Women's Health Tips

Daily calcium

To get the recommended 1,000-1,200 mg of calcium per day, women should consume three servings of milk products (1portion=1 cup/250 mL of milk, 6 oz/175 g of yogurt or 1 oz/45 g of cheese). If you don't like milk products, you can replace each of the three portions with a 300 mg calcium supplement and try other sources of calcium.

Sleep stealers

Beware of factors that rob you of a good night's sleep: Arguments before bedtime, caffeine, sugar, vitamin C and intense exercise.To relax, take a hot bath, drink a cup of herbal tea or a glass of milk and read. A drop of lavendr or orange oil on your sheets can also help bring sweet slumber.

Growing bones

Gardening is a great exercise for building bone density because of all the bending and lifting. Taking care of your flowers just once a week can reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

Calcium intake and age

A woman in her 20s needs about 1,000 mg of calcium a day. By her 30's a woman's bones stop growing, so it's wise to build a reserve of bone and calcium that'll be needed in the future. Exercise can help. Women in their 40's can start to lose bone density. Dairy foods, leafy green vegetables, fish, and even non-dairy products that are fortified with calcium help to boost calcium-intake.

Cut the caffeine

Your chances of developing an irritated bladder can double if you're drinking more than four cups of caffeinated coffee
each day. Caffeine in tea, chocolate and cola are also irritants.

Tips for a Healthy Mind

Positivity rules

Try to stay open-minded and positive. Negative, rigid and inflexible attitudes decrease your ability to deal with the
stresses of life and prevent you from enjoying yourself.

Get your zzz's

Be sure to get an adequate amount of sleep each night. Fatigue can interfere with the information you have already store? and your ability to learn new things.

Beneficial B12

Vitamin B12 deficiency can lead to serious and irreversible physiological and psychological problems. Get your intake from foods of animal origin like meat, fish, eggs and dairy products.

Stress-free solutions

To combat stress, go outside for a brisk walk instead of smoking a cigarette. Reach for your running shoes instead of the TV remote or a chocolate bar. Regular physical activity (at least 30 minutes a day for most days of the week) and a healthy, balanced, low-fat diet will not only make you feel better but help you to better manage your stress.

Morning energy

Need a boost in the mornings? Time your coffeemaker so that the aroma of coffee coincides with your alarm. Sing in the shower. Use lotions with stimulating scents such as mint. Plan at least one fun thing to do each day. Eat breakfast. Listen to a radio station that makes you laugh ? laughter is one of the best energizers around!

Happy Tips

Ways to happiness and spiritual well being

• It's more important to be happy than to be right.
  
• You can either be happy, or unhappy. Choose happy.
  
• Live life with an open hand, an open mind, and an open heart.
  
• Compliment three people everyday.
  
• Watch a sunrise.
  
• Be the first to say "Hello."
  
• Don't waste an opportunity to tell someone you love them.
  
• Treat everyone as you want to be treated.
  
• Never give up on anybody; miracles happen.
  
• Forget the Jones's.
  
• Remember someone's name.
  
• Pray not for things, bu fo wisdom and courage.
  
• Be tough-minded, but tender hearted.
  
  
• Be kinder than you have to be.
  
• Don't forget that a person's greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.
  
• Keep your promises.
  
• Learn to show cheerfulness even when you don't feel it.
  
• Remember that overnight success usually takes 15 years.
  
• Leave everything better than you found it.
  
• Remember that winners do what losers don't want to do.
  
• hen you arrive at your job in the morning, let the first thing you say brighten everyone's day.
  
• Don't rain on other people's parades.
  
• Live beneath your means.
  
• Keep some things to yourself and don't promote havoc by backstabbing people you love.
  
• Stop Rushing Past Life
  
• Let Go!

Alternative Happy Tips

• Whatever it is, if you really want to eat it, eat it!
  
• Never piss off anyone who has access to you when you are asleep.
  
• Never argue with a pregnant woman.

