Hair Care

Hair clean-up 

An all-natural way to eliminate shampoo build-up and toxins in your hair is with apple cider vinegar. Rinse your hair once a week with one cup of apple-cider vinegar, found in grocery stores or health stores.

 

Hair styling fact 

Hair sets best as it is cooling, not when it is heated up from blow-drying. Whether using hot rollers or a blow dryer, apply hair spray after hair has cooled to maximize the style.

 

Salon style hair 

Want to achieve that salon style blowout at home? Separate your damp hair into several sections and blow-dry one at a time using a round or paddle brush. Taking the time to focus on each section will give you that overall salon look.

 

Hair helper 

Interested in trying out sculpting mud for your hair? Make sure you use a minimal amount of product to prevent weighing hair down. A good rule of thumb is to put a little bit on your fingertips and apply to the hair from the back of the head forward.

Treat Stress by Eating Bananas

Bananas contain nutrients that are good for health. Besides containing fructooligosaccharides (FOS), which can lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease, bananas also contain nutritional stress reliever.

 

According to Genius Beauty, tryptophan Mino substances contained in the bananas are able to increase production of serotonin or known as the 'happy hormones'. The increase of this hormone is clearly a potent to improve your mood and stabilize emotions.

 

Bananas also contain vitamin B that help control the nervous system. Therefore, besides causing a sense of happiness, banana consumption also makes the body feel more relaxed.

 

Meanwhile, the content of potassium in bananas effectively stabilizes the heart rate so that oxygen supply to the brain is smooth. This is important, because in most cases the heart rate became irregular during stress.

Eye Care Tips for Computer Users

Changes to Computer Station

 

·         Keep the monitor at a distance of 20 to 30 inches or about an arm's length from your eyes.

·         Place the monitor in such a way that the top of the monitor is at a level slightly below the horizontal eye level.

·         Tilt the top of the monitor away from you at a 10- to 20-degree angle to create an optimum viewing angle.

·         Change your lighting to lower glare and harsh reflections. You can also use glare filters over your computer screen. A good test is to turn off the monitor and see what is reflected in the screen. Adjust the angle or position of the monitor to have no competing lights or reflections.

·         Background wall or structure behind monitor should not be too loud or shiny as it will distract you and cause more strain trying to focus on the screen.

·         Adjust the brightness to have a good contrast between letters and background. Replace the monitor if you notice any flickering.

·         Keep monitor screen clean from dust and finger prints.

·         Prefer an LCD over a CRT monitor as LCD screens are easier on the eyes and usually have an anti-reflective surface.

·         If you spend long hours entering data or reading long documents, try using a larger monitor so you can see the print on your computer screen better. You can also try increasing the font size to reduce eye strain.

·         Use proper adjustable chair to fine tune your eye level with the screen.

 

Eye Relaxing Exercises

 

·         People tend to reduce blink rate while working on computer. Blink your eyes often as it re-wets your eyes to prevent dryness and irritation. The more you blink the better it is for your eyes.

·         Look away from your computer at least every 20 to 30 minutes and gaze at a distant object (at least 20 feet away) for at least 20 seconds.

·         Close your eyes for a few minutes when your work requires prolonged data input into the computer.

·         Try to massage and relax the muscles around your eyes once in a while.

·         Strengthening your eye muscles with a series of eye exercises will go a long way to preventing eye strain.

·         Every 30 minutes, rub your palms against each other till they become warm and place them on your eyes making sure to block all light. Do this for at least a minute, longer if you have the time available to you. This exercise will give your eyes the much needed break from the brightness of the computer and your vision will be much clearer.

·         Take frequent breaks to stretch a little and to re-energize yourself. Get up from the chair and take a brief walk for a few minutes. A few minutes of walk will not only give your eyes a refreshing break but will also give your body and mind a break.

 

General Tips

 

·         Have a routine comprehensive eye exam every year with your certified ophthalmologist.

·         If possible, remove contact lens and use glasses while using PC.

·         Make your diet rich in vitamins (such as vitamin A, vitamin C and vitamin E) that keep your eyes healthy. Include foods like carrots, spinach, almonds, salmon etc.

·         Alternate computer activities with other tasks.

