However, as founders of the newly launched Le Ninja Inc., Joel Funk and Jon Morris are out to expand Le Ninja into a collection of hip clothes for men and women.

With a mission to offer quality made in America sportswear, the Le Ninja brand plays on the ironic, says co-founder Funk.  “Le Ninja is a blend of East and West, of haute couture and the young American movement to develop our own fashion, culture, and ability,” says Funk, noting that his entrepreneurial skills were honed as a child.

Launched online in early December, Le Ninja offers high quality, super soft spun cotton crew neck and v-neck t-shirts all bearing the unmistakable Le Ninja logo.

Genuine Swarovski crystals accent a selection of Le Ninja V-neck shirts. Price points range from $24.99 for basic screen-printed styles, to $39.99 for the Swarovski accented numbers.

For spring, a collection of knits, with fitted polo shirts, woven shirts, shorts and trousers, will be added.

Prior to launching the brand, Funk and Morris, both in their mid-20s, searched myriad websites and stores for popular clothing brands only to discover it is increasingly challenging to purchase stylish, American made clothing.

“Our mantra is simple, ‘Be Le Ninja.’ It means, whatever you do, do it to the best of your ability with the resources you have, be humble, and never give up.

We love to hear stories from our customers, about their lives, what kind of Ninja skills they possess, and how they’re changing the world.”

Le Ninja Inc. is an American clothing brand designed to fill the growing demand for fashionable, quality clothing made in the U.S.A.

Le Ninja Inc. is located at 2748 Maple Avenue, Downers Grove, Illinois, 60515. Phone 630-964-2066 or visit www.leninja.com

Media Contact is Tina Bradford Public Relations info@tinabradfordpr.com or 610-248-3460.

Strength is Sexy, a women’s empowerment project to benefit women affected by domestic violence, will kick off 2011 with a calendar featuring 13 fit, strong and very busy professional women.

Sales and sponsorships from the premier edition of the Strength is Sexy will aid the Beginning Over Foundation, a non-profit with a mission to empower, educate and serve victims, survivors, teens and families affected by domestic violence.

Sponsors include Moving Comfort, a sports and fitness line for women, and Empower fitness equipment by Danskin and Fitness EM.

Heidi Markow of Easton, founder of the Beginning Over Foundation, is a featured model in the calendar. Other women include Sarah Schaffer, a proprietor of family-owned coin and jewelry business, creative director, Jane Brown Heft, and Zakiye Ohanian, a 26 year old mental health counselor that lost 130 pounds.

Founded in memory of Markow’s late sister, a victim of domestic violence, the Beginning Over Women’s Center, Easton, PA, features wellness, fitness and nutrition programs free to survivors in an effort to combat the chronic effects of abuse.

“Medical studies link long term effects of domestic violence with myriad health problems including obesity, depression, anxiety, high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, eating disorders and substance abuse,” says Markow,

All women featured in the Strength is Sexy calendar have been trained by Allen J. Davis, a certified USA boxing trainer and former member of the USA Power Lifting Team. Davis is the owner of The One You in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania.

Peter Gourniak, whose work has been internationally published, photographed the calendar. Jane Heft, creative director of Enze, is the art director.  Jane and Peter have collaborated on many major national branding campaigns.

The calendar will also be available for purchase after December 4th, on Facebook.com/StrengthisSexy for a donation of $20 or more to the cause.

http://apps.facebook.com/fundrazr/activity/933ece4958344d5386391cf51e318d50

For more information about the Beginning Over Foundation and the empowerment program, visit www.beginningover.org. For sponsorship information email Strengthissexy@gmail.com.

Senior citizens are on the move, downsizing to smaller homes, apartments and assisted living facilities across the country, from New Jersey to California, and every where in between.

One senior move specialist, Tony Baumer, owner of the New Jersey moving firm, BD Movers, Manahawkin, New Jersey, and a board member for the New Jersey Warehouse and Movers Association, says about 50 percent of the residential moves currently on the housing market are seniors moving to downsized living quarters.

“Reducing the amount of furnishings and personal items can be a daunting task, but with the proper preparation and moving firm, a senior move can be completed in a timely, stress-free fashion,” works with clients to ensure the move and down sizing is smooth for the older set.

BD Movers offers senior citizens advice and complete references from handy men, to charities, even CPA’s and elder lawyers.

A senior move can be daunting, but with the correct planning and strategy, downsizing is another step in the life process, adds Baumer.

Senior Move Advice: The Basics of Senior Downsizing

Create senior downsizing task list one to three months in advance.

Get the family involved in the senior move. If you need help, consider hiring a senior move manager.

