All posts in: Health

02 Jul 2020

Blog Roundup

  • How to Strengthen Your Immune System By Eating Better [GQ]
  • Racism Doesn’t Blink [The Cut]
  • iPhone User Creates Shortcut to Record Police Encounters [Hypebae]
  • 22 Awkward Situations You Might Experience During COVID-19 and How to Deal [The Thirty]
  • Why This Font Is Everywhere [Vox]
  • K-Pop Fans and TikTok Teens Successfully Sabotage Trump’s Tulsa Rally [High Snobiety]
  • Me, My Father, and Russell Wilson [Slate]
  • Nomadic Couple Transforms Ordinary School Bus Into Chic Tiny Home on Wheels [My Modern Met]
  • See How All 50 States Are Reopening (And Closing Again) [New York Times]
  • Microsoft to Permanently Close All Retail Stores [Hypebeast]
  • How to Clean Your Face Mask and Protect Your Skin [Vogue]
28 Mar 2017

Trying Lyra

Growing up, I didn’t have too many options to choose from when it came to exercising or participating in a sport. If you were a kid, you could either do soccer, softball, or basketball. Well, I sort of gave each one a shot, but nothing ever felt stuck or rather, I never felt like I belonged. I was a petite girl (still am today!) and I didn’t enjoy running – something that is involved in almost every sport every kid my age was in. As an adult, staying healthy and being active is important to me. It’s not in my top 5 priorities, but I am very aware that I’m not going to have my metabolism forever and the work I put into my health and wellness now will serve me better as I age.

In the fall, Sandy asked a few of us if we’d be interested in trying a Lyra class with her. I hadn’t ever done it, but looked it up before I headed to the class and thought because of how tiny I was that it would be doable. I had been going indoor rock climbing on/off for the last few years and knew I had some upper body strength. Well, when I say I had been going indoor rock climbing, what I really mean is that that was the last form of exercise I had done and I probably hadn’t gone back in a year so that upper body strength I thought I was equipped with? Gone.

First off, please excuse for the not so high quality photos. I know it looks like I’m making it seem easy in these photographs, but the girls I went with all know how much I struggled. It was hard for me to even push myself off the ground let alone get into the hoop and balance myself. These two poses were done at the very end of the class and even then I had little hope that I would be able to pull them off! Lyra isn’t about endurance, but more so strength and a whole lot of patience, which I realized I clearly didn’t have at the end of the session. Would I try Lyra again? Potentially! However, now as an adult, there are so many different classes you can take – many options that I didn’t have when I was a kid and I’m really excited that I get to choose from them all.

14 Aug 2013

Dog Does Yoga With His Owner

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Swoon of the morning. Can we talk about how adorable this video is of a chihuahua named Panchino doing yoga alongside his owner? Can I have a dog like this? A little mini me?

[Source]

25 Jul 2013

Blog Roundup

photo cred | Jonathan Cooper

-Seattle was named the hardest working city today in the United States. [Source]

-Even though they are our exes, they’re still alive when it comes to social media and technology [Source]

-An interview with Girl Talk’s Gregg Gillis before Capitol Hill Block Party this weekend. [Source]

-Men get self-conscious too, you know? They’re now injecting fat into their butts so that they can keep their pants up! [Source]

-Google gives back to San Francisco by paying $600k to give 31 parks in the city free Wi-Fi. [Source]

-A note on marketing and how Warby Parker gets called the “Ryan Gosling of brands at the moment.” [Source]

Time Waster! The News IQ Test. I may read blogs every day, but when it comes to news, I’ll admit that I’m not at the top of my game. I answered 6/13 questions correctly. That’s embarrassing. Curious to see how well you’d do? Click here to start the test.

-“They say you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Wouldn’t it make sense to intentionally surround yourself with people of great character and influence?” [Source]

16 Jul 2013

My Fitness Pal

Per my friend Dom’s recommendation, I recently downloaded the My Fitness Pal app so that Kevin and I could keep track of what we were eating for a week. We’ve come up with a challenge as to who could eat healthier ie) stay more aligned with our goals whether it be weight gain or weight loss and whoever can maintain it – wins!

I’m on day one of using the app and I’m already amazed by how large their food catalog is. They literally have everything including my usual Tall White Mocha from Starbucks. This is the first time that I’m ever counting calories, but I’m finding it to be useful with it’s progress charts and seamless user-friendly actions. Not only is it informative and educational, but it’s enlightening to know what I’m putting into my body and also what I could probably do without. Something that I have been trying to work towards is drinking more water throughout the day to stay hydrated and keep my energy up and while yes, it might seem tedious to track everything you eat and drink, in the long run it’s going to help me to organize my life and my diet.

Do any of you use My Fitness Pal? Have you ever counted your calories and how did it make you feel?

