Plan Your Workout and Workout Your Plan!

I see it everyday. You do too, but you may not recognize it. Someone, maybe you, walks into the gym/fitness center, pauses, looks around, pauses some more, and looks around some more. On and on it goes. This is the mark of someone who doesn?t know what their workout routine will be that day.

Shoot, they may have not decided which body parts to work. And so they look around trying to decide what exercises to do, based on which equipment is available or how sore their muscles are, or even how tired they feel.

Basically, it?s like grocery shopping on an empty stomach, without a menu plan, maybe even without a list, feeling like you are starving. When you get home you may have blown your entire grocery budget on the wrong foods, even though those foods looked good at the time of purchase.

Planning your workouts for the week ahead is the best way to increase your productivity during your gym visits. This planning time gives you a perspective on your fitness goals that just running off to your workout cannot.

Finding the best time for this planning, in an already overly busy schedule, can be challenging. However, it is definitely worth the effort. Within a few short weeks you will be able to plan an entire week of workouts in about 15 minutes. Since most people run the rat race Monday ? Friday and use the weekends for play and downtime, I will assume that workouts are done Monday ? Friday as well. (With an occasional Saturday if you choose to skip the Friday workouts.)

This presents Sunday as the best day for you to jot down what you plan to do for the following week. Here are a few tips to help you get the most from your planning session and thus, the most from your workouts, without having to spend hours at the gym.

Know what time demands lay ahead for the next week. If you normally hit the gym at 5:45 but Susie has gymnastics at 5:30 then you know you have to juggle the activities. If Susie is ok with you not watching practice, this may be a great time to squeeze in a workout. However, because you probably need to pick her up by 6:30 your workout time is at a premium. Know this going in and planning for it helps you accomplish your fitness goals while taking care of the family as well.

Know what body parts you are working on which days, and why. Haphazardly combining muscle groups will actually stunt your progress. For example, my personal clients perform their upper leg workouts as a standalone session. This gives total focus on one of the biggest groupings of muscles in the body. Your body can respond by dedicating all the available resources on the legs.

But also know that your chest and back can be worked effectively together. Shoulder and arms make a nice combination. By knowing this, and planning your workouts accordingly, you will skyrocket your success!

How much cardio you do and when is important. Spacing your resistance training to allow for recovery can open up days that can be devoted to cardio alone. Because you are planning for this you can enter the gym knowing what you are doing with the confidence of knowing why. This avoids ?feeling guilty? because you worked on one or two body parts and not all muscles. It amazes me that some people will beat themselves up for doing something positive, simply because they do not know (or plan) enough to realize the positive aspects of their activities.

Spend 15 minutes once a week and begin to unlock the dream body that is locked up inside you!

Lance Curtis has written the 7 Keys to Unlock The Sexy Dream Body Inside You! To claim your free copy click http://ThePersonalTrainingGuru.com

Adipex Prescription Guide

What Is Adipex Used For?

Adipex is a prescription medication which decreases your hunger and controls your impulses to eat. For best results, you should take Adipex as part of a dieting and exercise program. Don't just buy Adipex and lose weight. Make your life better by doing at least small amounts of exercise. For example, park your car far away from the store.

How Should I Use Adipex?

Take your Adipex prescription once daily; in the morning before your first meal. In case you have trouble swallowing the whole tablet, you may cut or break it in half. However, don't crush the tablet or chew it, as this will make Adipex less effective for weight loss.

Avoid taking Adipex in the afternoon, evening or night because it can stop you from sleeping. Make sure that you only take Adipex following the instructions from your doctor or pharmacist.

Are There Any Side Effects?

Side effects which occur most frequently (and usually only in the first 2 weeks, approx) include trouble sleeping, becoming irritable, stomach upsets, dizziness, and constipation.

In most cases, the above side effects are experienced only in the initial few days while your body adjusts to Adipex. These symptoms usually do not persist. However, if they continue to bother you, please tell your doctor.

Is Adipex Safe For Me?

It's absolutely necessary that you let us know of your entire medical history. Don't forget to tell us if you have any conditions such as diabetes, over active thyroid, high blood pressure, emotional difficulties, glaucoma or any past and current problems with stimulant medications.

Make sure to tell us if there is a chance you may be pregnant, or if you are currently breastfeeding. You should also try not to drink Alcohol since it will probably increase the possibility and intensity of dizzy spells that might occur. Adipex is a prescription medication which is meant for use in adults, and its use is not suggested for children and young adolescents. To learn more, please consult your doctor.

How Does Adipex Interact With Other Drugs?

Please let your doctor know of every medication you use, (prescription and over-the-counter) if you take MAO inhibitors (e.g., furazolidone, phenelzine, selegiline, tranylcypromine), medications for high blood-pressure, or any other medicines for weight loss. Avoid stimulant drugs which could potentially raise your blood pressure and heart rate. These include drugs such as decongestants or caffeine. Decongestants are usually found in over-the-counter cold and cough medicines.

What If I Miss My Dose?

If you miss a dose of Adipex, don't take twice as much at the next scheduled time. Simply skip the dose you missed, and start over with your next dose at the prescribed time.

How Should Adipex Be Stored?

Store it at room temperature; keep Adipex away from bright light and moisture/humidity. Keep all of your medications, prescription and non-prescription, away from the reach of children.

What Else Do I Need To Know About Adipex?

Unlike vitamins and other supplements, Adipex is a drug which is meant for use over short periods of time. This medication is intended to both help you lose weight and help to create better eating patterns and a better diet overall.

For best results, take Adipex as a part of a healthy eating and exercise plan. Never offerto share Adipex with anyone else. If your friends or family want to know how to get the results you've acheived, just tell them to visit Shoppe.MD: Only a physician can determine whether or not they should take Adipex.

Learn about Adipex at Shoppe.MD, your source for prescription medication information and prescriptions from reliable phamacies.

The Benefits of Whey Protein

The benefits of whey protein are so numerous and apply to so many different groups of people, that listing them all would be quite a large undertaking. In the sense of an overview, the benefits of whey protein make it an excellent choice for individuals of all ages who struggle to maintain a healthy diet and to improve their overall health.

Providing all of the essential amino acids, which are the building blocks of healthy muscles, nails, skin and other connective tissue, whey protein not only is almost completely devoid of cholesterol but aids in the removal of ?bad? cholesterol from the body. Whey protein has the ideal combination of amino acids to help improve body composition and enhance athletic performance.

Whey protein is an excellent source of the essential amino acid, leucine. Leucine is important for athletes as it plays a key role in promoting muscle protein synthesis and muscle growth. Whey protein is a soluble, easy to digest protein and is efficiently absorbed into the body.

It is often referred to as a fast protein for its ability to quickly provide nourishment to muscles. The body requires more energy to digest protein than other foods (thermic effect) and as a result you burn more calories after a protein meal. Whey protein is an excellent protein choice for cancer patients as it is very easy to digest and very gentle to the system.

Whey protein may be added to a wide variety of foods and beverages to increase the protein content without affecting taste. Healthy nutrition practices have been shown to play a role in helping to manage, and possibly prevent, the onset of type-2 diabetes. Whey protein, a high quality, high biological value protein, is a good choice for diabetics who need to carefully manage food intake.

A recent study in Europe compared whey protein to casein, the primary protein in milk. They found that older men who consumed whey protein showed greater protein synthesis, or growth, which helped limit muscle loss over time.

Whey Protein Info provides detailed information about whey protein powder, drinks, concentrate, and best whey protein, as well as the benefits of whey protein and other helpful whey protein facts. Whey Protein Info is the sister site of Home Gyms Web.

Flax Seed Oil Is A Perfect Source Of Fiber To Avoid Constipation & High Cholesterol

Flaxseed Oil

Flaxseed oil is a source of fiber for linen fiber for linen fabric since times ancient. It is extracted from the slender flax plant which is also used as a healing herb since times immemorial. This plant was first cultivated in Europe and its brown seeds were used to prepare balms for skin that was inflamed and also used to prepare healing slurries for constipation. Today flaxseeds are called linseeds and are famous for the therapeutic oil that is derived on crushing these seeds. Flaxseed oil is rich in essential fatty acids.

Health Benefits of Flaxseed Oil

?EFAs are the healing components of the oil.

?EFAs are essential to the body for various functions and the body does not manufacture these acids on its own.

?EFAs work in the body to protect cell membranes by admitting healthy substances and barring unhealthy ones.

?Omega3 fatty acid contained in flaxseed oil is very essential and can help in prevention of heart disease.

?Flaxseeds are rich in lignan which is an important substance required for the proper functioning of hormones.

?Lignan is also helpful in combating certain kinds of cancer and also specific fungi, bacteria and viruses also those which cause cold sores and shingles.

?Flaxseeds when taken in ground form provide extra fiber boost and aid the passage of stools and help the smooth functioning of the digestive system.

Flaxseed Oil may help your body in various ways.

?It helps in lowering of Cholesterol and preventing heart diseases and in stabilizing blood pressure.

?It helps in control constipation and gallstones.

?It may help in treat acne and eczema

?It helps in promoting healthy nails and hair

?It may help in the treatment of nerve damage

?It may be of great help in menopausal problems and female infertility.

?It also helps in fighting against prostrate problems and male infertility.

Forms of Availability

?Soft gel

?Oil

?Capsules

Usage

You will find liquid flaxseed oil the easiest to use although you will have to keep it refrigerated. Capsules of flaxseed oil are convenient to carry even while traveling but then they are expensive than the liquid from. The quantity of capsules that you would need to carry would be large approx. 14 to fill up for 1 tablespoon of oil. If you prefer to use ground flaxseeds then add 1-2 tablespoons to an ounce of water and take them. For the list of ailments listed above that flaxseed oil can cure take one table spoon of oil in the morning.

