Author: Jenna Birch

Categories
Sweat

Should You Really Be Wearing Those Stilettos?

I’m a high-heel addict. Cute styles, mile-long legs. They make you look thinner, cause you to stand a little straighter… what’s not to love? Well, perhaps muscle damage in the foot.

According to a study published this summer in The International Journal of Clinical Practice, researchers conducted a pretty interesting experiment. How do you test the impact of heels on the foot over time? You try to level the playing field, looking at women who must wear them everyday for work in the same context.

Scientists selected students studying to be flight attendants at Hanseo University in South Korea to participate in their research; these women are required to wear heels everyday, in preparation for their eventual careers. With that in mind, they grabbed 10 ladies from each class — freshman, sophomore, junior, senior — measuring ankle strength and balancing abilities on a wobbly board.

Here’s what they found. While sophomores and juniors showed greater ankle strength in some of the muscles when compared to the heel-newbie freshman class, notably on the sides of the joint, seniors started to show a decline in those same muscles after four long years of a stiletto regimen. In addition, the older gals also had weaker muscles along the front and back of the ankle. Ah!

What’s going on? Basically, when you wear heels for a long time, there’s an unnatural, unbalanced amount of strength building sides of the ankles when compared to the front and back. This unevenness leads to unsteady walkin’, as well as increased risk of foot and leg injuries.

And it seems heels are just getting taller and more dangerous, right? They may be cute, but they can be According to a recent report in The Journal of Foot & Ankle Surgery, ER visits for high-heel-related injuries has doubled since 2002 in the United States. Young adult females in their 20s, who are the target market for those sky-high stilettos, are most at risk.

While I’ve sufficiently freaked out the faction of heel devotees out there, you shouldn’t worry. You don’t have to give up your favorite pair of sassy stilettos. Here are some tips:

Do heel lifts.

According to the researchers from the South Korean flight attendant study, simple heel lifts and heel drops can help strengthen muscles the right way, according to The New York Times. For the lifts: Stand on a flat surface, rise onto your toes, drop to the flat surface, and repeat. For the drops: Stand on the edge of a stair, drop your heels below the edge, bring them back to stair level, and repeat.

Slip heels off at the office.

The researcher also told the NYT that simply sitting in heels, with feet flat on the floor, isn’t the best idea, because it “can alter the resting length of the muscles and tendons around the ankle.” So, when you’re at your desk at work (or anywhere else you can feasibly remove your shoes), kick ’em off.

Choose comfort (when reasonable).

According to my pal Dr. Darria Long Gillespie, an ER physician at Emory University, the official, foot-surgeon-approved recommendation for heel height is two inches. So, keep some of those kitten heels on standby. And whenever you can, if you’re torn between two sexy shoe choices, choose the ones your feet feel best in. Recent research on running shoes showed that, to stay injury-free, the best choice was always the most-comfortable choice — ignoring other factors that scientists have suggested may reduce damage, like lessening impact force and managing ankle rotation. It’s really that simple: If you’re comfortable, your body can intuitively move in a way that’s natural for its makeup.

So, ladies: you don’t have to ditch your heels! In mean, I would never give up those look-better benefits (wink). That said, follow those few tips to reduce the damage your stilettos impart. Your feet deserve it.

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Nosh

I'm Anti-Diet, But Trying the Low-FODMAP Diet—Here's Why

The Paleo diet. The Med. The MIND. The Dash. Vegetarian, vegan, low-carb, low-sugar…low-FODMAP?
Yes. There’s a buzzy new diet on the grid, and you should take note of this one—not because it’s trending and even if you are completely, totally anti-diet.
Normally, I’m not one for restrictive regimens. I’ve researched all these so-called healthy approaches, tried one or two—and after a while, have come to the conclusion that flat-out, forever deprivation just leads to problematic issues with eating and food. I think moderation is the best policy.
But when struggles with Irritable Bowel Syndrome finally led me for a check-up with my doc, we looped back to the almighty l0w-FODMAP diet. I’d dabbled in this approach before, researched it to death, and finally decided to give it a go—despite my diets-no-more attitude. Here’s why.

What the heck is a FODMAP?

At the most basic level, you may be wondering: What on earth is a FODMAP? It’s not one “thing,” but many things. It’s an acronym:
Fermentable Oligo, Di-, Mono-saccharides And Polyols.
Although you’d never know it by looking at that super-confusing term, the contents above are all over your delicious Western diet. Basically, they are the carbohydrates you frequently eat that your body does not naturally handle well.
FODMAPs are osmotic, meaning they suck water into the GI tract. In addition, they’re quickly fermented in the gut by microscopic bacteria, leading to uncomfortable symptoms like gas and bloating—which anyone may have, but particularly people with IBS or digestive troubles.
A few FODMAPs are no big deal, but excess can prevent a problem. Think about the concept like a bucket in the small intestine. Everybody’s FODMAP bucket is a different size—but smaller the more sensitive you are to FODMAPs.
Every time you eat these types of carbohydrates, they go into the bucket. At a certain point, when you’ve had more FODMAPs than your body is personally equipped to handle, the contents of your bucket will spill over into your large intestine to cause symptoms. And no one likes to be bloated and gassy, with abdominal pain and constipation or diarrhea all the time. Right?

