Anastasia

Exercising Early in the Morning: Top Ten Benefits

1. Exercising early in the morning "jump starts" your metabolism, keeping it elevated for hours, sometimes for up to 24 hours! As a result, you’ll be burning more calories all day long—just because you exercised in the morning.
2. Exercising in the morning energizes you for the day—not to mention that gratifying feeling of virtue you have knowing you’ve done something disciplined and good for you. (Much better than a worm!)
3. Studies have shown that exercise significantly increases mental acuity—a benefit that lasts four to ten hours after your workout ends. Exercising in the a.m. means you get to harness that brainpower, instead of wasting it while you’re snoozing.
4. Assuming you make exercise a true priority, it shouldn’t be a major problem to get up 30 to 60 minutes earlier—especially since regular exercise generally means a higher quality of sleep, which in turn means you’ll probably require less sleep. (If getting up 30 to 60 minutes earlier each day seems too daunting, you can ease into it with 10 to 20 minutes at first.)
5. When you exercise at about the same time every morning—especially if you wake up regularly at about the same time—you’re regulating your body's endocrine system and circadian rhythms. Your body learns that you do the same thing just about every day, and it begins to prepare for waking and exercise several hours before you actually open your eyes. That’s beneficial because:
   
   • Your body’s not “confused” by wildly changing wake-up times, which means waking up is much less painful. (You may even find that you don’t need an alarm clock most days.)
   • Hormones prepare your body for exercise by regulating blood pressure, heart rate, blood flow to muscles, etc.
   • Your metabolism, along with all the hormones involved in activity and exercise, begin to elevate while you're sleeping. As a result, you’ll feel more alert, energized, and ready to exercise when you do wake up.

 

1.  Many people find that morning exercise has a tendency to regulate their appetite for the rest of the day. Not only do they eat less (since activity causes the release of endorphins, which in turn diminishes appetite), they also choose healthier portions of healthier foods.
2. People who consistently exercise find, sometimes to their great surprise, that the appointed time every morning evolves into something they look forward to. Besides the satisfaction of taking care of themselves, they find it’s a great time to plan their day, pray, or just think more clearly—things most of us often don’t get to do otherwise.
3. Exercising first thing in the morning is the most foolproof way to ensure that other things don’t overtake your fitness commitment, particularly if you have a hectic family life. (It’s so easy to wimp out in the evening, when we’re tired or faced with such tasks as rustling up dinner and helping with homework.)
4. More than 90% of those who exercise consistently have a morning fitness routine. If you want to exercise on a regular basis, the odds are in your favor if you squeeze your workout into the a.m.
5. Non-morning people can always trick themselves in the a.m. Having trouble psyching yourself up for a sunrise jog? Do what I did—tell yourself that you’ll still be so fast asleep that you won’t even remember—much less mind!  

via www.sparkpeople.com

I'm very keen on exercising and , generally, any kind of workout - especially aerobics, step, body pump, combat and pilates. I'm not very keen on machines , though. I've been exercising for almost 20 years now,  but I took a break from 2008 to 2011. In November 2011, I went back to gym. But this time, early in the morning as, due to work, I didn't have time to exercise later. In the past, I used to exercise after work, now I work out before work, from 8:00 to 9:00 am , three times a week. I'm not the morning type, though! I love sleeping in when I can. It was hard at the beginning, but now I am as fit as a fiddle and I don't even need an alarm clock any more! And, believe it or not, I feel so energetic at work even if I have to teach six hours in a row.

Monday's Greek Recipe - Melitzanes Imam Baildi - Imam Baildi Aubergines

For the Greeks, the Great Lent has already begun. This is a  time period of about 40  days before the Greek Holy Easter. During this time most Greeks fast and avoid eating meat and dairy products. 

Ingredients

10 aubergines / eggplants)

6 onions cut in rings

6-8 cloves garlic sliced

1 tea cup olive oil

1 tbs sugar

some finely cut parsley

6 ripe tomatoes finely chopped and peeled

salt and pepper

Directions

1. Peel the aubergines in stripes, cut one edge but do NOT remove the stem and put them in salted cold water for about 30 minutes so that they open up like ...small boats.. Then squeeze the aubergines with your hands.

