Women Empowered

"It's one of the two ultimate ways of controlling a woman; Just tell her she's fat or she's selfish" unknown

Why would a woman ever give someone else the power to decide who she was.  Who we are is not how we look, not who we work for but who we are inside all this flesh.  If we could all get past that, how much happier we would be.

I read a great way to Avoid energy zapping, thought I would share.

Here are 8 common energy drains—and how to fix them: 

1. Energy drain: Other people's expectations
Are you living someone else's dream for you? You're putting out energy but starving emotionally. The other person gets all the satisfaction. 

Energy move: Declare independence
You bought in; you can set yourself free. No confrontation needed, just "I don't have to expect that of myself." Worst-case scenario: Someone who's not you will be disappointed. You will feel wonderful. 

2. Energy drain: Loss of self
As kids, we had to play by the rules; our unique energy got caged. 

Energy move: Personalize your life
Ask yourself, If it were up to me, what would I...hang on my wall? Wear to work? Do for fun? Find the pockets of freedom where you can be more yourself. 

3. Energy drain: Deprivation
Duties and responsibilities fill your days. You gain weight trying to get emotional energy from food.

Energy move: Add pleasure, beauty, fun 
Satisfying experiences, large and small, are the real nourishment you crave. Plan a big treat to look forward to—and a little one every day. 

4. Energy drain: Envy
We often don't feel envy directly—but we might find someone else's good fortune depressing. 

Energy move: Count your blessings
Comparison is a loser's game. Look at what you have, and actively feel grateful. (P.S. That person you envy—you don't know how messy her life really is. Chances are you wouldn't want it if you had it.) 

5. Energy drain: Worry
When you worry, you think you're dealing with things, but you're just suffering. Worry never comes up with good ideas. It torments and exhausts us. 

Energy move: Get going
Action is the cure for worry. Do one thing that brings you a step closer to coping. If it's the middle of the night, get up and write a to-do list. 

6. Energy drain: Unfinished business
Unmade decisions and postponed projects drain you. 

Energy move: Do it or dump it
Forget the perfect decision—just trust yourself and make a choice. Put projects in an appointment book. If you can't find any good time, that's a signal you don't want to do it. So don't. 

7. Energy drain: Overcommitment
You're always saying "yes"—to your boss, mother, kids, friends; to requests, favors, meetings. 

Energy move: Say "yes" to yourself
Tell someone else "no" every once in a while, just to feel your own power. You'll gain a whole new sense of your ability to take care of yourself. 

8. Energy drain: Holding on to loss
Fresh loss is an emergency. But old losses you can't let go of are dead weight. 

Energy move: Cry all your tears
Indulge in big-time mourning. Take off from work, stay in bed, and do nothing but cry till you're dry—and bored. Then go out and embrace life. 


Increase your Energy!


1. Make a list of everything you plan to do today: In Column A, include the activities that drain you; in column B, those that replenish you. Now figure out how to remove one item from A and add one to B.

2. Don't even think about having a bagel or doughnut (refined carbs) for breakfast. Complex carbs, especially uncooked ones (like muesli), and a bit of protein will give you slow, sustained energy.

3. Take an extra step—and 499 more. "Exercise gets your heart pumping more blood to the muscles," says internist Marianne Legato, MD. "It's one of the best antidotes to fatigue."

4. Plug into a great memory of you bursting with excitement—your first crush, a big promotion. Relive it in your mind. "Enthusiasm, radiance, joy—these energetic states come from happy emotions," says stress expert Alice Domar, PhD.

5. Get a blood test for both low thyroid function and anemia—two of the most common, and treatable, causes of fatigue.

6. When you get home from work, stretch for five minutes. "It takes energy to hold our muscles tight—a big waster," Hobbs says.

7. Don't turn on the TV for 24 hours. "Television," Domar says, "can suck the energy right out of you."

8. Assign one of your regular chores to another member of your household. If you live alone, is there one task (laundry, dog walking) you can hire someone to do?

9. Do you spend your mornings hooked up to a coffee mug? Try smaller amounts of caffeine—you may feel more acceleration with less. Or switch to green tea, which has some caffeine and lots of cancer-fighting antioxidants.

10. If you have the opportunity, flirt, even if you're in a wonderful relationship. Innocently catching a man's eye and offering some acknowledgment creates a charge.

11. Want pure invigoration? Jump rope for three minutes. Or just jump in place. "There's nothing on the planet better than getting up and moving," says nutrition and metabolism expert Pamela Peeke, MD.

12. Get a half hour—even better, an hour—more sleep and just see what it feels like.


13. Think about any attachments that are depleting your emotional reserves. Are you dwelling on an ex-lover? Stewing over a grudge at work? Consider letting go.

14. Go ahead and grab an energy bar if you don't have time for a meal. But, Peeke warns, choose one with no more than 20 grams of carbohydrates and two grams of saturated fat (two to six grams of total fat).

15. Write down what your purpose in life is. "You have to be going somewhere to have the energy you need to get there," says cardiologist Mehmet Oz, MD.

16. On your commute home, don't read or listen to the news. Pop your favorite rock-out album into your car stereo or portable CD player and amp it up.

17. Take a deep breath—one that feels like it fills your whole body. And let it out all the way. Take another, and one more.

18. Fill a big, beautiful bowl with equal parts water and vinegar, and add sliced cucumbers. Chill it. Throughout the day, refresh yourself with a cucumber nosh.

19. Slip on some strappy heels, a sexy bra. "Arousal," says sexuality expert Pepper Schwartz, PhD, "is like the energy you feel when you start a race. Your senses are alive, your focus is more intense, you're more aware of your body."

20. To override an energy dip, have a slice of avocado or a small handful of nuts—snacks containing healthy fats offer smooth, long-lasting octane.

21. If you're spread so thin you're just about threadbare, gaze inward: Are you using frenetic activity to avoid feeling pain? Or to mask some kind of insecurity? And are you willing to address those problems so you can restock your vitality?

22. Call up your most fun, zany friend and get a dose of enthusiasm—it's contagious. Even better, make plans to do something together.

23. Go out right now and spend some serious, or not so serious, cash on yourself. There's absolutely no science to it, but shopping has a way of reanimating you when you've run out of steam. Could it be a natural high?


To learn more 
http://www.oprah.com/health/Energy-Boosters-and-Health-Advice/3