May 19, 2019 at 04:00AM by CWC Whether you are trying to minimize your meat consumption through Meatless Mondays or adhere to a vegetarian diet full-time, it’s easy to cycle through the same handful of meat-free recipes. (Yes, it is definitely possible to get sick of veggie burgers.) The key to keeping things fresh while still getting dinner on the table in a timely manner: your Instant Pot. Food experimenting is safe with the IP because it’s virtually fool-proof. And if you’re a vegetarian, it cooks meatless staples like dried beans and grains in a fraction of the time it would on the stovetop. Brilliant. But still, it helps to have something to go off of, right? That’s where these recipes come in. Keep reading for a whole arsenal of vegetarian Instant Pot recipes to try. Keep reading for seven vegetarian meals you can make in your Instant Pot. Photo: Paint The Kitchen Red 1. Moroccan stew If you have a lot of mouths to feed, this recipe from Paint The Kitchen Red is a lifesaver. Chickpeas serve as the protein in this meal, but the starring ingredient is really the butternut squash, which gets perfectly tender in the Instant Pot. Get ready to be poking around in your spice rack quite a bit, too; it’s what makes this dinner so flavor-packed. Photo: Hummusapien 2. Pad Thai stir fry Most pad Thai recipes will instruct you to cook the noodles in boiling water, chop up the veggies and stir fry
Category: 2019 Health
The one easy move to do that’ll open up your always-tight hip flexors
May 19, 2019 at 12:00AM by CWC Early this morning, I went to the new Precision Run studio in New York—AKA the shiny, new stand-alone studio that evolved from Equinox’s Precision Running class—ready to log some miles. It was totally dark in the room, except for the yellow LED light strips that set the mood (which, BTW, adjust to blue during recovery periods) and it was lined wall to wall with the most high-tech treadmills I’ve ever seen. I stepped onto the machine without having stretched, and David Siik—founder and creator of Precision Running—started to lead the class into a warm-up. “Get into a light jog,” he told us. I cranked up my tread and started sauntering about, warming up my muscles. But to do this, Siik didn’t just have everyone slowly take our speeds up a notch. First we did kick-backs, where you kick your foot behind you towards your butt, which stretches your hamstrings. Then: “Now do some high-knees!” Whenever I hear those two words together, I literally cringe. I loathe high-knees. They’re just hard. But Siik had us doing them for the sake of our hip flexors. Hip flexors are actually one of the tightest muscles in your body, since they’re used in basically every type of movement on top of the fact that they’re closed off and under lots of stress when you’re sitting for most of the day (thanks, desk job). “Doing high knees is a great dynamic warm-up to help activate the hip flexors,” Siik tells
Turkish get ups are the all-in-one workout you can do with just a kettlebell
May 18, 2019 at 12:00PM by CWC Full body workouts are the unicorns of gym o’clock. Rather than lighting up your muscles one by one, you can enlist one (killer) sequential movement that will burn your hamstrings, core, arms, and more like (snaps) that. Turkish get ups are one such nose-to-toes exercise. Once you grab a kettlebell and get the hang of them, your compound workout skills will get an automatic level-up. The TL; DR of Turkish get ups is this: You begin lying on the floor with a kettlebell in one hand and end up standing with the bell thrust into the air above you in a that shouts “victory!” “They’re excellent for hip mobility, shoulder mobility, and shoulder strength,” says Maillard Howell, owner of Crossfit Prospect Heights in Brooklyn. “You’re using your entire body to go from a lying position to standing tall with load overhead in one arm, so yeah, everything’s going to be firing. Everything’s going to be on. It’s a lot of core, it’s a lot of shoulder strength and shoulder mobility, hip strength, and hip mobility.” Even more bang for your fitness buck: This move somewhat emulates the “sitting-rising test” (SRT)—a functional movement test developed by Brazilian physician Claudio Gil Araújo, MD, that’s an indicator of longevity. Only, the get ups are way harder. So if you master them, the SRT will be a breeze. So grab a kettlebell on the lighter side and let’s get started, shall we? How to master Turkish get ups,
I am not sorry about my abortion, no matter what the trolls may say