2. In a bowl mix the onions, tomatoes, garlic, parsely, sugar, salt and pepper.

3. Fill in the aubergines with this mixture and pour the rest over them. Add the olive oil plus a cup of water. 

6. Put them one next to another in a baking pan and bake in pre-heated oven for about 1 hour at 170*C (= 325 Fahrenheit).

7. Serve with some crushed feta cheese. 

 

Life Begins at Forty

I had a wonderfully carefree childhood and a relatively easy adolescence despite the fact that I experienced war at the age of sixteen. Thinking positive, this helped me to mature a lot. I was only 18 when I met Alkis in Switzerland. I was a cheerful, plump girl then but this did not prevent Alkis from giving up on his gorgeous Swiss girlfriend and ask me out. In my mid-twenties, I married  my Prince Charming. And I'm very glad to be with him now- almost 30 years later- despite some rocky times we've been through. 

In my mid thirties, I lost my mind! I started feeling insecure about me, about my body. As a result I became obsessed with working out. I'd never miss a gym class then - whether that was body pump, body attack (high impact aerobics) or combat. I only hated dancing such as latin dancing or jazz. It took me two years to realise how silly I was!

At forty, I realised my blessings: a husband who ...still loves me no matter how I look, my mum and my brother who are always there for me, and, most importantly, I did not feel insecure. I still go to gym classes and enjoy them when and if I can.  It's pretty much like blogging, you know. 

In 1932, the American psychologist Walter Pitkin published the self-help book Life Begins at Forty. Pitkin stated confidently:

Life begins at forty. This is the revolutionary outcome of our New Era. Today it is half a truth. Tomorrow it will be an axiom.

At fifty something, I can enjoy pancakes and ice cream with no guilty feelings. And I never skip lunch or dinner however big the pancakes are!

 

How To Treat Sunburn

Maybe you skipped the sunscreen because you didn’t think you’d be outside for very long, or perhaps you forgot to reapply after a dip in the pool. Whatever the reason, your skin is red-hot to the touch and seriously painful. Now what? You can pop an aspirin and apply a standard drugstore treatment that contains a numbing agent like Lidocaine, or you can try one of the following natural remedies.

Photo Credit - © Shutterstock

To Stop the Pain:

1. Slather on aloe. If you’re going to buy it in a bottle, the best choice is one that contains no added colors or fragrances. (A good option is Aubrey Organics Pure Aloe Vera.) But aloe straight from the plant may be even better and possibly more effective, says Lynne C. David, ND, a naturopathic doctor at the Center for Integrative Medicine at the George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Purchase a plant at a garden store or florist, and then just split open a spear and rub the gel on your skin.

2. Milk it. Soak a clean cloth in cool milk and apply it to the burned area for 20 minutes, says Hadley C. King, MD, a clinical instructor of dermatology at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. Make sure you use whole milk; the fat content is what’s soothing. Reapply every two to four hours.

3. Soothe with baking soda. You use it to deodorize your fridge, clean your house and bake bread…but did you know that you can use baking soda to treat sunburns, too? Just dissolve a spoonful in water to make a cooling compress, or add 1/2-cup to a tepid bath that you can soak in, says Dr. King.

4. Try vinegar. According to Dr. King, a popular folk remedy is to use white distilled vinegar or apple cider vinegar to relieve sunburn pain. She admits there’s no science proving it works, but says that it can’t hurt to try it. Just soak a cloth or towel in a solution of half vinegar, half water and apply it to the affected area.

5. Heal with herbs. The herbs comfrey and calendula promote tissue healing and have anti-inflammatory properties, says Dr. David. Ask at your local health foods store for a cream that contains this combo, or try Country Comfort Herbal Savvy, which contains both of these herbs as well as aloe vera. Or you can buy calendula tea bags, wet them and apply them to sensitive areas of your skin, leaving them on until you feel better. Mint tea bags are also a good pick, as mint has cooling, pain-relieving properties. If you don’t want to apply tea bags directly to the skin, you can brew the tea, let it cool and then dip cotton balls into it to dab onto the affected area.

