BEST POST/ Category: Informative

Say No to the purple eye shadows
Are you sick and tired of the purple shadows under your eyes? Are you tired of having people ask you if you sleep well or if you have cried all night long, and none of those have happened? Well I have a couple of solutions for you. The first thing you should know is that everyone need good sleep every night. This means 8 hours or more per night! You may be 18 years old or 50 and this won’t change. Our body needs to rest, intensely for a minimum of 8 hours. Now this doesn’t mean that if you lay down in bed at 10 p.m. and wake up at 6 a.m. that you have slept for 8 hours, you haven’t. The 8 hours of sleep only start counting when you have intensely fallen asleep, when you start having dreams, not when you shut your eyes trying to sleep!
Also, alcohol, smoking and stress really worsen the purple shadows. If you do this daily or even 3 times a week, get prepared to look 20 years older than you are! Now, if you have gone out to a party and drank a bit, smoked a bit I have a tip. The next morning prepare a very rich juice. Put as many fresh fruits you can and drink it with no sugar. This will help disintoxicate your body. Also, try to eat lots of fruits during the day.
Now, it is obvious that only this won’t make you end with the purple shadows, it will help and so will the under eye concealers. Go to a beauty store, there the professionals will help you to choose the best color. It should be the same color as your skin color and a creamy on, this way it will look natural. But, if your eye is purple and a bit yellowish probably you will need to mix two or three.
Never forget your sun block, they are essential. Even if you are only going to the grocery store and coming back home they are essential. Also it is good to put some ice and small sponges with chamomile tea to relax the skin.
Finally, never forget your lotions. The special ones for the eyes are rich in many vitamins and really help eliminating the purple shadows under the eyes.

The Decision

Last week I had a cruel doubt, this week I have a clear decision. For several reasons, one of them being the large amount of money one has to pay to study in the USA, my parents and I have decided that it would be better if I stayed in Brazil. At first, I found it perfect that my parents agreed with what I agreed, but then some other doubts appeared in my mind. I was suddenly (still am) afraid of the monsters called "cursinho" and "vestibular". I started thinking that I am not as prepared as Brazilians who study in Brazilian schools are for the "vestibular" and yet I am afraid of not being able to follow the "cursinho". Now here's what comforts me. The idea that I can possibly enter the university of Recife, one of the only two that offer political science as a major, and live right next to my boyfriend who happens to live in Recife. Then, I will also apply to universities in Switzerland and retry my options in France. At the end I believe my options will be even wider and I will have another cruel decision. I do believe, however, that God knows what to do and I trust Him. I do need to give a shot to every side, and here I go.

One week

Given that in one week I have to decide my future, this deserves a post. Exactly, in about 120 hours I need to enroll in a college, or decide that Brazil will make me happy enough and that I will spend six miserable months doing "cursinho" to enter a college. Now, what holds me here? My family. I am eighteen but still not independent at all emotionally, my mom is still the person I go to when nothing goes the way I wanted. My boyfriend, a wonderful person who has taught me lots, who is someone I would marry in my near future and who I really don’t want to lose. If things work on our side we can probably figure something out, but this is what I’m most afraid off. Living alone is probably haunting but still not what most hold me here. Now, knowing that I will live in one of the cities I consider fantastic, New York, is certainly a keeper. Knowing that I won’t lose time doing the "cursinho" and even having the chance of not entering a good college is AWESOME. Probably knowing that I can still apply to the college I really wanted to attend in Paris and that being already a second year student will help, is what pushes me THE MOST. Life’s not easy, and when we have options it becomes even harder. I hope that this tough decision will teach me new things and that I am able to choose something that will at the end be the most worthwhile thing. I hope that wherever I go to I will be happy and satisfied and that I won’t miss too much my mom and my dad or my boyfriend.

A tip for pregnant women. A special for my adorable teacher, who happens to be pregnant.

