It's going to be wicked hot this weekend. Desperate times call for desperate measures, people.
It is hot, ya’ll. When I woke up and heard rain this morning, I rejoiced and thanked my lucky stars because I thought it might cool things off a bit. Then I heard tell of an EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING (all caps, I swear) hitting town this afternoon and sticking around through the weekend, and I sighed, dreaming of the pool I don’t own and the swim-club membership I’ll never be able to afford.
Which is about when a nefarious little idea popped into my head.
What if …?
No, no, I couldn’t.
Just think about it. What if…?
Stop it, you.
But, listen, stop interrupting me. Wouldn’t it just be so easy to sneak into a pool? Like, a cool, glassy, perfect rooftop hotel pool?
Why yes. Yes, it would.
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We all know the saying, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” right?
A preventive health visit can help you establish the baseline for your current health and identify any issues before they potentially grow serious. Preventive screenings can help you and your doctor discuss care options and the types of tests you may need.
Do you know how often you should have a preventive exam? Do you know the types of screenings your doctor should perform? How often do you have a preventive exam?
On this month’s “On the Street with Sidewalk Talk,” we asked people these same questions. What would your answers be?
Watch “On the Street with Sidewalk Talk” now.
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The Biggest Loser casting crew hits Philly on their 13-city search for season 14 contestants.
 No matter if you’re a Biggest Loser fan or potential contestant, this is where season 14 begins. On July 14th, the Biggest Loser folks are hosting an open casting call at Planet Fitness in Northeast Philly, part of a 13-city search for contestants. The open call gives applicants face-to-face time with casting directors for the show and fans a behind-the-scenes look at the selection process. To apply you’ve got to have at least 85 pounds to lose. To have a chance at selection, a compelling story is a must-have, along with the desire and passion to change your life. The casting crew recommends you bring water, snacks, and a folding chair for the wait—they’re expecting a long line. For more information about the casting call, visit this site.
July 14, 10 a.m. 6 p.m., Planet Fitness, 9950 East Roosevelt Blvd. Philadelphia
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'Tis the season for farmers' markets! Here's a list of nearly 60 in the city and the 'burbs (including Jersey!) so there's sure to be one near you.
In society today, where people are overworked and overwhelmed, a healthy (and fresh) diet often falls by the wayside. Who has time to stop for fresh fruits and vegetables every day when you can buy canned or frozen?
Unfortunately for our bodies, we’ve entered an epoch of grub packed with preservatives, like the much-maligned high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oil, both of which prolong foods’ shelf life.
In an effort to combat the potentially body-harming effects of our food system, some Philadelphians have worked to make fresh foods more easily accessible—you guessed it—through farmers’ markets. In the seasonal months, especially May to October, farmers’ markets have been popping up all over the city, so no one has an excuse not to stop in and fill up on fresh stuff.
To help you eat a little more fresh and a little less frozen, here’s a list of the some of the biggest, smallest, oldest and newest farmers’ markets in and around the city. Now’s the time to tell the ole’ MSG to hit the road and get the fresh-food fever. It’s what’s hot.
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Plus: Why you shouldn't eat meat (it's not for health reasons!), and the startling number of Americans who believe UFOs are real.
• You know how folks like Michael Phelps, Apolo Ohno and Nastia Liukin make being an Olympic athlete look super glamorous? Well, if weightlifter Sarah Robles proves anything, it’s not—at least, not for the majority of athletes headed to the Olympic Games. Believe it or not, Robles, a 23-year-old from California, is actually the country’s strongest person. She beat out all American competitors—both male and female—at last year’s world championships, placing 11th overall. She can apparently lift more than 568 pounds—”that’s roughly five IKEA couches, 65 gallons of milk, or one large adult male lion,” reports BuzzFeed. But here’s the thing: Despite being ridiculously talented, Robles is barely scraping by financially; she brings in just $400 a month from U.S.A. Weightlifting, and anything else comes from donations from friends and family. (Her jam-packed training schedule makes it impossible to get a job.) Apparently, sponsorships and spokesperson gigs aren’t super easy to come by if you’re not photogenic, which is why Olympians like Phelps are able to book $1 million Mazda campaigns. And at 5’10″ and 275 pounds, Robles doesn’t exactly fit the mold. Kinda sad, no? Check out her full profile over here on BuzzFeed.
