Living Water

"When the well is dry, then we know the worth of water", unfortunately many of us take it for granted. The significance of water is so much deeper than drinking 8 to 10 glasses per day. Although vitally important; water quenches more than just our physical thirst...

Mind/Spirit Wade in the water.... Just as water is significant in baptism because it symbolizes the cleansing away of our sins and the renewing of our spirit, biblically water is a reminder that when our spirit is dehydrated we can go to God's well and refill our cup over and over again. (John 4:7-14& 7:38). Water represents the tranquility and serenity that is necessary to reflect, renew and seek peace of mind.

Body Inner - Water is necessary for nutrient and oxygen transport and for absorption and utilization of vitamins and minerals. Our bodies are made up of over 80% water. We lose up to 2 -3 quarts of water per day, more if you exercise. That water loss needs to be replaced. Without enough water, constipation, dehydration and a weakened immune system can occur. 8 - 10 glasses of water per day is the popular belief but did you know for every caffeine beverage you drink like coffee, tea or soda, you must drink an additional 8 ounces of water. You can determine how much water you need per day by dividing your weight by 2...the result is approximately the amount of water you should drink in ounces. Drinking the daily-recommended amounts of water will result in a healthier, stronger body as well as reduce your risks of bladder infections, increase metabolism, keep healthy bowels and reduces halitosis.

Outer - Water improves elasticity in your skin leaving it more supple. Water also helps the body rid itself of toxins, which results in a more radiant complexion and adds a healthy glow to skin. Keeping your body hydrated not only keeps your skin radiant but it reduces acne flair ups and chapped lips.

There's nothing like a nice warm bath to renew your mind and cleanse your body. Add these goodies to your bath for a more enjoyable experience. Origin's "Peace of Mind" Tension-releasing vapor bath is very soothing if you like the smell of peppermint and eucalyptus. Or Bath&Body Works' Aromatherapy Sleep Foam Bath is a soothing blend of Lavendar & Vanilla that will leave you on cloud 9.

Exercise - Swimming provides a great workout to your entire body. It's toning from head to toe, while providing an excellent cardiovascular workout. It also strengthens your heart muscles and improves circulation. According to the American Heart Association, just 30-60 minutes of physical activity 3-4 days per week can help reduce your risk for heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. As a regular physical activity, swimming can also help lower your blood pressure and cholesterol. Swimming is a relatively in expensive sport to begin, since you don't need much equipment. For most of us, a good swim cap is all the biggest challenge. For more information on pools in your area, contact your local YMCA, 24 Hour Fitness or gym nearest you. Swiminfo.com gives advice for swimming workouts.

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What Are Pigtails ???

There really isn't a huge debate on this subject, but there are some differences of opinion. This article looks at some of the differing opinions related to pigtails hairstyle definition, attempts to find some middle ground (perhaps unsuccessfully), and closes with this author's own definition and description of the ideal pigtails.

A ponytail is when the hair is tied together into a bunch and hanging from the back of the head. Most would agree on that. But if that ponytail is braided, is it still a ponytail? Some say it is, others say that this is called a braid. The same question applies to pigtails, the most common term for the gathering of the hair into twin ponytails (one on either side of the head). Can pigtails be braided and still be called pigtails? Do the terms "braided pigtails" and "unbraided pigtails" make sense? Some argue that "braided pigtails" are just "braids" and not pigtails at all!

The Random House College Dictionary defines "pigtail" as "a braid of hair hanging down the back of the head." Huh? It refers to ONE pigtail hangs down the back of the head, and calls it a braid? Hmm, there's no mention of TWO pigtails at all! Something doesn't seem right here. The dictionary entry for "ponytail" matches the definition I gave above. So what's up with all this? Is the dictionary wrong? Are there multiple dialectal or regional terms for twin ponytails, hence the difficulty for a dictionary to properly address the word's definition? Has the definition been too fluid over time for the dictionary to pin it down? And why doesn't the definition include the phrase "the cutest hairstyle ever?"

The word pigtail is also a wire cabling term that applies to a particular method for terminating an electrical cable's braided shield. (There's that word "braid" again!) Another technical, and even more contemporary, use of the word pigtail is for some sort of wireless accessories for radios or cell phones, or something like that - I haven't completely figured this one out yet.

