About Health: January 2014

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Should You Eat Expired Foods?

Should You Eat Expired Foods?

Expiration dates are like threatening work deadlines: They loom overhead, and if you're even a day late, you're in for it.

Or so we think.

But sometimes, food can be perfectly good a day, a week, a year, or even multiple years after the numbers branded onto a package.

In fact, Doug Rauch--the former president of Trader Joe's supermarkets--is turning "expired food" into a business of his own. Come May, he's opening a grocery store in the Boston area called The Daily Table--it'll be a market where all the items have one thing in common: They're past their "sell-by" date.

But before you turn up your nose, know this: "The terminology of shelf life labeling can be confusing," explains Men's Health nutrition expert Alan Aragon, M.S. People confuse three popular terms, he explains:

But how do you really know if a food is safe to eat? It's tough to say because it's a tough topic to study: It's difficult to determine the point when a food doesn't look and taste optimal and when it's downright unsafe, Aragon explains. "Food can be safe to eat even when it doesn't look great or taste amazing," he says.

A general rule of thumb: "The more refined and processed a food is, the longer you can keep it past the expiration date," says Aragon. Chalk that up to very low (or no) water content in these foods--environments that microbes can't thrive in, especially when preservatives are added, he says. The exception: Meats--especially processed ones like deli sandwich meat, hot dogs, and sausages. "You don't want to eat these past the expiration date," Aragon says. They have a particularly high danger of a type of bacteria called l isteria--which can lead to an infection called listeriosis, which--in some cases--can lead to meningitis.

Below, Aragon outlines seven food types and how long you can trust them--even after an expiration date says they're bad.

Canned goods: Most expiration dates on foods in cans range from 1 to 4 years--but keep the food in a cool, dark place and the cans undented and in good condition, and you can likely safely double that shelf life from 3 to up to 6 years.

Frozen foods: They're much like canned goods: pretty much expiration-proof. The exceptions? Meat.

Eggs: Here's the barometer: Put an egg in a bowl of water. If it floats, the bacteria count is too high and unsafe too eat. Bacteria produces gases in high numbers, causing the egg to float, showing you it's gone bad.

Pasta: Pasta is a dry good that is hard to spoil--it has no water content. As long as it doesn't smell odd, you can keep pasta longer than the expiration date.

Bread: You can keep it dramatically longer than the date on the box if you put it in the fridge or freezer. As long as you don't see mold, it's good.

Fresh fruits and vegetables: Look at it, smell it, and feel it--and you can usually tell if a food is going down or not.

The Smokiest Cities in America

The Smokiest Cities in America

Judging by the overflowing ashtrays in St. Louis, we're calling nicotine a Gateway drug: The city smoked the competition in our ranking of places where folks light up. There's no simple explanation, but political opposition in Missouri leaves little support for raising tobacco taxes or funding smoking cessation programs, says Sarah Bobmeyer, M.P.H., a tobacco policy researcher at Washington University in St. Louis. And even when measures to clear the air are put into place, they're filled with holes. "The city has a smoke-free policy, but certain places are exempt," Bobmeyer says. "The workers aren't protected, and neither are the patrons."

Smoke-Free Cities

1. Salt Lake City, UT
2. Newark, NJ
3. Honolulu, HI
4. San Francisco, CA
5. San Jose, CA
6. Seattle, WA
7. Los Angeles, CA
8. Oakland, CA
9. Jersey City, NJ
10. New York, NY

11. Plano, TX
12. Anaheim, CA
13. San Diego, CA
14. Austin, TX
15. Minneapolis, MN
16. Burlington, VT
17. Fresno, CA
18. Bridgeport, CT
19. Dallas, TX
20. San Antonio, TX

21. Miami, FL
22. Stockton, CA
23. Phoenix, AZ
24. Tucson, AZ
25. Bakersfield, CA
26. Colorado Springs, CO
27. Houston, TX
28. Raleigh, NC
29. Washington, DC
30. El Paso, TX

31. Aurora, CO
32. Sacramento, CA
33. Laredo, TX
34. Boston, MA
35. Boise City, ID
36. Fargo, ND
37. St. Paul, MN
38. Durham, NC
39. Madison, WI
40. Chicago, IL

41. San Bernardino, CA
42. Corpus Christi, TX
43. Lincoln, NE
44. Albuquerque, NM
45. Atlanta, GA
46. Riverside, CA
47. Denver, CO
48. Fort Worth, TX
49. Wilmington, DE
50. Baton Rouge, LA

51. Anchorage, AK
52. Portland, OR
53. Portland, ME
54. Buffalo, NY
55. Manchester, NH
56. Lubbock, TX
57. Columbus, OH
58. Charlotte, NC
59. Billings, MT
60. Wichita, KS

61. Providence, RI
62. Orlando, FL
63. Memphis, TN
64. Columbia, SC
65. Baltimore, MD
66. Cleveland, OH
67. Birmingham, AL
68. Las Vegas, NV
69. Sioux Falls, SD
70. Des Moines, IA

71. Omaha, NE
72. Milwaukee, WI
73. Toledo, OH
74. Norfolk, VA
75. Virginia Beach, VA
76. Cincinnati, OH
77. Greensboro, NC
78. Jackson, MS
79. Pittsburgh, PA
80. Cheyenne, WY

81. Indianapolis, IN
82. Detroit, MI
83. Little Rock, AR
84. Reno, NV
85. Nashville, TN
86. Chesapeake, VA
87. Fort Wayne, IN
88. Tampa, FL
89. New Orleans, LA
90. St. Petersburg, FL

Pack-a-Day Towns
91. Philadelphia, PA
92. Tulsa, OK
93. Lexington, KY
94. Louisville, KY
95. Oklahoma City, OK
96. Winston-Salem, NC
97. Charleston, WV
98. Kansas City, MO
99. Jacksonville, FL
100. St. Louis, MO

The Beautiful Woman Who Just Made Sports History

The Beautiful Woman Who Just Made Sports History

If the odds of qualifying for the Olympics are low, knockout Australian snowboarder Torah Bright just defeated all of them. This weekend, the 27-year-old superstar announced that she'll compete in three snowboarding events--slopestyle, halfpipe, and snowboard cross--making her the first female or male athlete to do so.

Bright's collected many accolades--a gold medal in halfpipe at the Vancouver Games in 2010, and a first place finish in the Dew Tour earlier this season, to name a few--on her way to Sochi. (She's also one of our 20 Hottest Winter Athletes!) And big name sponsors like Roxy and Subway have come knocking.

But beyond her beauty is serious skill and determination. Before last year, Bright had never even competed in snowboard cross--one of the sports she's now taking on in Sochi. And her most amazing feat is perhaps what she said to herself a year ago when she entered that first competition: Challenge yourself like you never have before.

She's technically team Aussie--even though she spends most of her time in Salt Lake City--but after accomplishing such a feat, we're hoping to see Bright on the podium(s), and won't mind the view.

Homemade Upgrade: How to Make Healthy Fettuccine Alfredo

Homemade Upgrade: How to Make Healthy Fettuccine Alfredo

Each month your favorite dishes get a healthy and delectable do-over with tips from Keri Glassman, R.D.

1 head cauliflower (2 lbs), cut into florets and steamed
2 cloves garlic
1 can (15 oz) cannellini beans
1/2 cup vegetable stock
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 lb whole-wheat fettuccine
1 tsp grapeseed oil
8 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast
4 medium zucchini
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast Parsley

Puree cauliflower, garlic, cannellini beans, vegetable stock, Parmesan cheese, and black pepper in a blender until smooth. In a large pot, cook fettuccine as directed. Drain and set aside. Heat grapeseed oil; saute chicken and slice. Shave zucchini into ribbons. Heat olive oil over medium heat and add zucchini ribbons. Toss and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Lower heat and add cooked fettuccine, chicken, and cauliflower sauce. Toss to coat. Remove from heat and serve. Sprinkle with nutritional yeast and parsley.

