masculine energy

Toaster Special - Roast Chicken With Olive Relish

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 05:10:00 +0000

Check out what an elegant and healthy meal can be made in your toaster! Pamper yourself or someone you care about with this tasty selection. >>

How to Build Intimacy From Mars and Venus

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:49:00 +0000

By Helen Fisher, PhD, Oprah.com What is intimacy to you?" Recently, I asked this of a man I've been seeing. He replied, "Doing things together." I knew what he meant. Most of us have a primal craving to be truly known by someone before we die, to build a deeply committed relationship based on honesty, trust, self-disclosure, respect, appreciation, interdependence, and togetherness. But the sexes often define intimacy differently. When women want to draw closer, we face each other, lock eyes in what has been called the "anchoring gaze," and proceed to reveal our hopes, our worries, our lives. To women, intimacy is talking face-to-face—a behavior that probably evolved millions of years ago when ancestral females spent their days holding their infants up in front of them, soothing them with words.

Men, however, often regard intimacy as working or playing side-by-side. Sure, they might discuss a bad week at work, even troubles in their love lives. But rarely do they share their secret dreams and darkest fears. (When they do, they often use "joke speak," camouflaging their feelings with humor.) And men almost never look deeply into each other's eyes. Their approach to intimacy probably also harks back to prehistory: Picture ancestral males gathering behind a bush, quietly staring across the grass in hopes of felling a passing buffalo. They faced their enemies but sat next to their friends.

This is why, to build intimacy with a man, I do things with him—side-by-side. That way, when I talk, he isn't threatened by my gaze.

Curious to find out more about such gender differences, I asked 4,876 members of the Internet dating site Chemistry.com , "What would you do as an intimate activity with a partner?" and offered various choices. I found that men were far more likely to regard "debating" as intimate. I wasn't surprised: Intimacy requires being in your comfort zone, and men's testosterone is associated with competitiveness. On the other hand, women were more likely to consider "organizing a neighborhood or community party together" and "taking a vacation together with a crowd of your closest friends" as ways to be close. Because estrogen is associated with social skills and nurturing, I wasn't surprised by this either.

What I didn't expect was that 95 percent of all respondents rated "talking heart-to-heart with your partner about your relationship" as something they'd do to be intimate, while 94 percent felt that "doing something adventurous together" spelled togetherness—with hardly any difference between the sexes. If these results are any indication that men are learning to appreciate women's need to talk, while women are understanding the male way of showing love ("actions speak louder than words"), then bravo!

There are, of course, many other things you can do to cultivate togetherness . Help your partner achieve his goals. Face your problems as a team. Develop a private spiritual or religious world. Choose a new interest to pursue jointly. Do chores together. Play.

And get the oxytocin flowing. Oxytocin is a brain chemical that produces feelings of trust and attachment. Men get a blast of it when they kiss, women feel a rush when they hold a lover's hand, and during orgasm, both partners are flooded with the powerful substance. So last but not least, enjoy each other physically. Good sex really does build intimacy.

Why Did Obese Men Lose Weight at High Altitude?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:49:00 +0000

By Jacob Goldstein WSJ.com

Some time ago, 20 obese men traveled by cogwheel train and cable car to the awesomely named Umwelt Forschungsstation Schneefernerhaus, a research station (pictured) in the shadow of Germany’s highest mountain.

The men were the subjects of a study on altitude and weight loss. They were allowed to eat whatever they wanted during their week on the mountain, and their activity was restricted to slow walks through the research station.

They lost about three pounds during the week, on average. Four weeks after they went back home to the lowlands, they had kept most of the weight off. The study was published this week in the journal Obesity.

Of course, it’s hard to say anything definite when you have a 20-person study with no control group. Still, the researchers do have some interesting ideas about what the study, taken in the context of previous research, suggests.

During their time on the mountain, the men in the study ate less, their baseline metabolic rate went up and their levels of a hormone called leptin increased.

Some previous research has shown that metabolism gets faster at high altitude, though it’s not clear why. That alone would tend to make you lose weight, all other things being equal. What’s more, the rise in leptin — a hormone that plays a role in appetite — may have prompted the men to eat less, the authors say. Previous studies have suggested that the thin air at high altitude may prompt the body to crank out more leptin.

