Designer on Focus: Alessandro Benetton

To outsider eyes, Ponzano, Italy, is a nondescript little burg about 20 minutes outside of Venice, but snake your way through its outer byways and you’ll run into more important contemporary architecture than you’d ever imagine possible in a town of 12,000 people. What did Greater Ponzano do to deserve this? It has the good fortune to be the headquarters of the Benetton family.

Founded by four siblings (Luciano, Giuliana, Gilberto, and Carlo) in 1965, Benetton made its name peddling happy-colored knitwear. Fast fashion is old hat to us now, but when Benetton did it, it was revolutionary. The company went on to help set the trendy-preppy dress code of the early ’80s and pioneer confrontational, socially conscious advertising, some of which didn’t even show the company’s products. (Conceiving of a brand as a worldview rather than a label to be slapped on a T-shirt was another cultural trend Benetton prefigured.) So while Benetton’s clothing—attractive, current, European, democratically priced— has never been at the avant-garde of fashion, the aesthetic aura that surrounds the family and the company certainly has. Those campaigns famed creative director Oliviero Toscani dreamed up in the ’80s and ’90s? In addition to scenes of engagé multicultural bliss were uncompromising portraits of people with AIDS, a nun and a priest midsmooch, and inmates on death row. Add to this radical marketing strategy the company’s important buildings designed by such luminaries as Tadao Ando and Tobia Scarpa; innovative factories; the ambitious publishing and image-making lab, Fabrica: and Colors magazine, and Benetton’s heritage rises far above that cute rugby shirt that everyone had to have a quarter century ago. In 2005, the direction of the 2-billion-euro company, which has grown to include substantial real estate holdings and four sports teams (volleyball, basketball, rugby, and Formula One), was handed down from Luciano Benetton to his then-41-year-old son Alessandro. And Luciano’s progressive outlook is in no danger of fading away. All-new architectural projects, an African microcredit program, global design and architecture contests, and a local children’s school, Ponzano Children, are just a few of the stews recently boiling on the Benetton stove. Ambitious, sure. But why shouldn’t rugby shirts and $200 suits pave the path to utopia?

alessandro benetton
“It’s true—these projects are not all directly related to selling T-shirts,” says Alessandro Benetton when I go to Ponzano to poke around. Yet many of them make good business sense, even if they have a do-gooder foundation. Take, for example, the microcredit program Africa Works, started in 2008 with the Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour. “It’s not that we want to be just charitable,” says Benetton firmly. “Africa is a continent that’s growing 5 percent a year.” Benetton is already selling there—the company has 6,000 stores in 120 countries, more than a dozen in Africa. If Africans’ standard of living rises, they might have enough disposable income to buy some new sportswear. In fact, one of Benetton’s strongest initiatives in the past decade has been its growing retail presence in emerging markets such as India, Eastern Europe, and Iran. As the company has grown, the clothes have kept up with the times. They’re gently au courant without being trendy, with the same wit and color sense as ever.

Benetton is also proud of what it’s doing at home. Theirs was one of the first factories in rural Italy to have air-conditioning. In 2007, Benetton opened Ponzano Children, a day care center and preschool, in partnership with the local government. The school is set up for kids ages nine months to six years; half are employees’ children and half are town kids. Housed in a white, skylit cube ringed in by an ovoid outdoor play space and gardens, the 2.3-acre compound was designed by the award-winning architect Alberto Campo Baeza. In the various play spaces, among the hand-me-down dressup clothes (many with Benetton logos) and toys typical of any nursery school, are modular chairs by Play+. There is a space dedicated to “nothingness.” The large common play area is filled with intenselooking, large-scale photographs of happy children.

