Month: January 2017

Bizarre Beauty Products That Might Make You Queasy

Post author By HealthyWay Staff Writer
Post date January 19, 2017

Despite what we might like to believe, none of us are perfect. We’re human, which means we don’t always look, smell, or act perfectly. Though there’s no quick fix to change that, most of us have reached for a bevy of beauty products to hide the imperfections.

But if your problems are larger or your proclivities stranger, there are some truly weird products out there that actually help hide the evidence of your imperfections. Here are 16 of the oddest products that really work.

1. Snail Serum

While it’s called a serum, this product actually consists of “snail secretion—basically, slime,” which, as it turns out is not such an odd thing to use for beauty regimens in Asia.

As a matter of fact, it’s pretty popular over there, as far as beauty ingredients are concerned, and it can be found “in serums and face creams as a lightweight hydrator.”

If you’re searching for something to help with anti-aging, snail serum might be the answer for you. Want to give it a try? You might want to take a look at the Dr. Jart Premium Time Returning Serum, which contains 77 percent snail mucus.

2. Foreskin Face Cream

We’ll give you a minute to absorb the fact that this even exists before we tell you just which celebrity touts it. Are you ready? Oprah. That’s right, Oprah Winfrey advocates “face cream made from human foreskins.”

While the label doesn’t boast that the product is made from foreskin, rest assured, the SkinMedica TNS Recovery Complex “is indeed formulated with the discarded foreskins of healthy babies,” according to StyleCaster.

3. Skinfood Black Sesame Hot Mask

The first half of BuzzFeed’s description of this product makes us a tad wary: “a thick, sticky, self-heating black sesame mask.”

The follow-up is a bit better though, as it “exfoliates, softens and smoothes,” which is something we can all use. Thankfully, despite the physical description, it is said to smell really good.

4. The Face Shop Chia Seed Moisture Holding Face Cream

Ch-ch-ch-chia! No? No one remembers that very grating jingle?

Alright, well, apparently you can buy this Chia Seed face cream, which, according to the Urban Outfitters website, contains “freshly germinated chia seeds in water drops that fully hydrate your skin.”

That sounds great, right? It almost makes you forget you’re putting seeds on your face. Apparently, something magical is supposed to happen once the drops touch your skin, they’re suppose to “bust,” and “fully hydrate deeply.”

Alright, that sounds like something we could get on board with—it’s not snail serum, after all.

5. The Face Shop Rice Water Bright Cleansing Light Oil

According to BuzzFeed, this “cleansing oil formulated with rice water from Korea” is lighter than one might anticipate, describing it as “thin and light.”

The rice aspect isn’t forgotten though, which could either be great for you—if you like the “rice-y” smell—or not so much if you’d rather not think about takeout in the middle of your beauty routine.

Then again, when is rice not a good idea? Exactly. So don’t let that turn you off; instead, let it convince you to give it a try.

6. 3 Concept Eyes Real Soft Cleansing Sherbet

This South Korean product is meant for cleansing and it’s oil-free—always a bonus.

Rather than the makeup removers you’re probably used to, “you massage the [‘sherbet’] into your skin and then wash it away with lukewarm water.” Thankfully though, it’s said to work really well, so maybe a non-traditional spin on a common product is worth a look!

7. Amopé Pedi Perfect

Alright, so this is one you probably recognize, even if you’re not a beauty product connoisseur. The Amopé Pedi Perfect frequents the late night infomercial scene, after all.

Allure describes it as a “literal power sander for your feet,” and they’re not wrong. If you’ve seen the commercials, you might have been slightly scared by this fact, as it looks slightly painful. It’s meant to “sand” off your calluses and to sand them off quickly; apparently it’s not painful in the least.

8. Roman + Fields Redefine Amp MD System

So this one is hard to discern just by looking at it, though Allure describes it as looking like “a straight-up medieval torture device (in a cuter color!).”

Truth be told, their description of its functions don’t seem too far off really: “this micro exfoliating roller press tiny holes in your skin.” Don’t worry just yet, it’s only so that your skin can take in the benefits of the serum…If you want to poke holes in your skin though, you do you.

9. Tweezerman Smooth Finish Facial Hair Remover

Now, in case you didn’t think the Amp MD System looked like a torture device, we definitely think this one does. Alternatively, maybe some sort of weird gym equipment?

In any case, this coil is meant to be rolled “over facial hair and [then you] pull it out by the roots.” While that sounds entirely dreadful, Allure claims it actually “works really well, with minimal pain.” If they’re saying it, we might be brave enough to try it.

10. Nuface Trinity Facial Toning Device + Wrinkle Reducer Attachment Bundle

Just let the idea of facial toning device sink in for a minute.

Despite our skepticism about its effectiveness in the realm of toning the skin around your face, its LED lights are said to “penetrate the skin to fight fine lines and discoloration.” That doesn’t sound too far-fetched, and the $429 price tag actually makes us feel slightly more comfortable with the idea of putting this against our face. How about you?

11. Avon Bust Sculpt Contouring Cream

Claiming to “‘firm, sculpt and improve curves’ on your chest,” this cream is meant to firm your bust.

A couple of customers claimed that they could see differences after just a week of usage, with one saying it helped to make her chest “higher and firmer.” It almost sounds too good to be true, but for under $20, who wouldn’t want to at least give it a try?

The manufacturer says that it consists of a “blend of ingredients that forms an invisible network for additional support to the bust area.”

12. Dr Jart+ Pore Medic Pore Minish Cleansing Bubble

If you consider yourself a fan of bubble baths, you might want to give this cleanser a try.

Allure compares it to “[cleaning] your face with something as bubbly and tingly as champagne (but a lot less sticky, obviously).” Meant for those who have oily skin or are particularly prone to acne, this becomes “a decadent, sparkling foam.” We can get on board with that.

13. Anti Wrinkle Half Face Slimming Cheek Mask

Well, maybe there really is something to this whole facial toning and face slimming thing after all. This mask is significantly more affordable than the last product though, coming in at only $8.

The mask “supposedly contours your face while you go along with your day,” which at least cuts the time of your beauty routine in half, likely. Even if it is as effective, and easy, as it sounds, might we suggest only using it in the privacy of your own home?

14. Lancome Oscillation Powerfoundation

Have you ever wanted to try vibrating makeup or a vibrating makeup brush? Did you even know vibrating makeup was a thing that existed? Well we didn’t either.

The Lancome Oscillation Powerfoundation happens to be “the first micro-vibrating mineral foundation” and it “[boasts] ‘7000 micro-vibrations per minute,’” according to Lancome.

Some customers have cited it as their go-to foundation, saying that “the vibrating brush/sponge seems to ‘buff/polish’ away any imperfection on [the] face.”

15. Julep Konjac Facial Sponge

Remember back when we were talking about putting food-related products on your face? Well this is another one.

This root vegetable, called a konjac, “gently [exfoliates] and [takes] off dirt and makeup better than if you used just your hands alone,” according to Allure.

