Summer’s here n it’s time to take care

Like the song “Cruel Summer” by Ace of Base goes,

“Hot summer streets and the pavements are burning

I sit around

Trying to smile, but the air is so heavy and dry”

Indeed, summer has set in and I have been sitting around wondering what to do with the skin that needs special care because of the dust and dryness in the air and the scorching heat from the furious Sun.

You would have left your skin without much care during other seasons (for example, during winter your skin’s natural oils solidifies hence giving it a glowing look), but now your skin would force you with all it’s vengeance (during summer, natural oils flow freely hence making skill oily) to be taken care of. There’s no escape but to care.

It is also estimated that most of the wrinkles are caused due to exposure to sun. Sun’s ultraviolet (UVA & UVB) rays penetrate the deepest layer of skin damaging collagen, the spongy protein which gives the skin it’s structure, firmness and elasticity.

Fair skin would get wrinkles more readily than dark skin as it contains less pigment, which helps to block some of UVA and UVB rays hence acting as a natural sunscreen.

Some tips to care for your skin.

Moisturize your skin.

Drink lots of water. Now this goes back to my initial blog which talks about drinking water and it’s benefits.

In addition, you can also try a quick moisturizer that could be made at home. Mix cucumber juice and watermelon juice and apply on your face. Wash it after a while.

Exfoliate the skin.

You need to remove the dead skin that gets accumulated on your skin. 

Mix 1 tsp of Oatmeal and baking soda in enough water to make a thick paste. Rub over face for 2-3 minutes, rinse and pat dry. It’s suitable for all skin types.

Cleanse and tone the skin

Skin tone tends to change due to excessive tanning and clogging of dirt in the pores.

Finally, your skin requires cleansing and toning to make your face smooth, soft and fresh like never before.

Aloe-Vera could be used as a natural toner for your skin. Mix the Aloe-Vera juice or extract with rose water

Follow these tips and enjoy the summer without a fret!

 

An embarrassing experience during a travel.

Bangalore to Chennai - 6 hours to Central, 1 hour from Central to Avadi Airforce station.

This was one of the spontaneous trips that I had taken. Set out with my sister in a call taxi on that nice misty morning to the railway station. Advantage in this trip to others was indeed the minimum luggage aspect. One small microlite travel bag on the shoulder. Reached the station, paid the taxi driver. Checked for the platform to board the train and was glad to know it was the 1st platform. Advantage over advantage, less luggage and need not have to have to climb the stairs to cross the bridge. We went and checked the chart and saw our names in the list. Boarded the train and noticed the three seaters. I took my seat which was the window seat 97 and my sister took the seat 86 which is the middle seat in a different 3 seater. I checked with the boy who was in seat 98 if he can swap for 86 so that my sister can be seated with me. His father suddenly stood up before the boy could respond and disagreed stating the whole family wants to be together. I thought in my mind if he had a helping mentality he would have agreed and consoled my mind by thinking "what if I or she was travelling alone?"

