September 25, 2019 at 10:19PM by CWC Most people are either extroverts or introverts. Extroverts are society’s business-world-ready social butterflies who thrive at parties, captivate a crowd, and are… too aggro for their own good. Introverts are down for a quite night with Netflix, heart-to-heart when you’re feeling blue, and just… really, you’re going to cancel our plans AGAIN? Both personality types are built on extremes, and you might feel lost as the forgotten middle child: the ambivert. Wait, what is an ambivert? Okay, the ambivert (or omnivert) is essentially the Central Jersey of social personalities—some people say it doesn’t exist. But I’m from Monmouth County, baby, and ambiverts do exist. Not everyone feels so socially intense in one direction or another. As such, ambiverts collect a blend of characteristics that are generally ascribed to both ends of the spectrum. “Ambiverts lie in the middle of the traditional introversion and extroversion spectrum,” says clinical psychologist Carla Marie Manly, PhD, author of Joy From Fear. “Ambiverts tend to be more flexible in nature as to their needs for stimulation and contact with others whereas true extroverts and introverts tend to have more specific needs and tendencies. The term omnivert is sometimes used rather than ambivert, but they hold the same meaning.” If you’ve long felt out of place in this war and feel like reclaiming your identity, what signs or characteristics mark you as an ambivert? There are a few contradictory qualities that you might want to look out for. 10 surefire
Category: You and your body
If you only have time to strengthen one body part, make it your core
September 25, 2019 at 09:30PM by CWC I find that some of my body parts get FOMO when I’m focusing on others. For example: On days when I’m doing upper body workouts, I feel like my legs are jealous of the love—hence why I might try to fit in some lunges to give them some attention, too. It’s like a full-on competition happening between my limbs. The problem is that I simply cannot do every single body-part focused move every single time I workout. I mean, who has the time? So when I spoke with star Peloton instructor Ally Love about her strength training tips, she made it all easier for me (and all of us): If you’re crunched for time at the gym, just work on your core. “If you want to maximize your training when you don’t have time or can’t hop onto a machine, do basic core workouts,” she tells me. “You can never do enough core. Your core is your center—your limbs, everything flows from your core, and the stronger your core is, the faster you can be.” It’s true—having a strong core is the foundation to overall strength and better efficiency in all movement. “Your core is your main stabilizer, and when it’s strong your form gets better,” says Love. “I always say, ‘strengthen your core’ because your core is a part of any movement, any exercise, any form of training.” Also, it’s key to your posture. “Especially if you’re sitting at a desk all day or
Why you should never make an important decision on an empty stomach
September 25, 2019 at 09:01PM by CWC When hunger strikes, I don’t trust myself to decide what pair of shoes goes with my outfit—much less to make life-altering decisions. Visions of alt-pasta dancing in my head put everything on hold. And according to Uma Naidoo, MD, director of nutritional and lifestyle psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, science backs filling your belly before going all-in on moving in with your significant other, dying your hair purple, or accepting a new job. “Research supports not making a decision on an empty stomach,” explains Dr. Naidoo. “Ghrelin is a hormone made in the GI tract that affects the brain. It is released when the stomach is empty. In a healthy person, once you eat, the action of this hormone stops.” So far, research on how the presence of ghrelin affects your ability to be rational has mostly been conducted on animals, or extremely small sample sizes of humans. Dr. Naidoo says the results are still worth noting, however. Most recently a small study with 50 subjects, conducted by Benjamin Vincent, DPhil, from the University of Dundee’s Department of Psychology, found that hunger threw a wrench in participants’ decision-making processes. “Hunger made them impatient and more likely to settle for a small reward that arrives sooner than a larger reward promised at a later date,” says Dr. Naidoo. “Simply said, what the research appears to show us is that we seem to make poorer more reckless choices when we are hungry. Yet another factor
