The truth is we begin the aging process just as soon as we pop out of the womb. Every day of our lives our bodies slough off and regenerate new cells. The speed at which that process takes place when we are children is vastly different as we get older.

Every day you are bombarded daily with commercial messages and beauty tips that attempt to lure you into believing that the most recent miracle drug is just what you need to fight off the ravages of Mother Nature.One of the best free beauty tips that everyone should follow is giving up on cigarette. When you smoke, oxygen does not rich your skin properly leading to damage to your collagen and elastin level in the skin. When you bath, do no use hot water but use cool water as that will save your skin from drying out.

The next free beauty tips are regarding your soaps; never use harsh chemical ones but those that are made of natural moisturizing elements. Look for products with alpha hydroxyl acidsto which will help to remove the dead skin cells from your face. If you have acne problem, use soaps with benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid.
The best route to natural beauty and healthy skin is to take care of what you have. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? The truth is that your skin takes a beating from the environment every single day. Here are some of our favorite beauty tips for keeping your skin fresh and healthy:

1:  Stay hydrated and do it with plenty of water! That does not mean soda, caffeine or any other type of liquid, even if it is low cal. Soda (even diet soda) has a high concentration of sodium. Sodium retains fluids. You need fluid that will hydrate and flush your body free of toxins. Make sure you are drinking at least 8 glasses a day!

2:  Protect your skin from harmful ultra violet (UV) rays. We all love the sun. We love being in it and we love having a beautiful tan. The truth is you can poison yourself with too much sunshine. UV rays cause skin cancer and if that isn’t bad enough it causes your skin to age faster than it should, contributing to unsightly wrinkles. If you must play in the sun, make certain you are using an adequate sun screen. Don’t leave home without it!

3:   Keep your skin clean. Use a soft warm cloth. Skin does not require scrubbing. You will do more harm than good if you do.

4:  The best cure for wrinkles is to never have them in the first place! If you are like most of us, you didn’t listen to your Mom when she tried to tell you to stay in the shade, stand up straight and stop squinting!

5:  Eat healthy. Knowing how and what to eat, can make a huge difference in how you feel. Improper eating habits can cause depression, weight gain, illness and an overall lethargy.
Weight gain causes your skin to stretch. As you get older, it loses it’s elasticity and you’re left with sagging skin.
The best solution to this is to maintain a proper weight.
A rule of thumb for eating habits are…don’t eat more calories than you consume. Don’t go one single day without doing something extra and physical for at least 30 minutes per day. This can be three ten minute walks. Or 30 minutes of vigorous aerobics, or 12 minutes of weight lifting and 18 minutes of walking.

6:  Don’t worry, be happy. A happy outlook appears to trigger the release of endorphins. Endorphins relax the cardiovascular system and cytokines which alert the immune system to pay attention in detecting abnormalities like cancer cells. Listen carefully to yourself. If you have put yourself down since childhood, over a lifetime, negative subliminal messages can take their toll by turning you into a pessimist. Spend one week writing down the phrases you use in your “self talk.” Chances are you will find that you repeat a dozen or so phrases over and over again that reinforce that negative image. If you know about them, you can change them. Outer beauty and inner joy go hand in hand.

7:   Sex After 50 – Ha! How many of you jumped ahead to this section?

The first trimester is the first third of the pregnancy, and is therefore about 3 months long. During this period, the fertilized egg goes from being a bunch of unrecognized cells to a growing baby. The fetus develops the brain, lungs and heart during this period and also changes into a recognizable shape. It is therefore important to have a good diet during this period.

Ideally, a woman should try and maintain a healthy diet even before conception. If the woman’s body is healthy and being fed well, it is likely that her baby will be healthy and well fed as well.

Studies have shown that overweight and underweight mothers are more likely to suffer from complications and birth defects than those who have a moderate weight. One should follow a healthy diet which is rich in fruits and vegetables with plenty of vitamins and minerals before attempting to get pregnant. One should also be properly hydrated and ideally not excessively overweight or underweight.

Before conception, you should have as healthy a diet as possible. Junk foods, processed foods, extra sugar and trans-fats should be strictly avoided. You should try to eat more fruits and vegetable, whole grains, lean proteins, dairy and healthy fats.

Healthy fats are often ignored as fat is given a bad reputation. Healthy fats help you store up energy and are vital for the maintenance of your body. More on diet during first trimester

Once you are pregnant you may suffer from morning sickness issues.

