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Posture check: Do you stand up straight?
Good posture minimizes strain on your joints and muscles, which can help prevent aches and pains. So what's good posture? When you're standing, keep your chest held high and your shoulders back and relaxed. Try not to tilt your head forward, backward or sideways. Pull in your abdomen and buttocks. Make sure your knees are relaxed, not locked. Keep your feet parallel and your weight balanced evenly on both feet.
Weight loss: Unhook yourself from food
Do thoughts and feelings about food stand in your way of learning healthy-eating habits? Try these five steps: 1. Know your habits. For a few weeks, jot down what, when and why you eat. See if any patterns emerge. 2. Take away temptation. Don't keep comfort foods in your home if they're hard for you to resist. 3. Enjoy an occasional treat to help curb cravings. 4. Don't give up on yourself. An occasional setback is to be expected. Get right back on the bandwagon.
Don't believe shaving myths
Contrary to popular belief, shaving hair doesn't make it grow back thicker. And shaving doesn't affect how dark your hair is or how fast it grows. Shaving facial or body hair gives the hair a blunt tip that can feel coarse as the hair grows out. During this phase, the hair might appear darker or thicker, but it's not.
Treat mosquito bites
Bitten by one of those pesky little bloodsuckers? Although mosquito bites are itchy, try to avoid scratching. They'll go away on their own. If you need relief in the meantime, apply calamine lotion or a nonprescription corticosteroid cream to the bite. Rubbing the bite with an ice cube for 30 seconds may help too.
Time your lotions right
Apply moisturizers immediately after bathing. After washing or bathing, gently pat or blot your skin dry with a towel so that some moisture remains on the skin. Immediately moisturize your skin with an oil or cream to help trap water in the surface cells.
Ward off dry skin
To keep skin moist and healthy: 1. Moisturize. Moisturizer seals skin to keep water from escaping. 2. Keep bath and shower time to 10 minutes or less. Turn the dial to warm, not hot. 3. Use cleansing creams or gentle skin cleansers and bath or show gels with added moisturizers.
Stop warts from spreading
If you have warts, you can spread the virus to other places on your body. Here's how to stop the spread: 1. Don't brush, clip, comb or shave areas with warts. 2. Don't use the same file or nail clipper on warts as you use on healthy nails. 3. Don't pick at warts. If you can't keep your hands off, cover your warts with an adhesive bandage. 4. Wash your hands carefully after touching your warts.
Take your sandals to the gym, pool
To protect your feet from athlete's foot and foot warts (plantar warts), don't go barefoot in public areas. Wear waterproof sandals or shoes around public pools, showers and lockers room.
Buying athletic shoes? Check your arch
Athletic shoes should be tailored to your arch type (high arch, neutral arch, low arch). Your arches play an important role in how you adapt to various surfaces as you walk. But there is no one "best shoe" for a particular foot type, and comfort and proper fit should be the main criteria you use.
Free weights or machines: Which are better?
Free weights are versatile and inexpensive. They also simulate real-life lifting situations and promote whole-body stabilization. Likewise, machine weights can be effective weight training tools, as long as you use machines that adjust to your body dimensions and allow full range of motion of your joints. What is the bottom line? Choose a weight training system that you enjoy and that fits into your lifestyle. And whatever type of resistance you choose, remember that proper technique is more important than the specific type of equipment.
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