Just Checking In - Some Motivating Tips if You Haven't Gotten Started Yet

Did you have a plan to lose weight and get fit this year? Have you started it yet? Perhaps you started it and have already stopped it. Well, I'm checking in on you to help keep you motivated. Spring is coming and for many people that means more outdoor exercise time and showing more skin. I know you don't want to go through another spring and summer season feeling bad about the way you look or that you didn't follow through with your goal to get in shape. That's why I'm here to help reroute you back on track with a little encouragement.

How about just getting outside and walking around your neighborhood for starters. Just put one foot in front of the other and do it. You will feel so much better because you are taking a step in the right direction. Our bodies simply love to walk. While you're at it, take a look around. Get to know the weather; how the sky looks on a sunny day, or when it's about to rain. Listen to the birds; they will tell you what's coming, spring, or a thunderstorm. Make walking a daily habit. Buy a reflector vest and walk in the evening instead of reaching for a box of cookies. Once your confidence builds and your fitness level increases, think about joining a gym or perhaps buying some dumbbells. Joining a gym is great because you are sharing your desire to be fit with others. All of you in there are there to take care of yourselves and look and feel healthier. It's about making small changes to your habits and creating new habits. Swap foods. If you are used to having a donut or muffin for breakfast, have a bowl of high fiber cereal instead and a piece of fruit. Shrink your portions. I find using a small plate instead of a large 10" dinner plate is very helpful. You can't put as much food on it as you can a large plate. Cut out the junk food. Reach for healthy snacks. Fruits, veggies, yogurt, nuts (in moderation of course). Keep some ready-made foods that you prepared ahead of time in the fridge to eat and snack on when you come home and you're hungry so you don't reach for junk food to quell your hunger. It takes a little planning ahead, but it's better to eat your own prepared salad with cut up chicken breast, than to grab a sandwich from the deli. Make your diet and your health your priority.

Have children,I do,and I know that you can't always find time for yourself when you are always caring for others. You have to make time. Hire a sitter if you have to so you can get to the gym. That can be your "me" time and you will feel wonderful and better able to cope with the demands of family life. Exercise is not just good for your body, but also for your mind and stress levels. It helps keep your hormones in check so they don't overtake your emotions and it helps keep your appetite preferred to healthier foods.

So, if you haven't yet started on your journey, no worries, start now! This minute! Today! There is no time like the present. Don't look backward and regret what you haven't done, but look forward to the wonderful promise of the new "you". You can "make it happen."

See you on Youtube,
-YouTips4U

How to Curl Your Hair WITHOUT Using Heat Styling to Prevent Damage

Do you love curly hair? I have a wonderful way for you to curl your hair without damaging it with heat styling tools like curling irons or hot rollers. It's so easy and looks fantastic. You can even do it overnight while you sleep and wake up the next morning with a head full of ringlet curls. All you need to do is follow my how to video on YouTube. You can really make those curls last by applying a curl-enhancing mousse or gel to your hair before you set it. Then just spritz with a little hairspray when your done to hold in place. To watch my YouTube video please click this link: How to Curl Your Hair Without Heat

Best Way to Cover Your Pimples and Zits

Break outs and blemishes happen and thankfully there are products we can use to cover them up. Unfortunately, many times covering them up can make them look worse. Here are some tips to help you hide your pimples beautifully.

Your acne is red and swollen and covering it up only makes the bumps look bigger. What you can do is apply a heavy concealer that is a shade lighter than your skin. Try to select one that has ingredients like aloe to calm swelling and salicylic acid to heal blemishes. There are quite a few of these on the market. Apply your foundation, then dot a small amount of concealer on top of the pimple. Blend the edges with your finger or a sponge.

Your pimple has gone away, but you now have a dark spot and it shows through when you cover it up. Select a foundation that adjusts to the color of your skin to even out your skin tone. These are light and lovely. Then apply a stick concealer to the dark spot that matches your skin tone to lighten the dark mark. Blend the concealer with your finger until it disappears into the foundation.

You have whiteheads which can be difficult to cover. Your best bet is a mineral concealer made of loose particles that reflect and diffuse light to take attention away from the white center. Simply apply your regular foundation, then dip a concealer brush into the pot of loose concealer and brush it directly on top of the whiteheads and blend outward. Add a little extra to the white center of the whiteheads.

You skin around your pimple is flaking and concealer just gets caught up in it making your face look cakey. First wash the flaky area with a gentle exfoliating cleanser, Neutrogena has a great one for sensitive skin, or use a wash cloth to gently slough skin. Smooth on an oil-free moisturizer. Then dab a thin layer of foundation onto the pimple and blend. Repeat application of thin light layers of foundation until the pimple is covered.

Remember, you don't need to apply foundation all over your face, only to the areas that you feel need evening out. Only wear makeup and concealer, etc. when you need to face the world. If you are just hanging out at home, keep your face makeup free and just treat pimples with a benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid pimple treatment. Be sure you wash your face every night before bed. Sleeping with makeup is the worst thing you can do for your skin. Apply acne treatment before bed each night. That's the best time to heal your skin as your body goes through great repair when sleeping. Also, stress causes breakouts. Try to minimize the stress in your life by practicing relaxation, getting enough sleep at night, exercising, and maintaining a healthy diet with as little processed foods as possible. Processed foods are often high in salt, sugar, and fat; all bad for your skin.

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-YouTips4U

What To Do For Various Foot Problems

Our feet are so important to our everyday comfort and we don't always appreciate them until we have a problem with them. Very often we let things go until we are in quite a bit of discomfort. Here are some helpful tips for dealing with very common foot ailments and some tips to prevent their occurrence.

