When I first read this story, I actually said, “What the f*ck!?” out loud. Now with that warning out of the way, I will enlighten you all about a woman from England who was born with two vaginas. That’s right, two vaginas. Apparently, 1 in a million women have this condition, but this chick, Hazel Jones, is totally cool with it. At 27, she and her husband go to sex clubs that enjoy this kind of fetish. This is the kind of thing I thought I would only see in a quirky and raunchy Lampoon comedy or on the cover of the National Enquirer. Though at first, I wondered why she would even want people to know something to private about her, but she embraces it. Jones is very outgoing and open about her two vaginas and actually feels lucky to have something like this in her body.

Come to think of it, maybe having two vaginas wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Maybe, just maybe it be something totally amazing and great. What guy wouldn’t want to date a girl with an extra way to have a little fun while getting it on? Then again would you get two periods? That’s a LOT of tampons and a lot of PMS.

I just have to come right out and say it — 2011 is the Year of the Rear. Sure, some ladies like J.Lo have always been known for their fantastic behinds, but this year everywhere you turn people are fawning over curvaceous ladies like Kim Kardashian and Beyonce. So I’ve put together a quick, simple exercise series that will tone, shape and add you to the list of perfect posteriors in no time.

I used a yoga mat for these exercises, for a little extra padding under my hands and knees. If you don’t have a yoga mat, a towel or blanket will also work. Remember to keep your abs engaged as you do these exercises to support your lower back.

1. Straight Leg Lifts

Begin on your hands and knees. Extend one leg straight out behind you, and then lift it until it is in line with your torso. Gently and with control, lower your leg to the ground again. Repeat this move 10 times, and then keep that leg up in the air and move on to…

2. Knee Bends

Beginning with your leg off the floor and straight out behind you, bend your knee, bringing your heel toward your butt. Then extend your leg. Try to maintain the height of your leg as you do this. Repeat this exercise 10 times, and yup, you guessed, it keep that leg off the floor! It’s time to move on to…

3. Bent Knee Lifts

Resuming the lifted, bent knee position from the last exercise, keep your knee bent, but try to raise your leg toward the ceiling even more. Imagine that you are trying to make a footprint on the ceiling. Then return to the starting position, and repeat this move ten times.

After you have finished this entire series with one leg, switch legs and repeat the series. Then, repeat everything one more time on both legs. Before you know it, you might have paparazzi on your tail!

I love chipotles. They might not be everyone’s thing — they are spicier than your average jalapeno and have a heavy smoky flavor that some people just don’t enjoy. But I love them. Chipotles are just jalapenos that have ripened from green to red, and have been smoked over a fire. Chipotle is very rich in vitamins A and C, as well as thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, iron, magnesium, and potassium. What’s not to love about that?

As well, chipotle may help prevent blood clots, which can enhance protection from heart attack, strokes and other cardiovascular ailments. It may help prevent certain cancers and can possibly lower the risk of type-2 diabetes. Chipotle — as well as other spicy foods — helps clear congestion in the respiratory tract, which makes it a useful and yummy treat for cold season.

To be honest, that’s why I picked this recipe! Cold season is descending upon us like a black cloud and pretty soon, my mother will be marching me into a drug store nearby to get a flu shot (where, undoubtedly, the pharmacist will ask if I’m over 14 — just like he does every year). If you already have a cold, this is the perfect opportunity to get lots of vitamins in your diet…and to clear your sinuses. If you are still resisting those cold germs, this salad will still give you an extra dose of vitamins.

Salad with Chipotle Ranch Dressing

You’ll need…

• about 1/4 cup of ranch dressing (your favorite brand – I like Hidden Valley Lite)
• 3-4 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, chopped (you can use less if you like; these usually come in a can, which, if covered in plastic wrap, saves for about 2-3 weeks)
• 1 can of corn, drained and rinsed
• 1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• about 8 cups of romaine, baby butter, spinach, and arugula lettuce.
• 1 large tomato, chopped and seeded
• about 1/4 cup chopped or sliced onion
• Optional: 1 cup of shredded chicken or pork. (Leftovers are great for this salad!)

How to make it…

In a bowl, mix together the ranch dressing and the chipotle peppers. Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add the corn. Cook until light brown. Add the drained black beans and continue to cook until the beans are warm. If you’re using meat, add it to the skillet to warm as well. If you don’t have a stove top, you can also just heat the corn, beans, and meat if you’re using it in the microwave. Just pay close attention to it!

