Get this Look

Kajol attended a shopping expo wearing a fresh-from-the runway jumpsuit and vest from the label Quirkbox. The green car print jumpsuit was the perfect piece to wear for a daytime event. The contrasting vest blended extremely well with her outfit, and with her finishing touches – a silver woven tote from Bottega Veneta, and over-sized aviators. A sleek ponytail completed her look. She was styled on this occasion by Triporna Majumder.

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Circuit-Training Workout

Circuit training is an exercise technique that alternates between strength training and aerobic activity in one workout session. Studies have shown that circuit training is an excellent way to increase cardiovascular health and muscle strength, as well as stave off boredom.

 

Chest Press

"Circuit training can keep motivation levels high due to the variety of motion," says Shannon Griffiths, president and chief executive of Sunshine Fitness Resources in Boulder, Colorado. "It's also convenient and quick -- a benefit for those who can't seem to find the time to work out."
Go through this routine twice and you'll spend about 30 minutes exercising your heart, lungs, and muscles. If a 30-minute workout seems too challenging, start with 15 minutes.
Chest Press
a. With the ball under your mid- to upper back, hold the weights above your chest.
b. Slowly lower until your elbows are flexed at 90 degrees to your side, then raise again

Ball Squat

a. Place an exercise ball between your lower back and a wall.
b. Slowly lower yourself until knees are bent, as if sitting. Slowly rise again.

Seated Bicep Curls

a. Sitting on the ball, hold weights with elbows close to your body.
b. Raise the weights to shoulders, then lower again.

Easy Ways to Get Moving

Don't let a hectic schedule sideline your workout plans. Exercise, even in small doses, does a body good. The goal is to get you moving for a total of 30 minutes each day. Choose exercises from the following list -- you can mix and match them any way you wish to add up to 30 minutes per day.

 

5 Minutes of Yoga

Try these yoga poses to improve your balance and strength. Hold for 5 seconds and repeat each pose five times.
Warrior Two (shown at left)
Start with feet together, then step one leg back into a lunge. The front leg is bent while the back leg is straight. Press your back heel down and turn your back foot to a 45-degree angle. While keeping your abs tight, lift your torso up, extend each arm to shoulder height, and look out over your front hand. Keep your palms open toward the floor.
Chair Pose
Stand with feet hip-width apart. Raise arms overhead, palms facing each other. Exhale and sit back, as if into a chair. Keep your weight over your ankles as your chest moves forward.
Warrior One
Start with feet together, then step one leg back into a lunge. The front leg is bent while the back leg is straight. Press your back heel down. Lift your torso up and your arms above your head.

15-Minute Walking, Strength, and Stretching Routine

This three-step routine can burn up to 100 calories!
1. Walk or climb stairs for 7-10 minutes.
2. Chair-sit by standing up and sitting back down into your chair (use your arm rest to help you stand up and sit down if you need it). Perform 12-15 repetitions. (shown at left)
3. Stretch by holding onto a table or desktop for support and bend at the hips, pushing your buttocks back toward the wall behind you. Hold for 10 seconds.

Walk When You Can

Walking is the gold standard of fitness because it's safe, it uses more than 200 muscles, and anyone can do it. Plan a walking time in your schedule and stick to it. Aim to walk for 30 minutes each day. Start with a 3-5 minute warm-up, and increase your speed until you feel you're walking briskly. If you haven't been active lately, start with 10-15 minutes and add 2-3 minutes per session each week. End each session with a 3-5 minute cooldown of slow walking. In 30 minutes, you burn about 150 calories.

Stretch on the Go

Increase shoulder flexibility by reaching one hand behind your head to the center of your upper back. With the other hand, reach behind and try to touch your opposite fingers. Hold for 5 seconds and switch. Tip: If you have difficulty touching your fingertips together, hold a sock or rolled newspaper in your top hand and grab one end of it with your lower hand.
Stretch your lower back by turning your torso while sitting in a chair. Grab the side of the chair with both hands. Take a deep breath as you look over your shoulder. Twist as far as you can, then try it on the other side.