For more on healing with herbs, click here.

To Help Repair the Damage:

 

6. Drink up. “Dehydration is a serious side effect of sunburn,” says Andrea Donsky, co-founder of NaturallySavvy.com, a website for natural, organic and green living. She recommends drinking plenty of water (your healthiest option) and other fluids to help re-hydrate the skin and fight dryness.
7. Let honey help. A thin layer of raw honey (the unprocessed kind; it should say “raw” on the label) spread on the affected area can reduce inflammation and help fight free radical damage incurred by the burn, says Donsky.

8. Lock in moisture. Dr. David recommends:

Burt’s Bees Aloe & Linden After Sun Soother, a creamy lotion containing bee pollen, coconut oil, aloe and linden extract to calm and moisturize inflamed skin. Dr. King is a fan of Bach Rescue Cream, a homeopathic moisturizer with flower essences that hydrates and soothes the skin while fighting inflammation. She recommends applying the lotion right after a cool to lukewarm shower, when your skin is still a little damp.

9. Get more vitamins. It won’t dull the sting of a sunburn, but an extra helping of antioxidants can help your body repair itself faster, says Dr. King. For a few days after getting sunburned, she recommends taking 1,000 mg of vitamin C, 400 IU vitamin E, 15 mg beta carotene and one to two tablespoons (or three to six capsules) of liquid flaxseed oil. Donsky also recommends loading up on vitamins, but she prefers to get extra A, C and E from food. “Carrots, spinach and red bell peppers are rich in vitamin A; citrus fruits and dark leafy greens offer plenty of vitamin C; and avocado, almonds and wheat germ are packed with vitamin E,” she says.

10. Go fish. Donsky says omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in salmon, sardines, herring and anchovies, can help reduce inflammation and promote tissue healing from the inside out. Not a fish fan? You can also get these healthy fatty acids from walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, chia seeds and hemp seeds.

 

via shine.yahoo.com

These last few days, I've been suffering from minor sunburn as a result of  my desperate effort to get a decent tan this summer! I did some online reading seeking advice which would help me soothe my pain and I came across these great tips which do wonders-especially aloe vera and omega-3 fatty acids! I 've been eating sardines and fresh salmon for the last 6 days and  I'm feeling much better now. I'm still as red as a lobster but the itching is gone. I'll be away for the next 8 days, spending time with friends and family, travelling again and hoping that I'll go ...brown by the end of this holiday! 

 Have you ever suffered from sunburn? How did you treat it? Do you easily get a gorgeous tan without getting sunburnt? If you do, please tell me your secret!

Cosmetic Surgery

 

Marble statue of Aphrodite - the Greek goddess of beauty (1st century BC)

Few people are born with a "perfect" body.  A certain obsession with physical perfection is no longer confined to middle-aged women. Across the USA and in many European countries teenagers and men are becoming the latest patients to seek medical "remodelling". Teenagers are going under the knife, financed and encouraged by doting parents who consider bodily perfection to be a more desirable birthday present than the latest playstation version or even a car. They argue that surgery can help cure the insecurity and self-consciousness that comes from a lack of self-esteem. What I find even more shocking is that some Asian teenagers are having blepharoplasty to produce a more rounded Caucasian look! Surgeons have also developed a technique by which men no longer have to spend hours in gyms to achieve bulging muscles.

I am not against cosmetic surgery in so far as it helps correct deformities, such as remove acne scars. But I don't think I'd ever go under the knife to change or improve a part of my body. without a serious reason to do so. I believe that we should love ourselves the way we are. I find that women who grow old naturally are more beautiful than women who have gone through cosmetic surgery to look 10 years younger or a few kilos slimmer. Each one of us has something special, something unique. Besides, a balanced diet, exercising and cosmetics help us greatly to improve on nature without having to spend a fortune.

Is it true that beauty is in the eye of the beholder or do we have a uniform concept of physical beauty?

Would you consider undergoing cosmetic surgery? Why? Why not?