Makes 4 servings
Per serving: 410 cal, 10 g fat (3 g sat), 49 g carbs, 610 mg sodium, 13 g fiber, 33 g protein

Use a Pasta Impostor
Vitamin- and antioxidant-packed zucchini ribbons sub for half of the fettuccine, giving you all of the volume (and even more flavor) without the carb bomb.

Elevate Your Oil
Sizzle chicken in grapeseed oil, which is brimming with heart-healthy fats. It also has a high smoke point, so it's less likely to break down and form harmful chemical compounds. Olive is another A-plus oil: It contains a compound that may ward off UVB damage and breast and skin cancer.

Try This Sauce Substitution
The bulk of the calories and fat in classic fettuccine Alfredo comes from the cream sauce, but there's no need for it with this savory bean and veggie blend. Steaming the cauliflower retains more of its nutrients than other cooking methods, such as boiling, since hot water can zap vitamins.

Top It Off
Nutritional yeast (we know, awful name) is a flaky, dairy-free topping that tastes cheesy and adds vitamins, protein, and folic acid.

6 Reasons Women Fake Orgasms

6 Reasons Women Fake Orgasms

Any of these sound familiar?

In (uncomfortably relatable) sex news, researchers identified a whopping six different reasons that women fake orgasms, according to a pair of surveys of over 350 women, published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior. Even weirder (slash, more interesting): their reasons differ based on whether they're faking it during oral sex or penetration. Oh!

During penetrative intercourse, women tend to fake it for four main reasons: to avoid hurting their partner's feelings; because they feel insecure about having an orgasm; to speed things up and end the sex ASAP; and as an attempt to increase their own arousal (sort of a fake-it-'til-you-make-it approach—hey, whatever works!).

MORE: 19 Things You Didn't Know About Orgasms

But their reasons for faking it during oral sex were surprisingly different. They still reported faking it to boost their own arousal and to protect their partner's ego, but they also gave these two interesting reasons: to avoid anxiety associated with oral sex (specifically the up-close-and-personalness of the position); and to seem "normal" in terms of sexual function, rather than betray the fact that they take a while to climax, or maybe aren't even able to. (Which, for the record: Is completely normal.)

MORE: Have Great Sex—Even When You Don't Have an Orgasm

First of all, let's throw out the idea that you ever need to feel insecure about your orgasm—no matter how long it takes, or whether it even happens at all. And second, please let this story serve as a reminder: There's no such thing as a "normal" vagina, and insecurity about what a "normal" vagina should look, feel, or taste like is an unnecessary damper on a potentially great time. So why are we still faking it? These findings demonstrate that sometimes women think it's reasonable—or even valuable—to fake an orgasm, says coauthor Allan Fenigstein, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Kenyon College. Based on the non-insecurity related reasons listed above, it seems like playing up the theatrics may seem like the path of least resistance/least awkwardness, compared to just saying, "Hey babe, you know what? That feels awesome, but it's just not going to happen. < em>You go ahead and finish."

Bottom line: whether you're faking it to make your partner feel better or to overcome your own neuroses about face-to-vulva-proximity, it's time to put an end to the charade. Instead, brush up on our tips for scoring the big O, because you deserve the real deal every time.

MORE: 10 Reasons You Should Have More Orgasms

Secrets of Long-Distance Couples

Secrets of Long-Distance Couples

You can learn a lot about keeping your bond (and bedroom life) strong from lovers who live apart

One year into my marriage, I moved to another state—without my husband. I was following my dream of working in Manhattan, but Jason's job almost 100 miles away in Pennsylvania was too good to give up. It may have looked as if we were heading for divorce, but a year and a half later, our marriage is stronger than ever.

We're one of the estimated 3.5 million married U.S. couples who live apart—a stat that reflects the rise of online dating (where it's easy to meet someone in a different area), an unreliable job market, and military deployments. And recently, Cornell University researchers confirmed my suspicion: Long-distance duos often communicate better and feel more connected than close-quarter couples. "They know they're at a disadvantage, so they put more time and effort into their relationship," says Tina Tessina, Ph.D. Here, tips that can help your partnership go the distance—even if you're never more than a few miles apart.

Get to the Heart of It
It makes sense that geographically divided partners in the Cornell study reported a higher level of intimacy and a closer bond than pairs who saw each other more often, say some experts. "When couples have only a limited time to communicate, they make sure to get to the emotionally important stuff first," says Logan Levkoff, Ph.D., author of How to Get Your Wife to Have Sex with You. Of course, you can't—and shouldn't—avoid talking about who's going to pick up the dry cleaning, but you can prevent mundane topics from sucking the life out of your relationship.

One way to strike a better balance: Tackle chores and routines over e-mail, says Tessina. With the humdrum out of the way, you can spend face-to-face time sharing the deeper stuff—something that geographically challenged couples in the study did more of. "Long-distance couples were more open about their thoughts and feelings and especially valued when their partner responded to them with empathy and understanding," says study author Crystal Jiang, Ph.D. That means really paying attention—even when you wish he'd quit talking so you can turn on Scandal.

Connect Your Worlds
What you had for lunch, his boss's tacky tie, the guy who nabbed your seat on the bus—who cares? Well, you should.

While deep discussions enhance intimacy, chatting about the little stuff creates "interrelatedness," or the feeling of being involved in each other's day-to-day ups and downs, says Greg Guldner, Ph.D., a long-distance relationship researcher and assistant professor at Loma Linda University. "Couples with higher degrees of interrelatedness are less likely to break up," he says. He recommends sending your mate two positive or neutral texts per day—but resist the urge to make them open-ended. "You don't want to fall into a pattern where someone feels as if they have to respond immediately," he says. In other words, text your guy a compliment or send him an e-mail saying that you're still laughing about that story he told you last night. Save your coworker's rude comments for later—you can tell him all about it over a glass of wine.

Be Ignorantly Blissful
If distance makes the heart grow fonder, it also makes couples more likely to focus on all the happy memories that they've made together—which is one reason why long-distance pairs are more likely to idealize their partners, says Jiang.

We're not saying you should let his tendency to bad-mouth your mom go unnoticed, but keeping a mental list of your partner's good points—and even building them up a little bit—is way better for your relationship than stewing over things that bug you.

Need inspiration? One study from the University of Texas at Austin found that couples who wrote about their relationships—and focused on the positives—were more likely to stay together. If you're not the journaling type, try tossing out more compliments: People who make a conscious effort to appreciate their partner are more successful than those who don't give each other mental props, says research from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. It's not just thanking him for what he does, says study author Amie Gordon, Ph.D., but being thankful for who he is. It's the difference between "You're so sweet to make me coffee!" and "Thanks for the joe."

Put It in Writing
Guldner's research has found that long-distance couples who stayed together wrote to each other twice as often during their relationship as those who split up, with the average LDR couple sending three letters—you know, the kind you put stamps on and drop in the mailbox—per month. Taking the time to put pen to paper shows effort and thought.

"A letter is also a transition object," explains Guldner. "You'll feel stronger about receiving one because your partner has recently held it in his hand. Plus, letters can leave traces of scent—and odor can stimulate the brain's limbic system, which is associated with arousal."

Slip a hot note into his gym bag or stick a Post-it on his nightstand before you leave for the weekend. And no shortcuts—punching out a sweet text or shooting off a quick e-mail has its place, but "there's a direct connection between writing and your emotions, so a handwritten missive is more likely to be open and honest than a typed one or a text," says Tessina.

Spice Things Up
Because couples who live across state lines have to get creative to maintain their physical bond (hello, steamy Skype sesh), they can end up with a sex life that's fresher and more exciting. "All couples need to go outside of their comfort zone and explore their boundaries," says Yvonne K. Fulbright, Ph.D., author of Sultry Sex Talk to Seduce Any Lover.

