March 29, 2019 at 08:50AM by CWC The amount of stir-fry sauces in my fridge right now is straight-up embarrassing. I’ve been on a quest to find a week-night recipe for a while now. After trying nearly every new option I’ve spotted on store shelves, I’m still without one that has the perfect balance of healthy ingredients and complex flavors. But now I can have it all with a healthy stir-fry sauce recipe easy enough to do in my own kitchen. The recipe developer behind the plant-based food blog Minimalist Baker, Dana Shultz, recently shared her 20-minute tofu stir-fry recipe. While the marinated tofu and cauliflower rice is worth of praise on its own, it’s the ridiculously easy sauce that’s the ultimate win. Each of its five ingredients have an important duty that, when combined, creates a sauce that works with any vegetable and protein pairing your heart desires. The recipes includes: “chili garlic sauce for heat, lime juice for acidity, maple syrup for sweetness, peanut butter to thicken, and coconut aminos or tamari for saltiness and depth of flavor,” Shultz writes. View this post on Instagram NEW! AMAZING 20-Minute Tofu Stir-Fry! 😍🌿🌶️🍚🥡 The perfect fast lunch or easy dinner when you’re short on time, busy with life, + just need something quick + delicious ⏲️. Customizable, BIG flavor, + SO satisfying. Enjoy, friends!☺️ (LINK in Bio!) #plantbased #glutenfree #stirfry A post shared by MINIMALIST BAKER (@minimalistbaker) on Mar 28, 2019 at 10:14am PDT //www.instagram.com/embed.js The best part about the
Month: March 2019
Yep, Your Microbiome Needs A Good Spring Cleaning Too—Here’s How What You’re Eating Can Help
March 29, 2019 at 08:22AM by CWC You know it’s nearing spring cleaning time when you turn down brunch plans with friends in favor of deep cleaning your apartment. But according to Amy Shapiro, RD and founder of Real Nutrition, your apartment isn’t the only thing craving a rejuvenation—your microbiome is due for a refresh too. After a winter of being cooped up indoors, fighting off colds, and reaching for more comfort foods, your microbiome can get thrown out of whack, according to Shapiro. Her solution for getting back to max gut health? “Eating a well-balanced diet rich with prebiotics as well as probiotics will help to reset and either build or support the microbiome,” she says. Because things like spring cleaning tend to linger on your well-intentioned to-do list without ever getting crossed off, here’s some incentive. Sounds easy enough, but because things like spring cleaning tend to linger on your well-intentioned to-do list without ever getting crossed off, here’s some incentive: “[Your microbiome] affects bodily functions from health, weight, digestion, disease prevention, and more, and the research is really only just beginning,” Shapiro says. So yeah, it’s pretty important. And if you know anything about gut health, you know that when your gut is in tip top shape, everything else—from proper digestion to less bloating—feels a whole lot better. A key component of overhauling your gut (however weird that may sound) is probiotics, because of course. Renew Life Women’s Complete 90 Billion supports digestive and immune health with a
Ikea’s latest collection is devoted to all things self-care
March 29, 2019 at 07:35AM by CWC Looks like a major retailer has been lurking on our #SelfCareSunday posts. Perhaps in response to the growing interest in self-care, the new Ikea Tänkvärd collection is dedicated personal well-being. The Scandinavian home furnishing depot recognizes that part of self-care is making your home a place where you feel truly chill. And everything in in the collection super affordable. (Money stress = not chill.) For some people, self-care is all about cooking a nourishing meal and vegging out to The Great British Baking Show. For others, it’s getting to an evening yoga class three times a week, no matter what. Almost universal, however, is the belief that your home should be treated as a sanctuary. And you don’t need a celebrity-sized bank account to create a calming environment. The minimalist Ikea Tänkvärd collection launches next month with a focus on rest and recharging. Aside from furniture practically begging for you to take a nap, the new collection includes bedding made of natural fibers, and Ikea’s very first kimono. Here’s a sneak peek of what to expect, including our favorites from the Ikea Tänkvärd collection. Ikea Tänkvärd Top Picks Buy Now Natural bedding in calming colors Buy Now Ikea lamp Buy Now kimono for all-day lounging Buy Now towel rack Buy Now Oversized couch pillows Buy Now Chairs made of natural wood Here are some easy ways to self-care, while lounging around the house. And here’s what to do if the idea of finding
This healthy bread is Mediterranean diet-friendly (and RD-approved)
March 29, 2019 at 06:10AM by CWC By now, you’ve likely come across your fair share of smack talk about bread: It causes brain fog! Will give you dementia! Makes you fat! But if you’re of the Mediterranean diet persuasion (or you just love carbs and want another reason to eat them) good news: Bread is absolutely on the menu. “Bread is a traditional part of the Mediterranean diet,” says Christy Brissette, RD, president of 80 Twenty Nutrition in Chicago. “Stone ground, whole grain flour was made into homemade breads and pitas and eaten alone or dipped into olive oil, bean or yogurt dips.” Of course, not all breads are equal. “When you think about the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet, think traditional: go for whole grain versus refined grains,” she says. In a nutshell, the healthiest bread to eat (whether you’re on the Med diet or not) is a classic whole grain bread. “Whole grains contain fiber, antioxidants and phytochemicals as well as B vitamins, vitamin E, iron and magnesium,” Brisette says. “Eating whole grains regularly is linked to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, stroke and some types of cancer.” Keri Glassman, MS, RD, CDN, co-founder and CEO of The Nutritious Life Studio CEO, agrees—but with a twist. “Personally, I always go for sprouted bread, like Ezekiel bread, because it’s made with whole grains and it has zero sugar,” she says. According to Glassman, sprouted breads are often made with sprouted whole grains or
Rebrand every weekend as a vacation to kick your weekly case of the Mondays
