Dim lights and calm music will help in relaxing while massaging some fluffy towels should be spread for the person being massaged to lie down.

How to Start Massage: Warm scented oil should be heated in microwave for thirty seconds. This will help the hands to slide over the body while massaging and also provide a relaxing feeling.

The person should lie on the floor or a bed with a towel beneath. The person should be nude or wear minimal clothing. Then dollop of oil should be rubbed in the hands and start the massaging. Both sides of the neck should be gently stroked, then move up the temples with gentle rub. Then again the base of the neck should be stroked. Slowly, the hands should go towards the shoulders while continuing to rub and knead. Thumb could be used to rub in upward motion where the neck and shoulders join. This will help to release tension.

Hands should move from one shoulder to another with circular motion in the edges. Thumbs could be used to release the knots. Oil should be used as required to lubricate the skin. Slowly the hands should go to the other parts of the body. While doing the spines they should press. Then both sides of the body should kneading and go up to the armpits and back again to fill in the missed spots.

Then the triceps should be kneaded gently. The elbow should be lightly skimmed. The bottom portion of the arms should be rubbed in small circles. The sides between the hips and the legs should be massaged as well.

Leg massage: Back of the thigh should massage in circles and then light skims over the knees and the calf muscles and move down towards the feet. While doing the feet, thumbs should be used to upwards between the heel and toes.
Then from the legs the shins should be massaged gently, skim over the knee with gentle stokes and then up the thigh. Larger circular motions moving in and out should be carried over the thighs. Little pressure should be used on the abdomen and it should be kneaded in large circles. From the pubic bone upwards strokes should be carried up to the ribcage. The thumbs should go up the hip in inwards and outward motion

Chest Massage: It should begin in the middle of the chest at the breast bone. Fingertips should be used to lightly rub from the middle to outside of the pectoral muscles and then move downwards the ribs to collar bone.
The massage should end at the neck by kneading each side gently and rubbing lightly with the thumb over the jawbone and below the ear and back.

Swedish massage is the most popular form of massage. It involves stroking the body in horizontal and vertical motions and then kneading the muscles. The aim is to relieve the tired muscles and promote blood circulation.

While complete massaging if the person sleeps then it’s a compliment for the massager.

Set a Realistic Target

Weight loss cannot and should not happen as shown in TV commercials. It’s not realistic to reduce 30 – 40 pounds in a week. Weight loss can happen only with a change in lifestyle and healthy eating. Crash diets will only lead to temporary loss and the lost weight will come back with a bang within no time. Healthy weight loss is about a pound or two per week. Beware no product can do miracle and change a couch potato to supermodel within short span of time. It’s best to have realistic targets and work towards it.

Commitment is Must

Many dieters start dieting without a real commitment towards it.  So the moment they get bored of diet, they decide to give up. The reason is ‘it’s better to eat what you like than remain thin’. To ensure there is better commitment towards dieting, dieters should write a letter. In this they should pen down why they want to diet, how are they planning to do it like change in lifestyle, workouts.

Balance between Diet and Workout

During the diet plan to maintain your fitness and to control over weight, it’s okay to once in a while venture out and have goodies, but that shouldn’t become a habit. You must compensate and balance that. To burn out extra calories, little more time should be spent at the gym or a long walk.

Come Back to Plan after Discontinuation

It’s natural to fall out of daily work out routine during illness. In fact even after getting better, it’s difficult to get back immediately into the usual routine. It’s understandable as the body may not have got the stamina required. But it should not stop them from doing things that would keep them physically active. This would easily help them to switch on to their usual routine once they recover fully and also keep them on track with weight loss goals.

Take Stress Positively for Diet Planning

Many people overeat to relieve themselves of emotional stress. When they are stressed out due to break up or other issues, they find solace in eating food of their choice. Although eating poorly is not a solution to getting rid of stress as it would only lead to more stress but overeating isn’t a problem solver either. To get rid of stress diverting mind to other stuffs or talking to friends etc would be a better idea. Also, sticking to dietary plan during stress will make a person a lot more confident as it requires lots of will and determination to do it.