Shoot a video, or try fantasizing about a different place—or even a different person—next time you're in the sack. "Thinking about having sex with a person who isn't your partner isn't an indication that you're bored in your relationship or unhappy with your mate," says Ian Kerner, Ph.D., author of She Comes First. "It can be an important way to increase your satisfaction."

BeyoncÃ© May be Behind a Rise in Temporary Vegans

BeyoncÃ© May be Behind a Rise in Temporary Vegans

Would you be willing to try out the vegan life for a month?

Remember when Beyoncé and Jay-Z became vegans for 22 days in December? The couple's pre-Christmas "spiritual cleanse," as Jay-Z called it, scored tons of media attention—and it might have contributed to a recent surge in people trying out the vegan lifestyle for themselves.

This year, the U.K.-based Vegan Society launched a new campaign called Veganuary, which was designed to encourage people to try veganism for the month of January. The organization recently told BBC that 3,200 people signed the Veganuary pledge on their site—and leaders say Beyoncé and Jay-Z's temporary veganism may have helped encourage people to take part in the campaign.

Bey and Jay aren't eating vegan anymore (they ended their challenge with some seafood, but they aren't the only stars who've promoted veganism. Carrie Underwood, Natalie Portman, and Alicia Silverstone also eat an animal product-free diet. Interested in trying out the vegan lifestyle but aren't sure you can fully commit to it? You might want to start off with food writer Mark Bittman's vegan before six plan.

MORE: 3 Crazy-Tempting Vegan Recipes

The Scary Side Effect Associated with High-Protein Diets

The Scary Side Effect Associated with High-Protein Diets

Read this before you go Atkins crazy

Kim Kardashian says the Atkins diet was the secret to her post-baby weight loss, and plenty of studies have suggested that eating a high-protein diet can help you drop pounds. But there’s a potential drawback to be aware of: A new study suggests that consuming a diet packed with protein can boost your chances of developing kidney disease and/or painful kidney stones.

Here’s the gist: Scientists at the University of Grenada in Spain fed rats a diet composed of 45 percent protein for 12 weeks. The rats did lose weight—10 percent of their total body weight, in fact. However, they had significantly lower levels of a chemical found in urine that prevents the crystallization of calcium—and having this sort of deficiency can lead to kidney stones.

This isn’t the first time researchers have found fault with high-protein plans, especially when it comes to kidney problems. There’s been a rise in the incidence of kidney stones—and the American Academy of Family Medicine released a statement linking this to the popularity of diets high in animal protein, says Janet Brill, Ph.D., R.D., a Philadelphia-based nutritionist. Animal protein produces an acidic environment in the body, increasing the formation of kidney stones and leeching calcium from bones, says Brill. “Plant proteins don’t have the same effect."

Unsurprisingly, the study authors came down hard on high-protein diets in general—but they singled out the Dukan Diet by name. (While the study authors didn’t go into why they called out this diet in particular, it may be because the weight-loss plan is trendy in Europe—and the researchers are from Spain). It’s also worth noting that animals’ bodies aren’t identical to humans’—so this animal study alone doesn’t prove that high-protein diets will have a similar effect on people.

While it’s best to avoid diets that cut out entire food groups and instead opt for more sustainable healthy-eating plans, the study authors did say that there may be a way to offset the possibility of kidney problems if you’re consuming tons of protein: Make sure to eat lots of fruits and vegetables since they’re high in potassium (and the nutrient can help protect against kidney stones).

MORE: “How Can I Eat Better and Still Maintain a Social Life?”

Monday, January 27, 2014

Be a Better Snowboarder--Today!

Be a Better Snowboarder--Today!

Learning to snowboard ain't easy: You spend half your time on your butt, spend most of your day on the kiddie runs, and leave the mountain sore.

But for some--namely the men and women who 'board for a living--a day on the slopes is just another day at the office. Allow them to help you turn your frustration into fun with these five tips.

TURN BETTER
Arielle Gold, halfpipe snowboarder and member of Team USA for the 2014 Olympics:
"A lot of people try to do the 'falling leaf' where you fly sideways and don't try to turn. Keep your knees bent, look where you're going, and make toe-side and heel-side turns. It'll help you learn and keep you on your feet."

FOLLOW THE 10-DAY RULE
Scotty Lago, professional halfpipe rider and bronze medalist at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics:
"People get bummed out when they first go snowboarding. They try maybe five times, and then they're like, 'I'm sore, my wrists hurt, I'm not good at it.' Stick with it: There's pretty much a 10-day mark. Once you hit that 10-day mark, you're not falling, and you start to have fun. You get better really quick from there."

PICK THE RIGHT BOARD
Seth Wescott, two-time Olympic champion in snowboard cross:
"You have to start with your foot size--it amazes me how much people don't pay attention to this. If you have toe/heel drag, you're going to have a horrible snowboard experience. I see people on boards that are too narrow for them all the time, and especially for larger guys, it's really important to get a wide board."

EXAGGERATE THE KNEE BEND
Gretchen Bleiler, American halfpipe snowboarder and Olympic silver medalist:
"For some reason, we always think we're bending our knees more than we are. But if you saw a photo of what you're actually doing, it's not it at all. Pretend like you're sitting on a chair to gauge how bent your knees should be."

BALANCE!
Nate Holland, Professional snowboard cross rider and two-time Olympian:
"If you're having trouble, make sure you're staying on an edge of your board--if you just stay flat on your board, you'll usually catch an edge and you can fall that way."

Your Weekend Warrior Uniform

Your Weekend Warrior Uniform

If this is your weekend to relax and catch up on this year's GRAMMY nominees, stick to these (upgraded) basics.

T-shirt: Splendid Mills
Sweatshirt: Billy Reid
Speaker: Beats by Dre
Beanie: Neff
Sneaker: Kenneth Cole
Socks: Stance
Jeans: Silver Jeans

--The Men's Health Style Team

Check out our Pinterest board for more style inspiration.

More Looks Of The Week:

Are You Lifting the Right Amount of Weight?

Are You Lifting the Right Amount of Weight?

The amount of weight you should be lifting depends on the result you want--size, strength, or endurance. However, a good general benchmark is 90 percent of your 1-rep max. At that percentage, the participants in a Brazilian study achieved up to 98 percent activation of their targeted muscles. Unless you're a competitive lifter, there's no reason to go any heavier, says Bret Contreras, C.S.C.S., the author of Bodyweight Strength Training Anatomy.

Of course, you won't be able to handle that much weight for every exercise--it would be too fatiguing. Instead, shoot for a variety of loads and repetition ranges in each workout. Contreras recommends choosing one or two key (compound, multijoint) exercises, and performing them using a pyramid system (seen below): For your first set, do 8 repetitions using a weight you can lift no more than 10 times (about 75 percent of your max). For your second set, do 5 reps at 85 percent; then do 3 reps at 90 percent for your third. For your fourth and fifth sets, do 10 and 12 reps, respectively, using weights that exhaust your muscles. Following those pyramid sets, do exercises in each of these four basic movement patterns--squat, deadlift, push (chest or shoulder press), and pull (row, chinup, or pulldown). This time you'll use the more traditional lifting strategy of 2 or 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps.

If you stick to this plan, you'll enjoy all the benefits of the heaviest lifts without the beating your joints would take if hoisting major iron were all you did. You should be very happy with your results--and, best of all, injury-free.

Get Out of Your Own Way

Get Out of Your Own Way

The key to reaching a goal: giving yourself consequences for slacking

This is the time of year when everyone launches a self-improvement campaign. But since most people give up on their New Year's resolutions by February—at the latest—you need a creative way to keep yourself on track. Through my work as a life coach, I've discovered a no-fail strategy: Start as you usually would by making a promise to yourself, but—and here's where it gets a little hard—if you don't do what you vowed, whether it's to stop swearing or look for a new job, give yourself a consequence. Sounds cruel (and, um, not for grown-ups), but I can personally vouch for its effectiveness. If it weren't for this system, I'd be 30 pounds overweight, divorced, and in a failing business! Use these four steps to get tough with yourself—and make 2014 the year you finally accomplish your goals.

