Category: English

Most people, especially women, define and shape their identity primarily through their hair style. As the crowning glory of a woman, the hair is considered by many as a significant symbol or extension of their personality and style. No wonder, so many women take extra lengths to maintain the health and good appearance of their locks.

Human hair is subjected to a number of pollutants, irritants, and other sources of potential damage. The most common causes of hair damage include harsh chemicals found in hair styling products, straightening or waving treatments, hair dyes, and even overexposure to the sun. If this continues, hair that was once radiant would eventually look brittle and frizzy.

Zoe Draelos, a noted dermatologist, said that people need to understand that hair is actually non-living material that cannot be repaired once it is damaged. Draelos added that hair growth slows down as we get older, and the cosmetic beauty of our hair decreases. Hair loss that occurs from continual breakage over the years is a serious concern for many women, so the key is to prevent damage by stopping the cycle of over processing or over grooming the hair while selecting hair care products.

While the hair is at its healthiest in our 20s, Dr. Draelos noted that some young women fall for fad diets at this age which can ruin the hair. Some of these hair care fads make use of chemicals that deplete the hair of essential vitamins and minerals that come from the food we eat.

Adding to this, Dr. Draelos said that hair appearance is a sign of our general health. If a person has an eating disorder or has an imbalanced diet, it would surely show from the way their hair looks like. Some women in their 20s and 30s also experience changes in hair quality and appearance due to their use of birth control pills. Dr. Draelos explained that when estrogen levels fall during this process, hair will also fall out. According to Dr. Draelos, when a woman notices her hair falling out, the use of birth control pills would not usually come under suspicion. Most women do not suspect anything wrong with shedding hair since it is quite normal to lose a number of strands at any given day. Only when a sizeable amount of hair is lost would a woman start to feel uneasy.

For women in their 30s, pregnancy becomes another reason why women lose their hair. During pregnancy, all hair follicles usually experience re-generation, resulting in luxurious, radiant-looking hair. However, six months after delivery, the new mother would most likely loose hair again. Some of the hair that is shed post-pregnancy may eventually re-grow, said Dr. Draelos. However, for women who have female-pattern hair loss, hair may no longer return. Those women who have an inherited tendency towards hair loss should seek professional help.

Although hair dyes are popular for women of all ages, women in their 40s may be more likely to turn to hair color as a way to camouflage gray hair that typically starts to appear at this age. Dr. Draelos said that once the hair has been dyed chemically, it strips the protective lipid layer of the hair shaft and opens up holes in the hair shaft, allowing the dye to enter and create a new color. Adding also that hair dyeing is damaging, but lightening hair for more than three shades require more peroxide, which creates more holes in the hair shaft and therefore more damage. The best thing for covering gray hair is to stay on shade, within three colors of her natural color. Dr. Draelos advises women in their 50s to shorten the amount of time they leave on styling products such as hair dyes or permanent wave solutions because thinner hair shafts require less time to process. Dr. Draelos recommended that older women use a good conditioner, and also advised women to handle their hair as little as possible, including avoiding over-brushing hair.

For most of us gamers, staying active is a distraction from the real important task – gaming. It can be really hard to motivate yourself to put down that controller and get moving. That’s why I’ve come up with 4 ways to add a dash of fitness to your gaming routine. Keep reading to learn how.

1. Opt for an “active” game. Almost every gaming console offers some type of active game – whether it’s wailing on a virtual guitar, following a series of intricate dance steps in a dance revolution, playing tennis with an imaginary racket, or singing your heart out at karaoke. So, if you’re looking to add a mini-workout to your gaming time, pick a game that’s going to get you out of the chair and moving.

2. Add some weights. Donning a pair of wrist weights before your next gaming marathon will build muscle, increase calorie burn, create resistance and, basically, pump you up. No, you’re not going to become a body builder, but you will see some definite tone and remember, muscle increases your sedentary calorie burn. So, the more muscle you build, the more fat you burn – even when you’re just sitting around.

3. Stand up. Alternate standing up and sitting down while you play. Beat a level? Play the next one standing up. While doing this, you’ll work different muscles, give your back a much needed break and, most importantly, get your butt out of that chair.

4. Nix the snacks. Banning snacks from your game area is probably the fastest and best way to shed a few pounds. Leave the soda, chips, and candy at the door and you’ll see miracles happen. Admittedly, this tactic may not be “fun” or “easy,” but it is a surefire way to ‘lighten your load.’ If you’re hung up on a snack habit, try replacing your fatty chips and sugary pop with plain popcorn and water or juice. Not only will you feel better, but you’ll also have more gaming energy.

