November 25, 2019 at 09:27PM by CWC If there’s one part of your body that you’re kind of a bully to without even realizing it, it’s your spine. All that slouching eventually causes pain and increases your risk for injury. Perhaps more so than other parts of your body, taking the time to stretch your spine makes a big difference in how you feel now and in the future. In short, the best back stretches help get your back… back on track. “Regularly stretching your spine can decrease your risk of injuries, improve range of motion, and enable your muscles to work more effectively,” says Katherine Parker, yoga instructor and co-founder of Yomassage. “It can also help prevent joint stiffness.” To make sure you’re stretching your spine as safely and effectively as possible, Parker and yoga teacher Stacy Dockins recommend sticking to a few easy back stretches. The best back stretches for your spine 1. Locust pose How it helps: “Locust pose is a backward bend that requires an active range of motion. It will strengthen the backside of the body while encouraging the release of the anterior shoulders, chest, and hip flexors,” says Dockins. Begin lying face down with your arms reaching back in airplane wing position and your palms facing down. With your feet about hip-width distance apart, lift your chest and legs off the ground. Keep your neck long and actively squeeze your shoulder blades together and down toward your back pockets. Hold for five slow breaths.
Month: November 2019
Airbnb Cooking Experiences give you a taste of local culture with a sustainable twist
November 25, 2019 at 09:00PM by CWC Traveling to a new country is an engraved invitation to try foods you’d never stock in your fridge at home. But Airbnb Cooking Experiences, launched Monday, adds a homey touch to your gastronomic adventures. In partnership with Slow Food—a non-profit organization with the mission of making nutrition more accessible and sustainable—travel is about to get the homemade treatment. By choosing from 3,000 unique recipes across more than 75 countries, tourists get hands-on cooking experiences with everyday chefs in far-flung locales. You can bake your own macarons in the heart of Paris, mix mojitos at a villa in Havana, or take an organic farming class in Ubud. Yes, you’ll be collecting stamps on your passport, but you’ll also be racking up recipes and inspiration that will help you return home a more sustainable cook. “To protect the personal nature of each recipe, each experience has been vetted against guidelines inspired by Slow Food, a grassroots organization whose mission is to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions,” writes Airbnb in a press release. “Through this vetting process, we have verified that each host of an Airbnb Experience communicates the unique essence of every dish through their personal stories and has proven a deep knowledge of the heritage of the cuisine that they share.” The non-profit also introduced 15 of its own Cooking experiences that align with its core values, including Walk and Eat the Amalfi Coast in Italy and Let’s Rescue Food in
These are the 7 Black Friday deals a registered dietitian plans to nab for her kitchen
November 25, 2019 at 08:30PM by CWC Even though Black Friday shopping no longer requires throwing elbows and it can all be done (safely!) in your PJs at home, it still helps to have a game plan. While many shoppers focus on big ticket electronics, Black Friday deals are also a chance to stock your kitchen with the gadgets you’ve been wanting but haven’t been able to shell out for, or replacing and upgrading the beloved tools that you use every single day. Want some inspo? Here, Jackie Newgent, RDN, culinary nutritionist and author of The Clean & Simple Diabetes Cookbook, shares the items that are on her Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping list. Use her picks to help craft your own wishlist—or get in on the deals she’s sharing here. Check out how a dietitian shops the best Black Friday and Cyber Monday kitchen deals: Photo: Oster 1. Air Fryer Toaster Oven, $80 Normally $180, Best Buy is knocking $100 off the price of this buzzy cooking tool, which happens to be on Newgent’s wish list. “I’m so excited about the new toaster ovens that have air fryer functions,” she says. She thinks this one could be an excellent replacement slash upgrade for her current “ancient” toaster oven that needs to be replaced. Air fried eggplant parm, anyone? Photo: OXO 2. OXO Kitchen Supplies, $9-$15 each “Since I’m in my kitchen all the time, personally and professionally, at least once a year I replenish any overly-used cooking utensils
Plant-based nail polish is coming to a drugstore near you
