Who doesn’t hate looking down at their nails only to find nasty yellow stains? You could always hide them in your pockets. I prefer a better, more permanent solution. I’ve made the horrible mistake of leaving my polish on too long only to remove it and find yellow looking nails. So how do I fix the problem?
Don’t worry. You don’t have to resort to chemicals or expensive treatments at a nail salon. Just dig through your kitchen and bathroom and you’re ready for gorgeous, whiter nails. Stop hiding your nails and try some of these amazing nail whitening hacks.
Prepare Your Nails
I know you’re excited to get rid of the yellow, but be patient. You have to prep your nails first. Spending just a few minutes on prep makes all of these hacks that much more effective.
Start by removing any polish and washing your hands. I know it’s scary leaving your nails bare right now, but they’ll be white soon. Grab your favorite nail buffer and buff each nail for a few seconds so the treatment penetrates deeper.
Now, you’re all prepped and ready to start whitening. See, it was quick and easy.
Lemon Juice to the Rescue
Lemons aren’t just for flavoring water and food. They’re your best friend for whiter nails. Okay, I need to throw in a quick disclaimer here. Lemons are acidic. If you have any dry, cracked skin around your nails, these treatments will sting a little.
My favorite part of using lemons is you have several lemon based treatments to choose from.
Keep it simple by putting lemon juice on a cotton ball and rubbing it on your nails. You could also just rub a lemon wedge on them instead. This is as simple as it gets. Plus, who doesn’t like a fresh lemony scent?
Leave the juice on 10 minutes or let it dry and stay on overnight. It’s completely up to you.
Need a deeper clean? Yeah, I’ve been there too. Just make a lemon paste from lemon juice and baking soda. Use a toothbrush to scrub onto your nails and wait for 10 minutes. Rinse and enjoy the thrill of whiter nails.
Brush Your Nails
Brushing your nails sound a little strange? Don’t brush off this idea just yet. I keep a travel sized tube of whitening toothpaste on hand just for cleaning my nails.
Get an old toothbrush and any whitening toothpaste. Brush your nails gently for a few minutes and let them sit for 5-10 minutes. Just like that, you have minty fresh nails that are white and shiny.
Buff Away Stains
If you’re really lucky, you might get to stop with the pre-treat stage. I usually wait too long, but if your nails are just starting to get a yellow tinge, it’s buffing time! Spend approximately 20-30 seconds per nail.
Don’t give in to the temptation to paint them all over again just yet. Give your nails some time to breathe. Not literally of course, but air helps prevent yellowing.
Denture Soak
You might not have denture tablets on hand, but they’re useful for more than just cleaning false teeth. Don’t be embarrassed to buy them. I’m always happy to tell cashiers about my DIY nail whitening treatment.
Prep the tablets based on the package. Try to buy whitening tablets. They’ll work much better.
Dip your nails in the denture soak and relax for 10-15 minutes. You might need to do this once a day for several days for full whitening.
White Vinegar for Whiter Nails
I know it smells, but it works so well. Besides, what’s worse? Smelling vinegar for a few minutes or hiding your nails all day? Vinegar it is.
Only do this with white vinegar or you’ll worsen the stain. Apply undiluted vinegar to a cotton ball and rub over your nails. Let your nails dry. If the smell bothers you, rinse after 10 minutes.
I prefer to soak my nails in a small bowl, but the smell is rather strong. Try it both ways to see which works best for you.
Hydrogen Peroxide Soak
No first aid kit is complete without hydrogen peroxide to clean the wound. The wonder disinfectant also whitens nails. I know, I was surprised at first too.
Mix three parts water with one part hydrogen peroxide and soak your nails for at least 10 minutes. Don’t worry if the water bubbles a little. This just means the solution is doing its job.
Deep Clean With Baking Soda
Your favorite odor eater is a natural nail whitener. Steal a little from your fridge to rid yourself of those icky yellow stains.
Mix water and baking soda until you get a thick paste. I always make mine extra thick so it stays on better. Rub it onto your nails and get ready for some quality TV time. This treatment has to stay on for 30 minutes. Plenty of time for your favorite sitcom.
Beautiful Nails With Strawberries
It’s so hard not to eat all the strawberries before they reach my nails. Go ahead and set a bowl to the side to snack on. All you need is three or four to treat your nails.
Strawberries don’t just whiten your teeth. They also whiten nails. I like the simple method best. Cut a strawberry in half and rub the inside against your nails.
If this doesn’t work for you, add in a power boost with baking soda. Smash three or four strawberries in a bow and mix with one teaspoon of baking soda. Apply to your nails and leave on for up to 10 minutes.
I love doing this as part of my mani-pedi. It smells wonderful and keeps my nails looking beautiful.
Essential Oil Saves the Day
We’ve made it back to lemons for this one. Skip the fruit this time and pick up some lemon essential oil. It’s a little less harsh, so I recommend trying this one if the other lemon treatments sting too much.
Add three drops to a small bowl of water and soak your nails for 10 minutes. Rinse when you’re done.
I know no one wants to think about fungal infections, but they do wreak havoc on nails. If the yellowing is from an infection, don’t fear. Use tea tree oil instead of lemon oil. You get a natural treatment for both the yellowing and the infection. It’s a win-win!
Prevent Yellowing
You’ve finally got the yellow stains gone. A week later and the stains are back. I’ve been there and it makes you feel helpless. It’s okay. I just changed up my nail care routine a bit and now yellowing is rare.
