Innholdsfortegnelse for January - February 2018 i Women's Health

Two years ago this month, i proclaimed we’d no longer be using the phrase “bikini body” in Women’s Health. Since then, body diversity has dominated the national conversation. Plus-size models walk the runways of Michael Kors and Tracy Reese. Celebs who aren’t size 2 grace fashion and wellness magazine covers. And on Instagram, there are over 4 million #BodyPositive posts. It’s been a great thing, inclusivity, as a boon to our emotional health, but also as a realistic statement to society of who we are as American women. The fitness industry has been slower to adapt. yes, Misty Copeland rocked the willowy ballet world with her spectacular muscles, and Jessamyn Stanley, a self-described “fat femme,” became a yoga icon. But most mainstream workout videos and printed moves are populated by…

POP QUIZ Which of these warming wintertime drinks has the most antioxidants? A Green tea B Black tea C Hot chocolate D Mulled wine ANSWER: C. We hear Cher’s a fan, and perhaps it’s because it can help (sing it with us now!) turn back time. Researchers found that when the beloved childhood treat was made with two tablespoons of real cocoa powder, it contained more antioxidants per cup than red wine, green tea, and black tea. “Cocoa has high amounts of the polyphenic compounds flavonoids and procyanidins, antioxidants that have been shown to help fight signs of aging,” says study author Chang Lee, Ph.D., a professor of food chemistry at Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in Ithaca, New York. Be sure to use the genuine stuff to…

A Landmark Decision “Get off your ass!” Unspoken words from 84-year-old Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, queen of the desk job. Let these cartoon Ruths—from her trainer Bryant Johnson’s book, The RBG Workout— show you how to sneak more movement into a deskbound day. 1 / Quarter to Half Squat Stand behind a chair or desk, feet hip-width apart, and place both hands on it for balance (a). Keeping your chest tall, sit back and bend your knees up to 90 degrees (b). Return to standing. That’s one rep; do 10. 2 / Leg Swing Stand on your left foot in front of a chair or wall, hands resting on it at chest height. Gently swing your right leg out to the right (a), then across your body to…

We've all heard that the whole only-teenagersget- acne thing is a big ol’ myth. But here’s the shocker: Adults are now the majority of acne patients! And two-thirds of those adults are female. This might explain the wild popularity of Dr. Pimple Popper, a.k.a. Sandra Lee, M.D., a dermatologist in Upland, California. Since October 2014, Lee’s been bringing acne to the forefront with her viral videos, and last year she launched an acnefocused skin-care line, SLMD. But she didn’t set out to become famous for popping pimples. “It started with showing people what I do, like surgeries, skin cancer, and acne,” she says. “There was a noticeable jump in interest when I posted a blackhead video.” She did a little more digging and discovered Reddit’s Popping subreddit, an online community…

Our cover star. Actress Kate Walsh. Brittany Maynard, the woman at the center of the right-to-die debate who moved to Oregon to take her own life in 2014. When young, healthy women are stricken with brain tumors, it makes the news. But primary brain tumors—those that start and stay in the brain—like the ones experienced by these women, aren’t common, nor are they on the rise. What are? Secondary tumors, cancerous growths that spread to the brain from other areas, such as the breasts or lungs. The majority of brain tumors are this type, and they’ve become slightly more widespread over the past few decades as advances in chemotherapy have extended lives, giving cancers more opportunities to recur and migrate to the brain. Of course, brain tumors of any type…

Weight-Plate Routine What it is: A total-body workout using a simple barbell accessory, created by Idalis Velazquez, certified personal trainer and founder of I.V. Fitness in Miami How it works: A single weight plate (here, a 10-pounder) can help you refine your technique during upper-body exercises (courtesy of its shoulder-width diameter), add difficulty to basic strength exercises (placing one hand or foot on the plate offers a subtle but effective change in elevation), and master rotational movements (the unique weight distribution can make it easier to twist without compromising form). What to do: Two or three times a week, do this circuit in order, resting only as needed. Repeat as many times as you can in 15 minutes. Overhead Press Squat Jack Stand with your feet hip-width apart and hold…

