Why Men Love Women by Paolo Coelho

Men love women because they walk down the street erect, always looking straight ahead, never turning round to say thanks or return the smile or compliment we make when they pass by.

Because they don’t complain about the sacrifices they make for the sake of the ideal of beauty, facing up to waxers, Botox injections and menacing machines in gyms.

Because if they want to know something about their own appearance, they ask other women and don’t bother us with this type of question.

Because in the movies – and only in the movies – they never take a shower before making love with their partners.

Love Is in the Air

Because they feel compassion, and say "I love you" precisely when they are beginning to love us less, to make up for what we can feel and notice.

Love Is in the Air

Because they have their own ways of solving problems, which we never understand, and that makes us mad.

Because they just love exotic cocktails with different colors and delicate little ornaments, while we always have the same old whiskey.

Because they prefer to eat salads.

Photo by bosler.bill

Because they write love stories.

Because they draw and paint their faces with the same concentration as Michelangelo working on the Sistine Chapel.

Because they don’t waste hours thinking about how they are going to approach the pretty young man who has just come on the bus.

Because they cry their eyes out when they hear the Rolling Stones singing "Angie".

Because sometimes they complain about things that we feel too, such as colds and rheumatic pains, and then we understand that they are people just like us.

Because while our armies invade other countries, they remain firm in their private and inexplicable war to put an end to all the cockroaches in the world.

Because they are capable of going to work dressed like men, in their delicate little suits, whereas no man would ever dare go to work wearing a skirt.

Because they really take seriously everything that is happening in the private lives of celebrities.

Because they smile every time they pass a child.

Moms and Babies Photos

Because they do everything necessary for the house to be tidy and perfect, and never expect any recognition for the work they have done.

Photo by blackietv

Because they still feel they are adolescents even after they grow old.

There is No Age for Love: Romantic Kissing Couples Pictures

Because we came from them, will go back to them, and until that happens, live in orbit around the feminine body and soul.

Love Is ...

Our lives and our thoughts always revolve around them, their bodies and souls are ever-present in our minds. Their femininity, elegance and strength transport us to another world. A woman's laugh touches our soul as well as seeing tears of happiness or sadness in her eyes. Women are the most beautiful and sublime creations in the universe to a man, and they always will be.

10 Precious Quotes about Women Written by Natalie

"If women didn't exist, all the money in the world would have no meaning."

~ Aristotle Onassis

"Women are never stronger than when they arm themselves with their weakness."

~ Marie de Vichy-Chamrond, Marquise du Deffand, Letters to Voltaire

"A man gives many question marks, however, a woman is a whole mystery."

~ Diana Sturm

"I would rather trust a woman's instinct than a man's reason."

~ Stanley Baldwin

"A man is as good as he has to be, and a woman is as bad as she dares."

~ Elbert Hubbard

"A man chases a woman until she catches him."

~ American Proverb

"Variability is one of the virtues of a woman. It avoids the crude requirement of polygamy. So long as you have one good wife you are sure to have a spiritual harem."

~ G.K. Chesterton

"To get to a woman's heart, a man must first use his own."

~ Mike Dobbertin

"Women are wiser than men because they know less and understand more."

~ James Thurber

"How can a woman be expected to be happy with a man who insists on treating her as if she were a perfectly normal human being."

~ Oscar Wilde

10 diet and exercise myths that pack on pounds

by The Editors of Prevention

1. “Strength training will bulk me up.”
First, let’s tackle the myth that a pound of muscle weighs more than a pound of fat. A pound is a pound is a pound—whether it’s made up of muscle or fat. That said, muscle is denser than fat and takes up less room, so two women who weigh the same can look much different if one has a higher ratio of lean muscle mass to fat, says Valentour. “Muscle weight is a good weight because you look firmer, smaller, and more fit. It’s also more metabolically active, so just having more muscle will boost metabolism throughout the day to help keep you leaner.”

It’s important to incorporate strength training into your routine so you burn calories at an optimal rate all day long—and using heavier weights could help maximize your efforts. Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that working out with heavy weights even for as few as 3 to 6 repetitions increased exercisers’ sleeping metabolic rate—the number of calories burned overnight—by nearly 8%. That’s enough to lose about 5 pounds in a year, even if you did nothing else!

2. “I exercise every day, so I can eat whatever I want.”
The sad truth: Even if you work out religiously, going to yoga several times a week and sweating it out in Spinning, it’s not a license to eat as much as you want and still expect to lose weight. This may seem obvious, but the desire to reward a workout well done is natural; after all, you endured those endless vinyasas—you deserve an extra slice of pizza (or three), right? Not if you’re trying to lose weight.

