American lifestyle brand Gilly Hicks now at London

American lifestyle brand Gilly Hicks now at London

American lifestyle brand Gilly Hicks poised to open first UK store ..
A women's lifestyle brand hailing from the US, Gilly Hicks is the 'cousin' label of cult retailer Abercombie & Fitch. Think Jack Wills on holiday in Sydney, Australia; Gilly Hicks specialises in pretty, patterned underwear, cute cotton pyjama separates, colourful swimwear and loungewear, as well as an extensive range of fragrances for bath and body.

To celebrate the opening of the first UK store in London's Westfield shopping centre on November 27, Gilly Hicks are organising a double decker bus from the Abercombie & Fitch store in Mayfair to make the jaunt over to Westfield. It will be no ordinary journey however, as male models from the A&F store will be on hand to 'chaperone' the trip, while generously gifting passers-by with a selection of Gilly Hicks briefs.

The new store will be getting into the Christmas spirit by offering its 'Ab-vent calendar' (essentially a ring-bound desk calendar adorned with the body of an ab-fabulous hunk for each day in December) to the first 500 customers.

Understanding about your weight

Understanding about your weight...
There's a common belief that people who are overweight have a slow metabolism (burn energy slowly), while thin people have a fast metabolism (burn energy quickly). This is a myth.
Sorting the facts, from the fictions when it comes to weight loss and metabolism.

•Myths about metabolism - How your metabolism really affects your weight.(The term 'metabolic rate' refers to the energy (calories) you expend over a day just keeping your body functioning - your heart beating and your lungs breathing, for example. This is often called the basal or resting metabolic rate.

Scientists have measured the exact amount of calories overweight and healthy weight people burn while sitting or lying quietly. This was done by measuring the amount of oxygen breathed in and the amount of carbon dioxide breathed out.

Results from these studies have consistently shown that overweight people use more energy to keep their bodies working. This is because they have larger bodies with bigger muscles and internal organs.

However, after taking into account differences in body size, lean and obese people have been shown to have similar metabolic rates.)

•Causes of weight gain - Overeating, obviously, but other factors can also affect weight.(An underlying tendency to obesity may be the result of our genes. People who generally have little problem controlling their weight seem to have a precisely tuned appetite.

People who gain weight, on the other hand, may be less sensitive to their body's signals of fullness.

Many genes have been identified that either increase or decrease appetite.

People who generally have little problem controlling their weight seem to have a precisely tuned appetite, while people who struggle to control their weight may be less sensitive to their body's signals of fullness.

Studies of twins who've been raised apart attribute almost two-thirds of the difference in body fatness to genetic factors. However, genetic factors don't make obesity inevitable.

Habits
Eating habits develop over many years, and are strongly influenced by our first tastes as babies and dietary patterns formed in early childhood.

These are then continuously reinforced as we grow up, which makes them difficult to change.)

•Children's weight - Why establishing good eating patterns in childhood is vital.(Establishing healthy eating habits early on will ensure your child doesn't gain any excess weight and stays a healthy weight as they grow.
In the UK, the number of obese children continues to rise. Currently, just under one in five children between the ages of two and ten is obese.

Obese children tend to become obese adults. This increases the risk of developing certain diseases, such as type 2 diabetes.

If you think your child might be overweight or obese, check with your GP. They'll be able to advise you on how to provide the right support for your child to help slow or halt their weight gain and allow them to grow into their weight.

Even if your child doesn't have a weight problem, it's important to establish healthy eating habits early on so they don't gain any excess weight.

Good nutrition in childhood is vital for growth and development. Establishing healthy eating and activity patterns while children are young can lead to life-long habits that will help to determine whether or not they're healthy as adults.)

•Eating disorders - The causes of eating disorders and help available.(
Living with an eating disorder is a miserable, lonely experience. For most people, food is one of life's pleasures and an important social event. So if your feelings about food aren't relaxed, an important part of life becomes extremely stressed. This stress may add to other enormous stresses that may have led to the eating disorder in the first place.

