Beating The Winter Blues
Welcome to the dark days of January: fewer daylight hours, plus freezing temps, can be pretty cruel to your mental state. These tips will help you stay sane.
1. Turn on your lights as soon as your alarm goes off—trying to get ready for work in the dark will only make you sleepier and more sluggish.
2. Wake up to the smell of coffee. Set your coffeemaker to turn on a few minutes before you rise and breathe in the irresistible scent.
3. Bundle up and take a walk during lunch. The artificial light you’re under all day is no substitute for the real thing. Getting out and actually soaking up whatever sun you can while breathing fresh air will lift your spirits.
4. Make happy hour pacts. It can be so easy to run home straight after work, but parking yourself in front of the TV or Facebook every night will only depress you. Agree to meet your friends once a week for drinks.
5. Have before-dinner sex. Is there any better way to take advantage of the last hour of daylight?
6. Take a vitamin D supplement, which has mood-enhancing benefits. In the colder months, you just can’t get enough naturally from the sun’s rays.
7. Re-decorate. When it’s grey outside, make it bright inside. Add splashes of color to your home with poppy lamps and pillows. Or, if you’re feeling especially adventurous, paint your walls yellow for maximum happiness infusion.
8. Pick up a few buds from a local shop to display in your apartment for some much-needed freshness and a little life.
9. Plan a mini outdoor getaway. Don’t spend your days off inside and waste daylight you can enjoy. Go sledding or explore a nearby town and check out the holiday window displays, which are usually great this time of year.
10. Have a romantic dinner by candlelight. Take advantage of the darkness and turn your apartment into the ultimate sultry escape. We don’t need to tell you what happens next.
How Wine Is Healthy In Your Diet
There’s something funny about the fact that celebs choke down gross diet drinks to stay thin when they could be enjoying a glass of wine like normal people. New research found that wine (seriously, wine!) can help keep your weight in check. Of course, you can’t chug a bottle and look like Marisa Miller (or pair your cabernet with a pint of ice cream), but drinking it in moderation—that means about a glass a day, tops—has some awesome perks. We asked doctors to explain.
Happy Hour Does Your Body Good...
The evidence is impressive. Researchers kept tabs on nearly 20,000 normal-weight women for 13 years. Over time, the women who drank a glass or two of red wine a day were 30 percent less likely to be overweight than the nondrinkers (they tracked women who drank liquor and beer too, but the link was strongest for red wine). That’s not surprising, since vino has other benefits. "It’s rich in antioxidants that reduce cholesterol and blood pressure,” says Jana Klauer, a New York City physician specializing in nutrition and metabolism.
The evidence is impressive. Researchers kept tabs on nearly 20,000 normal-weight women for 13 years. Over time, the women who drank a glass or two of red wine a day were 30 percent less likely to be overweight than the nondrinkers (they tracked women who drank liquor and beer too, but the link was strongest for red wine). That’s not surprising, since vino has other benefits. "It’s rich in antioxidants that reduce cholesterol and blood pressure,” says Jana Klauer, a New York City physician specializing in nutrition and metabolism.
One reason wine may contribute to a healthy weight is that digesting booze triggers your body to torch calories. “Women make smaller amounts of the enzyme that metabolizes alcohol than men do, so to digest a drink, they have to keep producing it, which requires the body to burn energy,” says Dr. Klauer. That means you’re likely to see more of a benefit than your guy since his body doesn’t have to work as hard to digest a glass of the grape.
Alcohol also may burn calories due to a process called thermogenesis, says Lu Wang, MD, PhD, the lead study author and member of the division of preventive medicine at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Alcohol raises your body temperature (one reason some people get red cheeks when drinking), causing the body to burn calories to create heat.
...But That’s Not All
The study also showed that women who drank moderately ate less. While researchers can’t say why, it’s possible that they were more likely to slow down and savor their food and drink.
The study also showed that women who drank moderately ate less. While researchers can’t say why, it’s possible that they were more likely to slow down and savor their food and drink.
