Latisse for Longer Lashes

Weight loss. Depression. Anxiety. Passing a marijuana drug test. Yes, there really is a pill for everything.

Latisse, a prescription drug, is now on the market to give you the desired effect of longer and fuller eyelashes. That's right, no more eyelash curlers, and no more mascara are needed.

But according to an article from Associeted Content there are some risks caused by Latisse including changing of the eye color to brown, infection in the cornea, inflamed red eyes and darkened skin on eyelids.

What is the risk-benefit factor here? I would rather buy mascara tubes for the rest of my life than risk my green eyes turning to brown. It's just not worth it to me.

I also would not be interested in paying $120 for a prescription that lasts me only 30 days (a year treatment would cost $1440) for something where I would be getting added side effects.

But in the world of beauty, there is always a price you must pay.

Call on Me

I wanted to share one of my favorite music videos of all time. It is the classic 80s song "Call one me" by Eric Prydz. The song's setting is a group fitness class. Check it out. It rocks.

Because of the greatness of this song many college students have made parodies to the song, which are pretty humorous after seeing the original. Check one out here.

Transform those handlebars to something more!

If you are looking for a more natural way to enhance your breasts than the typical silicone, a new procedure is out that involves removing fat from other parts of your body and placing it in your desired location, mostly breasts.

According to an article on msnbc.com, the procedure combines two of the most popular surgeries in America. In 2008 there were 307,000 breast augmentations and 245,000 liposuction procedures administered.

Dr. Roger Khouri, a Miami plastic surgeon, says that the procedure appeals to many women because it gives them a 2-for-1 deal : using lipo to take away fat from unwanted areas such as the stomach, or muffin-top area, and replacing it in the breats to give women a larger cup size.

I think that this a great concept because a lot of women react negatively to foreign objects that are placed in their body and reject, for example, silicone breast implants.

How do you feel about this form of procedure?

Gardasil for Men

HPV- the Human Papiloma Virus. The cause of 70 percent of all cervical cancer.

I'm sure everyone has seen the Gardasil commercials, with the girls who always say, "I will not be a statistic." Gardasil studies have show that it is nearly a 100 percent effective immunization treatment in preventing pre-cancerous cervical lesions from four different HPV strains.

According to an article from heathnews.com, the vaccine Gardasil had been approved in early October for males ages 9 to 26. But a study, from the British Medical Journal, the same month revealed the vaccine for males was not cost effective, and that cost outweighed the health benefits. The CDC has now voted against its use as a routine vaccination for men. However, they still recommend that males get the vaccine to protect themselves from the transmission and adquisistion of genital warts and HPV.

The study said "assuming lifelong protection among 75 percent coverage, the routine vaccination of girls who were 12 years of age was found to be a good value at less than $50,000 per quality adjusted life year. However, by adding boys of the same age, the cost-effectiveness ratio was increased to over $100,000 per quality adjusted life year."

I think it is absurd that they voted against Gardasil as a routine vaccination for males. In a case like this, where cervical cancer claims 4,000 female's lives alone, how can cost outweigh the health benefits. Males are carriers for HPV, and tranfer the STD during sex. If men were to get the vaccine it could potentially prevent them from contracting HPV and transferring it to others. I think when it comes to health, cost should never outweigh health benefit-- especially when it comes to saving lives.

Swine '09 Update

I was reading an online article from msnbc.com today about how this week is the deadliest week for children with swine flu.

According to this article by the Associated Press, swine flu has caused 19 more children's deaths, the largest one-week increase since the breakout in April (where since then there have been about 114 children's deaths.)

Although it may seem that swine flu has made itself comfortable around townl and people don't give it that much attention as when it first brokeout, it's still a subject matter that should be taken with precaution.

Healthy Halloween Snacks

The goblins, ghosts, pirates and Bill Clinton's all come knocking door-to-door with their pillowcases (because we all know that that kids with the pillowcases were hardcore candy hunters) for tasty sugar-filled candies on Halloween.

I went on a search for some healthy Halloween treats to counteract the cavity inducing candies that many people consume. At skinnychef.com, I found a great Pumpkin Peanut Butter Cookie recipe, made from whole wheat and molasses, which adds iron and fiber to your diet. Just buy a pumpkin-shaped cookie cutter.

