How does a pimple come up?

When a hair follicle is clogged with extra sebum and dead skin cells, your sensitive skin is prone to develop a blackhead, white head or pimple. Does anyone know if skin is just bad in the first part of pregnancy and then usually improves or do you think it will stay like this for the whole pregnancy. Also does anyone have any good suggestions to treat the problem? Please fill in the online questionnaire for your FREE hair and skin consultation.

Taking care of your facial skin

Cold weather is a common factor in the drying out of facial skin, and the increased use of moisturizers. Some moisturizers are greasy and can cause break-outs. Exfoliation should be used regularly to prevent back acne and to get rid of dead skin cells that appear and gather on the back, buttocks and back of the arms. Sugar scrub should also be used in the shower on a weekly basis. Some other herbal products can also help clear the skin by removing toxins. These herbal therapy products are: bergamot, chamomile, dandelion root, juniper and lavender.

Remember to use unscented water-based cleansers only for you to avoid further irritation of the skin that is affected with back acne. Strong soaps can be abrasive to the skin and can complicate back acne.

The good news is adult acne can be completely controlled with the Clear Skincare Acne treatment program, including the treatment of scars and skin pigmentation. It gently cleanses the skin, removing dirt and excess oil. Added moisturizers prevent excessive dryness.

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Clearpores Skin Cleansing System

This is the problem of the most common skin regardless of the age. It affects about 85% of adolescents. Dry body brushing effectively and gently exfoliates dead skin cells and increases circulation at the same time. Following this treatment a natural moisturizer is then massaged into the body.

Simple Steps to Increase Your Life Expectancy

Go Outside for a Longer Life Expectancy

Life expectancy can be increased with simple steps and changes. This guide will help you find ways to increase your life expectancy and improve your health and feel great as you age. Let's start with the easiest: increase your life expectancy with sunlight.

Life expectancy can be increased simply by going outside. See, what happens when you go outside is that your skin gets exposed to sunlight. That exposure triggers cells in your skin to produce Vitamin D. This vitamin (really a prohormone, but let's not worry about that here) is essential for bone health and is turning out to be important in depression, heart disease, diabetes and just about everything.

Some estimate that 50% of adults have low levels of vitamin D, because we simply don't get outside that much (sitting by a window doesn't count, the glass filters too much of the sunlight). This is a shame, because maintaining vitamin D levels has to be the easiest and cheapest way to improve your health and increase your life expectancy. Getting outside for just 15 minutes a day and exposing your hands and face to sunlight is enough to maintain vitamin D levels in most cases.

If you are concerned about your vitamin D levels, your doctor can order a simple blood test that will tell you if your levels are low. If for some reason you can't get outside enough, there are vitamin D supplements that you can take (but getting outside is a better option, if you can).

Elderly people need to pay special attention to their vitamin D levels. If you are a caregiver, be sure to assist your loved one in getting outside just a little bit every day. Not only will with improve vitamin D levels, but it could also improve sleep because sunlight also regulates another hormone in the body called melatonin that controls your sleep cycle.

Life Expectancy Increased by Hanging Out

Life expectancy can be increased by just hanging out with your friends and family. The more connected someone is, the better their overall health. Having positive relationships with a spouse, friends and family is the best way to be connected.

We are not sure why relati

onships play a role in health and life expectancy. It could be that people in positive relationships are less likely to take on risky behaviors and are more likely to take care of themselves. It could be that having people around you reduces the impact of stress on your health. We can make up lots of theories about why relationships have a positive impact, but the bottom line is that people who are engaged in "meaningful" relationships have better health (and therefore better life expectancies).

One way of improving your relationships with people is to get in the habit of telling good stories. Stories are how we communicate with one another, and telling a good story strengthens communications. I can't count the number of times I've been on the phone with someone and was just talking about the weather or giving a dry update on my family. Instead, I should be telling a story about a funny thing my kids did or something crazy that happened at work. Stories keep relationships alive.

So make more time for friends and family. Go do things together (create stories together), and make a real effort to improve your communication with them (whether by e-mail, phone or in person) by having a good story always ready for the telling.

Exercise

Improve your life expectancy with a commitment to daily exercise. Why daily? Well, after carefully considering all the research and exercise recommendations out there and knowing a bit about how people form habits, I have to conclude that a daily exercise commitment is a great way to improve your life expectancy, your health and your energy level. Here's why:

A study showed that people who exercise vigorously for around 3 hours a week had DNA and cells that were 9 years younger than nonexercisers. Three hours a week is a little more than 30 minutes a day.