If you combine all these factors, drinking wine could lead to taking in fewer calories while your body is burning energy, meaning you’re less likely to gain weight, says Dr. Wang. Awesome, but you don’t want to replace food with wine—you’ll miss out on key nutrients and wind up schnockered. And keep in mind that wine has calories: about 125 for 5 ounces. “That’s why drinking isn’t a weight-loss strategy on its own,” says Dr. Klauer. Overdoing it is linked to health risks you don’t want to take, like breast cancer. “But having a glass,” says Dr. Klauer, “along with a healthy diet and exercise, seems to be a marker for a healthier lifestyle.” Hey, we’ll salud to that.
Foods That Make You Gain Weight
Chips, gooey desserts, anything that starts with fried — you know to fight off these calorie cows with a stick. What's tricky is that some foods with famously healthy reputations are actually worse for your weight than the snacks in vending machines and drive-throughs. We fill you in on what they are and why they keep you from hitting that golden number on the scale.
Sushi Rolls
The veggies and seaweed wrap are low-cal, but a lot of the most popular rolls are slathered with cream cheese or mayo (e.g., in that spicy sauce that comes on many options), and the seafood inside may be tempura-battered. Thanks to those ingredients, a standard roll can clock in at 500 to 600 calories. Also, soy sauce is loaded with sodium. It won't make you gain weight, but it'll cause you to retain water, so your jeans will feel (and look) tighter.
Dried Fruit
Granola
Bran Muffins
Half-and-Half
Cup for cup, dried fruit has five to eight times more calories than the fresh kind because it has been dehydrated and is much denser. Fresh grapes, for example, have 60 calories per cup, while raisins have 460. And many brands add sugar, amping up the calorie count even more.
Granola
Since it's loaded with good-for-you nuts and oats, it's too bad that they add oil to make it crisp and tons of sugar for more yumminess. One bowl racks up around 500 calories. Other cereals with the same nutrients but less oil and sugar pack half that.
Bran Muffins
Whether it's plain bran or mixed with apples or bananas, the fiber fills you up, sure, but considering all the sugar and butter it delivers, a bran muffin is basically just a round slice of cake. One weighs in at about 20 grams of fat, 420 calories, and 34 grams of sugar.
Half-and-Half
You put so little into your coffee, it seems like a harmless way to get calcium — especially when compared to full-fat cream. But a few spoonfuls per cup of joe two or three times a day quickly turns into 200 or more calories plus the same amount of fat as a big pat of butter!
Wraps
Bottled Teas
Veggie Burgers
Juice
Diet Microwave Meals
Salads
Tofu
How Losing And Gaining Weight Effects Your Boobs
No matter what you put in it, the average wrap is a major offender. If you roll it out, it can be 1 foot across — seriously — and pack up to 300 calories. Since the surface area is way bigger than two slices of bread, you coat it with a lot more mayo or dressing than you would a sub or sandwich.
Most store-bought brands are souped up with sugar or honey, which are crazy-caloric sweeteners. Oh, and one bottle can contain two or more servings, bringing the calorie count to almost 200 — similar to a bottle of soda.
Rice Cakes
These light snacks are fat-free and low in calories, but they're also completely lacking in fiber or protein — ingredients that experts say actually curb hunger. That means downing two or three won't do anything but add more calories to your daily total and leave you craving something with substance. And limit the flavored kinds — they don't satisfy you more and they tend to have lots of sugar or sodium.
Sure, skipping beef in lieu of a meat-free patty may save you a little fat and cholesterol. But depending on the brand and what you put on it, you could easily end up housing more than 1,000 calories. The cheese that often binds the veggies together and the huge size of the burgers are anything but diet-friendly. Add a bun and some ketchup and you might as well have had the quarter-pounder.
Juice
Reaching your recommended daily fruit-serving goal by getting it in liquid form might be the reason you can't fit into last year's LBD. A 16-ounce bottle of OJ or apple juice has 55 grams of carbohydrates, the equivalent of five slices of bread. And most of that is sugar — a whopping 12 spoonfuls of it.
Diet Microwave Meals
The lean ready-to-eat dishes tend to be high in sodium — since the manufacturers can't rely on calorie-rich fat to make the stuff taste good, they resort to salt. As a result, scarfing them will make you retain water, especially in your arms and legs, leaving you puffy.
