U.S. President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci says Canadian health officials don't appear to be doing anything wrong in their response to the global pandemic, despite rising caseloads in most parts of the country.
Health Canada is holding off on distributing Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine after it became clear the doses that arrived in the country on Wednesday were processed in the same U.S. plant that's been mired in quality-control problems.
The province is aiming to vaccinate 12-17 year-olds as soon as this summer, once it has made doses available to all adults and ensured they are safe for younger people.
Anxiety — not a problem with the shots — that caused reactions in dozens of people at coronavirus vaccine clinics in five states, U.S. health officials have concluded.
Two human cases of influenza variants normally found in pigs have been detected in Manitoba.
Indian scientists appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to publicly release virus data they say would allow them to save lives as COVID-19 cases climbed again on Friday, prompting the army to open its hospitals in a desperate bid to control a massive humanitarian crisis.
Hi friends! Happy Friday! I’m SO ready for the weekend, how about you? It’s been a bit of a weird week over here. I don’t recommend starting off things with a broken finger and torn tendon; it’s put a bit of a damper on my productivity. I’ve been putting arnica on it and using my red light at night. If you have any other quick healing tips, please send them my way! Typing has been a peach, let me tell ya.
Some of the things that have made me excited this week have been amazing Barre Bootcamp 2.0 check-ins and a group call with Ali Damron, the fact that we’re seeing live theatre this weekend (my friend Charlie is in West Side Story) and I have some fun new things that are on the horizon. Now that I finished launching Barre Bootcamp and that group is rolling, I can start getting everything ready for Summer Shape Up. If you have any requests for what you’d like to see, please let me know!
It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party. This is where I share some of my favorite finds from the week and around the web. I always love to hear about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the comments section below.
This Banajanan dress. I’ve been wanting one for a few years now (retail is typically around $370 for maxi and $300 for short) and was so pumped to find this on ThredUp. I had credit from a previous closet clean out bag, so it was freeeeeeeee along with a Joie romper.
(I can’t find the exact version online because it’s older but here’s a similar version in pink.) I stopped using ThredUp because I felt overwhelmed by all of the options, but it helps a lot when you refine your search by brands you love. I’ll often pop in there and search for my favorite brands just to see what pops up.
I’ve raved about these in the past, but they need another shout out. I LOVE these Tarte undereye patches. I haven’t been sleeping as well because my splint aches and I dream about ripping it off, so I’ve had some eye bags this week. These magical patches make me look much more rested and fresh. This is helpful when out and about and wearing a mask, so the only thing people can see are my eyes. Check them out there!
The musical theatre nerd in my soul is screaming with happiness.
I’ll be sharing more about this in my April book roundup, but Beneath a Scarlet Sky was one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. It’s the type of book you think of often, even long after you finish.
Definitely check out this gift guide if you’re looking for Mother’s Day ideas!
This made me lol. SO real.
(Last Friday’s cheese board that the 4 of us ate for dinner. It was perfection.)
Thrive market has wine! I was so excited to try out this sampler with our last order. I’ll definitely report back!
A total body strength and Tabata workout to try this weekend!
I feel like banana cream pudding is highly underrated. Making some of this over this weekend!
I’ve been drinking the Organifi green juice for a long time and added the red into my daily routine a couple of months ago. I have the green in the am and the red in the afternoon for a lil energy boost. It’s packed with nutrients and medicinal mushrooms and tastes like a fruity punch. Check it out here and use the code FITNESSISTA for 15% off.
Happy Friday, friends!
xo
Gina
The post Friday Faves appeared first on The Fitnessista.
Starting Friday, Quebecers in their 50s can begin making appointments to receive a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and soon after the rest of the adult population will be able to do so as well.
A cross-border vaccination agreement between the Manitoba and North Dakota governments is expanding to allow teachers and education workers in the province to get vaccinated in the U.S., Premier Brian Pallister says.
With millions of doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines anticipated to arrive in Ontario, the province's vaccine task force says it can accelerate its timeline so that all adults will be able to register for a first dose by the end of May.
Are you ready to hit the ground running with your health, nutrition, or fitness coaching certification?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday proposed a ban on menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars in the United States, a win for anti-tobacco and civil rights groups, and a move that could erase a huge chunk of sales for cigarette manufacturers.
