FitSugar

How You Can Start Your Own Cause For Charity

Emily Co — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 03:05:02 PDT

There are so many ways to give and if you feel the urge to do something more than give a donation, you can consider starting a project to raise money and awareness for a good cause. I recently launched JustOneCrane, a small Facebook campaign to raise awareness for Japan quake and tsunami, and thought it would be great to share tips on what I have learned and how you can get there.

I definitely learned a lot through my experience and have almost reached my goal of raising a $1,000 - we're currently at about $861 and counting! Read on to learn what you should do for your own fundraising project.

What Causes Hiccups?

FitSugar — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 03:30:00 PDT

Everyone and their mother seems to have a unique cure for a bad case of the hiccups, but what I want to know is, what causes them in the first place?

A hiccup is an unintentional contraction of your diaphragm, the muscle that separates your chest from your abdomen. It plays an important role in breathing, and when it contracts, it makes your vocal cords close briefly and that's what causes the sound of a hiccup.

Hiccups are actually triggered by many things:

Eating spicy foods - It can cause irritation to the nerves that control normal contractions of your diaphragm.
Eating a large meal, eating too fast (swallowing air), or drinking carbonated beverages - These can cause your stomach to expand, which pushes up your diaphragm, making hiccups more likely.
Drinking alcohol - Alcohol can relax your diaphragm and vocal cords, making it easier for other factors to trigger hiccups.
Tobacco use - Tobacco use may irritate the nerves that control the diaphragm.

Want to know what else can cause hiccups? Then

Sudden temperature changes - Whether the change occurs inside your body (like drinking hot tea), or outside your body (when you go outside in the snow), it can cause hiccups.
Excitement or emotional stress - It's not clear why this can cause hiccups, but it may have to do with one of the nerves involved in the hiccup reflex being startled.

As annoying as hiccups can be, even if you don't sip water through a straw while pinching your nose, or hold your breath while saying the word "hippopotamus" in your head 5 times, hiccups will eventually go away on their own. Very rarely do hiccups last for more than 20-30 minutes. If they do, like this poor girl who had them for 3 weeks straight, there could be an underlying medical problem such as nerve damage. If this is the case, someone should definitely seek medical attention pronto. Source

What Causes Heartburn?

FitSugar — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 11:45:00 PDT

I'm sure you've all experienced heartburn once in your life, some unfortunately more than others. Maybe you ate a spicy meal, a huge meal or a huge spicy meal and got that overwhelming burning sensation in your lower chest. But it doesn't stop there, it can start to creep up into your esophagus and into your throat.

You may know this already, but heartburn doesn't actually affect the heart at all. When you eat, food passes from your mouth down a tube called the esophagus. In order to enter the stomach to be digested, the food must pass through an opening between the esophagus and the stomach.

This opening is like a gate, and soon closes after food passes into your tummy. Sometimes it doesn't quite close, and stomach acid can get through that opening and move into your esophagus. This is called reflux and it's what causes that burning sensation.

Heartburn can be affected by being overweight, smoking cigarettes, drinking coffee or other beverages that contain caffeine, alcohol, citrus fruits, tomatoes, onion, chocolate, mints, fatty or spicy foods, or taking aspirin or ibuprofen.

If you do get a sudden case of heartburn, try to keep yourself upright. If you are lying down, prop yourself up with some pillows since this will prevent more acid from seeping into your esophagus.

Taking an antacid can help (it neutralizes the acid in your stomach). Take ones that contain both magnesium hydroxide and aluminum hydroxide (one causes constipation while the other causes diarrhea so they counteract each other) like over-the-counter brands include Maalox and Mylanta.

Want to know how you can prevent it? Then

Don't overeat.
Stop eating 2-3 hours before lying down for bed.
Lose excess weight.
Don't wear belts or clothes that are tight fitting around your waist - this will squeeze your stomach and force food and acid back up towards the esophagus.
Eat high-protein, low-fat meals.
If you've eaten something in the past and it's given you heartburn - don't eat it again.

Do Bras Cause Breast Cancer?

FitSugar — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 04:00:00 PST

So recently I heard an astonishing statement from someone in my yoga class. "Wearing a bra causes breast cancer. And under-wires are the worst."