Find your favorite whitening treatment and use every time you remove your polish or after doing anything that tends to stain your nails.
I know you love your nail polish, but take a break now and again. Try not to leave any polish on for more than 10 days. Let your nails have a 24 hour vacation before you cover them up again.
Don’t forget to give yourself a regular manicure. The buffing portion removes build up so your nails stay cleaner and stains stay far away. Do all this and I promise you’ll notice less yellowing over time.
I challenge you to take your hands out of your pockets. Show off your nails with pride. A few quick whitening treatments and you’ll have white nails that’ll make all your friends jealous. What are you waiting for? Whiten those nails!
Month: June 2015
Categories
Are You Relationship Ready?
If I had to pick one question that I get asked most often by my patients it would be, “Am I ready for a relationship?” Week after week I sit with forlorn and lovesick people who are desperate to find love and terrified that they never will.
The inquiring minds on my couch want to know:
-Can I trust my judgment?
-Will I pick the wrong person and get hurt?
-Am I lovable?
-Will I ever meet that special someone?
Coming out of bad breakups, divorce, and toxic relationships, the men and women I see have eroded self-trust and a lack of confidence in their ability to find and sustain a healthy, loving relationship.
Most of us never get the education or role modeling we need when we’re young to manage our interpersonal relationships as adults. As a result we fumble and blindly stumble through relationship after relationship until we finally begin to realize that there might be a better way.
“Relational health” is not a familiar concept for most people, yet it’s the cornerstone of well-being for all of us. Your relational health is defined as the quality of your interpersonal relationships with the barometer being your own sense of happiness.
As a human being, you’re wired for love and connection, and you were evolutionarily designed to connect and bond. Because of this you will do anything to feel connected, including engaging and staying in unhealthy dynamics to preserve the attachment to a partner.
In essence, your relationships are crucial to your survival in the same way a baby needs a caregiver to stay alive.
How did something that’s supposed to be so natural become such a struggle?
The reality is that we’re complicated and so are our lives. What we think we want and what we actually need are often very different. I have had patients come in with lists that look like scrolls containing all of the qualities and characteristics they’re looking for in a partner.
He has to be funny, responsible, kind, and handsome. She has to be fit, ambitious, witty, and artistic. This is what they’ve been taught to look for and value in another human being, and what they think will ultimately make them happy with that partner.
These are what I call the conscious qualities that we look for in someone, but there are unconscious qualities that live out of awareness. The unconscious qualities are not in consciousness because they have either never been brought to awareness or we don’t feel entitled to want them.
Below your conscious thinking lives a whole world of unmet needs, unwelcome feelings, and some of your own characteristics that were never appreciated or nurtured.
The truth is that most of us live as partial versions of ourselves and look for someone to complete us. We search for the missing pieces of our most authentic self in a potential partner with the hope that we will feel whole once we’re partnered and in a relationship.
This is the “you complete me” syndrome, where the hope of one or both partners is to become whole in the relationship.
Two halves usually make a whole, but when it comes to relationships each partner needs to be fully whole for optimal relational health. The most authentic and fulfilling relationships will come from finding the person who compliments and supports your most authentic self.
If you have an unconscious need for freedom you’ll do best with someone who can tolerate distance and your independence. If you unconsciously fear abandonment you will need to find someone who has the capacity to be present and available.
While this sounds fairly straightforward, it’s only possible to get this right if those unconscious needs, feelings, and parts of yourself are brought to awareness. When they remain repressed you unconsciously seek to repair your childhood wounds by re-enacting the same dysfunctional dynamics with a partner.
Instead of finding a stable and responsible partner you’ll find an unavailable partner and spend months or years trying to feel safe with someone who can’t give you what you need.
Taking the time for introspection and doing a deep dive to truly understand your relationship history is a first step toward relational health.
The high rate of divorce and the ever-increasing numbers of people waiting longer to get married tell us that rushing into a relationship is not always a good way to go.
If you have the time and patience in your life to actually prepare for your next relationship, you’ll increase your chances of sustaining a fulfilling and long-term partnership with someone who is good for you.
We all want to believe that love just happens, but it doesn’t.
You have to seek love, but you’ll never find it if you haven’t first found yourself. When you know yourself deeply, and when you can embrace your humaneness, loving another human being becomes possible.
Without introspection and a deep understanding of who you are and what you need, real love will evade you.
Categories
Don't Be Afraid To Skip Breakfast
“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”
This is an all-too-common phrase that I secretly dislike, as the supposed benefits of eating this traditional morning meal have been totally misconstrued by both health experts and enthusiasts.
Skipping breakfast has repeatedly been said to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, unhealthy weight gain, and even obesity. What most people don’t realize is that these claims are largely driven by misrepresentations of only a handful of studies linking breakfast skipping to negative side effects on blood glucose (sugar), insulin (the hormone responsible for lowering blood glucose), and metabolism (the rate at which you burn calories).
While these lines of reasoning may seem relatively straightforward and somewhat believable, this isn’t at all the case.
The reality is, skipping breakfast actually helps your body function in ways that promote safe and effective weight loss, long-term weight management, and overall good health.
On both a personal and professional level, I can definitely attest to this.
For years, I’ve regularly incorporated a lifestyle of intermittent fasting, where I essentially skip breakfast on most days of the week. Instead, I’ll opt for a protein-packed, healthy, fat-rich snack for lunch (Greek yogurt with nuts) followed by a big, nutrient-dense dinner. Although I’m a pretty healthy gal who has maintained a vigorous cardio and weight lifting routine for nearly 20 years, I can honestly say that eating this way has greatly improved the way I look and feel.