The big myth about pregnant women has always been the uncontrollable wishes of eating something strange or eating a lot and the nauseas. Now, this can really be a myth for some lucky women who do not experience these nauseas...but for others it is a bitter reality. Interestingly, a scientist has found out that when women are pregnant they change passions like chocolate to eggplant, something that has long been hated. Others prefer to have a whole lemon than a whole chocolate bar. Here's the simple reason: the bitter foods decrease salivation leading to a decrease in nausea. If you were having some difficulties before, I wish that my new tip will help me....give me feedback afterwards Ms.

Myself

As long as I have written posts I have never talked about myself and something specific that has changed or that I have learned to deal with. Fortunately, this weekend was a time to know myself better for various reasons and I would like to share this with my fellow readers. Ever since I'm in a relationship I thought we should always denounce to our partner when something is going wrong on our point of view or when we would like something to change. Every time I attempted to talk to my boyfriend about something he did that bothered me and that I would like him to change we began to fight. It was trying and it never ended with a good solution. This weekend things changed, for better. I learned that if I could just let it go, and ignore what he was doing and pretend it didn’t bother me, than our relationship would be a lot more tolerable. It worked. Things flowed better and you feel a lot better when you realize you were able to let small things pass by without making a huge deal about it. This is my tip: to be better with yourself and with your boyfriend or friend, allow things to pass unnoticed.

Eat more, lose more.

Usually when people are trying to lose weight they think they need to eat less of everything and therefore they start the hunger diet, but fortunately these people are wrong. Scientists have proven that instead of eating very little for only two or three times a day, people should continue to eat little but six times a day. The science behind this explains it all. When you eat more and sufficiently your metabolism is always active and therefore burns more calories. The only problem to this theory is that when people decide to eat six times a day instead of three they are unable to control the amount of food in each meal and end up eating too much in all of them. The correct thing to do is to eat regularly at breakfast, lunch and dinner time and to eat less and light food during the morning and afternoon breaks. If you have a second breakfast in your morning break this won’t help you at all. It is obvious, however, that if one is trying to lose weight this new diet form will not be the glorious solution. Exercise also needs to be in the plans of someone who is planning to enter an appropriate diet. At least one hour a day of exercise is fundamental for good health and especially for those who want to be thinner.

Learn the benefits and the recipe of the honey wax

The honey wax is ideal for waxing because of the properties of the honey which is an allergy free product. It is indicated especially for the most sensible parts like the armpits, the fluff and the groin, but it can and should be used in any placed that will be waxed. Interestingly it is also indicated for people who have problems with circulation. Unfortunately it is sometimes not the best option for women who have been shaving with a blade for a long time because they tend to have thick hair. It is important to remember that one can only appear in the sun after 24 hours because the recipe contains lemon, which can stain the skin.

Ingredients:
- 0,5kg of sugar
- 3ml of honey
- 1 lemon
- 1 spoon of water

How to prepare:

Begin by stirring the sugar slowly in a pan. Then pour the honey and continue stirring. When the mixture becomes consistent, squeeze half a lemon. After it starts boiling, squeeze the other half of the lemon. Then you just need to pour the water and wait the wax cool for 5 minutes and you can apply to the skin.

Tips to maintain a good memory

Many people tend to associate the loss of memory or Alzheimer with genetics, but they can be very wrong. A study made by scientists in the University of Columbia in the USA showed that a good diet and exercise is just the key to maintain a good memory for a long time. This way it was found that people who did exercise regularly, had a diet rich in fish, oil and vegetables were 60% less probable of developing this disease. Also, other diseases can contribute for an individual to develop this disease, some include: diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular related diseases. Overall the study showed that any inflammatory disease can contribute for the development of the disease. Another way to prevent this disease is by trying not to consume many medicines because this also jeopardizes memory in general.

A good experience....

On many of my posts, or at least some I have talked about how it is important to sleep well and I even gave tips on how to sleep well if one wasn’t able. Today I feel I need to share an experience that emphasizes the importance of sleeping well in someone’s life.
Yesterday night I was a bit nervous because today I would have my Portuguese IOC and I took longer than usual to sleep, but here is what I did. I went to bed before midnight since I had to be up at 8 am today and I closed my eyes and thought about good things. I remembered good experiences I had lived and when I realized it was already 8 am. Sadly I had to go to school on a Sunday to do an IOC at 9 am in the morning. Everything went just alright.
When I came back I felt I had to sleep more because it is Sunday and I needed to rest for another long week of school. I was able to sleep from 10 am until 1 pm and when I woke up I felt so relaxes that after lunch I was able to write an English written task in less than one hour and I still researched a bit.