What? This can't be true. Every woman I know wears a bra. And what about men who get breast cancer? I'm sure they don't wear bras. As soon as I got home, I searched for some facts to back this up.

I did find a lot of info "claiming" the same statement, but none of these sites could back it up with science.

I was happy to find this tidbit from the Canadian Cancer Society that said, "At this time, there is no reliable, scientific evidence that shows a link between wearing a bra and developing breast cancer."

Want to know what else I found? Then

read more CancerHelp UK agreed and said:

No, there is no scientific evidence to prove this. There are a number of rumors that have suggested that bras cause breast cancer by obstructing the lymphatic system. The emphasis has generally been on under-wired bras. These sources claim that bras squash the fine tubes of the lymphatic system. The idea is that this stops the normal drainage of the breast tissues, causing toxins to gather in the breast and resulting in cancer. You would need to wear a bra that was painfully and unbearably tight to have any effect on your lymphatic system.

Oh good. I didn't really like the idea of blowing free in the breeze. So go ahead and support 'em if you got 'em.

Don't Touch That Wart

FitSugar — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 01:59:00 PST

No - you can't get warts from touching toads, but I just read that warts can be passed from one person to another.

Warts are caused by a human papillomavirus (HPV), and there are more than 100 types. Warts can grow on all parts of your body (and I mean ALL). Some viruses can cause warts to grow on your hands or feet, while others can cause warts to grow on your genitals and rectal area (not fun).

Some people are naturally resistant to the HPV virus and never get warts, while others seem to get warts more often than the snow falls in winter.

Warts should be treated because it'll decrease your chance of spreading more warts to the rest of your body (and to other people). Plus, warts can be painful if they're in an area where they get bumped a lot. They can also be a little embarrassing, like if they're on your face.

Warts will often go away on their own, but it may take several months or years even. If they get to be too annoying, you can get an over-the-counter treatment (these should NOT be used for genital warts). Or you can go see a dermatologist to have them removed.

There are a few choices in how to treat warts. Want to hear about them? Then

Apply salicylic acid: This is good for warts that appear on the hands, feet, or knees - apply the acid daily for many weeks after a bath or shower.
Duct tape treatment (this is for real): Cover the wart with duct tape for up to a week - this irritates the skin and causes your body to attack it. Repeat this for up to 2 months - if it doesn't work, see a doctor.
Liquid nitrogen: Your doctor may use this to freeze the wart, which may hurt a little. This may need to be repeated up to 4 times to remove the wart.

If none of the above work, your doctor may have to resort to other treatments such as burning the wart, cutting the wart off, or removing it with a laser. These work really well, and quickly, but often leave a scar.

Kristen Stewart Talks Badass Fairy Tales, Bella Swan, and Her New Leading Man on Snow White Set Visit

Molly Goodson — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:01:00 PST

Last October, we were so excited to pay a visit to the set of Snow White and the Huntsman outside London. We got a sneak peek into the amazing world Kristen Stewart and her costars, including Chris Hemsworth, Sam Claflin, Charlize Theron, and more, inhabited while shooting the action-packed fairy-tale movie. We have tons to come from our day poking around the remarkable set and learning about everything from the costumes to the fight scenes. While we were there, we even got to see the aftermath of Kristen accidentally actually punching Chris Hemsworth in the face filming a scene. Check out our chat with Kristen and stay tuned for lots from the set:

Is there something you admire about Snow White?

Yes. It’s strange playing a character that you actually could never truly embody. Her spirit affects people. . . I can’t have Snow White’s effect on people. I can’t actually be completely selfless because nobody is. You can only really play a character like that in a fairy tale and play it with an awful load of integrity. She’s very fully formed, but very farfetched-from-the-reality-that-we-live-in type of person. She also is strong in a very different way than you’d expect. Strength, yeah, but also gusto. I mean, she’s strong. She can kick ass. It hurts very much to do so and so it’s not like you’re watching her go take down a kingdom. You’re not watching going, "Yeah! Kill him!" Really it’s more like you’re watching someone having to do something that doesn’t just go against your sensibilities or that you agree with. It’s gutting. It’s physically gutting, literally. A million reasons, but she’s special.