Skipping breakfast as part of an intermittent fasting lifestyle has been clearly proven to reduce body weight, body fat percentage, and waist girth. Who wouldn’t give up an inch or two of belly fat? You can also find comfort and trust me when I say that dropping the morning meal will not adversely affect your metabolism. It’s actually quite the opposite, since doing so can substantially boost your metabolic potential to burn fat.
Let’s break all of this down a bit.
If you normally sleep overnight, your body’s tendency to burn fat is at its most intense in the morning, as you’ve essentially “fasted” for 6-8 hours. In the fasted state, the body constantly breaks down stored fat and essentially converts it into useable or “burnable” energy. In other words, the body “feasts” on its own stored fat.
Interestingly enough, your body will continue to use stored fat until your fast is “broken” with breakfast. In this light, extending your fast by skipping the morning meal is actually ideal for weight loss and long-term weight management, as the body’s overall fat-burning capabilities are greatly maximized.
To fully understand what I’ve explained here, you must first understand one simple concept: Breakfast literally means “breaking the fast” that your body generally undergoes while you’re asleep.
In this light, breakfast is not a meal; it’s a notion, turned tradition, turned trend.
To suggest that everyone in the world should eat breakfast in the morning is to assume that everyone operates on the same stereotypical clock. What about the many professionals who work overnight shifts, as I did during my years as an undergraduate student?
Since there is a general lack of context behind the word breakfast, most people don’t even realize that a fast can be broken at any time of the day or night. As such, there’s no reason why you can’t enjoy breakfast at noon, 3:00 p.m., or even at dinnertime if you so choose.
Now, what about the idea that skipping breakfast (as the morning meal) can negatively affect blood glucose and insulin levels?
Well, unbeknownst to many, in the absence of a morning meal, blood glucose levels are very well maintained by breaking down glycogen, which is the stored form of glucose that’s mainly housed in the liver and muscle. In fact, the average person can hold about 2,000 calories of stored glycogen, which is enough to fuel about two hours of high-intensity exercise training.
Once the liver and muscle cells have met their storage capacity for glycogen, any remaining glucose is converted to triglycerides (fat) and stored in adipose tissue, primarily as visceral fat. But, remarkably, skipping breakfast can actually improve insulin’s ability to store larger amounts of blood glucose as liver and muscle glycogen, which greatly reduces the likelihood of unnecessary fat storage and ultimately belly fat accumulation.
Now, I didn’t write this article to convert you to a lifelong breakfast skipper. My goal is for you to feel empowered and inspired enough to dismiss some of the “rules” that may have been instilled in your head regarding how and when you should be eating.
In reality, the presumptive value of breakfast has never been clearly proven, and much of the evidence surrounding its overall importance is actually contradictory.
While the notion of skipping breakfast may sound unorthodox to some, it’s a way of life for many, as we all have different schedules, lifestyles, and preferences. For people like me, eating in the morning isn’t all that essential. For optimal health, what matters most is your total nutrient intake (carbohydrates, fats, protein, vitamins, and minerals) and diet quality over the course of each day.
That’s it!
An abundance of research has proven that you can successfully manage your weight and maintain good health by eating as little as one–or as many as seven–meals a day, so long as you’re obtaining adequate amounts of all essential nutrients, while meeting, but not overshooting, your daily calorie needs.
So, if you’re truly not a fan of breakfast, rest assured, embrace your personal preferences, and do what works best for you.
It’s no secret that American portion sizes are out of control.
According to the National Institute of Health, food portions in America’s restaurants have doubled, and in some cases, tripled in the last few decades. The increased helpings of soda, burgers and ice cream (among many other high-calorie offenders) have grown concurrently with our increasing waistlines.
Some don’t seem too worried about it, though. In fact, certain fast food chains have leaned into our culture of ever increasing portions and are celebrating them.
Right now, Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. are proudly advertising a new burger dressed with a hot dog and potato chips. It’s touted as “The Most American Thick Burger.”
The burger is sold under the guise of camp. You know what I mean if you’ve seen the commercial. It’s over-the-top machismo and patriotism. It’s culinary manifest destiny. As Americans, we need, nay, deserve a burger that’s 1,190 calories and has 3,170mg of sodium for no other reason than, “‘Murrica!”
They’re not the only culprits either. The Olive Garden offers a Never Ending Pasta Bowl. Arby’s recently offered a sandwich called “The Meat Mountain.” TGI Fridays has promoted Endless Appetizers. “Man vs Food,” a show built around the idea of one regular guy eating obscene amounts of food, ran for four seasons.
The list goes on and on.
The message is simple: bigger is better. It’s your right, and duty, to seek more even if you don’t really need it. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a home, car or burger. You’re an American and that means more.
This sentiment didn’t necessarily start from a bad place. When immigrants came to this country to start new lives, like my great-great grandparents, there was a comparative embarrassment of riches. It didn’t seem like such a bad thing to have extra food around or to be able to feed your children second helpings.
That attitude persisted throughout the decades, but the context was lost. Lives became more comfortable and the bounty increased…and increased. Many Americans of a certain class were never really in danger of missing a meal, but it didn’t stop them from eating like it.
I’ve seen this sort of thing first hand.
