Vegetarian Eating: Why Plant Food Is Healthier

Vegetarianism is the lifestyle that involves the exclusion of animal meat and byproducts, but there are various types of vegetarians, and these are ovo-vegetarians, lacto-vegetarians, ovo-lacto vegetarians, and vegans. Ovo-vegetarians are those who include eggs in their diets but exclude dairy products. Lacto-vegetarians include dairy products such as milk and cheese in their diets but exclude eggs. Ovo-lacto vegetarians have the best of both worlds, including both eggs and dairy products. Vegans, however, are strict with their diets, and they exclude eggs and dairy products, or to be more precise, any kind of animal byproduct.

Why is it that these people do not want to eat animal meat? One reason is that animal meat contains certain unhealthy fats and substances, which can be harmful to the body. This is especially true for processed meats. Processed meats contain preservatives and chemicals that have the tendencies to become carcinogenic when taken in large amounts. Not only that, but even in the mere process of cooking meat can there also be presence of carcinogenic compounds. Smoking meats or cooking meat by grill or barbecue may increase the likelihood of consuming these carcinogenic compounds, most especially when there are overcooked portions on the meat. Despite the high content of protein in meat products, too much consumption of meat is not healthy, and this can, in turn, cause complications to the cardiovascular system. Cholesterol and other fatty substances can clog the arterial walls and blood vessels, leading to abnormal cases of hypertension and eventually cardiovascular complications and, ultimately, death.

So, what is the reason why plant food is healthier compared to diets with meat? Vegetables, fruits and other certain plant sources contain dietary fiber as well as essential amino acids needed by the body. Although their protein content is rather low, the content of their dietary fibers make up for this insufficiency. Dietary fibers have various positive effects on the human body, such as assisting in the regulation of blood sugar levels as well as decrease the total and low density lipoprotein levels. These dietary fibers can also reduce the risk of colorectal cancer by balancing the intestinal pH level.

For weight-loss benefits, these dietary fibers can speed up the rate of metabolism by speeding up the passage of food through the digestive system and promote regular excretion habits. Dietary fibers can also make one feel full even after eating just small amounts of food while also reducing one's appetite. Surely, this is why plant food is healthier compared to a diet that includes meat.

There is a saying that nothing beats the natural. These foods are natural and are even relatively cheaper compared to meat diets. A vegetarian diet promotes a healthier lifestyle and lowers the risk and occurrence of diseases, provided that sufficient nutrients are taken in by the body while on this diet. To ensure adequate intake of nutrients such as essential amino acids, it is best to combine or mix a variety of plant sources which contain these essential amino acids. Combinations such as peanut butter with bread and tofu with rice are merely just among of the few popular examples. It is important to treasure health at all times, and one of the best ways to healthier living is by having a vegetarian diet.

Red Wine Headaches - What Actually Causes Them?

Headaches from red wine are a genuine and troubling phenomena, troubling because any certain sufferer will get a headache from certain red wines and not from others. But there doesn't seem to be just one individual cause. Red wine headaches vary in their severity from mildly gentle to full-on migraine.

Just half a glass of wine can trigger an attack within fifteen minutes or thereabouts, and these attacks can last for several hours. Two average sized glasses of wine could even trigger a migraine in those people who are prone to getting them.

Some experts question whether the sulfites in the wine are the source of red wine headaches (RWH), for these reasons:

• Breathing problems (which include asthma attacks), and not headaches, typically react more to sulfites;
• Red wine is most likely to be the trigger, however many sweeter white wines contain considerably more sulfites than red wines, because they have a much higher sugar content;
• Numerous other foodstuffs contain sulfites, so these headaches should not be particular to any red wine.

A few allergy experts think that tannins are responsible for the severe headaches. The Harvard Health Letter noted,

"Some controlled experiments show that tannins cause the release of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Fairly high levels of this serotonin can cause headaches, which may well be the cause for the RWH in people who already suffer from migraines."

Somehow the experiments fail to explain why it is that people get headaches from red wine who are not susceptible to migraines, or why people don't similarly suffer from the high tannin levels in tea and chocolate.

Winemakers use sulfites during the winemaking process to prevent the wine from oxidising, helping to keep it clean and fresh for longer. When a wine is allowed to come into contact with oxygen for a long period of time, it will oxidise and spoil immediately, ultimately turning into vinegar. It's unlikely that sulfites are the only culprit, but as many white wines contain larger amounts than reds, they don't generally seem to cause a reaction.