The downside? You should swap yours out for a new one monthly, not least because they “have a tendency to shrivel up on your bathroom counter.” Other than that, it sounds great.

e.l.f. Studio Mascara & Shadow Shield

One of the great things about e.l.f. is that it’s known for its cheap yet effective products.

Despite what it looks like at first glance, this product actually supposed to help cover the area underneath your eyes so that your eye makeup won’t “flake or fall on to your underage concealer” when you’re applying it. This way, you can spend more time on the application, and less time on the removal and reapplication.

Tags 50011686, body, hemingway

Sweat

They Call This Iranian Weightlifter A Persian Hercules But He's Even More Impressive

Post author By Staff Writer
Post date January 19, 2017

There’s something eerily familiar about Sajad Gharibi, 24, who must be Iran’s biggest bodybuilder.

When you browse through the jaw-dropping images on his Instagram page, which boasts more than 235,000 followers, you’ll get the feeling you’ve seen him somewhere before.

If you spent your childhood reading Marvel comics, you stand a way better chance of recognizing him. Look again. Now picture him with green skin. Yep. This man is a dead ringer for the Incredible Hulk. ( If you paint him grey, he would look like Grey Hulk, but that’s getting a little too deep into fandom, even for us).

Oh, some people also call him the Persian Hercules.

But comic books are today’s mythology, and we’re willing to bet that the Hulk is a more familiar touchstone than the classical son of Zeus these days.

Don’t believe us? Just take a look at these photos. That’s more than 335 pounds of pure solid muscle right there. Read on to learn more about Iran’s most “incredible” athlete.

Guess what Gharibi’s preferred sport is?

If you guessed golf, you’re wrong. This guy is Iran’s premier power lifter.

Technically, he’s a weight lifter, not a body builder, but he definitely ended up doing some incidental body building during his substantial training time.

In addition to competing in a sport that he dominates, Gharibi spends a lot of time taking selfies for Instagram.

Sometimes his pictures tend toward whimsy, like when he holds a regular soda can to show how tiny it looks in his giant fist. Or when he stands next to a normal-sized friend, making the poor guy look like a child in his shadow.

Other times he flexes at the camera. We wouldn’t get into a ring with this guy. We wouldn’t even try to go up against him with a tank. We’ve seen that movie before. Actually, there have been a few movies, including The Incredible Hulk, Ang Lee’s Hulk, and, of course, the entire Avengers franchise.

Luckily, we do have one statement from the man himself that helps us understand who he really is.

“I am an Iranian citizen with traditional values of Persian upbringing surrounded with a close-knit family and also many great friends from all around the world who have supported me every step of the way in these difficult times,” he wrote in a particularly revealing Instagram post.

He also takes a moment to thank all the news organizations that helped to make him the viral star he is.

“I am endlessly would like to thank and appreciated it for all you kind words and supports from all around the world,” [sic] he wrote. “It means a lot to me and my family and I’m truly appreciated it from the bottom of my heart” [sic].

He sounds like a super-nice guy. But we wonder what the future holds for the Iranian Hulk. It’s difficult to gather news on him, considering the language barrier. Here’s what we know so far.

Gharibi became an internet superstar when his Instagram page went viral a few years ago. That’s all due to his incredible body.

His shoulders are about as wide as we are tall. His legs could double as tree trunks. Even his fingers are packed full of solid muscle.

But what exactly does the Iranian Hulk plan to do with all his strength? He’s already won a few power lifting competitions. He’s already gotten famous on the internet.

Considering those two things, an idea he once flirted with makes perfect sense.

During the summer of 2016, Gharibi suggested that he might like to join the WWE.

He went so far as to call out Triple-H. Somehow, nothing ever came of that. Vince McMahon must be sleeping on the job. This guy was totally built for the ring! We would love to see him take on any WWE star, past, present, or future.

Unfortunately, we don’t speak Farsi.

If we did, maybe we would be able to gain from Gharibi’s knowledge. Most weight lifters and body builders who keep social media accounts post tips and pointers for their chosen sport.

His social media presence seems to be more based on the simple grandeur of his enormous muscles. There isn’t a protein drink in sight on his Instagram page.

He could be endorsing products, but we would never know. The only English on his page is on his hashtags, which—say what you will about them—are never that informative.

So how did he get that big? Your guess is as good as ours. We’re going to go with barbell squats and bench presses. He probably throws in a few back extensions and calf raises for good measure.

There’s one claim about the Iranian Hulk that seems kind of hard to believe.

Multiple reports on the guy claim that he can lift more than his own body weight. That doesn’t even seem possible. Like, don’t you need enough counterbalance to avoid being flipped by an object heavier than you are?

Actually, it is possible. Contestants in competitions like the World’s Strongest Man pull off the feat every year. But it isn’t easy, and only the strongest of them all can do it.

Some reports have it that the Iranian Hulk can lift more than 50 pounds over his actual body weight. If that’s true, it is totally incredible. And incredible things have a tendency to be true around Gharibi, one of the world’s biggest men, so we don’t find it that hard to believe claims of his incredible strength, even when they seem a bit overblown at first glance.

At age 24, Gharibi has taken on a frightening new challenge.

He posted a video to his Instagram page explaining his plans. He’s going to become a soldier in the Iranian armed forces, he said. After Ramadan, he will start training. Then he’ll enter a branch of the Iranian military.

That’s always been his goal, he explained in his video. He’s always wanted to serve his country.

For an Iranian soldier in 2016, that means he will eventually end up in the bloody conflict with Islamic State in Syria.

It also means crushing a rebellion that is generally supported by Western nations, including the United States. That’s a dark turn in an otherwise inspiring story, and we don’t really want to end up in that tragic and contentious field of weeds just now.

So let’s focus on the thing that brought us all here in the first place: this dude’s unbelievable physique.

You don’t get shoulders like that from reading comic books.

It’s clear that Gharibi works out. Hard. But unless you speak Farsi, good luck reading his workout tips.

The Iranian Hulk offers us more than lessons in lifting (and, again, those are all in Farsi).

He shows us the true limits of our relationship with internet superstars. Gharibi’s Instagram page went viral and we immediately celebrated a single facet of the man. We felt like we had him pegged.

But we didn’t. And we won’t. The man who we met as a careless meme, shared for shock value and social currency, is in fact a complex and deeply patriotic human being who is willing to kill and to die for the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Iranian Hulk might soon find himself in the middle of a seemingly intractable humanitarian disaster. And that kind of virality is something else entirely.

Tags 50011581, body, hemingway

Motherhood

8 Bizarre Pregnancy Stories That Are Hard To Believe

Post author By Staff Writer
Post date January 19, 2017

1. The Pregnant Woman Who Got Pregnant

Julia Grovenburg joined an exclusive club with the conception of her second son, Hudson. How so? She was pregnant with her first daughter, Jillian, at the time.
Getting pregnant while pregnant is called “superfetation,” and there are only about 10 cases in recorded medical history, Dr. Karen Boyle told Good Morning America when questioned about Grovenburg’s case.

