Ciara Miller’s White Animal Print Coat With Red Trim While Skiing

Winter House Season 1 Episode 5 Fashion

Ciara Miller looks adorable in her white animal print coat with red trim while skiing. And speaking of animals… how cute are these love birds? I can’t wait to see how it all pans out once they leave the Winter House. For now I’m sure we are all content with seeing a Style Stealer of this coat come into our winter house closets.

Sincerely Stylish,

Jess

Click Here to See Her Asos 4505 Coat

Originally posted at: Ciara Miller’s White Animal Print Coat With Red Trim

It’s a terrible cycle – depression can lead to inactivity, loss of motivation, unhealthy eating habits, and weight gain, all of which can perpetuate feelings of depression. And while there is no doubt that pharmaceutical treatments for depression can be extremely helpful in lifting the mood of a depressed individual, it’s very discouraging news that at least some of the drugs have an unwelcome side effect of causing obesity.

Clinical Studies

In a study from King’s College in the United Kingdom, authors Gafoor, Booth, and Gulliford studied how antidepressant use contributed to gaining more than 5% body weight over a 10-year period.

The study from the British Medical Journal compiled a large amount of information over a 10-year period, tracking the data on weight gain and individual antidepressant medication use.

The initial sample for analysis was 294,719 participants drawn from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink with general practices from November 1, 2004, to October 2014. The findings are not encouraging. The chances of gaining significant weight rose more than 30% when antidepressant medications were used.

Other studies in the last year have examined the classes of medications to determine which may be the worst offenders in causing or exacerbating obesity.

Based upon an analysis by Gafoor and other recent publications, the most common and established antidepressant medications — including Paxil and Prozac — were less associated with weight gain than some of the new or more widely prescribed medications. Remeron (mirtazapine) was the most associated with weight gain, followed by Celexa and Lexapro (citalopram).

The Good News

It is not all bad news, however. Anti-depressant medication can often be switched to a variety that is less likely to cause obesity, and treatment programs that utilize exercise and counseling may offer treatment success.

Additionally, the treatment solutions for obesity have never been better. Metabolic surgery has become one of the most effective, simplest, and safest procedures in the United States, typically consisting of a 45-minute, minimally-invasive procedure requiring four small Band-Aids.

In the United States last year, the procedure was safer than an appendectomy or a cesarean section. And the results of diabetes reversal and obesity resolution are both long lasting and life changing.

Additionally, the FDA has approved new medications which may help in the obesity battle. Although the latest medications require daily or weekly injections and are awfully expensive, in the future we think newer medication treatments may become more helpful.

Eventually, better prevention strategies will emerge once we have identified more of the environmental influences leading to the obesity epidemic. Genomic changes and antibiotic misuse in the food supply and the ubiquitous use of obesogenic pharmaceuticals all play a role.

Making thoughtful, wiser choices about anti-depressant medication use is a start at preventing or avoiding the exacerbation of obesity. Successfully treating obesity through structured programs, medication and surgery often results in a lifting of depression and a virtuous cycle of increased motivation and increased energy and activity, which all help sustain long-term weight loss.

Do you use antidepressants? How long have you been on them? What symptoms do they treat in your case? Have you found you gain weight the more you use them? Have you consulted your doctor about this?

Do you sing? No, I don’t mean, are you an opera singer, because there are precious few of those. I just mean do you like to sing, for instance, in the shower or in the bath? Or perhaps to yourself as you potter around the house. It is a joyous activity, which can be done at any age.

Some Say They Can’t Sing

A few people will tell you that they can’t sing. And they may be right. Some say that everyone can sing, but I suspect there are a few people in this world who somehow lack a sense of tune or the ability to hit the right note. Not all that many, but I know some.

Singing as a Child

Most of us were expected to sing in childhood – whether at school or in church or within the family. It wasn’t something we were asked about, any more than anything else we did as children, but just another activity we did.

My mother, who was not a very good pianist at all, used to sit down at the piano and play folk songs for me and my siblings to sing with her. I quite enjoyed that and learned a lot of songs, particularly old folk songs.

I am told that I caused a bit of a stir when I proposed “What shall we do with the drunken sailor?” when asked what we would like to sing in nursery school. I thought it was a rousing good tune!

As an older child, I sang in the school choir and found that very satisfying. I sang alto and loved the challenge of not singing the tune, but thereby making the whole sound better. I still do.

Singing in a Choir

For the past 20 years I have sung in a choir. We generally sing serious music, like Brahms’ Requiem or a Mozart Mass or even Bach, but we do branch out to other things from time to time. We even sang Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen on one occasion.

Singing in a choir is the source of enormous pleasure. I highly recommend it.