• Designate items that will be moved, sold or given away. Decide on the item the senior will want to keep, and will fit into the new senior home.
• Be prepared to provide list of inventory to mover, including any legal documentation, regarding power of attorney, etc. if applicable. For instance – if the children are handling the senior moving details, they should show they have authority to do so.
• Sell what you can at auction, online or a yard sale. Some items may have value that can help defray senior moving expenses.
• Donate the rest to reputable charity. Keep receipts for senior tax purposes. If the furniture is still in good condition, a senior’s sofa or dining room table may be a godsend to a family that needs furniture.
• A senior move is not a “self move”. A senior move takes the efforts of many people, family and professionals, to make it go smoothly.
• To save on cost, pack as much as the senior and their family can do themselves. A mover will provide this service, but packing items is the simplest way to save cost for the senior move.
• If the senior moving is in their 80′s, and their children are in their 60′s, carrying heavy furniture should be designated as a senior moving service. Use the movers for heavy items and let family members move lamps and pictures.

For more information on senior moving advice and other moving tips for residential and business, visit BD Movers at http://www.BDMovers.com, or the senior page at http://www.bdmovers.com/seniors-moving-nj.php.

Follow BD Movers on Twitter.com @njmovingguy or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/bdmovers.

For more information, call BD Movers at 800-310-0912.

A Sunglass Lens Primer – when UV protection and fashion meet.

• Anti-reflective coatings cut glare in both the daylight, and for nighttime driving.

• Blue-Blockers: This brand of lenses block blue light and usually come in amber colored lenses. Researchers remain unsure whether blue light is harmful to the eyes, but these lenses are popular among skiers, hunters, boaters, and pilots.

• Gradient lenses are tinted from the top down, meaning the top of the lens is the darkest and a good choice for driving.

• Mirror-coated lenses limit the amount of light entering the eyes. Fans of the mirrored style say they are most comfortable for the light-sensitive.

• Photo-chromic lenses adjust the level of darkness based on the amount of UV light they’re exposed to.

• Polarized lenses cut reflected glare. Polarized lenses are popular with those who partake in water and snow sports.

We own enough anti-aging creams and sunscreens (and anti-aging-plus-sunscreen moisturizers) to know that UV rays and wrinkles aren’t our friends. That’s why we try all kinds of ways to protect our skin, like scooping up this new yellow canvas hat Lauren Moffatt created for the Skin Cancer Foundation.

The five-inch brim with little gold grommets is wide enough to shield both your face and neck from the sun. And for days at the beach or the park, there’s a hidden pocket tucked inside for your secret stash of ice-cream money (or a travel-size bottle of sunscreen, of course).

But what we like most of all is that it benefits more than just you — 100 percent of the proceeds will be donated to the foundation.

The entire article can be found at New York Magazine’s Fashion.

$65 at Shop.LaurenMoffatt.net.

Everyone associates Thanksgiving Day with food and family, but this year why not make it a healthier holiday. Change is good; a lifestyle change is even better. Even if you are not doing the cooking, you still can eat healthier and make this Thanksgiving the best ever. There is no reason to over-stuff yourself and lay around after dinner watching football. You don’t have to deprive yourself of all the goodies served at the annual feast; it just means that with a few changes you can have a healthier holiday season.

Follow the simple steps below and enjoy a Healthier and Fit Thanksgiving.

1. Eat a healthy breakfast. Oatmeal with blueberries (fresh or frozen) and almonds, Agave syrup if you need a sweetener, skim milk, coffee or tea.
2. Take a walk. Get your body moving.
3. If dinner will be late in the day, be sure to eat a light lunch. Don’t starve yourself waiting for dinner. Keep your metabolism burning.
4. Use a smaller plate at dinner. A salad plate holds less than a dinner plate and you will be less likely to overeat.
5. Do not let your foods touch on the plate. Smaller portions allow you to enjoy a little bit of everything without overeating.
6. Quarter the pieces of pie and don’t pile whipped cream on top.
7. Limit yourself to two glasses of wine at dinner.
8. Drink water. It will help fill you up.
9. Take another walk after dinner. Get your family members or friends moving instead of just sitting on a sofa. You can still talk, enjoy each other and the holiday while you work off that wonderful holiday dinner.

Healthy Thanksgiving tips from Pat McFerren, Personal Trainer and Instructor at Steel Fitness in Bethlehem.

By Tom Fenstermacher, owner and founder of FACTS Fitness, Newtown Square, PA

Common sense tells you that to lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you consume. This means you will change your daily patterns by increasing physical activity while decreasing food consumption. The first step is an understanding of where you are today.