“You can outeat your workout,” says Valentour. Even though you burn calories and fat when you exercise, it’s often not as much as you think—or what the readout on the treadmill tells you.
Valentour recommends eating 250 fewer calories per day and aiming to burn an extra 250 calories a day; that creates enough of a calorie deficit to achieve an average weight loss of a pound a week.

3. “It’s harder for women to lose weight than for men.”
Okay, this one has some basis. Biologically, men are built with more lean muscle mass (the compact, tight muscles that keep metabolism humming) than women are—meaning his metabolism is working at a 5 to 10% higher rate (even if he’s the same height and weight as you) when you’re lying on the couch together. Annoying, isn’t it?

Another biological challenge women face is that we generally have more body fat than men do, and our bodies are more inclined to store it. On top of that, women lose about 1/2 pound of calorie-burning muscle mass a year during perimenopause and sometimes a pound a year during menopause. With the deck stacked against you, why bother trying to fit back in your skinny jeans?

You can do something about these problems, but it’s going to take some work—and sweat. Add strength training to your fitness routine at least twice a week to shed fat and build lean muscle mass that will fire up your resting metabolism.

4. “All calories are equal, so it doesn’t matter what I eat.”
Ever since you learned what a calorie is, you’ve been told that they’re all alike: Whether you eat 500 calories’ worth of celery stalks or crème brûlée, your body will burn or store them equally, right? Wrong. New science shows that when it comes to weight loss, calories are nowhere near alike.

Some foods take more work to eat—and therefore burn more calories while you’re digesting them. Just the act of chewing fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean cuts of meat can increase your calorie burn by up to 30%! And then your stomach and intestines do their jobs. In a Japanese study, researchers found that women who ate the foods that required the most work had significantly slimmer waistlines than those who ate the softest, easiest-to-eat foods. The fiber and protein in such foods take so much effort to digest that your body ’doesn’t absorb some of their calories.

5. “Eating fat will make me fat.”
Fat-free products are so-o-o over. There’s nothing special about fat that packs on pounds: Getting enough fat in your diet—the Institute of Medicine recommends that it make up 20 to 35% of calories—is essential for good health, but the type of fat matters.

Monounsaturated fats—MUFAs (pronounced MOO-fahs), for short—come from the healthy oils found in plant foods such as olives, nuts, and avocados. A report published in the British Journal of Nutrition found that a MUFA-rich diet helped people lose small amounts of weight and body fat without changing their calorie intakes. Another report found that a breakfast high in MUFAs could boost calorie burn for 5 hours after the meal, particularly in people with higher amounts of belly fat. Pair these delicious healthy fats with a reduced-calorie eating plan and you’ll lose weight and reduce belly fat.

6. “Eating at night will make me gain weight.”
Cutting out nighttime snacking is a popular weight loss strategy because it feels logical—eat less when you’re less active. But this topic has been debated for years, and even recently, a study in the April 2011 journal Obesity suggested that eating after 8 pm may increase the risk of obesity, but there aren’t clear-cut reasons why.

It’s mainly how much you eat—not when you eat—each day that affects weight gain. Many people eat at night out of boredom or other emotions instead of hunger, and they wind up consuming more calories than they need for the day—calories that are then stored as fat. Also, people who eat at night may wake up without an appetite and skip breakfast, the meal that helps control calorie intake throughout the day.

To ward off nighttime hunger, eat dinner an hour later, suggests Marjorie Nolan, RD, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. You’ll save calories by curbing the urge to nosh in front of the TV. “Having dinner a little bit later—but at least 2 hours before sleeping—helps prevent mindless snacking, which often happens in the evening,” says Nolan.

7. “Drinking a ton of water will help me drop pounds.”
Stop hogging the office watercooler (and running to the loo). It’s possible that drinking water can aid weight loss efforts, but it won’t automatically make you lose weight if you’re not changing any other habits. A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study found that people who regularly drink water eat nearly 200 fewer calories daily than those who consume only coffee, tea, or soda. And if you sip water instead of sugary drinks, the calories you’ve saved will help shed pounds.

Drinking ice-cold water can help you burn more calories too. German researchers found that drinking 6 cups of cold water a day raised resting metabolism by about 50 calories daily—possibly because of the work it takes to warm the fluid up to body temperature. It’s up to you to decide whether 50 calories is worth guzzling ice water—or whether it would be easier just to take the stairs.

