The secret to surviving the holiday buffet

Yes, there are ways to enjoy the goodies — without gaining weight

There is probably no greater diet danger zone than the holiday buffet. It's hard to resist grabbing a huge plate and piling it up with buttery breads, cheeses, meats, cakes, cookies and pies.

Although it might seem as if we’re swimming against stream when it comes to the delicious — but calorie-laden — holiday table, there are a lot of people who seem immune to overloading their plates. They have fun at buffets, parties and dinners without gaining weight. What’s their secret?

To better understand how some people survive the pitfalls of all-you-can-eat dining, researchers at my Cornell University Food and Brand Lab observed 213 normal weight and overweight diners at buffets across the country. We found that heavier diners are more likely than slimmer diners to sit closer to the buffet, use larger plates and serve themselves immediately instead of browsing the buffet.

In the study, heavy folks grabbed a plate almost as soon as they arrived and immediately started serving themselves. The normal weight diners were more likely to scout things out first. When they did pick up a plate they were seven times more likely than the heavy eaters to take the smallest plate available. Some specifics:

- 71 percent of normal-weight diners browsed the buffet before serving themselves, compared to 33 percent of obese diners.

- 27 percent of normal-weight patrons faced the buffet compared to 42 percent of obese diners.

- 16 percent of obese diners sat at a booth rather than a table compared to 38 percent of normal weight diners.

- Normal-weight people chewed their food an average of 15 times per bite versus overweight people who chewed only 12 times. In fact, speedy eaters are three times more likely to be overweight than people who eat more slowly and who don’t eat until they’re full, recent research found.

- Overweight diners sat an average of 16 feet closer to the buffet than normal-weight diners, presumably to shorten the trip when they go back for seconds … or thirds.

Have your cake and eat it
There are three main problems with a buffet, not only at the holidays, but anytime of the year. Those huge tables of food are prime examples of what I call the 3 C's of disastrous dieting:

Convenience: Food is all around and it’s often with arm-reach.

Caloric: Whether sweet or salty, buffet foods are often higher in the indulgence factor than good sense.

Choices: There is a lot of variety, which increases how much you eat because your taste buds don’t burn out on one thing.

The bottom line of the buffet is you really can have your holiday cake and eat it, too. You just need to browse the food to find what you really want, use a small plate and eat slowly. To avoid the temptation of going back for seconds, sit as far away from the table of food as possible. If you don’t face the goodies, you are less likely to spot something else you want to pile on the plate.

In my book, "Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think," I also describe a trick that seems to work well for many holiday buffet-goers. It’s called the Rule of Two. You can choose anything you want at the buffet, but you can never have more than two items on your plate. If you want to load it up with nuts and cake, go ahead. If you want to go back for seconds and load it up again with chips and carrots, go ahead. Although this sounds like a recipe for disaster, it actually works quite well for people for three reasons:

1. You tend to take the two types of food you want most. People who love desserts don’t work their way up to desserts. They’ll start with the desserts, and then stop.

2. You tend to not overfill you plate. Putting only two things on our plate helps keep our serving sizes somewhat small because we psychologically don’t want to overload on a particular item.

3. You tend to not go back more than two times. In one study we did on the Rule of Two, 83 percent of people only made one or two additional returns to the buffet.

Using some of these easy rules can help you take the focus off the food and pay more attention to what really makes the holidays special — your family and friends.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27891075/

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5 foods to maximize your muscle power

Introduction
There is a strong connection between muscle mass and good health, says Robert Wolfe, director of Translational Research in Aging and Longevity at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. “As we age, we tend to lose muscle, especially if we are not using it,” says Wolfe. “These losses eventually affect quality of life, our balance, strength and ability to recover from an illness or accident.”

In fact, muscles do everything from help you move and digest your food, to — in the case of your heart muscle — pump nutrients throughout your body. “Our heart, brain, skin and other organs are in a constant state of remodeling with tissue being built and broken down,” says Nancy Rodriguez, a registered dietitian and director of sports nutrition programs at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. “Muscles offer a significant supply of amino acids to ensure these vital parts stay strong.”

Active muscles not only help cut your risk of developing diabetes or osteoporosis, but the more muscle mass you have, the more calories your body can burn.

To keep your muscles strong and healthy you need the right kind of diet. Click on the items to see how these five foods can help you maximize your muscle mass.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26777340/?pg=1#Health_COT_musclemass

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10 ways to cut 100 calories

Outsmart your appetite by secretly trimming 100 calories each day with these sneaky yet simple substitutions. You’ll never miss them!

Breakfast
Flavor your coffee with cinnamon and nutmeg instead of flavored syrup.

The evidence that coffee is healthy for you just keeps mounting. Consuming two to three daily cups of caffeinated drinks, including coffee, can cut your risk of dying from heart disease. Coffee may also significantly lower your likelihood of developing colon cancer.

Lunch
Enjoy your salad without the croutons.