Choose your consequence. In order to make yourself stick with something, you have to come up with a deterrent to quitting that would be unpleasant specifically for you. For example, a caffeine junkie could deprive herself of that glorious morning coffee if she doesn't make it to the gym. Think of things that are uncomfortable and annoying, not harsh or physically painful.

Enlist others. If no one but you knows about the repercussions, it's easy not to enforce them. Ask those close to you to hold you accountable. . .or make them part of your comeuppance. For example, if you're late to a dinner date, you have to pick up the tab for the meal. Most people will have no problem calling you out on a slipup (especially if there's something in it for them!).

Pay up immediately. When you falter, address it ASAP. It's natural to want to drag your feet before, say, doing your roommate's chores or laying off social networking for an entire day. But spending a lot of time dreading whatever you're about to do to make amends takes you away from working toward your goal. If you'd just gotten it over with, you could already be back on your way to chiseling better abs or changing careers.

Focus on the positive. There's an important distinction between giving yourself consequences and beating yourself up. The latter can mess with your self-esteem and make you feel as if you might as well ditch the whole self-betterment quest. If you do revert to your old ways, look at your lumps as a learning experience and quickly begin looking forward again. Eventually you will be able to adhere to your new habit simply because it makes you feel good.

Laurie Gerber is an executive vice president and senior coach at Handel Group Life Coaching, which works with people to design and realize their dreams. Visit handelgroup.com.

Sunday, January 26, 2014

The Vice That Kills Your Shot at Date No. 2

The Vice That Kills Your Shot at Date No. 2

Silence your cravings: 51 percent of singles said that taking a smoke break on a first date is a deal breaker, according to a new survey by Match.com.

In fact, the survey respondents--who were both smokers and non-smokers--considered lighting up more offensive than checking your phone or showing up late.

Slave to your cigs? Nix your bad habit by picking up a good one. People who exercise when they crave cigarettes are more likely to overcome the urge to smoke, finds a report published in the journal Addiction. Breaking a sweat may distract you from thinking about taking a puff, researchers say. Plus, hitting the gym may lift your mood and boost self-control, reducing your impulsiveness, says lead study author Adrian Taylor, Ph.D., a professor of exercise and health psychology at the University of Exeter in Britain.

The Truth About Your Hangover

The Truth About Your Hangover

There are certain types of alcohol you learn to treat with respect. For a lot of men, tequila is at or near the top of that list. But is your hangover worse because of the stuff in your glass, or because of the way you drank it?

As it turns out, it's a combo of both.

Blame it on the Ethanol

When it comes to the severity of your headache, your principal nemesis is ethanol--a.k.a. ethyl alcohol, says Michael Oshinsky, Ph.D., of Thomas Jefferson University. Ethanol is the colorless, flammable liquid that puts the buzz in your favorite beer, wine, or liquor. And it doesn't really matter what type of ethanol you knock back, Oshinsky explains. It's all about how much of it you consume, and how quickly you consume it.

The ethanol in your drink ends up mostly in your liver, where it's metabolized into a compound called acetaldehyde--which is then converted into a chemical called acetate. This conversion happens all over your body, including in your brain tissues, Oshinsky's research shows. And those circulating levels of acetaldehyde and acetate--and the inflammation they cause--are the root of your headache.

The more booze you down in a short period of time, the more of those chemicals your brain has to contend with, and the more your noggin throbs. So it's not the tequila or those aggressively-hopped IPAs that cause your headache. It's the fact that you take your Patron straight and all at once--and your ales by the pint--that explains the vice clamped around your temples the next day. (Some alcohol-heavy beers pack 9 or 10 percent, which is closer to wine than light beer. So imagine slamming a pint of pinot in 15 minutes.)

Ethanol is also a diuretic--meaning it makes you pee more. More urination leads to dehydration and electrolyte imbalances, which also contribute to your sore head, says Janne Tolstrup, Ph.D., of the University of Southern Denmark.

The Second Culprit: Congeners

You can also blame your upset stomach, shakiness, thirst, and generally foul feeling on compounds called congeners--which are basically toxins left behind by the fermenting and aging process, explains Damaris J. Rohsenow, Ph.D., of Brown University. And not all drinks are created equal when it comes to congener content.

Most of your alcohol's color--whether light tan or dark brown--comes from the barrels they're aged in. And those barrels are also the source of most congeners, Rohsenow explains. That means the darker your hooch, the more toxins have likely seeped into it. Bourbon--aged in charred oak barrels--tops the list when it comes to liquor congeners, Rohsenow explains.

Close on bourbon's heels are Scotch and the various types of whiskey--American, Canadian--which are also barrel-aged. At the bottom of the list are gin and vodka--the latter of which is often filtered multiple times to remove contaminants. (Rohsenow didn't look at tequila. But the brown reposado or aÃ±ejo varieties--as opposed to silver or blanco tequilas--are aged in oak barrels, and so likely contain congeners similar to whiskey.) Flavor additives--the "limon" or "peppar" in your rum or vodka--may also contain congeners, and so could exacerbate your hangover, she says.

Most beers contain many more congeners than liquor. For example, Budweiser packs 142 milligrams (mg) of congeners per 12-ounce can compared to just 49 mgs in one scotch drink, Rohsenow says. Different types of alcohol contain different congeners, and whiskey's may be more hangover-inducing than beer's, even though they're less numerous. But not many guys cite Bud as a big hangover inducer, so congeners aren't your head's worst enemy.

To help make your headache disappear, discover the 11 Ways to Ease a Nasty Hangover.

The Training Tip That Keeps You Injury Free

The Training Tip That Keeps You Injury Free

A regular rest day may be just as important as your long run. Endurance athletes who took less than two days off per week were 5 times more likely to have an overuse injury while training, reports new research from Finland.

In the study, top-level Finnish athletes--from runners to swimmers to cross-country skiiers--tallied their injuries over the course of a year. Along with inadequate rest, overuse injuries in spots like the Achilles tendon, knee, and shoulder sidelined athletes when training volumes eclipsed a massive 700 hours a year.

While you're not likely training two hours every day, you may be just as susceptive to overuse injuries if you ramp up training too fast. "People often have an end goal in place, and every day of training seems crucial, so you override it," says Lee Troop, a former Olympic marathoner for Australia and head coach of the Boulder Track Club.

Troop points to himself as an example of overtraining. Heading into the 2004 At hens Olympics, Troop says he ran almost 1,000 straight days, and pushed the envelope too hard. Three weeks before the games, he was drained. "I normally have five gears, but only four gears were working," he says. Troop placed 27th.

That's how an overuse injury gets you: Pain and fatigue gradually get worse the more you repetitively exercise the same muscles despite not having anything traumatic--like a rolled ankle--happen. The discomfort can get to the point where you either have to stop training or see a doctor.

Troop advises his beginning athletes to rest two days a week and watch for subtle signs of overtraining. You won't always feel an oncoming pain while working out because your body is warmed up. But if you're at work with an aching knee or lower back, consider scheduling a massage or get on a foam roller more often, he says.

And if shin splints or your knees are hurting right now, here's your guide to treat the most common running injuries.

Don't Blame CrossFit for Man's Horrific Injury

Don't Blame CrossFit for Man's Horrific Injury

This weekend, Deadspin reported on the tragic paralysis of CrossFit Games athlete Kevin Ogar during the OC Throwdown in Southern California. Ogar suffered what's reported to be a severed spine after he collapsed under the bar while attempting a snatch.

News outlets immediately began to focus on the "dangers of CrossFit." But let's be clear: This could occur to any competitive weightlifter, whether a CrossFit athlete or a gold-medal winning Olympian.

