The popular beauty tips which are followed unanimously
For that sexy appearance, follow the various beauty suggestions for girls and get the desired look. It is not that tough but you have to be a bit disciplined while following the beauty tips.
1. Make it a habit to drink minimum 8 glasses of water everyday. Also practice to take foods which are rich in Vitamin A and C. They help you a lot to look beautiful naturally. To maintain the shine on your skin, you can try to mix honey with water and drink it daily while you wake up from sleep. Your skin shall not only shine but also become smooth.
2. We all know that our skin needs a moisturizer. To hydrate our skin naturally, one can try to massage the skin with milk. This will also keep the fresh glow of the skin intact.
3. Keep the temperature of your room mild such that your skin doesn’t get too much dried. To have a mild effect on your skin, as you need to keep the room temperature moderate, go for humidifiers.
4. Take a bath with lukewarm water and always remember to use a mild soap. Don’t use hot water as it will make your skin all the more dry. Be gentle while rubbing your skin with a towel; never be harsh with your skin.
5. Always try to eat uncooked raw fruits and fresh vegetables. After cooking and heating the food, the fluorine is destroyed – whose deficiency can lead to scaly skin. Remember that the deficiency of sodium can cause a wrinkled skin. Nobody would want such a skin. To combat wrinkles on your skin, have lots of cucumber. It acts as a substitute for sodium deficiency. Not only rich in sodium, cucumber is also an enabler to keep your body cool – provides a great relief during summers.
As these are natural beauty tips for girls, they give more effective results. The look of your skin is healthier. Opt for such natural beauty tips and you will discover the magic soon.
Showing posts with label health tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health tips. Show all posts
Thursday, July 23, 2009
How to look fresh after a party
Going to a party is always a pleasure for me as I’m sure it is for you, girls, also. Unfortunately, parties aren’t just an occasion to show our best outfits or a fabulous make-up but also an occasion for some excesses. You surely know the characteristic post-party mood: you feel like doing nothing, you are very sleepy, tired. No matter if it’s a family party or one where all your friends are gathered, finding out some tips which will help you regain your energy for the next day will surely be useful to you.
1. Before going to the party, don’t forget eating something. Be careful how much you eat so that you don’t modify your waist dimensions, but, on the other hand, eat enough so that you don’t faint if you drink something containing alcohol.
2. Don’t mix drinks such as wine combined with beer at the party. If you start drinking one of them you should continue on the same line. Combining them will lead to an exaggerated “happy” mood.
3. Dance as much as you can and when you make a pause you should eat something. Not only that by moving your body in combination with alcohol you get an euphoric mood but you also eliminate all the toxins which invade your body as a result of alcohol and smoking.
4. The first thing you must do when arriving home after the party is removing your make-up and hydrating your skin. Wash your teeth also as it will give you make you feel fresh for the next day.
5. Don’t take a shower when you arrive home because the hot water can weaken you and you risk to faint away. Take a shower the next day and use a hydrating shower gel and a sponge to massage your skin.
6. Drink a strong coffee or a fresh juice rich in C vitamin. Another recommended remedy is to massage your temples with pine oil or lemon.
7. Put some cold milk or green tea compresses in order to “heal” your eyes which look irritated because of smoke. Use a revitalizing mask and do some exercises in your living room.
Follow some of these tips and nobody will realize that you have been to a party all night long.
1. Before going to the party, don’t forget eating something. Be careful how much you eat so that you don’t modify your waist dimensions, but, on the other hand, eat enough so that you don’t faint if you drink something containing alcohol.
2. Don’t mix drinks such as wine combined with beer at the party. If you start drinking one of them you should continue on the same line. Combining them will lead to an exaggerated “happy” mood.
3. Dance as much as you can and when you make a pause you should eat something. Not only that by moving your body in combination with alcohol you get an euphoric mood but you also eliminate all the toxins which invade your body as a result of alcohol and smoking.
4. The first thing you must do when arriving home after the party is removing your make-up and hydrating your skin. Wash your teeth also as it will give you make you feel fresh for the next day.
5. Don’t take a shower when you arrive home because the hot water can weaken you and you risk to faint away. Take a shower the next day and use a hydrating shower gel and a sponge to massage your skin.
6. Drink a strong coffee or a fresh juice rich in C vitamin. Another recommended remedy is to massage your temples with pine oil or lemon.
7. Put some cold milk or green tea compresses in order to “heal” your eyes which look irritated because of smoke. Use a revitalizing mask and do some exercises in your living room.
Follow some of these tips and nobody will realize that you have been to a party all night long.
10 crazy beauty tips
The beauty tips beneath can seem weird and unreal but they have a great logic as long as they are natural methods to become more attractive and have a healthier appearance.
Powder your hair roots
If your hair roots become greasy you should try using a big make-up brush on you hair. You can do this even when you don’t have time to wash your hair. Don’t use children powder because the normal one absorbs oil better.
Try to depilate using hair balm instead of depilatory cream
You are out of depilatory cream? No problem as long as you can use hair balm; it will immerse your hair and you will depilate easier so that your legs will become incredibly silky.
Prepare an egg mask
This is a useful tip in order to refresh a complexion which has no shine. It’s an easy method because you don’t have to go to a spa. Pry an egg, separate the albumen from the yolk an use the first one in order to prepare a face mask. Proteins help the skin recuperate and hydrate. You should maintain the solution on your face for 5 minutes and rinse afterwards.
Add a tan solution in your body cream
If you don’t have enough time for a suntan session you should mix the body cream with the tan solution. Use the mixture on your body in order to obtain a sexy skin colour.
Smooth your body by using avocado
Take a ripe avocado, remove the peel and the seed and crunch it into a porringer. Use the solution on your body, maintain it for 10 minutes and rinse it after that. Your skin will become very smooth because avocado contains many hydrating substances.
Put a tea envelope on your eyes
If you look irritated you should use a tea envelope on your eyes for a minute or two. The substances contained by the tea will calm the irritation.
Use a make-up remove solution for a lipstick which won’t disappear
Don’t try to remove a lipstick which won’t disappear in another way than by using a cotton-wool blotter soaked in a make-up remove solution.
Use tooth paste on pimples
Put some tooth paste on a pimple, maintain it for 15 minutes so that the oil will be absorbed and wash the place after that.
Use coop in order to have a shiny hair
Combine a part of coop with four parts of mineral water and use the mixture on the dry hair. Maintain the substance on your hair for 15 minutes and after that wash it. You will observe that your hair has a shinier, healthy appearance.
In conclusion, I dare to advise you, girls, to try these “crazy” beauty tips because they will certainly make you look brighter and beautiful.
Powder your hair roots
