What Did We Learn This Month: Health, June 2010
Health magazine: June 2010
Health Cover Model for June:
Jaime Pressly who was hilarious in My Name is Earl and is now, um---well I am not quite sure what she is doing at the moment, but she sure looks great! Jamie gained 42 pounds when she was pregnant with her son Dezi (now 3) so she knows a thing or two about getting into shape.
Here she is in a lemon-yellow outfit that only a thin, gorgeous blonde can pull off:
How She Keeps in Top Health:
Jamie sounds like a jock at heart who lately has been trying a workout device called TRX the "suspension training system." Never heard of it but from what I gather from the interview it is this thingy you attach to your doorway and it provides extra resistance for when you do lunges and squats. But I am not sure. Sounds kind of cool if so.
Her husband is a vegetarian while she is not so her compromise is to eat "a lot less red meat" which sounds fair to me.
To lose weight from her pregnancy she went on a "Cabbage Soup Diet" wherein she had cabbage soup three-four times per day for six days. Twice. She also ate up to eight bananas per day depending on how hungry she was. This was all while she was breastfeeding her son so she would not look "chunky" on her 30th birthday.
Jamie, Jamie, Jamie. Please get in touch with me. I want to reach out and give you a hug. It's okay to be "chunky" right after you have a baby. (Heavy sigh.)
I need to switch gears. She gives me the sads.
Also in the June Health:
How To Kick the Habit Without Gaining a Pound:
Not to brag but on June 27, 2002 I kicked my up-to-two pack a day smoking habit cold turkey and never looked back. (Yeah!) I did this along with my brother who has since picked up the habit again (Boo!)
For years one of my dumber and more shallow reasons for not giving up the gross habit was that I worried I would gain weight. Vanity thy name is (was) Brooklyn Fit Chick.
But here is the deal, cancer and heart disease both completely suck and smoking is a fast-track for both. In fact women who smoke have a higher rate of heart disease than their male counterparts.
When I gave up the cigs my plan was to keep lollipops on me at all times to fend off the nic fits and withdrawals that seemed to consume me the whole summer. Let me apologize AGAIN to all who knew me at the time and experienced a cranky, bitchy cow for months. (Feeling red-faced now.)
Baby carrots would have been a better choice to trick my oral fixation (as the editors of Health suggest) but if you are a smoker or you know someone who wants to quit--use whatever you need to get through the first few days, weeks and months. You will be so happy you did--trust me!
Anyhoo, check out the article by Leslie Barrie and just stop smoking dammit!
Try here as well for further help in your area: Smokefree.gov
The Numbers We Live By:
Good Information! A clever gathering of numbers and how they translate into good health. For example: 6--the number of hours of sleep that is considered too little (uh oh,) 3--the number of sushi rolls you can safely eat each week, and my favorite...
Wee! If that is what Health says, thy will be done. ;)
Best Summer Salads:
This page makes me go nom, nom nom:
Workout Moves on the Beach:
I don't know about you but on a hot summer day when I am lucky enough to get to the beach; you will find me either swimming, napping, gossiping with friends under a beach umbrella or maybe playing Volleyball. Sit-ups and push-ups are not a part of my sun and sand experience. But I do like this one move they demonstrate in the June issue that I will adapt to my core class. Here it is!
The rest of the section is pretty cool as well and offers some interesting moves. Good on you Health fitness editors!
"America's Healthiest 2010 Buys":
The editors of Health give a shout-out to the best in beauty, food & drink and home buys. Among the winners is an Origins GinZing Eye Cream I want to try, an anti-aging serum from Elizabeth Arden that costs $155 (yikes, it better work!), and my favorite--Kettle Brand Baked Sea Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips that are the best relief from PMS ever. (No shit. Trust me.)
Front-of-the-Book Goodies:
At the beginning of Health you will find the "HealthNow" section that offer tips, tidbits, advice and news bites about health, fitness, and nutrition. My personal fave was a study from the Archives of Internal Medicine which states that women who drank about one alcoholic beverage a day gained less weight over a 13-year period and were 30% less likely to become overweight and obese than nondrinkers. "Cheers!"
Also in "HealthNow;" when asked about the safety of 2-day juice fasts, Health advises that if you are in your 20s or 30s and in excellent health it should be okay but those in their 40s should really avoid them altogether.
But if you think a juice fast is going to help you lose weight (which is why people really do it and not for the supposed "detoxing" it will bring)--forget it because your metabolism shuts down.
If you want to lose weight; cut calories and get more exercise. Sound familiar? (Thank you for the responsible reporting Health editors!)
The rest of the best of this issue of Health:
"Sun-Proof Your Skin from A to Z"
Experts who offer their favorite "#1 Flat-Belly Tricks"
"What The Yuck?" Cute section based on the new book by the same name that answers your most embarrassing health questions.
"Feel Great Weight": Three Health readers are featured who are now at their "goal weight" and seek advice on how to maintain their new figure and keep motivated. Nice!
And now the rest of the rest of Health:
The stories about "Boosting Energy" and "Feeling Great Every Day"--dunno but they just don't intrigue me anymore. I could be the only one though. And the last page with Padma Lakshmi shows her to have a healthy self-image that would be inspiring to your readers. You need to get her on the cover stat!
Overall Grade:
B- Some very useful articles and I liked the sourcing on the research and data mentioned. But the overall look of the magazine lacks energy and zip. More fun, enticing artwork please!
Until next month Health!
ox ox,
Brooklyn Fit Chick
(BFC)
