Feeling Great After 40

Your hands need help

2007-01-17T10:55:00.000Z

Now that it is winter, it is even harder to keep your hands looking and feeling good. Your hands are the first part of your body that starts to show old age. The problem is that it is very hard to hide unlike other parts of your body. Only moisturisers that plump up your skin or very good make-up can hide the wrinkles of age.

Your hands for some reason are not always treated as well, as say your face. You may, like many other women think nothing of buying a moisturiser for your face but forget about your hands.

Your hands need to be kept well moisturised paying attention also to your nails. I like to use a Shea Butter hand moisturiser as I have found these to keep the hands and nails in good shape especially during the winter.

I always massage a small amount into the base of the nail, to help strengthen the nail and keep it hydrated. Then I massage some into any trouble spots on my hands for example dry, sore or chapped areas and then finish with rubbing some moisturiser all over my hands.

Getting ready for those Christmas parties

2006-12-05T23:06:00.000Z

As Christmas is fast approaching, your thoughts might to turning to those Christmas parties. It is a time when you want to look your best inside and out.

It is a time when many of us are rushed off our feet getting things ready for the big day and it is tempting to neglect yourself, but you will feel better if you do look after yourself.

To achieve good results you need to do some cardio workouts together with some resistance training. Resistance training sculpts and shapes whereas cardio helps burn fat and calories.

It is best to concentrate on different parts of the body on different days throughout the week, taking one day off per week. Also to alternate between cardio and resistance, so say do two cardio workouts and four sessions of resistance training per week.

To help avoid pains make sure you warm up before exercising and stretch out the muscles afterwards.

An ebook that I have found to be really helpful to help with losing weight and shaping the body can be found here – click the link

http://mybest101.fitat40.hop.clickbank.net

or alternatively copy and paste it into your address bar.

Go to http://mybest101.fitat40.hop.clickbank.net
and see for yourself.

Worried about eating too much over the holiday!

2006-11-22T23:51:00.000Z

It is said that your nose could hold the answer to weight loss, as taste is really smell.

To help you to taste your food you need to take certain actions so as to make yourself feel fuller.

Make sure that you chew your food well and slowly.

Eat your food whilst it is hot to help release the smell.

Doing these couple of little things could help prevent you putting on too much weight over the holiday season.

But it is still said that exercise is the best way to lose weight.

Happy Thanksgiving

Some stress busting tips

2006-11-15T16:30:00.000Z

Stress nowadays is a major problem, life is so fast moving. Some stress can be good for you but too much stress is a definite no no.

Here are some tips to help you feel calmer and more in control.

1. There never seems to be enough time in the day to do all that you want to do but even so, give yourself 20 to 30 minutes each day, this is your time. A time for yourself – you can do nothing if that is what you want to do or you can pamper yourself, it is up to you.

2. Go for a walk or go window shopping to help clear you mind, walking can sometimes actually help you think a problem out.

3. This one I like and use sometimes – visualise yourself by a stream, you can hear the tinkle of the stream, the birds singing in the trees above, feel the warmth of the sun on your body and the cool grass beneath your feet. Make it feel as real as possible, concentrate for a few minutes on how it makes you feel, the calmness and the peace.
If this does not work for you then you can always visualise something else, for example being on the beach.

Try one of these tips and see if they can work for you – help you feel calmer and not so stressed.

Meditating to stop the signs of aging

2006-11-02T23:05:00.000Z

Stress is one of the most important thing to help you age quickly. If you are trying to do too much, rushing here and there, then you need to de-stress.

Meditating can be a great way to de-stress. There are many ways that you can meditate, there is not a right way or wrong way, you just need to find the one that works for you.

Regular meditation has many benefits including feeling calmer and relaxed, sleeping better and feeling less anxious.

Meditation is a time for you, a time when you can relax. It does not have to take long; you can make it as long or short a time as you want.

We all need to take time out and relax, as nowadays life is very fast and furious and eventually you will need to find a way to cope.

If you want to find some free methods to meditate, type “meditation” into any search engine and you should find some sites to start you off.

Nourishing your skin

2006-10-16T23:06:00.000+01:00

The skin is your body’s largest organ and needs to be looked after. It is not enough to just drink water to keep your body hydrated, it needs to be moisturised as well.

My tips for keeping your skin in tip top condition are:-

Exfoliate your skin once a week to remove the dead skin cells and help cell renewal. It is great if you have a suntan as it does not fade it but helps to prolong it and give the tanned skin a glow.

Moisturise your skin every day, the best time being after having a bath or shower when the skin is damp.

Drink plenty of water each day to help hydrate the body from the inside.

