Skin Care News

So, with this move to Huntsville, AL coming up, I’ve been giving the diet and exercise a good hard thought. As opposed to a soft thought, I guess.

I see this in myself. When I’m exercising, I find I focus better. I haven’t studied it, but I probably ought to - I have a hobby that requires intense concentration and decision-making, and I saw immediate improvements in the past two weeks. Thinking back two years to when I was exercising every day, I was participating in this hobby successfully with some of the best participants in the world.

First you should know that a diet for the overall health of the body is the best place to start, and in most cases that is enough for your skin, unless you have a deficiency of some type. But there are certain foods you must eat in order to keep your skin looking healthy, young and radiant.

The day we left for San Antonio, our OB/GYN told Daniel and me that he plans to induce me early because of my Gestational Diabetes and my current use of insulin to keep it under control. I've been doing really well controlling it with diet and exercise, but as the pregnancy moves forward and my hormones increase it becomes necessary to add in a little bit of insulin.

Whether we know it or not, the human body is capable of making tremendous transformations in relatively short periods of time. Whether it is gaining muscle or losing weight, ample evidence has already been documented to back up these claims. The real secret behind this is knowledge. In other words we need to take an intelligent, cautious and scientific approach to our diet and exercise.

He started his healthier diet and exercise program "because I have a family history of diabetes and high blood pressure and things of that nature."/p>

Now. one difference between our pets and ourselves, as my vet pointed out today, is that their food intake and physical activity is not subject to vagaries of will power (at least not their own will power). For the most part, we, the human owners, control what they eat and when and how much they exercise. So here's my suggestion, as you are working on eating better and exercising more, include your pet in your diet and exercise plan: control the portions and expand the walks. It is a prescription that is good for them and good for you as well.

And so it begins…today is the first day oh my new diet and exercise plan. I’ve been doing the exercise portion for a week now and it’s going well but the diet part started today. Day one of only meat/eggs/milk/cheese, veggies, and fruit. And it wasn’t bad. My exercise plan is walking for an hour everyday while pushing a kid full mammoth stroller. Then after the kiddos go sleep I do the Crunch - Super SlimDown: Pilates Yoga Blend. Its 45 minutes long so I do that while Evan catches up on freelance.

My mother is very healthy an active for an 83 year old. She looks 10 or 15 years younger than her 83 years. She takes a pill for high blood pressure and Lipitor for cholesterol. When she went to her regular doctors appointment in January her doctor told her he was going to double her Lipitor dosage because with the new Medicare Drug plan she could afford it. This struck me as odd since my mother is not poor and not really having in difficulty paying for her drugs before. When I mentioned that my mother exercised and ate well and gave examples her doctor informed me that diet and exercise had little effect. My mother did double her Lipitor dose and immediately had complications. I told her to return to the old dosage and she improved.

We then changed the channel to the WE! network and watched “Honey, We’re Killing the Kids,” which is a reality-based show where a nutritionist evaluates a household’s lifestyle and puts the data into a computerized program which shows the parents simulated time-lapse photography of the kids from their present age to age 40 if they continue living as they do. In 3 weeks, the family makes lifetyle, diet and exercise changes and they are re-evaluated and the program does the sequence of photos again to see how the kids would be different in the future if they keep up with the improvements.

My daughter has signed both she and I up for this 3 month diet and exercise challenge thing sponsored by Self magazine. We both eat like health-nuts anyway (whole foods, nuts, berries, tree bark), but exercise is the kicker. She likes to run. I don't. We're supposed to keep a food and workout diary online. She's doing this, I swear, because I screamed the last time we out for one of her auto driving lessons.

Honestly everyday I wake up, I find an article about a new study showing a new reason to workout. Here is todays…apparently consistent diet and exercise actually goes as far as to dull pain, improve nerve functioning, and make things that should hurt a lot more, hurt a lot less.