In a large bowl, toss together the different lettuce types (you can use as many, or as few, as you like). Top with corn and black beans (and meat, if using), tomato and onion. Top with dressing and toss well, until the salad is well combined. This salad serves about 4 people.

Note: If you’re not planning to eat all of the salad at once, feel free to leave the dressing on the side. Otherwise, try to eat leftovers as quickly as possible. They will last about 2-3 days in the fridge if stored in an airtight container.

[Everyone’s got a vice, a bad habit, something they know they need to change. Unfortunately, everyone also has a million excuses why they just can’t do it. Not anymore. Every month we will be following a different CollegeCandy writer as she takes on a personal challenge. Last month Tiffany spent a month at Outward Bound and challenged her physical limits. This month, Ashley's going to try to stop hating on her body so much. Can she do it!? Could you?]

This week I got some outside help for my challenge that was very interesting and very helpful. Coincidentally, I had mandatory work meeting/training title “Overcoming Negativity in the Work Place”. Everyone had to go and no one was looking forward to it. The training turned out not to be so bad because it was nothing like what we all assumed it would be. The lady training us/giving the presentation studied psychology and neurobiology and pretty much gave us a 101 on negativity and the brain. I learned that negativity is a natural response in the brain and a bunch of other brain related information. It was super interesting to get the 411 on where our negativity stems from and it put a lot of my negativity issues in perspective.

So what does this mean in terms of this challenge you ask? For me, a lot.

First of all, it made me realize that although I want to change, I don’t want to beat myself up for beating myself up (being negative). Though I think my case of negativity is a special one because of how harsh I can be towards my body (and that it in turn effects my body image and is a reflection of my insecurities), I’m definitely not alone or abnormal for having these negative thoughts. Second of all, it reassured me that I have a perfectly functioning, normal brain and I don’t have to spend any more time worried if there’s a wire loose or anything. Also, if the trainer who knows all about the science of why we’re negative creatures hasn’t perfected controlling her negativity, I surely shouldn’t expect to do so. And lastly, we had to partake in a semi-silly but useful activity that I decided to carry over into my challenge. Here it is…

Score Card Game:

All I had to do was keep a tally of the negative and positive things I said for this week. For every positive comment, I multiplied my score by five and for every negative comment I subtracted my score by five. The point of the game in the training was to make sense of how effective and exponentially positive positivity is (as it spreads to those around you) and to see that while negativity is bad, we can offset it with positivity. I chose to count both positive and negative comments I made about my body and those I said about others. This worked out well because I also purchased a new gym membership so I had plenty of times to comment on my own body and those around me.

All in all, I LOST TRACK! I know what you’re thinking. I can’t even follow the rules of my own game, right? WRONG! I followed the rules and kept track of my comments and my score. But because I was keeping a score, I was consciously deciding to keep things more positive. My score got up so high that it was becoming difficult to keep multiplying by five without a calculator (social science major here). My own version of the Score Card Game worked. Even though my initial incentive was to stay positive for a high score, it lead to realize that it wasn’t that hard to make more positive than negative comments about my body. I’m trying to specifically change the way I treat and talk about my body — but you could use this tactic for many other things.

My 4^th week was more of a stepping stone than I thought it would be. As more and more things are “setting in”, I’m realizing that it’s less about me getting somewhere or achieving an actual thing, and more about realistic change and balance.  I’d hate to blow this out of proportion as if it’s a big deal or party worthy, but I do feel that I’ve come a long way. I understand now that my sarcasm and negativity hurts me more than it could ever hurt anyone else. I know me better than anybody else, so my comments come from a very real, hurtful place. For me, It’s easy to blow off negative or hateful comments from a stranger, or even from someone you know but you don’t really care about, but it’s really hard to remain unscathed by words coming from someone who knows you very well. I am with myself all the time, I have no choice but to either be my own encouraging, positive, best friend or to be my own worst enemy.

I can firmly say I’m not going with the latter on this one. I do love my body and all that I’m workin’ with!

How many times have you been on the “feminine hygiene” aisle in your grocery store thinking “Pads or Tampons? UGH I really wish there was another option. Like a cup for my vagina!”

Well, you’re in luck because menstrual cups are the newest craze for that time of the month. You just insert the cup into your vagina and you’re covered for 12 hours (you can even have sex). One writer from Lovelyish actually tried them (and actually liked them). See what she has to say here.

What do you think? Would you try a cup?

