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DIETING AND WEIGHT LOSS, FITNESS AND EXERCISE-Do Only 4 of These 14 Things And Lose 5 Pounds In A Week

/ chris maroc / Leave a comment

You want to shed weight for an upcoming event. Do you (1) accept how you look and detag Facebook pics later, (2) stop eating, or (3) follow our simple plan? Yeah, we thought so.

Do Only 4 of These 14 Things And Lose 5 Pounds In A Week

Cosmo has come up with a fat-torching plan that really will subtract up to 5 pounds from your bod in seven days — without starvation, bizarre supplements, or cutting out entire food groups. How? It’s all about small sacrifices combined with specific techniques. And rather than giving you a one-size-fits-all regimen, we figure you’re more likely to stick with the plan if you pick the eating and exercise strategies that fit your lifestyle.

So choose at least four of the nutritionist- and fitness expert-backed tips that follow, and vow to work them into your schedule for seven days straight. If you feel ambitious, tack on a few more. The more you pick, the more weight you’ll lose. If you start now, by this time next week, you’ll look and feel way lighter.

Drink Mainly Water
A sports or energy drink, fruit smoothie, or light beer — each serving contains about 100 calories. Yet these beverages don’t satisfy you the way 100 calories of food does, so they’re a waste. Other liquids may be high in sodium and carbohydrates, which trick your body into retaining water, puffing you out. Water, on the other hand, has zero calories and carbs and little to no sodium, making it the perfect slim-down drink. And strangely, it actually helps flush out excess water weight as well as jump-starts your metabolism. If it’s just too boring, add lemon wedges or mint leaves.

Ban White Bread and Pasta
Cutting out all white grain products — such as white rice, spaghetti, sandwich rolls — will instantly slim you down because the simple carbs in these foods cause bloating, especially around your belly. “Simple carbohydrates wreak havoc on your weight because they’re digested very quickly, leaving you hungry and more likely to overeat later,” says Jana Klauer, M.D., author of The Park Avenue Nutritionist’s Plan. To go a step further, instead of replacing them with healthier yet still bloat-triggering whole-grain bread products, substitute vegetables for the week. This way, a chicken sandwich becomes chicken salad, and chips and dip turn into carrots and dip. The complex carbs from vegetables are digested more slowly, so you remain full longer. And because veggies are mostly water, they also help flush out excess water weight.

Do Cardio 30 Minutes a Day
Any workout that gets your heart rate up will burn calories. But you’ll use more calories if you pick a cardio routine that engages multiple muscles simultaneously, says Wendy Larkin, personal-training manager at Crunch’s Polk Street gym, in San Francisco. Three to consider: spinning, cardio kickboxing, and boot-camp workouts. Half an hour of each torches 200 to 300 calories while toning up your arms, legs, and core so everything appears sleeker and tighter. You’ll burn even more calories per session if your workout incorporates interval training: alternating short bursts of intense cardio with slower activity. Experts aren’t sure why it works, but trainers swear by it.

Drink Coffee an Hour Before Working Out
This is the one exception to the stick-to-water-only rule: Just as a coffee run makes your morning at work more productive, a pre-exercise cup of java with a splash of skim milk (about 11 calories) or black (just 5 calories) will energize your workout, explains Dr. Klauer. “You’ll burn more calories without realizing you’re pushing yourself harder.”

Have Nightly You-on-Top Sex
Not that you needed an excuse to hook up with your guy every night, but the fact is, this position is a fat blaster. Being on top means you do the rocking, and the more active you are, the more calories you burn — up to 144 for 30 minutes. Sex also pumps levels of feel-good neurotransmitters, endorphins, helping you ride out food cravings. Get on top in reverse-cowgirl (i.e., facing away from your guy) to give your thigh and butt muscles an extra push.

