PLUS SIZE LADIES - ADVICE TO FEELING FANTASTIC

Did you know that today's woman is about 5' 4" and a size
14?

If you are a plus size woman, you can feel left out in the
cold after seeing all those skinny girls on the TV, bill
boards etc.

Starting loving your curves is easy look at these
suggestions/tips:-

1. Take some time for you and pamper yourself – they say
retail therapy works a treat and it sure does!! Get a few
of your girl friends, have shopping spree, lunch and a
treatment – go on a new hair cut or a manicure makes you
feel brilliant.

2. Get active and do some exercise which is fun and
enjoyable – I'm sure the dog will love you been taken out
for a long walk (just wrap up warm in the cold weather),
visit your local gym to see what classes are available and
make new friends at the same time! You'll soon see you
energy levels and vitality grow.

3. One of the best ways to increase your own self
confidence is sexy underwear. Indulge yourself in a new,
sexy full figure bra and matching briefs. Indulge yourself
in a new, sexy bra and matching panties. Since self image
is all about loving yourself, how better to love yourself
than to treat yourself to gorgeous lingerie?

4. Show off your best features – whether it's your
shoulders, bottoms, cleavage, curves or legs – look at the
stare to see how they do it – seemingly effortlessness!!
Take Beyonce, Cameron Diaz or Penelope Cruz – they all know
which lingerie works for them and how to work it.

5. Let go of dieting and surround yourself with friends who
are interested in whom you are rather than what dress size
you are. Embrace your curves and love you voluptuousness –
let the world open up for you.

6. The Flora London Marathon has given many of us some
incentive to get active – not only to improve our fitness
levels and well-being but to give us that 'good feeling'.
Doing 30 minutes a day brisk walking is fantastic exercise
and this is the best time of year to start – what beats
going for an early morning or evening walk in the spring
time?

7. Why not treat yourself to a special pamper day with
friends? Check out your local spas and retreats for any
special offers that they may be running – what could be
better than relaxing by the pool side, steaming in the
sauna, receiving a full body massage followed by a mouth
watering meal with your close friends – you're worth it!

8. It's time to start shaping up for your summer break –
not only will you feel better but you'll look FANTASTIC –
try exercise that it enjoyable and fun such as family game
of cricket, bike riding with friends or taking part in a
Charity Fun Run/Walk.

9. Part of improving your self image and embracing your
body is being proud and showing yourself off. Learn which
styles flatter your best features - remember, finding the
right clothes is never about the size, it's about
measurements and cut.

10. Ensure you are wearing the right size bra, so that you
get excellent support and an impressive flattering shape.

11. Stick to smooth bras for wearing under fitted or sheer
tops as these are best for not showing through these
coloured tops.

12. Wear streamline or fitted shapes - more flattering than
baggy clothes. Choose tops with seams or darts under the
bust - these will define your waist and make you look
slimmer.

13. Stretch fabrics like knits and cotton Lycra are great
if you want to emphasise your shape, but remember to wear a
plain or smooth bra underneath tighter tops.

14. It is important to choose round, scooped and
V-necklines as they tend to be more flattering for bigger
boobs than high necklines.

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Julie-Anne Smith is owner of Amplusfigura.com – online
lingerie shop which sells plus size lingerie. Log on to
see range of lingerie and seam-free bras that are currently
available – http://www.amplusfigura.com

Massage Therapy for Children with Autism

Usually diagnosed by the age of three years, Autism is a
complex developmental condition, which affects a child's
ability to develop normal language, form relationships with
others and respond appropriately to the environment.
Autism is also characterized by early onset of a lack of
attachment, the failure to cuddle as an infant, and an
almost complete disassociation with the environment.
Autism, as we now know it, is incurable and the behaviors
associated with the disorder persist throughout the child's
lifetime.

The lack of communication between parent and child is one
of the most heart wrenching effects of this condition. An
autistic child typically does not express any words of
love, share hugs or show any facial expression in response
to pleasure.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, as
many as half of all autistic individuals remain mute
throughout their life. For those who do develop verbal
language, some use it in odd ways, repeating what they
hear, using single words or failing to structure complete
sentences. The autistic child lacks the ability to make
requests for his needs or to respond appropriately to his
environment.

It has been long believed that an autistic child is
incapable of forming attachment. However, research has
concluded that these children do attach to their parents,
but still remain incapable of acting on this attachment or
responding appropriately.

Many autistic children have sensory malfunction and
dysfunction of the tactile system making them averse to
certain sights, sounds, smells or touch. Given that
autistic children have been reported to be opposed to
physical contact, it is interesting that many massage
therapists, and parents, are finding great success in the
use of massage therapy with autistic children.

