How Yoga Can Improve Your Health, and Your lifestyle.

Thought yoga was just to improve your muscle tone and help you relax? Think again. There are particular yoga postures that can actually help improve your skin, depending on the skin issue that you may be having at any given time.
Yes, this may seem a bit silly to some, but these yoga postures have offered significant improvement for women and their skin.
If you have tried every cream on the shelf to try and help your skin, or if you are looking for a more holistic way to improve your skin’s texture and tone, yoga is the way to go.

•How to Get Rid of Dry Skin with Yoga

To help cure your dry skin woes with yoga, start off by sitting on the floor while taking care to keep both you back and your chest straight. Close your eyes and your mouth by drawing your palms over your face and bring your palms down. Breathe in slowly and deeply, and exhale slowly and fully. Continue with this until you feel that your body and your mind are completely relaxed (this may take some time for beginners). You can do this by using your index finger to close off one nostril and making you breathe from the other. Alternate every few seconds, always making sure that you are breathing from the open nostril. Continue with this process up to 5 times.

•How to Get Rid of Oily Skin with Yoga

If you have oily skin, chances are that you will do anything to get rid of it. To get rid of oily skin through yoga, begin by sitting straight. Close your eyes and your mouth, and relax. Make sure you stay in a relaxed state for at least 5 minutes. After that time, take one long breath and hold it for 5-15 seconds. When you are ready to release the breath after those 5 seconds, squeeze your abdominal muscles. Now loosen the muscles and then release all of the breath from your nose. Continue with this process for 5-10 times.

•How to Get Rid of Sensitive and Acne Skin with Yoga

The best way to start this off is to sit on the floor and become completely and fully relaxed. Keep your mouth wide open and curl your tongue so that it forms a tubular shape (if you cannot curl your tongue, try stretching it out as long as you possibly can on the inside of your upper jaw). Try to not allow the tongue to come in contact with the teeth while you are doing this. Now close your mouth and bring the tongue back to its normal shape while also breathing out of your nose. Do this for up to 3 minutes a day and you should find that your skin is far less sensitive than it was previously, and you should notice that any pimples are fading away.

You may feel a bit silly doing these poses at first to help improve your skin, but even just taking those 10 minutes or so every day to relax will do wonders not only for you physically, but mentally as well.

Muscle & Fitness : Your Abs Start in the Kitchen.

You can do as many crunches as you want, but you’ll never get those toned sexy abs if you don’t eat the right stuff. Some of your favorite foods likely lead to bloating and sodium retention, which is anything by good for that six-pack you’re trying to show off. Here are the foods that will help give your stomach the look you want.

•Almonds

Filling protein keeps you satiated and magnesium gives you energy to play at the beach all day long. Almonds are best for long-term weight loss because they help regular blood sugar—stable blood sugar keeps you from having ravenous cravings and eating foods that will lead to weight gain and a flabby midsection.

•Watermelon/Celery/Cucumber

These water-heavy fruits and vegetables are perfect for your beach-day snack pack. Not only is it important that you stay hydrated when you’re out in the sun, but their high water content keeps you full for a long time, similar to protein. Dip celery and cucumbers in hummus and nosh on the watermelon as is.

•Beans/Legumes

These powerhouse foods are full of protein, which your muscles need to rebuild and become strong. They also help your body burn fat and regulate digestion. A healthy digestive system is key to beat bloating, which can hide those hard-earned abs.

•Leafy Greens

One cup of spinach contains only 40 calories—so go crazy with your greens. Make a big salad (watch what toppings you put on; avoid high-fat dressings, oily croutons, etc.) and indulge whenever you want. Greens are also a great source of calcium, which your body needs to push through a workout and get stronger. The more muscle you build, the more fat your body burns at rest, and the sooner you’ll see your abs.

•Yogurt

If you want less gas, bloating and extra love around your midsection, grab a yogurt for snack. While this flat-belly food is loaded with calcium and protein, its real advantage is in the high probiotic content. Probiotics keep your digestive system healthy, which is why you experience less gas and bloating. Toss in high-antioxidant berries for a healthy snack that will help fight the bulge.