A few years ago, a survey was done in a college classroom regarding the term pigtails. The students pretty much agreed that pigtails are two ponytails, one on each side of the head, and that they cannot be braided. If they were braided, they were called braids. The class instructor, being of a different generation, had a different definition. He believed that pigtails specifically meant two braids and that two unbraided ponytails should actually be called doggie tails. My personal analysis of this "experiment" is simply this: The instructor must have been elderly, or nearly so, and possibly losing his memory, so who knows what his generation really called "twin ponytails." And doggie tails? There is no way I could ever adapt to using such a term. The word dog, or anything like it, can never be used to describe a woman with the playfulness, boldness, and/or superior self-esteem to wear her hair in pigtails. The students clearly had a much better handle on what pigtails are all about.

So, where does this leave us? There appears to be generational differences and possibly regional or dialectal differences contributing to the debate (if you'd call it that). So, I'll put it this way: Pigtails are two gatherings of hair hanging on the left and right sides of the head. They may be braided or unbraided. But I'll add my preferences here as well, because the way I see it, there's one right kind of pigtail. Pigtails are far more attractive when unbraided. They should be located on the sides of the head, maybe a little behind and above the ears. Pigtails that are too high on the head, too low, or too far around in back, just don't possess the true spirit of pigtails. And pigtails without this true spirit are simply unable to work their undeniable magic on the wearer and those around her.

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How To Apply Your Makeup

How To Apply Your Makeup

STEP 1: FOUNDATION: After Cleansing, Toning and Moisturizing your face apply a small amount of foundation to the tip of your index finger, dot on forehead, nose, cheeks and chin then blend in an upward and outward motion without leaving a line. Be sure to apply foundation over your eyelids and blend without leaving a line. Glance in the mirror to ensure there's no line. You can use a concealer to cover imperfections such as blemishes and dark spots. You can use our NATU-CLEAR to remove dark spots, even skin tone and skin discoloration.

STEP 2: TRANSLUCENT POWDER: Using a Powder Brush apply Translucent Powder in a downward motion for a smooth finish. Translucent Powder helps eye makeup and blush to go on smoother and blend better. It also keeps your face looking fresh and your Makeup will last longer.

STEP 3 EYE MAKEUP: Starting at your lash line, apply your Base Color first, then apply your crease color in the crease area. Apply your Highlight Color in the highlight color area, below the brow bone. Finally, blend the colors with a cotton ball or your fingertip to remove any obvious line. If the colors are too bright tone them down with a little Translucent Powder then apply your Mascara, and dust your entire face downward with Translucent Powder.

STEP 4 BLUSH: Your Blush should go on the apples of your cheeks to radiate when you smile. It should go no closer to your nose, but directly beneath the iris of your eye; below nostril-level and into your temple hairline. A good Blush Brush that's tapered for precise placement, is a must.

STEP 5 LIPSTICKS: Define the outline of your lips with a professional lip brush or lip liner pencil that closely matches the color of your lipstick. Then apply your lipstick and blend the liner with a lip brush. Start from the center working outwards.

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Should I Have A Face Lift?

Good question! A face lift is major surgery and surgery means blood, mess, discomfort, stitches and time out to recover. A face lift is expensive too.


There are risks to consider, one is hematoma when the blood collects under the skin and has to be surgically removed. Damage to the nerves that control your facial muscles is another although this is less common. Slow healing time can also be a problem although this is found mainly in smokers. Oh! and don't forget the usual risks that are involved with anesthesia.

On the plus side, the effects of a face lift are quite dramatic. It is without a doubt the fastest and most permanent way of shedding your 'old' face and regaining some of that youthful beauty you were born with..

If you've considered these things and decided that the final outcome is worth it, then proceed, but first please ask yourself these questions.

Why do I want a facelift?

Am I doing this because its going to help me find the job that I really want? This is a valid reason for going ahead. It shouldn't matter to those that hire people how old the applicant is or what they look like, but in the real world we know that these things do play a part. If you have a job that has a lot of public exposure, this may also be a good reason to proceed.

Am I doing this because my partner wants me to?
Red alert! Never let anyone else talk you into having a facelift. It is a very personal decision and one only you should make. Ask yourself why are you with someone who values you only for your appearance. Honor yourself, you are more than your face! Perhaps you should be working on your relationship and leaving your face alone!

I'm thirty five and have lots of wrinkles around my eyes and cheeks, and my neck is all mottled

A face lift won't help this situation. You are better off exploring the avenue of laser resurfacing or even chemical peels, they will strip the old layer of skin off and reveal a smoother younger appearance. It sounds like you have a lot of sun damage, get educated on the use of sunblock! Its everybody's most important cosmetic.