Basically, the body fat measurement tool gives the ratio between the body fat and muscle. It’s expressed in percentage.
Body fat is worry not only for plump people, even the slim and trim looking ones could have high levels of the body. It’s the percentage of the body fat in the total body weight. These people might fall in the safe weight bracket but could be clinically obese due to high body fat.

Women with low body fat percentage also face health risks such as cessation or irregular menstrual cycles, lowered hormone levels and a loss of bone mass.

There are different instruments to measure body fat. The simplest and cheapest one is through calipers. They look like giant tweezers. They are used by grasping the skin folds at various parts of the body to measure the thickness. Then it’s compared to the standard measurement for the age and gender to give an estimate of body fat. The accuracy of the result depends largely on the quality of the calipers the consistency and the accuracy with which the measurements are taken.

Hydrostatic weighing is the best way to measure body fat but its available on in university or at high end training centers. It involves complete submersion of naked body into a huge tank of water. The air from the lungs would have to be expelled before measuring body fat. Finally body fat is calculated based on number of factors including water displaced. This is very expensive technique and not accessible to all.

Bioelectrical Impedance is also an option of measuring body fat. It can be done at home with minimal skills. But it requires certain guidelines to be followed to get consistent reading like measurement to done same time of the day, with empty bladder, with empty stomach etc. It involves holding a small device or a standing on a scale like device that has small metal plates fitted on it. A little of current would be passed through the body and the machine would calculate the resistance or impedance it encounters when it passed through the body. This is then calculated as percentage of body taking in consideration age, height and fitness level. It’s priced ranges from $100 to $300 depending on the number of users, features and of course the brand. Some of the machine can give a feedback on the hydration level.

Its good idea to check the body before starting on exercise and diet routine and keep intermittently monitoring to ensure that it’s the body fat is lost and not the muscles.

There are numerous athletes using body fat measurements to monitor their progress. Discuss with the doctor about the current body fat percentage and if there were any health risks. If there were any, then its worth investing in body fat percentage measurement tool.

• Genetics
• Body frame
• Health ailments like thyroid
• Side effects of medications

Genetics and Body Frame Causes of  Over Weight

If it’s in the family to be heavy, then no amount of dieting or exercise can do anything. Some people have large frame and look big in spite of not being overweight. It’s a good idea to check the weight and correlate it with weight chart. Most people would ten percent more or less than the weight earmarked for their height, age and gender. Such people should not bother about overweight and should continue eating healthy and exercise regularly to stay fit. Those above ten percent of the average weight with good exercise regime and nutrition rich diet should take time to investigate the cause.  They should visit the doctor and get a blood test done.

Doctors would be able to suggest the diet and exercise regimen that would be appropriate for the individual’s life style and health condition. With the results of the blood tests, doctors would be able to determine if there were any underlying medical conditions causing excess weight.

Hypothyroidism

Hypothyroidism can cause weight gain. In this the under active thyroid reduce the amount of hormones produced by the thyroid. These hormones are responsible for regulating the metabolism. There by the metabolism slows down and weight occurs. There are other medical conditions that could cause weight gain such as PCOS, endometriosis, duodenal ulcers, human parasites, kidney and liver failure, congestive heart failure etc. Unless the cause is known and cured, the excess weight will not come down.

Medications

Medications undertaken could also cause overweight. Anti-psychotic drugs like lithium, valproic acid, chlorpromazine, fluphenazine, and haloperidol cause weight gain and many people discontinue using these due to this reason. But even after discontinuation, the weigh gain does not reduce automatically or through other means.

Other prescription drugs that cause weigh gain are Depo-Provera, a birth control drug and corticosteroids. Corticosteroids include anti inflammatory medication used for reduction in joint swelling and slow joint damage. They are usually prescribed after major injuries or for arthritis. Some of these drugs even cause heart burns along with increase in weight. These drugs would be consumed daily by the patients. It’s very difficult to control the weight gains due to these kinds of medications.

