Saturday, April 5, 2008

8 Surprising Turn-Ons for Men

Ask a group of guys what turns them on about a woman, and you'll sometimes get the predictable answers: full lips, full bosom, full booty.

These are a few quick-and-dirty biological imperatives that will turn many a man's head. But a lot of women fulfill those requirements already. So what makes certain women boy magnets, and leaves others spending Saturday nights watching Saturday Night Live skits?

As always, men are more complicated than a lot of people give them credit for, and when it comes to turn-ons, the masculine gender has plenty of surprises up their metaphorical sleeve. Here, some of the ways to effectively rev the masculine engine:

1. Standing Tall

Don't get me wrong: it's not that we want a woman who can balance a beer tray on her head. It's what good posture says about her. A woman who stands tall typically a) dresses well, b) exercises often, and c) is confident about her body and what it's good for. And if she's proud of her figure no matter what shape or size, that makes men take notice, as well.

2. True Grit

Men know that women cry. Men know that women can get hurt. Men want to be there to help whenever they do. But there's something insanely attractive about women who can bite their lips, buck up, and grit out some of life's twists, turns, sprains, and pains.

Note: Before you throw e-daggers my way, I'm not suggesting that it's not OK to cry or that women shouldn't seek proper attention when they're in pain, either physically or emotionally. (Nor am I saying that lots of men don't need to heed this advice as well.) I'm simply saying we're often drawn to partners who can walk off life's minor insults.

3. Baseball Caps

When we were growing up, we used them to show our team allegiances. In college, we used them to hide bed head. Past the age of 30, we mainly wear them to cover our bald spots. But no matter what team we root for, we like a baseball cap the most when it's worn by a woman. The look sends all kinds of messages about the kind of woman she is: sporty, strong, comfortable kicking back, Sox fan. (All the better if it's a Cubs hat - she's an optimist with a great sense of humor.)

4. Software Savvy

Maybe it's a giant sexual metaphor, but women like men who know hardware, and men like women who know software. Show a guy a woman who knows her way around systems, networks, and connections, and he'll be dazzled by her smarts - and appreciate her talents.

There's something sexy about a woman who can click a few buttons and get something working exactly the way she wants it to. (That is, as long as the buttons she pushes aren't his.)

5. Sexy Shampoo

Men typically are stereotyped as needing visual cues to feel attraction. While it's true that men need their share of eye candy, they also are mightily turned on by the olfactory sweets, as well. Perfume and body lotion are nice and all, but the smell of her freshly washed hair that's nestled up under the chin on a Sunday morning is a reminder of all that's good about relationships.

6. Understated Underwear

Slinky and small lingerie works for anniversaries, birthday surprises, honeymoons, and other seduce-me moments. But the look that makes men feel both comfortable and excited is when she's wearing boxers (waistband rolled) and a thin-as-can-be T-shirt that's neither too tight nor too big. Call it supreme sexiness in the understated. The same effect can be achieved by wearing his old dress shirt and a pair of panties.

7. Dirt and Sweat

Of course, men like to see their women dolled up for a night out. But many men appreciate the exact opposite: The woman who hikes, bikes, mows the lawn, hacks trees and branches, and otherwise pulls her weight. Seeing the dirt, mud, sweat, and occasional road rash is something that stokes our primal side.

8. A Few "Duh" Moments

Men like smart women (see "software savvy," above). But there's a small part of a man's brain that wants her to have an occasional dollop of ditziness. Why? Because if she can show that she may not know everything, it reinforces something deep inside a man that he's needed, that he's trusted, that he can be there to help.

And it says that when we screw up on occasion (and we will, oh yes, we will), she'll understand. Hypercompetence is something we just can't compete with. And ultimately, this game isn't about competition, it's about crossing the finish line together.

From: Yahoo Health

Your Man's Secret Fears

A lot of guys try to give the impression that they're calm and cool, that they can handle the pressure, that they think worrying is for wimps.