If your hair roots become greasy you should try using a big make-up brush on you hair. You can do this even when you don’t have time to wash your hair. Don’t use children powder because the normal one absorbs oil better.
Try to depilate using hair balm instead of depilatory cream
You are out of depilatory cream? No problem as long as you can use hair balm; it will immerse your hair and you will depilate easier so that your legs will become incredibly silky.
Prepare an egg mask
This is a useful tip in order to refresh a complexion which has no shine. It’s an easy method because you don’t have to go to a spa. Pry an egg, separate the albumen from the yolk an use the first one in order to prepare a face mask. Proteins help the skin recuperate and hydrate. You should maintain the solution on your face for 5 minutes and rinse afterwards.
Add a tan solution in your body cream
If you don’t have enough time for a suntan session you should mix the body cream with the tan solution. Use the mixture on your body in order to obtain a sexy skin colour.
Smooth your body by using avocado
Take a ripe avocado, remove the peel and the seed and crunch it into a porringer. Use the solution on your body, maintain it for 10 minutes and rinse it after that. Your skin will become very smooth because avocado contains many hydrating substances.
Put a tea envelope on your eyes
If you look irritated you should use a tea envelope on your eyes for a minute or two. The substances contained by the tea will calm the irritation.
Use a make-up remove solution for a lipstick which won’t disappear
Don’t try to remove a lipstick which won’t disappear in another way than by using a cotton-wool blotter soaked in a make-up remove solution.
Use tooth paste on pimples
Put some tooth paste on a pimple, maintain it for 15 minutes so that the oil will be absorbed and wash the place after that.
Use coop in order to have a shiny hair
Combine a part of coop with four parts of mineral water and use the mixture on the dry hair. Maintain the substance on your hair for 15 minutes and after that wash it. You will observe that your hair has a shinier, healthy appearance.
In conclusion, I dare to advise you, girls, to try these “crazy” beauty tips because they will certainly make you look brighter and beautiful.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Get Rid Of Unwanted Hair
Every one gets unwanted hair somewhere no there body that they dont want anyone else to know about..
Although the following method doesnt neccesarily get rid of unwanted hair but hear me out- it does hide it to some extent-
Bleaching...
Some people bleach arm hair leg hair upper lip hair.. ect
For places like the bikini line or even your legs hair removal creams work well too but you have to make sure you are not allergic to the product by using it on a small portion of skin and if you dont take a reaction to it your fine on the other hand if you do if it contiinues to bother you i would reccomend you see your doctor.
Women- for legs shave but i would say just legs as if you shave arm hair of upper lip hair ect it will grow back ever so quickly and have lots of bad stubble ten times worst than what it is like when leg hair grows back .
Waxing is a newer and more quicker and efficent way of removing hair and can be used on legs upperlip bikini line ect.. ect and the benefit is that cold wax lasts up to 4 weeks stubble free and hot wax a big 8 weeks !
Plucking is also a great way and is popular with eyebrows and upperlips
A modern type of hair removal is lasers and soemthing called electrosis i have heard though that one treatment doesnt take all hair away you have to go for a few so its bets looking into it and doing your research..
Although the following method doesnt neccesarily get rid of unwanted hair but hear me out- it does hide it to some extent-
Bleaching...
Some people bleach arm hair leg hair upper lip hair.. ect
For places like the bikini line or even your legs hair removal creams work well too but you have to make sure you are not allergic to the product by using it on a small portion of skin and if you dont take a reaction to it your fine on the other hand if you do if it contiinues to bother you i would reccomend you see your doctor.
Women- for legs shave but i would say just legs as if you shave arm hair of upper lip hair ect it will grow back ever so quickly and have lots of bad stubble ten times worst than what it is like when leg hair grows back .
Waxing is a newer and more quicker and efficent way of removing hair and can be used on legs upperlip bikini line ect.. ect and the benefit is that cold wax lasts up to 4 weeks stubble free and hot wax a big 8 weeks !
Plucking is also a great way and is popular with eyebrows and upperlips
A modern type of hair removal is lasers and soemthing called electrosis i have heard though that one treatment doesnt take all hair away you have to go for a few so its bets looking into it and doing your research..
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Some General Health Tips
1. Drink 8-10 Glasses of Water a Day. If you normally do NOT add salt to your food, you may need to add 1/2 teaspoon of salt to your diet as a result of drinking this amount. This cleans out toxins and helps the body function much better.
2. Add Movement to Your Life. Park further so you walk between the car and the stores, take steps instead of elevators, and take longer routes to your desk.
3. Think Positively.
4. Take Time to Relax. Allow yourself to destress at least once a day.
5. Sleep 6-10 hours a night (or until you are well rested).
6. Wash your hands often. Minimally wash hands before eating and after using the restroom.
7. Eat a large variety of fresh produce or supplement your diet with vitamins and minerals.
8. Believe is Something. Studies have found that people who have faith live longer.
9. Eat vegetables every day. Vegetables provide vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Many are known to prevent various diseases including cancer.
10. Drink water before, during and after exercise. Thirst lags behind your body's need for water. So drink water early and often.
11. Laugh. Let humor enter your life. One of the easiest ways of being healthier is to find a way to relax more and have more fun.
12. Find a way to bring joy into your life. Treat yourself to long baths or help a neighbor. Find a way to smile and help others smile.
Follow the right path to stay healthy!
Disclaimer: This information is not meant to replace any medical treatment. It is offered here as a service. Use this information at your own risk. No guarantee is made towards validity.
2. Add Movement to Your Life. Park further so you walk between the car and the stores, take steps instead of elevators, and take longer routes to your desk.
3. Think Positively.
4. Take Time to Relax. Allow yourself to destress at least once a day.
5. Sleep 6-10 hours a night (or until you are well rested).
6. Wash your hands often. Minimally wash hands before eating and after using the restroom.
7. Eat a large variety of fresh produce or supplement your diet with vitamins and minerals.
8. Believe is Something. Studies have found that people who have faith live longer.
9. Eat vegetables every day. Vegetables provide vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Many are known to prevent various diseases including cancer.
10. Drink water before, during and after exercise. Thirst lags behind your body's need for water. So drink water early and often.
11. Laugh. Let humor enter your life. One of the easiest ways of being healthier is to find a way to relax more and have more fun.
12. Find a way to bring joy into your life. Treat yourself to long baths or help a neighbor. Find a way to smile and help others smile.
Follow the right path to stay healthy!
Disclaimer: This information is not meant to replace any medical treatment. It is offered here as a service. Use this information at your own risk. No guarantee is made towards validity.
Beautiful skin with natural products
Some fruits and vegetables helps to make the skin beautiful.
List of some fruits and vegetables, makes your skin beautiful -

