The skin is the largest organ of our body. Like the lungs, the skin “breathes” in and out, taking in nutrients and releasing toxins. You may have noticed a trend in the pharmaceutical industry in which more and more prescriptions are being offered in a “patch” or gel form. That is because research shows that introducing substances through the skin is an effective and steady way to get needed medicines directly into the bloodstream. That’s great news when it comes to medicine, but what does that mean to us regarding skin care? It means that we have to ask two important questions about the products we choose to use to enhance our skin: What’s in it? and Is it helpful or harmful?

Over 10,000 chemicals are used as ingredients in skin care products throughout the industry. The National Institute of Occupational Safety has determined that 900 of those are unsafe and others have yet to be tested for safety. In Europe, more than 400 have been banned for use but many of those can still be found in products on our grocery, drug and health food store shelves. While some skin care companies claim products are “all natural”, or “anti-aging”, they may still contain ingredients that are potentially harmful and promote breakdown of the skin, like some natural and synthetic preservatives, suspected carcinogens, drying alcohols, synthetic fragrances and dyes.

While beauty may not be “skin deep”, keep in mind that your skin care products penetrate deep beyond the skin and can affect your long-term health and appearance. Being an educated skin care shopper will ensure you get the best possible products to enhance your skin and protect your health.

They Put That In My Skin Care?

According to the Breast Cancer Fund (http://www.breastcancerfund.org), parabens are chemicals used as a preservative to inhibit the growth of bacteria and molds. Parabens are known to disrupt endocrine (hormone) function. More than 12 recent research studies showed parabens to have estrogenic activity when applied to the skin - they raise estrogen levels which increase risk of certain cancers.

Recent research detected five types of intact parabens in human breast tumors, an indication that parabens penetrate skin and remain in breast tissue.

Animal studies indicate that parabens may also affect pre-natal development of the male reproductive system. Parabens are not only in skin care. They are found in many personal care products such as deodorants, shampoos, etc. Therefore, researchers show concern for “daily, chronic exposure” and the cumulative effect of this exposure.

Here’s a list of 7 reasons why “The Dirty Dozen” (or so) chemicals found in many of our “daily use” products should be avoided.

1. Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamide DEA/Lauramide DEA, Petrolatum
- May contain harmful impurities or form toxic breakdown that can lead to cancer

2. Propylparaben, Ethylparaben, Methylparaben, Petrolatum (vaseline), Mineral Oil, Coal Tar, Cocamide DEA/Lauramide DEA, Petrolatum, Talc, Toluene, Triethanolamine, Formaldehyde
- Potential breast cancer risk

3. Propylparaben, Ethylparaben, Methylparaben, Butylparaben, Isobutylparaben
- Endocrine (hormonal) disrupter and potential breast cancer risk

4. Propylparaben, Ethylparaben, Methylparaben, Butyl Acetate, Butylated Hydroxytoluene, Ethylacetate, Petrolatum, Toluene, Formaldehyde, Butylacetate
- Skin sensitizer (causes rashes, immune system reactions, hives, burning, scaling, blistering)

5. Propylene Glycol, Phythalates
- Gastrointestinal and liver toxicity

6. Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Laureth
- Penetration enhancer (alters skin structure to allow chemicals to penetrate deeper into the skin and bloodstream)

7.Phthalates, Talc, Toluene, Formaldehyde
- Reproductive or developmental harm

Ira Goodman, Ph.D. is a Social Psychologist/Nutritional Coach. who has a passion for serving others. He and his wife, Roz, a massage therapist have a nutrition practice and are building a health and wellness center in the Ozark Mountains. Learn more about their facility at
http://www.freewebs.com/stargatesanctuary and learn more about Ira at http://www.freewebs.com/whoisiragoodman

Trying to lose baby fat with exercise does not have to a slow and arduous challenge. In fact, if you follow some general guidelines for effective fat loss training, those extra baby fat pounds can come off rather quickly and easily!