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It didn't take long for the GIFs to get made. Here are the best memes, cartoons and more after the Supreme Court's health care decision.
As I type this, we’re just six hours out from this morning’s landmark Supreme Court decision green-lighting President Obama’s health care reform law. Proving that way too many of us have way too much time on our hands, lots of hilarious internet memes, GIFs, and cartoons have already started cropping up. Even the New Yorker weighed in, with a column on how conservatives can claim victory. (Hint: The justices were dressed in super conservative garb!)
Here are more of my favorites below. Share yours in the comments!
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Our new blog series, chronicling one local gal's experiment to revamp her eating habits in six weeks—and that means no more truffle fries. Think you could you do it?
 That's me on the right with my sister (and trainer) Audie. You know what’s not easy? Sitting at your favorite restaurant when the waiter places a steaming bowl of truffle fries in front of you and saying, “No, thanks. I don’t want any.” That is a lie. You do want some. Or you would if you were me.
Hi, I’m Abby, and I just signed a contract that says I can’t eat truffle fries.
Well, not truffle fries in particular, but we’ll get to the details in a minute. For the next six weeks, I’ll be hijacking this little corner of Be Well Philly to talk about a health challenge I’m part of that will hopefully end in a healthier, happier, way-less-likely-to-eat-her-emotions version of me.
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Plus: Alex Trebek has second heart attack, 50 Cent hospitalized, Emma Stone's raspy voice and more.
Adele’s Ballad Brings Girl Out of Coma. Several days after seven-year-old British girl Charlotte Neve slipped into a coma after suffering a brain hemmorrage, “Rolling in the Deep” came on the radio in her hospital room. Her mother began to sing along and then—catch this—the little girl began to smile. Two days later, she was able to talk and walk around. Nurses who witnessed the event credited the “unlocking” of the coma to Adele’s oh-so-catchy tune, a familiar stimulus to Charlotte’s brain. Bizzare, no? Apparently, such events are fairly common. [MSNBC]
Emma Stone’s Raspy Voice Result of Childhood Ailment. For years now we’ve all been wondering why Stone’s voice is so husky (you know you have). Now we have an answer. Stone, who is starring in the latest Spider-Man flick, opened up to the Daily Beast about the cause of her signature tone: For the first six months of her life, she suffered from severe stomachaches, a consequence of a hiatal hernia that she was born with, which led to her screaming herself hoarse every single day. Poor thing! Her vocal chords haven’t been the same since. [The Daily Beast]
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Everyone's still sussing out the details, but the heart of Obama's health care reform law—the so-called individual mandate—is in tact. Here's what the Twitterrverse is saying about it.
In a 5-4 vote today, the Supreme Court ruled to uphold the President Obama’s health care law. USA Today rightly calls it a “splintered, complex opinion,” one legal minds and news outlets across the country are still sussing out. But the heart of the law, the so-called individual mandate—a provision requiring nearly all Americans to have health insurance—remained in tact in the form of a tax. As USA Today explains:
The government had argued that Congress had the authority to pass the individual mandate as part of its power to regulate interstate commerce; the court disagreed with that analysis, but preserved the mandate because the fine amounts to a tax that is within Congress’ constitutional taxing powers.
Supporters say the measure is necessary to help fund the other pieces of health care reform.
Many are calling the ruling a major victory for the Obama camp. A statement from the president is expected around 12:15 this afternoon.
So let’s turn to Twitter to gauge the reaction of the peanut gallery—er, people, shall we? And be sure to share your thoughts on the decision in the comments.
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Plus: Military wives strip down for a cause and a colorblindness test you can take right now.
• Phew—we can swim with confidence, people. The annual water-quality report from the National Resources Defense Council found New Jersey beaches to be in pretty good shape. They ranked fourth out of 30 states for cleanliness, with only 3 percent of beaches exceeding the state’s bacterial standards. Of the 700 ocean and bay beaches in New Jersey, the NRDC kept tabs on 226 of them, testing the water once a week mid-May through September. The top five dirtiest beaches in the state were in Ocean and Monmouth Counties. Last year, beaches were closed on 131 days, a 20 percent increase from 2010′s 109 days. This is due to the relatively wet summer we had, according to the report, which led to “an increase in precautionary ‘rain provisional’ closings at beaches.” Most of our contamination (79 percent) comes from storm-water runoff. Check out the full report for data on individual Jersey beaches.
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