In the past, I have talked about ways on how to love your imperfect body, which applies to all of us. Why did I said so, no one has a perfect body, well, literally, no one has, but it’s up to us to treat our bodies perfectly. And so, following in that path, I have come up with ways on how to love you body, regardless of what shape it is.

The four types of body shapes are:

• Hourglass shape - a body with these shape has well-proportioned areas, with a distinctly narrow waist. They have the measurement of 36-24-36 which is what is considered as the “lucky” shape.
• Pear shape - typical measurement is 34-30-42. Pears are commonly viewed as “bottom-heavy”. The heavy packages are those in the lower body parts, slim torso and a well-defined waistline.
• Cone shape - people with this shape have short waists and long legs. They carry heavier body mass on the upper part of the body. Typical measurement is 40-35-42.
• Apple shape - people with this shape are bigger on the torso, bust, waist and upper back.
• Ruler shape - they are built straight up and down with no significance difference between the sizes of their chests, waists and hips.

We have been bombarded with magazine photos of the perfect bodies, with clothes or without. Nothing wrong with it, really, but my point is that the clothes should adjust to us, not us adjusting to the clothes. It’s time to take charge and be comfortable with your shape.

1. Stop comparing yourself with others.

Everybody is born with a different body. You are born with yours, period!

2. Know your shape.

Stand in front of a full-length mirror and measure your waist just above the hipbone and then around your waist. Then, circulate your waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), by dividing the waist measurement . If your WHR is 0.80 or less, you’re a pear. If it’s greater than 0.80, you’re an apple. Cone, ruler, and hourglass are easier to detect by just looking.

3. Research on the health implications of your shape.

Several studies have demonstrated that carrying excess abdominal fat (having an apple-shaped body) can increase the risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension, but the excess weight carried below the waistline may contribute to varicose veins and orthopedic problems.

4. Stop feeling guilty.

Your body is not entirely your fault. We are all born with genes. Instead, celebrate the positive aspects of your shape and maintain healthy shape-specific eating and exercise habits.

We can’t completely change our body shape, so, the best we can do is to embrace it and love it.

There will come a time when a couple will be caught in awkward situations where the girl will throw you offguard.  Men often complain of the complexity of women’s minds while women also complain of how shallow or naive men can be at times.  So, for the men out there, unless you like the taste of your foot in your mouth, take a peek at these answers so that you won’t be caught off balanced once she asks THOSE questions.

Here are the right things to say to avoid a fight over the trivial things, well, to us women, they are important to some degree as well.

1.  Once she says :  Do I look good in this?

You will answer: No, not all all.  Your legs look great in that dress.

Ah, this is the winning statement for this trick question.  You’ll be in a battle if you actually say yes.  Women value honesty but you’re suppose to love and like us no matter how we look so a compliment is better.  Saying a direct no will sound like you just want a girl to shut up and go on.  Giving a specific compliment shows you pay attention to the body but notice the good ones.  When one focuses on a sexy trait, the attention deflects from the problem part.

2. Once she says: You don’t have to go if you don’t want to

You will answer:  I want to because it’s important to you

This statement is actually an invitation for you to just bail out, but don’t take it.  What she’s really aiming at is your support.

3. Once she says : So, is she cute?

You will answer:  Yes, but she’s skinny

Look,we know you guys aren’t blind and we KNOW if someone is prettier than us so if you pull a naive answer like, “No! You are the cutest!”, we know you’re lying.   This answer will let a girl know that although you find some other woman pretty, it’s not enough for him to drool over or even turn his head.

There, I have given you the free ride to an argument-free day.  It’s all in the answer and the manner of how you’re going to answer them.  But at the end of the day, your honesty is what matters above all. Also, you have to mean it from the heart.  Even if you say these things, women can still feel if it was sincere or just a memorized answer.  Compliments do not really spell a fight-less relationship, but know how to say it in a way that is objective.  What I’ve given are just ways on how to make sweet, little escapes.

As I am still in the Father’s day mode, I decided to write about some cooking tips my dad taught me. Yes, he cooks. I’m happy for the increasing number of men who actually can cook sumptuous meals. A lot can cook, but the difference lies in the taste and I’m proud to say my dad CAN cook.

So, here are a few cooking tips he taught me, well, these are what I can remember.

1. Always reheat cooked food on half power in the microwave - that’s what the reheating setting does. This reheats food evenly without frying the edges while leaving the center cold.

2. Tough meat? Try this..When you take meat out of the microwave oven, cover it with aluminum foil for 10 minutes before carving.

3. To cook rice in a microwave,place two cups of rice and 4 cups of boiling water in a microwave container and zap on high for 12 minutes. The rice will be beautiful - no smells in the kitchen, no water boiling over the stove.

4. To keep your oil-based salad dressings from going to the bottom of the bowl and keeping it on your greens, take your dressing and heat it in the microwave for ten seconds before using.

5. Need to peel a bunch of oranges for a salad? Just soak the oranges in boiling water for five minutes than usual. The white part of the peel will come off along with the peel to give an awesome look to your salad.

But to be perfectly honest, I have rarely followed this,except the salad part, because I love salads. But tried all of these and they are really effective, not only because they are cooking wisdoms for my dad.