So, if you get your girl a box of chocolates for Valentine’s Day, should you expect any nookie or will she be too infatuated with the chocolate to pay you any mind?

Good question! You and chocolate are going to have to duke it out for your sweetie’s affection. Chocolate is a veritable cocktail of pleasure inducing psychoactive chemicals with over 300 identified compounds. Studies have shown that up to 50% of women will choose chocolate over sex. Let’s just take a look at a few of the contenders you’ll have to spar with.

Phenylethylamine, the “Love Drug”

The key to chocolate’s success with the ladies is a chemical known as phenylethylamine (aka PEA). PEA also occurs naturally in the brain and induces the release of dopamine into the mesolimbic pleasures systems, a chemical that peaks at orgasm to produce pleasure. Serotonin, another feel-good chemical, is also produced. Symptoms of an increase in PEA include: excitement, giddiness, and even euphoria. Because of the production of symptoms similar to those of a person falling in love, PEA is also known as the “love drug”. This “love drug” can produce an exciting high that some may even compare to the high generated by drugs like Ecstasy (it would take a lot of chocolate to do that, though). PEA is even considered a hallucinogen because it produces an effect quite similar to the one produced by amphetamines. Think you can compete with that?

A Chocolate-induced High

Some chocoholics may make it seem like chocolate is as addicting as drugs like marijuana. Well, strangely enough, chocolate has something in common with marijuana. Chocolate contains a compound that is closely related to tetrahydrocannabinol-9, an active compound in marijuana. Cannabinoids, a fatty acid, flow to the CB1 and CB2 receptors. These receptors, in addition to being found in the frontal cortex, are also found in the parts of the brain that control motor function and memory. Because of the receptors that the cannabinoids hit, chocolate can cause a person to feel intoxicated and may also start to feel relaxed. The concept of getting stoned by chocolate would be next to impossible, though. You would have to eat quite a bit of chocolate to get a feeling similar to the one induced by the consumption of marijauna.

The Sweet Buzz of Caffeine

Chocolate also contains the compound 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine (aka caffeine). The caffeine in chocolate can produce a stimulating physiological effect by exciting the central nervous system. This tells the body to increase heart rate and to contract muscles. This high can be much like the andrenaline high that people get from roller coasters and horror movies. Caffeine plays on the dopamine and adenosine receptors in the brain, which causes them to release their own pleasure-producing chemicals. In some people, caffeine may raise levels of anxiety, so the pleasure derived from caffeine in chocolate may vary from person to person. Very little caffeine actually exists in chocolate, though. To give you an idea of how much caffeine chocolate contains, an ounce of milk chocolate contains about as much caffeine as a cup of decaffeinated coffee. If you really get a buzz off chocolate, you’ve either eaten quite a bit of it, or the sugar is messing with your brain and producing a sugar-high.

A Full-Frontal Assault on All the Senses

Not only do the compounds in chocolate play on our minds, but chocolate affects our senses in every way possible. Because of the stereotype of chocolate being able to induce pleasure, the mere sight of chocolate may produce a reaction in the brain causing a person to feel happiness and pleasure. It also doesn’t hurt that companies and chocolatiers love to make chocolate appear as beautiful and appealing as they possibly can. Smelling chocolate may actually reduce theta activity in the brain and promote relaxation and a general feeling of well-being. Just think of warm, gooey brownies fresh out of the oven. It’s relaxing even to think about it. The smooth feeling of chocolate melting in the mouth can be sensual and even exciting. Foods with velvety textures are quite pleasing to our palates. And finally, the taste delivers the sweetness that we crave and triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural opiate.

Your Battle Plan

So what’s your best bet in beating chocolate out in the battle for your lover? Like the old saying goes, “If you can’t be ‘em, join ‘em”. Or in this case “If you can’t beat it, make it your partner in crime”. What I mean is, why not skip the box of chocolates and go for something like chocolate body paint to help you in the bedroom instead?