As for Alessandro Benetton, who is tall, tanned, soft-spoken, and almost impossibly good-looking, his home shares the same utopian spirit as his company. To build his family place, which he shares with his wife, the Olympic Italian gold-medal skiier Deborah Compagnoni, and their three children (Agnese, 9, Tobias, 7, and Luce, 3), he hired Tadao Ando, a starchitect known for clean, almost strict temples to light. (This was Ando’s second commission for the family; a third is on the way.) The finished product, called “The Invisible House” for the way it’s set into a depression in the landscape that hides it from public view, is nearly 11,000 square feet of concrete rectangles that are as comfortable inside as they are Spartan on the outside. Benetton’s taste in furnishings runs toward high Italian design, but the sunken living room, with enormous plate glass windows and soft polished powdered marble walls, is a study in tasteful flopping. Two giant couches and a chic version of a beanbag dominate the hearth and TV areas. Family photos are on most surfaces, and the guest room is riddled with Compagnoni’s trophies and antique silver cups. There was once an adjoining room just for shoes; still, Alessandro has more pairs than his wife. The eldest two children share a bedroom. (The kids were playing in the garage with a neighbor when I arrived. Tobias had made a television set out of a cardboard box that he was wearing on his head.) In the garage gym, there are about 10 Nautilus machines, but there is no home office. “I thought it was a good idea not to bring work home,” Benetton says in a pleasant northern Italian accent. He tells me he and Compagnoni don’t do a lot of socializing. Even if I weren’t as well-known a homebody as Benetton, I wouldn’t want to leave the place either.

Ando, who carved his initials into Benetton’s dining room table when the house was finally furnished in 2004, also built Fabrica, which is just a 20-minute drive away. The company’s independently functioning product, design, and communications lab was the brainchild of Luciano Benetton, who founded it in 1994. It includes a one-year school of 40 to 50 international students apprenticing in all manner of packaging and design; a conference facility; a branding agency (with clients other than Benetton); a film production hive; and a research library. The student body—multicultural, intermittently pierced, and almost all smokers, as far as I could tell— is straight out of Colors, the quarterly magazine formed in 1991 by Oliviero Toscani, Tibor Kalman, and Luciano. Still in circulation today, and still tackling the same issues of identity, conflict, and creativity around the world, Colors now produces books with the same wry wit and attention to detail. Probably Fabrica’s most acclaimed nonprinted work includes the dark comedy No Man’s Land, about the war in the Balkans, which won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 2002. And Benetton sponsors such competitions as Designing in Teheran, which has just awarded the architects Grzegorz Witold Woronowicz and Yana Radera commissions to build retail and office spaces in the Iranian capital. Fabrica’s building has the same Ando hallmarks that the Invisible House does: angular concrete, reflecting pools, clean surfaces, and enormous amounts of natural light. “It is important for a company with a global vision to create a strong architecture, one with clear concepts and ideals,” Ando says. Benetton has never made much of a secret of its concepts and ideals, and Ando’s work is a perfect fit. The look is as elegant as it is earnest. Granted, these buildings bear a much higher price than a poppy scarf or a pair of attractively cut $75 pants. But the vision’s the thing.

Thanks to Elle.com

New Make Up United from Loreal Paris and Nars

loreal paris l'oreal nars
The best just got even better by both L’Oréal Paris and Nars debut new versions of top-sellers this month: Loreal True Match Roller Perfecting Roll On Makeup delivers its perfect formula with a pint-size paint-roller, and Nars—a brand that sells two Orgasm products in the U.S. every minute—gives women a fuller flush with its Orgasm Illuminator, a sheer liquid glow for the face.

Lacoste Fall 2010 Collection in New York Fashion Week

Lacoste Fall 2010 Collection in New York Fashion Week


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Calvin Klein Men's Fall 2010 in New York Fashion Week

Calvin Klein's men's fall 2010 collection is sleek and modern in the New York Fashion Week 2010. Whether or not the clothes are actually wearable is a different story.


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Importance of Resistance Training For Women

Many women nowadays are into resistance training. Many get into resistance training programs engaging into sports. Resistance training is important for women. It allows you to be active and have a healthy body. You may also gain the needed strength and physically built muscles.

Before you start lifting weights, you should know the proper ways on how to execute the exercise. Many women seriously encounter injuries when they incorrectly lift weights. It is important that you get rid first of the excess weight that you have by walking or jogging. You may also purchase weight loss equipment such as treadmills, cross bar platinum, and nutrition boo guides for a better health.

Women usually do not have the natural muscle structure that most men have. They may not also have the same strength to carry heavy loads or the same resistance that men have. What more if you get older? Your body may no longer have the same strength when you were still young. This happens because of the lifestyle you have or just because of aging process. Your resistance may have just decreased and your body tends to weaken.

