When it comes to getting fit, you know what you should do (hint: move more and eat less—or at least better). It’s actually doing it that can be so difficult. Cold morning? I’m the first one to want to sleep in! My muscles will be too stiff to jog in the park, I tell myself. I know, I know—just get on the treadmill.

If only it were as easy to make it to the gym or order the salad as it is to concoct reasons not to, we’d all look like, well, Jillian Michaels. Which is why we went straight to the Biggest Loser trainer and SELF contributor—a woman who simply doesn’t do excuses—to get her cures for wavering willpower. Keep Michaels’ stick-with-it advice in mind when you’re looking for a way out. Staying the course will come more easily, and so will getting a standout body!

Excuse: “I have zero time to exercise!”
Michaels says: “I feel your pain—my life is crazy, too. But good-for-you habits are the last thing that should go. If you don’t take care of yourself, you’ll have less energy to be that supportive person in your loved ones’ lives. I tell working moms to ask for help. It used to take a village to raise kids; you can’t do it on your own.”

Excuse: “I can’t afford a gym or fresh produce.”
Michaels says: “Commit to a $100 investment in 10 fitness DVDs and you’ll have enough variety for six months at least. You can do a whole workout—sit-ups, jumping jacks, squats—without any equipment. And imagine the cost of taking diabetes meds for the rest of your life—much more than the extra $50 a month you should spend on groceries and fish.” Try this free, do-anywhere workout created by Michaels to get started.

Excuse: “The cookies in my cabinet are calling me!”
Michaels says: ‘I don’t keep junk in the house or let waiters bring bread to my table. I have no discipline, so I protect myself from temptation.” Stock up on some of these 30 healthy snack options instead.

Excuse: “I can’t get up early to work out, and I’m tired at night.”
Michaels says: “When the alarm goes off, ask yourself, ‘Will going back to sleep help me reach my great goal?’ If the workout isn’t attached to a larger reason—like having the confidence to get back in the dating game—it won’t stick.” Got 10 minutes? Try this superfast workout you can do in your living room.

Excuse: “I’ve hit a plateau; I give up.”
Michaels says: “Get selfish! Don’t think you’re asking too much of the world or of yourself. Push through by believing the new, improved you is your destiny. There’s no reason you can’t have it all.”

Excuse: “I start off Monday with the best intentions, and then life takes over and I flake on my workouts.”
Michaels says: “Set a daily or weekly target and reward yourself every time you meet it. I get my eyebrows done or download songs from iTunes.”

Excuse: “I get so bored counting all those weight reps or running.”
Michaels says: “As you exercise, think about what you’re trying to achieve. Having intention behind your actions is extremely powerful. And nothing beats a good beat to keep energy high. I want to die when I don’t have my music! Any song by The Roots totally gets me psyched. Finally, you don’t have to kill yourself to get a workout. Running is one of the best ways to get smaller, but I hate it, so I do only one 10-minute mile.”

Excuse: “But the couch is so comfy!”
Michaels says: “If you need a couple days off, take them. You don’t want to get bitter or burn out.”

Now drinking lemon juice for acne throughout the day has become a habit for me. I used to drink soda (soft drinks) all day, but that really didn’t help my acne. So if you’re in the same situation I was a few years ago, drinking two cans of pop every day, then this might be the most important thing you read all year.

Now I replaced that with water bottles. And although that helped, it didn’t quite clear my acne.

Then I discovered that mixing fresh lemon juice with water really helps a lot. In fact, if you do only one thing, I would recommend the acne lemon juice.

1. In the morning, I wake up, splash a bit of water on my face and then I go and cut up a whole lemon in half.
2. After that, I juice the lemon using a cheap fruit juicer, one that’s going to separate the juice from the pulp and seeds.
3. Then, I open up a water bottle and take a healthy gulp, so that there’s room to mix the lemon juice.
4. Afterwards, I mix in the lemon juice with the water and shake it just a bit.