Research from 30 years ago suggests that prostaglandins may be to blame for these headaches. Prostaglandins are substances that contribute to pain and are blocked easily by drugs that inhibit prostaglandin synthetase, i.e. aspirin, and even Acetaminophen and Ibruprofen.

The majority of researchers believe that one or more of the remaining suspects to be the cause of most red wine headaches. These include tannins, histamines, tryamines, as well as prostaglandins. Histamines and tryamines are by-products of a secondary fermentation in red wine, resulting in amine quantities up to two hundred percent higher in red wine than in white.

Excessive wine drinking can cause almost anyone to get a headache, but for some folk, drinking just a minute amount of wine will bring on a nasty migraine, combined with nausea and flushing. In order to minimise the chance of getting an RWH, just sample a glass of a certain red, and if you suffer within 15 to 20 minutes, obviously don't drink that wine. If you are a sufferer, reduce the risk by lowering your intake first, and remember to go for the best quality red wine you can afford. Cheaper wines tend to be less stable, although not always the case, and therefore could contain more sulfur dioxide.

3 Reasons why sulfur dioxide is used in wine

1. As a prevention for bacterial growth.
2. As a protection agent for the wine against oxygen.
3. To bind to various nasty aroma compounds, like acetaldehyde.

If you try to find wine without any sulfites when shopping, good luck! Sulfites are a natural by-product from the winemaking process, so all wine contains at least small amounts. Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is not a bad substance, but used incorrectly or excessively, it can be disastrous for a wine, and not great for your health. But, without it winemakers could not make good wines and wine would not age so well.

In the end it comes down to the usual addage - drink in moderation to gain all the benefits; overdo it, and you may suffer in any number of ways.

To learn more about the fascinating world of wine, please visit Understanding Wine where you will find a wealth of interesting information from wine health issues to food and wine pairing.

Red Wine Health

There is a lot of controversy about red wine health. It has been proven without a doubt, according to scientists, that red wine is good for the heart lowering the risk of heart attack in middle-aged people. What about the elderly? The suggested intake is one glass of red wine a day for women, and two for men. Nevertheless, there is little suggestion of how big or small that glass should be? In addition, if you drink more than the suggested amount, does it increase the protection from heart attack? Or does it add any more protection against other diseases?

Red wine is proven to have certain ingredients that stop blood from clotting, keep arteries clean and clear, and helps with cholesterol. So with this assumption of proven truth, the obvious answer to the question about red wine health would be positive. But what of those who don't drink? Where then, do they get their share of health benefits?

The biggest asset is the antioxidants found in red wine developed from the grape skins and seeds. Other beneficial ingredients that do different things for different conditions, such as acting as an anti-inflammatory can be contributed to the skin of the grape. The colors of skins are also responsible for the color of the wine. In addition, the length of time the skin tincture is in contact with the juice contributes to the darkness or lightness in color.

It is common knowledge that estrogen is a drug that women suffering from menopause consumes, to replace the estrogen being drained from her body by chemical changes and aging. Estrogen is also used (tamoxifen) in follow up treatment of breast cancer patients and for treatment of osteoarthritis patients. It has again been proven, that red wine health comes into play with the ingredient of estrogen contained in wine.

There are still those that have negative reports about red wine health. One scientist claimed, "The discovery that resveratrol is estrogenic means that such supplementation might have undesirable side effects." But, Estrogen proven to provide some defense against heart disease can be absorbed into the body's system with red wine. He also cautioned that "it is not yet known if the body absorbs enough resveratrol from wine to make this plausible."

Despite the contradictory opinions and study results, a glass of wine doesn't do anyone any harm. You should consider the alcohol content, and sweetness as neither of these really contribute to red wine health. They don't do harm, they just don't enhance the positive effects of red wines contribution to good health. There are many positive proven affects, wine has a relaxing effect, which reduces tension. Reducing stress that creates toxins in your body. It also helps digestion and stimulates the appetite. As does the color red strangely enough, this is why many decorate their kitchen, or the inside of a restaurant with bright red paint.

As with most things in the health industry, some say yeah, some say nay, so how does one decide? Try it maybe.

If you would like more detailed information on the health benefits of wine as well as wine in general, be sure and visit our site. It has a world of information.

wine storage refrigerators

Collecting wine has become more and more popular over the past couple of decades, which has increased the wine storage industry as well. Wine collectors vary from amateur to expert, with some collecting five bottles at a time and other collecting hundreds of bottles at a time. Investing in a wine collection will cost a lot of money, which is why you should also invest in storage options such as a storage refrigerator, a cooler, or a cellar. All three of these options will vary in price depending on how many wine bottles they can hold.