Happy Tips

Weight Loss Tips

How to Eat

• Eat only at the table. Don't munch on the couch or at the kitchen counter.
  
• Don't starve yourself! Skipping meals only tricks your body into thinking its survival is threatened, and it will hold onto its fat stores for dear life.
  
• Eat slowly and chew each bite completely to decrease your appetite.
  
• Eat three small meals and two snacks daily instead of two or three huge meals.
  
• Don't eat anything for the last three or four hours of your day. Once you've had dinner, be done for the night.
  
• Don't eat anything unnecessary. You don't need "all the fixings".
  
• Learn to control yourself at social affairs. Don't use them as an excuse to pig out. Be strong.
  
• Serve yourself normal portions of food. Three ounces of meat or a half cup of rice are plenty in one meal.
  
• Don't nibble on things throughout the day. Some titbits contain hundredso? calories.
  
• Use a smaller plate than usual for dinner. You'll feel like you ate more than you actually did.
  
• Don't work while eating. Separate all of your activities from your meals, so you can concentrate on what and how much you're eating.
  
• Beware of the wall you may hit at 3:00 p.m. Many people feel the urge for a caffeine or sugar lift at this time. Have some fruit or crackers on hand to combat this.
  
• Don't eat a single bite while preparing meals. Chew gum, if it helps.
  
• Never get seconds. Make a habit of stopping after one plate of food.
  
• Put leftovers away immediately to avoid further grazing.
  
• Read labels carefully. Some low fat items are very high in calories.
  
• To slow yourself down, eat with the opposite hand you usually eat with.

What to Eat

• Limit yourself to no more than two servings of red meat per week.
  
• Make sure that no more than a quarter of your calories comes from fat.
  
• Cook your own meals at home and avoid eating at restaurants as much as possible.
  
• Eat six to eleven servings of complex carbohydrates (fruits and whole grain breads, pasta and cereals), but avoid white flour when possible.
  
• Don't go crazy on the protein. Too much doesn't add muscle, contrary to popular belief. It just turns to fat.
  
• Boycott mayonnaise and butter (or margarine). Get them out of your refrigerator. Learn to live without them.
  
• Don't be afraid to try low or reduced fat versions of your favorite foods. You may actually like them better when you don't feel guilty eating them.
  
• Stay away from energy bars, which imply that they will transform you into a fit person. Most of them are loaded with calories.
  
• Make your own smoothies. Those made commercially usually contain fattening syrups, but your home-made smoothies (without the gunk) are very healthy.
  
• Use all the garlic, oregano, etc. that you want. Eating healthy doesn't mean you can't pack your food with flavor.
  
• Pack a sandwich made with whole-grain bread for lunch. Breads with high fibre make you feel fuller than white bread.
  
• Get at least 25 grams of fibre every day. Not only does it ward off disease, but it actually blocks the absorption of calories.
  
• Don't be fooled by "fat free" labels. Many of these foods contain a lot of sugar, which eventually turns into fat anyway.
  
• Don't fall into the "it's okay to eat chicken" trap. The Crispy Chicken and Filet o' Fish sandwiches at McDonalds each contain more than twice the fat of a McDonald's hamburger. If you need whipped cream, whip up chilled evaporated skim milk - your creation will contain only half a gram of fat per cup.
  
• Use extra water in hot cereals to reduce the amount of milk and butter you use.
  
• Use seasoned rice vinegar on salads and veggies. It tastes similar to oil and vinegar, but is is fat-free and as?very few calories.
  
• Cook rice in a mixture of half water, half fruit juice to give it subtle flavor without butter and salt.
  
• Use freshly ground nutmeg or another seasoning instead of salt.
  
• Substitute pureed tofu for two thirds of the butter in cake and cookie recipes. This will cut out 43 grams of saturated fat.

How to Stop Food Cravings

• Craving chocolate? Eat a banana. It sometimes satisfies the yearning for chocolate and is much less fattening.
  