8. “Becoming a vegetarian will help me drop a size.”
Eliminating meat from your diet can result in great health benefits, but if you don’t follow a vegetarian diet properly, you could accidentally pack on pounds.

Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD, author of The Flexitarian Diet, explains common vegetarian beginners’ mistakes that may cause weight gain. Vegetarian “types” to avoid becoming:

• Cheese-aholic vegetarians: They cut out meat from their diets and turn to cheese as a protein source. But cheese is a high-calorie, high-fat food and should be eaten in moderation.
• Faux-meat fixators: All they eat is boxes of frozen faux meats, such as soy chicken nuggets, vegetarian sausage links, and veggie bacon strips. These products are okay once in a while, but they are heavily processed and can have a lot of sodium, resulting in bloating and water retention.
• No-veggie vegetarians: A lot of vegetarians don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables. They eat only grains, beans and veggie burgers, all of which can be high in calories.
• Same-meal-minus-the-meat vegetarians: These people eat the same meals they did before, but without the meat. If they’re not replacing the protein, they’ll probably have a ferocious appetite and may be missing out on essential nutrients.
• “Vegetarian” food label fans: These people find any recipe or packaging that contains the word “vegetarian” or “meatless” and then overeat that food. They often wind up taking in too much junk food. Be aware that the word “vegetarian” is not synonymous with “healthy” or “low calorie.”

Blatner recommends replacing meat with beans in recipes for an easy, healthy—and inexpensive—protein source. She advises new vegetarians—and those who want to dabble in a vegetarian diet—to start having fun with vegetarian recipes. “Find ones you like that you’re going to keep eating. Enjoy the journey of it.”

9. “Subbing diet soda and diet foods is a smart way to lose.”
Chugging cans of diet soda and eating prepackaged diet foods may seem like a no-brainer way to trick your body into pound-shedding mode because they have few or no calories—but it’s not going to give you lasting results.

Diet soda may increase your risk of metabolic syndrome, a group of symptoms that includes high levels of belly fat, blood sugar, and cholesterol. People who consumed just one diet soda daily had a 34% higher risk of the syndrome than those who abstained, according to a University of Minnesota study of nearly 10,000 adults ages 45 to 64.

What you’re trying to do when you eat diet foods and drink diet soda is to cheat your body, says Ashley Koff, RD, resident dietitian on the new Lifetime show Love Handles: Couples in Crisis. “The body is physiologically smarter than your ability to override it. If you use one of those things as your tool, you’re always going to need that. And you might be getting weight loss results but no health benefits.” She says many people eventually get frustrated that they became dependent on these products.

“My approach across the board is that the best thing you can do is be a ‘qualitarian,’” says Koff. “Choose the best-quality foods available. The diet versions will have fewer calories than the quality versions, but they’ll also have fewer nutrients.”

4 Steps to Help Heal a Broken Heart

Heartbreak is a pain like any other. It is an emotional pain so bottomless that it can feel like a physical blow. When you have a pain like this one, all you want is for the deep ache to go away. As much as I’d like to recommend differently, there is no band-aid for a broken heart. Though it sounds like clich?, time is the remedy needed for you to truly heal from such a deep, wrenching pain. In time, this pain will go away. Between now and then, however, following a few basic tips might be able to make the difference in how you are feeling.

1. Cry: You are going to feel like rubbish for the first few weeks. Depending how emotional of a person you are, you may feel like crying for days. Go ahead. A significant change has occurred in your life; a painful change. There is no way to expect that you will feel a little sadness and be able to shut it off with a switch. It’s just not that simple. Allow yourself to grieve for your loss. But not too long! Staying in the past for too long can only hurt you. See rule number 4.

2. Talk to Someone Close: Use the shoulder of someone who cares about you to get out your feelings. This is a way to purify your soul by letting someone to share your pain. Let them listen, comfort you, and offer advice. You don’t necessarily have to take that advice, but sharing this comfort can make you feel better. Make sure you only allow yourself to grieve and lean on someone for a time because you need to move forward.

3. Distract Yourself: Bring friends you care about back into your life. Maybe having the relationship was keeping you from spending time with your parents, or siblings. Maybe you hadn’t talked to your best friend in weeks. Surround yourself with this support network. Getting things that need to be done around the house done is a great way to get lost in a project. Go to the gym. Organize your closet. Get out and take a walk. Distracting yourself is a great stepping stone to moving on with your life. This brings us to rule number 4.