A person can exist in the following 3 states of energy balance:

1. Neutral Energy Balance – You burn what you consume and will stay the same as you are today.

2. Positive Energy Balance – You consume more than you burn and will gain weight. If you require 2000 calories and consume 2,100 per day, even if the extra 100 calories is a banana you stand to be 700 calories per week in positive energy balance. This will eventually result in 36,400 excess calories per year divided by 3,600 calories per pound of fat is over 10 pounds of weight gain per year. If you are overweight this means that you are existing in Positive Energy Balance, the big question is how much over Neutral Energy Balance are you??

What does this mean? It means that if you cut 250 a day calories out of your diet and begin exercising three days a week, but you are 1000 calories a day Positive Energy Balance, then you are still gaining weight, just not as fast. In fact, you are still in Positive Energy Balance by 642 calories a day or 1.5 pounds per week. (This is the “I don’t get results from diet and exercise syndrome” so many people have.)

3. Negative Energy Balance – You consume less than you burn and will lose weight. Reverse the scenario above and you can see over 10 pounds of weight loss per year from that same banana!

Diets DO NOT WORK! – Wouldn’t you rather be in negative energy balance due to an exercise regimen that burns excess calories and increase 24 hour a day metabolism and will ultimately help you live longer and reduce your risk factors and improve quality of life?

CRASH DIETS ARE ESPECIALLY BAD!! Consider this: You go on a crash diet and begin to deprive your body of its essential needs. Your body doesn’t know you are trying to lose weight, it assumes there is a food shortage in nature and goes into survival mode.

What is survival mode?

It is conservation of energy stores.

What are energy stores?

FAT!

Your body will burn anything it can EXCEPT fat. So, when you lose your 20 pounds on your crash diet and 10 pounds of that loss was in lean muscle that your body consumed what do you think happens?

For starters, it is important to understand that your lean muscle is the key to your METABOLIC RATE or your daily caloric requirement and the more lean muscle you have, the more calories you will burn.

It’s a fact that 98% of people on crash diets gain the weight back. Consider the information above: when you gain your 20 pounds back, the muscle will not return so the net gain is all fat. So all that your CRASH Diet helped you do is become fatter! The problem is that now you have less muscle to burn calories on a 24 hour basis, so you will be predisposed to gaining even more weight.

EATING HABITS 101

What fills you up more, a one pound brick with no calories or one pound of potato chips containing 5000 calories????

Answer- The BRICK!

It is food density that curbs your appetite NOT caloric value. Pick foods high in density and low calories and you will find that you will eat less.

High Density Low Calorie Foods

1. Water

2. Lean Meats

3. High Fiber Foods

4. Fruits/Vegetables

5. Unprocessed Starches

FAT IS NOT THE ENEMY! Fat in moderation is high in density and good for you as well!

Eat slowly…..Your stomach has a lag time to the brain of about 15 minutes. Many of us overeat due to not allowing the stomach enough time to communicate with the brain to say “I’m FULL”.

Know what a serving size is and what your daily servings are per food group. Knowing one without the other is useless. For example, it is OK to have a serving of pasta at a restaurant, but realize that you just had 5 of your 8 servings of starch for the day! It is far easier to count servings than to count calories.

Do not become consumed with counting servings either. Simply think about where your servings are when you are about three quarters of the way through your day, and eat accordingly from there.

YOU MUST INCORPORATE EXERCISE IN YOUR PROGRAM!! The average person loses one pound of muscle every year after the age of 30 due to inactivity. This will decrease your metabolism 50 calories per day for every pound of muscle lost. If you require 2000 calories per day at age 30, by the time you are 35 it will be down to 1,750 calories per day. This means that your in POSITVE ENERGY BALANCE by 250 calories per day. This can translate into 25 pound weight gain in one year!

Cardiovascular Exercise such as running, biking, aerobics, etc., will burn up to 500 calories an hour while you exercise, but has little impact on your metabolism. This is an excellent way to get into neutral or negative energy balance on any given day. If you are 250 calories over your requirement and burn 500 calories, you are 250 under your requirement. This is the difference between gaining 25 pounds in a year or losing 25 pounds during that time. In addition, you will strengthen your heart and lungs, plus reduce risk factors such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, obesity etc., etc., etc.

Strength Training is the key to maintaining your lean mass! Cardiovascular exercise burns calories while you exercise, but strength training builds and maintains muscle which is the key to maintaining or improving your 24 HOUR PER DAY METABOLISM!!

Accountability is essential and is the number one key to your success. This program will provide accountability as well as educate you on way to hold yourself accountable.

This SIMPLE COMMON SENSE approach will allow you to enjoy a healthy lifestyle, achieve your goals; live longer and healthier without feeling deprived, starved, or overwhelmed.