• Chew sugarless gum. It speeds up the igestive system, burning more calories, and sometimes kills a craving.
  
• Exercise! Your appetite will temporarily subside and you'll feel better about taking such a proactive approach.
  
• Still craving chocolate? Try a magnesium supplement. Many women are deficient in this mineral, which is found in chocolate.
  
• Craving fatty foods? Eat fish, or take a fish oil or flaxseed oil supplement. You may be low in essential fatty acids.
  
• Grab something to drink. Sometimes, cravings for food are really thirst in disguise.
  
• Sweet tooth? Protein, fat and fiber keep blood sugar levels more even and help keep such cravings under control.
  
• Watch your caffeine intake. Caffeine seems to make sugar cravings worse.
  
• If your will power weakens at night, try leaving the lights on until the minute you go to bed. Dimmed lights tend to lower inhibitions.
  
• Turn off the lights in your kitchen and avoid hanging out there.

Track Your Weight Loss Progress

• Reward yourself regularly, (don't use food as a reward) buy a new outfit, get a new hair sty?e, even if it's just a grin of approval in the mirror.
  
• Don't weigh yourself every day. Instead, get on the weight scales once a week to avoid discouragement.
  
• Instead of obsessing over your weight, keep track of your waist measurement, body fat percentage or clothing size.
  
• Have 2 pieces of clothing to help you track your progress. ! that's way too tight and one that fits perfectly at the start of your diet. Try them on every 4 weeks.
  
• Create a small graph like the one below with one line that shows your weekly target progress and the other that shows your actual progress. Make your target progress very realistic, say 1lb a week so that you can easily exceed it and keep highly motivated.
  
  

How to Eat Out and Stick to your Diet

One of the most common problems people have with losing weight is pitfalls like eating out. Here are a few ways you can control how much you eat:

• As soon as your food is served, ask for a box and put half of your meal into it, to take home. Restaurant portions are usually twice the size they should be anyway.
  
• Don't ruin a nice, low fat salad with creamy dressing. Go for the vinaigrette or oil and vinegar, and use them sparingly.
  
• Don't let yourself down by getting (or sharing) a dessert. Order some fruit or Jell-O intead, if you must have something sweet.
  
• Arrive with a healthy meal in mind and ask for it without opening your menu. This will spare you the pain of looking at an array of temptation.
  
• After each bite, put your fork down, and don't pick it up again until you've completely swallowed the last bite.
  
• Drink a glass of skim milk before you leave your house.
  
• Look for restaurants that serve "contemporary", "spa" or "California" cuisine.
  
• When ordering seafood, choose the leanest types, such as haddock, sole, trout, scallops, shrimp and crab.
  

How to Speed Up Your Metabolism

• Don't skip breakfast. You will lose weight more quickly if you have a bite to eat in the morning.
• Drink hot water with lemon
  
• Eat hot meals rather than cold. Your metabolism speeds up very slightly when you
  eat and again if the food is hot.
  
• Do at least thirty minutes of cardiovascular exercise, five days a week. This
  will condition you to burn fat more efficiently.?
  
• Don't deprive your body of carbohydrates, no matter what they say.
  
• You need carbs for energy and will feel terrible without them.
  
• Wear a pedometer and see that you take 1,000 steps every day.
  
• If you have a sit-down job, get up every hour and walk around for five minutes or so.
  
• Dedicate two hours a week to weight training, concentrating on the larger muscles. Every other day is optimal.

Funny Diet Tips

Don't take our humorous diet tips too seriously, they're just for fun!

Success is when you can look beyond food...and look down and see your feet.

• To make your hips and thighs look slim on the beach,dig ?wo tunnels under your thighs and mke a mall dent in the sand for your bottom. Place your towel over the top and sit in the dug out area. Hey presto, no bulging thighs and hips.
  
• Always stand 3/4 on for photographs ..... really slimming
  
• Stand next to a person fatter than you whenever possible and never ever befriend a real skinny!!!
  