Forget the study, though. What I know (from personal experience and from observing others) is that if you go more than 2 days without exercising, you are at a grave danger of quitting your routine. Somehow it is w

ay too easy to slip from three days of nonexercise to three weeks of nonexercise to three months of nonexercise. The easiest way to create an exercise habit is daily repetition. When you promise yourself to exercise daily, you may skip a day but then get back on the program the following day. If you are exercising three times a week and, say, skip Friday, then you would have gone from Wednesday to Monday without exercising - a total of 4 days with no exercise (very dangerous, from a habit-building perspective). For life expectancy, it is more important that you e

xercise year after year than go through fits and starts of intense exercise followed by no exercise.

The other reason I feel that daily exercise is important, is that daily exercise will help

improve your sleep and your energy level. It is important to just rev up your whole body

each day. Remember, daily exercise doesn't have to mean going to the gym every day. Home exercises, such as yoga, stretching, free weights and more, can be incredibly effective.

Floss Daily for a Longer Life Expectancy

The fact that flossing daily can extend life expectancy falls in the weird-but-true category. In fact, floss does two things: it prevents gum disease (that's rather obvious), and it prevents heart disease (not so obvious). Preventing both of these together is what adds years to your life. Here's how flossing imp roves life expectancy:

When you floss, you help prevent your g

ums from becoming inflamed. That's a good thing. What is happening when your gums are inflamed is

that you have a chronic bacterial infection in your mouth. This harms your arteries through two mechanisms: the bacteria find their way in to your arteries and hang out (causing plaques), and your body mounts an immune response to the bacteria in your mouth, causing inflammation (which in turn can cause your arteries to narrow). This makes it hard for your heart to do its job and can lead to heart disease.

There is some debate about how many years you can gain with heart disease. Dr. Perls says 1.5 years, while Dr. Roizen says 6 years. Both of these doctors are gerontologists (aging docs) and have popular books on aging and life expectancy (see reviews: Living To 100, RealAge

and You! Staying Young). Who is right? It doesn't matter. Flossing is good for your gums and good for your heart, so we should all just do it.

Of course, this is easier said t

han done. How do you get in to a solid flossing habit? First, you need to make sure you have some floss. There are tons of different kinds of floss (flavored, unflavored, strings, ribbons and on and on). Pick some and give them a try. Next, you have to remember. Put your floss on top of your toothpaste. Har

d to forget that way. Then just do it. You already have a habit of brushing your teeth at least twice daily (right? - please say yes), so just anchor your flossing habit to that.

More Sex for a Longer Life Expectancy

Your life expectancy may be increased through having more sex. In fact, in one study, men with a high frequency of orgasms showed a 50% redu ction in mortality. This is good news, especially because issues around sex and aging are being taken more and more seriously by the medical community.

Why sex should be linked to life expectancy is something of a mystery. Of course, it could be that healthier people are more likely to have more sex and that the findings linking sex to life expectancy are reflecting this, but I think there is more

to it. We have seen elsewhere that having good relationships and being positive are linked to longer life expectancies. Maybe sex is a market for good, positive relationships. Of course, there could be a direct health benefit as well:

sex triggers all sorts of endorphins and hormones in the body. Maybe these help with healthy aging and increasing life expectancy.

But who really cares about the reason? The simple fact is that having more sex is healthy. Here's a few links to help deal with any age-related sex problems that may come up:

Sex Tips for the Older Woman - Sex Tips for the Older Man

Be Like A Vegetarian for Your Life Expectancy

Life expectancy c an be linked to three factors that vegetarians excel at: fewer bad fats, more antioxidants and lower weight. Before we go in to how being a vegetarian can help your life expectancy, though, we have to define what we mean by vegetarian.

There are some vegetarians who are "junk food vegetarians." These types of vegetarians eat cheese pizzas and ice cream all day long. That is not good for health or life expectancy. What we mean is the person who is eating lots of vegetables prepared in healthy fats (such as olive oil) while limiting animal products, such as cheese and cream. We'll call this type

of vegetarian a

"whole foods vegetarian."