I grew up in the Upper Midwest, and there was peculiar sort of pride in gastronomic feats. “Who wants seconds?” was a common phrase. Dads slapped their sons on the back and exclaimed to family and friends, “Can you believe how much this kid puts away!” Cleaning your plate of a huge portion of meat and several sides and asking for more was not seen as over indulgence. It was seen as growing boys and girls eating a hearty meal, dontcha know!
It extended to restaurants as well. I can’t really think of a time where my family went out to eat at a small, “fancy” restaurant. Generally, we went to chain restaurants. Instead of eating a realistically portioned, quality dish and learning about cuisine, we were treated to all you can eat fried shrimp and giant burgers.
I learned to equate the quality of food with the amount of food for the lowest price. Those places were thought of as “good” restaurants because you could eat as much as you could stomach for $13.99 a person.
And woe unto the people with modest appetites. I wasn’t a bigger eater as an adolescent, and I was tacitly made to feel about it. I don’t think it was born out of conscious or malicious decisions by my friends and family, but I definitely noticed.
I noticed when my friends would look at my plate and exclaim with incredulity, “It looks like you barely ate anything!” I noticed when my mom’s friend told me flatly, “You need to eat more.” I noticed when my dad would laugh about my brother’s appetite and tell friends, “Yeah, he can eat!”
I felt like I wasn’t living up to some mythical Midwestern ideal for not clearing my plate occasionally. Not only that, I started to feel like I was wasting food even though I shouldn’t have been trying to eat that much in the first place.
That’s the problem. These things are sinister in their subtleness. Well, not that Hardee’s commercial. There’s nothing subtle about that. Anyway, these attitudes are cloaked in good-natured concern. My parents never worried about feeding us too much; they worried about feeding us enough. But how were they to know what was actually enough?
Furthermore, those lessons weren’t exactly great to internalize at an impressionable age. Sure, it’s fine when you’re a growing teenager with a sky-high metabolism, but, as you get older, it catches up with you. It took years to deprogram my preconceived notions. I had no idea what a healthy portion looked like until I took an interest in food and started cooking for myself.
So, if our fast food chains really insist that “Murrica!” is enough of an excuse to eat, why not exercise some real American values like education and self-reliance? Educate yourself about proper portions and learn to cook yourself at least one meal a week that won’t induce a heart attack.
I promise, after a while, you won’t even miss that burger.
Categories
Prep Those Piggies for Sandal Season
It’s the season of sandals and bare feet. I love summer and usually count down the days until I’m able to start wearing my favorite sandals and flip flops. After months of hiding my tootsies in boots and sneakers, they don’t always look their best.
Dry, cracked heels along with yellowing nails don’t exactly look great. What should you do? I’ve seen the socks with sandals routine. That’s not the solution. I have my own routine for getting my feet sandal ready and I’m happy to share it with you.
Say Goodbye to Old Polish
I’m not sure why, but I still like to polish my toenails now and again during the winter months. I’m the only one who sees them, but it makes me feel good anyway. The only problem is I’m bad to leave the polish on longer than I should.
Start your summer prep by removing any left over polish. You want clean nails for the next steps.
Pamper with a Soak
Find a comfortable place to soak your feet. I love this step best because it’s so relaxing. It’s easy to just sit back, enjoy the warm water, and read a book.
Start by quickly washing your feet with your regular body wash, especially if you’ve had them in shoes all day.
Fill a small tub or basin with warm water. Don’t use hot or you’ll dry your feet out. I add a little baking soda and a few drops tea tree oil to mine. Pick whatever essential oil you like best. After the initial summer prep soak, I usually use lavender.
I use tea tree oil to help whiten my nails and fight off any bacteria in case the yellowing is from a mild fungal infection. Essential lemon oil works well for whitening nails too.
Shut out any distractions and soak your feet for 15-30 minutes. If the water starts getting cold, you’re all done. Gently dry your feet with a soft towel and you’re all ready for the next step.
Scrub Away Dry Skin
A soak doesn’t rid you of dry, flaky skin on your feet. I highly recommend exfoliating your feet as soon as you finish soaking them. This makes it much easier to scrub away dry skin without hurting your feet.
Use a pumice stone or your favorite foot scrub. I sometimes use a mixture of sugar and olive oil. It exfoliates well and moisturizes.
Don’t scrub until your feet bleed! Give your feet a break if there’s still dry skin left. Wait several days and repeat the process. You don’t have to make them perfect in a single day.
Soothe and Moisturize
Still have some dry spots or calluses left? This step helps with that. Rinse any foot scrub away completely and pat dry your feet. Left over residue could dry out your feet and you definitely don’t want that.
Apply a thick layer of moisturizer on your feet. I prefer shea butter or a Vitamin E based cream. Thicker moisturizers are ideal for your feet. Ideally, you should moisturize every single day. Trust me when I say your feet will love you for it.
Take your time and massage the moisturizer into your feet. I usually spend several minutes indulging myself in a much needed foot massage. Put on a pair of thick cotton socks to lock in the moisture. You can leave the socks on all night or just for an hour or two.
Did I mention you should probably do all of this right before bed? You’ll probably be so relaxed that you’ll be ready to fall asleep as soon as you’re done.
Tackle Your Toenails
Your feet look and feel amazing, but your toes aren’t quite as pretty. I always like to put on some music and sing along while I give myself a nice at home pedicure.
Lay out all your tools so you don’t have to keep getting up and down during the process. Get an emery board, cuticle oil, cuticle stick or cutters and nail buffer. If you can find one, I love using those four sided nail tools that file edges, smooth ridges, buff nails and shine them.