We are all human. Sometimes, we get busy. Sometimes, we go through crises that divert our attention from… oh… the internet. Sometimes, we are just not interested in what is said. I’ll admit to skipping over posts out of complete and total disinterest. I am not concerned about reading the baseball stats of every major league player in the game. I don’t wanna read a scene by scene editorial of the latest Battlestar Galactica episode. I am far from overjoyed to read about the number of times your newborn baby took a pooh in a single day. And I am sure you all have similar criteria. I know that I complain about my boss a lot. I know that I drone on about diet and exercise. Perhaps I offer far too much information about my relationship. If it bores you, I understand. I don’t expect to hold everyone’s attention every single time.

1. Researchers in France have announced that they have developed a "mirror" that uses digital technology plus user input about diet and exercise to determine what you will look like in 10 years. So if you found yourself before such a device, would you want to have a look?

As a parent you need to set an example in your daily diet and exercise. You may not think your children are noticing but they are.

Virgo relates the act of physical cleansing to spiritual cleansing. Crowley writes, “For in ritual Magick, it will of course be the first care to get everything balanced and tidy” (MWT 167). Virgo teaches us that it is imperative to have your physical space in order, your head space in order and yes, your body in order with proper diet and exercise. Virgo can be labeled the hypochondriac, but when the health conscious sign is given a magical outlet, you realize why so much psychological importance is given to health and hygiene for the typical Virgo. You can’t properly practice magic rituals with a runny nose and throat infection anymore than you ought to do the LBRP in a cluttered room.

Recently, a line spoken by Red from the movie Shawshank Redemption comes to mind: “That’s all it takes really, pressure, and time.” Red was talking about Andy digging his way through a prison cell wall, slowly, one grain at a time, and eventually getting all the way through to the other side. I think he could just as well have been talking about trying to lose a large part of yourself through diet and exercise. According to my bathroom scale and the time of day, I’ve lost about 30 lbs. since mid-January. Which is really awesome; I’ve lost as much as some of the contestants on the Biggest Loser special edition shows. It is truly a challenge though, every single day. Especially at work, where there’s always someone that has treats (cake, candy, chips, etc), and it’s so damn easy to have a handful of this, or a piece of that, because I work in a very frustrating and stressful environment and food’s an easy comfort. Even if no one has treats, there are vending machines full of evil and temptation, made worse because they’re convenient when you didn’t get a chance to make a healthy lunch and snacks to take to work.

Scott is going to start working out with me beginning next month. We’re already planning our new, healthy diet and exercise plan. We have really good intentions but I wonder if we’ll be able to stick to it. We get on these kicks from time to time - especially about the meal planning - but we haven’t been particularly good about it. Maybe it’s not all about the fitness and weight loss anyway. Maybe it’s more about the fun we’ll have together making fools of ourselves in the gym lol ;~)

Whilst we all know about the importance of diet and exercise, scientists are concerned that we may not be paying enough attention to getting adequate sleep.

I want to share the story of my friend, Dario Wolfish. When I first met Dario, he was an applicant for a job opening that I had. He told me the odyssey of his 205 pound weight loss and the reversal of the obesity-related complications he had been diagnosed with—diabetes and high blood pressure. I was awed. 205 pounds in 13 months. But even more awesome, several years later he has kept it off.

I spent the better part of my life thin, and now find myself battling my weight. I don’t spend my days lounging in front of the TV eating McDonalds. I don’t expect anyone to find the extra pounds I carry attractive, but I do expect to be treated with respect. So when I read posts such as this one (thanks for the heads-up phin), I am disgusted.

I feel like doing my Earl Pitts imitation when I read stuff like this: Townhall.com :: Columns :: You bet I want fries with that by Jeff Jacoby - Feb 13, 2006. Jeff Jacoby voices frustration after decades of being told what we should and shouldn’t do about diet and exercise.

Back on the diet and exercise plan. The dress for New Year’s was ordered and will pick it up at the post office tomorrow. The short red matte Jersey dress with rhinestone straps aka the “man bait” dress.