So those people who think no amount diet and exercise is working should try to rethink on their work out routine like replace sprint with a one hour of walk. They could consult a doctor to prescribe the appropriate routine and also check there are no underlying medical conditions because the weight gains.

It is important to monitor the calorie content in the food. Too much of fat would require more effort by the body to process them which stimulates aging process. Thus lesser calories mean lesser fat on the face.

Sitting in the perfect posture will help to get rid of double chin. Sitting up straight with jaw slightly jutted would be a good one. Using ergonomic chairs will facilitate this posture.

Chewing gum will help to clean the mouth as well as get rid of double chin. But care should be taken to chew only sugar free ones otherwise it would damage the teeth. Chewing would move the jaw and facial muscles cautiously and prevent from excess fat build up and loose skin. These muscles on the face are instrumental in maintaining a tight jaw line. These are the muscles used for chewing and making facial expressions.

Double Chin Exercises

Exercising the muscle called as platysma will help to get rid of double chin. This exercise involves opening the mouth wide and the bottom teeth should be pulled over the lower lip and then the jaw should be moved up and down. The motion should similar to, when one do if something were stuck in the lower jaw. This is motion is called shovel. This may look very funny but has immediate impact if carried out on a routine basis.

Also, Physical exercising is good way to keep the body healthy and burn off excess calories. This will help to keep the double chin at bay. Exercise could range from running, biking, stair climbing and aerobics etc.

Myths About Weight Loss

1. Breakfast is compulsory to remain thin.
2. Late night dinner causes fat to accumulate because there the calories are not expended.
3. No fat should be consumed while on a weight loss spree.
4. Obesity is genetic.
5. With age it becomes increasingly difficult to shed weight.
6. Its better to remain plump than very thin.

These myths have put off many from working towards keeping themselves fit and healthy by loosing the excess fat.

Basic Dieting Principal: The basic principle behind dieting is that to eat only as much calories as needed by the body and to undertake sufficient physical activity to loose the expended the excess calories.

What Is Hunger?

Lot of calories are consumed unknowingly. This is because people don’t know when they should eat and how much to eat. Food should be consumed to satisfy hunger. This is the only solution for weight loss. Hunger is a sensation where the stomach feels empty and at times is accompanied by a headache, hunger pains, a lightheaded sensation.

Adopt Good Dieting Habits

If a person wants to eat something, but not able to decide what to eat, it means he/she is not really hungry. A hungry person can decide on what to eat immediately. Many people eat to satisfy their emotional needs than satisfy the emptiness in the stomach. Diverting the mind into doing other activities like exercise, prayer, meeting up with friends etc. would be a good way to deal with this issue than eating chocolates and ice cream.

An overweight person must not eat till the stuffed feeling comes about. Eating too much would lead to heartburns, gas and stomach upsets. One should always eat slowly and drink plenty of liquids between each bite to eat in smaller quantities. After a few bites, self assessment should be carried out to check if the emptiness in the stomach persisted or not. If the emptiness has disappeared, it’s better to get away from the plate.

A good test to check whether one is over eating or not is get up from the table when there is still some food left in the plate. Then after half hour assessment should be carried out to check if the food was missed by the tummy. If it wasn’t then there hunger was satisfied with the right quantity of food. This would be the beginning of weight loss.

Physical Exercise is the Key to Fitness

Fitness for too many people means working hard at the gyms, sweating and doing repetitive exercises. But fitness could be achieved by burning energy in an enjoyable way be doing activities than are interesting and involve little physical moves too. It would be walking around in the park, shopping mall, doing ballet dance, aerobics or combination of activities. Whatever activity is carried on should be done consistently.

