Tonda Designs

HEALTHY HEART

Eating wisely and well for the sake of heart means Yes! to great tasting food. Focus on the big picture of overalleating patterns and forget about”super foods” or trying to decode the precise amount of protein, carbohydrates and fats in each portion.

Choose the basics

Make fruits, vegetables, fat-free and low-fat dairy products, and whole grain, high-fiber foods the centerpiece of your plate. Use smaller servings-about 4-6 ounces daily-of poultry, lean meat and fish (twice a week)

Snack wisely

If you like chocolate or ice cream, plan on having a little-but only after, notinstead of, a nourishing meal.

Soft pedal salt

Consuming less salt can reduce high blood pressure. Look for reduced sodium or no salt added prepared foods. Put your salt shaker away and use a shaker of salt-free herb mix to add zest to your meals.

From American Heart Association.

Everyone knows what it feels like to be under stress, but we don’t know if stress by it self can increase the risk for heart disease.

Stress raises blood pressure, however, and may cause you to smoke more, overtreat and become physically inactive. Although you can’t control all of life’s stressful events, you can learn to manage your reaction to them.

I’m in control!

To help your heart become physically active, lose weight, eat right and don’t smoke. Your doctor can help you achieve these goals.

- Become physically active. Start with a 10-minute walk and work up from there to atleast 30 minutes daily.

- Reach out to friends or relatives. Social support buffers stress.

- Practice a relaxation technique.

- Find something to laugh about each day. Laughter is one of the best stress relievers.

- If matters don’t improve in several weeks, cehck in with your doctor.

STAY HEALTHY

To learn more about your risk for developing heart disease and how to control it, go to americanheart.org

By Sonia Kashuk- From good housekeeping.com

What makes a hand or a foot beautiful? Like any other body part, it should be well taken care of. The nails should be healthy, strong, and well manicured, and the skin, because it gets such heavy use in these areas, needs constant moisturizing.

If your nails are thin or weak, take vitamins with iron and use nail protein as a base coat. You can also use a nail strengthener — look for one made without formaldehyde, which can make nails dry and brittle.

Nails don’t have to be long to be beautiful. The shape is what counts. I recommend a natural shape that’s not completely rounded or squared. Cuticles have a shape. They should be rounded in toward, not straight across, the nail bed. But don’t cut them to shape them — this may cause them to split, tear, or become infected. Push them back instead.

Toenails vs. Fingernails: The Split Personality

When it comes to nail polish, toes are the extroverts. Women typically go for natural colors on their fingernails, but they’re more daring with toes because feet are far away from the face and don’t compete with makeup. Fire engine red or aubergine look particularly great with a strappy pair of sandals, and don’t forget fun brights for the summer!

Tips

1. To do a quickie manicure, use natural shades because they don’t show mistakes as easily.
2. To find out what colors are trendy, go to your local nail salon and see which bottles are almost empty.
3. If you’re sporting brighter shades of nail polish, keep nails on the shorter side.

 How to Get a Professional Manicure or Pedicure at Home

No doubt about it: professional manicures and pedicures are relaxing. Just having your hands and feet cared for by another person is powerfully therapeutic. But if you’re not in the mood to splurge, you can also do it yourself at home.

Tools

• Aromatic oils
• Exfoliator
• Lotion
• Non-acetone polish remover
• Orangewood stick (instead of plastic)
• Real cotton balls

Step by Step

1. Take off old polish.
   Use a non-acetone remover because it is easier on your nails and skin, and doesn’t have any harsh vapors.
2. File your nails.
   Try not to file the sides too much — it can cause hangnails and weaken your nails.
3. Soak in warm water.
   Soak hands for two to three minutes, and feet for five minutes. Since soap can be drying, use scented salts or essential oils instead. If your feet are callused, use a pumice stone when feet are wet and use a foot file after they are dry. If you do this once a day, calluses won’t build up.
4. Condition cuticles.
   Use oil (if you don’t have cuticle oil use olive oil or baby oil), then gently push back the cuticle with an orangewood stick to get a really nice shape. Optional step: Use an exfoliator to slough off dry skin, then rinse and put on lotion.
5. Give yourself a massage.
   Slather hands and feet with a good vitamin E-enriched lotion. Use a non-acetone polish remover to clean the nail bed, wiping off any remaining cuticle oil or massage lotion (the surface can’t be greasy when you apply polish). Clean under the nail too, with an orangewood stick wrapped with cotton and dipped in the remover. I prefer wood because it’s kinder to the tender skin under the nail. Plastic is okay in a pinch — but if your remover has acetone, the plastic will melt.
6. Apply nail strengthener.
   Or use a regular base coat. This protective layer is especially important if you’re using dark polish (intense pigment can permanently stain nails).
7. Apply two layers of nail color.
   Polish the ends of your nails, too, for extra wear.
8. Apply a clear top coat.
   Touch the ends with this, too — if your nail was a shiny new car, this would be the front bumper. Let dry and show off your gorgeous hands and feet!