So I hate how I don't look ethinc enough. I just do. Like in America, people typically think that latinas are so curvacious that they're actually like heavy. No way Jose. In mexico or Brazil, all the chicas are really tan and skinny but curvy and have the measurements of a life size barbie, full hips, no waist, big bust, huge ass, and cafe con leche colored skin. So tan and diet and exercise I guess.... Kristina dropped like 20 pounds her Sophomore year... I can too, because I have really cute hip bones and a model stomach, the Dr. I saw told me.... He also told me I was overweight. Lovely

It seems that the Food & Drug Administration is gonna approve their first sanctioned diet pill formerly only available by prescription. The drug, Orlistat (sold as Xenical), has generally been prescribed primarily for morbidly obsese people and is only recommended to be used in conjunction with diet and exercise (obviously). Now .. I'm all about getting more fit but are side effects such as "fecal incontinence, gas and oily spotting of undergarments" worth it?

Alright, now we have the basic frame work, so now we get to the useful information. What happens if you don’t consume as many calories as you burn; or if you consume too many? When you have more calories than you can use, it creates fat cells that store those extra calories. When your body needs more energy, it can the break down the fat and release the energy. In fact, just one pound of fat has 3500 calories of potential energy! The good news is that this makes it SIMPLE to lose weight. With diet and exercise you all you have to do is burn more calories than you take in and you will burn fat. For the most part it doesn’t matter where you get your calories (carbs, proteins, fats), your body sees calories as calories.

Mall walking in the mornings can be a great alternative. Many seniors mall walk for a while, but an illness might stop the walks and they never continue. That might be something they would try again, if it’s suggested.

This time of year has caused me to go a bit nuts both this year and last year. When I moved to NY I had to give up the fairly extensive home gym I had built. My cottage simply doesn’t have room for the equipment. This leaves me unable to workout though once the clocks change because of the cold and the dark - my weight bench is out in the barn. Last year I partially solved this problem by getting a dance pad and making an ass of myself playing dance video games, which are a decent cardiovascular workout even if they make you look ridiculous. No one was around to see so what did I care. Still, I crave something better. I did a good bit of research over the past few months and settled on a Concept 2 rowing machine which I ordered today.

In news that isn't specifically me-related, a Brigham Young University study has shown that diet and exercise may reverse type 2 diabetes. A quote from the article:

Here’s my prescription. Turn off the TV, go for a walk and have an apple. Be proactive and take care of yourself with a good, natural diet and exercise. Slow down, stop being so busy and spend time with the people you love. Count your blessings and thank the Lord for giving you every good gift. It’s the best medication that money can buy.

So laying flat on my back for all those months, getting no exercise and whatnot, I gained some weight..."some" being modest. I weighed about 180 pounds before the accident, and around 260 once I started getting around and about. It's been 4 years, and I'm still at the same weight, despite all kinds of attempts at diet and exercise.

As for age, I stand by my argument: Evidence suggests that neither paleolithic people nor recent western hemisphere indigenous people were routinely living to 80, despite ideal diet and exercise and low stress. If you want to explain this away, there are stories you can tell, but none of them seems as plausible to me as the story that lifespan is cultural. Also, both western and eastern religions speak of people in past ages living hundreds of years or longer. Consider the possibility that they’re right. I think there are different “fields” that people can resonate with, and I’m aging more slowly because I’m not resonating with the dominant field of American culture.

Thirdly, psychological research has shown that after 3 months (12 weeks!), people begin to lose motivation in a diet and exercise program. So this program will only lead people to the “feel good” stage, they’ll start to see some results and feel better about themselves- then they will finish the program. Their motivation will wane, they will lose impetus and all the good work and beneficial diet and exercise changes they will make will be forgotten. They will go back to old habits- and lo and behold, the weight will come back on. After 12 months, they can receive another $200 incentive to go back on the weight loss program and the yo- yo cycle begins again. Research has shown the effects of yo-yo dieting on the body can be more detrimental than obesity itself.