A mere 43 percent of women feel confident about how they handle theirs, says a survey from the education firm Financial Finesse. “Knowing where to start empowers you to finally take action,” says Natalie Bacon, a certified financial planner in Columbus, Ohio. Use this cheat sheet to break down your monthly income. ■ Basic needs (50%) Food, rent or mortgage, utilities ■ Wants (23%) This sounds like a lot of “fun money”—but consider that it also covers things like haircuts, clothing, travel, and everything else that doesn’t contribute to the bare necessities. ■ Savings (10%) Bulk up an emergency fund to cover three to six months of fixed expenses (car payments, rent) in case you lose your job. ■ Debt (10%) Pay down credit cards and student loans. ■ Retirement…

New experiences open up a world of possibilities. An introductory beauty adventure? Especially so. As children, it helps develop our taste. But as adults, changing an aspect of our physical selves often symbolizes something bigger about the women we are…and are on our way to becoming. Here, six writers explain how these moments transformed them in ways that go far beyond lipstick tubes and hair dyes. my first...red lipstick by Lizzy Goodman Dolly Parton famously said that her look was inspired by the town tramp, whose “piles of bleached hair, red lipstick, nails and cheeks and high-heel shoes” made her look like a movie star to young, plain Dolly, all skinned knees and dirty bare feet. As a fellow country girl from Corrales, New Mexico, I can relate to that…

Remember: The more stressed you are, the more pain you feel. Mindfulness techniques can help dial down that tension and prevent hurt. You can mix and match the techniques below; just aim for two or three five-minute sessions a day. (Need more direction? Download Curable, an app that teaches chronic pain sufferers about the brain-body connection and guides them through relaxation exercises.) Conduct a body scan. Lying down, bring attention to your toes. Acknowledge all sensations, painful or pleasant, without judgment, then breathe into them. Continue to work up to the top of your head. Breathe deeply. Sitting or lying down, place one hand on your abdomen and the other on your chest. Inhale slowly through your nose and into your belly. Pause a few seconds, then exhale slowly through…

Dress to Compress “Cute” and “compression socks”: two things you don’t see in the same sentence every day, right? But look at those beauts above. One of the biggest trends in fitness, compression socks are specifically woven to gently force blood in your legs to flow back up toward your heart, which increases the rate of circulation. That circulation is crucial, helping to reduce swelling (from hours of standing, walking, or running) as well as boost your body’s recovery from workout soreness, injury, or general fatigue. And as the demand for these tight knee-highs continues to rise, the style is stepping up too.…

A Fermented Apple a Day… …keeps the weight at bay? Our social feeds spilleth over with sponsored posts on the weight-loss benefits of apple cider vinegar. But does it really work? Science Swedish researchers found that subjects who drank vinegar with bread felt more satiated than those who did not, and a Japanese study showed that participants who drank one to two tablespoons of vinegar daily lost two to four pounds over 12 weeks while those who didn’t lost none. Trend Data ACV hit peak cultural saturation in 2017. That’s when companies like Ethan’s began selling single-serving shots ($36 for 12, ethans.com), so you could get its appetite-quelling benefits on the go. Celebs A gaggle of ’em (from Katy Perry to Megan Fox) are said to swig the tart tonic…

Pure O It’s an extreme form of OCD where the obsessive part is heightened. Those who have it are consumed by insistent thoughts, often about unthinkable things they are terrified they will do unintentionally. A psychologist says: “We all have visions of horrible acts we are capable of—say, letting go of a baby’s stroller on a hill—or just the unintended, like ruminations about sabotaging healthy romantic relationships. Our brains naturally consider possible outcomes, even scary ones. But these thoughts usually dissipate quickly. People with Pure O can’t stop them from cycling, and it can dominate their lives. Luckily, we have treatments that work, including exposure therapy and meds.” —Jordan Levy, Ph.D. A patient and advocate says: “I have the ‘harm’ form, a common type that involves thoughts of attacking others.…