Ingredients:

• 3 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour or oat flour

• 2 teaspoons baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup trans-fat free margarine

• 1 cup peanut butter

• 3/4 cup brown sugar

• 2 egg whites

• 1 tablespoon molasses

• 2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

• Mix the whole wheat flour, baking soda and salt.
  

• In a separate bowl beat margarine , peanut butter and sugar until well combined. Beat in the egg whites, molasses and vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture.

• Spread dough out onto a piece of wax paper about 18-inches long. Press another sheet of wax paper on top and roll the dough out so that it spans the entire sheet of wax paper. Fold in half.

• Refrigerate about 1 hour until firm. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 2 large cookie sheets with non-stick spray. Peel back one of the sheets of wax paper. Dip the cookie cutter into the remaining flour and cut out your shapes. Transfer to baking sheets.

• Bake 9-10 minutes until the pumpkins are firm to the touch.
  

Check out another SkinnyChef recipe, Coco Bat Cookies , if you want another tasty Halloween treat.

Vacations are no freebie

I'm walking down the street in Sydney, Australia, on my lunch break. I pass a gas station, and my eyes peer into the open door and zoom in on the chocolate candy bars and potato chips. I already had lunch, but I want something to top it off. Something salty or sweet. Inner dialogue: I do need some more energy and it will definitely hold me over until after work. An hour later, I am regretting my decision to eat that junk food.

Why is it that when I'm in a foreign country all of my regular eating habits disappear, and I feel that it is O.K. to eat anything and everything?

Granted, I give myself a little leeway when I go on vacations, but I was living in Sydney for three months. That's a long vacation of binge eating.

Vacation Smarts from MSNBC.com has some tips from health nutritionist Keri Glassman on how to manage to eat smart when on the go, or on vacation.

• If you know you will be away for a long period of time, bring snacks for about every couple of hours. Glassman said to bring something low-calorie and crunchy for when you feel like just picking.
• If McDonalds or fast food is an only option for a quick fix, choose a plain hamburger, even instead of a grilled chicken sandwich (lower calories in the burger).
• Or if you are on a lunch break and a quick stop at the newsstand is all you have time for, choose fruit, a yogurt or a low-calorie bar.

Next time I go abroad I will try more self-control.

The sting is worse than the bite

It was so quick that I didn't even feel the attackers leave their mark on me. It's the aftershock. The burning sensation in your skin that makes you look down. But you only see the swollen, red skin. They have already moved on.

Yesterday I was foolishly standing near a fire ant hill, when they found me. Now, I lay in bed trying not to itch the burning sensation that covers my right foot, but I eventually give in to the most glorious scratching-fest. I can't help it. When I have a scratch, I itch it. Bad move. Because after that one give-in, that one scratch, it's like Pringles: Once you pop, the fun don't stop.

After reading up on an article from the Medical University of South Carolina, I learned to process of the fire ant attack and why the sting is the worse part.

The ants will swarm onto a foot, for example, and after a signal the female ants will bite your skin, insert their stinger and inject the venom in, and quickly leave to a different spot to attack.
It is done so quickly that there is little pain, but the burn comes from the venom that is now flowing through your veins.

The article leaves some tips on how to treat fire ant bites, with the most important one : Don't scratch, because it can lead to infection and a slower healing process.

I wish I had stronger will power to resist the itch.

Almost Doesn't Count

Well, I tried. But trying doesn't always end up with the best results. I also tried on my finance test and got a D, with the curve, but that's besides the point.

I had plans to workout today, to finally break my standstill. To get back into the routine. I put on my workout clothes and gym shoes and had to make a stop at the store before.

During my time in the store I received a text from my boyfriend to come and cat-nap. From waking up for an early class, I was feeling pretty tired and decided to go nap. Three hours later I wake up and it's time for TutoringZone, and no time for my planned workout at the gym.

Lesson learned for the day: I can have good intentions, but it's actually going through with them that makes them count. Don't let distractions lead you off the path. Maybe if I would have gone to the gym before going to the store, I would feel a little bit better.

