Chic-Shuk Secrets

For the 100 posts which were published in this blog, I would like to dedicate this one to sum up my favorites so far: (and recommend reading again!!!)

• Diet Saver- Smart Snacking

• Secrets of the Sun- Thief of Beauty:

• Avocado: Power of Nature:

• Heidi Klum Glowing Skin Secrets:

• Red Wine or Bad Wine?!

• Blueberries Health & Beauty Secrets:

• Hunger Attack Solution:

• Beauty Bites- Foods for Beautiful Skin:

• Health Benefits of Laughing:

• Nutritionists Healthy Rule:

• Eva Longoria Emotional Secret:

• Dark Circles Dark Secrets:

• Improve your sleep- Healthy Secrets:

• Number 1 Rule for Healthy Diet:

• Red Pepper- My Healthy Veggie Meal:

• Think Outside the Box:

Unfortunately there is no magic when it comes to weight watching and keeping a healthy lifestyle. What makes a healthy diet works for the long term is mostly a healthy eating. When I needed to figure it out if my eating habits are good or bad I asked myself several questions:

1. What do I drink when I`m thirsty?

2. Do I normally eat in front of the TV or computer?

3. How often do I eat out?

4. How fast do I eat?

5. Do I always finish my entire meal?

6. How many times do I eat during the day?

The answers to these questions could be very, however each one of us should be as closer as possible to these answers:

We should drink lots of water, whether thirsty or not, or at least drink what is based on water, like green tea or lightly flavored vitemins water. When it comes to where we eat, around the table is your best choice since otherwise we tend to be distracted and eat more then we should. When we eat out, it makes it harder to watch our weight and healthy eating since most restaurant food has extra portion, calories and fat. Try to cook at home more often, eat slowly and listen to your body. You would know when you full and should stop eating. Even if there is still food on your plate! yes my friend, you can save it for later and continue eating once hungry again! This is how you keep your stomach and therefore your metabolism working by eating small meals several times a day.

Good Luck!!!

As a healthy lifestyle fan, while weight watching and dieting, I used to wonder many times wether to choose low fat foods that have extra calories, or go for the less calories products, that often contains higher grams of fat. I have recentely learnd that each gram of fat is basically dissolving to 9 calories once congest in our system, therefore, when it comes to making a smart choice, as simple as math can get, if a product contains 100 calories “only”, but has 5 grams of fat per serving, it means that you get to eat 100 + ( 9×5 )= 100 + 45 = 145 calories overall!  Pay attention to how many grams of fat there is in the foods you buy and eat, since calories are easier to burn, and since eventually fat becomes calories! 

Year 2010 is on our door steps, however I felt like I can not let go of 2009 before I dedicate a post to the most glamorous women of this passing year. Their smile, their glory and all of that fame and success: inspired by Glamour Magazine but more likely by my favorable charm, lifestyle, health & beauty qualities and wellness, these are my most chic and glamorous 9 women of 2009, as appeared on several popular cover pages:   

Number 1: Angelina Jolie

Number 2: Jennifer Aniston

Number 3: Heidi Klum

Number 4: Drew Barrymore

Number 5: Taylor Swift

Number 6: Jessica Alba

Number 7: Halle Berry

Number 8: Beyonce Knowles

Number 9: Megan Fox

And as a “Bonus” women, I had to give the 2009 first lady a little credit, right?! therefore number 10 most glamorous is:

 Number 10: Michelle Obama

Dark circles under eyes usually are not necessarily a sign of exhaustion or serious illness, like most people tend to think. They can make you feel old, unhealthy and tired, and medically defined as round, uniform areas of pigmentation beneath each eye, which can affect both men and women.  What appear as shadows cast by puffy eyelids or hollows under your eyes, thinning skin and loss of fat and collagen, which make the reddish-blue blood vessels under your eyes more obvious, can be a result of many sakes:  Allergies, tiredness, part of aging (The loss of fat and collagen is common as you age), normal lifestyle factors (such as smoking and drinking alcohol or too many caffeinated sodas) and last but not least reason- unfortunately- heredity.  No matter what the cause is, you can still reduce the appearance of dark circles, and in some cases, you may be able to get rid of them altogether!

For prevention you should eat healthy, balanced diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables, take daily vitamins supplement if necessary (especially vitamin K and B12), reduce sodium intake and drink plenty of water. If you are a smoker-  quit smoking! Smoking causes vascular (blood vessel) problems that can not only threaten your life, but also make your blood vessels appear more prominent and bluer beneath the skin. However, the most natural, easy way treating dark circles when appear is to apply cool tea bags, or cucumber slices over your eyes for about 10-15 minutes daily, keeping your eyes closed. It will reduce swelling, discoloration, and puffiness then refresh the appearance of skin around the eyes!