9 Health Benefits of Cheese

1.     Cheese is great for your teeth. Cheese is a food that is rich in calcium. Calcium is something that you need if you are going to have good, strong, healthy teeth. Cheese has been shown to reduce plaque and to stimulate saliva which helps to keep the mouth clean. If you dread going to the dentist because you don't want to hear that your teeth are getting bad then you might want to think about how cheese can help you out! (Of course, you do still have to brush and floss!!)

2.     Cheese is even better for your bones. For the same reason that cheese is great for your teeth, it's also great for your bones. Getting enough calcium means that you'll have strong, healthy bones. It may prevent osteoporosis and other bone problems associated with aging.

3.     Cheese helps pregnancy go more smoothly. Calcium-rich foods like cheese are great for pregnant women. One of the biggest benefits is that it can help stimulate contractions when it's time for the baby to come. It also helps to create proper milk production in the body to help feed the baby once it is born.

4.     Cheese can reduce problems associated with PMS. Women who aren't pregnant may find that cheese is good for them when their time of month comes around. That's because the calcium in cheese can prevent or reduce some of the symptoms associated with PMS.

5.     Cheese may be good for your skin. Cheese is a product that contains B vitamins. B vitamins are good for maintaining supple, healthy, glowing skin. You won't automatically get good skin because you eat cheese but it's one benefit to consider when including cheese in your diet.

6.     Cheese might prevent cancer. There are a lot of studies going on through which people are trying to determine how to prevent cancer. One thing that seems to be true is that CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid) may be a product that prevents cancer. Cheese contains CLA. Also, cheese may specifically help to prevent colon cancer due to its high calcium content.

7.     Cheese is good for people who suffer from migraine headaches. Getting enough calcium has been shown to reduce the problems that people have with migraines. Cheese, as has been noted here, is a terrific source of that calcium.

8.     Cheese can boost your immune system. Eating certain types of cheese has been found to actually have a positive effect on the immune system. This prevents many forms of illness and disease.

9.     Cheese is a leading product for people who need to gain weight. One of the reasons that cheese has a bad reputation as an unhealthy food is because it is a high-fat food and eating a lot of it can lead to weight gain. However, some people need to gain weight. Maybe you're an athlete that needs to bulk up or perhaps you're getting older and being too thin is starting to become dangerous for your health. Either way, cheese can be good for you. Of course, you need to eat in properly as part of a balanced diet and a lifestyle that includes exercise.

Honey and Cinnamon

CHOLESTEROL

¬  Two tablespoons of honey and three teaspoons of cinnamon powder mixed in 16 ounces of tea, when given to a cholesterol patient, reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood by 10% within 2 hours.

¬  As mentioned for arthritic patients - If taken 3 times a day, it lowers the cholesterol level.

¬  As per the information received in a Medical Journal, pure honey taken with food daily relieves complaints of cholesterol.

 

 

COLDS

¬  Those suffering from common or severe colds should take one tablespoon of luke warm honey with 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder daily for 3 days.

¬  This process will cure most chronic cough, cold and clear the sinuses.

 

TOOTHACHE

Make a paste of one teaspoon of cinnamon powder and five teaspoons of honey, and apply on the aching tooth. This may be done 3 times a day (daily) till such time, that the tooth has stopped aching.

 

HEART DISEASES

¬  Make a paste of honey and cinnamon powder. Apply on bread or chapatti instead of jelly and jam, and eat it regularly for breakfast.

¬  It reduces the cholesterol in the arteries and saves the patient from the risk of a heart attack.

¬  For those who have had an attack in the past, follow this process daily  and avoid the risk of another attack.

¬  Regular use of the above process relieves loss of breath and strengthens the heartbeat.

¬  In America and Canada, various nursing homes have treated patients successfully and have discovered that  the arteries and veins lose their flexibility and get clogged. Honey and Cinnamon improves blood flow.

 

PIMPLES

Take three tablespoons of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder paste. Apply this paste on the pimples before sleeping and wash it the next morning with warm water. If done daily for two weeks, it removes pimples from the root.

[common friends] Don't just maximize your windows—go full screen

When you need a really big window for viewing photos and videos, don't just maximize it: go full screen! This tip works great for viewing photos and videos at maximum size in Windows Explorer or Windows Media Player, utilizing screen space usually occupied by the header at the top of the screen and the taskbar at the bottom. Here's how:

Open any photo in Windows Explorer, or open a photo or video clip in Windows Media Player. Do one of the following:

In Windows 7 and Windows XP, click the F11 key at the top of your keyboard.

