All About Women | Women

All the determination in the world to lose weight won't make a bit of difference if you're hanging onto an unhealthy set of dietary commandments that drive you unconsciously to eat at the wrong times or for the wrong reasons.

If you are on a diet, no doubt you are ready to get all the tips possible that have to do with weight loss. Losing weight is not always easy, and from time to time it is easy to get into a slump.

Here are eight simple tips on how you actually can get closer to your ideal weight:

1. Eating won't make you fat after 7 p.m.

It's not because calories consumed after a certain hour stay with you longer. The real problem with most people is, when they eat late at night, they're typically skipping meals during the day, said Annie Neuendorf, a dietician at Northwestern Memorial's Wellness Institute. That puts the body into deprivation mode, slowing your metabolism and making you more inclined to overeat later on. Better to eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.

2. Eating out?

Restaurant portions tend to be enormous, and if it's on the plate, we tend to eat it. If it's possible, order from the kid’s menu, where portions are more reasonably sized.

3. You can treat yourself once a week

You can't be good all the time, notwithstanding how devoted you are to sticking to a healthy diet. Allowing yourself to have something decadent every now and then is not only OK, it's encouraged. However, if you're the kind of person that can eat 10,000 calories in one day, it's not a good idea to do that.

4. Is it best to work out early in the morning?

This is one of the most- unrelenting myths about weight loss. Exercising earlier in the day doesn't burn more calories. But the number of calories you burn relies on your metabolism, food intake and body composition -- things that aren't dependent on when you choose to exercise. Get your activity whenever it matches into your schedule, even if it's just 10 minutes at a time.

5. Eating is better than Drinking

Eating the fruit would be better than fruit juice that might seem a healthy choice, since liquids leave you feeling less full than solid foods. Likewise, drinking pop on a regular basis can add unnecessary calories. Consider: A 12-ounce can of regular pop has 9 teaspoons of sugar and about 100 calories. "If you do that three times a day, that's almost a pound a week of calories," said Celia Pappas, a dietician at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. Water and low-fat milk are brilliant options.

6. Drink water

When you're dieting, you should drink even more than usual. Even the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) recommends at least 8 full 8 ounce glasses of water a day to keep your body working right. It's not just that full feeling - water helps your body digest foods properly and cleans out your system.

7. Not to eat standing up.

One of the easiest ways to disrupt your diet is to 'eat without thinking'. Treat eating with the respect that it deserves. Fix yourself a plate. Sit down and eat appropriately. You will be less likely to just pop food into your mouth without paying attention.

8. Purchase a vegetable steamer.

Steaming is one of the healthiest ways to cook vegetables. The food keeps nearly all of its natural nutrients instead of discharging it out into the cooking water. Even better, it makes your veggies taste great - which means you'll be more likely to eat them instead of filling up on fatty foods that pack on weight.  By : Gree Lya

A botanical garden is a place in which plants are grown and displayed primarily for scientific and educational purposes. A botanical garden consists chiefly of a collection of living plants, grown out-of-doors or under glass in greenhouses and conservatories. It usually includes, in addition, a collection of dried plants, or herbarium, and such facilities as lecture rooms, laboratories, libraries, museums, and experimental or research plantings. Concrete fountains and wall water fountains are often included in the display of botanical gardens.

The plants in a botanical garden may be arranged according to one or more subdivisions of botanical science. The arrangements may be systematic (by plant classification), ecological (by relation to environment), or geographic (by region of origin). The larger botanical gardens often include special groupings, such as rock gardens, water gardens, wildflower gardens, and collections of horticultural groups produced by plant breeding, such as roses, tulips, or rhododendrons. A plantation restricted to exhibits of woody plants is called an arboretum. Most botanical gardens will incorporate water features such as water wall fountains. For more information on wall water fountains visit http://www.garden-fountains.com/Categories.bok?category=Wall+Fountains.

History of Botanical Gardens

One of the earliest botanical gardens for the study of plants was established in ancient Athens about 340 B.C. by Aristotle and run by his pupil Theophrastus. The oldest public botanical gardens in the world are those established at Pisa, Italy, in 1543; at Padua, Italy, in 1545; at Paris in 1635; and at Berlin in 1679. In the 16th and 17th centuries, herbalists cultivated medicinal herbs in private gardens. In 1673, the Society of Apothecaries planted the Chelsea Physic Garden in London to provide materials for research and medicine. The American botanist John Bartram near Philadelphia established the first experimental botanical garden in the U.S. in 1728.

