10 Fitness Tips for Women on the Go
By SpaFinder | May 1, 2012
By Kristin McGee
Carry a stylish gym bag with you that can double as a great stylish bag. Check out this link for 30 ideas! This way you can have all of your gym essentials at your ready with no excuses not to make it happen.
Jump off the subway a couple of stops early to sneak in more walking, meet a friend at lunch for a walk, take the stairs whenever you can and find ways to move more throughout your day. Even tapping your feet when you are at your desk makes a huge difference.
You may think it’s crazy to have an exercise band in a desk drawer; but you can do small toning moves at your desk sans equipment. My favourites include tricep dips off your desk chair, leg extensions while seated, twists with the desk chair as a prop and tiny squats just lift an inch and lower your butt when seated. If you aren’t shy with props, stash an exercise band in a desk drawer and do tricep extensions and bicep curls with it.
Yoga at your desk is possible! You can stretch your arms overhead periodically, twist out your back, do a quad stretch holding on to your desk chair or fold one ankle over the opposite knee and stretch out your hips.
Make a workout a social activity. Meet a girlfriend for the latest craze—Zumba, Barre, etc. and then grab a healthy meal afterwards.
Find a great DVD and do a quick workout at home in the AM or PM. There are so many options now with workouts ranging from 15-50 minutes in length. You don’t have to work out for an hour every day. As little as 20 minutes a day (if it’s intense) 3 times a week is sufficient. I love DVDs with chapters. You can do as little or as much as you have time for.
Go out dancing or turn on some tunes when you get home and dance around your living room. Music is the best motivator. Make some great playlists to do workouts to while you’re at it, and you’re more likely to stick with your exercise routine longer.
Make sure to always be armed with an arsenal of healthy snacks. Carry a mint tin full of raw almonds (perfect portion size for any nut), keep soya nuts, oranges, bananas, apples, Babybell cheeses and high quality low sugar protein bars in your bag, purse or desk drawer.
Never show up for cocktails on an empty stomach. Pop five to six raw almonds from your tin before you imbibe. Or if you are in a pinch ask the bartender for a few olives to coat your stomach before sipping your first drink. Order two appetisers for dinner or if you order a meal make sure to stick with just one extra—a drink, an appetiser or a dessert, not all three.
Honour yourself and make yourself a priority so you will always want to do something healthy every day!
Kristin McGee is founder of Bendigirl.
Tags: Barre, Bendigirl, desk Yoga, exercise band, gym essentials, Kristin McGee, low fat snacks, Zumba
Face Food: DIY Firming Avocado/Cucumber Masque
By SpaFinder | May 1, 2012
Feed your face…but not through your mouth, even though this DIY spa recipe, like many, sounds so good that you could very well just eat it up.
Food that is good for you to eat can often be just as nourishing when applied topically to the skin, too, so we asked Adrian Bryce, founder of Bryce Organic Skin Care, an organic skincare product company based in Boston that uses fresh, 100 percent certified organic ingredients, to share some lovely DIY spa recipes. He came back to us with this soothing and refreshing masque recipe using glorious avocados and hydrating cucumbers.
Easy as 1-2-3, combine the below ingredients for a concoction that will not only help firm and moisturise, thanks to the healthy fats and phytonutrients in avocados and the high water content of cucumbers, but it will also help to deep-clean pores, Bryce tells us.
Give this masque a try and let us know what you think!
Firming Avocado/Cucumber Masque Recipe
Ingredients:
1 organic avocado, mashed
3 tsp dry green clay
½ organic cucumber, pureed
1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions:
1. Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl; allow to chill for up to an hour in the fridge.
2. Apply a thick layer on face and allow to dry for 15-20 minutes.
3. Wipe skin clean with a warm washcloth, splash will cool water and pat dry.
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Tags: Bryce Organic Skin Care, deep-clean pores, DIY spa recipe, firm and moisturise, organic skincare products, phytonutrients
5 Treatments You Really Don’t Need
By SpaFinder | May 1, 2012
We all know that massage and facials, among other spa and wellness treatments, have evidence-based emotional, physical and spiritual benefits, but we’ve also been seeing more and more coverage as of late about crazy, out-there spa treatments. While the wow factor may be enticing, you might ask yourself, “Will this treatment really do anything for me?” We take a look at a few spa treatments that just don’t cut it and could, in fact, potentially do more harm than good.