A little more details on my lemon water for acne routine

There we go; the lemon juice is ready to go for the rest of the day. Actually, I usually end up drinking it all within 1-2 hours, which is fine, there’s no need to extend it throughout the day. When I first started doing this, it was actually difficult to gulp down that much lemon, so what I did was use half a lemon per day, and I kept the other side for the next. After a while though, I noticed better results using the whole lemon, and the taste was actually enjoyable, so I now do a complete lemon per day.

Note: Usually after drinking lemon water, I noticed that my teeth are a bit more sensitive (makes sense since it’s slightly a slightly acidic drink) so what I do is I brush my teeth about 30-60 min after taking the lemon water. Sometimes I forget, or I just eat food and it seems to have the same effect, but I don’t want to have any cavities so I make sure to take care of my teeth! Some people suggested that I could drink it with a straw… I guess that could work too. Also, I never take more than 1 lemon per day; it’s apparently not good to take too much.

UPDATE: Do not take more than 1 lemon per day, I usually do 1 lemon per day for 7 days and then I go into a ‘maintenance dose’ of 1 lemon every 2-3 days. Taking more than this can cause side effects.

# Cures and Helps Fight Contraction of Smallpox,
# Cures Appendicitis,
# Cleans the Stomach,
# liver
# and Dissolves Body Fat or Grease,
# Useful towards Hernias,
# Heavy Legs,
# Dropsy,
# Strengthens the Gums and
# cures Gingivitis,
# Calms Headaches
# and Nervous Aches,
# Cures Typhus,
# Avoids and Fights Premature Aging,
# Helps Avoid Baldness and Strengthens Hair also Keeps it Healthy,
# Purifies the Blood,
# Is Recommended for Sexual Weakness,
# Helps with the Bile Duct and Gall Bladder,
# Contains or Stops Hemorrhage,
# Disinfects all kinds of Wounds,
# Cures Flu Symptoms,
# Promotes the Secretion of Sweat and Urine,
# Cures Rheumatism and Gout,
# Favors the Elimination of Certain Intestinal Parasites,
# Promotes a Healthy Appetite and Gastric Juices in the Stomach,
# Cures Tonsillitis,
# Fights Diarrhea and Dysentery,
# Smooths and Embalms the Skin,
# Normalizes the Heart Beat,
# Stimulates Hepatic Function,
# Refreshes and Cures Thirst
# and Cures Chronic Insomnia.

NOTE: Drinking juice of more than 2 lemons per day may cause negative side effects

