Massage & Massage Therapy: The Ultimate Health Kick.

Stop me if this sounds familiar, I'll quickly skim through
because I want you to stay with me on this:

Get up, get the kids up, get the kids washed and dressed,
organise breakfast, sort out lunches, encourage the use of
hats, coats and shoes, herd them into the car, drop them
off at school and then take yourself off to work.
(Hopefully you'll find time in there somewhere to get
yourself washed and dressed and grab some breakfast of your
own) Collect the kids, help with homework, fix dinner,
adopt the role of entertainer or taxi driver, put them to
bed, collapse in armchair, go to bed yourself, get some
sleep. Get up, start all over again.

The tragedy of the routine described above is that it's
less of a cliche than you might think.

Somewhere in that routine is a frighteningly accurate
description of me... and it wasn't that long ago.

The lifestyle I once had, allowed absolutely no time for
me, or me time to be specific. Sure, my better half chipped
in, but if I entertained any notion of putting myself
first, it was very quickly replaced by the next immediate
task in a very full and hectic schedule that revolved
around everyone but me. I just couldn't contemplate
anything different.

What set me straight was a gift from a friend. The gift was
a facial massage and a manicure. My friend knew perfectly
well that there was no way I would organise this for
myself, it was just too much of an indulgence as I
understood it then. And besides, even if the notion ever
entered my head, when was I going to find the opportunity
to step out of my routine and do something purely for me?

Well thankfully my friend made my gift specific to me and
made sure that it could only be enjoyed by me, and I've
never been so grateful. In accepting that gift, I had no
idea of the lasting effects it would have. If nobody had
made me aware, I would never have been exposed to the
benefits that massage and massage therapy can and do bring.

In terms of the range of benefits that massage therapy
brings, they can be as basic as feeling a whole lot better
(special) for a short period of time to transforming your
life for the better, for as long as you want. Without
sounding too dramatic, massage therapy can be life
changing. Just because massage and massage therapy sounds
like a luxury and an indulgence, doesn't mean it is, in
fact the opposite is true.

Massage and massage therapy is an essential element in your
health and wellness plan. It can have a fundamental impact
on the quality of your life, and in no way should it be
considered a luxury, and it is certainly not the preserve
of the wealthy.

Having the awareness that you need to regularly schedule
time for your health and wellness alongside your everyday
routines may be an awkward concept, but please consider
this as a proposal that you must develop. There is no maybe
here, it is a must.

Maybe you're the person I described above, and you just
can't see the wood for the trees because you just aren't
aware that there's a different way. Who knows, maybe one of
your friends will give you the same wonderful gift that I
received and you could be on your way to a whole new you.
Who knows.

The truth is, if you're reading this right now, you don't
need any further prompt. My message is crystal clear:
Schedule some time for your own health and wellbeing as a
matter of utmost urgency.

Start small, start big, but just start, the possibilities
are endless.

To your continued, outstanding health.

----------------------------------------------------
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Why Contact Lenses are the best choice of eyewear

There was a time I'm sure when having some form of visual
impairment was generally considered a bit of a downer, an
unfortunate affliction that one might associate with social
awkwardness. Think of all those geeky stereotypes littered
across television from the 50's onwards, the fragile,
physically inept dork with, inevitably, a pair of
thick-rimmed prescription specs perched crookedly on his
(or very occasionally her) nose. The knowing archetype
would, I reckon, be Milhouse in the Simpsons.

Whilst this hackneyed character continues to crop up
occasionally, the stigma attached to those requiring some
form of visual correction seems an ever more distant
memory. For one, the bespectacled dork cliché was long ago
embraced by the fashion world, lent an air of dandyish
credibility by those seeking a new outré fashion accessory.
Wonder down any High street now and it'll be clear that
this reinvention has stretched way beyond geek-chic circles
– it seems the Milhouse archetype has become something of
an icon for noughties mainstream style.

Beyond this however, the biggest revolution in corrective
eyewear has surely been the seemingly unstoppable
popularisation of the contact lens. Where once they were
cumbersome, uncomfortable and potentially damaging slabs of
rigid plastic, continuous technological advances have made
them a convenient, almost imperceptible alternative to
specs. These days the burgeoning contact lens market (125
million people now use them) is offered a dizzying array of
options to suit the individuals particular needs. Those who
might once have been put off by the likelihood of
discomfort or expense are undoubtedly now being swayed by
new developments such as disposable lenses that don't need
cleaning, lenses made using silicone hydrogel that can be
worn safely all the time and increasingly effective
multi-focal lenses. Thanks to Toric lenses the option is
also now available to sufferers of astigmatism or myopia
who were previously denied the opportunity.

