Best in Body Care
As the season changes from humid, hot summer to dry, cool/cold New England fall/winter, so does your skin change. Health magazine rated the products below as the top 8 “BEST in Body Care” (2007) to help nourish your skin and beat the blues of winter.
- Body Wash: Aveeno Positively Smooth Shower & Shave Cream; $6.99; www.aveeno.com
- Exfoliating Body Product: DERMAdoctor KP Duty Body Scrub; $44; www.sephora.com
- Bronzer: Murad Firming Bronzer SPF15; $48; www.sephora.com
- Body Moisturizer: Olay Body Age Transform Body Crème Serum; $9 at most drugstores
- Hand Product: Desert Essence Organics Pumpkin Hand Repair Cream; $8.99; www.wholefoods.com
- Self-Tanner: Shiseido Brilliant Bronze Tinted Self-Tanning Gel; $28; www.sephora.com
- Body Sunscreen: MD Suncare Powerful Sun Protection SPF30; $42; www.sephora.com
- Foot Product: Curel Targeted Therapy Deep-Penetrating Foot Cream; $4.99; www.curel.com
From an Ayurveda point of view, give yourself a soothing, warm, oily massage (10-15 min) before a shower using the following oils (dosha dependent):
If Pitta use Coconut or Sunflower Oil
If Vata use Sesame Oil
If Kapha use Sesame Oil
Exercise & Women: What a Combination!
Research has repeatedly demonstrated that exercise has positive effects on women’s health; quality of life, mood, depression, bone density, strength, balance, function, endurance, body composition, etc. So why are 37% of women aged 18-54 years NOT exercising? Most commonly cited reasons: lack of time, afraid of getting hurt, temperature, exercise is boring, don’t have the money, etc.
Let’s change this attitude so that exercise IS fun, so you CAN participate, and so you WANT to participate. Below are some general guidelines to make exercise work for you! Don’t wait, don’t procrastinate . . . start today!
- Strength training: combine 4-6 exercises (lower & upper body) and perform 3 sets of 12-15 repetitions. Performing them in a circuit increases the caloric expenditure.
- Heart healthy: three 10-minute bouts of aerobic type activity (i.e. brisk walking, jogging, bicycling, swimming, etc.) most days. You don’t have to do it all at once.
- You don’t have to join a gym: Use “equipment” in your home and neighborhood (backpack with books, elastic bands, park benches, school tracks).
- Find a partner to exercise with. This makes it more fun and you are less likely to skip it.
- Afraid you’ll get hurt? Hire a personal trainer to get you started with proper form and monitor your progress. Make it more fun and economical – do it with a friend!
Exercise doesn’t have to be dreaded. It can be both fun AND effective at the same time. Start by making exercise a regular part of your daily routine – today.
*Data from cdc.gov