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.

Osteoporosis and yoga

I just spotted this interesting piece about the possible benefits of yoga in fighting bone loss: http://www.hfxnews.ca/index.cfm?sid=48392&sc=274

I have to admit I'm skeptical of the anecdote suggesting that a woman with decreased bone density was able to improve it simply by dropping coffee and adding more time on the mat (what about calcium intake, Vitamin D, and other lifestyle changes?) but the point is well taken.

Yoga can be a beneficial weight bearing exercise to help build bones and I just might try some of the recommended poses. It may not be the right choice, however, for those who have compression fractures in their spine or are otherwise frail, so do check with your doctor if you are considering starting a program.

Sweating and body odor

There are lots of different activities that cause us to sweat more than usual. Hot weather, exercise and doing something that makes us feel anxious all cause the sweat to flow. Sweating is one of the body's ways of cooling down and it is important that we do sweat. There is a very rare condition where people do not sweat, and they are at a very high risk of overheating.

Sweat by itself does not have much of an odour. Most of the smell is caused by bacteria which live on the skin and in clothing. Strange as it may seem, people with unpleasant body odour are unable to smell their body odour. Because they live with it all the time, they are no longer sensitive to the smell.

Underarm deodorants make the sweat acidic which stops bacteria from growing. We still make the same amount of sweat, but there are fewer bacteria to make the smell. Antiperspirants block the sweat ducts with aluminium salts, so that less sweat is produced. Less sweat equals fewer bacteria and less smell. They should only be used on underarms - you need to be able to sweat over the rest of your body to keep yourself healthy.

Anger can take over your life!

If you feel low or have little control in your life, you can sometimes use anger to manipulate or make others afraid of you. This can give you a sense of strength, power and control over the people around you. Using anger this way can hurt other people and yourself.

It makes it difficult to keep friends or other relationships and can lead to feelings of guilt or shame. These feelings can lead to low self-esteem, and increased anger and loneliness. It becomes a vicious cycle! It is never OK to use anger to hurt people in any way!

Attire makes a big impact

The way you dress can make a big difference in the way you look. Not only can you appear more professional or more relaxed depending on what you wear, but you can also look thinner depending on your choice of wardrobe. If doesn't matter what your dress size is, or whether you are bottom-heavy or simply out of proportion, by adjusting your attire you can make a big impact on your looks.

Probably the number one mistake people make is to wear clothes that don't fit. Wearing larger sizes does not make you look thinner. In fact, it will make you look even larger. On the same basis, wearing a size 12 if you are a 14 will not make look like a 12. All it will do is to accentuate every single area in which your body is hiding extra fat. Wearing clothes that fit may seem like an obvious answer, but if you want to look thinner, this should be the first thing you do. The same holds true for fabric. Avoid clingy outfits (Lycra and silk are difficult to wear properly) and instead choose pre-shaped outfits that will give you a general outline and make you look thinner.

If you need to look thinner on the bottom, avoid pleated skirts (they make your stomach look bigger) and instead choose A-lineskirts. If you need to hide bulges, choose loose-fit and low-ride jeans. With low-ride jeans, however, make sure to wear a top that is long enough. Boot-cut pants will balance large hips, and simple designs without a lot of extra pockets will also make you look thinner. Avoid slim-fit jeans if you have large thighs, and opt for darker shades to minimize trouble spots.

If you are trying to make your upper body look thinner, avoid tank tops in summer, as they emphasize your arms. On the other hand, if your arms are toned, showcasing them will take the focus away from your problem areas. Boatneck tops are great for balancing your body, and something you should definitively use if you have good-defined shoulders.

secret to flat tummy

Our tummies are always the hardest to trim whenever we decide to shape up. We do crunches and sit-ups to get rid of the bulge and unwanted "love handles," exerting so much effort into toning and firming them up, yet with little or no results--until after at least a month of doing them daily. But did you know that there’s a simple way to achieve a flat belly?

The secret, if you haven't discovered it yet, is simply practicing good posture. Abdominal muscles are partly responsible for holding our bodies upright.Imagine if your belly always looked as good as it does when you turn sideways in the mirror and suck it in. Ab exercises can help, but 5—or even 50—minutes of crunches won't do any good if you're letting it all hang out for the remaining 23 hours of the day.

No need to worry since posture can easily be corrected, and it even has a bonus: "Correcting poor posture can make you look five pounds slimmer instantly.