Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Want To Get Pregnant Naturally?

Normally, pregnancy is a natural outcome of the sexual intercourse between two opposite sexes. However, nowadays biomedical researchers have made it possible for pregnancy to result without sexual intercourse as we see in in vitro fertilization. Through studies, more natural means through which you can conceive quickly have been discovered. Some women have not been able to conceive due to their inability to apply these techniques through which you can get pregnant naturally. The means are natural and therefore have no side affects. All you need to do is to take time and learn them. You can also meet your doctor to help in that regard.

The application of these means of getting pregnant naturally will also help you to cut cost. You do not need to spend even a dime in order to get quick result. The only sacrifice that you are required to make is to dedicate your time in learning the techniques. You will be learning about these techniques in this article.

It is important that you understand what ovulation means because it is the major determining factor in conception. Menstruation is different from ovulation. It is unfortunate that some women do confuse the two terms. A woman can only conceive when she is ovulating and not when she is menstruating unless the two coincide in rare cases. Ovulation is the release of a ripened egg to the fallopian tube where it will be fertilized by a sperm cell. This period is relatively a short period. It does not last long before the egg will die off and will be discharged out of the body during menstruation.

Knowing your ovulation period and then having intercourse on the ovulation period is the best day to get pregnant naturally. The ovulation period occurs after your monthly period has gone halfway. If you are having a monthly period of 28 days, then your ovulation period will occur on the 14th day. It lasts for 6 days. Your most fruitful day starts from the first day of ovulation till the 5th day of ovulation. These are the days that you should have intercourse. If you do not want to become pregnant, then you should avoid having intercourse on these days unless you will resort to the use of contraceptives.

Ways to determine the ovulation period

There are different ways through which you can determine your ovulation period. The first method of calculating this is using the mucus of the cervix. The cervical mucus becomes slippery and unclouded when you are ovulating. You can also chart your basal temperature with the help of ovulation predictor kit. Changes in the position of the cervix can also be used.

Common error people make

There are some people who think that they can increase their chances of getting pregnant naturally by having sex regularly। You may succeed in getting pregnant. But this is not always the case. It is a well known fact that the more a person has intercourse regularly, the more the sperm density reduces. This can also affect the chances of the person getting pregnant.

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By Joel Lambert

Joel Lambert invites you to get more free information like this that will help you get pregnant naturally and also help you determine the best day to get pregnant.



Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Three Simple Ways to Lose Weight Naturally and Fast

Many people dream of losing weight either for health reasons or to look slim. At this time and age, having a fit and healthy body can really be considered as an asset. With this, not only will you be able to do any hobbies or sports that you like; you will also get better opportunities in life because you are more energized. However, to lose weight naturally and fast and to have a healthy and fit body is something you have to work for and you can not expect it to happen by itself as you wake up one day. Listed below are three simple ways you can apply in your daily routine to lose weight naturally and fast.

• First, remember the eight glasses of water a day rule? Drinking water is a great way in cleansing your body system and in boosting your metabolic rate. Research shows and you may sometimes feel that thirst and hunger are triggered together. When you are dehydrated or you feel thirsty, you sometimes mistakenly think that you are hungry, right? With this, you will eat up that will add up to your calorie and fat intake. The way to avoid this is to keep your body hydrated. Water also suppresses your appetite, so when you drink a glass of water before meals, you will surely eat less and this will help you lose weight naturally and fast.

• Second, be mindful of your calorie intake and include "negative" calorie foods (see below). Read the labels of food to know how much calories you are going to take. Know the amount of servings in a package and strictly stay with eating one serving of food. It is very easy eat more than one serving, if one is not aware this fact. If there is an alternative food you can eat that will give you lesser calories but same energy, eat it. For instance, a half cup of rice is 300 calories but a half cup of spinach is only 15 calories and both foods can give you the same amount of energy.

• Third, include "negative" calorie foods! These are the foods that have no calorie at all. In fact, these foods use more calories to be digested than the calories they contain. For example, a cup of your favorite dessert is 500 calories and your body will need 250 calories to digest it. The remaining 250 calories will be converted to fats already. This is avoided when it comes to eating negative calorie foods. Some examples of negative calories foods are papaya, orange, pineapple, broccoli, lettuce, radish, and cabbage so make sure to include them in your daily meal.