Do 36 Push-Ups and Lunges Every Other Day
These gym-class staples will help sculpt muscle, so you’ll sport a more streamlined appearance. Do three sets of 12 of each exercise every other day. “Push-ups target your upper body, while lunges work your butt, hips, and thighs,” says Larkin. Quick tip: Make sure your back and legs remain in a straight line during your push-ups; it’ll improve muscle tone. Also, you can build even more muscle with the lunges if you hold free weights in each hand while doing them.

Sleep 30 Minutes More a Night
That extra half an hour, whether you sleep 5 hours or 8, can refresh you enough that you will make better food choices (in other words, no quick sugar fix for breakfast in search of energy) and won’t feel lethargic and skip the gym, says registered dietician Esther Blum, author of Eat, Drink, and Be Gorgeous. More restful sleep (7 to 8 hours is best) also boosts your metabolism. And since your body builds muscle while you snooze, getting zzz’s equals better muscle tone.

Make One Food Sacrifice
Cutting out one indulgence — such as the chips you have with lunch or the chocolate dessert you eat after dinner — can subtract a few hundred calories from your diet, which translates into less flab, says Blum. “Your body won’t even notice their absence.”

Don’t Let the Camera Add Pounds
Push your chin forward, hold your arms away from your body, and turn slightly sideways from the camera with one foot in front of the other.

Get Thinner in Hours
Really. These slenderizing effects may not be permanent, but they’ll help you look hotter in your skinniest jeans on very short notice.

Eat Salmon for Lunch
It’s packed with nutrients that build muscle tone and give your skin a healthy glow. Some nutritionists claim that consuming a portion (doesn’t matter how it’s cooked) may immediately make your face look a bit more contoured.

Stand Up Straight
Keeping your spine rigid and your shoulders back while sucking in your belly toward your spine gives you a slimmer, more streamlined middle.

Do Squats and Sit-Ups
Bodybuilders use this technique before competitions because it adds definition to muscle. Do three sets of 12 of each exercise to tighten your abs, butt, and legs temporarily.

Pop an Antigas Pill
Take one of these chewable tablets, sold over-the-counter at drugstores, to relieve bloating in your abdomen and break up gas bubbles in your digestive track, leaving you with a flatter tummy.

Originally posted on http://www.cosmopolitan.com

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18 Best Cardio Exercises for Weight Loss: Easy & Effective

/ chris maroc / Leave a comment

Article from read.plash.in

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Searching for the best cardio exercises for weight loss? Use the following easy workouts to start planning your exercise regime so you could get a healthy weight easily and quickly. Read up from VKool.com!

18 Best Cardio Exercises For Weight Loss – Easy And Quick Workouts

Initially, you need to consider some precautions for cardio workouts before you start huffing and puffing. It is important for you to not overdo cardio exercises, particularly the long duration and slow kind. Cardio training comes with a lot of benefits, yet overdoing it, which is very common, could result in issues, like muscle loss, aching knees, slower metabolism, and so on. Generally, about 10 to 20 minutes of intense cardio, and about 25 to 45 minutes of low intensity cardio might work best without leading to any injuries.

1. HIIT – High Intensity Interval Training

Those HIIT sessions are just 20 minutes long if you minimize the warming up and down session. In order to get the best result, you had better join in HIIT training every 2-3 days. It is because whenever you practice reps, you do them with such a greater intensity. However, you should not fool yourself into trimming down and performing this workout each day because this workout is well known to burn off energy and calories of your system which might take at least one day to rest as well as recover.

2. Kettlebell

The fundamental exercises done with a Kettlebell are considered as the entire body exercises. That means those exercises make your own body work hard and also burn more calories than those basic isolation exercises such as curls, crunches, and so on do. Moreover, because those basic exercises can burn a lot more calories with every rep, so these workouts might be rarely super long. Mostly, a basic 30-45 minute workout will bring about good results.TATIONARY BIKE

3. Circuit Training

Simply put, circuit training contains a series of aerobic exercises which are mixed up with the resistance training to offer such a high intensity workout. Actually, this type of exercises is performed one after the other – in a circuit – with the minimal rest in-between. Fact is, circuit training gets involved withand anaerobic and aerobic exercises, yet is so flexible, so you could customize to create your own routine in just a few minutes with some researches on the Internet.

