December 25, 2018 at 01:00PM Unpopular opinion: I hate working out. I’ve tried basically everything and nothing has stuck. Treadmill workouts are boring AF; running makes me flash back to eighth-grade P.E.; reformer Pilates is basically just a fancy version of a medieval torture device (but for fitness!); and spinning is actually a preview of the seventh circle of hell. (Why are my feet locked into the bike? What will I do if there’s a fire? Why is it so dark in here? I digress.) Working at publications specifically geared towards women’s health and wellness has had little impact on my perspective. Yes, I know for a fact that regular exercise is linked to many amazing health benefits—longevity, improved mood and better mental health, and reduced stress, among others. Knowing the good things exercise can bring does not alter the fact that I hate everything about working out. I hate the sweating. I hate the mind-numbing repetitiveness of a treadmill or an elliptical. I hate the post-exercise rosacea flareups that take hours to calm down. I hate the subsequent full-body soreness that lasts for multiple days. Thank u, next. I’d held these beliefs about physical activity for a long time. Then, in October, I joined some coworkers for a Muay Thai kickboxing class at HitHouse, a studio in New York’s NoLiTa neighborhood. Though meant as a team bonding experience, I still dreaded the inevitable redness and sweatiness that I’d endure in front of my far more active colleagues. As it happens, I had
Day: December 25, 2018
I’ve tried hundreds of dollars of curl creams, and this is the best one
December 25, 2018 at 11:00AM As the middle of five children in a household of seven, you would think that statistically, it wouldn’t be possible for me to be the only person with curly hair. But here I am—the only member of my extended family without pin-straight strands. For most of my life, I partook in heavy experimentation with styling products, with hair tools, and with haircuts—all of which prevented me from ever becoming loyal to a hair-care product or even a brand. All of this changed, however, when a bottle of Kevin Murphy Killer Curls ($59) made its way onto my desk. My hair is a conundrum—it’s somehow both incredibly silky and exceptionally frizzy. Most of the time it feels like a rats nest, but it also doesn’t ever have enough grip to it. My dream leave-in product smoothes the frizz without it looking like I’m rocking jerry curls, defines my curls without making them look like curly fries, and weighs things down a little without completely getting rid of all volume. Essentially I thought I was asking for an anomaly, but since using my first pump of this curl cream, I’ve gone through four bottles. It gives my hair the grip and that non-squeaky clean feeling that I imagine salt spray give my straight-haired brethren, and simultaneously smoothes frizz and defines curls. Also, this is a controversial opinion but it’s very fragrant which is something I actually enjoy from a hair-care product because when you lean in to hug
‘Home Alone 2’ inspired me to move to New York and pursue my dreams
December 25, 2018 at 08:00AM Kevin McCallister inspired me to pursue my lifelong dreams. I’m not joking: At the ripe age of 4 when I first saw Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, which features Macaulay Culkin’s character frolicking all over the sparkling city of Manhattan in its peak idyllic Christmastime glory, I caught a whiff of what I wanted to do with my life. Move to New York City. To do something. Anything. (If it involved the Plaza Hotel, great, but no need for one Donald Trump to make a cameo in my personal version.) Every year, when all the TV channels started playing the film—nay, masterpiece—on repeat as soon as December struck, I’d watch in a trance, admiring the complete freedom Kevin has as he sightsees and walks through Central Park and hits up all the major shops (with a personal pizza on-hand, mind you). And each time I watched, my dream was only further reinforced: I just had to live in this dazzling city. When the time came, I started scouting colleges in the city and, eventually, I got a proverbial golden ticket in the form of an acceptance letter. And so I made it happen. After 12 years of living in Texas, I left everything I knew and moved to New York to attend college and pursue a career in writing. Everyone thought I was crazy, and no one was shy about sharing their thoughts: “You don’t know anybody!” “The city is too big!” “It’s dangerous there!” Um,
Here’s why your anxiety can cause some pretty gnarly physical symptoms
