July 30, 2019 at 10:18AM by CWC It’s a well-known trope in pop culture that when you put a bunch of people with uteruses together in the same house, dorm, or office (or basically anywhere near each other) on a regular basis, their menstrual cycles will sync up like magic. Everyone suddenly starts PMS-ing at the same time, goes through unprecedented amounts of tampons, and eats up all the chocolate and ice cream in sight. Period syncing is such a cultural touchstone that it’s been referenced in shows like Sex and the City and Community, and was a plot point in movies like No Strings Attached. This isn’t just a TV thing: Texas-based OB/GYN Heather Bartos, MD, says a 1999 survey once found that “nearly 70 percent of women reported feeling their menstrual cycles sync up.” As someone who lived in a sorority house her junior year of college, I’m fairly confident that it happened to me, too. However, literally every menstrual health expert will tell you that period syncing is little more than an urban legend. Think of it as the Bigfoot of vaginas. But where did it come from…and why do we still believe? ad_intervals[‘411681_div-gpt-ad-7435403-3’] = setInterval(function () { if (ads_ready) { clearTimeout(ad_intervals[‘411681_div-gpt-ad-7435403-3’]); googletag.cmd.push(function(){googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-7435403-3’);}); } }, 100); The origins of period syncing First, a quick primer on what we mean when we actually talk about period syncing: “It doesn’t mean [that people’s menstrual cycles] line up exactly, like start at the exact same time, but become more closely
Year: 2019
These healthy 2-ingredient snacks are anything but boring
July 30, 2019 at 08:39AM by CWC Snacks give me life at least five out of seven days each week, and I’m not entirely sure that I could remain standing after 3 p.m. without a few handfuls of something bite-size. And don’t even get me started on my fondness for snacking in bed, which is usually a big no-no but feels so good, like eating a stack of saltines with grape jelly while standing up in the kitchen reading a fashion magazine. In other words, snacks are non-negotiable for me. But I’ve found it wise to limit the amount of store-bought snacks I stock. This can be problematic, however, as it’s sometimes hard to make healthy easy snacks from scratch if you’re short on time. Typically what works best is simple (e.g., carrots and hummus or celery and peanut butter) but boring. In an effort to mix it up without adding more labor into my already stacked days, I scoured the recipe blogosphere for simple, healthy, and affordable between-meal (or before-bed, if you’re naughty) treats. ad_intervals[‘411427_div-gpt-ad-8891272-3’] = setInterval(function () { if (ads_ready) { clearTimeout(ad_intervals[‘411427_div-gpt-ad-8891272-3’]); googletag.cmd.push(function(){googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8891272-3’);}); } }, 100); Trust me, your snack game is sad. Level up with 10 healthy easy snacks Photo: Sara Haas 1. Strawberry popcorn You can actually use any freeze-dried fruit for this super-simple recipe. If you’re in the mood for something more savory, try sprinkling nutritional yeast, dehydrated spinach, chili powder, or even taco seasoning onto your popped kernels instead. Photo: The Roasted Root 2.
Meticulous planner or spontaneous spirt? Here’s what you prefer, according to your Myers-Briggs type
July 30, 2019 at 07:55AM by CWC Making plans should be simple, right? And maybe in a perfect world, it would be. Be here in real life, schedules are hard to coordinate given that some people prefer to keep their options open and be spontaneous, while others feel most comfortable having a meticulously laid out schedule. Clearly, people have different planning preferences, and some even attach a ton of emotion to plans. For example, some may see it as disrespectful to break an existing plan or to never make an effort to cultivate one in advance. For others though, advance notice for every little thing can come across as controlling and stuffy. To better understand where you—and those you care about—fall on this continuum of planning preferences, look no further than your Myers-Briggs personality type. Because regardless of what your spontaneity stance and style actually is, it’s something that’s best to know in advance. (Don’t know what your MBTI is? Read this first!) ad_intervals[‘404869_div-gpt-ad-7435403-3’] = setInterval(function () { if (ads_ready) { clearTimeout(ad_intervals[‘404869_div-gpt-ad-7435403-3’]); googletag.cmd.push(function(){googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-7435403-3’);}); } }, 100); Here’s your preference for making plans, based on your Myers-Briggs personality type. W+G Creative ISFJ ISFJs love to make plans, but they are also pretty flexible when unforeseen events pop up. As long as these last-minute additions and switches are optional, with no pressure to attend, they don’t bother you. What matters most isn’t whether the people you love and trust cancel plans every now and then, but that they have an overall pattern
The Capital One data breach affects 100 million Americans—here are 3 free ways to protect yourself, according to a financial wellness expert