Ear Candling Effects are Dim
While the Kardashians broadcasted ear candling at home, it turns out the research doesn’t hold a candle to the claims that this treatment will clean the wax from your ears, and do it safely. According to SpaEvidence.com, ear candling has almost no research at all proving positive results and in fact, has more research to support that it can cause serious damage. Instead of heading to the spa for a treatment that doesn’t work and carries the risk of burned skin, ask your doctor about safer ways to clean your ears.
Snake Massage, Schmake Massage
Popular in Israel and popping up on news sites everywhere, snake massage has been one treatment in the spotlight as of late. As three to six snakes slither across your body, a calming massage is reportedly the result. “You can get the same results from a therapist and throwing snakes into the mix is purely a marketing gimmick,” SpaFinder President Susie Ellis says. “Not to mention, replicating this sensation with a therapist offers a more hygienic option. To me, it’s a novelty treatment, something you don’t really need.” Plus, the benefits of massage lie mostly in deeper muscle stimulation, which is not something a snake massage could necessarily provide.
Detox Yourself of Ionic Detox Foot Baths
If you can see it, you can believe it, right? That’s just what ionic detox foot baths bank on, as a negatively charged foot bath claims to suck the toxins from your body, and the end result is brown water to prove it. Proponents claim the treatment can heal conditions from skin problems to kidney disorders, but critics—many of them scientists—say that it’s a hoax. One doctor tested water samples before and after; neither contained toxins, but the brown water came back positive for iron (aka rust). “A footbath, ionic or not, can’t detox your body or rebalance cellular energy,” Dr. Andrew Weil says.
Fish Therapy Can Be Fishy
Spas—always looking for a point of differentiation—picked up on this Turkish treatment a few years ago: Fish therapy, where fish nibble on a person’s skin and consume the dead areas, leaving the healthy skin to grow. One red flag to consider includes hygiene, according to Ellis. “The spread of infections from one person to another is a red flag. In addition, some spas are substituting other, cheaper, types of fish for the Garra Rufa with problematic results (nibbling becomes biting).”
Tarot Card Reading ≠ Spa Experience
While some truly believe in the practice of tarot cards, Ellis says she would caution against getting tarot card readings in a spa setting. “Personally, I feel spas could do without this service, but some really believe in it,” she says. “Spas that offer tarot card readings are preying on the vulnerable; it adds this element, or the potential, of an unsettling feeling that gives something to the spa experience that isn’t necessarily healthy.”
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Tags: Dr. Andrew Weil, Ear Candling Effects, Fish Therapy, Garra rufa pedicure, Ionic Detox Foot Baths, Snake Massage, Tarot Card Reading
My First Authentic Hammam
By SpaFinder | April 18, 2012
By Dulcy Gregory
What exactly is a hammam you ask? Think part serenity… part surprise… and brand new skin!
I learned just exactly what a hammam is on a recent trip to Istanbul, to research hotels for the Global Spa Summit. After breakfast one morning it was decided that a trip to a local, authentic hammam was in order.
It was warm in Istanbul that week, and the afternoon sun had warmed the city. We chose Cemberlitas (pronounced chem-behr-LEE-tahsh), a hammam built in the 1500’s in the old city section of Istanbul. A careening taxi ride through the busiest streets prefaced our arrival at the hammam, which was neatly tucked away into the busy street façade.
After a brief introduction to the manager, we were escorted into the women’s area of the hammam. I was handed a soft pink pestemal, or fringed towel, and led to the changing area. I felt as if I had transgressed back to my first spa experience – I was a bit confused, wasn’t sure exactly how much clothing to keep on, or what would happen once the treatment started. Deciding to treat it as any other massage, I removed my clothes and donned the pestemal before heading to the waiting area.
Before we entered the hammam, we had been given several domino shaped tokens, each labeled for a certain part of the treatment (hammam, massage, facial, etc.) and a small cloth bag. A woman approached me and without saying much, took my tokens and led me into the main chamber, known as the sıcaklık (or caldarium).
A large domed ceiling punctured with holes allowed soft streams of natural light to seep through the warm, humid air. A few women were resting on their pestemal on a large round marble surface, while others bathed at faucet alcoves along the perimeter of the wall. One woman, covered in bubbles, was receiving a soapy massage by one of the other attendants. My attendant took my pestemal, rather quickly, and laid it down on the outer edge of the marble stone and motioned for me to lie down. I quickly settled onto the marble, partly due to my unease of now have nothing on and surprise of how quickly it all happened.