• The leading cause of death and the number one shortener of life expectancy in the U.S. is heart disease. As your heart ages, there can be a build of gunk in your arteries and your arteries themselves can become harder (see heart aging for more information). This causes your blood pressure to rise and your he art to work harder, leaving you at risk for heart disease. Vegetarians (whole foods vegetarians) have some of the best arteries around because eating healthy vegetables avoids bad fats and other unhealthy foods.
• People who eat lots of vegetables take in lots of antioxidants. Antioxidants help your body repair some of the damage caused by aging. The more plants you eat (and the greater variety) the more raw materials your bod has to make repairs. Read more on antioxidants and their evil counterpart, free radicals.
• Finally, vegetables simply fill you up with very few calories (if prepared without creams, butter or cheese). A healthy vegetarian diet should help maintain or lose weight. A healthy weight is tied to a longer life expectancy.

So be more like a vegetarian to increase your life expectancy and live healthier.

Distress for a Longer Life Expectancy

Stress has been linked to dozens of health conditions, including the "big ones," such as heart disease or cancer. Stress has also been linked (no surprise) to feeling irritable and not sleeping well. By focusing on stress, you can improve your quality of life right now while improving your long-term health and life expectancy too. That's a pretty good deal.

You can distress through a wide range of stress factors.These behaviors includes comfort of eating & smoking.Learn to relax through distressing techniques or meditation to keep your life expectancy up where it should be.

My other more long-term stress reduction techniques. My personal favorite is called the "relaxation response." This is a scientifically proven breathing technique that will help train your body how to responsed to the stressful events in your life.

Another effective relaxation technique is meditation. By learning how to meditate, you not only calm your body, but you begin to train your mind. This is great for mental fitness, concentration and (of course) relaxation.

Extend Your Life Expectancy Through Screenings and Tests

Improving your life expectancy through medical tests and health screenings is certainly not one of the "fun ways to live longer," but it is, without a doubt, one of the most effective ways to add healthy years on to your life. Medical tests and screenings can help treat diseases early, when they are more treatable, and extend life expectancy even with an illness or disease.

Of course, the challenge is figuring out what tests to take when. Only your doctor can really tell you 100% (every individual is different in terms of risk factors and family history), but we can check out so

me general guidelines for health screenings (see Health Screenings for Women or Health Screenings for Men).

I like to think of health screenings as part of a disease prevention program. Preventing diseases (or catching them early) is probably the single best way to add years to your life expectancy. Make a plan today to prevent disease, get everything checked and feel good that you are doing everything you can for a longer life expectancy.

Turn Off Your TV for a Longer Life Expectancy

If life expectancy and television watching aren't linked, I'd be shocked. Of course, I can't prove that TV and life expectancy are linked (no one has done a study comparing the life expectancy of TV-watchers and non-watchers, probably because they can't find enough non-watch ers for a good study). I really do think that cutting back on television watching would improve most people's health and (therefore) increase their life expectancy. Here's a couple of reasons:

• Watching TV makes you inactive. You just sit there burning as few calories as possible, which could lead to weight problems.
• TV makes you eat more junk food. People who are watching TV eat more than those who don't. It's a fact.
• TV makes you antisocial. You are at home, zoned in, instead of talking with real people, face-to-face.
• TV is stressful. The news and many shows are filled with stressful stories. Avoid these, and you may feel things are not so bad after all.
• TV keeps you from doing other things. This is the big one for me. The average person watches something like four hours of TV every day. That is 28 hours a week or more than 1,400 hours a year. If we all just put that time in to something else (exercise, volunteering, talkin g with our children), think of what a different world it would be.

Of course, I can't tell you how many years of life you will gain if you quit watching TV (it depends on your weight and what you do with the extra time), but I can tell you that you will gain back around 1,400 hours each year (on average).

Avoiding Risks Increases Life Expectancy

Life expectancy can be protected by making sure that you don't take any unnecessary risks. For young people, the biggest causes of death aren't diseases or age-related problems. The biggest causes of death for young people are accidents, injuries and violence. When you add certain behaviors (such as smoking) to that list (which shortens life expectancy by up to 14 years), you get a list of things to avoid to protect your life expectancy.

Here's the list (I know, it sounds like nagging, but do these things anyway): wear your seat belt, drive defensively, avoid situations that may lead to injury, avoid risky sex, avoid violent situations, don't smoke (or quit smoking if you do smoke) and maintain a healthy weight.

If you can do those things, then you are already increasing your life expectancy. Focus on avoiding obvious risks and dangers. Your body is pretty amazing and will keep going for a long time as long as you keep it out of trouble.

"Facts About Bananas"

" BaNaNaS "

We learn something new everyday......pretty interesting.
After reading this, you'll never look at a banana in the same way again.

Bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and
substantial boost of energy.Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes.

But energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

Depression: According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

PMS: Forget the pills - eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

Anemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

Constipation: High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal b owel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milk shake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.

Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at wor k leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and crisps. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady

Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a "cooling" fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand , for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan. Smoking &Tobacco Use: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking.

The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.

Strokes: According to research in The New England Journal of Medicine, eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!

Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape!

So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, "A banana a day keeps the doctor away!"

PS: Bananas must be the reason monkeys are so happy all the time! I will add one here; want a quick shine on our shoes? Take the INSIDE of the banana skin, and rub directly on the shoe...polish with dry cloth. Amazing fruit!

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Sleep Disorder Treatments

Sleep disorder treatments help reduce symptoms associated with many types of sleep disorders.

Physicians generally prefer to use the least invasive treatment method possible. Simple lifestyle changes alone are often enough to significantly reduce or eliminate sleep disorder symptoms.
In some cases, a physician may recommend additional treatment methods for patients with sleep disorders. These may include:



Medications. A variety of medications may be used to treat sleep disorders. They may include over-the-counter or prescription formulations.

Relaxation therapies. Various techniques are available that can help patients to experience a greater sense of relaxation (e.g., meditation), which may improve sleep.

Psychotherapy and cognitive behavior therapy. These forms of therapy may lessen a patient’s stress and anxiety, and reduce symptoms of sleep disorders.
Breathing devices. Patients with sleep apnea may require a form of mechanical breathing aid known as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP).

Surgery. Surgery to remove excess throat tissue may sometimes relieve symptoms associated with sleep apnea.

Lifestyle changes are particularly helpful in treating sleep disorders, especially insomnia. Such changes may include losing weight, engaging in regular exercise and avoiding substances that inhibit or disrupt sleep (e.g., caffeine, alcohol).

Establishing a consistent and relaxing bedtime routine can also help alleviate sleep disorder symptoms.

Topics of additional interest may include:sleep disorders.

About sleep disorder treatments

Sleep disorder treatments are therapies to help reduce symptoms associated with sleep disorders. Recommended treatments may vary, depending on the type and severity of disorder that is present. In most cases, physicians prefer the least invasive treatment possible.

Simple lifestyle changes alone may be enough to significantly reduce or eliminate symptoms.

These changes may include losing weight if a patient is overweight and avoiding consumption of alcohol and caffeine. Because alcohol acts as a sedative, people may use it to help them fall asleep. However, alcohol disrupts sleep patterns and inhibits the amount of deep, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep that occurs. This keeps people from obtaining adequate amounts of sleep

In some cases, a physician may recommend the use of certain prescription or over-the-counter medications to treat sleep disorders. This may include:

Tranquilizers or certain drugs that treat Parkinson’s disease. These may be used to treat severe forms of restless leg syndrome (sensations felt in the legs when at rest) and periodic limb movement disorder.

Stimulant medications may help prevent episodes of sudden sleep in patients with narcolepsy.
Antidepressants are often effective in alleviating cataplexy (the sudden loss of muscle control during intense emotions), which often occurs with narcolepsy.

Benzodiazepines are sometimes used to treat patients with insomnia that does not respond to lifestyle changes. However, because of potential side-effects, benzodiazepines should usually only be used for brief periods of time.

Non-benzodiazepine sedative hypnotics may be used to treat patients with chronic insomnia.
Additional sleep disorder treatments may include:

Breathing devices. Patients with sleep apnea may require a form of mechanical breathing aid known as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). Patients wear this special mask over their nose and mouth to help prevent cessation of breathing during sleep. In cases of mild sleep apnea, patients may merely require a dental device that is worn in the mouth and that keeps the jaw forward to help facilitate breathing during sleep.

Relaxation therapies. Specific formal techniques may help patients relax, which can improve sleep. These methods include progressive muscle relaxation, meditation, imagery training, biofeedback and hypnosis. Patients can usually learn these techniques over a series of weeks.
Psychotherapy. Also known as talk therapy or counseling, psychotherapy may help alleviate stress and anxiety and improve sleep patterns.

Cognitive behavior therapy is sometimes useful in treating sleep disorders such as insomnia.
Surgery. Surgery to remove excess throat tissue or enlarged tonsils and adenoids (e.g., tonsillectomy) can sometimes relieve symptoms of sleep apnea.

This type of surgery helps to remove any physical cause of airway blockage.In some cases, treating certain existing medical conditions may help relieve sleep disorder symptoms. For example, treating an iron deficiency may help relieve the symptoms of restless leg syndrome.

