Some women want to shorten their toes or have their feet made narrower, while others ask for collagen or silicon injections in the pads of their feet to make it more comfortable to wear high heels. According to WebMD, the majority of foot and ankle surgeons surveyed (82 percent) thought cosmetic foot surgery was inappropriate.

Since the feet are the foundation of the body, they can actually take on more stress and toxins than your face. Some foot problems come with age, but others are actually indicators that potentially more harmful medical conditions may arise. The most common cause of foot pain is shoes that do not fit properly. The best shoe to wear is wide fitting with a low heel so your foot can adjust to swelling throughout the day and you can avoid developing bunions. Diabetics need to pay special attention to their feet. Diabetes causes nerve damage, which ultimately leads to a loss of sensation in the foot. Diabetics also have decreased circulation in the foot which can result in a slower healing process of any sore that has been trying to heal.

Just as we exercise our bodies for optimal health, exercising our feet can have benefits as well. A product called Yoga Toes can improve and prevent foot problems by aligning and stretching the toes. They ease aches and pains due to bad posture and reduce the soreness caused by bunions, hammertoes and plantar fasciitis. Wearing Yoga Sandals is another way to reduce your foot pain while making a fashion statement. These cute flip-flops separate your toes, force you to have better posture and elongate your back, which reduces back pain and even ankle pain. By creating proper foot alignment, the rest of your body, including the ankles, knees and hips are able to come into alignment.

For shaping up calves, thighs, booty and core, Skechers Shape Ups really work! I wore them for two months every day and noticed a huge improvement in my “shape.” For more information on these two products visit www.yogaPro.com, http://www.skechers.com/ or www.yogasandals.com.

Jackie Silver is the founder and president of Aging Backwards, LLC and author of Aging Backwards: Secrets to Staying Young. Follow her on Twitter, @AgingBackwards. Sign up for her free newsletter at: http://agingbackwards.com/.

Another color expert, Lauren Battistini, founder of Color My Closet in Houston, Texas, maintains that color accounts for up to 90% of the first impression we make and she teaches women how to use it to their advantage. “The right colors visually shave 10 pounds and 10 years in an instant! Women can wear virtually any color in the right hue, and their personalized palettes contain their 64 best colors,” says Battistini. “Up to two-thirds of women are neutral–not cool or warm–and Color My Closet’s system more fully represents the skin tones found in all ethnicities.”

Lisa Ford may be reached at www.inventyourimage.com. Find Lauren Battistini at www.colormycloset.com.

Jackie Silver is the founder and president of Aging Backwards, LLC and author of Aging Backwards: Secrets to Staying Young (http://budurl.com/kdzv). Follow her on Twitter, @AgingBackwards. Sign up for her free newsletter at: http://agingbackwards.com/.

The health fair is for anyone interested in maintaining a healthy lifestyle through weight loss and health education. Lighten Up Expo will educate you, your family and friends on setting goals, getting back on track, nutrition, fitness, body image and more. You can also find out how losing weight affects your relationships and learn how to make the journey as a couple in a Love Sex & Weight Loss seminar.

If you are the parents of a child with weight issues, this is the place for you to get educated about the dangers of being overweight and discover solutions. We will help provide the right tools you need to maintain a healthier life. Don’t miss this awesome event!

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Charlie Brown, MBA, CAT, CSP, is a successful weight-loss surgery patient who has lost 137 pounds since January 2007. She is the Executive Director of Bariatric Care Network. She has an extensive fourteen (14) year background in relationship seminar facilitating and leadership communication, six (6) years as the Editor for a local parent magazine and five (5) years as a modeling agent.

She is a remarkable Renaissance woman who is hailed as one of the great relationship experts. Charlie is a highly sought after Bariatric Relationship Speaker. As a lecturer, educator, author, and relationship activist, she continues to travel the world, spreading her relationship wisdom.

