11. Fitness - Four Important Facts About Fitness

People go nuts when it comes to fitness. But surprisingly, they don't care to get the facts relating to fitness. There are more myths about health and fitness than about any other subject. I want to share with you five facts about fitness that are not so well known.

1. Doing sit-ups won't dissolve your fat
 If this fact makes you sit up in surprise, comfort yourself by knowing that very few people understand what they can and can't achieve by doing sit-ups. The reality is that sit-ups will help you tone your abdominal muscles but won't help you in shedding your excess fat. You need to burn your fat by doing the appropriate exercises.

2. Working hard is not the smartest way to lose fat
When you take up an exercise that demands more energy from you, you will get tired soon. So, you will not be burning enough calories. But if you choose an exercise with a moderate intensity, you will be able to exercise longer and lose more fat. So, remember: how much time you spend in exercising is more important than how intense the exercise is. This can be one o the most important fitness rules.

3. What is the best time to exercise?
If you have heard people saying that morning is the best time to exercise, don't be carried away. Choose the time that is the most convenient for you. Many people use the inability to exercise in the morning as an excuse for not exercising. Morning, afternoon, evening and midnight can all be good for carrying out your fitness program. However, consider the weather. If it is very hot or humid, then you will feel uncomfortable. Otherwise, time makes no difference to the effectiveness of your fitness program.

4. Exercise before or after eating?
If you exercise before eating, you ma face two undesirable consequences. When you exercise on a hungry stomach, you may soon feel tired and may not exercise enough. A more serious consequence can be that fatigued by taking up the fitness program before eating, you are likely to eat more than what you normally do. Thus you may end up with more weight. There is a misconception that you shouldn't exercise after eating. A mild exercise like walking, jogging or cycling a short time after (but not immediately after) eating will help you burn calories and take you closer to your fitness goal.

Fit your fitness programs to your needs, to your capability and convenience. And you will be better off not only in terms of fitness but also in terms of your overall health.

10. Acne Cure – What Works Best?

There are several cures for Acne but they differ in their effectiveness.

Acne is a problem suffered by many people. It will not be an exaggeration to say that every reader of this article will have suffered from this discomfort some time or other. Young and middle aged women may find this problem more severe because women in general are more concerned about their skin. Compared to men, women have a soft and shiny skin. In fact, skin is one of the elements that define the beauty of a woman.

There is a lot of literature on Acne cure both in the printed and web page form. But Acne Cure has generally been so elusive that you may wonder whether there is a real cure for this.

What is the best cure for acne? It is difficult to answer this question not because there is no cure but because it may not be possible to suggest a single remedy that will suit every one affected. Acne is caused by a variety of factors and each cause will require a different treatment. Still there are a few things that will be applicable to anyone suffering from this irritant that has such a great potential for nuisance, embarrassment and discomfiture.

1)      Clean the skin:  Cleansing the skin is very important. But use of chemicals or even soaps may create problems for some people. Cleaning with pure water is the best. If you have to use a soap, use a soap that does not contain any oil because any sticky particle can clog the pores of your skin aggravating the problem.

2)  Be careful about the moisturizer you use: If you have been a using a moisturizer, it can create some problems. The ingredients of the moisturizer can cause you acne. If you want to to use a moisturizer, first study its ingredients and read about the warnings given by the manufacturer. With careful experimentation, you will be able to find one that will suit your skin.

3) Find out what caused the acne and get the cause treated:  If you do this, your acne will be cured. For example, if your acne is caused by allergy, you need to work on eliminating the allergy. Find out the item in your diet that would have caused the allergy. Women use a variety of cosmetics like lotions, creams etc. Some of them might have caused acne. It requires a careful study to spot what causes the allergy and eliminate its use. Once you eliminate the allergy, the acne will be cured. If on the other hand, the acne was caused by some hormone imbalance, you have to address the problem of hormone imbalance. Thus if the acne is the result of a medical condition, the acne cure lies in treating the medical condition, by taking the advice of a physician.

4) Can Acne be cured?: The hard truth is that acne can be cured only if it is caused by a medical condition. In the absence of a medical condition, acne cannot be cured. It can only be controlled.

5) Consult your doctor: It is essential that you consult your doctor before trying any acne cure product. This is especially important if the patient is pregnant or has some health problem. As explained earlier, sometimes the remedy may lead to aggravation of the disease, living up to the description ‘a remedy worse than the disease.’ What cure is the best for an acne is a question that needs a studied not a quick answer.

