Tag: change

L’ifestyle Lounge Goes Skin Safe!

Posted on June 22, 2017September 11, 2017 by Laura Cipullo

L’ifestyle Lounge Goes Skin Safe

By Laura Cipullo, RD, CDE, CEDRD, CDN

I’m so happy to announce I am now a representative of an amazing company that is really shaking up the beauty industry. It’s is called Beautycounter and I love what this company’s mission is: To get safe products into the hands of everyone. Everything you put on your skin is absorbed into your body and should only include the safest ingredients too. That’s why I have been looking for safer products my myself and my family and I can’t wait for you to check them out too.

Beautycounter is an LA-based company that launched in March of 2013. There are some shocking statistics surrounding the personal care market which prompted CEO (and mom of three) Gregg Renfrew to create a line with complete transparency and create a movement to change the laws with the hope that one day we won’t have to read labels to ensure we are using safe products. Here are a few important statistics:

In the U.S., a major Federal law has not been passed since 1938 governing the cosmetics industry. Think of how many more chemicals have been introduced to the marketplace since then!

There are thousands of ingredients known and proven to be harmful to our health that are still allowed in the products developed in the U.S. The E.U. has banned more than 1,400 ingredients. The U.S. has only banned 30.

80% of ingredients in U.S. products have never been tested for safety.

Beautycounter products are developed in accordance with the most comprehensive screening process in the industry. When we develop a product, we begin by eliminating the more than 1,400 EU-banned ingredients, the 30 US-banned ingredients and those ingredients on our Never List (see attached). From there, we only include ingredients that are safe, effective and necessary. In addition, Beautycounter’s quality and performance rival the most luxurious brands you can find thanks to our Head of Innovation and Celebrity Make-up artist Christy Coleman. We are just as committed to performance as we are to safety and the incredible press we have received confirms this.

For more information on the product line please visit my website at www.beautycounter.com/lauracipullo Not only will you find descriptions of our products, but tons of great information on all things healthy from our The Asterisk Blog.

Contact me for more information or to see the products in person. You will love them! Thanks and have a great day!

When Your Diet Becomes a Disorder

Posted on May 28, 2016November 14, 2016 by Laura Cipullo

When Your Diet Becomes a Disorder

Image via Flickr/JoshWillis

by Laura Cipullo, RD, CDE, CEDRD and Laura Cipullo Whole Nutrition Services Team

The line between eating healthy and disordered eating can be a thin one. These days, there are all kinds of diets you can follow that advocate depriving yourself of certain foods, but a balanced diet is healthiest, unless you have an allergy to a certain food and have been told by a doctor, nutritionist or dietician not to eat it.

Often people start restrictive diets to gain a sense of control, but you are out of control when your eating is disordered. As I wrote in The Women’s Health Body Clock Diet, “You’re afraid to eat anything for fear of weight gain. Chicken and broccoli are your safe foods!” Eating may be disordered when you find yourself avoiding certain activities because you can’t eat the food there — for instance, you avoid a party because of the “fattening” food, or you avoid pleasant activities to partake in “healthy” ones. When faced with a choice between an enjoyable day out with a friend and the gym, for instance, you choose the gym. Thoughts about calories and nutrition labels take over your thoughts. You are obsessed with food and how you look. Extreme dieting can also lead to bingeing, then starving again to “punish” yourself for the bingeing.

There are other more subtle signs that your eating either is or has the potential to become disordered. Eating the same foods every day, only eating foods when they come with a calorie count, exercising to burn off all or most of the food you eat, starving during the day to “pig out” at night and weighing yourself many times a day, with your mood fluctuating according to the number on the scale.

The solution to disordered eating? It’s complicated, and I urge you to read my book to learn more, but if you just begin by incorporating mindfulness into your eating then you’ll portion food just fine and be more fulfilled by what you eat. Be aware of the tastes and smells of what you’re eating, and use the other senses to enjoy food as well. Also take note of how full or hungry you feel as you’re eating, and try eating where there isn’t a screen (TV, iPad, etc). This can help prevent mindless eating and reconnect you with the joy of eating.

“You can empower change with the right help,” I wrote in the Women’s Health Body Clock Diet, and it’s something I really believe with all my heart. Seek a professional’s help, like a registered dietician and a therapist who specializes in eating disorders (you will see the initials CEDRD–certified eating disorder registered dietician– and CEDS –certified eating disorder specialist–after his or her name). Read my book to understand the concepts of habitual nourishment and the Five Pillars of Positive Nutrition. And be sure to check out these organizations for additional support — The International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals Foundation, The National Eating Disorders Association and the Binge Eating Disorder Association. Recognize the signs of disordered eating and get ready to move on with a happy, healthy, beautiful life! You deserve it.

