BH - Feb/Mar 2022

Start The Day Right.

35 WAYS TO FIND

YOUR INNER CALM

OLYMPIANS ON FEELING

STRONG AT ANY SIZE

WARM UP WITH COZY

WINTER SUPPERS

The Best Morning Rituals, Backed By Science.

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Contents FEBRUARY/MARCH 2022

35 ITEMS TO HELP YOU COZY UP, CHILL OUT AND CALM DOWN P. 43

THINGS WE LEARNED THIS ISSUE ֑ The trendy fix for surprise breakouts (and tired skin) is found in your freezer.

PA G E 7

How mental health gyms can keep us emotionally fit.

PAG E 10

The humble rutabaga gives cottage pie a healthy upgrade.

The difference between loneliness and being alone.

PA G E 2 0

Maintaining your ear health is not only about hearing well.

PA G E 2 2

Why people in long-term relationships feel their partner’s pain.

PA G E 2 4

Just three moves can help relieve painful frozen shoulder.

PAG E 2 6

New Word Alert!

Somatic Sexologist Sometimes known as an intimacy or an erotic coach, this practitioner brings together the field of somatics (which emphasizes the mind-body connection) with the field of sexology (which is the study of human sexuality). A somatic sexologist might help a client understand their body’s sexual response, their turn-ons and turn-offs, and what most satisfies them. Gwyneth Paltrow’s a big fan.

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The underrated rituals that could transform your morning.

PAG E 2 8

How to make fully loaded sweet potato nachos.

PAG E 3 4

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2022

PHOTOGRAPH (COZY) SUECH AND BECK WITH STYLING BY EMILY HOWES; (EDWARDS) LUCY LU; (CHOW) RACHEL PICK

PA G E 14

FROM THE BIG READS

Psychologist Dr. Kim Edwards PA G E 10

Cookbook author Tieghan Gerald PA G E 3 4

PA G E 5 2

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Team Canada’s Chef de Mission Catriona Le May Doan PA G E 5 8

Former Olympic figure skater Elizabeth Manley PA G E 5 8

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“We should be taking care of our mental health in the same way we’re taking care of our dental health.”

In the winter, there’s less humidity in the air, so our locks dry out quicker. Here’s how to deal:

“To me, ‘eating well’ means not only sustaining your body but also giving yourself what you feel you need. ” “When you don’t have a diagnosis, it can feel like your symptoms aren’t true or valid.”

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“Being a woman and an athlete means your body is held to two different standards that sometimes don’t align.”

“There have been situations in my pro career where I was terrified to go into an event because I had an extra five pounds on me.”

Charny Beanie Unisex, Saffron, $40, vallier.com

Registered dietitian Amy Chow

FIGHT WINTER FRIZZ WITH THESE 3 HAIR TIPS ֑

1. Bundle up If you venture outside, don’t forget to wear a hat. “This will protect your hair from breakage, retain your hair’s natural oils and reduce frizz,” Kelly Araujo, a Toronto-based hair stylist, explains. “And for curly girls, this will keep your curls intact.”

2. Mind your scalp The health of your hair coincides with that of your skin. Araujo suggests applying coconut oil (yes, the stuff you get at the grocery store) directly to your scalp, especially if you’re noticing flakes.

3. Cool down As tempting as a hot shower is, the heat can dry out your hair and scalp.

Abstain from steamy showers and avoid heat styling—direct heat causes damage to your hair over time, leading to dryness and breakage.

For more on starting your day with cool showers, see “Rise and Shine,” pg. 28.

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FROM THE EDITOR

Recently, on a particularly dreary winter morning, I got to wondering, Why do I so often feel like garbage at the start of the day?

(Surely it shouldn’t begin this way.)

OK AY, I BASCIALLY know why, and the

culprit is a dirty stew of overdoing it on the salty evening snacks, not drinking nearly enough water, staying up too late and relentless pandemic-related anxiety. Then add in sleep deprivation, due in no small part to the two miniature humans who bust into their parents’ bedroom every single night and wiggle and kick until I retreat to the foot of the bed, assume a fetal position and wait for the sky to turn from inky to grey.

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֏ The morning sky in January, as seen from my bedroom window.

Listen, it’s not a great situation. And yes, I absolutely can work on my nighttime habits and sleep hygiene. But it also got me thinking about how mornings could feel better, even if I’ve made less-than-ideal choices the night before. Health writer Andrea Yu has the answers—backed by science!—in “Rise and Shine” (page 28).