The babies were conceived within two weeks of one another, so the parents can tell them they’re twins—though that’s an interesting aspect of the anomaly. According to Grovenburg’s OB-GYN Dr. Michael Maylaert, “there appears to be a discordant growth pattern, possibly due to superfetation. This is an unusual and rare condition, but the possibility is real.”
In the end both babies were born healthy, and at the same time, on Dec. 2, 2010… although they originally had due dates weeks apart from each other.

2. Twin Babies Survive a Tragedy

In 2012, 26-year-old Christine Bolden, pregnant with twins, collapsed in a parking lot. She had a series of aneurysms and was announced brain dead five days after being admitted to the Spectrum Health Butterworth hospital.

Bolden’s family didn’t want to lose all three loved ones. They asked doctors to keep her body alive long enough for the babies to be born safely.
Her doctors complied. Bolden lived on life support for a few weeks before her rising blood pressure began to become a concern and the decision was made to deliver the babies.

The gamble worked. Both twins were born healthy. Then doctors shut down Bolden’s machines, allowing her to drift away.
Dr. Cosmas Vandeven, a high-risk pregnancy specialist from the University of Michigan, called Bolden’s case a “very exceptional scenario.” There have been fewer than 30 cases of the procedure recorded in medical history since 1982.

3. You thought your labor was long?

In 2012, a Polish woman set the record for labor duration. Joanna Krzysztonek was in labor for 75 days straight. At the insistence of her doctors, she had her feet above her head for part of that time.
At 21 weeks pregnant, Krzysztonek went into early labor. She gave birth to the first of her triplets, but it was far too early, and the infant didn’t survive.

But the labor wouldn’t relent. If Krzysztonek couldn’t stop the contractions, her other two children might not survive either. Doctors put her in a bed tilted at a 30-degree angle, feet-up. That eased the contractions for a few more months until her infants were big enough to be delivered safely.
After 75 days of agony, she had a healthy daughter, Iga, and a son named Ignacy.

4. Two for the Price of One

Angie Cromar also managed to have two babies without producing twins, but her technique was even more unusual than Grovenburg’s double-pregnancy. Cromar’s pregnancy was particularly interesting from a medical anomaly perspective. So was her body.
You see, Cromar was born with two uteri, a condition known as didelphys.

People with didelphys aren’t supposed to get pregnant twice in one go. The odds of that happening are about 1 in 5 million.
Cromar won the fertility lottery. In 2010, doctors found that she had one baby growing in each of her wombs. Dr. Steve Terry, Cromar’s OB-GYN, stated “Probably less than 100, so far, worldwide, have been reported; so she’s a member of a small, elite club,” Terry told Fox News.

Understandably, Cromar’s husband was in disbelief at first, but soon enough the situation was a reality. Though she said she was “a little nervous,” she went to term with both of them and had her own set of non-genetic twins.

5. When the Biological Clock Doesn’t Matter

While many women plan to have children by a certain age to assure their fertility, there are a few cases of pregnancies that come along much later in life. Just take the story of Omkari Panwar, who gave birth to healthy twins in 2008—when she was 70 years old.

The twins were born a month premature, and doctors opted for a Caesarean section. But neither of those things are particularly unusual for a pregnancy.
“If I am the world’s oldest mother, it means nothing to me,” Panwar told The Telegraph back in 2008, shortly after the birth of her twins. “I just want to see my new babies and care for them while I am still able.”

6. Grandma and Mommy all in One

When Kim Coseno and her husband realized they couldn’t have children, they were heartbroken. That’s when Kim’s mom, Jaci Dalenberg, 56, stepped up to the plate. She acted as their surrogate and carried Kim and Joe’s triplets for them.
That makes Dalenberg the children’s mother and grandmother at the same time, depending on how you define those terms. “It’s just another thing I’m doing for my daughter,” she told NBC Today in 2008. “You know, a mother’s love.”

Dalenberg said that she carried the triplets because her daughter and her husband deserved to have kids. “They really wanted and were really sincere about having children,” she said. “And they’re both great people.”
Dr. Robert Kiwi, the OB-GYN who treated Dalenberg, told ABC News that “there are very few women who could be gestational carriers at this point in their lives.” However, the procedure was successful after two years of in-vitro fertilization and the Coseno family was finally complete.

7. Gigantic Twins Test Mom’s Stamina

A few days after giving birth to her twins, mom Erin Maynard admitted to ABC News that she was a “little tired, but hanging in there.” That’s impressive, given the fact that the babies she gave birth to weighed a combined 23 pounds (plus an extra ounce for good measure).

The twins, Sean William and Abigail Rose, are some of the biggest on record. Sean weighed a respectable 10 pounds, 14 ounces, but Abigail Rose was the real surprise. She weighed a full 12 pounds, 3 ounces.

“For some reason, I grow big babies,” Maynard said. “I don’t know why. I just do.”

8. The Right-Sized Family

Doctors said that Stacey Herald wasn’t supposed to have children. She was born with a condition called osteogenesis imperfecta. The condition causes brittle bones that fail to develop. As a result of the disorder, Herald stands only 2 feet, 4 inches tall.

Her physicians said that getting pregnant could be harmful—even fatal—to the woman. A developing baby might crush her lungs and her heart, doctors warned.
Herald didn’t care. She and her husband, Wil, wanted babies. And they had them. Several of them, in fact. By the time she was 36, Herald had successfully given birth to three lovely children.
“All my babies are miracles,” Herald told The Telegraph, “but we haven’t thought about if we’re going to have some more, as they’re a real handful right now.”

Tags 50011441, body, hemingway

Wellbeing

Life After IVF: Octomom 7 Years Later

Post author By HealthyWay Staff Writer
Post date January 17, 2017

Nadya Suleman shocked the world when she gave birth to eight babies at once.

Suleman had been married, but she and her husband were separated. Later, her ex-husband admitted their relationship failed because of the couple’s inability to have children—he didn’t want to try in vitro fertilization (IVF).
After their separation, Suleman proceeded with IVF treatments, which resulted in six children before 2008. That’s when she became pregnant with eight more children.
Such an incredible pregnancy and birth made headlines around the world. People were absolutely fascinated by the fact that one woman could carry so many children at once.

IVF, or in vitro fertilization, is a form of “assisted reproductive technology,” which is a medical procedure that helps a couple who can’t get pregnant via natural means of conception. As with artificial insemination, the sperm and egg are brought together with the assistance of a physician, but IVF takes place outside of the woman’s body to begin with.

When a woman undergoes IVF, her eggs are removed, and the healthiest or most viable ones are inseminated in a laboratory dish. Once an egg is fertilized and the cells are dividing properly, the embryo is transferred to the woman’s uterus and the pregnancy proceeds naturally from there.

It is common for IVF to result in multiple babies.

IVF doesn’t always take the first time, and it’s an extremely expensive, time-consuming, and exhausting procedure involving a lot of medical tests, hormone injections, and other challenges.
To help avoid jumping through all those hoops more than once, multiple fertilized eggs are often placed in the uterus with the hope that at least one will survive. Sometimes several of them survive, though.

