What Slimming Gels Do

Slimming gels aim to do just that — to help you slim down, or at least give the appearance thereof. For the most part, slimming gels serve a purely cosmetic purpose — they make your body’s lumpy trouble spots look much smoother and slimmer. And many gels do a good job at it.

The big difference comes in exactly HOW these gels make you look slimmer. For instance, many slimming gels have diuretic properties — that is, they encourage the removal of trapped excess water in your trouble spots. Such slimming gels may include ingredients like green tea and caffeine.

Other slimming gels have ingredients that make your trouble spot feel hot. With the heat generated by ingredients such as hot chili peppers (not kidding), each application burns a little extra fat and may also encourage the release of trapped water through sweating.

Still other slimming gels are meant to be used as massage liniments. These slimming gels moisturize the skin and make even cellulite look smoother. The massaging action also encourages the removal of water and the burning of fat. Slimming gels like this are a favorite for hardworking individuals, who use them for their weekend massage rituals.

How To Correctly Use Slimming Gel

Of course, slimming gels won’t work on their own. They won’t magically make your fat stores disappear! You still need good, old-fashioned diet and exercise. As mentioned before, slimming gels are cosmetic solutions for the most part.

But that’s not to say slimming gels DON’T help your weight loss regimen. After all, when you look good, you’ll feel good, too. When you like what you see in the mirror, you’ll know how well your weight loss regimen is moving along. That alone can inspire you to work even harder to reach your weight loss goals.

(It’s a lot better than looking at the mirror, feeling discouraged, and quitting your regimen altogether!)

So go right ahead — feel free to look for a slimming gel that works for you. Remember, what works for others may not necessarily work for you. So you may need to go through a period of trial-and-error before you find a gel that works perfectly for you.

A Few Tips To Remember

Unfortunately, not all slimming gels are safe. You might, for instance, be allergic to certain ingredients that some slimming gels have. When trying out a new slimming gel, ask for a tester tube. Apply a small amount to the back of your hand, and see if anything bad happens after 24 hours. If everything turns out fine, then it’s safe to test a whole bottle or tube.

Also, make sure it fits your budget! Some slimming gels can be expensive, so be careful.

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A Close-Up Of The Two

Let’s start with the Body Blade. This device has two long, flat, flexible blades extending from either side of a central handle. When shaken, the blades wobble back and forth, providing a to-and-fro kind of resistance that sustains itself for long periods of time. This resistance is what helps even simple exercises seem more challenging.

The Shake Weight, on the other hand, is a dumbbell-shaped device. It has weighted ends that are supported by powerful springs from the central handle. When shaken, the weights shake up and down repeatedly, providing a resistance that reportedly fatigue the muscles 5 times faster than free weights.

For Cardio Exercises

Both devices have their places in cardio (aerobic) exercises, since simply holding either one in your hands during an exercise gives you extra dynamic resistance to work against. That means even simple aerobic exercises (and even Yoga) will feel more intense.

For Muscle Building

When it comes to building muscle, the Body Blade has a slight edge over the Shake Weight. The Body Blade can make your muscles contract up to 270 times a minute, with resistance forces reaching up to a whopping 64 pounds. A few seconds with a good Body Blade and you’ll fatigue your muscles to failure.

The Shake Weight is also useful for muscle-building, as it does have an edge over free weights. But its usefulness can’t quite match up to the flexibility of the Body Blade, so it’s best for individuals who are just starting out.

For Cost

If you’re on a tight budget, we’d suggest you go with the Shake Weight for the meantime. The Shake Weight costs only around $20 to $30, while the Body Blade can cost anywhere between $50 and $160, depending on the type of blade you choose (there are 5 types available).

For Portability

The Shake Weight also wins in the portability category. It’s considerably smaller than the Body Blade, and it weighs a tolerable 2.5kg — around the weight of a large laptop. The Shake Weight is easy to carry around, but it’s best to use it indoors and in private — unless, of course, you don’t mind the naughty stares you might get.

For Rehabilitation

If you’re looking for a lightweight, low-impact exercise tool to help you recover from an injury, then the Body Blade is your best bet. Much has been said about the Body Blade being a useful tool for physical therapy, with relatively few, if any, raves going for the Shake Weight.

Choose Your Weapon

In the end, everything will depend on your specific needs. The Body Blade and the Shake Weight both have their advantages over each other, and they do add a new dimension to your usual workout regimen. So choose carefully!

