How to accept yourself

A large part of how we view other people is based on how that person presents him or herself. Therefore, if you view yourself as sexy, and act that way, then others will perceive you as sexy.

It is therefore imperative to truly look at and appreciate your own body. It is true; it has faults, just as every body does. However, what matters is to accept the faults, accept yourself as a work in progress, and flaunt what you have.

You will find that people react positively to your positive self-image.

Tips for stretching

My beautiful country

Woman to woman discussions

The healing powers of lemon

For thousands of years lemons have been praised as a food and medicine. The antioxidant properties of the high vitamin C content make lemons helpful in speeding healing, retarding the signs of ageing, and warding off cancer.

Although lemons are generally regarded as acidic, during digestion the acids are metabolized to produce potassium carbonate, which helps to neutralize excess acidity and protect the lining of the digestive tract. This makes lemons helpful for many digestive problems including hiccoughs, heartburn, nausea, constipation, and worms. Lemons act as a tonic to the liver, stimulating bile production when the juice is taken in hot water one hour before breakfast each morning. Mixed with olive oil, lemon juice helps dissolve gallstones and even a fish bone stuck in the throat! It is also used to dissolve uric acid. Lemon juice is powerfully antiseptic, providing a boost to the immune system, an effective remedy for all kinds of infections, and it helps to bring down fevers. As a gargle, it relieves sore throats and tonsillitis. One tablespoon of juice in water half an hour before each meal can help relieve asthma. Lemon’s antifungal properties make it a valuable cure for thrush. As a cleaning and diuretic remedy, lemon juice can be used for water retention, arthritis, and rheumatism.

Lemon juice’s astringent action stems bleeding. Apply it on cotton wool to the nostrils for nosebleeds and massage bleeding gums with it in the morning and at night. Lemon juice also makes a good lotion to prevent sunburn. Mixed equally with glycerine, it soothes chapped lips; helps keep the complexion clear, and tones greasy skin.

Tip: To treat coughs, colds, and flu, add lemon juice to 3 cloves and honey in hot water.

My beautiful country

Women

Salad recipes - very delicious!!

Developing a positive relationship with food and our bodies

One way of protecting ourselves and our families from developing eating disorders is by encouraging a positive relationship with food and our bodies.

Most of us want to confirm to the media images of women, because we are made to feel that this will lead to success and happiness. However, it is vital to make peace with who we are instead. We need to recognise our need for food and the enjoyment we get from it. We need to nurture our bodies and value their health, regardless of whether they conform to an ‘ideal’ image.

Keep this in mind if you join an organisation or use a product to help you get thin. Are you tackling the real issues by doing this? Groups that empower you to understand and accept yourself might be more appropriate. If you really do have  weight problem (and this should be confirmed by a health worker),there are constructive ways of addressing it, by means of sensible eating habits, a healthy diet and regular exercise.

My freelancer

Woman

My South Africa

Bulimia

Bulimia is similar to anorexia nervosa in that the person with bulimia is also obsessed with dieting, being thin and has a terror of fatness. The main difference is that the bulimic woman does not starve as anorexic women do, but overeats or binges. After bingeing, she will purge herself of the food by deliberately vomiting or taking laxatives. Bulimia, like anorexia can have serious physiological consequences. Constant vomiting may upset the electrolyte balance of the body and cause potassium loss, which can lead to fainting and even heart attacks.

Laxative abuse can result in problems such as kidney failure and water on the lungs. It has been found that some people may be primarily anorexic, but that they also force themselves to vomit or take laxatives when they do t. Similarly, some bulimics may go through periods of starvation, which may be followed by a binge. Therefore, the two problems are not very distinct, and sufferers may have symptoms of both.  

Understanding women

Beautiful South Africa

Women

Anorexia nervosa

Although there are different definitions of anorexia nervosa, most agree that the central characteristic is that of starvation. A person who is anorexic is obsessed with being slim, terrified of becoming fat, and preoccupied with denying themselves food. Even while starving themselves, they cannot stop thinking of food. Another common feature is massive weight loss, which is usually accompanied by amenorrhoea (this means that monthly periods stop).

It is very common for women with anorexia to have a distorted view of their bodies. The majority of those who become anorexic were never overweight to start with. They, however, see themselves as fat, regardless of how thin they become. Obsessive exercising is also common.

Anorexia nervosa is most common among young women, particularly adolescents, but it does occur among older women and men. About 10% of sufferers starve themselves to death. Those who recover from the disorder may experience ling-term side effects, such as infertility.

Robben Island 
I am wrong 
Woman

What causes eating disorders?

There are many theories about why women develop anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Here are the main factors:

·         Family conflict;

·         Fear of growing up and becoming a sexually mature woman;

·         The need to establish self-control;

·         Bulimic symptoms can be a way of dealing with powerful negative feelings about oneself;

·         Major traumas can trigger anorexia or bulimia as a means of silently crying for help, especially if the trauma is disempowering; and

·         People with eating disorders tend to be high achievers who set impossible standards for themselves, and often lack assertiveness and a sense of identity.

Most people who work with anorexic and bulimic women believe that their problems are extremely complex and are not simply caused by one specific factor. Eating disorders cannot be understood without looking closely at women’s lives as well as the unique personal experiences of each sufferer.

Whalewatching

Iam wrong!

Woman

The barelegged look

Here are some interesting tit-bits from yesteryear!

Victorian woman considered even the merest glimpse of female leg indecent –much more so if the leg was unclad. Right up to present times, no fashion –conscious woman would go stockingless – despite a virtual ban on them by the British government during the Second World War because of material shortages. Even when supplies of wartime cotton and rayon stockings ran out, many women used specially prepared leg make-up.

The first real attempt to abandon stockings was made during the First World War by actress Gaby Deslys, mistress of King Manual of Portugal. She shocked women and amused men by declaring that she would not wear stockings again until Germany surrendered to the Allies. In the 1920’s Hollywood femme fatale, Pola Negri went barelegged, and actress Joan Crawford discarded stockings for eveningwear in 1926.

In 1934, after a long debate, the fashion weekly Sketch concluded that ‘going barelegged is inartistic and tends to spoil the softness of the skin.’ The British government ‘s official disapproval of stockings came in 1942, when the Board of Trade warned that if women did not stop wearing them in summer, there would be none by winter.

As late as the 1920’s, matrons in Melbourne, Australia disapproved when model Jean Shrimpton appeared as guest of honour at Flemington racecourse hatless, gloveless- and stockingless. Then in 1983, the Princes of Wales attended a Government House party in Canberra with her elegant legs covered only by a golden suntan; the barelegged look had finally won the royal seal for approval. Nobody could argue with that.

Here is a tongue-in-the-cheek joke just for you:

A young bride tells her friend, “Paul keeps telling everyone he’s going to marry the most beautiful girl in the world.”

“What a shame! And after all the time you’ve been engaged!”

Woman to woman

My South Africa

My freelancer