A Plateful of You

When you shower with cold water your pores close up to trap in body heat and keep you warm. But your pores aren’t biologically concerned about whether or not they’re also trapping in any bacteria in keeping you warm – they just shloop! and close right up without a care in the world, which is why it’s so important (if you do have problems with body acne) to monitor your water temperature.

There are plenty of other great reasons to pay closer attention to temperature, let’s go step by step. As I enter the shower I make sure to wash and rinse my hair before beginning to wash my body. It’s important to wash with low temperature water because hot water has a tendency to dissolve natural oils on your scalp, which are essential for protecting your hair.

After rinsing your hair, turn the water up a few degrees to what you consider comfortably hot. Now it’s time to wash your body. This should be the one of the most, if not the most, relaxing parts of your day. If you have long hair, pin or tie it up so that you can have direct contact between the streaming water and your back and shoulders. As you wash your body, allow the hot beads to massage you and loosen the tension in your neck, shoulders, arms, legs – really any part of your body that needs attention. You can do stretches while letting the water wash away not only the soap, but tension aswell.

After fully pampering your muscles, end with noticeably colder water – doesn’t have to actually be cold to get the job done, just cold enough to close your pores up again. Then when you get out to lotion /oil up you can set your mind at ease that nothing is clogging any of your pores.

(Photo credit: NJ Jess and -liyen- )

We all make mistakes. And other people seem to make even more than we do. But the worst mistakes – and the most annoying – are those everyday oopsies made by the people closest to us, the people we’re stuck with. So when one of us (“What do I do, honey?” … “What don’t you do?”) playfully grabs the other and causes a family heirloom to go skittering under the couch, the other wants to flip shit.

But as we all know, shit flipped into the air tends to hit the fan, and the next thing we know the heirloom is buried under piles of throw pillows living up to their names. At this point, it’s difficult to cool down. Someone huffs their way out of the room, the thrown pillows are dug through, and the heirloom is found in less time than it took to have the tiff. What did this accomplish? You’ve wasted your time, energy, and  now both of you are upset.

Instead of getting angry right off the bat, sit down, take a couple deep breaths, and think before you speak. Put things into perspective. This isn’t to say, “don’t be angry,” but trust that the other person understands what happened. Maybe they don’t understand fully, but it’s okay. Remind yourself that they didn’t do it on purpose. They’ll probably even try and help fix whatever went wrong.

Often in our relationship, it helps to collect ourselves for just five minutes. And often, the person who screwed up will fix things in those five minutes without a single cross word. It’s not easy, but a touch of self-control goes a long way for us. For the hurt person, it really helps to remember that the mistake  really was just a mistake – that the other person didn’t want to hurt you.

For the mistake-maker, it helps to take the perspective that the anger isn’t directed at you. The anger is directed at what happened, and that can probably be fixed within those five minutes.

These strategies can help avoid mistakes before they even happen, too. Think about the last time you were in traffic and the driver was getting a bit too close to the car in front of you. Shouting at them didn’t help. It just startled them or made them more tense. Instead, you can just let go and trust in the other person. No matter the situation, you’re not the only person who has a stake, whether it’s emotional or material. The other person wants to avoid an accident just as much as you do.

It’s important to take those five minutes before spending a lot of energy making everyone feel worse. In those five minutes, the problems you thought you needed to fix will often fix themselves. By all means, speak up if you really need to, but when you’re coming from a place of anger, frustration, or annoyance, stop and think. “Is what I’m about to say going to make things better or make things worse?”

(Photo credit: petite corneille , kezzaroo, and McAzadi)

But I just couldn’t force my self to swallow that last bite. As soon as I would get full, my stomach would grumble and I knew that if I were to dare take that last bite I’d spend my play time inside with a tummy ache. Sometimes I would sneak the bite to the puppy, or Pop-pop would eat it for me, but other times I was not so lucky and had to face the belt. This is what I recently realized as being so awful.

Since the time I was little I was told to do something that I in reality I should have been parented away from doing. Instead of being taught to eat mindfully, I was taught to eat with others in mind. If some kid is starving in Cambodia, then I should be happy to eat all the food my family was able to give me in America. But my stomach isn’t like that. I shouldn’t over indulge because someone else in the world can’t.

