Let's Get Healthy! (Part two)

I'll get right off to posting this, as promised.
Advance topics.

• Meditate.  If you can't meditate because you can't concentrate, than practice so that you can.  Meditation is one of the best methods available to revealing stress.  The reason we want to eliminate stress is because it negatively affects our body over time.  Initially, it speeds your heart rate up, increases blood-brain flow, increases muscle tension, and speeds up breathing.  Prolonged effects of stress include, but are not limited to, chronic fatigue, weakened immune system (from the steroids released), and can increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Alright, so now that I've worked in a little scare tactic, let's learn the basics in meditation.  Close your eyes and breathe slowly, it can help to count to 3 when inhaling, and to 6 when exhaling.  What this does is help remove the excess carbon dioxide and other harmful chemicals in the body.  It also lowers the heart rate.  Next, try to relax each part of your body separately.  Start low, such as your feet, and on the exhale, release all tension in that area of the body, then move up. the body until everything is relaxed except your thoughts.  Now imagine yourself in a place where no one else is around.  It should come naturally to you.  My meditation spot is on the cliff of a rocky beach with long grass on a summer sunset.  In the back is a cool forest.  This spot should be somewhere that relaxes your thoughts.  Once you do this, try to keep your head empty of thoughts.  Every time you think of something, dismiss it, reject it, remove it for the time being.  What this does is bring your brain waves down to the theta level, which is right next to the brain wave levels for sleeping. It refreshes your brain and makes you able to think more clearly, and stay more relaxed.  It also makes it easier to remember, comprehend, accept, and process things.  You want to do this for about 20 minutes a day. If, however, after trying it, you can't do it, you can use something called binaural beats, which will artificially bring your brainwaves down to the theta level.
• Do everything with a positive point of view.  Not only will this improve your ability to avoid stress, but it will make you happier.  If you're always dreading events and what not, you will release hormones that account for depression and stress, even if you aren't stressed.  Long term affects will dimly relate to those of stress, but not to the same extent.  Basically, your skin will look less radiant and be more prone to acne if you dread events, or stay depressed.  If you fake smile, fake laugh, fake happiness, you'll end up making it a reality, so don't embrace the negative point of view.
• Completely contradicting myself here, you need to make sure you're sad at times.  "There is no peace without war" (Tolstoy).  Now this is an interesting statement, however, it makes perfect sense. It basically says that there can not be one thing without its opposite.  Likewise, you can't be happy without experiencing sadness.  This will take a lot of self control, but you need to find a way to make yourself sad for a small amount of time each day so that you can be generally very happy for the rest of the day.  The psychology of happiness will increase your health by a large margin.  You just need to make sure you have a way of getting out of your sadness, if you get locked in, it can get ugly.
  
• Music.  Music is my last part of the advance section.  The kind of music will not only affect your mood, but it will affect your brain function as well.  Listening to sad music will make you sad (this is how I sadden myself each day, and sleep is my exit), listening to happy music will make you happy.  That is very basic, so we will go into more advance functions that deal with music.  The complexity of the music plays a large role in its affects on your mental state.  More complex music, in general, boosts critical thinking abilities.  For the record, rap in not complex, where as classical music is. (This is not always the case, as there are some rather non-complex classic pieces out there)  If you're unsure on which classical music is complex, just search for the major artists, such as mozart, sebelius, beethoven, brahms, bach, ect.  Now, on to the next element of music.  Music, as in writing, generally has a mood.  The mood associated with it can change your mood as well.  For instance, heavy, angry metal music usually makes a person more angry.  When rats listened to it, they ended up killing each other.  A pop-y or preppy piece of music usually makes a person feel more up beat, awake, or happy.  It is a good idea to try to combine the mood and complexity of music that is fitted to your current needs, not so much for good sound.  I rarely listen to newer music because it is not as complex as older music, however, it has a lot preppier mood, and therefor I listen to it very occasionally in order to have a better mood when I can sacrifice higher brain function.  

