February 05, 2019 at 05:05AM by CWC When the opening ceremonies of the Olympics grace my television every fourth summer, I always commit to watching everything. After all, these people train countless hours for the betterment of their sports, so who am I not to tune in for everything from “equestrian dressing” to “artistic swimming?” Inevitably I take the bronze medal in this lofty goal, but gymnastics is the one sport I never, never miss out on. What’s behind this amazement with people flinging themselves through the air? Good question. Maybe it’s because it’s a lot like extreme yoga: The competitors go upside down, contort their bodies in every which way, and ultimately—they stick the landing. It’s inspiring. And because we’re still over a year away from the return of the summer Olympics, I recently signed up for an adult gymnastics class of sorts, which promised to teach me the basics of rings (a gymnastics iteration that only men compete in during the games). After a 60-minute session, I have an even deeper respect for the athletes who support their entire body weight on two circles of wood. Because here’s the thing: The Crunch Gym class that I took, which is called “The Ring Thing,” featured a harness that takes away 50 percent of your body weight—and most of the moves still felt like someone had strapped sandbags to my feet. The very act of pulling up my body felt like, well, an Olympic effort. (Read: My arms and abs really
Category: 2019 Health
5, um, creative methods for clocking in all my steps during the winter
February 05, 2019 at 03:30AM by CWC Wearable fitness trackers may be good news for your health, but trust me when I say that step-counting changes you. I no longer leisurely stroll; now I mean business as I ascend—3409, 3410, 3411—all in an obsessive quest to hit my 10,000 step count benchmark OTD. And ironically, I use my iPhone to track my steps, which is hardly known for its accuracy. (In fact, one study found the iPhone undercounted by an average of 1,340 steps a day.) This means I work I’m trying to reach a number I can’t even count on. Yet, loyal to the mission I remain, even in the face of seasonal frigid temps coaxing me away from my running shoes to tend to my running nose. Well, good news for all wintertime hygge priorities: The science backing up that 10K-step gold standard is shaky at best. One study published in the International Journal of Obesity notes that to boost your metabolism, 15,000 steps is best to shoot for. And, um, I’m def not lacing up my snow boots and wrapping myself in a blarf for that, which, according to one doc, is A-okay—it’s more important to make sure you’re moving regularly. “If you really enjoy counting steps and utilize that metric to help prompt you to remain physically active, then go for it,” says physician Nesochi Okeke-Igbokwe, MD. “However, if you have serious medical problems that hinder you from ambulating, you’ll need to discuss with your doctor other exercise alternatives that
The derm-backed reason using too much eye cream is actually counterproductive
February 05, 2019 at 03:00AM by CWC When dealing with acne, my personal protocol used to be to pile on the spot treatments, because it felt like if I just smothered the zit in salicylic acid, it’d drown and die. I’m the same with eye creams—in a Herculean effort to plump and prevent further fine lines beneath my eyes, I tend to lay on my creams nice and thick. Well, you guys—this is completely counterproductive. At a recent facial, esthetician Charlotte King was applying Emma Hardie eye serum ($67), and told me that just a pea-sized dollop for both eyes is fine. Sure, sure. But then she went on to say that using too much eye cream actually has the opposite effect of what you’re looking for. “When we are tired or haven’t had enough sleep, the natural thing to do is say: ‘Oh my god—I need to put on extra eye serum or eye cream at night,’” she says. “But then you wake up in the morning and see that your eyes are puffy. Well, it’s because you put too much on.” In other words, while the under eyes need extra moisture and care, the thinnest skin on the body doesn’t need product to be globbed on or else it’ll react by packing those bags. I looked to a dermatologist to confirm, and it’s true. “If you use too much eye cream at one time, initially the excess product will pill and the product will not stay in place or
Here’s why that annoying friend of yours never gets a hangover
