healthy body tips

Tips from Reader’s Digest :

Chew Gum
Volunteers who chewed gum for 15 minutes each hour between lunch and a snack consumed 60 fewer calories from sweets than when they went gum-free.

Vegetable Juice
Here's a surprising way to supercharge any diet--and your health: Chug a glass of low-sodium vegetable juice every day. In a study of 81 overweight adults at risk for heart disease and diabetes, those who drank at least a cup of low-sodium V8 daily lost four pounds over 12 weeks, while those on the same reduced-fat diet who drank no juice lost one pound.

Drop Sugary Drinks
Calories from solid foods and liquids both add up, of course. But in a recent multicenter study, the only menu change that had a significant payoff for dieters was cutting back on sugary beverages, says lead author Benjamin Caballero, MD. Reducing intake by just one serving a day took a pound off after six months, enough to add up for people with a soda or fruit-drink habit.

Green Tea
Overweight or obese exercisers burned off three more pounds and 7 percent more belly fat when they drank green tea instead of another beverage with the same calories, according to a new multicenter study.

More Sleep
A study of 32 summer students at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas over three weeks showed that those who slept an extra two hours ate nearly 300 calories less.

Mushrooms
When ground beef was swapped out for mushrooms in lasagna, sloppy joes, and chili, adults consumed 400 fewer calories per day, according to a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health study. Researchers estimate that if you sub mushrooms for ground meat in one meal every week, you can lose five pounds in a year.

Don't go to bed with makeup on. Makeup left on overnight seeps into your pores, clogs them, and congests your skin. Make sure that you wash your face twice at the end of the day. Once to get the makeup off. A second time to wash the skin itself. Exfoliate twice a week. After washing your face at night, be sure to exfoliate. Use a delicate scrub a non-abrasive formula that will not irritate or

Protecting your back from injury and avoiding back pain is as simple as adopting some minor changes in the way you perform common, everyday tasks.

• Never bend from the waist, always bend the hips and knees.
• Never lift a heavy object higher than your waist.
• Always face the object you wish to lift.
• Hold objects close to your body. Never carry anything you cannot handle with ease.
• Wear shoes with moderate heels. Avoid changes from high to low heels.
• Put a footstool under the desk or places where you stand for long periods of time. Using this takes pressure off the lower back when sitting or standing.
• Do not stoop or stretch when placing items on shelves. Raise the objects you want to place to hip level.
• Use your abdominal muscles to flatten your lower abdomen. Strong abdominal and buttock muscles help support the lower back structure.
• Avoid sitting on soft chairs or lying on couches or beds. This distorts the alignment of the spine.
• If you sleep on your side, place a pillow between your knees.