So here we are, it's not only the way you treat yourself physically, but the way you treat yourself mentally that produces a healthier state.  You need to make sure you have high self-esteem to be mentally and socially healthy, but be modest about it, no one wants to be around an egocentric twat.

Until next time.

Sorry!

Yeah, I know, I haven't been posting much >,< Anyway, next post will be tomorrow, I promise!

Let's Get Healthy! (Part one)

Alright, first off, I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while.  School and my job take up most of my time in a day -_-
Basically, this post is going to be about different health habits that will make you healthier, and your skin will reflect that.
Let's start off with some basics.

• It's likely that you aren't getting all of your vitamins a day, so make sure you take a multivitamin in the morning.  This will help you greatly.  You will feel healthier and you'll get sick less often.
• Stop drinking soda. Seriously, it's disgusting the arguments I hear about why it's "good for you."  The carbonation in soda dehydrates you, and so you receive almost no hydration from soda.  Moreover, it contains many sugars and other substances that will make you over-all less healthy and become more tired over time via crash.
• Drink tea.  This is much cheaper than soda, it has many more good effects for your body, and it will end up tasting better.  At first, drinking unsweetened tea will be disgusting, but your body will soon make it taste good because it's better for your body (this is simple biology).  Tea has antioxidants to help you not get sick.  It has calming properties that help with stress.  It has natural caffeine that won't make you crash, will give you a boost, and also will help with stress.
• Get enough sleep.  Need I explain?

Now for some intermediate topics.

• Avoid weight loss programs (yes, all of them).  Seriously, you can do this on your own, just make an affirmation.  The basics are as follows.  Avoid unnatural sugars.  Sugars in things such as milk are naturally occurring sugars, these are OK.  Eat non-processed foods.  An easy way to tell if it's processed is to look at its fiber value.  The more fiber it has, the less processed it is.  Fiber = healthier weight (you poop out more bad stuff).  Exercise by doing things such as running.  Things such as weight lifting burn muscle, not fat, avoid them.  Just eat less, as in, don't sit down at the TV and start eating ice cream, chips, popcorn, etc.  Only eat what you'll need to eat, maybe have a little snack at times.  Stop watching as much TV, get off Facebook, whatever gets you away from starring at a screen will get you up and more active, meaning a healthier weight.  And once again, make an affirmation.
• Eat more fiber.  You can get this in a lot of grains, also, a whole apple contains 100% of your daily fiber (a large apple).  This will keep more of the bad things out of you instead of in you.
• Hungry? Eat something such as whole wheat bread, an apple, some vegetables, drink some milk, have an egg.  Or, drink tea, the caffeine in tea will suspend your appetite.

I'll discuss the advance topics in the next post, as they will take up much more space.

Fall Fashion (Part 2)

Alright, so it took a while, but here's the next post in my latest series for you guys!
I'll get right off the bat.

Shoes:

This is the best time of the year to break out those nice brown or tan colored shoes.  Be it boots or the classic man's dress shoe, these shoes always do wonders in fall.  Brown shoes really blend in with the landscape and really complete the fall look.  Hiking boots can be pulled off for style if done correctly in this season too.
Another great shoe that works well is the black shoe.  You want to make the shoe compliment the rest of the outfit, not stand out, and that is why these dark colors work best during the fall.  Generally speaking, you want your shoes to match with your shirt.  This will make your style look more "full."
There are a few things you want to avoid in relation to shoes during the fall.  First off, avoid glossy or shinny shoes.  You don't want to draw too much attraction to your feet.  It's better to draw attraction to the whole portrait that is you by giving yourself a decent base.  I have these lovely felt-topped, black dress shoes that do wonderful for fall.  They are really easy to make compliment my whole portrait without drawing attention to themselves.  Another thing that should be avoided is white or bright colored shoes.  These shoes will not fit in with the fall color scheme, landscape, and hopefully not the style you'll be wearing in the fall.