9. Beauty Makeovers

Beauty makeovers are probably one of the most common events portrayed in televisions.

From commercials to health and beauty tips shows, beauty makeovers is the most popular topic. Why is this so? Just to convince the viewers that it is possible for anyone to change their looks. The idea is to convey the message that there is no duckling that can’t be transformed into a swan. And the whole process is simple, fast, dramatic, fascinating and powerful.

Is this true? Perhaps it is. But to test this, you need to spend money, a lot of money by way of buying some of the most expensive beauty products advertised by them. And if at first you don’t succeed, try the next product that the same company would have come out with by the time your experiment with their previous product came to an end. The new product being more advanced, more sophisticated and of course more expensive, you can expect to get better results from this. Or, so you hope! Else, keep trying till you succeed or till you become too old to try these products!

The secret of beauty makeovers is that you don’t need any makeovers to look beautiful. You can improve your looks by using much simpler methods and  much less expensive natural products  and by spending much less time and energy in trying to acquire better looks  You will also be free from possible side effects from the chemical substances used in these products!

There are innumerable beauty tips to enhance and nourish your natural beauty you can implement from the comfort of your home. You will see quick results by way of improved looks. What more, you will also gain confidence about your appearance and become proud of the way you carry yourself. These beauty secrets are timeless and repeatedly proven to be effective.

These beauty secrets that nurture and enhance your natural beauty are made from natural products. And they come in a variety of Beauty Solutions for a Radiant Face, Glowing Skin, Silky Hair and a Beautiful Body . They are made from widely available natural products. You will be able to use them easily following simple, do-it-yourself steps.

8. Heartburn – Seven Effective Home Remedies

Since heartburn is a malaise affecting a wide section of people, a large number of home remedies have been practiced over the times. Naturally (no pun intended!), not all of them are likely to be effective. Here are some home remedies that have proven to be effective.

1) Baking Soda: This natural antacid often provides quick relief. The suggested dosage is one teaspoon of baking soda dissolved in 8 ounces of water. However, the relief offered may be only temporary. Since dissolving baking soda in water will release carbon dioxide, carbon dioxide causes a fizz, which opens the LES, making you blurp.  Blurping relieves the pressure from bloating. This is what makes you feel the relief. But, unfortunately, opening up the LES can also cause the contents of the stomach to flow into the esophagus, thereby aggravating the condition again.

2) Banana fruit: This is also a natural antacid. Both fresh bananas and dried bananas can give you a long term relief from heartburn.


3) Chamomile Tea: This tea acts by neutralizing stomach acid. People normally drink this to get relief from stress. But it is a great remedy for GERD also. It is also used by people as a stress reliever.

4)  Natural apple cider vinegar: People using this have reported positive results. Apart from taking this as a liquid, you can also consume this in  tablet or capsule form.

5) Fresh ginger: This has been used since long to treat nausea. It is also a very good medicine for heartburn. Ginger can be used in a variety of ways. It is widely used as an additive to food. You can also take it in the raw form. Ginger juice and ginger tea are other popular ways of using this therapeutic substance.

6) Turmeric: This popular spice works against the occurrence of heartburn by stimulating digestion and preventing  acid build up. It can be used in  curried foods or can be taken in capsule form before taking your meals.

7) Aloe Vera Juice: This is the juice prepared from  the Aloe Vera plant and helps in soothing an irritated esophagus.  Please ensure that you use only the juice specifically prepared for internal consumption.

Though the above remedies may not have been scientifically proven to be cures for GERD/heartburn, they have been generally found effective by many people from different parts of the world. Since these are food products, they may not have any harmful effects if taken in small quantities. Choose the one which you find to be suitable for you and giving you long term relief.

7. Colon Cancer

Colon Cancer-  Shocking Facts

Did you know that colon cancer is the third most common cancer

diagnosed in the United States?

The American Cancer Society’s estimates for the number of

Colorectal cancer cases in the United States for 2013 are:

102,480 new cases of colon cancer
40,340 new cases of rectal cancer
Unfortunately, this is a major problem many people are facing.

So, there is a need to have some knowledge and understanding about this.

Colorectal cancer, as the name suggests, affects the colon or the rectum. They are

considered together because they have many common features. However,

treatment for each type is different.

Colorectal cancer originates in the digestive system. Medical jargon will call this

Gastro Intestinal (GI) system. As everyone is aware, the food we eat is processed in

the digestive system, which converts into energy and pushes out the waste.

Understanding the structure and working of the digestive system will help in

understanding Colorectal Cancer better.

