Your boyfriend or partner takes you out for the night and leads you to a darkened room.

You notice the room smells of roses and you hear a soft music playing in the background.

Then you notice an elongated table and think to yourself that it seems out of place but shrugs and moves on.

Then a uniformed lady suddenly appeared and asked you if you are ready for your treatment.

For what?

Unfortunately, it’s not the date of the lifetime. On the contrary, it’s anything but romantic.

You’ve actually entered the body wrap treatment room. This is the common scenario inside a spa salon that provides Body Wrap treatment. Body Wraps became popular in the 1980’s and 90’s and are still a big hit today.

But are Body Wraps really the solution to getting a fabulous body and losing weight?

The Body Wrap Process

Though it varies from one spa salon to another, the context and the process are technically similar. The Body Wrap is not exactly a massage treatment but if the person doing the Body Wrap is a massage therapist, then you can expect to be handled in that gentle and soothing way that these expert do.

At the bottom of the massage table is the thermal blanket followed by a plastic where the client is wrapped.  There are towels and sheets to keep you warm. The treatment begins with exfoliation where your body can either be dry-brushed or scrubbed. In this process, the oldest dead skin cells on the outermost layer of the body or the epidermis are removed. You can either use a mud scrub, pear and green apple scrub, salt scrub, or other ingredients that the salon may have.

After the exfoliation and body rinsing, the actual body wrap products (herbal, organic, and all natural) are then applied to your body and wrapped for 20 minutes. You can probably ask the therapist to give you a scalp massage if it’s included in the service of the salon.

After 20 minutes, you get unwrapped and you take a quick shower again. After drying off, moisturizing lotion is applied to the whole body.

Refreshing, right?

But what exactly are the Health Benefits of Body Wraps?

While Body Wraps will most definitely help tighten and tone your skin, there is no scientific proof that Body Wraps can help with slimming or weight loss.

Moisturizing Wraps will mostly rejuvenate and refresh your skin and pores, but like any other moisturizing procedures and products, it stops right there.

Slimming Wraps may appear to take off a few inches off your body but this is only because of the appearance of skin tightening, which gives the impression of a slimmer body. Come 2 days at most, you’ll get your old self again, flabby fat and all.

Detox Body Wrap on the other hand, takes out any impurities in the skin and pores but the actual detoxifying benefit has still not been clinically proven. Detoxification is all about removing toxic substances in the body. But with Detox Body Wrap, the only toxic substances being taken out of are those on the body’s outer layer – skin – not those that are inside your system.

Cellulite Wraps, the most used and most popular treatment consists of herbal ingredients and other herbal mixes. While there is no doubt that natural herbs are highly beneficial, the herbal ingredients in this body wrap procedure do not take away those unwanted dimpled skin. though you may feel like you are being vacuumed inside the Cellulite wrap, it does not suck away your body fats. It may however, appear tighter and better temporarily.

Is the Body Wrap worth it?

If what you are looking for is something that can make you feel relaxed and rejuvenated, then it might be worth it. It can even get rid of dead skin cells and other skin impurities. But these wraps are not going to suck your fats away for you. You will still have to eat right and exercise daily. No shortcuts.

Ah Spanx, you are every woman’s instant miracle to hiding flab. There is no doubt that it can tuck away every woman’s flaws of any sizes and shapes. The fact that it has been around for some time and being used by celebrities is a testament to its efficiency.

But wear a Spanx while working out in the gym? Isn’t that taking a bit too far now?

For a price of $118 for their Power Pant, it can provide the following benefits:

-          Flatten your tummy and hide your “bagel belly”

-          Hides imperfections

-          Gives off the appearance of having slim silhouette due to its flared leg

-          Your butt would appear “lifted”

While it sure would make you feel great to know that as you run on the treadmill, your belly fat won’t jiggle with you, isn’t the whole point of working out is to burn off those jiggly fats so that one day, you won’t even feel the need to hide anything anymore?

If you wear this shapewear suit to look good in the gym, maybe you should reconsider what your true motivation is in going to the fitness center because most likely, it is not to lose weight or to feel better about your health. The whole point of exercising is so you could be comfortable in your own skin, so if you are wearing something very uncomfortable, where would you find the motivation to drive your fitness limitation to the next level? And if you don’t mean to take your fitness level to the next notch, then your workout is doomed to fail and no amount of Spanx-motivation is going to support your weight loss goal.