The photo or video image enlarges to its maximum size and the title bar and taskbar are hidden.

Customize the Navigation pane

You can use the navigation pane (the left pane) to find files and folders and display links to frequently used folders and other items. You can also move or copy items to a destination in the navigation pane.

If you don't see the navigation pane on the left side of an open folder window, click Organize, point to Layout, and then click Navigation pane to display it.

To customize the navigation pane in Windows 7

In an open folder or library window, click Organize, and then click Folder and search options.

In the Folder Options dialog box, click the General tab, and then do one or both of the following:

To show all the folders on your computer in the navigation pane, including your personal folder, select the Show all folders check box, click Apply to see the change, and then click OK.

To automatically expand the navigation pane to the folder that's selected in the folder window, select the Automatically expand to current folder check box, and then click OK.

A Forwarded mail 

Tips for healthy eyes

1.     Have your eyes tested regularly.

2.     Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. Broccoli, spinach, sweetcorn, orange and yellow peppers, kiwi fruits, oranges and mangoes are all great sources of the substances lutein and zeaxanthin, which may help protect against some eye conditions. 

3.     Protect your eyes from the sun. Over-exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays can cause a number of problems, including cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. In sunny weather, always wear sunglasses or tinted lenses that carry the UV400 mark.

4.     Stop smoking. Smokers are up to three times more likely to develop cataracts than non-smokers - another good reason to quit.

5.     Take short, frequent breaks from the computer to prevent eyestrain and tiredness. Even if you don't get up, an 'eye break' - when you look away from the screen and focus on objects at varying distances will help.

6.     If you play a lot of sport, buy protective sports goggles to shield your eyes. This is especially important if you're keen on racquet sports; squash is the main cause of serious eye injuries.

7.     Eye injuries caused by DIY at home are common. Always wear safety goggles that carry the BS EN 166 safety mark to avoid injuries caused by flying wood chips or metal shards. If your job requires you to wear protective eyewear (your employer should provide it), never go without.

8.     If you get dust or grit in your eye, don't rub it. Pull the upper eyelid down over the lower lid and blink frequently to help the lower lashes and tears sweep and wash away the foreign object.

9.     If you wear contact lenses, regular aftercare check-ups are vital to ensure your lenses remain comfortable and your eyes stay healthy.

10.  If you notice any changes in your vision, pain in or around your eyes or if you keep getting headaches, book an appointment to see an Optometrist.

A Forwarded mail

THE MYTH OF REFRESHING THE DESKTOP

"Do you refresh your desktop?" Ask this to any Windows user and 99% of them – especially in India - will reply with a "yes". Of course, there are various needs for refreshing the desktop but the majority of people who does it don't even know why he is doing it. Refreshing the desktop is perhaps the biggest computer myth among all Windows users.

Every single person I have met does this or at least used to do it. It's not known who first discovered this remarkably useless trick and what he achieved from it, but it just spread. Most new users learn this trick from other new users without caring to know what it does. Some do it devotedly just because others do it, while some others have various weird explanations for it. A few of them assumes that it refreshes the RAM, while some others believe that doing it will somehow keep their PCs running smooth and easy. I have seen some users obsessed with refreshing the desktop, doing it every 30 seconds or so. They have even learnt the keyboard shortcut - F5 (just to mention, these are the people who never use keyboard shortcuts). They would press the key and wouldn't release it for a long time, sending the desktop into a frenzy of refreshes.

What does a desktop refresh actually do? Refreshing the desktop simply redraws the icons on the desktop. That's it! It doesn't refresh the RAM. It doesn't clean your PC. It doesn't refresh your computer the way it does to you when you wake up from a nap. Refreshing the desktop has absolutely no effect on the working or performance of the computer. So why is the tool there? As I said, refresh is used to re-display or redraw the icons on the desktop. Sometimes when you bring some changes to the desktop icons, the change doesn't get reflected instantly. In such cases, refreshing the desktop becomes necessary to bring the change to effect. Say, you have the desktop icons set to arrange themselves alphabetically on your desktop. When you add a new item to the desktop, this item wouldn't get arranged alphabetically, instead it would appear at the bottom of icon list on the desktop, irrespective of its name. Now if you refresh the desktop, all the icons would be once more arranged alphabetically and the newly added item would go to it's appropriate position. This is what refresh is for. It is to re-display the desktop. Refresh has the same function when done in explorer.

