February 19, 2019 at 07:30AM by CWC Burrito bowls are yummy, but there’s nothing like the real thing—or something close to it. For those who live a low-carb lifestyle, you know you can always order extra guacamole for another serving of healthy fat. Unfortunately, a burrito wrapped with a warm tortilla doesn’t exactly make the cut. But before you give up Mexican food for good, check out this healthy twist on the traditional. Making a low-carb burrito is as simple as swapping out the tortilla for a robust leafy green. Dana Schutz, the recipe whiz behind the plant-based food blog Minimalist Baker, recently shared a recipe for collard green burritos, and they’re anything but ordinary. Collards are sturdy enough to be rolled up just like a flour tortilla. Schutz’s low-card burrito is filled with walnut “meat,” a vegan cheese spread, avocado, sprouts, and other satisfying ingredients. You won’t even miss the real thing. “These raw vegan burritos make for a perfect weekday lunch. They require just 30 minutes, 8 ingredients, and are packed with flavor,” she writes on Instagram. View this post on Instagram A post shared by MINIMALIST BAKER (@minimalistbaker) on Feb 18, 2019 at 10:31am PST //www.instagram.com/embed.js Swapping the tortilla for a leaf of collard greens means each burrito contains just 29 grams of carbohydrates. For comparison, Chipotle’s burrito contains upward of 130 grams. There’s room to get creative with this recipe, too. If you don’t care for collard greens, Schutz recommends stuffing butter or romaine lettuce
Category: 2019 Health
Chalk it up to JOMO, but working out is becoming a lot more like *going* out
February 19, 2019 at 07:00AM by CWC It’s early on a Sunday morning and I’m full-on twerking to Ciara’s “Level Up.” Blue and red lights are flashing around me while a woman in low-slung cargo pants and a crop works to get the room pumped up. It’s sweaty, it’s loud, and as I go through the movements, I’m having more fun than I’ve had in years. No, I’m not on some extended clubbing bender in New York City’s Meatpacking District that spilled over from Saturday night into the wee hours—though it certainly could be mistaken for that. I’m at Forward Space, a new dance-based workout “sanctuary” in New York City, and I loved the first class that I took so much that I stuck around for a second sweat sesh. Forward Space is hardly the only studio to capitalize on the #justdance way of life. Daybreaker started throwing its early a.m. parties in New York City in 2012, and has since expanded to 22 cities (including college campuses) around the world. And 305 Fitness, a Miami-style dance studio, now has six locations across New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and Washington DC. The difference is that these new studios more closely resemble 1OAK than, say, the Zumba class you used to take at your college gym. “To me the dance floor is a sacred space,” says Forward Space founder, Kristin Sudeikis. “Be it in a club or in a dance studio rehearsal or at someone’s wedding reception, the dance floor is just this very
I had my eyebrows microbladed—and dang, do they look sharp
February 19, 2019 at 04:00AM by CWC “Is this your first tattoo?” the Eyebrow Doctor asks. Oh my god, I think. “Yes,” I say. I hadn’t thought about it that way before. “And on your face, like a badass.” I’m lying on a plush, taupe table that would be more at home in a luxury spa than a doctor’s office, and on the wall across from me the words “hello gorgeous” are lit up in pink neon script. Piret Aava, dressed head to toe in a color I can only describe as sand (okay, it might be beige on anyone less chic), is making tiny slices in my face with a glittery blade that’s reminiscent of an X-Acto. I’m having my eyebrows microbladed, and in 90 minutes, I’ll leave with perfectly shaped, full brows worthy of any Instagram influencer or Bravolebrity inked onto may face. Microblading (also called eyebrow embroidery or feathering) is, according to Aava’s website, “the finest form of eyebrow tattooing.” A pen-like device with a tiny blade (a micro blade) is used “to scratch and etch very thin lines into the skin, mimicking eyebrow hairs.” The result is semi-permanent, and I’m told my new brows will last as long as one to three years, with proper care. Photo: Abbey Stone; Graphic by Well+Good Creative The consultation Before Aava wields any sharp objects, she cleanses my brows and applies a lidocaine numbing cream to the area. Then, she takes a long, close look at what she has to
More fashion brands are jumping on the size inclusive bandwagon, here’s how to tell which ones are legit