"It looks like a 100 percent freak accident. He was a very skilled Olympic lifter and obviously knows how to bail out of a lift," says Robert dos Remedios, C.S.C.S., director of strength and conditioning at College of the Canyons and longtime Men's Health training advisor. "Everything that had to happen to cause this horrible injury, happened."

The actual reason for this disaster isn't yet known. "It looks like he just falls prior to when he would actually bail, as if there was a complete shutdown of his system," says dos Remedios. "The worst part is that if the barbell had been one millimeter higher, lower, left, or right, he probably pops up."

Dos Remedios points to Mattias Steiner, of the German Olympic weightlifting team, who won gold at the 2008 Olympics, but whose neck was seemingly crushed during the snatch in 2012. "At the London Olympics, Steiner had twice as much weight on the bar as Kevin Ogar did, yet he walked away after the initial daze, with no injury at all," says dos Remedios. (Watch the video below to see Steiner's near disaster.)

We wish Kevin Ogar a speedy and full recovery. If you'd like to learn more about him and contribute to his recovery fund, visit KevinOgar.com.

The Best Moves for a Hard Core

The Best Moves for a Hard Core

Shredded abs might boost your attractiveness quotient, but that's not their primary purpose. In everyday life, your core has one directive: to stabilize your spine. That makes the three exercises below the ultimate gut check. By forcing your core to brace against three kinds of potentially spine-damaging motion--rotation, flexion, and extension--they'll reveal just how strong it really is, says Kevin Carr, C.S.C.S., a trainer at Mike Boyle Strength & Conditioning in Massachusetts. And if you add them to your weekly routine, you'll soon notice greater stability and power in everything you do--not to mention an increasingly chiseled profile.

DIRECTIONS
Perform these exercises as a circuit, moving from one to the next without resting. Once you've finished all three exercises, rest for one minute and then repeat the circuit.

Your goal: 3 total circuits

Plank Row (Anti-Rotation)
Assume a pushup position while gripping a pair of dumbbells that total half your body weight. Row the weight in your left hand to your ribs, then repeat with the right. Continue alternating sides for 20 reps.

Farmer's Walk (Anti-Flexion)
Grab a pair of dumbbells equal to your body weight and let them hang naturally at arm's length next to your sides. Keeping your chest up and shoulders back, walk forward for 40 yards.

Ab Wheel Rollout (Anti-Extension)
Kneel on the floor and grab the handles of an ab wheel. Roll it forward as far as you can. Use your core to pull the wheel back. Do 15 reps. No ab wheel? Use a barbell loaded with 10-pound weights instead.

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Are You at Risk for This Rising STD?

Are You at Risk for This Rising STD?

Talk about a boner-buzz kill: Chlamydia rates are at an all-time high in the United States, says a new report from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.

Almost 1.5 million cases of chlamydia were reported in 2012--that's the largest number the CDC has ever received for any condition. (To put that in perspective: 196,038 men in the U.S. were diagnosed with prostate cancer--the most common cancer among men--in 2010.)

And while female counts make up the majority of chlamydia cases, syphilis rates in men have jumped 11 percent from 2011 to 2012, while new gonorrhea cases increased by 4 percent--both spikes due to increases in male reports.

All three of these infections are treatable with antibiotics, yes. But your best defense is to rock a rubber, get tested yearly if you are sexually active, and know which symptoms to look out for:

Chlamydia is often known as a silent infection because most people have no symptoms, according to the CDC. If signs do appear, they'll come in the form of a burning sensation when urinating, or an abnormal discharge from the penis.

Gonorrhea usually catches your attention within the first 10 to 14 days after infection. Common symptoms include discomfort during urination, or a white, yellow, or green discharge from the penis.

Syphilis comes in three stages. First, in the primary stage, symptoms consist of an ulcer or sore at the infection site. The secondary stage appears as a rash that may look like "copper penny" spots or fine red dots on your palms or the soles of your feet. Other symptoms of secondary syphilis: a sore throat, sores in your throat, and fever. The latent (hidden) stage takes place when primary and secondary symptoms disappear. Without treatment, it can eventually lead to severe and fatal complications.

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Carbohydrate And Healthy Diet Plan For Men

Carbohydrate And Healthy Diet Plan For Men

To maintain men’s health is a challenge for working men. A balanced diet planretains all health problems away from you. Balance and healthy diet contain balance nutritious foods which are essential for the health of men. An unbalance diet plan helps in rapid increase of weight. So how can a working men or women find out which is better and the best diet plan for health?

Healthy diet comprises all the essential nutrients required for healthy body in a balanced quantity. In this blog we focus on a healthy diet needed for healthy body. Do not remove carbohydrate completely from body because carbohydrate is essential composite that helps in right functioning of energetic responses in a healthy body. These carbohydrates produce energy which is required for our body for activities. These carbohydrates should be used up during breakfast as part of stable health diet plan.

6 'No Medicine' Cures!

6 'No Medicine' Cures!

Whether you've got a headache, are suffering from a nasty flu bug, or are trying to lower your blood pressure, sometimes you don't want to pop some meds and call it a day. In fact, sometimes you don't need to. Try these science-backed natural cures and you'll be on your way to feeling better:

#1: Stop a headache with sex.
Bang it out: 60 percent of migraine sufferers who hit the sack during an attack reported that sex helped improve their symptoms, with most saying they experienced moderate or complete relief, found a 2013 German study.

#2: Ease back pain with a walk.
Don't lay on the couch: Walking two or three days a week for 20 to 40 minutes help strengthen lower back muscles to ease pain associated with back injury, showed a study in Clinical Rehabilitation.

#3: Beat the flu with garlic.
Take two 600-mg capsules of aged garlic twice daily. In a study in Clinical Nutrition, people who popped about that much when they were sick had less-severe symptoms and missed fewer days due to illness compared to a placebo.

#4: Relieve IBS with peppermint.
Taking two peppermint oil capsules twice daily for four weeks can help relieve irritable bowel syndrome symptoms--bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhea, gas--by over 50 percent, found a 2007 study by Italian researchers.

#5: Quell heartburn with gum.
So you ate a chili cheese dog--and now you have acid reflux to pay for it. Pop a piece of sugar-free gum. In one study in the Journal of Dental Research, chewing gum for a half hour after eating helped neutralize acid in the esophagus, so you won't feel the burn.

#6: Reduce blood sugar with cinnamon.
In a 2013 meta-analysis of 10 studies, eating about a teaspoon and a half of cinnamon per day helped reduce fasting glucose, total cholesterol, and triglyceride levels, which can help you manage diabetes.

The Hot Woman Who Won Over Australia

The Hot Woman Who Won Over Australia

This year's Australian Open turned into a coming-out party for tennis's newest sweetheart: Genie Bouchard. The gorgeous 5'10" blonde won the biggest match of her career--beating out former No. 1 player Ana Ivanovi in the quarterfinals--before losing in the semifinals to China's Li Na. Expect to see her contending for titles for years to come.

But behind camera-catching good looks and the ability to kick your ass on a tennis court--she was the first Canadian to win junior Wimbledon in singles--research says she's got the right make-up to take the tennis world by storm. Here's why:

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A sense of humor can beat stress: Before her semifinal match, Bouchard plugged lyrics from fellow Canadian Drake saying, "You gotta start from the bottom and now we're here, right?" Then, when asked in a postmatch interview who she would want to date in the world of sport or movies, she smiled and answered Justin Bieber, setting off a Twitterstorm the size of Roger Federer's ego. That's big.
Why it works: Just the anticipation of laughing decreases stress hormones to calm you down, a Loma Linda University study found. And when University of Maryland researchers showed short movie clips to people, those who saw humorous films saw a 22 percent increase in blood flow to their hearts.

A support system can push you harder: A group of Australians who call themselves the "Genie Army" cheered Bouchard along throughout the tournament in red and white T-shirts that spell out her name.
Why it works: A recent Stanford University study found that social support is the No. 1 factor for success in female fitness programs. The same is likely true for guys. Having people behind you makes you accountable not just to yourself, but to others--and positive support can give you the push needed to keep going.