Following this ’30-second rule’ is the key to finally washing your hair less often
September 25, 2019 at 08:01PM by CWC When’s the last time I washed my hair, you ask? Okay, okay… if you insist. It was exactly one week ago today. And I’m still going strong. In the past, I lathered up every other day, and that meant spending so much time drying and styling—not to mention hardly enjoying all that effort before having to go through the whole process again. But times have changed, and if you want to join the Once-a-Week Hair Wash Club, there’s an easy way in. Everyone knows dry shampoo is a godsend. It’s pretty self-explanatory, too: You spray it in, wiggle it around, and go about your day with a fresh new ‘do. Here’s the thing, though: If you turn it around and read the instructions, you’re probably going to get more bang for your buck—and put off those washes for longer. When it comes to using the product, the key is to spray it in, wait 30 seconds, then shake it into your hair. (For just $5, Dove’s selection of dry shampoos are great at getting rid of oil and sebum of the root.) During that waiting time, the product is doing its thing, soaking up oil and hiding any remnants of the white powder that just found a new home on your strands. After the time is up, you can massage it in per usual. Not only do you get to skip a couple more days of washes, but you also get more volume, less
The astrological reason it feels like all your friends have birthdays in the same month
September 25, 2019 at 07:30PM by CWC I made a new friend the other day, which, as an adult, feels like a giant accomplishment. When our conversation turned to astrology, as they do, I was hardly surprised when she told me she’s a Scorpio. I’m a Pisces, and many of my close friends are Scorpios. So that means each November, I’m to-the-brim busy with birthday celebrations. Maybe for you this doesn’t happen in November, but there’s still a good chance you have one month that sticks out as more stacked with celebratory group dinners than the others. According to astrology, this is not a coincidence, but rather birthday compatibility. “Astrological compatibility extends beyond romantic relationships,” says Rachel Lang, intuitive astrologer and healer. “We can look at astrology to help decipher compatibility in all types of relationships, including friendships, enemies, bosses, co-workers, frenemies, family members, and friends who feel like family.” She says that it’s very common to have friends born within the same sign (she’s even had clients with friends born on the same day). “Astrological compatibility is complex, but there are a few general guidelines.” First, understand how to break down the signs in terms of polarity (yin and yang), quality (cardinal, fixed, and mutable), and triplicity or element (fire, earth, air, and water). “The signs with similar triplicities tend to relate well with one another because they have a similar way of focusing and expressing their energy,” she explains. “You may find that many of your friends’ sun
Adding this one ingredient to your almond butter can help curb blood sugar spikes
September 25, 2019 at 07:00PM by CWC [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_rCla-bYig] DIY almond butter is that much better for you with the addition of this warming spice. Here’s why. As far as toast toppings go, almond butter is pretty hard to beat. It’s slightly sweet—but not too sweet (truly the Goldilocks of nut butters), and its protein and healthy fat content ensures you leave the breakfast table truly satiated. But according to certified health coach, Supernatural founder, and Plant Based host Rachelle Robinett, there’s one spice that can majorly give your spread an upgrade, both in terms of health and taste: cinnamon. Chances are, you’ve had cinnamon in your spice rack long before turmeric, rosemary, or thyme. And according to Robinett, it can benefit the body in some pretty major ways. “Cinnamon has been used for centuries as a warming spice, a circulation booster, something to improve digestion, and something that we now realize is extremely beneficial for blood sugar balance,” she says. As Robinett explains in the video, a couple of teaspoons of cinnamon can potentially reduce blood sugar by 20 to 30 percent, according to the findings of some small studies. Considering that blood sugar can have such a powerful impact on hunger, mood, and hormones, this is a pretty promising benefit. Yes, you can just dump cinnamon in your latte and call it a day, but if you’re looking to level-up your intake in a more interesting way, Robinett shares her personal recipe for a cinnamon apple almond butter.
