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| Oil frustration moves markets, but not drivers |
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| Surging oil prices send Europeans into the streets and Wall Street into the ground |
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| Oct. 15 — European truckers, angry over the high cost of gasoline and frustrated by their governments’ refusal to ease fuel taxes, choked off thoroughfares and clogged traffic from Spain to Poland on Friday. Caravans of 18-wheelers, joined by taxis and tractors, blocked highways in Barcelona and Bremen and as far east as the Baltic port of Gdansk as new tension in the Middle East fanned even higher crude oil prices — promising to make gasoline even costlier. |
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| AS EVENING DESCENDED on Europe, oil traders in New York bid up the price of “light sweet crude” to over $35.50 a barrel, just shy of the post-Gulf War high. The oil price spike sent Wall Street into a tailspin amid concern that rising energy costs could inhibit spending on everything from automobiles to Christmas presents, breaking an unprecedented streak of corporate profitability and perhaps tipping the economy in a direction it hasn’t gone in years. |
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| Tech losses drop shares as investors worry about profits |
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| “I would be surprised to see a price decrease in the first half of winter, but after that anything can happen,” said Royal Dutch president Jeroen van der Veer, commenting on the oil market. |
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| “I would be surprised to see a price decrease in the first half of winter,” |
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| Royal Dutch president Again, the energy markets drew much of their upward price momentum from Iraq. Baghdad on Friday accused Kuwait of oil-field theft, saying that wells drilled by its neighbor in a joint zone straddling their common border were siphoning off Iraqi crude. Baghdad then threatened to take unspecified measures, drawing the keen attention of the United States and the oil traders. |
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| Feeling the pinch at the pump... again |
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| The average price of unleaded regular in the U.S. has jumped 30 cents a gallon to $1.5783 in the last year. Premium has jumped more than 40 cents a gallon. This chart compares U.S. premium with European premium prices. |
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Date
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Bel
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France
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Ger
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Italy
|
Neth
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U.K.
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U.S.
|
9/11/00
|
3.58
|
3.66
|
3.42
|
3.64
|
3.96
|
4.29
|
1.74
|
9/11/99
|
3.36
|
3.55
|
3.45
|
3.64
|
3.68
|
4.30
|
1.43
|
9/14/98
|
3.56
|
3.57
|
3.41
|
3.69
|
3.69
|
4.03
|
1.19
|
9/15/97
|
3.76
|
3.62
|
3.53
|
3.77
|
3.84
|
3.81
|
1.42
|
9/16/96
|
4.01
|
4.01
|
4.05
|
4.16
|
4.36
|
3.26
|
1.38
|
|
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| Note: U.S. dollars per gallon (premium leaded for Belgium, France, Italy, and U.K.; premium unleaded for Germany, Netherlands, and U.S.) |
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| Source: U.S. Department of Energy |
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| “We do have a credible force in the region and are prepared to use it in an appropriate way at a time of our choosing,” U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said. |
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| The incident was eerily reminiscent of Baghdad’s oil-theft claims a decade ago that led to its invasion of Kuwait on Aug. 2, 1990, and the Gulf War several months later. |
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| “We haven’t stolen anything,” Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheik Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah told Reuters. “If you take from your own land it can’t be stealing.” |
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| From the oil price perspective, the threats and counter-threats come at an unsettling time. |
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| OPEC quota: Iraqi oil production is constrained by |
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| the United Nations' limits on its exports. The U.S. |
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| Energy Information Administration estimates |
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| production at 2,560,00 barrels/day |
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| OPEC quota: 2,289,400 barrels/day |
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| Old quota: 2,219,000 barrels/day |
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| Reserves: 97.8 billion barrels |
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| Minister: Obeid bin Saif Al-Nasiri |
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| OPEC quota: 678,800 barrels/day |
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| Old quota: 658,000 barrels/day |
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| Reserves: 3.7 billion barrels |
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| Minister: Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiya |
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| OPEC quota: 2,101,000 barrels/day |
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| Old quota: 2,037,000 barrels/day |
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| Reserves: 96.5 billion barrels |
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| Minister: Sheikh Saud Naser Al-Sabah |
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| OPEC quota: 8,512,200 barrels/day |