Accessories:

This is a fun subject right here.  In fall, scarves are one of the best accessories that you can wear.  You usually want the the scarf to compliment the shirt, but this can be done by contrast or by similarity (in terms of color). I suggest going to shop and just trying on different scarves with different outfits.  Scarves usually add a lot to the current clothing being worn, and it'll make you look much more fashionable (I hope, if not then you're doing it wrong!).  There are many different ways you can tie the scarf around your neck as well.  I advise you to go look online for a guide about different scarf ties, it's sort of like a tie in some aspects.
In terms of belts, it's best to wear dark colored belts.  Like before, shinny is bad.  What's amazing in the fall is usually a belt that's faded leather.  Trust me when I say it can look amazing.  Try to get your belt to match with your shoes.
For various jewelry around the neck and wrists, all I can say is try not to be shinny.  I've said it before, but I'll say it again, shinny is bad.  The color, however, is more versatile for these sorts of things, and so, such as with the scarves, experiment.
The last accessory that I'll cover is the bag.  Usually, the bag that you have should last you through the seasons if you planned right, but I'm going to still go over a couple of things.  The color of the bag should be dark, save khaki.  The size of the bag is dependent on you, but I suggest that it not be a backpack.  Don't shop at Fossil, they're way overpriced for pieces of sh**.  Faded leather is usually good for a bag, but it can really be any material.  Think of the bag as another frame of your portrait.  You want it to make the portrait more noticed, in a good way.

Jackets:

Jackets in the all are absolutely amazing.  I think that any sort of jacket/ sweater/ sweatshirt really completes the fall look (along with the shoes).  Let's start with an essential: the pea coat.  If you don't know what this is, then you'd better find out fast.  These coats are amazing.  Generally speaking, they cover most of your outfit, so it's good to have them in a dark color.  Be careful to not get anything too gaudy as well.
Now that we've covered one of my favorite articles of clothing ever, I'm going to talk about the three types of jackets I've listed in general terms.
Most of the jackets you want to where should be dark in color.  They all will reveal only the collar area of anything that you are wearing underneath.  A white dress shirt (the man's little black dress) should usually suffice for what is visible underneath the jacket.  However, we can get more creative.  If you can pull it off, you can where a nice plaid underneath it, or stripes.  For the rest of us that can't do that as easily, you can where other solid-colored shirts underneath with a nice color, or those mini check dress shirts (I mean the ones with really small checks, they can look really nice under a jacket).The color of the shirt underneath should be complementary to the jacket, or at least a noticeably different color.
Another thing that can be worn under the jacket is a scarf.  The scarf should blend in with the jacket and cover up to at least half way up your neck.  A thick scarf looks really nice here, but save the wool for the winter.  If you have thinner scarves (which are actually just plain marvelous in the fall) then make sure you make a bulge in that color spot where the scarf and the jacket meet.

That's all I have for now, my brain is beginning to die (as usual).  Until next time, good luck! :D

Fall Fashion (Part 1)

First off, I'm sorry for the wait on my next post. I've been getting rather busy lately, so if I don't post as much, it's because of that. Don't worry though, I won't leave you guys :D
So today, after looking around and seeing a lot of, well, un-pleasurable fashions, I decided to write a post about fall fashion. So, let's begin with colors!

That right there is a little thing that I found that should help you understand the fall color scheme a bit better. The colors that you where should be more faded and seemingly blend in to the fall landscape around you. Unlike summer, there is less emphasis on where bold or bright colors to stand out. No, fall, like winter, is more about blending in.
Moreover, the colors you where should match the weather. If it's sunny, then you should wear colors that are slightly brighter, such as the yellow on the bottom of the chart. However, if it is very overcast and is raining, then you should wear colors that are darker, such as the grey in the left corner. I hope you get the idea. You really want to blend in with the landscape, that's what will make you look best.

Alright, let's talk about individual articles of clothing now.

