Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Five ways to get straight hair naturally


Are you tired of the waves in your hair? Do you wish to get that straight silky hair that you have just seen in your favourite shampoo ad? A few home therapies can definitely make your hair relatively straighter than before.


Coconut and Lemon

Add a few drops of lemon juice to freshly prepared coconut milk and mix well. Keep the glass of coconut milk and lemon juice into refrigerator for a few hours. A thick foamy layer will appear over the glass, which needs to be applied on the scalp and entire length of the hair right away. Steam your hair for 15-20 minutes after this and follow it up with a wash. Repeat this process regularly to get straighter hair.
Celery

Crush a few fresh celery leaves and mix them with a little water. Squeeze it to extract the juice and store it in bottle. The bottle has to be left unused for at least a day, so as to allow the juice to develop properties and effectiveness for straightening. Using them regularly, preferably in the morning, before bath will help in straightening hair. Massage it well on the scalp and leave it for 15-30 minutes, prior to washing it off with a shampoo.
The Milky Way

Milk is known to have moisturizing properties, which are suitable in straightening the hair. Take half cup of milk, preferably boiled and cooled. Then mix it with half cup of water. Store it in a spray bottle and spray over the hair. Allow it to stand for half an hour, before shampooing the hair. This mixture will help in straightening as well as adding substantial amount of moisture to add smoothness to the hair.
Cast a Spell with Castor

Castor oil is known to have hair growth and hair straightening properties. Massage the oil on the scalp, along your hair strands and then comb your hair properly. As you comb, blow dry your hair, which has been separated into sections, on high heat. The hair should feel dry and not oily after being blow dried. When done, wrap it with a chilled towel and leave for half an hour. It will soothe the hair from excessive heat and will restore the straightness. 
Hair Dryer and Hair Brush

This combination is something that people have seen in salons and spas. This can be done at home too! Get a hair dryer and a good hair brush, which will stretch and hold your hair firmly in place. Comb your wet hair and while it is still wet, use hair brush to stretch a section of hair by rolling it in end and then blow dry it. Repeat the process for other sections of wet hair till dry. 

6 Hidden Facts Why You Are Gaining Weight

 Are you doing everything to lose your weight and still gaining weight? Are you strictly eating everything that says ‘low fat’, or have a diet of two tomatoes and 1 boiled potato per day?
People have always associated fitness with fat loss or weight loss. In the struggle to achieve success overnight, they tend to subject their bodies to several kinds of abuses including rigid crash diets and ‘low fat’ bingeing. However, they don’t realise that bad eating, wrong diets and above all several other factors, non-related to food could be the potential reasons for your weight gain.
Let’s elaborate top six of them.
What happens when you diet
If you think that by eating sparingly for fifteen days, you will get back in shape, then its utter rubbish! Bodies that go into sudden starvation mode tend to save more calories than burn it. The body is like a system, which needs fuel to conduct basic metabolic activities, including burning of fat. Hence, when there’s no food or fuel, as the body saves the existing energy instead of utilizing it.

Watch what you eat!
Similarly, binging on ‘low fats’ labelled food, is bound to make one gain weight. Most of such food products have high levels of sugar, which add to the calorie count and therefore, explain the weight gain. Hence, instead of going for such foods, resort to fresh home cooked foods for weight loss. Don’t forget to avoid the junk food at all cost!

Sedentary lifestyle
Maybe you are eating right, but are simply failing to shed those kilos. It’s time to pay attention to your activity levels. Having a sedentary, lazy life or being a couch potato can be one of the reasons behind those excess tiers around your tummy.

Switch to an exercise regimen that is well suited for your body. If you are not an exercise person, then cultivating a few sport activities may be helpful. Try yoga, swimming or jogging or dancing to lose weight. A simple brisk walk of 45 minutes a day can help you as well.
Check your medicines
Some medicines have side effects of weight gain. You need to check with your GP, to confirm your fears. If possible, get him to prescribe other medicinal substitutes that do not have such side effects.

Sleeping patterns
Are you becoming an owl lately? Maybe it’s the reason behind your saddle bags! Switch to normal sleeping routine. Irregular sleeping patterns disturb body metabolism and result in weight gain.

Quit drinking
Excess drinking spoils and fattens the liver, making it sluggish in process. Being the chief blood detoxifier and fat metaboliser, it is unable to perform both the functions. This results in gaining weight and skyrocketing new heights of obesity.



Thursday, November 22, 2012

Top 10 Best Winter Foods


Apples
Apples are great all year round, known for its properties that boost cardiovascular health and prevent dementia. Winter is the season for apples, and eating seasonal fruits is both healthy and affordable. So stock up on juicy apples and enjoy the winter chill.



Oranges 
You would need these and loads of them. Rich in Vitamin C, oranges consumed whole or in the form of juice help build immunity against common cold and cough. Keeping a good stock of oranges may not require you to depend on antibiotics.



Spinach 
This load of green is possibly the most awaited gift of the season. Spinach adds that dash of taste and health to your diet and is an extremely nutritious green vegetable. You can even get a little creative with the preparation, so as to not let the food get boring.



Peanuts 
Fried, salted, or plain, peanuts are a must-have for the winters. The sugary ‘chikki’ that you may find in the local market should be kept handy. Peanuts in every form are a welcome food for body heat and proteins.



Carrots 
Probably one of the only gifts of nature that is rich in more than one form of Vitamin, carrots complete your body’s requirement of vitamins B, C, D, E and K, while the carotene gets converted to Vitamin A later. It is no wonder that a plate of heartily made ‘gajar ka halwa’ is to die for.



Chicken Soup 
We know you love it, so just go ahead and make this an absolute necessity for the winter palate. A piping hot bowl full of chicken soup is best known to drive away the chill of dreadful winters.



Nuts & Dried Fruits 
Dried fruits are known to retain a large amount of the nutritious quotients of fresh fruits. Therefore, they are essential providers of nutrients in the absence of their fresher counterparts. Together with other nuts, they up the quality of diet and their regular consumption, especially in winter, helps combat risks to health. 

The above list is sure to keep you hearty and healthy during this winter. So, make sure you skip none...