4. Plyometrics

When it comes to best cardio exercises for weight loss, plyometrics are one of the most effective. Plyometric contractions – also known as the stretch shortening cycle – comes with a process whereby your muscle will undergo a period of quick lengthening movement, and followed by such a rapid transition time in which there will be no change in your muscle length, followed by the explosive shortening move that in turn will enable those related muscles to manufacture maximum force while not necessarily enhancing maximum strength.

5. Stair Training

Stair exercises can help you enhance your own cardiovascular stamina. Also, these simple exercises will tone the lower body parts effectively. It may be tiring at the first when doing the stair training, yet if you are persistent enough, soon you will notice that you could do other tasks with gusto and promote the performance of your day. On the other hand, staircase exercise is super simple, without the need of any special equipment of cardio training. Besides, you could also incorporate the stair exercise into your circuit training and interval training routines.

6. Swimming

If you do swimming, freestyle for about 30 minutes, you could burn up to 350 calories. Nevertheless, this type of exercise is with respect to the rigorous swimming that can burn up to 200-250 calories each 30-minute period. Doing this for about 1 hour, you will be able to burn up to 400-700 per hour, which is rather good.

7. Outdoor Cycling

In comparison with indoor static cycling, the outdoor forms could bring about many benefits for your overall fitness levels because it challenges you with a lot of different terrains as well as hard routes. In reality, the amount of burnt calories in cycling often depends on the speed as well as resistance of route used. In detail, on an average, just cycling for about 10mph could burn merely 372 calories, and at the moderate levels from 12 to 13.9 mph can help in burning up to 745 calories and above 20 mph approximately 1117 calories. Though this form of exercise does not benefit you so much when it comes to upper body workout, it could be a good method for you to tone the lower limb muscles.

8. Jumping Ropes Or Skipping Rope

Among the list of best cardio exercises for weight loss, this is really an effective yet simple one. Jumping rope just for several minutes could bring about many benefits for your own body weight. Furthermore, it can work up your whole body and help you gain the hand-eye coordination. If you can master the basics of jumping rope, you could challenge yourself by making use of different patterns such as side steps, cross mode and speed steps. Those people with moderate levels could lose about 931 calories by doing this activity just for 1 hour.

9. Jogging

It is a common way to work all parts of your own body and burn off lots of calories. To gain the best possible calorie-burning results, you should try working no less than 8 mph. Also, you could offer resistance to motion using rough, rugged terrains plus with hilly inclined regions.

10. Tennis

Not only will playing tennis be fun for players, it also helps them lose weight effectively. This sport supplies people with a good chance to burn calories whilst enhancing your strength, speed, and reaction time. The continual exercise of tennis for about 1 hour can help you burn up to 600 to 900 calories of your body fat.

11. Hiking

This is a great recreational activity, yet it could keep you active as well as make you become sweating. Also, hiking helps you reduce depression, promote muscular fitness, maintain a healthy weight and lubricate your overall joints efficiently.

12. Zumba

Truth is, Zumba can offer a large calorie burnt through the high-tempo aerobic activity along with interval training. The results gained are based on different aspects like body weight, fitness level, gender, and many other physical factors, you could burn about 400-600 calories each hour.

13. CrossFit

According to a recent study, crossfit is a functional movement, which is varied and performed at high intensity. If you want to improve your strength and speed, you should not overlook crossfit. Also, it helps in losing a lot of weight if you are persistent enough. It prepares your overall physical skills and works up all parts of your own body.

14. Body Combat Workout

Body combat is an empowering cardio workout, which is fiercely energetic and is inspired by martial arts. It can draw from a lot of disciplines like boxing, karate, tai chi, taekwondo, and muay thai. With the help of music, you strike, punch, then kick your way through calories in such an enjoyable cardio fitness workout.