My stomach is like the rest of me – to nurture it I need to maintain balance. Luckily for me, I didn’t grow up to have an eating disorder, but I did manage to continue my “bad habit” of ceasing to eat once I felt full.

As a child I was told that this was wasteful, and as a teenager I unintentionally offended many. But I have realized that weighing my actual needs against my perceived wants is important. When I go to a fancy restaurant and cannot finish everything on my plate, despite how delicious it tastes and looks and how much my eyes are saying, “More!” I’m able to heed my  mind’s insight. I try to enjoy each bite fully, so that when the time comes to push the plate away I don’t feel guilty and can ask for the check.

If you feel pressured to finish what’s in front of you just because it’s there – don’t! You don’t have to.  It can be an effective strategy for weight control, or it can just help you avoid a stomach ache after dinner, and in any case it’s great for building willpower.

My friend recently saw me do this with a molten chocolate cake and was so appalled that she just had to finish it herself. Of course, she later regretted the decision, and when I asked her why she couldn’t just let it go, she justified her actions with the conventional wisdom: “You can’t let food go to waste!”

(Photo credit: Emily Szettella)

Never having tried tomato juice, and suffering from the conventional wisdom, I thought: “Gross.”  So I ordered my own.  Yes, I really did want to find out whether I was waay wrong and the vegetable-looking, opaque-red state beverage of Ohio had some health benefits or, possibly, tasted good.

The answer came as a shock.  I snapped open the can and was hit immediately by a burst of something that smelled just like my mother’s old pasta sauce.  This was not a good sign.  Once the liquid was in my mouth, the suspicion was confirmed.  This was just not good.  It even tasted like watery old pasta sauce.

So I checked the nutrition label.  Something this gross must be good for me, right?

Wrong.  The stuff was just loaded with sodium – 41% DV in a single can.  Besides moderate helpings of vitamins A and C, there was nothing else.  Not even some sales voodoo informing me of the magic of this-o-pene or that-a-trol.  Just salt water.

I can’t imagine why people drink this stuff.  If you have a really compelling reason, hit us up on Twitter.  Thanks.

It’s only occasionally that you really notice your mental state of waiting while you’re in this situation. This is because your brain is programmed to forget about the time it spends here. It knows you’ll have to wait, so it makes waiting as painless as possible. It does this in other situations where there is little mental strain, too – like driving.

This is wasted time. You are allowing your brain to shut off and barely even noticing. Instead, here are a couple simple exercises you can do to boost yourself:

1) Isometric exercises. These mini-workouts will strengthen key muscles, build self-awareness, and improve your willpower all at once. Try clenching your abs, doing Kegels, or other common exercises for as long as you can – without forgetting. When you notice you’ve forgotten to do it, start again. This is harder than it sounds.

2) Improve your eloquence. Describe something you can see. Then go back and add more details. Try to add to your description the things that aren’t immediately apparent to you; these are the things where your perception and description skills are probably rather weak. By using this downtime to take second, third, and fourth looks at things, you’ll build some wonderful skills.

So, I started surfing the web for an alternative strategy. I came across the “Balance Ball Chair” on Gaiam’s website. All the reviews raved about how the ball/chair forces them to sit up straight and balance. It apparently comes with all these desktop workouts that you can do once sitting up straight gets tiresome.  This all piqued my interest.

I called Ben and he thought it was a wonderful idea, so I went ahead and got the chair. Well, today was my first day with it. I’m wearing a dress and, despite what some reviewers had said, it really wasn’t all that embarrassing. Getting it into the office, however, was.

Naturally, I got the last parking spot – which was great in its own way, since at least I got a parking spot, but it was the farthest one away from the office. So, there I am, rolling my new Balance Ball Chair towards the building and everyone in the lot is just staring. I can only think to myself, “Don’t be embarrassed, Natalie. You’re smarter than they are for getting a great chair that’s going to help your posture and balance.”

But the I more tell myself that it doesn’t matter what others think, the quicker my pace becomes. I get into the building, swipe through security, and get in the elevator. “Phew! I’ve made it.” Then I realize there is a person right there with me and they’re going to the same floor I am. I look up at the digital display near the ceiling of the elevator: 1, 2…

“I’m sorry, but that just looks like a giant bowling ball!” Between her guffaws I looked down at my cute little balance chair thinking, “Strangest bowling ball I’ve ever seen.”