In this article we are going to take a look at some general guidelines to follow for safe and effective baby fat loss training.

Remember to keep your safety as your number one priority. If you have had a cesarian section, it is recommended that you avoid heavy exercise for at least three months.

Here are some of the key points that you should follow:

1. Understand the difference between weight loss and fat loss.

A lot of people nowadays follow the trend of want to lose “weight.” It is important you understand that losing weight means that you are losing muscle mass, water weight, and maybe a little bit of fat. The problem is, water weight comes back on very quickly and gaining muscle mass takes time. You can lose a lot of weight quickly, but the last thing you want to do when trying to lose baby fat is to lose 20lbs in 3 weeks and them put it all back on.

You want to concentrate on losing fat while increasing muscle mass and raising your metabolism. You see, muscle is what burns body fat. If your body is primed for this to happen, your fat loss efforts will be slower but have a better chance of being permanent.

So when trying to lose baby fat, it is important that you concentrate on losing fat and not losing weight.

2. Don’t go on an extreme diet.

When someone really wants to lose baby fat, it can be tempting to try and go on an extreme diet. Going on a diet where you are only eating a small amount of calories per day can result in “weight loss” like we talked about before. If your body is used to taking in a lot of calories and then you start to create a super caloric deficit, your metabolism will slow down and you will be more susceptible to put the weight back on quickly.

3. Go find a personal trainer who specializes in this area.

It is a great idea for you to find a local personal trainer who is an expert in dealing with people who want to lose baby fat. Remember, your safety should be your number one priority. Having someone guide you through the process step by step is a great idea.

Remember to stay enthusiastic, keep learning, and be persistent. You can succeed!

Want to Reprint this Article?

Reprinting is welcome as long as the content, links, author bio, and resource box are all included and remain completely unchanged.

Tom Gifford is a Certified Personal Trainer by the American Council on Exercise. His website at http://www.TheFatLossZone.com offers a free 47 page ebook titled “How to Fire Up Your Metabolism and Lose Body Fat Permanently”. Tom’s free newsletter from The Fat Loss Zone is jam packed with tips and techniques guaranteed to get you on the fast track to having a slim and sexy physique.

Childhood obesity is an increasingly difficult problem. Action, if taken early, can change the outcome for obese children or even prevent it happening in the first place. An appropriate exercise problem is one tool that can alter the outcome for such children

When we talk about exercise routines for children we must not get them confused with the strict routines that adults follow. Children’s exercise routines should be fun, flexible and enjoyable, not the three or four gym visits per week type routines. As children are still growing, certain types of exercise may be harmful to them at a younger age. You can however incorporate aerobic exercises, strength building exercises and activities to improve flexibility into your child’s routines to build overall fitness.

The following is fact …

obesity could shave an average of nine years from our lifespan

Want exercise on wheels? Try rollerblading or cycling. Rollerblading, as well as being fun, can be an indoor or outdoor sport so is great for the winter months as well. Both of these exercises are good for developing your child’s coordination and balance. Cycling is an easy way to increase you child’s activity and overall fitness as it works many muscle groups. Once you get your child on a bike they will never look back, whether cycling to school or to their friend’s house, they will be exercising without even knowing it.

Did you know …?

being obese increases our risk of many health problems including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers, stroke, back and joint pain, osteoarthritis, high blood pressure, gallstones, fatty liver, infertility, breathlessness, depression, snoring, difficulty sleeping and excessive sweating

Exercise helps to regulate body fat so your child will be less likely to become overweight. Blood pressure and cholesterol levels may also be lowered and they are at a lesser risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Your child will also develop a leaner physique with stronger muscles and bones. Being physically fit and active also helps to improve your child’s sleeping habits and their mental agility in day to day tasks.

You can choose from many forms of exercise to benefit your child’s health and growing up needs. Discussing your ideas with your child and the rest of the family will help to build a picture of the types of exercises your child will have fun taking part in. This is the first and most important step to helping them choose an exercise regime that they will feel comfortable with.