My anxieties quickly dissipated as the warmth of the marble eased my muscles; I had almost begun to doze when my attendant suddenly reappeared and, using the cloth I had been given now as a mitt, began scrubbing my entire body with moderate pressure to remove dead skin. And there was enough of it. After the exfoliation I received a wash of warm water from a tas, or copper bowl. She then began a gentler, soapy massage using a larger cloth which she fashioned into an airpocket from which to squeeze bubbles. To finish the bath, I was led into an alcove to a faucet where she washed my hair and all remaining soap away.
The traditional hammam treatment in the sıcaklık was followed by a massage, facial, and foot reflexology, but certainly the most memorable aspect of the entire afternoon was the time spent in the large round marble room. I left feeling completely revitalised and jet-lag-free. It’s so clear – not only how the practice has become such a tradition for citizens of Istanbul, and Turkey, but how it has also developed into a luxury for spa-goers worldwide.
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Tags: Cemberlitas, Facial, Global Spa Summit, hammam, Istanbul, massage, Turkey
Healthy Spring Eating: Spa-Inspired Substitutions & Tips
By SpaFinder | April 4, 2012
Just because your recipe calls for cream or tinned vegetables doesn’t mean you can’t use something healthier in its place. And healthier doesn’t just mean whole foods full of good-for-you nutrients anymore – it now also includes whole foods that were grown and raised in a responsible and transparent way, free of chemicals. We talked to two spa chefs from Gideon Putnam in Saratoga Springs, New York, and Essex Resort & Spa in Essex, Vermont, in addition to Chef David Bouley, about ways to make healthy eating smarter with easy substitutions in the kitchen.
Whenever possible, use only the freshest vegetables. “If they are not available, I strongly encourage frozen,” Chef Brian Sterner of Gideon Putnam says. “Canned vegetables are laden with salty water making it difficult to satisfy a low sodium diet.” Chef Sterner also strongly encourages supporting local farmers, who are likely to provide you with the freshest vegetables.
Choose grass-fed beef and free-range poultry for a healthier, leaner way to dine, Chef Sterner says. Here at SpaFinder, we also love chemical-free and humanely raised meat – it not only tastes better, it’s more nutritious than meat raised on commercial factory farms. Not to mention, it’s a more respectful way of raising animals for food. Sterner also believes in respecting animals by trying to utilise all they have to offer.
Instead of searing or sautéing, try steaming or poaching. “[It’s] a great way to cook utilising only the food’s natural fats,” Chef Sterner says. This tip can apply to other foods as well, not just vegetables.
Choose your seafood wisely. “Over-fishing of certain species is putting our future in danger,” Chef Sterner says. We’re big fans of the Fish Online In-depth guide to Sustainable Seafood from the Marine Conservation Society which provides an easy way to make better seafood choices.
Use almond milk in place of cream or milk. Famed French Restaurateur David Bouley makes ice cream with almond milk instead of cream. In fact, he uses almond milk as a substitute for dairy in general, since it’s healthier, contains fewer calories and gives dishes a slightly nutty taste.
Use buckwheat instead of rice or pasta. “It is actually a fruit seed that is related to rhubarb and sorrel, making it a suitable substitute for grains for people who are sensitive to wheat or other grains that contain gluten,” Bouley says. He frequently uses this substitution in his restaurant. Buckwheat also aids digestion.
Use a natural soup thickener. Kuzu, one of the world’s largest root vegetables, can act as a thickener for soups, Bouley says. At Essex Resort & Spa, Executive Chef Shawn Calley says that beans are a great way to thicken soups and sauces, too. “They can create great textures and flavours and you won’t have to use butter and flour.”
Cook with tea. Chef Calley has been trying to use more teas in cooking since it has such great health benefits. “Right now, I’m doing a black tea broth with a duck tortellini,” he explains. “Once again the flavours are great, so by infusing teas into your sauces, you add tons of flavour and you are staying away from butter and cream sauces.”
Use more nutritious breading. In addition to using Kuzu as a thickening agent, Bouley also uses it in other ways, like crushing it up to make healthy crusts on proteins or simply making crisps out of it. Chef Calley loves to use finely chopped walnuts to coat salmon or trout, which adds texture—and health benefits.
Use sweet potatoes. “Sweet potatoes are a great food with very high nutritional value; I put these in a gratin instead of all potato,” Chef Calley says. “The other thing I have been doing is a coconut milk and sweet potato puree with a seared scallop and a yogurt curry sauce. The taste is great and you would not even know how great it is for you.”
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