You can benefit many things when you get into resistance training. Even if you are not an athlete or a body-building enthusiasts, you can get into resistance training programs. Having an active body and well-toned muscles can provide you the more strength and good resistance. You can do some workout outdoors like walking or jogging to get a better blood circulation.

You may also do some stretching and warm up exercises to allow the blood nutrients go to the muscles and joints of your body. Muscle stretching also helps in lessening the risks of injuries and muscle pains after the work out. Muscles tend to sore and get strained if you are not well warmed-up and do the proper stretching techniques before the work out.

In addition, muscle stretching also gives you more flexibility. You will be able to execute exercises comfortably and effectively. It is advisable that you do repetitive stretching and warm ups. Repetition of exercises makes your muscles and joints more enhanced and more adapted to the motion you are executing.

When you are ready to lift weights, you should first work on your larger muscles then the smaller ones. You may then finally go to the muscles that are isolated. You may execute push-ups that can enhance the upper muscles of the body. Before doing triceps extension exercises, you should first focus on the larger muscle groups such as the muscle found in your butt. You may execute exercises like repetitive squatting, box step-ups, and lunges.

You may also work on your quads which is the muscle found on the front thigh. You may perform repetitive squatting and lunges as well. You may also use the leg extension machine and the leg press machine for a well-executed exercise.

You should always remember that you work on the opposite muscles. Muscles tend to get imbalanced especially if the amounts of exercises you do are not equally distributed. When performing triceps extension, it is advised that you also do bicep exercises. If you work out on the chest and the stomach area like crunches, it is important that you do back extension exercises to get a balanced upper muscle toning.

Always take a rest after your resistance training work out. Allow your muscles to cool gradually so that you will not feel any sore or strained muscles. After the resistance training, you will see that you are more ready and physically fit for many kinds of sports.

The Importance of Working Your Core Muscle

Suppose that at a distance you see a short, stooped figure walking with short, slow steps. Most likely, you will conclude that the person is old. The hunched posture gives you the clue.

Why does aging contort so many bodies in this way? The reason is that many people, throughout their lives, never extend the neck to its full range, and so the muscles shorten. Long hours of reading, sewing, typing, or standing at a workbench take their toll. Eventually deposits of calcium salts in the joints complete the process of immobilization. Once this calcification takes place, nothing can be done to reverse it.

Fortunately, older persons can take action before it is too late. The best action is regular exercise that stretches the muscles and improves flexibility, with special considerations on the core muscles. This kind of response is relatively important for a number of factors that when taken for granted will only lead to serious health problems.

What Are Core Muscles?

Core muscles pertain to the muscles found at the obliques, abdominals, lower back, and the glutes. These four areas of the body are the ones that usually frame the posture of a person. Hence, a good posture reflects the good condition of these muscle areas.

What people do not know is that core muscles are actually the “core” or the central part for all the strength that is needed to boost carry out different physical activities. This only means that if an individual’s core muscle is physically powerful, it will maintain equilibrium on the body and will stabilize the system every time the person is working out and moving.

Strengthening Core Muscles

The main responsibility of the core muscles is to provide enough power to the body in order to enable it to cope up with the dynamic challenges of every physical activity that a person encounters.

For this reason, many health and fitness experts have realized that it is relatively important to strengthen the core muscles than with the other muscles in the body. Through some series of experiments and research, they have found out that having a stronger core can lessen a lot of health problems concerning posture.

For instance, a well-conditioned core muscle can project good posture. It can also improve the endurance of the back all the way through the day.

Why? Because muscles that are included in the group of core muscles are actually the ones that initiate the proper stabilization of the whole upper and lower torso.

So, for those who wish to know and understand why it is important strengthen the core muscles, here is a list of some of the benefits that you can use as references:

1. Strengthening core muscles will improve posture and prevent low back pain of the muscular origin.

This means that as you incorporate stretching exercises in your routine, taking a particular focus on the muscles of the upper and front part of the trunk, including the abdominal and trunk muscles, the activity has the tendency to strengthen the muscles of the back that extend to the spine.

2. It will help tone the muscles, thereby, avoiding further back injury

Exercising your core muscles will strengthen and tones your lower back muscles and buttocks while stretching the hip flexors and the muscles on the front of the thighs.