15. Kickboxing

This type of cardio exercises for weight loss is basically known for growing great cardiovascular fitness, and unlike cycling and running, and many other common cardio activities, kickboxing can work up your overall body whilst hitting your core muscles hard too! On the other hand, in term of calorie burning, it is much more helpful than regular jogging or walking workout, while being more fun. Thus, do not skip this if you want to lose weight quickly while still having fun.

16. Basketball

Playing basketball is an effective and easy manner to enhance your flexibility, cardio-respiratory health, and endurance level. Actually, the running plus with the quick alteration in directions of this game can help you tone muscles and drop a few extra calories. Normally, you will lose from 600 to 900 calories when playing basketball for about 1 hour.

17. Core Power Yoga

Yoga is always good for the human overall health, in general, and weight loss, in particular. Core power yoga is executed in the heated room and the postures might surround those cardiovascular exercises. Yet, it has to be performed at such a fast pace. This exercise will strengthen your abdomen and back and burn your belly fat quickly. It often involves muscle toning poses, helping strengthen the hip as well as pelvis. You could expect to enhance strength, endurance, stamina, promote concentration and decrease stress.

18. Belly Dancing

Belly dancing is for everyone, both men and women. It is both a fun and sexy way to help people get in shape and maintain a healthy weight. Also, belly dancing can help you feel sexy about yourself while still improving your own body posture, supporting in weight loss and burning huget amount of and calories and fat.

These are top 18 best cardio exercises for weight loss that you can take advantage of right instantly. These workouts do not require any special preparation and equipment so you could do right at your own home. If you want to comment on any aspect of this article, drop your words below the post. We will feedback soon.

How to Lose Weight Safely and Permanently: 10 Best Exercises for Weight Loss

/ chris maroc / Leave a comment
FEBRUARY 3, 2015

PLASH-THE MOST USEFUL CONTENT FOR YOU

DIETING AND WEIGHT LOSS, FITNESS AND EXERCISE

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There’s no getting around the fact that in order to lose weight safely and permanently, you need to eat healthy food and get plenty of exercise.

Exercising burns calories and builds muscle, which is essential for increasing your metabolism so that you can burn even more calories and lose more weight.

So dust off those workout clothes and pick one of these nine best exercises for weight loss to get started today on your path to a slimmer, healthier you.

1. Walking

Walking is an ideal exercise for weight loss: It doesn’t require any equipment, other than a decent pair of walking shoes, and you don’t need a gym membership to do it.

It’s a low-impact exercise, which means it won’t blow out your knees or cause other stress injuries that can leave you on the sidelines for weeks or even months.

For those with certain health issues, including obesity and heart disease, walking is an effective, low-intensity weight-loss activity that can lead to better overall health, as well as better mental wellbeing.

Depending on how much you weigh, walking at a pace of four miles per hour will burn between 5 and 8 calories every minute, or between 225 and 360 calories for a 45-minute walk.

At this pace, walking 45 minutes a day most days, you can lose up to a pound a week without changing any other habits.

So put on your walking shoes, turn on your iPod and go for a brisk stroll through the neighborhood. If you live close to where you work or shop, make walking your primary mode of transportation most days, and watch the pounds melt away. When the weather is bad, take to the local track or indoor mall, or hop on the treadmill.

2. Kettlebell

Kettlebells are cast iron balls fitted with a single handle. Unlike traditional handheld weights, the weight of the kettlebell isn’t evenly distributed, which means that your body has to work to stabilize you and counterbalance the weight of the ball.

Kettlebells provide for a hard-core workout that not only burns up to 400 calories in a mere 20 minutes, but also strengthens your core, improves balance and posture and targets all of the major muscle groups, as well as the stabilizing muscles.

