by Jim Bolding

Walking is one of the easiest and most profitable forms of
exercise. All you need is a good pair of shoes, comfortable
clothing, and desire. Of the three desire is the one that
you really can't do without. Ok, maybe some clothing.  

Spring has now arrived and the weather will be warming up
soon. So there's really no reason not to consider building a
walking habit. 

The "taper on/taper off" method of creating a good habit or
breaking a bad one is what I like to use. With this method
you just take baby steps toward forming a new good habit or
breaking a bad one. It works for me. 

Building a good habit takes time. You should expect about
three or four weeks of continuous repetition to create a
weight loss walking habit. 

If you have the desire, I mean really, really have the
desire to make walking a habit the rest is easy. Just walk
out the door. You're not walking to improve health or to
lose weight or any of the other reasons walking is so good
for you. You're walking to create a habit. 

Keep the sessions short. Five minutes will be ok. You're
"tapering on" to a weight loss walking habit. What's
important at this stage is just doing it. The duration
doesn't matter; it's the repetition that matters. 

After three or four weeks of just getting out the door you
can begin increasing the duration and intensity of your new
habit.

Your long-term goal for a weight loss walking program
should be walking a minimum of five days a week for 45 to
60 minutes at a "talking" pace. But that's on down the road.
Right now don't worry about it. Just get out the door. 

http://www.holisticonline.com/Remedies/weight/weight_creating-a-weight-loss.htm

by: Yana Berlin
 As women approach 40 their skincare regimen needs to be assessed. Even though aging occurs gradually and sometimes it is hard to notice the slight changes, especially when we fall in love with a product that we use for years, swear by it and refuse to realize that times have changes, and so have we.
It is very important to be on top of what is available on the market and moisturize should be our number one priority. While we all dream about a quick fix, or better yet a miracle in a bottle we have to give up our unrealistic obsession with flawless skin. Life takes over, wrinkles happen; aging is a natural and beautiful process that is inevitable to everyone.

Instead of concentrating on how many wrinkles you have embrace yourself for all that you achieved, for everything you have learned and for all that is still ahead. Now after you are done embracing, lets move on to enhancing. To downplay some of the natural effects of aging follow those simple steps, and enjoy your beautiful features, and remember the best is yet to come!

1. You Can No Longer Afford to Have Direct Sun Light. It’s bad for you…get over it…

2. If you are still smoking, your skin will have irreparable damage, It will be dull and gray. Just imagine yourself with grey hair and grey skin. If you haven’t put down that cigarette of yours yet, don’t come crying to me.
3. You are what you eat.
Vegetable and Fruits are good, Meet and Dairy is bad. Learn to live with it I did.
4. Most of all diseases are caused by stress

5. Your face is your treasure, wash it twice a day and moisturize it. NEVER go to sleep with make up on. I don’t care what time you are climbing into your bed.
6.  Your neck, your hands,elbows and heels is in immediate need of attention,. Remember MOISTURIZE.
7. If you have the urge to touch your face, think twice. If you still have the desire, go wash your hands.

8. Your make up has not meant to last forever, you are over 40 how old is that Channel eyes-shadow of yours?

9. Exercise your abs, work out your legs, and don’t forget your jaw muscles.

10. WATER, 10 glasses a day will keep plastic surgeon away. Water with lemons, water with cucumber, plain water and herbal tea is your goal. Stay away from carbonated and sugar drinks.