Apple:- Acts as astringent and antiseptic for oily skins.

Banana:- Acts as moisturizer (Nourishing) for dry skins.

Cabbage:- Heals scars (Acts as disinfectant). Helps to control pimples.

Carrot:- Good for sensitive skins. Stimulates cell reproduction. Acts as moisturizer.

Cucumber:- Good for all type of skins. Is soothing, astringent and anti-wrinkle.

Grapes:- Useful for acne prone skin. Encourages cell proliferation and is diuretic.

Lemon:- Good for oily skin or skin loosing its tone. Acts as antiseptic and helps in refining the skin. Also, acts as mild bleach.

Mint:- Good for oily / blemished skin. Soothes and stimulates circulation.

Orange:- Good for normal to oily skin with enlarged pores. Acts as astringent and mild bleach.

Peach:- Soothing and acts as anti-inflammatory and diuretic for all skins.

Potato:- Good for aging skin, or skin losing tone. Acts as tonic and diuretic.

Spinach:- Soothes and stimulates circulation in dehydrated / troubled skin.

Raspberry:- Acts as stimulant and astringent for skin with enlarged pores.

Strawberry:- Acts as a skin toner and astringent and helps to remove uneven pigmentation.

Tomato:- Rebalances skin acidity thereby helping in removal of blackheads in oily skins.
List of some fruits and vegetables, makes your skin beautiful -

Apple:- Acts as astringent and antiseptic for oily skins.

Banana:- Acts as moisturizer (Nourishing) for dry skins.

Cabbage:- Heals scars (Acts as disinfectant). Helps to control pimples.

Carrot:- Good for sensitive skins. Stimulates cell reproduction. Acts as moisturizer.

Cucumber:- Good for all type of skins. Is soothing, astringent and anti-wrinkle.

Grapes:- Useful for acne prone skin. Encourages cell proliferation and is diuretic.

Lemon:- Good for oily skin or skin loosing its tone. Acts as antiseptic and helps in refining the skin. Also, acts as mild bleach.

Mint:- Good for oily / blemished skin. Soothes and stimulates circulation.

Orange:- Good for normal to oily skin with enlarged pores. Acts as astringent and mild bleach.

Peach:- Soothing and acts as anti-inflammatory and diuretic for all skins.

Potato:- Good for aging skin, or skin losing tone. Acts as tonic and diuretic.

Spinach:- Soothes and stimulates circulation in dehydrated / troubled skin.

Raspberry:- Acts as stimulant and astringent for skin with enlarged pores.

Strawberry:- Acts as a skin toner and astringent and helps to remove uneven pigmentation.

