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It’s probably the latter. But still, I can’t help but think that there are certain shopping experiences that really would be made easier if they could be done with some booze in hand…

1. Swimsuit shopping. Bring on the shots. If it were up to me no woman would ever have to endure such a horror sober. Take a shot of tequila before trying on any one piece. Two for tankinis. Three for bikinis. By then, they’ll all look great.

2. Holiday shopping. Holiday shopping is super stressful and extra annoying because you don’t even get to keep any of the stuff that you spend so much time picking out. You’re giving it all away. So next December get your peppermint mocha or eggnog spiked before you start your shopping.  I think it will go a lot more smoothly…

3. Lingerie Shopping. Similar to the swimsuit shopping experience, except the lingerie doesn’t stay on for nearly as long. Go with wine for this shopping experience. Take your girlfriends and have a little bit of a fashion show, and sip some red wine as you do. It’ll relax your nerves for when you buy the lingerie… and for when you use it.

4. Shopping for School Supplies. With book prices these days drinking while book buying should be mandatory. For every $50 you spend, take a shot. For every $100, chug a beer.  Do it before you head out on a Thursday night and you’ll kill two birds with one stone- school supply shopping and pregaming.

The possibilities for such occasions are endless. Tell me ladies, which shopping experiences do you wish you had a drink in hand for?

The answer is yes. In a bold new move, Whole Foods is offering a discount to employees (and maybe soon to customers?) based on BMI. Basically, the lower your BMI (body mass index) the better the discount.

The government has been trying to slim us down for years now. They’ve implemented taxes, such as the “junk food tax” in New Jersey and New York has banned trans fats in order to slim down our nation. I know these things are all for my own good, but how does this new discount measure up?

Is it a good idea to help those who are already skinny to stay skinny? Is it a better idea to help the overweight population slim down? Is it fair to discriminate based on weight at all?

There are some major benefits for the company itself to offer discounts to its already slim population of employees: healthier employees, fewer sick days, lower health insurance premiums, a better image for the company. But is rewarding good health just a politically correct way of trying to get their workforce skinny and keep their image in check? Do they think that having (and keeping) skinny employees will inspire their consumers to emulate their fit lifestyle… by doing all their shopping at Whole Foods?

On the other hand, doesn’t it make sense to offer the discount to their heavier employees? Wouldn’t this help them to lead a healthier lifestyle, and in that way become more aligned with the idealized “Whole Foods” way of living? Should there even be an issue to discuss at all? Should BMI ever come into the question when it comes to any form of discrimination (whether its denial of entry to a club or a simple discount)?

I applaud Whole Foods’ initiative to encourage healthy living among their employees, but I can’t help but wonder if this skinny discount is truly promoting good health or discriminating against the overweight.

What do you think?

Got a health question? Don’t trust those “Doctors” at the University Health Center? Are you scared of Web M.D. because it always tells you you’re gonna die? Ask a real doctor, our friend Dr. Lissa Rankin. She’s here every Thursday to answer whatever you throw at her – like how to know if your guy is clean – so ask away. Leave your question in the comments or send it over to us. Don’t be shy; she’s waiting for ya!

Q: Between finals, graduating and other personal stress, I can’t fall asleep at night. And then when I do, I can’t stay asleep. I’m always tired and grumpy and it’s only making everything even more stressful. Do you have any ideas for getting sleep? I heard sex might help, but I’m not sure if that’s true or if my boyfriend is just telling me that for his own selfish reasons. I really need to be alert and focused for exams and this is killing me. Help?

A: I hear you, sweetie. Insomnia can kill you (trust me, I’ve been there), especially when you’re in school, with tests, projects, and grades looming over you. The question is why can’t you sleep? Is it stress? Is it hormones, like your thyroid? Is it caffeine, alcohol, or other drugs/medications that are disrupting your sleep? Is it poor nutrition?  Is it the crazy sorority girl next door who keeps banging you up with her rocking orgasm? How to treat your insomnia depends on what’s causing it. Here are some causes:

Why Can’t I Sleep?

