The cycle seemed hopeless … until I decided to change it!

I discovered that the issue was not my resolve to implement healthy habits and positive changes. That part is great! The problem that had to be addressed was accountability and proper planning. With the upcoming year just around the corner, now is just as good a time as any to take stock of your life and the vision you have for the new year. If you love them, hate them, or don’t like to make them, here are some tips to make it work in 2013.

Write It All Down

It helps to write all of this down so it’s harder to just forget and give up. It might also be encouraging to write down why a particular goal is important. For example, if my goal is to quit smoking in 2013, then adding a note next to that goal like “ … because I need to take care of my health,” or “because I don’t want my kids breathing second-hand smoke,” might help.

This way, it is really easy to remember why the resolution was made in the first place. Also, writing a long laundry list of resolutions trying to implement too much change all at once has been ineffective in the past. I suggest keeping the list short.

Make a List, Check it Twice

As much as I love making a good long list, it is much easier to keep track of. My goals fit into four major categories: Food, Health, Self-Care, and Finance. See what categories your goals fit into.

Creating my resolutions this way, I noticed how some of my goals really complement one another. It has actually made it easier for me to imagine sticking with them and making the necessary changes in my life.

Fresh Start vs. Evergreen

Do you have a goal for a 30 day resolution, or a 365 day resolution? Make it clear from the beginning. Identify which goals are short-term, just to kick start the New Year like eating a raw for a month, and which goals are long-term where it will be a guideline all year around like daily or weekly exercise.

Provide a timeline or a deadline for each individual resolution. This way, the expectations are really clear.

What’s good?

Check in with yourself and schedule a monthly check in meeting. 365 days is a long time between check in meetings about resolutions. I am resolving to have a meeting at the beginning of each month where I can check in with my goals, celebrate my success stories, and identify items that need some work.

Determine which goals need to be monitored. Checking in on my resolutions each month means that you will never get too far away from them to forget them.

Plus, I can adjust my goals as needed so that I can truly incorporate them into my everyday life, not be an annual meaningless practice. Don’t forget that resolutions can be fun. Have fun by incorporating weekly themes like Meatless Mondays, Fresh Food Fridays, or Something New Saturdays.

So, whether you hate to love them or love to break them, it’s a new year for the resolution and a new year to make the changes you need in your life.

What healthy resolution will you make for next year?

The post Love them or Hate them: Cheers to a New Year for Resolutions appeared first on Clutch Magazine.

As the New Year approaches I am grateful for the spirit of renewal, re-birth and restoration. But most of all I am grateful for the ability to lie to myself again about how much I’ll work out, eat right, pray like a saint and spend time writing poems like I did the year before. And the year before that. It’s become sort of a game with my cashing in just a few days shy of the end of January and spending the next few months feeling despicable about the fate of my fitness routine.

Is anyone riding in the same boat that I am?

Perhaps it’s time to ban the New Year weight loss resolution cliché and focus instead on measurable goals, accountability and healthy opportunities make progressive lifestyle changes. If we spent the past year struggling with losing weight and sticking to a fitness routine, let’s start there first instead of declaring war on a series of bad habits that won’t change just because the numbers on the calendar do.

Skip the New Year’s weight loss resolution and focus on a few key solutions that will help you get the job done:

Change your eating habits … slowly

Eating clean isn’t for the faint of heart nor something that happens over night. By slowly switching out the bad for the good, you can effectively change your routine and train your body to acclimate to healthier options.

For example, start small by trading fatty salad dressings for olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Or remove potato chips from the pantry and snack on baked sweet potato chips, veggie chips or salt-free blue corn chips.

Seltzer over soda

Soda is packed with tons of sugar and colorings that have been linked to certain cancers. Get the fizz without the damage and stock up on seltzer water you can flavor with fresh fruits.

Note: Don’t do diet soda in an effort to enjoy the taste without the calories. Studies have shown that diet soda can actually increase weight gain.

Ditch fast food and slow down

Meals on-the-go are practical, convenient and important for anyone with a hectic day-to-day lifestyle. Stay away from retreating to the dollar menu in a frenzy by planning ahead.

Prepare or purchase fresh soups you can freeze for future take-a-long meals. Create your own healthy wraps made with whole grains, fresh veggies and hormone-free meats before heading out the door. You’ll feel better, fuller and you’ll maintain more energy throughout the day with food ingredients found in nature… not a factory.