Because kettlebell exercises involve the whole body, a kettlebell workout will rev up your metabolism to help your body burn fat faster, and it’ll get your heart pumping so that you get an aerobic workout as well. In fact, 20-minute kettlebell workout is similar to a six-mile run in terms of cardiovascular benefits and calories burned.

However, working successfully with kettlebells requires proper form to avoid injury and get the most benefit out of your workout. If you’re new to kettlebells, taking a class at your local gym will provide you with initial instruction about proper form and the safety guidelines you should follow when exercising with these heavy weights.

3. Swimming

Vigorous swimming can burn anywhere from 400 to 700 calories an hour. All types of swimming are effective for helping you shed pounds, from a front crawl to a breast stroke or even the dog paddle.

Swimming is a highly effective exercise for weight loss and toning. It’s one of the lowest-impact exercises out there, and it strengthens, tones and conditions your whole body.

It’s particularly ideal for women in their last trimester of pregnancy and individuals who battle with arthritis, obesity, and musculoskeletal conditions.

It’s also great for those who suffer from exercise-induced asthma, because the warm, moist air around the water helps keep the airways clear.

Many athletes use the pool as a cross-training tool, as well as to stay fit while rehabilitating an injury. When you’re neck-deep in water, your body is only bearing ten percent of its weight, and yet the water provides 12 times the resistance of air, making it ideal for strengthening and toning your muscles.

Swimming engages all of the major muscle groups, from your abdominals and back muscles to your arms, legs, hips and glutes. It effectively compliments other exercises, like running and walking, or it can be your sole form of fitness.

Don’t know how to swim? Not a problem. If you can propel yourself through the water from one end of the pool to the other, you can swim well enough to lose weight doing it.

4. Cycling

Bicycling is another low-impact, high-rewards activity for losing weight.

Cycling can burn anywhere from 372 to over 1,100 calories per hour, depending on your weight, your speed and the terrain you’re biking across.

Unlike running, cycling is easy on the joints, and even the most out-of-shape beginner can hop on a bicycle and ride several miles without feeling like they’ve just been through the wringer.

Outdoor cycling is best, because the varied terrain enables you to get a well-rounded workout that includes strengthening your lower body and getting a good cardiovascular workout.

If you live within biking distance of your job, cycling to work can stimulate endorphins and boost your metabolism for the day, as well as save you money on gas. If outdoor cycling is difficult or dangerous in your area, consider spinning.

Offered at most gyms, this group cycling activity is one of the lowest-impact classes offered, and yet it’s one of the most effective for burning calories and revving up your metabolism.

Even seasoned runners or bikers will likely find themselves challenged by the spinning instructor. An hour-long spinning class covers about 20 miles and challenges participants to reach speeds that they may find impossible when riding an actual bike.

5. Elliptical Trainer

The elliptical trainer at home or at the gym enables you to get a low-impact, full body workout.

Easier on the joints than a treadmill, the elliptical trainer also has movable handles that enable you to get a good upper-body workout in addition to working your lower body.

Elliptical machines let you choose the intensity level, and by raising and lowering the ramp and going backwards, you can target different muscle groups in your legs, both front and back.

The average person using an elliptical trainer can burn about 600 calories per hour. The elliptical trainer mimics the action of running while eliminating impact, saving knees and other joints from wear. For those who suffer from arthritis, musculoskeletal conditions and obesity, the elliptical trainer is a great way to exercise without risking impact injuries.

When you’re using the elliptical trainer, hold on to the movable handles rather than the static ones to increase the number of calories you burn and to help tone your arms.

Don’t rely on the calorie counters on elliptical machines to give you an accurate readout of calories burned. Instead, maximize your workout by striving to keep your heart rate at 85 percent and upping the resistance when it feels too easy.

6. Running

If you’re one of the many people who love to run, you’re in luck.

Running burns about 600 calories per hour, helps build strong bones and connective tissue and gets your heart pumping at a healthy rate to help prevent heart disease, stroke and certain cancers.

The only equipment running requires is a good pair of shoes to protect your joints and, if it helps you keep the pace and maintain motivation, an iPod with your favorite tunes.