Research has found that these children show less autistic
behavior, are more social and attentive after receiving
massage therapy. This safe, nurturing touch and regular
sensory integration is beneficial in reducing
inattentiveness, touch aversion and withdrawal.

Not so commonly known, many autistic children have
significantly lower levels of Oxytocin. Oxytocin is a
hormone which is associated with emotional connections and
feelings of love. It can cause feelings of warmth and
relaxation and a decrease in stress. Numerous research
studies have proven that Oxytocin is released in our bodies
during, and after, receiving nurturing touch. A 2007 study
reported that oxytocin helped autistic individuals retain
the ability to evaluate the emotional significance of
speech and also showed a decrease in autism spectrum
repetitive behaviors.

Many children with autism have problems establishing a
regular sleep pattern and in remaining asleep through the
night. The relaxing benefits of massage and touch therapy
contribute to more restful sleep, including less sleep
disruption and longer sleep duration.

Through the use of massage therapy our basic human need for
safe, nurturing contact is met with often wonderful
results. For children with autism, it provides not only a
positive experience of being touched, but the effects hold
lifelong benefits.

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Looking for expert advice, tips and tools to help improve
your child's health? Find answers to all your questions
about infant massage instruction training, massage for
children and pediatric massage therapy at
http://www.liddlekidz.com . Infant Massage Instructor
Trainer, Tina Allen, founder of leading children's health
and nurturing touch organization Liddle Kidz™, shares over
ten years of expertise working with children and families.

Steroids: Distorting the worlds of Muscle and Fitness

Nothing has been more distortive to muscle building
information than the low profile prevalence of steroid use.
What else can explain the vast amount of lousy and even
useless training techniques for natural trainers that have
become the prevailing wisdom in the bodybuilding industry?
There's an ongoing discord between fantasy and reality in
what constitutes an effective natural muscle gaining
routine. That discord is most likely attributable to the
obvious yet often unaddressed contrast between the
physiology of a steroid user and that of a non-user.

This contrast is the only explanation for bodybuilding's
longtime miring in misinformation; a muddling that's often
resulted in almost humorously contradictory recommendations
and advice.

Here's a list of strange observations I've made over the
years that I think can be linked, either directly or
indirectly, to some of that misinformation:

• In 1988, I attended a bodybuilding seminar put on by one
of the top Mr. Olympia contenders of the time. When asked
by an audience member about a specific workout routine, the
pro bodybuilder answered that the workout schedule in
question would be worthless for putting on muscle mass.
Within a month, I saw that exact workout/recovery schedule
being recommended in a bodybuilding magazine by the
then-Mr. Olympia.

• In the '90s, that same Mr. Olympia had a morning workout
television program for mainstream fitness. During an
episode, I heard him talk to Geraldo Riviera about the
evils of "anabolics" (code-word for steroids). He was
apparently trying to dissuade youngsters from using them.
Yet he admitted within other mediums that he used them
regularly (of course he used them; he was a pro
bodybuilder).

• During the aforementioned seminar in 1988, that Mr.
Olympia contender told the audience that when he began
bodybuilding, he was able to put on "ten solid pounds of
muscle per year". He went on to reveal that in his advanced
stages in the sport, he was lucky to add "two pounds of
muscle a year". These words were from an elite
professional bodybuilder who admitted to regular steroid
use. Yet we're treated to claims of gaining "twenty pounds
of muscle in twelve weeks" from average Joe's on the
Internet. (no wonder I don't see pictures with these
claims).

• In the late eighties, there was a bodybuilding book that
claimed you could gain 30 pounds of muscle in six weeks
from doing "super squats" and drinking a lot of milk. That
book should have been titled 'How to become an over-trained
gasbag within a month and a half'.

• I've actually heard a top professional bodybuilder say he
didn't believe in over-training; only "under eating and
under sleeping". So, even though our bodies are designed to
burn and renew a finite amount of energy each day, just
stuffing them with more food than they can process and
sleeping until we're drooling on our pillows will
compensate for excessive muscle teardown? A very misleading
statement.

• In the early '90s, a bodybuilding guru was espousing an
extremely high calorie diet for gaining muscle. I think he
was the guy who started the "no such thing as over-training
– just under-eating and under-sleeping" nonsense. Anyway,
in order to make sure we could all take in our recommended
10,000 calories a day, he'd sell MCT oil to everyone. Just
dowse some on your meals and add a whopping 120 calories
per tablespoon so you can be in an "anabolic state". The
funny thing was that he recommended doing aerobic exercise
each day to burn excess calories. Now let's see, I think
I'll spend money on extra calories so I can try to burn
them off each day before I turn into Jabba the Hut. Yeah…
that makes a lot of sense. Yet there were write-ups about
this guy in magazines as if he were a genius.