• Always eat in private, if people never see you eat, they'll believe you when you say you have a thyroid problem
  
• If you have a problem with eating too much in the evenings, go to bed at 7.30 pm every night and ask your partner to hand cuff you to the bed, you never know, you may solve two problems in one, by spicing up your sex life t the same time ;)
  
• If you do know someone who's naturally skinny, have them come and live with you for two weeks and eat exactly what they eat at exactly the same times. You are guaranteed to lose weight!
  
• Con your friends into thinking how good you're looking lately ..... study and memorize your most flattering pose in a mirror and ensure when anyone sees you, you strike the pose..... note, this only works if you then don't move again until they've left the room.
  
• Cross your legs at your ankles. Your thighs and calves will look slimmer.
  
• Get a tan. A tan helps you look thinner
  
• Whenever a friend calls round, tell them you're on your way to the gym, word will get round about how fit and healthy you are.... and you may feel it necessary to prove it once in a while
  
• 100 laughs a day is equal to 10 minutes of exercise! Now can it get any easier than that?
  

Health Tips

 Health Tips

 

Kiss Bad Breath Good-Bye Bad breath (halitosis) is a common problem which often comes from the activity of bacteria in the mouth. Although there is no way of knowing for sure, most adults probably suffer from bad breath occasionally, with perhaps a quarter suffering on a regular basis.   Bad breath is a sure-fire way to send potential suitors scrambling for the exits. Chances are, that yummy chicken you enjoyed at lunch is still hanging around in your mouth, which can cause less-than-pleasant-smelling bacteria to form, especially on your tongue. Our bad-breath weapon of choice is a tongue scraper, which some say resembles a medieval torture implement but is actually a disposable U-shaped plastic tool with tiny ridges on one side. It's very easy to use, and it will help clear away any leftover food and odor-causing bacteria that have settled on your tongue. Stating at the back of your mouth, gently drag the scraper along your tongue two or three times, rinsing it in between each pass. Follow up by drinking a glass of water to flush out any other bacteria that have formed in your mouth.     Problem Possible cause Odour after fasting, dieting, sleeping, taking medications, prolonged speaking, exercise  Dryness in the mouth, insufficient saliva flow  Gums bleed and/or smell  Gum problems, poor cleaning between teeth  Odour upon talking  Postnasal drip on back of tongue  Odour at onset of menstrual cycle  Swelling of gums  Small whitish stones with foul odour appear on tongue  Tonsilloliths from crypts in tonsils  Odor ppears suddenly from mouth of young children  Onset of throat infection  Odour appears suddenly from nose of young children  Foreign body placed in nose  Odour appears suddenly rom entire body of young children  Foreign body placed in nose  Taste or smell of rotten fish  Trimethylaminuria (rare)  Odour in denture wearers  Dentures kept in mouth at night or not cleaned properly Odour from nose  Sinusitis, polyps, dryness, foreign body, hindered air or mucus flow  Bad taste all day long  Poor oral hygiene, gum disease, excessive bacterial activity on tongue

Additional beauty tips

Make Your Face Look Slimmer

Use your make up blusher cleverly to slim down chubby cheeks

• Purchase two shades of blush, one of a deeper shade and one that's lighter. To ensure the shades go together, purchase a compact with two coordinating shades.
  
• Apply your usual foundation make-up or powder to cover any imperfections and even out your skin tone.
  
• Apply the lighter shade of blush in circular motions onto the apples of your cheeks... how do you to find your apples? Just smile!
  
• Next, following the line of your cheekbones, apply a sheer sweep of the deeper shade of blush.Blend, blend and blend. The key with this trick is to create dimension, but you do not want a very obvious demarcation between your natural cheek color and the blush (i.e. think stripes!).
  
• Sweep a small amount of the lighter shade across your nose and/or forehead as desired to add an extra "glow" to your
  complexion.