This “active wear” is rather superficial. If your intention is truly to lose weight so you could have the healthy life you’ve always wanted, there won’t be any need to buy a ridiculously expensive pair of “workout pants” just to propel you to keep moving with your goal. If your desire is strong, then that’s all you need.

Maybe it’s time to accept the fact that what you really need is some Power Thoughts instead.

Smoking is something that you can easily enter, but difficult to get out of. If you have been trying to quit smoking many times, but has just made your life hell without it, then maybe going “green” is something you could entertain.

Curious? It’s called herbal cigarettes.

What’s in Herbal Cigarettes?

Herbal cigarettes unlike conventional cigarettes, contain a variety of ingredients like red clover, jasmine, vanilla, marshmallow leaves, honey, apple, juice, and even cinnamon. Each stick does not have any form of nicotine at all.

Why Better?

What makes this better, apart from not containing any nicotine, is the ingredient red clover, which has isoflavones. Isoflavone is well-known to have Vitamin E and antioxidant properties, reducing your risk of cancer and heart diseases since it is said to stabilize and improve cholesterol level.

Apart from the red clover, anti-cancer agent, these types of cigarettes are made from herbs that are known to be completely safe. These tobacco-lookalikes are also free from nicotine and tobacco, in case you haven’t realized that, which is to say that when these herbs burned, no harmful chemicals will come to your body and out of the air. This is definitely one alternative as it offers the same stimulating effect that you crave in ordinary cigarettes, minus the nicotine.

Some of its popular brands Herbalette, Herbal Gold, Honeysuckle, Han Cao, Jambi and Honeyrose are available in the market with price ranging from $2.50 to $3.50 a pack depending on the brand.

Verdict

While you can see that there are many smokers who are quick to shun this cigarette, mainly because it’s really the nicotine that sparked their addiction in the first place or complain that it makes their throat itch, if you only realize the gravity of what your smoking addiction is doing to your health (and to those of your loved ones who take in their second hand smoke), then gradually shifting to herbal cigarette would be a no-brainer decision for you – even if it tastes weird. Of course if you can drop it altogether then that would be the optimal scenario, but since you are having problems stopping, this is really your next best thing.

But whether or not you are smoking the herbal cigarette or the traditional cigarette, do be mindful as to not let others inhale your puffed-out smoke regardless of its effect, out of respect.

Even in the heels of my pregnancy, I knew that the first thing that I had to find was a really good and reliable baby monitor available in the market. And when I did my own research, the number of best baby monitors in the market was really overwhelming!

With so many baby monitors claiming to be the best, how do you know if a baby monitor is BEST for you?

The typical baby monitors that I found usually just monitor your baby’s sound – if she’s crying or not. There are also baby monitors that keep track of your baby’s movement while he stays in his crib too. I figured that just listening if my future baby will cry or not will be fine with me.

However, I did more research I found out about the increasing incidence of SIDS or Sudden Death Infant Syndrome worldwide. Which admittedly made me more worried that I really should get a good baby monitor for our family.

I decided on finding one that may be a bit expensive, but worth our sanity 24/7!

A month before I was scheduled to give birth, I found the AngerCare 3-in-1 Baby Monitor. It has video and sound monitor plus a movement monitor in just a single system! You won’t just be notified by sound. But, you will be able to “look” into your baby, even if you are toiling away in the kitchen for lunch.

Absolutely the best baby monitor! Awesome features of the AC 1100 AngelCare 3-in-1 Baby Monitor:

NIGHT VISION. The AngelCare monitor’s camera will also let you see your baby sleeping soundly with the night vision camera. I was already ecstatic with the normal day camera included in it, but the night vision feature was a literally a godsend!

IT’S LIKE A WALKIE-TALKIE. When you hear and see that your baby is crying, you can soothe him or her with your voice while you’re on your way to her crib. So when I walk up to my baby boy’s room (he’s now 3 months), he has already settled down a bit because he gets to hear my voice even if I’m not there yet.

SENSOR PADS FOR UNDER THE MATTRESS. Another great feature for this monitor is the sensor pad that comes along with it. You will need to get a small but hard high fiber board (masonite) to place the sensor pad in, before you place it under the crib mattress. This sensor pad can send an alarm if there is no movement for at least 20 seconds from your baby. You can adjust the sensitivity settings for your sensor pad at your discretion.

What is Included in the box when you buy the AC1100 AngelCare Baby Monitor?