• I read an old interview of Arnold Schwarzenegger in which
he estimated that anabolic steroids only gave bodybuilders
like him a five percent edge over what they'd accomplish
without them. Did he expect readers to believe that? Why
would anyone risk their health for such a meager boost? If
that were true, couldn't he find a way to make up that
little five percent in a less destructive manner?

• Back when the andro thing was big, a bodybuilder who
worked in a supplement store tried to talk me into buying
some. He said he gained five pounds of muscle in three
weeks from using it. I knew he wanted to get super big, so
I immediately wondered why he wasn't continuing to cycle it
so that he could gain umpteen pounds for the year. I told
him "I'm not impressed; I can gain or lose five pounds of
water weight in a single day". Within a few months, he did
a steroid cycle. I wondered what happened to his belief in
andro.

• A competitive, steroid-built bodybuilder who works out at
my gym sidelines as a personal fitness trainer. I witnessed
him simultaneously train two people on a leg workout that
had those unfortunate clients wobbling for the door as if
he'd turned their underpinnings into wet noodles. He'd
coaxed them to perform set after set of forced reps on a
leg press machine. They were shaking their heads in
disbelief as he wore an expression of self-indulged
smugness. I guess he forgot to tell them they'd need to
make secret trips to Mexico in order to recover from such a
"workout".

Some of these are kind of humorous, but not that last one.
I've seen too many people hand over their hard-earned money
for instruction in natural bodybuilding from those who
don't build their own bodies naturally. That's money being
paid oftentimes to merely feed the ego of someone that
probably knows less about your body than you do. In the
case I described above, he sure doesn't know enough about
bodybuilding to realize that the simplistic "harder you
train – the more you gain" mantra most often leads to
wasted time and disappointment.

My advice to natural bodybuilders: Seek unorthodox methods
for making muscle gains. The routines that keep getting
regurgitated in mainstream bodybuilding and fitness
magazines are usually not the most conducive to long-term
muscle gains.

I have lousy bodybuilding genetics, as anyone who's seen my
website or blog pictures will attest. But I finally started
making impressive natural gains when I went against
conventional wisdom and stopped adhering to the distortions
of muscle building created by steroid use. Lest you want to
be confused or disillusioned by the strangeness of
bodybuilding as illustrated above, I recommend you do the
same.

----------------------------------------------------
Scott Abbett is the author of HardBody Success: 28
Principles to Create Your Ultimate Body and Shape Your Mind
for Incredible Success. He is a certified fitness trainer
and a Master Practitioner and Trainer of NLP. To see his
personal transformation, visit http://
http://www.hardbodysuccess.com

Depression According To Zen

Depression is a disease of the mind. Zen, which is about
mental state, may offer a new perspective of the disease.

Millions of people are suffering from depression. It is one
of the most common mental disorders that may adversely
affect mental health. There are several current theories
about the causes of depression: hereditary predisposition,
chemical imbalances, or hormonal changes. A more widely
accepted theory of the cause of depression is – distorted
thinking. Depression is deep internal pain initiated by
disturbed thinking, which may or may not be due to chemical
imbalance of the mind. Zen offers an interesting
explanation of this disease of the mind.

Zen is NOT a religious belief. Despite having its origin
from Buddha, Zen is not the foundation of Buddhism. Zen is
an enlightened mental state focusing on the present moment.

First of all, according to Zen, there is no such a disease
as "depression." Zen does not label an individual as "sick"
or "mentally ill." According to Zen, sickness is just a
human condition, and any "labeling" only compounds the
problem of sickness.

Many individuals suffering from depression have a distorted
perception of self-worth. Instead of accepting who they
are, they want to be what they wish they would like to
become. Their hunger for the verisimilitude of realty often
fosters delusions and a host of other mental problems, such
as confusion and distress. Zen focuses on who you are,
rather than your "desire" to be somebody else. Zen purges
the mind of any low self esteem.

Longing for something you cannot have creates pain. In
life, pain occurs when expectations are not met. In Zen,
every moment remains with that moment. For this reason,
everything is changing, and impermanent. To desire or crave
permanence from something impermanent is a disease of the
mind. This is the real cause of depression.

Once the pain is created, an individual (or the
psychiatrist) begins to seek analysis and explanation of
the pain, hoping to find a solution to the problem.
According to Zen, life is never a problem to be solved.
Life never has a problem, and if there is a problem, that
is because you have created it for yourself. Once you have
created a problem, you need a solution to the problem. In
attempting to solve the problem, you begin to analyze the
problem and examine the options available to solve the
problem, thus generating stress, which only intensifies the
problem. Compounding problems triggers depression in an
individual.