Athlete's Foot - I have found Lamisil to be by far the best at curing athlete's foot fungus. If you are prone to athletes foot be sure to spray your sneakers with sneaker spray disinfectant after each prolonged exercise use. Also, you may want to use a medicated foot powder during prolonged periods of sweating.

Plantar Warts - salicylic wart pads work best and can be trimmed to the proper size to cover just the wart. You'll want to use a pumice stone (you can purchase one in any drugstore)to buff off the top layer before applying the wart pad. Be sure to wear flip flops/shower shoes whenever you shower in any public shower area to help prevent exposure to plantar's warts virus.

Ingrown Toenail- very common if you do not cut your toenails straight across. Soak your foot in warm water for at least 10 minutes each day and apply an antibacterial ointment or tea tree oil. Be sure to trim toenails straight across to avoid this reoccurring and place a drop of tea tree oil on each toe after trimming to reduce chances of infection.

Blister - had a great night dancing in your high heels, but now you're in pain with a blister - place some antibiotic ointment on it and cover it with a hydrocolloid gel bandage. These bandages are non-permeable by bacteria and speed the healing process. They are also waterproof and transparent, so you can observe the wound without taking off the bandage.

Corn or Callus - use a pumice stone (you can purchase one in any drugstore) to gently buff away the top layers of the skin. Then apply moisturizer morning and night.

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-YouTips4U

Reusable Grocery Bags Can Contain Harmful Bacteria

Reusable grocery bags can contain quite a few serious germs, including E. coli, that can lead to sickness. Here's how the contamination occurs: you put fresh fruits and vegetables in your bag and the germs and pesticides slough off and stay behind in your bag. Or perhaps you purchase a package of raw meat and some of the juices leak out into your bag. These germs embed themselves in the bad and are now transferable to other food products and your hands as they are reused. The danger is that you can get food poisoning caused by the transference of these germs to your mouth. It's the same type of cross-contamination that can occur by using a cutting board for meat and then veggies or fruits without washing the cutting board and utensils in between. You can protect yourself from this cross-contamination of germs by being sure you use cotton bags and that you launder or wash them after every shopping trip.

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-YouTips4U

Tips for Waxing

Be sure when scheduling a wax appointment that you mention all the services you want done. Many women will schedule a bikini wax and then ask for a leg wax later during the appointment. This can result in rushed performance or you having to go back and have it done at a later date because sometimes different technicians work on different areas of the body.

For best results, be sure leg and bikini hair are at least 1/4 of an inch long if hair is fine or at least 1/2 inch long if it's coarse. That means you will probably have to wax every two to four weeks.

If you are planning on having any part of your face waxed, don't use any product containing retinol for a week to 10 days before. Retinol products can cause skin to be ultra-senstive and using wax on skin treated with retinol can cause skin to burn and become irritated, sometimes skin can be ripped off with the wax.

What's better for the bikini area? Hard wax. Hard wax is less painful as it can be peeled off as opposed to pulled off when strip wax is used.

To manage the pain associated with a fresh waxing, take Advil an hour before your appointment. If despite the Advil it still hurts while waxing is being performed, ask the beautician to apply wax strips to smaller areas at a time. After wax treatment is finished, apply aloe vera lotion to your newly waxed skin, or use a hydrocortisone cream if you get any red bumps.

-YouTips4U

What's the Sexiest Color to Wear to Attract a Man?

Want a little extra help in the dating scene to help attract a man? Wear red. Red on a woman is a powerful aphrodisiac and men are not even aware of this. Studies showed that men consistently perceived a woman wearing red as sexier and were more than half as likely to ask her out compared with a woman wearing blue. This seems to be preferred only in men, not women. Red seems to have deep psychological roots to attraction in a man's biology. So ladies, if you're going out on the town and hoping that Mr. Right will come along and sweep you off your feet, you may want to help stack the odds in your favor a bit by wearing a red top or dress.

See you on YouTube,
-YouTips4U

Alleviate Sinus Congestion/Stuffy Nose Due to Colds and Allergies

I have a terrific video on YouTube for this cold season to help alleviate congestion, sinus infections and colds. It uses a technique called irrigation. It's very easy and I show you two ways you can do it; using the store bought kit or the at-home method which works just as well. This is a wonderful treatment for relief from cold symptoms as well as allergies, but what do you do if you cannot get the water to flow from one nostril to the other as is shown because you are so stuffed up. Well, I have a natural suggestion for you because I am not one who uses over-the-counter medications. I always try to use the natural approach whenever possible as many of you know by now. Boil some water in a pot on the stove (I use a large pot that I cook pasta in). Once it's boiling, remove it and bring it to a table where you can sit in front of it. Place your face over the steam that rises out of the hot water. Place a towel over your head and the pot to help keep the steam in so it does just going out into the air. You've created your own little steam bath. Breath naturally and regularly and just let the hot steam go up into your nose. Do not breath deeply. Be very careful you don't get too close to the water at first because initially the steam is very hot. It's very easy to burn the inside of your nose or your eyes, so do sit far enough back in the beginning. Perhaps keep the towel partially open if you feel the steam is too hot. Just alter the position of your head and the towel until you feel comfortable. Much of this may depend on the size of the pot you are using. Within 5 minutes, the temperature of the steam becomes more comfortable and you can get a little closer to the pot. Keep a box of tissues nearby because you will need them. Once you have cleared your sinuses, then you can use the irrigation treatment I show you in the YouTube video and you should be able to get the water through. I promise you, you will feel so much better from it. Here is the YouTube link: Alleviate Congestion, Stuffy Nose Colds, Allergies & Sinus Infections with Nasal Irrigation/Wash

Take care and stay well,
-YouTips4U