Author: Gopal Tripathi

Danger of Sunburn: The sunburn can actually damage your epidermis which is an outermost layer of the skin. The immune system of the body virtually sends extra blood to the damaged area which turns pink in color. This extra blood makes the flushing sensation in the warm blood. The peeling is being noticed because the white blood cells take complete charge by making removal of the damaged skin cells.

Myth About Tanned Skin: There is wrong notion regarding your tanned skin that it is beautiful and it is the right time that you should change your opinion and you will realize the tanned skin is not healthier skin. You are not safe in getting your skin tanned up to fifteen SPF and it may be safe in having up to two to four SPF.

Tanning Booth or Bed cause Skin Cancer: It is really a fact that UVA and UVB rays will cause skin cancer which is called melanoma, though it is curable if detected early. Chemotherapy and surgery is recommended in this case but very few are lucky to have got cured from this therapy. A solar Keratoses or actinic is the most common pre-cancer. Some chemical peels or liquid nitrogen are usually made used of in removing the scaly raised bumps.

Tanning cause Premature Aging: People who are getting their skin tanned just to look young are in fact damaging their skin to get aged prematurely. Persons are competing with one another to look younger and wished to reverse their age as long as they can and are virtually or sadly mistaken about it.

Tanning Booth may Damage Eyes: UV exposure can bring blindness and surgical treatment is not giving guarantee of safety. Your cornea gets damaged by the sunburn and tanning will the damage the eyesight hugely. It is better to save the eyes from getting damaged.

Natural Remedies for Skin Damages:

• Make mixture of sugar, lemon juice and glycerin to rub it gently to soften sever tanned and dry skin.
• Potato juice and lemon juice mixture is to be applied on the affected area to have result.
• Skin of cucumber and put it in liquid and add one tea spoon chilled milk and apply on the skin.
• Mix one tablespoon of turmeric powder with three table spoon of milk rubs it well on the affected area.
• Mash few leaves of Aloe Vera mix it with lemon juice and apply it on skin.
• Honey mixed with lime juice applies it on the skin.
• Cider vinegar is really effective in removing sun tanned skin.

Have Determination to Quit Smoking

It should be believed that one can quit smoking. Firm determination, guts and faith in ourselves is required to stop smoking. Nothing is impossible. We should make our own plan to quit it.

Benefits of Quitting

One must write down the benefits of quitting smoking for example to live longer, to feel better physically and mentally, for the sake of family, to save money, to smell better etc. One must put it on the paper and read it daily and regularly. Our family and friends should be quite helping in this decision of quitting. Make them aware that you might be a little bit irritable and even sometimes irrational to them in this process of quitting smoking.

Set a Deadline For Quitting

You must set a date for yourself that you will stop smoking. Make it point that you will celebrate the day on which you have decided to quit it for ever. Your doctor can also be your guide in this quitting. You should start practicing some exercises to support you to get relieved from any kinds of stress and your body may get recovery from years of damages. Start walking slowly twice a day and build it up to thirty to forty minutes rigorous activities later on. Deep breathing will be very beneficial in this quitting process. No exercise should be started without consulting the doctor.

Develop Visualization

It is better to develop your own creative visualization and see yourself throwing all the cigarettes away and winning a gold medal for doing such act. Try to cut back on cigarettes gradually and change your brands regularly to develop hatred for smoking. You should adopt a method whether to quit it abruptly or gradually and whichever is better for you. Make your teeth clean and enjoy the way your teeth look, to feel, to plan it, to keep it that way forever.

Keep Cigarettes Away

Try to drink lots of water to help you to flush out the nicotine and other chemicals from the body. Make it habit to hold some things in your hands and mouth to replace cigarettes forever in your life. Write an inspiring song or poem to make you quit smoking and read it daily and whenever your mind craves for cigarettes try to write it down the feeling of your mind on paper to boast up you to remain adamant on your decision. Your family or your important family friends’ pictures should always with you just to remind you about it. Plan it to celebrate your becoming a non-smoker with your family and friends.

