Eating disorders are seemingly easy to talk about…when they’re not affecting you or someone that you love. Tabloids may make speculation about one’s eating and exercise habits seem commonplace, and chide while simultaneously glorifying scary-skinny celebrities, but when it comes to reality, it’s important to know what’s healthy and what’s not. It’s easy to judge others. But for a minute, for our health, let’s turn the judgmental eye inward.

Ladies, in honor of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, it’s time to ask ourselves, “Do I?” and “Am I?” It’s about looking at our own lives, and figuring out what’s healthy and what’s not.

So, ask yourselves “Do I…”

“Weigh myself every day?”

You are not a number! Letting numbers on a scale determine how you feel about yourself is dumb, but also lets your weight control you. The scale doesn’t know you. It doesn’t see what an amazing athlete you are, what great hair you have, how cute your butt looks in booty shorts, or how much your boyfriend drools over your smile (and boobs). The scale is a number. Which means it’s akin to math and science (EWWW). The scale doesn’t say anything about who you are on the inside. They weigh you when you’re at the doctor’s office anyway, so let your doctor tell you if you’re at a healthy weight or not. Read More »

We’ve all heard of so-called “brain food.”

Brain food should be healthy foods that stimulate your thinking, but I mainly use it as an excuse to eat during finals.  When I started feeling sluggish after downing a bag of Skittles during my most recent study-a-thon, I decided to put down the bag of Sun Chps and look into what really constitutes “brain food.”

Here are the top 4 foods you should be eating to help stimulate your brain power in both the short and long term.

Fatty fish:  Fish high in omega-3 fats, such as salmon, bluefin tuna, and anchovies can help your brain in multiple ways.  A study in Finland determined that frequent fish eaters are less likely to be depressed than those that eat fish less frequently.  Another study found that eating fish or seafood at least once a week can diminish your risk for developing dementia later on.  This in no way means that you should pile your plate sky high with sardines in hope to avoid dementia.  While fatty fish contain high levels of omega-3s, they also contain trace amounts of mercury which can actually cause harm to the body in large amounts. To get just the right level of omega-3s to stimulate that brain, look to eat about 2 to 3 servings of fish per week.

Blueberries: Blueberries, along with other fruits and vegetables, have been shown to decrease the onset of brain degeneration due to Alzheimer’s disease.  Blueberries, due to their high phytochemical content, have also been linked to improved memory status and function.  Although blueberries are one of the best, other fruits and vegetables with high antioxidant contents can be just as effective.  Nosh on other (seasonal!)  fruits and vegetables to get your daily dose. Read More »

(Editor’s Note: We realize we’ve featured these before, but they are so freaking good and perfect for V-day that we just had to bring them back.)

OK, so we’ve only got 5 days until Valentine’s Day. And that means 5 days until you are inundated with cards, candies and treats…. and you still have nothing to give anyone else.

Have no fear! I’ve got the perfect little treat that is cheap, super easy to make, and is so totally delicious you will make hearts melt across campus.

Behold: the Oreo Truffle.

You don’t even need a real kitchen to whip up these little nuggets of goodness, making them the perfect Valentine’s Day gift (for your lover/friend/self) for the college girl. And you can customize them any way you’d like: add chopped nuts, colored sprinkles, graham cracker crumbles…. the options are endless. Read More »

Week after week (after week after week…), CollegeCandy and our pal John bring you some of the weirdest, funniest, and saddest things he hears on his college campus. And we know he’s not the only one who hears this stuff. Join the Overheard revolution! Listen in on some weirdos’ conversations and share them in the comments or send ‘em over. You know there’s a lot of funny things to be heard on your campus, so take off those (faux) Burberry ear muffs and tune in.

(Two guys in the grocery store.)

Guy 1: What about that? Gorilla grape. What do you think?

Guy 2: No, man, like … think about it. Gorilla? Ew. I don’t want to drink that.

(Girl, on the phone in Starbucks.)

Girl: You puked in the middle of the street? How drunk were you?…. Sober? Who pukes sober?

(Guy, on the phone in the art lab.)

Guy: Listen, you don’t need to care. But I can fit inside a dinosaur. Read More »

We all feed our stomachs daily, but are we really giving them what they want and deserve?

Sometimes it’s hard to fit healthy food into a busy schedule, making it even harder for us to keep our digestive tract happy and healthy.  Unfortunately, one of the most common side effects of an unhappy tum-tum is bloating (ew).  Luckily, with a few easy tweaks to our diet, we can get on our way towards a fitter and flatter stomach.

Tummy Tip #1: Drink tons of water.  Water is probably the closest thing to a silver bullet you’ll ever find.  Not only does it improve the look of your skin and stimulate mental clarity, it also aids in digestion.  This translates into a flatter, bloat-free stomach for you.  Make sure you’re getting enough agua by listening to some advice from the Institute of Medicine.  They recommend that the lovely ladies, like ourselves, drink about 9 cups of H20 a day.

Tummy Tip #2: Hold the salt. As a general rule of thumb, wherever salt goes water will follow.  This is good for maintaining a good balance of minerals in the blood, but can be bad when it comes to belly bloat.  You don’t have to cut out salt completely to diminish bloating, but try to avoid overly salty foods like chips, canned soups, frozen meals, and salted nuts. Read More »

Believe it or not, what you eat actually influences how you feel on the inside and look on the outside.  I’m not just talking about your weight here – I’m talking about your skin.  Feeding your body tons of nutritious foods leads to happy skin and in turn, a happier you.  So what should you eat?  Check out the list below for some of the top recommended “skin foods” from the specialists at WebMD.