5. Stretch It Out. Use level breaks and game loading times to do a little bit of stretching or squeeze in a mini-workout. After winning a race, take a second to stand up and move your legs and arms around. Shake it all out, get the blood moving, and you’ll feel a lot better. Also take that time to stretch out your arms and neck – which can both get very sore and cramped after a long gaming session. My favorite stretch is a ‘palm stretch’ – put your hands together (palm-to-palm) then turn them under so the inside of your wrists are about 15 cm below your chin. You’ll feel a nice stretch through your hands, wrists, and forearms.

These strategies aren’t going to turn you into a fitness nut and they’re not going to transform your body from flab to fab in just two weeks, but they will get your blood pumping and they will inject some much needed activity into your gaming lifestyle.

Making sure that your fruit tree stays healthy is very important, but not as hard as some might think. There are several vital things you need to do: don’t harvest all of the fruit on the tree at the same time; make sure the soil is healthy; watch out for pests; plant it correctly; be sure it is protected when it is young. I will expand on all of these things.

One way to ensure that your fruit tree will remain healthy is to never harvest all of the fruit at the same time. If all of the fruit is left on the tree, it will grow to an unbearable weight. The combined weight of all of the fruit can get very heavy and snap the branches. So once the fruit starts to grow, you should always pick some of them before they are completely ready. Even if you don’t want to pick the fruit before it is ready, it will be beneficial to your tree. While you should do this to prevent it from becoming too heavy, you should also never over-harvest. This can be equally damaging.

Another part of making sure that your fruit tree stays healthy is planting it in fertile soil. If you plant anything in soil that doesn’t have the proper amount of nutrients in it, it will not grow and flourish as I am sure you would like it to. You also have to be sure that you plant the right tree in the right kind of soil, because some types of fruit trees do better in drier soil while some kinds or trees do better in damp soil. Just look up what kinds of nutrients your desired tree requires and you’ll know for sure whether to plant it or modify your soil in any way.

Another way to ensure your fruit tree’s health is to watch out for pests. To help keep the pests away from your tree, try to eliminate places by your tree that pests might be living. Always look for old piles of brush, weeds, old leaves, or any other decaying matter where pests could be hiding. Another way to keep pests away is by using bug sprays and repellents. Also, regularly turn over a little bit of soil around your tree and look for pests that could be hiding underground. Sometimes the ones that are hidden out of sight can be the most harmful.

If you don’t plant your fruit tree correctly, it could end up being very unhealthy. So to avoid this, always look for instructions before you plant trees. When you are planting a tree, make sure that your tree is perfectly vertical, so it won’t grow to be pointing off in an abnormal direction. When you are planting a tree you should also spread out the roots so that the tree will always be stable. This will help it live longer since the maximum water intake will be optimized.

The final thing to do in keeping your fruit tree healthy is to keep it protected when it is young and fragile. When you have a young tree you should tie it to a stake to help it to survive strong winds. Don’t tie it too hard, you should always allow room for the tree trunk to grow. Another thing to do when it is young is to put a small fence around it. This can help keep it safe from animals that will eat its bark if given the chance. A fence will also help to guard the base against strong wind and other weather.

If you follow all of this advice during the early years of your tree, you should have an experience that is nothing but joyful. Hopefully you’ll learn from the mistakes of others, and take great care of your tree. Just remember to always look up information on the type of tree you have, so that you can find out what exactly it requires.

In my opinion salt free diets are amongst the worst type of diets there are. I like my food to be properly salted and spiced before I eat. This doesn’t mean that I liberally shake the salt shaker over my food every time I sit down to a meal. It just means that when I cook I add the right amount of salt for my food to taste good. If I go to a restaurant I taste my food first to see whether I need a little added salt, I don’t go and start shaking the salt over my dish the minute it’s put in front of me. Now that’s a bad habit and will ruin even the most glorious dishes.

Unfortunately, for people who suffer from certain medical conditions they have no choice but to stick with these salt free diets. These conditions can include high blood pressure or hypertension as it can be called, kidney disease, impaired liver functions, and also people with heart problems.

People who are overweight should also stay away from too much salt intake. But if you suffer from something like a hypothyroid condition, or cystic fibrosis should not reduce your salt intake and therefore salt reduced diets would not be good for you. In the case of people with a hypothyroid condition iodized salt may be their only form of iodine and should not be stopped.

If you sweat a lot, or live in a hot and humid place then you shouldn’t really reduce your salt intake as your body will lose salt through your sweat. In actuality you really shouldn’t go on any salt free diets unless you’re instructed to by your doctor.

However if you are required to go on salt free diets there is still some hope left as it is mainly table salts that are bad for you. Salts, otherwise known as sodium, which don’t contain chloride like MSG, or baking soda are good for you.

You should also be able to include in your diet such foods as pastas, rice, oats, and fresh fruits and vegetables Additionally, although you should ideally stay away from pre-packaged and processed foods, you can look into the ones that are labeled “salt free”, or “low sodium”. These can fit very nicely into your salt free diets although you should always ask your doctor first before changing your diet.