Train started moving and all the passengers had come in except the 2 people in the seat taken by my sister. I moved to that seat and bought a newspaper from the vendor who passed by. Peacefully, both of us bought Dosa for breakfast. By then, we reached the next station, Cantonment. One old man got in. He came to our seat and told the window seat is his. I requseted him to take seat 97 as it is mine. He agreed to that and went and sat there. Train started moving. We were happy that nobody else had come and looked like this seat would be for the two of us for the entire stretch. I bought one cup of coffee for each of us and we took few sips. Both of us started eating the dosa that we had bought. Just then one middle aged man came and asked me what is my seat number. I told him it is 97. He asked me if Iam sure and I defiantly informed him indeed Iam confident about it. My sister intervened and told that our names are on the chart outside. He informed us that his name is there on the chart as well. The old man who obliged to take my seat also joined us now. I retaliated by saying that he might have seen his name but for a different seat. Middle aged man asked me to show him my ticket. I was offended and asked him to show his ticket to us. He obliged and I noticed that his ticket was not confirmed as it showed as Waiting list. Now, I am all the more confident and all three of us, me, my sister and the old man, pounced on him stating one need to have a confirmed ticket to enter the reservation compartment. This man is absolutely patient and is trying to reason out to us by informing that he is aware the ticket should be confirmed for him to be seated in the reservation compartment and he has a confirmed ticket. The three of us were not ready to listen to him and just continued arguing with him. He looked immovable and with absolute patience he requested to see my ticket. I took out the ticket while still telling him it is a waste of time and doesn't make a difference because he anyways has a waiting list ticket. He did not respond to any of my allegations and comments. I took a glance at my ticket while shoving it in front of that patient man's face. I paused for a moment and had a good look at it once again before showing it to him. My sister is wondering why I took the ticket away from the man's face and why I am not showing it to anyone after that. I looked at her and gave a blank look and she returned a confused expresion. Now, I don't know what to say and how to react. I felt a sudden rush in my brain and felt most embarrassed in my life. Guess why?
I realised my seat is 96 and not 97. I had been fighting for a seat which is not mine but had already exchanged with another man. This had inconvenienced two men. The old man was wondering what had gone wrong all of a sudden. All this happened in a fraction of a second. I felt a pinch of reality and let my mind recluse a bit before I could handle this situation that only I am aware of. I suddenly sensed a whiff of presence of mind take a good grab of me and I apologised to the patient man with, a quick intentional change in my approach, as much modesty and humbleness possible. I recognised a clueless expression on all three of them and other passengers who were watching us. I showed my ticket to the middle aged man and slowly told him my seat is 96 and not 97. He did not say a word but went to his seat. I was amazed by the man's patience and composed nature.
Suddenly there was a total chaos in there. The man who took my actual seat 96 stood up and the one whose seat is the 3rd seat where me and my sister had shared stood up as well. All the culprits were exposed in a jiffy. I took this as an opportunity and asked those 2 guys to sit where they were seated and asked the old man to come and sit in our seat. All gave a smile to each other and settled ourselves. We sat down and both of us burst out laughing while the old man went to collect his luggage from seat 97.
That precise moment, I decided never to jump to conclusions and never to assume but check the facts before speaking and acting. Lend ears to others version to avoid such embarrassing moments in future.
What say? Haven't my experience taught u all a good two lessons?

Credit card - devil in disguise

Today, I came across a very important article on MSN website under the Business section..
Thought it would be useful for those who follow this blog in case, they missed the article.
Read on, try to understand the impact and act upon it.
I have posted the actual article here.

If you can't use it wisely... don't use it at all

It's almost become a fashion. Go to the nearest mall, choose something and pay through the credit card. Whether one calls such people shopaholics or needing ‘retail therapy’, the other side of the story is scarier: Credit card bills.

Let's understand how swiping casually can impact you. Say, you buy clothes worth Rs 1,500 from a shop on August, 2. Now, your bank pays the shop when you swipe the credit card. Basically, the bank has given you a loan of Rs 1,500 from the time it pays the merchant.

The statement, however, comes only by the end of third week or early fourth week. Then, there are another two weeks given to you to make the make the payment. So, the free credit period for a transaction made on August 2, is till September, 10.

Once the due date (September 10) has passed, you will be charged interest on the unpaid amount - ever wondered why banks like you when you only make the minimum payment? So, if you paid up only Rs 500, the bank charges interest from September, 10 onwards.
Here are some interesting facts:
Any further transactions will, usually, start attracting interest cost from the purchase date itself. This is because there is still an unpaid balance. So, if you now spend Rs 2,000 at a restaurant, it will immediately start incurring interest charge - you do not get free credit. Your free credit period does not get reinstated till such time as you repay your entire bill in full. Banks usually charge about 3 per cent monthly.

Interest on a daily basis: Sure, you're paying interest. But it is getting compounded on a daily basis.

Late payment: It can be 30 per cent of the minimum amount or a flat fee. But, if your payment has got delayed by just a few days due to some genuine reason and you call up your bank, they could be willing to reverse this charge, especially if you have a good history of regular payments.