Take care of your skin and your soul will take care of itself.
 About Author
Yana Berlin is the founder and CEO of http://www.fabulously40.com, devoted to the celebration of all things, primarily women and the challenges and joys they face juggling their careers, children, relationships, and life’s other issues. Fabulously 40.com is a social network for women that catalyzes its members to celebrate and embrace their life. Since launching http://www.fabulously40.com Mrs. Berlin has been connecting, and supporting women all over the world. Join us as we embark on our journey to the BEST part of our lives. Membership is FREE


http://ezinearticles.com/?Dry-Skin-in-Women-Over-40&id=857122

by: Zinn Jeremiah
Carrying excess body weight presents any number of risks to one’s health. Though it’s a debatable point, the greatest risk from being overweight may be the increased likelihood of developing high blood pressure. High blood pressure has earned the nickname “the silent killer” because though it’s often asymptomatic, its effects can have a devastating impact on the body

A number of medical studies have established a correlation between people who are overweight and elevated blood pressure levels. As with anything else, there is variety in terms of how the effects are presented: specifically, the more overweight a person is, the more likely they are to have elevated blood pressure. In addition, an overweight person or a person who’s obese has a higher tendency for elevated blood pressure than people who have a normal body weight. Whether a variation or not, the study outcomes provide mostly conclusive evidence that overweight and high blood pressure are linked.
Breaking it down into actual percentages, men who are obese have high blood pressure roughly forty-two percent of the time. Women who are obese have high blood pressure roughly forty percent on the time. While on their face these percentages may not seem outrageous, consider that men and women who aren’t obese have high blood pressure only fifteen percent of the time roughly. Carrying too much body weight can then potentially triple the risk of high blood pressure.
The most relevant point is that being overweight is associated with elevated blood pressure, but just how this occurs is worthwhile information. Essentially what happens is people who are overweight tend to have higher blood sugar levels than normal, and their pancreas function produces extra insulin to cope with breaking down sugar in their bloodstream. The increased insulin production adversely affects several bodily functions: increased insulin can lead to blood vessels become thickened and rigid; excess levels of insulin can produce surges of adrenaline, which increases the physical functioning of the heart; and higher insulin levels can trigger the kidneys absorbing excess levels of water and salt.
The typical response to overweight is that it’s a problem of appearance: dropping excess weight typically means an increased sense of body satisfaction. While body appearance can be meaningful to people, the risk of overweight is far more than just an issue of how one’s reflection appears in a mirror. Overweight and obesity are legitimate threats to an individual’s health and life, both from the risk of increased blood pressure as well as from other medical conditions.
About Author
Zinn Jeremiah is a freelance writer. Find help for weight loss by visiting http://www.hubonline.biz


http://www.dirbuzz.com/articles/Overweight-Can-Lead-To-High-Blood-Pressure-509.html

Written by: Kimberly Fulcher

Who are you? What do you stand for? What do you believe in? What engages your passion? What brings tears of gratitude and joy to your eyes? Do you know, or have you lost yourself ? In my work as a professional coach, I’ve helped many people rediscover themselves. The first step on the road to rediscovery involves spending time with you, which is why I liken the process to dating yourself. 

When you began dating your last partner or the person you share your life with, didn’t you

move heaven and earth to make time for them? When you were with them, didn’t you go out of your way to get to know them? What if you were to take a similar approach to rediscovering yourself? Here are some “baby steps” you can take to get reacquainted with yourself.

Journal

Writing your thoughts on paper can be profound. The process of journaling can support you in learning about what you’re afraid of, what you’re passionate about, and what you aspire to.

Buy yourself a beautiful notebook, and a pen you enjoy writing with. Find 20 quiet minutes in your day, and steal away to a comfortable place in your home. Begin your process by writing as if you were talking with yourself. Write about how you’re feeling, what’s bothering or exciting you, or the day ahead of you, or answer questions from books or personal development programs you’ve been reading.

Remember that your journal can be messy and illegible. It’s for your eyes only, and doesn’t need to be presentable. Enjoy the process of establishing a connection with you through the written word.

Meditate

Meditation is not about attaining a state of emptiness while sitting in the lotus position. It’s about observing yourself in the present moment. Find 10 quiet moments in your day, and sit comfortably. Your goal should be to “empty” yourself of any anxiety or worry. Focus on your breath, and allow the thoughts that enter your mind to be there. Acknowledge them, but don’t focus on understanding what they mean, or solving any problems. Just allow yourself to be still.

