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Facts for Men and Women Experiencing Hair Loss
Hair plays an important role in most people's overall
appearance. Hair, teeth, and nails are all admired and emulated
as a sign of beauty in our society. Unfortunately, when we see
signs of appearance slipping, we are devastated. As men...
Getting "In-Zinc"
As with most nutrients and minerals, zinc is often ignored by the average person however, it is an essential mineral that plays many roles in promoting the healthy functioning of the body. Its importance to the body’s well-being goes far back as the...
How to treat baldness?
What is baldness? In medical terms baldness is called as
Alopecia. Baldness is the loss of hair and the scalp is viewable
to normal eyes. This condition is more prevalent in men than
women. Hair loss is mainly due to age, illness,...
Importance of your Skin's pH
Our skin’s functions are too many to go through here in detail, however it protects our ‘insides’ from the external environment, acting both as a barrier and a filter between ‘outside’ and ‘inside’.
The skin helps in regulating our body’s...
The Wonderful World of Vitamins...Part 1
Vitamins are vital if we are to achieve maximum health and
weight loss. An understanding of vitamins and their function in
our bodies can help us to improve our health and supplement our
diet. Vitamins are only needed in relatively small...
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Weight Loss: Tweaking Your Lifestyle
Despite our national propensity to overeat, under-exercise, and
grow steadily heavier and more out of shape, we all yearn to be
slender, fit, and attractive. Our culture rewards the thin and
the beautiful; look at how we devour celebrity gossip,
mesmerized by the looks and energy of our current favorites.
Why the discrepancy between our aspirations and our reality?
There are a plethora of reasons, most of which can be traced to
the simple fact that life gets in the way.
"I'd love to cut back on my food intake," we think, "But I have
to attend all these work functions and have little control over
the meals that are served." "I would really like to get in
shape," we complain, "But there's no free time and I can't
afford a personal trainer like the movie stars I see." "I really
want to take care of my skin and my body," we wail, "But I'm so
busy that a quick shower and a slap of moisturizer is all I can
fit into my schedule."
It would be so wonderful to have loads of free time: to plan our
days; to cook low calorie, healthy meals; to exercise without
time constraints; to be able to pamper ourselves without the
pressure of deadlines. Unfortunately, our lives are too hectic
for that to happen in the foreseeable future. We can throw up
our hands in frustration and join the legions of the overweight
and the unfit, or we can work out a personal plan that fits
within our lifestyle, taking us where we want to go, albeit not
quite as quickly or completely as we would prefer.
Your life, your time, the demands and responsibilities you face,
vary on an individual basis. You will need to calculate what
works for you, and what cannot be realistically accommodated.
Here are some ideas to consider:
1. Diet
Eating on the run, at your desk, or on the rubber chicken
circuit, wreaks havoc with even the best-laid diet plans. If you
weigh even a pound more than you'd like, try to identify where
you are going astray.
If fast food on your way to an appointment is your downfall,
look at what you order. Almost all drive-thrus these days offer
salads. The problems with those salads can be minimized by
throwing away the little bag of croutons (fried) and omitting
the packaged dressings (loaded with fat). Carry your own
individual container of low calorie dressing, opt for
(unsweetened) ice tea, black coffee, or a diet soda, and avoid
those sugar-laden colas like the plagues they are.
If you lunch at your desk, ask yourself what are you eating? If
it's takeout, by all means have a cheeseburger or a sandwich.
Just discard the bread or bun and eat with a plastic knife and
fork, cut into raisin-sized pieces that will fill you up fast.
French fries and onion rings? You just don't want to go there.
Is your office always filled with snacks and treats (as most of
them seem to be these days)? When the snacks come by, go to the
bathroom or, better yet, take a brisk walk around the building
to beef up your "won't" power and clear the vision of goodies
from your head.
If business lunches, dinners, or those awful meeting banquets
are your obstacles, plan ahead. Lunch is relatively easy: salad
(with your own dressing, of course) or fish and cottage cheese
are available almost anywhere. For dinner, try two low calorie
appetizers instead of an entrée. Best of all is something that
you have to work at - crab legs, unpeeled shrimp, an artichoke
(hold the hollandaise) - it will take a lot of time and no one
will notice how little you are actually eating.
Banquets are particularly difficult because a plate is plunked
in front of you, filled with food you would never order by
choice. Cut whatever protein and vegetables there are into
little pieces and chew slowly. Spread the rest out over your
plate and play with it to delay the onset of a syrupy dessert.
