Link to new thread.

New thread - please share your workouts. Happy exercising. :)

Yes. Sharing what I've read: Strawberries may help whiten teeth because they contain an enzyme called malic acid, which can be found in some whitening toothpastes. You can mash up the strawberry or just rub it on your teeth, cut in half. Leave the juice on your teeth for 5 minutes and then rinse with water. The fiber in strawberries also behaves as a natural cleaner by removing bacteria from the teeth and mouth. Apples, Celery, and Carrots These fruits and veggies act like natural stain removers. They increase saliva production, which is the body's built-in cleaning agent. It may sound hard to believe, but some people swear that rubbing raw carrot sticks on your teeth will make them look brighter. These foods are high in vitamin C, which prevents gum disease and gingivitis and kills odor-causing bacteria. Citrus fruit, such as oranges and pineapples, also cause the mouth to produce more saliva, which help clean the teeth and whiten your smile. Just as they naturally 'bleach' your hair, lemons will lighten and brighten your teeth. Rinse with half water, half lemon juice once or twice a week. However, do not rinse with this concoction more than two times a week and do not rinse with straight lemon juice. Overdoing it would be too acidic, which can be damaging to the teeth. Make sure to brush and floss your teeth at least twice a day. Make sure to floss at bedtime and use a cheap gum massager to get under the gum flap. You want to prevent the buildup of plaque, which can discolor your teeth. Focusing on your teeth will help you prevent some staining of your teeth. Brush teeth as soon as you can after dark beverages – tea, coffee, etc. Other foods like red wine and berries (except strawberries) can cause stains. Genetics can play a role too; some people just have teeth with a yellowish or off-white appearance. Foods to Limit – these cause stains And when you do have them, try to brush very soon after – Tea Coffee Red Wine Chocolate Dark-Colored Berries – blueberries, raspberries Cranberry Juice Cigarettes Dark Cola Marinara Sauce Grape Juice Beets Milk can also bond onto front teeth and cause a yellow tartar buildup. Rinsing with water for twenty seconds immediately after downing anything on the “bad†list will help. Clearly, it would be best to brush immediately after eating these foods, but if that isn't possible, rinse your mouth well with water and then chew sugarless gum. Foods to Eat More of Raw vegetables and fruits help to scrub away stains: Carrots Cucumbers Celery Apples Pears Peaches Plums Broccoli Asparagus Grapes Green Beans Mushrooms Bananas These all act like a detergent, cleaning the surfaces of your teeth as you chew. Oranges, pineapples, grapefruits, tangerines, nectarines, honeydews, cantaloupes, limes, mangoes, and tomatoes have a lot of vitamin C, which is good for gum tissue.

Yes, :iagree:. Had I been in a different mood, I may have given it 2 Stars. I felt that he really dragged it on and on ... It's hard to say since books are so subjective. You never know. You may end up liking it after all. I should have stuck to my 10% Rule (if a book doesn't engage me in the first 10%, I usually move on to something else - life is too short to read rubbish, IMHO). I kept hoping and thinking that it would get better. Read this several years ago. I felt the same way. Yes, I will :). She is on Goodreads. I just haven't been able to find her yet.

Quick Callanetics: Hips & Behind

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Classical Stretch ~ 3 (almost) half-hour workouts: Elongating Your Muscles Slenderize the Waist & Flatten the Abs Arms & Posture I'd like to do these more often.

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: Hmmm ... still undecided. I guess I could give it a try at some point. Yes. Not fun at all. I've been told that his other book Amsterdam is much better. On the one hand, I'd like to give it a try, but then again, given the fact that I really didn't care for Atonement, I'm not so sure. BTW Stacia, I have a distant relative here in med school. She and I often discuss books. Her taste is exactly like yours. So very similar! I told her about you. :) She's on goodreads but we have yet to connect. She's super busy, obviously. She gifted our dc with two Terry Pratchett books. Her favorite. You would have approved. :)

Praying right now. :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

This is on my wish list. This is one of my all-time favorite books. :) I love reading your posts on this thread. :grouphug:

Leslie Walk at Home: 5-Mile Fat Burning Shannon, welcome. :) This made me giggle, even though that was probably not your intention. :lol: I'm not an Insanity/P90X, etc. type, so I really don't know. Too much hype and popularity can annoy me. I like the names - especially "Bum Bum". :lol: Hope your unpacking is going well. :grouphug: :grouphug: Happens to us all at times, or at least to me anyway. Good for you. :) This is very true. Hope it feels better very soon. :grouphug:

Am about to soon do: 10-Minute Solution: Fitness Ball Workout

Agreeing with all the suggestions. Lots of great info here. This thread is an older one and very, very long. I think it's so helpful.