So, if you are in the habit of refreshing the desktop, stop it. You are just wasting your time and effort. And the next time you see a person doing it, don't forget to explain to him the futility of this action.

Forwarded Mail

Nail Care Tips

·          To harden soft nails, soak them in warm olive oil for about 20 minutes, on alternate days.

·          To remove stains from your nails, mix one tablespoon of lemon juice in a cup of water and soak your nails in this liquid for a few minutes. Then, wash off with warm water and apply a hand moisturizer.

·          It is not a good idea to remove the cuticles from your nails, as it will make the nail susceptible to infection. Rather, you should make use of good quality cuticle oil and gently push back the cuticles, with the help of an orangewood stick.

·          Try to stay away from acetone polish removers as much as you can and stick to the one that make use of acetate. Still, try not to use a polish remover more than once a week.

·          In case you wear nail polish, make sure to give your nails a break from time to time. In other words leave them without polish for a few days, every now and then. Otherwise, they will develop an ugly, yellow tint.

·          If you want to give a natural sheen to your nails, just like the colorless base coat, rub petroleum jelly on your nails and then buff them, with the help of a soft cloth.

·          If you have brittle nails or split or dull nails, then increasing your consumption of Organic Silica, Vitamin B (especially B5) and MSM (Methyl-Sulfonyl-Methane) will surely help.

·          Never ever resort to nail biting, as it is extremely destructive for the nails as well as the cuticles. If you are in the habit of biting your nails, drop it as soon as possible.

·          Whenever you wash your hands, while bathing as well as otherwise, make sure to dry the nails properly and apply a hand cream or lotion, using it on the nails as well. This is because soap makes the nails dry and brittle.

·          The best time to file your nails is when you are already wearing a polish. This will prevent splitting or breaking of nails.

·          If you have brittle nails, it is advisable to wear a nail polish, or at least the colorless base coat, as much as you can.

Yoga for Weight Reduction

Yoga is an effective way to gain and maintain a healthy body. Yoga is said to be the best way of weight reduction because it has no side effects on your body. It won't make you anorexic or ultra slim. It is simply meant to proportionate your body weight in accordance to your height and lifestyle. The mechanism of Yoga in your body is simple yet extremely effective. It acts on the metabolism of your body as well as on your fat cells. The deep breathing in Yoga increases the oxygen intake to the cells of your body, including the fat cells which burn in contact of oxygen. Apart from this yoga makes one overcome from anxiety which is the major reason for overeating. Some of the Yoga asana also helps in weight control through stimulating lethargic thyroid glands for increasing their hormonal secretions, thus reducing weight.

Weight reduction through Yoga

What to do

• There are various Yoga asana like Paschimottanasana, Bhujangasana, Halasana, Dhanurasana, Veerasana, Trikonasana, Ardha Matsyendrasana which are specially meant for weight reduction. Following few of them regularly will certainly help you lose flab.
• Incase you are a thyroid patient and you have abnormally gained weight. You must go for Sarvangasana and Matasyasana for checking on the hormonal secretion of your thyroid gland.
• Regular Yoga asana done with Sun salutation (Surya Namaskar) is also very helpful in weight reduction.
• Regularly practicing Pranayamas for example Kapalabhatti, Anuloma-Viloma and Bhastrika not only help in weight reduction but equally helps in achieving a better muscle tone and endurance.
• Other than the regular practice of the Yoga, you must abide rules of eating healthy and fat free meal.
• Kriyas for cleaning the body namely Vaman Dhauti, and Shanka Prakshalana also help immensely in weight reduction.

What not to do

• Do not relish on junk food and carbonated drinks.
• Do not eat on irregular timings at irregular interval.
• Do not consume anything between two major meals. Also maintain a time difference of 4 hours two major meals.
• Do not break your regularity of Yoga.

10 ways to tackle Diabetes

1.     Follow your Diabetes food plan. If you do not have one, ask your health care team about it.

2.     Eat the right portions of health foods such as fruits and vegetables (5 to 9 Servings a day), fish, lean meats, dry beans, whole grains, and low- fat or skim milk and cheese.

3.     Eat foods that have less salt and fat.

4.     Get 30 - 60 minutes of activity on most days of the week.

5.     Stay at healthy weight- by being active and eating the right amount of healthy foods.

6.     Stop smoking- seek help to quit.

7.     Take medicines the way your doctor tells you. Ask if you need Aspirin to prevent Heart Attack of stroke.

8.     Check your feet everyday for cuts, blisters, red spots, and swelling. Call your health care team right away about any sores that won't heal.

