Exercise for a magical pout!

That oh-so-desirable Jolie pout may not be so easy to master but the right exercises will ensure you come close enough. Priti Salian helps you work out for a perfect pout. Go on, try the regime!

The importance of exercise cannot be understated. But just the way your body needs to exercise, your face does too and since your lips form a very desirable part of your face, you need to work harder on them. "Lip exercises can be started as early as eighteen years of age," says Asha Bachanni, aesthetic consultant and founder of Face Gym India. "They can then be continued all your life," she adds. When you are young, these exercises help in cell renewal. As you age, they rejuvenate your cells helping to minimize signs of ageing.

Bachanni suggests a few exercises which you should practise regularly. She recommends that you do them at least five times a week for great results.

Smile and pucker
Take your lips inside the mouth in such a way that they cover your teeth. Stretch into a wide smile. Hold on for two counts and pucker them. Work your lips from a smile to a pucker ten times. This exercise works well for your upper lips. It is also beneficial for your orbicularis oris, the muscles surrounding your mouth.

Purse them hard
Purse your lips and press them in, hard over your teeth. Hold for ten counts. You could repeat this ten times. Again, a great exercise for your orbicularis oris besides the lips.

Make a fish face
Suck in your cheeks between your upper and lower set of teeth to make a fish mouth. Hold on for five counts. Stretch your mouth into a wide smile with teeth apart and lips pressed hard on teeth. This exercise could be done ten times as well. Your jaw line and chin will also benefit from this exercise.

Pout and rotate
Pout your lips and rotate them clockwise and anticlockwise, alternately. You could do this ten times in each direction and tone your cheeks along with your lips.

Smile and pout
Hold your lips together and smile. Hold for five counts and then pout your lips. Wait for eight counts. Repeat ten times. Great for toning your cheeks and droopy mouth corners!

Lo and behold
This one's great for your lower lip. Cover the teeth on your lower jaw by taking your lower lip inside. Slowly bring it out as if you are trying to scrape something. Stretch the lower jaw out and hold for five counts. Doing ten repetitions of this exercise once a day would help.

Touch your nose
Purse your lips together and touch them to your nose. Hold for 8 counts. Repeat ten times for best effects.

Are they really effective?
As you age, your lips become thinner. "Practising these exercises every day will not only help maintain the volume of your lip muscles, but also prevent loosening of muscles in the area surrounding the lips," says Bachanni. "However, if you already have thin lips, don't expect them to gain volume with these exercises," she states. Muscle mass at other body parts can increase with exercise, but not when it comes to lips.

These lip exercises are easy to master, invest just ten minutes a day on your lips and you can keep ageing at bay. Even better is the fact that you don't have to find time to do them. You could practise them when you are on the treadmill, in your kitchen or watching television. More than that new luscious lippie in the market, this is the attention your lips deserve. Give it to them!

If getting gorgeous is on your mind always, you can't afford to miss out BIG AND BEAUTIFUL beauty issue. For all that buzzy info, gossip and killer deals, grab our beauty issue - out on the stands on 21st April. For more action, check out http://www.facebook.com/feminawoman

Sassy spiky

If you're going short this summer, make sure it's sassy. Shabana Patker-Vahi gives you the dos for short dos

Hair
To up the glam quotient on a short pixie do like Gul's, the most essential element is the cut itself. The cut must complement your face and hair texture, while looking essentially fuss-free. Once you've got the pixie to your liking, warm a small amount of texturising product or hair wax in your hands and work it through your hair with your fingers till your hair is textured, but not messy or limp. Load up on shine serum to tame flyaways.

Eyes
To focus the attention on her hair, Gul's eyes are nude. Use a shimmer eyeshadow that matches your skin tone. You can skip the eyeliner and kajal; instead, use false eyelashes to draw attention to your eyes.


Lips
Keep your lips neutral with a soft pink gloss or creamy lipstick.

Face
Evenly blend a light reflecting foundation all over your face. Highlight your cheeks with a nude, light-reflecting compact.

Hot tip
The textured pixie is one of the hardest cuts to carry off. Make sure you discuss it at length with your stylist before you get sheared!

OOPS




Sapna Bhavnani

We get a big kick out of your edginess Sapna, but this colour and weirdly asymmetric hairline just isn't working.