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| Old quota: 8,253,000 barrels/day |
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| Reserves: 263.5 billion barrels |
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| Minister: Ali bin Ibrahim al-Naimi |
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| OPEC quota: 3,843,800 barrels/day |
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| Old quota: 3,727,000 barrels/day |
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| Reserves: 89.7 billion barrels |
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| Minister: Bijan Namdar Zaganeh |
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| OPEC quota: 1,358,600 barrels/day |
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| Old quota: 1,317,000 barrels/day |
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| Reserves: 5.0 billion barrels |
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| Minister: Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono |
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| OPEC quota: 2,156,600 barrels/day |
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| Old quota: 2,091,000 barrels/day |
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| Reserves: 22.5 billion barrels |
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| OPEC quota: 1,404,200 barrels/day |
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| Old quota: 1,361,000 barrels/day |
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| Reserves: 29.5 billion barrels |
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| Minister: Abdullah Salim al-Badri |
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| OPEC quota: 836,600 barrels/day |
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| Old quota: 811,000 barrels/day |
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| Reserves: 9.2 billion barrels |
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| OPEC quota: 3,018,800 barrels/day |
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| Old quota: 2,926,000 barrels/day |
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| Reserves: 72.6 billion barrels |
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| 1999 Average Production: 6,074,000 barrels/day |
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| 1999 Average Production: 3,018,000 barrels/day |
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| 1999 Average Production: 2,691,000 barrels/day |
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| 1999 Average Production: 3,206,000 barrels/day |
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| 1999 Average Production: 900,000 barrels/day |
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| 1999 Average Production: 852,000 barrels/day |
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| 1999 Average Production: 1,094,000 barrels/day |
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| 1999 Average Production: 2,906,000 barrels/day |
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| 1999 Average Production: 5,938,000 barrels/day |
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| 1999 Average Production: 1,905,000 barrels/day |
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| SOURCE: U.S. Energy Information Administration |
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| The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) — which includes both Kuwait and Iraq — agreed to hike official output by 800,000 barrels per day beginning October, in an effort to ease the worldwide oil shortage that had sent gasoline prices surging in recent months, but prices have not reflected additional supply. As winter approaches in the United States and Europe, the world’s biggest oil consumers, prices of home heating fuels are also expected to jump, adding to the political headaches of both continents’ governments. |
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| While a decline in oil prices between July and August kept U.S. inflation tame last month, the U.S. Labor Department reported on Friday, economists warned of a potential uptick. “Overall energy costs, including home heating costs, could be painful this winter. Still, we’re not looking for energy to spark any broader inflationary problems,” said Oscar Gonzalez, economist with John Hancock Financial Services. |
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| Speaking to reporters Friday, President Bill Clinton said he did not expect the rise in energy costs to tip the economy into recession over the short- to medium term, but said he was considering options to fight higher energy costs. |
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| Oil traders interpreted Clinton’s remarks to mean that his administration is now less likely to release oil from the government’s 571 million barrel emergency stockpile. The oil price in New York futures trading shot up 50 cents a barrel shortly after Clinton spoke and Wall Street appeared to take its cues from there. |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
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| $173.68 $179.92 $188.86 $186.28 |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
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| $182.31 $192.36 $195.23 $190.28 |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
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| $186.96 $199.03 $202.30 $203.31 |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
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| $184.55 $194.51 $201.61 $189.55 |
|
| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $167.78 $177.09 $182.00 $179.07 |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
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| $162.25 $169.17 $177.33 $168.90 |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
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| $158.59 $165.35 $176.15 $163.86 |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $160.70 $169.49 $176.87 $173.78 |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $159.02 $165.84 $175.40 $176.37 |