Lifestyle changes as a sleep disorder treatment

In many cases, patients can make personal lifestyle changes that often help to reduce sleep disorder symptoms. Lifestyle changes are particularly helpful in treating insomnia. About 85 percent of people with insomnia will see an improvement in their condition after making lifestyle changes, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Making changes to one’s lifestyle may help alleviate symptoms of most types of sleep disorders. In some cases, specific changes may be recommended for specific disorders. For example:
Losing weight and avoiding alcohol or other sedatives before sleep may relieve symptoms associated with mild cases of sleep apnea.

Warm baths and stretching exercises may help relax muscles and prevent symptoms of restless leg syndrome (sensations felt in the legs when at rest) and periodic limb movement disorder, which conditions may disrupt sleep.

Eating lighter meals (such as vegetarian foods) during the day may help patients with narcolepsy stave off episodes of sudden sleep. This is because less of the body’s energy is required during digestion of a light meal.

Monitoring which foods and beverages are consumed is an important component of treating sleep disorder symptoms.

Alcohol and caffeine should be avoided for at least four to six hours prior to bedtime. The effect of these substances on a person’s ability to sleep varies dramatically from person to person, but both can inhibit sleep. Alcohol may initially have a sedative effect on the body, but it tends to promote restlessness during the second half of the sleep cycle. Caffeine is a stimulant that keeps people alert.

Nicotine is another stimulant that may impair a person’s sleep and should be avoided, particularly just prior to bedtime. In addition, certain foods (e.g., acidic and spicy foods) that cause heartburn should be avoided. Heartburn may worsen when a person lies down, potentially disrupting sleep. Drinking too many liquids before bedtime should be avoided because it makes a person more likely to awaken during the night.

Additional lifestyle tips that may improve sleep include:

Establish a consistent and relaxing bedtime routine. Waking up and going to bed at the same time on a consistent basis is often crucial to relieving symptoms for a wide variety of sleep disorders, including circadian rhythm sleep disorders. People are encouraged to engage in a relaxing activity for a half-hour prior to bedtime. This can include reading, listening to soft music, meditating or engaging in any activity that promotes relaxation. It also is important to avoid exercise or eating large meals within two hours of bedtime, and not to nap after 3 p.m.
Exercise regularly for 20 to 30 minutes a day. Remaining active helps facilitate sleep so long as the activity is not performed too close to bedtime. It is best to work out in the afternoon when possible, as some research indicates that afternoon exercise promotes deep sleep.

Maintain a dark, cool and quiet environment for sleeping. The ideal climate for sleep varies from person to person. However, it is generally true that cooler climates with low humidity promote sleep for most people. It also important to make sure that a person’s mattress and pillows are not worn out and that they offer proper back and neck support to the sleeper.

Take warm baths before bed. Some studies have found that people who take warm baths before bed tend to fall asleep more easily. Some experts believe this is due to the muscle-relaxing effects of the bath. Others suggest that the warm bath elevates the body temperature, which then cools when the person steps out of the bath. As the body temperature cools, it may signal that the time is right for sleep.

Use the bed only for sleeping. Some people read, watch television or even eat in bed. During all of these activities, the body receives signals to stay alert. As a result, the brain can begin to associate the bed with activities other than sleeping. For this reason, it is important for people to use the bed only for sleeping and sexual activity.

Do not lie awake in bed for more than 20 consecutive minutes. If sleep is elusive after 20 minutes of lying down in bed, people with sleep disorders should get out of bed and engage in quiet, restful activity (e.g., reading, meditation) for a period of time before returning to bed.

Increase exposure to light during waking hours. Sunlight is the strongest influence on regulating a person’s biological clock, which helps regulate the sleep-wake cycle. Research indicates that light therapy, which uses special lamps to increase light exposure, administered during the evening helps people to sleep later into the morning.

Maintain a sleep diary. A sleep diary can help to provide information to both a patient and physician. Patients can keep track of their sleeping patterns over time, as well as the influence of various lifestyle factors (e.g., consumption of caffeine or alcohol) on the amount or quality of their sleep.

7 Ways to Hurt Yourself at the Gym

The gym offers so much variety when it comes to exercise, it's tempting to jump in and try it all. But, there are some common mistakes exercisers make that may end up hurting more than helping.

Learn how to avoid injury and get the most of out your workouts with these simple tips.

1. Doing Too Much Too Soon

If you're getting started with exercise, it's tempting to try to make up for lost time by doing everything at once. After all, you want to see results. The problem? You wake up the next morning and realize you need a crane to get out of bed. Some soreness is normal but if you can't function, you went too far.