What foods are high in FODMAPs?

I knew you’d see the logic. Now, let’s talk more about high-FODMAP foods, which all sort of pare down into five key groups.
fructose (fruits like apples, watermelon and pears; high-fructose corn syrup; honey)
lactose (dairy products like cow’s milk, yogurt, soft cheese and ice cream)
fructans (wheat and rye, certain veggies, onion and garlic)
galactans (dried peas, beans, legumes)
polyols (certain fruits, certain veggies, sugar alcohols)
A low-FODMAP regimen is an elimination diet. During the first phase, your job is to get rid of all high-FODMAP items and clean up your gut of every little thing that ails it. If this sounds like a lot, it is.
You’ll nix lots of fruits like apples, blackberries, peaches, cherries, watermelon and mango. You’ll nix some veggies, like asparagus, cauliflower, mushrooms and peas. No dairy, meaning cow’s milk, soft cheeses like cottage cheese or ricotta, ice cream, yogurt. No wheat, no rye, no barley; you’re basically going to go gluten-free. Dietary “extras” need to be sorted; anything high in fructans or polyols especially will have to go, including garlic, onion, sugar alcohols and agave. Anything high in fructose, like honey or HFCS, is also a no-go.

That sounds horrible. (Why would I ever do that?)

I know. When I first saw all the stuff I couldn’t eat, I kind of started hyperventilating. I mean—no ice cream? No honey?? No BREAD??? Yeah, but first off, it’s only for a while. Although a low-FODMAP diet is definitely restrictive, the elimination phase lasts just a couple months, maximum.
Secondly, there’s still a lot you can eat. Basically, protein sources are all good-to-go, meaning chicken, beef, pork, fish, egg and deli meats. You can eat most nuts, except cashews and pistachios. You can eat grains like quinoa, rice, oatmeal, and corn-based items. Fruits and veggies aren’t all bad, so you can still nosh on bananas, blueberries, strawberries, cantaloupe, honeydew, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, eggplant and carrots. You can even eat some awesome cheeses like feta, mozzarella and swiss. (Ask your doc, though, before starting a regimen on your own. Scientists are measuring FODMAPs all the time, and changing these lists.)
Once symptoms that are diet-based resolve to the best they are able—your doc or a trained RD will help you determine this—you will begin to add the taboo foods back into your life. Category by category, one food at a time.
This will determine your tolerance for specific types of FODMAPs, and basically identify your personal perfect, gut-friendly diet—and the more you know your gut in general, the better you’ll be able to predict and avoid the foods that will cause you symptoms.

The Diet’s Biggest Takeaway

If you suffer from digestive symptoms regularly, I’d recommend a short-term dive into FODMAPs—even if you eventually decide that you’ll soldier on with symptoms if it means you can eat your favorite ice cream after dinner or keep gluten in your diet.
So, why do it? Because knowledge is always power. And there may come a day—a wedding, a big presentation at work, an all-day event—where you really don’t want to (or don’t have time to) deal with the nuisance of GI problems, and you’ll be glad to know what foods trigger those for you. You can stick to your “safe” foods, because you’ve predetermined them. If you don’t predetermine them, you’ll be taking shots in the dark every time you eat.
So if you’ve got IBS, think you have IBS, or just have a finicky gut, talk to your doctor about a low-FODMAP approach. After six weeks on the elimination portion, and about two more to go, I’ve survived to tell you about it—and I’ve reduced my symptom load by probably about 70 percent, which is definitely a win in my book. (Although, yes: I’m really looking forward to trying cheesy bread and ice cream again. Mmmm…)

Categories
Wellbeing

Bad Blood: Why the Passive-Aggressive Way Women Fight Is So Toxic

You’ve probably heard Taylor Swift’s chart-topping “Bad Blood” about a thousand times at this point — but interestingly, although she’s known for penning post-breakup hits, this track is not about a man.

“Bad Blood” is reportedly about fellow performer Katy Perry. Taylor wrote the song after Katy allegedly stole her backup dancers. After the record dropped, Katy tweeted, “Watch out for Regina George in sheep’s clothing…” a reference to the 2004 hit film, Mean Girls.

In the age of Twitter, we’re able to see these “mean girl” feuds play out in real time — and it’s not the first time two big-name female celebs have been involved in passive-aggressive fighting on the platform.

Taylor Swift misunderstood Nicki Minaj’s tweets about missing out on a nod for Video of the Year at the MTV VMAs, assuming they were directed at her in some fashion. “I’ve done nothing but love & support you,” Swift wrote to Minaj. “It’s unlike you to pit women against each other. Maybe one of the men took your slot.” Nicki shot back that her tweets were actually about a lack of diversity in those rewarded for their work in the music industry, not about Swift — who had to eat her words and apologize to the “Anaconda” singer.