|
| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $154.43 $164.47 $171.57 $162.90 |
|
| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $160.84 $172.03 $179.75 $166.27 |
|
| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $165.55 $171.28 $177.42 $165.25 |
|
| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $163.85 $174.35 $181.52 $168.28 |
|
| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $160.94 $164.54 $169.13 $167.15 |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $154.82 $158.98 $165.16 $164.46 |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $149.12 $154.20 $162.78 $154.69 |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $148.43 $157.04 $162.69 $158.88 |
|
| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $149.57 $159.44 $166.88 $161.03 |
|
| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $149.35 $157.57 $167.59 $159.95 |
|
| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $149.75 $157.92 $165.03 $158.10 |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $148.93 $159.21 $163.94 $159.89 |
|
| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $153.05 $165.80 $168.85 $170.12 |
|
| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $143.11 $153.84 $160.68 $154.95 |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $144.07 $153.17 $160.59 $156.60 |
|
| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $149.19 $158.32 $165.28 $161.48 |
|
| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $149.76 $157.11 $163.15 $158.94 |
|
| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $148.27 $156.95 $164.46 $158.67 |
|
| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $151.78 $157.95 $167.20 $158.17 |
|
| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $154.75 $162.93 $170.74 $164.82 |
|
| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $155.65 $167.46 $172.65 $168.36 |
|
| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $165.50 $175.27 $182.32 $166.33 |
|
| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $164.10 $170.40 $178.25 $169.56 |
|
| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $158.97 $165.32 $169.63 $164.99 |
|
| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $153.34 $164.44 $171.88 $158.32 |
|
| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $152.29 $163.83 $168.45 $158.23 |
|
| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $153.47 $163.67 $170.22 $167.55 |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $160.25 $172.87 $177.70 $166.00 |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $164.89 $176.40 $180.16 $177.64 |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
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| $158.59 $170.60 $178.02 $173.66 |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $157.04 $165.55 $172.86 $173.93 |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
|
| $157.72 $164.90 $173.18 $172.65 |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
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| $169.38 $179.26 $189.49 $151.90 |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
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| $195.43 $206.66 $210.53 $206.61 |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
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| $154.36 $165.50 $171.76 $159.63 |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
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| $162.03 $172.55 $177.70 $169.57 |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
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| $157.55 $167.53 $171.76 $168.21 |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
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| $160.96 $171.01 $178.54 $165.81 |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
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| $173.45 $188.25 $193.17 $170.95 |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
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| $168.47 $179.24 $185.15 $174.72 |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
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| $166.34 $178.86 $185.65 $173.37 |
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| Regular Mid Premium Diesel |
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| $160.38 $173.70 $179.91 $164.91 |
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| And if you want to find the least expensive gas in your neighborhood, go to gaspricewatch.com |
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| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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| Source: OPIS Energy, Automobile Association of America |
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| Analysts attributed Friday’s 160 point drop in the Dow Jones industrial average and the 79-point decline in the Nasdaq to concerns that rising energy prices, among other things, will erode corporate profitability. Combined with the Federal Reserve’s year-long efforts to slow the economy through a series of interest rate increases, some analysts predicted a choppy period for Wall Street. |
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| BRITAIN GETS BACK TO NORMAL |
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| In Britain, where gasoline prices and taxes are higher than anywhere else in Europe, things began to get back to normal after a week of angry protests and truck blockades that left petrol stations dry, caused schools to close and very nearly brought the country to a halt. |
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| The Blair government’s experience this week, and its insistence not to budge on fuel taxes that constitute about 70 percent of the cost of gasoline in the country, appears to have a resonating affect on the rest of Europe. |