Confidence helps you win: Bouchard was quoted as saying, "I do try to walk around like I belong there, and play like I belong, and every time I walk on the court I believe I can win. So when it does happen, it's like O.K., I knew I could do this, and now let's go to the next thing."
Why it works: Paralysis by analysis is when you overthink something you've trained for, explains Steve Edwards, Associate Dean of Graduate and Research Studies at Oklahoma State University. It can throw off your performance and your results. Trust your training: If you've pounded something into your brain a million times, it's probably there, Edwards adds.

Is Your Phone Smarter Than Obamacare?

Is Your Phone Smarter Than Obamacare?

We once cautioned against relying on "Dr. Google" for your health concerns. Now it seems we also have to stay on top of "Dr. App Store" as well. Of course, that's to be expected--our lives are increasingly centered on mobile devices, and there are hundreds of thousands of apps out there in every subject area and with varying degrees of legitimacy.

For the health-conscious, in particular, there is an app for tracking symptoms of chronic illness and an app for asking anonymous, embarrassing health questions. There's even an app that replaces a trip to the doctor's office with a short video conference. "Mobile apps are definitely changing medicine and the way doctors interact with patients," says mobile medicine advocate Jordan Safirstein, M.D., director of transradial intervention at Morristown Medical Center in New Jersey. "Doctors are always early adopters. Right now it depends on patient participation."

In other words, it's up to you to help change medicine to be more affordable, quick, and convenient. Here are some key apps that our experts say will grease the skids--and keep you healthy.

Talk to Docs and HealthTap

If you've got an embarrassing medical question (or any question at all), health app company HealthTap has two useful apps you'll want to check out. The original HealthTap app is a question-and-answer app that taps into a network of over 50,000 doctors. The newer app, Talk to Docs, is a quicker, simpler version of HealthTap with hands-free, voice-recognition functionality.

HealthTap (free, iOS and Android; healthtap.com) is set up like a social network, though it's a bit more private. It does have a profile, news feed, and the ability to "find friends," however. At its core, HealthTap is a question app--tap "Ask Doctors" from the main screen, type in a question, and send it to the app. One of HealthTap's doctors will answer your question in a relatively short period of time (it took me about a day to get an answer), and you can speed up the process with a $0.99 donation.

The main drawback of HealthTap is that it's not completely anonymous--the app does ask for personal information and it creates a profile that logs your activity and questions asked. But sometimes anonymity is necessary, says Dr. Safirstein. "It makes it a lot easier for people to ask embarrassing questions."

Talk to Docs ($0.99, iOS and Android; healthtap.com) is different--it's completely anonymous. It's also simpler, quicker, and less personal. Tap the app to ask your question (you can say it or type it), and then tap search to find an answer. Talk to Docs picks out key words from the question and performs a search of HealthTap's already-answered questions database. The app then chooses the most relevant answers and spits them back at you in a scrollable list.

Neither HealthTap nor Talk to Docs is a replacement for an individual consultation and diagnosis, Dr. Safirstein notes. Think Yahoo Answers, but with licensed physicians instead of random Internet commenters.

Doctor on Demand

Don't want to go to the doctor? There's an app for that!

Doctor on Demand (free, iOS and Android; doctorondemand.com) is a new app that will bring the doctor to you--on your phone, that is. Just type in a few symptoms and upload a few pictures (if you like), and you'll be connected to a real, licensed physician who will diagnose you over a video conference. The service isn't free--each 15-minute consultation costs $40--but it is the real deal. Doctor on Demand doctors can prescribe light medication (antibiotics and short-term refills for chronic conditions) and give referrals.

"Doctor on Demand is not designed to replace your primary physician," says Pat Basu, M.D., former White House Fellow and chief medical officer of Doctor on Demand. It can, however, replace those hefty out-of-pocket Urgent Care bills, since the network's doctors can diagnose and treat skin conditions, sports injuries, and any non-urgent general medical issues. The service places a premium on speed and convenience, so you shouldn't have to wait too lo ng to be connected to one of the company's 1,000-plus physicians. After each call, you'll receive your doctor's notes, a prescription (called into a nearby pharmacy) or referral, and the option of "favoriting" that doctor in case you need to follow-up.

Because the app is new, it does have limits. At launch, it's only available in 15 states (including New York, California, and Ohio), and only between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. The app will work with only some insurance policies (namely those with flexible spending accounts), which is why it's priced relatively low compared to most co-pays. Doctors do not currently prescribe lab work, though they can recommend it. However, these issues will be addressed soon, says Adam Jackson, co-founder and CEO of Doctor on Demand. The app will be available in 40 states by the end of the year, and accessible 24 hours a day shortly after that.

Privacy, of course, is a concern. But Doctor on Demand is HIPAA-compliant, which means it adhe res to the same security and privacy standards as do other medical practices. As for whether the app will prove useful, Dr. Safirstein believes it will. "If the patient is having an ongoing issue, face-to-face consultative practice is still the gold standard," he says. "But there's no doubt that we will increasingly use telemedicine apps like this in the future, as it allows us to stay in closer contact with patients and yet not have to see them in the office."

Symple

If there's one thing mobile devices are excellent for, it's tracking stuff. In fact, tracking apps are the most-used apps in the medical community, according to Dr. Safirstein. "Apps that monitor health stats, such as blood pressure, heart rate, general fitness tracking, are helpful for keeping both the patient and the provider organized," he says.

There are lots of tracking apps out there, but Symple is a little different. Instead of tracking a specific health statistic, Symple (free, iOS; sympleapp.com) tracks symptoms. You can use this app to track headaches, rashes, insomnia--anything that could be indicative of a bigger problem. It's especially useful for tracking chronic conditions, such as diabetes or high blood pressure. It can also be used to track short-term symptoms that lead up to strep throat or the flu.

True to its name, Symple is a simple app with an elegant interface. To start tracking a symptom, simply enter it into the app (you can call it whatever you like) and tap its severity level (5-step scale, ranging from "none" to "severe") each day. You can also track confounding variables (exercise, sleep, etc.), add notes, and upload photos. After you've been tracking your symptoms for a while, you can rotate your phone to landscape mode to see graphs of each symptom. You can also email your sympto m report to your doctor, which lets them see an overall trend--something that can't really be communicated in a quick office visit.

Symple is a diary app, which means it's not necessarily as locked-down as a true medical app. It's not HIPAA-compliant, and any information shared over the Internet is at risk of being intercepted by a third party. Photos uploaded to Symple are backed up to your personal iCloud, so be careful what you post.

Hula

Talking to a new partner about STDs can be awkward and misleading. But it's not like you carry a copy of your test results in your pocket--unless you're using Hula, a new STD-awareness app that verifies users' STD status through medical records obtained from doctors, clinics, and testing centers.

Hula (free, iOS; hulahq.com) is an app that lets you share your verified STD status with other users. All you have to do is sign up and request your most recent test results from your doctor, clinic, or an STD testing center. (If you haven't been tested recently, the app can also point you to a center.) Hula obtains your results and translates them into simple language: It spits out your status (positive or negative) on a number of STDs, including HIV, Gonorrhea, Chlamydia, Syphilis, and Hep C. Once your results are verified, you can share them with other Hula users or simply show them to potential partners on your iPhone.

Hula's default setting is privacy, privacy, and more privacy, but there's always a risk any time information is "shared" on the Internet. By default, Hula keeps your real name and all test results private unless you explicitly share them with someone (and nobody can ever look you up by name). However, Hula is not currently covered by HIPAA, though the company assures us that it "meets or exceeds" HIPAA's security standards.

Also, Hula's "verified" STD status should be taken with a grain of salt: Because all test results must be requested--doctors don't automatically send new results to Hula--users can simply not request their most recent results if they test positive for an STD. So the more recent the result, the more likely it's legit.