Since wine has become so popular, there are all types of wine drinkers and collectors out there today. The first group of drinkers is those who drink every so often, during special occasions, which happen rarely. For these types of drinkers, the best storage option is that of a single bottle chiller. Single bottle chillers can be found almost anywhere, including alcohol stores, on the internet, and department stores. Individual wine chillers hold a single bottle, chills it at a set temperature, and keeps it cool in even the most extreme temperatures.

The second group of wine drinkers consists of those who drink once or twice per week. This means they will not have enough room in their refrigerator to store more than one bottle of wine. This also means that they will have to find a storage option that holds more than two bottles at once while also chilling those bottles. This storage option is a wine cooler. Coolers range in price from under $100 to close to $1,000 depending on how many bottles of wine they hold and the features offered. The cheaper coolers will not have humidity control or temperature control, which can negatively affect the wine.

The third group of wine drinkers consists of those who have a glass of wine each night with dinner, those who host wine tasting parties, and those who serve wine at dinner parties. These wine drinkers will have a large wine collection in their house that needs to be stored properly so that it tastes good when consumed. A storage option for a collection this large is a wine refrigerator. Wine refrigerators can be as large as regular refrigerators, which means they will cost almost as much as regular refrigerators. These refrigerators will be able to hold anywhere from 50-250 bottles of wine, depending on the size you purchase, which is perfect for the avid collector.

The beauty of technology today is that some of these wine storage refrigerators, depending on their size, can be installed in your kitchen cabinets. In fact, the cooler will be in place of a kitchen cabinet. The cooler or refrigerator will look like your dishwasher. It will have a handle to open the door as well as different lights, buttons on the door so that the owner knows the temperature, and can adjust the humidity as needed. Therefore, not only will you be keeping your wine collection safe but you will also not have to use up counter space by placing a wine cooler on top of the counter.

The Best Chocolate Chip Recipes for Perfect Cookies

Beauty comes in small delicious looking packages. So it is with chocolate chip cookies, these tasty items are very easy to adapt in order to cater to specific needs. This includes anything from a particular taste to making cookies that cater to people with diabetes.

When tailoring recipes you already have, try to understand the effects each additional ingredient may have on the end result. Certain substitutions don't work out so well. If you swap out certain ingredients, such as applesauce or bananas this may affect cooking time, make the cookie mixture runnier, and make it harder to judge. There is nothing worse than giving them a bit longer because they don't look ready, but taking them out only to find they cool a lot harder than anticipated. Medium ground is difficult to find, but the more you make cookies the more experience will guide you down the right path when trying new things.

Check online and find cookie related posts in forums where people share their own recipes. There are lots of tricks and tips to be discovered, and many recipes related to lifestyles, weight loss and diabetes. Just be sure to consult a doctor before trying such recipes. The easiest way to do so. Some doctors are quite accessible, and will take questions by email while with others you might need to print it off and take it in when you have an existing appointment. Regardless, when it comes to health it's better to be safe than sorry. If looking for a more authoritative source, there were books available with many chocolate chip cookie recipes and have the advantage of keeping everything in the one place.

In some families, cookie recipes are handed down across the generations and become unchanging, a taste that can always be depended on to bring back the memories. Such a nice effect this has, they certainly turn the cookies into a wonderful and very personal gift. Everyone loves to receive something that has the personal touch, and it seems much nicer than a bought gift as the person made it with their own hands and in their own time. To go along nicely with chocolate chip cookies, other recipes such as chocolate cakes could be used to produce yet more delicious gifts.

Regardless of which recipes is chosen, baking chocolate chip cookies is great fun for all the kids, friends or even just for yourself. It's a great way to spend some time in the afternoon, and fun waiting for them to pop out of the oven and see what magic has occurred.

Simple Valentines Day Ideas for a Great Day

Valentines day shopping and gifts can take a lot of time and energy, but they can also burn lots of credit; people feel pressured into doing something big because everyone else is. Once Valentines Day is over and the effects of champagne and chocolate start to wear off, lots of people end up regretting the outrageous amounts of money they've spent.

Eating out can be seriously expensive, you have to kill yourself just to get reservations and if you wake up one morning and regret the money you've spent it can be a real killer. Instead stay home, and cook something with your partner. If you're not that crazy about cooking, just give your wife/ girlfriend some company in the kitchen while she cooks (women just love that) and help her out with the little things. 