Tips for getting started:

Ease into cardio. Start with 3-4 days at a light-medium intensity until you get used to the workouts.

Keep it simple. Even if you used to lift weights, your body needs time to adapt. Start with
8-10 exercises and do 1 set of 10-12 reps for the first week or so.

Rest. If you feel sore, give yourself extra recovery days. You may need a few weeks of consistent exercise to build a strong foundation.

2. Holding Onto the Treadmill for Dear Life
Beginners may need to hold onto the rails at first, but be careful: You risk injuring yourself. Holding on puts your body in an unnatural position that could strain the shoulders. It can also affect posture and reduce the calories burned.

If it's a habit, wean yourself off by taking your hands off every other minute, increasing that time each week.

If you're holding on so you don't fall off, slow down. Going too fast defeats the purpose.
If you feel shaky, try taking one hand away and once that feels comfortable, take the other hand away as well.

Keep in mind that it's not just the treadmill. Avoiding the rails on any machine will help you improve balance, burn more calories and move in a more natural way.

3. Using Bad Form
Using bad form doesn't just compromise your workouts, it also puts your body at risk, possibly leading to pain or injuries. Bad form comes in many shapes and sizes, but a few common mistakes:

Straining the knees. When doing squats or lunges, keep the knees behind the toes. Pushing the knees forward puts pressure on the joints and could cause injury. To avoid this, learn proper form for squats and lunges or work with a professional.

Rounding the back. When bending over for an exercise, such as dumbbell rows, keep the back flat or slightly arched to protect the back from injury. To make it easier, bend the knees or raise up until you can keep the back flat.

In general, good form ensures you're getting the most out of each exercise.

4. Lifting Too Heavy
It can be tough choosing the right weights so if you don't have a spotter nearby, it's better to go too light than too heavy. Lifting weights that are too heavy can lead to:
Strained or torn muscles

Losing control of the weight and dropping it

Swinging the weight to complete the exercise, which reduces the effectiveness of the exercise and could lead to injury

Using bad form to get the weights up, which could put your back, shoulders or knees at risk for injury

Learn more about safe weightlifting techniques and how to choose weights.

5. Bouncing When You Stretch
There are different ways to stretch the body. The most common is static stretching, which involes holding stretches for a period of time to increase flexibility. But, one thing you want to avoid is bouncing while you stretch.

When you bounce, you force the muscles beyond their normal range of motion, which can lead to strained muscles or tendons. This is especially true when the muscles are cold and less pliable.

To avoid injury:

Warm up before you stretch or save the stretches for after your workout

Ease into the stretch, only going as far as your flexibility allows. Stretching should never cause pain.

Make stretching a regular part of your routine to maintain flexibility
More about flexibility and stretching.

6. Doing the Same Thing Over and Over

If you've been doing the same routine for months or years, you're putting stress on the same muscles, joints and connective tissue every time you exercise. This could lead to an overuse injury as well as burnout and boredom. Some common overuse injuries include tendonitis, shin splints and stress fractures.

To avoid overuse injuries:

Try cross-training. Try activities that use different muscles and movements. For example, If you run, try something low or no impact like swimming.

Change your routine. Shake things up by changing your workout schedule, trying new moves or changing your method of training.

Work with a trainer. A pro can show you different ways to strengthen and stretch the body to help protect it from injury.

7. Skipping Your Warm Up

If you're short on time, you may be tempted to skip the warm up and jump right into your workout. But the warm up is one of the most important parts of your exercise routine.



By easing into exercise with light movement, you can gradually raise your heart rate, increase oxygen to the body and increase blood flow to the muscles.

Not only will that make the transition to exercise more comfortable, it also prevents injuries by increasing the elasticity of the muscles.

Always allow an extra 5-10 minutes before the workout and warm up with a little light cardio.

"Agassi;A Tennis Pro Or A Woman Pro?"

"Always Wanted To Learn How To Play Tennis But Don't Know Where To Start?"

Do you feel that you are stuck or maybe even going the wrong direction? The biggest danger for a beginning tennis player is learning a stroke the wrong way.

Once the body learns a movement pattern, it's hard to unlearn it. Erasing muscle memory, by replacing it with a new correct movement, is a frustrating and painstaking process.

And the hardest things to unlearn are those we learn as a raw beginner. Flaws you acquire at this stage are deeply ingrained. They can dog you forever, making you miss shots you shouldn't miss.