December 25, 2018 at 07:00AM I was in the middle of a workout class when, out of nowhere, I felt it—a pressure blooming in my chest. My breathing started to become heavier, and not from exertion. Tears began to prick the back of my eyes. I knew exactly what was happening; I was on the cusp of a panic attack. And besides being freaked out, I was really confused. Sure, maybe I was a little more stressed about work, but there was nothing out of the ordinary going on in my life that would warrant such a strong emotional (and physical) reaction. And that’s the insidious thing about anxiety and panic disorders—there oftentimes isn’t anything rational about it. “The definition of anxiety is, to some degree, an irrational fear or danger reaction to something that actually isn’t that level of dangerous or fearful,” says Gail Saltz, MD, the associate professor of psychiatry at the NY Presbyterian Hospital Weill-Cornell School of Medicine. Sometimes it manifests in a panic attack, or vomiting, or sweaty palms. But what triggers these different physical symptoms of anxiety? I asked Dr. Saltz to explain. Our bodies have a natural fight-or-flight response when faced with potential dangers. This reaction is great when we need to, say, run away from a T-Rex should you be in a Jurassic Park—esque situation. But Dr. Saltz says that when you experience anxiety, your sympathetic nerve system (which controls that above-mentioned fight-or-flight response) overreacts. Your body gets this rush of norepinephrine, which is
Pillows are basically fake news unless you sleep in one particular position
December 25, 2018 at 05:30AM I don’t remember exactly when I started tossing my pillows to the foot of my bed before falling asleep each night. But somewhere along the line, those fluffy head-holders became akin to stuffed animals, or one of those knit blankets with giant holes in them (i.e., totally pointless apart from aesthetic purposes). I stuck to my Kondo-ed sleep environment for years before my minimalist preferences came under siege at my high-school volleyball’s team slumber party. Most of my teammates simply could not understand why I would deviate from sleep norms. And since then, many a pillow advocate has shamed me. Personally, the whole idea of needing to put your head on something for sleeping feels like a big hoax. I mean, you wouldn’t bring one to yoga for savasana. Newborn babies don’t drool all over miniature Tempur-Pedics. And people are even sleeping on the floor nowadays! But I digress. Back at that fateful sleepover, I had no evidence to support my stance of the pillow industry being a big ole conspiracy theory propagated by mattress companies, and still don’t. So, I decided to consult the pros about how necessary it really is to bolster your head during the hours you spend unconscious. As it turns out, the answer depends on a few factors. “Whether or not to use a pillow depends on your sleeping position,” says Nate Watson, MD, a sleep specialist at SleepScore Labs. “Side sleepers should always have a pillow to support a straight spine, but those sleeping supine
I’ve worn the same $12 tacky Christmas sweater to bed every night for the last year
December 25, 2018 at 05:00AM December 25, 2015, was the first Christmas my mom and her boyfriend were dating, so naturally, two-families worth of uncomfortable adults spent the day making small chat about what vehemently felt like our sole common denominator: the splendid job my mom did on the ham (pineapple-glazed, if you must know). Eager to cut the awkwardness by at least 50 percent, in 2016 it was decided that we’d spend the holiday painting the unfinished basement floor—which led to a poorly painted floor and eight adults with back pain. Determined (read: stubborn), in 2017, the couple doubled-down and planned an outing to the bowling alley. But my mom never does anything halfway, so she surprised our Brady Bunch with matching tacky Christmas sweaters. She walked in the alley with eight matching holiday sweaters draped over her arm. Like she’d been gifted the collection by Mrs. Claus herself. So as the alley speakers belted Michael Bublé’s holiday album, we adults, between the ages of 24 and 60, ponied (err, reindeer-ed?) up in our sweaters. Ahh, blended families partaking in #festivities. To be clear, these aren’t put-the-cash-in cashmere tunics or chunky cable knits. These are hooded, 100-percent polyester, practically neon red pullovers. And the design on these holi-yay articles of clothing? A sheep literally wrapped in Christmas lights with the trying-too-hard-to-be-punny phrase, “Fleece Navidad.” (Fashion is in the details, all.) Photo: Well+Good Alas, we bowled. We took a family photo donning our matching sweats and posted evidence of our togetherness on the internet,
Big deck energy: How to choose the best tarot or oracle cards for you