9.     Brush your teeth and floss everyday to avoid problems with your mouth, teeth or gums.

10.  Check your Blood Glucose the way your doctor tells you to.

Bhakti Yoga

Bhakti Yoga, as the name suggests, is the spiritual practice of loving devotion or 'Bhakti' to the Almighty. It lays emphasis on the love and devotion of a devotee to the God. Highly religious though, Bhakti Yoga should be adopted by every human being, living in this world of infidelity and rage, because it helps one to develop a positive attitude towards life. An individual performing this Yoga concentrates on the existence of the Almighty. It develops the peace of mind of the person. With a peaceful mind, it becomes possible for the person to live contented. He/she expresses the emotion of compassion and love for the other creatures co-existing with him/her. Hence,

Bhakti yoga is beneficial to lead a healthy and peaceful life.

There are no fixed ways to perform Bhakti Yoga. It varies from person to person. It involves anything that talks about God. Some may resort to religious books, religious movies that emphasize the power and existence of God. Others may simply chant the name of the Almighty and think about the God all through the day. Singing prayers is another way to practice this Yoga. Meditation also finds place in Bhakti Yoga. In order to surrender themselves to the God and thus develop a close relationship with Him, some people go to pilgrimage, which is another way to perform Bhakti yoga.

The beauty of Bhakti Yoga lies in its simplicity. There is no need to master any particular technique, which has made Bhakti yoga as one of the most appealing types of Yoga. While practicing this type of Yoga, the individual seems to do the things positively. Moreover, whatever an individual does, while practicing Bhakti Yoga, proves beneficial for him/her or the people around him/her, in the long run. When he/she resorts to Bhakti Yoga, the environment is charged with pure energy. Since, Bhakti Yoga has appealed to many people. It gives them the confidence that the Almighty will always be there to protect them, when they face any kind of adversity in life.

An important thing to consider, when a person is interested in following the path of Bhakti Yoga, is that he/she should be emotionally bonded with the object of the faith in the Almighty. In most of the cases, people suppress their emotions, which often reflect in the form of physical and mental ailments. Bhakti yoga is beneficial for them, who want to release their suppressed emotions. Moreover, Bhakti Yoga brings the purification of inner self. People practicing this type of Yoga are able to enhance the quality of their life. It banishes all the unpleasant emotions of hatred, lust, anger, greed and purifies the heart with the only thought of love and devotion to the God.

10 ways to tackle Diabetes

1. Follow your Diabetes food plan. If you do not have one, ask your health care team about it.
2. Eat the right portions of health foods such as fruits and vegetables (5 to 9 Servings a day), fish, lean meats, dry beans, whole grains, and low- fat or skim milk and cheese.
3. Eat foods that have less salt and fat.
4. Get 30 - 60 minutes of activity on most days of the week.
5. Stay at healthy weight- by being active and eating the right amount of healthy foods.
6. Stop smoking- seek help to quit.
7. Take medicines the way your doctor tells you. Ask if you need Aspirin to prevent Heart Attack of stroke.
8. Check your feet everyday for cuts, blisters, red spots, and swelling. Call your health care team right away about any sores that won't heal.
9. Brush your teeth and floss everyday to avoid problems with your mouth, teeth or gums.
10. Check your Blood Glucose the way your doctor tells you to.

Use check boxes to select multiple files in Windows

Microsoft Windows allows users to have checkboxes next to each of the files in Windows Explorer. This can make it easier and faster to select, copy, cut, and delete multiple files. Follow the below steps to enable this feature on your computer.

1.     Open Windows Explorer by pressing the Windows Key + E.

2.     In Windows Explorer click Tools and then Folder Options.

3.     In Folder Options click the View tab.

4.     In the View tab, scroll down and check the "Use check boxes to select items" option, as shown in the below picture.

5.     Click Apply and then Ok to save the change.

 

Once this option has been enabled, in Windows Explorer you'll have the option to check each file or folder by moving your mouse to the left of the name and selecting the check box. Below is an example of this feature enabled in Windows Explorer and a few of the check boxes checked.