If you are on low salt diets though there are some foods that you should really avoid and these can include processed meats, butter, most processed and pre-packaged foods, along with cereals, ketchup and cheese. Table salt is naturally, a no-no. You really wouldn’t want to blow your low salt diets by including this item into your meals!

Because nutrition is becoming more artificial these days and because people have the tendency to become physically inactive in the way they live their lives, the problem of putting on weight is unavoidable for most people. Solutions are everywhere, but are they the correct ones? If you choose to keep in mind that Fasting Health has more priority than the Fasting Miracle everyone wishes for, then yes. You’ve made the right decision.

Because most people are looking for ways to lose weight quickly and without many changes in life style, specialized companies have appeared on the market trying to make a profit out of this. Their recipe for success is to come up with something that can be called a Fasting Miracle. What is a Fasting Miracle? When you watch an ad about a diet product, you will usually be introduced to a Fasting Miracle meaning a person that has lost something like twenty pounds in three days with practically no effort, just by swallowing the three pills that are advertised.

There is no television channel that does not run at least one ad including a Fasting Miracle. And then, there are all sorts of stories about movie or pop stars that have gone through such a Fasting Miracle themselves. They claim they have lost a lot of weight without making too much effort. They just drank this or that tea or took an amazing pill.

What we don’t think about is that such a Fasting Miracle is more the result of the money invested in the story than the result of the efficiency of the product. The company that produces the diet product will pay the star a lot of money to talk on all the TV channels about their Fasting Miracle. Whether you as a viewer choose to believe in a Fasting Miracle or not, is entirely up to you, but it can have serious consequences on your health.

What you must know when you begin a diet is that there is no such thing as a Fasting Miracle. Any diet that works takes effort and patience. You usually have to begin with something that is called Detox Fasting. In this case you do not actually lose weight, but your body eliminates all the elements that are not useful and act as a slow and effective poison. You will have to drink a lot of liquids and stop eating some of the things you are used to, so you will have plenty of time to understand that a Fasting Miracle is a lie. The mere fact that there are people who have to go to a Fasting Retreat to diet under supervision is also a sign that a Fasting Miracle does not happen in real life.

Sometimes, when people want to get Fasting Information, they will go to a Fasting Forum on-line. People connect to these networks because they are looking for a Fasting Miracle. They hope that one of the other persons from the forum will tell them the story behind the Fasting Miracle. They hope to be convinced and to give them courage to do it themselves. What actually happens is that on the forums you will find out that a Fasting Miracle never happens. You may hear many stories about the people who were trying to make a Fasting Miracle happen and instead they just damaged their health. You will also hear of those who succeeded by choosing the right method and by persevering (with a lot of effort) in their goal. Perhaps it is better to join a Fasting Forum, because, even if it does not appear to be the most attractive solution, it is the one that will give real results to your personal search.

It is advisable to learn and study accurate information on Fasting Health even before you start a diet or fast. A good question with which to approach other members on the Fasting Forum or your natural hygienist doctor is, “What is Fasting Health?” Many people who have gone through a successful diet will be able to tell you the basic principles of Fasting Health. And they will also tell you that the biggest mistake you can make is to ignore Fasting Health while seeking a Fasting Miracle.

So what does Fasting Health entail? Fasting Health means not trying to lose too much weight over night. Fasting Health means that you will take good care of your nutrition and understand very well why you are eating THIS and not THAT food. Fasting Health means that you are basically not starving yourself, but learning to carry out a water or juice fast in the correct manner.

A doctor will tell you that Fasting Health means keeping the proper hours of the meal, eating well, but eating right. It is important to eat well in the morning and lunch to be able to have a light dinner, instead of starving the entire day and ending up eating more than necessary at night. The busy life of the 21 century can really make you forget how things should really be.

You will also be told that Fasting Health means complementing the lack of certain food with vitamins to keep a balanced diet even if you eliminate certain foods from your diet. Fasting Health means that you get rid of what is bad, not of everything or the foods that are absolutely necessary for you. Fasting Health means also not relying only on nutrition in order to lose weight. It’s all about regaining the natural program of life that busy people forget about. Fasting Health involves a good physical exercise associated with the diet. It is after all everyone’s wish to lose weight and look good at the same time. Respecting only the diet, your muscles will look just as poorly as they did before and your skin doesn’t recover either. Because the body is in such a close relation with the mind, Fasting Health also means trying to sleep well and being stressed as little as possible.

As you can see, Fasting Health is a complex notion that involves some effort and understanding on your behalf as well. Dieting is a lot about the brain, perhaps more about it than the body. So it should start with a positive attitude and with determination. Fasting Health can be attained by a patient person who is ready to lose weight and grow healthy slowly, but intelligently. The priority is to stay healthy, and then look good. Do not forget that.