The supplement that you need to take with flaxseed oil is fish oil and the quantity should be 1gram per day. It is particularly helpful in activating the benefits of flaxseed oil too. However for sunburn and tingling you need to take one table spoon of flaxseed oil twice a day.

Especially for the ladies suffering from menopausal problems and menstrual disorders you need to take 1 tablespoon of flaxseed oil in the morning followed by 1 gram of evening primrose oil or borage oil three times a day.

For best results you should take flaxseed oil with foods as it is easily merged with their taste. Flaxseed oil is not known to interfere with any other drugs but it is best to consult your doctor if you are on any medication before you start taking it. A possible side effect of flaxseed oil could be flatulence but it will not last long.

Peter Salazar's source for quality supplements is http://www.utopiasilver.com

To go directly to this product go here: http://utopiasilver.com/products/supplements/flaxseedoil32oz.htm

Tips for Realistically Losing Weight

Obesity is a life threatening condition and is spreading at an alarming rate throughout Western society. It is particularly prevalent in the USA. However there are some steps you can take to reduce your weight and improve your health and lifestyle.

Reducing calorie intake:

What are calories? A calorie is a unit used to measure energy. It is required by most governments to print the calorie value of foods on the nutrition label of all foods that are sold to consumers. Because if this it is easier to calculate your calorie intake. Reducing calories means not just cutting food intake but being careful of the actual caloric value of the foods you are eating.

Reduction but not eliminating fats and oils: fat and oil is necessary for the body but we often eat foods which are too high in fats thus taking in more fat and oil than we need to. When you cut down fat and oil you will reduce calories and definitely manage to lose those pounds.

Decrease but do not eliminate carbohydrates: Carbohydrates are necessary to the body but we often eat too much of this class of food resulting in the body storing these foods as fat. When you cut down carbohydrates you will reduce your weight.

Increase your protein levels: It is often good to eat foods that are high in proteins as they are not as fattening as other foods. High protein foods are good to eat when you are reducing weight to prevent any muscle loss occurring as you shed those pounds.

Eat more fruits and vegetables: These are good for providing nutrients to the body and are low in calories. They are a good alternative to ?junk food? snacks. They will also increase fiber in your diet.

Reduction in sugar and sodium. Sugar is readily broken dawn by the body into energy and excess stored as fat making it a fattening food. Sodium eaten in excess can contribute to water retention by the body and prevent weight loss.

Increasing fiber in your diet: this will help you to curb hunger pangs as fiber rich foods will help you feel full as they take longer to digest. Your digestive system will work better with an increase in fiber.Whole grain foods, unrefined foods, fruits and vegetables will give you more fiber.

Increase your fluid intake: Drink more pure water especially. This will help to improve your health and fill you up.

Increase exercise: Regular exercise will help you reduce weight and build muscle instead of storing fat. You can either work out for about 20 minutes 3 times a week or take a brisk daily walk.

When you use these steps you will reduce your weight. You will not achieve a super figure in one day but when you keep up a healthy diet you will lose weight steadily. Maintaining a healthy diet with regular exercise will ensure that you not only reduce but will keep the weight off. You will feel healthier and have more energy to do the things you really want to do in life.

Zach Thompson is a Glyconutrients Consultant. His clients range from pro athletes and actresses, to cancer patients and children with Learning Disabilities. Learn the truth about nutritional supplements at: http://nutritionalreview.com/79.php.

Are Cold Sores Contagious?

When someone gets a cold sore or knows someone who has one, it is not uncommon for them to wonder, ?Are cold sores contagious?? And the answer to this question is yes, cold sores are contagious in more ways than one. The herpes simplex virus that usually causes cold sores is easily spread--even if the infected person does not have an active cold sore.

Cold sores are contagious, and the HSV-1 virus that causes cold sores is present in an estimated 80% of the population. Most people are infected by HSV-1 at an early age, usually by the time they are five years old. Once the virus infects an individual, it will remain in that person?s body forever. Though HSV-1 is latent or dormant for much of the time, it is still present in the body. The virus is usually present near the person?s mouth, but it can spread all over the body. It is important to understand that an infected person can spread HSV-1 to others even while not currently experiencing an outbreak.

One of the most common ways that HSV-1 is spread is through an object an infected person used, like a toothbrush or tube of lip balm. If particles of the HSV-1 virus are transferred to an object and it is used by someone else, that person runs a strong risk of infection.

People are most likely to become infected by HSV-1 by exposure to someone with a cold sore. A cold sore goes through several phases before it disappears. The tingle stage is the first. At this point, the cold sore has not yet formed, but the virus has been reactivated. The risk of spreading the virus increases at this time, but the risk is highest when the sore is in the weeping stage. This is when the sore bursts open and expels a clear liquid. Even during the crusting stage, when the sore is scabbed over, the risk of infection is greater than normal.

It is important to note that HSV-1 can not only spread between people, but also to different parts of the infected person?s body. Herpetic whitlow, the HSV-1 infection of the fingers is particularly painful. People must be sure to wash their hands thoroughly when they have a cold sore to prevent the spread of HSV-1.

Cold Sores Info provides detailed information about the cause of cold sores, as well as treatment, home remedies, curious, and answers to frequently-asked questions, such as ?Are cold sores contagious?? Cold Sores Info is affiliated with Original Content.

Holistic Health Care?What and Whom

The Baby boomers?those born 1946 through 1964?are the largest population to require health care than ever before. Medical practitioners and pharmaceutical companies are focusing on what pills, potions or surgeries the baby boomers-turned seniors will be likely to use in the next 30 ? 40 years. Ironically, the majority of people tend to be concerned about their health after something major has occurred. The truth is if we consistently take good care of our health the aging process has little impact.

Baby boomers are voicing their concerns about better health, more than prior generations. However, many do not know where to find information and options, other than Traditional Western Medicine (TWM).

Few people research the plethora of side effects for prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) drugs?not to mention that prescription and OTC drugs are formulated to take over and hijack your body's biochemistry. Prescription and OTC drugs force blood pressure to be lower/higher or force the liver to stop manufacturing healthy cholesterol. In fact, prescription or OTC drugs interfere with normal human metabolism, and that is one reason why prescription drugs are killing people. Yet, conventional medical doctors rely on propaganda about the unknown side effects of holistic health care to convince people that only prescription or OTC drugs are safe. It is NOT that they are terrified about the side effects of holistic health care?they are terrified of people being well and they won?t have their business of prescribing life-long pills and potions. Western Medicine is profit driven.

If everyone knew they could prevent any disease with plant extracts, medicinal herbs, natural vitamins, minerals, and supplements, as well as having peace of mind?the pharmaceutical and medical industry would collapse overnight.

?The World Health Organization, estimates that between 65 to 80 percent of the world's population (about 3 billion people) rely on naturopathic or homeopathic medicine as their primary form of health care.

?Worldwide, only 10 to 30 percent of people use traditional medicine, 70 to 90 percent use naturopathic and homeopathic health care.

?74 percent of the American population desires a natural approach to health care.

?Of the one out of three Americans who say they have used natural techniques, 84 percent said they would use it again.

?Traditional Chinese Medicine has been chosen by the World Health Organization for worldwide propagation to meet the health care needs of the twenty-first century.

?The U.S. government sponsors the use of acupuncture in drug rehabilitation programs.

?In a [Mayo Clinic study of 50 patients, six acupuncture treatments given over two to three weeks significantly improved their symptoms of pain and fatigue. Time, 2005

?Americans make more visits to holistic health care providers (some 600 million a year) than to M.D.s and spend more money out-of-pocket to do so about $30 billion a year by recent estimates. Newsweek, 12/2002

?A recent study performed by the American Massage Therapy Association revealed that 28 percent of people received a massage from a massage therapist in the past five years, up from 17 percent in 1997. Eighteen percent said they had a massage in the past 12 months. That?s 10 percent higher than was reported in 1997. American Massage Therapy Association, 8/2002.

Holistic health care practices include:

?Acupuncture

?Aromatherapy/flower essences

?Ayurvedic medicine

?Bio-feedback

?Chelation therapy

?Chiropractic

?Essential Oils

?Guided imagery

?Herbology/Herbal remedies

?Homeopathy

?Hydrotherapy

?Hypnosis/self-hypnosis

?Iridology

?Massage

?Meditation/visualization

?Mind, Body, Spirit healing (using the unconscious mind)

?Movement and exercise therapy

?Naturopathy

?Nutrition therapy

?Osteopathy

?Reiki/energy medicine

?Relaxation response

?Reflexology

?Therapeutic touch

?Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)

Every community has resources: Natural food stores, natural vitamin and supplement stores: Hi Health, Vitamin Shoppe, Whole Foods, Wild Oats Market, Trader Joe?s, AJ?s Fine Foods, The Internet directories.

?Holistic Health Care provider directory - New Holistic Health Care Products Directory. http://www.holisticseek.com/

?Holistic Junction: Business Directory Holistic Junction, your pathway to Holistic Practitioners, Massage Therapy http://www.holisticjunction.com

?Holistic Healthcare online: A search directory for reputable practitioners by state, country, city, http://www.holistichealthcare.com

?Florida Health & Fitness Directory ... Holistic Health Care: Natural Healing and Preventative Medicine Acupuncture, Chinese Herbs, Homeopathy, Shiatsu, ... http://www.floridasmart.com/business/health/index.htm

?Holistic health links and new age links from Share Guide. ... Healthlinks.net - Healthcare portal and directory with over 70200 unique links. ... http://www.shareguide.com/links.html

?American Holistic Health Association (AHHA) - Resource Lists. Members who work in partnership with their patients, and encourage a holistic approach to wellness. ... http://ahha.org/ahre.htm

?Metaphysical Healing?Mind, Body, Spirit, Genesis Consultants, Inc. www.gen-assist.com

Last, but not least do not allow traditional medical doctors, pharmacists or your family and best friends to intimidate you into believing your life is in jeopardy if you use holistic health care remedies or practitioners.