Pick up the pace and walk on purpose

Take the stairs when you can, park further away from the entrance of your destination (unless it’s late, dark and you’re alone) and plan regular walks as often as possible throughout the day. If you have 30 minutes for lunch, split your time between re-fueling and walking around your building (or neighborhood if you work from home).

Find ways to increase your physical activity outside of your daily workout routine.

What are New Year’s resolutions are you ditching and which lifestyle habits are you adopting?

The post Do This: Don’t make a new years weight resolution – just do the work appeared first on Clutch Magazine.

With tobacco sales declining in most of the Western world, cigarette companies are looking to capitalize on growing markets. According to the Los Angeles Times, many have turned to Africa to help them turn a profit, where children are quickly getting hooked on the dangerous practice.

Reporting from South Africa, Robyn Dixon of the L.A. Times writes:

A schoolboy in uniform hurries up, barely glancing at the cookie packets, lollipops and candies, grabs a Dunhill cigarette from a red box, puts a match to it and drops 22 cents on the table before hurrying away.

Moyana is at his stand, just a few yards from the school gates, most days from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Asked why he set up next to the school, he looks awkward. “I just decided this was a good spot,” he says vaguely, basking in the hot spring sun. Every few minutes, a customer tosses some change onto his table, plucks a cigarette, lights it.

Africa is Big Tobacco’s last frontier, and companies are conquering the continent stick by stick. Even a child can afford the cost of a single cigarette, 16 cents for Moyana’s cheapest brand.

As tobacco sales decline in the West due to ardent anti-smoking campaigns and flatten in Asia, cigarette companies are training their eyes on the continent of Africa because of its growing middle class and relaxed regulation on selling single cigarettes, which makes smoking both cheap and accessible.

While few people in Africa currently smoking, a growing segment of African men in several countries are taking up the unhealthy practice. The World Health Organization estimates that somewhere between 20 to 30-percent of African men in several countries smoke, and according to a 2011 study by the University of Michigan, the number of smokers in Africa “will rise from an average 16% to 22% by 2030, a massive increase given U.N. predictions that sub-Saharan Africa’s population will rise by half a billion, to 1.3 billion, by then.”

Adam Belcher, an economist with the American Society, explains the tobacco industry’s newfound interest in the continent:

“Twenty years ago, the industry wasn’t interested in Africa because they were still seeing considerable growth in other markets. As they’ve been pushed out of America, Australia, Europe, they’re moving on to the next lowest-hanging fruit,” Blecher says. “With the resources that they have and the experience they have, they will be successful if nothing’s done.”

Anti-smoking activists in Africa are pushing back against the encroachment of tobacco companies, and many governments have restricted advertisements from cigarette companies. Despite this, tobacco companies are making inroads into many nations, and without intervention, Africa’s next problem could be lung cancer.

The post Tobacco Companies Targeting Africa to Sell Their Cancer-Sticks … Looks like AFTZ is Working! appeared first on Clutch Magazine.

The New York Magazine article “Every Single Woman in America is now ‘Curvy’” has instantly become the talk of the town addressing how the term curvy came about in describing the gamut of women’s bodies from a size 0 to an 18+.

“By democratizing and then celebrating “curvy,” it makes us feel good about ourselves. It means we’re open-minded. Forward-thinking. Because we’re so brave to praise a body that defies Hollywood standards,” asserts writer Lauren Bans.

Like Bans and others taking their turn at voicing their opinion on the curve-calling bandwagon, I’m not buying it, and neither should you. The reality is that our society is using the word as a cop out for addressing perhaps unhealthy lifestyle choices and dismissing the conversations on true body acceptance and responsibility.

What we’re advocating in our attempt to be politically correct when it comes to judging the female figure is completely doing a disservice to not only ourselves but the young women who swallow and chew the trends and rhetoric displayed to them by the media and society. We’re teaching young women as well as ourselves that “curvy” is acceptable albeit those curves may be accompanied by love handles, diabetes and lack of exercise.

Ty Alexander, associate editor at HelloBeautiful writes: “This problem is most visible in celebrity fashion. To be polite or politically correct some would describe both Lala Anthony and Gabourey Sidibe as curvy. I’m gonna throw out my red flag on this play. Grouping two completely contrasting body types is just an example that supports my theory that America is in denial. If we’re set out to really teach young girls about body acceptance, is it not counterproductive to allow them to think that, dare I say it, fat is curvy?”