Achieving this state will deter you from any serious lower back injury.

3. Improves physical performance

Exercising the core muscles with slow, static stretching is just as effective in relieving stiffness and enhances flexibility. Once the flexibility of a person has improved, it follows that he will be able to perform his physical activities at a better state.

4. They do not cause sore aching muscles

Static stretching for core muscles is best for the muscles and connective tissues. And because it employs slow stretches only, it will not cause any soreness, as do the quick, bouncing exercises that rely on jerky muscle contraction.

5. Lengthen muscles and avoid unbalanced footing as you get old

Core muscle exercises lengthen the muscles that have contracted as a result of pain. It also prevents pain from vigorous exercise if they are included at the end of each workout.

Health and fitness experts highly recommend starting core work out immediately and repeating the routine at least 2 times a week. The process can be done after the workout or even during the activity, for about 10 to 20 minutes only.

Indeed, core muscles are absolutely important in determining the good posture of the body. Strengthening them can absolutely eliminate those nuisances of back pains.

Staying Motivated to Exercise

Exercise is always a do-it-yourself venture. No other person and no machine can do it for you. Hence, it is important to have those motivating factors so that a person who is into exercise in order to lose weight will hang about.

This is what people who are overweight should learn to understand. However, even if it so easy to set for instructions and easy to follow, this is not the same case for almost 35% of Americans who are unable to prevent being overweight.

Of course, once we are overweight, we usually want to trim down for a whole lot of reasons, some related to physical condition and fitness, while others would want to enhance their physique and appearance. And it is never too late to be fit.

In the past 50 to 75 years, physical activity has become the exception rather than the rule, both at home and on the job. People tend to drive where others once walked. People tend to flick a switch and machines do the hauling, lifting, pushing, and pulling for them.

However, people who try to lose weight tend to believe that weight gain is likely to happen if they will not take forward-looking steps to stop it.

The point here is that health experts believe that people lose their way, especially when it comes to dieting. They tend to go back to their old eating habits even after they learn to enjoy low-fat eating. They tend to return to sedentary ways even though they enjoy exercising.

But despite the momentum toward weight gain, you can stop it from happening, experts say. And there are plenty of good reasons to avoid excess pounds, reasons that go beyond vanity or social appearance. There are many reasons in order to keep you motivated to exercise and stay healthy for the rest of your life.

Ways to Lose Big

1. Have an explicit goal

A simple statement like, “I want to lose some weight,” is an ambiguous and an indefinite statement. It will not the least motivate you to start doing exercises right away.

What is important is to be precise on your goals. It would be better if you will set some detailed amount of pounds that you really want to lose. Envisage yourself what you will look like after reaching your desired weight. Doing this will inspire you to lose weight. In fact, maybe even more than what you have planned in mind. The idea is to use that figure to assist you to remain resilient and dedicated.

2. Develop a strategy

Strength of will does not work alone! To lose weight and stay with it, your strategy must comprise of both exercise and diet, and not either of the two.

Try to start motivating yourself by throwing away your clothes that have bigger sizes. This will put you in a situation where you only have your sexy clothes and that you have to make a choice by staying motivated to exercise or not wear any clothes at all. Which do you prefer?

3. Make out little, calculable measures

Put into practice actions that will suit your lifestyle. This means you have to implement moves that you and you alone will benefit from it and not somebody else.

The idea here is to opt for a more positive and attainable goal and not just to shun away from being plump and chubby.

4. Produce monitoring that has an important effect

It would be better to have somebody willing to take note of your progress or development. This will inspire you to keep on doing what you have started. Having somebody to listen to your achievements is definitely a better prize than just achieving your goal alone.

Besides, having an extra hand to support you and cheer for you when things start to fall short. It is that simple way of hearing somebody believing on what you do is one of the greatest motivations to keep you exercising for more.

5. Construct a vigorous, sensible timeline

What do you plan to achieve in a year? Try to suit your objectives to your calendar, and do not look forward to see the results in just a snap.

The bottom line is that in order to stay motivated to exercise entails a lot of hard work, which is contrary to what most people tend to think. The main idea is to let people change their lifestyle because it is only through this way that they will absolutely change their weight…for the better.