Within the rhythm of her Love Sex and Weight Loss (LSW) seminars and the elegance of her style, Charlie’s unique Q & A portion of her LSW gives power to attendees to capture the intimacy in their relationship. Charlie motivates attendees through the vigor and grace of her approach. The LSW interactive workshop is for couples interested in building or maintaining a quality relationship.

Charlie has been married to her husband, Charles, for 19 years.  They have six daughters, and she understands what it takes to create longevity in a relationship. As an activist for strong relationships, she devotes much of her time to many small support groups to help couples achieve the quality relationships they so richly deserve.

Relaxation Therapy is a group of simple, natural techniques that relax the body while teaching it to deal more effectively with stress. These include deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, meditation, guided imagery and music therapy, to name a few.  To be most effective, Relaxation Therapy should be practiced on a regular basis.  With practice, the body learns to relax faster and easier and the benefits to your health and morale become evident and long-lasting.

Relaxation Therapy has these significant health benefits:

• Relieves muscle tension & anxiety
• Decreases blood pressure
• Slows & regulates heart rate
• Reduces insomnia & fatigue by producing deeper, sounder sleep
• Reduces stomach problems by aiding in proper digestion
• Increases focus, memory, concentration, self-confidence & self-esteem
• Promotes more energy & productivity
• Helps keep the immune system healthy
• Improves overall feelings of happiness & well being

Relaxation Therapy promotes wellness and healing, it is a great complimentary therapy for those recovering from injury or illness. In fact, for this purpose, guided imagery is now being practiced in hospitals throughout the United States.

For more information about Relaxation Therapy, call 410-544-9127 or visit the Tranquility Bay Wellness website.

Managing Stress Naturally with Relaxation Therapy
Guest Contributor: Terri R. Marshall, CHSMS, CWC

Here are some quick tips for aging backwards when, like me, you can’t make it your “full-time job.”

Instantly younger perception. Studies show that the scent of pink grapefruit makes a man perceive a woman as six years younger than her age. The world’s first anti-aging perfume, Ageless, incorporates the essence of pink grapefruit and other scents proven to make men see women who wear it as eight years younger.

One minute relaxer. Try this several times a day for a quick and simple way to calm and relax yourself. Take a deep breath. Hold it for a count of five, release it for a count of seven. Repeat three to five times.

Five-minute makeup. A shocking comment I heard from an acquaintance one day was, “You probably take two hours to get ready to go out so you should start now.” Excuse me? I can do my makeup in roughly five minutes. As we get older, less is more when it comes to makeup. I interviewed Bruce Grayson, head of the Emmy’s makeup department, for my book Aging Backwards: Secrets to Staying Young, and confirmed that we need less makeup as we age, not more. So, a five-minute makeup routine is just right for me.

Six minute cat nap. Six minutes – that’s all the time you need for a “power nap” that will not only make you feel better, but will also improve your ability to learn and remember, according to German researchers at the University of Duesseldorf. The researchers performed experiments in which they asked students to review and memorize a list of 30 words. Afterward, the participants were allowed to play a video game or take a nap in a quiet room. The nappers remembered more words than the video gamers. The results suggest that most of the memory improvement is linked to changes that take place in the brain just as you start to fall asleep. “These processes remain active for a certain time period even if sleep is terminated shortly thereafter,” said Olaf Lahl, the study’s lead author.

Eight-minute JumpSnap workout. Skipping rope is an awesome way to keep aging backwards, especially when there’s no rope to trip you up. Of course, check with your doctor before doing it, especially if you have health issues. The JumpSnap beginner workout is a fast-paced eight-minute routine that’s fun and effective.

Doing all of these tips back-to-back would take less than half an hour. So you can see that staying young is definitely not a full-time job when you know the shortcuts.

Though the weather was cold and rainy, it could not

I arrived early and the pink colorful venue was already buzzing with anticipation of what was to come. We were all there to feel the energy and be inspired by Andrea Riggs, aka “Ms. Body Beautiful,” one of the nation’s top fitness and nutrition coaches.

