March 08, 2020 at 07:00PM by CWC Despite conventional “wisdom” in the healthy eating community, processed foods aren’t inherently bad for you. Yes, a consumer has to be wary of excessive amounts of sodium or hidden sugars, but generally, a packaged food here or there is not the end of the world. That said, there are certainly some shady ingredients that pop up in packaged foods. Ever had the experience where you look at a label to see a long list of ingredients, only a fourth of which are even remotely recognizable? Not a great feeling, is it. Again, some ingredients that sound like “chemicals” aren’t necessarily bad. But when asking a few RDs which food ingredients to avoid, there was a common consensus: high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners. Why RDs avoid these two common food ingredients High fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners can negatively impact health based on various research, says Kelly Jones, RD, who avoids these two additives and recommends her clients do the same. “I am not a fan of things that contain high fructose corn syrup or that contain artificial sugars and will not buy things that contain them,” agrees Maggie Michalczyk, RD. Unlike some other ingredients that have unfairly gotten a bad rap over the years (cough, soy), high fructose corn syrup—which is a sweetener made from corn—in particular has been proven to be bad for health. “It has been shown to promote insulin resistance, which then reduces the body’s ability to
Category: Your Healthiest Relationship
I can’t stop eating this high-fiber, plant-based Italian meal
March 08, 2020 at 04:00PM by CWC When I go to an Italian restaurant, my mind is always on the main course. I mean, it’s nearly impossible not to drool when you’re minutes away from getting a plate of spaghetti or lasagna set in front of you. One thing I often overlook, however, is the appetizers—and nope, not just the breadsticks. I’m talking about Tuscan white bean toast. The super garlicky Tuscan white beans that are served with the bread are almost better than the pasta. The plant-based mix isn’t just healthy, as it contains high amounts of fiber and plant-based protein, but it’s loaded with flavor. Instead of something only to enjoy before your main course, it can easily stand on its own for a healthy meal—just ask Erin Clarke, creator of Well Plated and author of The Well Plated Cookbook, who created a simple recipe that can be put together in record time. “For me, my Tuscan-inspired toasts exemplify what I most adore about Italian cooking: straightforward, uncomplicated, and beautiful ingredients uniting to become greater than their individual parts,” she says. “This recipe is budget-friendly, healthy, and you can have it on the table in about 20 minutes. What more can I ask for in a weeknight dinner?” If you’re ready to ditch the avos for a minute and try topping your toast with beans instead, try Clarke’s tasty recipe below. Tuscan white bean toasts with garlic and tomatoes Ingredients 4 slices of thick, good quality whole wheat
I tried a boob-care routine to show my gals some love
March 08, 2020 at 03:00PM by CWC I have breasts that look like Christmas morning, and I intend to keep it that way. I don’t say that exclusively out of vanity, they’re just an objectively good set. Two huge wins for the genetic lottery: A+ (or DD+, whatever). So when I developed a Christmas tree rash (oh, the irony) this winter, I knew that a boob mask wouldn’t just do the trick. A full-scale boob-care routine was necessary to get me back into tit-top shape. Let me just address the two screaming thoughts in your mind before I get into what a boob-care routine entails. Through the magic of targeted Instagram ads, I stumbled upon Anese Calm Your Tits Nourishing Boob Mask ($34) and knew this is what I was missing my entire life. I already knew about the existence of butt masks, but since my décolletage is way more public facing than my rear—like I’m not wearing assless chaps to work, you know?—this seemed actually practical. Then, I got the Christmas tree rash or pityriasis rosea. To quickly paint a grotesque picture, a Christmas tree rash is a random affliction that focuses on the trunk of the body. We’re talking your entire torso, tummy, back, and (sob!) breasts. I spent January in a deep turtleneck-y hell since, per my dermatologist, this dermatitis primarily just fades away with time. Needless to say, my boob-care routine wasn’t created so much to treat the condition as it was to give the girls some
This $6 tool is the only thing you need to clean your AirPods like a pro