Restrict the amount of tea and coffee that you drink each day, as caffeine is very dehydrating.

Looking after your skin will help to keep your skin soft and healthy looking.

The Spa experience

2006-10-03T22:09:00.000+01:00

Just the other day I went to an Aqua Spa near me. If you ever get the chance to visit a Spa – go, you will find that is a great way to relax and detoxify.

The one I went to had steam rooms with subtle aromas to help relax your mind and body ranging from not too hot to hot. The idea being to start cooler and work up to the hotter steam rooms.

There were also saunas, which help to open up your pores and help cleanse your body. Saunas have a dry heat but it is very hot.

Then after you have tried the steam rooms and saunas there were the quiet areas where you can completely relax and meditate if you want.

I do not know if all Spas have saunas and steam rooms but I found that was a fantastic way to calm the body, help the blood circulation and feel great, so if you can go, go and try for yourself.

Health from the inside out

2006-09-27T23:04:00.000+01:00

The more you look at these programs about health and diet, the more you should realise that your body is an intricate machine, and that what you feed it can have good and bad effects on the body.

The more bad food that you eat or even if you are eating large amounts of good food, it will have a devastating effect on your body and can cause serious problems to your health.

The body is an instrument that needs to be looked after properly. You need to eat the right amount of food to provide your body with the nutriments that it needs.

For example if your hair does not look healthy then try eating meat, eggs and fish. Healthy hair needs iron but to aid the absorption of iron you need to increase your vitamin C.

So if you are not feeling good then maybe it is time to look at what you eat.

Ways to improve your memory

2006-09-18T23:07:00.000+01:00

The only reason that your memory starts to fail as you grow older is because the brain gets neglected. The saying use it or lose it comes into play but there is many things that you can do to keep your brain young.

Eat foods that are rich in omega-3 such as oily fish, like sardines and mackerel. This will provide the brain with the much needed DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), to keep it in good condition. It is thought that DHA can help prevent dementia.

Eating blueberries and strawberries have also been found to aid the brain. It has been found that rats when fed on blueberries and strawberries have increased learning abilities, such as short term memory and concentration.

Exercise is another good way of helping your brain. Exercise can consist of walking, running or cycling. Exercise helps boost your heart to pump blood faster around the body and brain, so getting more oxygen to your brain.

Your brain needs to be looked after so it can serve you for as long as possible.

The need for water

2006-08-21T22:19:00.000+01:00

Water is a natural medicine as it helps the body control disease. The body needs water inside and out. Just by taking a warm bath to relax in is fulfilling a requirement for water on the outside.

All the organs and cells in your body require water to survive otherwise you will die. When you are feeling slow and tired, try a glass of cold water to revitalize you. Sometimes if you have a weak body it could be because you are dehydrated and just by drinking a glass of water it can be reversed.

Water can also be used to detoxify your body by helping the body get rid of any build up of toxins and poison.

More tips for looking younger

2006-08-09T21:31:00.000+01:00

Some more tips to help you look younger.

1. Keep your teeth clean, with brushing and flossing, and with regular visits to the dentist to have your teeth checked. Getting teeth cleaned to prevent plague build up can also save you losing teeth unnecessarily. If your teeth are discoloured, the dentist might suggest whitening them, so that you will be happy to smile and show off your teeth.

2. Losing weight can also help you look younger. Make sure that as you lose weight that you tone your body with aerobic and resistance exercises.

3. Make-up can also help as long as you do not cake it on. Use a light foundation that does not sink into the wrinkles and emphasis them is better than a heavier one that does. Be careful about which eyeshadows to use, cream ones will sink into your wrinkles.

Try these tips and see how young you can look.

Success for reaching your goals

2006-07-31T09:41:00.000+01:00

The other day I listened to an interview with a woman who had lost a lot of weight and when she was asked how she managed to lose the weight. She replied that she gave herself small goals instead of just aiming at the larger goal.

Chopping your goals into small more manageable chunks is a great way to succeed at getting your goals.

Quite often you will fail at reaching your goal because they are too big and overwhelming. When they are so overwhelming you will find that you procrastinate and not actually get started at all.

Breaking down your goal into bite size chunks helps you to know where you are going and what you need to do.

You can do this with whatever goal you dream of, be it to lose weight, exercising or even starting a new business.

Good luck at reaching your goals, remember break it down!

Keeping your face and skin looking younger

2006-07-16T17:05:00.000+01:00

You need to look after your skin, even if you have been treating it badly, it is never too late to begin.

Do not clean your face with soap and water but with a proper cleanser so that it dissolves all the make-up on the face and cleanses it properly. Always make sure that you remove your make-up every night as one night leaving it on can age your skin eight days.