A Smarter Way to Work Out

A Smarter Way to Work Out

Could an activity band be your key to better health? On this week's episode of Men's Health Live, we hit the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and chat with Stephen Sneeden of Sony about his company's SmartWear technology line, which includes the Smartwatch 2 and the upcoming SmartBand. The lightweight activity monitors can also be synched to your smartphone for use with a camera or GPS.

Sneedan explains how he uses the Smartwatch 2 in his own life:

"It's very easy to keep tabs on information at a glance. My email is as close as my wrist. I do use it for fitness, and I use a heart-rate monitor at the same time, too. That information comes to the Smartwatch 2."

For more great conversation and useful information, click here to listen to the entire episode. PLUS: Subscribe to the Men's Health Live Podcast.

More from Men's Health Live:
The Best of CES 2014

Photo courtesy of Sony

The Right Time for Your Cup of Joe

The Right Time for Your Cup of Joe

If you swear by knocking back a cup of coffee before that big meeting, presentation, or study session, you could be drinking it all wrong. Swallowing a couple hundred milligrams of caffeine after studying was enough to boost memory retention by 12 percent the following day, according to a study from Johns Hopkins University and the University of California, Irvine.

It's possible caffeine raises your brain's levels of the chemical norepinephrine, which prior research has linked to enhanced memory storage, explains study coauthor Michael Yassa, Ph.D. Caffeine could also, or alternatively, have some direct effect on your brain's hippocampus--a region involved with long-term memory encoding and storage, Yassa adds.

Stick to about 200 milligrams of caffeine after the important event. That's roughly the amount of caffeine in 12 ounces of brewed coffee or 30 ounces of caffeinated tea, according to the Mayo Clinic. And know this: You can drink your coffee or tea anytime in the hour before you finish the task you need to remember. Caffeine takes about an hour to reach peak levels in your system. As long as that peak period overlaps with the conclusion of your studying, you're good, Yassa adds.

John Cena Hates Weight Machines

John Cena Hates Weight Machines

John Cena--11-time WWE champion--just bench-pressed a personal best: 481 pounds. That's after arm surgery for a torn triceps and a physical therapy routine that he started in his hospital bed five months ago.

And with a renewed focus and physical comeback, the pro wrestler--who also just announced his partnership with BodyChange, a 10-week weight loss DVD program--could show you a thing or two.

Cena isn't just a a wrestler, though. He's a rapper and actor, and an occasional reality TV star on Total Divas--which features female wrestlers the Bella twins. And turns out, a very cool guy. Check out his answers to my quick-fire questions. (Oh, and that's us in the photo above, taken at the Men Health office in New York City.)

#1: My favorite binge food is . . . French toast, blueberry muffins, bananas foster, or a slice of pizza. With the nutrition plan I'm on, one day a week is my "load day" where I get to eat whatever I want.
#2: The best fitness tip I can give is . . . Consistency is key. I hate overcomplicating stuff.
#3: My favorite workout move is . . . Olympic movements like the snatch and clean and jerk.
#4: My least favorite move is . . . Anything on a machine. Machines are overpriced dinosaurs. I feel bad for the people who are married to them.
#5: I train like . . . An off-season football athlete. My schedule is all about resistance. It's either a push-pull day or an Olympic lifting day.
#6: When I work out . . . I'm not married to music. When I was younger, I trained at a gym called Hard Nocks. This mean old bastard ran it, but he was like a father to m e, and he said, "If you've got to be in here and motivate yourself with music, then you're in here for the wrong reasons."
#7: My biggest WWE victory . . . Is the fact that I'm still here.
#8: The WWE has taught me . . . Humility, patience, and the reward of hard work.
#9: A celebrity I want to meet is . . . Jay--Z, because of his success in business rather than his musical success.
#10: My hidden talent is . . . How well I can cook. I can make a steak that can pretty much rival any New York steakhouse.

Friday, January 24, 2014

Niwali Health Store Launches Alpha Male Club Site - News

Niwali Health Store Launches Alpha Male Club Site - News

MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Jan 24, 2014) - A new year, new resolutions and a new online source to make your life better and easier: The newly launched Alpha Male Club is a success community for men, covering the five most important areas for a happier, more fulfilling and successful life: Money & Wealth, Women & Sex, Health & Fitness, Relationships & Networking, and Happiness & Fulfillment. In each section readers will find interviews from some of the most influential entrepreneurs and business people across the world, brilliant minds helping men achieve success in each of these topics as well as transcripts and worksheets. On top of that the website provides video challenges to put what men are learning into practice and be able to become more successful. The basic idea? Getting advice from men who already made it, who already achieved what you want to achieve and who already are where you want to be.

Take the area of Relationships & Networking, for example. On the Alpha Male Club websites, founded by Niwali health store, a well-renowned provider for health supplements, you will find more than the generalized platitudes that cover so many men's magazines. The Alpha Club recruited experts from different fields to give you hands-on advice, such as Alex Allman, a sex expert who knows how to stoke the fires of a woman's sexual mind, Marni Battista, a dating coach who found the secret to attracting and dating beautiful women, Adam Gilad, a romance expert who can tell you what the five make-or-break moments with women are, Jordan Gray, a relationship coach who has tips on how to break barriers to intimacy and Julien Blanc, an attraction guru who can help you to create deep attraction in mere minutes.

Niwali knows that a healthy mind lives in a healthy body. But even a healthy body needs a little boost sometimes. The online store offers a variety of supplements especially developed for the needs of the male body. The most popular products are OrvigoMAX, a male virility booster, AminoMuscle, which is perfect for any metabolism, Glutathione, a formula that provides your body with all the building blocks it needs, EstroDetox, which works miracles in restoring your healthy hormonal balance as well as their Advanced product, specifically created for men who want ripped, muscular bodies, lower body fat and more energy.

Niwali health store was founded out of a burning desire to impact the lives of one billion people around the globe. The name was inspired by the beautiful life-giving Niwali waterfall in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The company's mission is to optimize human performance, health and beauty. Life is a gift best enjoyed in radiant health and Niwali looks to provide the best product mix and education in the world in order to help you enjoy the pleasures of a healthy life. Niwali health store is all about creating positive change that impacts the future of the world as we know it. Their experts source the most clinically studied plants, herbs, vitamins and minerals in proven combinations to achieve powerful results though their products. And their coaches and mentors offer the best education in the world to reach your goals and live the life you deserve.

News from: http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/niwali-health-store-launches-alpha-male-club-site-1872156.htm

How to Trick Yourself Into Being More Confident At Work

How to Trick Yourself Into Being More Confident At Work

And how to use it to score that big raise you deserve

If your heart doesn’t beat a little faster right before a big meeting with your boss, you might want to check your pulse. That’s because it’s totally normal to get anxious when you have to talk about your own performance and achievements. So a recent study in the journal Psychology of Women Quarterly aimed to find out if women really get more nervous when talking about their own performance and if there was a way to relieve this anxiety. You’ll never guess what actually worked.

The researchers asked half the women to write a personal essay about their own successes and achievements, while other women were told to write about someone else’s accomplishments. As expected, the women who had to write about themselves were less interested in the task and actually performed worse than the rest. But here’s where things get interesting: The researchers also split the women up so some participants were in a room with a big black box that they were told was a subliminal noise generator too high-pitched for them to hear but that would probably make them uncomfortable. In reality, it was just a box.

Shockingly, when women were told about this box, any differences in performance and interest were eliminated between the groups. The implication is that when they were able to attribute their anxiety to some external thing, they didn’t let it get to them and screw them up. “Now, it’s not personal, and the reason they’re anxious isn’t about them,” says Nicole Williams, LinkedIn’s career expert. “As soon as that happens, they’re relieved of the anxiety.”

