I can describe Jean Finman in a word — gorgeous. Well, actually that doesn’t quite do it. She’s not just gorgeous — she’s drop-dead gorgeous.

The best part about Jean is that her outer beauty also exactly reflects her inner beauty, even in the middle of raising five small children.

Other than her movie-star looks, Jean is like so many of us. She grew up struggling with weight.

As a child, she was always surrounded by sweets — they were just a part of her everyday life. Special Tupperware containers filled with cookies and goodies sat in the cupboard. Jean helped herself anytime she wanted. And her weight showed it.

It wasn’t like Jean hadn’t tried to get her weight under control before. She had done the diet thing many times over in her lifetime but without permanent success.

Pounds disappeared; pounds reappeared. Sound like a familiar ride that all of us want to hop off?

When we first met, Jean told me that she felt “fat, ugly, and tired.” As I looked at that face, I sort of got the fat and tired part, but ugly? How could a face like that ever feel ugly? I wondered if she ever looked in the mirror – no kidding!

That was 9 months and 16 pounds ago. I would love to say it’s been easy for Jean. Quite the contrary, she lost 10 pounds the first month — yeah; gained back 10 pounds by the third month – ouch! Can you feel Jean’s pain when those pounds boomeranged back?

By the 5th month, she had gained another pound and the 7th month, she was down 2 pounds—a grand total of 2 pounds down from her original weight. Big sigh. Seven months, two pounds down.

Who wouldn’t just give up after all that effort without any results? Most anyone, but not Jean. She just kept putting one foot in front of the other, even when it felt like slogging through quick sand with no end in sight. Such a lonely and demoralizing haul this weight loss struggle.

Then something happened. Only Jean could describe it well. I guess you could say something clicked in Jean’s brain. What is it that makes that magical switch flip in our brains, the light go on, and somehow we get on track? Who knows.

At night, sometimes Jean would get this real sense that if she didn’t lose weight she was going to die of a heart attack. Her weight had crept back up, and she felt bloated, fat, and miserable. Her pattern was the same most of her life — she would slip back to eating sweets, especially when stressed, hating herself with every bite.

She asked herself, “Why am I doing this to myself? I don’t want to die. I want to be here for my kids.”

Something clicked for Jean.

Recharged and refocused, Jean lost 14 pounds in the last two months. She eats fruit for breakfast, salad or a veggie wrap for lunch with hummus, avocado, red pepper, lettuce, and tomato.

For dinner she starts with a salad first (fill-up on the best-for-you foods first) and eats cooked vegetables and sometimes beans. She makes sure she is full and satisfied. For snacks, she eats nuts and seeds.

Mochas, an almost daily treat and extra calories for Jean, are now pleasant memories. She no longer eats any animal products, dairy products, sugar, or salty snacks — another temptation for her.

Jean says she doesn’t feel hungry or deprived. In fact, she feels great. Amazingly enough, her cravings for sugar are gone, even though the sugar stuff is still in the house. She loves the feeling of sugar not having power over her.

Now when Jean is stressed, rather than over eating the bad stuff, she over eats the good stuff—like a veggie wrap! (Remember, eating vegetables is like eating air when it comes to calories.) Way better choice, don’t you think?

As well as Jean is doing right now, do you think that Jean thinks she is home-free from the trap of conditioned taste buds and lifelong habits? Not at all.

In fact, Jean just wrote me and “confessed” a slip-up. Big deal! So Jean “slipped-up.” If you are a human being, you slip-up—it’s just part of being human. Just expect that to happen and go on from there.

The only real slip-up is to give-up, and I know that is something that beautiful Jean would never do. Her body, her life, and her children mean too much to her.

I don’t know about you, but it is not the rich, famous, and powerful people in the world that I find inspiring. I draw inspiration from the Jean Finmans in the world—extraordinary, ordinary (yet not ordinary at all) individuals, who are perfectly themselves, with all their strengths, struggles, complexities and layers of being a human being.

Jean’s inner strength, courage, and commitment, as well as her willingness and openness to share her heart, her soul, her victories, and her frustrations, give you and me the inner strength and courage to be perfectly ourselves in our own journeys through life.

Aren’t we so blessed to have one another to give a helping hand along the way?

Thank you, Jean, for your helping hand. Your beauty, inside and out, graces our lives with light and hope.

Do you have problems controlling your blood pressure? Is it like a roller coaster ride? You do not have to worry any more. In this article you will find out how to take control of your blood pressure and have the healthy lifestyle you want.

As you may know there are many things that can cause your blood pressure to increase and many ways to decrease it and keep it that way. Your lifestyle will play a major role in this and even your race, age and family history.

You cannot change your race or age or history but you can still gain control of your blood pressure. African Americans are more prone to developing high blood pressure as well as people over fifty-five. You definitely cannot make yourself younger or change your color but that doesn’t mean you cannot control your pressure.

Having a healthy diet will have a major effect on your blood pressure. If you like eating salty foods this might be hard for you, but well worth it. Having high blood pressure can lead to heart and kidney disease as well as a stroke.

Try cutting back on any salt and sodium in your diet. Your doctor will probably recommend a certain serving amount or intake amount of sodium for your diet. Also try to eat more vegetables and fresh fruit. These will make you feel a lot better along with decreasing your blood pressure.

Are you very active physical wise? Physical inactivity can play a huge role in high blood pressure. If you do not exercise regularly try to get in the habit. Thirty minutes a day is recommended but you can space the time out if needed. Do ten minutes here and there and before you know it, you’ve done thirty minutes of physical activity.

Do you smoke or drink? These will raise your blood pressure as well. Quitting either of these habits can be tough, but there are many helpful resources out there to help you. If you know you cannot quit right away, try limiting your consumption and use. Set a certain amount to smoke and drink a day.

