Category: 2019 Health

August 06, 2019 at 03:00AM by CWC If I could count the number of times that I’ve woken up with a terrible, no good, very bad crick in my neck, I’d… have enough money for a massage. It’s the worst situation—not only because it hurts like heck, but because I have never known how to deal with the thing. Everything I’ve tried in the past winds up making the stifnesss even worse. So for the sake of all of us crick-getters, I’m getting help from the pros. Although these knots seem to come out of thin air, they typically happen overnight—and there’s a reason for that. “Waking up with a crick in the neck is almost always due to sleeping in a compromised position,” says Jeff Brannigan, program director at Stretch*d. “If the head is leaning toward one side for multiple hours, the muscles that are contracted are going to seize up and tighten much more than the opposing side.” While I tend to use this situation as a legit excuse to skip the gym and hit up the couch, you don’t necessarily have to use crick days as rest days. Brannigan says it depends on the severity of the issue. “If your neck is feeling stiff in the morning, take a few extra minutes before your workout to do some stretches—give yourself some extra sets and repetitions if you need it—and you’ll be prepped for the workout,” he says. That said, if you’re in a lot of pain, it’s

Read More

August 05, 2019 at 04:00PM by CWC Sometimes it’s just not possible to get a good night’s sleep; perhaps you drank all the coffee during the day, or had a few zzz’s-disturbing glasses of wine at dinner, or are just stressed AF about the implications of being alive in 2019 (hi, climate crisis!). Whatever the reason, there you are, lying awake in bed at 2 a.m.—and super-bummed about it. But you try and stay calm, rationalizing to yourself that though you’re not actually drifting off, resting surely factors into your restorative quotient and appeals to the importance of sleep. Or does such a convenient line of thinking only exist in the dreams so many of us can’t actually access? Because I need to know, once and for all, whether resting can be as legitimately, and effectively restorative as sleep, or if I’m totally kidding myself. Well, it turns out there are some basic yet key differences that make sleep distinct from rest. “They’re very different states,” says Elliott Exar, MD, a sleep specialist with John Hopkins Medicine. Rest, he says, is a waking state in which you’re not actively engaged in anything, physically or mentally (including screens), whereas sleep is a non-waking state during which specific, involuntary activity takes place in the brain and body. Because they’re disparate and serve different functions, the verdict, according to Dr. Exar, is a solid no: rest cannot straight-up stand in for the importance of sleep, its more advanced and involved cousin. “There are restorative

Read More

August 05, 2019 at 02:35PM by CWC Summer 2018 will forever go down as the season of quickie celebrity engagements, Big Dick Energy—and when an array of seemingly magical celery juice benefits started to flood our Instagram feeds. Okay, so that last one isn’t quite as sexy as Priyanka and Nick making it forever official. But seriously, haven’t you noticed that ever since then, wellness stars have been trading their kale-apple-lemon blends for a slightly lighter shade of green juice? Everyone from celebrities (Well+Good Council member Elle MacPherson) to nutrition pros (holistic nutritionist Elissa Goodman) to influencers including The Balanced Blonde blogger Jordan Younger is proclaiming their love for fresh-pressed celery juice. By drinking it in the morning on an empty stomach, devotees claim it’s given them better skin, more energy, and improved digestion. So what gives? ad_intervals[‘322618_div-gpt-ad-8891272-3’] = setInterval(function () { if (ads_ready) { clearTimeout(ad_intervals[‘322618_div-gpt-ad-8891272-3’]); googletag.cmd.push(function(){googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8891272-3’);}); } }, 100); The truth about celery juice benefits If you’ve ever tried celery juice yourself, you’ll know that most people probably aren’t drinking it for the flavor. (It tastes exactly like you’d think it would—bland, grassy, and slightly salty, like liquified celery—in case you had any doubts.) Rather, the celery juice obsession stems from its purported health benefits as outlined by Anthony William, AKA the Medical Medium. William isn’t a doctor or nutritionist—he’s an intuitive who claims to receive information about the healing properties of foods from a “high-level spirit.” According to him, celery juice has powerful anti-inflammatory properties and “undiscovered mineral

Read More

August 05, 2019 at 12:18PM by CWC I have a bad beauty editor confession to make: I (almost) never, ever wear foundation. Between my desk and at-home collections, there are at least 15 bottles of the stuff in different shades and formulations that I am constantly telling myself I’m going to open “someday.” But that day has never come. Every time I try it out, I wind up taking it off because my skin starts to feel sweaty and claustrophobic and all around gross. And don’t get me wrong—there are plenty of people out there who love and swear by foundation, but unless I’m going to a fancy party or getting my makeup done professionally, I am just not one of them. The good news, as I personally have learned through years of trial and error? There are plenty of ways to even out your skin tone and enhance your glow without ever having to open a single bottle of foundation. “You don’t always need foundation to look and feel your best, and looking fresh faced is in,” agrees celebrity makeup artist Mary Irwin. But the first thing you need to do? Moisturize. “It’s so important to work with hydrated skin,” she says, calling out Blue Lagoon Iceland Hydrating Cream ($82) as one of her favorites for keeping skin looking fresh and dewy all day. Next, you want to prep your skin with a primer, like Heir Atelier ($42) to help smooth pores and fine lines, and if you need a little

