January 18, 2019 at 06:06AM by CWC Black leggings are great. (As a work-from-home writer with a penchant for ballet and hot vinyasa flow, I spend a good 80 percent of my week in the versatile bottom.) But retro resurgences like matching sweat sets, ’70s-style running shorts, and bike shorts have staked their claim as far as the athleisure movement is concerned. And another old-school drift is having a moment: banner bottoms. “This trend is totally a nod to my memories of the ’90s and what all the cool people on MTV wore,” says stylist, Neelo Noory, whose clients include activewear titan, Nike. Banner bottoms are synonymous with iconic streetwear brands like FILA, Champion, and Adidas (all of whom, thanks to fashion’s insatiable thirst for all things retro, are prominently back in the spotlight). The style is a sporty riff on logomania, which is going strong from luxury accessories to activewear. Insignia panels—essentially racing stripes 2.0—are running down the side of leggings, jeans, track pants, and yes, even bike shorts right now. Even luxury labels like Paco Rabanne and Fendi (which debuted a collab with FILA for its fall/winter 2018 collection) all the way to fashion-forward activewear brands like P.E Nation and The Upside have variations of the logo-lined bottoms on offer—from snap-away pants and sweats to moisture-wicking leggings and sleek joggers. So, how to wear the trend circa 2019? “I think the best way to embrace the logo-trimmed bottoms is to channel your inner ‘90s music star with a
Category: 2019 Health
Why Kayla Itsines is committed to the Mediterranean diet during her pregnancy—and beyond
January 18, 2019 at 05:36AM by CWC In a classic case of what’s old is new again, the Mediterranean diet has replaced keto as the eating plan of the moment—and fitness superstar Kayla Itsines is 100 percent on board during her pregnancy. “I’ve always followed a balanced, Mediterranean diet as that is what works for me and my body. Being Greek, it’s part of my heritage and is what I grew up eating,” she tells Well+Good when asked why she’s such a fan of the diet. Of course pregnancy being, well, pregnancy, at first Itsines had to make a few adjustments to a familiar eating plan. “At the beginning of my pregnancy journey, I was feeling nauseous for the first 12 weeks so I consumed more dry foods than I normally would,” she says. “But being 23 weeks pregnant and in my second trimester, I am feeling so much better and am pretty much back to eating my normal Mediterranean diet. This consists of lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, rice, grilled meats and olive oil.” “I’ve always followed a balanced, Mediterranean diet as that is what works for me and my body. Being Greek, it’s part of my heritage and is what I grew up eating.” For Itsines, breakfast typically consists of either mushrooms and spinach on toast or scrambled eggs and kale on toast. Lunch is homemade chicken gyros, with a wholewheat wrap, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and tzatziki dressing. Between meals, she’ll grab fresh fruit, depending on what’s in
How changing the way you talk about money will help you reach your goals
January 18, 2019 at 05:30AM by CWC If sitting down to deal with your finances sounds like an absolute nightmare, at least know that you’re in good company. For plenty of us, the act of making smart, responsible money decisions conjures mental images of sitting alone at home, eating ramen over the holidays, or passing on countless brunches with friends. No matter how much you say you’re leaning into JOMO, when you decline invitations in favor of saving funds, major FOMO is about to be tapped. Perhaps that’s why it’s so common to simply opt in to social engagements with the intention of worrying about balancing your personal books later. In the moment, this zest-for-life way of living may well feel liberating, but soon enough, worry is sure to set in. You may end up thinking, “Will I be able to make my credit card payment? Should I have more to show for how hard I’m working? Will I ever be able to retire?” Our fiscal lives often feel like a lose-lose. We know what we should do in order to be financially flush, but our actions don’t follow, no matter how hard we try—after all, balancing saving and living is tough. Well, good news: There’s a way to make this situation easier on yourself without changing a single personal-finance habit. Rather, just shift the language you use when talking about them. The way we speak about something changes how we feel about it, which in turn influences the actions we
This Whole30 chili recipe will be your best friend on cold winter nights