1. Emotional disturbances: Anxiety and depression tend to sap your energy and they may also contribute to insomnia, which leads to poor sleep.
2. Nutrition: If you’re filling up on junk, it’s no wonder you have trouble sleeping. Food is fuel, and if you’re filling your tank with caffeinated sugar water instead of whole foods and green things, you can’t expect to sleep well. If you treat your low energy with sugar and/or caffeine, you’re stimulating our sympathetic nervous system and revving up your pancreatic insulin production. Then when you crash, you only feel worse. Insomnia follows.
3. Thryoid imbalance: If your thyroid hormones are out of whack, you may have trouble sleeping.
4. Sex hormone imbalance: Fluctuations in sex hormones, such as estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, may lead to insomnia.
5. Change in your Circadian rhythms: Do you pull all-nighters and then sleep all day? If you’re messing with your body’s schedule, you’ll have trouble sleeping.
6. Poor sleep hygiene: Do you engage in restful activities before bed, or are you cramming until 3 minutes before lights out? We can’t expect our bodies and minds to just shut down without some help.
7. Caffeine/alcohol/medications: All of these can affect your sleep patterns.

10 Tips For Helping You Sleep

1. Try to get 8 hours of sleep at night on a regular schedule. Go to bed earlier and rearrange your schedule to allow your body the rest and rejuvenation it needs to recapture energy.
2. Establish bedtime rituals; herbal tea, a warm bath, cinnamon milk, reading a relaxing book, meditation – whatever works for you.
3. Avoid studying, having tough conversations, or other stressful situations just before bed.
4. Eat a balanced whole foods diet rich in produce, lean proteins, and whole grains.
5. Avoid caffeine, sugar, high carb foods, alcohol, and nicotine. If you’re taking medications, talk to your doctor about whether any of them might have insomnia as a side effect.
6. Buy a juicer and drink green juice. It works miracles for insomnia and improves energy and performance, I swear!
7. Exercise regularly, but not right before bed. It helps you fall and stay asleep.
8. Listen to guided imagery (I love Belleruth Naparstek’s CDs and listen to them almost every night.)
9. Sure, go ahead and try sex. Orgasm has been scientifically proven to help you sleep (won’t your boyfriend be jazzed?)
10. If all else fails, try a safe, over-the-counter sleeping aid like Benadryl (an anti-histamine that makes you drowsy). But be aware that regular use can lead to psychological (though not physical) addiction that may make it hard for you to sleep without it. Sometimes breaking the cycle makes all the difference.

Sleep well, love!

- Dr. Lissa Rankin’s book, What’s Up Down There? Questions You’d Only Ask Your Gynecologist If She Was Your Best Friend, will be published by St. Martin’s Press in Fall 2010. She invites you to join her Pink online community (www.owningpink.com/forum) or read more of her writing at Owning Pink (www.owningpink.com).

We thought we’d help and every Thursday our friend Dr. Lissa Rankin will be answering your questions. The ones you couldn’t ask your doctor in person. Just leave your questions in the comments, or send em over to us. (We’ll keep it all anonymous for you.) Dr. Lissa will answer anything – really, anything – about sex and other lady things. Don’t be shy; she’s waiting for ya!

Q: I know it’s pretty typical in college, but I always feel tired and lethargic.  I try to eat as healthy as I can, but even adding nuts and more protein to my diet isn’t working. I was wondering if you had any ideas of things I could do (specific vitamins/things I should be eating) that will help me feel more awake and less foggy on a day to day basis. Thank you.

A: If you’re feeling tired much of the day, you’re not alone. Fatigue and lack of energy are probably the most common reason patients come to see me at CLEAR Center of Health (www.clearcenterofhealth.com), the integrative health center where I work.  Even if the rest of your life is going brilliantly, if you feel tired all the time, it’s enough to sap you of your mojo.

While it may be tempting to grab a triple shot caramel macchiato to get you through, that’s only going to make matters worse. Here are a few natural tips to help you feel more vital.

Tips For Improving Your Energy Levels

Eat a balanced whole foods diet, rich in produce, lean proteins, and whole grains. Cut out additives. Shop on the outside aisles of the grocery store- avoid those mid-sections as much as possible.