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Exercising For Fitness?

Some individuals are lucky enough to not be grossly overweight or underweight, and would like to exercise simply to maintain their good health. If that sounds like you, then you’ll need exercises that will keep your body limber, strong, and flexible.

The first kind of exercise you’d want to have on your regimen are the cardiovascular exercises. Jogging, biking, and swimming are examples of common cardio exercises — they get the blood running and your lungs breathing. Cardio boosts the metabolism and promotes circulation.

For flexibility and strength, you may want to try exercises such as Yoga and Pilates. Yoga is serene and flowing, while Pilates is tough and tense — a great Yin-Yang of exercises. These exercises aren’t only good for the body — they’re also good for the mind, and can be a relaxing way to pace yourself through a busy week.

Exercises For Weight Loss?

If you want to exercise to lose weight, then here’s a tip — don’t rely on just cardio. Some people make the mistake of jogging for hours, or spending all their gym time on the treadmill. Cardio does boost the metabolism, but not enough to encourage fat burn on its own.

When you rely on just cardio to lose weight, what happens is that your efforts tend to plateau. Your body gets used to the routine, and your weight loss slows down and stops. What’s worse, long and slow cardio can put you at risk of repetitive stress injury!

Don’t just rely on cardio. Instead, focus on more intense interval training. If you like jogging, learn sprinting. If you like biking, learn spinning. By hitting maximum effort in short bursts, you’ll be encouraging more fat burn — and you’ll be building some calorie-burning muscle, too.

Exercises For Muscle Growth?

It’s a no-brainer, but if you want muscle growth, you’ll need to focus on resistance training. The idea is to work your muscles to failure, so that the body repairs and grows them during your rest days.

When it comes to resistance training, you’re often faced with two choices at any gym — machines, and free weights. It’s a good idea to utilize ALL the tools your gym offers, so that you get to work out ALL your muscle groups. But if you had to choose, choose free weights. They’re better for muscle growth.

No time or money for the gym? Then use body weight exercises instead. Push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and horizontal bar pull-ups are all great body weight exercises, and you don’t need a gym to do them. Just remember to do sets that work your muscles to failure, and you’ll be seeing bigger muscles in the near future.

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Herb Edition — Good Herbs

#1 – Green Tea. Everyone knows the “slimming” reputation of green tea! While experts will be debating whether or not it really helps burn fat, the rest of us will be enjoying its wonderful health benefits and slimming down as we go.

#2 – Nettle. Not many people like nettles because of the bitter taste, but when you know how to prepare them, they’re nicely edible. You can create sauces or flavor soups with them, or use their dried form to make plant-essence tea. Like green tea, nettles have a metabolism-boosting effect.

#3 – Seaweed. Seaweed has long been known to be one of the most nutritious vegetables on the planet. The better news? They also help you burn fat! Seaweed is a natural metabolism-booster, and also acts to remove excess water from the body. Look for seaweed products in your local Japanese specialty stores.

#4 – Cayenne. One of the ingredients in the Lemon Detox Diet (also called Master Cleanse), cayenne causes a welcome spike in the metabolism, burning a little extra fat with every dose. As with all herbs, make sure you’re not taking too much, or you might do more harm than good!

#5 – Ginseng. Ginseng has been around for a while, and it’s still helping people from all over the world slim down and feel more energetic. If you’re not a tea person, look for supplements that contain ginseng extract.

Herb Edition — Bad Herbs

Be careful, though — not all herbs are good for the health, especially when taken for the long-term. An example of an herb to avoid includes ephedra. While it does show some use in weight loss, its cardiac-related side effects makes it not worth the risk.

The same goes for laxative herbs. While they do help relieve constipation, such herbs are never meant to be used regularly. If you take too much, you can cause problems to your intestines and other parts of your digestive system.

Notes About Herb Edition Weight Loss

Remember — when it comes to weight loss, there is no magic bullet. While the right herbs will help you lose weight, you’ll still need the other “legs of the stool” — a healthful, organic, plant-based diet, plenty of exercise, and a solid multivitamin and antioxidant regimen.

If you’re not sure about whether or not a certain herb may be good for you, feel free to ask your doctor or nutritionist. Most herbs aren’t meant to be taken regularly, so it’s best not to treat them like the vitamins you take everyday. Stick to the dosage, and you shoul

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Diet Recipe Showdown #1 – Food

Let’s start with the popular Atkins diet. The Atkins diet calls for severe limitation of carbohydrate intake, while upping your intake of protein and other nutrients. That means you can still eat steaks, lobster, and burgers (without the buns though), but no breads, beans, pastas, rice, fruits, and starchy vegetables.