To get that crunch you’re craving, toss in some extra carrots and celery instead. Carrots are loaded with vitamins, minerals and fibers. Celery contains pthalides, compounds that lower your blood pressure by relaxing artery walls.

Dinner
Order pizza with grilled chicken instead of pepperoni.

Chicken is an excellent source of selenium, niacin and vitamin B6 and a good source of zinc. Make sure it’s cooked until well done at 165 degrees F (or 74 degrees C) and no longer pink inside.

Portion control
Leave 3 or 4 bites on your plate.

Only eat when hungry! Always eat breakfast, munch on fiber all day long, include healthy protein at each meal and refuel every four hours. You must learn to recognize the physical cues that signal a true need for nourishment.

Side dishes
Season steamed vegetables with fresh lemon and herbs instead of butter.

In some vegetables, flavors intensify as the plant matures, which is why the so-called baby versions have wider taste appeal with just as many health benefits. Experiment with baby artichokes, squashes, turnips and carrots (the small ones sold in bunches, with greens still attached) and you may also like the more tender texture.

Desserts
Choose your piece of sheet cake from the middle, where there’s less icing.

A sweet new trend may help keep your waistline in check: mini-desserts! Portion size is key to keeping calories in check for a healthy dessert. Also, watch for hidden sugar in prepared foods. Many contain hefty amounts of sugar, but it’s hidden under aliases (such as barley malt, corn syrup, dextrose, fruit juice concentrate, maltose, maple syrup, molasses) on ingredient panels.

Freshen your drink
Add a splash of 100 percent fruit juice to sweeten fresh brewed iced tea in place of sugar.

Enjoy at least one cup of tea every day. Whether it’s iced or hot, tea delivers a blast of antioxidant compounds. Tea helps to keep blood vessels relaxed and prevent blood clots. Flavonoids, the major antioxidants in tea, have been shown to prevent the oxidation of LDL cholesterol that leads to plaque formation on artery walls. These powerful antioxidants may even reduce cholesterol and even lower blood pressure.

Snacks
Control your portions by pouring an individual serving of pretzels or chips into a bowl instead of eating from the bag.

For some people, snacks between meals curb their appetite so they eat fewer calories overall. But for others, it can substantially increase the amount of calories they consume and lead to weight gain. So small portions are crucial. Buy whole grain pretzels or baked varieties of potato chips whenever possible.

Dinner
Ask for the bread basket to be removed from the table.

Order one or even two salads and your favorite burger or sandwich without the bun. To fill yourself up, create a big salad using protein from your sandwich. Avoid anything fried, and stay away from special sauces. Use two tablespoons of sauce, and ask the waiter to take the rest away to avoid dipping.

Be dip-savvy
Dip fruit into fat-free yogurt, and veggies in bean dip or salsa.

Beans are a great source of protein, fiber and folate. Most healthy salsas are only 80 calories a cup. The tomato-based versions are loaded with lycopene, a plant chemical linked to lower risks of cancer and heart disease.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25374014/?pg=2#Health_COT_100calories

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Yoga Treatment For Men

Yoga is a prehistoric traditional form of physical and spiritual practice. In addition, it is a great industry that provides weight and stress reduction, tight butts, marvelous flexibility and sexual survival. Yoga is the earliest for of treatment for various health complications. However, it is still widely applied.

Yoga as a complementary treatment of depression
Groundwork findings support the potential of yoga as a complementary treatment for disheartened patients who are taking anti-depressant medications but are only in biased lessening.

Yoga is one of the helpful ways in the prevention and cure of certain diseases like diabetes and cardiac disorders. A lot of exercise boost digestion and help the pancreas and the liver to function normally thus regulating blood sugar levels.

Example of a useful yoga exercise
Stand with your feet spread shoulder width apart, bend forward with the hands on the knees and then exhale through your mouth. When your breath disappears, close the throat so that no air will be able to enter the lungs.

Expand your chest as if you are breathing and suck your abdominal muscles tightly forming a hollow space. Then try to relax your muscles and stay in this position until you need to breathe then relax and inhale slowly.

Now, go into abdominal pumping. Release the muscles so that your stomach returns to its normal position and then suck the abdominal muscles again. Repeat this until you need to breathe. Discharge slowly and breathe normally. Repeat this exercise thrice.

Benefits of yoga
The biggest and highest endeavor of yoga is the realization of the true self. Yoga leads to a cosmic love, feeling of oneness in a person and improves self-drive. Extreme practice of yoga has been found to trigger perception and creativity, open out artistic capabilities and improve mental power.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Yoga-Treatment-For-Men&id=1719611

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Yoga and the Economy

It is fall 2008. We have a new president-elect, the holiday season is in our presence, and snow is falling here on a beautifully thick gray day in Midwest America. Normally, based on these factors-being an especial lover of gray late-autumn days--I would say things are good.

But things are not good. We are riding a wave of a recession whose dark-lit story seems by experts' observations to be in its early chapters. We've all heard the fears, the fallout, the collapses, and the numbers, and we all expect to hear much more. Even if we generally dwell on the sunny side of the street, these are comparatively dark days.