Lastly, to lose weight naturally and fast, do not skip meals. Some people believe that skipping meals will make them thinner but it is actually the opposite. When you deprive yourself of food, you tend to crave and eat more on your next meal, so avoid getting super hungry. Ideally, eat small servings of food more often. Say for example, you can eat light meals six times a day instead of eating heavy foods three times a day. These are just three simple and easy ways to lose weight naturally and fast. Just remember that being healthy is not just about becoming slim but also looking and feeling healthy as well.

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By Rakesh Sethi

Thank you for your time & attention to this subject. Please read more and share with your friends the Herbs and Right Foods Help Lose Weight Naturally and Fast for life long Health benefits awareness

Rakesh would like to invite you to check out more articles on wellness, health, health tips, natural home remedies, healthy relationship advice etc. Most importantly you can Opt in to receive FREE Course Body Constitution Test and alerts on new information posted on the blog site.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

How to Look Younger in 10 Days: Discover the Secrets to a Youthful and Sizzling You!


The possibility of transforming yourself by looking younger, in just 10 days sounds too good to be true, but it is a fact. A lot of cosmetic companies claim to give anti ageing benefits, by the use of their products in a couple of days, and their claims are not false either, but their results are temporary.

Let's not discuss the temporary methods of looking younger anymore and start incorporating a nutritious diet, along with a bit of exercise and healthy habits in our daily lifestyle that stimulates a healthy skin from within our body

Looking youthful with the consumption of super foods:

Super foods are basically nutritional items having more than one ingredient with strong health benefits that are high in nutrients, vitamin and mineral content. There are many super foods that are said to boost your skin texture and quality like Egg whites, Pomegranate, Olive oil, Watermelon, Blueberries, Green tea, Salmon, Spinach, Kale, Strawberries, watercress, sprouted seeds, oats, oysters,tomatoes, melon, millet, walnuts, kiwis, dark chocolate, yogurt, pumpkin seeds, and sweet potatoes. If most of these super foods are regularly incorporated in your diet for ten days you are bound to see and feel for yourself, positive results in the form of healthier and much younger looking skin.

In addition to consuming super foods, include some amount of work out or exercise in your routine, for ten days. Yoga and meditation would also prove to be beneficial for the same.

Drink at least 8 glass of water in a day, as it would help in releasing all harmful toxins from the body and make you look fresh for most part of the day. Also consume fresh fruits and vegetables as much as you can.

If you need to apply a cream or moisturizer for your skin, try using moisturizers and body lotions that are manufactured with botanical ingredients like jojoba oil, coconut oil, safflower oil, and linoleic acid that would protect your skin as well as provide a healthy look to it at the same time. Try staying away from harmful chemicals as much as you can.

Finally try staying away from alcohol and smoking, as they speed up the ageing process and are most definitely not a healthy choice. Eat a balanced diet, along with your intake of super foods, which would keep you energized throughout the day.

Follow these steps for 10 days, and experience an amazing change in yourself!

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By Rebecca E Mills

Celebrity Charisma is what we all crave - but dare not admit! Wouldn't it be great to to look younger in 10 days? More Seductive? More powerful and engaging? Can you imagine how your life would change when you start to attract people to you - easily! Thankfully you don't need wads of cash, years or pain to appear more attractive and commanding. Just get the right system, tips and techniques and get that man or women, win that client and get celebrity wow now! http://www.celebrity-charisma.com

Antiaging Skin Care Cream Lotion - How to Prevent Skin Aging

A really effective antiaging skin care cream lotion targets not only the superficial fine lines and wrinkles. It should do a preventive approach as well. This means, acting through the cellular level and protecting the outer skin layer. There are several factors that hasten skin aging. As you read on, you are going to learn how to protect your skin from such factors.