Salads
There's nothing better for you or your waist than naked veggies, but the shredded cheese, candied nuts, croutons, and globs of dressing often make salads as caloric as an oversize dish of pasta. And nutritionists are quick to point out that innocent-sounding vinaigrettes, though not as fattening as ranches, can be almost as high-cal
Tofu
Order this health food at a restaurant and what you'll most likely get is a plateful of sodium, calories, saturated fat, and even sugar. Tofu itself isn't the issue — the problem is that the white stuff is so bland, it's often served doused in decadent sauces then deep-fried to give it flavor and texture, making it a diet disaster.
How Losing And Gaining Weight Effects Your Boobs
Your breasts are pretty low-maintenance, and you can keep them healthy and sexy just by leaving them alone. Still, there's one move that will mess them up: repeat dieting, which causes your boobs to sag prematurely. Here, how and why plus the right way to keep your set gorgeous and firm.
How Sag Strikes
Some sag is inevitable. Gravity, breast growth spurts in your teens and early 20s, pregnancy, and breast-feeding all cause your boobs to change shape. Any change in the shape of your breasts stretches your skin's collagen and elastin, two components that make skin firm. This leaves your twins less perky over time, says Jill Weinstein, a dermatologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, in Illinois.
But you'll stretch out the collagen and elastin even more by constantly dieting. In fact, cycling back and forth between the same 10 pounds in your 20s, for example, can lead to premature sag by the time you hit 30. "If you keep stretching and shrinking something, it will wear out, like a sweater," says NYC nutritionist Stephanie Middleberg, RD.
The faster you gain and lose the weight via a crash diet, the worse the sag will be, because elastin and collagen endure more stress when they break down rapidly, says Mary Jane Minkin, MD, clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Yale University School of Medicine. Another way crash-dieting sends your boobs south: Weight that's lost in a short period of time is almost impossible to keep off. You'll add it back, try to diet it away again...and cause more droopage.
Why Your Boobs Are Hit Hardest
Breasts are very sensitive to weight changes. "When you gain weight, fat tends to go to your female parts first, like your breasts," Dr. Minkin says. "They're also one of the first places most women lose weight from when they diet." The thinner and heavier you get, the thinner and heavier your boobs will be, and the more droopy you'll be.
Lose Weight Without Sagging
Here's how to diet the right way so you keep sag at bay. First, forgo crash diets, i.e., any plan that cuts your intake to less than 1,200 calories a day and/or promises more than 1 to 2 lost pounds a week, says Los Angeles nutritionist Natalie Rosenstock, RD. Losing more pounds than this per week breaks down more collagen and elastin.
Stick to tactics like piling more on your plate — fruits, veggies, and lean meats, that is — since consuming healthy grub keeps you from bingeing later. And don't skip meals. It slows your metabolism and makes you hungry so you gain back any weight lost.
A final benefit of the slow-and-steady route: The longer it takes to lose weight, the more likely you are to keep it off — which halts the cycle.
Lose Weight Easy At Work
B.Y.O.S. (Bring Your Own Snack)
As you probably know from all those mid-afternoon vending machine runs you end up going on, it’s almost impossible to make it through the afternoon on lunch alone. So pack a healthy, cravings-killing option, two part-skim string cheeses or a low fat yogurt. They’re low in calories but loaded with filling protein.
But Keep Treats Hidden
Outta sight, outta your mouth. That’s the conclusion of some recent Cornell University research, which found that study subjects ate 70 percent more candy if the sweets were stored in a clear jar vs. an opaque one. So instead of keeping your afternoon nosh out on your desk (where—let’s be honest—it probably won’t last till 3 pm, leaving you trolling that damn vending machine again), put it away in your filing cabinet or the office fridge.
Squeeze Your Butt With Every Email
Just because you’re literally sitting on your ass all day doesn’t mean you can’t work your glutes. When you hit the send button, contract the muscles in your rear and hold for five seconds, then relax for five seconds. Do this four times. Soon, it’ll bec second nature to tense your tush as you fire off messages. And thanks to your email-crazy boss, you’ll have a tight bum in a few weeks.