Enter yoga and the economy. Yoga, the most economical of wellness systems ever created, can help humans through economic hard times. Now, more than ever when millions of people practice yoga worldwide, the power of steadfast yoga can help raise spirits and bring back a universal balance.

First, know that you are an economy in and of yourself. When a nation's economy is strong, the force of humans contained within it functions at a generally higher, smoother state than in a weaker economy. Likewise, when you are healthy in diet, exercise, and mind work (e.g., mental-emotional wellness exercises), you can be said to be a strong economy of one. These three broad realms of yoga practice and principle-diet, exercise, and mind work-are also the foundation of basic human wellness.

It is when one of these personal Big Three falters for you that it is time to take stock, make a plan, and take action. Even if you are eating well and exercising regularly these days but have more stress than you had before the economy started plummeting, you are at risk of personal economy downturn.

Consider the impact our nation's economic crisis, which threatens basic survival, has made on personal wellness. Retirement fund loss, heavy unemployment, and high anxiety of high prices at the store and the pump have touched our lives directly or indirectly, but most likely both. If you are worried about your retirement from 401K fallout or know someone who is, or if you are angry that your brother lost his job at GM or lost a job yourself, or if you are anxious that good, healthy food is so much more expensive than it used to be or worried how your community's much less fortunate are going to get enough food in the coming four weeks, this message is for you: Turn to yoga.

Turn to yoga. Or, if you are already a regular practitioner, turn to yoga more: more often, more intensely.

Yoga means unity. Just like the air you breathe, what happens to you happens to me. Your unemployed friend is your concern. Conversely, your efforts to keep yourself healthy in this recession can become your friend's hope. By keeping yourself up in these hard times, you help keep up the lives of those around you. This is yogic fact, or at least yogic modus operandi.

So use yoga's Big Three to get strong and stay strong. Be the government of your own economy. And don't give up on governance. Keep injecting your economy of one with yoga just like a government would inject its economy with recovery plans. Tap into the infinite resources within you to create a brighter day for you, for others.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Yoga-and-the-Economy&id=1716029

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Yoga For Beginners - Four Essential Yoga Breathing Exercises to Cleanse and Strengthen Your Body

In yoga, breath awareness forms the key of good practice. Breathing exercises, known as pranayama, are used to cleanse and strengthen the body. The breath, known as prana or life-force is the link between the mind and the body.

As you practice your breathing exercises, you will notice your mind feels calmer, steadier and you are more able to focus.

If you are new to yoga, it is essential you learn how to breathe correctly. To help you gain a better understanding of your breath, try the following breathing exercises.

Four Essential Yoga Breathing Exercises

1. Abdominal Breathing
Lie flat on your back with your arms and legs apart. Close your eyes. Have your feet about 2 feet apart, ankles falling to the side, have your arms about 6 - 12 inches from the body, palms facing upwards, keep your lower back flat on the floor, tuck the chin in slightly, so your neck is nice and long, relax the jaw.
Become aware of your breath, allow your breath to be slow and steady.
As you inhale, feel the abdomen rise slowly. As you exhale, feel the abdomen sink down.

2. Full Yogic Breathing
To check you are breathing correctly, sit in a cross-legged position.
Place your right hand on your upper chest and your left hand on your abdomen.
Inhale deep into your abdomen, feel your left hand rise up. Keep breathing in into your lower chest and then upper chest, feeling your right hand rise as he ribs expand.
Reverse the process as you breathe out, releasing air from the upper chest first, then the lower chest, then the abdomen.
Repeat this cycle for 3- 5 rounds.

3. Alternate Nostril Breathing (Anuloma Viloma)

Sit in a comfortable cross-legged position, spine straight, body relaxed.
Turn your attention to your right hand, bend the index and middle finger into the palm. The thumb, ring and little finger are up (this position is known as Vishnu Mudra. The thumb is used to close the right nostril, the ring and little finger the left nostril.
Close the right nostril with your thumb, and inhale through the left nostril to a count of four.
Close both nostrils and hold the breathe to a count of 16.
Release your thumb and exhale through the right nostril to a count of eight
Inhale through the right nostril to a count of four.

Close both nostrils and hold breath to a count of 16.
Release your fingers and exhale through the left nostril to a count of eight.
Repeat this cycle 5 - 10 rounds daily.

4. Yogic Cleansing Breath

Sitting comfortable, spine straight. Gently close your eyes.
Breathe in slowly through your nose for a count of three.
Slowly breathe out, through your nose for a count of 6
Repeat this pattern for 3 - 7 more times.
Relax

Once you have experienced the therapeutic benefits of doing these breathing exercises, you will feel so much clearer and fitter. Try and make them a regular part of your daily yoga practice to help you cleanse and strengthen your body.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Yoga-For-Beginners---Four-Essential-Yoga-Breathing-Exercises-to-Cleanse-and-Strengthen-Your-Body&id=1725643

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Living Om - Yoga, Fun and Fitness For Kids 2-6 Years Old

In today's fast paced world it has become very challenging for many parents to commit the amount of time required to connect with their children. Through yoga we can hope to attain skills in overcoming these challenges to you, the significant adults in children's lives.