The Journal of the American Medical Association Vol. 284 July 26, 2000, published an article documenting the tragedy of Traditional Western Medicine (TWM) paradigm. The author, Dr. Barbara Starfield of Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health describes how the U.S. health care system may contribute to poor health. Doctors, she stated, are the third leading cause of death in the U.S., causing 250,000 deaths every year.

This information is a follow-up to the Institute of Medicine report December, 1999, but the data was hard to reference as it was not in peer-reviewed journal. Now it is published in JAMA which is the most widely circulated medical periodical in the world.

DEATHS PER YEAR:

1. 12,000 -----unnecessary surgery

2. 7,000 -----medication errors in hospitals

3. 20,000 ----other errors in hospitals

4. 80,000 ----infections in hospitals

5. 106,000 ---non-error, negative effects of drugs

250,000 deaths per year from iatrogenic--death induced in a patient by a physician's activity, manner, or therapy, especially of a complication of treatment causes--is outrageous!! Yet, the majority of people continue to trust the medical profession to 'cure' them, in spite of all the evidence to the contrary.

Of 13 countries in a recent comparison, the United States ranks an average of 12th (second from the bottom) for 16 available health indicators. The ranking of the U.S. on several indicators was:

? 13th (last) for low-birth-weight percentages

? 13th for neonatal mortality and infant mortality overall 14

? 11th for post neonatal mortality

? 13th for years of potential life lost (excluding external causes)

? 11th for life expectancy at 1 year for females, 12th for males

? 10th for life expectancy at 15 years for females, 12th for males

? 10th for life expectancy at 40 years for females, 9th for males

? 7th for life expectancy at 65 years for females, 7th for males

? 3rd for life expectancy at 80 years for females, 3rd for males

? 10th for age-adjusted mortality

The poor performance of the U.S. medical profession was recently confirmed by a World Health Organization study, which used different data and ranked the United States as 15th among 25 industrialized countries.

Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD, author, international speaker and inspiritual leader specializes in: Mind, Body, Spirit healing and Physical/Sexual Abuse Prevention and Recovery. Dr. Neddermeyer empowers people to view life's challenges as an opportunity for Personal/Professional Growth and Spiritual Awakening. http://www.drdorothy.net

Combating The Silent Killer HBP

Has high blood pressure been bugging you for numerous years? Thousands of people feel the same way. It is in the top ten major causes of death everywhere. Supported studies, HBP will have a 60% growth by year 2025 where it will be highest in the 3rd world countries.

It is calculated that 1 out of every 3 individuals have the disease and it is expected to rise at an horrifying rate. This is the grounds why in most families, there are 1 or 2 relatives who have the trends for high blood pressure.

It is comfortable to see that a shift in lifestyle is one of the key answers to this disease. Being that easy, then on that point should be a change in the number of cases. Why it is linked with lifestyle is because of our mode of living which stimulates stress and tensions that change the metabolic process of the body to respond.

Few of what we need to pay attention to are diet, rest and medication up to the simple undertakings of basic life decision creating. The measure of stress a person obtains from economic and social status can be a factor that will regulate blood pressure constancy. To suggest changes in lifestyle hence is too complicated a job. It signifies total change to the outlook in life and that never materializes overnight.

For some reason science will not give intangible solutions to people who have intense attacks, or people that need current medical attention. Here are some of the usual medications given to high blood pressure patients:

DIURETICS ? called water pills are substances that tends to increase the discharge of urine from the body.

BETA BLOCKERS ? these are a class of drugs that block beta-adrenergic substances such as adrenaline (epinephrine), a key agent in the sympathetic portion of the autonomic (involuntary) nervous system and activation of heart muscle.

ACE INHIBITORS ? ACE stands for Angiotensin Converting Enzyme, it is a hormone that causes the muscles surrounding blood vessels to contract and thereby narrows the blood vessels. The medication will stop the production of the hormone and helps the veins to relax so that the blood pressure decreases.

ANGIOTENSIN ANTAGONIST ? as a result of administering ACE, this is a block to angiotensin II hormone to defend the veins from constricting.

CALCIUM CHANNEL BLOCKERS ? are a class of drugs that block the entry of calcium into the muscle cells of the heart and the arteries.

ALPHA BLOCKERS(Also called alpha-adrenergic blocking agent.) ? drug that opposes the excitatory effects of norepinephrine released from sympathetic nerve endings at alpha-receptors and that causes vasodilation and a decrease in blood pressure.

ALPHA BETA BLOCKERS ? it is just about the same as Alpha blockers but that this works to slow down the heartbeat of the patient, this will end in less blood pumped in the heart to alleviate the pressure.

NERVOUS SYSTEM INHIBITORS ? relax blood vessels by controlling nerve impulses. This causes the blood vessels to become wider and the blood pressure to go down.

VASODILATORS ? is a substance that causes blood vessels in the body to become wider by relaxing the smooth muscle in the vessel wall, or vasodilation.

There is naught like prevention- than cure. If you will think about this earnestly, there is no amount of medication that will be more help than assuming care of the body before its medication is needed.

A good healthy diet with low cholesterol ought be preserved in the younger years of life. Prevention of weight addition by executing exercises and avoidance of a lazy lifestyle will solve high blood pressures from taking over its lead in reducing a person?s self-importance through an attack.

James is now writing articles on many different subjects. But they are based on extensive research. For more info on high blood pressure visit

Hair Loss Disaster For The Young Man

When we are somewhat younger, the male of the species preen themselves for an evening out, usually with the intention of attracting the opposite sex. This is no different of course than any other member of the animal kingdom, we like to make sure that we look our best. We check out our clothes and everything else just to make sure that everything is just so, and then we take a final look in the mirror to check out the result.

Shock horror!! We look at our faces in the mirror, look at the top of the head in the reflected image and notice that there is a noticeable thinning of the hair. Hair loss, the fear of every young man! All things go through the mind. Imaginings of being bald in a few months. How could we possibly face anyone, least of all the female of the species, displaying a shiny dome, a bit of hair on either side of the head. Worse still, perhaps there will be just a little hair left on top and we might be forced to use the dreaded ?comb over?. Life is surely at a social end as we know it.

What is the remedy for this dastardly condition? How can we cope with the indignity? It is the time, we think, that hair loss will make a difference to our social status. The back of the hand remarks from ?friends? ? no chance of support there. What in heaven?s name is the solution?

A lot of men nowadays seem to ?solve? the problem by simply shaving their heads and ?hide? the fact that hair loss is happening at all. Maybe that might work in a lot of cases, but it is quite obvious that this particular ?style? does not suit everyone. Because of the shape of peoples? faces, this particular form of ?hair removal? can have an adverse effect. It can, of course, give the impression of aggressiveness. This, of course, can be gleaned from what we see in the entertainment media. It appears that most of the ?heavies? in movies and on television, appear to have shaven heads. This could be an unfair assumption, but often first appearances engender lasting opinions.

Another drastic and ?final solution? to a hair loss problem, is buying a toupee. Now, this may suit some people and indeed there are some very good examples of this cosmetic aid. Vanity must take preference though for this means of combating hair loss ? rather than actually really wanting to put one of these things on your head.

The fear element of wearing the toupee must be of major concern as well. By definition, the thing actually sits on the head. Presumably there is no adhesive involved in fitting it to its final position. If that be the case, then it must be a major risk that it will part itself from the head on some occasion, whether if the wind may blow a little too hard one day, or perhaps a sudden movement might dislodge it from its ?home? position. In either case, surely the embarrassment from this type of incident would far outweigh the actual hair loss issue. In this case the slogan surely must be: ?Bald is beautiful?.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Hair Loss

The South Beach Diet

Description

The South Beach Diet is yet another way for people to lose weight. It seems that everyone wants to lose weight at some point in their lives. One day they look at themselves in the mirror and they just decide that they need to go on a diet. But then there is the tough choice of which diet to choose from. After all there are so many diets out there that anyone can find it hard to choose one diet and then stick to it. If you do choose to use The South Beach Diet, then you will be on a diet that seems to let you eat anything that you choose to eat. The option of fast-food takeaways is in the diet snacks are also not a problem and The South Beach Diet even includes desserts.

How Does It Work?

There is no magical way that The South Beach Diet works. It seems that you are free to eat what you want when you want. The South Beach Diet actually urges you to have snacks during the day and you will still have 3 course meals. It seems that the first two weeks are when everything starts to happen. During the first two weeks of The South Beach Diet you will not be allowed to eat any bread, pasta, rice, potatoes or any fruit. Also things like chocolates and cakes as well as sugar are not allowed to be touched during the first two weeks of The South Beach Diet. After two weeks though you can actually start to eat these foods again because you will be eating the right amount of carbohydrates and so you will lose weight instead of gaining it.

Disadvantages

There are a lot of people that disagree with The South Beach Diet and it seems that they have a good reason to. Just like the Atkins diet there seems to be a big problem with some of the foods that are suggested that you eat. This can result in problems for lots of people. You need to make sure that you have a healthy balanced diet and not a diet that is as erratic as The South Beach Diet. You will be encouraged to eat a lot of food that is highly unhealthy and this will result in future problems. The way our bodies work is very fascinating, but the way that people try to change this through diets can and will cause problems for many of us. For example some of the foods such as fish do have a high level of Mercury in them. The reason for these high levels of Mercury is because of generations of pollution that has been taking place. But high levels of Mercury can cause someone to experience serious neurological disorders. While this will only be as a result of high levels of Mercury intake it seems that The South Beach Diet wants you to have a lot of fish intake, especially during the first two weeks and as you start to include it into your diet after these first two weeks you will still have a high intake of fish plus all the other minerals that come with fish such as Mercury.