And the sad part is, the women in their lives sometimes buy this act, or even encourage it. Heck, if he isn't worried, they can feel calmer, too. Maybe you buy the act because the only time you see emotion in your man is when he's watching the first round of March Madness, and his bracket is about to go down in flames.

Or maybe it's because the only time you've seen him sweat was when he had to wear a suit to an August wedding. Or maybe it's because the last time you asked him, "Aren't you worried?" he responded with a dismissive, "Nah."

While men pretend that they're wired with steel cable, not nerves, they have their shakedown moments, too. Here are some of the biggest worries that can weigh on a guy's mind.

That He's Going to Lose His Hair

Yes, I know it seems surface-level to worry about such a vanity issue as baldness, but lots of guys equate follicle failure as a failure in masculinity, as well. Oh, we know it's not true - that hair loss has nothing to do with how funny, smart, or good a guy is. But knowing is a heck of a lot different than feeling. Pluck a lion's mane sometime, and see if he purrs.

That He's Going Broke

Economic shocks (like the one we're in right now) worry guys for lots of reasons: Your man probably feels like one of his largest charges in life is to be able to provide comfortably for his family. While money and job problems have their own tangible effects, they can also undermine the way he sees himself as a man. So if he's a little freaky around the checkbook, it's because his bank balance is closely tied to his emotional balance. A simple four-step plan for your savings like this one can ease his fears.

That He'll Have One Cheeseburger Too Many

Millions and millions of guys worry about their health - more, of course, as they get older. The one killer that really makes us think: the heart attack. One minute you're watching Simpson reruns; the next minute you're staring at the ceiling of an ambulance. Because we've read too many stories or known too many people who checked out earlier than they should have, the threat is always lingering - in our bodies as well as our minds.

That He'll be Called Out in Public

Some of us are thick-skinned when it comes to taking criticism from bosses, spouses, and every other kind of critic. And some of us have skin thinner than a Spring Break T-shirt. But none of us like getting called out or picked on in front of a crowd. It's not that we can't take the criticism, or can't think of a comeback, or can't accept the fact that we're imperfect. It's that public attack forces us to counter-attack or retreat - both of which have their downsides.

That His Kid Won't Make the Free Throw

Granted, a guy is going to worry a heck of a lot more about the big things when it comes to parenting - that junior wears a helmet when he rides his skateboard, that he does well in school, and that he thinks drugs are for losers.

But want to see a guy's heart pump? Put his kid on the field, court, or dance floor. He's pulling hard for his gene-carrier to do well - not because he wants to live vicariously through them (as most people assume), but because he wants to see their smiles and their fist pumps. It's because happiness is directly correlated to theirs.

That He'll Fail to Perform in the Clutch

When a man can't rise to the occasion he feels about as useful as a '63 Oldsmobile with rusted spark plugs. But before you put him up on blocks, reassure him that more than one in ten will have trouble with erectile dysfunction at some point in their lives, and the other 9 guys out of 10 have good reason to be concerned as well.

From: Yahoo Health

Many Women Unclear About Breast Cancer Treatments

Only half the women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer clearly understand the risks and benefits of a mastectomy versus a breast-conserving lumpectomy plus radiation, even after they have one of the procedures, according to a new study.

If the woman is black or Hispanic, the chances are even less likely she has adequate information, say researchers whose results appear in the latest online issue of the journal Health Services Research.

The study looked at 1,132 women from Detroit and Los Angeles who had undergone surgery for ductal carcinoma in situ or invasive but not metastatic breast cancer. The women reported their race and ethnicity, knowledge of survival and recurrence, and cancer topics they had discussed with their surgeons, who also were surveyed.

Only 51 percent of women in the study knew that patients who had a mastectomy or a lumpectomy plus radiation had the same five-year survival rate. Forty-eight percent of the women reported not knowing whether cancer recurrence rates were the same for mastectomy as they were for a lumpectomy with radiation.