How can Living Om benefit children?

MIND
Focus, concentration and imagination are increased, intellectual development is enhanced by a calm mind, imagination and creativity are stimulated, relaxation techniques clear the mind and assist in improving memory capacity, self-esteem and confidence are built, encourages a love of learning, develop mental control

BODY
Performing the Yoga postures help purify blood in the blood vessels and muscle co-ordination. Everyday aches and pains can be reduced by practicing Yoga. Body posture awareness, muscle toning, improved stability and mobility of the joints. Internal organs are toned, strengthening the body immune, circulatory and digestive system. Agility, balance, control and coordination are improved, improved balance and sleep patterns.

SPIRIT
Develop oneness with nature, self-awareness is promoted, learn to honour others, ourselves, and all living things, postures and techniques in the stories introduce children to emotions like compassion, kindness, helpfulness, friendliness and understanding.

GENERAL WELL BEING
Toddlers following this program stay active, creative, flexible and agile. Breathing techniques helps improve respiratory system, self confidence and voices. Health and longevity rely on spinal cord flexibility, exercises in this program keeps the spine flexible. With an endless list of benefits, this program could be one of the most wonderful gifts you could give to your child.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Living-Om---Yoga,-Fun-and-Fitness-For-Kids-2-6-Years-Old&id=1730315

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Be a Natural Beauty - Look and Feel Great

Want natural beauty? It starts with natural products: you avoid chemicals in your food, so avoid them in skin care products and cosmetics too.

Here's how to be a natural beauty.

1. Choose a Natural Soap
Start by choosing a natural, organic soap. Your skin is the largest organ in your body. It's delicate, so avoid harsh chemicals in your soap.

Natural soaps are made of products like olive oil, essential oils, and herbs. My current favorite is a milk and honey soap with neem oil.

2. Choose Natural Facial Skin Care Products to Cleanse and Moisturize
As with soap, choose natural facial skin care products. Here's a fast and easy skin cleanser: rose hip oil. Smooth the oil on, and remove makeup with a witch hazel-soaked cotton wool ball.

Rose hip oil is a natural source of Retinol A, which researchers say eliminates surface wrinkles, fades age spots, regenerates damaged skin, and softens and reduces the appearance of scars and stretch marks.

Rose hip oil makes a great moisturizer too.

3. Choose Mineral Cosmetics
Mineral cosmetics are wildly popular, and there are many different ranges of these products. Mineral cosmetics are made from all natural, finely ground real-earth minerals. They're totally free of all the chemicals, dyes, and preservatives which you find in traditional cosmetics.

Some dermatologists have said that mineral cosmetics are better for your skin because they chemical-free.

Give them a try, to see if they work for you.

4. Choose Natural Sleep: Get Lots of Rest
There's a reason they call it "beauty sleep." You can't look and feel great if you don't get enough sleep. Did you know that missing out on sleep can even lead to weight gain?

Get at least seven hours of sleep a night: it's not a luxury, it's an investment in good health, and in your beauty.

5. Choose Natural, Unprocessed Food
As the saying goes, what you eat today walks and talks tomorrow.

Just as you avoid putting chemicals on your skin, avoid them in your food too. This means eating natural, unprocessed foods.

Choose bread that's made of wholegrain flour, and avoid all packaged foods.

You can be a natural beauty: just ensure that you stay as close to nature as possible.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Be-a-Natural-Beauty---Look-and-Feel-Great&id=1687465

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Best Weight Loss Program

If you want to lose weight I am going to tell you best weight loss program. I will tell you what a weight loss program should include. A real weight loss program should not promise fast or rapid weight loss. As rapid weight loss programs never give long lasting results. So prepare your mind if you want to have a success in your weight loss program. The real weight loss program will never be fast you have to be patient as losing weight is a slow process.

Always consult a weight loss doctor or a dietician before starting your weight loss program as performance of an individual varies. You should make some small changes if you want to have great results. Try to count your calories in every meal you eat. Stick to a regular exercise program which is a key part of a weight loss program. Try to enjoy your exercise program. You can exercise outdoors or you can exercise during listening music if you will enjoy your exercise it will boost your weight loss program.

Eat lot of green vegetables and fruits it will help you in your weight loss program as green vegetables and fruits give lot of vitamins and minerals. If you want to lose weight and if you want that your weight loss program should give you great results drink plenty of water. Successful weight loss program always need lots of water. If you want to lose weight water should be your best friend. Losing weight is a slow process a slow and steady weight loss program never promises losing more than three pounds per week.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Best-Weight-Loss-Program&id=861589

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How to Get Fairer Skin

Have you ever longed for fairer, brighter skin? Strange isn't it? How some very fair ladies feel they look sickly and bask in the sun for a so called healthy tan. They were healthier pale than browned because a tan is a sign of sun damage. If you are born brown, then you would be the envy of these women. Then again, the grass is always greener on the other side. Dark girls often want to be fair.