•Fish

Think salmon and tuna, both of which are high in omega-3s—the fats that help your body burn more of the bad fat. Fish also helps to slow digestion and cravings so you’re not reaching for chips at 3pm between lunch and dinner.

Women's Health : Exercise and Posture.

There are many things can affect your posture sitting at a desk all day, slouching at the dinner table, and more. However, there’s one great way to improve it: exercise. The best way to improve your posture through exercise is to strengthen your core and upper back.

A strong core keeps your back safe from injury, helps your body balance and allows you to move with control and efficiency—all of that leads to a better a posture. If you’ve felt pain in other areas of your body, like your back, it could be because of a weak core; when your core can’t do its job other body parts and muscles have to pick up the slack causing weakness and pain

A strong back is also a critical part of posture because a common cause of poor posture is weak upper back muscles, which leads to shoulder slumping.

Try these exercises to gain better control of your posture.

Plank and Variations

Start with the standard plank: Get into pushup position, with your hands below your shoulders. Keep your back and butt flat and pull your abdominals in. Hold here for 30 seconds to one minute.

Some variations include:

Move from hands to forearms; one up and down is one rep.Put towels underneath your feet and slide them out and in horizontally, or pull them in toward your chest like a jackknife.Hold the plank position on your forearms and bounce your butt from one side to the other. One tap on each side equals one rep.

•Russian Twist

Sit with a medicine ball in your lap. Pull your legs off the ground and sit on your tailbone, adjusting the angle until you feel the burn your abs. Now move the ball from side to side, touching the ground each time.

•Reverse Dumbbell Flies

Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and dumbbells in hand, slightly bent at the waist. Hold your arms straight down and slowly bring them out to shoulder height and return to start for one rep.

•Weight Raise

Hold a round weight block with two hands in front of your pelvic area. Raise it up to shoulder height and lower back down for one rep.

Many areas of your life can affect a good posture, from working at a desk to many years of slouching without realizing it. Incorporate these exercises into your daily routine and you may notice you’re standing up straight in no time.

5 Ways to Burn Your Belly Fat Fast.

Belly fat is actually the most dangerous type of fat besides aesthetics, large waist lines are indicators of disease-disease-disease.

It takes more than just crunches! We start to gain weight in our midsection when our cortisol levels spike. Stress is one of the primary culprits for high levels of cortisol secretion. When this happens cortisol breaks downs lean muscle (the type of tissue that burns calories most efficiently) and also holds on to fat storage in the abdominal region. That stress can even get WORSE with bad dieting; studies show that the stress caused by dieting can increase cortisol levels, making no change in belly fat even with calorie restriction. So how do you shape up? Incorporate these 6 things below and you will be on your way to a flatter belly in no time flat!

1. Sleep

If you want to work late at night, think again. When your biorhythms are off, you end up eating more. When you’re tired you produce more ghrelin, which triggers cravings for sugar and other fat-building foods. Losing sleep can also alter your hormone production, affecting your cortisol levels that cause insulin sensitivity, prime reasons for belly fat! Getting about 7 hours of sleep a night is one of the best things you can do for your body shaping goals.

2. Short bursts of exercises

1000 crunches a night may get you strong abdominal muscles, but with a full layer of fat on top, you will not get the results you really want. Instead of all those crunches, do exercises that engage multiple muscle groups and work your cardiovascular system. Try planking, where you hold yourself in a push-up position, resting your forearms on the ground. Try 3 or 4 sets of holding for 30 seconds each. Getting up and moving throughout the day by going for walks will also help.

Milk lite, one of my favorites, because it has zero sugar and a ton of protein that will satiate while also torching my sugar craving! Another great trick is a sprinkle of cinnamon in your morning coffee or oatmeal- the spice has been shown to help stabilize blood sugar. It also slows the rate at which food exits the stomach, which helps you feel fuller longer.

4. Vitamin C

When you’re under extreme stress, you secret more cortisol hormone. Vitamin C helps balance the cortisol spikes that happen to you under this stress. Besides being a good way to counteract a cold, Vitamin C is also essential for making carnitine, a compound used by the body to turn fat into fuel, making this vitamin your fat burning friend.

