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Cellulite – what to do?

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When it comes to looks and appearance, cellulite is probably one of  the worst issues to deal with. But exactly what is it, and why do women seem to suffer more from cellulite than men, and some women more than others? And  is there anything you can do about it? Here you might find some answers to this problem.

When fat is  stored in the body resulting in the skin appealing lumpy and uneven, you are likely to suffer from cellulite. It is often called orange peel skin,  resembling the look of skin being pinched. In general, cellulite is more commonly found on the hips, buttocks and legs, more than other parts of the  body.

The difficult truth about cellulite is that it is made up of exactly the same kind of fat, or ‘adipose tissue’, as any  other. Adipose tissue  sweeps up fat that the body wants to store as an extra amount of energy. When the  blood is exposed to a high concentration of sugar for a very long time, coming from calories, the body stores this in adipose  tissue.

What gives cellulite its characteristic appearance is the fact that the adipose tissue almost squeezes itself in between the  rather stringy connective tissue that makes up the skin. It is a little bit like butter being squeezed through a  knitted sweater. The butter will come squeezing through the various holes in between the strands of wool and you’ll get an  effect very like cellulite in the body.

It particularly affects women because we put on fat in a totally different way to men. In men, adipose tissue settles more around the waist and abdomen, as well as close to internal organs.  Women however, tend to build up adipose tissue around hips and thighs, and this is more likely to create visible  cellulite. Also,  the adipose tissue squeezes through connective tissue if it is more elastic, and sadly as we all get older, our connective  tissue tends to loosen up.

But enough of the science – how to get rid of Cellulite?  The key is simply to lose weight and there are two main ways to do this. Firstly, use up more energy than you put into your body as calories. It is useful  to exercise, as using up energy is only one result of exercising. The metabolic rate in your body will increase with aerobic exercises done regularly,  resulting in using up more energy stored in the body. It also helps improve muscle tone.  As working  the muscle fibres in the skin results in tighter muscles, cellulite will become less visible.

Losing weight can also be achieved by making sure your blood sugar levels are stable,  when avoiding eating all those lovely sugary things we like so much. To achieve this, it is best to  stay away from foods containing lots of sugar, French fries, white bread that has been processed, noodles, rice and alcohol.  As the body needs blood with a high concentration of sugar to be able to store fat, it will be  physically impossible to gain weight.

Massage and creams that hydrate the skin are also used often. T hese will have the effect of swelling the skin around the cellulite to temporarily reduce the lumpyness associated with  it. There is no long-lasting substitute for a low-calorie, low sugar diet that is fairly high in protein, fruit  and vegetables however. Treating cellulite is the same as treating any other fat in the lobby – the only ways to fight it are exercise and diet.






Educational Opportunities in Top Video Games

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Who knew that a form of entertainment like playing top video games would improve the minds of the gamers that play them! Amid all the amazing graphis, wonderful music, and the addictive plots in video games, educational opportunities are present, and to locate them you only need to pay close attention and look a bit closer.

1. Video games improve strategic thinking. Unusual is the video game that does not need the player to decide plays two or three steps ahead of the immediate situation. With constant play, players quickly learn the advantage of strategic thinking and they start to apply it to actual world opportunities.

2. Video games can help improve problem solving skills. Although the same could be said about any game, video games have proven in study after study to improve problem-solving skills. This is due to most games being centered on a problem and the challenge it presents a play to solve it. In onlyone game, a gamer can be required to solve up to a hundred different problems.

3. Video games improve hand and eye coordination. If you are skepitical about this, simply pick up a video game controller and attempt to move around the game. Maneuvering the game controller requires the same or better skills then it requires to manipulate a mouse around a computer screen.

4. Video games facilitate quick decision-making. One quality of video games that lends to quick decision making is its impromptu situations. There is always the element of surprise around the corner and it makes games intriguing to play. To win players need to make intelligent decision quickly.

5. Video games feed the imagination. We don’t really understand the argument against things like television, videos, and gaming where people use the lack of imagination to support their part of the debate. Some people claim that video games take away from the imagination because games supply the mind with things instead of encouraging the mind to come up with these things on their own. Bear in mind that these are the same people who say a stack of blocks is sufficient to grow a child’s imagination. Of course we couldn’t disagree more. The imagery in video games only fuels the imagination and gives it a spring board to form new possibilities that might not have occurred otherwise.