You’re supposed to start by shaping your nails, but I always do my cuticles first. Apply some cuticle oil and let it sit according to the package’s directions. This softens your cuticles so it doesn’t hurt to push them down or cut away the excess. Wash off the cuticle oil before proceeding. If your cuticles aren’t a problem, skip this step.
I know you’ve always been told to shape your nails with rounded edges, but don’t follow this advice for toenails. I’ve made this tragic mistake and had the painful ingrown nails to prove it doesn’t work.
Trim your toenails to your desired length and file the edges into a square shape. I round the edges slightly just so they’re not sharp.
Next, buff away ridges and any stains with a nail buffer. I love using the ridge and buff sections on the four way file. Spend at least 10 seconds per nail. If you’re like me, you might need another 10 seconds on your big toes.
If you’re not planning to polish your nails right away, use the shine section of the four way tool or a nail shine buffer next. It works the same way as the regular buffing step. I like the natural shine it gives my nails. It’s like you have clear polish on them. Try it sometime and I guarantee you’ll love it.
Add Some Color
It’s not just the season of sandals. It’s the season of expressive toenails. There’s no socks to hide your feet during the summer. Get out your brightest polish and have fun.
I know you just want to get down to business, but don’t forget one extremely important step. Apply a base coat first. It only takes a few extra minutes and it helps prevent yellowing or staining from darker polishes.
Apply two coats of your favorite color. Let it dry completely between steps. I find it’s a great time to catch up on my way too full DVR.
Finish off your nails with a protective topcoat. I use a shimmery topcoat on mine to add that extra bit of sparkle.
Don’t forget you don’t have to just paint your nails. I love checking out ideas on Pinterest before I start. They don’t always turn out perfectly, but I’ve had some incredible results after a little trial and error.
Maintaining the Look
I see far too many women start hiding their feet about half way through the summer season. Why? They forgot to maintain their feet. I wish it was a one-time deal too, but it takes work to have cute feet the entire season.
Start by moisturizing your feet every night. If you’re going to wear sandals or go barefoot outside, apply moisturizer with SPF 15 or higher before you go out. I’ve had burnt toes and it’s not pleasant.
Finally, treat yourself to a foot soak along with the exfoliation and massage once a week. We all need this little bit of pampering, not just for our feet, but to reduce stress.
My feet are all ready for their summer debut. Are yours?
There are plenty of risks associated with not getting enough sleep. At the same time, there are plenty of studies that Ambien, the most popular sleep aid in the country, has some pretty serious risks of its own. So, it feels a bit like a Catch-22. Perhaps the answer is not in a drug but in finding other ways to fall asleep and stay asleep.
Personally, I’ve found that diet and lifestyle choices affect my sleep more than anything else. Eating certain foods too late in the evening, or even eating a large meal can keep me from sleeping well. Alcohol certainly doesn’t help me sleep either. One glass of wine doesn’t hurt, but more than that and I’ll be tossing and turning instead of sleeping soundly.
Before resorting to medications that could cause more harm than good, try a few more natural approaches. Sure, everyone is different, but chances are, one or more of these simple tips will help ease you into the good nights sleep you deserve.
- Be Good to Your Gut: Avoid eating large meals late in the day. This decreases the likelihood of heartburn or indigestion keeping you awake. [LL1] Keep dinner small and eat no later than two hours before bed.
- Herbal Help: Drink an herbal tea before bed that includes a combination of tulsi, ashwagandha, chamomile, skullcap, and valerian root. Valerian root alone is known to be a good sleep aid. The others help fight stress, making it easier to relax.
- Take a Bath: The magnesium in Epsom salt helps relax muscles, and going from the warm bath to a cool room helps your body temperature drop. A lower body temperature actually helps you sleep better.
- Cool the Room: You will fall asleep and sleep better in a colder room. Consider setting your thermostat timer to decrease the temperature by five degrees at bedtime. Alternatively, sleep with only a sheet and forgo the heavy blankets.
- Lights Out: Cover any lights on your electronics with tape so that the light is not visible in the dark. Even the smallest light can keep you from sleeping well.
- Screens Off: An hour before bed, turn off all electronics. The flickering and brightness of the screens will often prevent your brain from shutting down.
- Dim Your Reader: If you read on an e-book device turn the brightness down as low as possible, and flip the colors so that you are reading white text on a black background.
- Stock Up on Protein: If you often wake up hungry in the middle of the night, eat a small protein-rich snack just before going to bed. Avoid heavy carbs that will keep your stomach working. A handful of almonds, or macadamia nuts, is your best choice.
- Exercise: Those who get regular exercise during the day (but not right before bed) typically report better sleep. Consider going for a brisk walk after dinner.
- Stick to a schedule: When you have trouble sleeping it’s often easy to just try to stay up until you can’t stand it anymore, but that will actually make your sleep problems worse. Go to bed and get up at the same time every day.
I’d love to say that I stick to all of these religiously, but I don’t, which is probably why I end up taking Ambien occasionally. There are a few of these that even Ambien won’t overcome (like alcohol and eating too much).
I have found that sticking to a regular bedtime schedule and routine definitely helps me sleep better. About an hour before I want to be asleep I turn off the television and take a nice warm bath with Epsom salts, while drinking my herbal tea. After the bath I climb in bed with my tablet and read an ebook (white text on black background with the brightness set as low as possible) until I fall asleep. With any luck I stay asleep (more or less) until morning.