Forget jewelry or flowers; get something that you can enjoy with dinner like gourmet chocolate gift boxes or boxes of chocolate dipped fruit. It can be a great dessert that you can both enjoy. To make it all the more special, go out together to buy everything you need to make dinner.

Fill the day with sentimental mush your wife/ girlfriend will just love! Leave little notes in places you know she'll find them or draw something in chalk on the pavement. You can buy some gourmet chocolate gift boxes and sneak them into her office drawer (you'll need the help of her co-worker) and add a little love note to it.

Valentines day shopping and gifts can take a lot of time and energy, but they can also burn lots of credit; people feel pressured into doing something big because everyone else is. Once Valentines Day is over and the effects of champagne and chocolate start to wear off, lots of people end up regretting the outrageous amounts of money they've spent.

Eating out can be seriously expensive, you have to kill yourself just to get reservations and if you wake up one morning and regret the money you've spent it can be a real killer. Instead stay home, and cook something with your partner. If you're not that crazy about cooking, just give your wife/ girlfriend some company in the kitchen while she cooks (women just love that) and help her out with the little things.

Forget jewelry or flowers; get something that you can enjoy with dinner like gourmet chocolate gift boxes or boxes of chocolate dipped fruit. It can be a great dessert that you can both enjoy. To make it all the more special, go out together to buy everything you need to make dinner.

Fill the day with sentimental mush your wife/ girlfriend will just love! Leave little notes in places you know she'll find them or draw something in chalk on the pavement. You can buy some gourmet chocolate gift boxes and sneak them into her office drawer (you'll need the help of her co-worker) and add a little love note to it.

moNEY tIPS 4 U

You have done the next major thing after getting your education and a job. You have just started your family and it is growing. Ahead of you lies the much traveled road from time immemorial that every family had trudged: how is the family income to be managed. Out in the marketplace in the rush to live it up many fail or refuse to listen to the soft chirping of prudence on money and it's life and death domino role on physical living. Here are three signposts you must never take your eyes off of:

1. Keep 3 to 6 months net income in a rainy day fund. Your rainy day fund is your first line of defence against declining nett left-over pay and rising expenses. There will always exist the possibility of another downturn or emergency down the road.This rainy day fund buys a cushion of time to keep rowing your boat towards a safe harbour.
2. Save 10% of your income each year. Get off the debt path. Financial distress can place the family on crutches. If you can't manage your credit cards lock them away. Get and keep a handle on your eating out entertainment and impulsive expenses.
3. Explore revenue enhancing options. When it comes to the future should you wholly rely on government or your employer or a bank?Self reliant entrepreneurship is the way to take control of your future. Ninety percent of the wealthy own their own business. In staying where you are,are you building your life or someone else's?Entrepreneurship opens doors. Plant an income tree, not plunge into a capital intensive millstone of a business. Here's an income tree you can plant for the cost of a lunch.

Important Life Coaching Advice For Children

I have just returned from my twelve year old step-daughters parents evening. It was an interesting hour and I believe my daughter has learnt quite a lot from the experience. The teachers gave her some important life coaching advice which I will write about in this article.

My step-daughters name is Taryn and she is basically a very bright and well behaved child. One of her faults however is that she just does enough, she is not naughty at school but does not give one hundred percent to her studies.

Before we attended the parents evening we had the opportunity to read her school report. Taryn thought this report was very good as she was above average in her year, this was certainly borne out in her recent examination results. What annoyed both me and her mother was the regular comments that Taryn does not ask enough questions, that she does not contribute enough in classroom discussions and that her homework seems rushed.

We were also aware that even though the exam results were good, that they could have been even better as she did not do any revision. We told her that even though she was above average that we were not happy with some of the comments made which suggested that she could and should have done even better. Taryn was not happy by this and had quite a big strop thinking that we were just being cruel.

Taryn loves to play sport and has been a regular in the netball and athletic teams. The first teacher she took us to see was her sports teacher who Taryn assumed would be very happy with her. This teacher first asked how we as her parents thought Taryn was getting on, in general at school. We voiced our concerns and the teacher agreed as she had read the whole report and was also not that pleased with it. She looked at Taryn and told her that in sport she always gave one hundred percent and asked her why she did not have the same attitude in Maths and English. Taryn did not know what to say and seemed quite shocked. The teacher stated that even though sport is important, the other subjects should come first and that if she did not see a marked improvement over the next few months, that she would drop her from the netball and athletics team.