Elsewhere in this issue, Anicka Quin looks at why it’s so hard for Canadian women to get a diagnosis for digestive health issues (“Gut Feeling,” page 52). Women are two to six times more likely to suffer from irritable bowel syndrome than men, and up to 73 percent of women experience gastrointestinal symptoms during their menstrual cycle. If you suspect you might have gut issues, we also list signs that your digestive system is out of whack, plus what experts think of buzzy gut-health trends. (The short answer: Not much.)

As I write this, we’re two weeks away from the start of the 2022 Olympics. BH managing editor Ishani Nath recently spoke with current and former Winter Olympians about their relationship to their bodies: how it impacts their sport, and how it influences their self-esteem (“Body Talk,” page 58). In that same feature, writer Stacy Lee Kong spotlights the coaches and organizations working to overcome the pervasive culture of body shaming in elite figure skating.

These stories are a sobering reminder of how far we need still need to go to prioritize mental wellness—for awe-inspiring athletes, for sleep-deprived parents, for everyone.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll start by taking a cold (fine, cool) shower. I know, it sounds horrendous, but the health benefits, physical and mental, are real. And maybe it’ll recalibrate my morning state of mind.

REBECCA PHILPS

Editor-in-chief

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2022

REBECCA PHILPS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF NICOLA HAMILTON ART DIRECTOR ISHANI NATH MANAGING EDITOR RENÉE REARDIN DIGITAL EDITOR REBECCA GAO ASSISTANT DIGITAL EDITOR RICHARD JOHNSON COPY EDITOR MARTHA BEACH RESEARCHER CONTRIBUTORS Sadaf Ahsan, Heidi Berton, Chelsea Charles, Nikki Ernst, Danielle Groen, Laura Hensley, Emily Howes, Laura Jeha, Lisa Kadane, Tina Knezevic, Melanie Lambrick, Stacy Lee Kong, Lucy Lu, Issha Marie, Chanelle Nibbelink, Jacqui Oakley, Rachel Pick, Anicka Quin, Kayla Rocca, Holly Stapleton, Suech and Beck, Hannah Sung, Christie Vuong, Meaghan Way, Andrea Yu READER’S DIGEST MAGAZINES CANADA LIMITED CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD PUBLISHER AND NATIONAL SALES DIRECTOR VICE PRESIDENT AND LEGAL COUNSEL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, READER’S DIGEST CONTENT OPERATIONS MANAGER CIRCULATION DIRECTOR

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“Made you look.

And yes, I’m wearing Always Discreet.”

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Always Discreet Boutique Underwear. Fits close. Keeps you dry, too. © 2020 P&G

You know your love language. Now what about your sex language?

PAG E 16

ÿǏȾśǦȴ

How mental health gyms can boost our psychological immunity.

PAG E 10

Trend Report COLD THERAPY PUTS SURPRISE BREAKOUTS ON ICE

BY RENÉE REARDIN ց Pimples are like lowrise jeans—you think you left them in the past, but they make a sudden and unpleasant comeback 15 years later. Unlike low-rise jeans, however, I’ve found a way to make pimples a little more tolerable.

When a super red pimple emerges, I don’t squeeze, pop or poke it anymore.

Impressed? Me too. It’s because I’ve learned a much more effective method for handling

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it, involving a special tool in my freezer—a shot glass full of ice.

My pimple-fighting journey began the f irst week of the pandemic. Stress had caused my skin to resemble a pizza pie, so I frantically hopped on a video call with New York-based aesthetician Sofie Pavitt to figure out what to do. She gave me a strict new skin care routine that included both acne- and acne-scar-fighting ingredients,

PHOTOGRAPH BY ISSHA MARIE

as well as the instruction to apply ice to my blemishes for a few seconds in the morning and again at night. Pavitt says ice can be a fast way to soothe inf lammation, reducing the size and redness of pimples, and making it an integral (and cost-effective) part of a pimple-fighting regimen. Since then, ice has become my low-tech version of a new beauty trend based on cryotherapy.

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You might’ve heard of cryotherapy, a super cold body treatment offered in professional settings, where you stand naked in a “chamber” of liquid nitrogen (also known as dry ice) that produces a torturously frosty temperature for about three minutes—or until you can no longer bear it.

The supposed reward is reduced inflammation, increased mind clarity and pain relief.

The benefits don’t stop there: Cryotherapy can even help treat anxiety and depression in the short term, as it can activate the part of the brain that plays a role in motivation, emotion, and stress and pain responses by triggering the release of beta-endorphin hormones that offer a sense of elation.

Although cryotherapy has been Instagrammed by celebs lately, it’s not new. It was first used in a clinical setting in 1970s Japan, where a professor successfully treated rheumatism with extreme cold-water body immersion. And Danes have long been fond of winter swimming followed by a sauna for a reputed energy boost in energy and feelgood endorphins.