Summary

There are many diets that do work and they work very well. However it seems that The South Beach Diet has helped many people to lose weight, but it seems that people are trying to forget about the old way of losing weight through general exercise of about 30 minutes a day and also eating a healthy well balanced diet. If you have been eating a lot of bread and are then told to quit for two weeks for you new diet, then you will experiences some withdrawal symptoms and you will find it hard to resist these cravings.

With all these new diets coming out a lot of people get confused as to which diet is right for them. They do seem to get lost somewhere and find it hard to find the right diet that will help them lose a lot of weight. If you do choose to go for a normal well balanced diet then you can be sure that there is nothing wrong with what you are eating. While these diets all over the world claim to help you lose weight a lot of them are rubbish and are just invented to help some people make some money for themselves.

Scott Nichols is the editor of - http://www.e-healthcenter.info/ Get many articles on health and diets

Cruisin to Lose

Recently, I won a family cruise on the Regis and Kelly talk show. For a person whose business is fitness that is a good news, bad news dilemma. Statistically, an average of 5 lbs. per person is gained on a cruise. The camera adds about 10 lbs.

I set out to see if it was possible to have a great time, enjoy the food and not gain the obligatory 5 lbs. ( My other alternative was to hide behind a potted palm for the duration so as not to be seen by the cameras.)

The following five tips really work:

1. Walk, Walk, Walk
Take a walk around the deck with a loved one or get on the treadmill first thing in the morning before you start your day. When you stop at port walk if it is a short distance instead of taking a cab or shuttle.

2. Use the Stairs
My cabin was located on deck 7. Everything of interest was either two decks down or four to five decks up. I rarely took the elevator.

3. Dance the Night Away
My sisters and I went dancing for 3 hours, one night. We had a wonderful family experience and felt the mild pull of muscles we didn?t know existed, the next day.

4. For Every Alcoholic beverage you consume have two large glasses of water. I think this one is self-explanatory.

5. Limit Yourself to one luscious dessert a day.
If you have a danish at breakfast, forego the pie at lunch and the chocolate truffle at dinner. The anticipation of that one dessert really adds to the pleasure of savoring your choice.

The key: I limited myself in such a way that I did not feel deprived and increased my activity so that I felt good physically. I did not gain a pound.

And if you get a peek at me on the Regis and Kelly show, I won?t mind at all.

Constance Weygandt is a balance mentor who specializes in finding answers for individuals who are seeking an alternative to conventional diets and weight management. For more information or to sign up for Constance's free newsletter, visit her website at http://www.balancedwellnessonline.com

Five Simple Steps to Stopping a Binge

When you have a negative feeling, the thought of comforting and drowning yourself in food sounds like a wonderful idea. Your mind will be taken off of dealing with your emotions and food will heal all. This is the truth for about the first five minutes of binge eating. After that, you will continue to eat, but not because you are hungry. You will start to notice that your original feelings of sadness or other reasons will come back, along with new feelings of guilt because you just consumed so much food. Is there a way out of this crazy cycle?

Of course there is! Here are five steps that you can start implementing into your daily life to conquer a binge. The first step is to feel deserving of yourself. You need to feel that you are worthy enough to change your binge eating habits. Only after you do this and improve your self-esteem can you win the war over Binge Eating Disorder.

The second step is to throw out all foods in your house that you like to binge on. Remember, if the food is not readily available to you, it will be harder to binge. This also means when you go grocery shopping. When you don?t purchase foods that you binge on, it will be easier to conquer a binge while you are at home. You want to make it as hard as you can.

The third step is to buy a journal. In your journal, you are going to record all binges and what feelings were present during the binge. Record all details including the time, day, what you ate, how much you ate, and how you felt before and after the binge. Journaling is a great tool because this will provide insight to you as to why you turn to food like you do. This will help to narrow down your binges so that you will be able to see any similarities that happen when you binge.

The fourth step is to find a way to relax yourself. This is most important to do when you feel a binge coming on. Relaxation is very important in clearing your mind and turning away from the binge. Listen to nice, classical music, take a warm bubble bath, pamper yourself, go for a walk on a nice day, mediate, or picture yourself somewhere else where binging isn?t a part of your life. Another thing that you can do for relaxation is to go for a nice drive. Maybe you live by the ocean or a lake. Maybe you have some great scenic roads. Just remember not to take any money with you and try not to drive by anywhere that has food. You want to make the binge go away and you don?t want to be tempted to give in.

The fifth and final step to stopping a binge is to talk about it. Talk to a friend or anyone else that you can trust about how you are feeling. If you are upset, vent your frustrations out to them. Just having someone listen will be very helpful to you. You will feel that a weight has been lifted from you after you get everything off of your chest.

By: Kristin Gerstley
http://www.endbingeeating.com

Kristin Gerstley is the owner of http://www.endbingeeating.com which is a site that helps people overcome their Binge Eating Disorder. She also publishes a free newsletter offering tips on how to stop binge eating and regain control of your life.

Notice to publishers: you have rights to republish this article on your website as long as you keep all links in tact and clickable. Thank you.

Acne Treatment ? Prevention and Cure Should Go HandinHand

Acne is a skin condition that simply refuses to go away. It?s a nagging skin ailment that we commonly call pimples, blackheads, whiteheads, red or yellow spots, cystic nodules or scars. The acne prone age is between 12 and 25 years. But beware; it?s not just a teen trouble. Even in your 30s and 40s you may get acne attacks. Acne can cause lifelong scars, if left untreated. Hence, it is vital to be proactive about acne treatment, beginning right from home remedies. Acne treatment essentially involves the use of both preventive and curative products.

Preventive products

The natural way to keep off acne begins at home. If you wish to keep off acne, follow this home treatment attentively and be sure of great results.

- Keep your face spotless clean, by washing it often with a gentle anti-bacterial cleanser or some home-made natural product

- Never use greasy, oil-based moisturizers

- Never use products containing synthetic chemicals and vegetable oils

- Keep your hair off your face

- Never dig or touch scars

- Keep skin pores unclogged with products containing sulfur plus resorcinol

However, pregnant women, kids and patients under some other medication, should consult a doc before they use such products.

Medication methods

The condition of your acne will determine the treatment options. Treatment also depends on the oil balance of your skin, your gender and your existing medications. The most proactive acne treatment is with topical products (gels, creams) containing Salicylic acid, Benzoyl peroxide, sulfur, tetracycline, erythromycin or a retinoid. Many times a combination of these products also works well.

Physicians also prescribe oral medications like antibiotics, hormones, and isotretinoins. Go for such acne treatment only after knowing the side effects.

Laser treatment

Laser treatment has completely cured many. Here the laser destroys the excess oil producing glands and removes scars. It is painless, harmless but costly. However, to get rid of the existing acne you need medication.

Cystic treatment

Acute cystic acne needs cystic treatments with Accutane or isotretinoin. But, there are side effects. Since most other treatments are not effective on cystic acne, these severe products are unavoidable.

Chinese treatments

The Chinese method is a natural herbal acne treatment. They believe in getting to the root of the problem like liver ailments, emotional upsets, wind heat, damp heat, blood heat etc. ?They even trace acne to reasons like a stagnant qi (energy). Their natural products do help many,? says dermatologist Dr Manela Humphrey.

Peel power

TCA Peels are an easy, safe and affordable acne treatment. ?They are also more effective than other clinic or spa-based treatments,? says salon specialist Mary Roberts. Peels were earlier available only through costly treatments by skin specialists, at US$ 500- 1000 per session. These same peels are now easily available at less than US$30 from websites like bestskinpeel.com. No prescriptions are required either.

David Maillie is an alumni of Cornell University and specializes in biochemical synthesis for public, private, and governmental interests and manufactures various skin peels and other for doctors offices and medispas. He can be reached at M.D. Wholesale: http://www.bestskinpeel.com

Make Up in 2 Minutes

Make up does wonder to the overall image. It makes the face polished and pretty looking. I have met one too many women who told me they have no time for make up application. These women are definitely at a disadvantage in the job market, because women who put make up on, makes about 35% more than those who don?t.

A perfect make up application has many steps. However, some days, women have to wake up and run out for work, with no time for breakfast or a long make up routine. If you are a busy woman with no time in the morning, follow this quick make up routine that will guarantee you looking simple and fresh.

These are the tools and make up you must have on hand ? face powder, big powder brush, lipstick, eyelash curler, mascara and concealer.

Be sure the concealer is a shade lighter than your face. By the time it covers the dark blemish, the colour of the coverage will be very close to your natural skin tone. The face powder colour is to match your own face colour. Use a lipstick that is a shade or two darker than your lips ? for radiance. As for mascara ? if you are a brunette, you may choose very dark brown to black. However, if you are blond or very fair, use taupe or medium brown instead for more harmony.

Here are the steps for a 2 minute make up application:

1. Wash, tone and moisturize your face, apply sunscreen, then put some lipbalm on the lips.

2. Dab on concealer using your finger tip ? preferably your ring finger. Dab it on on any blemishes you have, as well as on your undereye circles. Blend well.

3. Dust on face powder with a big fluffy powder brush.

4. Put on lipstick.

5. Curl your eyelashes, sweep on mascara.

Voila - simple and fresh. Now you are ready to rush out!

Noelle Wong sees and unveils beauty in people. She is the owner of iN-IMAGE! Inc., a personal image consulting company in Toronto that offers one-on-one consultations and workshops to help people increase their personal presence. Her website is http://www.in-image.com, blog site is http://www.in-image.blogspot.com

Best Home Treadmill: 4 Things You Need to Look For

Choosing the best home treadmill can be confusing as you sift through all of the options, new models, and brand name ?deals?. Too often, people get caught up in all the 'Goodies' a treadmill offers them that they miss the fact that the treadmill doesn't have the basic essentials of a quality unit.