As Indians scramble to secure oxygen and public health experts warn infections aren't likely to fall much over the next few weeks, India's devastating second wave is being blamed on several factors, including mass gatherings and complacency about public health guidelines.
COVID patients from jammed intensive care units in southern Ontario are being moved to hospitals in the north, which have their own overcrowding problems.
Alberta is ratcheting up the fight in two COVID-19 hot spots by expanding age eligibility for vaccines and directing delivery of more doses.
Medical experts are seeing more COVID-19 infections among Canadian youth, but say serious illness or death remains rare for children and teens. Even so, parents need to remain vigilant in the months ahead — since it’ll be awhile before kids get the protection of vaccinations.
Several of Quebec's regions saw a spike in cases earlier this month, putting strain on the health-care system and leading to tighter restrictions, but the province’s largest city has so far escaped the worst of the third wave. Here's a look at why.
After months of urgent calls about the need for paid sick leave by medical professionals, labour advocates, political leaders and even top doctors from some of the province's hardest-hit regions, the Ontario government has announced a plan to provide three paid sick days through a temporary program ending in September.
More than 2,000 people returning to Canada since mandatory hotel quarantines began have tested positive for COVID-19 — and more than a quarter of them were infected with a variant of concern.
A B.C. Provincial Court Judge says a Vancouver man who thumbed his nose at COVID-19-related restrictions by turning his swanky downtown penthouse into a packed makeshift nightclub last January is no better than the drug dealers fuelling the deadly opioid crisis.
Canada's domestic vaccine manufacturing capability has been hollowed out, leaving the country entirely dependent on foreign sources for COVID-19 vaccines. What happened?
Ontario’s auditor general says in a new report that the long-term care sector and the ministry that oversees it were ill-prepared for COVID-19.
India crossed a grim milestone Wednesday of more than 200,000 people lost to the coronavirus as a surge of new infections devastated dense cities and rural areas alike and overwhelmed health-care systems on the brink of collapse.
HI friends! How’s the day going? Happy hump day I hope that the week is going well. It rained a ton yesterday, which was LOVELY, and I’ve been getting creative on the workout front with my broken pinky since I can’t lift upper body weights. I’m looking forward to a long run this morning.
For today’s podcast episode, it’s a solo one with meeeee and I’m spilling the tea on military wife life. I’ve been with the Pilot for most of his military career and it’s funny because leading up to our relationship, I had zero experience with the military. This is a podcast episode I would have liked to listen to when we were first dating! Please keep in mind that I’m only sharing MY experience, which doesn’t mean that it’s the same experience across the board. What it’s like for some people doesn’t mean that it’s like that for everyone, and so many different factors like location, your husband’s unique job, kids, deployments, the squadron and spouse support can all affect your experience.
Here are the questions you sent over on IG that I’m answering in today’s episode:
Is the Pilot commercial or military? I thought he was commercial now.
What’s the most rewarding part about being a military family?
Do you get good health insurance through the military?
New military wife? How do I not make the military my life?
How can I best support a military family when they move?
How do you escape the drama?
How do you rekindle your relationship after being apart for so long?
One thing I expected about the lifestyle that wasn’t true and something that was
Resources from this episode:
Get 15% off Organifi with the code FITNESSISTA. The green juice and gold powder are my favorites! I also recently tried and loved their protein powder and have been adding the delicious red juice into my rotation.
I love love love the meals from Sakara Life. Use this link and the code XOGINAH for 20% off their meal delivery and clean boutique items. I recommend the beauty chocolates and the dark chocolate granola.
CBD has changed my life. It helps so much with my anxiety and sense of calmness. You can read more about my experience with CBD here and use the code FITNESSISTA here to get an extra 15% off your first order. (I love the flavored drops!)
Thank you so much for listening and for all of your support with the podcast! Please leave a rating or review if you enjoyed this episode. If you leave a rating, head to this page and you’ll get a little “thank you” gift from me to you.
You can listen and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play.
Thank you so much for listening and supporting the podcast! I’m just shy of hitting 300k downloads and I’m so thankful to you all for supporting this endeavor. It’s something I do 100% for fun and as another way to connect with y’all, so it makes my heart happy to read your awesome reviews and when you help me spread the word to family and friends. 💞
Related posts:
When he came home from the last deployment
The post 077: Military Life Q & A appeared first on The Fitnessista.