My diet and exercise program is going so well I am not even going to talk or write about it now.

Dennis Best has released FitnessBrain 3.0.1, an application that tracks your diet and exercise routines. Compatible with any diet.

Yes, yes indeed. It looks like my procrastional nature have finally boiled up over the brims, and is spilling into my everyday life. I had a paper due for my first summer class, it was origionally due on July 15th, but the professor told me I could get it to him whenever. And of course, I haven’t bothered to start it. But my other paper is due in a week. And the deadline on this one is strict. And of course, I had to write a post in the blog instead of work on it. Actually I am working on it some in the background. I’m up to page 3. Only 9 pages to go. I just wonder when I’m going to get this straight. Honestly I just want some Strattera because I’ve had ADD since I was a kid, but my doctor refuses to prescribe it. He wants me to go on this special diet and exercise and get enough sleep.

Judy Thompson, a former Health teacher and for many years a student of natural nutrition, wants to share her health tips with you.

I can-t recall if I’ve mentioned this here before or not, but I’ve been on a pretty scrict diet and exercise program since my high-blood pressure scare in late March, and it’s working pretty well. As of today I’ve lost 37 pounds(!) since then, and I’ve reached the half-way mark of my goal - getting back down to my weight when I started college. Yes, I was a fatass. Still am. I was never actually ’skinny’, but I was never fat until I let myself go the past ten years. So it’s still a ways to go, but I’m pretty sure I’ll reach my goal just in time for the holidays.

Another girl was trying to lose 50 lbs and had done wonderfully to lost 38! She had lost hers through diet and exercise the right way. The part that struck me is how everyone was always trying to get both these girls to cheat. Someone was always holding a snack and asking,"do you want some?" Why do people do that!!! It is like that want them to fail and gain the weight back. People ALWAYS do that to me and why? That is so annoying!!

Which brings me to my promised post on Mikey’s method for long term diet and exercise lifestyle change.

“Only 14 percent of “superlosers” had ever signed up with Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, or another commercial diet program, according to results of the survey. A mere 6 percent in that category used dietary supplements or another non-prescription weight loss aid, such as Metabolife or Dexatrim.“

As the uterus shrinks back down to its normal size and your hormone levels continue to fall, you will lose weight. Most women gain at least 7 pounds of fat during pregnancy. This fat is meant to help women store energy while breastfeeding. How fast this weight comes off will depend on a number of factors including: genetics, your overall health, diet and exercise.

The US Department of Agriculture today presented its new guidelines that for the first time advise consumers to personalize their diet and exercise, geared to their specific calorie needs and levels of physical activity.

The new guide, dubbed “MyPyramid,” encourages Americans to customize their diet and exercise regime along 12 models geared to specific calorie needs and levels of physical activity.

The Agriculture Department will offer Web pages that let people appraise their diet and exercise habits. Such a tool has already been available through the agency’s Web site; the Interactive Healthy Eating Index has a notice on its home page that it will soon be updated.

A major European trial of a drug that helps people lose weight, slim their waistline and reduce risk factors for heart disease has achieved the same promising results as a similar North American trial, researchers report.

The drug, rimonabant, could be on the market in both Europe and the United States by the end of the year, said Dr. Luc Van Gaal, professor of medicine at University Hospital Antwerp in Belgium, and lead author of a report on the trial in the April 16 issue of the journal The Lancet.

I have sort of fallen off of my diet and exercise program. I need to get my butt back on it before my butt gets so big that it becomes its own person.

The Annals of Internal Medicine has come out with new guidelines, or, rather, codified guidelines, for the treatment of obesity. Diet and Exercise is the number one method, but it isn't covered extensively, at least in this paper. There are five recommendations:

Basically, there is a loop that always leads back to diet and exercise as you go down the choices. If, step 1, diet and exercise don't work, then, in step 2, offer weight loss drug therapy, but tell everyone the side effects and temporary nature of the weight loss. Step 3 talks about specific weight loss drugs.