Eric Hartwell oversees “The World’s Best Homepage” intended to be a user-generated resource where YOUR opinion counts. Anybody can contribute and all are welcomed. Visit us to read, comment upon or share opinions on obesity, weight control, weight loss and dieting and visit our associated site articles for free.

Today refinancing has become rather popular, due to the great deals out there and people wanting to save money on their loans and debts, raise additional finance and have more disposable income on a monthly basis. People with bad credit are used to the past when they were denied the ability to refinance or if they were approved accepting whatever terms there were.

Competition Between Lenders

Today, things have changed for the homeowner who may have less than perfect credit or poor credit when it pertains to refinancing their mortgage. Presently, there is a stiff competition among lenders. This competition has allowed people with bad credit to be on the receiving end of these refinancing deals. Lenders are now offering bad credit refinance deals to people with poor credit ratings. These finance packages make it easier for people with bad credit to refinance, resulting in the improvement of their credit scores, obtaining better interest rates, lessening there monthly payments and allowing them to have some extra disposable income.

Refinance Packages for Poor Credit Borrowers

If you have bad credit, although lenders view you as being a higher risk, then there are still refinance packages that are beneficial. Although you may have to pay higher interest rates than someone with good credit, you will still be able to improve your situation. Make sure that you review the entire cost of each package before choosing a lender to refinance with.

Refinancing Your ARM

Also, if you have an adjustable rate mortgage that will be resetting to a much higher rate, unpaid bills, or a lot of outstanding credit card debt, then you might want to help your situation out by refinancing. By refinancing you will be able to fix your rate before your credit gets worse, or being able to cash out to consolidate debt and lower your total monthly payments. Borrowers with poor credit history can refinance as well as benefit from it.

Suggested Refinance Lenders for People With Credit Problems - We maintain a list of recommended mortgage companies online and update the list regularly.

Bad Credit? Here Are 50 Ways To Improve Your Credit Score.- Read this article to learn 50 ways you can raise your credit score.

Trying to lose 10 pounds can be a challenge if you do not have the right tools to do it.

This article will outline exactly what you need to do with diet, cardio, and strength training if you want to lose 10 pounds and lose it fast.

How to Lose 10 Pounds With: Diet

With diet, the most important thing is that you create a deficit with the number of calories you are taking in.
For example, there are 3,500 calories in 1 pound. If you cut back by just 500 calories per day, then at then of 1 week you will have lost 1 pound. If you combine the right type of exercise in there, you can easily lose 2-3 pounds per week!

Taking in less calories is very important, but you should also be aware of when you are eating. The best way to structure your meals it to eat 4-6 small meals per day that consist of good protein, complex carbs, and healthy fatty acids.

This type of meal spacing will help to keep you from being too hungry and will also keep your blood sugar more regulated!

How to Lose 10 Pounds With: Strength Training

The important thing here is that you do total body workouts. Your fat loss goal with strength trainng is simple. Add more lean muscle mass so that you can increase your metabolism.

To add more muscle mass, you want to do total body strength training workouts. This will help you lose those 10 pounds because you will burn a lot of calories by increasing your metabolism while at rest.

Instead of doing the traditional high reps and low weight, try doing sets of 10-12 reps with a weight that is challenging for you. You will not add more lean muscle mass if you do not work your muscles hard enough!
The more muscle you have, the more pounds you lose. Plain and simple.

How to Lose 10 Pounds With: Cardio

A lot of people get into the habit of doing the same cardio workout over and over again. It usually consists of getting on a treadmill, elliptical, stair stepper, or exercise bike and going for 30-60 minutes at the same speed. If you do this type of workout each time you go to the gym, losing 10 pounds will be very slow and frustrating.

Instead, you want to try training with intervals. This means that you are mixing high and low intensities together during the same workout.

An example is to go 2 minutes slow followed by 1 minute fast. Repeat this 3-6 times and you have yourself a great cardio workout that will burn lots of calories and rev up your metabolism to help burn off those last 10 pounds.