Katy Perry then chimed in with a tweet to her followers: “Finding it ironic to parade the pit women against other women argument about as one unmeasurably capitalizes on the take down of a woman…” Camilla Belle then tweeted, “Couldn’t have said it better…” in response to Perry. Her connection? Taylor reportedly penned a song about Belle, too — the track “Better Than Revenge” resulted after Joe Jonas dumped Taylor and paired off with Camilla.

Notice a pattern?

No one seems to be addressing their conflicts directly, but rather brewing toxic words behind closed doors — and making videos like Swift’s “Bad Blood,” featuring one girl squad taking up arms to fight another. “I don’t get the violence revenge thing,” Miley Cyrus confessed to Marie Claire. “That’s supposed to be a good example?”

Cyrus has got a point. Women in Hollywood are engaging in a very public form of passive-aggressive fighting, which is not a good example — and something women do all too frequently.

Passive-aggression can take many forms, but ultimately, it’s when you feel anger toward a specific person or group — but instead of addressing the problem in a straightforward manner, you might show sneaky resentment with cryptic remarks, sulking behavior, or withholding affection or kind words due to a perceived slight. This typically frustrates and confuses the recipient of the attacks; while they sense something is wrong, nothing about a passive-aggressive person’s behavior points to what exactly they’re upset about.

Sure, men do sometimes engage in passive-aggressive behaviors. But those are learned. Men are hard-wired to address conflicts directly with physical attacks or strong words. Passive-aggression is typically reserved for female-on-female fighting, confirmed with a 1994 study.

According to a pair of 2013 studies, women evolved to use sneaky tactics to take down other members of their sex and reduce competition: “To safeguard their health over a lifetime, girls use competitive strategies that reduce the probability of physical retaliation, including avoiding direct interference with another girl’s goals and disguising their striving for physical resources, alliances and status,” Emmanuel College psychology professor Joyce F. Benenson wrote in her study. “The development of human female competition: allies and adversaries.”

She continues: “Within the female community, girls reduce competition by demanding equality and punishing those who openly attempt to attain more than others.”

Passive-aggression is still a 21st-century problem

Our ancestors were passive-aggressive. But just because women aren’t fighting for men and resources as a means of survival doesn’t mean passive-aggression has basically died off. Case in point: Swift vs. Perry in a “Bad Blood” battle over backup dancers.

And this behavior is detrimental. According to psychiatrist Dean Burnett, PhD, an expert in neuroscience, “The brain doesn’t deal well with ambiguity or uncertainty; like with cognitive dissonance, acceptable’ behaviour combined with the hostile effects/mannerism causes mental distress and discomfort,” he writes in The Guardian. “With passive-aggressive behaviour the appropriate response is impossible to work out for certain, causing even more distress and frustration.”

What does this mean? Both parties are brewing in toxic energy. All. The. Time. One woman is angry or upset, refusing to clear the air with the person she’s perceived has wronged her; the other is confused and uncomfortable as her ‘friend’ (a.k.a. frenemy) launches unspoken grenades at her. Notably, this behavior is ultra-common in the workplace, where competition and tension are common — and it’s all very stressful.

While some mild daily stress is normal, hearty doses of chronic stress is not. It’s hugely detrimental for our bodies, according to Diane Robinson, PhD, a neuropsychologist at UF Health Cancer Center – Orlando Health. “Stress day in and day out, on end, can change the brain chemistry,” she once told me, “and it has huge implications for our immune systems.”

When your body is under daily stress, the cytokines that send messages throughout your body begin to overwork, flood your system and send mixed signals. The result? It can be Crohn’s disease, shingles, depression, IBS, insomnia… the list goes on.

So, don’t make like these Hollywood girls, fighting on Twitter and launching indirect attacks. Nix passive-aggression and get assertive instead. If a co-worker gives your boss a progress report about your project, and earns all the praise, don’t give into your baser instincts. Say, “Next time, I’d appreciate it if you waited for me to share our work with the boss.” If a friend seems to be throwing mental daggers at you? Speak up. “It seems like you’re upset with me. Did I do something wrong?”

By learning to get assertive with friends, co-workers, relationship partners (whoever), you bring all conflict out in the open so you can address it directly. You disarm your adversary, clearly seeking to bridge the gap kee
ping you both from peace.

And then you can move on, instead of wading out into the toxic waters of chronic stress. It’s important for a healthy mind and body.

Categories
Wellbeing

Should You Be Sleeping in the Nude for Better Health?