UnWanted Facial hair

Many women suffer from unwanted facial hair. Often facial hair in women appears first during puberty and then becomes more prolific from the age of 35 +. The main areas it seems to appear are on the lip and chin but many women experience unwanted hair growth on their jaw cheeks and
neck area. Worse still is that for some reason, as you get older, so the facial hair seems to get darker and coarser.

Here the different solutions for unwanted facial hair in women:

Shaving - Fast cheap and easy method of hair removal, but the hairs grow back very quickly and appear thicker. Not recommended for female facial hair

Bleaching - Bleaching can make dark facial hair less apparent but it can also make it look like you have fur on your face, especially in the sun.

Depilatory creams - Depilatory creams are a kinder method of hair removal, but can be a bit messy touse and s?me people react to the chemicals and gt imples

Plucking - provides a very clean look to the hair removal site, but it can be painful and time consuming and is often needed daily. Prolonged plucking can damage the skin.

Waxing - provides a very clean lookto the hair removal site. It's results are longer lasting than the aforementioned methods, but some skins can be very sensitive to it's harsh action

Electrolysis - You have to be very patient with this one, but if it is done regularly for 1 or 2 years it can result in permanent hair removal

Laser Hair Removal - By far the best method, producing relatively fast permanent results with 6 - 8 sessions, the only downside is the price

Vaniqa - A great cream to use with any of the above hair removal methods because it actually inhibits the growth of new hairs and ensures the results last longer.Vaniqa is expensive but worth it.

Nail care tips

Nail Care

Your nails may be craving something - If your nails are weak, splitting, fragile etc, the problem could be traced back to an inadequate water intake.

Most people don't drink nearly enough water. Drink up!

What to do about brittle nails

The most common nail wreckers are harsh detergents and water, which can stress nail fibers. So be sure to put rubber gloves on while you clean or do dishes.

Also, avoid using perfume lotions that usually contain alcohol if your nails are brittle. It will only make your nails worse.

It may be possible that your calcium intake is low, as well.

How To Give Yourself A Manicure

Whether you prefer your nails to be long or short, they can still look stunning with a little know-how.

• Wash and dry your hands.
  
• Using a double-sided emery board, file nails using a gentle stroke. Avoid corners of your nails as this can weaken them.
  
• Begin to shape your nails. The most popular shape to use is oval, but choose what is most suited to your hand and finger shape.
  
• Check to see how well you have done. Run your nails over an old pair of pantyhose. Your nails should not snag the hose.
  
• Apply a softener to your cuticles. Allow to site for a minute or so.
  
• Transfer hands to a bowl of warm water and soak for an additional few minutes.
  
• Gently push back the cuticles. This should not be painful. If hangnails are present, carefully clip them.
  
• Apply hand lotion and begin to massage the palm of your hand with the thumb of your other hand. This will help to circulate the blood. Work your way over the remainder of the hand and then repeat giving equal time to the other hand.
  
• Before color is applied to nails, they must be cleaned and the easiest way to do this is with an orange stick that has been wrapped with cotton. Dip into nail polish remover and then rub over the
  surface of the nail. Check the nail for any creamy residue. When none remains, your nails will be ready for polishing.
  
• Time for color. Pick up a small amount of polish on your brush and paint one stroke down the center of your nail. Your brush should hold just enough color to accoplis? this. Stroke the sides of the nail and youae done. The nail should be completely colored in three strokes. Allow to set for a minute or so before applying the second coat.
  
• Wait until polish is set (dry to the touch) and then apply the top coat. Don't skip this step as it not only adds life to your manicure, it will protect your nails as well.
  
• Sanitize all of your equipment with alcohol and when they are dry, store them away until the next manicure.
  

Nail Tips:

• Nail polish can be stored in the fridge.
  
• If your nail polish is too thick, try thinning with a polish thinner.
  
• To prevent the cap from sticking, coat it with a little Vaseline to prevent this from happening.