• Rechargeable Parent’s Unit with its charger
• 3 Rechargeable batteries to use for the Parent’s unit
• The Nursery Unit
• One Sensor pad
• 2 AC adapters for the Nursery unit and the Parent’s Unit charger

You need to get a highfiber masonite board to cover and place between the whole base of the crib and the mattress. Or just  get a cut out of a masonite board with with minimum dimensions of 28cm (11”) X 28cm (11”) X 6mm (1/4”) to place your sensor pad in.

You also need to but 3 additional 3 AAA batteries to be placed inside the Nursery unit in case of power failures or disruption.

AngelCare Monitor: The Best Way to Watch your Baby ANYTIME.

You have probably tried to self-medicate with other over the counter drugs for your genital warts. And you are most likely a bit ashamed to even ask your doctor about it.

The internet is a goldmine of medications that you can discreetly browse around for. The downside is, knowing if a certain product really worked.  Because we all know that if we buy it online, there is a 50% chance that it’s just water with some salt in a bottle.

After extensive research and recommendations from other individuals who have had a misfortune of catching genital warts and used Wartrol to treat themselves – most have raving reviews about the product. Not all, but the vast majority have had good outcomes with using Wartrol.

Wartrol Reviews: What is Wartrol Used For Anyway?

Wartrol is for the sole treatment of genital warts, which is a sexually transmitted disease. There is no particular age group that can get affected with this human papillomavirus or HPV.

How Fast Does Wartrol Work?

Wartrol is not an overnight cure to anyone’s genital warts problem. You see wartrol is derived from all-natural homeopathic ingredients. And it acts similar as a vaccine, where it helps your own body produce antibodies against your existing genital warts.

How do you Use and Apply Wartrol?

Apply it directly on the affected area with the brush applicator. And then, let it stay and dry for 20 minutes.  Do this twice daily, once in the morning and once in the evening. It will usually take a two to six (2-6) months for you to see and feel and alleviation of symptoms.

This solution WILL NOT WORK if you only use it ONCE or if you do not use it religiously for at least a couple of months. Making Wartrol a habit is extremely important to help make the treatment effective.

Do We Recommend Wartrol for Genital Warts Treatment?

For US$50 a bottle, that is good for a month or two and sufficient reviews from other individuals who have had genital warts. Wartrol is highly recommended for anyone seeking help with their genital warts problem. Just make sure that if you do choose to use wartrol for treatment is to STICK to a schedule of using it on a daily basis.

It is also nice to know that you don’t have to worry about getting any “looks” when you order or when your bottles arrive in the mail.

If you’re ready to treat your genital warts now, go ahead and visit their official website at www.wartrol.com.

Anything organic is booming today – from food to moisturizer, but water?

It’s understandable that people would wanna opt for organic since that’s basically what’s “right” right now and also because it’s free from pesticides and other things that may be harmful for your body. But is marketing taking advantage of the organic bandwagon by using “organic” in water?

How much more natural can water get?

This “organic” water is called Llnallyr Source from UK and claimed that the water is truly organic because  “The water came from under the soil of vast land areas where it has only been used by farmers that makes use of organic materials; thus creating organic water.”

In short, this organic water won’t undergo any process and won’t have any modifications on its state whatsoever. If that is so, it won’t contain carbon. If there is no carbon – how can it be organic?

Water is exempted from being labeled organic because it never contains carbon unless you’re drinking soda. Water is H2O in chemical symbol, which when broken down will contain two molecules: Hydrogen and  Oxygen so by definition, water is inorganic. Water, apart from its filtration stage (for bottled water), is already in its cleanest form so why would anyone buy into it?

If you are wondering if it tastes different – the answer is no, it does not.

Regardless of whether you buy into this whole organic water or not, the point is, no matter how many “organic” food you stuff in your cupboards and fridge, if your mind has not been genuinely changed into the state of healthy living, you would still fall prey to your emotional eating, overindulgence, and sedentary lifestyle. You may act like you are health-conscious but when the curtains fall and nobody is around – can you honestly say you are being kind to your body?

It’s great that you are taking your first step towards healthy living by choosing to go organic, but to be successful in your weight loss journey, it has to come from the inside first.

Would you try the organic water?

Stumped on how to treat those small bumps down there? It can be pretty embarrassing  to actually ask your doctor for help when you think that you may have warts in your genital area.

WHAT ARE GENITAL WARTS?

