Photo: girlgetstrong.com
A recent study done by Dove Skincare has revealed some fascinating insights into how women perceive themselves and their own beauty. Here’s the good news: 78 percent of ladies surveyed want to see “real women” in beauty ads instead of celebrities and adolescent girls. Win! But here’s the bad news: the study also found that only one in eight British women polled do consider themselves attractive.
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You wouldn’t know it from how much we talk about cookies, but Birchbox staffers are a pretty healthy bunch. We love our veggies and mind-clearing workouts, and are always up to try the latest fitness class or nutrition bar. Which is why we have new regular column: Well-Balanced. Check back weekly for our latest wellness obsession.
Image: Healthy Stream
A few weeks ago, I went to a friend’s place, ostensibly to watch Downton Abbey. Little did I know that both football and a rerun of the CrossFit Games were on, and that the man of the house was home. Needless to say, the historical British drama was trumped by sports. Read on for my experience:
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You wouldn’t know it from how much we talk about cookies, but Birchbox staffers are a pretty healthy bunch. We love our veggies and mind-clearing workouts, and are always up to try the latest fitness class or nutrition bar. Our weekly column, Well-Balanced, is dedicated to our latest wellness obsessions—they might become yours, too.
Nutritionist and chef Tricia Williams in the kitchen.
Photo: Food Matters NYC
For this month’s Birchbox Magazine, I test-drove Fitist, a new startup that brings boutique fitness classes together into a single program. In addition to creating a custom workout plan for me, Fitist also introduced me to Tricia Williams, the founder of Food Matters NYC, a personalized food delivery service.
Williams, who is a chef/nutritionist, works with clients to design meal plans based on health history, workout routine, and goals. Instead of using calorie counts, she employs medicine guidelines to create the routines—that means no gluten, dairy, or refined grains, and Williams even focuses on the pH of the foods by cooking ingredients in high-alkaline water. If you’re looking to rehab your diet on your own, Food Matters also has health coaches and professional chefs who can visit your house to do a full “pantry purge.”
I gave Williams a rundown of my diet and asked her for simple changes that I can make. Read on for a healthy ice cream alternative, cocktail party saver and more.
Better Than Ice Cream: Dairy is a no-no, but ice cream doesn’t have to be. Williams approved nut milk ice creams, which can be found at natural food stores or spots like Lula’s Sweet Apothecary in New York. I’m partial to Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss ice cream, which tastes even more decadent than the traditional stuff. (Note: these are not low-calorie by any means.)
A Smarter Pre-Game: For nights when you’re going to be drinking, Williams has a special pre-game cocktail: chia seeds and water. “Put a tablespoon in water and wait until the seeds expand. It will fill you up so that you’re less likely to nosh and also helps reduce inflammation.”
Eat Grains Earlier: You don’t have to give up grains altogether; just take them off your dinner plate. Williams says, “Have them earlier in the day so that your body can burn them off and use them as fuel. When you eat them at night, they just convert to sugar.”
Top Snacks: Dark chocolate ranks high on Williams’ approved snack list, as long as it’s raw or 70 percent or darker. She also loves, almonds, pistachios (the ones in the shell, so you eat them more slowly), fresh fruits and veggies, and nuts.
—Mollie
Want more healthy eating tips? Read what the world’s best spa chefs have to say.
Weekday Workouts are going strong at Birchbox HQ thanks to our fearless leader, Deena.
Every hour, on the hour, we are doing 60 seconds of squats, push-ups, lunges, and jumping jacks to keep ourselves fit and fab in 2012. But we need your help! Help us put together a pumped up soundtrack to keep our workouts going! Tweet @birchbox using hashtag #bbweekdayworks with your favorite sweat-inspiring songs and we’ll add them to our Weekday Workouts Spotify Playlist. The playlist is public so you can use it for your workouts too!
(Not familiar with Spotify? Its a music app that lets you stream unlimited music FREE from your computer.)