I'm depressed and don't feel good about myself. Maybe a facelift will help me feel better?

It may for a little while, but it sounds like you have a self esteem problem. Learn to love yourself the way you are first. Then if you still feel a facelift would give your morale a boost, go ahead.

I'm in my early fifties and notice my face is starting to sag quite badly. I can afford the surgery and reckon I might just do this for myself. A good idea, you've thought it through and decided its something you want not something you need.

Find a professional surgeon in your area and follow all his/her advice on how to prepare for your face lift. Don't forget to mention any medication you are taking and if you are a smoker, stop two weeks before surgery is scheduled. It will speed your recovery time. Good luck!

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Losing Weight Made Easier by Observing Key Concepts

Body fat is a problem for some more than others. We all know people who can eat huge amounts and not gain a pound, but others that just think about food seem to pack on the pounds. What causes this? We will take a look at some reasons why some people are more affected by weight problems than others, and what steps can be taken to keep as much weight off as possible. Some people believe the hype about easy ways out of putting on fat, but that is just taking the wrong path to try and stay thin.


The most common word used when talking about this phenomena is "metabolism". Metabolism is a complex science chemical process that determines how substances are broken down in the body. Some people's metabolism is such so that their body is very efficient at taking food and processing it quickly instead of just sticking all the fat to one's cells. This is obviously a simple explanation but it points out the relationship of how all of our individual bodies handle food intake. Do not use metabolism as an excuse for not working hard to lose weight and stay fit.

"So, how does this affect me?" you may ask yourself. Well, no matter what type of metabolism you may possess it's important to get plenty of exercise so your body works it's best. Even if your body is the type that luckily never seems to cause you to pack on the pounds, it is still very important to keep fit and get lots of exercise. Exercise is the one variable that should always be included with every discussion concerning weight loss, overall health, etc.

When someone exercises regularly his body is treating the food he eats correctly. Look at it this way, over the past many thousands of years of our human evolution, what were we regularly doing? We were exercising! Our bodies are designed to have all of our muscle groups worked regularly. It's only been the last few centuries that we have generally become a sluggish society. I don't mean that in a bad way, only that where throughout history we did not get in our car and drive across town to work, we often times walked a lot, and ran.

In summary, it's important to always include exercise in your plans on losing weight, or keeping the weight off. Your body is expecting to be worked hard and kept well-nourished to provide the vitamins, nutrients and even fats that it is relying on. Sure you are bombarded daily by miracle weight loss solutions that require no work on your part, but if you think that's true you are lying to yourself. It only takes one look at Michael Phelps, the awesome Olympic swimmer who ate 12,000 calories a day and was in top physical condition, to see that as long you are working your body hard you will burn those calories. Your body will thank you for eating properly and getting enough exercise!

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How Eating At Night Affects Weight Loss

It seems like every week I hear a new piece of advice about whether or not a person who is dieting should eat late at night right before they go to sleep. In this article I will analyze for you the benefits and downsides of eating late at night.

Downsides of Eating Late at Night

Eating late at night can potentially affect your weight loss program. Whether or not eating before bed affects your diet depends on what you eat. If you eat a meal made up of protein and healthy vegetables then you are unlikely to gain weight. However if you eat a lot of processed carbohydrates in the form of bread, pasta, grains or sugar then this will cause your body to release a lot of the hormone insulin. An elevated insulin level not only makes it harder to fall asleep but it can also prevents your body from producing Human Growth Hormone or HGH.

Elevated insulin becomes a problem because your body produces most HGH during the first hour after you fall asleep. If you have a high insulin level during the period of night that you should be producing HGH, you won't be producing HGH. Not producing HGH is bad because HGH is a hormone which helps your body burn fat and build muscle.

In addition to avoiding carbohydrates late at night, you also shouldn't drink alcohol. Although alcohol helps you fall asleep faster, it also prevents you from producing HGH and degrades the quality of sleep you get. Low quality sleep will drain your energy and increase your appetite, making dieting more difficult.

Benefits of Eating Late at Night

Eating a snack made up of high quality protein has been shown to increase the production of HGH. An increased HGH level will help you burn more fat and gain more muscle.

Conclusion

Eating protein and vegetables late at night is alright but you should avoid sugary foods and high carbohydrate foods before you fall asleep. This means that if you want to eat dessert, you should eat it several hours before you plan to go to bed.