Also: Can I mix vaccine brands yet? And does taking Aspirin reduce the risk of getting a blood clot? More answers to your pandemic questions.
People in Nova Scotia are facing new rules Wednesday after officials imposed a provincewide lockdown for at least two weeks to deal with an uptick in COVID-19 cases.
The first doses of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine are set to arrive this week in Ontario, where one expert says they could do a world of good for some of the province's most vulnerable.
It’s unfair, really. Some people can eat whatever they want and never gain an inch — while for the rest of us, yesterday’s Chipotle seems like the reason our pants don’t fit today.
The problem isn’t just about looks. Abdominal fat has been linked to a host of scary health issues, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and breast cancer.
“It’s not solely an aesthetic issue,” Andy Bellatti, MS RD, says of belly fat. “There are actual health risks involved.”
Why do so many of us carry our excesses around our belly?
The answer involves your metabolism, which determines how many calories are too much, your hormones, which steer fat where they feel fit, and your genes. Learning how these factors combine to turn food into belly fat can help you stress less about your weight — and feel more in control whenever you try to lose fat.
Weight gain is the result of a simple issue: You’re eating more calories than your body burns throughout the day. Before we go on, it’s important to know this: the number of calories your body burns per day is only mildly impacted by the amount of exercise you perform.
Most of your calorie burn results from your basal metabolic rate (or BMR). This is the energy it takes for your body to function. The calories you burn are used to power your heart, brain, and every cell of your body all day long.
This, of course, includes burning calories when you sleep. Your caloric burn only drops about 5 percent when you’re sleeping, which gives you an idea of how much energy it takes to run the “machine” that is your body. This accounts for anywhere from 60 to 80 percent of your metabolism.
The amount you move — including exercise, walking around, and even fidgeting — is about 10 to 30 percent of your calorie burn. And, finally, the energy it takes to break down and digest food (known as the thermic effect of food (or TEF) is about 10 percent of your metabolism.
When the amount of calories you eat surpasses the sum of those 3 calorie-burning mechanisms, then your body then has two primary options of what to do with those calories: store them as lean mass like muscle or store it as fat.
Of course, if we could consciously control this process, we’d all shout, “Pick muscle!” But, your body needs a stimulus to send those calories flowing into your guns (or buns, or the hundreds of other muscles in your body). Examples of that stimulus include — you guessed it — exercise.
“If you are pushing yourself with weight-bearing exercise, your muscles will need more calories to grow. And the body knows where to send those calories because the muscle tissue needs repair,” Bellatti says.
”But, if you’re not challenging your muscles, then there’s no cue for the muscles to grow.”
No muscle stimulus? Then your body then chooses option number two: fat storage. Exactly where that fat goes depends in large part on what’s happening with your genes and hormones.
We don’t get to pick where our fat goes. Whether we carry our weight more in our lower body (the “pear shape”) or around our belly (the “apple shape) depends to some extent on our heredity, which is something we can’t influence.
But, the other major determinant of fat storage — our hormones — is something you can influence to a certain degree with your lifestyle choices. Two especially key players in the production of belly fat are insulin and cortisol.
“How we live our lives impacts those hormones, and then those hormones impact our ability to store or release fat,” says Mike Roussell, a nutritionist who holds a Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University.
“Insulin is basically like a bouncer. It kicks blood sugar out of the blood stream to get it back down to a safe level,” Roussell says. “So when you eat something like carbohydrates or sugar that rises, blood sugar rises, and insulin is going to shovel that sugar out of your bloodstream and it will put it into your fat cells.”
Now, that does not mean that insulin is the cause of fat gain (it’s been researched, and — to this point — that theory has not been supported). After all, insulin also plays a key role in storing calories as muscle.
However, it does mean that if your insulin is consistently elevated, which could be caused by eating sugar all day, every day, then that chronically elevated insulin can become a gateway to fat storage.
The key then isn’t worrying about every food that triggers an insulin response (many do) but making sure that your insulin levels aren’t high at all times.
The other hormone, cortisol, is responsible for your stress response. Its job is to prepare your body for fight or flight by flooding it with enough glucose to power your big muscles.
The problem: Anxiety over work or a lack of sleep can trick your body into thinking it’s in survival mode, triggering a cortisol release. That leads to even bigger problems since cortisol has consistently been linked to belly fat.
Gaining fat can be like compounding interest: you get deeper and deeper into the hole over time, and it becomes harder to get out.