The South Beach diet, on the other hand, gets rid of most fruits, dairy, and simple carbohydrates during its first phase, but gradually re-allows them into the diet in the second and third phases. It’s somewhat more flexible than the Atkins diet in that sense. The South Beach focuses on allowing the right kinds of carbohydrates instead of limiting the intake.

And finally, the Zone diet will let you eat small portions of lean meat, tofu, vegetables, seafood, and fruit. The idea is to get into the “zone” diet of 40% protein, 30% carbohydrates, and 30% fat, which helps the body perform at its peak.

Diet Recipe Showdown #2 – Ideal Candidates

Since the Atkins diet removes most of the carbohydrates from the diet, it’s the best diet for meat lovers who have no problem giving up bread, rice, most fruits, and pasta. It’s also a good diet for people who need to lose weight, but aren’t really interested in eating salads to do so.

What about the South Beach Diet? It’s also for people who’d like to try a low-carb diet, but aren’t really willing to give up bread, rice, fruits, and pasta. Again, it’s not as fixed and inflexible as the Atkins diet, so South Beach dieters will enjoy a bit more freedom.

And finally, the Zone diet is best for dieters who like to crunch numbers and watch what they eat very, very closely. Knowledge is the best antidote to fear, after all, and when you know exactly what’s going into your body, you can rest easy.

Diet Recipe Showdown #3 – Disadvantages

When it comes to the Atkins diet, the biggest disadvantage is the toll it may take on your heart and kidneys. Eating lots of meat means taking in a rather large amount of fat and cholesterol, and the ketosis fat-burning stage can hurt the kidneys in the long-term. And finally, you’ll be taking in less fiber, which can lead to constipation.

The South Beach diet also has its disadvantages — the first phase, for instance, can be a real chore to work through. But once the second phase sets in and you’re allowed to eat a wider variety of food, things aren’t so bad anymore.

The Zone diet, aside from running the same protein-related risks that the Atkins diet does, is also not suitable for people who don’t have the ability (or patience) to measure their servings!

Now that you’re in the know, it’s time to decide what kind of diet is best for your goals, your lifestyle, and your abilities.

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What BMI Stands For

BMI actually stands for Body Mass Index. It’s not a measurement of how much body fat you have on — it just tells you whether your weight is at a healthy range for a person of your height. When you know your BMI value, you’ll have an idea of what you need to do to stay healthy.

Your BMI value comes in the form of a number. The higher the value, the more weight you have for your height. The lower the value, the less weight you have — which, by the way, isn’t healthy either! The idea is to adjust your weight slowly to achieve a BMI you’re comfortable with.

How To Calculate Your BMI

To calculate your BMI, you’ll first need to get your weight in kilograms. If you’re not sure how much you weigh in the metric system, simply take your weight in pounds and divide it by 2.2046. The resulting figure is your weight in kilograms.

Next, get your height in meters. Again, if you’re not sure about your height in meters, simply take your height in inches, and then divide it by 40. Once you get your height in meters, multiply it by itself. (In geek-speak, square it.) And take note of the resulting number.

To get your BMI, divide your weight in kilograms with the square of your height in meters. When you get a value between 15 and 50, then you’re likely on the right track.

What Your BMI Means

If your BMI value is between 18.5 and 25, then congratulations — you’re in what many experts claim to be the ideal range. It’s likely you’re in good health. Your goal should be to stay in the healthy BMI range.

If your BMI value is less than 18.5, then you’re underweight. You’re likely a bit skinny for your height, and that can put your health at some risk. Underweight individuals are somewhat more prone to sickness, so it’s your job to steadily gain weight and raise your BMI value above 18.5.

If your BMI value is between 25-30, it means you’re overweight — and you may want to lose a bit of the flab for your own good. If your BMI value is between 30 and 40, then you’re classified as obese — and if over 40, you’re morbidly obese! It’s time to seriously find a way to lose all that extra weight — you’re putting your life in danger of many lethal diseases.

What’s your BMI? What do you need to do to stay healthy? Calculate it now!

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About Special K

Special K is a range of food products created by the Kellogg company. Its cereals, protein bars, cereal bars, crackers, protein water mixes, protein shakes, and fruit crisps are low-calorie, low-fat alternatives to similar products — all forming a large part of the modern Western diet.