Try to get 8 hours of sleep at night. Go to bed earlier and rearrange your schedule to allow your body the rest and rejuvenation it needs to recapture energy.

Take a good multivitamin. If you’re nutritionally depleted, you may feel fatigued.

Exercise regularly. It may seem counterintuitive. After all, how can you exercise when you feel so tired you can barely roll out of bed. But trust me on this one. If you can manage to do it, it works.

Supplement your diet with superfoods. Superfoods, such as sun chlorella (a broken cell walled algae supplement that is like eating loads of veggies in a few little pills), acai berry, and wheat grass, can boost up your nutrition, and with it, your energy.

Avoid caffeine, sugar, high carb foods, alcohol, and nicotine.

Buy a juicer and drink green juice every day. I make mine from cucumber, kale, celery, sprouts, swiss chard, ginger, lemon and jalapeno.  It works miracles- I swear!

If you suffer from anxiety and depression, get help. Working naturally to alter your brain biochemistry can do wonders for your energy (and your mojo!)

If you snore, bring it up with your doc. If you have untreated sleep apnea, you’re not just tired (and keeping your roommates awake), your health may be in danger.

Consider seeing a reputable integrative medicine doctor. While traditional doctors may check your hemoglobin and a TSH, many integrative medicine doctors will do a more thorough medical evaluation, including evaluation of your emotional and mental well-being, as well as testing of your sex hormones, adrenal hormones, blood count, various measures of your thyroid function, and food allergy testing.  You can ask your traditional medical doctor to order these tests. Some docs are up-to-date and on top of current treatment for fatigue.  But more often, you may find some resistance from doctors not familiar with treating some of these conditions.

–Dr. Lissa Rankin’s book, What’s Up Down There? Questions You’d Only Ask Your Gynecologist If She Was Your Best Friend, will be published by St. Martin’s Press in Fall 2010. She invites you to join her Pink online community (www.owningpink.com/forum) or read more of her writing at Owning Pink (www.owningpink.com).

I made a very interesting discovery at work yesterday (we’re researching investigative story ideas), and if any of you readers live in NYC and spend time outside of the Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods in Union Square, you may have witnessed what I’m about to discuss: The Freegan Movement.

Freegans are people (sometimes homeless, but often not) who commit to living a life of limited participation in the conventional economy. They believe that food and shelter are a right as opposed to a privilege, and they are opposed to the fact that homeless people live on the city streets when there are vacant apartments that exist under the grip of capitalist landlords.

So they go scavenging, or “dumpster diving,” for unspoiled food that has been thrown away, and they often recover non-food items like toiletries and electronics. Freegans (a combination of the words “free” and “vegan”) essentially oppose the purchase of any item in attempt to boycott the corporations responsible for human rights violations, environmental destruction, and animal abuse.

They also often “squat” in apartments (meaning they occupy rooms that they do not own that are often decrepit or under construction), and they participate in “voluntary joblessness” as a way to speak out against America’s money driven society. They believe that work is a waste of time because it only serves to accumulate material items, that it’s ridiculous to take orders from others, and that we would be better off volunteering or spending time with family.

Crazy, right?

Some interesting facts:

- Freegans are often people who have jobs and homes, yet still choose to eat out of dumpsters. They basically exist on trash.

- Instead of fueling their cars with gasoline, they often steal discarded vegetable oil from restaurants to fill up their tanks.

- Many Freegans collect and compost human manure (a.k.a: poop!) rather than using modern plumbing systems, as they believe they are wastes of electricity and water. They create their own toilet receptacles that often contain sawdust to act as a natural biofilter.

- They often have confrontations with true homeless people, who believe that the Freegans are stealing the food and other items that they need to use in order to survive.

Being an underpaid intern, Freeganism is sounding really good right about now. I mean, I’m only a few steps from living on the streets anyway, right?

What do you think? Would you go dumpster diving for dinner?

Wrong!

There are. You might just not be looking in the right places. And no, we aren’t saying you have to be flippin’ burgers at Micky D’s or prostituting yourself on a corner somewhere (really, not recommended). We’re talking about good jobs with even greater benefits. And we know for a fact (from some savvy internet research) that these places are looking for a few new hires!