Move

There are numerous studies documenting the physical and emotional benefits of moving your body. Exercise can be a meditation in and of itself. If you’re the type of person who has a really hard time slowing down, this may be a great way for you to begin committing to time to be with yourself.

Walk

Walking is a moving mediation. It allows you to slow down, and notice what’s going on around you. If you usually move a million miles per hour, walking can allow you to focus on being fully present, while indulging in the movement you find so vital. It can provide you with an opportunity to mull over something that may be on your mind, or simply to notice the beauty and bounty of what surrounds you.

Drive

Though not a common “vehicle” to self discovery, driving can prove to be an interesting process, especially if it’s difficult to find a quiet place in your home. Fill your tape or cd changer with your favorite music, and hit the road to an unknown destination. See where your “self” leads you….

Authentic Outings

A day spent wandering boutiques, a stolen hour in a bookstore, a mid-afternoon matinee, a journaling session in a coffee shop, or an afternoon being pampered at your favorite spa. These are authentic outings, and indulging in activities like these is similar to dating yourself. This is where you take time to be with you, with no purpose in mind other than sheer enjoyment.

Old Hobbies

What did you love to do when you were a small child? Did you scrapbook? Did you take dance classes, or write short stories? The authenticity of childhood interests cannot be denied. Revisit the things you used to love to do as a kid. You will be amazed at the passion within you, just waiting to be rediscovered.

New Interests

Investigate and research things you find intriguing. Do you have a friend who spends her time in ways that you envy or admire? Did you used to dream about being great at something? Did you used to wish for your family to support you in the pursuit of a special talent or interest? Give yourself the permission and the support to explore it now. Who knows where this new path could lead?

The approach you take is not important. The fact that you make the time to reconnect with yourself is. Try a little of each approach, and see what works for you. Have fun, and continually explore!

1.Not Drinking enough water: 

This is perhaps the most repeated advice and the least followed. Your body needs at least two litres a day to remove toxins from your system, partly through your kidneys and partly through your skin. Lacking this, toxin build-up will affect your skin as well as your general health, making you tired and dull. Keep that bottle on your desk, and drink! 

2. Picking your pimples: 

We do it unconsciously, when nervous, or just as a habit. pimples don’t harm your face permanently. What leaves untreatable scars is your picking, pinching and playing with them — scars so deep that even dermatologist cannot get rid of them 100 per cent. Prevention is the best cure, so stop touching your face and start proper anti-acne treatment. 

3. Smoking disrupting the normal breathing of Skin: 

Smoking beedi,cigar and cigarette blocks the pores on the skin thus disrupting the normal “breathing” of the skin. So a smokers skin grows “older” much faster than that of a non smoker. 

4. Shaving the wrong way: 

And it isn’t just men I’m talking to. Women who use razors for body hair also beware — shaving against the direction of hair growth (ie from below upwards) causes ingrown hair, damaged follicles and introduces infections into your hair roots that can cause painful recurrent boils. Shave only in the direction of hair growth — this will prevent damage to your skin. 

5. Not using sunscreen on a hill station 

You’ve gone for a high altitude vacation and the cold weather makes you believe you don’t need sun protection — wrong! At higher altitudes, there are lesser layers of atmosphere between you and the sun to filter UV rays, so your ultra-violet exposure increases. You need your sunscreen all the more! 

6. Taking hormone supplements for body building: 

It isn’t just the men, even women who want a ‘toned’ look quickly take DHEA (DeHydroEpiAndroste rone) supplements. These are known to cause acne even in normal skin, and flare up existing acne. Protein supplements are fine though, and actually help your skin. 

7. Not reapplying moisture / sunscreen: 

Are you the jet setting type who slaps on lotion in the morning and then spends the next two hours at work without a further thought about your skin? Air conditioned offices sap moisture from your skin in a couple of hours. Also, no sunscreen retains its effect beyond two hours. Apply frequently — at least during your lunch break, after a quick face wash. 

8. Waxing your upper lip / facial hair: 

A total nightmare for your delicate facial skin — the trauma causes tiny microscopic bleeding into your hair follicles that, over time, heal with scarring and end up causing roughness and pigmentation that is extremely hard to treat. 