By knowing the 4 basic essentials of a quality home treadmill, you'll be able to quickly sift through the treadmill deals and choose the best home treadmill for you.

The 4 basic essentials to a quality treadmill are:

#1 - High Powered, Well Built Motor

Since the motor is the most expensive part of the treadmill to fix, a good motor is essential to your treadmill. Try to find at least a motor power of 2.0 HP, preferably higher.

Remember that a 1.5 HP motor has to work twice as hard as a 3.0 HP motor - so it will burn out long before the 3.0 HP motor.

Also, not all motors are built with the same quality parts. Look for a good brand name and a long motor warranty to give you clues as to the quality of the motor.

#2 - Excellent Cushioning

There's not enough said about cushioning and it is so important in a home treadmill. A good cushioning system protects your joints, ligaments and back. A poor cushioning system can result in injury and pain.

I know of one woman who bought a cheaper brand of treadmill and then ran on it. Within 6 months, she had damaged her hips so badly that it hurt her to even walk on the treadmill. You definitely don't want that!

Make sure your treadmill offers an excellent cushioning system - especially if you'll be running!

#3 - Extensive Warranty

You want to protect your investment so a solid treadmill warranty is a must. A good treadmill warranty will cover the frame for at least 30 years, the motor for at least 5 years and other parts and labor for about 1 year. Anything above that and you've got an excellent warranty.

But a warranty isn't just to protect your investment ? a good warranty lets you know about the quality of the treadmill parts.

Treadmill companies do not include warranties because they think they'll have to fix the treadmill within that time frame. They know that they WON'T have to fix them within that time frame because the quality of parts used are high. So if you find a treadmill with a 10 year motor warranty, you KNOW it's a quality built motor. If the motor warranty is only 90 days however...that tells you something.

#4 - Quality Brand Name

Certain brand names have a reputation for building a high quality home treadmill. Other brand names may be well-known but they don't necessarily have a good reputation.

Choose a treadmill that has a solid, trusted brand name. Not sure which brands are good? Check out expert ratings and 'Best Buys' on various treadmill review sites and/or magazines. You'll start to see a trend where certain brand names come up frequently. These brands are the quality treadmill manufacturers.

So those are 4 basic essentials of a good home treadmill:

- High Powered, Well Built Motor
- Excellent Cushioning
- Extensive Warranty
- Quality Brand Name

Knowing these, you can sift through the treadmills available and easily locate the best treadmill for your home.

For more treadmill reviews and best home treadmill buys, visit:

http://www.TreadmillReview.net

Good luck and have fun!

Kathryn O'Neill is chief editor for Treadmill Reviews, a consumer oriented website focusing on home treadmills.

For buying tips, brand reviews, and best buys, visit Treadmill Review at: http://www.treadmillreview.net.

Acne Skin Care: 8 Simple Tips to Follow

Commonly affecting the skin condition of people between ages 12 to 24 is a disease called acne. The cause of acne is hard to determine. However, over secretion of the sebaceous glands is pointed as the cause to trigger most acne outbreaks.

Pilosebaceous units are the combination of the hair follicles and oil glands in the skin. Except for the surface of the palms and the soles of the feet, pilosabaceous units are found on the skin tissue throughout the body . They are responsible in secreting the oily substance called sebum.

However, due to many factors (e.g. hormonal imbalances, stress and the skin's natural condition) the oil glands may be induced to produce more sebum than normal. When this happens, the excess oil plugs the skin pores. This process brings about bacterial infection and stimulate the reaction of the immune system. In the end, acne inflammation results.

Acne can strike at any skin type. An oily skin type is most susceptible to acne. Dry skin on the other hand, may not be as susceptible but serious outbreaks may occur during winter. Normal skin is equally susceptible to acne but the level of severity may not be as high.

Presently, acne is not yet totally curable but can be remedied with several acne skin care methods. Many seek the help of topical medications, which are applied on the surface of the skin. However, employing the use of acne skin care products like pore strip pads may remove whiteheads and blackheads but they would not have any effect on the excess sebum produced.

Nevertheless, for remedy and prevention, it is best to employ the following 8 simple tips:

1. A healthy, well-balanced diet must be observed. Therefore, your food intake must incorporate all the essential nutrients the body needs for efficient functioning.

2. Drink plenty of fluids like water, juices. Minimize the intake of carbonated drinks.

3. No make up is recommended.

4. Wash your face with mild soap and water. The logic is to not remove the dirt (as the majority of acne-inflicted person perceive) but to remove the plugs on the skin pores, which may be a combination of dead skin cells, bacteria and hardened sebum. Although dirt is not truly the cause of acne, it may contribute to further infection through its interaction with skin debris and particles and extra oil in the skin.

5. Use topical cleansing pads that may contain one or the combination of the following: salicylic acid, sulfur and benzoyl peroxide to remove excess oil. Another way to minimize the presence of extra oil in the skin is to wash the face with the hottest water you can withstand.

6. Minimize the use of harsh cleansers and use acne skin care items that exfoliate mildly. Do not scrub vigorously to the affected areas.

7. If your hands are dirty, refrain from touching your face.

8. If you have long hair, tie up your hair so that it is kept away from the face. This is especially so if the weather is hot and you have been perspiring.

Preventative acne skin care steps are just as important as the treatment of acne itself. With prevention, at least, you know how to ensure that your acne problem does not escalate and spread to a bigger infected area.

Kathelene Capelle is a writer for beauty tips and advice. Her blog includes useful information on acne remedy, natural skin care, natural remedies for skin care and anti-aging. She also provides step-by-step recipes for skin care that you can easily prepare from ingredients right out from your kitchen. Get updated on tips and resources at http://www.acne-and-skin-care.com

The Death of Stale Breath

Face it, stale breath is gross. I remember my girlfriend once had this awfully foul smell coming from her mouth. She was sleeping and didn't know it. As much as I loved her - I have to tell you - that moment was slightly repulsive. Don't worry, I got over it and our relationship certainly didn't suffer. But, it was annoying.

Have you ever experienced someone else's bad breath? I know you have, it is a common experience and you don't have to be around this planet very long to have your own (awful) experience with this. Just remember the last time and think about the strong impression it left on you. Just think about it.

I remember my father having lousy mouth-wash breath one time. (You have to watch out for those alcohol based mouthwashes). I was just a little kid but that breath of his, that I could smell from across the room, left a very, very powerful impression on me. Thirty years later - I still remember it, as evidenced by my writing about it now. Needless to say, the impression was a lasting one.

I'm not saying that experiencing someone else's stale breath will leave a scar on your psyche or anything like that, but, you know something like that is probably hurting you socially (if it's you that has it). Do you think I wanted to stay in the same room with him at that point in time? You better believe I was looking for any excuse to move myself to another space in the house, so I could breathe!

You probably don't want to suffer like that - I mean like my dad. He probably didn't know that he had that awful breath and who knows who he ran into outside of the house.

Some products should be avoided like the plague. First, as mentioned above, you have got to watch out for those alcohol-based mouthwashes. Not only can they actually drive people away from you, but they can also dry the mucous membranes of the mouth.

Dry mucous membranes make it easier for bacteria to make a home. Thereby possibly creating more bad breath. The whole purpose of mucous is to move matter out and away. Picture a running nose and you will get the idea. Mucous is there to clean, moisturize and rinse.

Sodium lauryl sulfates, or their cousins, which you will find in many toothpastes do the same thing. They can cause the mucous membranes to dry so the membranes aren't as effective at doing their job. Think about how dish water, which is filled with soap, dries your hands. It is similar to the effect lauryl sulfates have inside your mouth. You'll often find these in toothpaste. Next time you are in your bathroom, run down the list of ingredients in your toothpaste tube.

There are products available that don't have these ingredients in them - alcohol and lauryl sulfates that is. You can find them if you look around a bit. There are some very unique alternatives. Try to find something that will still reduce the bacteria but without drying out the mucous membranes.

This article is for information only and not meant to prevent, treat or diagnose any condition. See your dentist for any oral health issues you may have.

David Snape writes for All Things Pondered: http://allthingspondered.com - where you can have your say and (almost) anything is pondered. He also writes for To Be Informed: http://tobeinformed.com - a site supportive of health, fitness and wellness.

Pain? Injuries? Know When to Change Sports

If your favorite sport causes chronic pain or an injury that does not heal, you should probably switch to another sport. Two recent studies from the Argentine Tennis Association followed players with knee and shoulder problems (British Journal of Sports Medicine, May 2006).

In the first study, men who had anterior cruciate ligament tears showed a great drop in their tennis performance, difficulty landing after a smash, stopping and changing step direction, finishing three set singles, and playing on hard court surfaces. The knee is nothing more than two sticks held together by four bands, called ligaments. Two ligaments are located on the outside of the knee and two ligaments cross in the middle of the knee joint. The anterior cruciate ligament runs from the bottom of the upper bone of the knee joint forward to the top of the lower bone of the knee joint. It prevents the upper bone of the knee joint from slipping forward when your knee hits the ground. When this ligament is torn, each foot strike causes the upper femur bone to slide forward over the lower tibial bone, shears off cartilage in the process and hastens a knee replacement. It is downright dangerous for a person with a torn anterior cruciate ligament to play tennis or run until the ligament is replaced. Even then the surgical replacement is not as strong as the original anterior cruciate ligament and that person risks joint damage every time he runs, jumps and turns on his knee joint.