Tone Your Abs Deskside
Adjust your chair so that your hips are an inch or two above your knees. Then lean forward so that your chest is above your hips and clench your shoulder blades, so your chest pushes forward. This simple move engages your core muscles, so you’re on your way to building a sixpack.
Do Leg Lifts on the DL
Few bosses are gonna let you take a break so you can do squats or laps around the office. So try this undercover—or rather, under-desk—move: Sit up tall and place both feet flat on the floor. Straighten one leg so it’s parallel with the floor, flex that foot, and hold for five seconds. Lower it slowly (taking five seconds to get back to resting position) and repeat with the other leg. A dozen lifts throughout the course of the day is enough to give you tighter, more toned legs.
How To Lose Weight By Being Lazy
1. Jump rope for two-minute intervals. Repeat four times. (111 calories)
2. Run up and down the stairs of your apartment building or house during a commercial break. (42 calories)
3. Stand in front of your couch, squat until your butt is just above the seat cushions, and hold that position for one minute. Repeat four times. (80 calories)
4. Lie down on the floor on your side and do leg lifts for five minutes. (50 calories)
5. Do arm circles for one minute. Repeat two more times. (20 calories)
6. Sprint to the bathroom, hover over the toilet seat while you pee, and sprint back. (30 calories)
7. Grab three-pound weights or two soup cans and do one minute each of lifting for your triceps (put your hands behind your head, with your elbows at your ears and lift the weight up and down). Do three sets. (17 calories)
8. Sit on an exercise ball and do one minute of ab curls. Repeat four times. (50 calories)
9. If you’re not down with that, work your core by simply sitting on the ball for an hour. (38 calories)
10. Stand approximately five feet away from the TV and do lunges for five minutes. (37 calories)
11. Lie down in front of the TV and hold yourself in the plank position for one minute. Repeat two times. (35 calories)
12. Lie down on your couch and scoot around until your back is on the cushions and your legs are resting on the seat back, at a 90 degree angle to your waist. Curl your torso up towards your legs in a crunch and release. Keep doing them for an entire commercial break. (30 calories)
Donate
Millions of women and men across the country rely on sexual-health clinics like Planned Parenthood to attain information and services that help prevent unwanted pregnancy and protect against dangerous diseases, including several forms of cancer. These clinics are crucial to our health and well-being yet are currently under attack by certain politicians who aim to eliminate the government funding without which they cannot function.
Cosmopolitan magazine invites you to join our Save Your Sexual Health campaign to keep these clinics up and running.
Click Here To Donate Thing About Birth Control All Women Must Know
You're Now Protected for Up to 5 Days After Unsafe Sex
The FDA just approved a new emergency contraception pill, called ella, that offers five days of post-sex pregnancy prevention. Expect ella in drugstores this fall, but here's the catch: It's prescription only. If you don't have health insurance or access to a doctor who can write you an Rx, hit a pharmacy for Plan B, the other morning after option that is effective for three days after unsafe sex. Plan B is available without a prescription (though you have to ask for it at the counter).
Being Careless with Contraception Results in Close to Half of All Unplanned Pregnancies
Skipping a few Pills in a row. Not putting on the condom until your guy is close to climax. These and other little mistakes can set you up for motherhood: Almost half of all unplanned pregnancies among young, sexually active women are due to using birth control inconsistently or incorrectly, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health organization. Here's how to avoid putting yourself at risk (link)
Not in the Mood? The Pill Might Be to Blame
These Three Letters Can Revolutionize Your Sex Life
Taking Plan B Repeatedly Won't Harm Your Body
If His Condom Doesn't Fit Right, You Could Get Knocked Up
A recent study found that women on hormonal contraception, such as the Pill or Ring, reported lower levels of sexual desire and arousal compared with women not using any birth control or those using nonhormonal methods like condoms. One theory why: The pill reduces levels of testosterone, a hormone that may stimulate your sex drive. If you're on oral contraceptives and notice your sex drive has nosedived, tell your gyno; she may opt to switch you to a different Pill prescription.