March 08, 2020 at 01:00PM by CWC Properly cleaning your AirPods is a true struggle. It’s far too easy for dirt, germs, and—let’s be honest—earwax to get caught in all the nooks and crannies. They’re too small to clean with just your finger. Even trying to use Q-tips can make things worse, potentially causing all that grime to get packed in tighter. Luckily, there’s a super affordable tool that’s going to make your life much easier. I didn’t know I needed a cleaning brush for my electronics, but now I don’t want to go another day without it. The OXO Good Grips Electronics Cleaning Brush ($6) is made to clean hard-to-reach areas with soft silicone bristles and a slim wiper blade that allow you to access even the tightest crevices. With these two tools, nothing—not all the grime in the world—can keep you from jamming out to your favorite Lizzo song at full-volume during your workouts. (Just don’t blast it too loudly, okay?) While many people use the tool to clean the dust, debris, and leftover crumbs from lunch between the keys on a keyboard, reviewers also rave about its ability to clean your AirPods. The tool is gentle enough to get rid of any built-up gunk without damaging the pricey product. It also keeps you from trying to clean the speakers with a toothpick or bobby pin—two things that will undoubtedly ruin your earbuds. To get your AirPods as clean and polished as the day you bought them, Prime
The ‘side plank march’ is a trainer’s favorite to fire up your lateral chain
March 08, 2020 at 11:00AM by CWC When it comes to core exercises that you can feel working, planks are at the top of the list. The second you start that hold, your whole body is instantly on fire. But trust me—you haven’t felt the burn until you try the side plank variation that lets you march your way to a stronger lateral chain. According to Korey Rowe, trainer at Dogpound in New York City, the side plank march is a dynamic movement that is nothing short of a full-body challenge—one that specifically targets your oblique muscles, which are often neglected and underdeveloped. Because of the marching motions involved, it makes a regular side plank feel like child’s play. “The added movement of driving the legs toward the chest in an alternating fashion gives the marching side plank a dynamic edge over the more static traditional side plank,” he says. “Switching between legs requires constant response for the glutes, legs, and oblique muscles to maintain trunk stability. This significantly ramps up the difficultly level.” At first, getting the motions down in this side plank variation can be tricky, but once you do, you’ll be busting out sets of side plank marches like a champ. Here’s exactly how to do the exercise at home. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-cLPDZtDHU] How to do the side plank march variation Begin in a side plank position starting on your right arm with your legs in a scissors stance. Your left leg should be in the front with weight on the
What does it mean to celebrate Women’s History Month in 2020?
March 08, 2020 at 10:00AM by CWC In the photograph below, a woman unfurls a banner with two neat rows of stars down the center from a second-story balcony. On the ground beneath her, a group of women raise their arms and clap their hands in celebration. It’s August 18, 1920; the woman on the balcony is Alice Paul, women’s rights activist and chair of the National Women’s Party; and the 19th Amendment has just been ratified by Tennessee, the 36th and final state needed to make it federally illegal to deny voting rights on the basis of sex in the United States. The image is joyful, victorious. It’s also very white—from the ratification banner’s long, crisp, panel to the women’s long, crisp, dresses—and the undoubtedly white skin beneath those dresses. This homogeny may have been by design. “The suffragists purposefully distributed portraits and other images, visual propaganda, all of white women…so that people at the time would think of suffragists as white,” says Allison K. Lange, PhD, an assistant professor of history at the Wentworth Institute of Technology and author of the forthcoming book on the suffrage movement, Picturing Political Power: Images in the Women’s Suffrage Movement. “That has shaped the way that we think about the suffrage movement.” The women of color who were part of this movement—because there were many (Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, and Mary Terrell Church are names to remember)—have been erased, quite literally, from history books and, in turn, public understanding. And so,
‘Sleep is the new steps,’ according to WHOOP founder Will Ahmed—here’s why
March 08, 2020 at 12:00AM by CWC Fitness trackers and activity monitors have come a long way from the basic pedometer era. These days, many of us are collecting data not just on steps, but on sleep, stress, and other biomarkers that offer clues to how well we truly are. But if you ask Well+Good’s 2020 Changemaker Will Ahmed, an abundance of data is essentially meaningless without knowing what to do with it—which is the idea that inspired him to create WHOOP, a tracker that measures heart rate variability and sleep quality (among other metrics) and serves up suggestions to improve performance and well-being. Below, Ahmed talks with W+G’s executive editor Abbey Stone about the genesis of WHOOP, screen time, and where he predicts wellness is headed next. Well+Good: When you launched WHOOP, what white space were you seeing in the field at the time? Will Ahmed: Well, the biggest thing that I learned from doing a lot of research at Harvard was that, essentially, there are secrets that your body is trying to tell you in the form of physiological indicators. The problem is that there wasn’t technology that could measure them. I saw an opportunity to measure things at an accuracy level that had never been done before, and then to provide coaching—using that information to provide actionable feedback. The problem with wearables 1.0 is they gave you information, but you didn’t necessarily know what to do with it. Whereas with WHOOP, we collect more data than anyone