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| The Italian government struck a deal with truckers to avoid a strike and in the Netherlands, the Dutch government promised to meet truckers on Saturday to find a way to end highway blockades. In Germany, however, where trucks, taxis and tractors blockaded the center of the northern city of Bremen for three hours Friday, the government refused to back off a planned fuel tax increase. But it said it was looking for ways to ease the pressure on the needy. |
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| Back in the United States, forecasts from the U.S. National Hurricane Center about a storm in the Gulf of Mexico, added to upward price pressure in the oil markets. One-fifth of U.S. domestic oil production and one quarter of natural gas supplies come from the Gulf of Mexico. |
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| The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. |
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| March 6, 2000 (Reno, Nev.) -- In the 1955 movie "The Seven Year Itch," Marilyn Monroe tempts her neighbor to stray while his wife and children are away for the summer. Ever since, the seven year itch -- a period of restless angst -- has been used as an excuse for infidelity. |
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| Now, a study suggests that such an itch is often a reality. An evaluation of 93 married couples during their first 10 years of marriage showed two typical periods of decline. (A decline was defined as a decrease in marital quality measured by taking into account passion, satisfaction with the relationship, amount of shared activity, and agreement between the partners.) The marriages started with a bang (with passion usually high), but after the "honeymoon effect" wore off they showed a decrease in overall quality over the first four years. The marriages then tended to stabilize before another decline set in around year eight, says Lawrence A. Kurdek, Ph.D., the study's author and a psychologist at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. |
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| The first decline, Kurdek says, is probably a normal adjustment to new roles; the second decline is often related to the birth of children. Couples experiencing the seven year itch disagree with each other more, become less affectionate, share fewer activities, and express overall dissatisfaction with their marriages, says Kurdek, whose study was published in the September 1999 issue of the journal Developmental Psychology. |
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| The seven-year mark is coincidental, says Kurdek. |
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| But it's not uncommon for problems to come to a head in a marriage after seven years, says Lonnie Barbach, Ph.D., a couples' therapist in Mill Valley, Calif. |
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| Such was the case for Susan Fitzpatrick of San Diego, Calif. Not long before her divorce, she had returned to college full-time and took her first vacation alone, both of which were signs of growing independence that she says rattled her husband. He struck up an affair after eight years of marriage. She blames their divorce on a lack of communication and her husband's resistance to change. "He suddenly realized he wasn't happy about certain things in the relationship, but he wouldn't tell me, even if I asked," she says. |
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| Statistics support the idea of a seven year itch. According to the most current figures available from the National Center for Health Statistics, the median duration of marriage was 7.2 years for couples who divorced in 1989 and 1990. |
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| Singles and the Seven Year Itch |
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| It's difficult to say if the seven year itch applies to unmarried people in long-term relationships, because the research has not been done. Sometimes, however, avoiding the "I do" helps keep the courtship alive in a long-term relationship, says Barbach. |
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| But don't count on it. "I certainly wouldn't recommend two unmarried people live together to keep the romance alive," says Howard Markman, Ph.D., a marital counselor at the University of Denver, Colorado. "People thrive on a commitment in relationships." |
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| Focusing attention on the relationship is the obvious but often-overlooked key to marriage longevity, says Barbach. Couples with children may have to make special efforts, since Kurdek's study found that they showed steeper declines in marital satisfaction than childless couples. He speculates that unhappy couples either avoid divorce for the children's sake or expend more energy raising their kids than nurturing their marriage. But he also points out that some couples may find that having children makes them happier overall. |
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| Some married couples don't get itchy. "Our relationship has only gotten better over the years," says Jeanne Gribbin of Reno, Nev., married 17 years. She and her spouse follow Barbach's golden rule: Give the marriage regular attention. |
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| "People say marriage takes work, but I prefer to use the word attention," Barbach says. "Consult your partner before making plans or decisions, and if you both do that, you'll find you both get to do more of your own things. Set aside time to talk on a daily basis, even if it's just 20 minutes. Take time to get dressed up and go out on dates. If a marriage succumbs to the seven year itch, it's most likely because the couple turned a blind eye to their problems instead of solving them." |
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| Elaine Marshall is a freelance writer living in Reno, Nev. She also reports for Time magazine and teaches at the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno. |
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| 1. The Female always makes THE RULES. |
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| 2. THE RULES are subject to change without notice. |
