Mental | Health, Fitness And Diets

What a bad night’s sleep really does to your body

Dr Sara Gottfried is, in her own words, an “under sleeper”. In our over-caffeinated, over-worked and gadget-addictedsociety, she’s far from alone: researchers from Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Manchester and Surrey universities have found people are sleeping almost two fewer hours a night than they were in the 1960s – and our health is deteriorating as a result. “We are the supremely arrogant species; we feel we can abandon four billion years of evolution and ignore the fact that we have evolved under a light-dark cycle,” says Oxford University’s Professor Russell Foster, who worked on the study. “What we do as a species, perhaps uniquely, is override the clock. And long-term acting against the clock can lead to serious health problems.” These problems include an increased risk of cancer, heart disease, type-2 diabetes and obesity. “Under-sleeping is the next sugar – it’s a health time bomb,” says Dr Gottfried, who says just about every aspect of modern living... Read more »

Are you ready to join the ranks of the sober-curious?

Going sober took Catherine Gray from waking up in a Brixton police cell to saving £23k in four yearsCREDIT: ANDREW CROWLEY Idid Dry January once, five years ago. I lasted four days, before finding myself deep-diving into a bottle-and-a-half of wine. So, if you’ve slumped off the wagon already, I get it. If you had no desire to hop on the godforsaken wagon in the first place, I understand that too. Having worked on magazines such as Glamour and Cosmopolitan in my twenties, during which I drank the opening-of-an-envelope dry if the booze was free, my intake had ticked up and up. I could have drunk anyone under the table; you wouldn’t have stood a chance. I was a seven-or-eight-bottles-of-wine -a-week kinda gal. I once fell asleep while talking to my boss at the Christmas party. There was the time my boyfriend found me unconscious on our doorstep at 1am, having lost my keys. Or the time... Read more »

Overwhelmed by the demands of the digital world? How to set online boundaries at work and at home

Do you often feel you can’t say no? That you are spread too thinly between your work, emotional relationships and family, and your responsibilities and chores? Perhaps you feel overloaded with to-do lists, promises to friends, financial obligations, or that intangible pressure to succeed in everything you do, all at the same time. With demands coming from all sides, it is surprisingly easy these days to get buffeted along without ever really feeling in control. Yet, there is an alternative to living in this modern chaos – a way of reframing your attitude and behaviour so that you can take charge of your life and not allow others undue influence or control. That solution is boundaries. We often talk about establishing boundaries for our children, but then never think to set them for ourselves. Yet deciding on clear personal boundaries has never been more important. Life has changed beyond… Read more »

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE 7-MINUTE WORKOUT

The idea seems like something you’d see on TV at 3 am, with some cheesy, fit pitchman making too-good-to-be-true claims. As you process the reported benefits—more muscle, less fat—everything in your body screams “scam,” but the source isn’t QVC—it is The New York Times and the rage that is the 7-minute workout. We’re not talking about a piece of equipment that looks like it was dreamt up by 13-year-old boys, it’s research published in the American College of Sports Medicine Health and Fitness Journal. Next thing you know, Forbes is writing about the workout and the buzz has spread to Good Morning America. The 7-minute workout is real and it works…at least, that’s what the mainstream media would have you believe. And yet, doesn’t this feel a little played out? I mean, have we already forgotten about “8-Minute Abs?” It’s been nearly 20 years since it was released, and during that time obesity rates have nearly... Read more »

Facebook Is Also Helping Employers Keep Job Ads Away From Older People

Just like it’s gotten caught red-handed allowing landlords to tailor ads excluding potential tenants on the basis of race or ethnicity or anyone to purchase ads targeting groups like “Jew haters,” Facebook has apparently been helping dozens of companies target employment ads only to those supple, hard-working youths. According to a new report from ProPublica and the New York Times, Facebook has helped companies like Verizon, Amazon, Goldman Sachs, and Target place “recruitment ads limited to particular age groups,” as well as used its targeting abilities to recruit its own employees from certain age groups. Washington labor lawyer Debra Katz told ProPublica the practice is “blatantly unlawful,” citing the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967—which prohibits bias in the hiring process against anyone older than 40 years. As the site noted, it’s also possible the move puts Facebook in violation of other laws on both the state and local level which prohibit aiding or abetting age... Read more »