Do you sleep naked? Or would you — in the name of better health, of course? Because as it turns out, stripping down between the sheets is a smart move.
I’m not going to say there’s a right or wrong attire to wear to bed… but there kind of is, ladies. You might notice that sometimes, if you hit the sack in a pair panties or close-fitting bottoms, you wake up with more vaginal discharge than usual.
Your vagina is full of bacteria, primarily yeast. While this is totally normal, when you create the right environment for that yeast to multiply — a long night, a hot day, pool time, gym time, undies in materials that don’t “breathe” — your lady parts will begin to overproduce it. This can be a recipe for problems like for an infection, complete with irritation and soreness. Yuck.
According to a tidbit from Cosmo, sleeping naked is a good idea for this reason, something the fabulous Melissa Goist, MD, a clinical assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center, told me was legit true. You should be “airing it out” on a pretty regular basis for the best vaginal health possible.
“Wearing panties is obviously preferred during the daytime or anytime you have pants on,” she says, of which I totally concur (um, yeah!). “But when you are in private, and can allow the vaginal area to ‘breathe,’ this helps for a healthier environment.”
Or, you know, you can go commando at other times, too. As long as you’re socially acceptable, Goist says you’ll get the same benefits giving your vag a timeout while wearing a loose-fitting skirt or dress that allows for the “no panties” option.
That said… she knows going without undies outside the bedroom won’t thrill a lot of ladies. “Some women have a normal, natural discharge, so this is more anxiety-provoking,” she says. “Thus, evening time is often most preferred.”
Going without underwear at night is the preventative tactic… but what’s the restorative move? If you’re experiencing some mild discomfort after one of those darn 85-degree-day summer runs, wash your vaginal area with a lukewarm water in the bath at night. No detergent, no soap. This simple move can help to cleanse the area — followed up by a nice, long sleep in the buff, of course.
Okay, okay. So, what if you’re just not one to sleep naked? (Ugh.) Don’t fret. I feel you, and it’s fine.
Personally, I’m just not a nude sleeper. Even in privacy, somehow I still feel exposed! But as an alternative, verified healthy and appropriate by Goist, I have a favorite nighty that’s so silky, lightweight, and luxurious that I had to buy two. It’s loose-fitting enough to give my lady parts a breather. And it feels like I’m sleeping naked without stripping all the way down.
So, to all you nude sleepers out there, keep on keepin’ on. For the rest, invest in a nighty you can’t get enough of.

Categories
Sweat

Can You Really Get Salma Hayek's Toned Curves Without Exercising?

We’re all looking for that miracle daily routine that keeps us burning fat and toning our bodies without even noticing it. Salma Hayek claims to have found it.

The stunning actress and newly-minted beauty guru says she rarely hits the gym like the rest of us mere mortals. “I don’t exercise,” she told People. “I just hold my body in a way that activates muscles all day long.”

According to Hayek, an expert in London taught her “how to hold my body in a way where the muscles are activated all day long.” The idea is “toning without clenching,” relaxing parts of the body that don’t need while simply creating an awareness of the muscles you are using as you do it. “So even when you brush your teeth, you’re working the muscles,” she proclaims.

All right, I’ll admit it. I was really skeptical of this one. But as it happens, there’s some truth to Salma’s tactics–which she says are based in restorative yoga.

First off, let’s talk yoga. If you haven’t tried it, it’s an amazing addition to your workout routine with potential full-body benefits–as research is bearing out more and more. One study published in European Journal of Preventive Cardiology actually showed the practice actually has some aerobic merit in addition to making those muscle groups lean, taut and toned all over.

With that information, I thought there might be something to this muscle-activation deal, so I asked my friend Joan Pagano, an NYC-based personal trainer and author of Strength Training Exercises for Women, for a validity check–and she was so happy I brought this up.

“It’s true that, as you develop kinesthetic awareness of using your muscles, you can consciously activate them in your daily activities to engage the core, stabilize the shoulder blades, contract your glutes to squat and your biceps to lift and carry,” she told me. “This is something we should all aim to do!”

Ah! And I wasn’t even aware that we needed to be that aware of our muscles in daily life.

Basically, Joan says that if Salma’s running around during her (sometimes) 20-hour workday while also activating muscle groups, she could be staying in decent shape if she had a solid level of fitness to start. Now, it’s still good to get your heart pumping with some traditional aerobic exercises–get on that bike, hit that treadmill, go for a swim, and so on–to keep your cardiovascular system primed and promote longevity.

And in terms of activating those muscle groups… you won’t necessarily build muscles by activating them throughout the day, but you can help maintain them with low-level contraction techniques. “You’ll also improve your posture, alignment and overall body mechanics,” Joan says.

So, let’s say you’re like Salma. You have basically no time to exercise. Like, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it space in your schedule. What’s one to do?

Ms. Pagano says that you should focus, at minimum, on getting in some simple body-weight exercises like squats, push-ups and planks to condition your muscles. For cardio, aim for 10-minute bursts of fast walking or stair climbing, attempting to rack up at least 30 minutes per day on most days of the week.