15 Jul 2013

Blog Roundup

photo cred | Cake Spy

– Top 10 restaurants and cafes in Seattle. [Source]

– 14 friends everyone has on Facebook. You know who you are. [Source]

– I haven’t posted anything about the Trayvon Martin case, but I will post this piece from The Frisky that I can stand behind. [Source]

– Mayer Hawthorne’s performance of “Her Favorite Song” on The Today Show. [Source]

– Uber now lets you split the fare with a friend. [Source]

– Are your favorite retailers tracking you? [Source]

– A new facial that let’s slugs slime their way all over your face. Are you brave enough to try it? [Source]

– 9 Ways to work out in San Francisco without stepping foot into a gym. Sounds like my kind of workout! [Source]

11 Jul 2013

Keeping My Whites Bright

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Last Friday, I started bleaching my teeth and it’s a little strange to become so excited over a dull task that most people wouldn’t enjoy, but to me, it’s kind of fascinating. We’ve more than halfway through the process and I have to say that I am pretty pleased with the results so far. It started with me wondering how long do crest white strips take to work, and escalated from there. Unfortunately, I won’t have any before or after pictures, but hopefully, my recommendation for it will be enough! I rarely cover health topics on Yow Yow! but since this was a very new experience for me, I thought I would share. I’ve tried several whitening methods in the past – simply brushing, Crest White Strips, and even a whitening pen that pretty much did nothing. The Crest White strips were recommended to me, but I always found that the strips would never stick and then after taking them off, my teeth would be sensitive for hours. It was then that I learned that if I were going to ever try whitening again, I would have to be more careful. I was hesitant to try bleaching because of that reason alone and knowing that it might be stronger. If you want to go ahead and get your teeth whitened, I suggest getting some professional advice before committing to the treatment. Your Dentist Little Falls will be able to recommend various companies which have the most experience in their field.

One bonus tip before I reveal all though! If you are a smoker looking for ways to improve your oral health you might want to consider quitting cigarettes. Smoking can cause all kinds of issues for your health, but one of the worst side effects is the stains it leaves on your teeth. A friend of mine recently tried vaping and found that this helped her to give up cigarettes for good. Nowadays, there are so many different types of vaping devices and flavours of e-liquids such as the Keep it 100 range, that making the transition to vaping has never been easier.

So far, we’re in the clear!

The difference in shades are completely noticeable. I was advised not to drink coffee for a week while I was bleaching, but I slipped up once. The only downside to using my bleach and teeth trays to hold the bleach in place is that the first couple of times, there was a bit of drooling. Woof. Life. If you have the opportunity to bleach, I would HIGHLY recommend it. However, I know that this can be a pricey process so just in case, I wanted to provide you with another alternative. Free People wrote a post just the other day on 4 methods you can use to whiten your teeth. Not only are they simple and things that you can do every day, but they are also inexpensive – which is the most important part.

25 Jun 2013

10 Foods To Fight Headaches

When I have a headache, I usually have to take Tylenol with food to get rid of it. Had I had severe migraines, then taking natural alternatives like say, CBD supplements (available from providers similar to Vibes CBD) could have also been considered. Did you know, however, that there are foods that you can eat that are also an instant cure? These food items seem random to me, but Lauren Conrad believes them to be true.

If you’re suffering from a headache, you may want to do some research of your own to find an instant cure. Caffeine Headache: Symptoms, Withdrawal, Treatment and Alternatives could be a good read if you’re a frequent sufferer from headaches.

Also, I think some of these items are on a case-by-case basis. I actually can get headaches from coffee, but I have known bananas to help with my headaches so if you have one, I wouldn’t suggest eating and drinking all of these things. After all, you know your body better than anyone else.

It’s important to note the types of foods that will also GIVE you headaches as well:

Cheese, artificial sweeteners, processed meats and caffeine (if you’re not used to it or if you drink too much)

For more details on how each food item cures the headache, click here.

27 Mar 2013

What Does 2,000 Calories Look Like?

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My co-worker and I were actually just having a chat about counting calories the other day. When I was a kid, a few of my friends had mentioned to me that they were part of programs and counting their calories so I wanted to join in too – to be mindful of what I was putting into my body, but also because I saw it as extra math or a puzzle. That really only lasted a day because I realized calorie calculators just weren’t equipped to measure the types of foods that I was eating. Hello Kitty Boo-Berry pop tarts and all that other stuff.

[Source]

23 Jan 2013

Thoughts On Juice Cleansing

photo cred | Juicebox

January – the month of resolutions, wanted change, and getting healthy. For the last 23 days, I have been scouring the blogs only to find that one of this year’s biggest (and trendiest) resolutions is the juice cleanse. Personally, I’ve never done one, but I’m very interested in it. Do I think that I could last 3 days on an all liquid diet? Probably not – that’s going to be a challenge, but the thought of detoxing and cleansing my body and starting off fresh is so appealing. I know there’s plenty of advice online for cleansing your liver so perhaps I’ll start doing the research to begin my detoxing journey.

The cleanse program was created by a Seattle-based company called Juicebox and it’s pretty flexible in that you can do it for one day, three days, or five days. It’s also $60 a day so it’s kind of an expensive cleanse, but I can only imagine that your body is going to love you a lot for it (or hate you cause it might think you’re starving.)

I decided to get a second opinion and read Seattle Met’s Allecia Vermillion’s point of view on the juice cleanse and while it seems like she had some ups and downs – the end result was positive.

So what do you think readers? Should I do it?! A 3-day cleanse is pretty heavy on my poor post-grad bank account, but I think even one day could do me some good. Would you try it?