Tomato:- Rebalances skin acidity thereby helping in removal of blackheads in oily skins.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Free Health Tips for Computer Professionals
The following list includes 25 health tips that address these computer-related health issues in the office or in your home.
1. Listen to your body.
You may know how to program, code, and write a great article, and you may pride yourself on following your boss’s cues to the letter. Despite these accomplishments, you may not listen to your body until it’s too late. For example, if you take a sleeping pill occasionally you might remedy a short-term problem. But if the cause of insomnia is constant stimulation, you’ll need to change your lifestyle to eliminate what may become a chronic issue.
2. Learn your limits.
When you listen to your body, you aren’t exhibiting weak or ’soft’ behavior. Athletes have learned that when you keep tabs on what your body says, you exhibit a willingness to find your true physical limits. Who’s to say that you aren’t a computer athlete and that signs of pain or fatigue aren’t signals that you’ve taken on more than you can handle?
3. Stretch.
The best way to stay in touch with your body is through exercise. Exercise can improve your sleep patterns, your ability to think clearly, and it will improve your capacity to fight infections along with the ability to ward off cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. If you haven’t exercised in a while, it’s best to start out slowly with stretches and walking and then slowly work your way into more strenuous workouts. You can stretch during short breaks at your desk with this free online example.
4. Take a break.
One way to avoid the physical, emotional, and mental problems that result from computer overload is to take a 10-minute break several times per day. Look at your coffee break as an opportunity to walk up and down several flights of stairs for cardiovascular fitness. Walk up the stairs for the most benefit; walk down if this practice is new for you. But, be careful: more people fall when walking down staircases than when walking up them.
If you work at home, you might forget to take a break let alone take time for lunch. Use an alarm clock or a timer to remind you to take a short break so that you can walk around the block.
5. Make lunch a health event.
The closer to eating that you exercise the bigger the benefit, so take a walk before you eat lunch and you’ll reduce the impact provided by that meal. Also, while your computer is booting up in the morning, you can check the local event listings in your newspaper to see what’s going on that day. If you live or work near a library that hosts a “lunch and learn” program like Colorado Spring’s Tutt Library, take advantage of that offer. Or, visit a free gallery or museum to stretch your mind and body before you eat a healthy lunch. Walk if you can, and avoid taking that car out of the garage.
6. Create work-related workouts.
Arrange a walk-and-talk instead of a sleep-inducing sit-and-talk meeting (otherwise known as pedeconferencing). Park further away from the office and walk. Any movement helps to relieve stress and will help you to sleep in the long run, so avoid sitting when you can stand and walk when you can break away from your desk. Even if you can’t escape that cubicle, you can become the office yoga expert through free online videos.
7. Make the sun your friend.
If you’re cooped up inside all day and subjected to an overdose of indoor lighting, you might suffer from a variety of disorders that could resonate with SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). Body aches and pains, changes in energy level, sleep/wake patterns, and appetite, avoidance of social situations, reduction in the quality of sleep, drop in energy level, weight gain, irritability, inability to complete tasks, decreased creativity, and suicidal thoughts are just a few symptoms for those who are subjected to minimal sunlight. Try to get outdoors for short breaks during the day. If you can’t manage this, consider the purchase of a Light Therapy Box.
If you think that you might be suffering from SAD, take advantage of free treatment that’s available for research volunteers at SAD clinical research centers in the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia and elsewhere. Recruitment for the winter season often begins in late summer or early fall.
8. Don’t Hack Sleep.
Much has been written about polyphasic sleep, or a sleep pattern intended to reduce sleep time to two-five hours daily. This is achieved by spreading out sleep into short naps of around fifteen to thirty minutes throughout the day and sometimes with a core sleep period of a few hours at night. This sleep pattern was made popular by a blog created in 2000, entitled, Uberman’s Sleep Schedule, a practice that reduces sleep to two-three hours per day.
Many bloggers continue to experiment with various sleep cycles, but anti-polyphasic sleep proponents have voiced their opinions as well. If you want to learn more about this practice, visit Polyphasic Sleep: Facts and Myths. Dr Piotr Wozniak suggests that laboratory experiments consistently indicate that normal adult humans are unable to consistently sustain polyphasic sleep. Worse, their cognitive performance in polyphasic sleep experiments is not better, in fact, “It is dismal.”
9. Learn how to wind down before bedtime.
Reasons behind the inability to sleep includes constant exposure to stimulation, overexposure to caffeine, lack of exercise, and stress or worry. Whether the problem behind insomnia is physical or emotional, lack of sleep can escalate problems such as fatique, anxiety, and a short attention span. Unfortunately, insomnia can increase with aging as well.
The best way to fall asleep at night is to reverse the problems that might cause self-inflicted insomnia and to set a regular time each night when you plan to shut down physically and mentally. Wind down after dinner either through mild exercise like yoga or through meditation. Avoid caffeine and engage in activities like reading a dull, dry book. If that doesn’t help, you might try some remedies like acupuncture, homeopathy, aromatherapy (free recipe) or massage. Check with your physician before you begin any physical therapy, and try to avoid sleeping pills that might become addictive.
10. Address other sleep disorders.
Restless legs syndrome is real. Your legs become uncomfortable when you are lying down or sitting, and moving around relieves the symptoms only temporarily. Often, you might find an underlying disorder, such as diabetes, that causes those legs to feel prickly, itchy, or like they’re on fire. Or, you might discover that your iron levels are low and that you’re suffering from anemia. Check with your doctor to see what’s going on so that you can relieve this problem and get some rest.
Sleep apnea, on the other hand, causes unrest for the affected person and for everyone else as well. Discover your “snore score” and learn about what might be causing this problem. Once again, visit your doctor or an American Sleep Apnea Association (ASAA) A.W.A.K.E. (Alert, Well, And Keeping Energetic) group to learn more. You’ll sleep better and be more refreshed during the day if you can resolve the apnea problem.
11. Avoid caffeine.
Caffeine usually means coffee to most people, but you can find caffeine sources in energy drinks, tea, soft drinks, chocolate, prescription drugs and weight control aids. While many geeks and normal people use caffeine to jumpstart their day, the capacity to overdo this ergogenic is easy to accomplish, especially when no other beverage is available. Caffeine in moderation can reduce the sensation of fatigue, but it doesn’t eliminate the need for sleep. Caffeine overdoses can lead to nervousness, irritability, anxiety, tremulousness, muscle twitching (hyperreflexia), insomnia, headaches, respiratory alkalosis and heart palpitations.