Goal: Go Out with Friends More Sometimes a new top or piece of jewelry—or boots, velvet boots—is motivation enough to get off the couch and not cancel on plans. 1/MINI CROSSBODY BAG Bigger and roomier than its brethren, so you can actually fit your stuff and keep it intact during intense dance-athons. Zara, $39, zara.com 2/COMBO TOP The offspring of a sweatshirt and a bustier. Perfect. 1.State, $89, nordstrom.com 3/METALLIC SKIRT Worn with a white or black sweater, it brings the festive. Gap, $98, gap.com 4/OFF-THE-SHOULDER BLOUSE Skin-revealing, but wrapped up in friendly plaid. Sanctuary, $89, sanctuaryclothing.com 5/SATIN BOMBER This + jeans and a tank = zero effort, high impact. Lulus, $69, lulus.com 6/STATEMENT CUFF So glam, it renders additional jewelry moot. RJ Graziano, $38, rjgraziano.com 7/VELVET BOOTS The low heel makes long nights way more…

A large American flag serendipitously hangs at the midtown Manhattan gym where I’m to meet her. She’s still shaking off the jet lag of a 17-hour flight from South Korea, but the fresh-faced blonde is gracious, all smiles, ready to go. If it weren’t for the film crew around her, the New Jersey native would blend in with the 20 or so people moseying around the weight room on Halloween morning. A few stop to ask me who she is. “Jamie Greubel Poser,” I tell them. “2014 Olympic bronze medalist and Team USA bobsled pilot.” They snap a quick pic of her before returning to their workout. “She’s going to be at the Olympics!” I hear one guy tell his buddy. Many of us share that sense of awe and…

1/Embrace the Team Effort “We snapped this selfie after an intense session with trainer Natasha Fett [right]. Nicole [Ehrlich, Cat’s fiancée] and I work out together to support each other not only emotionally, but physically too. You have to prioritize your partner just as much as your children to stay connected.” Try It: Pencil in at least one sweaty date a week. “Hard workouts build empathy. But we also jog or hike so we can talk through our day.” 2/Make Meals a Group Activity “Cooking with the boys is a regular thing in our home. Here we’re making matzo ball soup. It’s important to introduce kids to new tastes and teach them skills they can use forever. Plus, the best memories happen in the kitchen, and meals can be infinitely…

Communication, communication, communication—yeah, yeah, yeah. You’ve heard it’s the key to a closer bond and all that. But before your eyes glaze over, know this: It’s also the number one predictor of relationship satisfaction, per a 2016 survey of more than 25,000 men and women in the Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy. So mastering the art of talking isn’t an empty trope—it’s the ticket to a happy union. Sure, communicating can mean airing a grievance in a way that won’t make your partner recoil. But it also means regularly deploying words of kindness, of understanding, of humor, of playfulness. That all sounds logical, except that finding the perfect words to express how we feel—and get the results we want—isn’t necessarily intuitive. Unless you’re clocking hours on the couples therapy…

Slowly, stealthily, a kind of national diet exhaustion has set in: Although the number of overweight women is increasing, the percentage of them who are trying to lose weight has decreased, according to a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Women quit. They’re done. And anyone who has dieted can tell you why: The psychological burden that comes with constantly trying to restrict, to calorie-count, to pursue a thinner you, is utterly draining. And, ironically, it’s holding you back from actually shedding those pounds. “We all need a detox from this unhealthy relationship with food and the restrict-binge-guilt cycle that comes with it,” Alpert says. We couldn’t agree more. At WH, we know the crucial role eating healthily plays in a person’s overall well-being—and that some…