The second study followed older men who had played tennis for many years and had no shoulder pain, surgery or trauma to their shoulders. Even with no symptoms, thirty-three percent of these men had significant x-ray findings of joint damage called osteoarthritis in their dominant shoulder, and the older they were, the more likely they were to have this damage. X rays showed increased incidence of joint space narrowing, joint cysts, bone fragments, flattening of the joint cartilage, displacement of the upper arm bone and erosion of the joint cup. If you are a long-time tennis player and have shoulder pain, your doctor will probably recommend that you stop playing tennis.

The good news is that switching to a new sport is much easier than starting from inactivity. Training principles are the same for all sports. Give yourself time to learn new skills and build up the muscles you have not used before.

Subscribe to my FREE weekly newsletter on fitness, health, and nutrition.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine. Read or listen to hundreds of his fitness and health reports -- and the FREE Good Food Book -- at http://www.DrMirkin.com

The Healing Arts: 18 Things Healers Learn #4 There Are Only Lessons

Success and failure are only ideas. What looks, in one moment, to be a huge success, can easily take on the odor of failure. Success for one can often be interpreted, by another, as that person?s biggest failure. So much depends upon one?s own interpretation of the events. If you look hard enough, you will always find ways to turn one into the other.

Traditional Native American craftspeople often integrate a ?flaw? into the artistic patterns they work with. It is to remind them and others there is nothing that is perfect. Within the context of these imperfections, perfection is attained. Perhaps the power of the flaw is to reflect the perfect concept of balance ? all is ever-changing.

Things are as they are, and no matter how we try to deny it, every moment in our life depends on the ones that precede it; every moment is a foundational building block upon which the others that follow rely. Our wiring makes it possible for us to apply one moment to the next.

But a moment is alive. It is always shifting, changing, building up or breaking down, and perhaps, most important, has no judgment of itself. It simply is.

By understanding and accepting the nature of the moment, we can come to terms with our role in it: The most we can do is to respond honestly to it, apply what we?ve picked up from the moments before it and use them all to the best of our ability.

And, of course, there will always be something we missed. That is called a lesson. There are no moments without lessons.

In the healing arts sometimes these lessons are excruciating. Death itself is a prime example. Death makes way for new life. Period. Because everything will die, the healer must recognize death as a form of healing, for it, too, is a reflection of a circle coming to completion. The lesson here is that there is nothing living on this earth that has not sprung from death.

A real tough extension of that is that it really seems ? especially for those who work in critical care areas ? that they are ?used? in some way to be agents of death. Many people in the healing arts have been in situations where, to their total exasperation they discover that every action they took, every decision they made, seemed to contribute to the demise of the person who was in their care.

And then, from the vantage point of hindsight, it can be seen that the ripple effects of what were deemed to be destructive moments actually contributed significantly to a movement toward a much greater good.

The same ?hand of God? that intervenes to work through us to preserve or protect life also works through us to bring it to its conclusion. Most of the time, we don?t notice it, and when we do, we do everything in our power to deny it.

But for those working in the healing arts, where there are so few working on so many, it is almost inevitable that this sense of agentry ? both for life AND death ? be experienced.

The trick is to learn how to review and evaluate your past performance ? no matter how extreme -- without agonizing over it. It is in the agonizing over circumstances that we lose the present moment. In our headlong drive to qualify and quantify and judge each moment that has passed, we miss the moment that is.

We do it all the time. That, perhaps, is the most important lesson of them all; moments are too few and precious to squander.

What sets us off balance, more than anything else, is getting locked into the ?failure? of the moment that just passed and, as a result, we miss a string of crucial moments that follow. On one level, this is a disruption of the free passage, or movement, of energy. Our jobs, as healers, is to keep that passage clear.

Moments are simply things that happen. First this. Now this. Now this. Now this. Judgment is all about living in the ?that? and missing the ?this.?

By integrating conscious understanding that lessons are all there are, you can free yourself to have many more moments that are connected with each other. Your unbroken connection to each moment is, like an untwisted, un-nicked water hose, the vehicle through which healing energy flows.

Russ Reina shares over 35 years of experience in the healing arts through his web site http:// mauihealingartist.com. It is a potent resource for those wishing to deepen their abilities in connection and develop their powers as healers. For a powerful free tool to explore your inner world, please check out his adjunct site http:// thestoryofthis.net

(Permission is granted to reprint this article, unedited, provided proper attribution is made and the signature line -- the above resource paragraph -- is kept intact)

It's My Body I'll Exercise It If I Have To

Lately, I have noticed a lot of news regarding all aspects of the body. According to one report I read, this is a multibillion dollar-a-year business. I never knew my body was worth so much money. I?m tempted to sell it, or at least rent it out on a part-time basis.

I did not know how big of a deal this was until one night this past week I had a little trouble sleeping.

One reason I have trouble falling asleep is my deep fear of falling. Actually, it?s not the fall that worries me so much as that sudden stop. For some inexplicable reason I always stop three inches past the floor.

I would not worry so much about falling asleep if I knew I was going to fall on my pillow instead of the floor. However, I can?t count on anything these days. Not even my fingers.

I once woke up in the middle of the night engaged in a vicious life or death pillow fight. Unfortunately, the pillow won and I cannot find anyone to take my case.

I did find one lawyer but he was three-sheets-to-the-wind and my case was no breeze.

One fear I have in the middle of the night is falling into the hands of some vicious nightmare because of my horsing around the day before. My wife keeps nagging me about my daytime activities but I have a hard time harnessing these erratic urges.

Often when I have trouble going to sleep or when I wake up in the middle of the night and can?t get back to sleep I simply get up quietly so as not to disturb the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage and turn on the television. I once disturbed her and when I came to, I vowed never to repeat that offense.

You would think with so many channels on television there would be something interesting to watch in the middle of the night. Something that would make the time spent profitably. Unfortunately, the nighttime airwaves are devoted to things holding no interest for anybody still clutching to a slim strand of sanity. You don?t have to be crazy to watch nighttime TV; it?s just a consequence of watching nighttime TV.

What I do not understand is why they run so many infomercials for exercise equipment at two o?clock in the morning. Who in their right mind is up that time of night? I know I?m not.

Using my remote, I channel surfed for probably 20 minutes and found nothing but people demonstrating exercise equipment and taunting me that I need to begin an exercise regimen if I?m going to live a healthy life. One man?s healthy life is another man?s pain in the back, the knee and the elbow. After all this exercise, I only end up with a tennis elbow and athletes foot.

Not only exercise equipment, but also a good portion of these infomercials touted on the latest fad diet. According to one commercial I can lose all the weight I want to lose in a six-month period for only six easy payments of $99 which they would gladly charge to my credit card account. ?Call right now,? they invite through the television screen, ?for this special one- time offer.?

This ?special one-time offer? is conveniently offered every night. The only weight being lost is from my checking account. If anyone ever had a gander at my checkbook, they would readily see that my goose is cooked. Perhaps I could start a new fad diet: Cooked Goose. I could market myself as the ?Cooked Goose Gourmet.?

All this hype made me hungry, so I raided the refrigerator and kidnapped a tasty snack and immediately put it out of its misery and into my middle-age spread.

I say enough is enough. I am tired of other people telling me how to take care of my body. It takes all the strength and energy I have to drag my body from one place to another, let alone adding exercise to my daily schedule.

For a person my age I get plenty of exercise, more than I really need. A typical day for me always includes a rigid exercise regime; jumping to conclusions, running my mouth even when I?m told to be quiet from You Know Who and throwing my weight around every chance I get. After a full day of this, I am thoroughly exhausted.

For my money, it?s my body and I?ll exercise it if I have to, thank you. However, right now, I have more important things to do. Places to go. People do see. Experiences to enjoy. I can?t think of any right now, but anything is better than some artificial exercise program. Who do you think I am? Jack LaLane?

With all this emphasis on exercise, I wish some of these people would exercise the right to keep their viewpoint to themselves.

In my opinion, the apostle Paul had the right attitude about all of this. I like what he writes to a young man by the name of Timothy. ?For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come? (1 Timothy 4:8 KJV).

The body exercised is no substitute for the daily exercise of godliness. To exercise godliness is to make the best possible use of each day.

James L. Snyder is an award winning author and popular columnist living with his wife, Martha, in Ocala, Florida and can be contacted at jamessnyder2@att.net

Connections between Brain Abnormalities and Autistics' Poor Social Skills

Autism is a very common type of pervasive developmental disorder that generates serious communicational and behavioral impairments. People with autism experience pronounced difficulties in interacting with others. Also, patients diagnosed with autism have poor imaginative skills, engage in repetitive, stereotype behaviors and manifest a strong resistance to change. In many cases, autism can also involve a certain degree of mental retardation.

Autism is considered to be the most severe childhood disorder. The overall number of cases of autism has known a pronounced increase in the last decades and the worldwide incidence of the disorder in children is continuously rising. Statistics indicate that autism affects around 1.5 million people in the United States alone. The prevalence of the disorder among the American population is expected to rise with 10 percent each year. For some reason, autism predominantly affects boys, rarely occurring in the opposite sex.

Although modern science has been trying to identify the factors responsible for the occurrence of autism, in present the exact causes of the disorder remain unknown. However, scientists believe that autism occurs due to genetic dysfunctions that interfere with the normal activity of the central nervous system.

Medical scientists suspect that the poor social interaction skills characteristic to people with autism are determined by inappropriate communication between certain areas of the brain. After conducting various experiments, scientists revealed that unlike normal people, autistics have a very low brain activity when they are involved in social situations. A recent experiment has proved the theory that autistic people?s poor social interaction skills are generated by weak connections between brain areas.

The experiment brought together 16 people diagnosed with autism and 16 people who didn?t suffer from the disorder. Scientists measured the brain activity levels and responsiveness of both normal and autistic people when they were shown a sequence of images. The subjects were asked to identify certain differences between a series of images that represented objects and human faces. Normal people revealed higher levels of brain activity when they were shown the images that represented human faces and lower levels of brain activity when they were shown representations of objects. By contrast, all autistic people who participated to the experiment revealed low levels of brain activity regardless of what the images represented.

