From Safe Weight Loss

The best way to reach a healthy weight is to follow an eating plan and to have regular physical activity. Weight-loss programs encourage healthy behaviour that help you lose weight and that you can maintain over time

Weight-loss programs do work, only if you have sufficient motivation to decrease the amount of calories you eat or/and increase the amount of calories you burn each day.

The key to a safe and effective weight-loss program includes the following:
1. A healthy eating plan that reduces calories but still contains all the essential foodstuffs.
2. Regular physical activity
3. Slow and steady weight loss
4. Medical care if you are planning to lose weight by following a special formula diet ( for example a very-low-calorie diet). A physician should be able to advise you on the need for weight loss.
5. A plan to maintain the weight after you achieved your goal. This is the most difficult faze of a weight-loss program
6. A commercial weight-loss program should provide a detailed statement of fees and costs of additional items such as dietary supplements.

Before beginning any diet program remember to check with your doctor. It is more than likely she will recommend slow weight loss as the safest and most effective approach. To keep weight off, you must stay motivated.

To find out more on how to choose a Safe and Successful Weight Loss Program visit the NIDDK Weight-Control Information Network

To Pottery

Folk art is the product of various region or community and is dependent upon the traditions and materials in that region, rather than artistic "movements" or "schools." Art tends to involve things like potteries, which is is one of the most ancient arts, wood carving, and fabric work (like weaving) and they are all organic products of the needs of the people in the community. These art objects between their practical use also tends to be applied art - artistic objects.

Ceramics began in China 6,000 years ago during the New Stone Age. The first ceramics were moulded by hand. Chinese ceramics became known to the world at large from the Tang Dynasty. Ceramics are still used in rituals that mark important events such as birth, marriage, baptism, funerals, and funeral feasts. These are very unique and affordable items and make fine gifts for weddings, anniversaries, or any occasion.
In some regions families with a daughter of marriage-age put out a plate in the window, with the top facing the street. When the girl becomes engaged, her family announces her change in status by turning the plate to face away from the street. Before a wedding, young men go from door to door. They carry a ceramic gourd filled with strong fruit brandy. Drinking the brandy signals acceptance of the invitation to the wedding. In other regions, the newlyweds offer their god-parents a beautiful pitcher to be hung on the main beam of their home. The number of pitchers hanging is proof to the respectability and appreciation the family enjoys in the community.