Because of this, one of the common side effects of IVF is the development of twins or triplets. Or, in Suleman’s case, octuplets.
The fact that Suleman’s octuplets were all born healthy was an even bigger miracle. These octuplets actually broke a record when they all lived one week. Tragically, no previous octuplets had all survived longer than a week because it’s a very risky pregnancy.

But Suleman’s babies were all born healthy and remained so in the weeks after they were born. Doctors were actually shocked that she had such a healthy group of children. This further reinforced the idea that the Octomom’s amazing birth was a miracle of epic proportions.

The state of California, however, was not impressed.

The octuplets were conceived via IVF, and the doctor who performed the treatment, Michael Kamrava, implanted Suleman with a dozen embryos. While he did so at her request, the state of California revoked his medical license, charging him with “gross negligence” and “repeated negligent acts, for an excessive number of embryo transfers.”
The state called this an “extreme” departure from the standard of care. Of course, the case highlights the role of physicians and medical care providers, and spurs questions about whether their allegiance should be to their individual patients or the greater good—whatever that may be.

Right after her children were born, Suleman hired the Killeen Furtney Group to handle her public relations. The firm quit representing her when they began receiving death threats almost immediately.
Suleman herself received death threats, and there was a protest outside her home where she lived with her mother. The day she brought the seventh baby home from the hospital, someone threw a baby seat through her car window.

Much of the outrage stemmed from the fact that Suleman had six children already.

Many people who undergo risky IVF treatments have no children and are desperate for at least one child, but not Suleman. She already had a large family and suddenly had eight more as the result of a single pregnancy. People were up in arms about this decision. But it was a decision both she and her physician decided was hers to make.
“I don’t get much sleep, about two or three hours a night,” she told People magazine. “But I’m continuing to move forward with my life and trying to be the best mother I can be.”

But many people saw it as a publicity stunt on Suleman’s part. The fact that she immediately hired a PR firm and started giving interviews to magazines like People right after the children were born contributed to the perception that she had the children only to become famous.
Suleman adamantly denied those accusations, saying she just loved children. She also stated that the embryos used in the pregnancy were left over from previous treatments and she didn’t want them to be destroyed. However, statements from her doctor have contradicted that.

People were also upset because she was a single mother with 14 children.

Having 14 children is a monumental task for even the wealthiest parents, but Suleman was a single mother who was still in school. This only added fuel to the fire and contributed to suspicions that she had selfish reasons for conceiving the children.
Many people suspected that she would eventually come to rely on public assistance, although she vehemently denied the possibility. She went through several publicity handlers in the midst of these rumors, but that didn’t stop her from basking in the media attention.

She had an interview with Ann Curry in February 2009, approximately one month after her children were born. She later sat down for an interview with Dr. Phil. There, attorney Gloria Allred read a list of complaints regarding Suleman’s ability to care for that many children.
Suleman even reportedly struck a deal for a TV show in the UK, but it was also reported that U.S. stations were hesitant to pick up the show due to the public’s reaction to the pregnancy.

In 2012, she made headlines again when it was reported that she was on welfare

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As many had predicted, Suleman had difficulty supporting all her children on her own. She was receiving public assistance from the state of California to help with her 14 kids. She declared personal bankruptcy and reported a debt of more than $1 million.
There were reports of her neglecting the children while spending money on herself, but when child protective services investigated, they found the children happy and healthy, although the environment they lived in was not as clean as one would hope.

While accusations of neglect were unfounded, the children were found using training toilets outside because of the house’s faulty plumbing.
In 2013, Suleman was accused of breaking the terms of her lease and was forced to vacate her rental home. After she moved out, the landlord claimed that the home smelled of urine and that there was a lot of trash left behind.

These tough times led to her next career.

That year, she starred in an adult film titled Octomom Home Alone. It was a movie starring just her and no other actors—male or female. She also released some music that year and appeared in another musician’s music video, but the adult video generated much more income.

She began dancing at gentlemen’s clubs, bartended, and eventually had to check herself into a treatment center in Los Angeles for anxiety and stress. But the problems didn’t end there…
These jobs actually led to criminal charges regarding welfare fraud. The state of California alleged that Suleman had failed to disclose $30,000 in income generated from her movies and dancing. She pleaded no contest to the charges and received 200 hours of community service, two years of probation, and a fine.

Her lawyer announced that with support from friends, she’d already paid back the welfare system. And how she makes her living now is anyone’s guess. Perhaps she’ll surprise everyone and publish The Octomom’s Guide to Budgeting someday.

Today, she raises her children largely out of the public spotlight.

Suleman hasn’t really been heard from since the allegations of welfare fraud. There were reports that she would star in an edition of Celebrity Big Brother, but it never happened. Instead, she’s retreated from the spotlight to live a quiet life. But who knows what the future might hold for her? We wouldn’t be surprised if we saw her on TV in the future. But, for now, it looks like she’s settled down to raise her children.

Suleman addmitted to possibly having been a “baby addict” at the time she demanded IVF during an interview with Oprah Winfrey, and some have gone so far as to label her a baby hoarder. Both of these seem like reasonable explanations for her compulsive desire to surround herself with so many children. As an editorial piece in the Los Angeles Times points out, hoarders have trouble making decisions and experience anxiety when presented with the possibility of discarding things they perceive as valuable.
In Suleman’s case, it would make sense that she considered the embryos she and her husband had created during their first IVF experience to be too valuable to get rid of—thus insisting they must be “used.”

As her offspring grow up and become more aware of the circumstances that surrounded their birth, we imagine they’ll struggle with questions surrounding their fame as well. Ultimately, none of it matters, as long as they remain healthy and happy and grow up into well-adjusted, responsible adults. Only time will tell on that score.

Tags 50011276, balance, hemingway

Lifestyle

12 Dangerous Children's Toys To Keep Out Of The Playroom

Post author By Staff Writer
Post date January 10, 2017

Now there’s no denying that children can injure themselves in any number of unforeseeable ways. And while some of these toys seem pretty darn obvious (giant darts?!), there are a few that you might be surprised made the list.

1. Snacktime Cabbage Patch Kid

Biggest issue: The “snacktime” to which their name refers included children’s hair and fingers.

The blood-thirsty doll was released by Mattel in 1996 and came equipped with a motorized mouth for “real chewing action” so that kids could feed it cookies and French fries made of plastic. What fun!

Unfortunately, the toy company did not foresee the doll developing an insatiable appetite for children’s hair and fingers until it was too late. As a result of the numerous complaints, the toy was taken off store shelves in 1997 and a $40 refund was issued.

2. Atomic Energy Laboratory

Biggest issue: Contained real radioactive materials to play with.

Six years after the first atom bomb killed 80,000 Japanese people instantly, the U-238 Atomic Energy Lab was released.

The “children’s toy” included a Geiger counter, electroscope, and Uranium-bearing ore samples among other real radioactive materials. Unsurprisingly, parents didn’t want their children playing with a radioactive toy and it was discontinued a year after its release.