Candace Cameron Bure’s Most Important Role Yet — Eating Disorder Activist

Posted on April 28, 2016 by Laura Cipullo

Candace Cameron Bure’s Most Important Role Yet — Eating Disorder Activist

Image via CandaceCameronBure.net

Candace Cameron Bure has been a familiar face on television since her days as a child star on the popular 80s sitcom Full House, still seen today in perpetual reruns. Recently, she was made co-host of The View, where she brings a conservative perspective, and she’s part of the re-booted version of Full House, called Fuller House, now on Netflix.

But one of Cameron Bure’s most important roles is that of eating disorder activist. She wrote about her experience with bulimia after Full House ended, in her 2010 memoir Reshaping It All and in her second memoir Balancing it All, released in 2013.

“It wasn’t about me trying to lose weight,” she told People magazine of her eating disorder. “It was all about emotions.” Cameron Bure was dealing with a new chapter in her life, transforming from popular child star to supportive wife to hubby hockey player Valeri Bure (moving to Montreal so that he could play) when bulimia entered the picture. “I turned to food for comfort and had to find a different source, because clearly it wasn’t a healthy way to deal with things,” she said. Her faith in God, she says, was an important tool in helping her get through.

Today, her relationship with food is a healthy one and she is using her experience to help others. On May 3, she will be joining the Eating Recovery Center for their first Eating Recovery Day. Cameron Bure will be discussing her personal recovery story while celebrating the recoveries of others via social media and a live Facebook event. The goal of the day is to bring awareness to the issue and to let those who have eating disorders, and allies, know that recovery is possible.

It’s a vital issue because eating disorders are such a widespread and dangerous problem, carrying the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, with at least 30 million people affected in the United States alone. And contrary to popular belief, EDs are not illnesses that only affect young Caucasian women.

“Eating disorders can impact anyone – men and women, young and old, and all economic classes and races. Despite the high mortality rate, there is still a stigma and many people avoid seeking treatment and are unaware of how serious and life-altering eating disorders can be,” says Ken Weiner, MD, Founding Partner and Chief Executive Officer of Eating Recovery Center. “To make an impactful change, it is imperative to build awareness and create better understanding that recovery is possible through proper treatment.”‘

Whether you are dealing (or have dealt with) an eating disorder, whether you have a friend or relative who has/had one, or even if you just want to support those with EDs, I strongly encourage you to participate via the hashtags #EatingRecoveryDay and #EatingRecoveryCenter. You can also join the live Facebook event with experts and Candace, who will discuss her recovery at 10:30 a.m. EST. ERC alumni will also be a part of this event.

Recognizing Eating Disorders in Men and Boys

Posted on April 26, 2016April 27, 2016 by Laura Cipullo

Recognizing Eating Disorders in Men and Boys

image via freeimages.com/EdwinPijpe

By Laura Cipullo, RD, CDE, CEDRD

In 2013, the results of a 12-year study were published by JAMA Pediatrics revealing the toll body image issues and eating disorders were taking on teen boys. Over 1/3 of the boys in that study had binged or purged; about 9 percent were very concerned with the look of their muscles; 6 percent were worried about their “thinness,” and about 2 percent had used supplements, growth hormone derivative or steroids in pursuit of what they considered to be the ideal body.

As ANAD (National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders) points out, “no ethnic, gender or socioeconomic group is immune to the dangers of this disease. In regards to gender, 1 in 10 cases of these [eating] disorders involve males. This means that hundreds of thousands of males are affected.”

The 1 in 10 number is somewhat controversial, as the JAMA study reports it might actually be closer to 1 in 4.

ANAD also points out that doctors are not as likely to diagnose eating disorders in men, and that men with bulimia may be less likely to seek treatment because they consider it a “female” disease.

One thing that may complicate diagnosis is that eating disorders can look different in men than in women: “There are some males who do want to be thinner and are focused on thinness,” lead study author Alison Field said, “but many more are focused on wanting bigger or at least more toned and defined muscles.” Because we are so used to seeing thinness associated with eating disorders, it can be hard to recognize bulking up as a dangerous problem.

Eating disorders are not necessarily caused by the media, but the media can certainly play a part in how we feel about our appearance, and young people are especially impressionable. Health sites and magazines for men often encourage a buffer body, one that can only be obtained by hours spent in the gym. Male celebrities — like their female counterparts — have also been chastised for not looking “perfect” enough.

In 2015, The Boston Globe published a story announcing that we have officially “entered the era of man shaming,” citing instances of Sam Smith being called “ugly” and “fat” by Howard Stern, and Leo DiCaprio being made fun of in several media outlets for the way he looked wearing shorts on a beach.

More recently, actor Wentworth Miller was criticized by fans for gaining weight, which led the actor to reveal he had been suffering from depression, an eating disorder and had been suicidal.