February 04, 2019 at 01:12PM by CWC Recently, I had a ~late night~ with some friends during a fondue party. Among the four of us, we may or may not have split more than three bottles of wine. (Look, stuff happens.) As you can probably imagine, I was totally hungover the next day. Yet when I went to go meet one of my friends for brunch, he looked suspiciously bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. He informed me he had gone for a run early that morning. (In contrast, I had spent the morning sprawled on the couch eating leftover Doritos out of the bowl I had put out the night before.) “How?” I asked. “I don’t get hangovers,” he answered cheerfully. “That can’t be right,” I said. “Never?” “It’s true,” he chirped. “I’ve literally never had a hangover in my life, doesn’t matter how much I drink.” I was skeptical, but it turns out my friend might not just be a liar with his pants on fire. “Some people are able to metabolize [alcohol] quite well and quickly,” says Amy Shapiro, M.S., R.D., CSN, and founder of Real Nutrition NYC. Lucky them. The surprising forces behind your hangover (or lack thereof) Before we dive into why some people are more #blessed than others, it might help to understand what causes hangovers in the first place. The simplified version: Your liver enzymes break down all the alcohol you drink into acetaldehyde, a toxin your body then needs to get rid of quickly, Shapiro
What to do if you really, truly hate your new haircut
February 04, 2019 at 12:34PM by CWC After an excellent haircut, I walk out of the salon channeling my inner-Jonathan Van Ness—strutting, lips pursed, flawless hair flip. But when a wayward snip from the hairdresser leaves me looking nothing like the photo I flashed on my way in, my lips tremble and a tear forms in the corner of my eye. A bad haircut is the worst. In the past, I’ve licked my wounds and rocked an updo until my hair grows out, erasing any trace of a terrible haircut. But recently I was convinced that I should never settle for a few months of bad hair days. I asked three hairstylists to explain what to do if you get a bad haircut. If you have a close relationship with your stylist, go back and ask for a redo. “Be completely open and honest, but not in a harsh way,” says Michael Dueñas, a celebrity hairstylist in Los Angeles. “Hairdressers get offended very easily when you attack their work.” Avoid non-specific criticisms (e.g, “Ugh, I look like a troll! What have you done to me?!”) and instead try to be as specific as possible about what’s not working for you (e.g, “The length here isn’t quite as short as I wanted and I was hoping to go a bit darker with the color.”) Just like you, your stylist does their best work when they’re provided constructive feedback. If you’re kind in your approach (i.e., don’t spam them on Yelp), your stylist will likely do
3 psychologist-approved tips for dealing with social anxiety at the gym
February 04, 2019 at 12:21PM by CWC For plenty of people, going to the gym is a place to escape the stressors of everyday life. But for others—those who are among the 15 million adults living with social anxiety disorder—going to a public place to exercise is actually stressful. When you’re dealing with social anxiety, simply being around other people can lead to anxiety, which means that a fitness class or crowded gym can become a space where the endorphins from a solid sweat sesh are outpaced by worry. “Social anxiety is comparing yourself to everyone else—you become overly concerned with what other people are thinking,” says Lani Lawrence, Psy.D, Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) representative and clinical and sports psychologist. “With athletes facing it, anxiety and other things may inhibit their performance—there are times when they have a hard time competing in front of others, so it’s definitely something to deal with in terms of performance.” But if you’re not, say, running a sprint in front of a stadium audience, you can still face the same level of anxiety that prevents you from performing the way you’d like. “This involves a lot of over-thinking, worrying, and negative thoughts and self-talk,” explains Lawrence on how social anxiety can affect you at the gym. And it’s not just mental—the anxiety impacts your physical self, too. “Physically, you might have an elevated heart rate, tension in your muscles, excessive sweating, and uncontrollable breath,” she says. “Physically, it feels awful and like you’re
All hail the freezer section at Trader Joe’s, which makes all my dinners cheap and healthy
February 04, 2019 at 11:55AM by CWC “I’d love to cook an extravagant dinner when I get home after a long day at work,” said no one ever. There’s no time for washing, chopping, seasoning—when I’m tired and hungry, I need good food quickly. And that’s why I’m in love with Trader Joe’s frozen food aisle. It’s a fact that the frozen food aisle in any grocery store is where to find the healthiest options. And a freezer stocked with an assortment from TJ’s endless array of healthy and versatile side dishes is the best way to round out weeknight meals. Whether I want to add some greens to my pasta or amp up the amount of protein in my meal, there’s a healthy pick that can supplement the dish you’re already cooking. The best part about utilizing frozen goodies is that making them really only involves one step—spreading it out on baking sheet and popping it in the oven or throwing it in a pan and heating it up. You’ll have a delicious meal at your fingertips and feel like a pro-chef in the process. Grab these healthy staples the next time you find yourself in the Trader Joe’s frozen food aisle. Photo: Trader Joe’s 1. Grilled cauliflower There’s no need to spend time cutting up a head of cauliflower with this grilled option that can be baked to perfection in a snap. Photo: Trader Joe’s 2. Organic green vegetable foursome It’s easy to get your greens with this vegetable medley that