Where Botanical Gardens Are Found

Almost every major city has a botanical garden. The Royal Botanic Gardens, better known as Kew Gardens, near London, founded in 1759, is the largest in the world. Experiments and research done there have led to the transplanting of commercially productive crops, such as rubber, from their native habitats to other parts of the world.

More than 300 botanical gardens are in the U.S. Among the most important are the Missouri Botanic Gardens in Saint Louis (1859); the New York Botanical Garden in Bronx Park (1895) and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, both in New York City. The Arnold Arboretum, established in 1872, is located at Harvard University.

Benefits of Visiting a Botanical Garden

By visiting botanical gardens or arboretums, city dwellers can discover a part of the natural world to which they ordinarily have no access, escape from the pressure of dense urban population, and perhaps even develop new interests and hobbies having to do with the natural environment. In these special parks, plants from all over the world are scientifically cultivated, studied, and artistically displayed for the pleasure and enlightenment of the public. Arboretums specialize in raising trees and shrubs (woody plants) in their natural surroundings. They may exist independently or as part of a larger botanical garden.

Unlike ordinary parks, botanical gardens and arboretums are laid out with more than just the beauty of the landscape in mind. They will offer sculpture and cast stone water features. Although trees and shrubs may be interspersed throughout the area to enhance the pleasant surroundings, plants are usually grouped according to their scientific relationships. Often there are small, special gardens, such as rose gardens, rock gardens, wildflower gardens, or Japanese landscape gardens contained within the larger botanical gardens. Many have sections devoted to plants of particular geographic origins, such as a tropical plant section, or an aquatic plant section. Usually, plants are labeled according to common name, scientific name, and region of origin. For more ideas on great cast stone water features visit http://www.garden-fountains.com/cast-stone-fountain-patinas.htm.

A garden may contain a few hundred or as many as 20,000 different species and varieties of plants, depending upon the amount of land, money, and professional help available. In size, botanical gardens range from about 2 1/2 acres (1 hectare) to over 220 acres (90 hectares). There may be a greenhouse, or more than one greenhouse, in a botanical garden. The greenhouse is used both for displaying plants and, where winters are cold, for growing plants that would not otherwise survive the seasonal change. In temperate climates, certain tropical plants must be grown in greenhouses-for example, tropical orchids and ferns, pineapples, Spanish moss, cacti, African violets, and begonias. Seedling plants that are to be set outdoors as soon as the weather is warm enough for them may be started in greenhouses or in hotbeds, which are beds of earth that are heated and covered with glass. Learn more about featured botanical garden plants at
http://www.garden-fountains.com/water-lilies/main-page-history-of-water-lilies.htm.

Many kinds of plants need certain climatic conditions at certain seasons, and a botanical garden may need special storage areas for them. Some young plants, for instance, may need a winter growing period but cannot survive freezing temperatures. They must be stored in cold frames, which are unheated, boxlike structures covered with glass. Houses built of lathing may be needed to store some plants temporarily in semi shade and to grow certain plants that cannot stand the hot summer sun.  By : Elizabeth Jean

If you like red wine but don’t know much about it, you’ve come to the right place. In this article we look at some handy tips for buying and serving red wine.

Work up through the sizes

If you are going to be serving more than one glass (or bottle) of red wine, the key thing to remember is to work through the sizes. In other words, start with a light red wine such as a Merlot, Barbara or Gamay, then move onto a medium bodied wine like a Tempranillo, Pinot Noir or Malbec, and/or finish with a full bodied red wine such as Shiraz, Zinfandel or Cabernet Sauvignon. If you start with the heavier red wine first, you’ll find that this will overpower the lighter red wine.

Full-bodied red wines are best saved for food

Big, powerful red wines such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz work best with tasty red meat. Why? Because these red wines are full of tannins, body and alcohol, which taste good with meat proteins but are often too harsh drunk on their own.

Light red wines work best over lunch

Soft and gentle red wines, such as Merlot and Gamay, are a great choice if you are drinking over lunch. This is because they are low in tannin, alcohol and acidity, which makes them easy to drink and not too powerful for the afternoon ahead. Similarly, they are a great choice as an aperitif, or for drinking on their own on a summer’s afternoon.

