Three universal goals most of us share are:

1. To live longer,
   
   
2. To live free of illness and
   
   
3. To control our weight.
   
   Interestingly enough, normal walking helps us achieve all three and it is not that much of an effort – IS IT?
   
   

All it takes is a little time, common sense and a few guidelines. Unfortunately, there's a lot of misinformation floating around regarding fitness walking, weight-loss and dieting.

To lose weight, it's more important to walk for time than speed. Walking at a moderate pace yields longer workouts with less soreness - leading to more miles and more calories spent on a regular basis.

Equally, it is important to get your body used to the new activity. Rather than starting with an hours' walk straight away, start with 15 minutes and increase the length of your walks each time you go out. This allows your body to adjust slowly to the new requirements and will spare you from the aches and pains of an untrained body doing a “marathon”. You are more likely to stick to your new plans and keep up your motivation if you get used to it slowly and can enjoy a certain feeling of satisfaction when you successfully increased the length of your walk for another 5-10 minutes.

High-intensity walks on alternate days help condition one's system. But in a walking-weight-loss program, it's better to be active every day. This doesn't require walking an hour every day. The key is leading an active life-style 365 days a year. Therefore, make a point in walking to the bus-stop or taking the stairs rather than the lift on your “non-walking days”. You will be amazed how quickly you will get used to your new activities.

When it comes to good health and weight loss, exercise and diet are interrelated. Exercising without maintaining a balanced diet is no more beneficial than dieting while remaining inactive.

The national research council recommends eating five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Fruits and vegetables are the ideal diet foods for several reasons. They're relatively low in fat and calories, yet are often high in fibre and rich in essential vitamins and minerals.

Carbohydrates are high-octane fuel. They provide energy for movement and help raise internal body metabolism. They're also satisfying. The key is not adding high-fat toppings to your carbohydrates.

It's everyday habits which define our weight and body composition. A three-minute walk after each meal is worth four pounds less body fat annually. Two flights of stairs a day burns off half a pound of body fat in a year. On the other hand, one candy bar eaten daily will add 20 pounds to your body-weight in a year's time... I don't know about you – but I would have an apple instead. Less sugar, better taste and part of your “5 each day-program”.

• 2 cups finely ground sea salt
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 2 tbs. light oil
• 1 tsp. vitamin E oil
• 2 eggs
• 5-6 drops essential oil

Every skin is different, and due to those differences, we all need different products to keep our skin soft and healthy looking. Therefore, we have tried to find different recipes, all based on natural products, to suit the needs of several types of skin. Please note: In case of an allergy to any of the products used in our recipes, we strongly advise you not to take any chances.

1. Egg- and honey mask for dry skin:
   
   Here is what you need:
   
   - beaten egg-white of 2 eggs
   - 50 g flour
    - 1 tablespoon honey Here is how you do it:
   
   Start slowly with mixing the egg-white and the flour. Add the honey and keep stirring until everything is mixed well (don't stir too hard, you still want a foamy, creamy consistency).
   Apply to your face using cotton-wool pads or a brush. Leave for about 20 mins and rinse with warm water.
   
   
   
   
2. Apple-Mask (cleansing and nourishing – for oily skin)
   
   Here is what you need:
   
   - 2 apples
   
   - 1 tablespoon lemon juice
   
   - 1 teaspoon of water (if the consistency is still too dry after you have added the lemon-juice)
   
   Here is how you do it:
   
   Grate your apples finely, add the lemon-juice and mix well. It should have a paste-like consistency. If it still looks a bit dry, add a tiny bit more water.
   
   
3. Strawberry-Mask (cleansing and refreshing)
   
   Here is what you need:
   
   - 3 strawberries
   
   - 1 tablespoon cream
   
   - 1 teaspoon honey
   
   Here is how you do it:
   
   Mash your strawberries into a paste using a fork. Then add the cream and the honey and mix well. Apply to your skin and leave to work for 10 minutes. Afterwards, remove with cotton-wool-pads and warm milk.
   
   
4. Strengthening Avocado-Mask (for any type of skin)
   
   Here is what you need:
   
   - ½ Avocado
   
   - 1 teaspoon of lemon-juice
   
   - 1 egg
   
   Here is how you do it
   
   Mash your avocado into a paste using a fork. The add the lemon-juice and the egg and stir well. Apply to your skin using a brush and leave for 10 minutes. Rinse well with warm water.
   
   
5. Cleansing Oatmeal-Mask
   
   Here is what you need:
   
   - 3 tablespoons of oatmeal
   
   - 3 tablespoons of warm (NOT HOT) milk
   
   - juice of ½ lemon
   
   Here is how you do it:
   
   Mix the oatmeal with the milk and the lemon-juice into a thickish paste. Then apply to your skin while the mixture is still warm and leave on for 15 minutes to dry slightly. Remove with cotton-wool-pads and warm water.
   
   

Today the average duration of human life in the United States is just about 80 years for women and about 75 for men. Conservative experts believe that our bodies are really build to last about 100 years; and that medial advances and more healthful living habits could bring this about within a generation or two.
What good is it though to add years to life if we do not also add quality of life to those years we gained? In fact, unless people learn to enjoy life and to grow old gracefully, the extra years may turn out an additional burden rather than an additional gain.

From 18 to 30 years is roughly the period of highest physical and mental vigor. The experiences we accumulate from the day we are born help us to conserve and to use our physical and mental abilities more wisely, so that for some time after 30 years we are able to perform increasingly well in spite of slowly slipping vigor. After age 50 the increasing accumulation of experience is no longer able to offset the now more rapidly declining energy and therefore aging begins to assert itself noticeably and in many different ways. Not every human being ages at the same speed or notices the same “symptoms” of aging. The individual aging-process is as much dependent on your genetics, your overall state of health and your own attitude towards it.