Credit limit: If the amount spent on your card exceeds the credit limit, then a fee will be charged - Rs 200-Rs 500. While ideally, the bank should not give you more credit than the limit, but many times, they continue to do so. For a fee, of course.

Suppose your credit limit is Rs 50,000. You have spent Rs. 49,750 so far, and receive your statement. You pay, but two days after the payment due date. So a Late Payment Charge of Rs 500 is applied - you now owe (49,750+500) =Rs 50,250.

You are now over limit, and so an over limit fee of Rs 250 can also be applied, making the owed balance 50,500. Even if you pay the entire Rs 49,750, the Rs 750 worth of charges will start attracting interest from the payment due date.

Balance transfer: Balance transfers sound good. But a little more probing will tell you the other side of the story. Say, you have two credit cards - a Citibank card, with an outstanding balance of Rs 20,000 and an ICICI Bank card with a credit limit of Rs 25,000. Thankfully, there is on outstanding on the latter. If you want to shift your outstanding on the Citibank card to ICICI Bank, here are a few things you should know.

One, banks usually do not transfer balances which are overdue. That is, if there are no payments made on the due date, banks will not transfer that balance. Two, there is usually a balance transfer fee. Typically about 2 per cent of the amount transferred. On an outstanding balance of Rs 20,000, this translates into Rs 400.

Three, here's the googly - as the balance amount is outstanding on the ICICI Bank credit card, all other balances and fresh transactions will start attracting interest from the transaction date. That means, if there is a transaction on the card in which the balance has been transferred, there is an interest charged on the entire balance from the date of transaction.

Yes, the idea was to scare you about credit cards. Indeed, the choice is yours. Either say no to Credit cards or Use it wisely.

 
If you can't use them wisely, don't use them at all.


Make the choice and lead a peaceful life without any proactively invited trouble. What say?
You can get the original article on this link.
http://news.in.msn.com/business/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4246602&page=4

Benefits of drinking water

Top 11 Health Benefits of Drinking Water

You will be amazed of the benefits of drinking water as follow:
Lose weight: Drinking water helps you lose weight because it flushes down the by-products of fat breakdown. Drinking water reduces hunger, it’s an effective appetite suppressant so you’ll eat less. Plus, water has zero calories.

Natural Remedy for Headache: Helps to relieve headache and back pains due to dehydration. Although there are many other reasons contribute to headache, dehydration is the common one.

Look Younger with Healthier Skin: You’ll look younger when your skin is properly hydrated. Water helps to replenish skin tissues, moisturizes skin and increase skin elasticity.

Better Productivity at Work: Your brain is mostly made up of water, thus drinking water helps you think better, be more alert and more concentrate. Better Exercise: Drinking water regulates your body temperature. You’ll feel more energetic when doing exercises and water helps to fuel your muscle.

Helps in Digestion and Constipation: Drinking water raises your metabolism because it helps in digestion. Fiber and water goes hand in hand so that you can have your daily bowel movement.

Less Cramps and Sprains: Proper hydration helps keep your joints and muscles lubricated, so you’ll less likely get cramps and sprains.

Less Likely to Get Sick and Feel Healthy: Drinking plenty of water helps fight against flu and other ailments like kidney stones and heart attack. Water adds with lemon is used for ailments like respiratory disease, intestinal problems, rheumatism and arthritis etc. Another words one of the benefits of drinking water can improve our immune system. Follow this link for further information on how lemon water can improve your health.

Relieves Fatigue: Water is used by the body to help flush out toxins and waste products from the body. If your body lacks of water, your heart, for instance, need to work harder to pump out the oxygenated blood to all cells, so are the rest of the vital organs, your organs will be exhausted and so are you.

Good Mood: Your body fells very good that’s why you soul feels happy.

Reduce the Risk of Cancer: Related to the digestive system, some studies show that drinking a healthy amount of water may reduce the risks of bladder cancer and colon cancer. Water dilutes the concentration of cancer-causing agents in the urine and shortens the time in which they are in contact with bladder lining.