After cleaning your skin make sure that you moisturise it so that it keeps your skin hydrated and younger looking. Nowadays you can even get moisturisers with sun protection added to them.

Next your make-up, you need to use a light foundation that does not sink into the wrinkles and emphasis them, heavier ones have a tendency to emphasis wrinkles.
Choose fresh colours for your eyes and cheeks but be careful about what type of eyeshadow you use as cream ones have a tendency to sink into your wrinkles.

On the lips use a lip pencil to outline the lips so that it stops your lipstick from bleeding around your lip area.

Sunburn Relief

2006-07-03T23:12:00.000+01:00

Now that it is really hot and the sun is at its strongest there is a chance of getting sunburn.

Now a great remedy is good old vinegar, and any sort will do. You just need to dab some vinegar on to the sunburn.

The vinegar will put acidity back into your skin and ease the pain of the sunburn. Don’t worry about smelling of vinegar because the smell usually passes within a short time.

My mother has been using this sunburn relief for years and she swears by it!

Summer freedom for your eyes

2006-06-27T23:30:00.000+01:00

Now that summer and the holidays are coming, why not get you eyelashes tinted.

I love it when I get my eyelashes tinted, as I do not have to wear mascara all the time. It is great idea if you are going to spend your holiday days on the beach or by the swimming pool, as you will not need to wear mascara and you will be able to avoid those panda eyes.

Most salons will be able to tint your eyelashes and you can choose what colour you want to dye them. You can choose from black, blue / black or brown.

Whilst you are getting your eyelashes tinted you could also tint your eyebrows as well, especially if you are not happy with the colour of them. It will save you time having to darken them with make-up.

You will need to have your eyelashes and eyebrows re-tinted after four weeks if you want to maintain the appearance.

Relax with Flotation

2006-06-21T19:16:00.000+01:00

A great way to relax from day to day stresses is with a flotation treatment, which can be found at most spas. To help you decide which one you would like I have described the two below.

Flotation treatments come in two forms; wet and dry. The body is floated or is supported to induce mental and physical relaxation.

Flotation – wet is where the flotation facility is a bath or a pool, usually capsule shaped and flotation is from the high concentration of Epsom salts, which enable the body to seem weightless. Due to the high salt content the skin does not wrinkle even over a long period of time. This is because the skin does no loose body salts to the water. Lighting and music is adjusted to suit you so that you can relax. The water is set at body temperature.

Flotation – dry is slightly different as you lay on a warmed tank of water. There is no contact with the water. You can have specific therapeutic skin care products applied to their skin to nourish or detoxify and purify, which is then wrapped to maintain heat and allow the products to absorb. Sometimes a head and scalp massage is offered to help you to relax.

The benefits of flotation are:
 Stress is reduced and blood pressure lowered as the body is at meditating state.
 Skin condition is improved as circulation is increased. In dry flotation the products can help to improve skin condition.
 Water supports the body so pressure is taken off any injured area like the back.
 As blood circulation is improved between all joints the treatment helps Rheumatic conditions and relieve muscle tension.
 In wet flotation slower brain wave patterns occur allowing the body to relax.
 Increases sense of well being as it reduces blood pressure and heart rate. It also can help to reduce Cortisol levels (stress related), which cause tension, irritability and anxiety and relieve depression. It also helps the body to produce beta-endorphins, which have a soothing effect.
 It can help restore balance and harmony in the body by removing all external stimuli, which enables the body to focus all its energies on restoring balance and harmony.

If you like the sound of this kind of treatment why not go and try for yourself!

Growing older worries

2006-06-14T23:18:00.000+01:00

Once you hit your 50’s some of you will hit a sad time when you think that time is running out, that you have wasted your life and that you have nothing to look forwards to.

I think it mainly happens when you are not happy with what you have accomplished in your life.

Instead of sitting and mulling over life and your disappointments why not look at what you would like to do instead.

What are your passions – do you like travelling, gardening or meeting people? Use this time as looking at the next stage in your life and not the end.

Are there any clubs or groups in your area that you can join where you can meet people with the same interests as you? Look at these new ideas that you want to achieve and set yourself goals.

A tip for burning fat

2006-06-10T00:00:00.000+01:00

I bet you did not know that eating dairy products could help you burn fat. By dairy products I mean low fat products. It has been found that you are more likely to lose weight if you eat low fat dairy products than if you don’t.

Apparently calcium tells the body to burn excess fat faster but you do need to eat the actual dairy product and not food that are supplemented with calcium.