These Three Letters Can Revolutionize Your Sex Life
Can't remember to pop a Pill or hate having to interrupt the heat of the moment while your guy puts on a condom? Then consider the IUD (intrauterine device), which has recently seen a spike in popularity among young women in monogamous relationships who know they don't want kids anytime soon. It provides contraception for 5 years with a superlow failure rate: 1 percent. How the IUD works: Your gyno inserts a T-shaped plastic device into your uterus which prevents fertilization
Taking Plan B Repeatedly Won't Harm Your Body
Because emergency contraception can have uncomfortable side effects such as nausea and spotting, a lot of women think using it more than once in a while is potentially dangerous. But taking it repeatedly is safe, says Dr. Carolyn Westhoff, Medical Director of the Family Planning Clinic at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. (The same goes for ella, but since it's newer on the market, you shouldn't use it more than once within the same cycle because that hasn't been tested in clinical trials, says Dr. David Archer, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Eastern Virginia Medical School and an expert for Ella's manufacturer, HRA Pharma of Paris.) Still, like the name says, it's meant for emergencies. So if you find yourself relying on it more than once every few months, look into all of your birth control options and talk to your gyno about the best match for you.
If His Condom Doesn't Fit Right, You Could Get Knocked Up
Does your average-size guy insist on XL condoms? He's not alone: 45 percent of men in a recent study copped to using a condom that was either too small or too loose, which researches say makes it significantly more likely that the condom will break or slip off during sex. Unfortunately, you can't always tell if his condom is the wrong size, but it's smart to stop the action if it looks baggy or appears to be so tight, there's no space left at the tip.
Yes, You Can Get Pregnant on Your Period
No, The Pill Won't Make You Fat
The Pill for Dudes Is in Development
Use Your Cell Phone To Get Flat Abs!
"You can conceive any time of the month, even when you're menstruating," says Dr. Westhoff. Here's how: Sperm can live inside you for 5-6 days. If you have unprotected sex at the tail end of your flow and then ovulate early days later, you might end up with a baby on board.
No, The Pill Won't Make You Fat
Years ago, when birth control pills packed higher amounts of bloat-inducing hormones, it was normal to gain 5 or 10 pounds soon after going on them. But you don't have to worry about not fitting into your skinny jeans with today's lower-dose pills. "Any weight you gain after starting the Pill is likely weight you would have gained anyway," says Dr. Westhoff. "In fact, women tend to feel less bloated on the pill because their hormone levels become more stable."
The Pill for Dudes Is in Development
Israeli researchers are currently testing a four-times-a-year birth control pill for guys that kills sperm before one reaches an egg. Human trials of the dude pill are due to start next year, and while we're not expecting to see it in drugstores anytime soon, we are damn excited about guys finally pulling their weight when it comes to preventing pregnancy.
Use Your Cell Phone To Get Flat Abs!
Sorry, but making excuses for why you can't exercise? So last year! You don't need a gym, a 36-hour day or some studly trainer to get in shape.
Lucky for you, the iPhone/iTouch has an app for pretty much everything, so it's no surprise that the next coolest workout idea can be found on your touch screen! Check out EvEx (Everywhere Exercise), a $2.99 app designed to lead you through 30+ easy exercises that can be doneanywhere. (Yes, that means you could have been well on your way to a six-pack while reading this if you had EvEx right now.)
Choose from strength, flexibility or energy, and then follow the silhouette on the screen as she demonstrates the movements and listen to Ev, the narrator, as she guides you. So whether you're sitting, standing or somewhere in between, drop those excuses and pick up your iPod to make some positive changes in your life.
Bikram Yoga
Jennifer Aniston, Madonna and the Rockettes swear by hot yoga (aka bikram yoga), and its newest celeb devotee, Lady Gaga, even says that it's helped her get through some tough times in her life. So what's all the fuss about? I'm Carolyn, a former Seventeen intern and a student at McGill University, and I went to a class at Moksha Yoga in Montreal to get my sweat on and find out!