Next was the English teacher. He told all of us that Taryn was very clever but that she needed to take more of a pride in her work. She needs to check what she has completed before she hands it in, as the only real errors she makes are just silly mistakes.
He believed that even though Taryn was in the top thirty percent that she should be in the top ten percent.

All of the teachers we met gave Taryn the same message. Do not accept second best, always give one hundred percent, spend less time on the computer and more time reading and revising.

By the end of the evening poor old Taryn looked shell shocked. She now understands what to do and certainly does not want to be kicked out of the sports teams.

I was more than pleased with the schools attitude and believe that Taryn has been given some important life coaching advice.

Grief & Loss

Have you ever lost someone close to you to death? We go through a grief process that was best described by Elizabeth Kublar-Ross in On Death and Dying. In it she talks about the five stages that people go through---denial and isolation; anger; bargaining; depression and finally acceptance. The dying, as well as those who love them, go through these stages although rarely at the same time and these stages are not predictable.

You may think you are in the anger phase, then jump to depression and then, back to denial again. There is no rhyme or reason---only what feels right for each individual at the time. No one can predict how long a phase will last. If you are grieving and some well-meaning person suggests that you shouldn't be feeling what you are feeling, kindly thank them for their concern but know that you are exactly where you need to be.

However, with grief, sometimes you will become aware of something not feeling right. You may think, "I should be over this by now" or "I don't like feeling this way." When you, yourself, recognize that it is time to move beyond where you are at, then trust that feeling as well.

I'd like to talk about grief from a Choice Theory perspective. This will probably take several posts to make sense of it all. I need to start with the Choice Theory expression that all behavior is purposeful since grief is really just a behavior in choice theory terms. Choice theory tells us that everything we do at any point in time is our best attempt to get something we want---some picture we have in our Quality World that will meet one or more of our needs in some way. Grief is no exception.

Once you understand that all behavior is purposeful and that grief is a person's best attempt to get something they want, then it becomes easier to know what to do about it. What could we possibly be trying to get by grieving? Most people would say that there isn't a choice. When someone we love dies, we have to grieve. I say it is natural that we will miss the person's presence in our life but it isn't inevitable that we have to grieve, not in the way most people think of grieving.

The first thing I believe that we are trying to get with our grief is the person who died. When we grieve, it is our best attempt to keep that person alive, at least in our perceived world. We know they no longer exist in the physical world as we know it. However, if we continue to think about them, pine for them, grieve their presence, then it keeps the thought of that person active in our perception and it feels better to us than the total void or absence of the other person.

Another possible advantage of grief is that it shows others just how much we cared for and loved the person who died. I'm not suggesting that people are being manipulative in their grief. What I am saying is that there is a side benefit to grief in that it shows others how much we cared. It also says, "See what a good ___________ I was." Fill in the blank with husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, mother, father, sister, brother, etc.

Grief is also instrumental in getting us the support we need from others during our time of bereavement. People do things for us that we would normally be expected to do ourselves. Again, please don't think that I am suggesting that a grieving person wakes up and "decides" to grieve so someone will stop by the house with a meal. None of this is conscious but I'm merely pointing out the potential advantages of grief.

Once we become totally conscious and aware of what our grief does and doesn't do for us, then comes the hard part. We need to make some decisions about how we want to live.

There are always at least three options in every situation and they can be framed up in terms of---leave it, change it or accept it. With death, you may wonder how someone is going to "leave it." Well, some possible ways would be major denial of the loss, suicide, drugs and/or alcohol abuse, or sinking deep into mental illness, among others.

When we get caught up in changing things, we may continue in our grief as our best attempt to get the person back. That might look like constant trips to the cemetery, frequent conversations with the deceased, refusing to believe he or she is truly gone, constantly talking about the one who's gone. There are many things we can do to attempt to change the reality of the loss.

If and when we come to accept it, we can experience some measure of peace and rejoin the living. A healthy step in this process is finding a way to somehow maintain that person's presence in our lives. Now, this is a very individual thing and you must be very careful not to judge the choices of the bereaved.

Most people saw Meet the Parents. In it, Robert DiNero's character kept the ashes of his mother in an urn on his mantle. Many people do this with the cremated remains of their loved ones. Others place some ashes in a necklace and wear it around their neck. Some will set up scholarship or memorials. When my husband died, his family and I created a wrestling scholarship fund for a local high school wrestler. When my friend lost her 8 year-old son, she had the Houston zoo name the frog exhibit after him!

