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Women in control have less sex study finds

Women in control have less sex study finds

Married women who are the decision makers in family have less sex than those who make decisions with their husbands, a new study has found.

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore study found that some in-control homemakers can go up to 100 times longer without sex than women who share the responsibility of making decisions.

The study found that woman in control, also take control in the bedroom because less sex may be a sign of women protecting their ‘sexual rights’.

The research, which looked at women in six African countries where roles are clearly defined, looked at the level of decision making and compared it to their own accounts of their sexual relationships the Journal of Sex Research reported.

It found there was a clear link between those female house makers who took charge and the amount of sex they had.

“As the number of decisions in which women had the final say increased, the mean and median time since most recent sex also increased by three to 100-fold,” lead author of the study and an associate professor Michelle Hindin said.

“The more decisions a woman reported making on her own, as compared to joint decision making, the less likely she was to have sex and the longer it was since she last had sexual intercourse.”

Study co-author Carie Muntifering said this finding may in fact be controlled by choice rather than side effect as it suggests women in control of the household may have more control over how often they have sex.

“Understanding how women’s position in the household influences their sexual activity may be an essential piece in protecting the sexual rights of women and helping them to achieve a sexual life that is both safe and pleasurable,” she said.

“Additional studies are needed to further explore the strong association between women’s decision-making power and recent sexual activity that was found in our analyses.”

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Ryan dating Olivia Wilde?

It seems Ryan Reynolds has squashed rumours of a romance with Sandra Bullock after he was spotted on a romantic lunch date with his The Change-Up co-star Oliva Wilde.

The pair shared lunch at Sant Ambroeus in NYC’s West Village on September 16 US Weekly reported. “He recently told her he has a crush on her,” an unnamed friend of Olivia’s told the publication.

Following their lunch the couple was seen going into an apartment building where they stayed for two hours. Afterwards the pair spent time walking through Tribeca where he “briefly put his arm around her,” a witness adds. But reps for both Ryan and Olivia say the two are not dating in wake of new tabloid reports.

Are Ryan Reynolds and Olivia Wilde Hollywood’s hottest new couple?

The pair pose with their co-stars in their new film The Change-Up.

Sandra Bullock also attended the premiere to support her good friend Ryan Reynolds.

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Beyonce’s stunning maternity style

A baby bump hasn’t stopped Beyoncé Knowles stepping out in some fabulous outfits lately.

The 30-year-old mum-to-be was recently snapped wearing a blue short sequinned number. The singer, who debuted her baby bump in style at this year’s MTV awards also recently launched her own fashion line called House of Deréon with her mother Tina Knowles.

She clearly loves the range because she told CNN she wears the line herself, even though it doesn’t feature maternity clothes.

“What I’m wearing today is part of the collection and it’s not supposed to be, but it actually is really good for … maternity,” the stunning singer said.

30 Days of Fashion&Beauty: The 10 Most Iconic Dresses.

Beyonce at the launch for her perfume Pulse.

Beyonce at the Pulse fragrance launch at Macy’s.

Beyonce at the Tory Burch Madison Avenue Flagship Opening.

Beyonce at the launch of House Of Dereon By Beyonce and her mum Tina Knowles.

Beyonce at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week NYC.

Beyonce at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week NYC.

Beyonce debuted her bump at the MTV VMAs this year.

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Do fat substitutes make us fat?

Woman eating potato chips

Weight loss warriors can choose from an array of lower-fat food options that all contain fat substitutes. It seems ingenious – — enjoying your favourite snack foods, sauces, spreads and bakery goods, without the extra kilojoules. But as accredited nutritionist Caitlin Reid points out, if it’’s too good to be true, it probably is.

Fat is often seen as the dietary villain; the nutrient to blame for our expanding waistlines. So it makes sense to look for fat substitutes that can allow consumers to enjoy kilojoule-rich foods without the negative effects of weight gain. For this to work though, fat substitutes need to replace the sensory and functionality properties of fat while providing fewer kilojoules, saturated fat, cholesterol and trans fat.