6. Video games are also a great way to encourage exploration. In role playing games, the players must learn to leave the known path and explore the unknown. Players must open doors never knowing what lies behind them. They have to enter areas of the game without knowing the consequence. And they have to interact with characters that they’ve never met before. Inside these particular kinds of games, the opportunity to gather up the courage to explorer unknown territory isn’t just available, it’s required.

7. Video games will reinforce memorization. Another feature of video games is its strong influence on memorization. The terraine represented in some video games is extremely large, however accessing the maps can be disruptive to the game. To make up for this, gamers will memorize a portion of terrain and the tasks required to get to certain areas.

8. Video games teach consequence. Video games, like computer games, operate off an action/reaction principle. Do something, and the game will react. This is a great opportunity to learn about consequence – whether this opportunity is experienced from a gamer’s point of view or a programmer’s point of view.

9. Video games teach endurance, patience, and dedication. No great game can be conquered in a day. Some of the top video games can take weeks or months to complete.

These are just a few of the eductional opportunities hidden away inside computer and top video games. With closer exploration, we are positive you will find more then hours of fun and amazement.

Wedding Rings: Research Before You Shop

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Judging custom wedding rings is to a large degree, admittedly, a subjective affair. You either like the look or you don’t. But when adding in factors of cost, durability and the like, it’s helpful to be aware of some objective criteria used by the pros. You’ll want your personalized ring choice to be a good one. Fine personalized jewelry is not something you want to buy uninformed.

WEIGHT

It is often misunderstood that, while diamonds are measured in carats, gold is measured in karats. This is an indication of the purity, rather than a measure of the weight or the size. Rings made of 14k gold actually consist of 14/24 pure gold which makes it about 58% pure. Platinum’s purity hase a measurement scale between 900 and 950 out of 1000. This translates to a 950PT wedding ring being 95% pure platinum.

Note that the remainder is often comprised of chemically similar though equally valuable metals. While lower numbers can be found, they won’t be found in fine jewelry wedding rings.

A diamond, by contrast, is measured in carats (ct), ranging from near zero and up. 1 carat = 200 mg, a measure of mass. A diamond that is less than one eighth of a carat is considered a chip. Partly, the reason is the difficulty of faceting and polishing such a small stone in order to bring out a diamond’s effects.

A diamond that isn’t fully faceted or properly shaped is known as a “chip.”. They can result from accidents or the crystal structure that makes cutting and polishing nearly impossible. But the smaller the stone, the more difficult this becomes. So, most chips are in the range stated.

The Cullnan diamond, weighing in at about 3106 carats, is the biggest individual gem-quality diamond ever discovered. It was cut down into the egg-shaped stone that sits in the scepter of England, itself about 525 carats.

But there are many other factors that influence the cost and look of a fine diamond intended to sit in an engagement ring or wedding band.

CLARITY

A diamond is judged by professionals on how ‘clear’ it is, and the stone is then placed into a category.

FL, IF – Flawless, or Internally Flawless represents the highest grade in this area. Such stones are extremely rare and hence invariably very expensive.

VVS1, VVS2 – These ratings represent a diamond which is only ‘very very slightly included’. ‘Included’ means, essentially, occluded or cloudy. Inclusions of non-diamond material or structure are responsible for lack of perfect clarity. Despite the ominous sounding word, these gems are very high quality. The flaws can only barely be seen under 10x magnification.

VS1, VS2 – Very Slightly Included ratings represent high quality stones. No flaw is visible to the naked eye.

SI1, SI2 – Slightly Included gems contains flaws that are visible under 10x magnification and may just barely be seen by those with very sharp eyes. Beyond having good eyesight, though, one needs to know what to look for. Generally, non-experts won’t notice much of anything.

I1, I2, I3 – These are mediocre quality stones that may still look very nice. But they have visible flaws when one looks closely that will reduce the brilliance of the stone’s appearance.

COLOR

Clarity is actually a separate measure from color. Diamonds are usually considered a colorless stone, but diamonds come in a wide variety of colors. Fashions change and in one era what might be considered a flaw will be highly valued by the next generation. The color is produced by small ‘impurities’ mixed into the carbon structure that makes up diamond.

A 200-carat blue diamond in the Smithsonian (the Hope Diamond), for example, is valued not only for its unusually large size. Its rare and pure color is also a significant factor.

Blue, pink and yellow are among the most common colors found in ring stones.

D stones are completely colorless and correspondingly rare.