The main reason not to eat carb heave snacks late at night is to allow you to fall asleep quickly and produce more HGH because HGH helps you lose weight. To accelerate your weight loss goals try to maximize your HGH levels by minimizing your insulin level all day long by avoiding consumption of sugar and carbs.

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Learn a Healthy Way to Lose Weight Fast

From my experience, I can tell you that there are many ways to lose weight. However, even with all these methods that claim to assist you in losing weight, not all of them are easy to follow, and ultimately as beneficial to help you easily lose weight in a week.

First of all, I am going to tell you about my experience with getting a personal trainer for my quest to losing weight as quickly as possible. I scheduled myself to see a personal trainer every weekday morning at 6am, early enough so I could get this workout in before I went to work. But after 6 weeks of enduring early workouts, I could only lose 10lbs and about and inch and a half off my waist.This method did not allow me to lose weight quickly or easily. I was after seeing great changes occur within a week, I did but yet the weight did not seem to be dropping in direct correlation to how much effort I was putting out.

So like many others I decided to try supplements to achieve the quick weight loss I was after. I thought this combined with my personal trainer I could get quick and easy weight loss within a week. But after using these supplemental pills to lose the weight I began having undesirable side effects after a week. I would get jitters, sweat consistently (even in a cool setting) many periods of a rapid heart beat among other side effects. These feelings did not make me feel like this was healthy for my body. Although i saw a loss of about 2lbs that week I couldn't risk the chance of losing my health and my personal trainer agreed with me.

After my let down with the weight loss pills and my personal trainer still by me holding on to the desire to lose weight quick, easy and now healthily. I turned to a product that would promise to do exactly that. It would show me results after a week and wouldn't make me feel as if I was going to pass out while using it. The results with this method proved to be well worth my time and effort. It was easy to implement into my daily routine and didn't require any extra exercises on my part so I decided to get rid of my personal trainer.

Even after dropping my personal trainer I continued to progress any way. Losing weight quickly and easily and seeing greater weight loss in a week than using any other method alone made this the best decision of my life and after 6 weeks I was a loss of 21lbs and 3 inches off my waist. Finding this method of losing weight has made me healthier and not just due to the weight loss, I've lost the weight quickly and implementing this method was easy.

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Great Tips to Finally Achieving Your Fitness Goals

Let's be fair, becoming healthy is no simple job. Keeping fit is no simpler. Frequently, when our lifestyles become frantic, the first point to endure is our fitness because it requires prioritizing over other things we have happening. Achieving your fitness goals could be rather hard should you not take the appropriate measures to make sure that they are fulfilled. This post includes a number of tips which will make it easier for you to achieve whatever fitness objectives you might have. Continue reading and discover some wonderful ways to get back in form.

One - Do not work out alone. Exercising on your own may be difficult, and when issues get too difficult, you've got a much higher chance of quitting. Rather, recruit the aid of a pal to follow you to the gymnasium or wherever you choose to obtain your workout. When you exercise with someone, you inspire each other to work harder, thus obtaining more bang for the dollar from each workout program. It also has got the additional advantage of including a sociable element to your workout routine that will make it far more pleasurable, and it will additionally appear a whole lot simpler.

Two - Follow a program! Creating a work out program by which you workout at the same time frame every day may go a long way towards keeping you on the right track. When you workout without a program, you are far more likely to omit a evening if you sense tired or are simply not otherwise around it. You are a lot more likely to finish your routines, when you have a program that is actually written down. It also functions as a means for you to split up your routines to ensure you are targeting all of your main muscles through the week.

Three - Produce realistic aims! If you're beginning to have in shape for your very first time in years, your aim shouldn't be to perform a triathlon in a couple of months, you'll never get it done. Instead, the targets you set yourself should be achievable so that you may remain motivated during your fitness strategy. When you achieve that target, then you can make another that is really a little harder. When you take little steps, you are a lot more prone to create big increases.

Four - Make your work outs interesting! When you begin an exercise plan that you entirely despise, the likelihood of you keeping that program are slim to none. Rather, attempt to discover distinct actions that you really enjoy doing. This may permit you to possess fun while you be in form, thus permitting you to cheerfully carry on with your fitness efforts. Try playing an activity, or operating with several friends. Regardless of the action is, simply be sure you have some fun performing it.

When you implement the guidance mentioned above, you are just a stones toss away from achieving the level of fitness you have usually preferred. Keep in mind that which you have read and begin in your fitness program today!

For more information find out how to get a six pack fast. Alternatively you can also find out about how to build muscle quickly.

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