May 18, 2019 at 10:00AM by CWC If you’ve ever had a drink with me, I’ve probably told you about my abortion. Online, however, it’s a bit of a different story. Until last week, I only shared abortion-related news without any kind of personal anecdote. It’s not because I’m ashamed, but because I want to protect myself from trolls. That neutral public stance changed for me this week, after Georgia and Alabama passed some of the harshest abortion bans in the country. First I just tweeted that I’d had an abortion. But then I realized that I want people to put a face to the procedure, to hear about someone with a completely ordinary story. So here’s mine. Four years ago, when I was 22, I already suspected that my new partner Ben and I would probably get married someday. We had only been together for four months, but we’d already made plans to move from Boston to New York City together at the end of the year—where we planned to live out our big dreams at each other’s side. But then I got laid off from my first job out of college. I had about $1000 dollars to my name, $100,000 in student debt, and wasn’t eligible for unemployment or severance pay. Even though I was lucky enough to live rent-free with my aunt, and had supportive parents who could step in if needed, the financial reality of my situation was still grim. Around this same time, Ben noticed
This seated full-body Tabata workout is basically the equivalent of 100 burpees
May 18, 2019 at 08:00AM by CWC Sure, I love to work out (except for the cases in which I decide to sleep through my alarm instead of going to a morning class…which happened today), but I’m also all for workouts that require less movement than, say, a 5K or moving from the floor to standing and back (looking at you, burpees). So you can also find me doing stretches in bed and plenty of isometric exercises, alongside the days where I’m dying in SLT or going for a long run. Then I found out about sitting Tabata… which is essentially the HIIT workout of my wildest fantasies. According to Corey Phelps, a DC-based trainer, you can do a Tabata-style workout while literally sitting down. Speak to me. “It won’t be as flashy as burpees, but a few key isometric exercises will provide an exceptional burn, incognito style,” she tells me. All you need is a chair and a timer. Maybe you’re raising an eyebrow. I feel you—but hear Phelps out: “When you think of Tabata, high intensity comes to mind, and that is correct,” she says. “Tabata in the purest form is a high-intensity style of training. While isometric holds aren’t typically a star in high-intensity workouts, you’ll soon find out that the burn is real when you run through a round of max effort flexing for eight rounds.” It’s very true—I tried these moves for myself, and they mean business. There’s true power in isometric exercises. “Performing these isometric
An astrologer explains why you feel so out of whack during the full moon
May 18, 2019 at 07:00AM by CWC If you’ve never had a particularly awful headache or experienced a mood swing like no other and had someone whisper, “there must be a full moon,” then you haven’t been hanging out with my mom. For her, ups and downs are almost always attributed to a planetary shift and, while it might seem off base to some, it turns out she’s not alone. The belief in the moon’s power is long entrenched in our society—the word “lunacy,” after all, comes from the Roman goddess of the moon, Luna. Given that there’s a full moon tonight, it begs the question: Does a full moon affect behavior? We asked Courtney O’Reilly of Vibrant Soul Astrology to give us the scoop. Does a full moon affect behavior? O’Reilly says it’s not uncommon for people to point a finger at an approaching full moon when it comes to their own behavior or strange moods. “I have clients who tell me they feel the effect of full moons in relation to not being to sleep in particular—that is a big one,” she says. “Some also say they feel a little drained or depleted.” This is confusing, because in general, O’Reilly says that full moons are generally a positive time. “We have her full light and as the saying goes, as above so below,” O’Reilly says, adding that the full moon might allow you to see a particular situation more clearly. The full moon also represents a time of abundance
Feel like you only date people with commitment issues? Attachment theory may explain why
May 18, 2019 at 06:00AM by CWC Despite expert claims that where you live doesn’t inform your relationship status, many city dwellers are single or dating the human equivalent of a trash panda. (And, like—that’s not something I’d want to date—would you?) So when Brooklyn-based psychotherapist Aimee Barr, LCSW, filled me in on her hypothesis that people with an avoidant attachment style are drawn to big cities, I practically spat out my cold brew in agreement. Because, welp, as a very single gal living in New York City who has a friend group full of single pals, my experience says tells me Barr is clearly on to something. For the uninitiated, the gist of adult attachment theory is that there are different styles of establishing intimacy in relationships: secure, anxious, and avoidant—and the name of each style essentially gives away what each means. “Anxiously attached are fearful, anxious, and clingy,” says integrative holistic psychotherapist in New York Rebecca Hendrix, LMFT. “Securely attached are healthy, balanced, adaptable, trusting, and independent. And avoidant-attached people are really self-sufficient, closed off, withdrawn, escapist, and fearful of commitment.” (There are lots of online quizzes and questions you can ask yourself that can help you determine which attachment style best fits your personality.) Barr’s anecdotal hypothesis is that cities are a draw for avoidant attachers. What’s this mean for you? Well, urban places may, then, have a higher population of folks who are afraid of commitment. “It makes sense that folks who are avoidant-attached would be attracted to