The great thing about the Special K Challenge is that aside from taking in less fat and less calories, the food you’ll eat will still be quite tasty. Familiar flavors such as chocolate, peanut butter, caramel, french vanilla, and oats & honey can be tried. It’s not hard to get into such a diet at all, even if you’ve never tried dieting before.

How The Special K Challenge Works

The Special K challenge involves replacing two of your three big daily meals. You’ll replace your first meal with a serving of Special K Cereal (any flavor you want) plus 2/3 cup of skim milk, plus fruit to fill you up. The second meal can be the same as the first, or you can also try either a Special K Protein Meal Bar or a Special K Protein Shake.

During the Challenge, you’ll also be having two snacks, such as one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Your snacks may consist of Special K Protein Snack Bars, Special K Cereal Bars, Special K Fruit Crisps, Special K Crackers, or Special K20 Protein Water Mixes. And if you’re still hungry, you can keep eating fruits and vegetables and drink more water.

You’ll be following this new diet every day for two weeks, after which you’ll lose up to 6 pounds. After the Challenge, you can revert to your old diet if you wish.

Are You Sure This Isn’t Just A Marketing Ploy?

Sure, some might see the Special K Challenge as a marketing ploy to make people buy more cereal. But despite the criticism, there have been a good number of success stories coming from individuals who have tried the Special K Challenge and achieved the 6-pound weight loss target!

Granted, without the proper lifestyle, there’s a chance those six pounds will come back with a vengeance once the dieter resumes an unhealthy lifestyle. That’s why it’s a good idea to combine the Special K Challenge with the other “legs” of the “healthy lifestyle stool” — plenty of exercise, and an aggressive multivitamin and antioxidant regimen.

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The Diet

The diet is fairly simple — you’ll just have to remember the numbers 4-3-2-1. This stands for 4 servings of fruits and vegetables, 3 servings of lean protein, 2 servings of whole grains, and 1 “extra” serving of your choice — alcohol, sweets, oils, or healthy fats, all under 200 calories. This is the amount of food you’re allowed to take in every day.

Basically, you divide your 4-3-2-1 servings across five meals during the day — breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner. You’ll notice that these meals are quite small, which is okay — they’re packed with protein and fiber, making you feel fuller with less calories. And if you still find yourself hungry, no problem — you can eat more than your allotted 4 servings of fruits and vegetables!

And finally, you’ll need to drink water. For good health reasons, you’ll want to drink around 8 glasses of pure water every day — more if you exercise a lot. And speaking of exercise…

The Exercise

No matter how popular the diet is, it’s no good without exercise! The Biggest Loser diet involves plenty of exercise. You’ll start with 30 minutes a day, and as your strength and stamina improves, you’ll work your way up to 90 minutes a day — very doable!

But that doesn’t mean you’ll be jogging on the treadmill for an hour and a half. You’ll need to diversify your training between cardio exercises to burn fat, resistance exercises to build muscle, and interval training to build even MORE muscle.

Why the need for muscle? Simple — every pound of muscle you put on will burn through 10-50 calories of fat per day, even when you’re just resting! That’s 1-5 pounds of fat burned in a year per pound of muscle. And on this diet, you’ll be putting on at least a few dozen pounds of muscle!

The great thing about muscle is that it’s more dense than fat. You might weigh the same, but you’ll look smaller, leaner, and healthier. After all, it’s not just the bright numbers on the weighing scale — it’s also about how you look and feel about yourself!

So go ahead — look for good fruits, vegetables, lean protein, and whole grains you can include in your new Biggest Loser, home edition diet! Also, get advice on which cardio, resistance, and interval training routines you can try.

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#1 – The Lemon Detox Diet

Also known as the “Master Cleanse,” this diet was put on the map by Beyonce, who used it to lose 20 pounds for her role in the movie “Dreamgirls.” Beyonce had to gain the weight back after wrapping up the movie, but you won’t have to!

The lemon detox diet involves staying away from solid food for 10 days, all the while drinking a tasty lemon drink made from lemons, Cayenne pepper, natural maple syrup, and pure water. What you get is a low-calorie, fat-burning, colon cleansing drink you can have anytime of the day.

You’re supposed to drink 8-10 glasses of this special lemonade every day for 10 days. Without any solid foods to process, the body uses the 10 days to purge itself of toxins, waste matter, and other poisons. And, yes, you also stand to lose up to 20 pounds after the 10-day period!