To cure Appendicitis: Drink on an empty stomach, 1/2 hour before breakfast, the juice of 1 whole lemon; the next day, 2 lemons and consecutively each day until able to drink the juice of 7 lemons a day. After a short rest, (about 3 days), start anew the treatment and follow it until better.
To clean the stomach, liver and to dissolve body fat: Drink daily the juice of 2 Lemons in 1/2 cup of hot water.
To cure Hernias: Rub Lemon juice on the affected area combined with equal parts of Onion juice then compliment with a sun bath.
For Heaviness of the Legs and Dropsy: Drink equal parts of Lemon juice and Onion juice, twice a day. To obtain the Onion juice, slice an onion, collect the juice, strain with a clean handkerchief or metal strainer.
To strengthen gums and cure Gingivitis: Give in a circular motion a massage with the tips of the fingers covered with lemon juice.
To cure Headaches and Nervous Pains: Drink 1 cup of tea, coffee or hot water with the juice of 2 lemons.
To Prevent and Fight Premature Aging: Drink on an empty stomach 1 hour before breakfast the juice of 10 lemons in the space of 3 months, seven days on, seven days off.
To Avoid Baldness and Conserve Strong and Healthy Hair: Rub vigorously on the scalp with the tips of the fingers and the juice of 3 or 4 lemons preferably at night then the next day wash the hair with water and soap avoiding the shower head since this promotes the fallout of the hair.
For Sexual weakness: Drink half a glass of Lemon juice on an empty stomach, 2 hours before breakfast; do this for 3 days.
For a leaking Bile duct and/or Gall bladder: Suck the juice out of a lemon while at the same time eat a piece of bread; in this way the bile will be neutralized and nervousness will disappear.
To stop hemorrhage: Apply Lemon juice directly on the bleeding area; this will promote calcium salt formation leading to quick coagulation.
To disinfects wounds, pustules and exposed ulcers: Apply Lemon juice on the affected region which was previously cleaned with soap and water.
To Cure Flu: Drink on an empty stomach half a glass of Lemon juice with half a glass of strong coffee, as hot as can be tolerated, at night, repeat the process, cover body well avoiding drafts and cold areas.
To stimulate the sweat glands and to promote urination:  Drink 1 cup of chamomile or linden flower tea etc, hot with the juice of 2 lemons avoiding drafts and cold areas.
To cure Rheumatism and Gout: Drink for 40 days on an empty stomach, the juice of 7 large lemons, when feeling better, rub the affected areas with a mixture of 1 liter of milk to half a liter of petroleum(fuel oil), empty this mixture into a bottle and heat in a double boiler, when warm, use as suggested taking care to cover the body well and avoid getting wet until the following day.
To Remove Certain Intestinal Parasites: Crush well the several seeds of a lemon add lots of sugar and eat before bedtime or on an empty stomach until desired results are obtained.
To Promote the Appetite and Increase Gastric juices:  Drink the juice of 2 to 3 lemons in half a glass of water, 1/2 hour before meals.
To cure Tonsillitis: Add sodium bicarbonate to lemon juice, gargle 2 to 3 times a day avoiding cold beverages.
To Fight Diarrhea and Dysentery: Drink as a daily drink, whenever thirsty, large quantities of lemon juice sweetened with bee honey or sugar to taste.
To Smoothen, Beautify and Remove Skin Spots: Rub Lemon juice at night on face(avoid the eyes), legs and arms.
To Normalize Cardiac Palpitations: Drink the juice of 2 or 3 lemons dissolved in a glass of cold water, every time as needed.
To Refresh the Body and Remove Thirst: Drink a glass of lemonade prepared with the juice of 2 lemons in 1/4 liter of water sweetened to taste.
To Cure Chronic Insomnia: Drink for 3 consecutive days the juice of 10 lemons; on the fourth night there will be a tranquil sleep.

The current trend of frequent shampoos may have started on May 10, 1908, when the New York Times published a column advising women that it was OK to wash their hair every two weeks. At that time, once a month was the norm.

Decades later, TV marketing campaigns began to convince us that daily washing was the thing to do. A 1970s Faberge ad for Farrah Fawcett shampoo is one example.

“All you have to do is watch her running in slow motion on a beach with her hair flopping gracefully in the wind,” says Steve Meltzer, a former ad executive. The idea was, “Wash your hair with this stuff, and you, too, can be like Farrah Fawcett,” Meltzer says.

Madison Avenue sold people on the idea that they could shampoo their way back to beauty.

Ads also convinced us that daily hair washing is healthy. Remember the Breck girls? Or how about Christie Brinkley’s body-building for hair ad with Prell?

Skipping Shampoos Is, Well, Un-American

Americans took easily to the idea that we should shampoo frequently. And lots of us find it disgusting to shampoo any less than once a day. Take some fitness-conscious college students from Georgetown University, for example. When I told them about the old-time advice to wash once a month, they almost gagged.

“That is way too little hair shampooing,” laughs Jane Caudell-Feagan.

“If I don’t shower every day, my hair gets greasy, so I think it’s completely heinous,” says her friend Ashley Carlini. After a workout, they say, it would be disgusting not to wash your hair.

Eco-Conscious ‘No-’Poo’ Movement

Given our cultural propensity to lather up frequently, it may be shocking that in some eco-conscious circles of society, some people are giving up shampoo.