In case you’re thinking this was an event where the attendees just walked around to find out what the many vendors had to offer, or listen to one lecture after another, think again. Ms. Riggs planned this event to specifically help those in attendance to jump-start their hearts, and begin to move toward a goal of consistently exercising, as well as living and eating healthier.

Before long, she was on stage and we were on our feet, doing stretches and exercising, moving and grooving to the upbeat music. And just to spice things up a bit, one of her associates came onto the stage and led us into a session of “Sexy Salsa Dancing.”

Another treat for us was the famous chef, author, and TV personality, Marvin Woods. He was there to ‘drop some knowledge’ regarding healthy eating. Right away, I started putting into practice some of the valuable information he shared.

From skin care tips, massages, nutritional information, or getting measured for jeans that hug our curves just right, the benefits of this wonderful experience were too numerous to mention. And if you were there, you’d agree that Ms. Riggs definitely believes in what she does and cares about getting women fit and strong so they can live healthier lives.

If you missed this life-changing event, I would advise you to visit Andrea’s website, GetBodyBeautiful.com to find out when she’ll be having her next pep rally for good health. You will not leave without having a desire to change your life for the good.

For the past fifteen years, Andrea has immersed herself in the world of health and fitness, and is ready to help you manage your lifestyle, nutrition and fitness for better weight management. If done consistently, it will definitely lead to improvements in your cholesterol, blood pressure, and the prevention of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure.

Tune in to hear her passion…

Jacqueline Benjamin-Thomas

Genetically, a person who

Even people who do not come from a heritage of longevity can live to old age if they look after themselves and avoid the risk factors that cause poor physical and mental health, thus accelerating the aging process. Following a healthy diet, regular exercise, drinking in moderation, cutting out smoking, and following safe practices can all help to increase potential life span.

As we age, there are certain processes which cannot be avoided. This is particularly so of cell aging. As our body cells age, we are more likely to contract certain conditions because of the decline in strength and resistance to infection. Our bodies also begin to show signs of ‘wear and tear’. The skin loses its elasticity, thus resulting in the wrinkling we associate with old age.

As our body’s cells wear out, they are replaced by a process of cell division. The only cells which don’t replicate are those in the brain which cease to divide after birth.

It has been a philosophy that if you look after your body, particularly your body cells, then anti-aging should be smooth sailing. How? By nutrition – a balanced diet with associated exercise. The right and optimum balance of antioxidants and minerals daily is a great start.

Anti-aging health shouldn’t be something you decide is a good idea when it’s too late. Your body cells are constantly bombarded by those little attack armies called free radicals and if left unchecked, without the daily optimum replenishment of antioxidants and minerals, over time, they will kick-start a degeneration process that more often than not, can’t be reversed.

The good news is that this process usually occurs over an extended period of time. Antioxidants, like little body commandos, will seek out these free radicals and neutralize them. But, you need to keep them coming on a daily basis.

Healthy body cells is an indication that you are one step ahead of the anti-aging health game. So set the pace, and make sure you don’t slip back and become another aging statistic.

Contributing Writer: Dr. Nedra Dodds, top anti-aging physician in metro Atlanta, and president of Opulence Aesthetic Medicine.

Meet Andrea Riggs at

The Body Beautiful Expo on January 30th!

Cobb Galleria  9am – 3pm

- FREE Parking -

Andrea Riggs Can Get Your Audience’s Body Beautiful!
(404) 983-1733 (phone)
andrea@getbodybeautiful.com

Bio: Andrea Riggs- Andrea aka “Ms. Body Beautiful”, is a dynamic personality, national lifestyle and wellness expert, fitness guru, celebrity trainer, magazine columnist, TV personality, radio host, product spokesperson, entrepreneur, nutrition product developer, wife and mother.

Andrea and her husband, Michael Riggs, American Family Insurance Corporate Executive, recently moved to their dream home in Atlanta Georgia. She is a mother to a 6 year old girl, Amani and 4 year old boy, Malcolm.