Lubna Adams

Lubna's growing-out pixie does little to complement her full jawline.



Jesse Randhawa

When we say spikes, we don't mean sharp enough-to-impale heads on, Jesse!

PHOTOGRAPHS BY YOGEN SHAH

Binge on protein!

Move over chips, pastries and chocolates and make space for these protein rich snacks to lead an active and highly energetic life, says Consultant Registered Dietitian Preethi Rahul

Why go for high protein snacks?
Proteins help build muscles and lean body mass. They are also essential to keep a check on your immune system. Eating the right amount of protein daily helps you lose weight, which in turn keeps your metabolism up to help you continue to burn fat at a steady rate. At 4 calories per gram, protein and carbohydrates have the same caloric density. However, when compared with carbohydrates, protein will generally keep you fuller for longer, reducing appetite and often the amount of overall calories you consume.
What is your daily protein requirement?
An average healthy person is required to consume between 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per kg of body weight per day.

Protein dense snack options
Eggs - a hardboiled egg is easy to make and is an ideal high protein snack. 1 large whole egg contains close to 7 g protein and the egg white contains close to 4 g protein.

Dairy products - like milk, yogurt, cottage cheese etc. contain high biological value protein. So instead of having sodas, fruit juices etc. if you can have a glass of milk or a cup of yogurt, it definitely is advantageous for you.

Chicken - In sandwiches, chicken is one of the best sources of protein you can get!

Sprouts - Various foods like alfalafa, broccoli, mustard, pea, channa, mung etc. can be sprouted and stored. Sprouting enhances the vitamin and mineral content. The protein availability is increased in the process of sprouting. Add them to salads, soups, or just steam and have them.

Raw Nuts and Dry Fruits - These are one of the most easy and delicious high protein diet foods. Almost all kinds of nuts are high in protein, and the best part is that you can carry them on the go and consume them without any preparation. Be careful not to have too many nuts or dry fruits as their fat content is also very high.

Muesli Bars - This is something which has long existed in the western world and the concept is soon catching up in India. Muesli bars contain nuts, low sugar, enhanced with fibre and hence make an ideal snack choice. Some of these bars are loaded with carbohydrates and fats. So make sure that you read the labels before choosing your bars!

Oatmeal Porridge - 1 serving of oats (35 g) contains 136 kcal energy and 5.3 g of protein. When milk is added to it, the protein content is further enhanced. It is easy to prepare and the fibre in oats keeps you full for long.

Tuna - One of the all-time favourite high protein recipes is a tuna salad. Tuna fish is a great source of protein with approximately 25 grams per can. Plus, one can of tuna in water contain approximately 111 calories and is fat-free. In case you plan to make a tuna sandwich, go easy on the mayonnaise.

Some protein dense recipes to get you started

Dry fruit yogurt
Serves - 2
Preparation time - 5 mins

You Need
Dry fruits broken (almonds, walnuts) -2 tbsp
Low fat yogurt- 1 cup

You Must
Mix the dry fruit and yogurt
Beat with a hand beater, refrigerate
Serve chilled

Green gram salad
Serves - 2
Preparation time - 15 mins

You Need
Whole green gram boiled- 1 cup
Pomegranate -1/2 cup
Lime - ½ slice
Salt and chat masala as per taste

You Must
Toss the green gram and pomegranate in a bowl
Add lime, salt and chat masala
Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves
Salad is ready to be served

If getting gorgeous is on your mind always, you can’t afford to miss out BIG AND BEAUTIFUL beauty issue. For all that buzzy info, gossip and killer deals, grab our beauty issue – out on the stands on 21st April. For more action, check out http://www.facebook.com/feminawoman

How I saved my marriage

Kainaaz Patell, 31, had the dream man, but an unsatisfactory marriage. She tells Aarthi Gunnupuri how she focused on herself to make her marriage a solid, equal partnership

"I found my true self in London three years back. After years of feeling like a burden to my marriage, it dawned on me that I had to make some changes if I wanted to be happy again.

"I met Rayomand seven years ago through an aunt. On our first date, he planned out dinner, mixed it up with lovely conversation and served dessert with charm. How could a girl resist? Soon, we were engaged."