“There’s a lot of people doing this no-shampoo movement,” says 20-something blogger Jeanne Haegele. She writes a blog called LifeLessPlastic.

In an attempt to buy fewer items with plastic packaging, Haegele recently went three months without using any shampoo. Instead, she washed her hair with baking soda twice a week and conditioned it with a vinegar rinse.

She says her hair didn’t smell, and her friends were very supportive. “Maybe they were secretly wondering why I smelled like a jar of pickles,” she says jokingly.

She ended the no-’poo experiment after developing a bad case of dandruff, but Haegele says she might try it again.

She recalls the biggest surprise was that her hair didn’t get very greasy. For now, she’s using shampoo bars a few times a week.

Dermatologist Recommends Shampooing Less

Experts say Haegele’s observations are not flaky. As she washed less, her sebaceous glands began producing less sebum oil.

“If you wash your hair every day, you’re removing the sebum,” explains Michelle Hanjani, a dermatologist at Columbia University. “Then the oil glands compensate by producing more oil,” she says.

She recommends that patients wash their hair no more than two or three times a week.

There’s also a lot of variation among hair types. African-Americans and people with curly hair can go even longer between washes compared to folks with straight hair.

So, it seems, less is more. And maybe our grandmothers were on to something after all.

Getting your best body can be as simple as counting to five every day. Really! No matter what goal you’re pursuing—shedding those 10 pounds that have been hanging around too long, toning your trouble zones or simply eating healthier. It’s so easy. I think of it as my five-star day. The five-star day is so simple—you just give yourself a star for everything you do right. You get stars for:

Sleep! Try to catch 7 to 9 hours each night. This, I know from personal experience, can seem like an unrealistic goal, but the amount of research that supports the connection between shut-eye and health makes me shoot for this star every day. For starters, catching enough zzz’s can help you lose weight. In a study of more than 68,000 women, those who dozed seven hours a night weighed 5.5 pounds less than women who slept five hours or less. Ample sleep encourages your body to make more of the fullness hormone leptin and less of the hunger hormone ghrelin, so you’re not as hungry. Snoozing can also curb anxiety and depression, both of which can lead to emotional eating. As if that’s not enough reason, too little rest can cloud moral judgment, too. Try going to bed just 30 minutes earlier each night to see how much you’ll benefit.

Exercise! Yes, breaking a sweat can help you lose weight, but it can also curb cravings, help you live longer, reduce stress, undo some of the damage of eating fatty foods—and those are just a few of the benefits. Aim for 30 minutes a day—even a walk counts toward your tally—and give yourself a star each time you fulfill that goal with any one of your favorite workouts.

Eat right! No, you don’t have to count calories. You can eat healthy and have delicious, filling and satisfying meals (snacks, too!). If you’re doing the 2009 SELF Challenge, give yourself a star for every day that you eat according to the Challenge meal plan and log your meals in your online food diary. If you’re not doing the Challenge, you can still snag a star when you’ve eaten in a way that makes your body feel good—and you feel proud. For me, that’s when I opt for yogurt with berries rather than a muffin at breakfast, have a salad with tofu for lunch and choose salmon over steak at dinner, then skip the ice cream pig-out late at night. Yes, it’s that simple! I’m not perfect, and there are definitely days when I have a second glass of wine or a too-generous square of my favorite dark chocolate bar, but I find that once I start building that five-star day, I get invested in it and want to keep it up.

Stretch! Limbering up is a way to thank your muscles for all the hard work they do for you each day. It can also help you increase your overall range of motion, making exercise seem less difficult. And when workouts are less daunting, you’ll not only enjoy them more, but you also will probably do them more often, too! To me, yoga and pilates count, as does just stretching at the kitchen counter as I watch the headlines in the morning. No need to set aside a huge block of time! However you choose to go Gumby, give yourself a star for treating your body to a break.