Can you see the importance of water to your body after understanding the above benefits of drinking water?

Benefits of Walking

Hey wannabe fitness freaks..

Have you been focussing on work all the time? Do you crave to be healthy? Do you want to do something about your day to day life? I have an option for you which wouldn't make a big diference in your daily schedule however, would be a little tweek that could make a long lasting diference in your life. Yes, I am talking about "Walking".

Walking is a gentle, low-impact exercise that can ease you into a higher level of fitness and health. It's one of your body's most natural forms of exercise. It's safe, simple, doesn't require practice, and the health benefits are many. Here's more about why walking is good for you, and how to get started with a walking program.

Benefits of walking

Walking for fitness can help you achieve a number of important health benefits. For example, you can:

Reduce your risk of a heart attack. Walking keeps your heart healthy by lowering low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol) and raising high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the "good" cholesterol). A regular walking program also reduces your risk of developing high blood pressure, a factor that also contributes to heart disease.

Manage your blood pressure. If you already have high blood pressure, walking may reduce it.

Reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Regular exercise reduces your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. If you're a woman, overweight and at a high risk of diabetes, walking can improve your body's ability to process sugar (glucose tolerance).

Manage your diabetes. If you already have type 2 diabetes, taking part in a regular walking program can improve your body's ability to process sugar, lower your blood sugar, reduce your risk of heart disease and help you live longer.

Manage your weight. Walking burns calories, which can help you manage your weight. For example, middle-aged women who walk more than 10,000 steps a day have lower levels of body fat than do women who are less active.

Manage stress and boost your spirits. Going for a brisk walk is a great way to reduce stress. Regular walking also can reduce feelings of depression and anxiety.
Stay strong and active. As you get older, walking for physical fitness can prevent falls, help you stay mobile and maintain your independence.

Prepare yourself before you go walking
Take time to prepare yourself to prevent injuries, such as blisters on your feet or muscle pain.

Wear walking shoes and comfortable, protective clothing
Before you set out, be sure to select comfortable footwear. Also dress in loosefitting, comfortable clothing and in layers if you need to adjust to changing temperature. If you walk outside, choose clothes appropriate for the weather. Avoid rubberized materials, as they don't allow perspiration to evaporate. Wear bright colors or reflective tape after dark so that motorists can see you.

Warm up
Spend about five minutes walking slowly to warm up your muscles. You can walk in place if you want. Increase your pace until you feel warm. Warming up your muscles reduces your risk of injury.

Stretch
After warming up, stretch your muscles for about five minutes before walking. Include the calf stretch, quadriceps stretch, hamstring stretch, lower back flexion stretch and chest stretch.

Getting started: Design a program that works for you

To help ensure your success:

Start slow and easy.
If you're a seasoned walker, keep doing what you're doing. If you've been inactive and tire easily, it's best to start slow and easy. At first, walk only as far as or as fast as you find comfortable. If you can walk for only a few minutes, let that be your starting point. For example, you might try short daily sessions of three to five minutes and slowly build up to 15 minutes twice a week. Then, over several weeks' time, you can gradually work your way up to 30 minutes of walking five days each week.

Use proper technique to avoid injury and setbacks.
Walking is a great exercise because it's so simple to do. But if your posture is poor or your movements exaggerated, you increase your risk of injury.

Measure the intensity of your workout.
As you walk, measure the intensity. Knowing your level allows you to increase the intensity to maximize your workout or slow down to avoid overdoing it. You have these options:

Talk test. If you're so out of breath that you can't carry on a conversation with the person you're walking with, you're probably walking too fast and should slow down.

Borg scale. This method is a self-assessment of your perceived exertion. You rate how hard you think you're working on a scale that ranges from 6 (no exertion) to 20 (maximal effort). Aim for at least moderate intensity (12 to 14) as you walk.

Monitor your heart rate (pulse). To find out if you're exercising within the range of your target heart rate, stop exercising to check your pulse manually at your wrist (radial artery) or neck (carotid artery). Another option is to wear an electronic device that displays your heart rate.