Zero-waste toothpaste is here to make brushing your teeth more sustainable
September 25, 2019 at 05:00PM by CWC I’ve got my own wellness game down, sure, but in tandem, we’ve collectively got to think more about what we’re doing for the planet’s wellness. In my world, that means that my beauty routine is getting more eco-friendly, I’m a metal straw convert, and my latest frontier in sustainability is all about zero waste toothpaste. If you haven’t heard of such a thing, listen up. Over one billion plastic tubes end up in U.S. landfills, which is pretty damn high. “Finding zero waste options for all of the products we use, including toothpaste, is important in order to help minimize the amount of waste we create, since this waste typically winds up in our oceans and landfills creating a negative effect on our environment,” says Eric Buss, founder and CEO of David’s Natural Toothpaste. So what is zero waste toothpaste, you may ask? It’s not literally zero packaging, but it reduces material use for your oral care essential as much as possible, and makes them more sustainable. “Zero waste toothpaste is about creating a toothpaste that minimizes the amount of waste being created, primarily through the packaging,” explains Buss. At David’s Natural Toothpaste, the brand uses a recyclable aluminum metal tube, since there is “no limit to the number of times that aluminum can be recycled, plus aluminum works extremely well to seal in the freshness of the toothpaste itself,” he says. The main negative thing about conventional toothpaste is that it’s a goopy
I found jeans so comfortable, you’ll swear you’re wearing leggings every time you put them on
September 25, 2019 at 04:30PM by CWC Everyone has their clothing weakness. For some, it’s bags, while others are more like Carrie Bradshaw and have a soft spot for shoes. My Achilles heel? Jeans. Ever since I was in high school, I’d spend my hard-earned Starbucks paycheck on a new pair of denim practically every month (just ask my mom). To this day, my jeans drawer is so stuffed I can barely shut it all the way, because my collection basically rivals the denim section of any department store. While I’ve tried cutting back, I absolutely could not resist getting my hands on the much-hyped jeans of the brand Good American. The brand launched with denim in 2016, and is the brainchild of Khloe Kardashian and Emma Grede, who both noticed a lack of size and body-inclusive jeans on the market that are actually made to fit women—of all shapes and sizes—well. So they created their own, which immediately made waves for nailing inclusivity, quality, and fit. So yeah, I’m pretty late to the game, but as a self-proclaimed jeans connoisseur, take it from me: They’re really that good. Photo: Good American When I slipped on my pair of Good American Good Legs jeans ($159), which are a high-rise skinny jean style, I could notice how comfortable they were right away—they slid on like a glove and didn’t require the shimmy-up-the-hips dance. The material is a perfect mix of true denim and stretch, so they hug to all of the curves in
In defense of cancel culture, complications and all
September 25, 2019 at 03:30PM by CWC Cancel culture—the phenomenon of deeming someone or something worthless, irrelevant, and over in response to transgressions big, small, ephemeral, and chronic—is our buzziest catchphrase as of late: There have been calls for canceling Saturday Night Live’s Shane Gillis, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, and comedian Dave Chappelle in the past month alone. President Trump told the U.N. General Assembly on September 24 that “a free people must never, ever be enlisted in the cause of silencing, canceling, or blacklisting their own neighbors.” (RIP, irony.) And on the Emmys red carpet, Sarah Silverman described cancel culture as “righteousness porn.” I get where she’s coming from, but I don’t think canceling is a bad thing. It’s also not a new thing, and before we were canceling people, we were canceling brands—at least my family was. One of my earliest memories involves me walking up to the guy restocking the vending machine at my dad’s tennis club and informing him that he shouldn’t be putting in Nestlé Crunch bars because babies in developing countries were dying and it was Nestlé’s fault. We were boycotting Nestlé to stop its aggressive marketing of formula to women in developing nations, which it eventually did (for a time). And so my parents stopped their boycott (for a time). Canceling and boycotting are related but not the same, I want to make clear. After Nestlé changed its tune, Crunch bars were back on the menu for us because the purpose of
The simplest cleanser at the drugstore is also the most effective, according to derms
September 25, 2019 at 03:00PM by CWC From drugstore aisles to dermatologist’s offices, one cleanser has withstood the test of time: Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser ($6). The seemingly simple formulation has racked up 41 (count them: 41!) beauty awards industry-wide, countless name-checks from celebs, and more dermatologist recommendations than we’d care to count. But with only eight ingredients—a surprisingly minimal number—and zero “actives,” what’s behind the glowing reviews? Honestly, it’s smack dab on the label: The stuff is gentle. What we need from a cleanser isn’t to treat hyperpigmentation or target redness. We simply just to get skin clean enough so that the products that follow it can do their jobs properly, according to Tiffany J. Libby, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and assistant professor of dermatology at Brown University. After all, the formula gets moved around your complexion and then washed down the drain in a matter of seconds. That’s why Cetaphil’s formula is so simple. It contains a surfactant or cleansing agent, preservatives, and often times, a humectant or moisture-retaining agent, so that skin doesn’t get parched (and TBH, it doesn’t have much else for good reason). “At the end of the day, sometimes less is more,” says Matthew Meckfessel, who works on the research and development team at Galderma, the company behind Cetaphil. “You don’t necessarily need 8,000 ingredients to have a benefit. To have the bare minimum, in itself, is a benefit—especially for those patients who have sensitive skin.” As with all cleansers, the star of Cetaphil’s