To maintain the same mouth feel of full fat sauces, salad dressings, baked goods and frozen desserts, carbohydrate-based fat replacers are used as thickeners, while milk or egg protein are used as protein-based fat replacers in low-fat dairy products, margarines, soups and mayonnaises. However, when it comes to trying to lose weight, fat substitutes might be the last thing you should be eating.

What does the research say?

New animal research from Purdue University challenges the idea that foods made with fat substitutes help with weight loss. In the study rats were fed Pringles potato chips — either high fat or both high-fat and low-fat olestra (fat substitute) varieties. Rats eating a mixture of the two types of potato chips consumed more food, gained more weight and developed more fatty tissue than the rats that ate only the high-fat chips. According to the researchers, fat substitutes can confuse the body and it’s ability to regulate food intake, increasing the likelihood of weight gain.

Why would a fat substitute confuse the body?

When you eat a fatty food, your body is expecting a large number of kilojoules and the taste triggers a number of responses in the body such as salivation, hormonal secretions and metabolic reactions. However, fat substitutes interfere with that relationship, confusing our body as no kilojoules arrive. The confusion can interfere with the body’s ability to regulate food intake, which can lead to inefficient use of kilojoules and weight gain. More research is needed to determine whether this confusion happens in humans. However, instead of waiting for the research, why not focus on including foods that are naturally lower in fat, rather than relying on fat substitutes. A small amount of healthy fats in the form of plant-based oils, oily fish, nuts, seeds and avocados are also recommended.

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Separated at birth: Celebrity lookalikes

Mila Kunis and Vanessa Hudgens

Mila Kunis and Vanessa Hudgens are uncanny lookalikes!

Angelina Jolie and Megan Fox

Not only do Angelina Jolie and Megan Fox look the same, they also share a love for body art.

Jennifer Connelly and Demi Moore

He’s Just Not That Into You actress Jennifer Connelly and Demi Moore have stunningly similar looks.

Zoe Saldana and Thandie Newton

It’s almost too hard to tell Avatar star Zoe Saldana and actress Thandie Newton apart!

Gemma Ward and Amanda Seyfried

Aussie model Gemma Ward and actress Amanda Seyfried share the same bone structure and facial features.

Zooey Deschanel and Katy Perry

With their dark hair and striking blue eyes, actress Zooey Deschanel and singer Katy Perry could pass as twins.

America Ferrera and Jordin Sparks

Could Chart-topping singer Jordin Sparks and Golden Globe winning actress America Ferrera be long-lost sisters? Probably not, but they certainly look the same!

Natalie Portman and Keira Knightley

It is easy to get Natalie Portman and Keira Knightley mixed up! The pair bear a striking resemblance to each other.

Carey Mulligan and Michelle Williams

With their pixie haircuts and casual style Carey Mulligan and Michelle Williams have more than just looks in common.

Courtney Cox and Nelly Furtado

Singer Nelly Furtado and Friends star Courteney Cox both have high cheekbones and long dark hair, making the pair look very similar.

Kelly Clarkson and Miley Cyrus

Kelly Clarkson and Miley Cyrus also share the same face and eye shape.

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George makes every woman’s dream come true in new ad

George makes every woman's dream come true in new ad

Many have tried to nab Hollywood’s most eligible bachelor George Clooney and now one lucky lady has shown us exactly what it would be like.

George has starred in an advertisement for a Norwegian bank where he makes one woman’s dreams come true.

Following a drunken night out the woman awakes to find she has married the Hollywood heartthrob and that he is looking for houses for the pair to live in.

The clever advertisement seems to play out every woman’s fantasy, including George’s latest lucky lady Stacey Keibler.

Watch the advertisement with George Clooney in the video player above.

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The science of happiness

The science of happiness

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Are grumps and grouches born or made? Jordan Baker discovers some secrets to happiness that will put a smile on your dial.

For a few weeks last February, Tyron Krost was bursting with happiness. After being dragged to a poker championship because he had nothing else to do that night, the 23-year-old Sydneysider shocked everyone, including himself, by beating almost 750 other people to pick up $2 million in prize money, the largest amount ever awarded at a live tournament in the Southern Hemisphere.