Black women, in my opinion, have it the worst. Interchangeably, the words curvy and thick have been used to describe our bodies from the dawn of the first rap video. If you’re too skinny the boys won’t like you and the girls will tease you. And don’t have the nerve to be one of the many black women (including myself) without a voluptuous backside. Our culture will be out for blood — hence the butt injection trend that’s left many black women with abnormally rotund derrières (think Nicki Minaj) at the risk of imparting irreversible consequences on themselves.

I agree that our bodies as black women bodies have consistently been at war with society. We’ve been scrutinized, ridiculed and criticized compared to the “others” who’ve taken our most prized au natural features and bought them at the plastic surgeons office. Case in point, the recent “prank” performed by Danish tennis player Caroline Wozniacki who in all “fun” mimicked Serena Williams (whom I would rightly call curvy) was just another round of shaming the curvy black woman despite Williams’ incredibly toned and tight figure.

Williams’ curves, however, don’t apply to everyone. Celebrities we once lauded for their plus-sized appearance on the red carpet like Jordin Sparks, Jennifer Hudson, Raven Simone, and Janet Jackson traded in their “curves” for fitness and nutrition routines that rewarded them with a svelte figure we fawn over.

There’s a fine line between curves and fat. No matter how pop culture tries to package the term to make each of us feel “one,” it is plainly absurd and irresponsible for us to keep quiet, crossing our arms in complicity.

The post Do ALL Real Women Have Curves? appeared first on Clutch Magazine.

Hair products and cosmetics don’t have to undergo the scrutiny of the Food and Drug Administration unless there’s a color component or risky medical claims made by a manufacturer. What does this mean for the American public? Lack of regulation of personal care products on the market essentially means that anyone can put anything on the market, dangerous or not, without so much as a blink of an eye by the FDA. So much for big brother protecting our health.

One group of U.S. representatives is stepping up, fighting back and urging the FDA to get with the program and start regulating known cancer-causing straightening products. Their first order of business? Calling out the makers of infamous products like the Brazillian Blowout. “The two-hour hair treatments, which cost about $250, transform coarse, kinky hair into soft, smooth hair for two or three months,” writes JoNel Aleccia for MSNBC.

Representatives Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) sent a letter to the FDA yesterday expressing their concerns and demanding action. “The FDA’s inaction on this matter is putting the health of thousands of salon workers and consumers at risk of dangerous formaldehyde exposure from the continued use of not only Brazilian Blowout, but other hair straightening treatments that contain formaldehyde. A November 2011 study published in the Journal of Occupational Environmental Hygiene found dangerous levels of formaldehyde in several other brands of hair straighteners,” the letter stated.

The Brazilian Blowout was made available in salons for professional use only. Known for its incredible straightening products, women flocked to their stylists to tame their mane. The product, created by GIB, made headlines in 2011 when research showed that the Brazilian Blowout released high levels of formaldehyde. Despite this information and slap on the wrist by the FDA with a $600,000 fine, GIB and other makers of the product sold across the country, didn’t clean up their act.

According to Time magazine the Brazilian Blowout Acai Smoothing Solution and Brazilian Blowout Professional Smoothing Solution were being sold as “formaldehyde free,” but both products release formaldehyde into the air when used according to the instructions.

The representatives’ letter continued: “The FDA has an obligation to protect the public health by using its legal authority to ensure cosmetic products such as Brazilian Blowout Acai Professional Smoothing Solution that are clearly adulterated or misbranded are removed from the market.”

We’ll lay in wait for the FDA to respond which could mean chance at greater regulation. In the meantime, should we also be urging our local representatives to take action on behalf of black women’s hair products?

The post Protecting Our Hair: Congress Asks FDA to Step Up To the Plate to Regulate Straightening Products appeared first on Clutch Magazine.

If you’ve been looking for a new workout to shake up your normal routine as we head into the New Year look no further!

Barre workouts are the latest craze for women looking for a great total body workout, but make no mistake; Barre is not for the faint of heart. Barre workouts target your butt, thighs, arms, abs and burns fat utilizing the ballet barre to perform small isometric movements.