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| 3. No Male can possibly know all THE RULES. |
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| 4. If the Female suspects the Male knows all THE RULES, she must immediately change some of THE RULES. |
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| 5. The Female is never wrong. |
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| 6. If it appears the Female is wrong, it is because of a flagrant misunderstanding caused by something the Male did or said wrong. |
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| 7. If Rule #6 applies, the Male must apologize immediately for causing the misunderstanding. |
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| 8. The Female can change her mind at any time. |
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| 9. The Male must never change his mind without the express, written consent of The Female. |
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| 10. The Female has every right to be angry or upset at any time. |
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| 11. The Male must remain calm at all times, unless the Female wants him to be angry or upset. |
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| 12. The Female must, under no circumstances, let the Male know whether she wants him to be angry or upset. |
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| 13. The Male is expected to read the mind of the Female at all times. |
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| 14. At all times, what is important is what the Female meant, not what she said. |
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| 15. If the Male doesn't abide by THE RULES, it is because he can't take the heat, lacks backbone, and is a wimp. |
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| 16. If the Female has PMS, all THE RULES are null and void and the Male must cater to her every whim. |
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| 17. Any attempt to document THE RULES could result in bodily harm. |
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| 18. If the Male, at any time, believes he is right, he must refer to Rule #5. |
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| Think of flirting as a silent but veryvisual language that creatures great and small use to indicate their interest in a particular member of the opposite sex. We flirt to announce attraction and to signal availability. It is a universal language spoken by all animals as well as humans, a kind of self-promotion advertising our fitness for a relationship and, sooner or later, for mating. Scientists now know that we flirt by trying out our sexual sundries without having to go all the way with every potential prospect it's pretty much risk-free. |
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| What's more, flirtation kicks in automatically, at the instant of attraction, driven by primitive, emotionally reactive parts of the brain. While flirting can be viewed as important business with serious goals in mind, it's also just plain fun. |
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| Men and women do it regardless of where it may lead because it's pleasurable and erotic in its own right. |
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| There are good reasons why our physical features play the greatest role in flirtation and our brains are tuned to respond to them. Just as peacocks are primed to pay attention to elaborate tail feathers, women may take notice of men with large, even features, square jaws and big bones. They may actually rate suchmen as better prospective sex partners. One theory is that all of those large features are also signs that the creature has an immune system healthy enough to support such extravagant apparatus. |
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| Similarly, by flaunting, say, our curves and swinging our hips from side to side as we sashay down the street, we do more than announce "I am an attractive and available woman." We call attention to important attributes. Scientists have established that a small waist coupled with ample hips very curvy proportions is a sign of both health and fertility in women. It's nature's way of declaring the likelihood that we are capable of bearing children and surviving to raise them. After all, nature has a big stake in the attraction matter nothing less than the continuation of thespecies. |
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| When a relationship gets under way, courtship follows, and two people can then apply more rational criteria in deciding whether a particular partner is lifetime-mate material. |
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| Also, more subtle signals come into play, like humor, intelligence, creativity, emotional sensitivity and expressiveness. After all, they, too figure prominently in our ability to survive the lives we lead today. |
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| The next time you're in the company of the opposite sex, look for thes telltale signs of flirtation: |
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| Arch the back and push theirchest, usually by leaning back in a chair and putting their arms behind their head to signal interest in sex without touching. Stretch their pectoral (chest)muscles, a sign of ther ability to protect offspring. Sway the pelvis almost Elvis-like. Swagger to draw attention to themselves. |
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| Laugh loudly, announcing their masculine vitality while also demonstrating a tamer side appropriate for fatherhood. Tug their tie. Clasp the back of the neck. Point their chin up in the air, a grand gesture showing off rugged features. Stiffen their stance. |
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| Place palms up on a table or their knees, a reassurance of harmlessness. |
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| Women do when they flirt:
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| Smile at a man to announce availability an interest. |