Here are a number of things that may come about gradually as you grow older:

• People who have not used eyeglasses before may at some time in their forties need them for reading, and in the fifties they usually need bifocals.
  
  
• At a higher age, people are likely to put on weight because there is a general slowdown in the oxidation rate of the aging body tissue and because they tend to do less strenuous work with no reduction in the amount of food consumed.
  
  
• In the fifties, some loss of hearing is likely to be noticed. Usually the high-pitched tones go first, so words with the sounds of F, S, and TH get confused. A hearing aid may be needed in some cases. You may also find it difficult to follow conversations that take place in a group of people. If you are experiencing loss of hearing, it can be increasingly difficult to distinguish between what had been said by an individual participant of the conversation. If more people speak at the same time, the words can sound rather “blurry” and unclear. More often than not, individually adjusted hearing-aids can improve the situation greatly.
  
  
• Aging is generally accompanied by a loss in physical and mental flexibility. This is noticed in a tendency to become stiff in the joints; in slower comeback after a strenuous trip, excessive "night life," or hard work; in slower healing of wounds, sore muscles, and strains or in a slower recovery after an illness and sometimes in greater difficulty to adjust to new people, new places, and new ideas.
  
  
• Men, especially, will notice loss of muscular strength. There will be increased unsteadiness and delicate muscle movements will be more clumsy and the stride in waking will become shorter. The conclusion now is that the performance and ability of the elderly has long been underestimated and can be greatly improved by a proper diet, sleep and exercise along with rest and relaxation.
  
  
• Many elderly people tend to lose their joy and will to live and chronic worriers may mope around and withdraw. Medical authorities now say that laughter is one of the best medicines for the elderly. You can always keep your sense of humor tuned up by surrounding yourself with pleasant and interesting people. Just act your age and don't be afraid to laugh at yourself even when no else is around.
  

Now that we all know the role that physical activity plays in our lives, remember to do something physical every day. The joints must be used or quite simply they will tighten with age creating that stooped worn out appearance we so often associate with getting old. Keep yourself flexible and fit on an exercise program consistent with your ability.

Hi ladies, I just stepped out of the most amazing SPA-Experience – in my own bathroom. Yesterday, I had the mad idea of spoiling myself with home-made FOOD-COSMETICS. And what can I say?

It feels great.

Since the DIY-principle is crucial to this pampering-session, there are a few preparations that need to be done. First, press the juice out of the lemon into a small container. To make it easier for you, roll the lemons backwards and forwards on your kitchen-table. By doing this, you can make sure that you get all the juice out of them. Then grate your potato into a small bowl. Mash the bananas and mix them with cream and the egg-yolk and put into your bathroom for later. For your body-peeling, mix sea-salt and olive-oil. Bowl some water and prepare your herbal-infusion.

Massage the olive-oil gently into your hair and wrap a towel around your head to keep your hair warm. This increases the effects of the ingredients on your hair. Leave it like that for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, you can brush your nails using the fresh lemon juice. Then rinse well and bathe your nails for 10 minutes in slightly warm olive-oil. Afterward, mix the warm oil with granulated sugar and use it as a gentle peeling on your hands. Next, whip up your egg and spread it evenly in your hair. Wrap the towel around your head again and leave the egg to work for another 30 minutes.

Then step into your shower and apply your sea-salt-oil peeling onto your body. Massage gently to get the best effects. When you are finished, rinse off the peeling well and wash your hair thoroughly. Now it is time for your Cleopatra-Bath and your facial:

When your bath is filled with hot water, put in the milk, the honey and your herbal-infusion and stir well. Make sure that all your ingredients are mixed well. Before you step into your bath and relax, apply your banana-face-mask and spread the grated potato on two cottonwood-pads. Stepping into your bath, put the cottonwood-pads onto your eyes, close them and

• 6 strawberries
• 1 banana
• 1 splash of lemon juice (exact amount to taste)
• 20-25 grapes
• 1 splash of orange juice (exact amount to taste)

Put all your fresh ingredients into a blender and blend well. Add the fruit juices to liquefy the mixture. If the mixture is still too thick, add water to taste. The quantity specified here should add up to roughly 250 ml of fresh and tasty strawberry-banana smoothie.

Serve slightly chilled.

For your kids:

Put the mixture into little moulds, then put a stick into the middle and put leave them in the freezer for a few hours at least – for delicious and healthy home-made ice-lollies.

ENJOY

• 4 oz (= clear, unscented glycerine Soap
• 1 tbs liquid soap
• 1 teaspoon liquid glycerine
• 1/2 teaspoon apple fragrance oil
• 2 drops red food colour (or any colour to taste)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  

1. Melt the soap in small pan over low heat. You can also put the soap an a small glass bowl and melt it over a pot of boiling water or in a glass cup in the microwave.
2. Add the liquid soap and the glycerine. Stir gently but well. Add fragrance, colour and cinnamon. Stir and let stand for a couple minutes, just enough to start to
3. Thicken so when you stir again the cinnamon will be more evenly distributed. Pour into small metal moulds. Allow to set completely (in or out of freezer).
4. Wrap in plastic wrap or use cellophane candy bags.

Those instructions can be used for any type of soap you wish to make. Just change the fragrance to taste. If you make a couple of different soaps using this recipe and bundle them up nicely, you can make very nice gifts for birthdays etc.

All the money in the world is nothing if you are not in good health. As wifes and moms, our focus is not only our health, but also the well-being of our loved-ones. Therefore, we are always looking for information to help us improve our well-being. If you are an expert in the area of Health and Beauty, why not contribute to this site by publishing an article or two? The more people help us putting the information together, the more valuable a resource it can become for all of us...