March 29, 2019 at 07:27AM by CWC Sometimes my Sunday Scaries are so terrifying that I pray for a light family emergency just so I don’t have to deal with the emotional drain of Mondays. So when I came across research suggesting that getting over a weekly case of the Mondays just requires a mental rebrand of your weekend, my interest obviously piqued. The research calls upon results from two studies, for which 500 participants were asked to rate their level of happiness going into the weekend. For the first study, a control group was instructed to go about their weekend business as usual and the other group was to, as much as possible, treat the two days as a vacation. Come Monday, the vacationers rated themselves as both happier and more present. The second study, also of 500 participants split into two groups—a control group and a vacation mind-set group—asked people to keep a journal of activities they did and how they felt about each. Again, the vacationers reported being happier and more present on Monday. Though the vacation group ultimately did fewer chores and the vacationers did more of the…dirty, researchers note that the activities themselves weren’t as significant of a predictor of happiness as the mind-set sustained while doing said activity. Meaning, it’s not necessarily what you do, but how you feel about doing it. Enter vacation mind-set. Vacation mind-set doesn’t require you to take endless weekend jaunts (which might be a better way to exhaust rather
How to deal when you love your single status, but your mom does not (and lets you know it)
March 29, 2019 at 05:00AM by CWC I have near-daily phone calls with my mom, and odds are strong that somewhere between “How’s the weather?” and “What’s for dinner?” she’ll check in on my relationship status…as if that’s the kind of thing that magically changes overnight. And something tells me I’m hardly alone in my efforts to field and squelch relationship questions from well-intentioned but sometimes overbearing (sorry, Mom!) parents. I know my mom wants the best for me, but I’ve been into flying solo as of late; sleeping diagonally on the bed, not worrying about a complicated strategy for my DM game, and having all the time for gal-pal cauliflower pizza parties and Netflix has been super fulfilling for me lately. Apparently, it’s not so fulfilling for my mom—but experts say the underlying reason for her nosy Qs isn’t necessarily because she doesn’t approve of the single life. Encouraging us to date, or even going as far as trying to set us up, is often just an effort to end what parents perceive as our sadness for not having a partner locked down. In fact, says psychotherapist Aimee Barr, LCSW, this common plight may be just be the result of a simple generational divide. “Most of our parents grew up in a time when the cultural expectations were different around dating and marriage,” she says. Especially if your parents are still married, they might not realize how much the conversation around relationships has changed. “If you feel pressured, uncomfortable,
The skin-care brands from around the world that editors are loving right now
March 29, 2019 at 04:00AM by CWC My favorite thing to do when I visit another country (aside from eating, taking in the sites, and eating some more), is to scope out the beauty products. I’m a big believer that you can learn a lot simply from perusing a foreign beauty aisle, whether or not you wind up stashing some of your finds into a suitcase and taking them home with you. While traveling full time over the last three years, I made it to 22 different countries—which means I shopped the shelves of (at least) 22 different beauty destinations. And let me tell you: I found some real drugstore diamonds and luxury wins. From the water-based skin-care in France to, well, everything I could get my hands on in Japan, I always left each place with a carry-on that was a whole lot heavier than what I’d left home with. The good news? Some of the best beauty brands I found while scouring the world actually happen to be available right here in the United States—no plane ticket required. Scroll through for some of my all-time faves. Photo: Elemis United Kingdom: Elemis Ultra Smart Pro-Collagen Complex 12 Serum, $335 The British-owned brand Elemis made its way to the United States a couple of years ago, and found all the praise from shoppers at places like Ulta, Nordstrom, and Neiman Marcus alike for its superfood-packed, results-driven formulas. This Neiman Marcus exclusive is the newest entry in the line. The creamy serum
Cheating Is More Common Than You Think — Here’s How To Quit For Good
March 29, 2019 at 03:26AM A no-nonsense guide from a sex therapist. Continue Reading… Author Tammy Nelson, Ph.D. | Life by Daily Burn Selected by iversue
The Best Workout To Do The Morning You Travel & The Day Before
March 29, 2019 at 03:03AM You’ll be relaxed and flight-ready in no time. Continue Reading… Author Ray Bass | Life by Daily Burn Selected by iversue
How to stick to the Mediterranean, keto, or Whole30 diets at The Cheesecake Factory
March 29, 2019 at 03:00AM by CWC Fact: Virtually everyone loves The Cheesecake Factory. It’s a family, friends, and date spot beloved by many—even Drake. That’s why there’s one at all the cool, fancy malls and the wait for dinner is usually nuts. Another fact: It has the War and Peace of menus, which is to say that it’s ginormous. The Cheesecake Factory’s menu is 21 pages and 250 items long. Besides the usual categories like salads, lunch specials, and desserts, there’s also healthy-sounding sections called “Super” Foods and Skinnylicious. The options are overwhelming enough—and if you’re following a healthy eating plan such at the Mediterranean diet, ketogenic diet, or Whole30, narrowing down what works with your needs is even more overwhelming. Well, consider this your handy little cheat sheet. To help navigate the endless menu options and zero in on the healthy ones, I enlisted integrative and functional dietitian Nour Zibdeh, RD, for help. “The main thing to keep in mind with The Cheesecake Factory that most of the meal portions on their main menu are really big, which is fine if you’re sharing with someone, but ultimately too many calories to be healthy to eat all in one sitting,” she says. “That said, there are some healthy picks on the menu, but the key is knowing what you’re going to order before you go. Otherwise, you could get overwhelmed in the moment and order something that isn’t exactly healthy.” On that note, here’s the ultimate guide for what