CONCLUSION

If you really want to lose 10 pounds, then you need to do the right combination of diet, strength training and cardio that were outlined in this article. For more detailed information about each one, check out the links below. There is only so much that can fit into one article =)

Good luck, train hard, and go lose those 10 pounds!

Want to Reprint this Article?

Reprinting is welcome as long as the content, links, author bio, and resource box are all included and remain completely unchanged.

Tom Gifford is a Certified Personal Trainer by the American Council on Exercise. His website at http://www.TheFatLossZone.com offers a free 47 page ebook titled “How to Fire Up Your Metabolism and Lose Body Fat Permanently”. Tom’s free newsletter from The Fat Loss Zone is jam packed with tips and techniques guaranteed to get you on the fast track to having a slim and sexy physique.

Childhood obesity is an increasingly difficult problem. Action, if taken early, can change the outcome for obese children or even prevent it happening in the first place. An appropriate exercise problem is one tool that can alter the outcome for such children

Coming up with ideas for exercises to keep your child interested and happy may sometimes seem a difficult task to take on. A good way to start is by finding out what your child is interested in and going from there. You may also want to check out what facilities for children are available to you in your area. Maybe you have local facilities for indoor sport, outdoor sport, a swimming pool, dance classes or you may even be lucky enough to be near some great hills to go hiking on.

The following is fact …

obesity could shave an average of nine years from our lifespan

All children are not the same when it comes to their attitude towards physical activity. Some children are happy to join in with their friends and run around till they drop. Others are shy, so maybe do not like getting involved in team activities for instance. For these children, one way to encourage physical activity is outside school times by involving the whole family. Your child will gain in confidence by being involved in a smaller ‘team’ and will be able to take that confidence into the school environment.

Did you know …?

The worldwide increase in obesity is spreading to areas of developing countries where there’s easier access to an over-processed diet and less need to be active in daily lives

Some things can conspire to stop your child leading a naturally healthy life. These include children spending more time indoors with the latest video games, toys or just sitting around watching their favorite TV shows. Where children used to play out till dark now a lot of parents feel that the streets aren’t as safe an environment as they used to be. In many areas the local amenities aren’t as open and accessible as they once were. This is why many people are seeing the benefits of having exercise equipment to help their child establish a healthier lifestyle.

For younger children you may find that exercise equipment may only consist of a skipping rope in the back garden. As your child gets older they may benefit from other equipment such as a treadmill, rowing machine or exercise bench. Try to remember not to jump in feet first when making your exercise equipment decisions. Take the time to find out which sport, if any, your child is interested in and go from there. If your child has no preference for a particular sport you may want to consider a bicycle, roller blades, a skateboard or maybe a trampoline.

Eric Hartwell oversees “The World’s Best Homepage” intended to be a user-generated resource where YOUR opinion counts. Anybody can contribute and all are welcomed. Visit us to read, comment upon or share opinions on obesity, weight control, weight loss and dieting and visit our associated site articles for free.

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.

What food might this contain?” The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning. There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!” The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, “Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.”

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The pig sympathized, but said, “I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers.”

The mouse turned to the cow and said “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The cow said, “Wow, Mr. Mouse. I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose.”

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s mousetrap alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house — like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness,she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife.

The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever.

Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient. But his wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.

The farmer’s wife did not get well, she died. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them. The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn’t concern you, remember — when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.

We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.

REMEMBER: EACH OF US IS A VITAL THREAD IN ANOTHER PERSON’S TAPESTRY; OUR LIVES ARE WOVEN TOGETHER FOR A REASON.

One of the best things to hold onto in this world is a friend.

http://bahlatul.googlepages.com/myself

Teleseminars are a great way to connect with your customers. You can provide information, answer questions, and market your products and services through teleseminars. You can also invite your joint venture partners to talk on your teleseminar. The marketing opportunities and ideas are endless. Following are situations and questions about the components of a successful teleseminar. Internet gurus will reveal the secrets to achieve this goal.