9. Going on a ‘proteins only’ diet: 

Fad diets deprive your skin (and body) of essential nutrients. You need vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and various micronutrients that a single food diet cannot give you. Talk to a professional dietician before embarking on drastic diet plans and get them to prescribe the appropriate nutritional supplements. 

10. Late night partying: 

Your body sleeps at night, but your skin doesn’t — most of its repair and renewal work is done while you’re in bed. Depriving it of the nightly eight hours of rejuvenation will obviously leave it looking dull and tired. Good sleep is a must for good skin! 

11. Stressing out: 

Stress shows up after years on your heart and blood pressure, but almost immediately on your skin. So listen to your skin when it is trying to tell you something — patchy complexion, blemishes, dullness, itchy redness, rashes appearing at periods of high stress, acne flare-ups — all point to unwarranted high stress levels. Try yoga, meditation, exercise, or whatever your best stress buster is. 
.

Depending on who you are and what you do, you are going to need to change your diet. But not all of us are nutritionists, so here’s some help.

Steps

1. Read the label! This is the best way to learn about a food. It gives you almost all the information about that food you’ll every need. If your trying to lose weight, you’re going to choose foods with low calories. If you want to gain weight for a football team or something, your going choose food with lots calories. Too many calories, not enough exercise, and eating too much at one time, can make you fat.

2. Fat, is something that can be very deceiving. For example, if your trying to loose weight, your gonna look for food with low fat content, BUT there are some foods that have good fats, these fats are like monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat. These fats add calories from fat, and so does trans fat and saturated fat, so they combine, which can be confusing. It’s important to look at the saturated and trans fat content. If you see 20 calories from fat on the label, but 0g of trans fat and saturated fat, that means that there is polyunsaturated fat and/or monounsaturated fat. Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat are good for you. They protect your heart and increase ‘good’ cholesterol. Its good to have enough good fats, but all good things have to come to an end.

3. Sugar, resembles fat in many ways. There, again, is good sugar and bad sugar. We all like sugar, it’s natural. And that doesn’t mean if your trying to loose weight, you can’t have sugar at all. The bad sugar, sucrose, makes you fat, because its high in calories, and it’s sweet. The good sugar, glucose, is a natural sugar that comes from fruits and other natural plant sources. Glucose, the good sugar, goes into your blood, not your belly. It ‘enriches’ your blood, in a way. Sucrose, the bad sugar, doesn’t go into your blood like glucose does. To put it simple, its raw energy turned into a sweetener, and when energy isn’t used (exercise), its stored (fat). Thats why on the label, sugars is below carbohydrates and indented, indicating that it is related to carbohydrates. So eat fruits, avoid candy and sweets, if your trying to loose weight.

4. Salt, doesn’t really affect your weight so much your health. If your an athlete, you have to make sure you have enough salt, or sodium. When you perspire, or sweat, the liquids your body releases, is combined with sodium, so you loose some salt from your body when you sweat. But if you consume to much salt, it could really hurt you. Even out your sodium intake by reading the labels.

5. Potassium, mostly affects your blood. Its very important to athletes. This is because when you sweat, you perspire sodium and water, and the potassium gets too low. When this happens, its like having water as blood, it just doesn’t work. Potassium is important to everyone, but mostly to athletes. And it doesn’t effect your weight, so people who’re trying to lose weight, don’t worry about it.

6. Cholesterol, has plagued many many people. The cholesterol on labels of food, is the bad cholesterol. So don’t say that you can have food full of cholesterol because its the good kind. The good cholesterol in food is measured in polyunsaturated fat and monounsaturated fat. This stuff is bad for you, limit your intake of the bad kind no matter what your trying to do with your body.