Modern technology is amazing. A pale girl can get tan skin without even stepping out in the sun. Thanks to self tanners in the form of lotions or even pills.

Likewise, dark girls can go fairer. Going to a plastic surgeon for skin bleaching can give you very drastic results. Your best bet is to stay out of the sun and use sun protection and wear long sleeves and pants by day to allow your skin fade to the color you were born with.

An old home remedy to fade away the freckles and dark spots with lemon juice. It is a risky thing because lemon juice is very acid pH2. Sulphuric acid is just 1 point away at pH1, so you can imagine how acidic lemons are. You could end up burning or irritating your skin with lemon juice. At very least, it would make your skin more sensitive to sunlight. UV exposure triggers off melanin production. If your skin is continuously irritated, not just by sunlight, but by pollutants and allergens, your skin will react by producing more melanin and darkening even further.

Basically, your skin gets dark because melanin is produced by your skin, to shade it from the sun. The freckles, dark spots and even the even tan is due to melanin clustering together to protect your skin.

To get fair, you slowly exfoliate off the darkened skin over time and prevent the new skin from darkening.

There are several things commonly used to lighten the skin.

Hydroquinone is one of them but in higher concentrations, it can cause irritations and may even be carcinogenic. It makes skin lighter by preventing melanin from being formed.

Alchemilla a plant popular amongst the alchemists in the Middle Ages, slows the release of melanin pigments to your skin, hence slowing down the darkening of your skin.

Kojic acid is used to to prevent melanin formation.

Black-Out Yeast Complex, a formula by clinique, used extensively in its Derma White range breaks down the melanin clusters so that these can be disposed of via exfoliation and defuses irritants that would otherwise darken the skin, through its delivery of antioxidants. Most importantly, it prevents more melanin from forming by blocking away the signals to produce melanin.

Then there are the skin bleaching treatments by a plastic surgeon using AHAs or retin-A amongst other things. These are for more drastic results. For something gentler, I suggest you get a skin whitening range from your favourite skin care brand.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Get-Fairer-Skin&id=1429001

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Seven Simple Skin Care Tips For Beautiful Skin

Have you read one skin care tip after another and felt unsure about which one you should follow? If you open up magazines or surf the web, you will find loads of skin care suggestions and oftentimes it's simply hit or miss.

When you want to get skin care tips, avoid consulting magazines. Mainstream magazines are partial to big brand products that pay to have their name mentioned. It's hard to know what is really effective unless you try it yourself but here are some surefire tips that will have your skin looking clear, young, and beautiful in no time.

1. Many skin care tips out there recommend over-cleansing your skin. The truth is that you only need to cleanse your skin in the evening before you go to bed. Splashing your face with warm water in the morning is sufficient. Over-cleansing can lead to dryness and irritation.

2. This is probably a skin care tip you've already heard, but moisturize your skin frequently. Use both a day cream and a night cream for the best results. Look for natural and effective moisturizing ingredients such as grapeseed oil, jojoba oil, olive oil, avocado extract, and shea butter.

3. Of the many skin care tips that are overlooked, one is the importance of using a deeply hydrating mask for a periodic hydrating boost. Simply applying creams day to day is not enough in order to give your face and neck the deep moisturizing treatment they need.

4. Another skin care tip that involves mask is using a deep cleansing treatment. Look for a deep cleansing mask that contains bentone gel and kaolin clay to remove the build-up of dirt and grime from your pores.

5. Don't apply just any cream to your eyes. Look for a light eye gel specifically for use around the eyes. Keep an eye out for ingredients like Eyeliss and Haloxyl, which are scientifically proven to reduce under-eye circles, wrinkles, and bags.

6. Avoid using creams that contain an SPF factor. Most of the skin care tips you have heard all your life surely preach the importance of SPF factors in skin creams but the truth is that SPF factors can cause skin problems and have been linked to cancer. To avoid sun exposure, use a wide brim hat and sun umbrella instead.

7. If you want to whiten your complexion, look for a cream that contains extrapone nutgrass. Unlike other whitening ingredients, extrapone nutgrass does not cause irritation. You can enjoy its whitening effects without experiencing any harmful side effects.

Do yourself a favor and follow the skin care tips listed here in order to achieve young, beautiful skin. Your best bet is to follow these tips religiously and if you do so, you will look in the mirror and see the skin you've always dreamed of having in no time, guaranteed.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Seven-Simple-Skin-Care-Tips-For-Beautiful-Skin&id=1511786

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Secrets of Flawless Skin - Simple Beauty Tips

Skin, the largest organ in human body, not only protects all the internal body parts, but makes men and women look good! Your skin defines your personality. There are very few who have no desire for flawless skin.

