmon.

Ironically, the cause of the disaster is a tiny, purplish jellyfish which normally inhabits Mediterranean waters and frequently stings swimmers. Billions of the Pelagia Nocticula, colloquially known as mauve stingers attacked the salmon in their cages and there was nothing that could be done to save any of the fish. Their total loss has cost the farm owners Northern Salmon at least £1million, threatening the entire future of the company.

Dismayed managing director John Russell, who only joined the company three days before the disaster said: “I’ve never seen anything like it in 30 years of fish farming. It was unprecedented, absolutely amazing. The sea was red with the jellyfish and we were unable to do a thing about it, absolutely nothing.”

The attack lasted almost seven hours and spread throughout the farm’s entire 35 feet deep, 10 square mile matrix of cages, wiping out the entire salmon stock. Although workers in three boats were despatched to try and save the salmon the sheer density of the jelly fish in the water slowed them down preventing them from reaching the cages in time to save the farm’s fish.

This catastrophic loss of salmon will have a huge impact on the specialist fish and Mediterranean restaurants in London who are big customers of Northern Salmon Ltd. In the short term prices are likely to rise and may even disappear off the menu altogether until London’s top restaurants can source an alternative supply. The company also supplied fish to first-class restaurants in the USA, Belgium, France and Germany, but this disaster means the likely end of those lucrative business relationships.

Global warming is being blamed for this disaster, as scientists point out that 10 years ago mauve stingers were rarely seen outside of the Mediterranean Sea; migration this far north is proof that it is happening, they say. But that is a moot point to Northern Salmon Ltd whose future is now firmly in the hands of the government. Newly appointed MD Russell says that unless they receive emergency aid from the Northern Ireland parliament then the company will fold.



Robert

Xtal asked:


I now have a website for people to buy travel online (I’m a new travel agent). I was thinking of advertising in newspapers for a “special” price on a cruise. Do people actually buy cruises they see listed in the newspaper or should I think of something else? I wanted to offer a discount package for people in the midwest that would include airfare & the cruise (from florida to the bahamas). Any suggestions???

Barry

Paul Rodgers asked:


Mediterranean diet is a healthy eating plan that includes the elements of Mediterranean-style cooking. It is the way to eat and drink your way to health. The Mediterranean diet is noteworthy because of the fact that it is very low in saturated fat. Another reason why the diet is good for you lies in the fact that the diet includes the consumption of a significant amount of fruit and vegetables.

Diet scientists have been trying to determine why the Mediterranean Sea inhabitants have less heart disease and cancer thus live longer than Europeans and Americans. The researchers say results suggest the beneficial effect of the Mediterranean diet on heart disease and hardening of the arteries is most likely a result of the combined effects of the different nutrients contained in the food, rather than any one factor.

Numerous studies have examined the effectiveness of the Mediterranean diet in lowering cholesterol, and these studies appear promising. Most of these studies have focused on the Mediterranean diet, emphasizing the consumption of high amounts of virgin olive oil (up to one liter per week) or nuts (up to 30 grams a day, or two handfuls), or in comparison to a low-fat diet. The Mediterranean diet does allow dairy fat and alcohol in moderation.

The typical person who follows the Mediterranean diet intakes less than eight percent of his or her calories from potentially harmful saturated fat. This is significantly below the average of people who do not follow a Mediterranean diet regimen. One of the reasons that the Mediterranean diet lowers the incidence of cancer is found in the fact that the diet is rich in whole grains and dietary fiber. Because the Mediterranean diet is low in red meat, the diet plan works to reduce the amount of bad cholesterol. The closer people adhered to the Mediterranean diet, the lower their levels of various measures of inflammation, which recent research shows plays a major role in development of heart disease.

Cholesterol

At a closer glance, the Mediterranean diet closely mirrors the essentials of a low cholesterol diet, encompassing factors such as:High consumption of fiber, due to the high consumption of whole grains, vegetables, and fruits. In one study it appeared that cholesterol was lowered significantly more than a low-fat diet. Whether you want to lose weight, lower your cholesterol, eat more fruits and vegetables, or just feel healthier in general, adopting a Mediterranean Diet is a great way to eat better while enjoying a delicious variety of food.