The results of the experiment can be interpreted in many different ways. For many people, the experiment might suggest that there are abnormalities in some areas of the brain that prevent autistics from processing human features. However, medical scientists explain that autistic people?s actual problem is their inability to focus properly on human features rather than their inability to understand or recognize them. Scientists suggest that poor communication between some areas of the brain renders autistic people indifferent to others and hence, makes them socially inapt.

The experiment suggests a clear connection between brain dysfunctions and autistics? poor social skills, revealing new interesting physiological characteristics of people with autism.

So, if you want to find out more about Autism, and especially about signs of autism or autism causes, please click one of the following link.

Natural Supplements Help Your Body

Vitamins and mineral supplements are a good way to supply your body with nutrients that you might not be getting from your diet. Go down any vitamin aisle in a drugstore, market, or health food store. The first thing you will see is all the 'natural' supplements and vitamin complex tablets that all claim to provide all kinds of benefits. There are supplements that claim to help you lose weight without exercise. Does it sound too good to be true? It is. You have to burn more calories than you consume and exercise will help you accomplish that but I digress. If you are considering adding supplements to your diet have a discussion with your doctor will help to determine whether or not adding supplements would be beneficial for you or not.

Are vitamins necessary for optimum health? Most people, if they eat a healthy diet, do not need them. Most vitamins are fine and are not harmful. If someone does not eat a healthy diet or because of illness has a limited diet a vitamin supplement could be very helpful. Fruits and vegetables have important vitamins in them and should not be eliminated from a diet unless a doctor orders it. In this case a supplement would almost be necessary. Your body needs vitamins to keep it functioning.

Most people think that vitamins are a source of energy that is not the case. Vitamins help regulate the body's metabolism. Vitamins also help the food we eat to release its energy. It's the food that when absorbed and broken down into the nutrients the body can use that provides our body with energy. The body more easily absorbs calcium if you are also taking Vitamin D. Most calcium supplements are already fortified with vitamin D. There are thirteen vitamins that are all important to achieve optimum health. Vitamins E & C contain antioxidants. Antioxidants help to release free radicals, which are high-energy particles. These high-energy particles damage healthy blood cells. Studies are now coming out that indicate that the consumption of vitamins and supplements may aid in fighting cancer and preventing other chronic diseases. The research is by no means conclusive in this regard. Studies continue to be conducted in an effort to provide us with the ultimate health.

There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. An excess amount of vitamins in your system could cause bleeding, negative interactions with some prescription medications.

Listed below are some vitamins and how overdoses can affect you.

Vitamin A - Too much vitamin A can cause neurological problems

Vitamin D - Too much vitamin D disrupts the balance of calcium in the body that can lead to calcium deposits in the soft tissues of the body.

Vitamin C - Too much vitamin C can lessen the effectiveness of other medications.

Vitamin E - Too much vitamin E can cause blood not to clot and can cause other bleeding issues.

Vitamins are just one tool among many that are available to us to help us get healthy and remain healthy. Vitamins alone will not do this. A healthy diet, exercise, and regular health checkups will do this.

No one knows better than I do how important it is to eat properly and take care of my body. Also, like many others I have a tendency to be drawn to the junk food much to my own detriment. You don't have to be an Olympic athlete to get some exercise in. I also take vitamins and other supplements to help my body work better.

There are a variety of opinions about vitamins, supplements, and healthy eating. Vitamins are generally ok unless they are fortified with iron. The effectiveness of vitamins with iron is often hotly debated. Too much iron can cause iron overload and it doesn't get 'washed' out of the blood as efficiently if at all. There is a disease called Hemochromatosis, which is fatal, as it attacks liver function. It can be controlled and there must be liver function tests done among other things. The controversy continues to reign.

You have complete control in this area. Do your research; there are a great number of websites that provides information on supplements and how they work. You should sit down with your physician and discuss your options. S/he may suggest you meet with a nutrition specialist as well. Get smart and be healthy. A little knowledge is a very good thing and in the case of vitamins the more you know how they work and how they could be harmful, the safer and healthier you will be. Trust your instincts, know your body, and get help if you need it. Good eating, good exercise plenty of water and common sense will help you to meet your goal of good health.

About the Author
Martin Smith is a successful freelance writer providing advice for consumers on purchasing a variety of products which includes Vitamin C and Herbal Supplements, and more! His numerous articles provide a wonderfully researched resource of interesting and relevant information.

The Three Phases of The South Beach Diet

The South Beach Diet continues to affect the lives of many dieters today. And in contrast to what most of the people often think of the diet, the South Beach diet, is neither a low-carb diet nor a low-fat diet. It is interesting to know that the South Beach diet has the main purpose of teaching people, particularly dieters, to rely on the right carbohydrates and the right fats. The purpose of the is to enable people to live quite happily without the bad carbohydrates and bad fats.

In the South Beach diet, important points are considered for making it perfect. So with that in mind, the South Beach diet is divided into three phases: the banishing your cravings; reintroducing carbohydrates; and a diet for life.

In the first phase of the South Beach diet entitled ?Banishing Your Cravings? actually takes about two weeks. During this phase of the South Beach diet, you are only allowed to eat normal size helpings of meat, chicken, turkey, fish, and shellfish. Also in this phase of the South Beach diet, the dieter is encouraged to eat plenty of vegetables, eggs, cheese, and nuts. Aside from that, they can also include salads with real olive oil in the dressing. It is indeed important to note that in this phase of the South Beach diet, the dieter has three balanced meals per day, and this will help them to banish their cravings.

During the first phase of the South Beach diet, the dieter will be urged to have snacks in the mid-morning and mid-afternoon, whether they want it or not. Also there should be dessert after dinner. The dieter is encouraged to drink water, plus coffee or tea if he or she wishes.

During the second phase of the South Beach diet what was excluded during the first phase is now permitted in this second phase of the South Beach diet. With this in mind, the second phase of the diet South Beach is called ?Reintroducing Carbs?. The dieters should remain in phase two to continue losing weight until their goal is reached. How long it takes depends largely on how much they need to lose.

And the third phase of the South Beach diet which is then termed ?A Diet for Life? is actually the last phase that continues for the rest of the dieter?s life. When the dieter gets to this point of the South Beach diet, he or she will notice that the South Beach diet plan feels less like a diet and more like a way of life. You can in fact forget the South Beach diet as long as you remember to live by its few fundamental rules.

Find out more about the South Beach Diet and other popular diet programs at http://www.a1-comparediets.com You will find lots of useful diet and fitness tips and get in great shape.

Herpes Simplex Virus

Herpes is a viral disease that mostly affects the mouth and the genital areas. The Herpes Virus is known as the Herpes Simples Virus. It has two strains- HSV-1 and HSV-2. HSV-1 is responsible for oral Herpes and HSV-2 causes genital herpes.

HSV-1 virus is associated with infection on or in the mouth. The symptoms include lesions or sores on the lips and mouth. Other symptoms include swollen gums and also flu-like symptoms including high fever. Since gums and the mouth are infected, the affected persons find difficulty in eating. Also, in most cases the tongue may develop a white coating.

HSV-1 is widely prevalent amongst children. The symptoms of this disease are not easily identifiable. People usually don?t associate blisters or sores with Herpes. As a result, they are not even aware that they are suffering from the disease. So, infected children, when they interact with other children, either in school or while playing, unintentionally spread the disease because the virus spreads through physical contact.

The HSV-2 Virus is responsible for causing genital herpes. The symptoms of this disease are blisters that appear around the genital areas. These blisters break and cause sores, which in turn contain the HSV-2 strain. These sores release the virus causing genital herpes.

Genital Herpes can be very painful and dangerous if the person is an expectant mother. In the case of a primary attack, chances of passing the virus to the unborn infant are high. If this happens, it can prove fatal for the baby. But this risk is less if the attack is secondary, because in that case the mother?s immune system has usually built up the defense to deal with the virus.

The first attack is called the primary episode. After this episode subsides, the virus remains dormant in the nearby nerves, and periodically remerges to cause further attacks. With proper precaution and treatment, the frequency and the severity of the attacks decrease because the immune system gradually builds up the anti-bodies to counteract the disease.

Herpes provides detailed information about herpes, herpes symptoms and more. Herpes is affiliated with Impotence Treatments.

Muscle Pain Relief and Your First Massage

One of the best ways to treat both acute and chronic soft tissue injuries is a hands-on approach that works to repair the injured tissues. Some examples are joint and soft tissue manipulation and mobilization, typically performed by a doctor of chiropractic or osteopath. Other good options are massage and physical therapy.

Are you a little nervous about having a massage? You're not alone. Many people are concerned about what happens during a massage. Questions like, Will I have to undress? Do I have to talk? What if I feel uncomfortable? and other questions are common. Here are some answers and suggestions for making your massage a wonderful experience:

What Will I Be Asked?

The massage therapist is likely to ask you about your health; what problems you are looking to treat as well as any conditions that may make certain techniques unsuitable or even unsafe.

Along with health related questions you will also be asked about your preference for comfort. The massage should not make you feel over exposed or uncomfortable. Your massage therapist may also ask you about your preference for scented oils or other options. If the therapist doesn't ask, bring up the subject yourself. A great combination of oils to use in massage is cajeput or lavender, and tea tree oil. If lavender is too flowery smelling for your taste, try cajeput. These oils will soothe any skin irritations or inflammations, and also penetrate and desensitize irritated nerve endings, therefore helping to ease pain.

