Live Well Be Gorgeous

In the summertime, livin’ is easy. Your cocktails should be too.

Summer Fruit Punch

Your favorite stone fruit stars in this sparkling punch.

Serves: 4
Preparation time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
2 cups diced stone fruit (apricots, plums, peaches, nectarines)
2 cups apricot juice
2 cups sparkling wine
1 cup seltzer

Preparation
1. Combine diced fruit, apricot juice, sparkling wine and seltzer.

2. Divide among four ice-filled glasses.

Non-alcoholic version: Substitute sparkling cider for the wine.

Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts
Per cocktail:
203 calories
1 g fat (0 g sat, 0 g mono)
0 mg cholesterol
29 g carbohydrate
2 g protein
2 g fiber
5 mg sodium
324 mg potassium

Nutrition Bonus: vitamin A (50% Daily Value), vitamin C (30% DV)

Is it true??? Can you skin actually get BETER with age?

The best skin of your life may well be ahead of you. Sure, with each passing decade, you face fresh challenges in your quest for a radiant complexion: There are the newfound crow’s feet in your 40s, the postmenopausal dryness in your 50s, and the sagging that sets in by your 60s. But the right products and procedures will prepare you to meet these challenges head-on.

“These days, it’s perfectly reasonable to expect your skin to get better as you age — no matter what the date on your driver’s license,” says Dr. Ranella Hirsch, president of the American Society of Cosmetic Dermatology and Aesthetic Surgery and a cosmetic dermatologist in Cambridge, Mass.

These treatments, solutions and science will keep your complexion smooth and gorgeous through your 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond.

Click on picture for full story

Do you know what you want but still have not allowed yourself to reach your goals?

John H. Sklare, Ed.D, Lifescript Personal Coach has some good advise to get you on your way

What is the key to getting what you want out of life? Why is it that some people seem to have everything they want while others seem to always be on the sidelines watching their dreams pass by? The famous author and motivational speaker Zig Ziglar once said that the way to get what you want out of life is to help others get what they want out of life. I personally practice that philosophy in my private and professional life and it has served me well thus far. However, when all is said and done, getting what you want out of life is really only a matter of simple math.

If I can be so bold, the key to getting what you want out of life can be found in the following formula: Desire + Action = Achievement. In short, the key to making your dreams come true lies in combining a heartfelt, driving desire with focused and purposeful action. When you identify the goal and create an action plan that moves you toward that goal, you lay the foundation for achievement. Success and achievement seldom come knocking on your door, so you must become an active participant in its creation. If you want something, you must identify it and then pursue it with passion and purpose! Remember, achievement all comes down to simple math!

Wishing You Great Health,
Dr. John H. Sklare
www.innerdiet.com

Within the endless streams of bite-size personal updates and random thoughts that populate the Twitter-sphere, now you also can find recipes for dinner, including from pros like Martha Stewart and Chicago chef Rick Bayless.

LWBG says: As if following a recipe was not difficult enough! Although phrases like:  3t sug + 2c H20 sim 10m are semi-understandable the rest is plain gibberish: 4c ch apr +2 t cin m&c/ MH 30m (???)

In short: a recipe that can successfully summarized in 140 characters is probably a simple one, something simple, simple SIMPLE, like  garlic toast .  So please, if you are looking for a recipe for duck a la orange… consult   a full length  recipe either in a cookbook or online!  If it has pictures or video EVEN BETTER!

By John H. Sklare, Ed.D, Lifescript Personal Coach
While on vacation, I overheard a couple harshly complaining to a waiter at breakfast. They were unhappy because their air-conditioner wasn’t cooling their room to their satisfaction. Later on, I heard them still carrying on about it on the beach, at lunch and again at dinner. They told anyone who would listen, still maintaining their high level of anger with every rant. Here they were on a tropical island, surrounded by breathtaking beauty and serenity, and all they could do was complain the whole day.

I was reminded of an important lesson I learned very early in life: Focusing on what you don’t have leads to a life of unhappiness, dissatisfaction and frustration. This couple reminded me of the person who focuses on the only weed that exists in a garden of beautiful roses. As I saw it, that one little situation was coloring everything they did and everything they saw. The remedy for this sort of fixation is simply a change of focus, but many people, like this vacationing couple, find that a bit of mental gymnastics is a very difficult, if not impossible, feat to perform. What a shame! I wondered how many more vacation days they would waste being upset about this one issue. For me, I ignore the little irritants in life for a greater appreciation of the bigger picture.

Wishing You Great Health,
Dr. John H. Sklare
www.innerdiet.com

By Jen Laskey, Special to Lifescript
If you have fibromyalgia, you know that life is 10 times harder. The complex chronic pain disorder affects every facet of your day. So how can you cope? Here are 7 symptom tamers. Plus, how much do you know about fibromyalgia? Take our quiz to find out…

It’s bad enough that you have fibromyalgia, a painful, puzzling disorder. What’s worse is that every symptom – from brain fog, to pain, fatigue and depression – hurts not only yourself but also your relationships, work life and physical, emotional and mental health.

There is no cure, which means you just have to learn to live with fibromyalgia and take steps to ease its symptoms.

“Effectively treating fibromyalgia requires a combination of medication and lifestyle skills,” says Daniel Clauw, M.D., fibromyalgia expert and professor of anesthesiology and medicine at the University of Michigan. He’s also director of the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center there.

He and other experts offer 7 ways to manage your symptoms:

1. Start exercising.
No question that working out is good for everyone, but it can especially help fibromyalgia sufferers, who often feel stiffness (especially after waking in the morning) and restless leg syndrome.

Mary Uhazi is drowning in a sea of debt that she built up slowly over more than two decades of easy credit, but now worries she won’t be able to pay off because of the recession.

Mary Uhazi has more than $60,000 in credit card debt and, by her own account, “nothing to show for it.”

“You have some clothes, you have some dinner, you have a handbag, you have whatever, but it’s not $11,000 worth or it’s not $60,000 worth,” Uhazi said.

Uhazi is drowning in a sea of debt. And, like millions of other Americans, it is a debt load that she built up slowly over more than two decades of easy credit that made it all too simple to spend. Now she worries she won’t be able to pay it off because of the recession, which has led to a reduction in her salary and an increase in her credit card bills. …Click on picture for full story

By Linda Childers, Special to Lifescript

Padma Lakshmi is best known as the host of Bravo’s hit reality show “Top Chef,” but for years she suffered silently with endometriosis, a painful gynecological condition that affects more than 10 million American women and girls. In this Lifescript exclusive, the star discusses her experience with the disorder, plus the scoop on “Top Chef” and more…

While she’s graced dozens of magazine covers, Padma Lakshmi harbored a painful secret: She suffered from endometriosis, a female reproductive disorder in which the endometrium, which normally lines a woman’s uterus, grows in other places as well, typically on the fallopian tubes, ovaries or the tissue lining a woman’s pelvis.

Left untreated, endometriosis can cause pelvic pain, excessive bleeding, fertility problems, back pain and painful monthly periods.

Lakshmi’s menstrual cramps left her bedridden for days. While friends tamed period pain with heating pads and over-the-counter medicines, the “Top Chef” host relied on the prescription narcotic Vicodin for relief.