Remember… if you want the type bigger and easier to read, hold down the Apple (command) key (Mac) or Control key (PC) while hitting the + key or rolling the scroll wheel on your mouse to enlarge the type.
How will YOU push yourself this week? How about dance lessons? A hike? Dust off the bike… it’s FALL! Try something new or something you haven’t done in a long time this week. Rest. Repeat.
Tuesday Trivia Grab Bag: (Quick! Submit your answers in Response section below)
Fill in the blanks.
1) A fingernail takes about ___ months to grow from base to tip.
2) A healthy human releases ___.5 oz. of gas in a single flatulent emission.
3) Babies are born with ___ bones, but by adulthood we have only ___ in our bodies.
Tuesday Help Tip:
Get Rid of Ants
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it “home,” & can’t digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially If it rains, but it works & you don’t have the worry about pets or small children being harmed. (I haven’t tried it… let me know if it works.)
Tuesday Health Tip:
I am sure many of you have suspected this from your own experience. I know I have long believed this to be true, and now there’s some scientific backbone to it:
It burns fat, fends off disease, strengthens our bones, and improves our mood — and now studies suggest it may even suppress our appetites.
What’s this miracle of modern medicine? Actually, it’s pretty old-school. It’s exercise. Although the jury’s still out, new research suggests it may inhibit people’s munching.
Exercise More to Eat Less?
You’ve heard the expression “work up an appetite.” The reverse might actually be true. Overweight people in a study actually ate less — and dropped some body fat to boot — after 3 months of regular on either a treadmill or a bicycle.
A Chemical Reaction
Researchers suspect there may be something chemical about exercise that helps increase brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) — a blood protein known to curb appetite. The higher the BDNF, the fewer calories the study participants consumed, and the more weight they lost.
And…. once again, I will tout iTrain as a way of getting more enjoyment and effectiveness from a workout on your own than you normally would.
Tuesday Fun Stuff:
An oldie, but always fun to see again…
Tuesday Blog Review:
OK… I am becoming rather obsessive with Cosmeticsdatabase.com. My reasoning? Even if there ends up being no serious medical effect from using these chemicals in cosmetics, it is definitely a better idea not to produce these chemicals at all. And, like virtually every environmentally friendly change we make, you must ask…. WHY NOT?
I’ve been sifting through all the products I use for everything Cosmeticsdatabase.com covers, and been pleasantly surprised by some and really disappointed with others. As that pertains to this forum, some products I have mentioned here need updating as to recommendations.
Cover Girl Volume Exact mascara gets a nasty 7 rating…
while another, newer favorite, Maybelline Colossal Volum’ Express, gets a 4…. So that’s my mascara of choice for now.
Nailtiques is a product I had mentioned in passing, and I used it for years. It gets a 7 on Cosmeticsdatabase.com.
But my newer discovery, Sally Hansesn’s 4-in-1 base coat/top coat treatment gets a 4, so the Nailtiques went in the garbage.
Lots of other products did, too, as I am replacing products with a healthier rating. Let me know if you have products you love that get great ratings (if your product isn’t listed you can have the Database analyze it for you). Ideally I would like all products I use to rate a 3 or under… that’s not happening yet, but I’m working toward it. Here’s to healthier skin, eyes, nails, lips, planet…
LK's Grab Bag 
All Comments were unfortunately deleted this afternoon when I restructured the site. Carolyn M. Wrote:
“Ok, I have a question- what causes ridges in nails, (besides age)?. Depending on the answers I will tell you if I’m asking for myself or not.”
So… B12 deficiency can be a player. And some say fingernails with vertical ridges can be caused by poor diet, lack of iron, or a kidney disorder. Vertical ridges may also indicate susceptibility to arthritis. Horizontal ridges on fingernails is sometimes an indication of severe stress or a heart attack. But causes can be much more innocuous:
“Vertical ridges in the nail plate are caused by a plate that lacks oil and moisture because the nail bed is not producing enough. The vertical ridges are the rail and groove upon which the plate rides forward. These ridges become apparent as we age or from using strong solvents which dry out the nail plate. Horizontal ridges are something else, and can be caused by poor health and other factors, although stress is not one of them. A horizontal ridge will appear in the nail plate if one has a ‘nervous tic’ habit of ‘scratching’ on or around the matrix (the lunula, the opaque white area at the base of the nail, is the leading edge of the matrix). Any ‘trauma’ to the matrix will appear as a horizontal ridge which will grow out with the nail plate as soon as the ‘habit’ is broken or is stopped. Stress can relate to dull hair, pulling of the hair, twisting the hair, or any other ‘nervous tic’ habit. Nail biting and ‘scratching’ at the matrix are other forms of stress related ‘nervous tic’ habits. After 33 years of serving nail clients, I have just about seen it all, and made re commendations and given advise to thousands of people asking these same questions. Believe me, wearing gloves when you use water (which is the universal solvent because it removes more solutes than any other chemical) or household cleaning solutions (solvents) is the best way to prevent premature aging and drying of the nail plate. Oiling the nails at least twice a day with a good cuticle and nail oil will help to replenish depleted oil and moisture levels.”
Something tells me Carolyn’s “friend” isn’t doing the dishes too often…
So I took your advice and tried something new. I went out on the hottest day this week with a friend and did stand up paddling. It was awesome…right up to the point when the blue shark swam right below our boards! Maybe I’ll go back to the stairmaster (since it’s cooling off and all). Note to Carolyn M. I was paddling off Padaro Lane.
Wow… I just paid $25 to buy a ticket to the newly re-opened Academy of the Sciences in San Francisco next week, which includes an aquarium… leave it to Kristi to find a much better way to get that experience. I’m so jealous… and Carolyn, I am sure, will be a shark-trackin’, paddle-boardin’ maniac now that she knows THIS!
oh ya, you know it dudes- I am reading these blogs on my waterproof acqua-phone. I have my new custom made Azzedine Alaia wetsuit on and I’ve speared two squid and Mathew McConahey just this morning.
PS. My “friend” says ; “I’ll take What are Household Solvents? for $500 Alex”
Household Solvents… are… found… on …. the lining of a Prada handbag? But seriously, C, you really must stop doing all the laundry with bleach in your bare hands… wear gloves for goodness sake… Gucci makes some kick-ass ones in lambskin, cute little snaffle buckle detail and cashmere liners. That’ll solve(nt) it.