What’s great about this workout is that the Barre technique protects your joints since it does not involve any bouncing or jumping and each section of the workout is followed by a stretching section in order to create muscle without bulk.

The hour long workouts pay attention to all the areas we would otherwise neglect and the peaceful environment gives you a Zen like feeling similar to yoga.

Barre workouts are a great way to challenge your body and push it to new levels, so if you think you’re up for it, add this new workout to your routine and kick your 2013 fitness level into high gear!

What new workouts are you looking to try?

The post Workouts You Should Try: Barre appeared first on Clutch Magazine.

Anyone who has grown locs for a significant amount of time can identify with the traumatic experience of loc breakage. When locs become dry and brittle (sometimes the side effect of color treatments or lack of moisture) or long and heavy, they have the tendency to “snap” or thin out and eventually break off.

Sometimes it’s simply a fact of life for people with locs. No matter how fierce and diligent your hair care routine you may encounter this problem.

In the event that your locs break, here’s a four-step back up plan to minimize the damage and repair your ego:

1. Discovery – Research your hair care routine and habits to get to the root of why your locs are breaking and/or snapping. Are you pulling your hair too tight when you style? Are you over-performing regular maintenance like palm-rolling or washing too often? Have you neglected adding daily moisture to your hair for regular hydration? By identifying the cause, you can work hard to prevent future breakage.
2. Re-attach – Take your fallen lock to your nearest loctician who can help you re-attach your loc and give you back your length. Use this time in the salon chair to learn how you can prevent future breakage. Sometimes you simply need a trim (recommended at least once per year) to reduce weight and pulling of your locs.
3. Prevention – Do you have any locs that are stretching, thinning in the center, or simply look as if they are surviving on just a few strands? Bingo! Prevent these babies from falling to their doom by having your stylist “repair” your loc in the trouble areas. You can also repair your locs at home by taking a small section of added hair (the kinky, curly human hair from the beauty supply store works best) and wrapping your loc with the added hair around any thin areas.
4. Protection – Even locs need a little bit of protection from environmental elements and constant manipulation. Think about protective styles like up dos, braids, twists, and buns that you can wear for at least a week, which will give your locs a break.

What are your tips for managing loc breakage?

- by SHERRELL DORSEY

The post 4 Things to Do When Your Locs “Break” appeared first on Clutch Magazine.

I live in New York City, the concrete jungle of the world where the streets are gritty, making a trip to greenery requires a subway ride to Central Park and Farmer’s Markets in the “urban areas” are conducted on sidewalks one-block in length. My historic Harlem neighborhood is riddled with fast food restaurants, “chicken spots” and the occasional super market where shoppers come to inspect food, hopeful that their meats and produce expiration dates.

Given my busy travel schedule, stocking my home with fresh produce and healthy treats can be quite the burden. Grocery shopping is not a task that I typically enjoy and since my cooking skills aren’t really up to par, getting creative with meals requires little more than an organic banana-peanut butter-and- whole grain bread -type concoction.

The truth is, between eating on the go and settling for some pre-packaged belly-fill, I couldn’t feel further away from my food. Even scoring easy to make finds at my favorite Trader Joe’s has been called into question as I contemplate the sustainability of the food options flown in from some factory in California. It’s hard out here folks, which has led me to consider growing my own food. What better way to save money, go local and establish a better relationship with my food than to grow my own in the comfort of my own home?

As gas prices and food prices rise, Americans growing their own produce has increased by 25 percent this year. Community gardens are growing exponentially and the rise of urban farming nationwide is creating a new society of both young and old getting their hands dirty to help drive sustainability in their communities and find new ways to survive in this recession. And how much more local can you get than your own garden?

Outside of planting a few flowers in the backyard with my mom backyard during childhood, I know nothing about growing fruits or vegetables. This hasn’t stopped the surge of young farmers in their 20s and 30s learning how to grow their own food despite having no roots in the farming trade industry. The National Young Farmers’ Coalition is a network of regional young farmers providing practical and technical assistance and advocates for policies that enable young farmers to thrive.

Even if you’re just beginning, all you need is a little creativity and a passion for turning your resources into a fruitful (no pun intended) operation. Apartment dwellers can find solace in growing their food indoors with the help of a windowsill or well-lit kitchen surface. The Organic Consumers Association provides step-by-step tips on how to grow food in doors year-round here. Mike Liberman, publisher of the Urban Organic Gardener, shows people how to start growing their own food even if space is an issue.