Quizzes by Quibblo.com

Changing Lifestyles: A Healthy Eating Pattern

Insight every fat girl

There's a thin girl trying to get out

Sweet and sad and slinky

That nobody even knows about

(Fran Lanesman)

Interlaken, Switzerland - July 1978

In my early twenties, as a student in Switzerland, I was really fat. I could have been even fatter but I walked a lot and went horseriding 3 times a week. I didn't know how to cook, so I indulged in junk food such as burgers and pizza, sweets, chocolate, crisps and fizzy drinks - not to mention raclette or cheese fondue! Within a year, I had forgotten all about my mum's healthy cooking based on the Mediterranean Diet . Consuming so many fatty and unhealthy foods for a long time took its toll and I had to have my gallbladder removed at the age of 25.

my favourite sweets

Since then, I've decided to adopt a healthier eating pattern. At the beginning, healthy eating made me feel depressed and unhappy. It was as if I were permanently on diet. I also gave up fizzy drinks - cola in particular - and replaced them with fruit juices and water. However, I've never been deprived of my favourite sweets, chocolate or pizza, but these were exceptions occurring only occasionally. After all, variety is the spice of life.

greek salad

Before I knew it, I started to feel healthier, stronger, happier and lighter! Adopting a healthier eating pattern and sticking to it involves changing lifestyles, and I was determined to change mine. So I took up regular exercise as well. It might sound hard to accomplish but, in actual fact, it doesn't really take a lot of effort - just an effort of will. To begin with, I did not starve to death or go on diet, neither did I ban fatty foods from my life. I just chnaged my methods of cooking.

grilled chicken burgers

fresh lemon juice

....and occasionally some french fries

In order to reduce my calorie intake, grilling or roasting my food - especially meat - was the answer. I've also replaced fatty sauces with fresh lemon juice or a little mustard. Steaming is a particularly healthy way of cooking fish and veggies while baking fish in the oven with onions, fresh tomatoes, a few drops of olive oil and lots of oregano is a delicious alternative. As for cooking potatoes, well, I know you can't beat roasting them or frying them There was a time when I had french fries with every meal. Naturally, I still eat chips but only once in a while. I usually boil or dry roast my potatoes using just a little olive oil and lots of spices and lemon juice. Stir-frying, especially vegetables, is another healthy way of cooking that appeals to me. This helps food retain both its taste and nutrients.

stir-frying vegetables

Judging from my experience, the bottom line is: a healthy diet cannot be imposed on anyone - it's the individual's choice.

Do you follow a healthy eating pattern in your daily diet? Did you ever have to change lifestyles in any way?

You might also wish to filll in the blank:

Healthy eating makes me feel _________________ .

Vegetarians Have Found the Secret of Good Living

I've often considered turning green for the following reasons:

1. I seldom eat red meat. Actually, the only meat I really love is chicken.

2. As most of you know, I have a strong opinion against animals being killed for our dinner table. Animals who die for our dinner table die alone, in great suffering.

3. The world's fresh water shortage is made even worse because of animal farming.

4. Most food poisoning is caused by the consumption of meat not vegetables.

5. Meat does not contain any proteins, vitamines or minerals that the human body cannot take from other sources such as legumes - beans, chick-peas, lentils in addition to our green beans, okra, peas or spinach cooked in olive oil and tomato sauce.

6. Many forests are being destroyed in order to clear ground to graze cattle.

However, I'm a fish lover! I may give up poultry but I can't live without fish. I know that some vegetarians - not to be confused with vegans - eat fish. So, if I'm ever going to be a vegetarian, I'll be a pesce-vegetarian.

I love fresh red mullet. I got this one out of a fisherman's net.

Working Out

In my childhood and adolescence, I hated gym. I preferred reading books to exercising and I'd always come up with an excuse provided I missed gym at school. However, I loved cycling. As a child I'd ride my bike in the back yard, as a teenager I'd get around by bike and even cycle to school which was quite far from where I lived. Later, at university, I took up horse riding. Owing to the long hours of  training, I didn't have any free time left for gym.