Get a cup of black coffee and place it squarely in front of you
to thwart that eager-beaver waiter who keeps trying to slide a
plate of pie onto your table.
Entertaining in the home creates a different set of problems
because usually you know the hostess and want to avoid creating
any bad feelings. Fall back on allergies as no one wants to see
you break out in hives in the middle of their party. Carry a
club soda or mineral water with you and no one will notice that
you're not drinking.
Over a period of time, these little changes can have a
significant impact on your weight. If you're hungry when you get
home, make sure that you have some liquid protein or a health
shake available to complete your daily nutritional needs.
2. Exercise.
With the best of intentions, millions of us purchase gym
memberships. If we all actually used them on a regular basis, as
we promise ourselves we will, there would be waiting lines
spilling into the streets. Health clubs can keep signing up more
and more members because they know that the number of regulars
will stay about the same as the new enrollees will show up in a
burst of initial enthusiasm but within a few short weeks will
gradually fade away.
Unless you have a job with very regular hours, something few of
us
enjoy these days, it's difficult to commit to going somewhere
on a regular basis. We mean to go but then an important meeting
comes up, our significant other asks us to do something, or the
kids pester us to drive them somewhere.
Our high demand lives almost force us to obtain our exercise at
home. Television is replete with home equipment that promises to
flatten our abs, define our pects, and re-sculpt our entire
bodies. Despite their assurances that the equipment easily folds
away, we know our apartments can never accommodate a Bowflex or
a Nordic Track. Where do those buyers live? In the suburbs, we
suspect, where the expensive equipment is soon relegated to the
basement or the garage to gather dust until some future yard
sale comes along. Equipment, except for minimal contraptions
such as elastic bands and hand weights, are just too much
trouble, and setting them up takes too much time.
Slipping exercise into your schedule is most easily handled (and
therefore more likely to be regularly repeated) by pursuing
activities that can be initiated without any preparation time,
special clothes, or long periods free of interruption. The old
standbys of pushups, situps, stretches with weights, yoga, and
calisthenics have stood the test of time for a reason. They can
be inserted into your crowded schedule at odd moments of the day
and require no preparation except a short warm-up. Some of the
newer programs: callanetics, pilates (some), killer exercises,
and video workouts also fit these requirements.
When you unexpectedly find a secret half hour free, take a walk
and, if you can, magnify its benefits with an occasional bout of
sprinting.
Such a plan may not make you into a Mr. or Ms. Universe but it
will keep you limber and semi-fit while avoiding that
energy-devouring guilt you develop when you set your sights too
high and then fail to follow through.
3. Taking care of yourself.
We have all read the accounts of Cleopatra bathing in asses'
milk to bleach and smooth her skin. But she was a Queen, for
heaven's sake! She didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn to
fight the traffic into the office. She didn't have to take care
of a husband, a house, or a child. You'd have the time to
leisurely bathe if it weren't for cleaning the house, washing
the clothes, finishing that report for the office, helping the
kids with their homework, cooking dinner, and picking up Aunt
Mildred at the airport.
We know we need to take care of ourselves. We want to perform
the routines that will stave off the signs of age that wait just
around the corner. We would love to take a long daily bath or
shower, polish our skin to perfection with a loofah and
scrubbing powders, envelop ourselves in skin softeners and
lotions, and pamper our face and hair with special cleansers,
masques, and skin brighteners.
Again, our lives get in the way. We work out a minimal routine
of makeup remover, toner, and moisturizer. We shampoo our hair
when we can and occasionally find the time for a special oil
treatment or facial. It is hard to be fully motivated when the
signs of age are brief and fleeting. When I have more time, we
tell ourselves, I'll work on it. Twenty years later, the
wrinkles have set in, the jowls have puffed out, and our skin
carries the scars of sun, wind, and gravity. Then we bemoan our
lack of care through the years and try to minimize the ravages
of time already indelibly imprinted on our looks.
By all means, stick to your rapid daily routine. Sure, you could
get up earlier in the morning and have time for more self-care
but you're already, like most working-age Americans,
sleep-deprived.
One solution is to identify one period a week when you can steal
a couple of hours for yourself. Women, especially, shortchange
themselves, too busy taking care of everyone else and ignoring
themselves. Stake out your claim to that two hour window as if
your life depended on it. Use it only for you. Use it to take
deep treatments for your face or your hair. Use it to practice
relaxation, listen to music, or walk in the rain. Use it to
pamper every part of your body and spirit. Use it to think about
yourself, and your goals, and your dreams. Use it to appreciate
yourself and the good things life has brought you. Use it to lay
plans for future self-development and use it to become your own
best friend and confidant.