For the record? The most effective way to lose weight, stay thin and be healthy? A Paleo Diet and exercise.

No matter. We want the magic pill, the silver bullet, the shortcut. Never mind that diet and exercise does reduce the risk of heart disease and the drug is a question mark. You simply pop a pill in your mouth. But improving your diet and exercise, ughh, that sounds effortful - even distasteful - if you've never tried it.

I'm glad to hear Todd is seeing a dietician. After just one week, Todd says he's noticed side effects: he's lost weight and is feeling, well, "remarkable."

As you've already figured out by now, I mostly discuss diet and exercise on this blog ;-)

More and more people are becoming obese. A problem that can be solved through a daily regimen of diet and exercise. But how do you convince the public that healthy living is important to everyone?

Now let me tell you about my most valuable discovery. Music can not only improve your overall health, it can also help you lose weight! Eating dinner while listening to Mozart helps to improve your metabolism and food digestion. When you eat while listening to the pop or rock music you automatically start eating faster. As a result you swallow bigger pieces making it harder for your stomach to digest the food.

Which inevitably leads to extra pounds. “When we listen to classical music, subconsciously you get an image of luxury, wealth and sophistication”, explains this phenomenon psychology Dr. Adrian Nort. It improves our mood, and makes us take our time and eat slowly enjoying food.

Exercising while listening to the classical music help you lose weight a lot faster than listening to loud fitness pop music. Why? Maybe because during the experiment a first group of people listening to Vivaldi music worked out on a stationary bike a half an hour longer than the group who was listening to the pop music.

The very mention of chili peppers might have you reaching for a glass of water, but don’t be afraid, these hot peppers are actually good for you. Chili peppers are loaded with vitamin C (twice the amount found in citrus fruits) and the red ones are full of beta-carotene, even giving carrots a run for their money. As if that isn’t enough, they’re also packed with anti-bacterial properties and antioxidants.

But that’s not all. These veggies contain capsaicin, which is the compound that makes you feel like your tongue is burning and your head is about to explode. Really, that’s a good thing in the long run. That’s because capsaicin helps increase blood circulation and metabolism and lowers your blood pressure and cholesterol. The pain also leads to pleasure - the burning sensation leads to the release of endorphins, which are the body’s natural painkillers and give you a sense of happiness. It’s the same feeling as a runner’s high. Chili peppers also have a history as a powerful weapon- the Mayans threw them at the enemy during battle.

Linda Anthony, of West Newton, is half the woman she used to be.

Going from 240 to 120 pounds changed her life, but she gained even more through the Look AHEAD study at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

While her only goals were to lose weight and control the diabetes threatening her health, she found herself thrust into the national spotlight in a magazine article, a book, an infomercial and a local TV commercial.

That celebrity role is enabling her to spread the word that diet and exercise really do make a difference, and that it can be done without gimmicks, expensive equipment and special menus.

Doctors in Singapore are now using a new procedure to help overweight and obese people lose weight.

This involves an intra-gastric balloon filled with saline which is inserted into the stomach through the mouth and left there for six months.

Dr Melvin Look, Consultant General Surgeon, East Shore Hospital, said: "After the patient eats a small meal, the patient would have a feeling of satiety and this lasts for a number of hours. Because of this, the effect is that the patient does not overeat. We find that in general, over a period of 6 months, there's a weight loss of 15-20 kg so that this is quite an effective solution for weight loss."

Dramatic decreases in risk for chronic disease were seen in as little as six weeks after participants in a BYU study made basic changes to diet and exercise.

The hospital is in the midst of a six-week, weight loss competition to encourage employees to improve their health through diet and exercise.

... Hill and Belsito report on the case of a 60-year old Caucasian woman with a 6-month history of eyelid dermatitis. Despite application of a corticosteroid-containing ointment and discontinuation of eyelid cosmetics and nail polishes for 2 months, her rash did not clear. Several years back, in response to a facial dermatitis, she had been patch tested and found to be allergic to formaldehyde, quaternium-15 and fragrances. As expected, her facial dermatitis was resolved by swtiching to formaldehyde-, quaternium-15- and fragrance-free facial and nail cosmetics.