At about 4 I felt I needed more sleep and I slap from 4 to 6 pm which scared me a bit because it was so great that when I woke up I was feeling lighter and I was able to finish my work very fast.

Sleeping is essential for productivity.

The danger of high heels for the youngsters

High heels are becoming a problem nowadays. Girls want to start using them too early to look prettier and older as well. Unfortunately this is causing serious problems. A physiotherapist from a university in São Paulo started noticing this problem and decided to do an experiment with 50 girls between 13 and 20 years old. The results were sad. Most of them had bad pains in their backs and the majority presented a deviation in their vertebrate. These types of problems are normal for women from 40 to 50 years old not for young girls who have not yet stopped developing. The problem with high heels is that the more you use the more your legs start creating an "x" format and the more pressure you put on the fingers when instead this pressure should be put on the heels. The knees are also jeopardized because will they twist outwards, the femur stays still making the knees do too much work alone. The biggest problem is with girls between 13 and 16 years old who are in the peak of their physical growth and changes happen very fast. The fault is mainly of the mothers who allow these girls to use high heels. They should be paying attention. I remember that at the age of 16 I was allowed to use heels but very small, they almost didn’t make a difference and thanks God I have no problems nowadays. MOMS open your eyes!!!!

The easy diet

If you thought that losing weight or the small calories that are spread around your abdomen was very hard, you are wrong. In a just one week you will be able to lose two kilos with very little effort. The key is to combine carbs, proteins, and fats in all meals because this way you stimulate your body to continuously burn fat. Interestingly that in correct amounts, protein and fats make carbs take longer to turn into sugar and this way insulin in your body is maintained in the right level. When there is too much insulin the body automatically produces fat which makes us gain weight. The right proportion is the following: for every 9 grams of carbs there should 7 grams of proteins and 1, 5 grams of fats. But it is important to remember that bad fats and proteins such as butter and fatty meats should be avoided. Lastly, if you had the habit of drinking soda or tea than drop this habit and substitute these by water or fruit juice.

Tips to sleep better

Most of you may be rather stressed with IB and all that is going on, so here are some tips to sleep better.

1. Never eat right before going to bed and try not to eat too much carbs or fat meat.

2. If you always take a bath when you arrive home, than leave this as the last thing you do before going to bed, it relaxes and leaves you sleepy.

3. Turn off the television and the computer at least half an hour before you go to sleep, and if this is not possible do not watch violent, dramatic or scary things. Also, manytimes the light of both may keep you awake more than you want to.

4. From 6 p.m. on do not drink anything that contains caffeine.

5. Make sure you ate well during the entire day

6. Even though you may have the worst problem on earth do not take it to bed.

7. Make sure your room is dark and silent and feel comfortable with your bed and pillow

8. Drink a cup of chamomile tea before going to bed.

9. Turn off your cell phone and your home phone

10. When you are in bed close your eyes and think about good things. Places you would like to visit, places you have visited and you loved, people you like, happy moments and leave all bad things outside of bed.

Give More importance to your breakfast

Many people think that the breakfast is the least important meal in a day but these people are completely wrong, do not follow what they say. If you always had the excuse of not having time, not wanting to gain weight or not being hungry so you wouldn’t need to take breakfast begin changing this habit because certainly your life will change as well.
Ironically, breakfast is the most important meal in an individual’s day. If you were thinking about losing weight by skipping this first meal, you are on the wrong path. Since our last meal is always the dinner and there is a big interval between the time we go to bed and the time we wake up, the breakfast is important because it is the first form of energy you will be putting in your organism. At this point your body is in desperate need of calories. If you do not do so and skip directly to your lunch, your organism will ask even more food because it is waiting for fuel for a very long time, this way you end up eating more than you should.
While we are sleeping our body gets energy from a storage of fats and this is way we have to replace this energy with food when we wake up.
For a good breakfast don’t forget to include:
- Foods with different types of nutrients
- Always drink something that contains milk
- Cereals and breads= essential
-NEVER forget a fruit, they are everything you need.