November 25, 2019 at 07:45PM by CWC I was a child (and young adult) with a bad nail-biting habit, so I learned through many literal slaps on the wrist how toxic nail polish can be. It’s a bummer to learn that your go-to vial of polish could have traces of formaldehyde. In the new year, however, Sally Hansen will release a plant-based vegan non-toxic nail polish collection called Good.Kind.Pure. Here’s why I mega-love that. Finding a good non-toxic nail polish is so hard these days, let alone one that you can pick up at CVS or Walgreens on your lunch break. Not to mention Sally Hansen has been a reliable mainstay in the beauty industry. Creating a 30 shade collection of rich and clean beauty products is a major recognition of shifting trends. Consumers really want good-for-you (and good-for-your-nails) makeup, and big brands taking that initiative shows the times are a’changing. So what makes this particular plant-based nail polish different? It has a 16-free formula that cuts out classic toxic ingredients such as formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, toluene, dibutyl phthalate, parabens, and sulfate. Not even sure why sulfate would be lurking in a polish bottle to begin with (we mostly recognize the ingredient as an irritator in shampoos and skincare products), but there it is. The other intriguing aspect is that the nail polish isn’t the only thing that’s plant based. Each Good.Kind.Pure. bottle comes with a natural plant brush, which shows real commitment to a theme. Perhaps more importantly, this natural
This dreamy weighted eye mask has completely transformed my sleep routine—and my life
November 25, 2019 at 06:30PM by CWC Like all good things in my life, I was introduced to my beloved weighted eye mask by my mom. About five years ago, I first noticed I was having issues with shutting down after a long day at work. Until then, aside from occasionally waking up in the middle of the night, I never really had any serious sleep problems. But with a job that keeps my eyes glued to my phone or a computer screen, the near-constant stimulation meant that shutting off for the night felt impossible. That is, until I slipped on the IMAK Compression Pain Relief Mask and Eye Pillow ($14), which is “designed by an orthopedic surgeon to provide relief from migraine headaches, tension headaches, sinus pain and eyestrain,” but does so much more for me. When I told her that the room-darkening shades in my bedroom were no longer doing the trick, my mom reminded me that she and my sister had been using a weighted eye mask for years. I finally got one of my own, and slowly but seamlessly it became a part of my evening routine. Simply wearing it around my head as I brushed my teeth puts me on the right track to a good night’s sleep. Once under the covers, as I ready myself for bed, if I don’t have anything over my eyes, I’m be tempted to reach for my phone. But the weighted eye mask is something that signals to my
The best Black Friday fitness equipment deals to bulk up your home gym
November 25, 2019 at 06:00PM by CWC One of my biggest dreams in life is to have a full-on gym in my home. Since I live in New York City, that will never happen (unless I somehow become a countess someday and get myself a mansion). But, at the very least, it’s now that time of the year when Black Friday fitness equipment deals have me dreaming of the possibilities of a sweat box all to myself. As the prices of covetable workout essentials get slashed, I’ve been doing some Nancy Drew detective work to find the best of the best deals that the fitness world has to offer this shopping season. If you’re like me and want to use this wallet-friendly opportunity to bulk up your home gym setup, I’ve got you. Whether you’re looking for small additions to your sweat corner like weights or stuff that’s more high-tech (hello, Theragun sale), keep scrolling for the best Black Friday fitness equipment deals you can score this season. Photo: Theragun Theragun Black G3 Premium Handheld Percussive Therapy Device, $299 A Black Friday fitness equipment deal I’m particularly pumped for? The Theragun, which is getting a $100 price reduction at Walmart (in stores and online). This percussive, muscle-massaging device is the quickest, easiest way to relieve soreness in your body, and you can do it while sitting on the couch. Photo: Studio Sweat onDemand Studio Sweat OnDemand Bike Bundle Set, $1599 Workout streaming site Studio Sweat OnDemand is offering $400 off of
Here’s what kind of adventure-seeking Sagittarius you are, according to your moon sign
November 25, 2019 at 04:00PM by CWC Broadly speaking, it’s hard not to love a Sagittarius: These mutable fire signs are known to be friendly, optimistic, quick to laugh, and always down for an adventure. (Chrissy Teigen, for example, is a textbook Sag.) Of course, not everyone born between November 22 and December 21 expresses these traits to an equal degree. There are many other planets that make up the complex mosaic of a person’s natal chart, including their moon sign—the sign the moon was in when they were born—which provides insight to their inner life, subconscious urges, and emotions. For Sagittarius, moon signs have a major impact on how a personality looks. “Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter, which is very benevolent. It’s got this good-luck energy to it with a resonance of learning, growing, and expanding,” says astrologer and women’s empowerment coach Natalia Benson. Even so, the moon changes signs about every two days, making it unlikely that every Sag in your life will be alike, emotionally speaking. To learn your moon sign—and those of your Sagittarius friends—input your birth date, time, and location into a free natal chart generator, like this one. Then, read on to find out what the 12 types of Sagittarius moon signs mean. Use Sagittarius moon signs to get more color on your warm, optimistic personality. Sagittarius with an Aries moon Put these two fire signs together, and sparks are likely to fly. “This is going to be a personality that’s very emotionally independent,