There are all kinds of creative ways to maintain the person's presence. There is no wrong way. Whatever brings comfort to the bereaved should be supported by those around them. Remember that just because a person is choosing something that may be distasteful or wrong to you, doesn't make it wrong for that person.

When acceptance occurs, then the grieving person can begin to reassimilate back into their life and the lives of those around them but it won't happen overnight. We need patience and loving understanding for those coming back from grief.

Another possible choice is the person who doesn't appear to grieve at all. There may be many explanations for this behavior. The person may be very private and won't do his or her grieving where others can see. Another possibility is that the person is trying to be strong for everyone else. I know I wanted my children to KNOW that I was going to be OK. I didn't want them to believe that they had to take care of me. To some, it seemed that I wasn't grieving enough.

If you are grieving, or you are involved in the life of someone who is grieving, please don't judge yourself or them. Understand that all behavior is purposeful and the person is getting something out of what they are doing. When they become conscious that there is a choice, then they can make a conscious decision about which of the three choices they want to make. Once they know the direction they want to go in, they have to flesh out the details of their plan.

How To Think Through Writer's Block

In his book, On Writing, Stephen King says, "We are talking about tools and carpentry, about words and style…but as we move along, you'd do well to remember that we are also talking about magic." When something is really well-written we tend to think it was effortless for the writer, that it seems magical. We wonder, "Did that author ever have to deal with writer's block?" Yes, he or she probably did. Pretty much every writer does. But how do you work through a block when the inside of your brain feels so foggy? These tips will show you how to clear things up.

1.) Work Consistently

When I started my first novel I joined a class to help get me going. After it was over, I took a few more workshop sessions with the instructor, but when those ended all my work ground to a complete halt. Why? Because from then I was only working on the book a day or two a week, mostly on weekends. If I got stuck that meant I wouldn't write for two or even three weeks. Then I went out and got a place to write. I committed myself to going there 3-4 times a week to work on my book. Suddenly the writing got easier! I thought it was because I was putting in more time--and that's partly true--working consistently helps to build momentum. But that wasn't the whole answer. Here's the rest: I was thinking about the book all the time! Which means...

2.) Don't Leave Your Book on the Desk

When I started working consistently I found that I was still thinking about my character and plot issues when I went home at night on the subway. That thinking continued in the shower the next day and on the streets as I walked to work. Once I was flying to Cleveland to visit my family and during the flight I figured out the answer to the problem I was having with a flashboack in my novel.

So write at your desk and do your figuring out everywhere else throughout your day. Ideally you are thinking about your book while you drive, while you shower, while you watch a baseball game. In fact, Stephen King has said he has worked through a chapter or two in his head while at Fenway Park watching the Boston Red Sox. When you think about your book away from the desk, it ensures you'll have something to write when you get back to your desk.

3.) Ask Yourself Lots of Questions

Okay, you might be asking, "What am I supposed to be thinking about?" Your book, of course, but I understand how difficult it is to just have generalities floating around in your head competing with all the media we're flooded with already. To focus your thinking, ask yourself a series of questions related to the issues you're stuck on.

For instance, "What story or incident can I create to best highlight my character's strength and/or weakness?" Possible answer: a party where most of the guests snubbed my character's party which took place few weeks earlier. "How would my character be responsible for that situation?" Maybe she told a secret and everyone is upset with her because of it. "What behavior will my character display that will reveal her true essence to the reader?" Maybe she quietly vandalizes people's belongings throughout the evening, ripping coats in the closet, "accidentally" breaking glasses, spilling drinks on someone's designer dress. You can keep going that way, with each question leading you further down the path until you complete a picture in your head of what you want to write when you sit down again. No more writer's block!

4.) Remember Why You're Writing

When you do get stuck, it helps to remember why you're working on the project in the first place. As I mentioned before, I got stalled many times working on my first novel. But I was motivated by several things including my sincere desire to be a published author and my devotion and commitment to my characters. (Once, when going through a period of non-writing, I had a dream where the main character of my book was screaming at me--I knew it was time to get back to work!)

So, why are you writing? And is the reason powerful enough to make you do what it takes to get through the difficult times of the writing process? If it's not, perhaps you need to re-think your reasons and your project. But if your motivation is strong, go with it and allow that sheer force to help you break down the walls in your work.