Slowly lower the amount and before you know it you will be ready to quit. Try doing this along with medication or something that helps you quit. Doing small things like not being around anyone that smokes or drinks can help immensely. Also try replacing these habits with something else. If you get the urge to smoke or drink start doing something else you enjoy.

Do you have a stressful job or just a stressful lifestyle in general? Stress can increase your blood pressure. You want to find a way to de-stress and relax. Is there a certain hobby that does this for you? You might also try some relaxation techniques such as meditating, etc. Do this as often as you need to to help keep the stress away.

If you are still concerned about your blood pressure talk with your doctor. By telling them any concerns and asking any questions you might have, they can better help you find the best way to control your blood pressure. Sometimes medication works better than anything else.

Elmo Kandel is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit - www.articleclick.com

This is a true story about a woman who endured 20 years of terrible menstrual periods. She had painful cramps, PMS symptoms like mood swings, anxiety, and the resulting disruption they caused in her life.This story is also about the various treatments she tried and how she discovered a new birth control pill called Lybrel that suspends menstrual periods indefinitely.(Women readers: Cheryl’s story might seem familiar if you have ever suffered from severe PMS or cramps and wished there was a way to get rid of them. Men: pass this article on to the women in your life – girlfriend, wife, daughters – they all need to know.)Cheryl’s StoryFrom the day of her first menstrual period at age 13, Cheryl experienced debilitating cramps with every monthly cycle. The first 3 or 4 days of her period would see her doubled over in bed, unable to sleep, eat or even move. She stopped swimming, quit the gymnastics team and started getting poorer grades because she missed so many classes.Her family doctor prescribed Midol. When that didn’t work, the strongest medication he could offer was ibuprofen / Advil. But the sheer amount of the drug Cheryl had to take just to control her pain eventually began irritating her gastro-intestinal system. Her mother feared she would get an ulcer, but there didn’t seem to be any other choice.By 17, Cheryl was dating and had met a wonderful guy that her family and friends all loved. Imagine the luck… her first serious boyfriend and it looked like he was a keeper! Cheryl had never been so happy.She went on the birth control pill and was hoping some of the positive side effects she’d been told about, like less painful cramps, would result. But the cramps arrived on schedule with her periods. And her emotions went on a wild roller coaster ride that she didn’t understand.Naming The Culprit: PMSCheryl’s moods were unpredictable: one day up, the next down. One moment happy, the next in tears. Her boyfriend was patient but after a few years, the relationship broke down because of her unexplained mood swings. Cheryl was destroyed.When she was in her 20s, Cheryl learned about PMS (premenstrual syndrome) and PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder, a more severe form of PMS). She learned that hormonal changes before a woman’s period can lead to mood instability, which explained her crazy emotional swings. At least now she knew that PMS was the culprit that had wreaked havoc with her life ever since puberty.Then her friend’s older sister told her about Depo Provera.”It’s incredible, Cher… one injection every 3 months and you get not only birth control just as good as the pill but most girls’ periods stop completely. I haven’t had one in 18 months,” she raved. “And without a period, you don’t get PMS!”So Cheryl went back to the doctor and got her first Depo shot. As her periods stopped, so did the cramps and her emotional ups and downs. She was elated. Until she started gaining weight. And started feeling depressed for no reason.After two years on Depo Provera, she was diagnosed with depression, possibly triggered or aggravated by the Depo (a fairly common side effect). She stopped the injections and returned to her painful, unhappy periods.And that’s when the nurse at the Women’s Clinic dropped a bombshell on her.”Cheryl”, the nurse said, “your cramps and PMS are so severe, they seem to be controlling your life. Did you know that women like you don’t have to go through this every month? That there’s a way to limit the number of periods you have… or you can stop them completely, without Depo Provera injections?” Cheryl was floored. “No! Tell me more!”The nurse told her about Lybrel, a new type of birth control pill. Lybrel actually stops women’s menstrual periods completely. It’s especially helpful for women like Cheryl whose PMS is severe and whose menstrual periods are painful, irregular or difficult. Plus the nurse said Lybrel works just as well as traditional birth control pills to prevent pregnancy.How Lybrel WorksLybrel contains the hormones ethinyl estradiol and levonorgestrel, common ingredients in other birth control pills. Only instead of taking 21 pills and stopping for 7 days to have a period, as you would with regular birth control pills, you take Lybrel every day without a break, meaning most women don’t get a period at all or just experience minor spotting or breakthrough bleeding.”But if it’s just a glorified birth control pill, how come nobody told me about it before?” Cheryl asked. “I’ve been suffering for 20 years and now I find out it’s as simple as tweaking my hormone levels???”In fact, women in the know have been controlling or ending their menstrual periods with birth control pills for many years. Doctors who are familiar with the method have been advising them on how to do it.But there is still a misconception in some circles that having a period each month is necessary, and that skipping your period is somehow wrong or unhealthy.The nurse gave Cheryl three different contraceptive options as treatment for her PMS, cramps, and unpleasant menstrual periods:Yasmin: (aka Yaz) Yasmin is a 21-day on, 7-day off birth control pill. It’s the first birth control pill approved to treat the physical and emotional symptoms of PMDD. Yasmin, in most women, results in shorter, lighter periods (3 days or less), reduced cramps and a more regular cycle — great advantages for women like Cheryl who suffer from heavy, painful menstrual periods.Lybrel: The newest birth control pill on the market (approved by the FDA in May 2007), Lybrel is also the first birth control pill meant for continuous use, although other birth control pills have been prescribed off-label to be used this way. In one test, nearly 60% of the women taking Lybrel had no bleeding or spotting at all by the 12th month of taking it.