Do not pick on your skin!!

Ohk, so yes, I have been MIA for a very long time now and you have been seeing quite a few sporadic posts from me. The reason is I'm just being plain lazy. Give me a laptop and I will read all 24 hours but when it comes to writing for my own blog, it takes lot of diligence and patience. I do like to particular about my posts and make it as easy to read as possible so if I am not in mood, it kinda becomes difficult. So, yeah, life is not so good at the moment but then there is always a beacon of light shining at the end of the tunnel. I am just waiting to reach the end. And, before I run away with my philosophical perspicacity on my circumstances, I shall come to the topic of the day. If you remember, I had started a series of bad habits which we are not aware of consciously but are extremely harmful for our skin in December. So, continuing in that vein, today's bad habit to be eradicated is - Picking or Poking or unnecessarily irritating your skin.

Yes, I suffer from this very very bad habit and I have my college to blame for it. In my college, I has 1 or 2 stray hairs on my chin which my friends made fun of :( and I got into the habit of plucking them out with my nails. Very very Harmful habit as I have come to realize. It has many implications which I'll discuss with you in a short while. I have also seen a few other people who are addicted to this habit. 

Effects on Skin

So, what happens to skin if you pick or pluck on it?? Well, for one, your skin sags at those areas. Yes, it will make you look old. Secondly, blemishes and dark spots are a direct consequence because of the blood clots under your skin and it really takes a long while to heal. Thirdly, when you pick at your skin using your nails, you are harming the nails in the process. They get brittle, drier and unattractive. So, another incentive to stay away from this  habit.

Worst of all the consequences is bad breakouts. Oh Yes, it has happened with me and I am currently dealing with the situation :( It is not pretty at all, trust me. When you pick at your skin for whatever reason, the cells under the skin get irritated and if you are really insensitive with your skin, it can trigger and inflammation. This can easily happen when you are dealing with facial hairs or eyebrows and popping pimples. This inflammation can result in the worst form of acne - the bubbles filled with pus which you can't treat using anything (trust me, I have been there and done that !!). So, stop this habit right now. Your skin will thank you. Either learn to live with your skin as it is or do something else but do not pick at your skin. Just stop touching your skin with your fingers coz its equally bad as we know that bacteria from the fingers get settled on the face.

Now, I would not discuss in detail how to get rid of this habit coz I have been trying since quite a long time but have not yet been able to. But, strict self-control seems to be the light of the day. Habits die hard but it is said that if you can carry a habit for 21 days to be precise, it becomes a habit. So, control yourself for 21 days and you will live!!  

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Ayurvedic Tips

Ok, guys!! So, today morning I was going through my regular list of e-mails and other blog feeds and I came across an amazing article on "Ayurvedic Beauty Regimen" posted in IMBB. You gotta check it out. Its very informative and opens a vista of lifestyle habits which are extremely healthy and will keep your beautiful and happy. Among those things, I have already talked about head massage and body massage and their benefits for the body. I would also try to inculcate the other things and would share my experiences with you.

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12 foods you should eat regularly

Eating nutritional food is the very need of a human body to look great, feel great and live longer happily. The article I am sharing with you today brings into notice 12 foods which should be made a part of our daily diet without any omission. The articles talks about the healing powers of these foods. The lists consists of foods ranging from fruits to veggies like cherries, guava, kiwi, beans, spinach, onions, carrots, cabbage and broccoli. Of course, some of these fruits and veggies are not easily available. So, substitute them with more quantities of available and nutritious food. Read the article here.

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Do you clean your tongue?

I wanted to talk about how to detox your body and then, I came across an article which said that tongue cleaning was a habit which has been carried out since centuries and it actually has a great importance for our body according to Ayurveda. I was a little surprised to read that because I had always thought of it as a habit which has to be carried daily after we brush our teeth and I thought its importance was limited only to hygienic purposes. But, what I came to learn about was that it is one of the ways to help our body get rid of toxins. 

The question which pops to our minds is How? During our sleep, body gets rid of all the toxins in our body, right. So, how do all these toxins get out of our body? Sweat, urination or excretion. Yes. But, some of the toxins also get deposited as a film on our tongue. So comes the ritual of tongue scraping in the morning to remove this film of toxins. The bacteria present in these toxins are also the cause of bad breath. And, they prevent our taste buds from getting a proper taste of the food. How? Because, they get deposited continuously and if not cleaned, the deposits can become pretty thick and the food we eat is not actually tasted by our taste buds. Ultimately, we do not get the feeling of satiety which the taste buds trigger to the brain because taste buds do not know that we are eating. So, we end up overeating and gaining weight in the process. So, I hope you realise how important it is for us to clean our tongues everyday.

Now, how do you clean your tongue? Using a plastic tongue scraper or your brush? Well, both of the methods are not advisable. Plastic is not good for health and the brush actually does not clean the tongue. It just disturbs the bacteria and sometimes, the bacteria can begin breeding in the brush too which is definitely not good for your dental health. So, you should use a tongue scraper made of gold, silver, stainless steel or brass to avoid toxicity from metals. Be gentle while using the scraper but firmly remove the debris from your mouth. Hold the scraper on both sides and place it at the back of the tongue near the tonsils and start scraping from there. Repeat the movements 5 times. Clean the scraper properly and disinfect it occasionally using baking soda.

Today's Lesson: Detox your body by making tongue scraping a habit.

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Drink Water to Lose weight

Losing weight easily becomes a nightmare for everyone. We all try so desperately to be in shape and most of the time we are unsuccessful and the sole reason for this is because we are not trying it in the right way. And, things which we go wrong about are, generally, the most trivial and the most important habits of our daily life . I would be talking about one habit per week and you can change or inculcate the habit in your life and see the difference it makes in one week.

Today's Habit: Drinking adequate amount of Water

I know it sounds pretty simple and obvious. And, many will think they are already doing it quite right. But, there are many ifs and buts involved in this seemingly simple habit too. I would advise you all to first go through the post "Drinking Water for Skin and Hair Care". 

Water cleans up the toxins from our system and improves the fat metabolism. It helps the liver to fight the fats in our system and pushes it out through the kidneys. But, there is a loophole there.

Too much of water can wash away a lot of minerals and vitamins too from the body along with the fat. So, regulate the amount of water you drink according to your body weight, age and the physical activity you do in a day. A good estimate would be not to increase the regular water intake if you find your urine to be colorless. Another very good way to regulate water in body is to drink a liter of water in the morning as soon as you wake up and reduce your water intake after 7 PM in the evening.

Sometimes, drinking water leads to water retention in the body instead of passing it out of the system. The reason is due to the presence of huge amounts of salt and sugar in your body. So, reduce the intake of salt and sugar to reduce your weight. You can see the difference in a week. Tips to reduce salt and sugar intake:

• Drink your tea and coffee with honey or without any sweetener to reduce the calories
• Decrease the amount of salt you take everyday by a pinch and soon you will be used to less salt 
• If you drink milk, do not add sugar to it
• Reduce the desserts, sweets, chocolates and carbonated beverages you take

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