In pictures: 35 little acts of kindness

The money, which he has invested, will set him up for life, and he is now sponsored to travel the world playing in tournaments. But here’s the thing; a few months after his win, Tyron was no happier than he was before.

“I’d like to think that before the tournament I was a pretty happy guy, and still think I’m about as happy,” he says.

“To be honest, I don’t really think about the money all that much and maybe that’s why. In the very short-term it definitely makes you happier, but in the long-term, I suspect you quickly become your normal self again.”

Tyron is a case in point for those who specialise in the science of happiness. Their research has found that it’s true money cannot buy happiness.

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As our income grows we simply adapt, and begin comparing our lifestyle and possessions with wealthier people.

Of course, a bit of money helps cover life’s necessities. Yet, if money does not bring happiness, what does?

It’s a question to which a growing number of academics – psychologists, scientists, even economists – are devoting their attention.

This discipline is different from, and dismissive of, the so-called “Happiness Industry” that reaps billions of dollars a year from self-help books, meditation gurus and life coaches.

These researchers use science and data collected from thousands worldwide to analyse what makes humans happy.

They tend to agree on one thing – that we have only partial control over our happiness.

In pictures: 10 bad things that are actually good for you

Studies of identical twins raised apart found they have similar levels of life satisfaction, suggesting that at least a portion is genetic.

Now researchers have turned their attention to a related question: How much of our capacity for happiness is inherited and how much is influenced by our choices?

Your say: How much control do you think we have over our own happiness?

Video: Just how happy are Aussies?

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Brad Pitt says adoption saved his daughter

Brad Pitt says adoption saved his daughter

He has done a lot of interviews lately, but this time Brad Pitt has spoken about what he holds most important to him in life: his children with partner Angelina Jolie.

In an interview with Parade the 47-year-old actor explained that if the pair hadn’t adopted their eldest daughter Zahara she would have died.

“I have seen children suffer far beyond what we see in America — like our oldest daughter Zahara. I know she would not be alive,” he said.

“I know what care was available to her and it was nil. I cannot imagine life without her. “

The Jolie- Pitt clan includes Maddox, who was adopted as a baby from Cambodia in 2002 by Angelina. She and Pitt together adopted baby Zahara from Ethiopia in 2005. Then in 2007, the pair adopted Pax as a three-year-old from Vietnam.

The couple also has three biological children including four-year-old Shiloh and two-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox.

The father of six also spoke about why he thinks adoption is so important and said his partner Angelina taught him that you can’t help everyone but you can help some.

“I hit the lottery — the whole cliché of moving to Hollywood and getting paid silly amounts of money. I have travelled the world and seen mothers and babies dying because they don’t have a 30-cent treatment that is available in industrialised nations. I feel like I have to share whatever I can. You’re culpable if you don’t act.”

Brad said he couldn’t believe how naturally parenting came to him, saying he has “never felt so enriched” and has learned a lot about himself through his children.

“I was surprised at how automatic [parenting] is, how much of it is instinctual. And now I have a great confidence and trust in those instincts,” he said.

And how does he feel about Angelina as a mother?

“One of the greatest, smartest things I ever did was give my kids Angie as a mum. She’s such a great mum. Oh, man, I’m so happy to have her,” he said.

“With a partner like Angie, I know that when I am working the kids are happy, safe, and prospering. And when Angie’s working, she knows she has the same.”

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Farmer John’s heartbreak: I lost the love of my life

Farmer John's heartbreak: I lost the love of my life

At 58, farmer John is ready to find love again. After spending the past 14 years as a widower, the Farmer Wants a Wife contestant has opened his heart in the hopes of finding a new partner to share his life with.

“The nights start to get very lonely,” John says. “I am in the position where I could afford to travel a little and I would love a partner to do that with.” But finding the woman of his dreams is proving a tough task. No one can live up to the high standards set by John’s wife of 25 years, Janice, who passed away from cancer in 1997.

“If I tried comparing somebody to Janice, I’d probably have nobody,” John tells Woman’s Day. “Jan was faultless.”