How To Con Yourself Into Being More Confident
Obviously, you can’t lug a big black box into your boss’ office the next time you want to ask for a raise. But there are other ways you can trick yourself into feeling less stressed about self-promotion. One way is to recognize and dismiss the anxiety, like the women did in this task. “Going into a stressful situation like this, just know that it’s normal to feel anxiety,” says Williams. “You’re not the only one who feels this way, it’s just human nature.”

Another tactic is to attribute your sweaty palms and racing heartbeat to something else. Instead of pinning it on a black box, blame it on a quick pre-meeting workout, says Williams. A quick 10-minute session to get your heart rate up will work. “It doesn’t have to be a sweaty exercise, but just enough to get moving and feel excited,” says Williams. “Then you can tell yourself that energy is attributed to your exercise and not your anxiety.”

Finally, separate yourself a little from the anxiety-provoking task—in this case, asking for a promotion or raise. Instead of focusing on the personal (you want this job, you need this pay bump, etc.), give your boss the objective facts that show you deserve this raise—like that you increased sales, exceeded your goals, or gained a ton of new clients. That way, you won’t feel as anxious about the result, says Williams.

Clearly, talking about our own success is super stressful if it requires trickery to deal with it. But here’s why you need to get over your fears and do it anyway: “If you don’t do it, you’ll go unnoticed, and if you go unnoticed, you’ll go unpromoted,” says Williams. Chances are, your boss is a little too busy to realize all the awesome stuff you’re doing, so it’s your responsibility to give them a reminder.

The Real Reason He Forgot Your Anniversary

The Real Reason He Forgot Your Anniversary

Good news: It’s probably not because he doesn't love you

Before you chew out your guy for dropping the ball on an important date—again—listen to this: Men report more memory complaints than women do, according to a new study published in the journal BMC Psychology.

OK, so he’s not totally off the hook for forgetting your friend Cindy’s name (he’s met her like seven times!), but apparently gender plays a role when it comes to memory. Researchers surveyed more than 37,000 people over the age of the 30 about their self-reported memory problems. In general, more men reported issues in eight out of nine areas—like remembering something that happened a year ago, recalling details of a conversation, and remembering names and dates.

Unfortunately, the study didn’t identify why men might be more prone to forgetfulness. Clearly this isn’t an excuse for the men in your life to flake on important details, but hey, it may help explain why he has no idea where you guys went on your second date.

Jennifer Aniston: "I Started to Enjoy Life a Little Bit More"

Jennifer Aniston: "I Started to Enjoy Life a Little Bit More"

In an exclusive interview with Women's Health, Jennifer Aniston talks about the workouts she hates, how she stays motivated, her favorite skin-care products, her top healthy snack, and more

Everyone always focuses on Jennifer Aniston’s hair—but if you ask us, her toned physique is every bit as envy-worthy (have you seen any tabloid pics of her in a bikini—like, ever?!). Which is why we were so pumped to have the chance to sit down with her and ask her about her fitness routine, along with all of her other stay-healthy-and-gorgeous habits. Here’s the interview (edited for space and clarity):

What are your favorite workouts?
Oh my god, I have a lot of favorite workouts. I love cycling, I love yoga of course, and I recently started doing barre method—which is painful and hard. Variety is the key for me.

What happens when you find yourself doing the same workout over and over—why doesn’t that work for you?
Because you eventually stop doing it, and you just get lazy. Mixing it up is always fun because that way you know you're excited, and it’s muscle confusion. It keeps your body awake.

Have you ever tried any workouts that you just hate and you would never do again?
Umm, boot camp? (Laughs)

What was so tortuous about that for you?
I don’t know, it just seems like I’m not a soldier. I’m not into boot camp, I don’t need to do all of this—I just want to stay fit! (Laughs) I don’t want to get yelled at—at all. Please stop yelling at me.

How do you stay motivated to work out when you’re just not in the mood?
You know what, there are days I go “I can’t” and “I don’t want to,” and I think you just have to listen to your body. So sometimes you just don’t work out. And then there are times when you go, “Really? Do you really not want to?” And then if you just say, “OK, I’m going to get on some machine for 10 minutes,” you just start to get the endorphins going. Then you feel great, and you just keep going. So sometimes you can actually override the “I don’t want to work out.”

But for the last year and a half, I went from being a crazy workout girl to sort of saying, “My body wants a little bit a of break.” So I kind of stay with more simple stuff and taking walks and not being neurotic about working out and eating right. I started to enjoy life a little bit more. The only downside to that is there’s that couple extra pounds and about 4,000 pregnancy rumors, but you know, other than that, it feels great.

Why do you think it is that you had this shift in your mindset? What inspired you to take a more laid back approach to fitness?
Well, honestly, it started with a knee injury. So that was that. I had a knee injury, and my dog died, and I fell in love. [Editor’s note: In case you haven’t heard, Jennifer is engaged to fellow actor and former Parks and Recreation hottie Justin Theroux.] So I don’t know what that was, but it sort of all fell into place.

Changing gears a bit, what would you say are your top three beauty tips?
I would say do a scrub three times a week to really get your skin clean. Hydrate—obviously drink, drink, drink lots of water. And moisturize. And I’m going to throw a fourth one in and say sleep.

You signed on as an Aveeno spokesperson last year; what have you learned about skin care since you started working with the brand?
Well, first of all, everything that goes into Aveeno products—how conscious the choices are that they make. Just with the ingredients that they choose, how they’re grown, how they’re formulated—it’s all very interesting.

Do you have any new go-to products from the line since you started working with the brand?
Yes, the Protect + Hydrate 30 SPF. The Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer is really awesome. And then of course the Positively Radiant Skin Brightening Daily Scrub.

You mentioned staying hydrated is so important. Are there any other things you’ve noticed diet-wise that make a difference in how your skin and hair look?
Royal jelly—have you heard of that? It’s from beehives. I got it in France, but you can get it anywhere. I noticed if you take a spoon of that a day, it helps. But honestly, I think just eating really good fruits and vegetables, less fried food, of course—fried food is terrible, soda is terrible. Just fruits and vegetables and healthy lean proteins and water. Of course, alcohol tends to dry up your skin.

Speaking of eating, what is your favorite healthy snack?
Frozen grapes. I like the red ones—they’re really easy and delicious. They give you that frozen crunch. I was at a spa one time, and they gave me a little cup of frozen grapes after my mud bath soak or whatever. It was sort of like, “This is genius.”

Want to learn more about Jen's healthy habits? Learn how to train like Jennifer Aniston.

MORE: Kristen Bell: “Stop Using the Word Fat”

The Ultimate Grammy Awards Workout Playlist

The Ultimate Grammy Awards Workout Playlist

Warm up for your Grammy party with this award-worthy playlist

Music’s biggest night is Sunday, and LL Cool J (and his abs) will be hosting the 56th annual Grammy Awards. The awards will broadcast live from LA at 8 p.m. EST, but coverage begins at noon.

To start things early—and get in red carpet shape—check out this workout playlist of our favorite Grammy-nominated songs, albums, and artists.

1. Blurred Lines, Robin Thicke Featuring T.I. & Pharrell
Nomination: Record of the Year

2. Can’t Hold Us, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Nomination: Album of the Year

3. Roar, Katy Perry
Nomination: Song of the Year

4. Now or Never, Kendrick Lamar Featuring Mary J. Blige
Nomination: Best New Artist

5. Mirrors, Justin Timberlake
Nomination: Best Pop Solo Performance

6. Natalie, Bruno Mars
Nomination: Best Pop Vocal Album

7. Sweet Nothing, Calvin Harris Featuring Florence Welch
Nomination: Best Dance Recording

8. I'm Shakin', Jack White
Nomination: Best Rock Performance

9. Panic Station, Muse
Nomination: Best Rock Song

10. Tom Ford, Jay Z
Nomination: Best Rap Performance

11. Jump, Rihanna
Nomination: Best Urban Contemporary Album

12. A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got), Fergie, Goonrock, and Q-Tip
Nomination: Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media