Can't Sleep? 7 Food to Avoid

Aged Cheese
If a nap is in your future, steer clear of Parmesan, Romano, Asiago, and other hard cheeses (basically, all the yummy smelly ones!). The high levels of the amino acid tyramine are known to keep you up.

Milk Chocolate
The average milk chocolate bar contains tyrosine, which is converted into dopamine — a stimulant, says Cynthia Pasquella, CCN, CHLC, CWC. This causes alertness and restlessness, which can keep you up at night.

Spicy Foods
Those hot wings may taste damn good during the football game, but they aren't going to feel so great come bedtime — especially if you're prone to heartburn. Make sure you eat your favorite hot foods early enough in the day to prevent a sleepless night later.

Tomato-Based Sauces
Have that plate of pasta at least few hours before tucking in at night. Tomato-based foods have a tendency to cause acid reflux and heartburn, which will prevent you from having a good night's sleep.

Soy
Fermented soy products have some of the highest amount of tyramine — meaning soy sauce, tofu, miso, and even teriyaki sauce should be avoided hours before snoozing.

Herbal tea
Herbal teas are great for sleeping, but steer clear of ginseng. It's been shown to act as a stimulant, and though some tea drinkers don't feel any effects from the tea, others experience insomnia and hypertension. If you might fall in this category, avoid drinking it several hours before bed, recommends Pasquella.

Processed meat
Leave this one on the deli counter. Pasquella says processed meats contain high levels of tyramine and makes the brain release a chemical that makes us feel alert. These meats also aren't the healthiest ones to munch on either, sleep patterns aside.

The 10 Biggest Hair-Removal Mistakes

By Kayleigh Donahue, Allure.com

Mistake: Not Exfoliating
Exfoliating is your best defense against ingrown hairs—no matter what method of hair removal you choose. If you're already suffering from one, exfoliate the area with a gentle scrub.

Mistake: Contorting Your Face as you Tweeze
Tweezing your brow is not the time to start making faces in the mirror—whether it's flinching from the sting or just because you're trying to get a close-up view. "Lifting your brows distorts their natural shape and throws off the symmetry you want," says professional brow groomer Maribeth Madron. Try your best to relax your face as much as possible as you pluck and numb the area with an ice cube if you're concerned about the pain.

Mistake: Shaving First Thing in the Morning
Shaving at the end of a morning shower saves time but doesn't yield the smoothest shave. As you sleep, legs swell slightly, which can hide a portion of the hairs. Shave in the evening, and you'll get a closer finish.

Mistake: Shaving During a Hot Bath
Soaking in warm water make legs temporarily puff as well, so don't shave then, either (plus, it adds nothing to the relaxation aspect of a bath). If you're dead set on doing it in the tub, do it first thing: Waiting longer than ten minutes to shave will make your legs feel more stubbly than smooth.

Mistake: Shaving with a Dull Blade
"Many people let the same damn razor sit in the bathroom for days, weeks, months," says dermatologist Kathy Fields. "To get a really clean shave, you need a new blade, so go to Costco and buy them in bulk. Shave once with it and throw it away." (Other experts recommend up to four uses.) Not only will it get you a closer shave, but regularly replacing your razor blade is also one of the keys to preventing day-after red bumps.

Mistake: Skipping Shaving Cream
Not only will shave cream help prevent irritation from a razor blade, but it also will eke an extra half millimeter of hair, says Fields. Apply it against the grain of hair growth to make hairs stand up straight—this will get you the closest shave, recommends Claire Girdler, a scientist for Gillette Venus.

Mistake: Leaving Skin Vulnerable
Accutane and retinols work only if you use them religiously—but there's one important reason to halt your routine: getting a wax. Cindy Barshop, owner of Completely Bare Spas, says you should stop using Accutane the week before your appointment (the same goes for using a retinol anywhere you'll get a wax). They can make skin fragile, so the wax could take off layers of skin along with the hairMistake: Waxing too Frequently
You may be tempted to head straight to the spa—or worse, reach for the razor—at the first sight of stubble, but fight the urge. You should wait four weeks in between waxing sessions so the wax has enough hair to grab. Barshop says bikini-area and on-your-leg hair should be a quarter-inch long if it's fine; coarse hair needs to be a half-inch long.

Mistake: Improper At-Home Waxing Technique
When you get a wax at a salon, the process seems simple enough: spread wax, cover with fabric, rip. But if you attempt the deed at home, there is one key element to remember: Pull the skin taut in the opposite direction you're ripping the strip. If you don't, "you can end up with deep bruises," says dermatologist Leslie Baumann.

Mistake: Waxing at the Wrong Time of the Month
Perhaps your period is on your mind when booking a bikini wax, but it's something to consider no matter what body part you're trying to get hair-free—especially if you're concerned about pain. Hormonal shifts, extra blood flow—almost everyone feels more discomfort right before, during, and after her period.

Read more at:http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/yshoppingarticles/697/the-10-biggest-hair-removal-mistakes/

The 7 Laws of Leanness

LAW #1: Lean People Don’t Diet
What? Of course lean people diet! They’re just magically better at denying themselves than the rest of us are, right?
LAW #2: Lean People Don’t Go Fat-Free
A European study tracked nearly 90,000 people for several years and discovered that participants who tried to eat “low fat” had the same risk of being overweight as those who ate whatever they wanted.
LAW #3: Lean People Sit Down to Eat
In fact, the more you sit down and enjoy your food, the leaner you’re going to be. Punishing yourself only makes you fat!

LAW #4: Lean People Know What They’re Going to Eat Next
Planning your responses to hunger may help you shed pounds faster, say Dutch researchers. They posed their subjects questions like “If you’re hungry at 4 p.m., then . . . what?” Those who had an answer (“I’ll snack on some almonds”) were more successful at losing weight than those who didn’t have an answer.

LAW #5: Lean People Eat Protein
In a recent European study, people who ate moderately high levels of protein were twice as likely to lose weight and keep it off as those who didn’t eat much protein.
LAW #6: Lean People Move Around
I don’t mean climbing Kilimanjaro, breaking the tape at the Boston Marathon, or spending 24 hours at 24 Hour Fitness. I mean going for a short bike ride (20 minutes burns 200 calories), taking a leisurely walk (145 calories every 51 minutes), wrestling with your kids (another 100 calories smoked in 22 minutes), or fishing (there’s 150 calories gone in an hour—even more if you actually catch something).

LAW #7: Lean People Watch Less TV
Instead of calling it the boob tube, maybe we should call it the man-boob tube. About 18 percent of people who watch less than two hours of TV a day have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more—the cutoff line for obesity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But of those who watch more than four hours of TV a day, nearly 30 percent have a BMI that high, according to a study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.Read more at:
http://health.yahoo.net/experts/eatthis/7-laws-leanness