Exercise Anywhere in the House

This push-up strengthens the chest and triceps. Stand a little more than arm length from a kitchen counter or sturdy surface and place your hands on the edge of the countertop, shoulder-width apart. Bend your elbows and lower your torso, then extend your arms by pushing up and away. Keep your body straight from head to heels. Perform two sets of 10 repetitions.
While cooking at the stove, stand on one leg and raise your heel off the floor; hold for 10 seconds. Do 10 repetitions and repeat on the other leg.

Get More Out of Taking the Stairs

Instead of walking casually up the stairs, gradually increase your speed and the number of stairs you can take in 1 minute. Take two steps at once if you can do it safely.

wake Up

Lower-Back Stretch with Ankle Rotations

Lie on your back with one knee bent and foot on the bed. Extend the other leg up, holding the back of the thigh or the shin to comfortably draw the leg closer to your chest.
Slowly rotate the raised ankle in one direction 8 times, then rotate in the opposite direction 8 times. Switch legs and repeat.
The benefit: This move stretches your lower back and wakes up your ankles and feet.

Hamstring Stretch

Lie on your back with one knee bent and foot on the bed. Extend the other leg toward the ceiling. Hold the extended leg with both hands behind the thigh, gently pulling it toward your torso and keeping the knee straight. Rest your head on the pillow; do not strain your neck.
Point and flex your ankle joint as you hold the stretch for 10 seconds. Switch legs and repeat.
The benefit: This stretch increases the flexibility of your hamstrings and lower back.

Seated Knee Extensions

Sit tall in a chair with your feet hip-width apart, knees bent, and feet firmly on the floor. Rest your hands on the sides of the chair. Straighten your right leg, tightening the muscles above the kneecap. Pause briefly, then slowly lower your foot to starting position.
Do 10 repetitions. Switch legs and repeat.
The benefit: This exercise strengthens the legs.

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Wake Up Your Body

Wake Up Your Body with These Easy Stretches

Start your day on the right side of the bed with these feel-good stretches. These eight simple moves can improve your foot, ankle, and hip mobility, decrease knee and lower-back pain, and build lower-leg strength. In addition to benefiting your legs, these stretches lengthen the muscles that help maintain a strong back.
Ease into the moves by starting in bed when you wake up. Then get up and use a sturdy piece of furniture for support to complete the circuit.
Equipment needed: A sturdy piece of furniture such as a chair or dresser and, if desired, ankle weights.

Bridge

Lie on your back; bend knees with feet hip-width apart and palms flat on the bed. Using your gluteal (buttock) muscles, slowly lift hips toward the ceiling.
Curl your spine one vertebra at a time until your shoulders are slightly off the bed. Then slowly lower your hips to the starting position. Exhale as you raise your body; inhale as you lower it.
Perform 5 to 8 times at a comfortable pace.
The benefit: This exercise stretches your back and strengthens your glutes.

Twenty Facts about acne and its treatment

Acne is the most common skin problem that affects both men and women.

What causes acne?

Acne is a skin condition that causes pimples, whiteheads, blackheads, and red inflamed patches of skin. Our skin has pores and each pore opens to a follicle, which contains a hair and an oil gland. The oil glands are connected to the pores through follicles and pimples grow when these follicles get blocked and infected.

This occurs by a simple process:

The oil released by the gland helps remove old skin cells and keeps your skin soft. When glands produce too much oil, the pores can become blocked and dirt, bacteria, and cells build up. The blockage is called a plug or a come done. If the top of the plug is white, it is called a whitehead and if the top of the plug is dark, it is referred to as a blackhead.
Once the plug occurs, bacteria called Propioni bacterium Acnes starts to grow in the follicles.
The bacterium then sets off a cascade of inflammation. The plug becomes red and bigger and ultimately turns into a pimple.
When the inflammation doesn’t stop, the pimple becomes even bigger and goes deeper into the skin, ultimately becoming a cyst. This is why acne should be treated as early as possible to prevent the formation of these deep cysts that can leave scars and marks.

Stress

Recently scientists have suggested that cells that produce the oily substance sebum have receptors for stress hormones. Sebum is a bad substance that mixes with dead skin cells and bacteria and in the process clogs up hair follicles, resulting in acne and pimples. When you are highly stressed, a lot more sebum or oily substance is formed, causing a lot more acne.