It is human instinct to avoid pain. By avoiding pain, you
subconsciously create more problems requiring more
solutions. Unlike modern psychiatry, the way of Zen is not
to question, analyze, or dwell upon pain. If you do, you
are in fact creating the setting for suffering. According
to Zen, you must accept the good as well as the bad in
life; in other words, pain is natural. Just learn how to
receive it. Pain is not avoidable in life, but suffering
is. If you dwell upon pain, you perpetuate the suffering.

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Stephen Lau is a researcher, writing synopses of medical
research. His publications include "NO MIRACLE CURES - Only
Wholesome Self-Healing," a book on healing and wellness.
He has created several websites, including "Longevity For
You" and "Healthy Lifestyle Is The Way Of Zen" on health,
and "Golfing Success Info" on playing golf.
http://www.longevityforyou.com
http://www.zenhealthylifestyle.com
http://www.golfingsuccessinfo.com

Childhood Obesity: Emotional Effects and Sedentary Lifestyles

The social and psychological issues of childhood obesity
are perhaps even more intrusive on the child's life than
the physical. Childhood is a critical time for the
development of self-esteem, thus the psychological issues
faced by an overweight child places even more urgency on
the prevention of the problem.

Obesity is "one of the most stigmatizing and least socially
acceptable conditions in childhood." (Schwimmer, Jeffrey
B., MD ET AL,: Health-related quality of life of severely
obese children and adolescents," The Journal of American
Medicine, 2003, p. 1818). An historic study showed that
normal weight children rank obese children as the least
desirable friends. Obese individuals were described as
lazy, dirty, dumb and deceitful. These descriptions were
made by children as young as six years old (Must, Aviva,
Ph.D., "Effects of obesity on morbidity in children and
adolescents," Nutrition in Clinical Care, p. 9).

One study relates that the quality of life of an obese
child can be directly compared to the quality of life of a
child undergoing cancer treatment. They feel excluded from
a variety of activities and have lower levels of self worth
and self esteem. They are teased and withdraw from their
peers. The physical limitations and inability to keep up
with normal activities may lead to a vicious cycle of
additional weight gain. Studies have also shown that
obese children miss four times more school than healthy
weight children, which could lead to decreased school
performance (Schwimmer, p. 1814).

Depression and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) have
also been linked to childhood obesity (Mustillo, Sarah,
Ph.D., "Obesity and psychiatric disorder: developmental
trajectories," Pediatrics, 2003, p. 854). ODD is
manifested by a pattern of uncooperative and defiant
behavior toward authority that can interfere with
day-to-day functioning (www.aacap.org).

The effects of obesity effects have a lasting impact on an
individual's life in childhood, through adolescence and
into adulthood. Obese adolescents have lower education
attainment, earn less money and have higher rates of
poverty. Discrimination because of obesity has been
documented toward adolescents in apartment rentals,
employment opportunities and college admissions (Must, p.
9). Finding success as an adult is an enormous challenge,
but especially daunting when faced with the physical,
emotional and discriminatory effects brought on by obesity
www.healthlink.mcw.edu.

Americans in general are much too sedentary. Children
should have at least thirty minutes per day of exercise
outside of school time (Hu,Frank B., M.D., Ph.D.,
"Television watching and other sedentary behaviors in
relation to risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus in
women," The Journal of American Medicine, 2003, p. 1790).
Television, computers, and video games consume more and
more of outside playtime. Television watching is the
predominant sedentary behavior in children, second only to
sleeping (Kaur, Haroshena, M.D., MPH, "Duration of
television watching is associated with body mass index,"
The Journal of Pediatrics, 2003, p. 506).

Watching television is more strongly associated with
obesity than other sedentary behaviors. This is because
(1) watching television reduces energy expenditure by
limiting time that children spend doing physical
activities, (2) watching television leads to increased
energy intake because it tends to lead to snacking –
especially with the inundation of junk food enticements,
and (3) watching television has even less energy
expenditure associated with it than other sedentary
behaviors such as reading and writing. (Hu, p. 1790).

Increased time spent in front of the television can result
in a net gain of 350 calories per day (combined loss of
potential physical activity with snacking) that over a week
would result in a 0.7 pound gain in body weight per week.
(Epstein, Leonard H., Ph.D., "Effects of manipulating
sedentary behavior on physical activity and food intake,"
The Journal of Pediatrics, 2002, 140, p. 334). These
findings suggest that even in healthy, non-obese children,
sedentary behavior can drastically increase caloric
consumption while decreasing energy expenditure.

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Gurion Blattman is a lifelong athlete and fitness expert
with over 20 years experience in the health and fitness
industry. A graduate of Northeastern University, he is a
Certified Professional Trainer by the National Academy of
Sports Medicine. Based in Darien, Connecticut, he has
trained and coached men, women and children of all ages as
well as professional athletes. http://www.gurionblattman.com