E diamonds are also considered colorless. Any impurities are in trace amounts detectable only by experts with special tools. Still very rare.

F are also graded colorless, but a slight color may be seen by an expert.

G-H are near colorless. Non-experts can detect some shading if they look closely, but these can still be high quality diamonds.

I-J Near colorless diamonds in which the color is slightly detectable. Still a very good value.

K-M are stones in which the color is highly noticeable. Observe, though, that these ratings are for diamonds that are ranked according to how little color they have. As a result, many will find a yellow diamong quite beautiful.

What’s important is to have the color be uniform. Small spots of color are still considered a flaw by most everyone. Of course, that too is simply a matter of taste and some future trendsetter may decide such diamonds are worth even more.

CUT

It is challenging to give a ranking to the quality or price of a diamond based on the cut of the gem. This is due to the fact that detemining the “best” cut is really a matter of personal preference. The different cuts – round, oval, square, princess – are all equally beautiful and choice simply depends on personal preference. Other common shapes are the Marquise (a type of elongated stone), the Pear, Emerald cut, Trilliant (a wedge shape), Radiant, Cushion and Heart shaped.

Diamon experts have much more specific criteria and will evaluate the different angles and the facet numbers. The Radiant, for example, has 70 facets while the Trilliant has 25 on the crown and 19 on the pavilion. But these details need not concern wedding ring buyers.

Solving Your Home Gym Dilemmas

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You could very easily perform a search on the internet and see that there is almost and never ending variety of home gym equipment available. But is it the price of the equipment that gives you results?

Of course not! You are smart enough to know that a thousand dollar stair climber sitting in your house will have you slim in a few months. However many people suggest this thinking by their actions. They decide to do something about their fitness and or weight and they dead off on their search . Yes, off to research the latest equipment. It does not matter if it is treadmills, resistance exercise bands, stationary bikes, a Total Gym or a huge home fitness center.

In the end you have to use the equipment. But what occurs so often is that you purchase the new equipment but only use it for a short time. Soon the new equipment is a decoration or a place to hang things. Next you start to feel guilty but soon you need your space back.

If this does not ring true with you then you are either on your first round or a dedicated individual.

One way to help resolve this is to realize that you can get fit with some very basic equipment. What about a jump rope for example. Are you able to jump rope for even 5 minutes straight? Very simple equipment, very little room and yet you can do some excellent cardio work.

For another example, consider exercise bands like Bodylastics, these bands are small, low cost and yet provide you with a great many options for resistance exercises. Imagine being able to do squats with more then 200 pounds of weight training  in your bedroom or anywhere for that matter. When you are done working out you simply place the bands in a storage bag in the closet with your compact carido equipment known as a jump rope .

Now even if you get side tracked and stop exercising, there is no large piece of equipment staring you in the face. Next time you get the urge to begin working out again you just simply find that small container on the shelf and start working out.

This is a great solution that solves your home gym dilemmas. Equipment like this is low cost and it uses little space so you can keep it year after year using it when you choose. You will not have to get upset with yourself because you wasted lots of money again on some new whim to work out. Your home gym is in the closet.

A Wired Home Security System: How to Choose?

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Statistics show that those houses that carry a home security system have 60% less chance of being vandalized than those who don’t have any security system installed. There really is no doubt that the installation of a security system is vital these days.

Locating the correct home security device for one’s home

There are a vast number of security systems that are available today and so, having to make a buying decision can at times take longer than you think. The following is a series of tips and points I hope will help you with your decision.

Your location is the first thing you need to take into consideration and depending on it you can decided what is the burglary rate; however, that may not be entirely accurate as at times thieves will travel great distances to make a move on a property.

What have you got to protect in your home? Are old people left at home? Is your house unattended for long periods of time and/or do you have minors in the house who are left unattended at times.

The old wired security devices: Hard wire security appliances are quite a popular choice since they are very reliable/easy to use, but, doing Home Alarm systems Wiring can be challenging for a lot of folks who are not technical minded.

Unless you are a competent electrician or at least have the necessary knowledge to deal with home security wiring, your best route will be more than likely to hire the services of a professional. Where there are wires connecting up devices there comes the risk of sabotage, one must ensure that all of the home security systems wiring be hidden away and not on show anywhere in and outside the house.

It really isn’t all that difficult to find yourself in a bit of a mess with a wired home security system installation. So seriously consider professional help if you are not used to wiring jobs.

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