Rock Bottom

I'm officially at my slump. I made it to the peak, but instead of staying there and keeping pace, I've rolled down the hill. Not forward toward my next challenge--I've rolled backward.

I was doing so well at my routine of working out. Cycling four days a week and weights either before or after. Then it came. My first finance test. I was a slave to the library for a week before the test, and had no time to work out. After the test came, it was time for catching up on sleep from my sleepless nights studying.

It has now been a week since my test, and two weeks since I haven't worked out. Along with my workouts went my healthy eating habits- right out the window.

Having no time to workout during test-crunch time also means no time to go to the grocery store to buy healthy foods. This means late night runs to Mother's Pub for some fried goodness, or to the local Taco Hell. It doesn't help when I'm studying at my boyfriend's apartment and his whole freezer is stuffed with pizza rolls and taquitos. I swear it really is harder to resist when the food is right in front of you.

During these stressful times, I believe it's best to keep with your routine- working out and eating healthy- instead of letting it all go.

In an article from Fitness Magazine called Why You Stress and How to Stop, it talks about how stress can make a person slow, lose the ability to think coherently and to calm down. Now these are all pretty important things when it comes to test time.

So for my next exam date, I'm going to continue to work out, as we all know that working out is a great stress reliever. A little break from a 12-hour study session would probably do my body good- let my brain de-fry and re-energize for my next study session.

Monkey THINK.. Monkey Do...

Researchers have planted an implant in a monkey's brain, which allows them to control their arm actions just by THINKING about it.

In the video from Nature.com, a monkey is able to move his robotic arm to grab a marshmallow from a pin at different locations.

Andrew Schwartz led the team by first having the monkeys use a joystick to move the arm, but then placed their arm into a robotic arm, which is then controlled by brain cells.


According to the article at Nature.com, tiny electrodes were implanted into the motor cortex of the brain, which is the part controlling movement. The electrodes read the commands to move from the brain cells and then converts them into actual movement in the robotic arm.

Schwartz and his other team of researchers from the University of Pittsburgh say that in the future it is possible for this technique to be applied to humans to have the ability to generate movement in their prosthetic limbs.

Researchers have shown that humans have the ability to control computer cursors using only brain signals, which shows that " the brain is capable of creating a stable, mental representation of a disembodied device so that it can be controlled with little effort," according to this sciencedaily.com news article.

A human example is Matthew Nagle, who was left paralyzed from the neck down, and was the first person to have the chip planted in his brain, which now allows his thoughts and commands to be sent to a computer.

Now Nagle can turn on the TV, move a computer cursor, and alter volume, among other things.

Imagine what this means for the future and those who have lost limbs or are confined to a wheelchair due to paralysis.

I think it's something beautiful. Restoring life to something that was lost.

Models Don't Eat

In the modeling world appearance is everything. A model has to be a certain height and size in order to make it in the cut-throat industry.

And if a model makes it, a stereotype immediately is attached.

"She must not eat. If she does, she must have an eating disorder."

Many models do have the mentality of being the skinniest girl on the runway, and in turn, this will effect their health by trying to accomplish this perfection.

However, to other models, it is just a stereotype.

I was recently cast as a model in Gainesville Fashion Week, which is a weeklong event of runway shows. Everyday when we would be getting our hair and makeup done at a salon, a local Gainesville restaurant would cater food for the models. One day, Ben and Jerry's catered the food, which was only desserts. I was curious to see how this would go over.

My friend Colleen turned down the chocolate chip cookies and double fudge brownies and said, "I probably shouldn't eat this when the runway show is in four hours."

Janice, another model, grabbed three of the cookies and said, "Screw that! I'll eat whatever. I even had donuts for breakfast!"

I would say that about 98 percent of the models ate right before the runway show. Granted, this isn't New York's fashion week, but sometimes stereotypes are pushed just a little too far.

New technology for workouts

As the iPhone revolutionizes the way we communicate, it also changes the way people workout.

In this New York Times article, it explores how new apps for iPhones, Blackberrys and Android phones have been created to give users a virtual personal trainer, calorie tracker and heart moniter, among many other useful tools for getting your fitness on.

Workout routines to do at home or in the gym are easily downloaded to create a personal workout.