Buy for the person and occasion

Everyone has different tastes when it comes to red wine, so make sure that you buy your red wine to suit the person who will be drinking it. For example, if you are buying for yourself, go for something that you will like, not what the shop assistant or your friend likes. Also, it’s worth considering the occasion. If you hosting a dinner party, then a big full bodied red wine is bound to come up trumps but if you are having a lunchtime drinks party then a softer and fruitier red wine will be far more appropriate.

Focus on the style

When it comes to choosing a bottle of red wine, if you don’t know where to start or could do with a helping hand, it’s worth looking to retailers who focus on wine styles. Wine styles can give you a lot more choice compared to if you focus on grapes, countries or regions. For example, if you know that you like an Aussie Cabernet Sauvignon, the chances are you’ll stick to that in future, but if you discover that you like “Huge Reds” (full bodied, fruity reds) then you’ll have a host of different grapes to choose from including Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Zinfandel from Old and New World Countries.

Look to where the value is

Don’t be tempted to splash out on big brands or famous names, as you’ll end up paying for the labels. Instead, it is far better is to look to the lesser known regions, where you’ll get all the same quality for a fraction of the price. For example, try a Chilean Cabernet Merlot as a value alternative to a Classic Bordeaux.

Serving is the easy bit

The key to serving red wine is to place it in the kitchen before drinking to ensure that it is the right temperature. Also, especially if you have an old vintage or full-bodied red wine, you might want to open in advance to let it breath. Easy as that!

So now you’ve got the tips, you’ll be ready to put them in to action.  By : Louise Truswell

Evolution isn’t just about life forms going from single- to multiple-cell organisms, or a monkey’s uncle turning into your Uncle Bob after a few eons. Evolution is “a gradual process in which something changes into a different and usually more complex or better form," meaning that both living things and man’s inventions become more sophisticated over time. Can we apply a non-organic Theory of Evolution to the development of the dress? Certainly. Why not?

The dress, or something like it, has been an important feature in the wardrobe of women throughout all societies in recorded history. In addition to the obvious function of providing protection and warmth, dresses became a symbol of a woman’s beauty and feminine nature, too, as societies matured and the march of progress continued. Dresses have helped women shape their own individuality as well as aided them in communicating their identity to others.

In industrialized Western nations over the past 150 years or so, women have developed the confidence to work for better social standing and win their full rights. This same process is taking place in non-Western cultures today, as well, although at a slower rate and against the resistance of some male fundamentalists, particularly in Muslim countries. It is instructive to note how some religions and cultures use dress codes for women to control and restrict them.

Other roles for dresses

There were many functions for the dress originally and, as we have already seen, in certain cultures and religions they are still especially important for women. We may be able to predict, at least generally, women’s progress in the world’s remaining authoritarian cultures and societies by recalling their fashion evolution in Europe over the centuries.

Beauty and seduction were seen as vital attributes of the dress for women in Europe for hundreds of years. Even in the so called polite society of the 17th and 18th centuries the way a dress was made was of great importance in attracting the attentions of a significant other. The more outlandish and decorated the dress the better, although for the most part, the dresses were extremely uncomfortable and at times painful to wear. Women still wanted to look as attractive as possible even under those extreme circumstances. Bodices and corsets were considered painful, but hourglass figures “poured” into eye-catching fabrics were also considered quite beautiful. Ideals of beauty also were subject to change over time, even within the same culture(s).

Status symbols

Identification with a woman’s particular social class is clearly a very important purpose of dresses. The more expensive the gown, the more obvious it would be that a lady would have a place in high society. Conversely, a plain, worn or tattered dress would certainly ascribe to a woman a lower social standing. Through dresses a woman was able to establish herself at the level of society where she fit in by reason of her birth. Only the richest women had the best and most beautiful dresses.

Today in the West, it seems to be the same in most cases, but that may be a surface observation. Although not everyone can afford to wear Prada, Vera Wang or Gucci dresses, there are many high-quality “knock-offs” and quality, less-expensive brands that can still supply status to the wearer. The names are important, of course, but quality in construction and plain old “wearability” are also valued by women today.