In Canada and the United States, cryotherapy is commonly used in sports medicine. Studies show cold immersion therapy aids in injury recovery and the prevention of exercise-induced soreness. And the cold smoke dermatologists use to freeze off warts and cancerous cells? That’s cryotherapy too. Now, it has a whole new purpose in a beauty treatment, even being dubbed “frotox” for its skin-tightening benefits.

Fans tout cryotherapy’s anti-aging, soothing and de-puffing abilities. Often added on to a conventional facial, the treatment involves blowing ice-cold air across the face to penetrate the pores and trigger a skin-tightening sensation. While more studies need to be done on its anti-aging benefits (there are claims cryotherapy can aid cellular renewal and collagen production), one study showed it can reduce dermatitis symptoms.

Today, many brands are taking advantage of the skin-improving benefits of cold therapy, launching cryotherapy-inspired beauty products for home use. There are iced glass sticks, eye creams with cooling stainless steel applicators, cooling masks, cooling cleansers and chilled gua sha wands, all promising to soothe and regenerate the face.

Do they actually work? “Any form of cryotherapy will provide some benefit,” says Dr. Dendy Engelman, celebrity dermatologist and cosmetic surgeon in New York City who partnered with Charlotte Tilbury for the release of the brand’s new cryotherapy products. While results can be more dramatic after a professional treatment, DIY alternatives still do the trick.

With cryotherapy, results are immediate,

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says Engelman, as skin becomes instantly tighter, de-puffed and less red.

The main allure of these cryo-inspired beauty tools might just be their convenience. “Anyone can quickly reap the benefits of simple cryotherapy at home,” says Engelman. “Holding a frozen spoon to your undereye area will help with de-puffing, and a beauty tool that’s designed for cryotherapy can be used all over the face to not only deliver cold to the skin, but also to massage, contour and stimulate blood flow.” The process can also boost the efficacy of your skin care products by drawing them deeper into the skin as blood vessels contract, she says.

While such chilly beauty tools can be incorporated into an everyday beauty routine, one of the best times to consider using them is after a skin procedure (such as a laser treatment) to soothe swelling and redness, says Dr. Marni Wiseman, a dermatologist at Winnipeg’s Skinwise Dermatology clinic. Plus, the cold can help alleviate any discomfort caused by the procedure.

But icer beware: Wiseman cautions against using an ice cube and suggests reach ing for a ch illed produc t, like a stainless-steel applicator, as they’re safer to use. “Applying ice directly to the skin can actually cause freezing of the skin that’s equated to frostbite,” she says. If you choose to use ice or an ice-focused product, like ice globes, Wiseman says to check in with your body’s warning signs.

If it hurts, stop—don’t overdo it.

I have overdone it. Turns out, pressing a shot glass full of ice on a blemish for more than 10 seconds gave me a red bump that took days to resolve. My self-cryo treatment now lasts just five to 10 seconds per blemish, with the occasional midday sesh for exceptionally bad pimples. Now excuse me, I have an appointment at my freezer.

FREEZE WARNING Applying ice directly to your skin for too long can actually cause a frostbite-like effect.

If it hurts, stop!

Ice Ice Baby TRY THESE CRYOTHERAPY TREATMENTS AT HOME

BY RENÉE REARDIN

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2022

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Only have 10 minutes? Apply this (admittedly unnerving) reusable cryo- and acupressure-inspired mask that purports to de-puff and sculpt the face, shrink the appearance of pores, tighten and smooth the skin and offer an all-around reinvigorated look.

Charlotte Tilbury Cryo Recovery Mask, $76, charlottetilbury.com

Calling this product a nighttime eye cream doesn’t give it nearly enough credit.

Apply the supernourishing formula with the stainless steel applicator all around the eyes to reduce the look of fine lines, de-puff the eye area and deliver a refreshing, cooling effect. Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Concentrate Matrix, $98, esteelauder.ca

This eye serum boasts a light caffeine-infused formula, making it the perfect wake-up call for tired eyes.

Similar to the Estée Lauder product, it comes with a cooling metal applicator that can be used to massage and de-puff the eye area.