Talk yourself up! This might be the most important part of the five-star plan: Giving yourself a well-deserved pat on the back for simply being strong, smart and healthy. Even on days when you only notch one or two other stars, take a moment to give yourself credit for being a truly amazing human being. Talking yourself up carries over to other areas of your life: Not only will you feel more confident, but research shows you will also get sick about 30 percent less frequently, stave off emotional eating and reduce your cancer risk. There are plenty of other reasons to celebrate your body. Pretty impressive for a few pats on the back!

Create your own five-star days: When you join the Challenge, you can use our free online logs to track the stars you earn each day. Counting stars is motivating, and rewarding yourself for smart, healthy behavior is more inspiring than the negative mind-sets required by most “diets.” I had to create a system in my own head that was simple, easy to track and optimistic. The best part is that you get to start fresh every day, so even if you only manage one or two stars one day, you can stay with it by going to sleep early and telling yourself, like Scarlett O’Hara, tomorrow is another day!

Why are the kidneys so important? Although this pair of bean-shaped organs is relatively small, they are responsible for ensuring that the blood circulating in our body is free from harmful organisms, waste products and excess water.

Your kidneys work extra hard to ensure your continued well-being. Every day, 20% of the blood pumped by the heart or approximately 200 quarts of blood passes through your kidneys for cleansing purposes. Every day, at least 2 quarts of unwanted waste materials are sifted from the blood before it is even allowed to return to general circulation.

To really appreciate the role of our kidneys in ensuring our well-being, let us take a peep on how these organs function. Each of these tiny organs is composed of about a million tinier units called “nephrons”. Inside these nephrons, a tiny blood vessel (”glomerulus”) is intertwined with a tiny urine-collecting tube (tubule). As blood passes through these nephrons, a complex interaction occurs between the glomerulus and the tubule which results in the elimination of wastes in the blood. These waste materials then enter the urinary tract and end up being excreted in the urine.

Aside from sifting the unwanted materials from the blood, the kidneys also take charge of the following functions:

. Regulation of the composition of the blood

. Maintenance of the ideal concentrations of vital substances and ions in the blood

. Sustaining the proper volume of water in the body

. Eliminating toxic wastes from the body

. Maintaining the acid-base concentration of the blood

. Normalizing blood pressure

. Promoting the production of red blood cells

. Maintaining the ideal calcium level in the body

Despite the numerous tasks performed by the kidneys to ensure our safety, it is sad to note that there are a lot of people who neglect to take care of their kidneys properly. In fact, in the United States alone, more than 300,000 people suffer from renal failure every single year! These people are either currently undergoing dialysis or waiting for a kidney transplant. It is also an established fact that an average person like you and me has a 1 to 10 chance in developing a kidney stone in our lifetime. This is undeniably a very alarming figure indeed!

So, what can we do to prevent this from happening? We need to start taking care of our health and to pay attention to our kidneys as well. Two of the leading causes of kidney diseases are diabetes and high blood pressure. Excessive amount of glucose in the blood negatively affects the nephrons and interferes with the normal functioning of the kidneys. High blood pressure, on the other hand, may put excessive strain on the glomerulus thereby interfering with the regular functions of the system. Other kidney infections such as glomerulonephritis and pyelonephritis may also trigger renal failure. Certain drugs can also exert debilitating effects.

To avoid developing kidney troubles, it is therefore necessary to maintain a healthy lifestyle. You may start by considering the following tips:

. Maintain a healthy blood pressure

. Limit intake of foods which dramatically increase the blood sugar and cholesterol levels

. Load up on water to prevent dehydration

. Avoid adding too much salt to the diet

. Minimize stress

. Have a regular exercise routine.

. Limit medications to those prescribed by your family physician.

The importance of a kidney cleanse

A good kidney cleanse is vital to keep our kidneys healthy. It is, by definition, any procedure which involves the intake of a large amount of liquid and a healing diet. Sometimes, it is enough to alter our diet to a more healthfy one and to increase our water intake to take advantage of the positive effects of a kidney cleanse. For some cases, however, a more stringent fasting procedure is needed.