Calcium will also help to strengthen your bones and teeth as an added bonus.

The reason why calcium works is that it raises the core body temperature and boosts your body to burn fat.

If you want weight loss it has been found that you should slightly decrease your calorie intake and increase the number of servings of low fat dairy products and you will increase the amount of fat burned over the day.

Weight training to lose weight

2006-06-04T22:49:00.000+01:00

Weight training is a fantastic way to lose weight because muscles burn fat. Building muscle and having a body of muscle actually burns fat because muscle is an active component in the body and needs to be fed.

There are also other benefits to weight training and they are:-

1. Strengthen your muscles and helps you to be steadier and prevents falls.

2. Fight the build up of abdominal fat.

3. Help to strengthen your bones by the flexing and pulling of the muscles on the bones and therefore help to prevent osteoporosis.

As a woman you will not build up your muscles like a body builder as your body and hormonal make-up will not allow it unless you have a lot of testosterone in your body. You should instead be able to elongate and define your muscles, which will then in turn tone your body and make it smaller.

So have some fun and start to weight train.

Could you have sleep apnoea?

2006-05-31T00:19:00.000+01:00

If you wake every morning not feeling rested than you could be a candidate of sleep apnoea. Sleep apnoea is when the muscles in the neck behind the tongue relax and constrict the air passages.

The first signs are snoring when there is only partial collapse but when the collapse is complete it is apnoea. This is where you stop breathing, completely starving the brain of oxygen. Luckily the body senses the danger and you wake up slightly, start breathing again and go back to sleep.

Sleep apnoea can be caused by a number of things, one being overweight especially if you have a large neck. For women anything over 16 inches is bad because the extra fat will squeeze the throat from the outside. It can also be caused by a set back jaw or enlarged tonsils.

There are simple things that you can do, for example lose a bit of weight, don’t drink alcohol after 6pm, keep the nose passages clear or sleep on your side or slightly propped up. If the problem is serious then you will need to see a physician or doctor and see if you need to have a nasal continuous positive airway pressure machine. This machine delivers a continuous flow of air through the nose via a mask which keeps the throat open.

Are you apple or pear body shape?

2006-05-25T23:15:00.000+01:00

Did you know that it is not how fat you are but where your fat is located that can make you more at risk of health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes or cancer.

If you have a “pear” body shape, which means that you store your fat around your hips and bum than you are not at such a high risk of health problems.

But… if you have an “apple” shape where you store your fat around your waist than unfortunately you are at a higher risk of health problems. Most women tend to have an “apple” shape and the larger the waist the higher the risk. They say that a waist of 35 inches and above is most at risk.

If you are overweight or obese, losing weight will lower the risks, so you need to start exercising and eating healthy food.

How to burn fat and increase your metabolism

2006-05-22T22:31:00.000+01:00

As you grow older your metabolism slows down and you find that you put on weight easily, this because we lose muscle every year especially if you do not use it. There are a few things you can do to help speed up your metabolism and burn fat.

Here we will discuss a couple of ideas for you to try…

Resistance training or weight training is a great way to burn fat because muscle burns fat even at rest. The reason this happens is because when you have stopped lifting weights your body is still busy building the muscle you have worked on.

This one you will like - eat something every three hours during the day as this will fool your body into thinking you are eating all the time. This will keep your metabolic rate up and stops your body from feeling threatened and storing fat. Aim to eat five or six small meals a day but do remember to exercise as well.

Hope these will help you a little.

Tips on how to look younger

2006-05-19T22:30:00.000+01:00

As we grow older you need to work harder on looking younger. There are many actions that you can take and which are simple.

1. Firstly make sure that you stand up straight and not slouched, in the years to come you might not get the choice.

2. Make sure you get enough sleep, at least 7 to 8 hours a night. Lack of sleep can make anyone look old however young you are.

3. Make sure you smile, smiling can help you look younger and more radiant.

Try these tips out to help you to start to feel and look younger, and see what a difference they can make to your appearance.

Stress reliever

2006-05-16T21:49:00.000+01:00

Another tip to relieve stress is to laugh for about 15 minutes a day, this is a great de-stressor.

Smiling and laughter helps reduce cortisol, a stress hormone and help increase endophins, the happy chemical.

Laughter helps the body release any tension and can bring the body stress levels back to normal.

Make sure that you smile and laugh every day, it’s free and will help you feel less stressed.

Exercise and be happy

2006-05-14T22:32:00.000+01:00

Did you know that when you exercise your brain produces and releases endorphins?

These are chemicals that help the body to be happy and motivated. They also help to calm anxiety and deal with stress more easily.

So keep on exercising, it's good for you.