Do you have any other tips for improving sleep naturally? If so, share them in the comments below.
I get really attached to fiction.
I felt deep, impending dread (*spoiler alert*) as Gus rapidly declines in John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars. I was a weeping willow when Ronnie’s ailing father writes her a final letter in Nicholas Sparks’ The Last Song. And I also seriously sat in a puddle of my own tears when Henry dies in Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife.
And it’s not just books. It’s TV shows and movies, too. Just within the past month I had a serious scare… I’d finally recovered from losing Rachel, Ross, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler and Monica back in ’04 when a couple similar rom-com-ish comedies popped up in 2012. So when FOX cancelled my favorite one, The Mindy Project, this season? Let’s just say that I held my breath for days until Hulu picked it up.
Grieving fictional characters isn’t uncommon — whether it’s their passing within the context of a show or book, or simply when their storylines up and end. Psychologists have found that, following these sorts of conclusions, people are often faced with an identity crisis: What now? How do I fill this hole in my life?
When Lost ended back in 2010, I suddenly had to fill that weekly timeslot and the hours and hours I spent post-airing dissecting the nuances and deeper meaning of every episode’s plot. When I was just a silly teenager, I may or may not have read and re-read the Twilight series because I couldn’t stand the thought of life without Edward Cullen. (Little misguided, yes, I will admit, but… ah, nostalgia.)
Researchers from American University discovered that TV megafans struggle in the wake of such fictional losses. “Fans who have come to really love and care for their ‘friends’ on TV experience their loss is just like real-life breakups,” explains researcher Cristel Russell. “This loss is dealt with in ways that are similar to physical loss by seeking others who feel the same way and finding ways to remember the good times they had when the show was alive.”
Sometimes you need to cry, sometimes you binge read or binge watch other stuff to fill the time, and sometimes you endlessly discuss the past with your fellow fangirls (or guys). All are acceptable. Some hardened folks might call people who lament the losses of fictional characters totally ridiculous. But personally, I think it’s perfectly okay.
Back in college, as an English major, I studied novels solely for their literary merit. I spent hours upon hours analyzing what messages could be gleaned from a single word in a story, or specific arrangement of sentences. We were taught to dissect the text line by line, aiming to understand how the language enhanced meaning or created mood.
I learned there was no room for emotional connection in great literature. But I was a bad student.
If a book doesn’t cause me to feel something in my chest or gut, somewhere down in my core, no matter what standing it occupies among my professors and other literary critics, I pretty much toss it on the trash heap. I couldn’t tell you where I was, what I felt or what I thought while reading any book or watching any TV show or film — unless it moved me, caused me to consider or tugged at my heartstrings.
I remember sitting in the back seat of my parents’ car as I closed Pride & Prejudice, realizing happily that I was a little headstrong like Elizabeth Bennett. I remember tearing up at the conclusion of Friends with my mom, as we watched the final shot of the gang exiting an empty apartment. And I remember walking out of the theater after the final Harry Potter film, thinking that my childhood had officially ended. It was sad. But it was also great.
Fiction should move you, making you think or feel or act. And there is nothing wrong with connecting to the human experience, fictional or real — which is why you should never apologize for breaking down into tears at the end of a great work of art.
Good fiction accomplishes a range of outcomes, from considering deep philosophical questions to making you feel less alone in your experiences. You invest. You come to know the characters, you see the world from their perspective.
It’s a special form of connection, and the closest thing you’ll get to mind-reading: you see inside a character’s thoughts. It’s sort of like Atticus tells Scout early in To Kill a Mockingbird, something she only fully understands at the conclusion while standing on Boo Radley’s porch in the novel’s final moments. “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.
Which is kind of amazing. Really.
Fictional characters help remind us what it means to be human. And even though they’re not real, they lessons you learn as a result of knowing them certainly are.
So, you just cry it out. And then appreciate what that book (or movie or show) gave you.
The term ‘transracial’ has been discussed in the news a lot recently. Some people in the media are saying it’s synonymous with transgender. However, to compare the two (transracial and transgender) is impossible.
For starters, transracial is an adjective that describes a certain type of adoption process, not a person. Secondly, when discussing the association between multiple races it’s crucial that we know the difference between racial and ethnic identification.
It’s interesting how, in our culture today, the accessibility between our race and someone else’s is so fluid. Take the millennial generation for instance. How many kids have adopted the black culture even when they are not African-American? They mimic cultural facets like hip-hop, hairstyles, slang, and dress, which have all become acceptable by society.
But it can become problematic. Anita Thomas, a health and psychology researcher at Loyola University Chicago, reaffirms the difficulty that comes with racial identification. Many kids brought up in a culture that isn’t within their set ethnicity may feel that they can’t relate to people of their own race.
But where is the line between adopting a culture and completely identifying with one race over another?
Ample amounts of research reveal that most individuals recognize their socially assigned race, even if internally they relate with a differing ethnicity. So when do these feelings go too far, and why has “transracial” suddenly become a buzzword?
Rachel Dolezal, the former NAACP Spokane, Washington chapter president, has recently been under fire for claiming to be African-American. Consequently her favorite word is transracial; it’s the crutch to her entire story. Again, transracial is being used incorrectly in her argument since it refers to adoptions NOT the race you identify with most.
