February 21, 2020 at 11:00PM by CWC Made popular by Trader Joe’s, “everything bagel” seasoning isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. You can sprinkle the mouth-watering blend of poppy seeds, toasted sesame seeds, dried garlic, dried onion, and salt on… everything. It’s great on waffles, salads, avocado toasts, salmon—you name it. And now that I’ve seen the magic that is everything bagel fries, I vow to never eat my potatoes any other way. Rachel Mansfield, a food blogger and author of the cookbook Just the Good Stuff, recently shared the genius idea on Instagram, sparking a wave of heart-eyed commentary from her followers. After using the seasoning for everything else in her life, she realized you can add a dash to your fries, too—and let’s just say she was not disappointed with the result. “Everything bagel french fries. It seems so basic and simple, yet it took me years to finally combine these two flavors together. The fries get extra crispy baked in the oven, and sprinkling it with the Everything But The Bagel seasoning from Trader Joe’s adds the best flavor bomb to your plate,” she tells me. Aside from eating these bagel-y fries straight-up (she says even cold and dipped in Ranch dressing is a win!), she also switches things up by turning them into something that’s a little more fitting for breakfast. “I love adding some fried eggs on top for a little eggs and hash brown action,” she says. However you choose to eat these potatoes, one thing’s
Day: February 21, 2020
This 81-year-old great grandmother is a cycling world-record holder—here’s how she does it
February 21, 2020 at 10:22PM by CWC At a time when most people begin to slow down their daily routine, Patricia Baker sped up her career as a professional indoor cyclist at age 67. Now 81 years old, she’s won 25 national championships and one world championship. A retired pharmacist, Baker says being active was never a choice—it was a lifestyle, one she credits for her enduring health. “When you’ve been a pharmacist for over 50 years, you see a lot of stuff,” says Baker, a resident of Laguna Hills, California. “Throughout my whole life, I’ve believed drugs are something that a lot of people want to use because they’re not willing to make lifestyle changes.” Baker’s cycling takes place in a velodrome, a steeply banked 250-meter indoor track. From the inner ring of the track to the outer ring there is a 42-degree slope. If her speed falls below 16.5 mph, she’ll literally fall off the track. Her track bike has no brakes and she changes gears by bringing your bike back to the infield to adjust the chain. “I got my first adult bicycle and fell in love with it right then and there.” Baker is able to perform at this level because she’s practiced healthy habits all her life. She grew up climbing trees and riding horses along the Gulf Coast of Florida. She loves to eat fruits and vegetables (fresh guava is her favorite). She played tennis in college, but admits she wasn’t very good. Her
4 stretches that will give your skin an instant glow-up for $0
February 21, 2020 at 10:04PM by CWC The “yoga glow” has always seemed like one of those wellness-world scams, like six pack abs or 10,000 steps. The idea of being able to improve your skin as an accidental side-effect of your flow may sound too good to be true. But according to the pros, it actually does check out, and to some extent, you really *can* stretch your way to happier and healthier skin. “Stretching delivers extra blood flow to skin,” says Alain Saint-Dic, head of training and development at Stretch Relief. In the short term, that extra blood rush can give your face a nice, instant flush. With that same blood flow, you also add nutrients and hydration to help cleanse and strengthen skin, while also minimizing signs of aging. Over time, Saint-Dic says the stress-relieving effects of stretching regularly can also offer some more long-term benefits for skin. How? We know that the stress hormone, cortisol, is closely linked to skin health. When cortisol spikes, it can lead to acne. So it makes sense, then, that doing an activity to help balance stress levels—aka stretching—can benefit your skin. “Increased stress levels have a negative impact on overall skin health, so stretches that target high stress areas in the body—such as the neck, shoulders, and lower back—will have a positive effect on skin health,” explains Saint-Dic. But before you go tossing your serums in the trash, it’s worth noting that while these practices can help improve skin health, they’re not
The ‘plank body scan’ will make sure you engage every muscle in your body