• Chocolate Body Products: Where do I begin? There are chocolate soap bars, chocolate dust, chocolate bubble bath mix, chocolate body paints, chocolate lube, chocolate massage oil, edible chocolate massage oil…. For Pete’s sake, I think they even make chocolate scented nail polish now! Just did a search. Yes, they do. Apparently a company called Ann Sui makes it.
• Chocolate Scents: As with the body products, there’s also an insane amount of chocolate scented things: chocolate candles, incense, room spray, perfume, etc… The brownie incense we have drives me wild! And of course, you could always score extra points by baking with chocolate and filling your home with the sweet scent.
• Chocolate & Strawberries: Did I tell you to forget the box of chocolates? Well, get it anyway and melt it down into a creamy treat to dip strawberries in. Chocolate covered strawberries are a wonderful Valentine’s Day tradition that can be very sensual and romantic. She gets the pleasures of being fed the chocolate that she loves, and you get to watch her slowly slide a fruit into her mouth that looks somewhat like the head of a penis. Personally, I love to have a chocolate fondue going and just suck the melty chocolate off of strawberries. I usually don’t eat them until the chocolate is all gone.
• Chocolate Games: Why not have a rousing game of “Strip Chocolate” or play “Truth, Dare, or Chocolate”? A sexy game + chocolate = one hot night for you both!

So, chocolate really isn’t out to steal your fire. Instead of battling it out for the opportunity to pleasures your love, why not work together?

For a while now, I’ve been insecure about the size of my breasts. I’m a very small girl in general and what would be considered “petite”. I’m barely an inch over 5 feet tall and weigh around 95lbs. My bra is a 32B. Well, sometimes it is.

Does it seem to anyone else that bras sizes are poorly regulated? It seems like what size I am depends on what brand I pick out. Of course, it seems like that with clothes, too. The silly thing is, some XS fit me like MED. How messed up is that? I’m not sure if it’s because people are more obese now and women are bigger, but sizes that used to fit me seem bigger now. I’ve been the same height and weight pretty much since 5th grade and I’m 23 now, so that makes absolutely no sense to me.

My husband looking at things behind my back really made my self-esteem take a dive. I hate how every other woman looks bigger than me and I get jealous of their cleavage. I guess at least when I’m old and gray, my boobs won’t be sagging to my waist. Still… I’d just like a little more. Just a couple inches. Is that so much to ask?

I got tired of being frustrated and decided to do some research. There was no way I’d ever consider surgery. Way too many complications and health problems can arise from breast implants. Instead, I spent loads of time researching natural breast enhancement methods and trying to figure out what I should do. After months of researching, debating with myself over methods and products, and lurking a natural breast enhancement forum, I finally decided on a regimen.

I started taking breast enhancement pills that contained lots of herbs that have been used for breast enhancement over the centuries. (No, I’m not going to mention the name. #1 I don’t need to be a walking advert for them. #2 If anyone is thinking of doing NBE, I want you to do some research to find what would work best for you and not go just by what I’ve used.) I started out with 3 pills twice a day, but that was stalling me. That recommendation was for “normal women”, not women of my height/weight ratio. So, I went down to 2 pills twice a day.

Did it work? Well, I think it was starting to, but I gave up buying the pills because I thought it was too expensive. I went on to devise my own plan through individual herbs. Eventually, I figured out the pills were actually cheaper per month, and I’ll be going back to them soon.

The great thing about the brand of pills that I was on was that they regulated my period and made it more bearable. Before, I’d skip months, spot, and have excruciating menstrual pains for days at a time. After I started taking the pills, it was almost like I was on birth control again without the occasional nausea. My period came right on time and it was much better than it ever had been. But..after I thought the pills were too expensive and started my own regimen, my period has been a bit screwy. So, since I’ve figured out that the pills are actually cheaper than my own methods, I’ll be going back to the pills soon. Hopefully, that’ll fix my period again.

Aside from herbs, there are also various methods of massage that can help and even acupuncture. Massage works to boost blood flow to the breasts, increasing their intake of nutrients and herbs in your blood. This also can encourage fatty tissues to develop.

And even if you weren’t interested in NBE, I’d say to massage your breasts anyway. Through breast massage, you can learn to clear your lymph system and get rid of the toxins that may build up in your breasts. I’m not saying it will prevent breast cancer, but it may help keep your breasts healthy. Also, you can improve the tone and keep your breasts from sagging with massage and exercise.