:grouphug: A few more: Jojoba Oil/Almond Oil Treatment - can't remember if I shared this one already Apply to face Cover face with hot, moist towel for half an hour - sometimes I can't leave it on for that long Rinse with warm water Seal pores with cool water Don’t overdo the ice cold water! Get a ripe avocado and gently massage some of the pulp into your face. Allow its oils to penetrate your skin, then remove whatever remains with warm water and blot carefully. If your skin is too oily, rub a little fresh cucumber on it instead. Honey on skin for at least 20 minutes Combine 1/4 cup oatmeal, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp olive oil, and 1 egg white

This seems to be me also. :grouphug: I just can't seem to do low-carb for very long at all.

Totally makes sense. Thank you both. :)

Ellen Barrett: Live Power Fusion My goal today: To try to have at least 1/2 of each meal be veggies and/or fruit.

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Now, I've posted this before and am sharing it again. This is from stuff I've read in the past few years. Much of the research linking excess weight and an increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, among other chronic diseases, has been done on people who are obese, with a BMI of 30 or more. When the merely overweight folks are separated out, the health risks drop and sometimes even disappear. Being overweight may not be associated with ANY risk of heart disease. Although obese folks have a greater risk of dying from cancer or heart disease, those who are simply overweight have, surprisingly, no greater risk than normal-weight people. This was found from Britain’s Million Women Study. Scientists from the Mayo Clinic were questioning the accuracy and usefulness of the BMI. Reviewing data from 40 studies involving 250,000 people with heart disease, they found that while severely obese patients had a higher risk of death, overweight people had fewer heart problems than those with a normal BMI. Because muscle weighs more than fat, many physically fit people are mistakenly classified as "overweight", while they are actually less likely to die young than a "normal" weight individual whose excess weight is mostly fat. BMI’s downfall is that it does not take into account body composition - whether or not excess weight is fat or muscle - which is why fit people often find themselves in the fat category of the BMI rating system. The important thing to consider is how body fat is distributed around the body, as the real problems occur when fat accumulates in the central abdominal region. Some physicians suggest that a waist circumference measurement is more informative, in that it is a direct measure of the part of the body that tends to accumulate fat. Having a waistband of more than 35 inches in women and 40 inches in men indicates the highest risk of cardiovascular and metabolic disease. There is an increased risk of the diseases for women with measurements of more than 32in and men whose measurement is over 37in. Many of us have been programmed to worship a number on the scale, but waist circumference is more important than weight. A large waist can increase your risk of insulin resistance, the body’s inability to process sugars, which raises your risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Women should have no more than a 35-inch waist, and men should measure 40-inches or less. If your waist circumference is more than that, the advice is simple: Cut down on food intake, exercise more – or even better, do a combination of the two. The more I have read and keep reading, the more I realize that waist measurement is KEY. My goal is to get my waist under 33" -- Everything I read leads me to believe that the most important factor for health is your waist size-- not an arbitrary number on a scale. In my reading I have discovered that the fat around your mid-section actually acts as an organ--secreting hormones and disrupting your health. It adheres to your internal organs. It is not good. That is what I want gone. I have come to the realization that weight and waist measurement are very closely related. I don't think I have ever been at an ideal weight and had a large waist, or vice versa, had a small waist and weighed a lot. I guess the two do go hand-in-hand ... Just different ways of measuring, I guess. I figure they're both important. I just read this from one of the links below: "As your weight changes, you can expect to lose about 1" from your waistline for each 6-8 lbs of weight loss." http://www.collectivewizdom.com/NormalWaistSize.html

Thank you. :grouphug: I love your posts also! :iagree: Your comment about it having a mind of its own made me smile. :D Me too. Not too many wrinkles yet and I'm 44. I have a very full face. :lol: I'm glad it didn't get killed. :) Sassy and curvy is great. BMI is rubbish. :glare: :lol: Yes, I have the same exact problem. I would. I had one doctor tell me that I was extremely overweight and she wasn't looking too good either.

EYE CREAMS I love that Paula’s Choice line of products can be used for the eyes also. Don't bother with Strivectin. SCAM – doesn’t work and is ridiculously expensive. Since you mentioned foot scrubs: I try to slather my feet in Vaseline and wear socks as often as possible. My feet are usually super-soft. Sometimes I sleep with the Vaseline and socks. Treat yourself to weekly salt or sugar foot scrubs. The transformation to your feet is fabulous. Use the hottest water you can stand, and enjoy them. Again, if you want all my info - diet, supplements, etc. - I can share that also. Retinol is good. I haven't started using it yet. I have very specific tips on that if you or anyone here is interested.