7. Carbohydrates, is energy. Now, some people thing that energy is stored as fat when it’s not used. I am one of those people, as I said before. But that does not mean that carbohydrates make you fat. Imagine, if your body didn’t have any carbohydrates, what would it be running on? Fat. But if you used those carbohydrates, even in something as simple as being awake, walking, and more active things, like running, exercising, etc., the carbohydrates won’t be turned into fat. If you are going to run a marathon, and have a major carbohydrate consumption, you’ll burn those carbohydrates up in about 45 minutes, depending on how fast your running. So, if I was trying to loose weight, i wouldn’t worry about carbohydrates as much as I would calories.

8. Dietary fiber, is a mineral that is released to clean out your system and get rid of waste. If you look at a label, dietary fiber is below carbohydrates and indented, sugars is also below carbohydrates. This means that dietary fiber and sugars are types of carbohydrates. Like I said before about sugar being raw energy. Dietary fiber is important to any diet. If you don’t have enough of it, you won’t ‘go’ enough. Antioxidants with dietary fibers is powerful. Antioxidants can work together with fiber to release worse wastes. Antioxidants lets waste release when you breathe and urinate, too. No matter who you are, you should have a good amount of dietary fiber.

9. Protein, lets your muscles develop and grow easier. It’s the last item on a label (besides the vitamin and mineral content). You should have as much protein as you can in your diet, no matter who you are. Protein comes from many foods, meat especially. The problem with protein is that it usually comes with fat, like in meat. A good low fat alternative to meat is tofu. It’s pretty much a chewy block of protein. Have as much protein you can get, that’s to everyone.

10. Vitamins and minerals, are essential to life. Your body is made up from water and minerals, and the vitamins help with health. If you don’t have enough vitamins and minerals, you will die, but that is only in very extreme cases (not eating for a week or a long amount of time). If you have too many vitamins or minerals, your body will just release it in urine and stern. There are certain vitamins or minerals that you can have too much of (vitamin A, iron, only a few others). You should also have a large variety of vitamins and minerals, too, not just vitamin A, C, and D, because it won’t do. Again, vitamins and minerals are for everybody, kids, adults, seniors, men, women, jocks, skinny people, everybody.

11. Taste, is a big role in the food you eat. If your not on any particular diet, you probably don’t care what you eat. But you should. Taking some potato chips and sitting on your couch and watching TV isn’t really an ideal lifestyle. For people not on a diet, don’t just gorge yourself with junk food. Snack on fruits or vegetables, or something healthy. It’s better for you, and you’ll feel better.

Tips
 Evening out your intake of fats, sugars, sodium, and cholesterol can change your health a lot for the better if you have a good intake of them.

Warnings
 Remember not to be confused with fat content and sugar content.

This holiday season don’t be trendy – avoid the Seasonal Seven (the average weight most Americans gain between Thanksgiving and New Year’s). That’s one trend you don’t want to participate in!

I know what you are thinking – the holidays are a time for fun and indulgence. You don’t want to think about fitness during that time. You want to enjoy yourself. Don’t worry! The festivities don’t have to be eliminated or avoided. You can have a fabulous time while also maintaining your weight and your fitness regimen.

The secret to achieving a holiday season that is both full of fun and also includes fitness is found in moderation. There are two typical approaches to the seasonal festivities: 1) throw all healthy habits out the window and indulge in every guilty pleasure 2) starve and binge approach (for example, you eat nothing all day long to allow yourself to overindulge in party food). Of course, neither approach is successful at maintaining a healthy, fit lifestyle throughout the holiday season.

As mentioned above, the key is found in moderation. With a moderate approach both to what you eat (or don’t eat) and how much exercise you do (or don’t do), you can avoid packing on extra weight AND also partake in all the fun of the season. So this season, get a head start on the New Year instead of starting January with extra pounds to lose.

Here are some tips to help you:

Create a plan ahead of time. Before the holidays sneak up on you, create a plan for incorporating fitness and good nutrition into your daily routine. Evaluate your holiday schedule and then determine how much time you will realistically have available to devote to working out and/or eating healthy meals.