While questioning you about your health the massage therapist should also explain the procedure he or she will be using. They should ask you about your sensitivity to determine how deep the massage should be. If you are treating a sore area you may find the massage slightly uncomfortable but otherwise you should not feel pain or discomfort during the massage.

Will I Have To Undress?

Exposing the area of your body that is being treated will help the therapist to work more efficiently, however, it is not mandatory to undress. While it is preferable to drape the areas not requiring exposure with a sheet it is possible for the therapist to work on you while you are fully dressed. If you do not feel comfortable without clothing be sure to opt for clothing that is not tight or restrictive as it will interfere with the treatment.

Your massage therapist will give you privacy to undress and provide you sheet or towel to drape over you, both for warmth and privacy. Only the areas worked on will be exposed.

What Will I Have To Do?

For a typical Swedish massage you will be asked to lie down on a special massage table. This padded table may also have various bolsters to make your position more comfortable. The therapist may ask you to move into a new position for better accessibility to the treated area.

If you are uncomfortable at any time you should tell your massage therapist so you can shift your position or use bolsters to make your position more comfortable.

What Will The Massage Therapist Do?

Depending on where the massage is being performed and the amount of time available the therapist may dim the lights, play soft music and even light candles.

Oil is often applied to reduce the friction of the massage and you may be asked for your preference of scent. The massage therapist should help you remove the oil before putting your clothes back on so they do not stain.

If you prefer not to talk during your massage you should mention that to the therapist. They will still need to ask you to shift from time to time or ask if the procedure is comfortable but you do not have to converse if you prefer not to.

A good massage therapist should make you feel comfortable enough to ask any questions you have about the procedure and respect your privacy and level of comfort while treating you. Ask for recommendations and meet with the therapist to discuss their methods before booking your appointment.

Kathryn Beach shares what she's learned from over 30 years of natural living on her website Healthy Lifestyle. Kathryn teaches about the integration of self-esteem, goal setting, motivation, diet, exercise, herbs and nutritional supplements into a healthy lifestyle.

Aleve Vioxx Celebrex and Bextra: What You Need To Know About Arthritis Pain Medications

Recent controversy about the safety of pain medications for arthritis has left patients and health care professionals alike confused about which medications are safe to use. In fact, a recent survey by the Boston-based Rippe Lifestyle Institute indicated that many people with arthritis are suffering unnecessarily because they have stopped or reduced their use of pain relievers due to confusion about which drugs are considered safe.

The survey also showed that now, more than ever, those with arthritis need to understand the benefits and possible side effects associated with all arthritis pain medications. In order to do so, people with arthritis, their caregivers and families must be familiar with recent news about the two types of drugs most commonly used to treat arthritis pain ? non-selective, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and another group of NSAIDs known as cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) specific inhibitors.

COX-2 specific inhibitors vs. Other NSAIDs

COX-2 specific inhibitors are the newest members of the NSAID class of medications. Available by prescription only, they became widely used in recent years to reduce joint pain and swelling. COX-2 specific inhibitors work by selectively blocking, or inhibiting, one of the two enzymes associated with inflammation. Some experts think that this selective inhibition may be one reason for some of the negative side effects currently associated with COX-2 specific inhibitors.

Non-selective NSAIDs were developed earlier than COX-2 specific inhibitors and have been widely used to relieve arthritis pain and inflammation for many years. Unlike COX-2 specific inhibitors, non-selective NSAIDs inhibit both major enzymes involved in the inflammatory process, COX-1 and COX-2. The non-selective NSAID category includes a number of different medications that are available in both prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) products.

Timeline of Events

To understand the current state of affairs, it is important to understand the sequence of events. The controversy started when a study published in the October 21, 2004, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine cited the COX-2 specific inhibitor, Vioxx as potentially causing ?major adverse events,? including heart attack and stroke, among patients taking the drug. As a result, Merck (the drug?s manufacturer) voluntarily withdrew Vioxx from the market. However, in the months following, the safety of the other available COX-2 specific inhibitors such as Celebrex and Bextra, as well as other arthritis pain medications in the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) class, were also called into question.

Consequently, in February 2005, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) convened a special Advisory Committee, made up of members of the Arthritis and Drug Safety Advisory Committees, to review the cardiovascular safety of these arthritis pain medications.

FDA Directive: Stronger Warning Labels for Some Pain Medications

On April 7, 2005, taking into account the recommendations of the Advisory Committee, the FDA issued the following directives:

?Bextra, a COX-2 specific inhibitor manufactured by Pfizer, was withdrawn from the market.

?All prescription NSAIDs must revise their labeling to include a ?black box? warning that highlights the potential increased risk for cardiovascular (CV) events as well as the potentially life threatening gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding associated with these drugs. Celebrex, the only COX-2 specific inhibitor remaining on the US market, was included in this directive.

?All OTC NSAIDs (except aspirin) will be required to revise their labeling to include more specific information about the potential for GI and CV side effects, a stronger reminder to follow label instructions, as well as a warning about potential skin reactions.

To further evaluate the potential for increased CV risk, the FDA also announced that all NSAIDs must conduct and submit to the FDA a comprehensive review and analysis of pertinent safety data from clinical trials.

?Aleve (naproxen sodium) is supported by clinical studies conducted to gain approval of naproxen as a prescription product and as OTC that do not provide any evidence of increased risk of cardiovascular events.

Treatment Options: What Should Arthritis Patients Know?

For some people who suffer from pain associated with arthritis, their symptoms can be managed with exercise, heat/cold therapy, joint protection, assistive devices, weight control, or in some severe cases, surgery. For others, medications are needed to help manage the symptoms associated with arthritis.

When taken as directed OTC medications such as Aleve provide a safe and effective way to treat mild to moderate pain of minor arthritis. If patients have questions, they should consult their health care professional about which treatment option is most appropriate.

Why It?s Important to Treat Arthritis

Arthritis affects approximately 66 million Americans and is the nation?s leading cause of disability. There are over 100 different types of arthritis, and they all have different symptoms that vary in severity from person to person. The most common form of arthritis, osteoarthritis, is characterized by the breakdown of cartilage that causes the bones to rub together, resulting in pain, loss of movements and stiffness. Arthritis is usually a chronic condition.

For more information on Aleve and naproxen, visit the Aleve website at www.aleve.com. For more information on arthritis pain relief, visit www.arthritis.org

Please visit http://www.aleve.com for more information.

How To Get Rid Of Acne: 3 Steps Toward A Fair Complexion

There are many types of acne, but the most common form occurs during the teenage years when young adults experience a dramatic increase in hormone levels. These hormones signal the skin glands to produce more oil. When this oil mixes with dead cells, it can clog pores in the skin and trap bacteria as well. The result is often a raised tissue area characterized by swelling, redness, and pus. These bumps are also known as ?pimples,? the symptom most commonly associated with acne.

Acne can occur anywhere on the face, neck, back, or chest, and severe cases can lead to social alienation, or emotional and physical scars. Although mild acne can not be entirely prevented, you can take three steps to minimize its impact.

Gently Cleanse Your Skin: Each day, gently wash your skin with lukewarm water. Avoid scrubbing your face too hard or washing it too often. Doing so can make your acne worse. Also avoid using skin and hair care products that contain excess oil. Instead, use water-based skin care soaps that gently cleanse your skin, such as Neutrogena or Dove.

Apply Topical Ointments: At least once daily, but no more than three times a day, apply a nonprescription topical ointment to problematic areas. One of the best products is Clearasil because it contains both benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid. Benzoyl peroxide works to unplug clogged pores, while salicylic acid helps clear up blemishes by causing the top layer of skin to peel. Products that contain tea tree oil (commonly found in gels, creams, and lotions) or alpha-hydroxy acid are also desirable. However, remember that if you use a product too often, your acne can get worse. So confine your applications to less than three times per day unless otherwise directed by a doctor.

Avoid the Following: Make sure to avoid the following acts which can trigger acne flare-ups: overexposure to the sun, the wearing of tight-fitting items that rub against the skin, excess stress, constant touching of the face, working with oils or harsh chemicals, excessive sweating, hair hanging in your face, or the use of hair care products that contain oils. Also avoid squeezing pimples. Squeezing pimples can result in an infection and/or long-term scaring.

While mild acne is annoying, it will eventually pass. Most people will outgrow acne by their early-twenties, so there is reason to be optimistic. Make each of the above steps part of your daily routine, and you should be able to control your acne. However, those with more severe cases of acne should consult a dermatologist.

About the Author

Britt Gillette educates people on the numerous benefits of Himalayan Goji Juice. You can find more articles like this one at The Goji Juice Resource.

High Cholesterol Lowering Your Cholesterol

High cholesterol does not really have any recognizable symptoms until it causes more severe damage like reduced artery blood flow or hardening of the arteries. However, it is important to discover if you have a high cholesterol problem before it begins damaging your system. If you have high cholesterol, it is important to take action to lower it as soon as you can.

You can participate in tests that will tell you if you have high cholesterol or not. These tests assess your total cholesterol levels, including your LDL, or bad cholesterol, your HDL, or good cholesterol, and your triglycerides, which are another type of fat that forms in your blood. If your total cholesterol is higher than 200 mg/dL then you might be on the road to having high cholesterol. However, if your total cholesterol is 240 mg/dL or higher, you have what is considered a high cholesterol rating. If your HDL, or good cholesterol is lower than 40 mg/dL and your total cholesterol is high, this means that you have too much of the bad cholesterol, or LDL, in your system. It is the combination of the two types of cholesterol that determine if your score is low or high.

If you have high cholesterol, you should see your doctor immediately for help with developing a plan to treat your condition. There are many drugs on the market today that are specially formulated for treating high cholesterol, and many of these drugs have proven highly effective.

Need more cholesterol information? Get all the High Cholesterol links and resources you need at http://www.eyeforhealth.com