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| Arch their eyebrows so as to gaze wide-eyed, a sign of youth. |
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| Quickly lower their eyelids, tucking the chin down and to the side and averting the gaze, a sign of coyness, signaling unwillingness to give sex to justanyone. |
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| Giggle, usually by placing their hand over or near the mouth, a sign of youth and submissiveness. |
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| Shrug the shoulders, a sign of helplessness. Toss the hair, showing off their mane, as health. Sway the hips,calling attention to pelvis and advertising curves, Arch the feet. Flick their tongue over their lips, signaling sexual maturity as interest. |
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| Extend their chests. Be a better flirt Beyond the things we do subconsciously to send signals to theopposite sex, what can we consciously to attract potential partners? The "flirting academy" in London,England, that offers workshops on how to flirt effectively founder, Pet Heskell, offers the following flirtin tips for women on the Zone's Web site: |
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| Men are notoriously misinterpreting signals from women. Make sure your flirting conveys the message you want it to (i.e.,separate sexual flirting from friendly flirting). Wear something eye-catching. If you want someone to approach you, it's much easier if you're wearing a conversation-starter (i.e., a fun hat, a crazy pin). |
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| Feel good about yourself. A positive outlook is contagious. When you flirt, feel good about yourself andothers will feel good about you. Separate yourself from friends. In general, men find women much more approachable when they are by themselves. This lessens the chance that he'll be rejected in front of an audience. Check your voice. In Heskell's words: "Does your voice sound likea dental drill or do you wash people in waves of sensual sound?" Be polite about you aren't interested. It takes a lot of courage to approach someone, so be sure t turn him down in a way that you would appreciate being turned down yourself. Be interesting by being interested. Flatter him by showing genuine interest in who he is ask lots of open-ended questions. Make the first move. Heskell says that 95 percent of the men she'l talked to would love to be approached by a woman. Chalk it up to another step forward for women equality. Be yourself. Be proud of who you are. Pretending to be someone you are not, won't get you very far in relationship. |
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| Honesty is very important in a relationship.. |
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| By Patrizia DiLucchio From Women.com |
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| Plenty of people in long-term relationships get the urge to wander sometimes, looking for the something they think has gone missing at home. Here are five strategies to keep you and your partner from straying: |
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| Don't let loneliness leave you feeling unloved. |
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| Many women posting to Internet message boards speak of a feeling of isolation associated with a marriage in which a spouse frequently travels or devotes more time to work and a career than he does to his family. Young mothers feel especially vulnerable. |
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| Don't be afraid to tell your husband or boyfriend how you feel. Remind him that relationships require attention and nurturing every bit as much as that start-up company he works for. If you resent being stuck at home, go back to school or consider getting a part-time job. And if you have a small child, remind yourself that babies don't stay in diapers forever. A dozen years from now when that baby hits the Tempestuous Teens, you will actually miss those days when you were the absolute center of your child's universe! |
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| Etiquette serves a purpose. We live in a culture where the only rule sometimes seems to be: If you've got it, flaunt it. If we can turn a few heads and it makes us feel good, what's wrong with that? |
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| It's one thing to dress up and party and flirt and leave everyone with the impression that you are smart, sexy and very funny. It's another thing to single out a particular man and signal, "I'm available." |
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| Often, significant life-changes — moving, changing jobs — trigger our vulnerabilities. If you find yourself craving the attention of other men after one of those changes, you might just be feeling ignored at home. |
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| If it feels like it's more than a friendship, it probably is. |
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| Infidelity isn't always just about sex. Can men and women be friends? Of course they can. Can men and women be best friends? Sure, why not? Friendship doesn't trigger adultery, but distance and deception lay the groundwork for myriad emotional infidelities. |
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| If you find that you want to spend more time with a friend than with your lover, or if you're tempted to lie about the time you're spending with a friend, then you have a problem. |
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| Many of us become distanced from our partners occasionally. Identifying those emotional gulfs and actively working to re-establish loving connections is one way to keep a relationship healthy. Sometimes we need to talk, sometimes we need to fight, sometimes we need to ask for help or consider counseling. If your mate isn't the man you confide in, you need to find out why. |
|