Then, once you have a base level of cardio fitness and muscle tone, you can try maintaining with Salma’s idea: activate muscle groups as you move through your day, and as you need them.

Joan has five ideas, which are all oh-so-easy:

“To engage your core and flatten your belly, “zip up” your abs as if you were zipping up a tight pair of jeans. Pull your navel in toward your spine, and then up, lifting the pelvic floor. This move trains the deep abdominal muscle that lies right under your jean zipper.

Stand up straight, rolling the shoulders down and back. Learn to hold them there to prevent rounding the back and developing a “forward slouch.”

When you bend and lift something, use the large muscles of your legs – the glutes, the quads and hamstrings – and practice the “hip hinge,” which means bending forward from the hips with your spine in neutral alignment.

Get up from any seated position without using your arms for support.

When you’re brushing your teeth, stand on one leg for balance and feel the muscles of that leg working to support you – especially in the ankles.

It’s good to be aware of the need for muscular awareness, right? I’ll never lift a box or brush my teeth the same way again.

Categories
Wellbeing

How to Beat the 21st-Century "Text Neck"

Take a look around at your local Starbucks. Or the mall. Or your grocery store.
No, I mean actually pick your head up, currently glued to your smartphone screen, and look. We are all buried in our phones and tablets — all day, everyday — and it’s becoming a very real pain in the neck.
The Vision Council estimates that 93.3 percent of adults spend upwards of two hours per day using some sort of a gadget — and more than six in 10 spend five hours per day. Spinal surgeon Dr. Kenneth K. Hansraj cites similar stats in his research from late 2014: we’re spending an average of two to four hours a day with head hunched over a phone — which equates to 700 to 1400 hours a year. Cumulatively, you’re looking at a recipe for neck pain and spine-alignment issues.
Consider this. “An adult head weighs 10 to 12 pounds in the neutral position,” writes Hansraj in his paper, published in Surgical Technology International. “As the head tilts forward the forces seen by the neck surges to 27 pounds at 15 degrees, 40 pounds at 30 degrees, 49 pounds at 45 degrees and 60 pounds at 60 degrees.”
That’s a lot of gravity. Imagine six bowling balls stacked on your neck. Or six Thanksgiving turkeys. Or six watermelons. (I know, my neck hurts, too.)
Docs and researchers are calling this 21st-century problem “tech neck” or “text neck.” And unfortunately, there’s not a cure-all for that problem — which is one of the leading causes of disability in the United States.
Your best bet is avoiding the issue all together, if possible — and that doesn’t necessarily mean going on a complete gadget cleanse. Here are some of the ways to beat text neck:
Stretch your neck. Sounds pretty easy, right? Don’t mindlessly get lost in that viral vid or online article, but be mindful enough to realize when your neck is getting stiff. “If you have neck pain, whether it started two days ago or two weeks ago, one of the best things you can do is gently move and stretch your neck muscles,” says Dr. Pierre Côté, an epidemiologist at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa, who conducted a study on neck pain fixes last year. I’ve talked to spinal surgeons, who’ve confirmed this tip: just move it, move it. (Gently. Every once in a while.)
Get gadgets to eye level. Take a cue from Hansraj’s study: the less you tilt your neck, the less stress you put on your spine. So, get your gadgets as close to eye level as possible while you’re perusing online. If you’re at home, you can even get a stand for your tablet or smartphone. Finally, let’s say you’re standing in line somewhere, and can’t get your gadget to exact eye level. The closer you can get, the less weight gravity will exert. So, just do your best. With all those hours accumulating, small daily changes count.
Make some changes. As someone who works in media, I know how hard it can be to put down the smartphone. I mean, Twitter updates! Snapchats! Emails… ? Sigh. It’s exhausting. For sanity’s sake, and to avoid that pain in your neck, shut down for a bit. These days, from at least around 6 pm to 10 pm, I try to avoid staring at a gadget screen. I avoid phone pings. Instead, I work out, do something social, make a nutritious dinner, Netflix something (at eye level!), so on and so forth. Also, let’s talk about picking up the phone. There was a period, say, from 2009 to 2012 where receiving an actual phone call would paralyze me. (I mean, who calls anymore???) As it turns out, today, I do. I try to talk on the phone with friends and family as much as possible to catch up. It saves time, helps me feel connected to a real person — and, you know, the risk for text neck and lifelong spine issues.
Not a bad deal, right?

Categories
Wellbeing

The Importance of Having Body-Image Girl Crushes

It seems everybody is trying to put women into boxes again, especially athletes, with a resurgence of female sports hitting the airwaves and press this summer in the aftermath of the World Cup and Wimbledon.

The New York Times ran a piece this month about women’s tennis players, and how they can balance their strength with femininity. When victor Serena Williams wore a ballet-pink ball gown to the Wimbledon Champions dinner, people expressed shock that she’d depart from her usually-dominant persona.