Food pulped and softened by chewing moves to the stomach. It is further broken

down and pushed into the small intestine. Though called small because of its

diameter, the small intestine is twenty feet long and it is in fact the longest part of

the digestive system. The food is further broken down in the small intestine, which

also absorbs most of the nutrients before sending the food, or whatever left of it to

the large intestine, also known as large bowel or colon. This is a muscular tube

about 5 feet long.

The colon absorbs water and nutrients. The solid waste is stored here till it moves

to the rectum. The rectum, about 6 inches long, is the final part of the digestive

system. The waste is pushed out of the body from the rectum through the anus.

Knowing how sensitive the colon and rectum are and how important is their role

in maintaining the digestive system, we can understand how severely will

Colorectal cancer affect the body.

6. Should you track your weight loss progress?

When you take up a weight loss program, you will have a long term or medium term goal. Even a short term goal will have a period of about a month or at least a fortnight.

How will you react to a suggestion for tracking your weight loss on a daily basis? Well, you will obviously ask, “Why should I do this?” In other words, you want to know what advantages will tracking your weight loss will give you?

There are several advantages. But I will list just three of them. If these three benefits are good enough, then you will be inclined to take up a program of weight loss tracking.

1)    You will know where you are:
Suppose you follow a weight loss program and after one month you find that you have not made any progress, what will you feel? Will you not feel that you have wasted one month. On the other hand, if you follow a system of tracking yourweight loss through which you can measure your progress every day, you will discover whether the system is working or not much earlier.

2)  Your weight loss program will become more effective:
Whatever program you follow for losing weight, tracking will make the program more effective, not by improving the program but by making you more productive. If you begin to monitor anything, you will assume a kind of seriousness that can only make the program more fruitful.

3) You will become more skilled in setting and achieving goals:
If you can implement a tracking your weight loss program and see some good results, as you are bound to, you will discover that setting goals in any area and achieving them will be easy by setting up a similar tracking program. This probably will be the greatest takeaway from this exercise.

I am sure that you will find the above three benefits of tracking your weightloss good enough for setting up a tracking system. Set it up today and start reaping the benefits from tomorrow by achieving a perceptible weight loss even on the first day.

5. Lose Fat with the Right Diet

There are a large number of people who have been earnestly following a Fat Loss Diet Program, for quite a long time but are frustrated that they have not been able to get significant results, Perhaps you are one of them. If so, you will be interested in finding out what has gone wrong?

Strictly from a logical point of view, if you have excess calories stored  in your body, then you need to find a way to burn those excess calories. Just as removing and throwing out unwanted junk from an overstuffed box will make it less heavy and easier to carry, so should burning the excess calories  make your body slim and attractive! But why has this not happened?

There could be some problems with many a Fat Loss Diet Program
People who are determined to lose weight begin by cutting down on what they eat. You experience a sense of satisfaction, when you are successful with your first fat loss diet experiment. You give up a particular high calorie diet - your favorite dishes and you sometimes even skip your breakfast or lunch. It looks great when you have successfully resisted your temptation to go for a bite of your favorite dish. And if you have skipped a lunch or breakfast and you have still been able to carry on with your normal activities, you have a real sense of achievement.

Fat Loss Diet Programs may have the Opposite Effect!

Unfortunately, the dictum ‘Well begun is half done’ doesn’t apply to the best fat loss diet program. Or, in another sense, it does, literally, when the emphasis is on ‘half done.’ Yes, it is always half done, never accomplished!

Why?

There are a couple of reasons. Typical Diet programs do not reduce the calories beyond a point. This is because dieters often begin their diet programs with a vengeance, with a resolve to achieve the seemingly impossible. So they get tough with themselves, eat very little or skip a lunch or breakfast, in their eagerness to drive out the excess fat quickly. This often has the opposite effect of their more than making up for their “sacrifice,” often unconsciously. After all, I didn’t have anything for the breakfast. So, I deserve an extra helping of the tasty meat during my lunch. The result is that the body quickly gains whatever fat it lost in the morning!

The body learns to stop losing weight!

The body also learns a trick or two to ensure that it does not lose fat beyond certain point. That is why many people on diet programs often find that they have reached a dead end in their journey towards weight loss. So, it appears that turning back and walking towards your starting point looks a better option than standing close to a deadend  with no progress.

For a Fat Loss Diet Program to work, it should focus on two things:

1) The psychological aspects – understanding how the unconscious mind sabotages the process of losing fat.
2) The physiological aspects – how bodily adaptations can stall the weight loss program.