Water fasting involves taking in large quantities of water for a specified period of time without food. Juicing (or juice fasting) is also an excellent way to cleanse and detoxify the kidneys. It is less severe than water fasting since it provides the body with the nutrients, minerals, enzymes and energy needed to support the various metabolic processes during the fast. Several herbal recipes have also been concocted to induce a thorough kidney cleanse. Some of the herbs used in these types of kidney cleanses are hydrangea root, gravel root, marshmallow root, ginger root and fresh parsley, to name a few.

With the proper guidance from a qualified medical professional, a good kidney detoxification program coupled with dietary and lifestyle change can dramatically improve your health.

It just seems too good to be true. Study after research study consistently promoting the endless benefits of exercise. Couch potatoes everywhere are waiting for the other shoe to drop, telling us that all of those scientists were wrong and we should remain as sedentary as possible.

Yet four additional studies released recently each give the same prescription for improving some aspect of your health: exercise.

They add to recent evidence that regular workouts can improve old brains, raise kids’ academic performance and give a brain boost to everyone in between.

Better bones

One study illustrates the effect of exercise on preventing or limiting osteoporosis, which affects more than 200 million people worldwide. Researchers at the University of Missouri found that while both resistance training (lifting weights) and high impact exercise (running) both help build needed bone mineral density (BMD), running is the better choice.

“Exercise programs to increase bone strength should be designed using what is known about how bones respond to exercise,” said Pam Hinton, associate professor and lead author. “Only the skeletal sites that experience increased stress from exercise will become stronger. High-impact, dynamic, multi-directional activities result in greater gains in bone strength.”

The study was published in the February issue of the Journal of Strength Conditioning.

Less pain

In a related study, exercise seemed to be one of the few successful remedies for those that suffer from low-back pain. In the February issue of the Spine Journal, University of Washington physicians summarized 20 different clinical trials that promoted different solutions to alleviating pain.

“Strong and consistent evidence finds many popular prevention methods to fail while exercise has a significant impact, both in terms of preventing symptoms and reducing back pain-related work loss,” said Dr. Stanley J. Bigos, professor emeritus of orthopaedic surgery and environmental health. “Passive interventions such as lumbar belts and shoe inserts do not appear to work.”

Better eye health

Also, vigorous exercise has now been linked with significantly reduced onset of cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. In the study, detailed in Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, researchers reviewed the eye health of 41,000 runners over seven years and found that both men and women had significantly lower rates of these two diseases than the general public.

Men who logged more than 5.7 miles per day had a 35 percent lower risk than those that ran less than 1.4 miles per day. While the correlation is strong, the reason is not clear.

“We know some of the physiological benefits of exercise, and we know about the physiological background of these diseases, so we need to better understand where there’s an overlap,” said Paul Williams, an epidemiologist in the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Life Sciences Division.

Cancer prevention

Each year in the U.S., more 100,000 people are diagnosed with colon cancer. To see what effect exercise has on lowering this rate, researchers at Washington University and Harvard University combined to review 52 studies over the last 25 years which linked exercise and the incidence of cancer. Overall, they found that those that exercised the most (5-6 hours of brisk walking per week) were 24 percent less likely to develop the disease than those that exercised the least (less than 30 minutes per week).

“The beneficial effect of exercise holds across all sorts of activities,” said lead study author Kathleen Y. Wolin, Sc.D. of Washington University. “And it holds for both men and women. There is an ever-growing body of evidence that the behavior choices we make affect our cancer risk. Physical activity is at the top of the list of ways that you can reduce your risk of colon cancer.”

So, are there any studies out there that link exercise with a negative outcome?

In a recent study published in the journal Obesity, Dolores Albarracín, professor of psychology at the University of Illinois, did find that people who are shown posters with messages like “join a gym” or “take a walk” actually ate more after viewing these messages than those that saw messages like “make friends.”

“Viewers of the exercise messages ate significantly more (than their peers, who viewed other types of messages),” Albarracín said. “They ate one-third more when exposed to the exercise ads.”

