Author: wes

So you think you know what running is, right? Side cramps, pain, agony, and goofy shorts—most people associate these things with what is popularly known as running. However, other than watching Forrest Gump, very few people really know anything about it.

Maybe you see someone run by your house every day. Maybe you occasionally watch a high school track meet. Whatever the case, it is impossible to observe what running is. You have to experience it. Running is for the runner, not for the observer.

So if you do decide to give running a try, or a second, third, or fourth try, where should you begin? Should you go and buy a new pair of running shoes? Should you immediately go out and start jogging down the road? No! Go take a walk. Just enjoy it. Relax. There will be plenty of time for running later, so just go out and get a feel for moving, breathing, and being alive.

Running is about pleasure, not pain. Running is about gluttony, not discipline. Running is about fun, not work. These are the real truths about running. Real runners run for pleasure.

But if these things are really true, why do so many people hate it? Well, they are going about it the wrong way. Whether that means having had a bad experience with being on a team or not ever really giving it a try, the problem is with the approach, not running itself.

The problem many people have with running is intensity. They start off too hard. “Yeah, I think I’m going to start running,” your friend tells you for the tenth time. After his goal of running the Boston Marathon fades away, he is sitting on the couch again eating potato chips.

Running does not have to be hard. Oh it can be. It can be as hard as you want, but it doesn’t have to be. Running can be exactly what you want. Think of it as an activity that you can mold into whatever you desire.

Do you like being outdoors? You can run almost anywhere that is outside: roads, trails, mountains, golf courses, and parking lots. Do you like being inside? There are many good places to run inside as well: fitness centers, shopping malls, gyms, and schools.

Do you like being around people? Road races (Don’t let the name scare you! You don’t have to run hard) are one of the most festive places you will ever experience. T-shirts, bagels, and prizes are handed out in abundance, and there is nothing better than the feeling of having run a race by the time your friends are just waking up.

Are you a loner? The solitary thump of your shoes on the pavement will give you all of the sense of being alone that you need. Indeed, many authors, artists, and businesspeople claim that their best ideas come to them while running.

The best way to actually start off is gradually. Take an easy jog around your block. No distance is too short to begin with. Take a long walk and jog the last minute of it. Starting off on the right foot means taking it easy and having a good time.

If you can ignore the popular misconceptions, you will discover running to be unlike anything you ever imagined. You will look better and feel better. In an age of automobiles and moving sidewalks, being a runner is a manifesto of sorts. You are taking charge of your life, your fitness, and your health.

Make running what you want it to be. Whether that is competitive sport, leisure activity, or simple exercise, you decide what it is. The road is calling, and your legs want to go. Just give it a chance…gradually.

by Carl Roberts

Carl ran Track & Cross Country through Jr. High, High School, College and now enjoys running in his free time. He has been ranked in the Top 10 in Indiana and has won many conference titles.

*It is recommended to speak to a physician  regarding new exercise regiments.

A spa located in the Hershey Hotel offers guests a chance to enjoy phytogenic skin care. The men and women working in that spa understand how to provide their clients’ skin with added nutrition. They know how to penetrate into the skin, allowing the deep areas of the skin access to important chemicals.

Most skin care products concentrate on the outer skin cells. Yet everyday, large numbers of those cells become loose; everyday the outer skin needs to replace lost skin cells. The replacement cells come from the deep skin. Deep skin cells divide and move up to the skin’s surface, the epidermis

Under the epidermis lie the basil and spiny cells, the cells in the deep skin. Phytogenic skin care focuses on ensuring the health of the basil and spiny cells. All of the nutrients provided to the skin by phytogenic skin care come from some type of plant.

At Hershey, PA, those nutrients come from the cocoa plant. Clients at the Hershey spa get a package of nutrients, all mixed with an extract from the cocoa plant. In addition to the phytogenic extract, that mixture contains vitamins, minerals, amino acids and trace metals.

The phytogenic extract acts as a catalyst. It facilitates completion of the biochemical changes in the packaged nutrients that penetrate into the deep skin. The deep skin cells then respond to those penetrating chemicals. They move towards the surface, giving the epidermis healthy, dividing cells.

