March 08, 2020 at 11:00PM by CWC Workouts are typically created to target certain muscle groups. There are butt-sculpting workouts, upper body exercises, chest exercises—you get the gist. But a cardiologist has a friendly reminder for us all: The most important muscle in your body isn’t your biceps or your core… it’s your heart. “Without your heart, there’s nothing else,” says Andrew Freeman, MD, cardiologist with Jewish National Health. So just how does a cardiologist recommend working your heart for cardiovascular health? “The best way to work out is at least 30 minutes a day of breathlessness,” he says. (If you have a medical condition, he advises talking to your doctor first to make sure this is safe.) It doesn’t even matter what type of exercise you’re doing, as long as you’re reaching that level. To make sure you’re truly breathless when you’re exercising, Dr. Freeman advises using what he calls a breath test. “If you can sing or have a full-on conversation with the person next to you, you’re not working hard enough to improve your heart health,” he says. Of course, this doesn’t mean that low-level or moderate exercise is bad for you or that it’s useless—but if you’re really looking to boost your cardiovascular health, he recommends 30 minutes a day on average of being out of breath. “If you can have a full-on conversation with the person next to you, you’re not working hard enough to improve your heart health.” —Andrew Freeman, MD When you stop
Day: March 8, 2020
Mercury is out of retrograde this week, and the universe is finally cutting us an energetic break
March 08, 2020 at 07:00PM by CWC This week begins with compelling prospects afoot. The Virgo full moon directly opposes the sun in Pisces on Monday, March 9, at 1:37 p.m., just less than two hours after Mercury, who’s traveled retrograde since February 16, stations direct. Since Mercury rules Virgo, this full moon provides you with a promising opportunity to integrate the truth you’ve discovered over the last few weeks while the planet of communication recalibrated the speed at which it travels around the sun. In addition to Mercury’s new direct station, this full moon has Venus and Uranus in a close conjunction in Taurus while they trine the south node in Capricorn. Simultaneously, the sun in Pisces also conjoins Neptune, Pisces’ ruler, while making a lucky angle to Jupiter, who also trines the moon. The full worm moon features a lot of energy that brings auspicious and potent spiritual potential. To put it another way, the full worm moon features a lot of energy that brings auspicious and potent potential. At its best, spirituality offers us trust that no matter how hard times may feel, ultimately, we are supported. It provides a sense of safety and security that no matter what is happening in the world, we can trust in the inherent goodness of life. And that’s exactly the ethos this full moon offers—that no matter how out of sorts things in the outside world may feel, we each have an incredible wealth of internal stability we can cultivate,
These are the 2 ingredients that nutritionists will never, ever eat
March 08, 2020 at 07:00PM by CWC Despite conventional “wisdom” in the healthy eating community, processed foods aren’t inherently bad for you. Yes, a consumer has to be wary of excessive amounts of sodium or hidden sugars, but generally, a packaged food here or there is not the end of the world. That said, there are certainly some shady ingredients that pop up in packaged foods. Ever had the experience where you look at a label to see a long list of ingredients, only a fourth of which are even remotely recognizable? Not a great feeling, is it. Again, some ingredients that sound like “chemicals” aren’t necessarily bad. But when asking a few RDs which food ingredients to avoid, there was a common consensus: high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners. Why RDs avoid these two common food ingredients High fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners can negatively impact health based on various research, says Kelly Jones, RD, who avoids these two additives and recommends her clients do the same. “I am not a fan of things that contain high fructose corn syrup or that contain artificial sugars and will not buy things that contain them,” agrees Maggie Michalczyk, RD. Unlike some other ingredients that have unfairly gotten a bad rap over the years (cough, soy), high fructose corn syrup—which is a sweetener made from corn—in particular has been proven to be bad for health. “It has been shown to promote insulin resistance, which then reduces the body’s ability to