With the available resources to assist anyone on the food-growing journey, it is not entirely impossible to grow a simple food garden.

Do you currently grow any of your own fruits or vegetables?

The post How Hard is It Really To Grow Your Own Food? appeared first on Clutch Magazine.

Lately it seems like more and more women are embracing their curves and their bodies, no matter the size. While America has continued to get larger, those once shunned by the mainstream have begun their own acceptance movements and have helped more women feel comfortable about their bodies. But does curve confidence have a downside?

According to Britton Delizia the answer is yes. Delizia recently launched aKickstarter campaign to raise $20,000 for a book that celebrates thin bodies. Her goal? To collect images of women “standing up against a society that protects fat culture while bastardizing thin and athletic women.”

Delizia explains:

Its undeniable that when we stand a skinny, athletic or even average sized female next to a larger (even if less healthy, overweight or obese) female, that unless we live outside of this stigma, we as Americans will assume that the heavier person is funnier, smarter, nicer, and less sexually promiscuous, all because she is not as thin or physically fit than the girl next to her. 

The premise of the book is not to bash or assault any single body type, quite the opposite. I want to share the stories of women who have dealt with this discriminatory action.

There are millions of women out there and im sure you know at least one looking for a voice , not from tvs and magazines, not from victorias secret.. but from the ground level , to speak up and tell them that its okay to want to be in better shape.

Now, I’m all for women of all body types celebrating what God gave them, but it seems like Delizia’s book is less about honoring women who have worked hard for their bodies, and more about addressing her perceived “haters.”

While Delizia says she aims to protect little girls against the pressure of being overweight just to fit in, her book muddies the waters by insisting that there is a war on skinny women.  Although it’s true that a growing number of Americans are overweight or obese, most of them don’t want to be that way. I mean the diet industry is a billion dollar business for a reason and folks hop on every weight loss fad hoping it will finally help them drop the pounds.

And while actresses like Melissa McCarthy and Amber Riley and singers like Adele and Jill Scott are praised for being confident plus size women, they are exceptions to the media’s beauty standards that still hail thin women.

But I guess if Mo’Nique could build a career out of proclaiming skinny women as the enemy, then Delizia can pen a book about our society hating on athletic chicks, even if neither one of them is right.

The post Are Skinny Women Being Discriminated Against? New Kickstarter Campaign Aims to ‘Stand Up’ to ‘Fat Culture’ appeared first on Clutch Magazine.

Oz argues that the organic lifestyle is not only unconventional and undemocratic but also only reserved for the nation’s “1%”.

But before we throw the scrubs clad doctor to the wolves, let’s dissect these notions on the basis that maybe, just maybe, there’s a little truth to his tirade. How often have we heard from friends, family and complete strangers online that eating organic is expensive, not practical and outside of their budget? We’ve all witnessed the single mom at the grocery store filling her cart up with conventional canned vegetables, sugary snacks and chips instead of opting for the healthier foods all in an attempt to stretch her budget and man her household.

Damn right that organic food is elitist. There’s an entire culture centered on the green movement that involves yuppies, yogis, and the occasional hippie.

Socioeconomically disadvantaged communities are riddled with fast-food restaurants, “soul food” hot spots, and junk food galore — with the occasional Farmer’s Market coming far and few between. Food deserts aren’t a myth. They are a true reality for millions of Americans living in disadvantaged communities. But guess who can afford to eat well ALL THE TIME? That 1% everyone is always talking about.

Sure there are ways people can go organic and fresh on a budget, but that takes planning and time. And who has time if you’re a family of four or more working several jobs to pay the rent and have no car to make it to the grocery store every week? There’s no Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s making it to a location near you anytime soon.

There is a national food crisis happening and we can’t ignore its link to obesity, sickness and poor health. For example, Newark, New Jersey just opened a neighborhood Food Depot after 25 years of not having access to a local market with fresh foods.

What Doctor Oz said may not have been politically correct but he wasn’t lying. These realities, however, don’t give us an excuse to stop trying to eat non-gmo, pesticide-free food. We’ll just have to keep fighting.

The post Dr. Oz Says Organic Food Is Elitist, Do You Agree? appeared first on Clutch Magazine.