February 19, 2019 at 04:00AM by CWC Last September, online retailer Nasty Gal announced that it was “finally joining the party” and dropping its first ever extended-size capsule collection, offering its signature silk minidresses and high-waisted jeans in sizes 0-18. While this news did garner a lot of double-taps, many other women in the plus-size community quickly made it clear that they were not RSVP-ing “yes” to the retailer’s invite. That’s because, they argued, a line that’s truly made for every woman would go way beyond an 18. (That’s the size of the average American woman in 2019, FYI.) “A 25 piece collection that goes up to size 18 is not inclusive by any stretch of the imagination,” said Twitter user Casey McCormick. “Do better so you can take our money.” Another Twitter user, The Killerqueen, added: “Why isn’t the tagline ‘We’re finally jumping on a bandwagon we don’t actually care about’?” Nasty Gal quickly responded by saying that this collection was its “first step towards creating extended sizing options,” and it’s since started offering select pieces up to size 20. To be fair, going from straight sizing into plus sizes isn’t a simple endeavor for a brand—it requires specialized design and manufacturing expertise, not to mention lots of time spent getting the fit of each garment just right. It’d make sense for Nasty Gal to test the waters with a limited range of extended sizes before diving in head-first, if that’s what they were, indeed, doing. But the backlash against
Need to feel good about life? Kimberly Snyder’s new book is a must-read
February 19, 2019 at 03:30AM by CWC Celebrity nutritionist and Solluna founder Kimberly Snyder is a New York Times best-selling author—multiple times over. When she began writing her next book, she planned on a cute, healthy-living cookbook for kids. Then, she says, her reality was turned upside down. Her mother was diagnosed with cancer before passing only six weeks later. “She died within three days of my son turning one,” Snyder says. “I felt like I was knocked over by a wave.” During her “very raw and real” grieving process, she began working on a different book—something more personal than any of her previous work—that would become Recipes For Your Perfectly Imperfect Life, a cookbook-memoir hybrid that serves up more than 100 plant-based recipes along with life lessons about finding peace, joy, and happiness. And, she says, it’s not a book that promotes enlightenment through perfection. Quite the opposite, actually. “Wellness has become trendy, but now people are stressed about it,” she says. “It’s not about how many spin classes you do a week, how many grams of carbs or how little sugar you eat, or your Keto diet. Wellness is so much more. It involves your mental, your emotional, your spiritual well-being.” That ethos is embodied by “feeling good,” a phrase Snyder comes back to again and again in the book and with her Solluna brand. “Feeling good doesn’t mean we’re just happy and elated all the time,” she says. “It means that we’re connected to our intuition, our
Here’s what a nutritionist *really* thinks about oat milk
February 19, 2019 at 02:35AM by CWC [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L–bGxpHTVQ] As if you weren’t already overwhelmed when choosing your alt-milk du jour, there’s a new favorite hitting the coffee shop circuit: oat milk. And it’s having a major moment. In the past year, oat milk has gone from being sold in roughly 150 cafes in the U.S. to over 2,000. Everybody wants a taste—and even big brands like Silk and Califia have joined the game. But does the latest alt-milk craze actually live up to the hype? Top dietitian Tracy Lockwood-Beckerman, RD, hilariously breaks it down in the newest episode of You Verses Food, Well+Good’s YouTube series that gives you everything you need to know about popular food and drink trends. (Did you subscribe yet? Go ahead, we’ll be here when you’re done.) If you’re still over here all, what is oat milk?, Lockwood-Beckerman says the drink is basically made of oats that have been soaked in water and refrigerated overnight, blended, and strained. Yup, it’s literally that simple. (However, many brands add things like sugar and canola oil, so read that label!) One thing that makes oat milk stand out from other dairy alternatives is its creamy texture. “That’s the higher carb count working its magic,” says Lockwood-Beckerman. Don’t let the C-word scare you away—Lockwood-Beckerman says they’re the healthy, slow-digesting kind of carbs that can keep you feeling satisfied and energized for longer. The drink is also full of fiber, thanks to those oats. One serving of popular brand Oatly,
4 mental-health journaling prompts for the reflective soul who doesn’t know where to start
February 18, 2019 at 12:00PM by CWC There’s something so inexplicably satisfying about cracking open a brand-new journal. It’s a blank canvas on which you can record your thoughts, your worries, your dreams, and so much more. But beyond simply being a place to chronicle the events of your life and everything you feel about those goings-on, journaling is a great way to nourish your mental health. I may be going out on a limb here, but I’d venture to say that you’d be hard-pressed to find a mental-health professional who wouldn’t recommend journaling as a tool for general healing, coping with depression, and reducing anxiety. Still, journaling can seem like a daunting task—especially if you’re not in the habit of writing about your feelings regularly. The good news? According to New York–based holistic psychotherapist Alison Stone, LCSW, there’s no such thing as a right or a wrong way to journal—and there’s not a specific amount you have to do it, either. “For some people, it might be daily, while for others it might be weekly,” Stone says. “Experiment with not only what gives you the most benefit, but what is realistic for you to commit to on a regular basis.” “Journaling is great for enhancing self-awareness through helping us detect and track patterns of behavior, thoughts, and feelings.” —Alison Stone, LCSW In other words, if you want to let your thoughts flow freely every day for an hour, great. If it feels more natural to you to express yourself