Whether made from coal, cocoa or some other plant, all phytogenic skin care products have the ability to replace minerals that are lacking in the deep skin.  Phytogenic skin care bathes the skin in nutrients that aren’t found in all fruits and vegetables. Many fruits and vegetables grow in soil that lacks important minerals. Thus those minerals do not get into the blooms that later yield either a fruit or a vegetable.

Yet phytogenic skin care would not produce healthy skin if it only coated the skin with minerals.  The plant-derived extract used in phytogenic skin care products facilitates the completion of important metabolic pathways. Those pathways guarantee the health of the inner skin cells. Those pathways can not take place in the absence of both minerals and the phytogenic extract.

The phytogenic extract is called polyflormin. Like many catalysts, that extract requires a helper, a coenzyme, in order to work properly. In other words, a phytogenic skin care product, such as the one used in Hershey, contains important nutrients, an extract derived from a plant and a coenzyme. That coenzyme is Co-Q10.

The mix of chemicals in the phytogenic skin care products penetrate into the deep skin.   The deep skin cells use those nutrient-rich chemicals to manufacture protein and to make more DNA. In other words, the deep skin cells use the plant-derived chemicals to make new skin cells.

Those new skin cells help give the body a “healthy” appearance, because they come from healthy, well-nourished deep skin cells. They display the physiological benefits of the phytogenic skin care.

by Sue Chehrenegar

Sue has an MS in Biomedical research along with 30 years of experience in her field of study.

*It is recommended to speak to a dermatologist regarding new skin care products.

Plastic surgeons present abdominoplasty as a promising solution to a cosmetic problem. That problem has resulted from a stretching of skin cells in one area of the body. Of course, underneath that excess, that region of stretched skin, lays a good deal of stored fat. Abdominoplasty, also known as a “tummy tuck,” has become the standard way to remove such skin and fat. As a standard surgical procedure, a “tummy tuck” can lead to a number of post-surgical problems.

The procedure known as abdominoplasty creates a scar. Now scarring takes place following most surgical procedures. For the plastic surgeon, however, a scar on a “tucked-in” tummy can be a real problem. The patient who has managed to rid his or her abdomen of unwanted skin and fat could well want to show-off that lovely new abdomen.

A thoughtful surgeon makes clear to the patient the need for use of a knife in a certain area of the abdomen. A thoughtful surgeon also takes pains to limit the extent of any post-surgical scarring.  A wise surgeon might want to mention to the patient the possible restrictions on his or her future clothing choices. After an abdominoplasty, a patient normally wants to keep the resulting scar covered.

While abdominal scarring represents the greatest potential problem resulting from abdominoplasty, the plastic surgeon cannot honestly say that it is the only problem. For certain groups of individuals, the surgical removal of abdominal skin and fat can produce other unexpected damage. For those individuals, the problem-solving tummy tuck can manage to create more problems.

Some of those added problems can be avoided with the proper precautions. A surgeon should, for example, remind patients that healing from any surgery does not take place “overnight.” Post surgical healing proceeds even more slowly, if the patient lacks needed nourishment. For that reason, any person who plans to lose weight in the near future should postpone his or her abdominoplasty.

In addition to the prospective dieter, the plastic surgeon’s advice on postponement of a tummy tuck would target a particular group of women. A wise surgeon would warn any woman who planned a future pregnancy to put off plans for an abdominoplasty. After a tummy tuck, a patient has less stretchable skin. Yet a pregnant woman expects her abdominal skin to stretch.

Patients with an abdominal scar from an earlier surgery would likewise want to think twice about the loss of skin that results from an abdominoplasty. Such a patient might already have some reluctance to undergo abdominoplasty. Such a patient usually understands the risks that accompany any surgical procedure.

Any type of surgery introduces the risk of infection and blood clots. Those risks can be reduced by adherence to the surgeon’s recommendations. During the interval before abdominoplasty, a patient should avoid exposing his or her abdominal skin to direct sunlight. In addition, a patient who has become addicted to nicotine should be advised to seek an alternate source of pleasure during the interval leading up to an abdominoplasty.

by Sue Chehrenegar

Sue has an MS in Biomedical research along with 30 years of experience in her field of study.