3. Hannah Montana Pop Star Card Game

Biggest issue: Lead, lead, and more lead.

Hannah Montana was the hottest thing since sunburn in the mid-2000s, so of course a large number of toys and games were designed in her honor. One of these was the Hannah Montana Pop Star Card game. Wondering how on Earth a card game could be harmful? The answer isn’t paper cuts…

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that no toy contain more than 40 parts per million (ppm) of lead. The Hannah Montana cards had a stunning 3,000 parts per million. That’s 75 times as much. And the card game wasn’t Hannah’s only offending toy. The two hearts graphic necklace sold by the brand contained an unbelievable 406,510 ppm of lead.

4. Sky Dancers

Biggest issue: The “dance” turned into more of an air assault.

In the mid-90s, Sky Dancers were popular handheld toys that launched fairy princesses with propeller wings into the heavens with the help of a pull-string base.

A few months after the toy’s release, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) was flooded with complaints. The fairy’s flight pattern was often unpredictable and over 170 complaints were filed detailing injuries including “temporary blindness, broken teeth, a mild concussion, a broken rib, and facial lacerations that required stitches.” Not so magical after all.

5. CSI: Fingerprint Examination Kit and CSI: Investigation Forensics Lab Kit

Biggest issue: The powder used to investigate fingerprints was chock-full of asbestos.

Let’s be honest, a crime scene investigation kit seems like a bit of an oddity for a children’s toy to begin with. But hey, TV is big. Unfortunately, and to everyone’s surprise, an environmental group found the finger print dust in the kit contained a large amount of the most dangerous form of asbestos (7 percent in fact).

You don’t need a spy kit to figure out why the CSI: Investigation Forensics Lab Kit was pulled from store shelves at a blistering speed.

6. Aqua Dots

Biggest issue: Aqua Dots were coated with the toxic substance GHB, also known as the “date rape” drug.

These colorful arts and craft beads would stick together when wet to create various designs. Unfortunately, they also caused vomiting, seizures, and comas due to the toxic chemicals they were covered in. The dots were pulled in 2007 after being named one of Wal-Mart’s top 12 Christmas toys. Whoops.

7. Moon Shoes

Biggest issue: Kids were wearing mini-trampolines on their feet.

What could go wrong with a child sporting spring-loaded shoes? Apparently quite a lot. A broken ankle is basically the best-case scenario for any child wearing them.

In the 1970s, Moon Shoes were made with dozens of pieces of sharp metal making them one of the most dangerous toys to ever hit the market. But there are still quite a few pairs available on eBay if you don’t believe us.

8. Easy-Bake Oven

Biggest issue: The light bulb could reach 350 degrees Fahrenheit!

In 2007, almost a million Easy-Bake Ovens were recalled after the CPSC realized children can “insert their hands into the oven’s opening and get their hands or fingers caught, posing an entrapment and burn hazard.”

After the news broke, the Easy-Bake Oven was temporarily toast. It did make a major comeback following the release of a gender-neutral oven allowing both boys and girls to burn their bodies equally!

9. Battlestar Galactica Colonial Viper

Biggest issue: It was the first toy to choke a child to death.

Mattel’s Battlestar Galactica Colonial Viper is the toy responsible for the choking hazard labels you see on nearly every toy.

Unfortunately, a 4-year-old shot the Viper’s missile into his mouth causing him to fatally choke back in 1978. Needless to say, the toy is no longer sold.

10. Clackers

Biggest issue: The Clackers frequently broke sending shards of shrapnel flying in all directions.

Knockers, Click Clacks, or Clackers, as they were known, were a hot commodity in the ’60s and ’70s. That is until they were banned in 1985.

The heavy acrylic balls were attached to a string and “clacked” together as fast as possible, which lead to reports of numerous injuries after the balls shattered from heavy use.

11. JARTS

Biggest issue: They’re massive darts thrown across the yard.

On paper, it must have sounded like a good idea. Taking the game of darts outside, similar to cornhole bags, with two teams trying to hit each other’s bull’s eye.

After the its release, the injuries started to pile up—fast. With over 7,000 injuries, the toy was quickly banned by the CPSC in 1988 before it killed someone.

12. Creepy Crawlers

Biggest issue: Scalding hot liquid, toxic chemicals, you name it.

The Creepy Crawlers oven is a more dangerous version of the Easy-Bake Oven. It peaks at a higher temperature and its purpose is to bake toxic liquids into interesting shapes and sizes.

Adding insult to (many) injuries, all kids had to show for this dangerous toy were some disgusting looking bugs you couldn’t even eat. What was even the point?

Tags 50010504, care, hemingway

Wellbeing

They Go To The Hospital To Deliver Quintuplets But Then Discover She Was Never Even Pregnant

Post author By Staff Writer
Post date January 9, 2017

Every Couple’s Dream

Paul Servat, 35, and his girlfriend, Barbara Bienvenue, 37 of Quebec, Canada, had only been dating for two months when Bienvenue found out that she was pregnant. In September 2013, Bienvenue informed Servat that they would be having not one but FIVE babies.
That’s right, Bienvenue was pregnant with quintuplets! And they couldn’t have been more excited. After they told their family and friends the exciting news, the couple set up a social media page so that they could keep everyone up to date on Bienvenue’s pregnancy.

Many people from around the community began donating items like baby clothes and furniture to help the expectant parents.
Bienvenue even let Servat pick out the names for the babies—the two were ecstatic about becoming parents!

There’s something wrong.

That March, when Bienvenue was 34 weeks pregnant, Servat took her to the CHU Sainte-Justine Hospital in Montreal to give birth. After they arrived at the hospital, Servat received some heartbreaking news.
A hospital employee informed Servat that Bienvenue would not be delivering the babies that day or anytime soon because she wasn’t actually pregnant. Wait…WHAT?! In fact, the hospital had no documentation regarding Bienvenue’s pregnancy, and a blood test confirmed that Bienvenue wasn’t pregnant at all!

Servat was completely shocked and devastated by the news. Then, to make matters worse, one of Bienvenue’s relatives came forward and admitted that this was not the first time that Bienvenue had pulled a stunt like this. In 2010, she had lied to an ex-boyfriend about being pregnant.
“This isn’t the first time she’s done it,” said a male relative who wished to remain anonymous. “But honestly, we never would have thought she was sick enough to do it again.”

A Terrible Trend

The family also told the QMI Agency that Bienvenue had faked leukemia and other illnesses in the past. “She cut ties with us in recent months,” said the relative. “She didn’t want us to know about her game.”

Although Servat was completely blindsided by the stunt, a woman by the name of Genevieve Laflamme admitted she wasn’t the least bit surprised. As an experienced mother, Laflamme had been advising Bienvenue throughout her so-called pregnancy, but it wasn’t long before she became suspicious of Bienvenue’s story.
Laflamme is a mother of triplets, so she’s familiar with the characteristics and symptoms associated with carrying multiple children. For example, if Bienvenue had truly been pregnant with five children, she would have been on bed rest long before her due date. Understandably, Laflamme had kept her hunch to herself and given Bienvenue the benefit of the doubt.
“I gave her tips on how to handle it, where to get financial support, where to get sponsors for diapers,” Laflamme told CTV.