And that’s not all. The Guardian quoted the head of coordination for women’s soccer in Brazil, where he indicates there’s been a resurgence in the game because ladies are concerned with getting prettier for games, putting on make-up, doing their hair and wearing shorter shorts. In fact, the FIFA president seemed to echo this sentiment when he insinuated the girls’ shorts simply weren’t tight enough — they might be better volleyball tight. Because that’s a more “female aesthetic.” Apparently.

Of course, we also know actresses and models have long been scrutinized for their weight. Academy Award winner Jennifer Lawrence was told back in her teenage years that if she didn’t lose weight, she’d lose roles. Models like Ashley Graham, Robyn Lawley, Lara Stone and Kate Upton have all fought back against haters, who’ve labeled them fat, plus-size and/or un-bookable.

Confession: I pick apart my own body sometimes. I mean, I look at it in the mirror everyday, as I’m sure you do yours. I don’t like my broad shoulders very much; whether it’s an illusion or not, I feel like anything other than a halter cut or a t-shirt doesn’t sit right. I’d love to have more an hourglass figure, or more of a straight shape — it’s like my body falls somewhere in between, which feels weirdly impossible, yet apparently possible. And like 90 percent of the female population, I’d also kill to have flatter abs. (I mean, come on.)

But I also have a healthy realization that we all have different body hang-ups, we all have different body types, and some self-criticism is normal. Keeping that inner-voice of doubt in check, and the outer-voices that seek to reinforce it, is what’s key.

And ultimately, I take offense to people, especially men or the media, insinuating that feminine beauty comes in one size, one shape and one package — which includes short-shorts and glitter hair accessories on athletes, and a size 0 on actresses. Haven’t we come farther than that as a society yet?

If only the media could see that when they comment negatively or back-handedly on a female body type, they’re essentially critiquing a million other women and girls, too. That’s toxic.

From a personal perspective, I get it. It’s impossible to look at celebrities, athletes and other high-profile women and not make comparisons from your body to theirs on some levels. What I’d challenge you to do is to look a layer beyond the surface judgment. Every time the media shouts out a new celebrity name to comment on her body, look for something that rocks about her figure — and emulate the women with positive body images that you grow to love, and who have frames and styles similar to yours.

My current body-image girl crushes? Serena Williams for defying stereotypes. Kate Upton for embracing her curves. Jane the Virgin actress Gina Rodriguez for celebrating differences and natural beauty. Margot Robbie for admitting she doesn’t have the dieting skills of a saint (and eating the damn cheeseburger). J.Law for her confidence, and Sophia Bush for her candor.

Why I love them all? For a couple reasons. First, they have body types more similar to my own than the average celebrity prototype, and I often look to them to 1) remember that my figure is healthy and beautiful, just the way it is; and 2) get inspiration on how to dress my frame. (They have stylists, so why not?)

And finally, I love these ladies because they all express one thing: it’s best to find happiness, not obsess over fitting the media’s cookie-cutter box of what’s beautiful.

“I’m not going to starve just to be thin. I want to enjoy life, and I can’t do that if I’m not eating and miserable,” Kate Upton once uttered.

“The world has this idea that if you don’t look like an airbrushed perfect model… you have to see past it. You look how you look, you have to be comfortable,” Jennifer Lawrence has said.

“Do not tell me that I am not pretty enough, skinny enough, tall enough, this enough to be on the cover of anything or to accomplish the lead in a show or to be anybody I want to be — because those are limitations we’ve created,” Gina Rodriguez once said.

Don’t limit yourself to silly ideas of what’s in style, who’s pretty and what bodies are acceptable — whether you’re an athlete or an actress, a writer or absolutely anyone else. Find beauty everywhere instead.