By Tina Cantelmi

Healthy relaxing theme parties, with a slant on spa services, is a continuing trend among today’s businesses. Even during a lackluster economy, those indulging in the relaxation of a spa getaway believe the warmth and ease of networking among co-workers during a day spa, or weekend spa getaway, is worth the cost.

Groups such as the office of Dr. Ellen Field, who, once a year, books a party for her staff at day spas like award winning TC Salon and Spa, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

“Corporate bonding can happen at a pedicure chair or massage chair,” said Frank Shipman, owner of TC Salon and Spa, which earned a Diamond Award from DaySpa Magazine.

These gatherings allow co-workers to come together for spa treatment and relaxation. Large groups can be accommodated, with nearly 30 employees being the largest group thus far.

Guests can receive treatments together, or the group can be broken into smaller groups to engage in different activities, including manicures, pedicures, and massages. A festive dinner on site to conclude the evening often follows the treatments.

Spa get-togethers take place year-round; one group comes in monthly.  These can be theme parties, such as Christmas or New Years parties, as Bethlehem is known for its Christmas spirit.

Interested in planning a party for your business, club or organization?  Decide beforehand the date, time and activities that will take place. To book a spa party, contact the special events coordinator at TC Salon and Spa at (610) 865-9811.

New Powdered Sunscreens Ease Application

Powdered sunblock can be applied on top of makeup

By Isabelle Piermattio and Randy Lieberman

New developments in UVA/UVB barriers have recently meant competitors racing to have the most SPF protection on the market, but another development is sure to turn women’s heads.

ColoreScience has developed a sun protection product, Sunforgettable, making it easier than ever for women to apply sunscreen over makeup.

Sunforgettable combines the convenience of SPF 30 sunblock in a mineral powder with UVA and UVB protection. The powder comes with different applicators to roll, brush or shake to apply the sunscreen on top of makeup.

Sunforgettable is designed for the face, neck, upper chest and shoulders, making it easy and virtually undetectable application of sunscreen.

The neatly packaged brush applicator comes in a tube roughly the size of a cigar and is available online. The five Sunforgettable options each ensure smooth and even protection, as well as make it easy to carry around for touch-ups throughout the day. The different applicators include an SPF 30 brush, orb, shaker can, roller ball and sun salve.

Summer vacation is here and we are faced with the question of what to do with all that time – and how do we entertain the kids. Even though we have made adjustments to our budgets, it does not have to affect how much fun this summer can be.

Here are some helpful ideas to fill in those long summer days.

1. Start some type of collection – Bugs are everywhere and once properly dried can be collected; marbles of every color and shape; coins or whatever interest them.

2. Record and catalog information – What type of birds they have spotted, wild flowers or animals. What better way to learn than from hands on experience.

3. Visit the Zoo – But don’t just walk through it and you’re done…sit and draw the animals and discover what they’re doing. Research the animals native habitat and what they eat. Have each child pick an animal to research and visit the animal on return trips to the zoo. Maybe your family can try to raise money for that animal and its needs.

4. Visit the Museums: Art museum – Have them pick one of their favorite pieces of art and research the artist. Where did they come from and what other works of art are they known for? History museum – Research their favorite part of history and share what information they have learned. Science Museum – Find something that interest them in this area and have them research it.

5. Go to the park – Pack a picnic lunch, invite some friends, play sports, fly a kite, and have fun.

6. Go fishing – Dust off that old fishing pole and take them fishing. Learn the different types of fish that they could catch. What types of bait to use. Don’t forget that fishing license.

7. Go biking – Pack a small backpack with water, snacks, and drinks. Explore your local parks and exercise.

8. Go hiking – Hit those trails and start walking. Find some trails that you’ve never been on before.

9. Study the architecture of nearby buildings while walking around town. Take photos, create a photo album or on-line photo gallery (like Flickr), or draw the different designs. Research other buildings that were influenced by the same or similar architects.

10. Go to your Public Library – They have many great things going on all summer long: summer reading clubs, a great place for resources and research, and air conditioning.

11. Go to the farmers market to see all the vendors and fresh produce. Create a treasure hunt and see who can find the items the quickest.

12. Do community service work – Pick up litter in a park, work in a shelter serving food, or contact someone to find out where they would need help that the whole family could get involved in.

13.  Visit the elderly in homes; make cards and cookies for them.

14. Journals – Have them write down there thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Keep them in the habit of writing.

15. Write letters to friends and family, especially if they don’t have email. Send those wonderful works of art that are usually over flowing in your own home.

What are some ideas that you have used to help keep the family sane in the summer? Please comment and share your tips.