This makes it difficult to eat properly and you may suffer from nausea when you smell certain types of foods. During this period, try and eat small meals so that you do not throw up and regularly drink water and get fresh air. The kind of food that does not trigger a vomiting response differs from woman to woman. Some women prefer extremely light food during this period and stick to fruits and cereals. Prior to pregnancy you may visit your doctor to get yourself checked out and make sure your vital signs are within the acceptable range. Vitamin supplements that include folic acid should be taken to ensure the good health of your future child. Some natural sources exist which can supply the body with folic acid. Many grains contain moderate amounts of folic acid. 

During your first trimester, try not to eat too much food. Your body will be able to tell you when it is hungry and you should not have excessively large meals at any time as these are more difficult to digest. 

Pregnancy is a wonderful time in a woman’s life. However, it is very important that an expectant mother watches what she eats. After all, a well balanced diet affects both the mother and the developing child.

Some foods contain bacteria that might harm the mother or worse the developing fetus and could also result in a miscarriage.

Given below is a list of foods should be stayed away from during pregnancy.

• Raw shellfish: Pregnant women should avoid this as it can cause many sea borne diseases.
• Swordfish, tilefish, king mackerel, and shark all contain high levels of mercury.
Too much mercury can result in brain damage to the fetus.
• Raw meat should be strictly avoided. This includes poultry, seafood, sushi, rare of uncooked beef. The bacteria present (coliform bacteria, toxoplasmosis, and salmonella) can harm the baby.
• Raw or undercooked eggs should be avoided for the same reason. Also beware of food made at home that may contain raw egg, for instance chocolate mousse or ice cream or custard.
• Soft cheeses such as feta, Brie, Camambert, Gorgonzola or blue cheese contain harmful bacteria as do others like queso blanco and queso fresco.
• Limit your intake of liver and liver products (sausages or pate) as it contains large amounts of the retinol form of Vitamin A which are harmful to the growing baby.
• It is best to steer clear of alcohol altogether. Alcohol can cause severe learning and physical disabilities as well as emotional problems for children whose mothers consumed alcohol when pregnant.
• Caffeine should also be avoided as studies have shown a connection between this and miscarriages and premature birth too.
• Deli meats such as hot dogs contain the listeria bacteria which could cause stillbirths or miscarriages. Smoked seafood (especially refrigerated) and meat spreads should be avoided for the same reason too.
• Ensure that the vegetables you eat are washed thoroughly before you eat them.
They might be exposed to toxoplasmosis which is a parasitic disease which affects the soil where the vegetables grow. 

• Steer clear of salmon, bluefish, striped bass, trout, walleye and pike. These are fish that have been exposed to industrial pollutants which are harmful for health.
• Unpasteurized milk contains listeria. Ensure that the milk you drink is pasteurized.
• Any kind of pate -fish, meat or vegetable should be avoided.

Keep the above foods in mind while planning your diet in pregnancy.

Two examples of a balanced eating pattern are the USDA Food Guide at MyPyramid.gov and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH Diet).

Both eating patterns emphasize fruits, vegetables and whole grains, as well as low or no-fat dairy products, and lean animal proteins. Fish is recommended at least two times per week, beans, nuts and seeds are encouraged, and unsaturated fats are always the fats of choice - like olive oil.

Your balanced diet must be planned at your own calorie level, and portion size is key. You want to get the most nutrients for the calories by choosing food with a high-nutrient density. Nutrient-dense foods provide substantial amounts of vitamins and minerals and relatively few calories, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, lean meat and fish, and whole grains and beans. Low-nutrient dense foods have few vitamins but lots of calories, such as candy bars, soda, donuts and onion rings.

A high nutrient-dense lunch would look something like this:

A low nutrient-dense lunch would look something like this:

What really matters, though, is knowing yourself. You need to make responsible eating choices within the context of your preferences and lifestyle. What are your goals? Which food groups do you like to eat? Which food groups are missing? Do you eat too much sugar, salt and fried food? Which foods are the contributors and what foods can you eat instead? The locus of control rests within you to design the best eating plan for you. Eating healthy takes planning and practice. Keep your balance.

Nutrition guidelines recommend eating a wide variety of foods. But, there's a school of thought that eating variety of foods leads to overeating. There's "the tendency to stay hungry longer and eat more food when flavors are diverse and keep changing", according to Dr. David Katz, who maintains that we "fill up on fewer calories when flavor variety is controlled". You've seen this principle in action when you come home with a load of groceries. Don't you want to sample the wide variety of tasty foods?