Shorts-
Unless it is sunny, I would suggest staying away from shorts, they usually look very out-of-season. However, if you do choose to wear shorts, remember the color scheme, and make sure it blends in.

Pants-
Khaki’s are alright here. The colors of the khaki pants should try to match the color of the fall leaves that have fallen.
Jeans work well in fall as well. The jean color can be dark or light, depending on the weather. I would avoid pre-torn jeans here, but if you where them, I suggest having minimal tears around the knee's to fit in with the fall landscape. Faded jeans work surprisingly well in fall because they fade in well with the landscape.

Shirts-
Long sleeve and short sleeve shirts both work in fall, just make sure you follow the color scheme. Plaid often works well too, as long as the plaid doesn't have any colors that are "out of character." I would avoid graphic tee’s the make too much of a statement, but that might be just because I dislike graphic tee’s.
There are some common ways that you can wear shirts in fall. Because of the color scheme, you also don't have to worry much about clashing (unless you're REALLY bad, ahaha), anyway, you can where a regular shirt under a plaid button-up shirt (Make sure you button up the plaid shirt somewhat, otherwise you'll look very out of character). You can also reverse that, if the shirt is plain, and it looks pretty good. If you have any fleece textured shirts, those work quite well in fall.

There'll be more to this guide, and obviously, there's so much that I just don't have the time to cover, but if you have suggestions, feel free to post them :D
Also, Remember, off-white is the only good white in fall! (Save some combinations such as sweater vests.)
Sometime in the next two days I'll post about shoes, accessories, and jackets. I might get some pictures up as well.

The Basics: Healthier Skin. (Second Half)

Yesterday I talked about the things that my dermatologist friend taught me, and so today I will talk about some of my own knowledge on achieving healthier skin.

• Antioxidants.  I'm sure you've all heard this word before, but I'm not sure if all of you know what it means. You can look them up online for a long definition.  Basically, an antioxidant is something that goes into your body and bonds with free radicals.  In short, they're vitamins.  Vitamins belong in your body, not on your skin.  You can look it up and websites will tell you that it's good to put antioxidants onto your skin.  This is advertising.  Instead of spending extra money for something that has "antioxidants for healthier skin" (And by the way, retinal A has been associated with skin cancer when applied on the skin.)  The first step for healthy skin is too make sure you get all of your daily vitamins.  I suggest taking a multivitamin.
• The next thing for healthier skin is yet another eating habit.  Stay away from anything that's carbonated.  Carbonated drinks dehydrate the body and, in the long run, damage the skin because it keeps the skin from getting enough water.  I suggest drinking only things such as waters and teas (unsweetened.)  Milk doesn't do anything for your body when you grow older because It uses the calcium it gives in digestion, making it practically water with fat, some vitamins (multivitamin can replace that nourishment) and protein (which is unessential after you're done growing).  The second thing is sugars.  Stay away from unnatural sugars such as high fructose corn syrup.  These are all very bad for your body, and not only will make your skin less healthy and more bloated, but it will make you feel drowsy constantly.
• This is the last of eating habits, I promise.  I don't have to worry about this one much because I'm pesceterian (vegetarian but eat fish and dairy).  However, the only meat I eat is salmon because it is the most healthy meat that you can eat, and is the tastiest.  Basically, stay away from bottom feeders and pork.  The reason for this is because all of the toxins in their body get stored up in their fat.  Well, you're saying, "that goes away, doesn't it?"  It doesn't.  The toxins from the fat are released into your body when you eat any of the animal's fat, making you feel drowsy.  It is incredibly unhealthy and, if you have acne, will make your acne much worse.  If you don't have acne, you may feel as if you are starting to get it if you eat too much pork and bottom feeders.  It also is related to high blood pressure, early deterioration of the kidneys, and a bad heart.
• Now I'll move on to something that's not eating habits.  This is  big one.  Don't get stressed.  Now I know this seems like an insane thing to try to do because everyone gets stressed.  However, it's actually very easy to keep from getting stressed.  Meditation.  You can look up a guide online or whatever, but I'm going to cover the basics here.  The first step is to close your eyes and start breathing slowly, count to 3 on the inhale and to 6 on the exhale.  What this does is clear your body of air pollutants and lowers your heart rate.  Next, with each breath try to relax a different part of your body, start with the legs.  Let your entire body relax and feel as if you're sinking into nothingness.  Next you must relax your brain.  Every time a thought comes into your head just pass it away, reject it, try to have nothing in your head.  Imagine yourself in a peaceful spot, perhaps a meadow, or a sunset beach. Be in that peaceful spot, don't let anything distract you from being this.  After 20 minutes or so, you should be completely relaxed and free of stress.  It will also help prevent stress.  I will not go over all the harmful effects of stress (distress) here, but I will just say that it creates a hormonal imbalance which results in oily and more acne-prone skin, as well as skin that looks patchy.
• Make sure you get enough sleep and keep your pillow clean.  Having a clean pillow will prevent the dirtiness of your face from building up and rubbing back on .
• Use a facial masque every week or so, you'll be amazed by the affects.  I'll go over how to make one most likely later this week.
• Eat more fruits and vegetables, come on.
• Don't drink, smoke, etc.
• Stay away from processed foods (hint, the more fiber it has, the less processed it is)
• Last one.  Fiber is one of the best things for your body in the world.  Don't deprive yourself, it'll help you look much more healthy, and will help keep you from being overweight (huge benefactor).