The concerns raised by those apprehensive about the use of pesticides and agricultural chemicals in coffee growing are twofold. First is the health issue for the consumer: whether harmful chemical residues may reach our systems when we drink coffee. Second are the related environmental and social issues: whether buying coffees that may be grown with the help of potentially harmful chemicals contributes to the destruction of the environment and threatens the health of the rural poor who raise coffee.

Agricultural Chemicals and Consumer Health. The consumer health issue is simplest to address. Coffee is not eaten raw like lettuce or apples. The bean is the seed of a fruit. The flesh of this fruit is discarded. Along the way the seed is soaked, fermented, and subject to a thorough drying process. Later it is roasted at temperatures exceeding 400°F, and finally broken apart and soaked in near boiling water. This savage history concludes when we consume only the water in which the previously soaked, fermented, dried, roasted, and infused seed was immersed. Given this history of relentless attrition, it hardly seems possible that much if any of the small amounts of pesticide/fungicide residue permitted by law in green coffee ever make it into the cup.

Chemical Free Alternatives. In brief, coffee drinkers concerned about the impact of agricultural chemicals on environment and society or those unwilling to accept my reassurances on the consumer health issue have essentially three alternatives:

* Buy a traditional coffee, grown as coffee was grown from its inception, before agricultural chemicals were invented. All Yemen, almost all Ethiopia, and most Sumatra Mandheling coffees are grown in such a state of innocence, and all are among the world’s finest.

* Buy a certified organic coffee. Certified organic coffees are coffees whose growing conditions and processing have been thoroughly monitored by independent agencies and found to be free of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, chemical fertilizers, and other potentially harmful chemicals. The monitoring agencies visit the farm and verify that no chemicals have been used on the farm for several years, and then follow every step of the processing, preparing, transporting, storage, and roasting. Such careful monitoring is of course expensive, which is one reason certified organic coffees cost more than similar uncertified coffees. Many such certified organic coffees are the product of socially and environmentally progressive cooperatives. See pages PPP-PPP for more on organically grown coffees.

* Buy a coffee labeled “sustainable.” At this writing sustainable is a rather loose term meaning that, in the view of the importer or roaster, designated farmers are doing everything within reason to avoid the use of agricultural chemicals and to pursue enlightened environmental and socially progressive practices in the growing and processing of their coffees.

You can invest half your paycheck in serums and creams - even splurge on dermal fillers and pricey facials - but none of it will get you far without a skin-friendly diet.

Of course, your skin (and the rest of you, for that matter) is best served by a well-rounded diet, including healthy fats, sufficient protein, and lots of fruits and vegetables. But there are a few nutritional standouts that make particularly important contributions to strong, glowing skin:

1. Fish: Fatty fish like salmon, tilapia, and cod are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. And that’s a good thing, because our bodies cannot produce those essential lipids naturally. By adding omega-3s to your diet, though, you can bolster your skin barrier - that is, the layer of lipids that holds onto moisture and keeps irritants out.

There is even evidence that the skin-strengthening effects of omega-3s can improve chronic skin conditions like rosacea and atopic dermatitis, but more research is necessary to confirm that link.

Furthermore, many types of fish (like, once again, salmon and cod) are rich in vitamin D - as dermatologists increasingly emphasize sun avoidance, we also need to emphasize the importance of finding other sources of this vitamin, which is produced during sun exposure.

Don’t eat fish? Many eggs are now fortified with omega-3 fatty acids, and plant sources include flax seed and flax seed oil, walnuts, pecans, and hazelnuts. And a daily vitamin D supplement is a good idea for vegans and meat-eaters alike.

2. Green Tea: It’s inexpensive, easy to add to your routine, and one of the best-researched and most powerful antioxidants around. That’s why green tea is my go-to antioxidant: I drink at least three cups a day to fight aging and inflammation. Some studies even suggest that the antioxidants in green tea reduce one’s risk of skin cancer. So put down that soda and start drinking your way to healthier skin!