UV rays

The sun's damaging rays accounts to 90% of all skin damage. Skin doctors advice everyone not to go out under the heat of the sun between 8am to 4pm. It is during these hours that UV rays are at its peak ability to cause sunburns and skin cell damage. It is known that these harmful rays speeds up skin cell degeneration hence making you skin look old. To avoid getting problems with this external factor, apply sunscreens or body lotions with wide SPF. Also, wear long sleeves and wide brim hat if your job requires you to go under the sun during the peak hours.

Toxic Agents

The substances that makes up cigarette can significantly make you look five times older. When you are habitually smoke, the toxins make you capillaries shrink therefore less oxygen goes into your vital organs. Your skin being the largest organ is generally affected by this intoxication. Other environmental pollutants can also speed up skin cell damage. Using an antiaging skin care cream lotion that contains deep cleansing agents can help remove the accumulated dirt and contaminants from the skin's outer layer.

Free- radicals

These are by-product of the oxidation process which normally happens in the cells. However, when too much of these are accumulated, it can damage the normal metabolic activity and can later on cause diseases. But before you experience symptoms, your skin cells will start to form wrinkles before you notice it. Including antioxidants as ingredients of an antiaging skin care cream lotion will fight-off the free radicals and slow down the formation of aging signs.

Moreover, daily cleansing should be a part of your routine. Doing this two times a day can significantly bring improvement to your skin tone. But be sure to use mild soap with moisturizer so that your skin will not lose enough moisture. Remember, dryness is an early sign of skin aging.

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By Georgina R. Clay

Click Here to Discover the Breakthrough Natural Creams that Diminish wrinkles.
Click Here to Get Rid of Fine Lines, Dark Circles, Wrinkles and other skin aging problems Naturally with no side effects.

Increase Your Chance of Pregnancy Following Tubal Reversal

With tubal reversal becoming so popular many couples are searching for more information. They are searching for the best surgeon and the fastest way to become pregnant after the surgery and healing are complete.

With the release of the Tubal Reversal Pregnancy Report by Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center the news has spread quickly. Tubal reversal surgery actually has a better pregnancy success rate than the alternative of IVF after a tubal ligation. Now that physicians are becoming more aware of the successes they are recommending the procedure to patients more so now than ever before.

After the surgery is completed and the woman has healed the next step of the journey is an exciting one. The couple is ready to begin the trying to conceive phase and though this is usually a happy time it can be come stressful. Stress is common during this phase of the journey and the more support the couple has the better. Some are just not prepared for the fact that it may take longer to conceive than it did before their tubal ligation. 

Month after month of trying to conceive may take its toll and the couple may begin to get frustrated. Is there anything that can help speed this process along? Actually there may be.

Before tubal ligation reversal surgery even takes place one important thing a woman can do is to begin getting to know her cycles. Knowing the clues her body gives when ovulation is about to take place can be a huge help after surgery.

Because ovulation is when the egg is released it is important that the woman realizes when this is about to take place. Many women get a pain or cramping on one side when ovulation happens. Others have more cervical mucus that is of a different consistency than at other times of the month.

Another recommendation is ovulation predictor tests. These can be bought at pretty much any drugstore or pharmacy. Women on the leading reversal message board also comment that the dollar store brand OPK's are very good. Others order OPK's online to help save money.

A woman knowing her cycle and how her body gives cues of impending ovulation can greatly increase the couples chances of becoming pregnant following tubal reversal surgery.

Tubal ligation reversal is becoming very popular. Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center has not only helped over 8000 couples restore hope after a tubal ligation but follows their patients through pregnancy.

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By Debra Verville

Tubal reversal pregnancy is not only possible but many couples go on to have more than one child after the procedure.


Sunday, October 03, 2010

Amazing Fat Loss Diet

In order to lose fat at the most rapid rate, you need to create a rather large caloric deficit in a relatively short period of time.

Massive calorie deficit must be present to achieve rapid fat loss, and long-term minimal calorie intake can not work for weight loss, how can you create the necessary deficit without having your body turn it's back on you?

The Solution: Strategic Synergy

Stragegic " Cheat Days" in which you indulge your most intense cravings and abandon your diet can be used to offset the adaptations to extreme dieting.

The Xtreme Fat Loss Diet is a 25 day rapid weight loss program that combines Cheat Days, Fast Days, Depletion Days, and numerous other "advanced" fat loss methods into a strategic five day cycle that is repeated five times over the course of the program.