| Never underestimate the importance of rest and relaxation. |
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| Men and women both have a tendency to let work get in the way of real life. It's an honest mistake: A good career is going to provide for our children and ensure us certain comforts. Then we drag ourselves home from 12 hours on the job only to be confronted with more work. |
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| It's hard to feel loved (or loving) when packhorses seem to have more leisure time than you do. You find yourself thinking: Hmmm, that cute guy in marketing is never going to expect me to iron his shirts. And if I stumble from the office to his place, he won't ask me to cook; he'll order out for Chinese. |
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| If work is work and home is work, it's time for a vacation. Don't feel guilty if, occasionally, you take to your bed on a Saturday to read romance novels and watch bad TV. And take those vacations! We could all use a week back in the small Colorado town where we fell in love on the chairlift or a world-class resort where only the employees can find the kitchen or laundry room. |
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| Adventures were important when you were dating, and they still are. Many of us watched our parents work too hard, and we swore that it would never happen to us. It may be time to reaffirm that vow. |
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| Talk loudly, talk softly, talk constantly. Love exists as a dialogue. It isn't always pretty. It isn't always what we want to hear. At its best, it's honest. At its very best, it's tempered with kindness. When two people can truly communicate, day in and day out, year in and year out, there is almost never room for infidelity. |
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| Woman always remember the first sex she had, regardless how many affairs she have after. |
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| Most of the females get involved with man because they are desperate for attention and love. |
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| Definition of Sex is to making babies and Love definition is to making Love. |
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| Woman get involved in infidelity more than man, to feel that she is wanted. |
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| 15 percent of the married couples, the man raising another man child from infidelity. |
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| Without talk and listen and discussion, it is no loving and healthy relationship. |
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| Without honesty and openness, the relationship is worthless and it is only for convenience. |
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| Where it is love, it is jealousy and it is natural. If it is no love, it is no jealousy either. |
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| Man or woman close their eyes on infidelity if they commit, if their partner do it too. |
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| Woman more often forgive infidelity than man, if she also commit infidelity too. |
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| Woman constantly need to feel loved, get attention and want to be adored by other man. |
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| Woman more likely to be dishonest more than man, about her affairs with other man |
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| A flirting woman, who is not loved, she is an easy target for the man she attracted too and like... |
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| Woman need satisfaction mentally and physically or she look for someone else to get it from... |
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| Woman forgive and forget easier than man, if it benefits her. |
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| Man willing to take responsibility for their action, while woman refuse to do it. |
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| Six big lies about diet and fitness
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| So you want the perfect body? You personally contribute to the country's $35 billion health and fitness industry — buying the latest supplements, hitting those new wonder machines and following the trendy get-thin-quick diets. And yet, at the end of the day, you look down and disappointment sets in. |
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| Well, maybe you've been a victim of fitness fallacies. |
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| Perhaps it's time to rely on a little science — instead of a lot of fiction — to dispel recurring fitness myths and get healthy once and for all. Here are some of the most common myths encountered online, among friends and in the gym: |
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| Fiction: You can lose 10 pounds in 10 days. Well, you can, but it's not good for you and it's darn near impossible to do anyway. One pound of fat weight loss requires a 3,500-calorie energy deficit, either by increasing resting metabolism or energy expenditure or by decreasing calorie intake. To lose one pound of fat every day, you would have to create a daily energy deficit of 3,500 calories! Now, how many of us can run 35 miles in 24 hours? |
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| The truth? Rapid weight loss causes the body to lose water, electrolytes, muscle glycogen, muscle protein and a little fat. Worse yet, the body can be deprived of nutrients it needs to manufacture enzymes, red and white blood cells and bones. And the capper? Your body will slow its metabolism to conserve energy, meaning it gets harder and harder to lose weight and keep it off. P.S. Severe food deprivation produces a tendency to overeat or binge. (People with eating disorders often report that a severely restrictive diet marked the beginning of their disorder.) |