Sometimes, it wakes me in the middle of the night: a punishing throb in my lower back. The pain has been my near-constant companion for half of my 41 years. I don’t know its origins. As a health editor, and with no injury to point to, I suspect DNA may play a role—studies have shown a genetic link, and I come from a long line of bad backs. Regardless, over time it’s become more tenacious. Insistent. For the past four years, it’s been joined by a gnawing, steady thrum that radiates down my left leg from hip to knee, the by-product of a herniated disk pressing on a nerve in my spine. Some days, it whispers. Others, it roars. My distress is just a drop in the bucket. Chronic pain—the…

Fibromyalgia Lady Gaga revealed her struggle with this disorder in her Five Foot Two documentary. Like Gaga, 4 million people (the majority of them women) experience allover aches and pain, extreme fatigue, and cognitive difficulties. (The cause is unknown, but genetics, inflammation, and nervous system snags are suspected.) One new study found patients who reflected on their emotional experiences with fibro had less pain and depression and more overall functioning than those who had traditional cognitive behavioral therapy. Psychodynamic therapy, which examines how unconscious thoughts and feelings influence the patient, can help with this; find a trained therapist at apsa.org. Chronic Pelvic Pain The umbrella term for any non-menstrual-cycle-related hurt in the pelvic area (such as endometriosis or pain during sex) that lasts six months or longer, CPP affects anywhere…

THE FUN Playtime isn’t just for kids. Research indicates that doing something you find enjoyable (and really, who doesn’t let out a “whee!” when blasting down a snowy hill?) triggers your happy hormones— endorphins—which, as an extra perk, lowers stress levels. THE NOSTALGIA If sledding conjures memories of childhood snow days—or of lounging in a pool on a ’mingo floaty just last summer—hold that thought: Studies show pondering the good old days counteracts anxiety and loneliness and can even make you feel physically warmer (helpful during winter!). THE WORKOUT What goes down must come up. After you descend a hill, you have to trek back to the top, and snow ain’t a breeze to trudge through. This is why sledding can burn up to 400 calories in an hour. Bonus:…

#WHstreetstyle FITNESS EDITION Lee tilghman, 27, Los Angeles As a recipe developer and wellness speaker, Lee is all about maintaining a healthy lifestyle. She has polycystic ovary syndrome, which can cause anxiety, and finds that exercise—a mix of yoga, HIIT, and indoor cycling—helps relieve it. JACKET a fan of “neutral, feminine tones,” Lee layers a fitted white tee with this pink vintage bomber jacket. WATCH The apple Watch rarely leaves Lee’s wrist. “i use it to track my workouts, meditate, and even make sure i’m standing enough during the day.” LEGGINGS For Lee, “comfort is key,” and these outdoor Voices leggings deliver. a plus: The two-tone style hits at just the right spot. “i want to show off my ankles. They’re sexy!” Get social with us! @WomensHealthMag Post your own…

POP QUIZ Which time-related eating habit was recently reported to protect skin from UV damage? A Eating an earlybird dinner B Having breakfast as soon as you wake up C Eating two big meals per day ANSWER: A. File this under: Huh? Eating primarily in the daytime really could protect your skin, according to a recent study in the journal Cell Reports. Here’s why: Your body clock gives you a 12-hour window to eat. Noshing beyond that is “abnormal” and throws off the work of your body’s enzymes, which all have important jobs. One such enzyme, xeroderma pigmentosum group A (XPA), repairs UV-damaged skin. And when you dine late, the activity cycle of XPA shifts, limiting its ability to repair and protect your skin the next day. So try eating…

The genes for dark hair are far more dominant than their lighter counterparts’: in the U.S., more than 70 percent of people are considered to have naturally brown or black strands. Maybe that’s why blondes—so often rhapsodized in song and prose, exalted on screens big and small—have enjoyed the avalanche of hue-related attention. in the wild, they were rare. Special. But over the past few years, between all the ombré and platinum transformations, the world has seemingly gotten... blonder. (Truly, if you haven’t bleached your head white-hot, are you even a celebrity?) And so the spotlight, fatigued as the rest of us, has retreated and is now shining on dark hair. “People are wanting to look more natural, not too beachy, and—thank the hair gods!—there’s an anti-ombré movement,” says New…

