FitSugar

Watch Out For: Ticks

FitSugar — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 03:00:00 PDT

Exercising in the woods is perfect in the Summer because the challenging terrain offers you a tough workout, but the trees provide shade to prevent overheating. When on the trail you need not only to watch out for poison ivy, but be on the lookout for ticks as well. These little buggers are small, but their bites have the ability to transmit diseases such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tularemia, Lyme disease, and other tick-borne illnesses. Blacklegged ticks (deer ticks), lone star ticks, and American dog ticks are all on the list of things you don't want touching your body.

To prevent ticks from landing on you and attaching to your skin, wear long sleeves, pants, and tall socks that cover your shins. Lighter colored clothing will make it easier to spot these dark bugs so you can flick them off. If it's too hot for all those clothes, then spray yourself with bug repellent. Also avoid walking in tall grassy areas. Be especially cautious in May, June, and July when ticks are most active. After an excursion in an area that's known for ticks, check yourself or have someone else check your skin - don't forget your armpits, scalp, and groin.

To find out what you should do if you see a tick stuck to your body

read more. Remove the tick from your skin by using tweezers. Don't smother the tick with nail polish or petroleum jelly, and don't use a hot match. You want to avoid crushing the tick to ensure that the disease-causing bacterium stays inside the tick's body. Pull the tick out and if the mouthparts are still in your skin, pull those out too. Wash the area with soapy warm water. If a tick has latched on to you and it's been less than 24 hours, your risk of contracting a disease is fairly low. Monitor the bitten area as well as your overall symptoms over the next few weeks, just to be sure. Is it just me, or does anyone else get itchy just looking at the images of ticks? Source

Watch Out For: Poison Ivy

FitSugar — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 03:30:00 PDT

Unknowingly tromping through a patch of poison ivy can turn a pleasurable hike or run in the woods into a nightmare. If you touch the plant or something that has touched it (like your dog), then the oils can get on your skin and cause a nasty, itchy, blistery rash that lasts for up to three weeks.

If you know you've gotten into some poison ivy, you want to rinse with cold water within an hour of exposure. A hot shower is the worst idea because it will open your pores and let the oils in. If you wash the oils off immediately, hopefully you'll avoid a rash altogether. If you do develop the rash, don't pop the blisters. The liquid inside won't cause the rash to spread, but you could get an infection. Use a topical anti-itch cream to relieve your symptoms and speed up the healing process.

If you learned the rule, "Leaves of three, let it be," you can throw that out the window. While poison ivy does grow in clusters of three leaves, it can also grow up to nine leaves in a group. To hear what else you should you watch out for and see some photos of this treacherous plant

Jenna Lyons Dishes on Sequins, Hidden Talents, and J.Crew's Collaboration With Manolo Blahnik!

Allison McNamara — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:44:05 PST

We can't get enough of Jenna Lyons's perfect balance of masculine and feminine. Known for mixing the formal and the informal seamlessly, we found out Jenna's tip to styling sequins for day and how to try out Fall's head-to-toe prints. Plus, creating expertly polished ensembles isn't Jenna's only hidden talent. Want to know more? Watch today's Fab Flash! On Allison McNamara: H&M top.

Watch the Whimsical World of Marc Jacobs's Fall 2012 Collection

FabSugar — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:36:57 PST

Set in a Rachel Feinstein-designed, storybook-inspired, castle-in-ruins Winter wonderland, Marc Jacobs presented his Fall 2012 collection with more than just a little fashion fanfare. The first word that comes to mind? Hats! And lots of them, all by mastermind milliner Stephen Jones, each one more wonderfully whimsical than the one before. These wild toppers, in addition to the parade of rich, slightly oversized outerwear, giant safety-pin closures, bejeweled square-toed shoes, luxe ostrich-skin handbags, and more, served as a serious testament to Marc's vivid imagination. All flights of fancy aside, though, there were ultra-wearable pieces peeking out from under the more fantastical garb. Click to watch the entire collection.

5 Ways to Make Moving a Habit

Leta Shy — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:52:25 PST

We all should take time to relax, but sometimes we don't realize just exactly how sedentary our lives can be. Even if you devote an hour to exercise most days, if you're not moving a lot the rest of the time, you can be doing more harm than good. So start making moving a habit with these five tips.

Keep track: One of the best ways to encourage yourself to move is to get a fitness monitor that tracks your steps. You don't have to invest a lot - while more sophisticated trackers (like these five fitness monitors) track your steps as well as your exercise (some can also distinguish between walking on flat ground and when you're going up steps), you can buy a basic pedometer for just a few dollars.
Try a one-minute move: Whether you're folding laundry or watching TV, multitask by building muscle while you work. Take a one-minute break to dance around or do squats, lunges, or planks, and you'll raise your heartbeat as well as your energy levels.

Read on for three more ways to making moving a habit.

Link Time: Inside Daphne Guinness's Home, Olivier Theyskens's NYFW Diary, and More

FabSugar — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:26:58 PST

Step inside the home of Daphne Guinness - Stylelist
Marc Jacobs defies CFDA, lets underage models walk in his show - Styleite
Fashion folk forget their manners at Betsey Johnson - The Cut
In honor of Valentine's Day, watch these epic proposal fails - The Daily Beast
Get all the details on Megan Hilty's Smash wardrobe - InStyle
Diane von Furstenberg and Mayor Bloomberg discuss fashion initiatives for NYC - FashionIndie
Bikini babes: see all of Sports Illustrated's swimsuit models - HuffPost Style
Check out Alexander Wang's Fall '12 handbag collection - Purse Blog
What accessory inspires your style? - College Fashion
Olivier Theyskens's Fashion Week diary - Style.com

Video: PopSugar's 15 Most Memorable Movie Wedding Scenes!