Starbucks
Not only will you get a free pound of coffee to take home weekly (that’s enough to get me filling out an application) but working 20 hours a week guarantees you comprehensive health coverage, access to a 401(k) plan and a chance to buy company stock at a discount.

But wait, there’s more: After only a year of working, you can also qualify for tuition reimbursement AND a paid vacation. Pretty sweet, huh? You can earn up to a 12% merit increase within the first year of working if you become one baller barista! And with 11,466 U.S. locations, you wont have trouble finding a place nearby to get started.

Target
This retailer targets employees who could use a little reimbursement. In addition to paid vacations, employees can be reimbursed for job-related college courses (up to $4,000 a year). Working only 20 hours a week qualifies you for comprehensive health care. And no one could possibly complain about the 10% discount.

UPS
Okay, so maybe loading trucks inside an operating center doesn’t sound like your dream job. But hey, after only a year of working you get comprehensive health insurance, two weeks’ vacation, discounted stock offerings, and tuition reimbursement. Hmm..not so bad after all. Especially if it gets you out from under your parents’ roof soon…

Wegmans Food Markets
From food preparation to management, college grads are being offered entry-level positions at this market left and right. Once again, a comprehensive medical coverage is included, and after a year, you can join the 401(k) plan, which kicks in 50 cents for every dollar you contribute up to 6% of your salary. That may not sound like much now, but that’s gonna be boatloads of money later in life.

Whole Foods Market
Employees who work at least 20 hours a week qualify for health insurance and get a 20% discount on some yummy goods. After you’ve clocked 800 hours, the company picks up the entire premium on health coverage.

So, even if your post-graduation plan was to work for a high fashion company, a sick advertising firm, or write for Marie Claire, these jobs could work for you! You’ve gotta be flexible and open minded, and start out small to make your way in this crazy world. Plus, you never know what opportunities working at these places will bring you. So, get started and good luck!

Now that the first couple of days are over, I feel a lot more settled – still need some decorations for my cubicle, but definitely know my way around the office and feel more comfortable talking to editors and asking for help. I’ve conducted two interviews and written two tiny pieces (more like blurbs than articles, but hey, you gotta start somewhere!) I’ve even discovered a great lunch restaurant! If you work in midtown east, you must check out the Amish Market on 240 45th street between 2nd and 3rd avenue. Really good sandwiches and salad bars and fresh sushi, which I, for one, can never pass up!

All you critical readers out there (last week I made some people VERY outraged by complaining about my faxing, copying, and general slave labor duties) will be pleased to know that I have been staying away from excess cab rides and mojitos, and instead making my boyfriend pay for me.

JUST KIDDING!

I have definitely been trying to control the cash flow, and I’ve come up with a few tips for my fellow interns out there in cyber space.

1. Take advantage of the company coffee machine, and say adios to the Starbucks lattes. Many offices offer their employee’s free coffee (and water, so you can save money and the environment by staying away from plastic bottles), and you can drink as many cups a day as you want without breaking the bank!

2. Ask your manager if there’s a gym in your building (I know most publishing company buildings have one), and if so, if you can use it. You’ll save tons of money on a gym membership, especially if you’re living in NYC like I am. If you are, you know that all your after dinner drinks, late night pizza runs (hey, it’s the city that never sleeps, right?), and hours spent sedentary in front of the computer screen have the potential to add a few inches to your waistline. In bikini season, that’s bad news.

3. Limit the number of times you eat out a week. My parents are graciously giving me money for food, but if you’re paying for lunch out of your own pocket it can get really expensive. Give yourself two or three “eat out” days a week, and you’ll have more money to spend on dinners and drinks or the occasional weekend getaway. And know what the cash culprits are – anything that gets weighed before you pay (i.e. everything from the Whole Foods hot/cold food bar) is bound to get pretty pricey.