Don’t put your fitness goals on hold until the New Year. If you can’t exercise as often during this time period as you normally do, adjust appropriately. Don’t use the excuse that since you don’t have time for your full workout you just won’t workout at all. Instead accept your limited availability and simply reduce the frequency and/or duration of your exercise. It’s much better to cut your fitness time in half than to completely eliminate it.

On the day of a party, be sure to eat regularly all day long. If the party is in the evening, eat breakfast, lunch and a snack before hand (just as you would on any other day). Once you are at the party, go ahead and indulge in some of the fun, delicious foods. Since you have eaten meals earlier in the day, you probably will find that you aren’t tempted to go overboard and eat everything in sight. However, if you starve all day long attempting to save up all your calories for the party, you will be so famished by the time it begins that it will be difficult not to overeat.

Schedule your workouts. Mark them on the calendar and set-aside time to complete them. Consider them as important as any other appointment or event you have marked on your calendar.

When at a party, start by eating some of the healthy offerings. For example, vegetable sticks (without dip), fruit pieces, plain chicken pieces, etc. Then move on to some of the less healthy (but yummy) offerings. You will be less likely to overindulge on these foods if you have already filled-up on some of the healthier items. Yet, you will not feel deprived or unsatisfied.

On days that you really lack motivation or simply do not have time for your complete exercise routine, commit to do just 10 minutes of exercise. You’ll probably end up doing more than that once you get started. Even if you only end up completing 10 minutes, that is still a lot better than zero minutes.
When presented with a large variety of food options, it’s tempting to want to eat everything. Rather than eating one large slice of chocolate cake or a huge plate of meatballs, select a sampling of bite size pieces of several of the desert or appetizer offerings. This way you get the enjoyment of trying many different foods without overeating.

Exercise at home. You’ll be more inclined to follow-through on your exercise commitment if you don’t have to drive somewhere to do your workout. Plus, you won’t waste any time on driving, parking, the locker room or waiting to use equipment. Working out at home requires very little equipment (even can be equipment-free) and is quite inexpensive.

When running errands or shopping, be sure to pack some healthy snacks to have on-hand. Then after you work-up a big appetite, you won’t be tempted to grab something at the mall food court or the fast food restaurant on the way home.

Hopefully these tips will help you find a balance between staying fit and also enjoying the fun of the season. Remember, moderation is the key.

Have a great holiday season

by Jeannie Crabtree C.Ac

Provided by: Maria GraciaAn appointment is simply a mutual agreement to meet with someone at a specific time. You set appointments with doctors, dentists, lawyers, accountants, contractors and hair stylists, just to name a few. Usually, appointments that are set actually take place. Even when you do have to cancel an appointment, you usually re-schedule it and place the date and time on your calendar. There’s one person, though, that you might frequently forget to set up an appointment with. That person is YOU. The reason that many of us can’t seem to find time to enjoy ourselves, read something of interest, exercise or watch a favorite television program is that we don’t schedule a definite date and time to do so. You are too important to put the things you love to do on the backburner. Why not schedule an appointment with yourself and write it on your calendar. When the time comes, keep the appointment, just as you would any other. You’ll find that you’ll be able to start doing the things you love to do because you’ll have a specific time slot on your calendar prepared to give you that time

Oleda Baker
The Skin Under And Around Our Eyes Is Very Delicate, Which Makes It More Sensitive To Aging Prematurely. Lines, Wrinkles, Puffiness, Dark Circle… So What’s A Lady (or Man) To Do? Here’s How To Treat and Protect This Age Sensitive Skin. We wake up one morning and all of a sudden we see a tiny line or two around our eyes. Our reaction is, “It just popped up overnight.” Wrong! When you see your first line you should know it started developing long ago. This is often true of dark circles under the eyes and puffiness, too…it starts gradually and all of a sudden we notice them. Could proper “around the eye skin treatment” have prevented these things from happening? It can certainly postpone the problems for many years and soften the seriousness of it when it does happen. Of course, as we grow older and older, there will be some lines and puffiness, but they can be greatly softened and not so serious. You can still have beautiful skin at any age, if certain guidelines are followed.