Is flawless skin god gifted? Is it ever possible to overcome skin problems? Yes there is. Flawless skin is god gifted, no doubt. But proper skincare can turn a mediocre skin flawless too. Hence, to achieve a Flawless Skin, all you need to do is take care of your skin adequately.

The very first step of skincare is the skin type identification test. Skincare treatments and facial products depend on the skin type of individuals. Identifying your skin type is of paramount importance. The product that works well on oily skin may not be equally useful for normal or combination skin. Take a test to know the skin type you have.

'Care your skin' - that is the only way to make it flawless and there is simply no shortcut. Performing the basic skin care treatments regularly makes the change. Routine skincare not only retouches the defects, but delays aging too. Facial skin care specific for your skin type is what you need. Let us discuss the steps of Routine Skincare one by one.

Steps of Routine Skincare for Flawless Skin:

1) Cleansing:
Cleansing is essential to remove excess oil and dirt from your skin. Cleansing is done with specific solutions, known as cleansers. Cleansers are mixture of oil, surfactant and water. Oil dissolves the oil, surfactant cleans the dirt and water washes out all the garbage giving your skin a fresh look and feel.

All cleansers may not go with your skin type. The ratio of oil to the surfactant and water defines how your skin would response to the cleanser. Excess oil content may block pores while lesser oil often leads to dry skin. Get yourself a good cleanser that suits your skin type. Visit online drugstore to buy a suitable product.

2) Exfoliation:
This process removes dead skin cells that make your skin look dull by changing your natural complexion. When you exfoliate all the dead skin cells are peeled off along with the outer layer of skin. This makes your skin look fresh and more youthful.

Among various processes of exfoliation Scrubbing is quite common and popular. Scrub cleaners take the dead cell layer off your skin gently. A considerable number of people prefer peeling treatments as well. Exfoliation should be done at least twice in a week.

3) Moisturizing:
Whether yours is oily or dry, you must moisturize your skin. Moisturizer moistens your skin by locking water on the surface. If your skin often becomes dry and your face seems to be stretched tightly, perhaps it lacks moisture.

4) Sunscreen:
Sun damage is often irreversible. The best way to protect your skin from sun burn is using sunscreen. Avoiding exposure to direct sunlight may not work. UV rays of the sun are active on cloudy days too.

Sun damage is one of the main reasons of early wrinkles. After applying all the basic facial products, use a sunscreen. Alternatively, you can use a moisturizer with sunscreen for the daytime and purchase a moisturizer without sunscreen for night.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Secrets-of-Flawless-Skin---Simple-Beauty-Tips&id=1050675

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Find Out Why Weight Lifting Delivers Top Health Benefits

Weight lifting is not just for building muscles. You can build muscles by lifting weights, but you can also reap many other health benefits, and you do not have to build muscles, just keep them strong and healthy.

Lifting weights is an exercise, like many others that work your body, and it can help you ward off many health problems which might come in later years, by keeping your body well toned.

Using your muscles keeps them strong, and at the same time, keeps your entire body healthy. You can build bone mass by lifting weights, which may ward off osteoporosis in later years.

Another benefit is weight loss. When you do any kind of exercise you will lose body fat and at the same time, tighten and tone your muscles. By weight lifting exercises and by controlling the amount of calories that you put into your body, you can lose extra weight. Also, as you exercise you will notice that you do not get as hungry.

You will not get big muscles simply because you lift weights. If you add the right kinds of foods while you are lifting weights, you can grow bigger muscles. This is not the only reason for lifting weights, however.

As you begin to lift weights more, you will increase your metabolism. This means that you can eat more food and still retain your weight, if you do not need to lose pounds. Stress levels have been shown to be reduced by exercising, as well, which helps to keep your mental health sound.

Regular weight training has also shown to reduce the incidence of resistance to insulin, reduces high blood pressure, and slows the incidence of diabetes, heart disease, and even some kinds of cancer. The heart is a muscle, and it needs to be exercised as well as the other muscles of the body.

Bones, muscles, and tendons are the framework that holds our body together, and each of these body parts can be strengthened by weight training. Weight lifting is a very good overall body exercise, to keep your body in tip top shape. Exercising, by lifting weights, can help your body stay young, and keep you in better health for a longer period of time.

There are many people who have lifted weights and exercised their entire life, and when they reached old age, were still very active. It has been proven that the human body definitely needs exercise to keep it healthy and working right. If everyone would eat correctly, make fruits and vegetables the main part of their meal, eat smaller amounts of meat, and lift weights for exercise, we would have healthier bodies, and there would be less incidences of some of the major diseases in our society today. It takes a mind set on being healthy, and a great amount of self-control, to stay with a strict exercise or diet program for good health, but we must challenge ourselves to do so, if we truly want to be healthy.