Don't let this happen to you... Get on the right track now, as a beginner, and you'll soon enjoy your tennis game with great looking strokes and the ability to hit them consistently, time after time, with accuracy and power.

Fitness at the Village: Rock Your Workout

6 Summer Shape Up Essentials

From the gym floor to the dance floor, summer puts us in the mood to party—and flaunt the results of our fitness efforts. So this month, we're making you a rock star, baby, with personal attention from Heidi Klum's trainer, sexy shoes that sculpt your legs and a country crooner as your running buddy. Pump it up!

Hypnotize Those Hips

You are getting sleepy...now MOVE IT! Download a motivating MP3 session on Performance Hypnotherapy. They are designed by a certified hypnotherapist and claim to fire up your fitness efforts from deep within your subconscious. Download sessions like "Get Back to the Gym" and "Weight Loss Motivation" for $12.95 ($19.95 for a CD).

Sweat Like a Star

Want Heidi Klum's body? Steal her personal trainer—and pop him into your DVD player! David Kirsch's Ultimate New York Body Plan will help you slim and sculpt your way to a flamin' physique. And though we all would love a body like Madonna, we'd also settle for just stealing her moves. Try her choreographer Jamie King's Rock Your Body workout, which hustles you through hip-hop moves to get your heart pumping.

If the Shoe Fits...

Supercharge your stroll (and fight cellulite, to boot) with a pair of FitFlops or Chung Shi shoes, which work the leg muscles for serious summer toning. Check out the chic FitFlop Gladiator—the latest must-have for celebs—designed in tandem with Manhattan's chic Kirna Zabete boutique.

She's Gone Country

Amp up speed and stamina by running with a buddy, preferably a hottie with a great pair of lungs. Country rocker and runner Jack Ingram powers you through a four-mile training run in Nike's Endurance Express podcast. "It's great music with the perfect rhythms and pacing for a run," says Andrea Metcalf, host of Fit Today.

Drumroll, Please!

Love Rock Band? Keep the groove going with the new Drums Alive aerobic toning workout; you'll bang and bounce off major calories on the stability ball.

"Be Happy & Look Young"

How to Stay Young & Happy Always:

1. Throw out non-essential numbers.This includes age, weight, and height.

Let the doctors worry about them.. That is why you pay them.

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down. (Keep this in mind if you are one of those grouches!)


3. Keep learning: Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain get idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.' And the devil's name is Alzheimer's!

4. Enjoy the simple things

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath. And if you have a friend who makes you laugh, spend lots and lots of time with him (?) or her!

6. The tears happen: Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life, is ourself. LIVE while you are alive.


7. Surround yourself with what you love: Whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is 10. Tell the people you love that you love
them, at every opportunity.

"Benefits In Sexual Intercourse"

Top 10 Reasons To Have Sex

1. Sex Relieves Stress

A big health benefit of sex is lower blood pressure and overall stress reduction, according to researchers from Scotland who reported their findings in the journal Biological Psychology. They studied 24 women and 22 men who kept records of their sexual activity. Then the researchers subjected them to stressful situations — such as speaking in public and doing verbal arithmetic — and noted their blood pressure response to stress.

Those who had intercourse had better responses to stress than those who engaged in other sexual behaviors or abstained.

Another study published in the same journal found that frequent intercourse was associated with lower diastolic blood pressure in cohabiting participants. Yet other research found a link between partner hugs and lower blood pressure in women.

2. Sex Boosts Immunity

Good sexual health may mean better physical health. Having sex once or twice a week has been linked with higher levels of an antibody called immunoglobulin A or IgA, which can protect you from getting colds and other infections. Scientists at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., took samples of saliva, which contain IgA, from 112 college students who reported the frequency of sex they had.

Those in the “frequent” group — once or twice a week — had higher levels of IgA than those in the other three groups — who reported being abstinent, having sex less than once a week, or having it very often, three or more times weekly.

3. Sex Burns Calories

Thirty minutes of sex burns 85 calories or more. It may not sound like much, but it adds up: 42 half-hour sessions will burn 3,570 calories, more than enough to lose a pound. Doubling up, you could drop that pound in 21 hour-long sessions.

“Sex is a great mode of exercise,” says Patti Britton, PhD, a Los Angeles sexologist and president of the American Association of Sexuality Educators and Therapists. It takes work, from both a physical and psychological perspective, to do it well, she says.