The sense of singing with others somehow creates a real bond inside the group, because the whole is so much better than the sum of the parts.

You struggle with the hard parts together and triumph together when you get it right. It can be frustrating when things go wrong, but oh so wonderful when everyone is singing well.

Choirs are also a wonderful place to meet people of all ages. I don’t know the age of everyone in my choir, but I know we span from people in their 20s to at least one woman in her 90s. You develop friendships over break-time which often spill over to meetings on other occasions.

And, of course, there is the pleasure of performance – to sing beautiful music for the benefit of others is a wonderful activity, whether in a church or concert hall.

Singing in the Bath or Shower

I never went in for singing in the bath or shower, but I believe many find it a delightful way to enjoy two pleasing activities at the same time.

Singing and Your Health

The cherry on top of all the above is that singing, no matter the location – choir, bath or wherever – is very good for your health. It is good for your lungs and is also good exercise. Certainly, when you are feeling down, you will feel much better after a good singing session.

What’s not to like?

Do you like to sing? Have you considered joining a choir? What is your favourite song? Please share in the comments below!

Like many women in their 60s, I often hear myself saying that my life would be happier and so much better if only I had:

• more money
• a more understanding partner
• one designer outfit for job interviews
• more time for myself
• a new house
• different friends
• more energy
• a handsome partner
• a flat stomach
• more blog followers
• a long vacation
• better _______ skills
• more time with my grandchildren, etc.

The list is endless. We keep looking for that greener grass ‘over there’ or for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. We think, “If only… then my life would be perfect!”

How long does your satisfaction last after reaching one of those greener pastures? Not very long, I assume. How often have you looked behind you to assess the myriad of things you have accomplished? When have you looked carefully around you to see what you have in your now?

I used to think it was a lot of claptrap when folks talked about ‘counting their blessings’. I am not a religious person, and counting blessings did not resonate with me at all.

Like many before me, as I’ve aged, I have taken the time to really look into myself. I have tried to understand the biology of my being. I am fascinated with how my brain works. And I am beginning to really understand the mind/body connection. It is so powerful.

Connecting with the Present

Today I am getting acquainted with the core me. Like your core muscles need to be strong to keep your body powerful and balanced, your core mind/body connection needs to be strong to give you the strength to deal with life changes and the flexibility to adapt.

Appreciating what you have and where you are in the now is critical to building that core mind/body connection. If I spend too much time thinking about the greener grass ‘over there,’ my mind and body become out of sync. I am not over there. I am here.

Every day I work at living in my now. I make myself stop several times to listen to my internal chatter. Am I feeling ancy or discombobulated? Why am I frustrated? Am I enjoying what I’m doing? Am I even thinking about what I am doing?

So, I stop and focus on some deep breathing. I look around and start listing all of the things that are right in my life. It takes less than a minute.

Reviewing My Gratitude List

Today I can say that I am thankful for:

• a beautiful home
• very loving friends
• a relationship with my daughter that grows stronger each year
• two new knees that don’t hurt
• a very curious mind that keeps learning
• a restless spirit that keeps searching
• a four-legged friend that makes me laugh every day
• the time to reflect on my life
• the ability to look forward to the future.

Making the Most of My Own Green Grass

Oh, there are many things I would like to have, and some things I would like to change. I am not an aesthetic, but I try to put ‘wants’ into perspective. Rarely do any of them count as ‘needs.’

Yes, I would like to spend a month in the South Seas and take a long photo safari in Africa. Not in the budget for this year, but a trip to visit my daughter in Utah is in the budget.

Yes, I would like to have a flat stomach and more energy, but my 21-year-old body is long gone. Still, maybe I can keep this one going for a few more years if I take the stairs instead of the elevator.

Yes, designer clothes would be a grand luxury, but I am learning new knitting techniques to make myself a fabulous sweater. And maybe I’ll bring out the sewing machine.

My greatest realization about myself is that in the core of my being I am a flexible person. I do adapt to the ebb and flow of life. And that is what makes the grass around me very green… and full of flowers.

Is your own grass green? Do you often think the grass is greener somewhere else? What do you do to make your grass the greenest of them all? Please share your insights and experiences below!

Ramona Singer’s Pink Knit Confessional Dress

Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip Season 1 Fashion

Ramona Singer’s pink knit dress that she wears in her Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip confessionals is the perfect dress for both work and play. And while we’re sorry to tell you guys that it’s sold out (forget Ramona being “the apologizer,” it’s us lol), we’ve included some Style Stealers below that will definitely be the talk of the “cool water” water cooler in no time. 

Fashionably,

Faryn

Click Here to See Her Sandro Dress

Click Here to See it in Green

Originally posted at: Ramona Singer’s Pink Knit Confessional Dress