“I must ask, what is THAT?” This was it, my moment of truth. Should I dodge the bullet and say, “Heck if I know, I’m just delivering it to this floor,” or should I own up to my ergonomic values? I inhale. “Oh, well I’m so happy you asked! It’s a Balance Ball Chair. I have terrible back pain at the end of the day and this great “Bowling Ball” is exactly what I need to make sure I stay alert throughout the workday and pain free once I get home.”

She still laughed, but at least I had defended my ways. I trotted down the aisle toward my cubicle and sighed with relief when I finally arrived. “Okay chair,” I thought, “it’s time to see what you’re really made of. ” I sat. Not too bad, but what if I sit with my legs crossed? Nope can still do that, how about if I slouch? Okay…so if I slouch I loose my balance a little. What if I sit all the way forward in my chair? Woah! Completely slip off. I guess it doesn’t actually stop me from continuing all of my bad ways, but it down make them much more difficult to reinforce.

Once satisfied with my chair’s performance in all of my tests, I let it test me. I rolled from my computer to my drawer across my itty cubicle, which was a pretty sticky endeavor, took out the “dektop guide” and opened to page one. “With ball in place in chair, sit upright with sit bones directly on top-center of ball.” Too easy! I kept flipping to something more worthy of the title Cubicle Gymnastics. Then I came to page twelve, “Begin by sitting sideways on lower edge of chair…Lie back over ball, reaching hands and legs out.” Now, that’s what I’m talking about. I locked the wheels so I wouldn’t roll out into the hall and really attract stares, clsoed my eyes and leaned back. (inhale) It felt amazing! (exhale) It was only lunch (inhale) and already my chair was proving to be a (exhale) wonderful investment in ME. The only annoying thing about it is that it makes rolling around your office with ease very difficult.

So, two lessons in today’s message.

1) Don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself, no matter how silly everyone will think you are.

2) Try the Balance Ball Chair if you’re having sitting issues or want to prevent such issues from occuring.

(Photo Credit: willspot)

1. Phlegm: Apparently, nobody knows of this remedy because no one talks about it. But besides the disgusting consistency and appearance, phlegm has three major ingredients which restore the skin and leave you with a lovely, hydrated glow: glycoproteins, anitbodies, and lipids.

Before I go any further, I must say that I’ve never tried this remedy, I have only heard rumors as to how well it works. I also must confess that I tried to try this remedy, but couldn’t get past even beginning to collect enough phlegm to cover my face…ew.

Lets break down the “Why would anyone ever put phlegm on their face?” barrier.  Well, one reason is lipids. Lipids in phelgm are very similar to those found in the skin already (e.g., mono-saturated linoleic omega-3 and linoleic polyunsaturated fatty acids). And when applied to the skin directly, these lipids work to occlude the skin for a while and impede water loss. This process leaves your skin moisturized and nourished.

But if you’d rather not spread your phlegm across your face every night, try eating foods rich in linoleic acid, such as flaxseeds, fish, or fish oil supplements.

2)Bull Sperm: This is becoming the new “deep conditioner” and has taken the nickname “Viagra for the hair.” But, if you don’t happen to have your own bull to, ahem, “exchange favors” with, this hair treatment can cost $140 for a 90 minute treatment. Bull sperm is well endowed with protein ready to penetrate any hair shaft, leaving each strand wonderfully soft and thick.

3) Placenta is obtained from maternity ward donation, treated to prevent contamination and diesease, and applied to your face for $350-500 a pop.  However, there is no actual science behind this recent “age-defying” treatment aside from anecdotes. But don’t get hung up on the details, because you’ve seen that it works! Eva Longoria, Denise Richards, and Jennifer Aniston all use it and have managed to maintain that “baby-face” look the media loves.

4) Egg yolk. You can apply just the yolk (make sure to beat it first) to your face and leave it on for thirty minutes, or you can make a facial mask. The facial mask can consist of egg yolk and honey, or my personal favorite:

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon of olive oil

1 teaspoon of whole milk

1 teaspoon of honey

You just mix all of the ingredients together until they form a creamy consistency and then apply it to your face and neck. Let the mask set for 20-30 minutes, then rinse off thoroughly with cold water and pat dry.  Don’t forget to moisturize afterwards!