So, What Can You Do NOW For This Age Sensitive Skin? Plenty!

Wear Sunglasses: It’s very, very important to wear good sunglasses when out in the sun or glare. I wear them even when it’s cloudy. Keep an extra pair around. Sunglasses, in addition to saving your eyes, also protect the delicate skin around your eyes from the sun’s rays, which can hasten aging by drying the skin’s surface and hardening the collagen under the skin. Sunglasses also do another very important thing…they help lessen squinting. The combination of frequent squinting and direct sunlight on the skin is a fool proof “recipe” for quickly aging this thin skin. When possible, using a good sun block – minimum SPF 15 – will also help. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to protect the skin around your eyes from the sun, not only because the sun hardens and wrinkles the skin, but also it stimulates the production of the pigment, melanin, darkening the skin and exacerbating those dark circles.

Special Gentle Massage: It’s important that the tiny capillaries under the eyes be stimulated. This massage is to help reduce lines and wrinkles, dark circles and puffiness: Take a finger and press firmly, but gently, on one spot on the area under the eye. While pressing down firmly, and without lifting the finger, make a small rotating motion several times. You can also just press firmly, lift your finger up, and do it again several times in one spot. Then go to the spot next to it until you have massaged all areas under the eye.

Sleep The Right Way: Puffiness can be caused by an accumulation of fluid in the eye area, possibly from allergies or a sinus problem. Try sleeping with your head a little higher so this fluid cannot accumulate as easily. Try this for 2 weeks and see what the results are. I don’t believe in sleeping on high pillows in general, as they are not the best for your body alignment. If you decide you need to stay with the higher pillow make sure your neck is properly supported.

Get Enough Sleep and Rest: Yes, you have heard this before. But it really is true. While you are testing these suggestions try to get 7 or 8 hours rest. Then make up your own mind if this is good for you.

Allergies: People with puffy eyes caused by allergies are constantly rubbing and stretching the collagen, fibers and skin around the eyes. Keep this up and you’ll develop loose, maybe baggy, skin around the eyes. See your doctor for the proper eye drops and treatment if necessary.

Use a “Dark Circle Remover”Make-up: To hide dark circles use a product that covers well yet is light in texture. Use one with Mica to reflect light, which causes a “light reflection” in your dark area. Reduce

Stress: Some say that dark circles are encouraged by stress, that it can cause an increase in melanin production under the eyes. If you can’t get rid of the stress at the moment, make sure you are taking enough vitamins/minerals/trace minerals with plenty of all the vitamin B family. This can help you deal with the stress better.

Could You Be Anemic? If you are tired a good part of the time check with your doctor to see if you might be anemic. This can cause some discoloration as well as looking tired under the eyes.

Creams For Under Eyes: Lines and wrinkles under the eyes are not always a sign of aging, but could be an indication of wear and tear of the skin, as well as lack of treatment. Since the skin is so thin and delicate under the eyes it needs to be constantly “conditioned and treated” with creams. Because my skin is so dry I use wrinkle smoothing night cream on my entire face making sure I apply it under my eyes at night. I use nutritive day cream or sometimes vitamin C cream in the morning, even when I apply make-up for the day. You should know it’s ok to mix and match the creams… it’s whatever works for you.

Cigarette Smoking: Smoking cigarettes slows the blood flow in the face and under the eyes. This means the skin is not getting the proper nourishment and blood flow it needs to be at it’s best. Also every time you draw on a cigarette you purse your lips …do this over and over for a long period and what do you have…the lines going up and down on the skin around your lips that you hate so much. AND…you did it! I don’t mean to make you feel bad but I must tell you the truth…if you’re a cigarette smoker, maybe it will help you stop.

Feed Your Skin For Beauty and Health: Nutrition plays a very big part in the total condition of your skin and its youthfulness. (And while I’m thinking of it…not a pleasant subject…make sure your bowel movements are normal and regular. Poor skin can be due to poor nutrition, as well as constipation.)