3. Broccoli: Rich in vitamins A, C, and K (among many other nutrients), this veggie does more than its fair share of nutritional work. Vitamin A decreases oil production, vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant, and vitamin K can help prevent bruises. So whatever ails you, this green wonderfood might be just what the doctor ordered.

4. Safflower or Sunflower Oil: Omega-3s get a lot more talk, but omega-6 fatty acids - like the linoleic acid in these two oils - are also important for healthy skin. Like omega-3s, they help prevent dry skin and inflammation; they’re also essential for the formation of prostaglandins, hormones that keep all the cells of the body functioning well.

While many diets are actually quite high in omega-6s - sometimes even too high - the key is to get the good ones and not unhealthy versions, like hydrogenated oils. So try sautéing your salmon or broccoli in a little safflower or sunflower oil and double those skin-soothing benefits!

5. Almonds: When it comes to boosting skin’s defenses against aging, inflammation, and even skin cancer, antioxidants are so important that I’m going to add another to my list: A handful of almonds every day boosts your levels of vitamin E, one of the most important antioxidants for skin health. Studies also suggest that consuming vitamin E orally can increase the levels of this moisturizing vitamin on your skin’s surface - great news for anyone prone to dry skin.

1. Using a cleanser with harsh detergents: Many people assume that the suds of their vigorously foaming cleanser are a good sign — surely they’ll leave skin extra clean. Unfortunately, copious suds are generally a sign that your cleanser contains a harsh detergent, like lauryl sulfate, that strips skin of vital lipids. (And don’t get me started on bar soap — that is always a no-no.) Instead, look for cleansers that contain fatty acids and will actually fortify your skin, like Dove’s ProAge products, or even simple cold cream. If you have particularly dry skin, I recommend cleansing oils, which remove dirt and makeup without disturbing your skin’s natural protective barrier.

2. Not using a retinoid: Retinol, a form of vitamin A, is the only topical ingredient proven not only to prevent lines and wrinkles but to minimize the ones you already have. Past the age of 30, I recommend seeing a dermatologist for a higher-concentration prescription retinoid (like Retin-A, Differin, or Tazorac, for example), but there are also many great over-the-counter creams that contain lower concentrations of retinol. I like Roc Retinol Correxion Deep Wrinkle Night Cream, Neutrogena Healthy Skin Night Cream, and SkinCeuticals Retinol 1.0.

3. Spending too much on skin care: Splurging on the beautiful packaging and luxurious scents of pricey boutique skin care lines can feel wonderfully pampering — provided you know that it’s absolutely not necessary for great skin. In fact, many of my favorite products are made by drugstore brands, because those companies have the large budgets for top-notch research and development. If you have to choose, put your money toward that prescription retinoid, and buy the rest of your regimen at the drugstore.

4. Getting facials: Yes, that’s right — you can strike facials from your skin-care budget and actually be doing your skin a favor! Studies show that as many as 80% of people break out after a facial. Aestheticians often don’t know which products are right for the skin of each client, and may use ingredients that can worsen acne, or essential oils that tend to irritate sensitive skin. Even if you don’t break out, there are really no long-term benefits to facials.

5. Washing your face at the wrong time: Always wash your face after you rinse out your hair products and conditioner in the shower, never before. Many conditioners contain pore-clogging isopropyl myristate and other hair products often contain coconut oil — both are common acne-causing ingredients that you don’t want to leave on your skin.

6. Not using sunscreen every day: Not just for your trip to the beach. Not just during the long summer days. Every day. Yes, it’s important to be even more vigilant if you plan to spend lots of time in direct sunlight. But incidental sun exposure typically accounts for more of our lifetime exposure to ultraviolet rays than those days at the beach. Walking to and from your car, dashing out of the office for a sandwich, or sitting outside for a few minutes adds up — make sure you’re covered with at least SPF 15, every day.

Wishing you great skin!