One major concern regarding teleseminars is the number of subscribers that attend the teleseminar. An example of this concern involves an Internet marketer that put on his first teleseminar. He sent an email to his subscriber list of over 2,000 email addresses. He sent an email twice a day for three days regarding the teleseminar. The copy on the emails was top notch as it was written by copy writing professionals. However, when it came time for the teleseminar he had low attendance on the call.

This left him to wonder the source of the low attendance. Was it due to the quality of the subscriber list? Was it that his subscriber list was not used a teleseminar? What could he do to significantly increase the attendance at his next teleseminar?

Internet Guru Answer: We need to examine his situation more closely. Did the Internet marketer set up a squeeze page that enables people to sign up for the teleseminar? Did the emails have a clickable link to the squeeze page? Did the Internet marketer track the number of people that clicked on the link in the email and then actually signed up for the teleseminar?

First of all, don’t worry if you have low attendance at your first teleseminar. Low attendance can be the result of many factors. For example, your subscriber list may not yet be “trained” to attend your teleseminars. Be proud that you gave a teleseminar. Keep providing more teleseminars and your subscriber list will catch on. The attendance level will increase if you are persistent.

You should also verify that you have a squeeze page for each teleseminar. The squeeze page should enable each person to sign up for the specific teleseminar. This specific list will go to an Autoresponder. This helps you keep track of who and how many sign up for the call. Plus, you can then market to this quality list before and after the call.

You can also track the link from the email to the squeeze page. Make sure to check how many people clicked on the link AND actually signed up for the teleseminar. These numbers will give you a conversion rate concerning the number of people that actually signed up for the call.

Another way to significantly increase teleseminar attendance is to bribe your subscriber list. For example, tell your subscriber list that if they attend the teleseminar then they will get a free bonus worth a good chunk of money. Also after they sign up you can send a voice broadcast to remind them to attend the teleseminar. Recommended voice broadcast systems include: Voice Shot and Market Touch Media.

Matt Bacak began investing his first earnings at the tender age of 12, a young businessman in the making. Now, 15 years later, Bacak survived failed businesses, botched partnerships, heavy credit card debt and bankruptcy - all in preparation for the accomplishments he has achieved today as a well-established Internet millionaire and best-selling author.

For more information, visit http://www.powerfulpromoter.com or sign up for his Powerful Promoting Tips at http://www.promotingtips.com

Choosing a domain name can be a challenging and frustrating experience. It can also be a fun filled and rewarding experience, a test of your creative skills, and self revealing on a lot of different levels!

My business name is Rational Environmental Solutions, I had tried several different variations, such as replacing solutions, with services, or just calling it solutions, so that I could later add more divisions, but what finaly settled me on this variation, was that it said what I wanted it to say, and the domain, www.rationalenvironmentalsolutions.com, was available. As you have already guessed, that was not a good choice for a domain name, although as a business name, it seems to work just fine. It says what I want it to say, and it gets a good look from my home states various agencies when they are looking for eco friendly companies to do jobs for the state. It just doesn’t work well as a domain name, because of it’s length, and the very good chance, that it will be misspelled when typing it into a browser.

So, I went looking for another domain name, that would at least offer some idea and association to what I do. Most were just as long and unruly as the original, so I thought that since the business name said what I wanted it to say, that the domain didn’t necessarily have to completely describe the business. I found the domain name TEXPEST, that describes where I am and what I do, (not, as I am sure some of you are thinking, what I am.) So TEXPEST, became my domain name. While I was searching, I ran across several others that I liked as well. Let me explain a little bit about why I did not choose them for my primary domain, but registered them anyway.