One of the most significant developments related to the
continual advancement of contact lens technology has been
the improved accessibility to sports and other active
pursuits for people with less than perfect eyesight. As a
wearer of glasses who enjoys the odd game of football I've
always faced the dilemma - keep the specs on and duck out
of every header or take them off and end up getting flack
for continually passing to the opposition. In many cases
contact lenses have been enthusiastically embraced by
sportspeople, not only because they offer an alternative to
impractical glasses but because they will often improve
depth perception and peripheral vision - obviously
important factors in most sports.

Wearing contact lenses might once have represented a
slightly inconvenient admission of vanity but their appeal
now extends well beyond wanting to look good or even a
reluctance to wear glasses. Contacts increasingly make
sense as a lifestyle choice - a convenient and no longer
particularly expensive solution to imperfect vision that
you barely notice you're wearing. In many ways the world of
corrective eye wear has witnessed something of a reversal -
where once glasses were the practical but not very style
conscious option it seems increasingly that the only reason
one might choose them over contacts is as a fashion choice.

----------------------------------------------------
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Does Made in China, now mean what Made in Japan use to mean?

Until recently Zheng Xiaou was head of the State Food and
Drugs Administration for China. He was arrested in May, and
charged with being responsible for the sale of six
different medicines manufactured in China. These same six
medicines were fakes. The sales took place during Zheng's
six years as the head of the department.

One of the medicines was a gall bladder medication. It
contained inappropriate ingredients. It was consequently
established that several people (five) died as a result of
using the pills. Unlike many other countries, a figure like
Zheng Xiaou would be arrested, given a trial that would
take five years, and then perhaps spend some time in
prison. In China he was executed a couple of weeks ago,
less than 2 months after his arrest. Zheng was convicted of
taking over $800,000 in brides from eight different
pharmaceutical companies.

What's Happening Here?

China is finding itself in the same position that Japan was
in the 1970's. Back then, Japan was industrializing, and
having massive quality control problems. This went on for
years. There was a time that "Made in Japan" meant a
product that was inexpensive (cheap) with terrible quality.
Over a period of 20 years, the Japanese mastered quality
control, thanks to the works of Dr. W. Edwards Deming, the
man who understood quality processes better than any other
American. The Americans didn't listen to him, but the
Japanese treated him like a God. The rest they say is
history.

Now China finds itself in the same position as Japan in the
1970's but there are differences. Rapid industrialization
in China without the proper Deming type systems in place is
leading to quality control problems that are now making
headlines on a weekly basis. From pet foods to tainted
poisonous toothpaste, China has problems across the board.
Tires have been manufactured lacking normal safety
features. Other problems have included milk powder being
faked. Several babies died as a result of its consumption.
They even used a cancer-causing dye for the coloring of egg
yolks.

Coupled with these product safety issues is an inflexible
political system still based on communist ideology? This
cannot continue indefinitely. No economic system in history
can go through rapid economic growth and at the same time
maintain an inflexible political system, not based on the
rule of law. It has never happened before, and it is not
going to work now.

What's News HERE is not News in China!!!

The problems taking place in China are not news to those
living in China. These issues have been going on for quite
a while, and run much deeper than the executions of a few
top officials. Take China's coalmines as an example.
Thousands of Chinese workers die every year in China's
mines because of poor safety conditions. There is not a
single coalmine in America that would tolerate China's
safety standards. There is an absence of ethical standards,
promulgated by an insatiable desire to chase dollars, with
no consideration for the lives of workers. For more on this
topic, please visit our website.

----------------------------------------------------
Richard Stoyeck's background includes being a limited
partner at Bear Stearns, Senior VP at Lehman Brothers, Kuhn
Loeb, Arthur Andersen, and KPMG. Educated at NYU, and
Harvard University, today he runs Rockefeller Capital
Partners and
StocksAtBottom.comhttp://www.stocksatbottom.com/made_in_chin
a.htm

Soak Up The Skinny In Your Fat Loss Diet

Everyone knows, diet is crucial to losing weight. What
everyone doesn't know is that diet includes what you drink.
This, of course, can be taken to mean avoid sugary sodas,
but there's something more, and most people miss it...