Genital warts are small, fleshy and itchy bumps around the genital area. These warts can also be found in the anal region, and are caused by a more benign type of Human Papillomavirus (HPV).

Generally, genital warts are not painful, but the symptoms can really be bothersome. Symptoms do not appear immediately, and sometimes can be latent for some people. However, even if your genital warts may seem to be dormant – you can still pass it onto your partner if it’s not treated.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF GENITAL WARTS?

• Presence of small bumps that may be clumped together in the genital and anal region
• Bumps that may be painless, but itchy and may have some discharge
• In rare occasions, there may be bleeding involved
• Previous history of other sexually transmitted disease

It can be pretty uncomfortable to seek treatment if you know that you have genital warts. You can try using a good number of over-the-counter medications for genital warts. But aside from not knowing if it WILL really help you stave off those unwanted warts, it can be pretty mortifying to ASK your friendly neighborhood pharmacist for help, right?

WARTROL HELPS CONTROL AND END YOUR GENITAL WART PROBLEM.

Wartrol is the third brand of genital wart OTC medication that I have tried, and the ONLY one that really worked. I figured that no matter how many reviews and recommendations I read, it will still not be the same as me actually TRYING it out for myself. I gave each of the other genital medications 2 months to see how efficient they were in ridding of the symptoms, but only Wartrol gave much relief after only a month of using it.

HOW DO YOU USE WATROL?

First of all, Wartrol is a safe medication with FDA-approved homeopathic ingredients. These ingredients are all-natural and diluted to a point that it will help tone down and treat the symptoms of genital warts altogether.

Wartrol is taken sublingually. Clean the spray nozzle and spray it UNDER YOUR TONGUE, preferably an hour after a meal. So, you don’t need to worry about spraying it DOWN THERE!

********************

What I also liked about buying from the Wartrol official website is how discreet it came in the mail. I would also advise that if your genital warts are located somewhere near the urethra, or may be bleeding profusely, that you visit your doctor as soon as possible.

Wartrol is great for warts with doable symptoms.

Even when you are satisfied with your current fitness routine, you probably are still looking for new fitness trends so you can further enhance your exercise. It just can be boring especially when you have been doing it for quite some time. This is the reason why innovators always try to come out with new ones.

Just like this Combat Rope for instance. You’re probably thinking long military rope or Indiana Jones.

Combat Rope Package:

1. Rope

• Measures: 40 feet in length, 3.81 cm in diameter
• Weight: 11.36 kilos.

2. Rope Training Manual

How it Works

You need to anchor the 40-foot rope at its middle so you’ll be able to use 20 feet of rope each arm. Workout variations can come from doing jumping jacks while holding the rope, slamming the rope on the ground simultaneously, or alternately creating a waving motion among others.

However, the Combat Rope seems to be famous for its ability to let you do whiplash motions exercise. This particular type of workout puts your arms, chest, and core to some serious moves that lead to toning and fat burning. It seems pretty simple but when it’s combined with other interval workouts for 30 minutes, it can be more effective in toning your body.

Resistance + Cardiovascular Training

This Rope is targets your upper body mainly on your core because you’re going to need to balance your upper body in order not be whipped out of where you stand.

The longer you use the Combat Rope with the combination of Resistance and Cardio Training, the rope becomes heavier because you come to expend more oxygen in the process. This in turn will strengthen your cardiovascular system and will increase your stamina.

Training Innovation

In today’s time, MMA or Mixed Martial Arts gyms have its own conditioning training programs that are whole lot more different compared to martial arts, which  are  focused solely on punching and kicking. If you compare conventional training with this decade’s training, everything seems different.

For example during abs training,  what you normally do is sit-ups and planks. But now, as long as your upper body is being worked out while trying to maintain some of your balance, it will touch and target the abdominal muscles up to the lower back as well. This simply shows that people and technology are getting creative and exercises are no longer just 1-trick phony. It’s like the more areas a particular exercise targets, the more efficient it becomes.

If you think about it, training with the Combat Rope, which does not come cheap at $159.99 may look primitive, but if you compare it with the workout routine you’re currently using, the rope targets more parts of your body in a single workout time. You might not even have to do bicep curls and chest presses at all and that will save you time for dating or whatever floats your boat.

I never truly cared about nor thought about toning my legs and thighs before until my guy friends teased me about it. Personally, I was more intent on toning my arms and abs.  I have forgotten exactly what they said about my legs but it made an impression on me. So from that day forward, I became conscious about other women’s legs and noticed how toned and shapely they were. And how they looked great in shorts and skirts.