Long flights = thrombosis

Did you know that the risk of having a thrombosis increases 26% each 2 hours of flight? Incredibly there is one case of thrombosis in every 4.600 flights and in Brazil, in the major airports, this number decreases to 2000 flights. For those of you who do not know what a thrombosis is then here goes an easy and fast explanation. Thrombosis happens when a thrombi blocks a vein and impedes blood circulation. This may be very dangerous because it may reach your lungs and cause a pulmonary embolism. Long flights help a thrombosis to occur because we stay a long time seated with our legs down making blood flow harder. The problem is not only being seated for a long time, but also that the seats are very tight and do not allow us to stretch our legs properly, the pressurization and the refrigeration of the cabin. Also, people dehydrate easily because they do not consume much water and most of the times consume alcohol and the dehydration makes it easier for the blood to clog. What happens when thrombosis occurs is that the person starts feeling a lot of pain on his or her legs, they may swell and the calf of the leg becomes really hard.

To prevent:

-Drink lots of water
- Do not consume alcohol
- Use elastic socks that compress your legs and helps blood circulation
- Try do walk a bit every 2 hours and do not take medication to sleep (this way you will not be able to walk, for you will sleep during the whole trip).
- If there is history in your family or if you already have the problem you should see a doctor before your trip because he or she may give you a preventive medication.

No more greasy hair!

If your biggest problem was having to wash your hair twice a day and still have the appearance of not having washed it in one week, well than you have just solved your biggest problem. Here are 8 tips to maintain your hair always with a clean appearance.
- Never wash your hair with extremely hot water; go for the medium to almost cold water. The high temperature makes your hair get dry and so some glands start producing more oleosity to moisten your hair.
- Do not use shampooing for greasy hair because it will dry too much the scalp and again glands will start producing more oleosity to treat your hair.
- Use neutral shampoos, for these have a stable pH and try to dilute it in water before washing your hair.
- Use conditioning only on the tip of your hair, never on top.
-Never use 2 and 1 shampooing that includes shampoo and conditioning in the same formula.
-Use antiresidue shampoos only when your hair is extremely dirty.
When you use a dyer be sure to maintain it at least 15cm away from your hair so it won’t dry too deeply.
-Try not to put your hands in contact with your hair too much and try not to brush it constantly.

The soup diet

Looking forward for a fast loss of weight for a party? Or even looking forward for a loss of weight in a reasonable number of days? Then the soup diet is just what you needed. It is not demanding for it does not require suffering; it is good to eat and is good for your health. The soup is the key element for a good diet because it helps to control your body temperature and it decreases your hunger. It contains sufficient amount of nutrients that your body need to function well and is a lot less caloric than the normal meals everyone is used to. For this to happen, the soup needs to be made using all types of vegetables that are rich in fibers, vitamins and minerals. Also, some kind of meat should be present for protein to be included in your diet. However, elements such as bacon, fresh creme or even flower to make the soup more consistent, should be eliminated.

Choose the best diet for you:
- Loose 2kg in 2 days: The soup must be taken in all meals (except for breakfast), no other type of food should be eaten.

- Loose 3kg in 15 days: (Ideal for people who work and do not have lunch at home) the soup is only taken at dinner time and instead of having lunch at a restaurant, the person should take a sandwich made at home to work and eat that as their lunch.

- Loose 6kg in one month: This one is ideal for people who have lunch at home. This way they can eat normal food during lunch time and at dinner time they should take the soup.

Saying bad words might be helpful

A scientist has performed an experiment that indirectly tells us that sometimes it is a lot helpful to forget the good manners our parents have taught us and say bad words. They are helpful to alleviate pain and hate.