Interval training can bump up the calories you burn on your daily run. Also called speed work, interval training involves short spurts, usually between 30 seconds and two minutes, of running at top speed.

Intervals burn a large number of calories in a short amount of time, improve your resting metabolism to help you burn more calories during the day, and increase your muscle mass.

Experts now recommend that you don’t stretch before you run. Instead, warm up by marching in place, bringing your knees up high, or walking for five minutes before beginning your run.

Because running is a high-impact exercise that can damage your joints, it’s always best to have a professional fit you with the right running shoes, based on your gait.

7. Tennis

A good game of tennis can burn up to 600 calories in an hour.

If you’re the type who prefers to exercise with a partner, tennis is an ideal way to get active. It’s also perfect for those who don’t particularly like to exercise, but who love a good competition.

You don’t have to be a great tennis player to lose weight doing it. After all, running after the balls is still a form of exercise.

The nature of tennis makes it a great whole-body workout, and playing it can help you improve your flexibility, balance and posture, as well as let off some steam to reduce stress.

Throughout the game, especially every time you hit the ball, your arm, abdominal and leg muscles are engaged, building strength and burning calories. But that’s not all that’s engaged. Your brain gets a good workout every time you play tennis, from thinking quickly and creatively to planning ahead.

Games like tennis boost the brain’s function to improve memory and the ability to learn new things. It also helps increase your peak bone mass; in fact, the National Institute of Health lists tennis as one of the activities that promotes bone health.

8. High intensity interval training

This is one of the most effective weight loss exercise options available.

You only need to engage in this form of exercise for about 20 minutes, three times a week, to get incredible benefits that include burning a large number of calories and ramping up your metabolism in the wake of the afterburn.

High intensity interval workouts can be done with many forms of exercise, and consist of short but intense bursts of activity followed by a lower-intensity period or a period of complete rest.

Those who are new to exercising shouldn’t perform interval training until they’ve been exercising regularly for a couple of months.

A standard interval workout for biking, swimming, running, lifting weights or even walking is 20 minutes long, but burns far more calories than 20 minutes of steady exercise.

Start out by warming up for five minutes. For the sixth minute, push yourself as hard and fast as you can. The seventh minute is all about catching your breath. Repeat the fast/slow cycle (minus the warm up) five times, and cool down for three minutes.

High intensity interval training, or HIIT, offers amazing benefits. Not only will you progress much faster to your desired fitness level, you will also improve your aerobic capacity. In fact, after only two weeks of HIIT, your aerobic capacity will be stronger than if you had completed eight weeks of steady-state endurance exercise, such as running.

9. CrossFit

CrossFit, like high intensity training, is only suitable for individuals who have been exercising on a somewhat regular basis for a couple of months.

Originally designed to train first responders and Special Forces, CrossFit is a workout regimen that involves weight lifting, endurance exercises, plyometrics, strength and speed training and kettlebell exercise routines, among other activities.

One thing you won’t lose with CrossFit is interest. Unlike other routines that involve doing one exercise for a specified amount of time, CrossFit incorporates many activities into one intense, fat-burning workout.

It’s designed to target all of the major components of physical fitness, including endurance, flexibility, speed, power and cardiorespiratory fitness.

No two days are alike when you’re doing CrossFit. An example of a CrossFit routine is five repetitions of 20 pull-ups, 30 push-ups, 40 sit-ups and 50 squats, all performed one after the other, with a three-minute rest between repetitions.

While definitely not for the faint-of-heart, CrossFit routines are highly effective at burning calories and fat, improving physical stamina and endurance, and increasing metabolism.

To get the most benefit out of CrossFit, you should perform a different routine at least three days a week, but ideally five days a week. The good news is that the routines are short, lasting only 15 to 20 minutes when done properly.

10. Cross Country Skiing

If you enjoy nature, like the cold and love a good snow, cross country skiing might just become your favorite exercise.