I can’t stop eating this high-fiber, plant-based Italian meal
March 08, 2020 at 04:00PM by CWC When I go to an Italian restaurant, my mind is always on the main course. I mean, it’s nearly impossible not to drool when you’re minutes away from getting a plate of spaghetti or lasagna set in front of you. One thing I often overlook, however, is the appetizers—and nope, not just the breadsticks. I’m talking about Tuscan white bean toast. The super garlicky Tuscan white beans that are served with the bread are almost better than the pasta. The plant-based mix isn’t just healthy, as it contains high amounts of fiber and plant-based protein, but it’s loaded with flavor. Instead of something only to enjoy before your main course, it can easily stand on its own for a healthy meal—just ask Erin Clarke, creator of Well Plated and author of The Well Plated Cookbook, who created a simple recipe that can be put together in record time. “For me, my Tuscan-inspired toasts exemplify what I most adore about Italian cooking: straightforward, uncomplicated, and beautiful ingredients uniting to become greater than their individual parts,” she says. “This recipe is budget-friendly, healthy, and you can have it on the table in about 20 minutes. What more can I ask for in a weeknight dinner?” If you’re ready to ditch the avos for a minute and try topping your toast with beans instead, try Clarke’s tasty recipe below. Tuscan white bean toasts with garlic and tomatoes Ingredients 4 slices of thick, good quality whole wheat
I tried a boob-care routine to show my gals some love
March 08, 2020 at 03:00PM by CWC I have breasts that look like Christmas morning, and I intend to keep it that way. I don’t say that exclusively out of vanity, they’re just an objectively good set. Two huge wins for the genetic lottery: A+ (or DD+, whatever). So when I developed a Christmas tree rash (oh, the irony) this winter, I knew that a boob mask wouldn’t just do the trick. A full-scale boob-care routine was necessary to get me back into tit-top shape. Let me just address the two screaming thoughts in your mind before I get into what a boob-care routine entails. Through the magic of targeted Instagram ads, I stumbled upon Anese Calm Your Tits Nourishing Boob Mask ($34) and knew this is what I was missing my entire life. I already knew about the existence of butt masks, but since my décolletage is way more public facing than my rear—like I’m not wearing assless chaps to work, you know?—this seemed actually practical. Then, I got the Christmas tree rash or pityriasis rosea. To quickly paint a grotesque picture, a Christmas tree rash is a random affliction that focuses on the trunk of the body. We’re talking your entire torso, tummy, back, and (sob!) breasts. I spent January in a deep turtleneck-y hell since, per my dermatologist, this dermatitis primarily just fades away with time. Needless to say, my boob-care routine wasn’t created so much to treat the condition as it was to give the girls some
This $6 tool is the only thing you need to clean your AirPods like a pro
March 08, 2020 at 01:00PM by CWC Properly cleaning your AirPods is a true struggle. It’s far too easy for dirt, germs, and—let’s be honest—earwax to get caught in all the nooks and crannies. They’re too small to clean with just your finger. Even trying to use Q-tips can make things worse, potentially causing all that grime to get packed in tighter. Luckily, there’s a super affordable tool that’s going to make your life much easier. I didn’t know I needed a cleaning brush for my electronics, but now I don’t want to go another day without it. The OXO Good Grips Electronics Cleaning Brush ($6) is made to clean hard-to-reach areas with soft silicone bristles and a slim wiper blade that allow you to access even the tightest crevices. With these two tools, nothing—not all the grime in the world—can keep you from jamming out to your favorite Lizzo song at full-volume during your workouts. (Just don’t blast it too loudly, okay?) While many people use the tool to clean the dust, debris, and leftover crumbs from lunch between the keys on a keyboard, reviewers also rave about its ability to clean your AirPods. The tool is gentle enough to get rid of any built-up gunk without damaging the pricey product. It also keeps you from trying to clean the speakers with a toothpick or bobby pin—two things that will undoubtedly ruin your earbuds. To get your AirPods as clean and polished as the day you bought them, Prime
The ‘side plank march’ is a trainer’s favorite to fire up your lateral chain