"A few months into the marriage, it dawned on me that juggling work and home was a tough act. I had a dream job at a travel agency that took me around the world. But since I spent a lot of time away from my husband, I quit soon after. Now the focus slipped stealthily to my husband and his life. His life became my life."

"Within a matter of weeks, I had turned into a nag. Losing an income didn't affect the Patell household, but asking my husband for pocket money did deflate my confidence.
On a happier note, I became pregnant during this time."

"After Jehaan's arrival, when I finally had the time to look up from the crib, I noticed the amount of weight I had put on. But one day, an invitation to stay with a close friend for a few months in London came my way. Jehaan in tow, I set off. Distance is supposed to make your heart grow fonder. And while I did miss my husband, the distance gave me some much-needed perspective and I started missing my old self."

"When I came back to Mumbai, change was in order. I decided if I had to mope around, I might as well do it on a treadmill. I'd read somewhere that there's nothing like an affair to boost your confidence. So I began mine with Renoir and Monet. I had always been interested in art, but for the first time I took it seriously and signed up for art classes. These positive changes encouraged me to learn another skill, something I was always too scared to attempt-driving in chaotic Mumbai."

"Rayomand must've noticed the changes in me, I realised, because one evening, he suddenly said, 'Since you can drive and are in tune with the art world, you should get a job at an art gallery.' Soon I was indispensable to an upcoming gallery in the city. At least, that's what I'd like to think!"

"Working on my life and my own happiness has had a wonderful effect on my relationship. When you're feeling negative and under-confident, it's hard for your smile to reach your eyes. The confi dence that dropping 20 kg gave me has put the mojo back into my life and, subsequently, into our relationship. Like MF Husain, our petty bickering is now in exile."

"With my new job, I am stimulated intellectually and creatively. This has made pillow talk far more interesting. I know the new me is a work in progress. But when you realise how personal contentment affects different facets of your life and relationships, there's more incentive to chase your dreams. Recently, we went to Paris and I was glad that the only baggage I carried with me was my LV case-paid for with my credit card."

SCIENTISTS SAY, CHEER UP!
In an oft-quoted study by psychologists Murray, Holmes and Griffin in 2000, couples with low self-esteem dramatically underestimated how positively their partners saw them. Those who underestimated their partners' regards also had more negative perceptions of their partners.

PHOTOGRAPH BY SAMEER MANGTANI; MAKEUP BY PRIYANKA PALKAR; HAIR BY RATNA RAO

If getting gorgeous is on your mind always, you can't afford to miss out BIG AND BEAUTIFUL beauty issue. For all that buzzy info, gossip and killer deals, grab our beauty issue - out on the stands on 21st April. For more action, check out http://www.facebook.com/feminawoman

Keep the doctor away with grape juice

Whether you want to delay the signs of ageing, protect yourself from cancer, remain energetic, or fight stress, a glass of chilled grape juice will do the trick. Chandana Banerjee presents three luscious variations for you to try to help you maintain high energy levels throughout the season of heat

Good health in every sip

- "Grape juice has an abundance of flavonoids and antioxidants," says Manisha Darak, a Pune-based nutritionist, Technical Head - Body Care and Consultant - Impulse. These natural polyphenols not only increase the HDL cholesterol (read: good cholesterol) in the body, but also prevent the arteries from getting clogged, thus, reducing the risk of heart disease and keep your heart healthy. According to a study conducted at the University of Wisconsin Medical School in Madison, heart patients who drank grape juice regularly had reduced LDL oxidation.
- According to another study at the Georgetown University, grape juice can reduce the chances of developing blood clots that can cause heart attacks.
- The antioxidants in grape juice prevent cell damage and repair those which have undergone wear and tear.
- Reseveratrol is another kind of flavonoid that is found in grapes that prevents the growth of cancer cells. According to a study by the U.S Department of Agriculture, grape juice that has been extracted from Concord grapes has more flavonoids than orange juice, cranberry juice or red wine.
- Great for the immune system, it combats weakness and fatigue and helps the body fight recurrent diseases.
- "Grape juice is good for women, who have anaemia," says Darak, and hence it is often recommended as a natural remedy to treat the condition. However, the juice of light grapes is what you should consume, if you want to increase the iron levels.