February 21, 2020 at 08:55PM by CWC Planking seems easy enough. The exercise requires little more than holding yourself in a stationary position. Pretty cool. But don’t let the inspiring woman who held one for more than four hours straight fool you; they’re not as easy as they look. And if even one tiny part of your form isn’t correct, it throws the whole thing off. There are a lot of common mistakes people make when planking. According to trainer Meg Takacs, some people strain their neck, some push their hips up way too high, and some keep their feet too close together. It happens—especially when you muscles are already tired from the rest of your workout. The good news is instead of wondering whether you’re doing a plank the correct way or not, Takacs has a seven-step checklist you can run down to ensure you get the most out of the move every time. It will only take a handful of times doing this easy-to-follow body scan for you to have it memorized. And after you do learn how to do a plank like a pro, all I’ve gotta say is any record-holders better watch out. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6ZelKyUM6g] How to do a plank in 7 easy steps Stack your hands under your shoulders. Keep your neck in line with the rest of your spine. Keep your hips a little bit higher than you feel like you should. Push your belly button up toward your spine. Keep your feet shoulder-width
I’m not big on trying new things, so I challenged myself to my first ever megaformer class—here’s what happened
February 21, 2020 at 08:30PM by CWC https://content.jwplatform.com/players/lD90xBWT-AjgxWzQ7.js For me, routine is everything. I want to know what I’m eating every day (I show up to restaurants having read the full menu), what my weekend plans are (five days early), and I absolutely cannot see a movie in theaters unless I’m there an hour before showtime. Since I’m a little too in control, I decided to add “trying new things” to my list of new year’s goals. (You’re welcome, 2020 Alex.) First up: Getting on the kombucha train. For some reason, I had never gotten in on the fermented drink movement, but in the spirit of stepping out of my comfort zone, I’ve been sipping on KeVita’s probiotic drinks as my go-to post-workout bev (PSA: they’re pretty delicious). The next frontier for trying new things: my workout routine. I’m typically a treadmill-only kind of gal, so to switch it up, I challenged myself to try my first ever megaformer workout class at Lagree New York. I won’t lie to you, I was more than nervous (think, going to your first gym class in middle school nervous)—but once I met with Lagree founder Laurie Benenati, who showed me how the looks-like-a-torture-device machines work and explained each of the moves, I felt so much more at ease. Okay, I don’t want to give up too much juicy (very, very sweaty) info on how my megaformer workout went, but tune in to see if I killed it or not. Here’s a small hint,
When Instagram ‘wellness influencers’ sound like the pro-anorexia blogs that fueled my eating disorder
February 21, 2020 at 08:00PM by CWC My best friend’s Instagram “discover” page is full of photos of golden retrievers. My mother’s, of inspirational quotes superimposed onto nature scenes (you know the ones). Whenever I open up my favorite app, however, I’m immediately bombarded with videos of women with four-packs demonstrating workouts, or perfectly-lit images of green juices. The algorithm’s not wrong—I am always double-tapping and saving posts of exercises I can do while traveling, of healthy recipes, and new smoothies to try. Like my BFF’s puppy pics and my mom’s quotes, Instagram is just showing me more of what I usually engage with. For the most part, I enjoy discovering new #fitchicks and influencers I can follow for on-the-fly wellness advice. But in a social media environment where one doesn’t need a medical degree in order to dish out advice to tens of thousands of people, it’s important to be wary. For as many times as I’ve found myself finally learning the proper form of an exercise, I’ve also been led to a page with captions that any registered dietitian would deem ludicrous, or in some cases, even dangerous. I’ll point to a recent “health trend” that has disturbed the internet: dry fasting. A step beyond buzzy-as-of-late intermittent fasting, dry fasting not only requires abstaining from food (already a slippery slope) but also from water for a set period of time. Dozens of reputable health experts, even ones who support some form of intermittent fasting, have denounced dry fasting
The heart-healthy, plant-based breakfast a cardiologist eats every day
February 21, 2020 at 06:40PM by CWC When it comes to heart health, most of the advice from doctors is a long list of “don’ts.” (Don’t eat too much red meat. Don’t eat sugar. Don’t eat processed foods.) All good advice, of course, but it leaves me wondering what to eat for a heart-healthy breakfast. If you want to start your day off with a meal that’s working in your heart’s favor, cardiologist Ashok Mittal, MD, who works at Baptist Health Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute in Florida, has a heart-healthy breakfast recommendation: oatmeal. It’s full of cardiovascular benefits, he says. Need an easy go-to recipe? Try overnight oats: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQXOn_ConL0] Dr. Mittal tells the Miami Herald that he switched to a plant-based diet because of the benefits connected to cardiovascular and overall health. “The hardest thing for me to give up was milk in my coffee and eggs in the morning,” he says. Now, Dr. Mittal starts his day by eating oatmeal splashed with almond or soy milk and a side of fruit. One reason oatmeal is makes such a good choice for breakfast is that the beta-glucan in oats works in favor of blood pressure by helping to reduce cholesterol. Oats also have antioxidants. And of course another big benefit of oatmeal is that it’s high in fiber, which most specifically benefits the digestive system, but is connected to better overall health, including maintaining a healthy weight and metabolism. All fruits and vegetables have antioxidants, so Dr. Mittal’s