 Richard Stephens had some volunteers sink their hands in very cold water and told them they could swear as much as they wanted to. Then he did the same thing, but on the second time he did not allow them to swear. It turned out that when they swore they were able to stay 30 seconds more than when they had to stay quite. The conclusions was that saying bad words increases your heart beat and this way the perception you have of pain is minimized significantly. When we swear we stimulate emotions on the people we are saying it to and on our own selves, this is why our heart beat increases, because the heart beat is also an emotional response of our body. This way if we say bad words we stimulate more our emotional part and become more resistant to pain.

 Attention. Choose careful the moments when you will swear to minimize pain. Sometimes it will be better to feel pain quietly; the consequences of saying bad words might be bad.

Tips for a brain full of Nutrients

Some things you should consider eating are:

- Everything that is rich in coline. Coline is present in egg's yolk mostly and is essential for neurogenese, which is the process of birth of new nervous cells. Also, if we do not eat the essential amount of coline our memory may be jeopardized or not formed correctly.

- An amino acid called glutamine is very important for DNA formation and the body can even produce this amino acid by itself, but it is not sufficient, this way we need to eat a lot of protein and again the biggest source for this nutrient are eggs.

- The omega 3 is irreplaceable for proper cerebral activity. This substance helps the formation of new neurons and protects the existing ones. Incredibly Omega 3 lowers anxiety and eliminates bad moods.

- Carbohydrates are also very essential because they are the fuel for our brains; they give us energy to think, while proteins help with the communication between neurons. So, never enter in a diet free of carbs, you should eat good amounts of carbs every day.

- It is important to consume everything that is rich in vitamin C because they clean the organism and frees it from any inappropriate material. Apples are very efficient in this case. Don’t forget that vitamin E is also very essential; it has been proved that it is directly linked with Alzheimer this way, the more you take the fewer the chances you have of contracting Alzheimer.

Never forget that a diet rich in all nutrients will increase your chances of being a healthy person always.

The Banana Diet

Yes. The Morning Bana diet, as it is called, will change your life!

It is very simple and very good at the same time. When you wake up in the morning, before eating or drinking anything at all, eat an entire banana and drink a cup of water. It is important to eat the pure banana, without heating it or mixing with other ingredients. After doing this you are free to eat anything you want except for sweets. The only thing you can do is by the end of the afternoon eat a small chocolate to take the salty taste from your mouth. The use of alcohol is not encouraged though the only thing you need to respect is to have dinner before 8 p.m. and be in bed before mid night. This is extremely important for the diet to work as expected. The most appealing fact of this diet is that there is no need for exercise. If the person likes doing exercise she can, but must be very careful not to stress the organism. This diet became so famous because it does not require too much effort; you can eat what you want and as much as you want. The banana is the focus of the diet for it is rich in resistant starch which is not absorbed by the large intenstine and therefore the person does not feel need to eat that much. It also increases the organism's ability to burn fat.

Generating BIG muscles

Every time you want to have defined muscles- if you’re either a man or a woman- do the following: do all movements in a moderate to slow pace and stop for 2 min between the sets. This small pause gives time for the muscle to recuperate and this way the next set with be done with the same quality as the previous. However, if you want to have defined muscles but not large ones, the trick is to do the exercises in a moderate to fast pace and stop for only 1 minute between the sets. Always contract the muscles during the exercises. Now, if you want to loose weight, than you need to use heavier materials and stop for only 30 seconds between the sets, if you can manage to stop even less than 30 seconds your results will be even better. Always leave aerobic exercise for last because if you do it before, you will no longer have strength for anaerobic exercise; you will feel your body heavy and tired. It is also important to keep on modifying your exercises because as soon as your body gets used to it, you will no longer obtain the results you wanted. Never do only abdominal exercise if you wish to lose weight in that area because it won’t work; you need to do aerobic exercise as well with the cardiac frequency between 55% and 70% of its maximum. To verify if your training is really working, right after you have done any exercise you must feel your muscles, if they seem tired this means they have been working greatly. Lastly, a very important clue: never hold your breath because this will raise your arterial pressure; for the exercise to seem easier you need to expire through the mouth and release through the nose.