We cooked an entire Thanksgiving dinner using just an air fryer and an Instant Pot and, fam, it worked
November 25, 2019 at 03:00PM by CWC In 1919, John Alcock and Arthur Brown made history by executing the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. 100 years later, two friends and I performed a feat of equal magnitude: We cooked an entire Thanksgiving dinner using just an air fryer and an Instant Pot. Last Saturday, on a nippy afternoon in New York City, the three of us gathered in my friend’s 300 square foot apartment to do what the human imagination deemed impossible. With a Trader Joe’s bag full of ingredients in hand and the two devices on standby, we got to work making a turkey dinner with all the trimmings and trappings. Five hours—and two bottles of wine—later, we too accomplished something worthy of the history books. It was a Thanksgiving miracle. If you, too, wish to forgo the oven and give the stovetop a night off, here’s how to cook a (6 serving) Thanksgiving feast. First, let’s go over the menu and the rules of The Great Air Fryer and Instant Pot Thanksgiving challenge All Photos: Jessie Van Amburg; All Graphics: Well+Good Creative The air fryer and Instant Pot Thanksgiving menu Serves 6 In the Instant Pot: • Turkey breast (recipe courtesy of I Am A Food Blog) • Instant Pot pumpkin pie (recipe courtesy of Spruce Eats) • Cranberry sauce (Jessie’s family recipe, modified per Damn Delicious’ instructions to work in an Instant Pot) • Mashed sweet potatoes (recipe courtesy of Crunchy Creamy Sweet) In the
How to choose whether to apply your eye cream during the day or at night
November 25, 2019 at 02:00PM by CWC No one can seem to agree on what’s the deal with eye cream. Some beauty pros will tell you that all of those $100-plus, one-ounce jars are a scam because they do exactly the same thing as your moisturizer. Others will insist that it’s a big mistake to skip such a critical step. While the necessity of an eye cream might be up for debate (after all, it’s not a non-negotiable like a cleanser or sunscreen), in 20 years you’re never going to look back at the smooth, even skin under your eyes and think: “Man, I wish I hadn’t worn an eye cream back in the day.” For what it’s worth, all four of the dermatologist I interviewed for this story were #teameyecream, noting that we need something more than a moisturizer to treat the paper-thin skin under the eyes. “Moisturizer does not offer the same benefits as many eye creams,” says board-certified dermatologist Rachel Nazarian, MD. “Because the skin nearest to the eyes is very delicate and is prone to different problems in aging and environmental exposure than other parts of the face and body, it does justify using a separate product for this area beyond a simple moisturizer.” “When we use eye cream, our goals are to have them deliver the same anti-aging weapons we aim for with the rest of the face but to do so in a manner that will not irritate,” says board-certified dermatologist Sheel Desai Solomon, MD.
Yes, you can outgrow your therapist—here are 4 signs it’s time to move on
November 25, 2019 at 01:00PM by CWC Have you ever stayed in a relationship for no real reasons beyond the other person knowing you, accepting you, and being used to all your idiosyncrasies (and you feel the same way about them)? Same, and I recently learned this stable-but-stagnant state isn’t just reserved for romantic partners and friends. That’s because it seems I’ve outgrown my mental-health provider…and now need to consider changing therapists. That said, knowing when it’s time to move on from your therapist and find another can be tricky business. Sure, your relationship with this person is professional, but they also know, like, all of your secrets. Also, this decision is probably one you’d prefer to go over beforehand with, yep, your therapist. One simple litmus test to gauge whether changing therapists is something you should do now? If you’re questioning the relationship and situation, it’s a good sign. And, rest assured, this aha moment is a totally normal thing to happen. “Therapy is a relationship, and like any relationship, sometimes people grow and change together, and sometimes one person outgrows the other and realizes they need something different,” says Alison Stone, LCSW. Want more specific guidance that it might be time to find a new mental-health provider? Look out for the following four signs: You start looking for excuses to cancel appointments. Sessions feel like an obligation or chore. You no longer feel challenged or that you are learning new things about yourself. You’ve expressed curiosity about other