Almost 108 million Americans were overweight or obese in 1999. Until now, obesity continues to be a serious problem and is predicted to reach epidemic levels by the year 2020.

One way to prevent this scenario is to make people aware of the risks of being overweight or obese.

Here are some diseases that you are putting yourself in risk of if you are carrying a lot of extra pounds:

1. heart disease
2. stroke
3. diabetes
4. cancer
5. arthritis
6. hypertension

Losing weight helps to prevent and control these diseases.

The quick weight loss methods which have spread like fire these days do not provide lasting results. More often than not, dieting methods which involve dietary drinks, foods and supplement or pills do not work. If they do, the results are just temporary.

It is better to rely on a healthy weight loss option which will provide lifetime results. You have to set realistic goals and not expect to lose a lot of pounds in a short span of time.

Here are some tips on how you can lose those unwanted pounds the healthy way:

1. Do not starve your self.

The key to a healthier way of losing weight is: Do not diet.

You may seem happy and feel that you are losing those unwanted flabs on your belly and thighs by skipping meals. But remember that this would not last long. Your body cannot tolerate having insufficient food to fuel the energy that you use up everyday.

If you get used to skipping one or two meals a day, your stored calories will be used up instead of the energy that should have been provided by your meals. So if you just eat one huge sandwich in one day, it will end up straight to your problem area (i.e. highs, buttocks, hips).

2. Start your day right.

Mothers always say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Have a healthy meal in the morning to jump-start your metabolism.

Your food intake after you wake up will be used to burn fat all day long.

3. Eat small, healthy meals frequently.

Five small-serving snacks per day is better than three hearty meals. Eating more frequently, and in small servings, can prevent over-eating. This will also increase your metabolism and make calories burn faster.

4. Decide on how much weight you want to lose.

Keep your goals realistic. In the long run, it is virtually impossible for you to lose 40 pounds in 2 weeks. Have a mindset that you want to eat healthy to stay healthy for the rest of your life.

Once you have decided on a weight loss plan or program, stick to it and make sure that you follow your own set of dieting rules.

5. Drink lots of water.

Your body needs sufficient water to burn fat and keep your cells hydrated and healthy.

6. Avoid too much sugar.

Plan your meals around lots of fruits and vegetables, some bread, rice or pasta for that carbo fix that you need, plus lean meat and protein rich-foods. Sweets, sodas and pastries should be once-in-a-while indulgences only.

7. Watch your fat intake.

Fat is not the culprit to being overweight. You need this to keep your weight at the proper level.

There is such a thing as healthy fats. Olive, peanuts and canola oil have them. Tuna, salmon and mackerel have omega-3 fats which is good for the heart.

8. Exercise.

Leave your car if you are only going a few blocks from home, take the stairs instead of the elevator, jog, cycle or skate. Use these activites and other home chores if you are too lazy to go to the gym and take exercise classes. Make sure that you do this regularly and you will not even notice that you are already shedding pounds with these mundane activities.

It does not matter how much weight you plan or need to lose. What is important is that you set realistic goals for yourself.

Go slow. If you have already lost 5 or 6 pounds, give yourself a break then try to lose the next 5 pounds.

Eat healthy, drink lots of water, have enough sleep and exercise. This will give you a higher chance of losing weight and improving your health, which would result to a new, healthier you.

This week’s four tips include suggestions in each of the four elements you need to work on in order to achieve your health, fitness, wellness and weight loss goals: (eating right, exercise, support and accountability).

1. Good Eating Tip
Next time you order pizza for yourself or your kids ask for half the cheese. You’ll barely notice any taste loss. But what you will lose is tons of calories and a whole lot of grams of saturated fats. Pizza’s doesn’t have to be left off weekly menu anymore.

2. Making Exercise Safe and Fun
In order to lose weight you have to become more active. Most people do anything to avoid moving their bodies. And society is an accomplice. You can pick up food, a prescription, your clothes and your kid without leaving your car. In President Bush’s new “Healthier US ” initiative (http://www.healthierus.gov) he suggests walking for 30 minutes each day. Even if you have to break it up into 10-15 minute chunks. Not only will you burn 200-300 calories, you can walk with your family and increase your quality time as well. Move family time away from the TV and onto the street.

3. Maintaining Your Support System
If you’re the type of person who feels guilty about things, great news. You can use that emotion to help you lose weight. Here’s how. Exercise with a partner. But before you start make a pact that you will not let the other person down and you will pick them up should they start losing interest. It’s much easier to let yourself down then another person. You won’t do it, because you’ll feel guilty if you do.

4. Accountability Tools
A food diary is a great way to keep track of what you eating and when. Keep track of what you consume on an hourly basis throughout the day. If you do this for 2 weeks you will see exactly where those extra calories (and thereby those extra pounds) are coming from. Also, don’t forget to keep track of what you’re drinking.