The survey also revealed that black and Hispanic women were less likely to know about breast cancer survival and recurrence, as were older women and those with less education.

"Overall, women were not generally well-informed about the risks and benefits of the treatment they received," study lead author Sarah Hawley, a research assistant professor at the University of Michigan Health System and research investigator at the Ann Arbor VA Healthcare System, said in a prepared statement.

Women who said their surgeons discussed both treatment options did know more about survival and recurrence rates, but minority women still lagged in survival and recurrence knowledge, Hawley said.

"The authors' finding of racial and ethnic differences in knowledge of survival and recurrence according to surgical treatment are concerning because of their implications about possible suboptimal communication between surgeons and their ethnic minority patients," Dr. Leah Karliner, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not affiliated with the study, said in a prepared statement.

However, Karliner said the findings are only associations, and readers can't draw cause-and-effect conclusions about the results.

For women facing breast cancer treatment, they should always ask all of their questions before deciding on a treatment option and make sure they understand the reasons behind their doctors' recommendations for or against a particular treatment, Karliner said.

By HealthDay - Mon Mar 31, 8:46 PM PDT
Provided by: HealthDay -- From Yahoo Health

Friday, April 4, 2008

Build Shapely Shoulders

Tired from lifting laundry and carrying groceries? Here's how to strengthen your upper body.

By Denise Austin, Prevention

We use our shoulder muscles to accomplish practically every pulling, pushing, and hoisting task we do (they really do carry the weight of the world!), so they're a great place to start building strength.

The shoulder, or deltoid, actually has three sections or "heads" that form one muscle. When I do strength training, I like to do an exercise for each area: the front raise zeroes in on the front part of the deltoid, the lateral raise targets the middle section, and the rear shoulder raise tones the back and helps prevent your shoulders from rounding forward.

Strong shoulders will do more than just make everyday tasks easier. By developing the muscles of the upper body, you'll get sexy-looking shoulders and create a "V" silhouette that makes your hips and waist appear slimmer. Plus, they help you stay injury-free when doing the fun things in life: serving a tennis ball, swinging a golf club, or pushing off down the ski slope.

Your Toning Program

Do two sets of 10 repetitions of each exercise, allowing 30 to 60 seconds of rest between sets. Move slowly: 3 seconds to lift, 1-second pause, 3 seconds to lower. Do two or three sessions a week, with at least 1 day of rest between workouts.

Front Raise

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, back straight, and abdominals contracted. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your arms hanging down at the front of your thighs, palms facing in. For a printer-friendly version of all steps click below.

Keeping your wrists straight and your elbows slightly bent, raise your arms in front of you to shoulder height with your palms facing the floor. Hold, then slowly lower. To prevent swinging your arms or arching your back and using momentum to lift, try this move with your back against a wall. Or alternate one arm at a time.

Lateral Raise

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, back straight, and abs held tight. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your arms at your sides, palms facing in. For a printer-friendly version of all steps click below.

Keeping your wrists straight and elbows slightly bent, raise your arms out from your sides, just slightly forward. Lift to shoulder height, pause, then slowly lower.

Rear Shoulder Raise

Sit on the edge of a chair with your feet flat on the floor about hip-width apart. Keeping your back straight, lean forward from the hips so that your chest is near your thighs. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your arms by your calves, palms facing each other. For a printer-friendly version of all steps click below.

Keeping your elbows slightly bent and your wrists straight, lift your arms out to the sides to shoulder height. Keep your neck aligned with your spine. Pause, then slowly lower.

Denise Austin is the author of several books including Sculpt Your Body with Balls and Bands, and the host of two Lifetime Television fitness programs.

By: Prevention


Eat to Lose Weight


The day-by-day eating plan in Prevention's Diabetes Diet Cookbook offers delicious, healthy recipes for you and your family. This is not a bland diabetic diet, but a new way of cooking based on recent breakthroughs in diabetes nutrition. Eating whole foods for diabetes satisfies hunger better than diet foods and offers more fiber, a key nutrient for weight loss and control that may even reverse the symptoms of diabetes.