I can't think of any more of these on the spot, so I guess that'll be all for today.  I think I was going to tell you all something else as well, but I've forgotten now.  Happy reading!

I'd actually love to hear your guy's opinions and knowledge as well, so feel free to write to me at Blondmen@live.com.  You can also comment.  Remember, I'm still taking requests for things to write about (:

The Basics: Healthier Skin. (First Half)

I talked with my friend a little while ago who is a dermatologist (one of my professions of interest) and so I thought I'd share some knowledge with you that I learned from him, along with some of my own knowledge.  I'll start with what he taught me.

• Don't buy rinse products.  Basically, things like the Nutragena Acne Wash.  The reason for this is because these products don't stay on your skin.  Because they do not stay on your skin, they have very minimal effect.  You'll believe it's working though, and it becomes a placebo, hence buying more, good reviews, etc.  Instead, buy products that will stay ON the skin.  A very good combination to help with acne and not by any sort of prescription medications is Clearasil (because of the salicylic acid) and benzyl peroxide.
• If you're going to buy a prescription medication for acne, go for a more natural approach.  Although they work, products like oral antibiotics and Acutane are very harsh for the skin as well.  The problem with oral antibiotics is that it also kills many helpful bacteria that is in your body.  Acutane is just very harsh on the skin.  Although this will greatly help with acne, it will leave you with very damaged skin in the long run.  Natural acne medication are things like using vitamins and topical solutions that won't damage the skin, or at least not nearly as severely as the other products. A vitamin pill like A&D taken twice a day will greatly help in repairing skin, fighting off acne, and keeping the skin healthy so that zits do not appear as often.  You don't have to worry about overdosing on this too, although it is 400% of your vitamin A and D a day, the OD percent is 800%.  Moreover, the vitamins are water-soluble and so you would have to take it in a very short period of time, otherwise you'll just pee out the extra.  The second thing that I find to work incredibly well is a topical antibiotic.  Because this is applied onto the skin, there's no risk of having it kill off the helpful bacteria in your body, moreover, it only kills the bacterial infections that are essentially acne.  Make sure you ex foliate before doing this though, that way your pores are open for cleaning.

Alright, so I know that was basically just a post about acne, aside from learning that rinse products don't work, but it's all very important. Just make sure you take your other daily routines for good skin, such as wash twice a day, all that good stuff.  Treat it like a delicate flower. 

That's it for today, I'll post my basic knowledge tomorrow, but I'm too tired right now, ahahahaha.