Just drink more water. Most people, period, don't drink
nearly enough water. Drinking 8 eight-ounce glasses of
water a day, or around two quarts, can be the missing key
to success in your fat loss diet. Here's why:

1.) Water Quenches Appetite

Can't stay away from the fridge? Our runaway appetites are
often the biggest obstacles to a sustained fat loss diet.
After all, if we're going to cut the pounds, we've got to
cut some calories. But did you know that when the brain
tells us we're hungry, it may be instead signaling thirst?
Physiologically, our brains do not truly differentiate
between hunger and thirst. So if we find ourselves picking
up a snack right after a meal, fill up a glass of water
instead. Just wait a few minutes and see what it does to
your appetite... More often than not, you'll walk away
without eating a bite.

2.) Boil Away the Fat

Our kidneys are designed to process all the water we
consume. However, if we don't drink enough, they can't
handle the small amounts - there's a sort of minimum
requirement. The job is then delegated to the liver that,
while able to deal with small amounts of water, also hosts
a number of other duties - like converting fat into energy.
Yet, if it's too occupied with processing water, that fat
doesn't turn into energy. It turns into body fat. The
kidneys can take one for the liver here, and you can help
by just drinking enough water. Try giving your fat loss
diet another leg up.

3.) Evaporate the Water Pudge

You gain weight if you don't drink enough water. Sound
contradictory? This is how it works. Our body adapts to our
daily water intake, and in ideal circumstances, does not
retain water. This happens only if we provide it with
enough hydration. If we don't drink enough, water gets
stored in something very much like fat.

This is a safety mechanism, guarding against the impending
"drought". But if we're at home or at work, there's no
reason to enter into survival mode. Once we begin hydrating
our bodies again, this water fat disappears, as our bodies
no longer deem it necessary to survive. Several pounds can
be lost by this alone. Not bad.

There is a legitimate concern here - if I drink so much
water, won't I constantly be in transit to and from the
bathroom? Well, at first, there will be more trips to the
bathroom, but only at first. When you reach ideal hydration
levels, your body dumps all the water fat it has been
retaining - and when you go the bathroom, you're
effectually losing weight. But once the water fat is gone,
the bathroom visits return to normal. With all the benefits
to be had, it's worth a few days of getting up and down a
little more.

Adding water to your weight loss diet can be key in
dropping pounds. After all, if it's free, easy, and
convenient, why not soak up the skinny?

----------------------------------------------------
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The Success Of Viagra

Viagra became a smashing success almost immediately upon
its release. The success of Viagra was quickly evident in
the level of popular interest it generated, and then in the
big profits it brought in. The initial profit margin for
Viagra was millions of dollars. Move forward a few years,
and Viagra is now a billion dollar profit seller.

Viagra's success is rather a surprise, because Viagra is
only available to one part of the population -- men -- and
is a treatment for what was thought to be a fairly limited
condition: erectile dysfunction. Compare this profile to a
drug for depression, for example: a depression drug is
available to an entire population and treats a condition
that's fairly common. How does Viagra's limited profile
generate so much profit?

Viagra's profit success may be attributed to one of two
things. The first explanation is that erectile dysfunction
affects a considerable percentage of the male population.
Erectile dysfunction was often linked to men who were older
and/or sickly, what would have to be just a small section
of the male population. But Viagra's broad sales numbers
imply that more than just older, sickly men have erectile
dysfunction. Perhaps erectile dysfunction is epidemic?

The other possible explanation for Viagra's sales success
is that men who don't have erectile dysfunction are using
Viagra. Why? Viagra has developed a reputation for being a
male aphrodisiac, and a section of men could be using
Viagra for male enhancement. While Viagra is a prescription
drug (at least in the US), could a man who goes to his
doctor with a claim of erectile dysfunction be disproved in
some way? Possibly. Possibly not.

The open secret about Viagra, and some other drugs, is that
it's available without having to go to one's personal
physician for a prescription. Online sources, often
referring to themselves as pharmacies, will either arrange
for an online prescription to be obtained, or will sell
Viagra without a prescription outright. There is a
crackdown in place against these online drug dispensers,
however, so this option for obtaining Viagra may not be the
convenience it once was.

As would be expected, Viagra's enormous success has
produced competitors. There are now two other prescription
drug alternatives to Viagra: Cialis and Levitra. Both of
these drugs -- and Viagra -- have massive marketing
campaigns that include prime time television commercials.
(The fact that treatments for erectile dysfunction are now
advertised on prime time television in the United States is
a story in itself.)

Viagra's success has also produced competition from
nonprescription products, products different from Viagra in
they are designed specifically for intimacy enhancement and
not erectile dysfunction. These latest competitors to
Viagra are becoming increasingly popular and a new niche --
nonprescription enhancers -- is developing as a result.