This popped up on my Pandora page, and I couldn’t help but be distracted by it.  Playtex’s current ad campaign is based on the idea that “every woman’s body is different,” and at first glance it’s a pretty standard tampon ad. Lots of pink and girly girls – note the skirts and long hair. But if you look at this ad, you’ll see that two out of the three female figures depicted here are almost identical, just posed differently. The woman in the middle and the one on the right are both very slim. They are ideal according to the “thin is in” mentality glorified in the media, but in all likelihood quite a bit smaller than the average American woman. The woman on the left is the only who looks “different,” as her silhouette is significantly more curvy than the others featured in the ad. (I’ll be using “curvy” as a very relative term – obviously, the “curvy” woman here is really pretty average, but she’s rather curvy in comparison to the other women in the ad.)

This is a tampon ad, and obviously a woman’s physical appearance has nothing to do with what type of tampon is right for her. But because it presents a picture of female silhouettes, in which we can see only the superficial outlines of three bodies, the focus of this ad becomes female body size and shape.

Each female figure in the ad is paired with an adjective. The curvier woman is described as “empowered,” while the other two women are “chill” and “bubbly,” respectively. This ad is supposed to be about “different” body types, and yet the female figures we see are characterized using adjectives that describe their personalities. What does a woman’s body type have to do with her personality? The prominent placement of these adjectives directly above the women’s heads presents this strange connection between physical appearance and personality as obvious and simple.

What really got me thinking was the fact that the ad’s token curvy girl is described as “empowered.” This isn’t a negative adjective. In fact, I would be flattered if someone used it to describe me. But “empowered” is very different from “chill” and “bubbly.” “Chill” and “bubbly” are adjectives that sound fun and friendly. They make the thinner girls seem like they’d be fun to hang out with (if they weren’t cartoons). “Empowered,” on the other hand, is more a state of mind or state of being. While it might be a positive description, it says nothing about whether this woman is friendly, or if she would be fun to hang out with. “Chill” and “bubbly” are light, casual words. But “empowered” carries more weight. And this ad is all about fun, pink girliness. So what makes the curvy woman so different? Why didn’t she get a fun adjective? Is this curvy girl “empowered” because she is confident despite the fact that movies, magazines and the internet tell her she should be different?

Maybe Playtex’s intent here was to celebrate all body types, and say that curvier women should feel empowered, because they’re beautiful. But if that’s the case, then why doesn’t the ad actually feature a range of body types? What I see here are two skinny girls and one “alternative” body type. This ad says that curvy is ok, too, but skinny wins out two to one. If that’s not the case, then why create this skinny vs. curvy dynamic, with one clear outsider? It’s just too coincidental that the one different-looking girl was assigned the unusual adjective.

Finally, the point of the ad is to promote three sponsored Pandora stations that listeners can choose from. You are supposed to drag one image/word combination to the box to play the station. The image and word cannot be separated. So, potential listeners are not choosing a body type or an adjective, they’re choosing a body type and an adjective together.

What does that say to women who identify as curvy and bubbly? Or skinny women who would rather be empowered than chill?

Obviously Playtex could never design an ad that would really include all body types, because they’re right, every woman’s body is different. But this is a product designed for and marketed to women. The very least they could do is treat us as intelligent, individual consumers and stop equating outer appearance with inner attributes. That might make me interested in their product.

 3 healthy facts for weight loss

The best workout playlists

Ways to make your breakfast better for you

So here’s how you get a hot Hollywood bod

Best and worst breakfasts at Starbucks

How to organize your kitchen

Maintain a healthy weight!

6 bikini friendly burgers

How to get started with health training

Eat to beat stress

Okay, okay. I didn’t mean this kind of planking. And no, I didn’t sit there flipping through all of the pictures and laughing. Although this one is my absolute favorite. Umm…anyway. As I’ve mentioned in my past posts, planks are great for strengthening your core. It also uses every single muscle in your body, so you can call it a full body toner!

Since I know you’re an expert at planks, I challenge you to bring it to the next level with this move.

Single leg plank with leg pulses

Begin in a basic plank position, with your hands directly under your shoulders. Squeeze your glutes and abs tight. Lift one leg into the air, about 10-12 inches above the ground. Once you maintain your balance, pulse your leg into the air by bringing it one inch higher and lowering it back down to its original height. Repeat for about 30 seconds before switching sides.

Share your planking pictures with me! Fun or fitness, @jackelynho is waiting to see what shenanigans you’re up to this summer.