Lauren Bradshaw — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:20:36 PST

It's Valentine's Day and we're celebrating by taking a look at some of our favorite onscreen "I dos." Keep your tissues close by, but not all weddings have to be a total sobfest. Just watch as our editors relive the out-of-control guests, brides gone wild - and of course, at least one or two totally sweet ceremonies - from our favorite movie weddings!

Whitney's Chris D'Elia Is Back With More Relationship Advice

Annie Scudder — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:00:09 PST

Single and looking for eligible, normal guys? Don't move to LA, says Chris D'Elia, who plays a lovable and hilarious boyfriend on NBC's Whitney. That's some of the advice the standup comedian dished out in response to our readers' questions. Yesterday he addressed your Valentine's Day dilemmas, and today's he's back to tackle general dating and love debacles.

Is it fair to barter TV shows with my fiancé? As in, two hours of The Bachelor equals half of a football game?

Chris: Look, I don't like football, but if I did and I wanted to watch it, then I would expect to have to sit and watch something like The Bachelor, and I would try my best to get into it, or at least find why she liked it. The other alternative is like, "OK, I want to watch football you want to watch The Bachelor, then let's agree on something else." But then neither of you get to watch what you want to. For The Bachelor, I'd want to watch Dexter.

Where do normal men hang out in LA? If you can solve this mystery (preferably with a chart that includes days of the week, locations, and "type" of guy) I guarantee you could sell it for millions in addition to making this single lady very happy.

Chris: I don't think that's a fair question. I think people move to LA because they're not normal.

What's the best way to suggest to any man that he needs to get some new clothes?

Chris: The worst thing you could do is beat around the bush, or side step it. You got to just say it. But I had an ex, and she was like "you got to get Converse," and she kept saying it - "get Converse." I was finally like, "OK, I'll get a pair of Converse." And I got a pair of Converse. I got those regular Chuck Taylor ones, but I literally got every single color of the Converse, and I wore them all the time. And a year later, she was like "All you wear is Converse." So you have to be careful with that, you'll create a monster.

Why do men need their man caves?

Chris: I think that men think they need their man caves. They don't really do. They think they want them, and then the second they do get them and they have alone time and time away from the girl, and the girl is really cool with giving them alone time, then that's when they, or at least I, start to think, "So, why are you so cool with me being alone? What's wrong with me that you don't want to be with me every second."

How can I ask my husband to do housework without sounding like a task master?

Chris: Don't make a list. Don't pin anything up on the fridge. I'm a dude, obviously, and when I'm not in a relationship, I don't do any of that stuff. I don't do laundry until I want to. But if I live with a girl, you have to do it when she wants to or when we want to, which sucks. That totally messes up my day. So just come out and just say it. Just have a good attitude about it and don't wait until you get frustrated.

How would you describe your perfect woman and how could she attract your attention?

Chris: Tweet at me. That gets my attention. The number one thing is, you have to have a good attitude. Find the humor and the fun in things that aren't even fun. The two things that turn me off completely are negativity and if a girl's cheap. I mean, I'll pay for everything, but if a girl just mentions it, that's a turn off. That and DON'T WEAR FLIP-FLOPS. It's terrible. I mean come on. Put something on your feet. What if you have to run away? You're dead.

I'm moving in with my boyfriend next month and it's the first time I'm living with a man. What should I prepare for? Get the answer and much more advice from Chris below!

Go Behind the Scenes of Snow White and the Huntsman With New Pics and On-Set Quotes!

Molly Goodson — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:55:04 PST

A cold, wet day in the countryside outside of London lent a dreamlike quality to our Snow White and the Huntsman set visit at the end of October. The cast and crew were in the thick of filming the action-adventure fairy tale, which comes out June 1. We got to watch Kristen Stewart and Chris Hemsworth film a scene in which they were hanging upside down by their feet - they were both total troopers about it too! When they wrapped for the day, we chatted with each of the actors as well as the amazing Oscar winning costume designer Colleen Atwood, who gave us a tour of her many studios scattered around the lot. Read our full interview with Kristen Stewart on Snow White and the Huntsman, check out these new behind-the-scenes pictures, and watch out for lots more from our set visit!

Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

How to Keep Your Run Pain-Free

Leta Shy — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:54:30 PST

Sometimes, you start your run with the best intentions, only to be thwarted by recurring cramps and a headache that zaps all your energy. If you've experienced these nagging annoyances when you run, here are some tips for preventing pain and coping with it when it happens during your workout.

Headache: Often, a pounding headache that comes on during a run is due to inadequate water intake. Your body loses a lot of fluids while you're sweating it out on the treadmill, so before you even begin, make sure that you've had enough water throughout the day. During your run, sip water slowly, about five to 12 ounces every 20 minutes (or sip a sports drink with electrolytes if you are running for more than an hour), but don't drink so much that you feel all of it sloshing around in your stomach - that can lead to cramps or nausea.

More tips for pain-free running after the break.