Importance of Warming Up Before Exercise

Since a lot of people are involved in physical exercises, it is imperative that the importance of warming up before any strenuous activity should be discussed. Many have repeatedly ignored going through the warm up stage before working out, not knowing the consequences in doing so.

Why warm up? Several changes takes place in the body once physical activity is initiated. A person's respiratory rate, blood flow, and oxygen and nutrient levels delivered to the cells increases. The rate of increase should be regulated in a steady pace to prepare the body for the physical stress that exercise will demand. If one foregoes this priming procedure, the body will function less efficiently and the workout will produce less quality results. Warming up preps up the nervous system, heightens mental awareness and alertness, and loosens up joints and muscles to make them less prone to injuries. Warm ups jump starts the fluid located in the joints, minimizing the risk for wear and tear of the muscles. It gives the heart a suitable period to adjust and pump up blood and nutrients into muscles.

This is vital for older people, since they have tissues that are less supple; they have joints with less fluid, and weaker hearts. Sudden exercise can produce heart attacks to older people.

How does a person warm up properly? Initially, it can be done in any procedure that enables the heart to beat faster. One can simply walk and jog, or if a cardiovascular equipment is available, such as rowing machine or a bicycle, it can be utilized. Start at a gentle pace, and then slowly increase the pace until heart beat rate increases and the body temperature rises. It important to note that the pace should be in accordance to one's current fitness level, where the activity will leave the person energized and not exhausted.

After working up a light sweat (suggested time is 3-5 minutes, longer if the person is working out in a cold environment) one should do dynamic stretching. Stretching helps in developing overall flexibility, particularly in the spine, shoulder, and hip areas. The kind of stretching depends on the type of activity a person plans to engage to. For instance, if one is about to play sports, the recommended kind of stretching would be the ones that mimics the movements that will be done in the court or field. If one is about to do martial arts, light sparring can be done in the quarter of the normal speed, or just simply do the movements in slow motion. Be certain that the major muscles groups are stretched for 8 seconds minimum. It is necessary to remember to keep feet moving or do leg exercises whenever the upper body is stretched to keep prevent blood from pooling in the legs. Remember, one should only do stretching if the muscles are already warmed up. Do not bounce while stretching. It leads to a contraction that can result in muscle tear or pull.

For weight-lifters, this is what should be done after the initial warm up. Load the bar with about 50-60% of the heaviest weight to be done for the session and perform the number of repetitions that will be done for the heavy sets. For the second set, the weight will be increased to 80%, then eventually to 90%, decreasing to 2-3 repetitions. Afterwards, rest for about 30 seconds, then repeat the steps. After this warm up, one can now proceed to the heavy lifting for the day. The advantage of doing the procedure is that the heavy sets will feel less daunting and can now be performed with considerably less stress.

After warming up and proceeding to the main workout, it is equally important to cool down. When a person suddenly stops exercising or lifting weights, blood gathers in the muscle and oxygen is blocked. When this happens, a person runs the risk of having a heart attack. So cooling down should have the same importance as warming up.

Exercise is good for the health. Everyone is encouraged to pump it up, just remember to remember all the necessary precautions not only to maximize the workout, but also to stay safe and healthy.

What Are Dirty Diamonds?

A dirty diamond is one of two things: a rough diamond, or a diamond that hasn’t been cleaned in a while. Rough diamonds are uncut and unpolished – hence, they are dirty. But that type of dirty diamond will soon be cut and polished and sitting in a beautiful jewel box in a display case. Then someone will purchase it, and before long, it will become a dirty diamond once again.

Diamonds become dirty. When you wash your hands with a diamond ring on, soap scum clings to it. When you put on hand lotion, it gets grease on it. Shower with your
diamond earrings or necklace, and again, you get soap scum. In one short day, your
brand new diamond could be dirty!

Purchase an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner the same day that you purchase your diamond
jewelry, and use it every single day, without fail. The clarity of the diamond changes when the diamond is dirty – it loses its sparkle. By taking one minute each day to clean your diamond jewelry, you can avoid this, and your diamonds will never be dirty!