Categories
Sweat

The Lazy Girl's Guide to Strength-Training

All my life, I’ve hated strength-training. When I used to play competitive sports, I’d sometimes conveniently get sick on our all-too-frequent weight room days in the off season. (Shh. Don’t tell anyone.)
There’s this old storyline that women focus on cardio to get lean, and men focus on weights to bulk up. After polling random friends and acquaintances of both sexes over the last few months, it’s true. Stereotypes and tropes really do exist for a reason.
But as a woman, still, ladies: you’ve got to build some muscle. Not only does muscle help you look leaner, but it helps you burn more calories whenever you hit the treadmill or elliptical; in fact, muscle tissue burns off more calories than fat even when you’re just sitting around watching Netflix episodes of Scandal. And who could want more, right?
Don’t be fooled. You can look lean without bulking up, and you don’t need expensive weight equipment to gain some muscle mass. My friends always ask me how I stay toned. I tell them all it’s a pretty simple process. So simple, in fact, that I hardly think about it.
Since I’m the queen of getting the most bang for your strength-training buck, with as few extras as possible, here are some of my best moves.
The Push-Up
It sounds to easy to be true, but push-ups are the core of my arm routine. But here’s the secret for results: stop doing the “girl version.” Get off your knees, and do a real, honest-to-goodness push-up. This means you’re up on your toes, with both palms flat on the floor, bending those elbows into a 90-degree angle. Do as many sets of 10 as you can muster.
Make it easier: Drop and do push-ups in increments of 10 throughout the day, or in between cardio intervals during your regular routine, working up to a higher and higher total. Then, you’re not absolutely killing yourself. It’ll take like 15 seconds max. (I promise you can survive 15 seconds of pain.)
The Plank
I like to multi-task. The more things I can do at once, and do well, the better. Which is why I love the plank so much. Drop from a push-up position onto your forearms, keep your tummy taut, and hold for as long as you can.
Make it easier: My trick? Listen to upbeat music, and hold for the length of a song. Give yourself a minute break, and then hold for another length. You may have to work up to this from the length of a chorus, or half a song, but give it time. Pretty soon, you’ll be toning that tricky area at back of your arms and flattening those abs.
Wall Sits
No. Wall sits are not fun. I used to loathe these babies back in the day, but now they’re my go-to leg move, as they are very effective for toning your entire thigh. Use the same song-timing trick as you would with your plank, and work up to three sets. To better tone your inner and outer thigh, shift the weight on your foot from the outside to the arch.
Make it easier: As I mentioned, definitely do wall-sits to music if you’re tacking directly onto your workout routine. Or better yet, you can always do these throughout the day. Because, duh: walls are everywhere. I once wall-sat my way up to the front of the line at an amusement park, leaning against a very sturdy fence. My friend thought I was crazy, but hey! I toned up, they didn’t, and random strangers did not seem to judge me.
Yoga Poses
I don’t do yoga as much as I used to, but if you ever want to get toned fast, I’d totally recommend signing up for a classes with a professional. Never in my life was I more toned and taut — arms, legs, core and beyond — than when I was hitting those vinyasa and ashtanga flows three times a week. In yoga, your whole body has to work to support your own weight.
Make it easier: After a month or two (or three) of classes, you’ll confidently know the moves to do at home, so you can tone up at any moment throughout the day. It’s worth the investment.
Five-Pound Weights
Invest in a pair of juuuust-heavy-enough dumbbells. Probably five to eight pounds will do. Then, adopt a routine that you do consistently, every other day, every single week. If you truly get in the habit of tacking this onto the end of your cardio workout, you’ll see the results you want. Toned arms, all around.
Make it easier: You can lift light dumbbells in front of the TV, and you’ll hardly notice you’re doing it. Try this five-minute routine if you need some go-to move inspiration.
Bottom line? You don’t have to do deadlifts or hit the bench press to get toned. Just wedge easy-peasy moves into your day, whenever you can, and you’ll be showing off toned biceps and sculpted legs in no time.

Categories
Nosh

In Defense Of Counting Calories

You’ve probably seen a slew of counting-calorie apps over the past few years, haven’t you? You’ve probably even tried one or two, just out of curiosity. Because no one’s reached a verdict on their effectiveness yet.
There’s always been this big debate among doctors, dietitians and researchers about counting calories. On one side of the spectrum, some see it as a bit obsessive. These folks say you should just be calorie-conscious, choosing instead to make sensible choices, eat three meals a day and have one or two small, healthy snacks.
The flip side of the coin says that measuring out portions and counting calories is the only real way to watch your weight. Most of us just aren’t conscientious enough to realize how many times we’re eating, how calories we’re consuming at any given time, and how many calories are in all our food selections over the course of a day.
I see the logic in both arguments. Really, only one works for me.
In a perfect world, I would never count calories. I would stay within a reasonable margin each day, and could easily resist the allure of an extra cookie, another bite of ice cream or a few more french fries.
But we don’t live in that perfect world. Because then we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. Because then calories wouldn’t exist. It’d just be an endless chocolate lava cakes as healthy dietary staples. Ahhh.
I’ve lived life both ways, counting calories and letting the chips fall where they may. And here’s the sad fact: annoying as it is to get out my calorie-counting app after every food choice, it keeps me accountable.
Whenever I’m forced to see my dietary decisions in black and white, I always, always, always make better choices than when I’m not. When I’m tempted to just grab the snack cake with 420 calories and 8 grams of saturated fat? Suddenly, it’s not as appealing.
On top of that, I’m a grazer. My stream of consciousness goes something like this: Oh, 140 calories per serving for these chips? That’s not so bad! And if I only eat half a serving, that’s 70 calories for eight of ’em, and that’s practically nothing.
Guess what I’ve learned, guys? All those “practically nothings” add up. Like, behind your back. When you’re not actually paying attention to anything but theoretically-low caloric values. (I know, bummer.)
That said, I’m the first to admit I can become a bit obsessive about punching numbers into phones, or bummed when I fall off the accountability wagon. Luckily, I’ve come up with a few strategies to count smart, stay healthy and stay on the wagon:

1. Set healthy, reasonable goals.

Calorie-counting apps like MyFitnessPal, SparkPeople and Lose It! usually allow you to set calorie, exercise and weight goals for yourself, depending whether you want to lose or maintain. When you do this, be real. A reasonable weight-loss goal is one pound per week. If you start meeting your goals, get excited — not crazy. It’s not mentally or physically healthy to go for two or three pounds of weight loss per week on a 1,200 calorie diet and manic exercise. This is not a game of “how low can you go?”