These 4 ingredients are the only ones you need to stop acne in its tracks
March 07, 2020 at 10:00PM by CWC When you’re dealing with acne, it can be tempting to pile on as many zit-zapping ingredients as possible in the hopes that they’ll come together to magically banish your breakouts. You need them to work fast, and logically a “more-is-more” approach seems like the best way to get the job done. But in reality, that’s not quite the case. Contrary to what you might think, the best way to treat pimples actually isn’t by going full throttle with every anti-acne product in your arsenal. Instead, it’s about trusting only the best-of-the-best acne ingredients, and using them properly to get tried-and-tested results. The magic number, according to dermatologists? Four. From a product standpoint, that’s generally all it takes to clear your pores, fight inflammation, and stimulate cell turnover in order to get rid of your current breakouts and fend off future ones. Of course, some situations are more serious than others, and may require attention from a dermatologist to deal with. If the over-the-counter stuff just isn’t doing it for you, be sure to schedule an appointment with a doc. In the meantime, scroll through for the best acne ingredients to stock your arsenal with—your breakouts don’t stand a chance. The four best acne ingredients, according to dermatologists Photo: W+G Creative Benzoyl peroxide is known to be the most effective OTC acne treatment out there—you probably know it well from the ingredient label of nearly every pimple product you’ve ever used. It lowers the
This month’s full worm moon is also a supermoon—here’s what that means for your sign
March 07, 2020 at 08:00PM by CWC This month’s full moon (appetizingly nicknamed the full worm moon) is one of four supermoons taking the sky this year. It happens on Monday, March 9, which is also the day Mercury finally stations direct. Given all this powerful energy swirling in the cosmos on that day, we’re all going to feel the effects of the moon at an amplified level. Because it’s in Virgo, this full moon is an especially great opportunity for clearing, decluttering, and detoxing, says Rachel Lang, intuitive astrologer and healer. But because Pisces is also majorly involved, you can expect the fish’s dreamy, impractical tendencies to show up. “The Virgo-Pisces axis line brings about the practical and earthly versus the world of dreams and the unseen realities of life. Virgo is meticulous, ordered, and discerning, while Pisces is open to impractical possibilities and is mystically minded,” Lang says, adding that these are likely the themes you will see during this full worm moon. “Try to eliminate perfectionism, and become more at peace with the messiness of life,” she says. “This full moon is not a time to make definite decisions; rather, enter a discernment process.” —astrologer Rachel Lang Lang adds that the energy of the day will skew heavily spiritual, thanks to the the sun being in conjunct with Neptune. “You could glean insights from guiding messages in your environment or from others in your life,” she says. And with Mercury coming out of its retrograde transit on
Everything you need to know about straightening natural hair
March 07, 2020 at 06:00PM by CWC From ages 6 to 18, I got my hair chemically straightened every six weeks. Then, in college, I started my natural hair journey, finding refuge in big, curly wigs and sleek box braids. I’m loving the journey of embracing my natural texture, but sometimes, I still like silky-straight hair. And if you’ve ever tried to straighten kinky curls, you know the struggle of maintaining the look without also frying your hair—but it can be done. Here’s how. Choose a stylist and method—carefully The first step, says Anu Prestonia, a hair care consultant and the founder of natural beauty line Anu Essentials, is finding a stylist who has extensive experience with various hair textures. That stylist can help you choose between two straightening methods: a blowout or a silk press. Both straighten the hair, but one can work better for you depending on your hair texture. “A blowout usually works best for someone with naturally straight hair or hair that straightens easily,” says hairstylist Ursula Stephen, who’s touched the heads of stars like Rihanna and Laverne Cox. Prestonia adds that blowouts are also appropriate for people with super-fine hair, since the less-intense heat is better for hair that’s susceptible to damage. But a blow dryer alone isn’t enough to get thick, kinky curls pin-straight. For people with naturally curly, coarse hair, Stephen suggests a silk press. “The hair is blown out, then flat-ironed to give it a sleek, shiny finish,” Stephen says. This style