For what? Well, just about everything these days. From finding the perfect shirt to getting directions to that restaurant you’ve only ever been to once to planning your wedding. There’s an app for it.

And most of the time, I think that’s a good thing. I pride myself on welcoming new technology, embracing these changes and seeing them as good technological advancements, rather than unnecessary complications. But today I just might have to make an exception. Because after spending some time in the app store I’ve made some discoveries that have led me to question not only my love of technology, but my love of humanity.

Have you seen what’s out there? It’s okay if you haven’t. Because I’ve brought it here for you. Partly to inform you, but also so you can commiserate with me. These are the apps our guys are downloading? No wonder they screw up so often!

1. Breastimate. An app that can tell you the bra size of every women in the room. You can either upload a picture, if you’re really curious about an old flame, or take a photo right there on the spot. Just point and click and there you have it. A “breastimated” bra size.

2. Super Sexy Pickup Lines. Great. As if guys don’t come up with enough cheesy pickup lines all on their own. Now there’s an app to help them come up with the creepiest, sleaziest, most ridiculous pick up lines out there. Can we get an app that makes men stop using these pick up lines, please?

3. Bump. Guys aren’t big on the whole hugging and holding and showing affection thing, especially not with one another. So often they end up doing the head nod or the fist pump, or occasionally that half hug, half handshake thing. It can get a little awkward. But they don’t have to worry about that anymore. Not with this app. All they have to do is bump their iPhone and there you have it, a bromance is born.

4. Jersey Shore Grenade Detector. This list would not be complete without a Jersey Shore mention. So let’s see what these boys have in store for us, shall we? Ladies, let me introduce you to the grenade detector, an app with the sole purpose of detecting and alerting of grenades. I feel as though I should be surprised, but I’m not.

5. iFart. Want to make fart noises? There’s an app for that. Oh, the world we live in. Not only does this app come with prerecorded fart noises but you can also record your own. And the best part, you can even set your phone to make fart noises when someone picks it up. It’s the Whoopi cushion of the 21^st century, ladies.

6. iBeer. Do you ever feel the need to pretend to drink a beer when you’re out and about? No? Funny. Neither do I. But apparently this is something that guys have a real need for, since there’s an app out there for it, and all. With one click of a button the screen of your iphone can turn into, that’s right, a glass of, beer, which you can dip down and pretend to drink, and watch the fake liquid disappear.

Really, guys?

But somehow I feel like I’ve only won the battle, not the war, aka, Summer BBQs. With Memorial Day just around the corner, they’re a-comin’ and with them, beer, hot dogs, potato salad, chips and dip… It’s all going to tempt me beyond belief, especially once I have a few cocktails. So in an effort to maintain what I’ve worked so hard for, I’ve come up with a BBQ Game Plan.

This may sound deep, but setting an intention before I begin my day has really helped me stay on track. So why not set one before I head to any summer gathering where not-so-healthy food is involved?

Promise yourself to be kind to your body. Treat it like a temple; after all, it is what allows you to function normally everyday. Doing this will keep you conscious of your noshing choices.

Be sure healthy options are available. Find out if your friends, especially guy friends, are serving anything other than artery clogging fare. If they’re not, bring a veggie platter, and maybe some chicken or shrimp. That way you won’t be forced to eat a greasy cheeseburger.

Load up on veggies. So you’re there, you’re hungry, you see all the deliciousness being grilled and passed around. Refocus on your intention and GO FOR THE VEGETABLES. Load up on these bad boys and, of course, have the healthiest protein possible. You will fill up quickly (helloooo, fiber!) and ease the temptation for the fattier options.

Determine portion control. Okay, you’re really dying to try some macaroni or potato salad. Go ahead and indulge. BUT your serving should be small, about the size of your palm. Refrain from going back for more; remember you are in love with your new body.

Don’t drink too much. I totally lose track of my healthy eating mantra when I get drunk. Somehow I always think it’s okay to pile everything on my plate, like it doesn’t count. IT DOES. Even worse, our beloved beer, wine and the like have plenty of calories that will only add to the count, so that’s another reason to pace yourself.

I know this may sound really inconvenient and lame, but if you want to develop healthier habits when it comes to summer parties and barbecues (and not have to skip out on them because you’re afraid you’ll throw away everything you’ve worked for), it’s best to start off on the right foot, right now.

Remind yourself of those intense cardio sessions, thousands of crunches, hot yoga classes as well as the healthier food choices you’ve made. You are proof that dedication to your health and fitness works. Stay strong and satisfied with your beautiful bikini body.