Coming To Terms

Servat is still coming to terms with the harsh realization that he will not be a father to quintuplets. In order to correct the situation to the best of his ability, Servat immediately removed the couple’s social media page and began returning or donating the items that they had received for their nursery.
“I’m a good person,” Servat stressed. “I have nothing to do with these lies.”

Bienvenue remained at the hospital for psychiatric observation following the incident. “Doctors need to take care of her or else she’ll do it again and again,” said one of her male relatives.
But is there more to this story? Was Bienvenue simply “pretending” to be pregnant or did she actually believe she was?
It’s possible she was suffering from pseudocyesis, or phantom pregnancy. This is a condition wherein women experience symptoms similar to pregnancy, such as a swollen belly and morning sickness, without an actual fetus being present.

Understanding Pseudocyesis

Although doctors do not fully understand pseudocyesis or what causes it, psychological factors are most likely at the root. When a woman wants so desperately to become pregnant, her body may actually “trick” itself into believing that it is. Her belly swells, her breasts enlarge, and sometimes even fetal movement can be felt.

Once the brain convinces her that she’s pregnant, the woman can experience these symptoms along with many others such as the interruption of the menstrual cycle, milk production, and nausea. However, a urine pregnancy test will always be negative in these cases and of course no fetus will be present in an ultrasound.

There are some medical conditions that can also be responsible for pregnancy symptoms including ectopic pregnancy, morbid obesity, and certain types of cancer. Phantom pregnancies can also be triggered by a trauma such as the death of a spouse or multiple miscarriages.

Losing Touch With Reality

Dealing with the reality of a phantom pregnancy is heartbreaking for the couple, however some simply refuse to believe scientific fact. While a “cryptic” pregnancy in the mainstream means a pregnancy that the woman isn’t aware of, there is a subculture of people who believe it to be a pregnancy where there are no medical signs or symptoms of any kind.
These people believe that gestations can last as long as two to five years due to the “slow growth of the fetus.”

These women do not seek out doctors or medical advice, but instead turn to support groups to share their stories and chart their progress. They warn that if you go to a hospital you’ll be diagnosed with IBS, UTIs, and other medical conditions that will explain away the pregnancy.
One such couple even stated that their fetus was a miracle since the father does not have testicles and cannot produce sperm. The mother still has not given birth to this miracle fetus—after several years of “pregnancy.”

Tags 50010346, hemingway, mind

Nosh

10 Fascinating Food Photography Tricks Revealed

Post author By Staff Writer
Post date January 5, 2017

You know those gorgeous, mouth-watering photos that restaurants use to lure you in? Bad news: Your food probably won’t look much like that when it arrives on your table.
That’s because professional food photographers know dozens of tricks to make food look better—even if they have to add a few, ahem, special ingredients to get the perfect shot.
We exchanged emails with Albert Hakim, a photographer working at Laserwave Graphic Design Studio, to analyze some of the food photography tricks we’ve seen floating around the internet.
Hakim says that he prefers to work with real foods wherever possible. In general, it’s a safer practice—the Federal Trade Commission Act prohibits “unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce,” so food photographers can’t go too far when staging their shots.

You can cheat in Photoshop, but it’s never the same.

If they’re taking pictures of a restaurant’s salads, for instance, they’re required to use the real salads that you’d get at the restaurant. However, that doesn’t stop them from getting creative to get the perfect photos.
For example…

1. That soup bowl isn’t what you’re picturing.

Ever notice how soup bowls seem to be brimming with vegetables and noodles? In real life, those veggies would quickly sink to the bottom of the bowl.

In order for food stylists to make it appear that toppings are “floating” on the top of a soup, they’ll often use another small dish turned upside down to create a platform. One soup manufacturer even used marbles, but that led to a costly lawsuit (since the marbles made the soup appear chunkier than it really was).

2. Those refreshing ice cubes might be fake.

Sure, the soda in that soft drink ad might seem tantalizing, but the ice might not be actual ice. The reason: Real ice would melt much too quickly under those bright studio lights for someone keen on getting just the right angle.
Instead, glossy, perfectly formed, and melt-free plastic cubes like these tend to take their place and continue to convince overheated patrons that all they need to cool down is a chilled glass, topped off with, well, ice.

However, seasoned photographers can also work with the real stuff.
“They do make fake ice cubes, but if you can work fast, real ice works just fine,” Hakim says. “In my world, generally we try to shoot the actual food, on location, fresh out of the oven or freezer. The actual shot then has to happen within 5 minutes.”

3. Likewise, those soda splashes might be fake.

It turns out it’s not just the ice in the drinks that’s misleading; the drinks themselves might have undergone some trickery as well.
You know those ultra-charming splashes that never look like the mess they’re pretty sure to turn into, but some hypnotizing water show? Well, there’s a reason they say if it’s too good to be true, it usually is.

For some ads, those big splashes are actually constructed with plastic. That would explain why it looks so perfect.
Not all photographers want to fake it, though. According to Hakim, it is possible to capture a real splash, but photographers need to use natural lighting and very fast cameras.
“I would use reflected sunlight, so I can shoot at a much faster shutter speed to capture the action,” Hakim says, “much like [with] sports photography.”

4. Those grill marks might look a little too perfect.

Good grill marks are essential for selling a steak. Of course, they’re not always real. Photographers sometimes draw grill marks with eyeliner, but it’s often easier to add the marks with a soldering iron or a charcoal starter.

Why not just cook the meat on a real grill? That seems like a much more reliable way to get good grill marks.
Well, there’s a problem with that…

5. If you see a cut of meat, it’s probably not cooked.

Technically, the meat from a photo shoot is edible, but you’d probably want to avoid it—unless you’re a fan of raw foods.

When meat is cooked, it shrinks slightly, and it can take on unpleasant textures in high-definition photos. Completely cooking the meat is, therefore, out of the question. Instead, the food stylists will craft the outside of the meat with a blowtorch.
“Just the top needs to be cooked, or slightly burnt or singed,” Hakim says. “Coarse spices help with realistic texture.”
This doesn’t necessarily apply to burgers, by the way. We’ll get to that in a minute.

6. To show texture, photographers get really inventive.

Texture plays a huge role in the culinary arts, so when a restaurant or food brand wants to sell a product, they need to represent textures perfectly—cereal manufacturers, for instance, need the milk surrounding their product to look creamy and delicious.

Dynamic lighting and reflecting is very important to capture gloss, texture, and depth.

There’s just one problem: Milk doesn’t really look thick and creamy in real life. To get around this, some food photographers use glue, according to a food stylist quoted by The Guardian.

To make the cereal pop out of the milk, photographers might fill the bottom of the bowl with shortening, then put a thin layer of real milk on top. Hakim says that, wherever possible, he tries to work with the real thing.
“[Elmer’s glue] seems unnecessary,” he says, “[but] dynamic lighting and reflecting is very important to capture gloss, texture, and depth.”
To give texture to savory foods, Hakim uses coarse spices and oil sprays. He’s also ready to improvise if a food doesn’t “pop” in the right way.
“A good photographer must be able to think fast and act fast to make adjustments for a great photo,” Hakim says.