8 pairs of sleek sneakers that are perfect for date night
May 18, 2019 at 04:00AM by CWC As I have explained in detail, I always wear sneakers on a first date because they are comfortable and go with literally anything. It’s merely an added bonus that they’re easy to run away in if your date decides to order a glass of Chardonnay with ice and swirl it around like he’s taking a sommelier test. See also: says you have “nice gams.” This is my real life, but I digress. I’m partial to sleek, classic sneakers for a date because they’re the right blend of chill and polished. And the work equally well for first-dates as they do for 100th dates (if you have made it to this number of dates please DM me and tell me your secrets). And if you need further proof that sneakers can be worn for any occasion, allow me to direct your attention to Serena Williams at the Met Gala. She paired her gown with matching neon Nikes, to which I say brava. I’m not saying that’s the outfit I’m going to show up in on my next date… but maybe? The limit does not exist; you truly can wear versatile footwear everywhere. Here, 8 pairs of date-night sneakers. Photo: Kaanas Kaanas Bristol Lace Up Sneaker, $139 Call me a magpie, because I am drawn to metallics. So it makes sense that I’m taken with these classic-with-a-twist sneakers from Kaanas, a brand that’s run by four sisters in Columbia. Each shoe is made by hand
3 ways this weekend’s full moon is about to majorly shake up your life
May 17, 2019 at 03:00PM by CWC If the impending summer season’s got you in reinvention mode—whether you’re trading your black leggings for pastel bike shorts or have bigger shifts in mind—prepare to get a major boost from the cosmos. There’s a game-changing full moon happening this weekend, and it’s set to leave some big changes in its wake. Taking place Saturday, May 18 at 5:11 p.m. EST, this lunation’s going down in Scorpio—the sign associated with sex, power, secrecy, and intense emotions. While you can expect to see these themes arise in your life in some way (hint: leave room for some sexy time this week, even if you’re flying solo), this particular full moon lends itself to several other layers of meaning that are important to note. “This Scorpio full moon is incredibly powerful because of its sacred geometry,” says astrologer Virginia Mason Richardson. “In astrology, sacred geometry refers to geometric shapes that are formed between planets based on their relationship to one another.” According to Richardson, this moon will actually form three distinct shapes in aspect with other planets, which are set to affect us on individual and societal levels. The action taking place during this full moon will play out in grounded Earth signs and emotional water signs, which is sure to add to its potency. “The water element is all about feelings, intuition, and spiritual wisdom,” says Richardson. “The Earth element is all about our solid, material reality experienced through our five physical senses. What
Are there *any* states working to protect abortion rights?
May 17, 2019 at 12:27PM by CWC If any week has ever made me feel like the world is on fire, it’s this one. After Georgia passed its “heartbeat bill” that will ban any abortion after six weeks—before most women know they’re pregnant—Alabama decided to up the ante by passing its own abortion ban. The law in Alabama, which will go into effect in six months, aims to restrict abortion at any point during a pregnancy, with the only exception granted in cases to save the mother’s life. Abortions will be illegal even in cases of rape or incest. As of Friday afternoon, the Missouri legislature passed its own bill to ban all abortions after eight weeks, which now heads to the governor’s desk. These bills didn’t crop up at the same time by coincidence. Given the conservative majority in the Supreme Court, and that a Republican sits in the Oval Office, anti-abortion rights activists see the time to strike as now, with such legislation intended to trigger lawsuits. The ultimate goal of conservative activists and politicians is to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion up to fetal viability (typically 20 to 24 weeks after conception) as established in 1973. “This is a deliberate attempt to bring a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade and to end the right to access safe, legal abortions in this country,” said Dr. Leana Wen, the president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund in a press call on Wednesday. It should be noted: Abortion