The Workout: Also called Bikram, hot yoga is a 90-minute yoga practice that guides you through two cycles of 26 postures accompanied by deep breathing. The twist: it takes place in a room heated to 100 degrees with high humidity (like a steam room, but less intense!) so you'll be sweating by your first utkatasana.
Where it's Available: I went to Moksha Yoga in Montreal, but hot yoga studios are popping up all over the place, so chances are there's a studio in your area. Because of the special facilities required, most regular yoga studios don't offer hot yoga, so be sure to check online for a studio in your area that specializes in it.
The Promise: Not only does hot yoga get you in great shape by improving strength and flexibility while burning calories, but it also releases toxins in your body through sweat. The hot, humid air makes your lungs and heart work harder, strengthening your organs and giving you a more beneficial workout!
The Real Deal: You may think of yoga as a low-key, relaxing workout, but trust me, hot yoga is not for the faint-hearted. The pace is fast and the heat makes your body work harder, so that each pose becomes more challenging. I've been doing yoga for years, and I still find a 90-minute hot yoga class to be very challenging. Also, keep in mind that you're going to sweat (a LOT) so come prepared with an unmade-up face, an extra towel and a bottle of cold water. The best time for hot yoga is in the morning before you go about your day -- it will make your skin super glowy and give you with a sense of Zen-like calm that will leave you feeling so ready to take on the world!
Fun Factor: 7/10
Ouch Factor: 8/10
Overall experience: 9/10
Can't Find It at a Gym Near You? Try playing a yoga DVD at home and following along yourself. Or, if you're looking for the detoxifying benefits of hot yoga, saunas and steam rooms offers similar health advantages.
Are Young Adults Addicted To Energy In A Can??
The two most popular energy drinks are "Monster Energy" and "Red Bull" they topped the charts, with 57% of "monster" searches and 26% of "red bull" searches conducted by teens under the age of 17.
Are you guilty as charged -- have you been using energy drinks to make up for a lack of sleep?
Marijuana a cure??
Today, I will discuss the history of marijuana in France, it’s medical implications in treating depression, hyperbaric oxygen therapy for brain-injuries, and a comprehensive look at NSAIDS and their complications.
Remember, we review the latest blogs related to drugs — medicinal, recreational, interactional, personal, professional, or any other aspect. If you were left out in this round, just leave a comment with your blog entry. You can check out the archives for every edition of this carnival.
For future editions, please remember to submit your blog entries using the online submission form We will do our best to review and include your entry! Enjoy your readings…
Providentia writes Going to Pot:
Despite a lengthy history dating back thousands of years, hashish and other cannabis compounds were only introduced to France by veterans of Napoleon’s Egygtian campaign at the turn of the 19th century (it became so popular with the French soldiers serving in Egypt that Napoleon issued an order banning its use). Several medical doctors who had been part of the French campaign were sufficiently intrigued by hashish to send samples back to their colleagues in France for further research.The Conscious Life writes NSAIDs: What You Need To Know Before Taking Them:
In 1971, Sir John Vane found how aspirin actually works, and took home a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for this discovery. The English pharmacologist postulated that aspirin acts by suppressing the production of prostaglandins, the messengers responsible for the inflammatory response.JeremyJones.org writes Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) with Dr Harch in New Orleans:
So we packed up and travelled to New Orleans where we met with Dr Harch and David began his treatments at 1.5 ATA at 100% oxygen in a hard chamber. We went through two treatments a day, five days a week, for four weeks. David did not show any signs of improvement at first, in fact we found him to be a bit more lethargic than usual. However, on the weekends by Sunday he was more energetic than he had been before the treatments began. After the 25th treatment, it became clear that David’s range of motion was increasing considerably and he had the ability to lift his head.Clinical Depression writes Medical marijuana is an effective treatment for depression: True or False?:
The antidepressant and intoxicating effects of cannabis are due to its chemical similarity to natural substances in the brain known as “endo-cannabinoids,” which are released under conditions of high stress or pain, said Gobbi. They interact with the brain through structures called cannabinoid CB1 receptors. The study demonstrated that these receptors have a direct effect on the cells producing serotonin, which is a neurotransmitter that regulates the mood, she said.