7. Fast food burgers are on a whole different level.

There’s absolutely nothing better—or more misleading—than a hamburger ad from your favorite fast-food chain. Of course, the food in the ad is completely different from the burger you’d get at your local restaurant, right?

Actually, no. By law, McDonald’s has to use the same stuff it sells. However, the chain can pick out the best-looking burgers, perfect buns, and top-notch condiments from the ingredients their locations normally use.
Staging the burger can take hours, and since photographers only take pictures from one angle, stylists work exclusively on that side of the sandwich. In other words, if you see onions and tomatoes spilling out of a burger, the other side probably looks completely bare.

For smaller restaurants and food brands that don’t have the multi-million dollar McDonald’s budget, there’s no real secret to getting great photos of a big, delicious burger.
“Start with a big and delicious burger,” Hakim suggests. “Spray some vegetable oil on it to look more juicy. Good grill marks help…[but] be ready to shoot the subject very quickly. If you want to spend two days shooting a hamburger, everything [would] need to be fake.”

8. The pancakes are real, but the syrup…

If you think those delicious pancake photographs with the syrup dripping off the edges look too good to be true, you’re right! To learn two simple tricks to up your pancake photography game, watch the video below.

9. Those fresh berries aren’t so fresh, after all.

The easiest way to get a great photo of a bowl of fresh berries is, of course, to pick some. But that’s not always an option, particularly if the berries aren’t in season.

To bring out the color of the fruit, food stylists will rinse each berries in cold water with lemon juice. They might also add coloring, but they’ve got to be careful if the dish is appearing on a menu; while stylists can add lipstick or fingernail polish to get more of a pop, that’s considered false advertising if the berries are the primary focus of an ad.

10. That steam might not actually be steam. And it probably isn’t coming from the food.

Steam doesn’t stick around for too long, so during an extended photo session, photographers have to get creative. They’ll sometimes use sticks of incense to capture a steady stream of steam.
Hakim says that, in a pinch, a drizzle of boiling water can work just as well.

“You can also cheat in Photoshop,” he says, “but it’s never the same.”
According to Hakim, the best staging tricks are no match for a skilled photographer with plenty of experience.
“Use colorful composition where applicable,” he suggests. “…Make sure hot things are hot, cold things are cold, and be ready to shoot the subject very quickly.”

Tags 50009914, fuel, hemingway

Nosh

How To Order At A Restaurant Like a Nutrition Pro

Post author By Jessica Serdikoff
Post date January 4, 2017

How much money do you spend on restaurants? Take-out? Fast food? (Excuse me, “quick service”?)

If you’re like most of us, the answer would be nearly half of your food spending. We devote just shy of forty-five percent of all of our food dollars to foods prepared outside of the home. That number has nearly doubled since 1970. In fact, some more recent surveys have found that in the past two years we may have actually crossed that line where food purchases of prepared foods officially exceeded those of groceries.

Restaurant meals may not be going out of vogue anytime soon in our overbooked, never-home-long-enough-to-catch-our-breaths lifestyles, but that presents quite a problem for the health-conscious consumer. A recent analysis posits that pretty much every single meal from large-chain and local restaurants (actual number: 92%) provide more calories than the average person needs. The average caloric content of these meals topped a whopping 1,205. Some contain even more calories than the average adult needs in an entire day. The worst offenders? American, Chinese, and Italian.

A lot of the issue with restaurant meals stems from sheer volume: the portions are consistently supersized. That’s why, though quick service chains get a significantly worse health rap, they tend not be quite as over-the-top when you sit down to analyze them nutritionally; portions are at times larger than recommended, but rarely as downright obscene as the ones you find in sit-down establishments. However, even moderately-portioned prepared foods have their woes. Chefs are heavy-handed with their use of butter, salt, oil, and sweeteners, packing quite the punch into even smaller-portioned meals.

So what are you to do if you’re looking to nourish your body without being a slave to your kitchen 365 days a year?

I’ve got you covered.

First, decide if it is a truly special occasion.

It’s clearly inadvisable to ever consume a day’s worth of calories in one sitting, but doing it once every blue moon is not a big concern. Doing it regularly, of course, has its share of consequences.

To determine whether or not the meal in question is truly special, ask yourself a few questions:

Why are you at the restaurant? Is it your daughter’s wedding? Your fifth (or fiftieth!) anniversary? Or is it just the fifth time you’ve decided not to cook this month? The less often you go out to eat, the more unique the situation is, and the less of an impact it will have on your overall health.

How special is this restaurant to you? How much do you look forward to the food they serve? When was the last time you were there? Let’s face it: there are restaurants we find moderately enjoyable but choose more for convenience; there are those we suffer through because it makes our family members happy; and then there are the ones we wait all year to frequent.

Can you get this same food elsewhere, or is it unique to the establishment? Is it burgers and generic pizza? Chicken parm? Beef and broccoli? A lot of restaurants have nearly identical menus to others serving similar cuisines. Now, quality may differ; you may prefer one establishment’s generic pizza over another; but really ask yourself if this is a unique experience.

I never advocate for choosing foods you actively dislike for the sake of nutrition, but if this isn’t a truly special occasion, you may want to factor health into your meal selection more carefully.

Next, be prepared.

Whenever possible, do a little recon work before you head out. Most venues these days have their menu online. Your preferences the moment you sit down may change based on specials, other foods in your diet lately, or even the weather; but knowing your options ahead of time helps you formulate a game plan. We’ll get to how to read a menu for key words in just a second, so hang on to that.

Larger establishments even have nutrition information available online. I don’t live and die by calorie counts, but we are far too blasé about what we put into our bodies these days. You can ultimately make whatever decision you want, but don’t do it with your head buried in the sand. Does your favorite appetizer provide over a thousand calories? Is that pasta dish able to feed a family of four comfortably? Does one salad dressing have half the sodium of another? Do any of the dishes have trans fats? Some places also include ingredient information, which can give you an added layer of knowledge.

Additionally, if you have very strict or unique dietary concerns, call ahead for accommodations. Towards the end of his life, for example, my grandfather had a very low salt restriction and had trouble at most restaurants; however, one steak house was willing to set aside unsalted foods during their prep if my grandmother called early enough in the day. Other reasons to call ahead include food allergies, food intolerances, and religious or ethical preferences. Knowing that your unique concerns have already been addressed can lower the pressure felt during the dining experience and improve the nutritional quality of your meal.

Set yourself up for success that day.

Skipping meals often backfires, but it’s not unwise to pay extra-attention to how nutritious your other meals are. Focus particularly on balancing the high sodium restaurant meal with plenty of water and potassium (think fruits, veggies, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and yogurt), and limiting how much salt you take in.

