Say Thanks to Dad on Father's Day

Children blessed with a loving father should consider themselves fortunate. For, they have someone to take care of their needs and interests. Someone to stop them when they are diverting to a wrong path and guide them on a road to success and virtue. For many of us fathers have always been there to solve our innumerous mathematics and science problems and explain the same formula hundredth time or better still until it is understood by us.

Fathers would never ever give a smallest of hint to let us know how hard they work to take care of our needs and fulfill even the most whimsical of demands... For all their adorable scolding and affectionate punishments we all owe a big thanks to our Dads.

Simple ways to connect as a couple and rekindle love

Commit to spending quality time together on a regular basis. Even during very busy and stressful times, a few minutes of really sharing and connecting can help keep bonds strong.

Find something that you enjoy doing together, whether it is a shared hobby, dance class, daily walk, or sitting over a cup of coffee in the morning. Further, try something new together. Doing new things together can be a fun way to connect and keep things interesting. It can be as simple as trying a new restaurant or going on a day trip to a place you’ve never been before.

Spend quality time together

You probably have fond memories of when you were first dating your loved one. Everything may have seemed new and exciting, and you may have spent hours just chatting together or coming up with a new, exciting thing to try. However, as time goes by, children, demanding jobs, long commutes, different hobbies and other obligations can make it hard to find time together. It’s critical for your relationship, though, to make time for yourselves. If you don’t have quality time, communication and understanding start to erode.

Couples are often more fun and playful in the early stages of a relationship. However, this playful attitude can sometimes be forgotten as life challenges or old resentments start getting in the way. Keeping a sense of humor can actually help you get through tough times, reduce stress and work through issues more easily.

What counts as a family meal

Whether you have a toddler or a teen, here are the best strategies to improve nutrition and encourage smart eating habits. Family meals are a comforting ritual for both parents and kids. Children like the predictability of family meals and parents get a chance to catch up with their kids.

In addition, family meals offer the chance to introduce kids to new foods and to act as a role model for healthy eating.

Teens may turn up their noses at the prospect of a family meal — not surprising because they're busy and want to be more independent. Yet studies find that teens still want their parents' advice and counsel, so use mealtime as a chance to reconnect.

What counts as a family meal? Any time you and your family eat together — whether it's takeout food or a home-cooked meal with all the trimmings. Strive for nutritious food and a time when everyone can be there. This may mean eating dinner a little later to accommodate a child who's at sports practice. It can also mean setting aside time on the weekends, such as Sunday brunch, when it may be more convenient to gather as a group

To discipline a child

It's natural for children to give their parents headaches before they are shown proper guidance or discipline. Some children are hyperactive and pose greater challenges than others. But all should be accepted and loved, and parents should remember that the objective of discipline is to teach.

Disciplining a child does not always mean punishment, because the long-range goal is to teach children to discipline themselves and exercise self-control rather than blind obedience. Good behavior is relative, of course, and standards vary from one family to the next. Obviously, early safety lessons are the most important. Small children need guidance more than punishment, and the purpose in punishing a child is not to get even but to teach. A time-out is an effective punishment for children of almost any age, as is rewarding good behavior. Remember to keep your rules succinct and simple and, whether or not you agree in spanking a child, never to shake a child or hit them in the head.

There are some children who would pose challenges to any parent. They are strong-willed and intensely curious, prone to troubled sleep and feeding problems, and have been so since birth. Some may be hyperactive, though that means they are also exhibiting unusual intelligence. It's important to love and accept even a difficult child, save your energy for major problems by letting him win a battle now and then, and avoid making a full diagnosis until the child is of school age.

Make up and pimples

Most women attempt to conceal their blemishes or skin disorders by opting for various cosmetic products. Covering up pimples and zits may sound as a brilliant technique to achieve the perfect smooth skin look but the truth is that your beauty products, particularly certain specific cosmetic items might actually result in an enhanced Pimple condition. While this alarming fact may strike as an unpleasant surprise but it calls for a state of awareness and preparedness while choosing your makeup items and when dealing with skin problems.

Even though the connection between makeup and Pimple is not entirely known or proven, studies reveal that worsened skin conditions may be caused due to several factors such as inadequate use of makeup products resulting in clogging of pores, using unhygienic items on sensitive skin such as applicators and brushes that may carry Pimple-causing bacteria and usage of incorrect and incompatible makeup products such as usage of oily based products on an already sensitive skin. Excessive oil accumulation is a leading Pimple aggravating factor and while choosing makeup products it is highly recommended that you are alive to the ingredients and constituents of whatever you apply on your skin.

Therefore, before going to bed, make it a habit to thoroughly clean all the makeup from your face and neck and every once in a while make use of gentle cleansers and toners to give your pores a break!

Feeling good about yourself

Everyone wants to look and feel good about him or herself. So if you are not too happy about yourself, think about your image and how you can improve it. You can always improve without going to the lengths (and expenses) of plastic surgery!

*Are you an active person? Do you exercise every day? Do you take care with personal hygiene?
*Do your clothes fit you or do you look like you are drowning in them or trying to escape from them?!
*Do you eat the right kind of foods?
*Do you smile at people and make positive comments?
*Are you resilient? Can you bounce back when things go wrong?
*Do you work at having and keeping friends?