“As you get more fat into your fat cells and they get bigger, it can actually cause an inflammatory response,” Roussell says. “When your fat cell is in that stressed situation and inflamed, it’s not going to want to release the fat.”
Step one in preventing belly fat buildup is to maintain energy balance, where the calories you take in are equal to the calories your body uses during the day. Obviously, this is easier said than done; if it were so simple, then we wouldn’t have more than a third of U.S. residents qualifying as obese. Here are three ways you can get started.
Bellatti says you can make this task a lot less daunting by eating a diet rich in veggies, fruits, whole grains, and lean proteins, which will not only be more fulfilling (thanks to the fiber, protein, and minerals in these foods), but also will be less likely to turn into belly padding when your body processes them.
“Let’s take two people who have a 1,500-calorie-per-day diet,” Bellatti says. “If one of those two has a diet that’s very high in refined grains and added sugar, low in fiber, and doesn’t really include good quality proteins and fats, that’s going to be a diet that’s going to increase blood sugar more. More insulin will be released, and there will be more of a chance of belly fat being stored.”
As an added bonus, you’ll get a lot more bang for your buck when you opt for whole foods over more calorie-dense convenience items. That’s part of the reason why Bellatti insists you shouldn’t buy into those diets where people showed they can lose weight while eating lots of McDonald’s, or even Twinkies.
“Can you lose weight eating 1,500 calories of Haagen Dazs and McDonald’s? Yeah,” Bellatti says.
“But, one, it’s not healthy and, two, it’s not a lot of food. If you’re only eating 1,500 calories of ice cream, volume-wise that’s not a lot of food. You’d be starving.”
Assuming you’re not running from wild animals or doing anything else that would elicit a bona fide stress response, there are a few things you do that ramp up your cortisol: drink caffeine, drink alcohol, freak out about work, and abuse sleep.
Caffeine creates a bit of a conundrum on the weight-loss front. While caffeine has been shown to have a minor calorie-burning effect, repeated doses of caffeine throughout a day have been shown to elevate cortisol levels. The best approach may be to keep your morning joe but pass on the afternoon pick-me-up.
Alcohol can encourage an uptick in cortisol, especially when consumed in a large amount over a short timespan. A glass of wine with dinner is probably okay, but rifling down six beers at happy hour is a bad idea.
Of course, stress itself can elicit the stress response. The good news is that the answer may be right under your nose, in fact, it involves it.
Breathing is one of the easiest and most accessible ways to stop stress and elicit a relaxation response. Taking a few, deep, controlled breaths can turn your “fight or flight” into “rest and digest.”
So the next time you find your mind racing at work and feel the need to hit the panic button, step away from the computer, find a quiet place, and take a seat. Then spend five minutes doing belly breathing.
Poor or insufficient sleep is another factor that amps up cortisol production, as well as the production of other hormones that can lead to fat storage.
“Lack of sleep totally tips the hormonal balance to fat storage and fat cell inflammation,” Roussell says. “Just a couple of days of poor sleep — four hours or less — changes your hormones such that it makes release of fat from fat cells much more difficult and makes fat storage more likely.”
In fact, one study showed that even a single night of sleep deprivation increased people’s levels of ghrelin (aka the “hunger hormone”) while decreasing leptin (a hormone that makes it easier to say “I’m okay without that donut, thanks”).
So remember, sleep is a lot more than just lying around. It’s an important front in your slim-belly battle. Give it the time (which for most of adults is between seven and nine hours) and attention it deserves.
Spot Reduction And Stubborn Fat Loss
Understanding Fasted Cardio And Fat Loss
Challenging The Belly Fat Hypothesis
The post How Food Becomes Belly Fat appeared first on Born Fitness.
New U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance is that fully vaccinated Americans can forgo masks unless they are in a big crowd of strangers, and those who are unvaccinated can go without a face covering outside in some cases, too.
In the darkest days of his battle with COVID-19, 31-year-old Canadian Olympian Alexander Kopacz says he drew up a will, gave his goodbyes to his family and friends, and contemplated whether he had lived a good and fulfilling life.
Albertans in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s are ending up in intensive care with COVID-19 at a higher rate than ever before, as variants have taken hold and case rates have soared among these age groups, most of whom have not yet been vaccinated.