Charlotte Tilbury Cryo-Recovery Eye Serum, $78, charlottetilbury.com

These stainless steel sticks offer similar benefits as a gua sha tool— they aid in lymphatic drainage and sculpt the face—while also cooling, soothing and de-puffing your skin. Skinbyvee Gua Sha Cryo Sticks, $150, skinbyvee.com

Start your day with this ice-cold cleanser that’ll make you look and feel bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. It’ll wash away grime and cleanse your pores, and the addition of alpha hydroxy acid will help minimize the look of fine lines and wrinkles. Boscia Cryosea Firming IcyCold Cleanser, $42, shoppersdrugmart.ca

Shove the ice cream over and slip these globes into your freezer. Once the blue liquid inside freezes, swipe them across your face to decrease puffiness, increase blood circulation, provide lymphatic drainage, improve skin texture and calm redness. Skin Gear Ice Globes, USD$42, shopskingear.com

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PHOTOGRAPH BY ISSHA MARIE

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY

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In Conversation DR. KIM EDWARDS ON HOW MENTAL HEALTH GYMS CAN TRANSFORM OUR EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING

BY REBECCA PHILPS z To improve your physical endurance, build up muscle or just bliss out on those exercise-induced endorphins, you can head to the gym or tune in to an online workout. But what if you could take the same approach to boosting your mental fitness?

Over the past t wo years, the United States and United Kingdom have seen a rise in mental health gyms, where memberships get you access to physical and mental health classes—think meditation, mindfulness, journaling, yoga, group talk therapy and individual sessions. In 2020, the Toronto-based clinical and health psychologist Dr. Kim Edwards launched one of Canada’s first versions.

Edwards previously worked at McMaster Children’s Hospital, where she built a program to treat pediatric chronic pain.

She was on maternity leave when COVID hit. Seeing the rapid decline in Canadians’ mental health—almost 20 percent of Canadians screened positive for generalized anxiety disorder and/or major depressive disorder, according to a spring 2021 survey conducted by the Public Health Agency of Canada—Edwards decided to launch a remote private practice: the mental health gym Mindfit. “Demand for therapists was, and still is, so high,” she says. Here, she explains why she wanted her practice to have a different feel and flavour.

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What is a mental health gym?

I don’t think there’s a single or widely accepted definition, but most [gyms] are trying to rethink how mental health services are perceived and delivered. The entire process of seeking out psychological services is imbued with medical undertones—you’re a patient, you’re seeking treatment for a disorder from a clinician.

Can you imagine if those terms were being used at your local gym? Of course not.

When I started my private practice, I wanted to do things differently. I wanted the concept of mental health support to be accessible, destigmatized and non-judgmental. I thought, what better way than to encourage people to think about mental health improvement the same way we think about our physical health improvement.

So, at our practice we don’t have clinicians, we have coaches. We don’t have treatment plans, we have programs. We don’t have appointments, we have workouts. We don’t have patients, we have members. We embed that language into everything we do.

So taking care of your mental health becomes as reflexive as taking care of your physical health?

Exactly. We should be taking care of our mental health in the same way we’re taking care of, say, our dental health. It’s acceptable to miss a day of work because you’re

PHOTOGRAPH BY LUCY LU

feeling physically sick. Why is it not acceptable to miss a day of work because you’re not feeling mentally well? People should be able to say, “I’m feeling terribly stressed.

And I just need to go for a walk and connect with some friends and do some mindfulness today.” But we are unfortunately far from that point.

It’s fair to say most people seek psychological help when they’re already in crisis. How can we start thinking of our mental wellness as something that deserves consistent care and attention?

In the past, the field of psychology was very much focused on how to get people from a minus-five to a zero—i.e., from a state of anxiety, depression and stress to a neutral, normal state. But now we also ask, how do we get people to go from zero to a plus-five, a state where we flourish? Like with physical health, that takes ongoing effort. Sleep, diet, exercise for sure, but also mental fitness workouts, which are evidence-based practices like mindfulness, relaxation, realistic thinking and connecting with others.

So, you could come to a mental health gym because you want to learn specific skills to continue to build resilience, and you want to learn strategies to cope with stress and face the challenges of the past couple years, which have been extremely difficult for all of us. You don’t have to wait until you’re at a minus-five to reach out for support.

And yet, many people only pay attention when their mental health is clearly deteriorating. Even then, they don’t always get help.

Listen, we’ve got a long way to go to reduce the stigma around addressing mental health.

Having more places that are designed to be both accessible and offer time-limited treatments might help.

Also, shifting our mindset. Most people prefer to take vitamins rather than antibiotics to maintain health. There are strategies that I see as our [mental health] vitamins.

Mindfulness and connecting with friends and doing yoga and movement and learning realistic thinking strategies and putting belly breathing in your life—these are not strategies that take a long time to do, but they’re very effective.

And honestly, who doesn’t want to be living in a plus-5 state?

That’s what positive psychology is all about.

