(NC)-Ask a typical Canadian mom if she works full-time and you know what she'll answer.
Moms have to be multi-taskers: they hold down demanding jobs, raise children, prepare meals, do the wash, manage the household budget, take care of the home and nurture relationships with their husband and extended family. Personal time is virtually non-existent; yet to keep up the pace, moms need a break more than ever before.
Studies show that working women are more likely to suffer from stress. According to Statistics Canada, in 1994/95, 27 per cent of all adult Canadian women were experiencing high life stress, compared with only 22 per cent of adult men.
Trying to maintain that balance of work, family and time pressures can take its toll on a woman. Often, they don't get enough sleep, which can interfere with the ability to function and retain information. And despite having a "full plate", many women fail to maintain a regular, nutritious diet. They're so busy feeding and looking after their families, they put their own nutritional needs on the back burner.
Proper eating habits determine energy levels and regulate the body's metabolism. That's why it's even more important for women to fuel up on healthy foods to keep them going through their long and busy days. For example, a diet rich in oranges, grapefruit or other citrus can help fight fatigue because Vitamin C aids with iron absorption. Citrus also supplies a wealth of carbohydrates, the major fuel source from the brain. And drinking plenty of water is extremely important for circulating nutrients and oxygen throughout the body. Being dehydrated will make a person less energetic.
"Regular exercise, taking time to relax and making healthy food choices is the best way for a mom to keep her energy up and her stress levels down," says Dr. Liz Applegate, author, nutritionist and professor at the University of California at Davis. "And a daily dose of summer citrus such as Sunkist's oranges, grapefruits or lemons, will help mom take care of herself, so she can take good care of her family."
Since stress is a leading contributor to depression and anxiety, it is crucial for women to take time to rejuvenate.
Here are a few simple things mothers can do in the middle of a busy day to help them recharge:
l>
Head outdoors - reach for the runners instead of the remote
Get together with an old buddy
De-stress with a mini aromatherapy break: simply peel an orange or lemon to release a wonderful, uplifting scent
Pamper yourself by visiting a spa for a massage and beauty treatment
Hunker down with a good book
Turn up the music, sing and dance (like no one is watching)
Try out a new recipe
Dig in the garden
Take a luxurious bath with relaxing bath oil, scented candles and your favourite music
Laugh out loud! It's one of the best energizers around.
About the author:
News Canada provides a wide selection of current, ready-to-use copyright free news stories and ideas for Television, Print, Radio, and the Web.
News Canada is a niche service in public relations, offering access to print, radio, television, and now the Internet media, with ready-to-use, editorial "fill" items. Monitoring and analysis are two more of our primary services. The service supplies access to the national media for marketers in the private, the public, and the not-for-profit sectors. Your corporate and product news, consumer tips and information are packaged in a variety of ready-to-use formats and are made available to every Canadian media organization including weekly and daily newspapers, cable and commercial television stations, radio stations, as well as the Web sites Canadians visit most often. Visit News Canada and learn more about the NC services.
Flattering Styles For
Women With Curves
by: Her Plus Life
Are you one of those fabulous women that has curves, and you would like
to know a fun way of showing them off? There are several ways to make your
figure look the way that you want. It is all in the manner that you carry
yourself. Being confident and following a few basic rules on how to dress
will make you look like the woman you want to be.
The first rule is to go out and buy the correct size bra. A good bra
will make your outfits look the way that they should. Having curves is a
wonderful thing to have, but you need to know how to make them fit right
with your clothing style. It is amazing what a great bra can do for your
figure.
The second rule is buying clothes that are the right size for you. So,
go ahead and throw away all those clothes that are too baggy on you. Say
hello to a more fun, alive figure. Stop hiding it. Wearing sizes too big
or small for your body frame will only accentuate your weight, and not
your lovely curves. You do not want to wear shapeless styles. Try wearing
semi-fitted separates. It will make you look taller and thinner, and make
it look like you have a more sculpted waist. Wear tops that just skim your
waist and hips. Jackets should be worn just to the length of your
fingertips. As for your bottoms, select clothes that tend to taper
downwards. It will look better than other styles. Skirts will look good if
they are not too high. If you can sit in your skirt without it ridding up
on you, then you are all set. Shift dresses are great especially with a
round neckline. It will even out your proportions wonderfully.
The third rule is not to wear anything that is too bold, and that calls
extra attention to yourself. That means no super bold prints, no big patch
pockets, no oversized buttons or bows, and no horizontal patterns. You
want to wear a nice crisp line of color, and then accessorize with just a
few simple accessories such as jewelry or a scarf. Sometimes even just
wearing one solid color all over is great look. It will add height to your
frame, and shrink your width.
The last rule is very easy. You should buy the best quality that you
can afford. Quality fabrics can make all the difference in how you look.
Fine fabrics look better than stiff fabrics that can add inches onto your
body. In addition, well-made clothes will hold their shape better. Better
shape will improve your shape too. If you follow all these rules, you will
look and feel better. So go out, and let your light shine. Better clothes,
for a better you!
Afrikaans 
Albanian 
Amharic 
Arabic 
Armenian 
Azerbaijani 
Basque 
Belarusian 
Bengali 
Bosnian 
Bulgarian 
Catalan 
Cebuano 
Chichewa 
Chinese (Simplified) 
Chinese (Traditional) 
Corsican 
Croatian 
Czech 
Danish 
Dutch 
English 
Esperanto 
Estonian 
Filipino 
Finnish 
French 
Frisian 
Galician 
Georgian 
German 
Greek 
Gujarati 
Haitian Creole 
Hausa 
Hawaiian 
Hebrew 
Hindi 
Hmong 
Hungarian 
Icelandic 
Igbo 
Indonesian 
Irish 
Italian 
Japanese 
Javanese 
Kannada 
Kazakh 
Khmer 
Korean 
Kurdish (Kurmanji) 
Kyrgyz 
Lao 
Latin 
Latvian 
Lithuanian 
Luxembourgish 
Macedonian 
Malagasy 
Malay 
Malayalam 
Maltese 
Maori 
Marathi 
Mongolian 
Myanmar (Burmese) 
Nepali 
Norwegian 
Pashto 
Persian 
Polish 
Portuguese 
Punjabi 
Romanian 
Russian 
Samoan 
Scottish Gaelic 
Serbian 
Sesotho 
Shona 
Sindhi 
Sinhala 
Slovak 
Slovenian 
Somali 
Spanish 
Sundanese 
Swahili 
Swedish 
Tajik 
Tamil 
Telugu 
Thai 
Turkish 
Ukrainian 
Urdu 
Uzbek 
Vietnamese 
Welsh 
Xhosa 
Yiddish 
Yoruba 
Zulu