Drink it up!
To ensure that you stay energetic through the summers and provide your body the required nutrition, you can add one of these yummy mocktails into your daily diet plan.

FRUIT FIESTA

Ingredients
Apple - 1
Lime - ½
Lemon - ¼
Green grapes - a handful
A bit of ginger
One stuffed olive

Method
1. Wash the grapes and apple, and the core the latter.
2. Chop the apple into small pieces and juice these as well as the lime and lemon.
3. Add ginger, mix well and serve with ice in a martini glass garnished with a stuffed olive on a toothpick.

GRAPE-PINEAPPLE TANGO

Ingredients
Grape juice - half a cup
Fresh pineapple juice - 1 cup
Honey - as per taste
Chopped mint leaves - a sprinkling

Method
1. Juice all the fruits together and mix well.
2. Add mint and honey, stir and serve chilled in a tall glass.

GRAPE SHERBET

Ingredients
Plain gelatine - 1 envelope
Water - 1 cup
Sugar - ½ cup
Unsweetened grape juice - 1 ½ cups
Lemon juice - 3 tbsp
Egg white, stiffly beaten - 1 egg

Method
1. Heat water, sugar and gelatine in a small pan.
2. Stir in the sugar.
3. When the mixture cools, add lemon juice and grape juice.
4. Pour this into freezing trays and keep in the deep freeze till it's mushy, with a crush-like consistency. Make sure that you stir occasionally.
5. Pour this into a cold bowl, and beat.
6. Fold in the egg white and then pour it back into a freezing tray.
7. Stir occasionally and freeze till its firm.

Next time you have friends over, don't pop open that soda bottle. Instead, head to the juicer with these ingredients and serve up a refreshing healthy treat!

If getting gorgeous is on your mind always, you can't afford to miss out BIG AND BEAUTIFUL beauty issue. For all that buzzy info, gossip and killer deals, grab our beauty issue - out on the stands on 21st April. For more action, check out http://www.facebook.com/feminawoman

Wild careers with crazy pays

Bartending and hairstyling are no longer careers that fall in the 'out of the box' careers list. From tattoo artist, potter, to deep sea diver, Priti Salian has put together a list of five out-of-the ordinary careers that can actually help you earn a living

1. Pottery
Do you like the idea of playing with clay and creating unique stuff? Try your hand at wheel pottery and convert traditional art into your signature creation. New-age pottery is all about breaking boundaries and creating wares and artefacts that go beyond just cooking and serving ware. Bonsai pots, table lamps, bathroom accessories, coasters, and funky artefacts, you can use the wheel to mould just about anything you fancy. The good part is that it can actually help you earn a good load. You can hold exhibitions or operate through the online space and word of mouth to bag commissioned work, in turn getting your objet d'art to become a style statement for hotels, malls and homes. "To earn a good buck, you could also run classes at schools or hold private sessions," says Mr. Vinod Dubey, a well-known potter who runs a pottery studio called Mitty in Mumbai. Think innovative and you'll go places.

2. Deep sea diving
Explore ship wrecks, inspect a ship or give first aid to a patient under water. You could do all this and more as a deep sea diver. Undeniably one of the most paying professions, deep sea diving can help you earn a crore per annum once you are experienced. Depending on the nature of your job you could also earn anywhere between Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 40,000 in a day. But the profession is not risk-free. Staying deep inside water can cause problems in your ear and vocal chords and a single mistake can cost you your life. Go for it only if you are lionhearted!

3. Tea/Coffee appreciation
Assist those who feel strongly about their morning cuppa, by being a tea/coffee connoisseur, and you could easily earn at least 40,000-50,000 per month for consultancy. "A tea/coffee connoisseur educates people about the various types and brands available and helps them make changes in the way they drink their beverage," says Nikhil Agarwal, Director, All Things Nice. You talk to groups of people and teach them different styles of preparation, showing them how to derive maximum pleasure from their drink. You could either work with coffee and tea producers, food and beverage professionals or quality oriented hotels and restaurants for training their staff.