2. Purposely take off days.

In order to keep some sanity, I think it’s great to have off days where you don’t count calories at all. If your husband is taking you out for a decadent birthday dinner, you’re going to a wedding, or you’re on vacation, eat as sensibly as possible as you “pre-game”—but let yourself live a little on your excursion. Have the cake. Eat the steak. Sometimes, as long as it’s not everyday, it’s dietary YOLO. Tomorrow, you start fresh.

3. Cut yourself some slack.

Let’s say you just have a craving that won’t die, and you need to have those late-night cheese n’ crackers—ut they put you over your calorie limit. Or let’s say you get busy and totally forget to track for a day (or three). Don’t let those situations be excuses to just say, “Aw, heck with it!” and go back to grazing mindlessly and bad choices. Approach everyday with the mindset that you’ll track and do your best to make wise choices. And if, one day, you don’t? Fine. The next day, you will. Have short-term memory loss about bad days, don’t use them as reasons to quit.
Really, do what works for you to be healthy. But if you find your dress size inching up and you don’t like it, or can’t seem to avoid the extra cookie day after day, try downloading an app and tallying up your calories as best you can. You might even find noshing mindfully is easier than you thought.
At the end of the day, it’s about avoiding extremes. There’s a happy medium between obsessive tracking and nutritional ignorance. Look for yours.

Categories
Wellbeing

PSA: In Dating, It's Okay to Be Ridiculous

Dating. It’s supposed to be “fun” and “exciting,” right? And sure, some of it is. There’s that time you met the handsome stranger at the hippest new restaurant in town and bantered that perfect, spring night away; or that time you kissed your now-ex under the Fourth of July fireworks.
But for something that’s considered categorically, there are a lot of tears and cringe-worthy moments that you might just want to take back. Like the time you ran after the hot player, convinced he would “change” for you! Or that other time you sent an emotionally-fueled text (or six) to your ex (eek). Or yet another time you finally said something — hideously silly — to the dude you’d been crushing on for, I don’t know, a whole year. Ugh.
Well, I’m here to applaud you for every last one of those so-called mistakes, mishaps and misfires. Here’s why.
Most of us aren’t going to marry the first person we date. In fact, most of us shouldn’t marry the first person we date. We’re not ready yet; would you buy the first house you look at without doing any research or looking at any other options? Dating, the joy and the pain, is all about growth. It’s about figuring out exactly what you want and need in a partner. It’s a process. And it takes time and screw-ups.
They say life is a cruel teacher. You get the test first, and then you get the lesson. But here’s the deal with dating: the more tests you “fail,” the more the lessons you amass — and there’s always an opportunity for retakes. When these exams hit your desk a second time, you’ve already studied up, and you’re ready to pass with flying colors.
That guy who sweet-talks you the first second you meet? Player, best to move on.
When your commitment-phobic ex calls you back up and asks to meet? Politely decline. Been there, done that.
When your date tells you he’s just out a relationship… two weeks ago? Emotionally unavailable isn’t your thing anymore.
Soon, you get better and better at recognizing the situations that will lead to heartbreak. But first, you have to fail the tests. Friends will warn you about your ex, your mom will tell you’re crazy about that guy you’re hopelessly in love with — but sometimes, you need to experience it to know why it won’t work. To know you’re not the exception. To know that despite a hundred red flags amongst that one redeeming, alluring quality, it won’t magically work out.
Sometimes, first, you have to be ridiculous in dating.
My favorite dating coach is Boston-based Neely Steinberg, who I recently chatted with on this very subject. She says she had a ton of fun dating in her 20s, despite her fair share of heartbreak — and sometimes, she chased disaster.
But then she turned 30, and committed herself to taking stock of those hard-earned lessons. “I became less interested in fleeting hook-ups, less dazzled by the charming, hot men, more open to dating outside ‘my type,'” she tells me. “I became less likely to let something drag on if I didn’t feel it was right, or if I saw red flags. I was committed to self-growth through my dating experiences, and started having the tougher conversations with guys that I normally would just avoid in my 20s.”
Neely met her husband at age 33 on Match.com, and says he’s the best thing that’s ever happened to her. She dated off-type, she dated smart and strategically — and she recognized his potential, because she’d finally dated enough men to pick out a flower among the weeds.
In dating, as in life, it’s okay to make mistakes. It’s how we grow. So, be ridiculous if you need to be. Just make sure you’re learning the lesson with each failed test. Then you’ll really appreciate the right person when you finally cross paths.