July 30, 2019 at 07:54AM by CWC Before I even finished my caramel iced coffee this morning, I was on the phone with my dad about the recent Capital One data breach. He’s usually the first one I call in such situations. Oh, have you not heard of this? Capital One announced that 100 million people are affected by a recent hack. If you applied for a Capital One credit card between 2005 and early 2019, your credit scores, balances, ZIP codes, email addresses, dates of birth, self-reported income, and payments history might be exposed. Additionally, 140,000 customers had their social security numbers breached and another 80,000 had their bank account numbers hacked. Of course, my dad knew all this already. I contacting him routinely about my personal finances because I’m striving for financial wellness instead of just going, “Data breach? Oh, well.” I’m not personally affected by this latest hack, but Capital One is offering $125 or free credit monitoring for 10 years to anyone whose data was compromised. As for my own future fiscal responsibility, I decided there’s no time like the present to stop asking my dad for help, so I reached out to a true financial expert instead. ad_intervals[‘411675_div-gpt-ad-7435403-3’] = setInterval(function () { if (ads_ready) { clearTimeout(ad_intervals[‘411675_div-gpt-ad-7435403-3’]); googletag.cmd.push(function(){googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-7435403-3’);}); } }, 100); Here’s how to stay on top of your financial wellness in case of a data breach 1. check your credit score regularly Routinely monitoring your credit score allows you to find out if something fishy
Skin-care formulators tell us the products to buy on the cheap and those worth splurging on
July 30, 2019 at 07:16AM by CWC For me, skin-care products are like Pokemon. I gotta catch ’em all. And if I don’t have every single buzzworthy active ingredient stocked in my beauty cabinet, I’m just not winning the game. Of course, as with buying up all of the Pokemon cards, collecting every skin-care ingredient can rack up the dollars and cents. You always want to make sure you’re grabbing up quality beauty products so that your skin can truly benefit from the skin-boosting ingredient, but… without breaking the bank. To decipher the shelves and see which you can be fine with buying on the cheap—and which you should splurge a little more on—I consulted the cosmetic chemists for some insider’s insight. Prepare yourself, because you’re about to be surprised at the good ingredients you can find at a reasonable price. ad_intervals[‘410793_div-gpt-ad-7520022-3’] = setInterval(function () { if (ads_ready) { clearTimeout(ad_intervals[‘410793_div-gpt-ad-7520022-3’]); googletag.cmd.push(function(){googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-7520022-3’);}); } }, 100); Save Sunscreen: We’ve been raving about drugstore beauty finds for, like, ever, but even cosmetic chemists rave about drugstore sunscreens (and other affordable options). “There are lots of good face sunscreens at an affordable price such as Australian Gold ($15), Elta MD ($25), Biore ($32), and La Roche Posay ($30),” says Fu. “We prefer an SPF 50 because it gives a solid amount of UV protection without too much of a tradeoff in texture. Just make sure you find a broad spectrum label so you’re getting protection from both UVA and UVB rays.” Niacinamide: Niacinamide, aka vitamin
Top 50 Bunless Burger Recipes for Low-Carb Burgers
Welcome to my list of the 50 top bunless burger recipes for low-carb burgers from the top low-carb and keto recipe websites from around the world. Everybody loves a good burger, but if you’re new to ditching the carbs and get a hankering for one, you’d probably be unsure how to start making one without derailing your progress. The easy solution? Bunless burgers. Top 50 Bunless Burger Recipes For Low-Carb Burgers Below are my favourite bunless burger recipes for low-carb burgers. There are beef, turkey, salmon, bacon, egg, and even casseroles and slow cooker healthy burger style recipes. Top Video This Month How to make a healthy low-carb lunch box Do you have a favourite bunless burger recipe? How do you make yours? I prefer mine sitting on a large salad with lots of toppings such as cheese, pickles, avocado, bacon, salsa, onions and sometimes, sour cream. Bunless Burger Recipes For Low-Carb Burgers – the patties 1: Low-Carb Mexican Chicken Burgers – with a quick cooking video too. Do you like them spicy or mild? 2: The Famous ABC Keto Burger – now who doesn’t love avocado, bacon and chicken combo?? 3: Keto Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole – OK so this might not be an actual burger, but its everything you love in a cheeseburger, in an easy family casserole. Top tip: it tastes even better the next day. 4: Low-Carb Blue Cheese Burger – by Low carb Maven – with amazing crazy flavours, you won’t miss the bun. 5: Paleo
A spontaneous motorcycle trip through Chile got me over a terrible breakup—and made me feel alive
July 30, 2019 at 05:00AM by CWC “But how many tattoos does he have?” This was my mom’s second question after I told her I was taking a four-day motorcycle trip through Chile on the back of a guy’s motorcycle. Her first question? “What the hell are you thinking?” It was December 24, 2017, and I was on month 11 of a yearlong trip around the world. A guy I kind of knew (as in, I was confident that he was not a serial killer, that things were fully platonic between us, and that, for what it’s worth, he had fewer tattoos than I do) offered me a seat on the back of his bike for a trip up the coast. To be clear, I had never been on a motorcycle before, nor did I have any interest in getting on one. The riskiness of the trip didn’t seem anything I needed to get anywhere near taking, but less than 24 hours after I received a “hey, want to come on a five-day motorcycle trip with me?” message on Facebook, I was holding on for dear life, cruising 65 miles an hour down the highway outside Santiago. ad_intervals[‘405466_div-gpt-ad-6934292-3’] = setInterval(function () { if (ads_ready) { clearTimeout(ad_intervals[‘405466_div-gpt-ad-6934292-3’]); googletag.cmd.push(function(){googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-6934292-3’);}); } }, 100); In order to understand how and why I spontaneously wound up on the back of a guy’s bike in the middle of South America (on Christmas Eve, no less), it’s probably worth explaining my headspace at the time: I was