4. Tattoo designing
If you are passionate about sketching and love dabbling in crazy designs, you could be a tattoo artist. From teenagers to grandfathers, people of all ages are falling for the tattoo fad today. For professional training, you will either have to go to the UK, US or Thailand or work with an established artist in India or abroad for a couple of years. Once you have adequate practice, couple it with communication skills and loads of patience for a better understanding of what your client desires. You are now good enough to open your own tattoo parlour or work in partnership with someone. Established tattoo artists are known to make Rs. 5000 to Rs. 10,000 per hour. Just remember, hard and innovative work pays here!

5. Ethical hacking
With cyber-crime on an all-time high, organizations like airlines, hotels, banks, telecom companies, police departments and many others are looking for ethical hackers to check breach of cyber security, find its origin and prevent it. So, if you have an analytical mind and a responsible attitude get trained as a professional ethical hacker. "As an independent freelance consultant, an ethical hacker can earn up to 6-7 lakhs per month," says Ankit Fadia, Ethical Hacker and Cyber Security Expert. "When working with an organization, somebody with 3-4 years' experience can earn around 1.5 - 2 lakhs per month," he adds.

The food-teeth connection unveiled!

Got some serious issues with your teeth? Stains, erosion, plaques, bad breath? Definitely your diet is one of the key culprits. Consultant Registered Dietitian, Preethi Rahul talks about the food- teeth connection

Know the factors affecting your teeth
Our mouth harbours bacteria that can convert carbohydrates to acids. Teeth are easily vulnerable to acid attacks and can get damaged or eroded easily. Having foods with staining abilities cause permanent stain on teeth. Constant contact with food, without proper cleansing can lead to plaque build-up. Dental cavities and caries are other common teeth related problems. Foods high in sugar, carbohydrate and acid content are particularly harmful for the teeth.

Getting the teeth basics right
- Brush your teeth regularly, at least twice a day using a fluoride containing toothpaste.
- Wash and rinse your mouth well after every meal.
- Floss your teeth every day.
- Go for routine dental examination (once in 6 months) and teeth cleaning.
- Have teeth-friendly snacks like cheese, whole fresh fruit, unsweetened yogurt, vegetable salads etc.
- Space your meals and snacks well, so that you aren't constantly eating. Constant contact with food can lead to plaque formation.

Main culprits

Sugar/ Carbohydrate rich foods
Starch mixed with salivary amylase produces an acid bath and when this acid bath stays in the mouth for long, potential for danger is greater. The acid damages the tooth's enamel which is the top most layer of the teeth and slowly dissolves the calcium in it causing tooth decay. Direct sugars and carbohydrates ultimately get converted to starch in the body which is why these foods have to be taken in moderation. Even dry fruits like raisins and fruit juices are highly concentrated sources of sugar. So, reduce your sugar intake.

Acidic drinks
Sipping acidic drinks like carbonated beverages, sweetened sodas for prolonged periods, can erode teeth. Certain studies even show that teeth when put in a carbonated beverage, totally disappear in a certain period of time. That displays the effect of acid on teeth. Most of the acidic drinks are also high in simple sugars, which make the teeth more prone to decay.

Staining foods
Drinking excess alcohol erodes the teeth enamel, destroying the surface leading to teeth discolouration. Smoking also leads to stain formation on teeth and makes teeth more prone to decay. Smoking, chewing beetle nut and tobacco adversely affects oral hygiene. These habits can cause bad breath, gum disease, damage to tooth enamel, eventual tooth loss and may even lead to oral cancer. Coffee, soft drinks, and juices with artificial flavours and colouring agents can cause tooth discoloration. The artificial ingredients weaken the enamel surface and make teeth more susceptible to dental caries.

Junk foods
Foods like chips, buttery popcorn; refined products etc. can stick to the teeth surface or can get trapped in between the teeth. If left un-noticed they get converted to acid which causes a lot of havoc.

Best friends

Green tea
Catechins present in green tea can ward away the bacteria that cover sugar or carbs into acids and also the organisms that can produce bad breath.
Try this: Keep green tea bags always handy and have at least 3- 4 cups a day and start noticing the visible difference.

Cheese
Cheese is low in carbohydrates and rich in minerals like calcium and phosphorus which help in remineralisation of the enamel. It helps to produce saliva that can kill the infection causing bacteria and help to balance the pH in the mouth.
Try this: Have a ½ inch cube of cheese instead of the sweet- sugary desserts.