January 18, 2019 at 05:21AM by CWC Photo: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Like a big bowl of mac-and-cheese or sizzling lasagna, chili is pure comfort food—especially on those nights when you fully plan on sleeping in your socks and your old college sweatshirt. The beauty of chili is that it’s virtually fool proof. You can throw almost anything you want into it that you want to use up from your fridge and it’ll still turn out pretty great. It’s also infinitely adaptable. Vegans can nix the meat in favor of lentils or more beans; Paleo eaters can If you’re vegan, use lentils for your protein. More of a Paleo eater? Go for ground turkey. And as proven in Melissa Hartwig’s latest book, The Whole30 Slow Cooker, it’s also easy to make chili Whole30-compliant. Contrary to what you may think, you don’t need beans or lentils (two foods that are persona non grata on Whole30) to make chili. And Hartwig’s take has everything you could want in a bowl of comfort food dinner: noodles (made from butternut squash), warming spices (oh hey there, cumin and chili peppers), protein (from ground beef), and even a hint of sweetness thanks to cocoa powder and cinnamon. Get out your slow cooker and try out the following Whole30 chili recipe below: Cincinnati chili butternut-noodle bowl Serves 6 Ingredients 1 yellow onion, chopped 1 red bell pepper, chopped 1 jalapeño or serrano chili pepper, seeded (if desired) and finely chopped 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 can (28
Break out the Polaroids, because accessing happy memories could help stave off depression
January 17, 2019 at 02:33PM by CWC I have a pile of Instax snapshots I pull out when I’m down—little reference cards to remind me, “You are loved.” When you’re depressed, it’s a message that can easily get muffled in the mental din of unbearable negativity. So color me intrigued by a new study from the University of Cambridge and University College London, published in the journal Nature Human Behavior, that showed recalling positive memories could decrease risk of depression in young people. The study asked nearly 500 adolescents (average age 14) who were at risk of depression to call up specific memories (both positive and negative) by responding to certain prompts. Then, with these happy thoughts fresh in their mind, they were interviewed about negative events they experienced in the past 12 months and reported any symptoms of depression or negative self-thoughts they’d had in the past two weeks. Their morning cortisol levels, which the researchers used to measure stress, were also collected. When the experiment was conducted again one year later, the researchers found that, after recalling positive memories, the teens had “lower morning cortisol and fewer negative self-cognitions during low mood.” “Our work suggests that ‘remembering the good times’ may help build resilience to stress and reduce vulnerability to depression in young people,” said Adrian Dahl Askelund, the study’s lead author. “This is important [because] we already know that it is possible to train people to come up with specific positive memories. This could be a beneficial way of
Nutritional yeast is the answer to cheese-loving vegans’ prayers—but is it healthy?
January 17, 2019 at 01:47PM by CWC When I first encountered nutritional yeast, I was seriously impressed. As a new vegan who was still trying to fight off cravings for cheese, it offered a similar taste with just a few sprinkles. But in terms of health benefits it purports to offer, the flakes seemed too good to be true. Nutritional yeast—that’s “nooch” for short!—is often a strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, but unlike living yeast that’s used to make bread and beer, this variety is deactivated and goes great on popcorn. A single tablespoon contains about 65 percent of your recommended daily value of vitamin B12 when fortified and about 4 grams of plant-based protein that boasts all nine essential amino acids. (I’ve always got a half-empty bottle of Bragg’s seasoning in my pantry.) Once you’ve tried nooch, you might be tempted to dump an entire cup of it onto a serving of broccoli—but don’t! “As with any food, if you really overdo it, you run the risk of exceeding the tolerable upper intake level for the nutrients it contains. A tablespoon or two a day is plenty,” explains Amy Gorin, RDN, the owner of Amy Gorin Nutrition. “There are no downsides to nutritional yeast if you’re eating it in moderation. Per tablespoon, it typically only contains up to 10 milligrams of sodium and provides many nutrients, making it a great option for those who are looking to get a cheesy, savory flavor without the saturated fat content of cheese.” Now that you know why nutritional yeast
OK TMI…my tampon is stuck. What now?