One way to eliminate caffeine from your diet is to read labels to make sure that you aren’t over stimulating yourself with food and drink. Replace caffeinated products with natural energy drinks that don’t contain caffeine. Most of these drinks contain ginseng as the energy booster, however, so be aware that ginseng can aggravate anxiety, insomnia, and irritability as much as caffeine for some people.
12. Drink plenty of water, but not too much.
Water is better for your body than any drink that contains additives. Plus, the more you drink, the more often you need to get up from your computer to use the bathroom. This is a good thing, as water helps to detoxify your body. Plus, almost 2/3 of your body is composed of water, so anything you put in it that dehydrates you (coffee, soft drinks, etc.) is counterproductive. If you have trouble switching from soft drinks to water, try using flavoring packets or lemon juice to spice things up until your taste buds become accustomed to this healthier habit.
Just don’t overdo it with the water as that may cause hyponatremia, or water intoxication - a problem that usually occurs among endurance athletes (like computer geeks, only they may run faster and longer). You’ll experience apathy, confusion, nausea, and fatigue with hyponatremia just as you would with dehydration. If untreated, hyponatremia can lead to seizures, coma or death.
13. Don’t smoke.
One way for a computer geek to quit smoking is to avoid smoking around his or her computer. Outside of the long-term effects of smoking (wrinkles, yellow teeth, cancer), smoking increases the heartbeat and can create feelings of anxiety in teens and young adults. Cigarette smoke also gums up a computer’s inner workings, a problem that can add to a smoker’s financial bottom line. Although quitting can also create feelings of anxiety, plenty of stop-smoking remedies are available today. When the urge hits, even if you wear a patch, chew nicotine gum, or take medication, you can learn to alter your behaviors
by taking a walk, working in a place where no smoking is allowed, or try to take a nap if the urge overwhelms you. If you want more reinforcement, visit sites like WhyQuit.com for free help.
14. Practice Pranayama (deep breathing).
Dr. Andy Weil proposes that smokers seem to substitute smoking for the natural deep breathing exercises that many health-minded people employ to relieve stress. Anyone who feels anxious could benefit from deep breathing, which is the Pranayama aspect of Yoga. Deep, slow, yoga breathing reduces the workload for the heart, assists in weight control, and relaxes the mind and body. You can find detailed instructions on how to practice Pranayama for free online.
15. Change your posture.
Deep breathing can help to improve your posture, but a good chair or other options for other situations (like an affinity for sitting on the floor) can help to correct your posture as well. Practice that posture with free information on how to build a healthy back from the Cleveland Clinic. You can lean on Cornell University’s Ergonomics Web for information on everything from choosing the right chair to the best way to work while sitting on the floor as well. While posture is an important tool to correct everything from headaches to foot pain, Cornell also dissects the effects that poor lighting and air quality have on your computer-related health.
16. Identify ergonomic computer workstation problems.
Cornell offers many tools for you to create an ergonomic work environment, and OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) provides a four-pronged approach that addresses musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in the workplace. Use this latter resource to identify possible solutions for potential contributing conditions, or use their evaluation checklist to make sure that your computer work environment is physically beneficial.
17. Adjust your laptop environment.
Not surprisingly, laptop ergonomics are different than desktop ergonomics. Learn how to adjust your laptop environment so that you can work in comfort.
18. Avoid eyestrain.
If you experience burning, tightness, sharp pains, dull pains, watering, blurring, double vision, headaches, and other sensations in your eyes, something isn’t right in the vision department. Learn how to recognize and prevent some eyestrain problems. If you haven’t visited an eye doctor in over a year, make an appointment now to make sure that your vision problems are physical rather than caused by your environment.
19. Learn to recognize an emotionally toxic environment.
Pain can go beyond the physical, as a person’s capacity to manage their environment has a direct correlation to his or her overall mental and physical wellness. A toxic workplace can create an equally polluted frame of mind that can affect a person both emotionally and mentally. The result is an elevation of stress hormones, and each person will react differently to those increased levels. One way to remedy this problem is to learn how to recognize a toxic workplace, and to also recognize the behaviors and responses to unhealthy situations. Once again, exercise can help you to rid yourself from those feelings of anger and helplessness and to regain focus and balance, but conflict resolution can help to relieve stress as well.
20. Learn to recognize a physically toxic environment.
You might love mushrooms, but some fungal molds can cause anything from mild allergies to toxicity. Whether you work at home or in an office, you can test for mold with kits that cost little more than postage and handling. If you don’t want to go that route, you can have your home or office tested by an AIHA (Accredited Industrial Hygiene Association) professional.
21. Avoid multitasking.
Some say that the willingness to multitask is a response to the “fight or flight” syndrome, where the multitasker uses simultaneous tasks to avoid confronting emotional issues. On the other hand, multitasking has been born out of the ability to accomplish several tasks at one time through technology. But, it was proven six years ago that multitasking can be counterproductive and that it can also cause health problems including anxiety and depression. In fact, a one-second delay
in some instances can prove fatal if you combine driving with other tasks.
Although it may seem impossible at first, you can learn how to carve out some time for yourself to learn how to single-task. Yoga, meditation, deep breathing, and silence can help you to lean how to focus on one task at a time, a skill that you can carry to the workplace. Another tool that works for me is to set a time frame for each task and set a timer for when that task was to be completed. If I don’t finish, I drop that task and come back to it later. This practice allows me to enjoy the variety I crave, which helps me to avoid boredom. As a result, I’ve discovered that I can accomplish more in less time. Plus, my heartburn seems to have disappeared.
22. Don’t play doctor.
As a computer fiend, you probably know that you can find information about various illnesses online. For instance, you can avoid diabetic problems by following online advice provided by professionals once you’ve already been diagnosed. You can learn about heart attack symptoms as well, but don’t consider yourself a medical professional when it comes to serious physical problems. The symptoms provided by this list are also the same symptoms that can occur with serious heartburn. Don’t play doctor when it comes to your health. If you’re feeling seriously ill, don’t delay in seeking professional help.