Guide in Selecting Diamonds

Diamonds are graded for certification by laboratories using grading criteria. Four of these criteria are critical to understand when making a diamond purchase or investment. Known as the “Four C’s” these criteria are: color, cut, clarity and carat.

Color is the result of the composition of a diamond and it does not change. When a
jeweler is describing the color of a diamond they are referring to the presence or absence of color in white diamonds. Because a diamond with no color allows maximum light to pass through, colorless diamonds are preferred for their sparkle.

Cut refers to a diamonds reflective quality. Most diamonds are cut with 58 facets. The brilliance of diamonds is heavily dependent on the cut. The different angles and the finish of a diamond determine its ability to reflect light and cause its brilliance and fire. Remember that the cut of a diamond can have an impact on its durability as well as its beauty. Some cutting faults can make a diamond prone to breakage. A diamond that is cut too thin can also cause light to leak out of the back and the diamond will lose some of the sparkle and appear not to shine. So, as you can see the Cut is probably the most important of the Four C’s.

During the formation process, inner flaws, or inclusions occur in most diamonds. The
number and size of these inclusions determine what is referred to as the clarity
of a diamond. Diamonds that are clear create more brilliance and therefore are rarer
and highly priced. To be considered “flawless”, a diamond must have no surface
or internal imperfections visible upon being viewed by a skilled diamond grader using 10 power magnifications.

Carat is the unit of weight by which diamonds are measured. One carat is equal to 200 milligrams. A carat is divided into 100 segments called points. 150 points would
equal one and a half carats. When you go to the store to make that all important diamond purchase, do not be shy! Ask questions, get the answers needed to make an informed purchase. Shopping for certified diamonds enables you to make an informed selection. Knowing the “four C’s” allows you to comparison shop and purchase the best diamond at a fair price. But, before making a purchase, shop around and decide
what shapes and styles really appeal to you. Enjoy your diamond for years to come!

Colored Diamonds

colored diamonds
Fancy colored diamonds are all the rage these days. Gemologists have developed new ways to create versions that are affordable for the average person - by treating less desirable diamonds. These less desirable diamonds are treated with irradiation followed by intense heat. This turns brown and yellowish diamonds into beautifully colored diamonds that you can
afford. This produces stunning greens, blues, yellows, reds, purples and other
colors. These colors are considered permanent, but there is a possibility
they could change during repairs if a high heat is used.

Treatments like irradiation make it possible for more people to own these vividly colored diamonds. Most natural colored diamonds are rare and also extremely expensive. When shopping for colored diamonds you need to assume that any affordable fancy color diamond has been treated. Ask about the stones origin and request to view a lab certificate to verify authenticity.

Synthetic colored diamonds are another option if owning a colored diamond is
something you desire but cannot quite afford. They are real diamonds, but they are created in a lab.

Natural fancy color diamonds get their coloring from different trace elements present
in the stones, such as nitrogen, which produces a yellow diamond. Diamonds can
be colored by exposure to radiation during its creation. An example of a diamond affected by radiation is a Green diamond.

Another way that a natural colored diamond gets color is by its inclusions. Regarded as flaws and undesirable in a colorless diamond,
inclusions give unique tones and brilliant flashes of color in a fancy color diamond.

Remember that Natural fancy colored diamonds are very expensive, any colored diamond labeled to be sold as natural should be accompanied by a certificate from a respected grading lab.

A "fancy" diamond is a natural diamond that has color. These colors vary from red, green, purple, violet, orange, blue and pink – and most shades between. Fancy color shades vary from faint to intense.

The most famous diamonds in the world are Color diamonds. The Tiffany Diamond,
which is yellow and the Hope Diamond which is blue are colored diamonds. Color
diamonds have an amazing financial track record. The value has never decreased on
wholesale level in more than 30 years. Blue and pink diamonds have doubled every 5
years of a strong economy.

In the 1970’s you could have bought a very high quality blue diamond for about 50K and today the very same stone would be worth between 2 and 3 million.

Facing Depression Head On

Always feeling under the weather? Always not in the mood to be around others and have a good time? If you’re suffering from prolonged sadness for quite some time now, you should face these bouts of depression and get yourself diagnosed by a psychiatrist, they’re doctors who can actually help you out with your problem.