There are many places on the Internet to research information about health, fitness, and body building, but Muscle Fitness Userreports uses reviews from real customers to show others how these products actually work, rather than how they are supposed to work.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Find-Out-Why-Weight-Lifting-Delivers-Top-Health-Benefits&id=1633764

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How to Grow Abs Faster Than Ever

If you want to know how to grow abs, then you have to forget some of the things that you have learned about abs. Regardless of what people think, sit ups and crunches are not the way to get abs. You do not need some expensive workout machine to get those results either. I am about to tell you something that not that many people know about how to grow abs and finally make them show the way you want them to.

A lot of people do sit ups and crunches all day and wonder why the never have major results. First of all, your body gets used to the repeated motion of sit ups and crunches and it become ineffective after a while, and that is not how to grow abs! Your abs will never show if you have a body fat percentage that is to high. You have to bring that body fat percentage down to about 9% before your abs will start to show. Many people waste their time with all these ridicules workout machines that promise to get you huge abs by working them out in some crazy way. Those do not work and are a dead waste of your money!

Instead of worrying about working out your abs, you should be thinking about nutrition and how you can lose that body fat. Think about full body workouts instead of just ab workouts. That is how to grow abs the right way. You cannot do it unless you start taking nutrition seriously.

Anybody can get a great set of abs. You simply have to know how to grow abs in the right way. That right way starts with proper nutrition and good full workouts. You can find a great guide for this nutrition and a workout guide here: How To Grow Abs. That is the best online resource for how to grow abs by far in my opinion. It really helped me reach my goals.

How to grow abs is just like anything else. The more you put in, the more you get out of it. It is all about hard work and determination. You can do it if you really want to. Absolutely nothing is stopping you! Thank you for reading and good luck!

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Grow-Abs-Faster-Than-Ever&id=1634293

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The Relationship Between Insulin and Bodybuilding

There are several reasons why any good health expert will tell you that insulin and bodybuilding do not mix well. Even so, many athletes use insulin while bodybuilding. They think that it improves their performance, but it can really cause permanent damage and harm to them.

Of course, there is no doubt that insulin is a great way to get more stamina and endurance, if you're an athlete. Nobody would disagree with that. After all, aside from its performance enhancing qualities, it is also cheap and hard to detect. The trouble with insulin and bodybuilding, though, is that it can be a lethal combination.

To understand how insulin affects your body, you need to understand what it is, first. Insulin is a hormone that occurs naturally in our bodies. It comes from your pancreas, which uses it to control your blood glucose (sugar) levels. Diabetic patients, for example, have to get injections of insulin because their pancreas is not secreting it in the right amounts. If you inject yourself with high amounts of insulin, in order to improve your bodybuilding abilities, you're asking for trouble. It can cause you to sweat and shake, if you're lucky. Worse than that, though, it could cause you to go into a coma, or even die!

Of course, through the years, many athletes and bodybuilders have used insulin. It has lots of qualities that make it appealing. For example, insulin causes glycogen, which is also known as a "power pack ", to form in your body. That can really give you an added boost during training.

Insulin injections can really bulk up your muscles. It is a proven fact. They can do two very helpful things for your body. First, it increases glycogen and bulks up muscles and second, it can keep the protein in your muscles from breaking down. That means that you can easily use insulin and bodybuilding to make more muscle.

Just because insulin and bodybuilding have gone hand in hand in the past does not make it right or safe, though. There are lots of cases to prove that insulin and bodybuilding is dangerous, including a case in Yorkshire where a man went into a coma. It can also lead to diabetes or death, according to health experts.

Using insulin is very dangerous. You should not try it. Most athletes that do try it use way too much and cause themselves a lot of harm. Even in small doses, though, combining insulin and bodybuilding is very dangerous, so you should not risk trying it at all.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Relationship-Between-Insulin-and-Bodybuilding&id=1633763

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How to Exercise While Sitting at Your Computer

Sitting at the computer all day is not exactly good for the body. If you have to be at a desk all day long, doing some simple things can improve your posture and health.

Steps
1. Sit properly in a good chair designed for desk work. Your back should be straight, your shoulders back, and the top of your monitor should be level with your eyes. If you have to look down or up, you need to adjust the height of your screen. Also, make sure that your wrists do not lay on the keyboard or on the mousepad (unless you have a pad with a wrist rest). This will help prevent Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Keep your legs bent at the knees so that the knees are only slightly higher than your hips. Feet should be flat on the floor or on a step stool of some sort.

2. Stand up every half hour to stretch or walk around a bit.

3. Stretch your calves, and give your eyes a break from focusing on your computer screen. This will also help prevent blood clots from developing in your legs. Blood clots are very common among middle-aged computer users.

4. Learn to stretch. To stretch your neck, flex your head forward/backward, side to side and look right and left. Never roll your head around your neck. This could cause damage to the joints of the neck.
5. Roll your wrists regularly (this will help prevent carpal tunnel syndrome if you spend a lot of time typing).

6. Roll your ankles regularly, this helps improve blood circulation (and that tingling feeling you can get when blood circulation is cut off, also known as "Pins and Needles").