Sonia Kashuk’s book, Real Beauty, is available at bookstores nationwide.

Expert tip: Even something as simple as string cheese with an apple and roasted nuts will help you stay energized—protein and calcium are key.

Tried and true: Have a small breakfast to kick-start your metabolism.

Expert tip: Even something as simple as string cheese with an apple and roasted nuts will help you stay energized—protein and calcium are key.

Don’t have hours to spend at a salon? We hear you. Try the next best thing: spa-inspired pedicures you can do at home.

Positive Pampering

Sure, a pedicure can make you look superb below the ankles — but if you think it’s just a self-indulgent treat, check out these facts from the American Podiatric Medical Association: The 8,000-plus steps you take each day exert up to 127,000 pounds of pressure on your poor tootsies — so they need any help they can get. These quick, do-it-yourself versions of two decadent new spa treatments will give your feet a well-deserved vacation.

To smooth out calluses: Mix 1/2 pint fresh crushed strawberries, 1 cup brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons olive oil into a grainy paste. Scrub it onto your soles with your hands, then rinse off and wrap your feet in warm towels for about ten minutes to seal in moisture. The acids in strawberries have exfoliating properties that will soften rough spots.
—Inspired by the Strawberry Pedicure at Haven Spa, New York City

To deeply hydrate: Mix together 5 cups warm milk, 2 tablespoons honey, and 1 tablespoon lavender essential oil. In a separate bowl, melt 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips in the microwave, then mix in 2 tablespoons honey and 2 egg yolks to create a smooth paste. Soak your feet for 15 minutes in the first mixture, then slather on the chocolate paste and leave on for another 15 minutes. Finally, rinse off with warm water. The milk and the cocoa butter in the chocolate will soothe and moisturize superdry skin.
—Inspired by the Milky Way Pedicure at Flying Beauticians Salon, San Francisco

For Happy, Healthy Feet

1. To prevent ingrowns, trim toenails straight across and never cut them too short, says Joseph Caporusso, D.P.M., a podiatrist in McAllen, Texas.
2. To freshen up sweaty soles when you can’t deal with a messy foot powder, rub on a cream that also has odor-preventing properties. (Try Dr. Scholl’s Deodorizing & Moisturizing Foot Cream.)
3. To take the ouch out of sore feet, apply a foot mask containing ginger or peppermint, proven skin stimulators that will rev up your circulation, says New York City podiatrist Stuart Mogul, M.D., author of the book Perfect Feet.
4. To relieve heel pain, stand on the edge of a step, let heels drop, and hold for a minute, says Dr. Mogul.

From www.goodhousekeeping.com

Before, 226 pounds >

After, 123 pounds<
The reality of an empty nest forced Joyce Anderson, 41, of Richmond, KY, to change her focus. Here she shares how she finally got fit and took back her life.

My secret binge eating started when I was 13, after my grandpa died. I really looked up to him and we were very close, so when he passed away, I turned to food to comfort myself. In high school, I was very active and ran cross-country, but I still gained weight because I was overeating when no one was around. At 19, I shed about 30 pounds in the months before my wedding by going on a crash diet. But after I had my daughter and son, the weight gradually crept back on and before I knew it, I was over 200 pounds. I felt so unattractive that I hardly have any family photos from that time. Occasionally I’d lose 30 pounds but then I’d gain back 35 more. It was a vicious cycle.

Focusing on Me

In 2008, my daughter, a senior in high school, told me that she didn’t want to be a cheerleader anymore. I was upset—not because I was disappointed in her, but because it would leave a hole in my own life. I had been devoting all of my free time to my children’s activities; at one point, my daughter even told me to stop living through her. Her comment hurt, but she was right: I didn’t have a life of my own. I was too embarrassed about my body to go out and socialize. I knew then that I had to do something about my weight and “get a life,” since both my children were nearing college age and would be leaving home.

The Big Jumpstart

That year, two days before Christmas, I sat down and searched for weight-loss plans online. I found SparkPeople.com (an online health and weight-loss community) and began to log what I ate; I also read other people’s blogs to stay motivated. I joined a gym in January of 2009, and it just so happened that it was hosting a Biggest Loser—type competition. I signed up, worked out with a trainer a few times a week, and at the end of 12 weeks, I had lost 50 pounds and won the individual female weight-loss category!