If you’re going through an emotional crisis, stress from work, or a bad eating splurge, increase your vitamin C – it’ll help counteract the negative side effects. Try bell peppers, kale or kiwi fruits. These have even more Vitamin C than the famous Orange!

5. Eat Fat

Yup, you heard me! It takes fat to burn fat. Like I said above, it’s sugar that gets you fat, not fat. Good fats include foods rich in Omega 3′s, like salmon, avocados & walnuts. These foods are full of nutrients that help keep you satiated throughout the day.

How To Gain Weight in a Healthy Way for skinny Guys.

Most people are on the other end of the scale, desperately trying to lose weight.

But for people who struggle to maintain a healthy weight or are trying to gain weight, it can be a real challenge. Reasons for needing to gain weight include health issues, lack of appetite, fueling sports, building muscle, or just trying to overcome skinny genes.

Here are five “good gain” rules I share with my beloved readers:

1. Don’t let more than four hours go by without eating :

Your body needs a continuous supply of energy since it’s like an engine that’s always turned on (your heart is always beating, blood is circulating, your brain and muscles are working). When you skip meals, you deprive your body of the fuel it needs to keep going. The result is a dip into your energy piggy bank, which unfortunately includes muscle mass.

The best way to prevent your body from losing any important tissue is to eat regular meals, spaced about three to five hours apart. If you’re trying to gain new muscle tissue, meal timing is especially critical. Sometimes my clients tell me they “eat all the time” but when they actually start keeping a food journal they realize just how erratic their patterns are. Consistency is key.

2. Eat several foods at once:

Always aim for at least three food groups. Instead of just a banana or handful of nuts, top a few slices of whole grain toast with almond butter and banana slices, along with a glass of organic skim milk or a milk substitute (soy, hemp, etc.). A wider varied provides your body with a broader spectrum of nutrients to work with throughout the day.

3. Eat healthy, but dense foods:

The best way to rack up extra nutrition without having to eat huge quantities of food or resort to junk is to choose nutrient-rich foods that pack a lot of carbohydrates, protein or fat into a small serving. Dried fruit is a great example. With the water removed, the portion shrinks by about 75 percent, so a cup of grapes turns into a quarter cup of raisins. Just be sure to look for dried fruits with no added sugar or preservatives. For another nourishing, power-packed snack, fold rolled oats, dark chocolate chips and minced dried fruit into almond butter – spoon out portions about the diameter of a quarter, roll them into little balls, wrap in wax and paper, and snack on them throughout the day.

4. Drink your food :

Liquids aren't as filling as solid food, so when you’re trying to gain weight, they can add nutrition without making you feel stuffed or bloated. Good choices include 100 percent fruit juice, organic skim milk or milk alternatives (such as organic soy, or hemp), and smoothies. Smoothies are ideal (over milkshakes) because you can bolster them with all kinds of good stuff, like wheat germ, nut butter, carrot juice, and protein powder.

5. Eat right before bed :

A lot of our healing, repair and regeneration takes place while we sleep. It’s like rush hour for building muscle and lean tissue, so eating a healthy snack right before bed ensures a fresh supply of nutrients that are available to “go to work” inside the body. A great option that won't leave you feeling stuffed might be a small bowl of pasta salad made with 100 percent whole-grain pasta (wheat or a gluten-free alternative), vinaigrette made with extra-virgin olive oil, chopped or shredded veggies, and a lean protein such as beans, chopped chicken breast or an organic crumbled cheese.

Each of these strategies adds up to the right 'what, why, how much, and when' to build a healthier body.  Have you or anyone close to you ever struggled to gain weight? Please share your thoughts .

How to Make the Perfect Workout Routine Calendar.

The biggest advantage of a workout calendar is the system of accountability it provides. When I trained for my first marathon, I lived by that calendar and felt proud each time I crossed off a workout day. Writing out your workout plan strengthens your commitment and helps you stay on task. Making a workout calendar is easy. No special tools are required. Whether you use the computer or pen and paper, your calendar is a fitness tool that can help your exercise plan go farther.