The fallout she’s been experiencing is due to her deceitful behavior and motive for advancing her career and placement within her community. Dolezal has participated in various interviews and shuts down the argument that her identification was for selfish purposes.
“[At five years old] I was drawing self-portraits with the brown crayon instead of the peach crayon and black curly hair, [that’s how I was identifying myself]…As much as this discussion has somewhat been at my expense recently, and in a very sort of viciously inhumane way come out of the woodwork, the discussion is really about what it is to be human. I hope that that can drive at the core of definitions of race, ethnicity, culture, self determination, personal agency and, ultimately, empowerment.”
Critics argue that entirely eliminating one’s previous race and assigning another to themselves is merely another element of white privilege, and that “even if someone identifies as another race, they have the luxury of dodging the burdens that come with.” (Essence)
In the past, African Americans who have lighter skin have passed as white to escape oppression. Overall, people are rather ambivalent regarding what race you identify with or even try to pass yourself off as. However, when you begin to completely deceive people for personal gain, this is when problems arise. “Someone who crosses racial boundaries from a privileged one to a marginalized one is much more likely to do so for political purposes or to profit from minority culture.” (The Guardian.com)
Let’s again take Dolezal. She appears to be benefiting from identifying as black without having to experience “a lifetime of racism,” and she’s able to shed this persona if and when she wants. Her actions would be counterintuitive if she didn’t have the option to relinquish her newfound identity.
On a lesser scale, rappers like Iggy Azalea, Riff Raff, and Eminem all benefit from the privilege of being white. They have culturally appropriated themselves through their lyrics and dialect. Iggy Azalea imbues her tracks with southern hip-hop, which consequently skyrocketed her to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Yet outside of her musical persona she’s just another white, blond woman who has cashed in on the popularity of our age’s obsession with hip-hop culture, which originated and is mainly populated by the African American culture.
So what exactly makes a person the ethnicity they claim to be?
Ethnicity is the makeup that someone receives from their family, society, and media. Your ethnicity could be virtually anything since it’s socially constructed.
Brandi Lindsey, a contemporary transracial expert describes how transracially adopted children struggle with ‘fitting in’ because of their appearance and cultural heritage. This is due to their ethnicity lying somewhere outside their assigned race.
Even though race is socially constructed as well, we don’t have the luxury of refusing our assigned race because many times it’s undeniable. Race comes with very real and concrete benefits and consequences.
So for a moment, let’s entertain the discussion of similarities between transracial and transgender. Proponents of the similarities between the two are stating that race and gender are both social constructs. And this is true. However the validity behind this argument stops there.
Race is based on genetics and biology. If your parents are black then you will be black, if your parents are hispanic then you will be hispanic. To get into the technicalities of biology would be incredibly tedious, but it’s based upon evolution and the regions our ancestors were from.
Gender is not based on biology; it’s a social construct used to differentiate between males and females. This can easily be changed whereas changing races is only accessible to certain people.
To make this more clear lets say we have a black woman named Tiffany and she said that she was white, what would you say? Chances are you’d laugh and not believe her…at all. Transitioning into a different race is a privilege only certain people can tap into. Now lets use Dolezal for another example. She is able to get a tan, a perm, and find certain outfits that help her assimilate into a different race. The difference between our friend Tiffany and Dolezal is that Dolezal can go home and wash off her bronzer, straighten her hair, and call it a day. Tiffany can’t wash off her race, and that’s something that isn’t defined by makeup.
There is no similarity between the two.
In conclusion, the common thread that’s become rather insidious in our society is utilizing the normative white privilege to further personal agendas. On the surface some of these racial identification complexes may seem innocent enough, but there is a deeper rooted psychological defect that needs to be investigated.
Instances in history where a minority has attempted to visually morph into a dominant race has been used as a device for personal gain, whether it was to escape oppression or increase chances for opportunity. To say a person in a well established majority isn’t trying to access a benefit by assimilating into a traditionally oppressed race is false.
If people want to identify with a race other than their own they should be doing it with transparency and tact. But truly, if we want to have a conversation in regards to identifying with a different culture it should be done in the context of ethnicity and race, not through the use of a term reserved for an adoption process. Racial identification is a complex issue that’s been wrought with struggle. However, topics like these frame positive conversations that can hopefully be filled with understanding and compassion.
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Do Toning Shoes Work?
Fitness trends come and go. One of those trends is the tennis shoe which claims to tone your legs and buttocks, referred to as a “toning shoe”. While a toning shoe design does force the legs to work a little more than a shoe with increased stability, toning shoes are often misused and misunderstood.
The main principle behind the design of a toning shoe is to create a shoe that is unstable, forcing you to use your leg muscles to stabilize your body. The action is not extreme, but can strengthen stabilization muscles in the legs and improve balance over time.
Most brands will conduct studies to prove their theory and use the data for advertising. While the data may indeed show increased muscle action while wearing the shoe, it is unrealistic to rely solely on changing your tennis shoes to change your physique. What a toning shoe can do for the body pales in comparison to traditional exercise and diet.
Since the shoes are specifically designed to be unstable, the chance of rolling your ankle, or falling, is much greater. If you plan on wearing toning shoes to your favorite aerobics class you may actually risk injury.
Toning shoes shouldn’t replace exercise. When it comes to relying on the shoe to tone your legs, you really cannot compare a toning shoe with traditional leg exercises. If you planned on trading leg machines for toning shoes you will be very disappointed. For best results, continue lower body exercises and wear toning shoes during regular daily activity.
Changing shoes will not reshape your legs.