#2 – The Raw Food Diet

We humans were never designed by Mother Nature to rely on instant processed foods. That’s why letting raw food comprise a good chunk of your diet will help your body chemistry get back into balance. Without any toxins from cooked, processed, and manufactured foods, you’ll stand to enjoy improved health soon after adopting a raw food diet.

Raw food also has fewer calories and more nutrients than cooked food. One of these nutrients happens to be fiber — a main ingredient in colon cleansing, and a natural hunger suppressant.

When trying out a raw food diet, make sure all your food is completely fresh. No sense losing weight when it makes you sick, after all!

#3 – The Green Juice Diet

“Green juice” is a generic term for juices and smoothies made primarily out of vegetables (especially green leafy ones). Obviously, such smoothies are the most nutritious, with loads of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to be had.

The green juice diet isn’t a detox diet per se, since you don’t stick to it only for a few weeks. It’s actually more of a lifestyle, in which you make green juices and smoothies an irreplaceable part of your diet. Think about it — if you had a green smoothie every morning, instead of the usual greasy bacon and eggs, you’ll be doing your body a mighty favor!

Green juice is great because blending fruit and vegetables “pre-digests” them, making their nutrients easier for the body to absorb. This leaves more energy for cleansing and fat-burning purposes. And, yes, you’ll be burning a LOT of fat when you replace fatty breakfasts, salty snacks, and soda with green juice!

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Stress about homework, stress about meeting a deadline at work, stress facing with your boss. But what about stress when your identity has been stolen?

Technology is giving us more stress than convenience

I received this in an email, and while I’m not really fond of chains and junk mail, but I thought that this one in particular was very interesting. I thought I’d share it because identity theft is common these days thanks to technology, that we all know someone who had his or her information stolen before. Either we lose our wallets, or our information is not secure enough as we had thought – the whole process of reporting the identity theft, and fixing everything back can be a nightmare and not to mention about the stress.

Stress Free with Identity Protection That Will Cost You Nothing

Consider this a health post to help you live a healthy lifestyle – stress free when it comes to avoiding or dealing with identity theft. Have a read, and if there’s anything else you think you can add to help prevent identity theft, please feel free to leave a comment below .

Tips to protect or prevent identity theft:

1. The next times you order checks have only your initials and last name put on them (instead of full first name). If someone takes your checkbook, they will not know if you sign your checks with just your initials or your first name, but your bank will know how you sign your checks.

2. Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, put “PHOTO ID REQUIRED.”

**Some stores will argue that you should write both your signature & “Ask for ID”, or you will still be accountable – but honestly, my signatures never look the same, and cloning has yet to enter the black market – or so I hope.

3. When writing checks to pay on your credit card accounts, DO NOT put the complete account number on the “For” line. Instead, just put the last four numbers. The credit card company knows the rest of the number, and anyone who might be handling your check as it passes through all the check-processing channels will not have access to it.

4. Put your work phone # on your checks instead of your home phone. If you have a PO Box, use that instead of your home address. If you do not have a PO Box, use your work address. Never have your SS# printed on your checks, (DUH!). You can add it if it is necessary. However, if you have it printed, anyone can get it.

5. Photocopy contents of your wallet. Do both sides of each license, credit card, etc. You will know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel. Keep the photocopy in a safe place. Also carry a photocopy of your passport when traveling either here or abroad. We have all heard horror stories about fraud that is committed on us in stealing a name, address, Social Security number, and credit cards.

6. Checking out of a hotel that uses cards for keys (and they all seem to do that now), do not turn the “keys” in. Take them with you and destroy them. Those little cards have on them all of the information you gave the hotel, including address and credit card numbers and expiration dates. Someone with a card reader, or employee of the hotel, can access all that information with no problem whatsoever.

**These days majority of hotels won’t even ask for the key cards, and will just let you keep it. If not, do it anyways. Digital key cards can always be made again, and again.

Identity Theft: What to do when identity stolen…

Here is some critical information to limit the damage in case theft of identity happens to you or someone you know:

1. Cancel our credit cards immediately. The key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call. Keep those where you can find them.

2. File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where your credit cards, etc., were stolen. This proves to credit providers you were diligent, and this is a first step toward an investigation (if there ever is one).

3. Call the three national credit-reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and Social Security number. The alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen, and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit.

Avoid Identity Theft

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