January 17, 2019 at 01:43PM by CWC As period horror stories go, there are few things more panic-inducing than realizing that you’ve got a tampon lodged where the sun don’t shine—and no matter how you try, you just. can’t. get. it. out. Maybe it’s because you forgot about the tampon and inserted another one, pushing the original one to the way-way-back of your vag. Or perhaps you didn’t remember to take it out at the end of your cycle and, over time, it shimmied into a position where you can’t reach the string. Whatever the reason, it’s distressing AF. But doctors say there’s no reason to lose your cool if this happens to you. (It’s so common there’s even a technical term for it—a “retained tampon.”) “The good news is, the vagina is a finite space, so a tampon does not have many places to go,” says Natasha Bhuyan, MD, a family medicine provider at One Medical in Phoenix, AZ. “It cannot move up higher and higher into the abdomen. It just remains somewhere in the vagina.” In other words, it’s not going tunnel through your cervix and get lost in your uterus or anything. (Phew.) That doesn’t rule out other complications, though. Dr. Bhuyan says that if a tampon gets stuck and stays there for too long, it can cause an infection. “Many people don’t initially realize they have a tampon retained in their vagina until they develop symptoms,” says Dr. Bhuyan. “They might notice a strong vaginal odor,
On “You,” Joe is a charming monster—and it’s terrifyingly real
January 17, 2019 at 12:52PM by CWC Editor’s note: Potential spoilers for “You” ahead. When I broke up with a former boyfriend a few years ago, the first question my mom asked was whether he had hit me. At the time, I was shocked. Of course he hadn’t! What kind of question was that? It wasn’t until after some time in therapy that I realized why she’d asked the question: I’d been in an emotionally abusive relationship without realizing it, and she was terrified that things had escalated. The thing with emotional abuse—which the advocacy organization OneLove says “may include verbal aggression, intimidation, manipulation, and humiliation, which most often unfolds as a pattern of behavior over time that aims to diminish another person’s sense of identity, dignity and self worth”—is that, unlike physical abuse, it can be incredibly difficult to spot, even when you’re the one experiencing it. So if you’re one of the thousands of people who spent the weekend binge-watching You on Netflix and thirsting after Penn Badgley’s character, you likely missed a number of telltale red flags. Emotional abuse gaslights those who experience it—including the You audience For the uninitiated: You (which originally aired on Lifetime in September, but picked up mainstream attention once it hit Netflix in late December) follows Badgley’s character, Joe, as he pursues a relationship with Elizabeth Lail’s Guinevere Beck. From the get-go, his interest in her is is clearly far more obsession than “affection” (case in point: he masturbates outside of her window
I Marie Kondo’d my apartment, and now I’m going to do it to my workout routine
January 17, 2019 at 12:20PM by CWC I would define my relationship with exercise to be along the lines of “loves SoulCycle, hates everything else.” My favorite activities tend to feature loud music, high energy, and ideally some form of dancing (either on or off of a bike). Ask me to meet you at a boot camp class on a Saturday morning, though, and I will spend the entire week dreading it. But I’ll go anyways—because I feel like I should suffer through an hour of burpees for the sake of giving my body a well-rounded workout routine. After spending the majority of last weekend working some Marie Kondo-inspired magic in my apartment (goodbye, jeans that haven’t fit me since 11th grade!) and on my desk, I got to thinking: Could I apply The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up to my exercise regimen, too? After chatting with a trainer and a sports psychologist about the subject, I discovered that not only can I shift my entire workout routine to spark joy, but actually…I should. “The ‘must,’ ‘have to,’ ‘need to’ mindset [with exercise] is not going to put you in the right mindset to actually be motivated,” says Hillary Cauthen, Psy.D., CMPC, and Association for Applied Sport Psychology representative, who is fully on board with the idea of ditching trendy routines in favor of something you love. “If it does bring joy in the moment, it’s probably going to facilitate a lot more of the endorphins you want to see along the
Here’s when you need a setting spray, according to makeup artists who know
January 17, 2019 at 12:17PM by CWC I know next-to-no one who’s looking to add more steps to their beauty regimen, and if those steps come at the end of one’s routine, that goes double. That’s exactly why I’ve never given setting spray its full due. Despite dozens of them coming across my desk, I’m not even totally sure how to use setting spray or how I could work it into my routine. Turns out, I might be missing a very helpful step in my regimen. “Setting spray can be used at the end of every makeup application to set a look,” says Markphong Tram, a New York-based makeup artist. Yep, yep. Pretty straightforward. But then he goes on: “I personally use different types of setting spray for different purposes.” In addition to those that amp up hydration, there are ones that absorb oil on the skin, as well as ones that add a bit of a gleam to the complexion. Essentially, they’re like facial mists but formulated with specific ingredients that help preserve or boost the masterpiece you’ve just created on your face. “I like to use a hydrating setting spray to melt down a powder for skin-like effects, or simply just to set makeup,” says Tram. “Depending on the occasion, I’ll use a different kind of setting spray—for example, a bride on her wedding day, a busy day running around, or hot weather that could melt makeup. In that case I’ll use a setting spray as well to