For this current condition, she was again patch tested. Positive reactions occured to formaldehyde ( ), quaternium-15 ( ), diazolidinyl urea ( ), DMDM hydantoin ( ) and imidazolidinyl urea ( ), with her hair care products and cleansers containing multple sources of these. She was instructed on ways of avoiding such allergens, with particular emphasis on formaldehyde and formaldehyde releasers. Despite doing so for three weeks, her condition improved only slightly. A local pharmacist suggested avoiding aspartame, which she had started using as an artificial sweetner 5 months prior to the onset of her condition (approximately 80 mg per day). Within a week of discontinuing use, her eyelid dermatitis was resolved completely and has yet to recur.

The resolution of the case, of course, naturally suggests that the aspartame was the cause of her eyelid dermatitis. Indeed, following consumption, aspartame is hydrolyzed in the intestine to phenylalanine, aspartic acid, and aspartic acid methyl ester. The methyl ester is converted into methyl alcohol (methanol) and carried by the portal vien to the liver. Here it is oxidized into formaldehyde and then converted into formic acid by alcohol dehydrogenase, aldehyde dehydrogenase and the microsomal oxidase pathway. This process occurs not just in the liver but in other parts of the body containing these enzymes, including the eye.

"Skin care professionals often don't have in-depth knowledge about how nutrition affects your skin. They know it is important, but no one ever taught them."

The main culprits of older-looking skin, [Chiropractor James Meschino] says, are: exposure to ultraviolet light, which generates destructive free radicals in the skin; the depletion of skin-softening prostaglandin hormones (which the body makes less of as we age); and declining levels of hyaluronic acid (HA), a naturally occurring substance that pulls water from the bloodstream into the skin cells. It is estimated that the body produces half as much HA by age 50 as it does during childhood, he says.

Meschino recommends a diet high in fatty acids, such as flaxseed and fish oils, which serve as building blocks for prostaglandin hormones. He also stresses the importance of vitamins C, B, beta carotene, selenium and zinc, antioxidants that help skin cells better defend themselves against the free radicals spawned by ultraviolet light exposure.

"Skin cells developing below the surface take up those nutrients in high concentration, and when they move up toward the epidermis, the antioxidant is there to quench those free radicals," he says.

For those in their 50s, the goal is to keep a strong immune system. Milligan said seasonal favorites, such as apples, pears, sweet potatoes and mushrooms are excellent choices.

Keeping your half-century-old skin supple with chemical-free hydrating lotions and topical Vitamin C can help keep your skin look decades younger.

"Our skin doesn't turn over as fast as when you were younger, so there are things you can do to bolster good skin health" Milligan said.

In the middle of an article reporting on a Japanese study suggesting that coffee reduces the incidence of liver cancer, we find:

But studies have also shown that a skin cream spiked with caffeine lowers the risk of skin cancer in mice.

Apparently, the antioxidents found in coffee have a number of positive affects. Unfortunately, it also is associated with aggravating symptoms of menopause, and increasing side effects of certain antibiotics.

5 steps to better health. Skin care is all about your overall health.

The 5 Steps to Healing and Feeling K.A.E.R.R. ::

1. Know what you Feel.

2. Accept your Feelings.

3. Express your Feelings in positive ways.

4. Release the negative feelings that have been inside your body for so long.

5. Replace the negatives with positives.

Turn your sadness to Joy, your anger to Love and your depression into Personal Power!!

You'll have better skin if you do!

A new food pyramid may help you with your skin care program.

As I sit here at 2:30 eating my (second) chocolate cookie and (third) coffee of the day, I am reading a post about the Food Pyramids: Nutrition Source, Harvard School of Public Health. Harvard has improved on the USDA pyramid. Maybe tomorrow....