Will this virtual workout App eventually effect jobs of personal trainers or nutricionists? Well, when you have the world at your fingertips, there is no need to go see a professional to figure out that the cheesecake you ate was unhealthy or the need to spend $60 an hour on a personal trainer.

Because, there is an App for everything.

Nothing happens by chance

"In the news and entertainment industry, nothing happens by chance."

In Paul Doering's guest appearance in class, he opened and closed lecture with this quote. In today's world, nothing seems to hold more true.

What we read about in the newspaper, or hear about on TV, is only a fraction of what is really going on in the world. The media only tells us what they want us to hear.

Doering said that the media will receive about 650 press releases per week, averaging about 100 per day Monday through Friday,

Of these press releases recieved, about five a week make it to air, four to eight make it to video internet or ABC News Now, about a dozen make it to ABC radio and two or three make it to ABCNews.com.

Of the press releases that don't make it to air, what is the public missing out on? We only hear about which ones are chosen. And this is why nothing happens by chance. It is all planned out.

So what diseases or epidemics are out that the public doesn't know about. What medications that could save lives haven't been talked about yet? Only the news industry will know...

Eating your way to a healthier lifestlye

Energy is what keeps our engines running and gives us the "go go go" to our day.
Without energy, we would have no motivation to complete the daily tasks of our lives.

For me, one of the biggest sources of energy in my daily life is the food that I put into my body. But it's the GOOD food that I put into my body. I can tell a difference in my actions and the way I feel if I eat fast food compared to eating lots of greens and protein. We all know that this is tempting: a tasty, salty meal of french fries and a quarter-pounder with cheese. However, after eating fast food, I feel like I am in a food coma. I feel sluggish, weak, and I only want to sleep.

When I put the right foods into my body, like lots of fruits, vegetables, chicken, cottage cheese, yogurt and nuts, I feel so much better. I feel like I'm leading a healthier life and have more energy to conquer the tasks of my day. This is why I always strive for healthy eating habits.

Check out this article from Associated Content on how eating healthy can give you more energy.

motivation is up to you

"I'll be your cycling instructor today. Sorry to disappoint everyone," the instructor said in a monotone voice. She was the sub for everyone's favorite, high-energetic cycling instructor.

And if that intro wasn't a motivating way to start off a class, I don't know what is.

The class continued on, and I thought twice about getting off my bike and leaving. The instructor had no emotions, no high energy, and no screaming commands to keep you going at your highest potential.

The music was louder than she was, and I felt that her hum-bug attitude was bringing me down in my own workout.

Before I let my frustration get the best of me, I decided to take things into my own hands. Although a cycling class is led by an instructor who usually carries the most motivation and inspiration, I decided to hold my own and sprint ahead toward my own goal.

Instead of listening to her mousy voice, I listened to the voice inside my head telling me to push harder, faster and stronger. I began to pick up the pace and make this about me and my own workout.

In the end, it's about if you want to finish the race or not. You can easily quit and have an excuse to cop-out of a great workout because of a bad instructor. You can make it as good or as bad of a workout based on your own motivation. You can decide to take the reigns and make the best of it, which is what I learned to do.

Here's a link from Women's Health Magazine with tips on how to stay motivated.


Also, check out how readers at Women's Health Magazine stay motivated during their own workout. You might just be able to take some ideas away by reading this.

A little about me, from a health and fitness point of view

I am hardworking when I'm focused and motivated when I'm pushed. I am dedicated when I have a vision and also when there is no salty potato chips tempting my taste buds. I can't work out at home, because I will use napping as an excuse to not work out. I can't work out at the gym on campus, because I don't have the patience to go to the gym 45 minutes early before a class starts  just to get a number for the class. Thus, I joined a gym, which gets me out of the house and into a routine. But it's sticking to that routine, and staying focused which usually gets me and halts my progress. For me, I have to get past two straight weeks of working out for it to be a habit for me, for it to be routine, and for me to be addicted. After that, it's smooth sailing, and I feel bad when I don't work out. Cycling has become my gym drug of choice. I like the intensity and motivation that comes with the class and instructors. My goals are to get more involved with weight training and to continue eating healthy. Eat your veggies, kids!