4. Look toward the Future; Forget the Past: Once you have allowed yourself the indulgence of grieving for a part of your life who is now past, look forward! There is a definite need to be able to start a new chapter in the book of your life. Now that you are past the sadness and anger, it is time for hope and renewal that will help you to move on. Take time out for yourself; get to know yourself as a single individual instead of as part of a couple. Replenish your soul by becoming you again.

Following these sometimes difficult, but necessary steps, you can begin to heal the broken pieces of your heart. You cannot only become whole again. You can become whatever you wish to become. This is a chance to start fresh, and once the pain starts to ease. You will see it as such an opportunity.

10 Ways to be Sexier for the Summer

By Lynn Zavaro

1) Express who YOU are. Forget about trends. Be original. When you shop for new summer outfits follow this simple rule: If you just “like” it, put it down. If your friends wear it, leave it on the rack. If you don’t feel one hundred percent confident, don’t force it. Only buy it if you 100% love it and know it authentically expresses who you are.

2) Be spontaneous. Get out of the box. Live freely. Say yes to opportunity. Open yourself to explore, be an adventurer and dive into new experiences. If you are afraid of the ocean, try taking a shallow swim. If you have never tried shellfish, shuck a fresh oyster. Join friends at a social engagement you might not normally want to attend. Dare, be brilliant and willing to take a risk!

3) Hydrate. Besides the obvious tips of moisturizing and drinking lots of water, keep hydrated within to glow outward. Watch your alcohol intake. Eat lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. Protect hair from dryness by using a good conditioning treatment or go to your pantry and get coconut or olive oil to leave on your hair for 20 minutes before taking a shower.

4) Shine. As long as you use sunscreen, there are benefits to getting sun, so take advantage of summer and get 10 minutes of sunshine a day. We need vitamin D! You can also get an organic spray tan free of chemicals to add a layer of bronze to the skin, cover cellulite and smooth out tan lines. Cleanse your face in the morning and at night to keep your skin clean. Watch out for too much cow’s dairy - it increases acne and oily skin. Also, focus on sharing your light within. Put yourself out there. Engage. Know in your heart of hearts that you matter, you are important and you care.

5) Flirt. Eyelash extensions are all the rage now, and they are added bonus to being sexy during summer! You can still have gorgeous, beautiful eyes without mascara running down your face when you swim, or another alternative, waterproof mascara, which is a b---- to remove. Plus, you don’t have to wear very much makeup when you have them. Be flirtatious. Bat your eyes. Why the heck not?

6) Travel. You may have plans for a fun vacation this summer, but why can’t the time at home this summer also feel like a vacation? Pretend you are traveling in your own hometown for the first time. Try sitting at a different café, meeting friends at a different bar, taking a new route to work. Be open to experience life as if you were traveling to ignite new, fun and exciting views. While traveling we learn to anticipate change. Life looks a tad bit different. Out of the day-to-day grind, enjoy the ride!

7) Be Light. Eating light helps us to feel lighter and also increases concentration, digestion, energy levels and productivity. When we feel lighter inward we radiate light outward. Summer BBQs are a great way to eat light: a simple grilled piece of protein or vegetable with a light salad is a healthy and easy way to keep feeling light. It takes 20 minutes for our meal to be digested, so if you take this time, you will feel completely satisfied without having to eat large portions. Plus, how sexy will you feel a few pounds lighter this summer?

8) Know who you are. When we know who we are, we don’t get swayed by other people's impressions of us. We have nothing to prove, we have no need to compare and we don’t care about getting validation from others. There is nothing sexier than being in our own power! How we wield our power outwardly directly relates to how secure, lovable, “enough,” and worthy we feel on the inside. It is crucial to value ourselves within, not from the outside, to know our authenticity.


9) Be Bright. Add a touch of brightness to your everyday outfit. A bright red or orange lipstick, a pop of color in a handbag or accessory, big wild sunglasses, hot pink shoes with a black summer dress, something extra special to bring brightness to your self-expression. Go wild. Get noticed! Stand out!

10) Be free. If your mind wants to stop you from being your most free self say this mantra: So What, Who Cares, Big Deal, Why Not? Be you, unique and special all to yourself. Be generous to others, but let go of the need to be liked, loved and cherished. When the need is gone – watch out! Not only are you then free, but also people will be more attracted to you.

Sexy is not just in the eye of the beholder, true sexiness is how we feel inside confident, secure and assured with humility. When we are ignited within our light shines through. We are magnetic because people are drawn to our light. They want to know more who of who we are.