Do your best to plan your other meals and snacks so that you’re sufficiently hungry but not ravenous for the restaurant. Hunger is a good thing; it means your body is ready for food and you will enjoy the experience more. Pushing it too far, however, makes you more likely to devour that bread basket in record time. Really late dinner reservations, for example, may call for an extra snack in the late afternoon; while really early lunch dates might warrant a lighter, smaller breakfast.

Next, reaffirm your goals. If you’ve decided already that the occasion is not truly special, and you’d prefer to stick to your wellness goals that meal, remind yourself of this and why that’s important to you. You could even confide your goals for the meal in someone going out to eat with you, but make sure they are supportive and trustworthy. You’re looking for encouragement without nagging.

Lastly, keep yourself calm to reduce the likelihood of stress-ordering. Get your aggression out earlier in the day with some good, old fashioned exercise; do a mind-body scan before you leave the house to check in with yourself mentally and physically; or do some deep breathing before getting out of your car. All of these things re-ground you and help you approach the meal with a deeper understanding of what may influence your ordering decisions.

Finally, you’re at the restaurant, and it’s time to decide what you’d like to eat.

Before you open up that menu, however, pause. If you could have anything in the world right then and there, what would you choose? How would it be prepared? What would make you feel best emotionally and physically? Once you have your vision, peruse the menu to see if anything they offer is similar, or if they honor special requests. The only caveat to this is that on an incredibly busy night, it might not be the best time to get too creative.

When reading the menu, remind yourself whether you’re trying to stick to a mostly healthy meal or if you’re relaxing your priorities a little this time. If health is a consideration, then note that generally, words like steamed, baked, roasted, and poached signify lighter options; words like crispy, smothered, fried, creamy, or breaded often coincide with higher caloric density.

Consider, too, how hungry you are. Maybe ordering a few sides or an appetizer as an entrée is enough, or maybe not. This requires you additionally to prioritize calories. Calories are units of energy, and if we consistently take in more than our bodies can burn, we will start storing that unused energy and our body weight will steadily rise. One large meal won’t have much impact beyond some acute sodium and fluid retention, but do it too often, and it will. So, decide what’s worth it to you and what isn’t. Do you definitely want dessert? Is alcohol important to you? Choose accordingly.

Lastly, consider any specials that the waiter reviews with you and decide if they change your mind.

Place your order like a pro.

Don’t be afraid to ask for substitutions. The worst they can do is say no (or maybe give you a funny look). This could mean asking for double veggies, swapping grilled chicken or salmon in for crispy chicken on your salad or sandwich, or asking for baked potatoes instead of fries. It could mean asking if a pasta dish that appeals to you can be made with marinara instead of cream sauce. It could mean ordering dressings, toppings (like butter), and sauces on the side; or requesting that unwanted garnishes, like powdered sugar on waffles, be left off altogether. This allows you to be in charge of what and how much you eat.

If you don’t want to be tempted to eat something that you know you’ll munch on if it’s there, make sure it doesn’t come on your plate. This extends beyond those small garnishes to things like fries or chips that come alongside a sandwich or a lackluster bread basket that comes with the table. Again, if you’ve decided that the chips, fries, or bread are where you want to prioritize your calories because you think they are the bees knees, cool! But mindless munching because they’re staring at you is not the same as savoring a special food.

Oh, and a word on drinks: in general, the recommendation would be to stick to water. Other solid options include unflavored seltzer with lemon or lime slices added, or unsweetened iced tea. Of course, if a cocktail or soda is part of your vision for enjoying the special occasion, then I certainly won’t argue against it, but see if you can nurse (“savor”) that one serving the whole meal.

Set your intentions while you wait for your food to arrive.

While you wait for your order, make a conscious decision about munching. This means those chips or bread left on the table, which often fill you up before your meal even arrives. If you love a restaurant’s bread basket (some of them are really top notch), consider cutting back on a carb elsewhere in the meal for balance. If the bread is pretty generic, though, consider skipping it. I can get warm dinner rolls pretty much anywhere I go, so I personally tend to forego the pre-meal munching altogether (save for a few special places). You may choose differently.

This is also when you want to decide how full you want to feel at the end of the meal. This sets an intention and gives you a reference point moving forward. On more special occasions, you may choose to sometimes eat beyond the point of satisfaction; but most of the time, nutrition experts recommend stopping at around a five on a 10-point hunger scale. That’s actually not very full at all! You may even get an urge at this point to continue eating, but usually this passes if we sit peacefully with it for a few minutes.

When your meal arrives, request that a to-go container be brought out simultaneously. Portion out the food you want to save for later. It’s easy to say that you only want to eat a small portion of a meal at the start, but it can be hard to stop mid-way through. Pack it up immediately instead; remember, you can always choose to go back for more if you change your mind.

Now, it’s time to eat!

But wait! First, take a few deep, grounding breaths. This is not a race, but rather something to be enjoyed. Who wants to get carried away by excitement and realize that they have devoured their portion without hardly even noticing it? Start the meal off mindfully, paying attention to the sight, aroma, flavor, and texture of it all. Take small bites, chew slowly, and put your fork down between bites. (If you are getting the next forkful ready while you’re still chewing on something else, you’re not focusing on the food currently in your mouth.)

Pause for sips of water and to enjoy the conversation. It takes time for your brain to catch up with how full your stomach is feeling, so give it a chance to register all you’re eating. This also takes the focus away from the food and shifts it to the whole experience.

Check in periodically with yourself to see how you are feeling, too. Compare this to how full you wanted to be at the end, and decide how much more you would like to eat.

Notice how your appetite and appreciation of the food changes over time. Taste buds become desensitized to flavors with repeated exposure, but when we eat very quickly, we get stuck on the memory of the first few bites rather than the reality of how it tastes towards the end. Instead, slow down and you may notice your interest waning as you continue to eat more and more. This is your body telling you that it has had enough, and you may find yourself satisfied if you stop before your plate is empty.

Bring the meal to an end.

No matter what happens, view it as a learning experience. There is no room for guilt or even disappointment!

If you ate so much that you now feel uncomfortably full, or you know you made less nutritious choices than you had intended, figure out what obstacles stood in your way and how you can work around them next time.

If you were a bit overcautious and wound up not eating enough, leaving you munchy or downright hungry later on in the day, make a mental note of what you ate and how much so you can adjust up next time. Maybe you were missing a major nutrient, like carbs, protein, or fats; or maybe the meal just didn’t have enough calories or fiber in it.

And of course, if you accomplished your goal, pat yourself on the back! You can think back to this small victory in the future if you ever feel discouraged about your progress or your capabilities.

Remember, your next opportunity to nourish yourself and listen to your body is just one meal or snack away.

No one meal will ever break you. It will never turn you into a failure. A meal is just another part of life; sometimes it will be nutrient-dense, and sometimes, not so much. The important thing is to decide which you want it to be, weighing the pros and cons, so that you can feel confident that whatever choice you make is the right one for you in that moment. If you do that, you will never feel regret and will be taking your practice of self-care to a whole new level.

Bon Appetit!

Tags 50008971, fuel, hemingway