Do you like that she’s not like your prissy fairy tale?

Yeah, because that’s just a very surface, though she is prissy sometimes. That’s the other thing. It takes her the whole movie basically to become who I’m talking about now. I’m really sort of talking in retrospect. It’s strange. It’s a total identity movie. It’s all about not finding yourself, but actually just being OK with who you always have been and not being ashamed of being the only one who sees the light. It’s an enormous burden and she’s so stunted. She was put away when she was 7 years old and your mother and your father were killed basically right in front of you. We’re not doing the version of a fairy tale that wouldn’t deal with all of those things, where you just sort of skim over all those things, and it's like all of these things are actually really important to the characters. She literally bleeds for her land and her people, and that’s just such a cool concept for me because it’s other people caring about people. It’s very simple, but it’s so common. Every day all the time you see people not caring about each other, and this is just about that.

She learns to be a leader or she’s born a leader inside, do you think?

She’s definitely a born leader. I mean, it’s literally pumping through those veins, but it’s been taken from her. She’s been so stolen from.

To read the rest of the interview, including her thoughts on Bella vs. Snow White and what it was like to punch Chris just

read more. Is it helping you get into the character's mindset to wear those cool costumes? Absolutely. If you look down and something doesn’t feel like you would definitely be wearing it, or if you go to grab your knife and it flops around or - basically [Colleen Atwood] thinks about every detail. It’s so wearable. I also have puffy sleeves. Somehow she manages to make puffy sleeves look butch. I was always expecting to personally wind up in a - basically what I’m wearing underneath it, like that little blue dress, which is just thin and wispy. I was really happy that she’s got something heavy on - a bit of armor before she actually finds her own armor. How did you feel the first time you put on the armor? Did you feel more badass? Yeah. That’s the first thing you want to [pound your chest]. Also, my armor doesn’t have a huge top on it. All the guys, unfortunately, they [raise their arms] and they hit themselves in the head. I can run around in mine. Somehow the armor on the men - unless they’re on horseback and they look amazing, but there’s also something kind of dainty about it, too, like pointy toes. It fits a woman’s body better, I feel. I don’t know, the guys running around suddenly look like little toys - slightly feminine little toys. Both Snow White and Bella had traumatizing experiences in the woods - being led out to die or have her heart broken - compare those two experiences? Well, it’s funny. I think [Snow White] genuinely lacks that innate fear of death that we all have. She’s got a serious, fierce survival - not skills, but insights. But she isn’t afraid of anything. What’s harder is to have dreams and hopes that you lived your whole life sort of be just shattered in front of you. So I think probably it’s totally impossible to compare the two. And I know that doesn’t make sense, but I kind of can’t compare. Can you compare the movies in general? Are there similarities at all? Bella and Snow White both come to find that they’re leaders. I mean, that’s definitely a similarity. They’re different. They’re very, very, very, different people. Also, I guess in a very sort of righteous way as well it’s all very like - everyone’s telling them “no” and both of them I guess see the light. Both of them are sort of a little more intuitive and spiritually, for whatever reason, connected and their gut is always sort of dead right. What about working with Chris surprised you? Did you have any preconceptions of him? Before I met him, I was like, "gosh, so charming." You know what I mean? Like he’s so ridiculously, seemingly nice. Movie-star caliber nice. But he really actually just is. But then again, it’s strange working - cause I mean it’s not a secret. It was completely different part before. It was totally like a rethought. So when he came in it was like "Wow! This is f*cking interesting!" I mean, it was like they really elevated it. Chris is an amazing, nice guy and also [has] great instincts and he can roll with everything on set. He’s really relaxed, whereas I’m always like, "oh my god!" I use my anxiety to do this and he’s always sort of like - he’s a good energy for me. I really like working with him. You actually punched Chris filming a scene and gave him a black eye? It’s actually a very confidence building experience. I don’t like punching anyone. So, you know, when you dream and your hand just slides right down their face, it doesn’t do that in real life. It really works. God, that really made me feel horrible, though. I mean, like instantly hot tears and I was like "oops!" We were watching it. It looks - it’ll be in the movie. Favorite fairy tale as a kid? I honestly don’t - somebody asked this the other day. I wasn’t here til the end of fairy tales. I really liked The Jungle Book. I was obsessed with The Jungle Book. Chris said Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. He is obsessed with Lord of the Rings and he was always like humming Enya as we were trudging up the mountain. I was saying basically, "You should make a remake of Lord of the Rings. Why are you doing this? . . . We’re doing Snow White and the Huntsman, Chris!" Photos courtesy of Universal Pictures

Nicki, Carrie, Katy, and More Kick Off the Grammy Red Carpet in Style!