23. Submit your body to physical exams.
Whether you choose to maintain an annual schedule for that physical checkup is up to you, but when you feel off-kilter and can’t pinpoint the problem then it might behoove you to make an appointment for some physical exams. Additionally, there are certain guidelines and checklists available to help you keep track of when you need to make appointments for cancer related or diabetic checkups.
If it chafes you to whip out your credit card and pay exorbitant fees for these exams, try a visit to your local annual county fair. Many county fairs hold free screenings for such things as prostate exams and skin cancer and diabetes checkups. Some colleges, organizations, businesses, and communities offer health fairs or opportunities for partial checkups. Check your local newspaper or call around to discover if you can take advantage of upcoming opportunities.
24. Reward yourself.
Sometimes the only person who will thank you for a job well done is you. Some call it “hyacinths for the soul,” or the ability to pamper yourself after meeting a stressful deadline or a difficult goal. Only you know what turns you on in that arena…perhaps eating a pizza while soaking in a bubble bath does it, or you may have to take yourself completely out of your environment with a trip to the Caribbean. Take time to make a list of things that you enjoy so that when you need to call upon your pleasures you have all the tools at hand. There’s nothing worse than no money in the kitty for a pizza or bubble bath let alone an airplane ticket when you need it most!
25. When all else fails, keep a journal.
Unlike the drug addict who is classified as suffering from “hard addiction,” the person who develops an unhealthy compulsive lifestyle is said to be suffering from a “soft addiction” because the results aren’t immediately felt by the abuser. If you cannot tear yourself away from your computer without some anxiety, guilt, or sadness, if you can’t seem to change your habits despite sincere resolutions, or if someone else has pointed out that your behavior is unusual or harmful, then you might have a serious problem.
If you recognize that your habits are detrimental to your mental and physical health, you can begin to change your habits one at a time to avoid being overwhelmed by a huge lifestyle alteration. Some of the symptoms to soft addictions include an inability to remember what you did as time seems to fly by. But, soft addictions come with identifiable costs of time, money, energy, and intimacy. If you spend too much time at a computer, you can track that time with a journal. You can also use that journal to mark your progress, and then you can reward yourself for all your positive changes.
Conclusion
While many of your computer-related problems might be the result of actual physical issues, a majority of issues seem to be connected to how a person uses a computer. It usually takes about thirty days to change a habit, which is why so many drug and alcohol treatment centers offer programs that last for twenty-eight to thirty days. So don’t set your sites too high and expect to alter your behaviors by tomorrow morning. Set reasonable goals and within six months you could change up to six habits that are hurting rather than helping you.
If you feel that you haven’t made progress with lifestyle changes, you have an solution for your IAD (Internet Addiction Disorder) through new treatment centers for computer-related behavioral issues. All you need to do is conduct a search for a “computer addict treatment” to find results. Be warned: if you don’t call, a concerned family member may take that step and you might become part of the new wave of offline interventions for individuals with online computer disorders.
1. Listen to your body.
You may know how to program, code, and write a great article, and you may pride yourself on following your boss’s cues to the letter. Despite these accomplishments, you may not listen to your body until it’s too late. For example, if you take a sleeping pill occasionally you might remedy a short-term problem. But if the cause of insomnia is constant stimulation, you’ll need to change your lifestyle to eliminate what may become a chronic issue.
2. Learn your limits.
When you listen to your body, you aren’t exhibiting weak or ’soft’ behavior. Athletes have learned that when you keep tabs on what your body says, you exhibit a willingness to find your true physical limits. Who’s to say that you aren’t a computer athlete and that signs of pain or fatigue aren’t signals that you’ve taken on more than you can handle?
3. Stretch.
The best way to stay in touch with your body is through exercise. Exercise can improve your sleep patterns, your ability to think clearly, and it will improve your capacity to fight infections along with the ability to ward off cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. If you haven’t exercised in a while, it’s best to start out slowly with stretches and walking and then slowly work your way into more strenuous workouts. You can stretch during short breaks at your desk with this free online example.
4. Take a break.
One way to avoid the physical, emotional, and mental problems that result from computer overload is to take a 10-minute break several times per day. Look at your coffee break as an opportunity to walk up and down several flights of stairs for cardiovascular fitness. Walk up the stairs for the most benefit; walk down if this practice is new for you. But, be careful: more people fall when walking down staircases than when walking up them.
If you work at home, you might forget to take a break let alone take time for lunch. Use an alarm clock or a timer to remind you to take a short break so that you can walk around the block.
5. Make lunch a health event.
The closer to eating that you exercise the bigger the benefit, so take a walk before you eat lunch and you’ll reduce the impact provided by that meal. Also, while your computer is booting up in the morning, you can check the local event listings in your newspaper to see what’s going on that day. If you live or work near a library that hosts a “lunch and learn” program like Colorado Spring’s Tutt Library, take advantage of that offer. Or, visit a free gallery or museum to stretch your mind and body before you eat a healthy lunch. Walk if you can, and avoid taking that car out of the garage.
6. Create work-related workouts.
Arrange a walk-and-talk instead of a sleep-inducing sit-and-talk meeting (otherwise known as pedeconferencing). Park further away from the office and walk. Any movement helps to relieve stress and will help you to sleep in the long run, so avoid sitting when you can stand and walk when you can break away from your desk. Even if you can’t escape that cubicle, you can become the office yoga expert through free online videos.
7. Make the sun your friend.
If you’re cooped up inside all day and subjected to an overdose of indoor lighting, you might suffer from a variety of disorders that could resonate with SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). Body aches and pains, changes in energy level, sleep/wake patterns, and appetite, avoidance of social situations, reduction in the quality of sleep, drop in energy level, weight gain, irritability, inability to complete tasks, decreased creativity, and suicidal thoughts are just a few symptoms for those who are subjected to minimal sunlight. Try to get outdoors for short breaks during the day. If you can’t manage this, consider the purchase of a Light Therapy Box.