It was in my late thirties when I took up gym on a regular basis. I started out with pilates and aerobics but soon step aerobics became my favourite. I had been working out uninterruptedly for 20 years despite the fact that I changed gym centres in-between. Two years ago, I thought I needed a break and that was the main reason why I gave up gym. I felt I needed to exercise in the open air. But I only practised my favourite sports occasionally - I had to wait for the summer to go swimming as I hate swimming pools. And I had to clean and feed the horse afterwards which was time-consuming considering my busy schedule both workwise and socially.

So, I've been back to gym since January - a brand new gym centre - not far from home. My new gym instructor proved to be right. On my first day there, he said: " Don't worry. The body remembers.." Indeed, after a couple of classes, here I am back to my favourite body attack (high impact aerobics), step, and body pump. Now, I enjoy my gym classes more than ever!

The Benefits of Red Wine

Does red wine protect against heart disease? Maybe. Many studies investigated the benefits of red wine suggested that moderate amount of red wine (one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men) lowers the risk of heart attack for people in middle age by ~ 30 to 50 percent. It is also suggested that alcohol such as red wine may prevent additional heart attacks if you have already suffered from one. Other studies also indicated that red wine can raise HDL cholesterol (the Good cholesterol) and prevent LDL cholesterol (the Bad cholesterol) from forming. Red wine may help prevent blood clots and reduce the blood vessel damage caused by fat deposits. Indeed, studies showed that people from the Mediterranean region who regularly drank red wine have lower risks of heart disease

via www.healthcastle.com

I am a great lover of the Mediterranean Diet which is not really a diet but a healthy eating pattern and beyond that it's a lifelong, living style which basically consists in consuming lots of olive oil, fresh vegetables and fruit, legumes, chicken or poultry instead of red meat and 1-2 glasses of red wine at dinner. I love French reds very much - such as Chateauneuf du Pape or Saint Emilion - but I also enjoy great Greek reds by Ktima Hadjimichalis and Chateau Lazarides. Our very own Othello is also one of my favourite red wines. I have recently tried Californian reds such as Robert Mondavi Woodbridge and loved it. Consuming red wine in moderation can help prevent health problems.

Do you like wine? Do you include it - red wine in particular - in your daily diet? If you do, what's your favourite wine?

Vitamine C, Rhinoxehal and Green Tea

I was in the middle of a lesson on Friday afternoon when I started to sneeze every two minutes. According to a Greek superstition, when somebody sneezes you should ask that person to name a number up to 24 - the number of letters in the Greek alphabet. The person or people you know whose name begins with the letter corresponding to the number are supposed to be thinking of you. So, my kids kept naming letters ...I think everyone I know was thinking of me on Friday!!! Alkis included!

Although I'm now used to his business trips abroad, I had missed him and was looking forward to a great weekend - just the two of us. He had flown back from London earlier on Friday afternoon but, unfortunately, when I finished work on Friday night, I greeted him with a slight headache and a runny nose that spoilt my make-up and lipstick. His words were music to my ears. He said I was just as beautiful! We had a light supper but I was unable to resist the vanilla fudge he brought from London and, of course, I was delighted to upload all the wonderful photos he had taken in London for My Photo Blog!

I spent most of the weekend talking with Alkis. I honestly didn't feel ill! It was just that runny nose and  no, it wasn't an allergy! Ok here are my symptoms: a terribly runny nose, a slight headache, sneezing - no sour sore throat, no cough, no fever. Alkis insisted on me seeing a doctor but I told him I'd see the free family online doctor first. Then he said: "Oh really? Now I know you are ok". On Saturday afternoon, I took the Quiz - Cold or Flu? The verdict   diagnosis was an allergy! I think the online family doctor was wrong. Because first thing on Monday, I visited my chemist and she gave me Vitamine C and a decongestant nasal spray called Rhinohexal (it contains xylometazoline! - whatever this is). I loved the Vitamine C - you dissolve the tablet in water and , believe me, it does taste like Fanta ! As for the nasal spray, it does wonders. My nose isn't as runny as on Friday. Together with Green Tea, this combination is probably the best to fight a cold.