Their great love story began at the tender age of 16, when John and his mates decided to crash a very special event. “It was her debutante ball and all us young fellas had just come back from a rodeo and I guess we sort of walked in there a bit uninvited and I just saw this beautiful girl and I said, ‘I am going to try get on to this girl’,” John remembers. “I don’t think her deb partner was very happy, but I kind of cut in after a while and that was it.”

The happy couple married in 1972 and had two sons, Richard, 35 and Brett, 32. “We never had an argument, she was just so easy to get along with,” John says. “I had a once in a lifetime lovely lady in Jan.”

John says he was devastated when Janice was diagnosed with Bowel Cancer. “The doctors couldn’t tell me how bad it was until they operated and when they did, the doctor had to come out and give me the news and he said it has gone too far and there is definitely nothing that can be done….he said she may have six months, but she never even had that long.”

Despite Janice’s grim diagnosis, she remained positive and upbeat, determined to beat the cancer. “She was so positive that she was going to beat it,” John says. “She was so strong, much stronger than all of us with it. We would be in tears and she would never get into tears and she said, ‘I have to be strong for you and the boys’.”

Janice’s last wish was for her devoted husband to find love again and to live a happy and fulfilled life. “She said to me, ‘Don’t be alone the rest of your life. You’ll find somebody to be happy with and these boys will have grandkids one day and they’ll all want to see you happy with somebody.”

In 1997, just four months after she was diagnosed, Janice lost her battle with cancer. “It was very sad – it is something you have to learn to live with,” John says. “But I have the two boys and I see her in the two boys. Brett is wild like me, and Richard is very quiet like his mum.”

But despite his painful past, John’s journey on the Channel 9 hit show has given him a new lease on life and he is positive the woman of his dreams is out there somewhere. “I will eventually find the right one,” he says with a smile. “Something good will come out of this.”

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Six diet mistakes even women in the know make

Six diet mistakes even women in the know make

Dieting is a tricky business. Even if you exercise regularly, eat salad for lunch and resist the temptation to scoff chocolate biscuits every afternoon, there are pitfalls that can leave even the most experienced calorie-counter struggling to slim down.

Here is our list of diet mistakes even the most savvy women often make.

1. You have an alcohol free night and drink flavoured mineral water all night instead

Replacing alcohol with soft drinks may not save you any kilojoules. In fact you’ll probably be having more. A standard 120ml glass of wine provides 330 kilojoules, but a glass of soft drink supplies around 430 kilojoules. Better to enjoy a glass of wine then move on to plain, soda or mineral water or a even a diet soft drink.

2. You choose a fruit muffin for a healthy snack

Although an apple and cinnamon or banana muffin sounds very healthy, it can actually be very high in fat, with a whopping 13 grams of fat in a medium sized muffin. You could eat three apples and still not match the 1180 kilojoules from one average muffin.

3. You skip breakfast after an evening of indulgence

Although you think you can save on kilojoules by skipping breakfast after over indulging at a night on the town, breakfast is the key to kick-starting your metabolism and help to burn off the excess.

4. You’re a slave to salads

A salad may sound like the healthiest option on the menu, but that’s not necessarily the case especially if it’s drowning in dressing and full of high fat ingredients. Take a Caesar salad for example — croutons, parmesan cheese, pancetta, anchovies and a creamy dressing — adds up to 16 grams of fat. That’s about half your daily requirement when you’re trying to lose weight!

5. You’ve become vegetarian

It may sound healthier, but following a vegetarian diet can put you at risk of nutritional deficiencies, unless very well balanced. Vegetarian diets can also be high in saturated fat especially if you’re a cheese lover. A lean steak, rich in protein, iron and zinc, is certainly nutritious and is not the enemy for your waistline. In fact it is very filling and may prevent you from overeating something else.

6. You give up the burger and fries and go for the Singapore noodles.

While a box of Singapore noodles has around 24g fat, 10g less than a burger and fries, the kilojoule value is a whopping 4385. That’s over 1000 calories and nearly 400 more than the burger and fries. But before you throw away the chopsticks, I have a better solution. Instead of eating the entire box of noodles which is a huge serving of 800g, share it with two of your friends!

Your say: Do you have any other diet mistakes you’ve discovered the hard way?

Video: Diet v exercise – which one is better?

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