Conclusion

The Mediterranean diet is similar to the American Heart Association’s Step I diet, but it contains less cholesterol and has more fats. The focus of the Mediterranean diet isn’t to limit total fat consumption, but to make wise choices about the types of fat you eat. In order to follow the Mediterranean diet you do not need to buy any special products or prepare a unique and hard to manage diet plan. Adopting a Mediterranean diet is easy if you’re a smart shopper.



Pei Fen

Emilia Klapp, R.D., B.S. asked:


A few days ago I was with my sister in Madrid, Spain, doing window shopping (nowadays, with the fall of the dollar against the euro, it is difficult to do any other kind of shopping in Europe). After wandering for a while, we took a break and went to a cafeteria.

I ordered a bottle of water and my sister asked for a coke. As I watched the waiter placing the 12-ounce glass of soda on our table, I waited for my sister to say something like: can you bring me a larger soda? This is too small. But I waited in vain because she didn’t say a word. She seemed to be pretty satisfied with the size she was served and during the two hours we spent at the cafeteria, she didn’t order anything else.

As I was conversing with my sister, a bothersome thought kept coming back to my mind: what do Americans think when traveling in Mediterranean countries and presented with such small sizes of soda? In the United States we are used to be served “supersizes” and we feel we are not getting our money’s worth when presented with anything shorter of that.

The Mediterranean diet: the portion factor

Much has been written lately about the benefits of following a Mediterranean diet to prevent the so called “prosperity diseases”, especially heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and overweight. And many of us know, the virtues of the Mediterranean cuisine reside in the selection of its basic elements: fruits and vegetables, grains, fish and seafood, olive oil and red wine in moderation. But are we aware that a very important element of this diet is the portion factor?

Looking at how much and how often you eat, counts

If you have made the decision of eating healthy and according to the principles of the Mediterranean diet, no matter how close you follow this diet, all the potential health benefits will be lost if your portions are double of what they should be. Why?

Because portions such as the ones we are used to in the United States lead to obesity. And obesity leads to heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, the same chronic diseases Mediterraneans have avoided for centuries thanks in part to the adequate portions they eat or drink.

So, how do you know what is considered a “normal” portion?

Health authorities have already established food guidelines to help you in this area so you can do the following:

• Go to MyPyramid.gov. You can check the different servings for meats, grains, fruits and vegetables, fat, etc. that are adequate for you and your family. The portions are based on ages and genders.

• Remember that there is a difference between a portion and a serving. A portion is how much you choose to eat, at home, at the restaurant, or from a package. A serving is a standard amount set by the U.S. Government. Usually our portions are much larger than the servings recommended by the Health authorities and that’s why we end up gaining those extra pounds.

• Keep also in mind that you need to be a role model for your children as they need to get used to eat adequate portions to prevent overweight. A lean child would most likely be a lean adult and chances are a healthy one.

You want to get your money’s worth when eating out

Restaurants want your money and the way to get it is to serve you very large plates with a lot of food and a “supersize” soft drink. And to add insult to injury, sometimes the meal even includes a “supersize” refill. Getting all this food may make you happy since for a reasonable amount of money you are getting a substantial amount of food and you feel you are getting your money’s worth.

Unfortunately, what is happening here is that the restaurant is getting your business and you are getting the calories; definitely, not a win-win situation. In fact, many studies show that the more often people eat out, the more body fat they have.

So, what can you do when at the restaurant or at the fast food place?

• When presented with a too large portion, before even getting your teeth into that tasty food, ask the waiter to take half of it and save it for you in a doggy bag (in the refrigerator, of course) until you leave.

• Share your meal with your fellow diners.

• Do not order supersize soft drinks. It is true that large sizes only cost a few cents more but you get a lot of unwanted calories (A 12 ounce can of soda has the equivalent of 11 teaspoons of sugar and 150 calories. You can do the math for a 32 ounce soft drink). Order water. According to Odilia Bermudez, Ph.D., of Tufts University, soft drinks and other sugar-added beverages have overtaken white bread and are now the main source of calories in the average American’s diet.

Final thoughts

The moral of this article is that if you want to follow a Mediterranean diet because you have committed yourself to eat healthy, you need to watch portions. How about spending your next vacation in a Mediterranean country such as Spain, Italy or Greece? The Mediterranean cuisine, the sea, the sun, the freshness of the salads, the sweetness of the fruits, and the wines and cheeses would be a wonderful experience. And you will get familiar, first hand, with Mediterranean portions.



Diana