I came across my home town version of the name I chose, TYLERPEST, Since my hometown is one of the largest rose growing areas in the country, and because it has the largest Municipal rose garden in the country, it is sometimes called, the “Rose City”. ROSECITYPEST was available. I live in the Eastern part of the state of Texas, so since EASTTEXASPEST, is both long and difficult, and has the double letters to contend with, I decided against that. I did however find that ETEXPEST. ETEX, being a in common use in the area, was much more appealing, but was rejected because it “could be” confusing. TYLERLAWN, was also available, but didn’t say what I wanted to say. I settled on TEXPEST, because it was broad enough to cover work in the entire state, and short enough to be easily remembered and typed.

I registered the reasonably good other choices as well, to keep the competition from encroaching, and to protect my “branding”. I also wanted to use them to cover a lot of other bases. When someone types a service need into a browser, they often, out of habit, type .com at the end, so if they are looking for info on a Tyler pest, and type it in as, tylerpest.com, they will go directly to a very short page that I have done, that ends something like this: : “If this is your problem, don’t push the panic button, push the solution button.” Bellow, or even in the sentence, the word SOLUTIONS is highlighted, because I typed the “meta” information into the html, that points to my texpest site. Now, before I get emails telling me how this is bad, I want to let you know, that my short pages, contain more useful content than most web pages. I did this with several of the variations, and the rest I “forwarded”, using a 301 redirect, to the main website. If you want, you are of course, welcome to try it out, and see for yourself. It allowed me to say some things, in a little less of a professional tone than I would have on my website proper. (Look at www.etexpest.com, for a chuckle or two, particularly, if you live in a rural area!)

Now, when I search some of my keywords, I run across all sorts of little variations, that when clicked, will send people directly to me! When it was all said and done, I did a lot of good advertising for my business, and had a lot of fun doing it.

James Burns writes on internet and social issues from a different perspective, from his home in Tyler, Texas, and his home page can be seen at http://www.dotcomrevolt.com

Baseball is a game of skill and power that is unlike any other game today. Baseball has subtly to it that is often lost in other team sports such as basketball and football. So when people come together to play this game they need to be ready for any eventuality no matter how unlikely it maybe. That is why baseball drills are so important. Practicing these different scenarios keeps players from being unprepared for what may happen during a game which is very important. Here are a few drills that teach players both the fundamentals and some of the more important drills that can help teams with their weaknesses.

A good drill for all around practice is ironically called the “All Around” drill. This is an excellent baseball drill to teach kids to stop the ball and how to throw in and out of field. It starts with lining up players in groups of three to four at first base, right field, and third base. Each group has a different job, the first base players try to run from first base to third without being tagged and then must slide into third base. As the player runs a coach throws a ball to the right field players. This gives them an opportunity to practice stopping the ball. Then the right fielder throws the ball low to the third base players. The third base players then need to and tag the player that ran. It’s a slightly complicated drill but a good one for those that want to make sure that players are familiar with the basics of field play.

Another good drill is called “The Fence” drill. This is another excellent baseball hitting drill. This drill calls for a player to be standing behind some sort of solid wall; it can be made of chain link, cement, or even brink. The important thing is that the player can tell the difference between when they have touched the wall and when they have not. Have the player make their normal stance and stand about a 1-1 ½ feet in front of the wall. Then have the player practice their hitting style, if they continually hit the wall that means that they must tighten their stance. This will in turn help them with a quicker bat swing. Just remind your players that this drill is not about power but precision that way they won’t hurt themselves or the bat when they swing to far back and hit the wall.

Finally, a good creative drill to keep players practicing at home has many names but one can either be called rooftop ball or error depending on what players have heard it called. This is a simple drill that does a good job of practicing both fielding, throwing, and stopping the ball. At home, a player throws a ball down their slanted roof and tries to catch it after it rolls down. There is more than a slight chance of a “gutter ball” but it still does a great job of helping players at home practice in a creative way.

These different baseball drills will help players become much better rounded and in turn that will lead to better games. Baseball is a subtle art but much like an artist if a player has experience behind them it is more likely that they will be successful.

Kenny Buford is a baseball coach with over 20 years of experience. You can find more of his baseball drills on his blog:

http://www.baseball-tutorials.com/