Parsley/mint
Having 3-4 mint leaves or parsley will lend you a sweet breath, owing to the presence of monoterpenes in them.
Try this: Garnish your dessert with mint leaves or add it to your main course.

Sesame seeds
It helps to slough off the plaque and in re-building the tooth enamel. They are also rich in calcium which helps to preserve the teeth and gum health.
Try this: Add sesame seeds to a salad to keep the gentle teeth cleaning action ticking.

Water
Drinking water through the day will help to keep the gums hydrated and also to stimulate saliva. Saliva is one of the body's greatest defence system which helps to keep a check on the bacteria that cause plaque and cavities. Water also helps to wash away food particles trapped in between the teeth and the gums.

Try this: In case you don't have the time to brush after every meal, make sure to rinse your mouth with a lot of water.

Would you kill the man you love?

Priyanka Chopra in Saat Khoon Maaf says that every married woman at least once in her lifetime does ponder over how to get rid of her husband. Curious, if there is really any weight in that and if women would think of it in an extreme moment- we asked the ladies for confessions and heard some 'killer' opinions! By Clinical Psychologist Prachi S Vaish

"The idea is certainly intriguing"

Monisha, 25, seems titillated by the whole idea. "I think there's no limit to human nature and who knows what I'll do if pushed too far? But I do know that if I'm willing to lay my life down for him, I would definitely be passionate enough to go to that extreme if need arises."

The thought of killing one's partner can only rear its head in dire situations and even then, to go through with it would actually require a huge emotional upheaval as all history of crime reveals that killing a partner has always been a crime of passion like the case of Yvonne Rousseau and Pierre Chevallier where their fiery romance of decades gave way to her jealousy and his murder, and took France by the storm in 1951.

Riya, 27, exclaims, "I'm certainly going to do it one night while he sleeps; every time I hear the drone of his snores I want to smother him with a pillow till he stops breathing!" Now there's sure a 'humour'-killing idea!

"It only looks good in movies"
Divya, 34, takes her time to think about it and opines, "sometimes situations like this should be just humoured...it was easy for Priyanka to kill husbands because she probably knew she would have six more husbands, but in real life however irritating or wretched the husband gets, murder wouldn't be our cup of tea. The best I would do is leave him with his disgust to bear; nothing would be a better revenge that that. Once he loses his woman who stood by him he will realise what he lost. Murder and blood on my hands will look convincing only in movies and for a hottie like Priyanka? She can kill with her looks, I couldn't even kill an ant if I stared at it!"

Shakti, a mother of two and married for almost a decade, says, "the only scenario I can imagine where I would be driven to murder would be if I saw him with another woman. I gave him the best years of my life, two beautiful children and a home, and now when I need him the most, I wouldn't stand for him to run off with a bimbo!"

"Too much of an Indian to do it"
Hansika, 28, admits to having serious trouble in marital paradise but says that, "I guess it must be the intrinsic values I have as an Indian that restrain me from even thinking about causing him physical harm; I could curse and scream, maybe even shake him up once in a while, but murder? I don't think so." Deepika, 29, agrees and adds in the same vein, "There is an urge to call the relationship off but never to the extreme of killing him. There are moments when you want to end it all, either by a divorce or killing one self but the thought of killing him never came; maybe it's how our Indian system is - In-laws and husbands killing their wives is common but hardly heard of the other way around."

Murder or not, we now know for sure that one common denominator of female fury is the 'other woman' and if push comes to shove, the female might just prove to be the deadlier of the species!

Language Laboratory

A specially equipped school or library room for teaching foreign languages. Often designed with a teacher’s console at one end, the laboratories are made up of rows of contiguous study CARRELS, each equipped with any of a wide variety of audiovisual equipment to facilitate teaching and learning. Students at each carrel use headsets and keyboards or a computer “mouse” to listen and/or watch recorded lessons, to which they are expected to respond and then hear and compare their responses with correct versions. From the console, teachers can monitor and, when necessary, intervene in each student’s lesson.