Feeling good about yourself is something you can do something about.

If you do all of these things, you will have a healthy active life and look great at the same time, even if you don't have huge muscles or great pecs or bigger boobs or longer legs or … whatever your current 'if only' is!

Flame your social life

Man is a social animal and thus, if we are labeled with this tag, we should make efforts to keep its essence alive. Thus, we socialistic in your approach and stretch the diameter of your social lifestyle:

•Be faithful towards all relationships in your life. These relationships are treasured possessions of a person and thus, must be cherished by each one of us.
•It is important to participate in social gatherings to make maximum use of your being a human. It provides you with the opportunity to meet people with different shades and thought processes and you definitely learn one thing or another from them.
•How about actively taking interest in social responsibilities? You must keep some part of your life reserved for duties towards society. By doing so, you can feel a sense of satisfaction and completeness.
•You must possess memberships to various social clubs online as well as offline. This will help you to explore the world and learn about society in a big way.

Above all, you must understand the purpose of your existence on this planet. An aimless spirit inside you must be tamed to perform appreciable tasks, while leading a life. If you are confused about the aims and objectives of your life, never hesitate in asking from experts

Thus, we must have the desire to extract maximum out of every moment presented by our life. And once you achieve this, you will find that there is no better place than planet Earth to live in this Universe.

Forgotten secret of health

The benefits of drinking water are so amazing that it's been called the forgotten secret of health. Water is the one key ingredient to health. You must take it the right way for full health and vitality. Your body's processes depend on water. It helps you recover and heal from hurts and illnesses, cleans out the system, and even improves digestion and sexual performance.

No matter how well you eat, if you aren't drinking enough water you won't be healthy. I'm always surprised by the people I meet who say they don't drink much water. They live off soda or coffee or juice and they wonder why they never feel up to par.

While there is some disagreement over how much water is necessary, a good rule of thumb is to drink eight to twelve 8-ounce glasses per day. If you are active and exercise a lot, you may need more due to fluid loss through sweating.

What if I'm not thirsty? you ask. Well, by the time you're thirsty, you're already dehydrated. If you eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, you may be getting a lot of water in your food and may not need to drink as much as those who subsist on packaged, dry foods alone.

A good way to make sure to stay hydrated is to drink 16 ounces of water upon waking in the morning. This gets your body off to a good start for the day, rehydrates your body after a long period of sleep, and wakes your body up much better than coffee. You'll feel great knowing you've already consumed two glasses of water. Try adding the juice of half a lemon for a great morning start.

Why are the Holidays so Stressful?

Right after Halloween, many people start to dread the next two months. They know they have a long list of things to do and not enough time to do it all. Anxieties increase as family starts talking about plans for the upcoming festivities. Who is going to have dinner at whose house and who is going to be upset he or she is or is not the host this year? No matter how organized you might be, decorating always seems like a nightmare; decorations aren't where they are supposed to be and lights miraculously became tangled in an untouched box. Don't forget, there's shopping for presents and fighting the crowds at the mall. It's no wonder that people feel like they lose their mind this time of year!

Mind games for mind exercise

Who doesn’t want to have a sharp mind? Having a sharp mind is something we all want. I recently read a thought-provoking article about it entitled Cognitive Fitness in Harvard Business Review. The article talks about how the minds of people like Warren Buffet and Alan Greenspan stay sharp even in their old age.

What is the secret? The secret is brain workout. They exercise their brain continuously and that makes their minds sharp.

One way to exercise your brain is playing:

Play engages the prefrontal cortex, responsible for your highest-level cognitive functions – including self-knowledge, memory, mental imagery, and incentive and reward processing… Activities like bridge, chess, sudoku, role-playing games, and challenging crossword puzzles all provide rigorous neural workouts.

Looking at myself, I must admit that I do not play as much as I should. So I went around the web and searched for places where I can play games to have fun and exercise my brain. What I want are places where I can play for free and – whenever possible – play alone without having to find partners first. This way I can easily exercise my mind whenever I want.

Stunning look

Ever wondered how you can look stunning without trying to be older than you really are? Want to look pretty and natural, without using too many bad chemicals for your skin?

The best way to be pretty is to seem natural, but there are ideas and ways that help... You don't need to bury your face with eyeshadow and blush to look beautiful. This article will show you how to complement your natural shades and shapes to look and feel confident and naturally pretty! Confidence is the one most attractive characteristics in the world. Keep your posture upright and your head up as this creates the feeling that you know who you are, what you want, how to be happy and enjoy life.

Fun Indoor Activities for Kids

Parents are always looking for great ideas for fun kids activities for all occasions. Kids love to play and be creative and the more new kids activities parents can come up with the less bored the kids will be and the more creative and self developed they will become. .

Parents can read and discuss a book or a chapter of a book with their kids. Parents can make up their own endings to make the stories more exciting and unpredictable. You can even make up your own stories by sitting the kids in a ring and letting them "add a sentence". You will be surprised at how good the stories end up to be. Kids are usually very creative.