At the time of her cover shoot for Women’s Health, Maria Menounos is four months out from having surgery to remove a brain tumor the size of a golf ball, and she’s still dealing with the aftereffects. While being photographed on a Malibu cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the 39-year-old TV and radio host is suddenly overcome with dizziness—and worry. Is it altitude sickness, she wonders, or something worse? She excuses herself, sets off to find a quiet spot, and closes her eyes. “Normally I’d soldier on,” Maria says a few hours later, chilling on a chaise. “But I needed a break.” She scoops up her hair and gently rubs her scalp behind her right ear where her surgeon made an incision she compares to “a long cat scratch.” “Whenever…

SCALP THE USUAL SUSPECTS Flaky, itchy dandruff, bane of half the population, has three main causes: an oily scalp (not a dry one), a buildup of dead skin or styling products, or a yeast-like fungus called malassezia. Vigorously massaging shampoo into your scalp (not just into your hair) may lift product buildup, but if flaking persists, use shampoo containing zinc or salicylic acid, which treat fungus, buildup, and oil; try Head & Shoulders Classic Clean Shampoo ($7, at drugstores). Still itching after a few weeks? You may need to visit your derm to see if something else is going on. HIDDEN CULPRITS Ingredients in some hair products can prompt an allergic reaction, says Maria Hordinsky, M.D., professor and chair of dermatology at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. “The allergen…

Oat Porn with Dragon Fruit WomensHealthMag  GoT’s Khaleesi, Mother of Dragons, called. She saw your breakfast bowl and demands to know what is this dragon fruit you speak of! TestKitchen In taste and texture, it’s a cross between a kiwi and a pear, with red or white flesh and tiny black seeds—and it’s loaded with fiber and antioxidants. You can find it in the exotic-foods or freezer section of your grocery store. WomensHealthMag BTW, soaking oats overnight is a life hack we can’t quit. TestKitchen You can serve them hot too: Prepare the oatmeal according to the package directions for a steamy b’fast on chilly mornings. Recipe Combine ¾ cup each old-fashioned oats and unsweetened vanilla almond milk, ? teaspoon cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Cover and refrigerate overnight. To…

ON EMBRACING THE UNEXPECTED: I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 13, which has been a really challenging thing. But the way I chose to see it was that, you know, it was an opportunity to grow and hopefully encourage and inspire other people. I couldn’t have planned for it and certainly wish I didn’t have to deal with it, but it’s been character-building and helped me connect with so many people around the world. Make your plans—but leave room for life to interrupt them. ON HIS CLOSE FRIENDSHIP WITH DEMI LOVATO: There’s a lot of life lived there. For many, many years we’ve been the support system for each other. There’s a lot of care. For anyone looking from the outside in, it might be hard to…

How to banish three other unhealthy habits ▸ Smoking When you’re giving up cigs, you need support. Text2Quit ($30 for 4 months) analyzes your smoking habits, then sends advice when you need it most, like after coffee breaks. An independent study found people who used it were more than twice as likely to stop smoking as those who didn’t. ▸ Chronic Lateness “Every day for two weeks, write down how long you think it will take you to do tasks like driving to work. Then time yourself so you’re primed with more accurate info, says Falconer. Late people tend to aim to arrive to the minute, so don’t chance it— plan to be at appointments 15 minutes early. ▸ Phone Obsession in Social Settings Focus on the effects (making loved…

Not everyone can put their life on hold for weeks to attend a pain rehab clinic. But you may be able to locate a physician who can shape an individual treatment plan using a similar integrative approach. Here’s how: Find a local pain-medicine doctor—the American Academy of Pain Medicine (painmed.org) and the American Board of Pain Medicine (abpm.org) both have online directories— and ask which combination of treatments (e.g., cognitive behavioral therapy, yoga, medication) may be right for you. Penney Cowan, founder of the American Chronic Pain Association, suggests peer support groups to further improve well-being (search for one at theacpa.org).…