The secret is in the setup. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, has been perfected to work in the most ideal way with your body to:

a) Stimulate weight loss,
b) Stroke metabolism, and
c) Limit fat gain in the most effective manner possible.

Every single day, every single workout, every single thing you do on this program is for a very specific reason that contributes to the overall rapid fat loss effects of the program.

While the program is "extreme" in nature, modifications can be made to make it suitable for a wide range of fitness levels and starting points. The truth is, you're going to get the best results by following the program exactly as outlined. Losing 23 lbs in 25 days while solely following the diet portion of the program along with a very "moderate" level of exercise is achievable.

You will learn to unlock the right methods in the right combination in the right sequence: resulting in maximum results that will stay over time.

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By Altagracia Gonzalez


The Sex Appeal of a Heel

Stilettos! They make us feel sexier, more confident and more glamorous. They slim our tummies, elevate our assets, elongate our legs, and draw every man's attention to our feminine parts. Not only have stilettos become one of the most coveted components of a woman's wardrobe but they are a symbol of timeless chic and sex appeal. An evening without my stilettos (an uncommon occurrence) leaves me feeling less feminine and much less sexy. It's definitely more about the sex appeal of a heel than it is about the comfort of a shoe.

"It's a way to appeal to the male species, to attract, and it works. I have men who tell me that heels have saved their marriage." Manolo Blahnik, legendary shoe designer.

I vividly remember digging around in my Mom's closet as a little girl and discovering a pair of white, sling back heels, a pair that she wore to her sister's wedding in the early eighties. They were absolutely perfect! I was never fazed by the fact that they were too big for my feet; they were the smallest pair in her closet and they became my training heels. I spent countless hours finding my centre of gravity and perfecting my strut in her bedroom, my runway.

My desire, like millions of other women around the world, for this symbol of undisputable sensuality started young. We watch our female roles models (for me, my mother) dressing up, never leaving without their heels. Heels are the finishing touch to the look.

New research has found that high heels do more than increase sex appeal. Dr. Maria Angela Cerruto, urologist at the University of Verona, Italy, has spent years researching the benefits of high heels and she's made an interesting discovery. Wearing high heels can actually tone a woman's abdomen and pelvic floor! No more kegels. Squeeze, squeeze, breathe.

Major fashion faux pas: ladies who can`t walk in heels properly.

Ladies, I urge you to take notes here. There is a point where too high is too high! If you find your knees beginning to bend and you can`t walk properly, the elegance has been lost and you need to go down at least an inch. You're better off walking in lower heels, comfortably and confidently, than straining yourself in heels that are too high.

I often find myself in the same conversation with my main squeeze: "You already have a pair of heels in that color. Why are you buying another pair?" Simple. You can never have too much of a good thing! It's all about the details. Details are what make you standout! In any case, if you're budget conscious, my advice to you is: invest in classic styles in neutral tones. This will afford you great versatility.

Final Words of Wisdom

When shopping for shoes, make sure that you spend time trying them on. They may feel comfortable at first but after an hour your feet may tell you otherwise. Check the store's return policy! Your size may change from brand to brand. Keep in mind that at the end of the day your feet are a little larger as they tend to swell throughout the day.

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By Helen MacGillivray

Helen MacGillivray, president and founder of Miss Helen's Image Consulting, has been referred to as "a brilliant individual with high energy and impeccable taste". She is an enthusiastic and charismatic trainer with an expertise in individual and corporate image management.

She received professional accreditation from the Sterling Style Academy, an internationally recognized institute in New York City and a degree in business from Saint Francis Xavier University.


Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Steps to Take on How to Lose Weight Fast

If you want to know some steps on how to lose weight fast, then listen to what I'll say. There are some things that I want you to change, especially about your lifestyle. You need to live a healthy and active lifestyle. Being stagnant, sitting on your couch doesn't help you at all. Being physically inactive makes your body weak and more prone to sickness. You need to change fast if you want to lose weight fast. Here are some steps that you could do on how to lose weight fast.
Food planning - It is important that you should go over on the foods you eat. You will be amazed how much unhealthy foods you eat a day. Calorie counting is one of the basic steps on food planning. Learn how much calories your body needs. Then make sure that you eat the exact amount of calorie that your body need. However if you find it hard to count calories, there are other available options for you. First cut down or avoid eating those unhealthy foods. Eat more healthy foods like fruits and vegetables. They are a good source of fiber, helping our stomach digest food faster. Red meat is a good source of vitamin B12 and iron but eat red meat sparingly. Instead eat more lean meat like fish or chicken. It is good to eat fish more often because you can get more omega fatty acids. Overall eating these kind of foods lessens the amount of fat absorption in our body. So stop buying processed foods and try to eat more natural and organic foods. Avoid of buying all of those can, frozen trays and boxed foods. These foods are very high in preservatives and chemicals. The most dangerous of all is sodium. Found mostly on packaged foods, this ingredient could lead to high blood pressure.
Physical activities - It's no secret that, to lose weight fast you have to work hard for it. Increasing your physical activities through exercise and being active in sports is a good start. An effective way to have your exercise is to have it before breakfast. Take 30 to 60 minutes of your time to workout. Start your day by jogging on your local park or run on your treadmill. Building your cardio is the first thing that you want to do. As your cardio increase, you will also see an increase on the physical activities that you do. Build up you body, do some weight lifting. Having more lean muscles could make your body a fat burning furnace. It burns more fats and calories more faster because your body needs more energy to work. Weight lifting also increases your metabolism rate. If your to timid to do all of these, then you have to find a sport or any physical activity that you love to do. The best sport to be involve in is swimming. It is a good way on how to lose weight fast. It works all the parts of your body and makes you work more than any other sport. You could say the same about dancing. It is great way to shape up your body and build up your cardio.
Basically these are the two steps that you should give more attention. All the pieces will fall together if you have done perfectly these steps. How to lose weight fast is not an easy process. Have the patience and perseverance. The best wealth that you could have is having a healthy and fit body.
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Zirah is a aspiring model. She uses Anti Aging Products to keep her looks more younger. She loves to go shopping and travels anywhere she likes. Usually she spends most of her time on taking care of her body to make her look younger. She is taking a program on How to Lose Weight Fast so that she could have that perfect slender body.

Is Liposuction Painful Afterwards?

It's important to note that whatever type of liposuction you opt for, whether it is Vaser Lipo, Smartlipo or traditional liposuction, the surgeon's aim is to make your experience as pain-free as possible during your procedure. For larger volumes of fat removal you will most likely have general anesthesia, and often light sedation. What we will be discussing here is post-liposuction pain.
Often your oain is dependent on how your body handles pain (your pain thereshold). There are several reasons for discomfort after liposuction - the main cause of which is the body's natural reaction to what is effectively an injury that has been inficted on the body. This results in bruising and swelling at the site of the liposuction procedure. This is a totally natural reaction to surgery andin most cases, cannot be avoided. In fact, it's the body's wav of healting.
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By Kate Trebble

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Healthy Living Made Simple

Drink lots of water, take deep breaths, choose good supplements, eat all your vegetables, eat more protein, eat fewer carbs. With all the healthcare advice out there these days, and much of it contradictory, it makes healthy living seem like a complicated endeavor! In fact, all that advice can make a junk-food diet look attractive in its simplicity. But don't panic! Healthy living can be simple.

You know what makes you feel good and what doesn't. If drinking plenty of water, taking certain supplements, or eating multiple small meals a day makes you feel better, then you already know more than the experts. Similarly, you probably know which of your "bad" habits make you feel ill, like eating too much sugar or spending too much time at your desk. If you are not sure what makes you feel better or worse, keep a diary for seven to twenty-one days. Log your daily food intake, exercise, level of stress, amount of sleep, and anything else that might affect your level of health. Notice what happens when you add or vary any of your habits.