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| Fiction: Weight lifting decreases flexibility. Many people incorrectly believe that strength training makes you inflexible. Maybe that's because many muscle-bound body builders appear to have a limited range of joint motion. The fact is, those big beefy muscles usually limit their range of movement, not the flexibility of the connective tissue around the joint. |
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| The truth? Proper strength training techniques can actually make you more flexible. The key lies in performing resistance training exercises through the full range of motion specific to the joint, working both agonist and antagonist muscle groups. For example, do both biceps and triceps curls through a full flexion and extension movement. |
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| Fiction: Children are naturally physically active. Although children and adolescents are more physically active than adults, many young people do not engage in moderate or vigorous physical activity at least three days a week. Obesity in American children and adolescents has increased 45 percent (with one in five diagnosed as obese!). Many children as young as 8 years old suffer one or more risk factors for heart disease, including obesity and physical inactivity. |
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| The truth? National studies suggest that the average child watches TV and plays video games more than 20 hours a week. This leads to overall inactivity and decreased fitness levels on standardized tests. And parents may rely too heavily on sports programs to provide all of the physical conditioning that their child needs to stay fit and healthy. Remember: Children are often inactive during sports games or they participate at levels that don't provide enough health benefits. |
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| Fiction: Supplements make muscles bigger. Not! Maybe you should have a steak instead. Protein is often considered the key anabolic nutrient to promote muscle growth and hypertrophy. Current research indicates that the recommended protein intake for adult strength-training athletes should be approximately 1.4-1.8 gm/kg per day and 1.2-1.4 gm/kg per day for endurance athletes. For most people, that can be achieved through a healthy diet. |
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| The truth? Recent research indicates that creatine supplementation may promote greater gains in lean body mass during intense strength training. However, many aspects of these preliminary findings need to be clarified, including the medical safety of long-term use. And whether this type of supplementation benefits anyone other than competitive athletes needs to be established. Most experts agree that if you don't have a well-designed strength-training program and a healthy diet, supplementation is almost worthless. |
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| Fiction: You will lose more fat weight with low-intensity exercise. While it is true that low-intensity exercises of long duration utilize fat as the primary fuel source, total calorie expenditure is the most important variable for fat weight loss. |
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| The truth? The best strategy for the unfit person is to work at lower intensity for longer duration, making the activity more fun and helping to prevent potential injuries. Individuals who have high fitness levels may want to vary training with intervals of high-intensity exercise to stimulate cardiovascular benefits. Thirty minutes of low-intensity dance aerobics requires a 150-pound person to expend approximately 180 calories. The same person will expend 300 calories performing a high-intensity routine. |
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| Overall, if you want to achieve optimal physical activity levels and weight-loss benefits, expending around 2,000 calories a week is a good goal. A recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that women who had lost weight kept the weight off successfully after one year by performing either 80 minutes per day of low to moderate activity or 35 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous activity. |
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| Fiction: Spot reduction can get rid of saddlebags. Sorry, but exercising a particular muscle group will not make the fat around that muscle disappear. In one study, fat biopsies were taken from the abdominal, subscapular and buttock regions prior to 27 days of sit-up exercise training. At the end of the experiment, fat cells in the abdominal region were no smaller than those in the unexercised subscapular and buttock regions. |
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| The truth? Exercise causes the release of such hormones as adrenaline into the bloodstream. In turn, these hormones travel through the bloodstream, stimulating fat release throughout the body. The fat deposits with the greatest concentration of enzymes, called lipases, mobilize the most fat. The good news: Fat in the upper body and abdominal area seems to disappear most with exercise. The bad news: Women (in particular) seem to protect the fat stores in the hip and thigh regions thanks to estrogen's influence on the enzymes in those areas. But don't give up. While there may be no benefit to spot reducing, there is benefit to muscle strengthening target areas. |
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| We tend to glom on to quick-fix myths in an effort to find simple and easy ways to look, feel and be healthy. But before you get caught up in the latest fitness and diet trends, sort through information that is based on scientific findings. Rome wasn't built in a day! |
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| Sheila King is an exercise physiologist at UCLA with more than 15 years of experience. She is a certified Program Director of the American College of Sports Medicine, and a trainer of personal trainers at UCLA Extension. |
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