“One day, out for a hike in Los Angeles with a friend, we crossed paths with a film crew shooting a reality show,” he wrote. “Unbeknownst to me, paparazzi were circling. They took my picture, and the photos were published alongside images of me from another time in my career. ‘Hunk To Chunk.’ ‘Fit To Flab.’ Etc.”

Eventually, he came to see that picture of himself as something not to be ashamed of, but rather something that reminded him of the struggle he had been through.

The medical community, parents and the public at large need to be made more aware that eating disorders can strike anyone, so that boys and men can get the help they need.

Being aware means being on the lookout for signs, which are not always so obvious or may not look that dangerous to the average eye.

Here are some tips to ID eating disorder behaviors in boys and/or men.

Be aware if the person:

1. Has a fixation on his appearance, especially concerning “6 pack abs”

2. Has limited visible body fat

3. Is using supplements and/or injections to increase muscle definition and bulking up

4. Is weighing himself more than once a day

5. Is body checking using measuring tape, pinching skin, and/or using skin calipers

6. Is choosing food based on percentage of body fat as deemed by the scale

Confronting someone who has an eating disorder isn’t easy, but it might be necessary if you want to give him the best chance of recovery. Don’t be afraid to start the conversation.

Self-Care Sunday: Lena Dunham on the Joys of Running

Posted on February 28, 2016 by Laura Cipullo

Self-Care Sunday: Lena Dunham on the Joys of Running

Image via David Shankbone/Flickr

by Laura Cipullo, RD, CDE, CEDRD

We all know running is good for us, but we don’t all share the same enthusiasm for it. How many times have you laced up your sneakers, started to head out the door, and suddenly thought, “You know what? I think I’ll skip it today. Yeah, I think I’d rather just go back on the couch and watch Netflix.”

I can’t see you, but I bet there are a lot of heads slowly shaking “Yes” right now. And even if you love running, I’ll bet there are some days you love it more than others.

Well, the good news is that even unenthusiastic runners (or tennis players, or gym goers, etc.) can eventually feel energized and excited by movement. I recently read a fascinating article about Lena Dunham that illustrates this exact point.

Those of you who know Dunham, through her work on Girls, know she is not exactly the athletic type. She has a normal woman’s body, which she is proud of and frequently shows in nude scenes, and she enjoys eating cupcakes (one of the first scenes in Girls shows her eating a cupcake in a bathtub while talking to a friend). “I would like to be lying sideways on a divan at all times, like being carried,” she told ESPN in this interview.

However, she recently decided she wanted her character Hannah on Girls to take up running. At first, she thought she’d have her character run in a “goofy” way, but then she decided she wanted Hannah to take her running seriously. What this meant was that Lena was also going to have to take running seriously.

Dunham trained with Matt Wilpers from New York’s Mile High Running Club and in just two sessions, Dunham’s eyes were opened. “…He explained things to me that I hadn’t understood for my entire life about my body and how exercise works.” Matt encouraged her to “run like somebody who knows how to run,” and not be intimidated by the process. Lena watched her attitude towards running change from being annoyed by it to getting pleasure out of it, and really enjoying those endorphins.

This is what I believe often gets lost in the shuffle when we talk about exercise, and why this interview with Lena is so important: Typically, exercise is discussed only as a way to lose weight, as something you suffer through because you want a certain body. But that is not a healthy way to look at exercise. Exercise is for everybody. Whether you happen to lose weight or not when you exercise is besides the point. A healthy way to approach exercise is to focus on if you like the way you feel when you do it and after you do it. Do you feel your body getting stronger? Are you excited about reaching running goals (to run a half-hour a day, or maybe to train for a marathon)? You want to feel empowered by running or any form of exercise. You don’t want to feel intimidated by the “better” runners or the “naturally” athletic types.

Running made Dunham feel more empowered even when she wasn’t training, even when she was just trying to not be late, running on the street: “To run with this increased confidence and the sense that I could actually use my body to get places, that was a pretty big revelation, considering I’ve already been alive for almost three decades.”

Lena posted a picture of herself running, one that was taken by the paparazzi, on her Instagram. She loved, she said, “that I looked like a person who could run; that was just so thrilling for me.”

Lena does other forms of exercise as well, including aerobics and strength training and says exercise has helped her with anxiety and OCD.

Lena is reclaiming running for all, and emphasizing the numerous benefits it offers, benefits that go so far beyond being able to fit into a certain jean size.

I am not writing this blog post to tell everyone they have to be a runner. What I am encouraging you to do is simply move, whether it’s for an hour or five minutes. And analyze how you feel before, during and after your “workout,” however you define a workout. Has your mood improved? Do you feel like you are capable of walking further than you could yesterday? Are you proud of how much stronger you are? It may be hard to envision yourself as a regular excerciser, but don’t define yourself by what you used to do. Remember, today is a new day, and you can be anything you want to be.