How to treat your acne

Change your routine

Changing your daily habits can go a long way in improving your complexion. Below we have listed changes that you can make to get glowing skin.
If you wear make-up, wear products that are oil-free or water-based. Choose products that are labelled as ‘non-comedogenic’, meaning that a dermatologist has certified that there are no ingredients that can cause pimples in the product.
Always remember to wash off your make-up at night. Otherwise it can clog your pores, resulting in even more pimples.
Try not to squeeze, scratch, pick, or rub pimples. Although it might be tempting to do this, it can lead to skin infections and scarring. Also, avoid touching your face with your hands or fingers.
Be healthy from the inside out. Eat lots of green vegetables and fruits and always remember to exercise.

Look for active ingredients

Many different ingredients or medications can treat acne. However, a doctor always delivers thegold standard of acne treatment so that acne can be treated before too many scars occur. So, remember to go to a dermatologist to get the best treatment for your pimples.
Many different ingredients or medications can treat acne. However, a doctor always delivers the gold standard of acne treatment so that acne can be treated before too many scars occur. So, remember to go to a dermatologist to get the best treatment for your pimples.

Salicylic acid

Salicylic Acid decreases oil secretion while also unclogging follicles to help get rid of your pimples. So, clean your skin twice daily with a cleanser containing 2% Salicylic Acid. Make sure this cleanser has a skin-safe pH to ensure that your skin stays soft and strong and look for a daily cream that contains at least 1% Salicylic Acid to ensure that you get double the effects from this ingredient.

Retinoids or vitamin A derivatives

Retinoids such as tretinoin, tazarotene and adapalene are very effective for treating Acne. They act by making newer skin cells rise up to the surface, thus exfoliating away older cells. This ultimately reduces pimples while also reducing post-acne scars. However, these retinoids can cause dryness, redness and irritation. Retinol and Retinyl Palmitate are slightly weaker versions of Retinoids, however in the right percentage, they are highly effective against Acne, without the side effects.

Sulfur

Many people believe they are allergic to sulfur, however this is a myth. Sulfur is a natural element that is present in every cell in your body. It is Sulfa drugs that can often cause an allergy. Sulfa drugs use a large molecule with many different elements in it, and it is this molecule that can cause an allergy in some people. So, remember sulfur is natural, sulfa is not. Sulfur is a highly effective and natural treatment for pimples. It acts on many different levels: it reduces oil secretion, it is anti-bacterial, it is anti-inflammatory and it is an exfoliating agent. That is why it is such an effective and time tested remedy for Acne. BioSulphur is an even better version of Sulfur, where the natural element Sulfur has been encapsulated in a skin-safe vehicle, making it gentler on the skin.

Benzoyl peroxide

This ingredient is highly effective in reducing bacterial activity. By eradicating the bacteria in the follicles, pimples stop developing, thereby reducing your pimples.

Multani mitti (Fuller’s Earth)

Multani Mitti is called bentonite. It only works by reducing oil on the skin, but otherwise is not very effective for pimples.

Ayurveda treatment for acne:

Mix lodhra – from the lodh tree, dhanyaka – coriander and vacha – acorus calcmus with water and apply it to face. Leave the mixture on for about 20 minutes and wash it off with luke warm water.

Ayurveda treatment for acne

Apply a mixture of haridra/haldi – turmeric, chandana – sandalwood and water. Leave this mixture on your face until it dries and then wash it with warm water.
Consume one teaspoon of amla or Indian gooseberry powder, once in the morning and once again in the evening. Amla will help cleanse the system internally.
Make a mixture of neem, haldi, saffron, red sandalwood, tulsi and fuller’s earth or clay-like material with milk. Spread this paste evenly across your skin.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes have beneficial properties that will reduce acne and reduce suntan. Prepare a mixture of ripe tomatoes and cucumber juice and apply it to on your face.
This mixture will benefit you in several ways:
- absorb excess oil
- tones skin
- fights bacteria to prevent acne
Aloe vera
Cut an aloe vera leaf and apply the gel on the surface of your skin to reduce acne. If you do not have an aloe vera plant, there are several aloe vera gel products available in the market.
Honey
Apply a paste of apple and honey to reduce pimples and acne. This mixture also makes your skin healthier and rejuvenates your skin.