Our lives are so filled up with what we have to do that our
wants and internal needs are often unmet. In even the busiest
and most demanding schedule, there are moments we can carve out
for ourselves, but only if we absolutely insist on it. Right now
is the time to become assertive about your own self. You too
deserve a brief moment in the sun.
About the author:
Virginia Bola is a licensed psychologist and admitted diet
fanatic specializing in the effects of attitudes and motivation
on individual goals. She recently published a
psychologically-based workbook, "Diet with an Attitude" which
develops mental skills for permanent weight control. Reach her
at http://www.DietWithAnAttitude.com/index2.html
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| Hair Loss and Its Causes -- familydoctor.org |
| Information about hair loss from the American Academy of Family Physicians. |
| familydoctor.org |
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| Welcome to Hairloss.com |
| Provides men and women with information about thinning hair, baldness, and hair replacement. |
| www.hairloss.com |
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| Consumer Hair Loss Information & Support. What really works? |
| Find out how you can stop your hair loss today. The latest research, hair transplant info, b&a photos, forums, newsletter, info on Propecia and Rogaine and ... |
| www.hairlosstalk.com |
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| MedlinePlus: Hair Diseases and Hair Loss |
| National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases The primary NIH organization for research on Hair Diseases and Hair Loss is the ... |
| www.nlm.nih.gov |
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| MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: Hair loss |
| This is generally the least expensive and safest approach to hair loss. Hair pieces should not be sutured to the scalp because of the risk of scars and ... |
| www.nlm.nih.gov |
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| Hair Loss |
| Hair loss treatment information including products such as Propecia, Avodart, Nizoral, Rogaine, nonsurgical hair replacement and hair transplants for ... |
| www.regrowth.com |
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| Hair Loss |
| Article about how it grows, causes of hair loss, kinds of treatment, and tips to keep it healthy. |
| www.kidshealth.org |
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| ahlc.org | The American Hair Loss Council | Welcome |
| The American Hair Loss Council is the nation's only, unbiased, not-for-profit agency, dedicated to sorting through this information, discovering what works ... |
| www.ahlc.org |
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| Male hair loss |
| Male hair loss is the most common type of hair loss. It is caused by increased sensitivity to male sex hormones (androgens) in certain parts of the scalp, ... |
| www.netdoctor.co.uk |
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| AAD - Hair Loss |
| However, if you are concerned about excessive hair loss or dramatic ... The constant pull causes some hair loss, especially along the sides of the scalp. ... |
| www.aad.org |
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| Hair loss - MayoClinic.com |
| Hair loss may result from heredity, medications or underlying medical conditions. |
| www.mayoclinic.com |
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| Hair loss help - Hair Transplant Doctors - Hair loss product ... |
| Hair transplant doctor & hair loss treatments - hair loss forum and information on Rogaine, Propecia, Dutasteride. |
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| American Hair Loss Association - Home Page |
| Provides consumer hair loss information. Devoted to finding a cure for hair loss and increasing worldwide awareness and understanding of this disease. |
| www.americanhairloss.org |
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| Hair Loss Treatment & Product Reviews - Folica.com |
| Clinically proven to regrow hair better than any other topical treatment, Spectral DNC is the world’s most effective topical hair loss treatment. ... |
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| Hair Loss Treatments Ireland |
| Advice on how to combat thinning hair, baldness plus hair replacement. Also suppliers of the hairmax LaserComb. |
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| Hair Loss and other health information |
| /Find Hair Loss health articles and videos and other Hair Loss health topics. |
| sciencedaily.healthology.com |
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| Find hair-loss information and treatment options. |
| Male pattern hair loss can be treated. Read about this FDA-approved hair-loss drug. |
| www.propecia.com |
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| Hair loss and Hairloss advice on all hair loss treatments ... |
| Information on hair loss and thinning hair as well as treatment details including propecia and minoxidil. |
| www.stophairlossnow.co.uk |
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| Regaine® - Hair Loss Treatment for Men and Women |
| Hair loss affects 40% of men under 35. Regaine for Men is the only ... Regaine for Women is proven to help prevent further hair loss for 4 out of 5 women, ... |
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| Hair loss, balding, hair shedding. DermNet NZ |
| Authoritative facts about the skin from the New Zealand Dermatological Society. |
| dermnetnz.org |
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