4. See if your transportation provider has a weekly or monthly ticket pass. I’ve discovered that buying the monthly NYC subway pass (for 81 dollars… and get it while it’s hot, because the fee’s about to jump up to $100!) is more cost effective than paying as you go, and it allows you to move through the station more quickly. Many companies will reimburse you for these transportation costs as well, and all you have to do is ask.

Remember that people aren’t always going to throw offers out there (especially in this economic climate), and that it’s up to you to put yourself out there and ask for what you think you deserve. The worst that can happen is that they’ll say no!

Below are some of my absolute faves. Got some of your own? Please, please please, let me know!

1. Two Buck Chuck: Well, in the case of my Trader Joe’s, it’s Three Buck Chuck – it seems to vary depending on where you are. BUT $3 for totally decent wine is aces with me! As a sidenote, the genius wine guy at my local shop told me that anything between $5 and $20 is generally not worth it. The cheap bottles are every bit as good as the mid-range ones (like $7-$15) so don’t bother! Cheap wine can be good wine!

(1B. I’ve got to give a shout out to Trader Joe’s in general. I cannot get enough of this store, because it has delicious bargains, and makes my goal of cooking my meals at home to save money totally attainable. It also has so much awesome frozen, pre-diced, pre-cooked food. Excellent finds for those of us both poor and busy!)

2. e.l.f. (or Eyes, Lips, Face, if you want to get technical about it): Go to eyeslipsface.com for THE BEST beauty bargains around. I’m not exaggerating; it’s genius. It is to my adult self what Wet ‘n’ Wild was to my elementary school self. All their stuff is well-formulated and pretty, and it is all….wait for it…..$1!! That’s right, one dollar! Eyeshadows, liners, mascaras, nail polish, you name it, all in a huge range of irresistible shades. And I do mean irresistible; the hardest part is not going insane and buying everything you could ever want, because you think, “hey, it’s only a dollar!” and then you’ve spent $50. Oops.

3. Payless Shoe Source: The best place I have found for trendy, seasonal shoes! Shoes here are rarely above $30, and those are the super pricey ones. They’ve also jumped on the whole team-up-with-fancy-designers bandwagon, so they’ve joined forces with labels like alice + olivia for some killer footwear. I’ve been jonesing for some gladiator sandals this spring, and guess where I found ‘em for under $20?!

4. Whole Foods Shampoo and Conditioner: I love this stuff! A regular sized bottle of their shampoo or conditioner runs you $1.99, and a massive one will be about $4. Not only does it work really well, and leave you with shiny, silky hair, but it comes in great scents, which is by far the most important part for me when I’m showering first thing in the morning! It just makes the day a little nicer, you know? My personal fave is the pink grapefruit, but they’ve got a bevy of beautiful scents, and if you’re sensitive-skinned (or simply trying to cut down on chemicals where you can), they have a fragrance free version.

5. Hulu.com: It’s sad to say, but my cable has had to go, and I’m pretty sure netflix is next on the chopping block. Since internet is simply indispensible, I will be relying on hulu for my television and movie needs. It has a rad (sidenote: I’m trying to bring back the word rad) current selection of TV shows, and the movies run the gamut from classic Jim Carrey (does that even make sense?) to indie selections from SXSW. Clearly, they don’t have everything, but they’ve got a lot, and it’s free!

Those are some of my go-tos, when it comes to saving some of my dollars. Got any faves of your own? Share ‘em! We’ll pull through this together!

Somehow we managed to stay up way too late every night and we still feel like we accomplished nothing. Maybe that’s because we’re women and we are never satisfied. Or maybe it’s because between consuming large quantities of the best snack ever and trying some new ways to get healthy, we didn’t have time for the important stuff.

Like shopping for some new spring clothes (or making em!), or picking up the Kelly Clarkson Album. Or running to Whole Foods to stock up on makeup that isn’t toxic. Or attempting to change that guy into someone who does want a relationship.

But the week wasn’t a total wash. We learned a bit about hazing, picked up some awesome threads in grandma’s closet, learned how to cook, and planned a SIIIICK St. Patty’s day party. Without green beer. And we invited the boy we heart. Woot!

Oh, and we got tested. That was fun. Ok, it wasn’t too bad. I mean, at least we don’t have this girl’s problem.