Apparently, egg yolks are high in vitamin A and lecithin which is great for healing blemishes. The yolk and honey both have emulsifiers which are great for clearing up oily skin. And once you add whole milk and olive oil those dry skin cells and blemishes don’t stand a chance!

Becoming that person

Becoming that person is all about personal motivation. When employers say they want a “self-starter,” just saying you are one won’t make any difference. It takes a track record of self-driven accomplishment in order to pass that bar. Now, that doesn’t mean you have to keep your day job and take on the labors of Hercules at the same time. It just means you have to put your spare passion and effort into a project here and there that you really love.

For me, this is blogging and reporting. If you’ve read my mini-bio, you’ll see that I blog here as well as write for the Claremont Courier. Neither is currently a paying gig, because I am building up my credentials in both industries. But when my freelance writing clients see my byline and established blog, they are much happier to sign on for my services than for those of someone who just has a good form email.

Making it fun

Your self-driven projects should not be “work.” Hopefully you want a job you’ll love to do, and so your initial ventures into the field should be the same way. If you find yourself failing to enjoy the stuff you’re doing for free, that’s a good hint that you don’t have an enduring passion for the field. If you want to be a lawyer but have to force yourself through a brief; if you want to be a blogger but can’t seem to get your posts out on schedule; if you want to be a weightlifter but just don’t want to go to the gym – you probably don’t really want to be that thing at all. Think again about it.

There’s no secret to making your job fun, besides choosing to do something that already is fun. When I sit down to write a blog post, I don’t consider it work. I’m glad that I get to share something valuable, glad that I get to improve my writing, and glad that I get to research the coolest health news on the web. I just like to do it. And if you’re able to do something like that for yourself, you should have no problem doing it in a professional capacity.

Just stick to your personal project until your resume is strong enough to bring to a potential employer in your field. And if you’re lucky (and passionate!) you just might make it on your own. Best of luck!

So I gave the machine a little kick, and a little nudge, and a little shake; I hopped just a touch to get my hands firmly grasped on the top of the machine; I ever-so-gently rocked back and forth, trying to get just enough of a twitch of of the metal monster that I could have those Skittles on the house.

But to no avail.  Defeated, I dutifully reached into my pocket and pulled out the coins I owed Candy Man Inc. for the little morsels of awesome I’d be sure to enjoy in a moment.  I dropped them into the slot, watching the little green display:  $0.25.  $0.50.  $0.75.  $0.80… and finally $0.85.  I punched in 1–5–0, just waiting to hear that little mechanical screw push those sweets towards me, while I read about just how much vitamin C Skittles actually have.

But… nothing.  No movement.  Zip.  Zero.  Nada.  No Skittles.  Let me repeat that:  NO SKITTLES.  So I tried again.  One… Five… Zero.  Right?  Right.  ENTER.  Still no Skittles.

What was I going to do?  I mean,  I wanted to get back to work quickly, I really did, but I had eighty-five cents in the machine already and I wasn’t going to just take them back with nothing to show for it.  No Skittles, I mean.

I tried to find another way at them.  I tried to open up that flap at the bottom and just kind of reach up to grab the Skittles, but wouldn’t you know they’ve installed a second flap that closes at the top when the bottom one is open?  And these things weight about a million pounds, as I figured out earlier, so I wasn’t about to try anything exotic to get at them.  No.  I was defeated.  What a waste.

But as I looked at the “Coin Return” button, it dawned on me.  Maybe I couldn’t have those Skittles, but darn if I left with nothing at all.  So I surveyed my options, and settled quickly on a close match:  Sour Patch Kids.  A quick punch of 1–3–2 left me with a handful of sweet-and-sour temptations that I was happy to oblige.

The lesson here was that I was a fool to spend all that time and energy going for something that was too good to be true.  Something free;  something just out of my reach; something that I suddenly learned I couldn’t get.   And I was a worse fool for almost giving up when I couldn’t have exactly what I wanted.   I realized it was better for me to be happy with the next best thing than to waste all this time on something I wouldn’t get.

I guess it’s not really quitting after all.