If you’re like me, strawberry blonde, blue eyes and very pale freckly skin – you’ll know how hard it is to be out in the sun and instead of getting a nice golden tan…going pink instead. My beauty therapist recommended that maybe I should try and build up a tolerance to the sun; by using a sunbed to create a base tan slowly on my pale skin. Over a period of   6 – 8 months build up my minutes under the sunlamp UV rays to increase my skin’s natural tolerance to sunlight. She also suggest using a tanning salon that has sun beds providing low UVA rays, as these help those with pale skin develop a golden tan instead of a darker tan more suitable for those with olive skin.

How sunbeds work

Sunbeds work by emitting low levels of ultra violet light waves (UVA & UVB) through several fluorescent lamps, either on a sunbed or upright in a tanning booth. As with natural sunlight, these light waves penetrate the skin, causing the skin to become bronze and boosting vitamin D production. A golden tan doesn’t come instantly and takes several sessions under a sunbed to develop on anyone.

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Fitness is something many of us lack these days. It’s an unfortunate fact that most of us spend the majority of the day in a sitting position. We either sit at our desks, drive a car or sit on a bus, metro or train or simply relax in front of the television. As a result, our bodies lack fitness, we are out of shape and feel like we can’t run a mile.

And, it is running that many of us choose when trying to get back in shape. There is a solid reason for that. We don’t need any training prior to starting running. We don’t need any special equipment to do so either. All that is needed is a strong will and a good weather (although rain would do too if you are determined to do it).

However, from my experience many of us don’t do a great job at running, especially at the beginning. Running is a sport that can really put you off if you don’t do it well. And, this is what usually happens.

You get out of the house and set off to run straight away. You try to run for as long as you can, as fast as you can. The trouble is, you are usually done after few feet and that’s it. You come back home disheartened about the whole thing.

In reality, this is not how you train running, not at the beginning at least.

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Flu, and cold are some of the worst things that can happen to anyone. And, it’s not just that you are sick, have no energy to do anything and generally sneeze, cough and become someone to avoid at home and work. They are bad because quite often the only real solution to them is an antibiotic. This however usually has negative side effects on your liver and stomach.

However, there are certain things you can do to try to cure flu or cold with more natural remedies. They won’t always work, it really depends on how strong your organism is and how tough is the disease. In general they are the things you could try, they cost nothing but can make you feel better and be able to go through the day quite normally.

1. Hot milk with garlic

As awful as it sounds, hot milk with lots of garlic really helps. Sure, it doesn’t taste great. But drink a cup of that before going to sleep and you should feel much better in the morning.

For the best effect, bring milk to the boil in a pan, don’t simply microwave it and then crush lots of garlic into it. Add some butter to make it taste a bit better and drink (and eat the garlic) while still hot.

1. Onion Syrup

This remedy tastes even worse than milk with garlic. But it also works like hell. Cut onions into small bits, put them into a cup and crush adding sugar and salt. Leave it there for the night and in the morning you will have an onion syrup. Drink it (it will be hard but do it), ideally go to bed afterwards and within a day you will be back to normal.

1. Milk and honey

This is for the weak, instead of garlic as in my first remedy, use honey. Drink the milk hot and go straight to bed. To strengthen the effect, put a scarf around your neck for the night. In the morning your sore throat should feel much better.

1. Inhalation

You can also buy a professional inhalation pack, a solution that you simply need to bring to the boil in water and then inhale its fumes through your nose and then mouth. This remedy works miracles especially in the early stages of the sickness.

Flu’s, colds and any related diseases are quite awful to yourself and everyone around you. But, chemical drugs are often even worse, so if you are reluctant to putting too much chemistry into your body, try natural remedies. They do work too.

Photo credit: mcfarlandmo via Flickr