Katie Henry — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 18:29:21 PST

The Grammys took place in LA tonight, and music's biggest names hit the red carpet in their finest award show attire. Nicki Minaj caused a stir when she stepped out of her limo in a red silk Atelier Versace cape, while Katy Perry sparkled in a blue Elie Saab. There was a ton of fashion and entertainment to check out, so be sure to vote on all of our love it or hate it polls!

A Whole Lotta Lil in This Week's Links

Rebecca M Gruber — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 04:26:33 PST

Need valentines for school? Don't miss these great finds - most of which can be printed right from your own computer!
Do you breastfeed in public? These celeb moms do!
Create a fun Valentine's Day hairstyle for your tot!
Building your maternity wardrobe? We'll show you where to splurge and where to save!
We spoke with the founder of NurturMe baby food about foods for kids.
Are you a French maman? A new parenting movement is causing quite a stir!
We created our own free, downloadable valentine for the lil boy in your life!
Celebrate your newly potty-trained lil one with a potty training party!
Got milk? We've found 9 surprising ways to increase your milk supply.
One dad shared his fun way of documenting his baby news with family and friends.

Obama Compromises on Contraception

Annie Scudder — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:20:55 PST

Despite the fact that 99 percent of women who have ever had sex - religious or not - have used contraception, the Obama administration's decision to make birth control free under all employer health insurance packages has caused a controversy. Today, the White House announced that it will make a change to its new policy to accommodate religious institutions, such as Catholic hospitals and universities, who do not want to cover prescriptions like the pill. Under the compromise, religious employers would not have to offer free birth control. Rather, insurance companies themselves would have to provide free contraception to workers at religiously sponsored institutions if the worker requests it.

The original policy, similar to laws that already exist in states like California and Oregon, would have required groups affiliated with religious institutions, like hospitals, charities, and universities, to provide insurance plans that cover birth control for free. Churches themselves would be exempt. But some religions, like the Catholic Church, oppose all forms of birth control, and leaders, especially the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, put pressure on the White House to change course, threatening to make this a major campaign issue.

So far, it looks like the compromise has pleased both sides. Planned Parenthood's President Cecile Richards said it "does not compromise a woman's ability to access this critical birth control benefits," and Sister Carol Keehan, the president of the Catholic Health Association of the United States, says she is "pleased and grateful that the religious liberty and conscience protection needs of so many ministries that serve our country were appreciated."

Fat-Proof Your Life

Health — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:06:06 PST

We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from Health.com here on our site.

By Maridel Reyes

It's true that there are certain times in your life when extra poundage seems to appear out of nowhere . . . and settle on you. In fact, experts have honed in on the exact moments when you're most vulnerable to weight gain.

"Life transitions, having a baby, and going through menopause cause many women to pile on pounds," says Susan Albers, PsyD, author of But I Deserve This Chocolate!: The 50 Most Common Diet-Derailing Excuses and How to Outwit Them. "But with planning and prep, you can stay thin."

We asked top experts for their strategies to help you ward off weight creep - and even shed pounds - at these tricky stages. Solutions ahead.

Getting married

Heavier ever after? It can be the flip side of wedded bliss: "Six out of 10 of my clients come back heavier after the honeymoon," says celebrity fitness and wellness guru David Kirsch.

Health.com: 25 Diet-Busting Foods You Should Never Eat

Young newlyweds pack on an extra six to nine pounds in the five years after getting hitched compared to singletons, according to research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. And most of that gain happens in the first year of marriage.

"Couples start to mirror each other's eating habits," explains Albers. "You might be matching him calorie for calorie without realizing it."

Learn how to keep the pounds down postmarriage and in the mommy years, after the break.