Both my older sister and younger brother have type 1 diabetes, so finding a cure for the disease is a cause near and dear to my heart. Every two years, JDRF Chairman Mary Tyler Moore, a type 1 diabetic herself, and more than 100 hundred children with type 1 diabetes gather in D.C. for the Children’s Congress, where they meet face-to-face with some of the top decision-makers in the U.S. government in the hopes of securing the funds needed to find a cure. The children, ages 4 to 17, represent all 50 states and the District of Columbia. I’ve posted videos of the four adorable girls that will be representing Pennsylvania this year, June 20-22, below. Their stories and dreams for a cure are incredibly familiar. I hope they inspire you to, at the very least, say “yes” the next time the person ringing up your groceries asks if you’ll donate a dollar to finding a cure.
Ashley
Though Ashley was only five years old when she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, she already knew what it was. Her younger sister, Samantha, had been diagnosed about a year earlier, at 11 months old. Ashley would like to be a teacher one day. She plays soccer, does gymnastics, and enjoys drawing. Her birthday wish is for a cure for type 1. Ashley and her family are working hard to raise awareness and encourage Congressional support of research, to help us one day make her wish come true. READ MORE
Going to a golf-geared personal trainer to improve your golf game is a lot like going to … a personal trainer. He visits. You move. He watches. You meet again. You work out. Here’s the difference, though: After those workouts, you’re not just in better shape—you’re also a better golfer because everything you do in the gym is tailored to strengthening your score card. The result: Your scores are lower. Your handicap is higher. And, when you’re back at the clubhouse after a round, you’re happy, not frustrated, energized, not exhausted. READ MORE
Michael Solomonov's Carrot and Apple Salad With Pine Nuts.
On Tuesday, June 14, Philly’s culinary greats, including Marc Vetri, Jeff Michaud and Jose Garces, will join forces with top chefs from across the country—think Bravo’s Top Chef‘s Tom Colicchio and the Food Network’s Iron Chef’s Michael Symon—for the Sixth Annual Great Chefs Event to benefit Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. Their mission: Fight childhood cancer, one dish at a time. To whet your appetite for the food-filled evening, we asked Vetri, Zahav’s Michael Solomonov and the Dandelion’s Robert Aikens to share their favorite kid-friendly, cancer-fighting recipes. Each dish is packed with cancer-killing antioxidants and, according to CHOP’s registered dietitian Beth Wallace, “there is a considerable amount of laboratory evidence that these food substances can slow or prevent changes in a cell.” So get ready to eat up. This is one time that it’s totally okay to pick off your kid’s plate. READ MORE
In our sedentary society, where the vast majority of us spend our days with our butts glued to a chair and are all too happy to cut exercise short the moment it begins to feel somewhat taxing, trainers and fitness instructors couldn’t be more vital. These workout cheerleaders are there to motivate us; to inspire us to go a little farther, to work a little harder, to perfect our form and prevent injury, and to hold that plank a few seconds longer.
But, according to Kelly N. Pedrotty-Stump, an exercise coordinator at the Renfrew Center of Philadelphia, not everyone benefits from the gym’s pro-exercise and pro-weight-loss environment. Despite the slew of health benefits regular exercise provides, there are some people that take it too far. READ MORE
CHOP patients will soon have a new way to de-stress during hospital stays: The Ryan Seacrest Foundation (RSF) has selected CHOP as the site of an interactive broadcast multi-media center. Named “The Voice,” the center will give pint-sized patients a creative outlet by allowing them to engage in activities related to radio, TV and new media, including everything from getting a chance to be disc jockey for a day to broadcasting their favorite songs. Patients will also be able to listen to the peer-driven shows and call in requests. READ MORE
We heart the gluten-free muffins at Wynnewood's Main Line Baking Co. // Photograph by Zoey Sless-Kitain
Yesterday, our photo editor rolled into work with a box of gluten-free goodies from Wynnewood’s Main Line Baking Co., and said: Â ”You have to try the carrot muffin. It’s the best gluten-free muffin I’ve ever had.” Â She was right. I’ve tried quite a few gluten-free muffins in my day, and this one topped the list: It was moist, delicious and had perfect texture. Within a few hours, the rest of the muffins and breads were gobbled up by our hungry editors. And we Philly Mag staffers aren’t the only ones loving the Main Line bakery’s treats. READ MORE
Breast-feeding is great for the baby, but not always easy on the mom—especially if she works. But thanks to new health-care policy, the workplace is about to become more breast-feeding friendly. READ MORE
You don't have to eat perfectly or work out daily, but a little holiday maintenance will help avoid having to start all over again January 1st.
Holidays are designated days of relaxation and are a great time to enjoy family, friends and celebrate life. However, it’s important to remember it’s a holiday—or, if you’re lucky, a long holiweekend, which you can look forward to and get some extra rest and mental space from your routines—but you need to be careful not to check out of your healthy lifestyle for a week or more. Most anti-fitness breaks start with a holiweek that snowballs into a holimonth or holiyear.
If you normally use the holidays as an excuse for unhealthy choices, remember Newton’s first law: An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion until acted upon. What is true for physics is interestingly quite true for human behaviors as well. When you workout, isn’t it easier to also eat healthy? And when you are working out several times a week, doesn’t it feel almost easier to just stick with the routine and hit the gym again the next day? However, when you’ve fallen off healthy eating and preparing healthy food, it can seem like such a chore to make a healthy home-cooked meal one night. This is true of almost any similar positive behavior, such as reading, meditating, cooking, or making time for those you love. When you’re doing it, it feels easier and enjoyable, but when you aren’t, it feels like a huge effort to start it up again. READ MORE
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Every year, my entire family gathers at my aunt’s house in Berwyn and, for about five or six hours, I am surrounded by loud, boisterous, wine-laced conversation; lots of little kids who love to be entertained; good-natured banter as my cousins rib one another about the annual two-hand-touch football game that takes place in the backyard; and, of course, lots and lots of food. There are, give or take, usually about 30 to 35 of us. Though my aunt and uncle graciously provide the bird, everyone contributes a side dish, dessert, wine, or some combination of the three.
For the last few years, one of my contributions has been mashed cauliflower. To me, heaven. To my family, diet food.
“You’re making what?” one of my three sisters asked me pointedly the first time that I showed up at my aunt’s house for our annual night-before cookfest with about five heads of cauliflower in tow. READ MORE
A few weeks ago we postedan interview with local bedbug expert Changlu Wang from Rutgers Universityand since then the stories I’ve heard from friends and colleagues of bedbug infestations in the city have only continued to grow. A few days ago a co-worker came by my office with a story that her neighbor picked up the bugs on a recent trip to Africa and on September 20th “V” posted the following comment on the Be Well blog: Hi Everybody, me and my girlfriend are dealing with a bed bug infestation in Philly! Uggh. …. this bed bug extermination process is really beyond the pail.
Now, Chicago is hosting the first-ever National Bedbug Summit. Experts in medicine and extermination will be coming together “to plot a solution to the infestation epidemic plaguing cities across the US.” Check out the clip from Today below, and please continue to share your bedbug experiences, stories, and tips for getting rid of them in the comments.
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