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Weight Loss Transformations Demetria: Before By ninth grade, Demetria already weighed 200 pounds. Her childhood nickname "Big D" stayed with her through high school and into adulthood. Weight Loss Transformations Demetria: After Demetria decided she had to make a change when she gained so much weight that she didn't recognize herself in pictures. Click to read her story. Weight Loss Transformations Brett: Before A sedentary new job and a fast-food diet packed thirty pounds onto Brett's 5'7" frame. Weight Loss Transformations Brett: After A photo of Matthew McConaughey taped to the mirror kept Brett inspired to work out, eat right and meet his weight loss goal. Click to read Brett's story. Weight Loss Transformations Laura: Before Laura has waged a lifelong struggle against her weight, having battled bulimia as a teen only to gain 115 pounds after getting help. Weight Loss Transformations Laura: After A serious car accident made Laura appreciate...

One of the first homemade beauty products I’ve ever made was an aspirin mask. I think it’s the most powerful non-prescription and totally green solution you can find for problem skin. Aspirin for acne? Why not? It’s the cleanest and most concentrated form of salicylic acid. It is made of acetylsalicylic acid. Since its market introduction under the trademark Aspirin® in the year 1899, acetylsalicylic acid has attained a strong reputation in the prescription-free therapy of pain and inflammations. Aspirin works to inhibit the body’s production of prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are extremely effective, hormone-like substances that are produced by the body in miniscule quantities and are involved in the regulation of pain, fever and inflammation. Additional bonus: active ingredient in aspirin prevents infections and damage to blood vessels! That’s exactly what we are looking for – killing the inflammation and keeping blood vessels stable to avoid swellin...

By Ted Spiker from O, The Oprah Magazine Oprah.com Dressed only in my underwear, I'm eight years old and sitting on the pediatrician's exam table, waiting for my checkup. My mother points to the two mounds of fatty flesh between my chest and belly. She asks the doctor, "Could they be tumors?" "No," he says, "it's just fat." Since that day, my fat has absorbed more darts than the back wall of a bar. At six feet two and 215 pounds, I'm not huge. I just carry my weight where women do—in my hips, butt and thighs. And I hate it. I hate the way clothes fit. I hate that friends say I use the "big-butt defense" in basketball. I'm not the only man who wishes his body looked more like Michael Jordan's and less like a vat of pudding. A recent survey showed that only 18 percent of men are happy enough with their physiques that they wouldn't change them. While women get there first, they don't have a monopoly on stressing over ...

Content provided by Healthwise In the following exercises, soup cans, water bottles, or books can be used in place of weights. Try to use a weight that makes your muscle feel tired when you have repeated the exercise 8 to 12 times. Bench fly Illustrations copyright 2002 Nucleus Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.nucleusinc.com Lie on a bench and hold the weights straight up over your chest. Do not lock your elbows. You can keep them slightly bent if that is comfortable for you. Slowly lower your arms, keeping them extended, until the weights are level with your chest, or slightly lower. Slowly raise your arms until you are in the original position. Repeat 8 to 12 times. Rest for a minute and repeat the exercise. Lateral raise Illustrations copyright 2002 Nucleus Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.nucleusinc.com Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your knees slightly bent. Hold the weights at your sides at thigh level. Slowly lift ...

Really, they do! Toothpaste on a zit? Vinegar in your hair? Some of that ridiculous-sounding advice you’ve heard in passing is really right on. You’ve been told this line before: “Okay, I know it’s weird but…” What follows is a surprising piece of advice- about anything from clearing up a zit to taming a flyaway- that totally does the trick. Call it word-of-mouth beauty. Sure, these tips might sound strange at first (“You put diaper cream where?!), but there’s a logic to them. We rounded up tons of such pointers (from pros as well as real girls) and tested them at Cosmo. Though a few clunkers had to be kicked to the curb, all the rest, presented here, are real gems. 1. Powder Your Roots If your hairline starts to look greasy, dig up a big, fluffy makeup brush, and dip into a pot of loose powder. Tap it once on the back of your hand to remove excess, then dust it over your roots. It mops up oil and blends into your strands, so no one will know you didn’t shower. 2. Scent Stra...