Homemade Fruit Teeth Cleaner

Homemade Fruit Teeth Cleaners:

 

1.     Rub a lemon rind on your teeth to remove brown stains. Rinse your mouth thoroughly afterward.

2.     Clean your teeth with a fresh strawberry. Rub it over and between your teeth.

3.     A very simple homemade mouthwash: Wash your mouth with half a glass of warm water containing a teaspoon of table salt.

Breathe Fresheners:

 

·          Chew fresh parsley to sweeten the breath.

·          Chew fennel seeds to freshen the breath.

·          Chew anise seeds to freshen the breath.

·          Chew a few peppermint or spearmint leaves or drink a cup of peppermint tea.

·          Add 1 drop of myrrh oil to 1 cup of cooled, boiled water. Use as gargle/mouthwash.

EXERCISE AND FITNESS: STAMINA EXERCISES

Walking: Excellent cardiovascular benefits for the advanced age groups.. Should be done briskly with swinging of the arms. Comfortable shoes must be worn. May be done morning or evening for 30-60 minutes.

Jogging: Suitable for younger age group below 50 years. 30 minutes is all that is required and may be done continuously, or jog and walk in between when fatigued. The pace of jogging is equal to that of a brisk walkrun on soft or grassy surface. Wear comfortable clothes and breathe freely.

Swimming: For those who know how to swim, 20 minutes of continuous swimming is sufficient. Alternately swim the length of a pool 10-20 metres, rest at the end for 30 seconds, swim back. 10 such lengths is good. Use any stroke you know. They are all of almost equal cardiovascular and muscular benefit.

Cycling: For any age group. Minimum time 45-60 minutes of continuous controlled fast cycling. Cycling up slopes gives added benefit. Ordinary cycles are good enough and indoor stationary exercycles may also be used at low resistance for 45 minutes.

Games: For the fitter younger age group. Get fit first before playing games such as squash, badminton, tennis, handball, basketball, football etc.. Warm up before the games. 30-45 minutes of the game is sufficient. Weekend or once a week games must be avoided unless other fitness programmes are done on other days. Play within your capacity.

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Carbohydrates: How carbs fit into a healthy diet

Carbohydrates aren't bad, but some may be healthier than others. See why carbs are important for your health and which ones to choose.

Carbohydrates often get a bad rap, especially when it comes to weight gain. But carbohydrates aren't all bad. Because of their numerous health benefits, carbohydrates have a rightful place in your diet. In fact, your body needs carbohydrates to function well. But some carbohydrates may be better for you than others. Understand more about carbohydrates and how to choose healthy carbohydrates.

 

Understanding carbohydrates:

 

Carbohydrates are a type of macronutrient found in many foods and beverages. Most carbohydrates are naturally occurring in plant-based foods, such as grains. Food manufacturers also add carbohydrates to processed foods in the form of starch or added sugar. The most basic carbohydrate is a sugar molecule, which joins together one or two units of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Other carbohydrates contain three or more units of the carbon-hydrogen-oxygen trio.

 

Common sources of naturally occurring carbohydrates include:

 

·          Fruits

·          Vegetables

·          Milk

·          Nuts

·          Grains

·          Seeds

·          Legumes

 

Types of carbohydrates

 

There are three main types of carbohydrates:

 

·          Sugar. Sugar is the simplest forms of carbohydrates. Sugar occurs naturally in some foods, including fruits, vegetables, milk and milk products. Sugars include fruit sugar (fructose), table sugar (sucrose) and milk sugar (lactose).

·          Starch. Starch is made of sugar units bonded together. Starch occurs naturally in vegetables, grains, and cooked dry beans and peas.

·          Fiber. Fiber also is made of sugar units bonded together. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and cooked dry beans and peas are among foods that are naturally rich in fiber.

Laughter - better than a massage

What common human activity relaxes tense muscles; reduces blood pressure and heart rate; exercises the muscles of the face, diaphragm and abdomen; boosts the immune system; and causes the body to release pain-fighting hormones? The answer: laughter. Sound impressive? And those are just the physical benefits. Laughter also helps you get some emotional distance from a distressing situation and see the humor in it.

Researchers have shown that laughter increases relaxation. Muscle tension remains low for up to 45 minutes after a session of vigorous laughter. Real belly laughter can relax the muscles more than a vigorous massage.
  
If you haven't exercised your humor muscles lately you may benefit from these tips on getting them in shape:

·          Find things that make you laugh and do them. See a funny movie, read a funny book memorize a joke and tell it to friends.