Yet, while wearing a toning shoe alone may not reshape your legs, the trendy shoe may inspire more people to increase their activity. Toning shoes can improve physical awareness and give some people the mental boost they need to become more active. No matter what the shoes claim, if the shoes spark activity then they have made a positive impact.
There will always be a new fitness trend or fad. The key is to have realistic expectations. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. There are plenty of fantastic products on the market, but know how to use them to enhance your workouts, not replace them. Remember, there is no great result that comes from little effort. Minor changes normally do not bring about major results.
Although each brand of toning shoe may be shaped differently, their message is similar and many times their claims are exaggerated. Due to these embellished claims, toning shoes are often purchased with high hopes and little understanding of what they actually can and cannot do.
As a result, optimistic consumers either rely too heavily on simply wearing the toning shoes to magically tone their body without exercise, or they use the shoes for the wrong types of exercises when they do workout. While toning shoes do have some benefits, consumers should have more realistic expectations and know how to use them properly.
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Let’s face it, running might be a great workout, but getting started can be really, really hard.
Many beginning runners find it very discouraging that neither their legs, nor lungs, are up to the challenge at first. But if you stick with it you’ll soon find that running not only leads to a healthier lifestyle, but can be very fulfilling too.
If you’ve been struggling to get through the early stages of beginning run training, there are a few things you may be able to do to get you on track, and heading in the right direction.
Invest in a Good Pair of Running Shoes
Nothing has an impact on your overall running experience more than the shoes that you wear while out on the road. That’s why it is so important that you not only buy a proper pair of running shoes, but that you switch them out on a regular basis too. A typical pair of shoes is good for approximately 400-500 miles before they start to lose their cushioning and support.
When you start to notice that your legs aren’t bouncing back they way they should, it’s probably time to go shopping again.
Dress the Part
In addition to keeping your feet happy, wearing the proper clothing can help the rest of your body to stay comfortable while running too. Be sure to purchase running shorts and shirts that incorporate fast-drying technical fabrics rather than cotton. These products are designed to wick moisture away from the body, which helps you to stay dry and regulates your temperature in both hot and cold conditions. And don’t forget to invest in some good running socks, as they can provide extra cushion while also reduce the chances of developing blisters or athletes foot.
Go Slow
Running is such a natural activity that it’s easy for beginners to jump right in, and start seeing results fairly quickly. But it’s important to remember to go slow, pace yourself, and amp up your distance and speed at a gradual pace. It can take some time for your body to adapt to the new demands that you are placing on it, so learn to be patient at first. Over time you can add more mileage, and go at a faster pace, but not until you have established a solid level of cardiovascular fitness, and allowed your muscles of acclimated to running longer distances on a regular basis.
Set Achievable Goals
When first starting out, it’s important to set realistic and achievable goals for yourself. Those goals should reflect your current level of fitness, but also give you something to push for as well.
For instance, beginner runners may not want to think about distances at all, but instead concentrate on time. You could, for example, set a goal of running for five minutes without stopping, and then take a one-minute break, before going it again. Over time, achieving that goal will become easier, at which point you’ll want to extend the duration of the run, and lessen the length of the break. Eventually you’ll be running for extended periods of time without having to stop at all, and covering specific distances will become more important.
By setting smaller goals, you’ll actually be able to achieve what you set out to accomplish, and give yourself something realistic to strive towards.
Stay Hydrated
Runners, more than just about any other athlete, are susceptible to dehydration. This is particularly true as they add more mileage to their workout routine. Make sure that you drink plenty of water before going on a run, and make it a standard practice to rehydrate afterwards too.
Once you start running longer distances, say 5 miles or more, you may want to actually think about hydrating during the run as well. This is especially true if conditions are particularly hot, such as during the summer months or in warm climates. Carrying a water bottle with you will help replenish lost fluids on the go, and keep you running stronger overall.
Don’t Avoid Hills
Admit it, running up hills is tough, and requires a lot of hard work. It’s far easier to find a flat route to run instead, and avoid all of that pain. But running up hills will also push you to train harder, and will work your cardiovascular system and leg muscles to a much higher degree. If you want to improve as a runner, you’ll eventually have to learn to not only live with hills, but love them too.
Change it Up!
A good running routine can be a great way to relieve stress and exert some pent up energy. But when that routine gets stale, it can become a real chore instead.
Mix up your workouts by running different routes. Concentrate on running faster on some days, and longer distances on others. Run in a different part of town just to get some new scenery. The point is that if drudgery sets in running will feel too much like work, and you’ll want to avoid it as much as possible. But if you can find ways to keep it fresh and interesting you’ll end up loving your running routine even more.
Join a Local Running Group
There are literally thousands of local running groups across the U.S., and they can be a great resource for beginning runners. Not only are these groups a great place to gain practical advice, they can turn your workouts into a more social experience too. Most running groups welcome runners of all ages and skill levels, so chances are you’ll find someone else who is a beginner too.
Respect the Rest Day
Rest days are important for runners. They give our bodies time to recover, as well as a bit of a break from the routine. Always try to respect the rest days on your training schedule; they will provide recuperation time for you muscles, as well as your mind. Overtraining can lead to injuries and nagging fatigue, but rest days can help stave off those issues and actually lead to better performance overall. After all, it is hard to run at your best when your legs are exhausted or you’re constantly battling a nagging muscle pull.
Give yourself a break and take at least one or two rest days a week. Your body will thank you.