Top 5 mistakes that can ruin new love

You've known him three weeks and yet you ask him to pick up tomatoes on his way over to your place...not a good idea! Why? Simply because your comfort level may not be the same as his! Clinical Psychologist Prachi S Vaish lists a few moves you should avoid just yet

Home chores
Sure he offered to help you move to your new apartment but having him stack your pots and pans and medicine cabinet is not his idea of housewarming! Same goes for asking him to do your grocery shopping because he's 'coming over anyway'. Domestic tasks make all men feel married and unless you're just a step short of walking down the aisle, don't assign household chores to a new flame.

Two too-much
An occasional double date to show off the new hottie to all your naysayer couple friends is alright but if you schedule one very weekend and sit sighing over how adorable they look together, you're actually ringing his warning bells. Too much couple interaction in a new hook-up says to him 'husband-hunter' instead of 'fun date' and we don't want that impression, do we?

The Cinderella transformation
You take hours to dazzle him with your look but a guy you've been dating for a few weeks doesn't need to see the steps leading up to the diva look; so no opening doors with green goo on your face, no shaving equipment lying around in the bathroom where he can see it, no requests to drop you at the salon and wait for you and no taking hours to get ready while he flips magazines in your living room...get it done before he arrives!

That never-ending crib session
There's a reason why they call it 'girl talk'. Venting after a particularly stressful day is okay, but if you indulge him in nasty gossip about your friends and co-workers everyday you're just telling him what a crummy person you are at heart.

Honesty that sucks!
Don't get us wrong, we are all for basing a relationship on completely honest terms but there's a time and place for everything. When he has only known you a short time and is still totally enamoured by every little breath you take, you can save the details of the time you got your first period. Sure go ahead and tell him about how you got to where you are in life but save the not-so-pleasant details for later...or never!

Doing things together and for each other is fascinating, but joined-at-the-hip act can wait for an older relationship; let him treat you like the princess he wants for now and enjoy it while it lasts!

Common Cold

Common Cold

Cold, Common, acute infectious disease of the upper respiratory tract, caused by more than 100 kinds of viruses. The infection affects the mucous membranes of the nose and throat, causing such symptoms as nasal congestion and discharge, sore throat, and coughing. These symptoms are typical also of respiratory infections caused by bacteria, and of allergic conditions such as hay fever and asthma; therefore, the common cold is difficult to diagnose with certainty.

Normally it runs a mild course, without fever, and subsides spontaneously in about seven days. Its medical significance lies in the possible complications that may ensue. Various diseases, such as bronchitis, pneumonia, and sinus or middle-ear infections, may arise from the cold. Research indicates that there are several strains of each type of virus with varying degrees of virulence. Infection with one strain confers only a brief immunity to reinfection by the same strain, and gives no immunity against the other strains. In 1985, United States researchers using advanced X-ray crystallography techniques produced a three-dimensional, atomic scale model of one of the most common cold viruses. Study of the antibody binding sites on the viral coat revealed a very high degree of antigenic variability, suggesting that production of a vaccine to protect people from the common cold may never be practical.
The common cold was formerly thought to result from exposure to cold weather, a belief probably traceable to the fact that people tend to crowd together indoors at this time, causing a more efficient transmission of virus from person to person. Chilling, also believed to cause a cold, may contribute to infection but some studies suggest that it is not of major importance.

No cure is known for the common cold and no preventive drug has yet been found. In the early 1950s, various antihistamine drugs were claimed to be effective in the prevention of colds if taken at the onset. Most physicians believe, however, that such drugs cannot affect the progress of the true, virus-caused cold. The American chemist and Nobel laureate Linus Pauling proposed that large doses of vitamin C can shorten the duration of a cold and alleviate its symptoms, but several studies have failed to substantiate his claim. Present-day methods of treating a cold are directed toward the relief of symptoms and the prevention of complications. Bed rest is commonly recommended to avoid complications, even when the cold itself is not incapacitating. Antibiotics are often administered as a preventive measure, but there is no evidence that they are helpful.

According to recent statistics, the common cold is the primary cause of absenteeism in schools and industry. In the United States, where individuals have an estimated average of two and a half colds each year, the labor force loses more than 150 million workdays annually. See also Influenza; Virus.