The Fiber-Full meal plans and recipes in the Diabetes Diet Cookbook are structured in two easy-to-follow phases.

Explanation of Phase 1 Meal Plans

-Meal plans are between 1,400 and 1,600 calories, approximately 40 percent carbohydrate (not less than 130 grams of carbohydrate total/day), 20 to 30 percent lean protein, and 30 to 35 percent predominantly healthy fats. Each plan includes three meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and three snacks.

-Goal for fiber: a minimum of 20 grams/day

Explanation of Phase 2 Meal Plans

-Meal plans are between 1,400 and 1,600 calories, approximately 45 to 60 percent carbohydrate, 15 to 25 percent protein, and 25 to 35 percent predominantly healthy fats, and include three meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and three snacks.

-Goal for fiber: a minimum of 30 grams/day

In addition to being fiber-rich, the meals in the menus in this book are designed to help you better control your sodium intake, which can help lower blood pressure. People with diabetes can lower their risk of heart diseaseand stroke by up to 50 percent by keeping their blood pressure under control; the risk of microvascular complications (eye, kidney, and nerve diseases) lowers as well, by approximately 33 percent. In general, for every 10 mm Hg reduction in systolic blood pressure, the risk for any complication related to diabetes is reduced by 12 percent.

Excerpt from Prevention's Diabetes Diet Cookbook reprinted with permission by Rodale, Inc. Copyright 2007 by Rodale.

Phase 1: Meal Plans and Sample Menu

WEEK 1 / MONDAY

Breakfast

½ cup cooked rolled oats with 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
½ cup sliced peaches topped with ¼ cup low-fat cottage cheese

Snack

2 pieces whole grain crispbread with 1 teaspoon almond butter

Lunch

1 serving Fresh Pea Soup with Mint
1 ounce Swiss cheese with ½ medium pear

Snack

1 ½ servings Peanut Butter and Raisin Porcupines

Dinner

1 serving Orange-Soy Salmon with Vegetables
1/3 cup cooked brown rice
Mixed greens with 1 tablespoon Homemade Salad Dressing

Snack

½ serving whole grain crackers with 1 tablespoon cream cheese

DAILY ANALYSIS

Calories: 1,484
Carbohydrate: 153 grams
Protein: 92 grams
Fat: 56 grams
Saturated Fat: 14 grams
Cholesterol: 140 milligrams
Sodium: 1,403 milligrams
Fiber: 31 grams

CARBOHYDRATE CHOICES

10

DIETARY EXCHANGES

Starch: 7
Fruit: 2
Milk: 0
Vegetable: 3
Meat: 9
Fat: 5

Phase 2: Meal Plans and Sample Menu

WEEK 3 / THURSDAY

Breakfast

2 slices whole grain toast with 1 teaspoon Better Butter and 1 teaspoon jam or all-fruit spread

Snack

1 cup plain low-fat yogurt with 4 chopped dried apricots

Lunch

1 serving Farmers' Market Pasta Salad
1 cup strawberries

Snack

1 serving Candied Spiced Nuts

Dinner

1 serving Kidney Beans and Beef Chili
1 small whole grain roll with 1 teaspoon Better Butter
Chiffonade-cut savoy cabbage with 1 tablespoon Homemade Salad Dressing

Snack

1 cup honeydew melon topped with 1 tablespoon plain low-fat yogurt

DAILY ANALYSIS

Calories: 1,447
Carbohydrate: 183 grams
Protein: 64 grams
Fat: 51 grams
Saturated Fat: 12 grams
Cholesterol: 64 milligrams
Sodium: 1,486 milligrams
Fiber: 30 grams

CARBOHYDRATE CHOICES

12

DIETARY EXCHANGES

Starch: 6
Fruit: 3
Milk: 1
Vegetable: 6
Meat: 3
Fat: 7



Prevention