·          The next time you're in a distressing situation, mentally put yourself in the shoes of your favorite comedian. Humor depends on being able to see the humor where others only see aggravation. It's the difference between tragedy and comedy.

·          Allow a feeling of playfulness to creep into your life. Let your mind be open to silly and uncensored thoughts. What if everyone came to work wearing Groucho Marx glasses and a fake moustache?

·          Amuse yourself by indulging in humorous exaggeration. Stuck in traffic? Think of cobwebs forming between your car and the next; continental drift passing you by, snails overtaking you on the shoulder.

·          Share cartoons, jokes and other funny material at work. Put cartoons up on the bulletin board. By helping others reduce stress you make your own job easier. And people will just be more relaxed around you if they know you have a sense of humor.

·          Get in the habit of laughing at life's contradictions. You can bet your Groucho Marx glasses you'll never run out of material.

·          Finally, practice laughing at yourself. You just can't help becoming more accepting of your own shortcomings, and that's a sure-fire stress-buster.

 

Keep It Light
People will feel safe and comfortable around you if they know you can laugh - but not if you laugh at them. Humor that is cruel or sarcastic breeds a negative attitude in both the humorist and the audience. Stay on the light side. Life is funny enough without resorting to vicious humor.

Insert background picture to Excel 2007 spreadsheet

It's quite easy to get a picture added in Word, PowerPoint or even in Excel 2007. It's considerably easier and quite a common practice to insert a picture in Excel 2007 spreadsheet but many doesn't know the way to add background picture to Excel 2007 spreadsheet. Its known to us, Excel 2007 spreadsheets generally comprises of numbers, charts, tables etc. But you can also add your personal creative touch to your Excel 2007 by adding a background picture to Excel 2007 spreadsheet. Having a background picture added to Excel 2007 spreadsheet it will get a fresh new and interesting look.

Just follow the below mentioned computer tips for adding background picture to Excel 2007 spreadsheet:

 

 

·          Open the Excel spreadsheet where the background picture will be added

·          From the ribbon select the "Page Layout " option

·          Now click on "Background"

·          Next the "Sheet Background" window pane displays.

·          Select the graphics or image to be added as the background

·          Finally click on the option "Insert" at the bottom

 

The background image gets successfully inserted to your Excel 2007 spreadsheet. You can customize the background picture by changing the colors and fonts to suit it. It is duly suggested that one should select a very light or a very dark colored image to make the data on the foreground prominent.

Creating a Watermark in Excel

To add a watermark at the top of your Microsoft Office Excel worksheet:

 

·          In your Excel file, click Insert, and then in the Text section, click Header & Footer.

·          With your pointer in the center section of the header, click Picture in the Header & Footer Elements section of the Design tab, browse your hard disk drive to find the picture you want, and then click OK.

·          You may need to press ENTER several times to center the watermark on the page.

Format Elegant Spreadsheets Without Formulas

Unless you were a math whiz in college, you probably have no great love for Excel. Manipulating Excel formulas can be challenging, but the payoff (like elegantly formatted tables that identify important stuff like key performance indicators) can be worth it. But did you know that you can get Excel to identify important values -- like the top ten numbers in a list, values that are greater than certain threshold, or numbers that are below the average -- automatically? It's a feature called Conditional Formatting.

 

Conditional formatting has been around in Excel a long time, but it seems like most people don't know about it or never remember to use it. In Excel 2010, Microsoft moved it front and center --right into the Home tab -- to encourage you to try it out. Here's what you need to do:

Start by selecting a range of values, such as a column of numbers that represent the most important data on your spreadsheet.

In the Home tab, click Conditional Formatting. Now just choose the item you want to format your data.

 

 

Highlight Cell Rules flags certain cells that match any criteria you like. If you want to see any cells that exceed 100, for example, choose Greater Than and enter 100. You can also use this to warn yourself if a field has a certain text string or is a duplicate of another cell.

 

Top/Bottom Rules lets you rely on Excel to automatically call out the best or worst values in the set. Use this to mark the top ten values in blue or the lowest ten in red.

 

Data Bars, Color Scales, and Icon Sets are all different ways to format your data to call attention to outliers. Use these commands to color code best and worst values, or add an icon to indicate relatively better and worse numbers. The best part is that you don't have to specify how Excel does this; it figures it out relative to the best and worst numbers in the range you specify.