Natural Ways to Boost Your Metabolism

I saw this article on yahoo and thought it a nice tidbit of information.

A fast metabolism is critical to burning fat and managing body weight. While some dieters use diet pills to speed up their metabolisms, the risks and side effects of these drugs make them risky. You can use some safe and natural methods to speed up your metabolism.

Gain Muscle
The American Council on Exercise recommends resistance training for weight management. Think of your muscles as your body's engine. The bigger your engine, the more energy you can burn. Muscle, unlike fat, is active tissue that raises your metabolism just by being there. Adding a resistance training program is a sure method of naturally raising your metabolism. To make the most out of your time in the gym, train three days per week, training your entire body during each session. Use basic, compound exercises such as the leg press and shoulder press.

Keep Hydrated
Inadequate water intake can slow your metabolism. Water is responsible for several metabolic processes, including digestion, waste management and temperature regulation. The Mayo Clinic recommends drinking 2 liters of water daily. You can fight hunger as well as raise your metabolism by drinking a glass before each meal. To provide an extra boost, make sure your water is ice cold. Your body burns extra calories heating it up to room temperature.

Cardiovascular Exercise
Cardiovascular exercises such as walking, jogging and cycling are all effective ways to burn calories and keep your metabolism stoked. If you are just starting out, use a low-impact, low-intensity exercise such as brisk walking or moderate cycling. With more experience, you can graduate to jogging or intense cycling like spinning.

Coffee
Whether you realize it or not, you might already be waking up to an effective natural metabolism booster. The caffeine naturally present in coffee raises metabolism and can improve fat oxidation. Drinking a cup before exercise can also improve alertness and help fight fatigue.

Sunburn Care Tips

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.
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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.
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.

Cleaning The Clutter Out Of Your Mind

When ever I get really upset, stressed, or just plain worked up I find that the simplest tasks help to get me through the moment. I will almost immediately reach for the vacuum and let my mind roll and drift amid my sea of thoughts.

The thing for me, with cleaning and pondering, is even if I do not come to an enlightening answer for the question or problem of the moment it is just nice to let the my mind bounce around while keeping my body active doing some mundane monkey task. I guess the same could be said for those that work out. It is a therapeutic form of pondering and expelling of energy that helps to keep ones mind de-cluttered and out of the sea of insanity, plus at least at the end of my pondering session the house is clean :-)

3D Bead Craft

I have to say that this craft skill holds a great amount of excitement and curiosity for me. My interest was first piqued when my mother in law went to an art and craft fair on the island that she lives on and purchase the most beautiful and interesting bracelet for my daughter. I had never seen anything like it before and have wanted to learn how to make it and similar items ever since I first laid eyes on the piece. After scouring the web I have managed to find a few informative articles that I would like to share the links to. There seem to be a few books on the topic of which I have not yet read any, as well as what looks to be a few really good ones in French.

http://3dbeading.com/

http://www.squidoo.com/3d-beading

http://www.beadjewelrymaking.com/beaded_animal.html

http://beadbanter.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=1160;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;guest=6579443

http://www.squidoo.com/how2beadit

http://pagesperso-orange.fr/mk.perles/

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=310847.0


One article specifically was especially interesting although I had to translate the pdf as it was also in French.

http://pagesperso-orange.fr/mk.perles/paon.pdf


While these creatures and projects are beautiful and I am sure fairly simple to make once you get the hang of it one thing has stood out to me the most in all of the articles and instructions on how to make them and that is just an overall lack of detailed specific instructions. Each set seems to have a lack of the most basic instruction of tieing the project off. Maybe you are supposed to already know or at least that is what they expect. I don't really know although I find it quite frustrating to say the least.

Starting Wire Jewelry Making Book

Creating Wire and Beaded Jewelry; By: Linda Jones
This is an excellent book for those just getting started in the wire jewelry craft. It includes a great list of starter supplies and overall tools, wonderful instructions and illustrations on use and basic techniques, as well as some fun and simple project ideas.

Bead Projects Books

Getting Started With Seed Beads; By: Dustin Wedekind
This is a good book that illustrates the different stitching patterns as well as some very fun, simple, and interesting projects to follow.
I have chosen to do, what appeared to me to be, one of the most simple projects outlined in this book.

Best Bead Books for Getting Started Beading

While my first love and study is of fine art painting I must be clear that I enjoy all arts, crafts, and similar hobbies. Growing up I enjoyed a vast spectrum of arts and crafts projects. As a young teenager I loved to make beaded jewelry even though I had no real knowledge of the techniques and materials used I loved the glitz of the beads and would muddle my way through what ever project I had come up with at the moment.
My sister recently sent me a beautiful beaded bracelet that has spawned my renewed interest in the art of beads and jewelry making
I have not made anything as of yet as I have been reading internet articles and books on the topic. I would like to take this opportunity to start an informative resource on the subject, of must read books and articles to get anyone started off on the right foot.

Getting Started Stringing Beads; By: Jean Campbell
This is my number one choice for anyone just getting started in the bead and jewelry making world. She gives an excellent description of all of the different tools and material and all of their uses. An absolute must have.

The Encyclopedia of Beading Techniques; By Sara Withers & Stephanie Burnham
This is another great book that gives good descriptions of the different tools and materials and their uses as well as a vast array of techniques accompanied by excellent photo documentation that you just cannot beat.

Missed Thoughts

It seems that when ever I am driving down the road I tend to have the most creative, and in my opinion, rather philosophical thoughts. I will then consciously note that it would be a lovely and worthwhile topic to blog about upon my return home; or where ever my computer happens to be at the moment. I go about my daily grind and when I do finally sit down it is only to find that what ever grand idea or thought that I had earlier has fled my mind. A creative moment passed, a thought fled, an opportunity missed.....blah blah blah left in its place.............what a disappoint.

Comcast Cable Rate Hike

Well..... close to the start of the new year the local cable company (Comcast) announced a rate increase of almost 30%. Yes, you read that correctly that was 30% my friends and the service has remained exactly the same. So, in the midst of company layoffs and this wonderful volatile economy, instead of at least keeping the rates and service the same for their customers, or offering a little more competitive rate to garner new customers someone at their round table came up with the brilliant idea of INCREASING their current rates for their spotty service 30%. Why improve your service and get creative to bring in new customers when you need additional sales when you can high jack your current customers and poof it is like you have brought in an additional 30% in sales. SHAME ON YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Comcast you now get 2 thumbs AND 2 toes down!

Throw Pillows & Wasted Time

I have recently spent some time at my mothers house and she, like many individuals, loves throw pillows. While I do like them myself ,and have on more than one occasion thought about purchasing some that have caught my fancy, I have managed to resist the urge to accumulate a menagerie of the beautiful brocade and beaded pillows that shout "Buy ME" from the store shelves.
Sadly, my mother has not been able to resist those small, soft, glitzy, and fluffy little slices representative of decadence and finer living. That being said, there are so many of those little things floating around my mothers house that I really could not help but think (as I watched her pick up yet another accent pillow for the umpteenth time today) what a complete waste of time and energy. Maybe one or two here and there but when you are bombarded by a barrage of pillows at every turn that seem in constant need of straightening or to be picked up I can't help but wonder just how much time out of ones life is being wasted on the little pieces of stuffed cloth. I ask myself is that much time out of my life worth wasting? and the answer is NO!

Restlessness

I do not know why but there are times when restlessness sets in and the feelings of escape are quite overwhelming. At times I feel like a bird that has had its wings clipped. I am destined to stay in my gilded little cage; never to spread my wings and fly free again.