Behind the fashion

Ceremony or ritual is another importance of dresses for a woman and is the real (but unstated) purpose for many occasions and special events. Wedding dresses help to signify a women’s transition from being single to becoming a wife. That’s an important evolution in itself. Other cultures that perform different rituals or ceremonies find the dress an important symbol of the woman because it is a reflection of being feminine and beautiful.

Modesty was another commonly cited purpose for dresses. For nearly 500 years, until the loosening of gender barriers in the West over the past 100 years, even women who were quite wealthy were still expected to dress a certain way. Women, of course, were to behave, speak and carry themselves according to what society saw fit. For most of those centuries, one never saw women in any dress that was revealing in any way, and hardly any of the dresses showed their skin either. Of course, the definition of modesty varies greatly from place to place, and obviously generation to generation. These days even though modesty is still a part of many cultures and religions, dresses have adapted to the new era and have become almost limitless in design and shape and can be found in almost any style and pattern.

The evolution of the dress and the evolution of life are explained in the same way. The dress has gradually become better over time because it is no longer represents how a woman is defined or how she’s placed into society, It has evolved into an expression of freedom, allowing the wearer to be “herself” and to just be natural. That’s what makes a woman – a fully evolved one, at least!  By : Melissa Beth

(ARA) – Clutter is not a welcome part of any home, and one of the hardest areas to keep organized is the home workbench. With an array of tools, supplies and other necessary household items, it can easily become one of the messiest areas in the house. But don’t dismiss this area as one that can’t be tidy. Simple organizational steps can create a workspace that is useful and clean.

“Organizing a workbench seems like a difficult task because there are so many items in a limited space,” comments Steve Sholem, an expert in household organization and CEO at StuckOnTools. “The best thing to do is to find an organizational system that can be customized for your needs, yet look professional at the same time.”

When organizing your workbench, here are some ideas to consider:

Use the Walls and Replace Pegboard

Toolboxes are disorganized and can fill up very fast. Extra tools clutter the floor and bench and occupy dirty cardboard boxes or old coffee cans. This not only creates a very messy area, but makes it difficult to access tools when you really need them. When organizing tools, consider looking to your walls for extra space.

Get tools out of their boxes and on the walls, freeing up space and creating a system where you can easily see and find them. Pegboards and lattice are the traditional options, but they have many negatives. Because you need space for the hooks, you cannot simply mount them flat against the wall, making installation difficult. The precut holes and holders can tear out and they hold a limited number of tools. Finally, they get filled with dust and cobwebs that make the workbench dirty.

“Pegboards are not an attractive option and do not function best for organizing tools,” says Sholem. “For all the money that homeowners invest in tools, they need a better storage system that utilizes space and protects the tools.”

Consider using a colorful magnetic tool board made by StuckOnTools. These 20-gauge steel boards use high intensity rare earth magnets to hold tools securely in place. The boards are easy to install and include a mounting kit. “Installation is like putting a picture on the wall, you could do it in about eight minutes,” says Sholem.

The magnetic boards are totally customizable with a variety of round magnet hooks for different tool weights and can be easily moved around the board. The boards support up to four times the weight that pegboard can. So even saws, pipe wrenches, hammers and other items like electric drills that normally couldn’t be hung up, can now be easily attached to your wall. Smaller items, such as plastic boxes of screws, nuts and nails can be attached to the StuckOnTools board with material similar to Velcro. Ratchet heads securely stay on a movable magnetic bar.

Utilize Shelving Space

For vacuums, paint containers, boxes and other large items, it might be necessary to install a shelving unit. A pile of items on the floor looks messy and is difficult to keep organized. With the vast shelving options available, finding one that is right for you should be easy.

Look for shelving that is customizable to your needs and is durable enough to handle the weight of your larger items. Metal shelving is often used in workbench areas because it is durable and easy to clean.

Stick With the System

Once you are organized and have your workbench system in place, use it! Accessing tools will be easier than ever, but make sure you keep your system clutter-free by replacing your tools when you are done. Household projects will take less time if you can find them quickly.

By having everything close at hand and organized, clean up will be quicker and less painful. Discard waste that tends to build up and replace items used.

“With these tips, workbench organization is a snap,” says Sholem. “You’ll no longer be limited by the space in toolboxes. And with less clutter, you’ll find your tools without frustration.”

For more information on workbench organization and other household storage and organizational products, visit www.StuckOnTools.com .  By : AWC Staff