4. Sex Improves Cardiovascular Health

While some older folks may worry that the efforts expended during sex could cause a stroke, that’s not so, according to researchers from England. In a study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, scientists found frequency of sex was not associated with stroke in the 914 men they followed for 20 years.

And the heart health benefits of sex don’t end there. The researchers also found that having sex twice or more a week reduced the risk of fatal heart attack by half for the men, compared with those who had sex less than once a month.

5. Sex Boosts Self-Esteem

Boosting self-esteem was one of 237 reasons people have sex, collected by University of Texas researchers and published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior.

That finding makes sense to Gina Ogden, PhD, a sex therapist and marriage and family therapist in Cambridge, Mass., although she finds that those who already have self-esteem say they sometimes have sex to feel even better. “One of the reasons people say they have sex is to feel good about themselves,” she tells WebMD. “Great sex begins with self-esteem, and it raises it. If the sex is loving, connected, and what you want, it raises it.”

6. Sex Improves Intimacy

Having sex and orgasms increases levels of the hormone oxytocin, the so-called love hormone, which helps us bond and build trust. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and the University of North Carolina evaluated 59 premenopausal women before and after warm contact with their husbands and partners ending with hugs. Tey found that the more contact, the higher the oxytocin levels.

“Oxytocin allows us to feel the urge to nurture and to bond,” Britton says.
Higher oxytocin has also been linked with a feeling of generosity. So if you’re feeling suddenly more generous toward your partner than usual, credit the love hormone.

7. Sex Reduces Pain

As the hormone oxytocin surges, endorphins increase, and pain declines. So if your headache, arthritis pain, or PMS symptoms seem to improve after sex, you can thank those higher oxytocin levels.

In a study published in the Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine, 48 volunteers who inhaled oxytocin vapor and then had their fingers pricked lowered their pain threshold by more than half.

8. Sex Reduces Prostate Cancer Risk

Frequent ejaculations, especially in 20-something men, may reduce the risk of prostate cancer later in life, Australian researchers reported in the British Journal of Urology International. When they followed men diagnosed with prostate cancer and those without, they found no association of prostate cancer with the number of sexual partners as the men reached their 30s, 40s, and 50s.

But they found men who had five or more ejaculations weekly while in their 20s reduced their risk of getting prostate cancer later by a third.

Another study, reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that frequent ejaculations, 21 or more a month, were linked to lower prostate cancer risk in older men, as well, compared with less frequent ejaculations of four to seven monthly.

9. Sex Strengthens Pelvic Floor Muscles

For women, doing a few pelvic floor muscle exercises known as Kegels during sex offers a couple of benefits. You will enjoy more pleasure, and you’ll also strengthen the area and help to minimize the risk of incontinence later in life.

To do a basic Kegel exercise, tighten the muscles of your pelvic floor, as if you’re trying to stop the flow of urine. Count to three, then release.

10. Sex Helps You Sleep Better

The oxytocin released during orgasm also promotes sleep, according to research.

And getting enough sleep has been linked with a host of other good things, such as maintaining a healthy weight and blood pressure. Something to think about, especially if you’ve been wondering why your guy can be active one minute and snoring the next.

"Pamper Yourself Once In A While"

25 Ways to Pamper Yourself




I published this list of ideas on how to be good to yourself back in February when I celebrated "Pamper Your Inner Child Day." But I thought it was appropriate to revisit some of these ideas that come from Beliefnet's holistic editor, Valerie Reiss, or to encourage you to make up your own

1. bathe in fragrant water
2. drink water
3. stretch the upper back
4. call a friend
5. go for a walk
6. list three things you love about yourself
7. list three things you love about the world
8. doodle
9. write three pages in a journal
10. knit something easy
11. bake
12. make soup
13. take 10 slow even breaths
14. meditate or pray for 10 minutes
15. make a list of 3 things you're looking forward to
16. make a list of 3 reasons why you are needed here
17. give something to someone
18. call a sick/pregnant/overwhelmed friend and offer help
19. make and drink a cup of tea
20. water the plants
21. read a favorite author
22. look through old photos
23. make a collage
24. buy a new outfit
25. get a haircut

"APPLES"

Appetite Suppressant Foods

An apple a day keeps cravings at bay. High-fiber foods like apples generally require more chewing time, giving your body extra time to register the fact that you're no longer hungry. Therefore, you're less likely to overeat.

One study in Brazil found that women who ate the equivalent of three small apples a day as part of a healthy diet lost significantly more weight than those who didn't eat apples. And apples are also a natural anti-inflammatory.