Key to enjoying life

Finding ways to relax is one key to enjoying life. Relaxation calms your fears and helps you release stress. Having less pent up stress can be helpful for fighting disease and staying healthy.

If you haven't been good at relaxing, how do you start? First, it's important to surround yourself with positive people. Negative vibes from friends and co-workers can spread, making it hard for you to relax. Avoid them or, even better, have them join you in some spirit-raising activity!

Rent a funny movie or visit a joke Web site. Laughter releases tension and helps put life back in perspective.

Clean your inbox daily. No, not your e-mail. Your mind. Buy yourself a notebook or start a computer journal. Every night jot down happenings, thoughts and things accomplished that day, or even your frustrations. When your mind is "cleaned up," it is easier to relax and fall asleep.

Being able to unwind and relax is one step toward a happier, healthier life. Don't be shy about being happy, pass it on to your friends and co-workers, they'll thank you for it.

A Good Testament

Tests reveal that lowering your cholesterol level even as little as 15 percent will result in lowering your heart risk by 30 percent . The facts prove that if you take one step to improving your cholesterol level, the benefits will be double what you did. That's a big return on a small investment!

If you're overweight, losing weight can raise your HDLs by 5 to 6 point. Moderate regular exercise, at least three times a week, will raise HDLs. For post menopausal women, estrogen supplements can raise HDL 4 to 5 points.

Although it is the smallest seed of all, it becomes the largest plant in the garden. Begin today to plant the seed of God's Word into your heart. As you do, you will leap double returns on your efforts and eternal rewards for you soul. Allow His Word to work in you today!

Simple Ways

How many grams of fat do you need each day? Women need between 20 and 40 grams, and men need 30 to 60 grams. Most people, however, eat at least twice that much fat! How can you lower your fat intake? Here are a few simple ways.

Eliminate two of the main sources of fat calories in our diets, cheese and mayonnaise. This will also help reduce your cholesterol levels. Eliminate fast food items from your diet. These are loaded with fat. Eat simple, low-fat meals. Breakfast would include fruit, cereal, skim milk. A good lunch: water packed tuna and whole grain bread. Supper may consist of fish or some other than meat, such as turkey or chicken, vegetables, potato, rice, or pasta to establish new eating habits. That's the sign of a prudent person.

Pumping Jean

When you pump iron, your muscles grow with gratitude. But it may be your heart that really owes you a special thanks for lifting weights. New research says that strength training like lifting weights lower LDL cholesterol.

The researchers had one group of middle aged ladies lift weight for one hour, three times a week, for five months. Another group continued their exercise program but did not lift any weights. Cholesterol tests before and after the five-month period showed that the women who lifted weights had significant drops in both total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. the group that did not lift weights had much smaller declines in cholesterol readings.

Researchers think there is a potential for reducing heart disease risk through resistance training. The weightlifters lowered their body fat while boosting their fat free muscle. If you have access to a gym, include some weightlifting exercise in your workout. The repetitions will improve your cholesterol reading.

Encourage One Another

Part of abundant living involves associating with other people. In fact, social reinforcement is necessary, even crucial, to living. Dieting is not! When other people reinforce you, you feel better about yourself and are most likely to succeed in any endeavor you undertake, including losing weight. If you isolate yourself, there is no chance for reinforcement.

That's why you especially need the fellowship of others. You need their encouragement, and they need yours. Don't get out of the habit of going to church just because you are overweight or on a diet or feel you have nothing attractive to wear. Ask God to give you the courage to obey His Word and go to church. The blessings you receive and are able to give others will strengthen and encourage you to become the person God created you to be.

Exercise and Cancer

Is exercise really effective against cancer? Yes, especially colon cancer. A report published two years ago found that hose who were highly or moderately active had a 50 percent lower risk of colon cancer than those who were less active. Active men were defined as those expending more than 1,000 calories per week in recreational activity, the equivalent of jogging or playing tennis two hours a week or walking 10 miles a week.

In addition, a twenty-one-year study of eight thousand Japanese men in Hawaii suggested that those who were as mush as 70 percent less likely to develop colon cancer than the sedentary men. Similarly, studies of some men and women show that being sedentary may increase the risk of colon cancer more than threefold.

Physically active and a low fat, high-fiber diet may account for much of the eduction in the risk of colon cancer. Some researchers, however, reported that exercise seemed to have a protective effect, independent of diet. It appears, that exercise, like wisdom, is a good thing?

An Inquisitive Mind

Did you know that jelly beans, pretzels, fudge sauce, and cracker jacks are low in fat? For example, when you get a sweet craving for chocolate have some nonfat yogurt with a couple of tablespoons of chocolate sauce.

People don't feel they like are on a diet when they can eat this way. The word isn't restrain when it comes to eating. This word is freedom, be free to eat foods that are low in fat. Look for foods that have one gram of fat in desserts.

We need to be as wise as King Solomon, who had an inquisitive mind and who enjoyed searching out innovative ways of doing things. If you ask the Lord to help you, He will give you new and creative ways to satisfy your desires and lose weight at the same time.