Keep track of your progress.
Keeping a record of how many steps you take, the distance you walk and how long it takes can help you see where you started from and serve as a source of inspiration. Just think how good you'll feel when you see how many miles you've walked each week, month or year.

Record these numbers in a walking journal you create for yourself or log them in a spreadsheet on your computer. Another option is to use an electronic device to calculate time and distance for you.

Options include:

Pedometers. These devices, which you usually attach to your belt or waistband, detect body motion and count your footsteps, displaying the number of steps on a small screen.
Although many pedometers have extra features, such as displaying calories burned and the distance walked or run, you may want to begin by using its primary feature — counting steps.

High-tech devices. Devices that use GPS satellite technology cost more than pedometers do, but they can track the total and current distance you walk, and even calculate your speed or pace. You may have to program these devices. Some allow you to download stored data to your computer as a way of keeping track of your progress. You wear these high-tech devices on your wrist or attached to your waistband, shoe or arm.

Cool down after each walking session.
To reduce stress on your heart and muscles, end each walking session by walking slowly for about five minutes. Then, repeat your stretches.

Stay motivated: Set goals, have fun and stay in the game.

Starting a walking program takes initiative. Sticking with it takes commitment. But when you think of the potential health benefits, it's well worth your effort. Over time you'll likely feel more invigorated.

To stay motivated:

Set performance goals. People who stick with a new behavior for six months usually make it a habit.

Make it fun. If you don't like walking alone, invite your spouse, partner, friend or neighbor to join you. You might also join a health club and use a treadmill.

Vary your routine. Plan several different walking routes for variety. But if you're walking alone, be sure to tell someone which route you're taking.

Sometimes things happen to keep you from sticking to a regular walking program. Don't be too hard on yourself when this happens.
You don't have to let a few days off sabotage your plan to reach a higher level of fitness and improved health.

Follow these tips to get back in the game:

Think positively. Don't let negative self-talk, such as "I'm a failure," get in the way of starting again. Shrug it off as a temporary break in your walking program.

Re-evaluate your goals. If your goal is to walk two hours a day 365 days a year, you might be setting yourself up to fail. Set realistic goals for yourself, such as 30 minutes five days a week.

Get going. Build walking into your schedule today. Just do it. Walk for 10 minutes on your lunch break.

Continually plan. If you're taking a trip or working overtime, think of strategies for incorporating short walks into your day to keep your plan on track.

You'll be glad you started

Even though the first steps of any journey can be the most difficult, it helps to keep your goals foremost in your mind. So remember, once you take that first step, you're on the way to an important destination — better health.

To read more :

visit : http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/HQ/01612.html

Healthy Eating Habits

While browsing the net, I found something interesting for people who are interested in changing the eating habits. I am striving to develop these habits, which I believe are pretty simple. Read on...

Healthy eating and living a healthy lifestyle has a lot to do with forming the right habits. Here are seven of the best habits you can develop when it comes to healthy eating. Start by picking one of them and making it a habit of your own before moving on to the next. Before you know it, you will have developed a much healthier eating lifestyle.

Drink Plenty of Water
Your body has to stay well hydrated to perform at its best and to properly process all the nutrients in the food you eat. Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. You may need even more water if you are in a hot environment – like spending the day at the beach in 95-degree weather, or if you are exercising.

If you are trying to lose weight, add plenty of ice to each glass of water. Your body will burn energy to warm the water up to body temperature. Research has shown you can speed up your metabolism by 1/3 by drinking several glasses of ice water each day.

Eat Breakfast
You’ve probably heard this before; breakfast is the most important meal of the day. After not eating for the past ten hours, your body needs fuel to get you going. You will have more energy and will be more alert after eating breakfast.

A recent study has shown that women who eat breakfast will consume an average of 100 calories less during the day than their counterparts who skipped breakfast. If you are trying to lose weight, eating breakfast is a definite must.