Depression or prolonged sadness is actually quite common in the United States, around 9.5 percent of the American population actually suffer from this illness, however, not all of them get to be treated, thus, depression and its ill-effects continue to be a burden to some individuals. This illness may seem quite simple to treat but in reality, it takes more than a little cheering up to actually cure depression. Constant visits to a cognitive behavior therapist is a must as well as taking all the prescribed medicines that the doctor will ask the patient to take – none of these exactly come cheap, but the amount of suffering that a person is going through because of depression is enough reason already for others to start taking notice and face depression head on.

Depression oftentimes can easily get in the way of an individual’s daily activities and his or her’s normal functions, one’s zest for life can quickly and easily dissipate due to depression. And in place of an individual’s sunny disposition is more or less a person who hates his or herself, having no self-confidence, trying to isolate one’s self from the world and basically just not caring about living any more. More so, a person suffering from depression isn’t the only one who’s going to suffer from this destructive illness, his or her loved ones are sure to follow suit. By seeing the individual grow through such rough patches, basically not caring about anything or anyone anymore, it’s highly likely that not only will depression one’s relationship with one’s self but with his or her loved ones too.

Fortunately depression can now be cured, especially when diagnosed early, depressed individuals can actually be treated through therapy and medication, although it may be a bit costly, a person’s good mental health is something that shouldn’t be scrimped on. Cognitive behavioral talk or interpersonal talk are just some of the available psychosocial treatments that cognitive behavior therapists can offer to their patients, both actually prove to be able to produce fruitful and positive results.

Still, people tend to not recognize depression even it’s right before their eyes, being honest with one’s self is key to being able to cure such an illness. Never overlook the various symptoms, depressed individuals oftentimes exhibit uncharacteristic behaviors such as suddenly lacking interest in one’s hobbies (or other stuff that he or she usually enjoys), sleeps too much or actually aren’t able to get some shut-eye, suddenly becoming anti-social, talks a lot about death or being a worthless person. There are actually a lot more other symptoms but in case these already fit in your category or of someone that you know of, go to a reputable psychiatrist at once in order to see if the depression is still at an early stage or not. From here you’ll be able to assess how the treatments will actually go.

Depression shouldn’t be something that people fear of, instead, people should just start taking charge of their lives and actually face this illness and fight it. Life is too beautiful a gift to waste and if one will spend the majority of his or her life just moping around about every single little thing then what kind of life would that be? Depression may not kill one’s body but it’ll certainly kills one’s spirit if you’ll let it. Don’t be a victim.

The tell-tale symptoms of depression

People who may be suffering from depression or manic disorders actually exhibit or show each and every kind of symptom of depression that doctors will tell you that depressed people have. Sometimes it’s actually quite easy to overlook such symptoms and not be able to help one’s self or others who are suffering from depression for that matter.

There are actually a lot of symptoms of depression that depressed people may actually posses but they don’t have to suffer from each and every one of them before you actually help them get diagnosed and be treated for this illness. Also, since symptoms of depression actually vary, the time of their "attacks" varies as well.

Here are some common examples of symptoms of depression:

Prolonged period of sadness or not feeling "up to it," people who are always feeling not in the mood, who’d rather mope around the house and feel sorry for one’s self is the best example for this symptom of depression.

Feels hopeless, perennial pessimist: speaking of feeling sorry for one’s self, another common symptom of depression is when a person actually feels like he/she has nothing to look forward to in his or her life. As for being the perennial pessimist, those who show this symptom of depression are usually very negative about things, again, the feeling of hopelessness comes in to mind.

Guilt-driven, loss of self-worth and helplessness: other symptoms of depression that can be easily seen on people who prefer to mope around all day long are these. Whenever a person feels so guilty over something, that actually makes one a very sad person who feels like he or she doesn’t deserve to be happy. Thus, the loss of self-worth, if that person feels like he or she isn’t worthy of being happy or enjoying one’s self then that’s clear tell-tale symptom of depression. Helplessness also contribute to being depressed, when assuming that things won’t simply go your way, it’s already a clear saying that you have absolutely no hope in your body at all.

Isn’t interested in finding or taking pleasure; just dropping the hobbies as well as the other things that one used to enjoy: this tell-tale symptom of depression just shows how depressed a person can be, if one is actually too sad to take pleasure even in the very things that one loves then that person is seriously lacking something, rather, that person might well have caught the depression bug.