Creating Healthy New Holiday Rituals for the Whole Family

Many of us find the holidays stressful, disruptive and tough on our relationships.(iStockPhoto) Many of us have a love-hate relationship with the holiday season. We look forward to it year after year, cherish our airbrushed memories of family togetherness and spend a ton of time, energy and money in preparation. But we also find the holidays stressful, disruptive and tough on our relationships. For those in recovery from mental illness and/or substance use issues, the holidays can be particularly challenging. When January rolls around, we’re depleted and disillusioned. It doesn’t have to be that way. Here are five tips to help families transform the stressors of the holiday season, and emerge in the new year feeling energized and more tightly bonded than ever. 1. Schedule self-care. Don’t let the holidays throw you off your routine. It’s way too easy during this time of year to let your usual self-care habits – whether it’s a morning... Read more »

Kayla Itsines (and Her 6-Pack) Are Here With Some More Words of Inspiration

Kayla Itsines, creater of the insanely popular BBG program for fitness and weight loss, is gracing our Instagram feeds with not only her amazing six-pack but also these words of wisdom. She captioned the above photo, “If you want to be HEALTHY, LEAN, FIT and HAPPY, it doesn’t matter if you your goals is to lose weight or gain weight or get somewhere in between, for BOTH you have to work very hard to get there.” She went on to explain that almost everyone is in a position where they can choose to improve their health and strength. Kayla said, “For those of you that CAN train, choose to eat well and choose to dedicate time and effort to your body, you WILL change your body for the better. Don’t let yourself or anyone EVER put limitations on what you can do.” Kayla has a way of pumping us up and getting us completely motivated to... Read more »

Strawberry St. Honoré

A simplified version of the famous French dessert served by pastry chef Ghaya Olivera, over at Daniel Boulud’s flagship restaurant in New York. Don’t be intimidated: make the four parts (pâte à choux, strawberry compote, sablé Breton, crème fraiche chantilly) separately, then assemble carefully. —Ghaya Oliveira Makes 6 Pâte à Choux and Strawberry Compote 1/2cup milk 1/2cup water 3tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons Pinch of salt and sugar 2drops red food coloring, optional 3/4cup plus 1/2 tablespoon all-purpose flour 2large eggs 1pound fresh strawberries, washed, trimmed, quartered 2 1/2tablespoons sugar 1/2cup water Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large saucepan, combine the milk with the water, butter, salt, sugar and food coloring (if using); bring to a boil over moderately high heat. Add the flour all at once and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until the flour is thoroughly incorporated. Reduce the heat... Read more »

Andrea Bemis’ Fresh Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

The best cookies I had all year—and I eat a lot of cookies—were Andrea Bemis’ Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies from her book Dishing Up the Dirt. Their texture is (…more) —Sarah Jampel Makes 12 cookies 1stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cubed 1/2cup tightly packed, freshly chopped mint 1/2cup granulated sugar 1/4cup packed light brown sugar 1egg 1teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/2cups (180 grams) flour 1teaspoon baking soda 1/2teaspoon salt 1/2cup (heaping) chopped chocolate (whatever kind you’d like) Add the butter and mint to a small saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, continue to cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the mint is very fragrant. Set aside for 30 minutes. Use a fine mesh sieve to strain the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer. Press the mint with a spatula or the back of a spoon to release all of that butter! Add the sugars and mix on medium-low speed... Read more »

Award Winning Chili

Ingredients SERVINGS 6 UNITS US 1lb ground venison or 1 lb ground beef or 1 lb ground turkey 2onions, diced 1green pepper, diced 1tablespoon jalapeno, finely chopped 1(14 ounce) can Mexican-style tomatoes (like Rotel) 2(8 ounce) cans tomato sauce 2tablespoons cumin 2tablespoons chili powder 1teaspoon salt 1⁄2teaspoon cayenne pepper 1⁄2teaspoon paprika (smoked if you can find it) 1(14 ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed 1(14 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed 1cup water Directions Cook ground meat with onions and peppers in dutch oven. Drain excess grease and add tomatoes, seasonings, and water, bring to a boil. Add beans, cover and simmer 1-2 hours. Serve with toppings. Read more »