Help! Urban Outfitters’ home department is a black hole for my clutterbitch personality
February 18, 2019 at 10:00AM by CWC When I recently discovered the term “clutterbitch,” I felt the immediate flooding of relief that comes with finding a word that’s been on the tip of your tongue for, I don’t know, forever. Clutterbitch (an adjective, not a noun) manages to mean exactly what it sounds like—it’s an aesthetic consisting of an oversaturated, frenzied mess that somehow still comes together to create an inviting (cozy, even) space. Think, the overlapping part of a Venn diagram that has circles for a crowded antique store, the bedrooms from The Virgin Suicides, and the decor at the famed Madonna Inn. It’s the opposite of the less-is-more, Marie Kondo-esque vibe that’s quite literally sweeping the nation—and it’s so, so me. Sound like you, too? In that case, listen up: Right now, Urban Outfitters is a trap for our kind. I headed to the website after reading about a magical alarm clock that brews coffee while you snooze (obviously the dream because it means you can sleep in and still have coffee ready for you when you wake up—plus, it looks like the type of thing a mad scientist would own…but I digress). Alas, the caffeine clock was no longer available, but in it’s place I found a veritable rabbit hole of covetable clutterbitch tchotchkes. There’s a tiny cow-print fridge made specifically to house your skin care products, a light that looks like the moon, a Jane Birkin-worthy landline phone and a bunch of other delightful wonders that will hopefully help me in my
It’s common to get headaches after your runs—here’s why
February 18, 2019 at 08:01AM by CWC After a particularly grueling run, soreness in your legs is pretty much a given, but every once in a while when I’m pounding the pavement, my head starts pounding too, and I wind up with a headache after running. A quick Google search confirms that I’m not the only one who this happens to. But…why? While there are a number of reasons your head might start hurting while you’re logging miles, you first need to understand what’s going on at a biological level. “The blood pressure will increase as you exercise and the tension within the narrowed blood vessels and arterial walls can cause headaches,” explains Rich Velazquez, COO and Coach at Mile High Run Club. And generally, it’s NBD, aside from the fact that a headache can really kill your post-run endorphins. “Acute headaches without any other symptoms are generally okay,” he says, “However if they consistently happen or are often accompanied with nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, or even congestion, a physician should be consulted.” Here, the pros lay out why you may have a headache after running, and what you can do to prevent it, and how you can keep it from totally killing your runner’s high. The cause: low blood sugar When you run, your body burns a lot of sugar—which is why carbo-loading before a marathon is such a common practice. But if your blood sugar levels get too low, you’ll start to feel the effects in your head. “Any time the body detects low
Selenium is the secret ingredient that makes your antioxidants work better
February 18, 2019 at 07:29AM by CWC Certain things in life are just better together: chocolate and peanut butter, you and your BFF, iron and vitamin C. And another power duo that deserves major recognition is selenium and antioxidants. Woah, selenium what? While not given as much press time as magnesium or calcium, selenium is another essential trace mineral that your bod needs to be in tip-top shape. It’s found in soil, water, and foods like brazil nuts, eggs, tuna, cod, poultry, and mushrooms. While overdoing it on selenium can be dangerous (more on that later), for the most part, selenium can work wonders for the human body. Here’s everything you need to know about this super mineral. Keep reading to find out the top selenium benefits. Photo: Getty Images / Claudia Totir 1. It helps antioxidants do their job. “In humans, selenium functions as a cofactor for antioxidant enzymes including glutathione peroxidase, whose main role is to protect our tissues from oxidative damage,” says nutritionist Tamar Samuels, RDN. Basically, your body needs selenium in order to get the most benefits out of certain antioxidants that fight inflammation and free radical damage in your body. 2. It’s important for a healthy immune system. The mineral also helps facilitate cell growth, says Samuels, and is an important part of immune system health. “Selenium is also needed for the proper functioning of neutrophils, macrophages, NK cells, T lymphocytes, and other immune mechanisms.” All of these parts play an important role in protecting your body