How extremes like HIIT and sitting all day can bring on hip pain (AKA sciatica)
July 30, 2019 at 04:00AM by CWC Sciatica is one of those things that you might think you won’t have to worry about until later in life. As one Well+Good editor (hi, Abbey!) recently learned the hard way, however, back and hip pain symptoms can—and do—happen to active younger people, and our lifestyles, which tend to involve extremes of intense activity and longterm sitting, are mostly to blame. “Sciatica is an umbrella term that refers to a shooting pain that goes down the leg, typically from the back though the buttock and the back of the thigh and all the way down the leg,” says Charles Kim, MD, assistant professor in the Departments of Rehabilitation Medicine and Anesthesiology at NYU Langone, adding that these symptoms can be caused by a number of different things. Some common culprits? Hip problems and lower back irritation, or more seriously, a pinched nerve or herniated disk in your back. What’s more, sciatica is commonly diagnosed in those who are active. “Even the healthiest people get sciatica, the fittest athletes get sciatica,” he says, noting that he’s seen patients who run the full spectrum of activity levels. ad_intervals[‘410702_div-gpt-ad-9261280-3’] = setInterval(function () { if (ads_ready) { clearTimeout(ad_intervals[‘410702_div-gpt-ad-9261280-3’]); googletag.cmd.push(function(){googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-9261280-3’);}); } }, 100); There may not be a one-size-fits-all predictor for what causes sciatica or who might wind up with it (though there appear to be genetic factors), but there are certain exercises that can exacerbate it—some of which happen to be the most popular in the current
Plugged up? These 7 foods will make you poop (almost) immediately
July 30, 2019 at 03:00AM by CWC They say death and taxes are the only certainties in life, but I’ve got one more to add to the list: Constipation. It’s uncomfortable at best, and can become downright debilitating. So every once in a while, you’ve gotta turn to foods that make you poop immediately. “Constipation” is a sort of catch-all term for a few different phenomena. “Stools may be too hard or too small, difficult to pass, or infrequent—fewer than three times per week,” says Brooklyn-based gastroenterologist Niket Sonpal, MD. “People with constipation may also notice a frequent need to strain and a sense that the bowels are not empty.” There are a number of different causes for constipation, he says, including diet (specifically, a lack of fiber or healthy fats), lack of exercise, stress, and dehydration are some of the most common. What’s “normal” for BMs varies, but in general if you aren’t pooping at least every three days, you’re probably constipated. ad_intervals[‘411495_div-gpt-ad-8891272-3’] = setInterval(function () { if (ads_ready) { clearTimeout(ad_intervals[‘411495_div-gpt-ad-8891272-3’]); googletag.cmd.push(function(){googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8891272-3’);}); } }, 100); When you’re dealing with some stopped intestinal traffic, changing your diet is a good first step. Consider “fiber FTW” your poop-friendly words to live by. “Most dietary fiber is not digested or absorbed, so it stays within the intestine where it modulates digestion of other foods and affects the consistency of stool,” explains Dr. Sonpal. There are two different types of fiber, he says, which each have their own benefits. “Soluble fiber” is made
6 weight machines trainers say you can totally skip (and what to do instead)
July 30, 2019 at 02:00AM by CWC After I knock out a run at the gym, I make my rounds in the weights machine section and pick and choose which ones to use based on A) whether or not someone’s already using it, and B) if it looks like something I know how to do. That’s pretty much it—I have no method for my strength-training madness. There are scenarios in which I hop onto a weights machine and either don’t feel like I’m doing much for my muscles, or realize that I prefer using free weights to work that muscle or muscle group. Whatever the case, it’s tough to keep track—there are just so many of these machines sprinkled all over the place. Choosing which ones to sweat on is like choosing which stores to go to in a gigantic shopping mall. You feel me? To spare us all from that overwhelming confusion, I spoke with some pro trainers to get the weights machine low-down, and to enlighten us on which ones can we actually skip. To find out which of those gym machines are not worth your time or energy, keep scrollin’. ad_intervals[‘410748_div-gpt-ad-9261280-3’] = setInterval(function () { if (ads_ready) { clearTimeout(ad_intervals[‘410748_div-gpt-ad-9261280-3’]); googletag.cmd.push(function(){googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-9261280-3’);}); } }, 100); 1. Smith machine The number one to skip? The Smith machine, which people use for a flat bench or incline press. “During a normal barbell or dumbbell bench press, you can move the barbell in a way that helps you handle the weight,” says