So I made a conscious effort to look for workout videos that could hopefully tone my legs and thighs quickly, or at least quick enough for me to decide if it’s worth the trouble of doing it.

I wouldn’t normally have found infomercials for fitness equipment to be of any use. I find them too market-y (if that’s even a word). But since I was on the lookout of thigh & leg exercises, ThighMaster Gold naturally caught my attention.

This fitness equipment is a portable and easy-to-use toning gadget. Its main goal is to firm, tone, and shape the inner thighs but it can also work for other parts of the body. Suzanne Somers, an American actress, author, and business woman, was one of the first spokeswomen for ThighMaster.  ThighMaster was one of the very first products to be introduced in what is now a very common form of advertising- infomercials. This concept caters to people at home who make purchases over the phone. ThighMaster was among the first home fitness experience delivered using the infomercial concept and if it’s still around til now, then it only shows that this gadget works.

The ThighMaster’s Gold’s, which is ThighMaster’s descendant, comes with a simple design that does not look like it can really do anything out of the ordinary. Two twisted pieces of foamed tubing are joined in the middle with a hinge, which creates the resistance in the exercises. Though it may look simple, its purpose is not solely on the thigh alone. It can work out the chests, breasts, upper body and back, triceps and stomach as well.

This to me looks like a sound fitness equipment to tone up my leg muscles, and eventually stop the fats from jiggling. But will it be good enough for you?

Pros and Cons of ThighMaster Gold

ThighMaster Gold beats the bulky and complicated home fitness equipment in the market. It’s relatively an inexpensive fitness gadget at $20.00. ThighMaster Gold is best for you if you are also looking for leg and thigh workouts. I think having a tangible object that can help you do what it says it will works better – psychologically speaking – than following a set of workout. Having a tangible object like ThighMaster, for some reason, alters your brain and affirms the results.

This gadget is also great during those times that you simply do not want to go through your normal fitness program but want to exercise that specific part of your body while watching TV.

It is important to note however that ThighMaster Gold targets just what its name says. It is like a specialty gadget and you shouldn’t take it as a replacement for your overall workout. But this gadget is great as an added fitness exercise that may hasten the process of toning your legs and thighs.

Famous for its bluetooth gadgets, Jawbone certainly delivers one of the best headsets around. They’re well known for their fashionable and stylish designs.

Looks like they’re crossing over to the health department when they introduced Jawbone UP.

What’s Jawbone UP?

At first glance, the electronic Jawbone UP bracelet looks like one of the tools you can see in your tool box. But after a few seconds of looking at it, the bracelet kind of reminds you of Livestrong’s baller-like bracelet that you’ve seen every fitness buff (and non-fitness type people mind you) been wearing, although this one is thicker and sturdier because of its built-in accelerometer.

What can it do to you?

The bracelet is designed to connect to your smart phone. So by wearing it, Jawborne UP tracks your physical activities, sleep patterns & length, and eating habits through its accelerometer.  It  then uploads all of your data to your Android or Apple Jawborne application.

Another neat feature of Jawborne UP is its ability to count calories of what you eat and measure your eating responses by simply snapping a picture of your meal with your smart phone’s camera. With the use of Jawborne UP application, it can custom create a diet menu for you with consideration to your body’s metabolism.

And if you have been having sleeping issues, you will be delighted to know that Jawborne UP can also help you understand what’s going on with your body as you sleep. It can detect your awake moments and sleep patterns, tracks down your hours of sleep, and recommends best sleep time for you. Like any sleep tracker gadgets that are out in the market, Jawborne UP has a “silent wake up alarm” that wakes you up gradually on the most optimal time based on your sleeping pattern. This ensures that you do not wake up feeling like you’ve not slept a wink anymore.

Sounds good, when can you have it?

The developers pointed out that this gadget is going to be affordable and it will be available in different colors, but you’ll have to wait at the end of 2011 to know the exact details.

Verdict

As health concerns are growing each day, so too are the fitness gadgets that promote healthy lifestyle. I really think that Jawborne UP has the potential to help you improve your health and well-being. This gadget is no 1-trick phony as you can see.

But the bottom line is, no matter how high-tech the gadgets are turning out to be these days, it still fails to do one most important thing – to motivate you consistently – because that kind of motivation has to come from within.