The most common mistake people make with their ab workouts, according to a trainer
February 04, 2019 at 11:46AM by CWC Whenever I’m working on my core, two things are going through my brain: What number rep am I on, and when will it end? But then, on top of that, I’m really supposed to be paying attention to my form. In a Pilates class, for instance, the instructor always emphasizes the fact that you’re to tuck your ribs under and make sure that your stomach is pulled in. But when I’m simply doing crunches on my own time and I peer down at my core, I notice that I sometimes suck it in. This may be subconscious but it may also be for vanity purposes. Either way, I do it because I feel like it’s activating my abs more and, consequentially, giving me a stronger core. But then I spoke with a fitness trainer who told me that this is very very wrong. “When people suck in their belly to supposedly deepen their ab engagement, it’s actually counterproductive,” says Erica Ziel, author, certified personal trainer, and founder of Core Athletica. “Sucking in can put unnecessary pressure on your pelvic floor and lower back, restricts your ability to breathe more deeply, and contributes to poor posture.” It seems minor, but it’s really important to get it right—not only for a more effective ab workout, but because the issues that stem from doing it incorrectly can lead to issues. “Back pain and pelvic floor issues are among the top issues women suffer from and don’t need
How to drop news that you have an S.O. without it detonating like a bomb of awkwardness
February 04, 2019 at 11:35AM by CWC Okay, let’s say you’re at a bar, harmlessly engaging in some small-talk, and all of a sudden, things feel…flirty. Or so you think. Could it be that your conversation companion is simply being friendly and that you’re reading into the situation? Regardless, you feel compelled to casually drop the detail that you’re in a relationship, just so it’s clear that you’re off the market. Well, there’s a good chance that regardless of whether or not flirting was happening, the next exchange will be the other person raising their eyebrows as if to say, Um, I wasn’t hitting on you, okay? Sheesh! Share your “taken” relationship status too soon, and you may come across as presumptuous, having assumed the person you’re talking to is hitting on you. But waiting until you’re deep in conversation to drop the news like a bomb may seem like you were hiding the very important detail from an otherwise interested-in-you party. And the awkwardness doesn’t stop there. It can be tricky to navigate conversations that fill in your colleagues or family about personal updates. Is it even possible to be upfront without any collateral conversational damage? What if you don’t want to clue them into your personal life at all? If anyone knows how, it’s certified clinical psychologist Jennifer Taitz, PhD. The How To Be Single and Happy author has helped her clients with all sorts of matters of the heart—and the often-uncomfortable accompanying conversations. Here, she gives her best
Of course Adam Levine’s nipple reveal wasn’t shocking—that’s precisely the issue
February 04, 2019 at 11:11AM by CWC Nipples have dominated the conversation for the past 24 hours. Specifically, Adam Levine’s nipples, which were on full display Sunday during the halftime show of Super Bowl LIII. In a moment so brief you’d have missed it if you blinked or got up to get more queso (just me?), the Maroon 5 frontman unceremoniously removed his tank top. And before the garment hit the stage, viewers flooded Twitter with comparisons to another famously nipply halftime show. Fifteen years ago, Justin Timberlake tore back the leather bustier worn by Janet Jackson (Miss Jackson, if you’re nasty) accidentally on purpose to reveal her pasty-covered breast. Following the “wardrobe malfunction” seen ’round the world, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fined CBS over $500,000 by for airing “Nipplegate,” and Jackson’s career took a beating. “Poor Adam he showed his nips at the Super Bowl so now his career will be ruined like Janet’s. OH WAIT Never mind!!!!” tweeted author Glennon Doyle on Sunday; “Super Bowl halftime nipple rules feel inconsistent,” added ESPN+ host Katie Nolan. I joined the fray myself. Responding to Mashable’s headline, “Adam Levine showed his nipples during the Super Bowl halftime show and didn’t get in trouble at all,” I tweeted, “Didn’t you hear? Male-presenting nipples are A-OK.” In response, a barrage of tweets laid bare the real issue, and how it is rooted much deeper than Janet versus Adam. “Feel free to show us your tits Abbey. If not, stfu,” a delightful troll told