Aversive Stimuli

Aversive stimuli can be defined as any cues or events that produce negative emotional feelings or a negative outcome. Any stimulus can potentially be considered aversive, because it is the production of the undesirable feeling associated with the stimulus that determines whether it is aversive or not. In general terms, the aversive stimulus most often attenuates or eliminates behavior that is paired with that aversive stimulus. As such, aversive stimuli are importantly related to various principles of learning and have major implications for a number of basic and applied research and therapeutic settings.

Aversive stimuli are a key element to escape learning (i.e., the type of learning that is based on negative reinforcement). For instance, animals can learn to escape electric footshock by pressing a bar or moving to a different part of their environment. Aversive experiences are also very important for human learning. The human nervous system has evolved so that even newborns are prepared to find certain types of sensory experiences aversive, so that those aversive stimuli will be avoided thereafter. A wealth of research data indicate that any number of additional stimuli that precede the aversive stimulus can, themselves, become conditioned aversive stimuli. The presentation of the conditioned aversive stimulus can cause a number of behavioral responses that reflect avoidance of, or escape from, the conditioned stimulus. A response that prevents the occurrence of an aversive stimulus, because of the presence of a conditioned aversive stimulus, is called avoidance conditioning. Avoidance learning generally occurs after escape learning has occurred, such that the response is eventually made before the aversive stimulus is encountered, so that the aversive stimulus will be entirely avoided. The relationship between escape and avoidance learning is highlighted in the two-stage theory of learning: The first stage involves classical conditioning of fear, and the second stage involves operant conditioning and the reduction of fear by avoidance responding. The negative emotional reaction to aversive stimuli is caused by the activation of parts of the limbic system of the brain, including the amygdala, hypothalamus, and anterior cingulate cortex. In many instances, an aversive stimulus is the same as a punishing stimulus. Indeed, the use of an aversive stimulus is, in many instances, synonymous with punishment. Unlike positive and negative reinforcement, which act to increase the likelihood of a response, punishment acts to reduce the likelihood of a response, or behavior, occurring again. In other words, punishment produces the opposite outcome to reinforcement. In both experiments and applied settings, punishment may well suppress unwanted behavior—but usually only temporarily and only in situations or circumstances in which the punishment seems unavoidable. Punishment can also lead to additional behavioral issues, such as increased aggressiveness or other exaggerated emotional behavior.

Aversive stimuli potentiate certain types of learning in virtually all animals, as demonstrated by the unique ability of noxious (aversive) sensations to cause longlasting and often permanent avoidance of the related stimuli. The Garcia Effect is the avoidance of a novel food item that has been associated with illness after only a single exposure. This type of one-trial learning enables the organism to learn the consequences of consuming that food and thus avoid poisonous food sources in the future. In recent years researchers have probed the central nervous system mechanisms that produce the aversiveness of noxious stimuli. Use of the escape/ avoidance methodology uniquely facilitates an assessment of the aversive nature of noxious sensory events. Damage to limbic system structures, such as the anterior cingulate cortex, has thus been shown behaviorally to decrease the noxiousness of aversive stimuli. Aversive stimuli are used clinically in a type of behavioral therapy called aversion therapy. This approach is based on classical (or Pavlovian) conditioning, so that the undesirable behaviors are paired with stimuli that produce undesirable feelings or outcomes. The goal is to attenuate or eliminate undesirable behavior. For instance, in the treatment of alcoholism, the undesirable behavior of alcohol consumption can be paired with a drug called Antabuse, also known by the generic name disulfiram. Disulfiram in the presence of alcohol produces a number of aversive physical sensations, including flushing, sweating, soreness in the head and neck, nausea, and vomiting. Theoretically, the repeated pairing of alcohol consumption with these aversive sensations will decrease alcohol consumption. However, the use of this and other types of pharmacological aversive stimuli that cause uncomfortable consequences are typically associated with poor compliance. It should be noted that behavioral modification techniques utilizing aversive stimuli are often misunderstood. For instance, many times the same aversive stimulus is associated with either negative reinforcement or punishment. In negative reinforcement, the aversive stimulus precedes the undesirable behavior, whereas in punishment, the aversive stimulus follows the undesirable behavior. In combination with adequate cognitive-behavioral therapy, the use of aversive stimuli to treat substance abuse and other disorders may have utility, but there remains controversy as to the ultimate effectiveness of such an approach.