----------------------------------------------------
Zinn Jeremiah is an online author. Read more of Zinn's work
at http://www.hubonline.biz/website-content.htm . Find
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Easy Heart-Rate Trick Gets You Fit - and Skinny Too!

Every evening in the gym, the ladies (and a few guys) can
be found working purposefully on bikes, treadmills and
elliptical trainers. The whir of machinery fills the air
and determination is fired by visions of losing weight and
getting in really good shape.

Some casually browse the pages of old magazines, read the
latest thriller or chat with friends as they dutifully put
in their "forty five minutes" of "slow and steady". They
are well-intentioned but clueless. I question the results
of their efforts but decide it is unwise to offer
unsolicited advice.

One lady, however, is focused and pays attention to what
she is doing. She periodically refers to the treadmill's
glowing red display and adjusts her pace accordingly. Good
for her! She is monitoring her heart rate.

What she knows, that the others don't know, is that your
Heart Rate is a dead accurate indicator of just how hard
your body is working. This is the best way to make sure
that you are exercising vigorously enough to improve your
fitness level but not so hard as to overexert yourself.

This is also a great way to lose weight and get really fit
in the shortest amount of time. What you have to do is
exercise at the correct intensity within an optimal range.
This is your Target Heart Rate (THR) which is expressed as
a percentage of your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR).

You can calculate your personal Target Heart Rate, but this
gets a bit tricky. You have to know your Resting Heart
Rate (RHR) and plug it into a couple of formulas: (MHR –
RHR X (50% - 80%) + RHR = THR) where (Age – 220 = MHR).

You also have to know how long to exercise, at which point
in the optimal range (50% to 80%) and you have to monitor
your heart rate while you are working out. There are
charts that estimate your THR for you but their accuracy
can vary, up or down, by as much as ten percent.

Confused? Don't be. Dump the math and take a low-tech
approach. You already have a simple, built-in heart rate
monitor that is perfectly calibrated to your body.

And, you already know how to use it because it's as simple
as watching your breathing. Your respiration rate is how
you monitor the intensity level of your exercise and it
relates very closely to your actual Heart Rate. You can
use this method with any piece of gym equipment and while
walking or jogging outdoors.

WHAT YOU NEED TO REMEMBER is that, as your workout
progresses, you may exercise at any one of three levels or
zones. I will describe each zone and relate Heart Rate to
how hard you will be breathing.

ZONE 1. (50% - 65% OF MHR) Breathing is normal at this
level and you can easily carry on a conversation with a
workout partner. This is your warm-up and cool-down zone
which will do little to get you fit unless you are very
overweight, very out of shape or have been ill.

ZONE 2. (65% – 80% OF MHR) Your breathing becomes somewhat
to very noticeable. This is your training zone where you
will do most of your work, develop cardiovascular fitness
and burn calories. At the lower end of the range (65%), you
will be able to speak to a partner easily but your speech
is somewhat broken as you deliver phrases between breaths.
At the top end (80%) you will be breathing very hard.
Though conversation is possible, breathing may be your
priority.

ZONE 3. (ABOVE 80% OF MHR) Entering zone three, you begin
panting and gasping for breath. This level can be
hazardous for many of us and is best reserved for
competitive athletes.

TO GET FIT IN THE SHORTEST AMOUNT OF TIME, DO THIS:

1. Tell your doctor that you are going to begin exercising
at a level where you will be breathing vigorously. Ask if,
based on your physical condition, you should limit your
effort and if so, to what level.

2. Warm up at a conversational pace and then increase your
speed or intensity level to 70% - 75% of MHR (breathing
strongly) so that after about five minutes you feel fatigue
setting in. Back off and catch your breath at 65% of MHR
or below.

3. Now really pick up the pace (fit walkers find a hill)
and push to 75% to 80% of MHR (breathing vigorously). Hold
it there, from one to three minutes, until your body is
asking for a break and then slow down to 60% of MHR, or
below, until you recover.

Repeat, gradually increasing the number, duration and
intensity of intervals as you are able. If you challenge
yourself to work hard your workout should, at most, take no
longer than thirty minutes.

Cool down and have a refreshing drink of water. These
interval workouts, using your breath to gauge intensity
will work very effectively to burn calories and get you in
shape.

And always remember "Be Strong…. Be Lean"

----------------------------------------------------
Howard McGarity is a "Human Performance Specialist",
Personal Trainer and Fitness Coach who has studied
nutrition and exercise science for most of his fifty-six
years. He creates online programs for MyVirtualGym.com to
help busy people get permanently lean, strong and healthy.
Get the Free e-book, "The Five Fastest Ways to Fitness" at
=> http://www.MyVirtualGym.com/