If you think that you might be suffering from SAD, take advantage of free treatment that’s available for research volunteers at SAD clinical research centers in the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia and elsewhere. Recruitment for the winter season often begins in late summer or early fall.
8. Don’t Hack Sleep.
Much has been written about polyphasic sleep, or a sleep pattern intended to reduce sleep time to two-five hours daily. This is achieved by spreading out sleep into short naps of around fifteen to thirty minutes throughout the day and sometimes with a core sleep period of a few hours at night. This sleep pattern was made popular by a blog created in 2000, entitled, Uberman’s Sleep Schedule, a practice that reduces sleep to two-three hours per day.
Many bloggers continue to experiment with various sleep cycles, but anti-polyphasic sleep proponents have voiced their opinions as well. If you want to learn more about this practice, visit Polyphasic Sleep: Facts and Myths. Dr Piotr Wozniak suggests that laboratory experiments consistently indicate that normal adult humans are unable to consistently sustain polyphasic sleep. Worse, their cognitive performance in polyphasic sleep experiments is not better, in fact, “It is dismal.”
9. Learn how to wind down before bedtime.
Reasons behind the inability to sleep includes constant exposure to stimulation, overexposure to caffeine, lack of exercise, and stress or worry. Whether the problem behind insomnia is physical or emotional, lack of sleep can escalate problems such as fatique, anxiety, and a short attention span. Unfortunately, insomnia can increase with aging as well.
The best way to fall asleep at night is to reverse the problems that might cause self-inflicted insomnia and to set a regular time each night when you plan to shut down physically and mentally. Wind down after dinner either through mild exercise like yoga or through meditation. Avoid caffeine and engage in activities like reading a dull, dry book. If that doesn’t help, you might try some remedies like acupuncture, homeopathy, aromatherapy (free recipe) or massage. Check with your physician before you begin any physical therapy, and try to avoid sleeping pills that might become addictive.
10. Address other sleep disorders.
Restless legs syndrome is real. Your legs become uncomfortable when you are lying down or sitting, and moving around relieves the symptoms only temporarily. Often, you might find an underlying disorder, such as diabetes, that causes those legs to feel prickly, itchy, or like they’re on fire. Or, you might discover that your iron levels are low and that you’re suffering from anemia. Check with your doctor to see what’s going on so that you can relieve this problem and get some rest.
Sleep apnea, on the other hand, causes unrest for the affected person and for everyone else as well. Discover your “snore score” and learn about what might be causing this problem. Once again, visit your doctor or an American Sleep Apnea Association (ASAA) A.W.A.K.E. (Alert, Well, And Keeping Energetic) group to learn more. You’ll sleep better and be more refreshed during the day if you can resolve the apnea problem.
11. Avoid caffeine.
Caffeine usually means coffee to most people, but you can find caffeine sources in energy drinks, tea, soft drinks, chocolate, prescription drugs and weight control aids. While many geeks and normal people use caffeine to jumpstart their day, the capacity to overdo this ergogenic is easy to accomplish, especially when no other beverage is available. Caffeine in moderation can reduce the sensation of fatigue, but it doesn’t eliminate the need for sleep. Caffeine overdoses can lead to nervousness, irritability, anxiety, tremulousness, muscle twitching (hyperreflexia), insomnia, headaches, respiratory alkalosis and heart palpitations.
One way to eliminate caffeine from your diet is to read labels to make sure that you aren’t over stimulating yourself with food and drink. Replace caffeinated products with natural energy drinks that don’t contain caffeine. Most of these drinks contain ginseng as the energy booster, however, so be aware that ginseng can aggravate anxiety, insomnia, and irritability as much as caffeine for some people.
12. Drink plenty of water, but not too much.
Water is better for your body than any drink that contains additives. Plus, the more you drink, the more often you need to get up from your computer to use the bathroom. This is a good thing, as water helps to detoxify your body. Plus, almost 2/3 of your body is composed of water, so anything you put in it that dehydrates you (coffee, soft drinks, etc.) is counterproductive. If you have trouble switching from soft drinks to water, try using flavoring packets or lemon juice to spice things up until your taste buds become accustomed to this healthier habit.
Just don’t overdo it with the water as that may cause hyponatremia, or water intoxication - a problem that usually occurs among endurance athletes (like computer geeks, only they may run faster and longer). You’ll experience apathy, confusion, nausea, and fatigue with hyponatremia just as you would with dehydration. If untreated, hyponatremia can lead to seizures, coma or death.
13. Don’t smoke.
One way for a computer geek to quit smoking is to avoid smoking around his or her computer. Outside of the long-term effects of smoking (wrinkles, yellow teeth, cancer), smoking increases the heartbeat and can create feelings of anxiety in teens and young adults. Cigarette smoke also gums up a computer’s inner workings, a problem that can add to a smoker’s financial bottom line. Although quitting can also create feelings of anxiety, plenty of stop-smoking remedies are available today. When the urge hits, even if you wear a patch, chew nicotine gum, or take medication, you can learn to alter your behaviors
by taking a walk, working in a place where no smoking is allowed, or try to take a nap if the urge overwhelms you. If you want more reinforcement, visit sites like WhyQuit.com for free help.
14. Practice Pranayama (deep breathing).
Dr. Andy Weil proposes that smokers seem to substitute smoking for the natural deep breathing exercises that many health-minded people employ to relieve stress. Anyone who feels anxious could benefit from deep breathing, which is the Pranayama aspect of Yoga. Deep, slow, yoga breathing reduces the workload for the heart, assists in weight control, and relaxes the mind and body. You can find detailed instructions on how to practice Pranayama for free online.
15. Change your posture.
Deep breathing can help to improve your posture, but a good chair or other options for other situations (like an affinity for sitting on the floor) can help to correct your posture as well. Practice that posture with free information on how to build a healthy back from the Cleveland Clinic. You can lean on Cornell University’s Ergonomics Web for information on everything from choosing the right chair to the best way to work while sitting on the floor as well. While posture is an important tool to correct everything from headaches to foot pain, Cornell also dissects the effects that poor lighting and air quality have on your computer-related health.
16. Identify ergonomic computer workstation problems.
Cornell offers many tools for you to create an ergonomic work environment, and OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) provides a four-pronged approach that addresses musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in the workplace. Use this latter resource to identify possible solutions for potential contributing conditions, or use their evaluation checklist to make sure that your computer work environment is physically beneficial.