Photo via Umwelt Forschungsstation Schneefernerhaus

Masked Men

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 05:51:00 +0000

Discovering the joys of at-home facial masks by Kevin Raub for Organic Spa
I'm as metro as they come, but there is something immediately emasculating about looking in the mirror and seeing some sort of greenish-grayish gunk slathered across my facade. And although I don't want any photos of it showing up on Facebook, I'm comfortable admitting I quite enjoy my newly discovered world of facial masks, a tier of the (formerly) female-only facial regimen that most puzzled-and scared-us men. Facial masks help condition, soften, detoxify, and otherwise sweep impurities from our stressed grills, helping to undo damage caused by shaving, sliding into second base, or being on the unlucky end of a wayward bar punch. Now, I'm not suggesting everyone who pees standing up should be slapping cold cream on their face every night before bed, but hunkering down behind closed doors with these male-friendly facial masks once a week will keep your weathered visage as soft and smooth as a toddler's tush-and won't send anyone shrieking from your bedroom.
You gotta give it up for Kiss My Face, which isn't the most manliest sounding product line I regularly cover, but they sure do make chemical-free cosmetics affordable...sorta. Their Potent & Pure Pore Shrink Mask is half the price of anything else here (that's the part I like), though its lasts half as long (not a big fan of that). White bentonite clay combines with tea tree (antiseptic) and lemongrass (anti-inflammatory) essential oils to provide a tingly, smooth facial ride that I especially enjoy after a close shave. Certified organic ingredients here are abundant: rosemary leaf, lemon balm leaf, and chamomile extracts, among others. Afterward, my face indeed feels kissable. Who's first? www.kissmyface.com

Once again, I adore Yon-Ka for Men's Mask, merely the latest product from this French phyto-aromatic company to steal my heart (though the company's use of parabens in other products in its line is something that doesn't turn me on quite as much). However, the men's mask smells divine, a combination of the "Yon-Ka Quintessence" (geranium, lavender, cypress, rosemary, and thyme) along with citrus essential oils (orange peel, grapefruit, lime, lemon), all sourced from raw ingredients that are free of pesticides or preservatives. A three-clay cocktail extracts toxins and tightens pores, all the while eliminating signs of a weekend tequila bender or being roughed up in a brawly rugby match (the French are good at rugby, right?). You can actually see your pores shrink after one use. It's fruity, but that doesn't make you a fruit. www.yonka.com
My favorite mask has to be Rare2B's Detox Facial Mask. I'm not vegan-but I love the fact that Rare2B is a 100 percent vegan and organic product line. But beyond that, this is the creamiest, most pleasant mask I tried. Amazonian white clay is the cause; drawing out toxins while spreading the most evenly of the masks I tested. Elsewhere, it's full of indigenous ingredients from South America: Aa (fights inflammation), camu-camu (potent antioxidant), and the babau palm (soothes dry skin). Larch tree extract covers exfoliation, skin cell turnover, and tightening (who needs Botox). My wife likes it, too, so we can do it together, and I get credit for coming up with the idea. Brownie points! www.rarenatural.com

Yum Gourmet Skincare's Organic Squamosa Buffing Masque is the odd man out here, both in design and texture. It feels more like a hair gel than a mask, first acting as an exfoliant upon application, with small beads of jojoba gently removing dead surface cells and impurities. It's designed to remain on your face for 5 to 10 minutes, the shortest timeframe here (a good thing, as we men generally lack the patience for some of this stuff). Organic Squamosa, derived from the Sugar Apple tree, rocks collagen production and improves intercellular cohesion. An anti-aging, free radical Cosmopolitan of certified organic pomegranate extract and cranberry essential oil; and vitamins C and E keep environmental aggressors at bay. And unlike the more traditional masks, it never really dries into a facial crust, but is really more of an exfoliant that you leave on for extra time. The upside to that is this made-for-men mask lacks emasculating qualities, the downside is that its lack of viscosity allows product to run into your eyes. It stings like hell. www.yumskincare.com

Not named after a dude named Ken but rather a Kanji word meaning "the embodiment of well-being," Ken-Men is an eco-conscious, Fair-Trade company with roots in the film industry offering products designed, among other things, to reduce skin inflammation and promote healing. That I like. Their Skin Fitness Rescue Anti-Stress Mask leaves the skin the least markedly smooth among the choices here, but probably digs the deepest into your damaged appearance, working on a cellular level to battle fatigue, stress, and dehydration. Shea butter, avocado, and wheat germ oils combine with herbal extracts like thyme, sage, willow bark, blue chamomile, and calendula to go on creamy and light; it doesn't dry particularly cakey, either, which seems more manly. It's perfect post-Trans Atlantic flight or for simple Sunday mug maintenance. www.kenmen.net.

Kevin Raub is a travel and entertainment journalist and a contributing writer at Organic Spa Magazine. His work appears regularly in Travel+Leisure, Town & Country, American Way, Dame, and Lonely Planet, among others.