Vital medical supplies poured into India on Tuesday as hospitals starved of oxygen supplies and beds turned away coronavirus patients, while a surge in infections pushed the death toll toward 200,000.
There are now 47 cases of a mysterious neurological disease that's been identified in a cluster of individuals living in the northeastern and southeastern parts of New Brunswick.
For most people, the first two things that come to mind when thinking about how to improve their health are eating better and improving fitness levels.
Finally writing a review on Thinx after using them for almost 3 years! Be forewarned that lots of period talk is ahead, so if my 3 male readers want to skip out on this one, no hard feelings. 😉 Heads up: this review is not sponsored and I wasn’t gifted products to write this post. I’ve purchased them myself over time and am happy to spread the word. If you’d like to try them out, you can use my referral link to get $10 off.
Hi friends! Happy Tuesday! I hope you’re enjoying the week so far. It’s been a good one over here. Lots of Zoom calls, so I’m rocking the “business on top, pajamas pants on the bottom” kinda life.
For today, I wanted to chat a bit about girly things and share my unwavering love for the Thinx products. I was kind of hesitant to post a full review – it just felt so personal – but when has that ever held me back around here?? lol. So here we are and I’m going to share all of the details.
So I first started using Thinx in summer 2018. I wanted to try and find a new option since I no longer wanted to use the Diva Cup but was looking for something more environmentally-friendly. (Here’s the reason why! This post details everything I went through and why I’m apprehensive to use something that uses outer wall pressure and suction to hold itself in place.) I kept getting ad targeted for Thinx, so I bought a couple of pairs to see if I’d like them, and here I am, almost three years later and a huge fan.
Thinx are super absorbent panties that you wear during your cycle. They claim to soak up as much as five tampons. I couldn’t believe this could be real, so I was anxious to test them out. The verdict: they work EXTREMELY well. They hold up over time, don’t leak (unless you have a super heavy flow, then I recommend backup), and they have a variety of styles. They have high-waist, cheeky, french cut, thongs, bikini, and hiphuggers in their classic material, sport (lightweight and breathable) and cotton.
I’ve only tried out a handful of styles, but my favorites are the hiphuggers for when things are real, the air sport and cheeky for lighter days.
They also have apparel now, which is awesome! I definitely want to dry out the pajama shorts.
I was curious to see if I would feel gross wearing them knowing that they were absorbing everything. The fabric is extremely moisture-wicking, and on heaviest days, I’ll swap them out once during the day if I feel like I need to. Also worth mentioning here that I use a tampon for the first day or two, and purely Thinx for sleep and from then on. It makes me happy to know how much I’ve reduced waste by majorly cutting down on tampon usage.
This is the other golden question: how do you wash them? My method is to put them on a rinse and spin cycle by themselves, do a full laundry cycle with other clothes, and then air dry. Every now and again I’ll add some vinegar to the wash cycle but don’t really feel like it needs it.
Since I’ve been working out 99% at home for the past year, I’ve worn them to work out with no probs. (I also wear gym shorts, a baggy tee, and socks that don’t match since no one can see me.) In the past, if I were taking an Orangetheory or barre class and wanted to wear leggings, I’d just use a tampon for the class (and prevent VPL because the lines from these things are serious. I would only do the thong with leggings.).
– They’re on the pricey side but if you think about how much you spend on products each month, I think it’s absolutely worth it in the long term
– They feel thick. They’re definitely thicker than regular ol’ undies but you get used to it over time
– I mentioned this above but the visible panty line is serious. I can still get away with wearing these with jeans and certain dresses, but it’s a big NO for leggings (unless it was a lighter day and I used the thong option).
So, tell me friends: what do you use for your cycle? Tampons, pads, cup, other? Please share the love and why you love it in the comments section so we can get ideas from each other. Tampon brand wise, I really like LOLA and the ones from Target (I don’t know the brand but they’re organic and in a big plastic circular bin thing).
xo
Gina
More:
How to track your cycle and adjust workout intensity throughout the month
Why it’s important to check out tampon and pad ingredients
The post Thinx review and are they worth it? appeared first on The Fitnessista.
The intensive care unit at the Jewish General Hospital has treated nearly 300 COVID-19 patients since the pandemic began. As cases and hospitalizations begin to decline, staff hope this third wave is the last one.
Manitoba is in a "very precarious" place, the province's top doctor said Monday, as officials announced stepped up restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19.