7. Notice if you tend to hunch in front of the keyboard. To counter that, perform the following exercise: open your arms wide as if you are going to hug someone, rotate your wrists externally (thumbs going up and back) and pull your shoulders back. This stretch is moving your body the opposite way to being hunched and you should feel a good stretch across your upper chest.

8. Contract your abdominal and gluteal muscles, hold them there for a few seconds, then release. Repeat this for every few minutes all day long while you are working at your desk.

9. Stretch your arms, legs, neck and torso while sitting. This will help prevent you from feeling stiff.

10. Take advantage of the downtime created by rebooting or large file downloads to get up and try something more ambitious such as doing a few push-ups, sit-ups, and/or jumping jacks. Beware of your snickering co-workers though.
11. Acquire a hand gripper. They are cheap, small and light. When you have to read something either on the screen or on paper, you probably won't be using your hands very often so squeeze your gripper. It is an excellent forearm workout.

12. Acquire an elastic band (also cheap, small and light) and use it to do the actions mentioned in step 9 (i.e., when stretching your arms, do it by pulling apart the elastic band). You will not only stretch but it will also work the muscles slightly.

13. Take a few deep breaths. If possible, get some fresh air in your lungs.

14. Invest in a large size stability ball or stability ball style desk chair, and sit on it with back straight and abs firm. The actual stability ball is more effective, however the chair is a more viable option for use in an office environment. Sit, bounce or do basic toning exercises while watching TV or talking on the phone as well. Use the actual ball form in moderation when typing, as this is probably not the most supportive seating to prevent carpal tunnel and tendonitis.

15. While sitting, lift up your legs on the balls of your feet and set them down. Repeat these until your legs are comfortably tired. Then repeat it again about 10 minutes later. Do this whole routine for about an hour or so. This will exercise your calves.

16. Have a bottle of water by your side and make a habit of drinking some every half hour. If you do this consistently you will begin to feel more alert and in the long run you will get thinner.

Source: http://www.wikihow.com/Exercise-While-Sitting-at-Your-Computer

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5 Facts You MUST Understand if You Are Ever Going to Lose Your Belly Fat and Get Six Pack Abs

1. Many so-called "health foods" are actually cleverly disguised junk foods that actually stimulate you to gain more belly fat... yet the diet food marketing industry continues to lie to you so they can maximize their profits.

2. Ab exercises like crunches, sit-ups, and ab machines are the LEAST effective method of getting flat six pack abs. We'll explore what types of exercises REALLY work in a minute.

3. Boring repetitive cardio exercise routines are NOT the best way to lose body fat and uncover those six pack abs. I'll show you the exact types of unique workouts that produce 10x better results below.

4. You DON'T need to waste your money on expensive "extreme fat burner" pills (that don't work) or other bogus supplements. A special class of natural foods is much more effective. I'll tell you about these natural foods and their powers below.

5. Ab belts, ab-rockers, ab-loungers, and other infomercial ab-gimmicks... they're all a complete waste of your time and money. Despite the misleading infomercials, the perfectly chiseled fitness models in the commercials did NOT get their perfect body by using that "ab contraption"... they got their perfect body through REAL workouts and REAL nutrition strategies. Again, you'll learn some of their secrets and what really works below.

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Those important things to do

While we fret about the most important member of your healthcare team - just follow these time-tested ways that really work.

Find a doctor you like
Don't just take what comes along. Your healthcare depends most on you, but it's your job to find physicians who you can relate to, understand and trust.

Get and maintain health insurance
Let's be realistic - this is an increasingly important part of your healthcare. Always be careful to maintain it.

Be skeptical about information sources
There is a lot of incomplete, inaccurate, or simply wrong information available. This may be from relatives, acquaintances, charlatans, or the news media.

If you're a woman past your menopause, consider replacement hormones
The issues are a bit complex, but hormones can keep your arteries and heart young, and your bones strong.

Stop smoking
There is no question that if you smoke, stopping will be the very best thing you will ever do for your health. If you fail this time, keep on trying!

Get some exercise
Even a little is very helpful. You don't have to be an Olympic athlete to gain the benefits of exercise, which can occur at surprisingly low levels. Take a 15 minute walk . . . take the stairs . . . it will do a lot of good.

Eat sensibly.
If you can't be perfect, do as good as you can. Don't just give up on good eating habits because it seems too hard.

Learn to take your own blood pressure.
Write it down. Bring the list to your doctor. This is the best way to avoid too much or too little treatment for this controllable disease.

If you're overweight, trim a little off
At least don't gain weight. Weight loss is hard because it's a lifetime attitude that will accomplish the goal, but the benefits to your health and how well you feel are definitely worth it.

Work on balance
Be involved...without being overly stressed...and leave time for relaxation. This is a big challenge for all of us, but it's really important for people with medical conditions, particularly those involving the heart.

Take an aspirin a day
As long as your physician has not told you to avoid it. It is an easy and inexpensive way to prevent heart attacks and strokes, particularly for middle-aged males.

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