Read More

August 05, 2019 at 11:36AM by CWC It’s hard to think of something bad to say about the Instant Pot, which is basically like having a genie at your disposal at all times, granting every cooking wish imaginable. Steaming, pressure cooking, making yogurt, baking—the Instant Pot does it all. But there is one downside: It’s not exactly the most attractive kitchen appliance. Luckily, that’s all changing thanks to a colorful makeover. If the bulky black appliance sitting next to your eye-catching juicer and pastel stand mixer is ruining the vibe of your space, there’s finally a solution. Now it’s available to purchase in three new Instant Pot colors: salmon, teal, and white. While the new color options aren’t available for every model just yet, you can pick up a 6-Quart Duo with some pizazz—which, TBH, is the perfect size to put on display anyway. ad_intervals[‘413006_div-gpt-ad-8891272-3’] = setInterval(function () { if (ads_ready) { clearTimeout(ad_intervals[‘413006_div-gpt-ad-8891272-3’]); googletag.cmd.push(function(){googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8891272-3’);}); } }, 100); Instant Pot colors Buy Now Instant Pot 6-Quart Pressure Cooker, Salmon $100 Buy Now Instant Pot 6-Quart Pressure Cooker, White $81 Buy Now Instant Pot 6-Quart Pressure Cooker, Teal $80 Instant Pot now has its own air fryer. Here’s how it compares to other models. Also, if the IP and sous vide had a baby, this would be it. Continue Reading… Author Tehrene Firman | Well and Good Selected by CWC

Read More

August 05, 2019 at 10:42AM by CWC The back-to-back massacres in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, this past weekend—which together left 29 people dead and another 53 injured—marked the 251st and 252nd mass shootings of 2019. Since then, three more mass shootings have occurred, according to the Gun Violence Archive (a nonprofit that tracks America’s gun violence statistics)—bringing that already horrific figure up to 255. For the sake of perspective, today is the 217th day of the year. A quick math equation reveals the awful truth: The United States is moving at the breakneck (and, frankly, devastating) pace to average more than one of mass shooting per day. There’s an adjective invoked often when discussing gun violence. It’s described as “unspeakable.” Then, like a collective, self-fulfilling prophecy, it becomes just that: a widespread crisis that feels so uncontrollable that grasping for the rights words to “solve it” feels like gasping for air. ad_intervals[‘412944_div-gpt-ad-7435403-3’] = setInterval(function () { if (ads_ready) { clearTimeout(ad_intervals[‘412944_div-gpt-ad-7435403-3’]); googletag.cmd.push(function(){googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-7435403-3’);}); } }, 100); The Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting claimed 28 lives in 2012, and since then, I’ve been bitingly aware of the armor I’ve built up against the reality that more that 100 Americans are killed with guns every 24 hours. The thing is though, this armor doesn’t deflect, but instead temporarily numbs me to the figures that enumerate the lives cut short, the families with one less person at the dinner table, and the internal outcry of “What if?” that now accompanies stepping into public

Read More

August 05, 2019 at 09:49AM by CWC Over the course of the last few years, ClassPass has taken over the fitness scene. In New York, at least, it’s nearly impossible to have a conversation about workouts without someone mentioning the service, and there’s an entire Reddit thread out there dedicated to trading tips and tricks about how to get the most out of your membership. As a fitness editor, if I had a dollar for every time someone asked me if ClassPass was worth it, I’d be able to afford at least a lifetime supply of monthly credits. The service has changed quite a bit since its early iterations (#tbt to when you could get a month’s worth of unlimited classes for $100 flat), but considering I’ve been a a die-hard member since those days—way back in 2013!—my answer always has been that ClassPass is worth it, as long as you A) love classes as much as I do and B) know how to hack the system to get the most out of your membership. ad_intervals[‘412888_div-gpt-ad-9261280-3’] = setInterval(function () { if (ads_ready) { clearTimeout(ad_intervals[‘412888_div-gpt-ad-9261280-3’]); googletag.cmd.push(function(){googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-9261280-3’);}); } }, 100); Eight ways to take advantage of your ClassPass membership 1. Take a lunch break: If you can sneak out of the office for a quick class in the middle of the day, your credit count may thank you. These classes are considered off-peak, so they’re available at a discounted rate, and you won’t have to fight off crowds for the bike or mat

Read More