Water – Water is probably the most important thing you ever put in your body throughout a given day.  Having enough water in your system helps everything run smoothly, including your digestion, thought processes, and alertness.  Plus, it helps flush (read: pee pee) out all of the toxic byproducts of your normal body processes.  This is the part that makes your skin glow, look fresh, and appear more rested.  While how much water you drink is constantly in dispute, my general rule of thumb is to drink enough water to keep your pee light yellow.

Omega-3 Rich Foods – This includes foods like salmon, flax seeds, walnuts, and certain types of beans.  Eating these foods on a normal basis increases your intake of essential fatty acids, which help your skin remain plump and fresh by holding water into your skin cells.  Omega-3s also act was an anti-inflammatory agent, which can improve the blood flow to your face, making you glow.

Selenium-Rich Foods – Studies have shown the power of this mineral in preventing damage to the skin cells.  Foods high in selenium include whole grains, turkey, and tuna.  Selenium can help prevent oxidative damage, which can age and roughen skin cells.  Pour yourself a bowl of whole wheat cereal in the morning to get closer to your daily selenium needs. Read More »

We all love to talk about metabolism. A lot.

Some of us love it (like that girl who never goes to the gym and eats french fries for every meal and somehow still wears a size 00) and some of us hate it (when we eat an apple and our thighs starts rubbing together). But does anyone really know what metabolism is or how it works?

Your (my, our) metabolism is really just your metabolic rate, or BMR, which is roughly the amount of calories that you burn when at rest. Like right now as you sit on your couch, feet up, laptop on your lap and a bowl of cereal in your hand. This is the energy that your body uses to keep organs, cells, and digestion all going. It is influenced by your age, sex, height, weight, and the amount of muscle mass that you have.

There are lots of myths around about things that will “speed up” your metabolism, causing you to burn more calories. There are also many surprising truths. I’m going to separation the fact from the fiction and give you all the tools to control your metabolic destiny. Here we go!

Myths

If your mom has a “slow” metabolism, you will too: This is one is half-true. Heredity does play a role in metabolism, but just because mama passed on that snail’s-pace metabolism doesn’t mean it has to stay that way. There are many ways to speed things up: build muscle mass, eat a balanced breakfast and overall diet, snack throughout the day on low-calorie foods, include protein in your diet, and keep moving!

Grapefruit increases your metabolic rate: Its fiber and water will fill you up, and the Thermogenic Effect of the fruit means that your body will use extra calories to digest it, but it won’t speed your metabolism up more than any other food. Read More »

As I was researching for what was supposed to be a post on green snack foods, I realized just how eco-harmful the food industry can be.  Looking at Newsweek’s Green Rankings for 2009, only 28 of the top 500 companies are from the food and beverage industry. Yes, a measly 5%.  Plus, the best ranking food company (Brown and Forman) ranks in 374^th place overall!  In other words, the large-scale food industry blows.

I knew I just couldn’t lie to the intelligent ladies that you are, so I scrapped the article and came up with this.

Here are some of the worst snack options and their greener replacements to reduce your environmental impact… and your waistline. Seriously, think about this next time you go shopping; we’re all probably doing more harm than we even know.

Culprit #1: Tyson
Why it sucks: Tyson is one of the largest companies in the meat industry.  According to the movie Food, Inc. (which you all should see!), such large scale farming contributes to pollution, greenhouse gases, depletion of resources, antibiotic resistance and illness in workers and consumers, and poor employee treatment.
Don’t eat: Tyson’s fried chicken fillet sandwich. For so many reasons. Gross.
Eat instead: Gardenburger’s Original Veggie Burgers Read More »

Mother Earth Says: No balloons!

As 2009 winds down and 2010 looms ahead, we all begin thinking about the important things in life.  I think most of us can agree that at the top of our list would be one of the most important things of all – throwing an epic NYE bash!

As always, I will be the one to 1) ruin your fun by saying that your party is killing the earth and 2) make it even better by replacing your old faves with your soon-to-be new ones.  Here are some of the most crucial aspects to throwing an eco-friendly, yet equally bitchin’ New Year’s shindig.

1) Choose eco-friendly champagnes.  This article on TreeHugger.com has a great list of organic sparkling wines at all price ranges.   If you’re like me and still too poor to afford a bottle of anything over $7.99 then you can still opt for the favorites as long as they’re grown and bottled as close to you as possible.  For example, if you’re a California girl, such as myself, you have the pleasure of sippin’ on BevMo’s finest.  That’s right, I’m talking about Cook’s and Andre.  You’re welcome.

2)  Use real champagne glasses. I know you are all classy ladies out there, so kick the red cup habit and get something real stylish.  If you can’t afford the cost and the injuries that result from broken glass, opt for acrylic or plastic champagne flutes.  Just be sure to recollect them at the end of the night so you can use them for your party next year (or next week). Read More »

OK, so this pic is misleading. No matter how much I love my BF, I wouldn’t jump out of a plane for him. Even with a gray-haired instructor on my back.

But that being said, I’ve recently realized how many new things I’ve tried since calling Matt my boyfriend.

Most people think that once you’re in a serious relationship, your fun and adventurous days are over. Well that, like most other generalizations, isn’t true!

When you love someone, you trust someone. And when you trust someone, you tend to be a little more willing to try weird things that used to make you want to barf. Those could be things that you never once considered (snowboarding), or things that you considered at one point, tried and vowed never to try again (Taquitos from 7-11). It just comes with the relationship territory; not only do you want to love the things your significant other loves, but you also know that if he or she enjoys them, maybe they’re not so bad after all. Read More »