Once you have discovered two or three really great habits that make you feel good, adopt them for the year. To keep things really simple, choose no more than three great habits. If exercise makes you feel good, adopt the habit of exercising a few times a week. If adding fresh fruits or vegetables is good, resolve to add them to your diet on a regular basis, but don't break the bank. Do what makes you feel good in moderation, and in a way that will be easy for you to remember. If you want to add vitamins or supplements into your life, help yourself remember by putting the bottles or packets in your car, your purse, your pocket, your lunch, or your top desk drawer. Don't kick yourself when you forget to take the supplements, and take them whenever you see the visual reminder of the bottle. Of course, consistency is always great for health, but in the beginning do what you can to make healthy living a rewarding and pleasurable experience rather than another item on your "To Do" list!

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By Alan Joel

Alan Joel is a Doctor of Chinese Medicine and nutritional counselor. He is also an independent distributor of Simplexity Health, producer of all-natural blue-green algae products for people, pets, and plants. For free health tips and to order blue-green algae online at wholesale prices, visit http://www.prosperity-abounds.com/order.html and http://prosperity-abounds.blogspot.com

Got Fear of Aging?

After spending the last several decades in a Madison Avenue culture of youth and beauty, many baby boomer women are feeling uncertain of our place in a society that seems not to honor or appreciate the aging. Our roles are changing and many of us are starting to panic as we see the sands of time beginning to scrub away the luminescence of our youth. As we approach midlife, questions begin to surface.

Will I become invisible as I age? Will I be respected? Loved? Why do my looks matter so much? What am I so afraid of? Who am I now that I'm no longer of reproductive age? Is this the beginning of the end? Is everyone this scared of dying? Is it too late to make a difference? How do I do that?

The boomer generation has come to a crossroads, and the direction that each of us chooses to take will determine how we experience the rest of our life. We can buy into our fears and invest great quantities of time, energy and money trying to resurrect the past, or we can accept the ongoing circle of life and look for new opportunities. Rather than allowing our fears of aging to determine our experience of aging, we can each take hold of the wheel and steer ourselves toward a new reality, one that supports us in being vibrant, active and engaged members of society.

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." These wise words from Franklin D. Roosevelt point us toward a profound truth - fear is the enemy (and, I would add - especially when it comes to aging). While you are most likely familiar with the first part of that quote, it's the latter that best describes what happens to us when we allow our fears and expectations to go unchallenged. How can we move gracefully into the rest of our life when our unbounded fears of aging paralyze our efforts and keep us retreating while trying to hold on to who we were?

For most of us, it's these unconscious and unexamined fears that keep us from experiencing the life we truly want. We allow anxiety to fill the space between what was and what we believe is coming. Many of us are looking at the coming years through a lens that is clouded by fear. As we disengage from the roles we played in our younger years and begin to explore other options, we're likely to experience a certain degree of discomfort. In addition to the uncertainty of feeling out a new role, our deep-seated fears about aging will surface.

What's a woman to do? Instead of letting them haunt you, explore your framework of expectations and fears - knowing they will boomerang right back as your reality if you allow them to fester. Understanding the genesis of our fears and the process that holds them in place can help us put them to rest.

Have you noticed that most of the things in life that frighten us are maintained by the absence of scrutiny? Once we move them out of the periphery and into full view, it is possible to tear down the self-limiting beliefs and fears that control us and replace them with the perspectives and beliefs we choose. In other words, before we can consciously create a fresh start, we need to explore what we've been expecting (and unknowingly asking for).

In order to gray gracefully and arrive at a place of joy and acceptance, I needed to confront the negative fears, expectations and beliefs I held about aging - and consciously order up something different. We can all benefit from taking some time to write down our fears, limiting beliefs and expectations about getting older.

Ask yourself:

What are my worst fears about getting and looking older? Which stereotypes have I bought into? What do I believe might happen as I age? Why wouldn't I still be valued? Loved? Desirable? What's the worst thing that might happen to me?

Take the time necessary to allow your thoughts to surface and write them down. Do not edit or judge the things that come up. Most of our fears and expectations are held in place by our past programming. The only way to change a stereotype is to challenge it! Don't believe everything you think. Facing our fears and concerns about aging head-on is often the best way to lay those issues to rest and make room for a point of view that celebrates the amazing woman we've become.