Make sure your children eat breakfast as well. They will be more alert in school and able to concentrate better.

Don’t Skip Lunch
There are many days when we are tempted to skip lunch. We are trying to lose weight and want to save some calories; we don’t have the time and end up working through our lunch break, or have errands to run. Let’s take a look at what happens when we skip lunch. Blood sugar levels drop, metabolism slows down to compensate for the missing fuel and when you get home you are starving and eat everything you can get your hands on.

Eat a light lunch each day. If you don’t have time to go out, pack a brown bag lunch. Fix a turkey sandwich and some carrots or grapes in the morning and take them with you for a quick lunch at your desk.

Choose Your Snacks Carefully
We all need to snack from time to time. In fact, it’s a good idea to eat two healthy snacks in addition to your three main meals. This doesn’t mean that you can stop by the snack machine and grab a bag of chips or a candy bar.

Choose healthy snacks like fruits and vegetables, low fat yogurt, cottage cheese with applesauce, some whole-wheat crackers with cheese, or some trail mix.

Eat Your Fruit and Vegetables
There is a good reason the 5-a-day campaign was started. We should eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, yet many of us get hardly any servings in at all. Grab a piece of fruit for a snack, add some banana and raisins to your favorite breakfast cereal, have a salad with lunch, and make it a habit to fix at least one vegetable side with dinner each night. A simple fruit salad of cut up fruit dressed with a touch of lemon juice and honey makes for a quick and delicious desert any night of the week.

Avoid Late Dinners
With our busy lives we are always tempted to put of dinner until the last minute. Try to eat dinner at least 3 hours before you go to bed. This will give your body a chance to digest most of the food before you rest for the next 8 hours.

A strategy that has worked well for me is to plan dinner for the week ahead of time and making sure I have every thing I need in the house. It allows me to get dinner started as soon as I get home and cuts out the extra time it takes to dig through the cupboards trying to find something to make and then running to the store to get the remaining ingredients.

Take a few minutes one day a week and plan the entire menu. Make a grocery list and shop for everything you need for the next few days. You may even want to post your menu on the fridge so other family members can get a head start on dinner if you have a late meeting at the office.

Keep a Food Journal
Do you really know what you are eating each day? We often snack and eat more at regular meals than we realize. To get a better idea of what you are eating on a daily basis keep a food journal for a few days. All you need is a notebook and a pen. Write down everything you eat and drink in a given day. It is also a good idea to make notes about any emotions related to what you eat. For example, if you had a bad day at the office, and you have 2 slices of cheesecake after you get home as a result, write it down. You’ll be able to analyze what causes you to choose unhealthy foods and at what times of the day you are most likely to grab unhealthy foods. Recognizing what you bad eating habits are is the first step toward correcting the behavior.

You will be amazed how much better you will feel by incorporating these seven habits of healthy eating. Give them a try and see for yourself. Over the next few months we will be discussing many other health related topics. Don’t miss next month’s issue about easy ways to incorporate exercise into your daily routine.

If you want to read more, please visit the following link :

http://www.healthymenumailer.com/articles/healthy-eating-habit.html

Self motivation

I reckon self motivation is the mightiest of all the strengths one can possess as that could bring about changes in your life. That is the reason behind me pondering the three elements that contribute to motivating self. Who doesn't want to achieve what you covet? Before we even think what to achieve, contemplate the desires. Desire could be for anything but to desire for the right thing is a power within you. More than allowing others to guide you guide yourself with your conscience and you will make no mistakes. Once you have identified and prioritized your desires, entice your mind to believe in them. Belief plays an important part in being motivated. Only if you believe in yourself would you believe in your motives. Once again, it's proved that the power is within you. Your belief could be the stimulus to the actions to achieve your target. Easiest of the three elements is accepting what you have achieved. Accept the changes and enjoy your achievements. Did you even realize that you have already achieved what you desired for when you decided to read this post? Yes, that's the strength of self motivation. You are self motivated to believe in this post. This is just the beginning of a saga of influencing the self. Enjoy the experience of self motivation!