Cross country skiing is a tough workout that works every major muscle group in your body as you glide along, providing both pushing and pulling movements for your muscles. It’s great for improving balance and coordination.

Cross country skiing is a combination of resistance training and cardio activity that’ll burn between 500 and 650 calories per hour, depending on how much you weight and the intensity of the workout.

While you’re skiing, your muscles are working hard. However, since they’re all working together and you’re getting moments of rest on the glide, the lack of muscle exhaustion enables you to sustain the activity for long periods of time. Likewise, your heart rate will be elevated throughout the workout, but won’t be so high that you have to stop to rest.

Make sure you have the right gear for safety and comfort during your workout. You don’t need to spend a bundle, but you’ll need warm clothes that are designed to insulate and breathe. Make sure your ski boots are comfortable and warm.

The right form is critical when cross country skiing. Beginners should start slowly, propelling forward with long, slow strokes until rhythm and form become natural. The moves should feel coordinated and be executed with smooth, fluid motions.

Once you’ve got the form and rhythm down, let the skis take you on a tour of the winter wonderland around you. Allow your mind to wander while your body does the work so that you’re relaxed and renewed by the end of the workout.

My visit to Citi Field to see the Met vs. Cubs

/ chris maroc / Leave a comment

CM at Mets game 8-14

 

I spent a wonderful Saturday night with friends at Citi Field in Flushing, New York. We had a great dinner before the game at the Acela Club overlooking the ball field. We then cheered the Mets on as they beat the Chicago Cubs 7-3. The Mets might not be a great team this year, but they have had no problem taking care of business against one of the worst teams in the league. Citi Field is a beautiful place to watch a ball game. Returning to Flushing brought back memories of going to Shea Stadium with my Mom and grandfather, Rex Stout. My grandfather was a very enthusiastic fans of the New York Mets. My Mom still watches and cheers on her New York Mets every night.

 

My grandfather-world famous mystery writer, Rex Stout

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My grandfather, Rex Todhunter Stout was born in Noblesville, Indiana, December 1, 1886. He was the sixth of nine children born to John and Lucetta Todhunter Stout. Educated in Kansas, he was recognized as a prodigy in arithmetic. After a brief time on campus at the University of Kansas, he quit school to enlist in the Navy where he spent two years as warrant officer on board President Theodore Roosevelt’s yacht.

After the Navy, he began to write and tried his hand at a variety of jobs. With his brother, Robert, Stout devised and implemented a school banking system. Bank Day proved a very successful venture and allowed Stout to move to Paris and write full-time.

He published three novels before he turned to the mystery genre. The books received favorable reviews but were not best sellers. Stout returned to the United States and built a house on the Connecticut-New York state line. Fer-de-Lance, my grandfather’s first Nero Wolfe novel, appeared in 1934.

More than seventy other Nero Wolfe books and stories followed. During World War II, Rex Stout waged a personal campaign against Nazism serving as chairman of the War Writers Board,wrote and broadcast the CBS radio program “Our Secret Weapon,”and was a member of several national committees. After the war, he resumed writing Nero Wolfe novels. In 1959 he won the Mystery Writers of America’s Grand Master Award. My grandfather died October 27, 1975 at the age of 88. A month before his death, he published his final Nero Wolfe book, A Family Affair.

My grandfather was recently inducted in the the New York State Writers Hall of Fame.

On a personal note, my grandfather was very much a family man. He built the family home, High Meadow, near Brewster, NY, around the time of his marriage to Pola Weinbach in 1932. My grandparents raised their two daughters, Becky and Barbara at High Meadow. My grandfather worked primarily from High Meadow.  His hobbies included raising virtually all of our family’s produce and poultry,  kept various pets, including a pony, maintained over 300 house plants as well as large and admired iris beds (almost 200 varieties of bearded irises and over 100 varieties of day lilies), building his own furniture, and being a baseball fan of the Giants, then, after their move, the Mets.

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