Afterward, I continued to eat healthfully and stuck to 1,200-1,500 calories per day. The competition kickstarted my weight loss, but I knew I needed to find an activity that I really loved and would do long-term. Dancing seemed like a fun challenge, so I used a coupon I had for a free private dance lesson. The first class was a mix of cha-cha and salsa dancing, and I definitely felt clumsy and awkward, but I had so much fun that I decided to keep going.

Dancing My Way Thin

Over the course of a year, I continued to lose weight (about 50 more pounds) and improve my dancing. In 2011, I competed in rumba, cha-cha, bolero, mambo and East Coast swing at two different dance competitions. Dancing has taught me how to carry myself, control my body and just have fun. Now, at 41, I’m not afraid to take chances and I finally feel attractive, something I’ve never experienced. And yes: I now have a life.

My Best Tip

Pick a “cravings” day. If I have a craving during the week, I tell myself to hold off until Saturday. If I still want it then, I eat it—but I often find that the urge has passed.

My Stick-With-It Secret

Use visual reminders! I carried around this “before” picture of myself when I was at my heaviest as daily inspiration to stay on track. I would pull it out whenever I felt my commitment waning. It was a great reminder that I didn’t want to go back to that overweight place and a positive reinforcement of how far I’d come. It really came in handy the night before my first dance showcase (after I’d lost 65 pounds). I was terrified that I would freeze up, but then I looked at the picture and thought, Wow, I’ve come too far to turn back now.

Sonia Kashuk shares 10 skin commandments to live by.

We all dream of getting a miracle in a bottle. And so much ad copy leads us to believe it exists: An instant facelift. Zero pores. Paper smoothness. But our obsession with being flawless is absurd. Wrinkles happen — adding character and depth to the face. Other changes occur as well — features can become more pronounced and bone structure can become more angular over time. We get scars. We get freckles. And other dings and dents. Are these catastrophes? Or merely a map of our lives? Certain products can help to offset all this, but aging is a natural (and beautiful) process that happens to all of us. And acceptance, not denial, looks better on everyone.

A lot of product lines have gotten way too complicated — aside from being costly, they take up too much time. You can keep it simple, and just as effective. Many of us overindulge our skin anyway — if we’re dry, we tend to overmoisturize; if we’re oily, we tend to overstrip.

Great skincare, like makeup, doesn’t have to cost a lot. A $100 jar of moisturizer? Forget it! Not many of us could afford a daily routine in that price range. So don’t get caught up in the marketing madness and don’t pay for pseudo science. Your endorsement is the only one that counts.

Here, my top 10 skin tips:

1. Protect yourself from the sun — use sunscreen and avoid direct sunlight between the hours of 10 and 2.
2. Don’t — I repeat — don’t smoke. Your skin is a large organ and it needs a lot of circulation. Smoking impairs that dramatically. That’s why smokers’ skin looks dull and gray. Instead of having oxy-generated blood delivered to the surface of the skin, they’re getting poisons and oxidants.
3. Get adequate rest and nutrition.
4. Protect yourself from stress — both emotional and environmental stress.
5. Wash your face twice a day and put on the proper treatment product. I’m amazed when women tell me they don’t wash their face in the morning. A lot of icky stuff collects overnight — dead skin cells, dirt, and dust!
6. Don’t neglect certain areas of the skin. Elbows, heels, neck, and decolletage need moisturizing, and your scalp and the tops of your feet need sun protection.
7. Touch your face less and wash your hands more! Don’t get too surgical on yourself. It’s very tempting to pick, poke, squeeze, and scratch in front of the mirror. But the more you traumatize the skin, the greater your risk of scarring. Apply treatment products and let them work.
8. Keep your makeup clean. Replace the sponges in your compact on a regular basis. Now and then, toss the whole works and start fresh — the average shelf life for cosmetics is 6 to 12 months. Don’t buy products so expensive that you’ll be heartbroken if you have to throw them away.
9. Exercise moderation. More is not always better. Moisturizer, for example, is the most overused product in America. We’ve been bamboozled by cosmetic companies into thinking every square inch of our body has to be slathered. And it’s simply not true. Exfoliators are another thing to be careful with. Used too often, they overacidify and irritate your skin.
10. Beware of counter girls. If it were up to them, you’d be in the bathroom for two and a half hours each morning — putting 80 layers on your face. Keep your regimen simple. And when you do add a new product, do it gradually so your skin has time to adjust. Each skincare or makeup product has an average of 20 to 40 ingredients — you’re introducing 20 to 40 potential allergens to your face every time you try something new.

Sonia Kashuk’s book, Real Beauty, is available at bookstores nationwide

 http://www.lhj.com/style/beauty/skin/top-10-skincare-tips/