Which exercise can help without hurting? By Martica Heaner, M.A., M.Ed., for MSN Health & Fitness Martica Q. I have a herniated disc. What is the best way to flatten and strengthen my upper and lower abdomen, but avoid straining my lower back? A. A common misconception is that specific exercises will “flatten” the abdomen. Another common misconception is that different abdominal muscles need to be worked—upper vs. lower, for example. Here’s the truth: If you wish to flatten your abdomen, this suggests that you have extra fat in the area. You can lie on your back and do zillions of ab crunches, V-sits, bicycle moves, reverse curls, curls on the ball, and so on—and not make a dent in the fat on your belly. Why? Because lying on your back and contracting your abdominal muscles burns very few calories. It burns about as many as lying on your back and watching TV (OK, maybe half a calorie per minute more). To reduce body fat, you need to burn more calories—and a lot of them. This is bes...

Plant-Based Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise New Drug Seems Effective Against Aggressive Prostate Cancer South Korea Begins Year-Round Bird Flu Monitoring Deep Brain Stimulation Eases Depression: Study Study Challenges Stereotypes About Obese Workers Asian Nations Need to Act Against Drug-Resistant TB: WHO Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay: Plant-Based Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise A plant-based cancer vaccine that kick-starts the immune system and can be tailored to target specific tumor types shows promise, according to U.S. researchers who tested the vaccine on 16 people with incurable follicular B-cell lymphoma. More than 70 percent of the patients developed an immune response and none of them showed any significant side effects, Agence France-Presse reported. The study appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . "The idea is to marshal the body's own immune system to fight cancer,...

Runners who listen to music know its motivating power, but what exactly does a great running song sound like? By Jeff Pearlman, Runner's World Jim Peterik still remembers the conversation. The year was 1982, and the songwriter was sitting in his Chicago home when Sylvester Stallone called with an intriguing request: "I'm making Rocky III," he said, "and I need a song for the kids." Soon thereafter, Peterik huddled with Frankie Sullivan, guitarist and fellow cofounder of the rock band Survivor, to watch a rough cut of the film. He was immediately inspired. "I started playing what became the beginning guitar riff of the song on a dead string [untuned] Les Paul," says Peterik, who runs three miles four times per week. "We added the drums, and it created a real energy. A real pulse. Then I was watching the movie and punches started being thrown. So on the keyboard I went bop, bop-bop-bop! — to emulate the punching. That created the tension." ...

By Sally Wadyka It’s easy to have gorgeous-looking locks when you walk out of the salon, but it’s how you care for your hair on a daily basis that really makes a difference in the long run. “Even if you have a fantastic cut and you’re skilled at styling your hair, it’s not going to look its best if you mistreat it,” says Renee Cohen, senior stylist at Serge Normant at John Frieda, New York City. Here, the most common mistakes women make when it comes to their hair care—plus expert advice on how to fix them. 1. Washing your hair every day—or more. While we’re not advocating the greasy grunge look circa 1992, it can be good for your hair to get a break from daily washing, drying and styling. If you color your hair, skipping the shampoo on occasion will help your shade stay rich longer since the sulfates in many shampoos fade away color. And for all but the oiliest heads, daily (or even twice daily if you hit the gym) washing can strip away too much of your natural oil, leaving hair dry, ...

Strawberries are a fragrant, red-coloured, ground-dwelling fruit. Their history dates back over 2,000 years with records showing a variety of breeds as a native in many parts of the world. In the early eighteenth century a strawberry hybrid was created that took its size from a South American variety and its taste and fragrance from France. This created what it is known today as the common strawberry that is preferred throughout Europe. The strawberry is often described as a luxury item, enjoyed by royalty. France's King Charles V had over 3000 planted at the Louvre in Paris, King Louis XIII ate them everyday; and both Louis XIII and Louis XIV the latter enjoyed the berries so much that they are recorded to have eaten them to the point of indigestion! It wasn’t until the mid-nineteenth century, when railways were built, that more than just the rich could enjoy the fragrant fruit. Today, the United States, Canada, France, Japan, Italy, Australia and New Zealand are some of the lar...

If you are finding that you don’t have enough time to exercise due to a busy work or home life, there are techniques that you can use throughout the day that will accelerate your weight loss . Most of these can be done just about anywhere and only require a few extra minutes . 1. Take the stairs. If you work in a building with an elevator, try taking the stairs at least once a day. It may take a little bit longer, but you’ll be burning fat while you walk. This of course may not always be feasible, but try to do it at least once a day. You’ll have even better results if you completely stop using the elevator. 2. Suck it in. It sounds silly, but sucking in your stomach throughout the day can actually help tighten your abs and whittle your waist. No one even has to know you’re doing it. Just suck in your stomach for five minutes of time throughout the day. This can really help if your exercise options are limited and many women have managed to lose whole dress sizes after just a few...