Wrinkles aren't typically what make a woman look old, but loss of something called "brightness". Cellular build-up and clogged and enlarged pores can make skin look dim and dull. Young skin renews itself every month. As we get older, the process slows down, so gentle exfoliation will help to scrub away dead cells and leave you with smooth skin. Nothing beats having facials, but if you can't afford them, you can do so at home. Before thinking about make-up, if you can afford to see a really good aesthetician for as long as your budget allows and as often as your budget allows, you would benefit profoundly. One of the keys to keeping skin young is regular and gentle exfoliation. Always be more gentle than you think you need to be! Older skin needs careful treatment. Exfoliate gently. As I mentioned earlier, I love the Clarisonic, Exfolia Cloth, Baking Soda paste, etc. I also love Paula’s Choice BHA Gels. The purpose of these acids is to remove the dead cell layers which cause loss of skin brightness. They contain salicylic acid which helps with pore problems. I only use them at night, however, and not every single night – a few nights a week. Exfoliating scrubs used twice a week will help with blackheads and increase brightness. One I really like at the moment is made by DHC. If you use one of the scrubs, the particles should be smooth and feel like sugar in your hand. If they are too big or rough, they can tear skin. Go for a gentle product with a manufactured exfoliant - like micro beads - versus a natural exfoliant like seeds or pits because the rough edges can actually cause little scratches on your skin and cause more damage in the long run than help. This is one time natural is not necessarily better! Use only your ring finger to massage a manual exfoliant on your face as it has the lightest touch - even though it feels so good to REALLY scrub! Remember to always be more gentle than you think you need to be! Always err on the side of babying your skin. I also really like: Mary Kay Time Wise Microdermabrasion– the entire Mary Kay line is said to be good Sephora Microdelivery Peel The skin repairs itself most effectively between the hours of 1 AM and 3 AM, so products aimed at addressing problems will be more effective overnight.

I get facials about once every 6 weeks. They’re much cheaper here. To me, even if one can't afford to have them on a regular basis, it may be worth looking into a cosmetology school or whatever, or even having one every year or every 6 months. Not natural, but I love Paula's Choice of skin care products. http://www.cosmeticscop.com/ She really researches and knows her stuff. She rates and reviews most products and doesn't push you to buy only her stuff or anything like that. My skin always looks better and feels better when I use her products consistently. My esthetician can tell the difference. Others have complimented me also. Although I use Paula's Choice, I don't use it very often – maybe two to three times a week, if I'm feeling very disciplined or not lazy, and usually even less than that. I think it's also a bit intentional. I'm trying to limit chemicals. When I first started with Paula's Choice, I had scaly and dry skin. I cut back on the BHA stuff/exfoliating to just a few times a week and not daily. I also moisturized a bit more. But, most importantly, I only use her BHA gel/exfoliating stuff at night. If I use it during the day, I end up peeling all over the place. I don't know why she suggests using it during the day. I don't use the BHA Gel every single night. I'm not always consistent. Besides, I believe in giving my skin a break every few nights. Her products are not excessively pricey. Also, they have trial/sample sizes. One major thing I love is that her moisturizers can be used as eye creams also. I love exfoliation and recently splurged on the Clarisonic. If you can't afford it, you can use other means of exfoliation: Baking soda and water, the Exfolia Cloth - to name just a few. I also do a weekly mask. Sometimes homemade and sometimes not. For my skin to look good, it's pretty much all about diet. The healthier I eat, the better my skin looks. The best moisturizers are packed with antioxidants. Get a ripe avocado and gently massage some of the pulp into your face. Allow its oils to penetrate your skin, then remove whatever remains with warm water and blot carefully. If your skin is too oily, rub a little fresh cucumber on it instead. I'm doing this right now. :D Evening primrose oil, jojoba oil, hazelnut oil, olive oil and safflower oil are also soothing, effective moisturizers. Apply any of these to your face for half an hour, and cover it with a hot, moist towel. Rinse it off with warm water, then seal your pores with cool water. Right now, I absolutely love jojoba oil on my face and scalp. To revive tired skin each morning, apply cold water all over your face. It will cause your skin to contract, leaving it fresh and tingly, as well as boosting circulation and making you feel energized. The best way to apply a moisturizer is not to rub, but rather dab and lightly smooth it on, allowing it to be absorbed by the skin. Always keep in mind that overmoisturizing the skin can impair healing and cell production, so it is important not to overdo!

I keep meaning to try the vitamin C tablet thing. I can't recall if it was you or someone else here who posted this a few months ago. Vitamin C, applied topically can fade spots and even skin tone. You can spend a fortune on vitamin C products that may or may not be effective. For the past couple years, I simply open a vit C capsule and mix a pinch of the powder a spoonful of water. I spread the vit c water (and it looks like water), over my washed, exfoliated skin most nights. I then apply a moisturizing cream. One vitamin capsule lasts me at least a week. It is very inexpensive and takes moments. I keep a little fingerbowl in the bathroom cabinet for mixing it up ever night. My skin has a bright youthful look, with no dark spots. But, if you do this you really must commit to sunscreen every day. The aspirin mask sounds interesting also. I love your other tips.