17. Adjust your laptop environment.
Not surprisingly, laptop ergonomics are different than desktop ergonomics. Learn how to adjust your laptop environment so that you can work in comfort.
18. Avoid eyestrain.
If you experience burning, tightness, sharp pains, dull pains, watering, blurring, double vision, headaches, and other sensations in your eyes, something isn’t right in the vision department. Learn how to recognize and prevent some eyestrain problems. If you haven’t visited an eye doctor in over a year, make an appointment now to make sure that your vision problems are physical rather than caused by your environment.
19. Learn to recognize an emotionally toxic environment.
Pain can go beyond the physical, as a person’s capacity to manage their environment has a direct correlation to his or her overall mental and physical wellness. A toxic workplace can create an equally polluted frame of mind that can affect a person both emotionally and mentally. The result is an elevation of stress hormones, and each person will react differently to those increased levels. One way to remedy this problem is to learn how to recognize a toxic workplace, and to also recognize the behaviors and responses to unhealthy situations. Once again, exercise can help you to rid yourself from those feelings of anger and helplessness and to regain focus and balance, but conflict resolution can help to relieve stress as well.
20. Learn to recognize a physically toxic environment.
You might love mushrooms, but some fungal molds can cause anything from mild allergies to toxicity. Whether you work at home or in an office, you can test for mold with kits that cost little more than postage and handling. If you don’t want to go that route, you can have your home or office tested by an AIHA (Accredited Industrial Hygiene Association) professional.
21. Avoid multitasking.
Some say that the willingness to multitask is a response to the “fight or flight” syndrome, where the multitasker uses simultaneous tasks to avoid confronting emotional issues. On the other hand, multitasking has been born out of the ability to accomplish several tasks at one time through technology. But, it was proven six years ago that multitasking can be counterproductive and that it can also cause health problems including anxiety and depression. In fact, a one-second delay
in some instances can prove fatal if you combine driving with other tasks.
Although it may seem impossible at first, you can learn how to carve out some time for yourself to learn how to single-task. Yoga, meditation, deep breathing, and silence can help you to lean how to focus on one task at a time, a skill that you can carry to the workplace. Another tool that works for me is to set a time frame for each task and set a timer for when that task was to be completed. If I don’t finish, I drop that task and come back to it later. This practice allows me to enjoy the variety I crave, which helps me to avoid boredom. As a result, I’ve discovered that I can accomplish more in less time. Plus, my heartburn seems to have disappeared.
22. Don’t play doctor.
As a computer fiend, you probably know that you can find information about various illnesses online. For instance, you can avoid diabetic problems by following online advice provided by professionals once you’ve already been diagnosed. You can learn about heart attack symptoms as well, but don’t consider yourself a medical professional when it comes to serious physical problems. The symptoms provided by this list are also the same symptoms that can occur with serious heartburn. Don’t play doctor when it comes to your health. If you’re feeling seriously ill, don’t delay in seeking professional help.
23. Submit your body to physical exams.
Whether you choose to maintain an annual schedule for that physical checkup is up to you, but when you feel off-kilter and can’t pinpoint the problem then it might behoove you to make an appointment for some physical exams. Additionally, there are certain guidelines and checklists available to help you keep track of when you need to make appointments for cancer related or diabetic checkups.
If it chafes you to whip out your credit card and pay exorbitant fees for these exams, try a visit to your local annual county fair. Many county fairs hold free screenings for such things as prostate exams and skin cancer and diabetes checkups. Some colleges, organizations, businesses, and communities offer health fairs or opportunities for partial checkups. Check your local newspaper or call around to discover if you can take advantage of upcoming opportunities.
24. Reward yourself.
Sometimes the only person who will thank you for a job well done is you. Some call it “hyacinths for the soul,” or the ability to pamper yourself after meeting a stressful deadline or a difficult goal. Only you know what turns you on in that arena…perhaps eating a pizza while soaking in a bubble bath does it, or you may have to take yourself completely out of your environment with a trip to the Caribbean. Take time to make a list of things that you enjoy so that when you need to call upon your pleasures you have all the tools at hand. There’s nothing worse than no money in the kitty for a pizza or bubble bath let alone an airplane ticket when you need it most!
25. When all else fails, keep a journal.
Unlike the drug addict who is classified as suffering from “hard addiction,” the person who develops an unhealthy compulsive lifestyle is said to be suffering from a “soft addiction” because the results aren’t immediately felt by the abuser. If you cannot tear yourself away from your computer without some anxiety, guilt, or sadness, if you can’t seem to change your habits despite sincere resolutions, or if someone else has pointed out that your behavior is unusual or harmful, then you might have a serious problem.
If you recognize that your habits are detrimental to your mental and physical health, you can begin to change your habits one at a time to avoid being overwhelmed by a huge lifestyle alteration. Some of the symptoms to soft addictions include an inability to remember what you did as time seems to fly by. But, soft addictions come with identifiable costs of time, money, energy, and intimacy. If you spend too much time at a computer, you can track that time with a journal. You can also use that journal to mark your progress, and then you can reward yourself for all your positive changes.
Conclusion
While many of your computer-related problems might be the result of actual physical issues, a majority of issues seem to be connected to how a person uses a computer. It usually takes about thirty days to change a habit, which is why so many drug and alcohol treatment centers offer programs that last for twenty-eight to thirty days. So don’t set your sites too high and expect to alter your behaviors by tomorrow morning. Set reasonable goals and within six months you could change up to six habits that are hurting rather than helping you.
If you feel that you haven’t made progress with lifestyle changes, you have an solution for your IAD (Internet Addiction Disorder) through new treatment centers for computer-related behavioral issues. All you need to do is conduct a search for a “computer addict treatment” to find results. Be warned: if you don’t call, a concerned family member may take that step and you might become part of the new wave of offline interventions for individuals with online computer disorders.
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