Another way to keep your breasts from sagging? Go bra-less! Contrary to what some may think, going without a bra every once in a while can help strengthen the wall of muscles behind your breasts. Push-up bras may make you look sexy, but wearing them a lot can actually weaken the muscles behind your breasts because they’re not working at all to hold them up. Even though you don’t feel those muscles working to keep your breasts up, they do, and you can’t let them be lazy too much. That’s not to say you can never wear a push-up again. I’m guilty of owning a few myself.

There’s also debate over eating certain foods for breast enhancement. I was doing that while taking the pills the first time. I think it helped, but it drove me nuts! No strawberries, chocolate, oranges, cucumbers…anything deemed a “cooling” food was a no-no. That meant lowering my sugar intake and no booze. Not that booze does anything to me… Seriously you’d think a couple martinis or a glass of whiskey would drop a little thing like me to the floor. Not even a buzz. So, that was easy to give up. The sweets and other foods…that was another story. I still try to eat things with lots of protein, fiber, and omega 3s, but I’ve given up on giving up certain foods. I’ll eat whatever the hell I want and my boobs will still grow. The mind is a powerful thing. If I keep thinking it, it’ll happen and eating those things won’t make any negative difference.

That reminds me, there’s also the option of hypnosis. You need to be diligent and listen to it each night. I have NBE hypnosis mp3s from three different hypnotists and I’m not sure the last time I’ve listened to them. I’ve been terrible with keeping up with my hypnosis. I barely keep up with my massage every morning and night.

So, there’s lots of options you can try if you’re thinking about natural breast enhancement. I’ll try to start keeping some info on my blog about my routine, and also put up some info about various well-known NBE herbs. There are loads of things you can do that are safe, so please take them into consideration before you decide you want surgery.

Yes, NBE can take a long time. I’ve waited 23 years for my breasts to grow a couple more inches, so what’s another year or two? I’m not saying that it’ll take that long. Some women respond even sooner to NBE. From what I’ve heard, though, the smaller you are, the longer it’ll take for your breasts to respond to NBE and the rate of growth will be smaller.

Bottom line, if you decide to try NBE, I wish you the best of luck. If you need any help, feel free to ask. I don’t claim to know everything, but I’ll try to help as best I can.

Since mother nature has decided to drop off my monthly gift today, I figured it would be a good time to examine how menstruation can affect sexual relations and vice versa.

First of all, am I the only one that feels menstruation products can be embarrassing? I mean, I felt like I was wearing a diaper no matter how thin the pad was. Then I switched to tampons, which made me feel like a pull-string doll. There’s no chance of feeling sexy or horny when you feel like a baby or a pull-string doll. Eventually, I ended up with a menstrual cup. That means no embarrassment, leaks, or lots of money spent to get a new pack each month. Problem solved.

Next comes the upset stomach and bloating. You can’t be bloated and still feel sexy. Having an upset stomach at the start of my period in a tiny little apartment is very unpleasant. I hate being gassy and trying not to fart in front of my hubby. Of course, he farts around me all the time, but he doesn’t smell like a dead goat. At least ginger tea helps settle my stomach and tones down the gas. Fennel will help with that, too, and tastes similar to black licorice.

Then comes the pain that just makes me want to curl up in the corner and die. Don’t talk to me, touch me, look at me… ugh… just let me die in peace! You’re not getting any nookie for at least a couple hours. It’s usually a time when I really get to see how much my husband cares for me, though. He fusses over me and constantly tries to make sure I’m as comfortable and happy as possible. That, along with the ginger tea, makes me feel better. Yes, ginger tea is good for menstrual cramps, too. One of my herbal remedy books says it has at least six different pain-relieving compounds and another six anti-cramping compounds. Trust me, it works better than ibuprofen. Every woman is different, though. You might just have to try a few different remedies.

After a couple hours of extreme pain, I’m back to normal except for a slight discomfort and I just might be looking for some fun to relieve that left-over discomfort. The next day, I barely know I’m having my period. (I think it may be due to the herbal regimen I’m on. It actually regulates my period as well as birth control did.) The second day of my period, the horniness starts to kick back in a little and gradually works up.