March 08, 2020 at 11:00AM by CWC When it comes to core exercises that you can feel working, planks are at the top of the list. The second you start that hold, your whole body is instantly on fire. But trust me—you haven’t felt the burn until you try the side plank variation that lets you march your way to a stronger lateral chain. According to Korey Rowe, trainer at Dogpound in New York City, the side plank march is a dynamic movement that is nothing short of a full-body challenge—one that specifically targets your oblique muscles, which are often neglected and underdeveloped. Because of the marching motions involved, it makes a regular side plank feel like child’s play. “The added movement of driving the legs toward the chest in an alternating fashion gives the marching side plank a dynamic edge over the more static traditional side plank,” he says. “Switching between legs requires constant response for the glutes, legs, and oblique muscles to maintain trunk stability. This significantly ramps up the difficultly level.” At first, getting the motions down in this side plank variation can be tricky, but once you do, you’ll be busting out sets of side plank marches like a champ. Here’s exactly how to do the exercise at home. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-cLPDZtDHU] How to do the side plank march variation Begin in a side plank position starting on your right arm with your legs in a scissors stance. Your left leg should be in the front with weight on the
What does it mean to celebrate Women’s History Month in 2020?
March 08, 2020 at 10:00AM by CWC In the photograph below, a woman unfurls a banner with two neat rows of stars down the center from a second-story balcony. On the ground beneath her, a group of women raise their arms and clap their hands in celebration. It’s August 18, 1920; the woman on the balcony is Alice Paul, women’s rights activist and chair of the National Women’s Party; and the 19th Amendment has just been ratified by Tennessee, the 36th and final state needed to make it federally illegal to deny voting rights on the basis of sex in the United States. The image is joyful, victorious. It’s also very white—from the ratification banner’s long, crisp, panel to the women’s long, crisp, dresses—and the undoubtedly white skin beneath those dresses. This homogeny may have been by design. “The suffragists purposefully distributed portraits and other images, visual propaganda, all of white women…so that people at the time would think of suffragists as white,” says Allison K. Lange, PhD, an assistant professor of history at the Wentworth Institute of Technology and author of the forthcoming book on the suffrage movement, Picturing Political Power: Images in the Women’s Suffrage Movement. “That has shaped the way that we think about the suffrage movement.” The women of color who were part of this movement—because there were many (Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, and Mary Terrell Church are names to remember)—have been erased, quite literally, from history books and, in turn, public understanding. And so,
‘Sleep is the new steps,’ according to WHOOP founder Will Ahmed—here’s why
March 08, 2020 at 12:00AM by CWC Fitness trackers and activity monitors have come a long way from the basic pedometer era. These days, many of us are collecting data not just on steps, but on sleep, stress, and other biomarkers that offer clues to how well we truly are. But if you ask Well+Good’s 2020 Changemaker Will Ahmed, an abundance of data is essentially meaningless without knowing what to do with it—which is the idea that inspired him to create WHOOP, a tracker that measures heart rate variability and sleep quality (among other metrics) and serves up suggestions to improve performance and well-being. Below, Ahmed talks with W+G’s executive editor Abbey Stone about the genesis of WHOOP, screen time, and where he predicts wellness is headed next. Well+Good: When you launched WHOOP, what white space were you seeing in the field at the time? Will Ahmed: Well, the biggest thing that I learned from doing a lot of research at Harvard was that, essentially, there are secrets that your body is trying to tell you in the form of physiological indicators. The problem is that there wasn’t technology that could measure them. I saw an opportunity to measure things at an accuracy level that had never been done before, and then to provide coaching—using that information to provide actionable feedback. The problem with wearables 1.0 is they gave you information, but you didn’t necessarily know what to do with it. Whereas with WHOOP, we collect more data than anyone