When someone you know and love develops an eating disorder, it's easy to feel confused about what to do, and even threatened or angry.

Unfortunately, many health professionals are just as much at sea. Although eating disorders are increasing, we still know very little about their causes. Worse still, there aren't any quick or easy treatments.

A few things are clear. People with eating disorders aren't:

•Bad or being defiant
•Going through a 'teenage phase'
•The result of poor or inadequate parenting
•The product of modern stresses and obsession with weight
•Able to snap out of it.)

Low Mortgage Rates found in the United States

Low Mortgage Rates found in the United States
Low mortgage rates currently found in the United States are at levels that haven’t been seen for many years. On top of that, homes in many parts of the country are currently selling for bargain prices. Despite those two factors, home sales are very sluggish. Many people don’t understand why these houses have been empty for so long and think that they should have been snapped up by buyers long before now.

In July, the sales of previously occupied homes in the US actually fell by 27 percent. This is the largest monthly drop in more than four decades, which goes back to when these records were first kept.

On reason that that homes aren’t selling, even with the low mortgage rates, is the fact that buyers are holding out because they believe that the prices of homes still have further to fall. Sellers, however, are extremely reluctant to lowers prices any further on homes are already on the market for bargain prices.

Many analysts believe that despite the low mortgage rates, things could get much worse for the property market before they get better.
MORE..............

Mortgage rates have fallen lower every week for over a month and are looking to keep falling. This news has potential home buyers waiting in limbo for the chance to secure a mortgage rate of under 5 percent.

The average 30 year fixed loan mortgage rate has dropped to 5.22 percent which is the lowest rate American’s have seen since the beginning of May according to Bankrate.com. They explain the drop by pointing to the lackluster job numbers that were released which shows the recovery from the economic slowdown may not be as quick or strong as analysts might have thought.

In an effort to boost home sales, Congress is meeting to potentially extend the $8,000 tax credit to 1st time house purchasers. The current tax credit has a deadline of November 30th and congress hopes to extend the date as well as make the credit available to all people who purchase homes not just 1st time buyers. Some analysts believe that the combination of the tax credit and extremely low mortgage rates will increase the number of new homes purchased in the coming months.

The low mortgage rates have sparked an increase in mortgage applications for the month of June as last week alone the number of submitted applications rose 16.4 percent.

A Study Found the Aroma of Pumpkin Gets a Man's Blood Rushing More than Any Other

Pumpkin Is a Real Turn-On For Men

Research shows scent of pumpkin pie arouses men

If that someone is a man, those women might be better off wearing -- if it existed -- Eau de Pumpkin.

The Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation of Chicago conducted a study "to investigate the impact of ambient olfactory stimuli upon sexual response in the human male." In other words, they wanted to know what smells turn a man on.

It turns out the aroma of pumpkin gets a man's blood rushing more than any other.

The foundation says it studied 31 volunteers, men between the ages of 18 and 64. Dr. Alan Hirsch, the foundation's director, selected 24 different odorants, or fragrances for the study.

The test subjects were attached to a plethysmograph, a machine that measures blood flow caused by sexual arousal. They then were asked to breathe through various masks, both odor-free and odorized with the different aromas researchers were testing.

The smell of pumpkin was the most powerful turn-on, especially when mixed with the fragrance of lavender. The study says 40 percent of the test subjects were aroused the most by that combination of smells. Pumpkin combined with doughnuts also had a big effect on 20 percent of the subjects.

Why pumpkin? Why not some exotic fragrance perfume makers spend years and millions of dollars to develop? Dr. Hirsch and his team say a multitude of factors could be at play. They conclude that "the odors could induce a Pavlovian conditioned response reminding partners of sexual partners or their favorite foods."

We decided to test that theory with a very unscientific survey in our newsroom. We asked a couple of men what their response would be to the wafting odor of a pumpkin pie in the oven. Their reaction was a sort of rolling of their eyes, a licking of their lips saying, "Ooooh…ummmmm." That's a direct quote. They did not indicate, however, whether it was food or some other life experience that elicited their response