Fatigue, always tired: people suffering from depression, since they’ve lost whatever interest in life that they may have had before are actually lacking of physical energy at all times, if one would prefer to just mope around, probably won’t even eat not get enough sleep, a depressed person may well be on their way to not just a mental illness but depression can actually be terrible for one’s physical health as well.

Having trouble concentrating, having bad memory and is indecisive: a person who is suffering from depression easily gives away this tell-tale symptom of depression. Wherein one’s lack of interest with regards to the outside world or for just about anything for that matter can lead to that person’s inability to lose track of things and actually not be able to remember things that happened or what other people said. Lack of interest actually makes depressed people very inattentive.

There are actually more symptoms of depression that can actually help you see if a person (or you) needs to be brought to the doctor to get some help when it comes to depression: lacking sleep, sleeping too much or waking up at wee hours of the morning are all symptoms of depression (if it happens on a daily basis), appetite loss as well as eating too much may show one’s lack of enthusiasm for life. Be weary of sudden weight loss or weight gain in those around you. Being suicidal, talking about death, about wanting to die is another clear indication that that person is depressed. Being restless and irritable and physical symptoms that are usually brought about by poor mental health such as headaches, digestive disorders and various body pains.

Green Tea Diet Plan

Eating and dieting these days do not usually involve your favorite beverages like green tea and coffee. But this is not always necessarily the case. With some bit of planning and a lot of discipline, your diet plan and weight regime can include your morning cups of coffee or green tea.

South Beach Diet Plan

An idea formulated by Dr. Agatston, the South Beach Diet plan is not low-carb, nor low-fat. According to its originator, the South Beach Diet plan “teaches you to rely on the right carbs and the right fats.”

This diet plan is comprised of three phases – Banishing your Cravings, Reintroducing Carbs, and A Diet for Life. Using artificial sweetener and low-fat milk in your coffee or green tea during all three phases is one way to go on losing weight without having to give up your brewed cup. Going decaf with your coffee might also be a good idea since the objective of this diet is maintaining even insulin levels. If you’re a green tea drinker, then there is less worries for you. Green tea contains only very few amounts of caffeine.

The Zone Diet Plan

The Zone Diet plan was developed by Barry Sears, a former biotechnology researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This diet plan is based on the maintenance and consistency of insulin levels. Because this diet plan also concerns itself with insulin control, the issues that arise are handled similarly as that with the South Beach Diet plan. Taking decaffeinated coffee and green tea is all right as long as these beverages don’t spike up your insulin. The eating program of the Zone Diet plan requires you to use artificial sweetener and low-fat milk in your coffee or green tea.

Atkins Diet Plan

Another low-carb diet plan variety, the Atkins Diet plan works best with caffeine-free coffee and green tea. For best results, artificial sweeteners in your green tea and coffee are advised to keep your carbs down.

Blood Type Diet Plan

The Blood Type Diet plan is a weight loss regimen where the foods you eat are based on your blood type. The eating program of the Blood Type Diet plan is more restricted compared to the South Beach Diet plan, the Zone Diet plan, and the Atkins Diet plan. For instance, for people with blood types A and AB, coffee is highly advised. But for those with blood types O, adding coffee to the Blood Type Diet plan should be avoided. Green teas on the other hand are acceptable for any blood types. However, adding natural sweeteners like sugar, honey, stevia, or maple syrup in green tea should be avoided in this diet plan.

Sugar Busters Diet Plan

The name of the diet plan says it all. Subscribers to this diet plan are highly cautioned against sugars. Coffee and green teas are perfectly fine but only use artificial sweeteners.

Paleolithic Diet Plan

Also called the Stone Age Diet plan, this diet plan is based on the consumption of simple, unprocessed foods that our Neanderthal ancestors would have eaten. This diet plan is perfect for green tea drinkers. Green tea is simple and 100% natural steamed dried leaves from the Camellia sinensis plant. If you’re a coffee drinker, you might be in for a tougher choice since you might have to give up coffee all together with this diet plan. Sugars in green teas are still a big no-no, especially the refined kind.