December 25, 2018 at 04:00AM From women’s circles to wellness retreats to woo-woo Instagram, tarot and oracle card decks are positively everywhere right now. And if you’ve ever tried to buy one of your own—because why wouldn’t you want to be your own fortune teller?—you’ll know that the number of options is super overwhelming. Starchild vs. Wild Unknown tarot. Angel cards. Decks emblazoned with crystals, spirit animals, goddesses, mantras. Like, where do you even start? According to Desiree Lanz, a Los Angeles-based intuitive reader, channeler, and medium, it’s simple—if you walk into a metaphysical store (or are scrolling on social) and feel drawn to a certain deck, that’s the right one for you. “Our intuition will lead us to themes and imagery that we resonate with, feel emotionally connected to and can benefit from,” she says. “It’s really just a matter of what we enjoy looking at, holding, and developing a working relationship with.” Picking a deck based on your intuition is good practice since that’s really the whole point of tarot and oracle card decks. They’re essentially designed to help you get in touch with your own inner knowing—and, some believe, the divine energy that informs that inner knowing. “The more tools we have to receive intuitive information, the more assistance, signs, and messages we can pick up on,” says Lanz. The idea is that your intuition (slash the universe) guides you to pull the card with information that will help lead you toward a certain path to follow or
The guaranteed way to make and exercise more challenging? Do it on a stability ball
December 25, 2018 at 03:00AM The surefire way to make any exercise move harder? Do it on a stability ball. Stability ball exercises are a $20 way to take your floor routine to the next level, adding a bonus level of dynamism to your workout. “Adding a stability ball to an exercise can take a basic move from ‘I can do this in my sleep,’ to ‘this is the most challenging thing I have ever done,’” says Tiffani Robbins, director of the sculpt program at NYC’s Fithouse. This happens because your core has to fire up to do work in addition to whatever other exercise you’re doing, and that means a major payoff. “Stability balls challenge both balance and stability, which are a part of functional training that should not be overlooked since they are a huge aspect of our daily lives,” Robbins tells me. “Working with any type of unstable surface or object will automatically recruit additional muscles when performing certain moves. When adding a stability ball to an exercise, your core will have to engage more to find balance than when you do the the move without it.” That added muscular engagement ultimately has other positive side effects, too. “There are two standout benefits that come to mind when I think of the stability ball: Improved spinal stabilization and increased use of muscle fibers during a given exercise,” explains Nicole Petitto, senior manager of group fitness and co-creator of the Pilates Remix class at Equinox. “The stability ball is also ideal for increasing
Here’s why dietitians love sweet potatoes so freaking much
December 25, 2018 at 02:00AM If there’s one piece of produce that comes close to stealing the health halo from the avocado, it’s the humble sweet potato. People in the wellness industry—from trainers to dietitians to doctors—love the tuber. Personal trainer Michael Morelli even advocates eating them for every meal. TBH, it’s a little surprising in this carb-phobic climate that sweet potatoes are still so beloved. After all, they do have 26 grams per cup. But here’s the thing, according to 80 Twenty Nutrition founder Christy Brissette, RD: Carbs aren’t inherently “bad.” “Carbohydrates from produce are different than carbs from processed, flour-based foods,” she says, adding that carbs really only get problematic when people overdo their portions. (She says an appropriate serving should be about the size of your fist.) Now that the carb myth is straightened out, we can focus on the major reason why healthy eating pros are into ’em: all their glorious benefits. Keep reading to see the nutritional benefits of sweet potatoes, plus easy ways to add them to your diet. The top sweet potato benefits: 1. They’re a good source of vitamin A. “This is the major difference between sweet potatoes and white potatoes,” Brissette says of SP’s high beta carotene content. Beta carotene is the precursor to vitamin A (meaning it gets converted to vitamin A in the bod), key for maintaining a strong immune system. It’s also good for your eyes. A word to the wise: Vitamin A is fat-soluble, so Brissette suggests eating your sweet potato
Have A Very Keto Christmas With These 4-Ingredient Chocolate Orange Fat Bombs
December 25, 2018 at 01:00AM It tastes just like a childhood favorite. Continue Reading… Author Liz Moody | Life by Daily Burn Selected by iversue