—Rachel
If you’re an avid follower of Birchbox on Twitter, you may have noticed that we’ve started workday workouts in the office. We’re doing one minute-long workouts (squats! pushups! lunges!) every hour on the hour, every day. The goal is to make us a fitter, happier office without too much effort and it has the added benefit of making the day go a lot faster.
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You wouldn’t know it from how much we talk about cookies, but Birchbox staffers are a pretty healthy bunch. We love our veggies and mind-clearing workouts, and are always up to try the latest fitness class or nutrition bar. Our weekly column, Well-Balanced, is dedicated to our latest wellness obsessions—they might become yours, too.
I consider myself a healthy snack aficionado. I didn’t used to be this discerning—a few years ago, I’d just throw any old granola bar in my bag, even if it was loaded with high fructose corn syrup and soy protein isolates (wha?). Nowadays, I’m much pickier. I go for products that are minimally processed and have all natural, real ingredients.
Needless to say, when it came to picking our January lifestyle extra, I was very interested in taste-testing helping out. Click through for more about the delicious treats we’re sampling this month.
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You wouldn’t know it from how much we talk about cookies, but Birchbox staffers are a pretty healthy bunch. We love our veggies and mind-clearing workouts, and are always up to try the latest fitness class or nutrition bar. Which is why we have new regular column: Well-Balanced. Check back weekly for our latest wellness obsession.
Whenever we have a question about wellness, we turn to the ladies behind Well + Good NYC. From juice cleanses to fitness crazes, co-founders Alexia Brue and Melisse Gelula are all-knowing. This holiday season is no different. They’ve put together a Healthy Holiday Gift Guide, filled with items that combine style and wellness. Trust me, this is not your average collection of overpriced cashmere blankets and whimsical-yet-impractical objects d’art. Instead, you’ll find everything from cute performance windbreakers and OM-worthy yoga gear to healthy cooking products and a luxe $10,000 at-home Kinesis Personal machine (what, I didn’t say this was a budget gift guide). They’ve also got picks from New York’s wellness royalty, including Tata Harper and Jillian Michaels, and a roundup of splurge-worthy spa treatments. Download it now and see for yourself.
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You wouldn’t know it from how much we talk about cookies, but Birchbox staffers are a pretty healthy bunch. We love our veggies and mind-clearing workouts, and are always up to try the latest fitness class or nutrition bar. Which is why we have new regular column: Well-Balanced. Check back weekly for our latest wellness obsession.
After a Thanksgiving holiday filled with nonstop eating and drinking, I’m due for a little de-puffing. I gave up diets long ago, but I like the idea of an occasional detox. I don’t mean the Master Cleanse variety — my idea of a detox is going a week without drinking, a few days without processed foods, or even just a weekend of yoga and only homecooked meals.
My latest cleansing tool: Kusmi Tea. The Paris-based brand has a range of high-quality teas, but I especially love the wellness blends. Their Detox tea is made from green tea, mate, and lemon grass, all of which spur digestion, flush out toxins, and generally undo your Thanksgiving damage. It’s aromatic and smooth, with none of the bitterness that lesser green teas can carry — I’ve been sipping it in the afternoons instead of coffee. A few more vinyasa classes and I’ll be back to normal just in time for the next round of holiday feasting.
—Mollie
Another tea that does wonders for digestion: Chamomile. Try Zhena’s blend, which is one of our faves.
Despite our love of spinning and dark leafy greens, come Thanksgiving, our healthy habits tend to fall by the wayside. (Though we do consider mashing those potatoes an arm workout.) But as we get older and wiser, we recognize the value in balancing out all that indulgence. We tapped Eric Helms, founder of Juice Generation and Cooler Cleanse, for tips on making this year’s holiday our healthiest yet. And no, you don’t have to skip the gravy. Click through for easy ways to feel great on and after Thanksgiving.
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