Body Beautiful, a minority and women owned company founded in 1998, helps women of color achieve better health through lifestyle, nutrition and fitness. Body Beautiful focuses on health and wellness campaigns for corporate and community groups, the production of high energy fitness content for TV and distribution. She is a regular on the Atlanta business and social scene, contributes monthly to several national publications, often trains celebrities, and Atlanta’s high powered executives, all while doing business and building the Body Beautiful and GET LEAN brands with leading corporations and consumers.

Experience: Body Beautiful Fitness, 2000 – Present

* TV – City TV 10, Channel 2 ABC – TV Personality
* Radio – Clear Channel Communications – Fitness Expert
* Magazine- Black Health Magazine – Fitness Spokesperson
* Fan favorite inspiring 100,000’s to achieve better health.
* Featured in: Augusta Chronicle, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Roanoke Times, Who’s Who in Black Atlanta, Who’s Who in Black St. Louis, 2008 Atlanta HOT LIST nominee, Chanel 2 NBC Affiliate.
* Corporate clients: include Enterprise Leasing, Girl Scouts, Girls Inc., Interfaith Partnership, 100 Black Men, American Diabetes Association, Jackie Joyner Kersee, Missouri Black Expo, Clear Channel Radio.
* Authored books on women’s lifestyle, nutrition, and fitness.
* Professional health & wellness spokesperson and TV correspondent.
* National features in magazines, newspapers, and e-newsletters.
* Representative for health promotions & sampling campaigns.
* Writer for wellness publications, websites, and training’s.
* Invited speaker to healthcare organizations & wellness events.
* Superb soft skills & ability to convey health messages.
* Proven business and leadership abilities.
* Expert advice on weight loss, nutrition, and fitness.

Goal: Produce wellness show on Atlanta-based network or station.

Dr. Mills began her career as a dentist in her hometown of Detroit, Michigan, and worked in private practice as an associate, as well as a public health care provider. She has been practicing in the Marietta area for sixteen years, rendering general and cosmetic services for adults and children.

Dr. Mills is an established practitioner whose practice is based on excellence in care. Her philosophy of practice is to render comprehensive care as an adjunct to total body health. She knows that a healthy mouth is an indicator of a healthy body. When you visit her practice, you will feel the difference. Her team prides themselves on going the extra mile to make you feel comfortable and special.

Dr. Mills is a member of various local and national dental associations. She is also an A.K.A, and mentors youth interested in the field of dentistry. She is the mother of two children and her hobbies include tennis, golf and skiing.

You can reach Cobb County’s Certified Lumineers Specialist at 770-499-7756.

Dr. Tameka Hall

She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychobiology from Binghamton University in New York in 1998, and her Doctor of Dental Surgery degree in 2003 from Meharry Medical College. Dr. Hall was one of a few select students inducted into the National Dental Honor Society, Omicron Kappa Upsilon.

After graduation, she studied an additional two years and received her Certificate in Orthodontics from Columbia University in New York.

A National Dean’s List Scholar, Dr. Hall has received many awards, including the American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology Aptitude and Achievement Award and the United States Achievement Academy All-American Scholar Collegiate Award.

Dr. Hall is an active member of the American Association of Orthodontists, the American Dental Association and the Georgia Dental Association.

The New York native now resides in Atlanta. She enjoys the theater, traveling and spending time with her family.

Look for Dr. Tameka Hall in the Business Professionals of the Year edition of People You Need to Know. Her office can be reached 770.732.6008

Silver is a sought-after speaker and coach who combines her natural reporter’s curiosity with her desire to help others look and feel young. Her best-selling book is available at: Amazon.com and AgingBackwards.com.

Listen to Jackie Silver Live on Spark Plug Radio. She will be sharing her secrets, tips and shortcuts for staying young! You can also follow her on Twitter @agingbackwards.