•Start by Identifying Your Goals

When you know what you are trying to accomplish, deciding how to develop your workout calendar is easier. For example, if your goal is to meet the American Heart Association’s recommendation of 150 minutes each week of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of exercise, you can use your calendar to divide those minutes up in a way that fits realistically into your schedule. Write out and review your calendar at the beginning of each month.

•Start with an End Date in Mind

Another strategy for making a workout calendar is to develop it with an eye toward a fitness event. Used in this way, the workout calendar can help you train well to cross that finish line. How far out you need to plan will depend on the type of event and your level of fitness. For example, beginners might want to make a workout calendar that includes two months of training in preparation for a 5k. You can also use this plan for a big event such as a wedding or class reunion.


Just as you mark your exercise days, include rest days. Scheduling these days will be important for building muscle, avoiding injury and fatigue. Again depending on your age and fitness level, you want to build in at least one rest day each week. Alternatively, you can plan cross training days. If you run four days each week, considering adding a day or two of exercise that gives your joints a rest. Yoga, swimming and the elliptical machine are good options that will help you continue to burn calories.

However you keep you calendar, be sure that it is visible. Paper calendar might be posted in your office or on the refrigerator. Calendars posted on electronic devices should include an alert feature so you don’t miss your fitness appointment. Also, be sure to share your workout calendar with family for added support and accountability. Your fitness commitment to yourself is more important in today’s environment than ever before. We are all sitting more, eating less healthfully and managing stress poorly. Exercise is an important tool for combating those and many more challenges. When you write it down, you are more likely to make it happen.

what is the difference in running shoes and cross trainers.

Athletic shoes come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. When you head to your favorite sporting goods store, the myriad of choices can be very overwhelming. A lot of exercisers have their favorite brand athletic shoe. You know, the brand they seem to buy every time one pair wears out? They may have never even worn another brand, but just love the company or the look of their favorite brand’s newest, or vintage, athletic shoe.

The differences in athletic shoes spans a much broader area than simply the look or brand. For instance, if you are considered a “pronator” with your feet, or you tend to walk or run more on the inside of your feet or you have a low arch and flat foot, you need athletic shoes built up in the arch to counteract and balance your stride. Conversely, if you walk or run with a “supination” in your gait, you need shoes with a lower arch, due to the natural high arch in your foot. Too much arch in a shoe would cause excessive supination of your foot and ankle and exacerbate any negative stride issues. So it’s clear just from those two examples that the differences in athletic shoes require your close attention next time you go shopping for new kicks.

Perhaps you’ve heard, seen, or even tried on one of the newest phenomena in athletic shoes where the shoe itself is actually designed to mimic a barefoot stride. The thinking behind the design stems from the idea that the body and the feet were built to run in a more flat way with “zero drop”. This means the heel is not much higher than the toe. Traditional athletic shoes have a much higher heel, so when you walk, or more particularly run, you land on your heel first and push off your toes. The newer zero drop shoes are designed to have your feet land more on the arch or ball of your foot. It’s recommended that you build up to running in this style and don’t just jump right in.

Next time you head to your favorite store for new athletic shoes, try on different brands. Talk to the sales associates about what shoes would best work for your foot style. Also pay close attention to the type of training you’re going to do. If you are going hiking, you obviously don’t need basketball shoes. The traction of the hiking boots provides all the grip you need. Basketball shoes and hiking boots are miles apart, and most know the differences between them and they know when to use them.

However, smaller differences exist between running shoes and cross-training shoes, for instance. Running shoes are traditionally built for a land on the heel and a push off the toe (except for the new zero drop technology). They are designed for running which happens in a straight movement. Cross trainers are designed more for lateral, jumping, and agility-style exercises. They are more flexible in certain areas and could have adverse effects if uses solely for running. The differences are not large enough to tell from the naked eye. You need to talk to a knowledgeable salesperson and try different types of athletic shoes.

Familiarize yourself with these concepts and really think about your training style and stride next time your shop for athletic shoes.