The habit Susan Miller wants you to adopt to make it through Mercury Retrograde unscathed
February 21, 2020 at 05:30PM by CWC When I recently chatted with astrologer Susan Miller of AstrologyZone about Mercury retrograde effects, she offered up some interesting perspective that goes beyond the common themes of communication, travel, and technology problems. Mercury retrograde, she says, is can be summed up as a series of micro-inconveniences that don’t necessarily have an earth-shattering impact on your life so much as add up to a constant stream of eye-roll-worthy events gone wrong. Because of this, she has a blanket piece of Mercury-retrograde-survival advice that could benefit everyone: double-check everything. “Mercury is just contractual, everyday things, but also silly things, like leaving your paycheck in the Xerox machine, and now everybody knows what you make because you were, for some reason, Xeroxing it,” Miller says, adding that this situation encapsulates the issue of not paying attention that’s rampant during Mercury retrograde season. “You get distracted. You run away. You leave things. You leave, especially electronics, in cabs in in airplanes and things like that.” “You get distracted. You run away. You leave things. You leave, especially electronics, in cabs in in airplanes and things like that.” —Susan Miller, astrologer So during Mercury retrograde transits (and there are three of them this year, folks), adopt the habit of double-checking that you have everything before you go anywhere: Your phone, your iPad, your wallet, your keys—all of it. That’s because we’re all simply more forgetful during these moments of cosmic chaos thanks to Mercury retrograde effects. And, when
Sure, eating less meat is trendy, but is it actually healthy?
February 21, 2020 at 03:00PM by CWC It started with the comeback of the Mediterranean diet. After being named the best diet of 2019 by U.S. News and World Reports, healthy eaters started searching for more ways to minimize meat consumption, getting their protein from other sources, like seafood and legumes. And while we’re only mere months into 2020, plant-based eating—where a person eats less meat and animal products in favor of more fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and legumes—is already proving to be the dominant eating plan of choice, not just a passing fad. There are many reasons that have led to the rise of more people minimizing their meat consumption. Many believe it to be healthier. Some are drawn to it because research has shown plant-based eating is best for the planet and the most sustainable way to live. Others give up meat (or animal products completely) because of ethical reasons and animal rights. Now eating less meat has become a hot topic in wellness and with all the alternative products on the market, living a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle is easier than ever. But given that meat in particular is an excellent source of complete protein and iron, as well as other nutrients, the ascendence of plant-based eating has some people wondering if it’s even healthy to go, well, cold turkey. Here, plant-forward registered dietitian Amy Gorin, RD explains the health benefits of not eating meat, or minimizing meat consumption. She also gives expert tips on how to make
How a marketing manager making $125K snags free flights for her international vacays
February 21, 2020 at 02:00PM by CWC Do you know how much money your friends make? What about how much their rent is or how much is in their bank accounts right now? I’m guessing no. Even in a world where questions about menstrual cups and the ins and outs of sex are completely (and blessedly) normal to ask, somehow the ever-ubiquitous use of money remains a touchy subject for many. People want to live their healthiest life ever, but—#realtalk—it can add up. Have you ever wondered how your colleague who makes less than you do (or so you think) can afford to buy a $5 matcha and a $12 chopped salad every day? Or how your friend is able to hit up $34 fitness classes three times a week? It’s enough to make anyone want to ask, “Ummm, excuse me. How can you afford that?!?” That’s where Well+Good’s monthly series Checks+Balanced comes in. By lifting the thick, tightly drawn curtain to expose how much women of varying income brackets spend on wellness, we’re spreading transparency and hopefully providing some inspo that’s possible to copy. Because no matter how much you make, it’s possible to cultivate healthy habits that work within your budget. This month, meet Erin, a 32-year-old marketing manager living in San Diego, California, who prioritizes healthy eating, fitness, and using credit card points for flights. Here, she reveals her expenses and how she affords her wellness habits. Keep reading to see how Erin hacks her habits (like by using credit card points for flights). Graphic: W+G