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By Maggie Crane

Maggie Rose Crane is a leading-edge baby boomer on a quest to age with grace, gratitude and gusto. In her refreshingly candid book, AMAZING GRAYS A Womans Guide to Making the Next 50 the Best 50 (Regardless of your hair color!), she shares experiences, insights and useful information to guide maturing women through the ups and downs of staying vibrant, active and inspired in a culture obsessed with youth and manufactured beauty. At the core of her message, shared through writing, speeches and workshops, Maggie exposes the fears and anxieties that haunt many midlife women and reveals how to mindfully navigate the turbulence with wisdom, perspective and practice. We invite you to join her in a growing movement of Amazing Grays, women who have decided to embrace their age - knowing the best is yet to come! Learn more at http://www.maggiecrane.com

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Just an Ordinary Woman

I want to see if I'm in one of the latest glamour magazines on sale this week. I mean honestly, I deserve to be on one of those pages. After all ... I am a woman. Right! But, unfortunately, just an ordinary woman.

I can't get past the latest "Desperate Housewife" advertisement with all those ladies in red. Is that really what the stereotypical desperate housewife looks like? After-hours, I assume! I mean with all the domestic work she has to do for the day, the outfit seems rather far-fetched.

Not that all women are just housewives. They can do the chores before work, go to gym and find themselves a shower away from their plush office and executive chair. Like in the soaps on TV.

So often people ask women what they do. The answers vary from sole supporter of a family to so many different categories that housewife and executive are merely small fractions in the equation. They may be extremes in your eyes because either you're educated with a certificate or degree ... or, you're just a housewife doing menial chores and raising your children. But wait ... there's more!

There's the type of woman that actually works long, exhausting hours without pay. Hubby brings in the money and ... let's say no more. Then there's the type of woman who works long hours doing the mundane, pedestrian chores and her share in the community. She earns money baking, making clothes, typing or looking after other women's children while they work. There are no benefits or material rewards ... just the basic fee to keep her supporting the family.

The woman that spends her time in the field cultivating crops and looking after the livestock is also somewhere in this equation.

And somehow it's these women who are never seen in magazines or on television. Unless it's in an advertisement of a product or service that the ordinary women may need to make their lives easier. And these ordinary women are not the desperate housewives you see on television, though they share the same brand name.

Housewife or executive, teacher or minister, they all have one thing in common: motherhood (if that is the choice they decide to make). And motherhood in itself is a career. A mother has to look out for the emotional welfare of her children satisfying their needs and raising them to become responsible adults.

When we stop to look at all the careers a mother practices without qualification on paper, we have to take a deep breath and then pause.

Motherhood entails being an accountant, a sports agent or manager, sports coach, or promotion manager. It also requires experience in nursing, psychology and health education; being a dietician and nutritionist. A mother should have her own mini pharmacy, and have a license to be an emergency driver to hospitals or the veterinarian. She can be an amusement and recreation officer, taxi driver, video camera operator, photographer and travel agent. A mother is a hairdresser, cosmetologist, fashion consultant, and tailor. She is an animal trainer, housekeeper, landlady, fence erector, interior decorator and landscape artist. Mothers bake, cook, order out, host, serve and clean. They are laundry specialists, painters, filing clerks, social workers, answering services and public relations officers. They are data base administrators, home management advisors, teachers, pastors, producers, judges, lawyers and financial analysts.

But above all, mothers are women. And each woman has her own load and burden to carry. Perhaps it's infidelity, cancer, poverty ...

With Mother's Day comes the annual family blessings that each member bestows upon her ... often not to genuinely give thanks or show respect ... but, merely to uphold a public holiday. It also helps her the next day to answer those inquisitive questions of how her family spoilt her on the one specific and yet very small and insignificant day of her year and life. Compared to the laboriousness of her existence, one Mother's Day is just not enough.

There are good mothers and selfish mothers, healthy mothers and ... But, let's not spend any time going there! That's content for a whole new article. It's in being who we are to the best of our ability that really makes the difference.

Give respect, honour, love, compassion, commitment and understanding. Make every day mother's day. And do note there are no capital letters attached to the day, because it's not the day that should be celebrated, but the woman behind all her sacrifices ...

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By Karin Steyn