Hangover Cure Tips

• Eat raw eggs because it contains cysteine which is an antioxidant.
• Banana or Kiwis will be very effective because it contains potassium.
• Drink juices or water with little sugar added in it.
• Rest is the best source to get the body recovered.
• Vitamin-C juice like orange juice or mausami fruit juice will be better choice.
• It is good to drink sports drink like Gatorade or Powerade
• Mineral rich food namely pickles or canned fish can be effective.
• Try to have shower or switching between cold and hot water.
• Alka Seltzer can be tried for the morning relief.
• Doing some exercises can also do the work.
• An extra Multi B-Vitamin along with water can be taken before going to sleep.
• Fresh air can also cure hangover because it can help in sobering up the process.
• Ginger is good for hangover and sea sickness and can be taken in the form of tea or sorbet.
• Honey is another very effective in curing hangover and restoring glucose.
• Drink juice of three orange and one lemon to reduce the effect of hangover.
• Mix two tomatoes, four slices of onion, three tablespoons of vineger, three table spoons of sugar, some lemon juice and put two teaspoons of Tabasco sauce to drink to cure the hangover.
• People certainly believe in drinking a bloody Mary drink like vodka, tomato juice, spices and sauces to cure their hangover.
• Greasy fry up is eaten before drinking alcohol to cure hangover.

How to Prevent Hangover?

1. Try not to mix different types of drinks and take only one type of alcohol.
2. Empty stomach drinking should be avoided.
3. Don’t mix alcohol with sauna because it leads to increased health risk.
4. Women should avoid competing with men while drinking alcohol.
5. Drink only clear alcohol which will not cause any damage to the body.
6. Brandy, red wine, tequila and rum are more prone to give hangover than white drinks.
7. Dark and colored alcohols have congeners that is cause of this hangover.
8. Don’t  more drink just to reverse the hangover and take more water to avoid hangover.
9. Eat only light and nutritious food and avoid fried and greasy food.

Precautions

• Avoid aspirin to control hangover.
• Try to avoid coffee because it will dehydrate the body.

Hands should be washed regularly: It is really one of the effective methods to prevent the spreading of this problem. Hands washing frequently after visiting gym and spending time in public places will destroy viruses that have been touched by you. Try to avoid touching your nose, mouth and eyes.

Don’t share anything with others: One should avoid using the same cups or glasses to prevent this virus from spreading. Try to avoid sharing your food with others and use separate towels after bath. Children are particularly venerable to this problem and make them aware about it.

Make household surfaces neat and clean: Keep your door knobs, drawerspulls, keyboards, light switches, teltphones, remote controls, countertops always neat and clean so that viruses can be avoided. Try to wash theses surfaces with soap and water or disinfectant solution. All the commonly used items including the toys of the child should be regularly washed to avoid colds. One must use paper towels in the kitchen and bathroom for hands washing. One can touch germs that remain live for quite several hours on the towels and try to use separate towels for each members of the family or guests too.

Avoid smoking: Smoking can enhance possibility to cold and irritate the airways and cause cold to anyone. Even inactive smoking can create problems for others.

Tips To Prevent Common Cold

• Avoid used tissues that are sources of virus which contaminate any place.
• Maintain healthy lifestyle with complete sleep, good nutrition and physical exercise will enhance the immune system to fight infection.
• Have a control on emotional stress which weakens immune system to catch cold instantly.
• Make fruits a part of diet and eat an orange each day which is good source of vitamin C or have a cup of orange juice. Multi-vitamins are good to fight it.
• To boost good bacteria, yogurt is good to eat.
• Water prevents dryness and is to be drunk at least eight glasses of water each day.
• Have sleep in sitting up style with head slightly tilted forwards to prevent mucus from nose to flow down to mouth and sleep bit longer in common cold infection days.
• Make it sure to wash hands before eating, after bathroom and use paper towels to open door of bathroom at public places.
• Avoid rubbing eyes, nostrils and ears with hands.