I think actually having the menstrual cup in me might make me horny, if that makes any sense. I can’t really feel it in me, but I guess the fact that something is blocking the passage for my hubby triggers that I-want-what-I-can’t-have feeling. Sometimes I can leave it out at night if I’m not bleeding badly. If we have sex during my period, it’s usually at night before shower time. (Word of the wise, never put a menstrual cup back in after sex until you’re absolutely sure all of the semen is out of you. If you don’t, it’ll smell really funky.) Other times, I may just leave it in while I play with myself. That way all of the mess stays inside. I never play with any insertable toys anymore when I have my period, because I hate to clean up the mess.

So, is sex ok during my period? Sure. There’s nothing wrong with it aside from a bigger mess than usual. If you want to keep the mess down to a minimum, have your partner straddle you when you’re on your back. Lift your pelvis and wrap your legs around your partner to reduce the flow of blood. A female condom might cut down on the mess, too. I’ve never used one before, though.

Sex during menstruation may actually help some women. Having an orgasm can cause your uterus to contract, which enables it to use up excess prostaglandins in the process. Prostaglandins are hormones that are produced by the uterus and help to stimulate contractions that move the blood out. They’re also the nasty little buggers that cause all the pain and cramping.

If you’re worried that having sex may have screwed up your period because it stopped suddenly, don’t freak out. It’s natural and can happen to some women. What mostly likely happened is that orgasm increased the number of contractions in your uterus to the point that your body produced a load of prostaglandins and expelled your menstrual blood a little quicker than normal. Yes, orgasm can actually speed up menstruation and even stop or start it. It’s happened a couple times that I’ve been late a couple days, had sex, and then had my period a couple hours to a day later.

Even though sex during your period can help, there are a couple myths that need to be addressed. First, don’t believe the myth that you can’t contract an STD during your period. Also, many woman may experience herpes outbreaks during their periods, which increases the chances of transmitting it to someone else. Always use condoms or dams! And, though very unlikely, you can still get pregnant during your period. So, that means you better have condoms ready if you’re not ready for kids.

One more thing, some people may think having sex during your period is gross. This can stem from the belief from different cultures and faiths that menstrual blood is “dirty”. It could also be that they have a fear of blood, or that they just plain find it gross to have sex during your period. So, just keep that in mind and discuss things with your partner before you decide to have sex or play around during your period.

I’m sure some of you may remember watching your grandmother diligently working to knit a shawl or something nice and cozy for someone they love. Well, if granny saw what knitting has turned into today, she’d get the shock of her life.

No longer the hobby of elderly housewives, knitting has become a hit with the younger generation. What exactly does that mean? It means knitting has gone naughty. Now you can find patterns of everything from lingerie and sexy clothing to whips and fishnet stockings! Silky strands and soft bamboo yarns are infiltrating craft stores as these naughty knitters seek out sensual materials for their craft.

But let’s not call it a “craft”. Searching through the internet and paging through numerous books, I’ve found many projects that are stunning works of art. Patterns for beautiful corsets and intricate camisoles abound. How I would love to knit some of those corsets. I only know the more simple stitches, though.

I have made a few things, though. I started out with a simple halter top and worked my way up to a laced bra and thong set. Of course, I couldn’t leave my husband out of the loop. After his vasectomy, he got a Willy Warmer with a nice twirling pattern over the front. It was originally supposed to be knit in a round with three needles, but I managed to figure it out by flattening it and doing it with only two. For those of you who don’t know, a Willy Warmer is simply a knitted penis cozy. I’ll try to put the pattern up on my blog soon.

Can knitting help your sex life? I think so. Lingerie made of linen yarn can be very sensual to the touch. Plus, you can always hide the picture and name of the pattern while you’re knitting to make your lover wonder what you’re making. It’s a great way to tease the hell out of a curious partner. Knitting your own lingerie can also be cheaper and you’re able to tailor it to fit you just right. Add in the fact that you’ve spent so much time and effort on a garment to show off just to your lover, and you’ll definitely reap the benefits. Plus, you can sometimes knit an entire outfit in one evening. A set of pasties, a thong, and a choker wouldn’t take long at all to knit.

So, do a search on “naughty knitting” or just go to the bookstore. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see what you can find.