Dr. Martin Seligman [the founder of positive psychology] launched a whole new way for us to explore which character strengths and virtues and values are universal. They transcend cultures, gender, socioeconomic status, and they allow people to thrive and

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live meaningful, resilient lives. Research shows that about 50 percent of the variance in your well-being is due to your genetics, and then there’s another 10 percent that’s due to your circumstances, like where you live, whether you’re married or single, your age, your gender, all that kind of stuff. But that leaves about 40 percent variability.

And so, well-being can be influenced by our everyday practices, like sleep, diet, exercise, mindfulness, realistic thinking and connecting with our friends. Even gratitude practices. You don’t have to spend 10 hours a day focused on this stuff.

How are mental health gym workouts different from traditional therapy?

We are essentially providing comprehensive psychological services, but we’re trying to do it in a destigmatized, accessible, compassionate and structured manner. The

sessions can be less time-intensive than traditional therapy sessions, and less costly. It’s where people learn skills and apply them to everyday life. We want people to leave our programs with a toolbox of strategies for getting and staying in emotional shape.

And we want them to use those strategies, to embed them in their daily lives so they can learn to manage future obstacles.

When treatment is unstructured, it can go on indefinitely, without clear goals or objectives. There’s definitely a place for long-term therapy for certain challenges and individuals. However, a lot of people would benefit from a short series of sessions to learn strategies and aim for results that are tangible and measurable.

Is it less daunting for people, too, if they know there’s a beginning and an end?

Absolutely. I do a lot of work with kids and

teens. And one of the things they really appreciate from the first time we meet is knowing that there’s a structured plan and an end goal. They participate in about eight to 12 weekly sessions. And they leave with a binder of handouts, which becomes their toolbox of strategies and skills.

It’s clear we’re living through a mental health crisis. How can mental health gyms help?

Resilience doesn’t mean you never have stress or challenge in life. It means you’re someone who is able to bounce back from a difficult situation. What mental health gyms are trying to do is boost our psychological immune system and give people the tools to be resilient. And then, when the next bump comes along, we have some strategies and ways to realistically think about and engage with the situation.

“WE DON’T WANT TO SEE YOU ONCE A WEEK FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. WE WANT TO GIVE YOU THE TOOLS AND GET YOU BACK TO YOUR LIFE AND DOING THE THINGS THAT YOU WANT TO BE DOING.”

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PHOTOGRAPH BY LUCY LU

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2022

Read more at truenorthliving.ca

How a Better Bedtime Routine Can Help Your Sleep

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Eat More

RUTABAGA

BY LAUR A JEHA z The depths of winter

don’t exactly bring cooking enthusiasm.

Juicy stone fruits and perfectly ripe tomatoes disappea red once t he days g rew shorter, and the turkey-packed excitement of the holidays has come and gone.

It’s times like these when you need to dig deeper for cooking inspiration. Luckily, there are delicious foods just below the surface of the earth. This winter, try rutabagas, a versatile and overlooked vegetable.

First discovered in Scandinavia, rutabagas are hardy root vegetables that are likely a hybrid between a turnip and a cabbage.

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They’re sometimes called Swedish turnips, or Swedes for short, a nod to their Scandi origin. Although related to the turnip, rutabagas have a different flavour profile: They’re sweeter and lack the same bitter, peppery bite. Rutabagas also have golden yellow flesh instead of a white interior.

Rutabagas like cool weather, as their sweet f lavour is enhanced by exposure to frosts. The vegetable also takes well to storage in cool cellar temperatures, which made them a reliable food source during the winter months before the invention of refrigeration. You’ll find the root veg in

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRISTIE VUONG

season from as early as November, when they’re harvested, through March.

Rutabagas are lower in carbohydrates than other starchy vegetables like potatoes or squash. In fact, they have about half as many carbs per serving as potatoes and are a good source of fibre. Fibrous foods allow for a slower release of sugars.

This reduces large spikes in blood sugar levels, which helps control hunger hormones and prevents the development of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease over time. Plus, they’re high in important nutrients like

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2022

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vitamin C, potassium and magnesium, which play roles in immune function and nerve transmission.

Like other members of the brassica family, such as Brussels sprouts, caulif lower and cabbage, rutabagas contain bioactive compounds called glucosinolates. As antioxidants, glucosinolates shut down the action of carcinogens and clear out pesky free radicals that can cause damage to cells. Glucosinolates also fight inflammation in the body by setting off a cascade of activity, including activating detoxification enzymes in the liver and triggering immune functions, all of which decreases the risk of developing cancer and other chronic diseases. Some glucosinolates are even capable of limiting and preventing tumour growth. Long story short, eat your brassicas! They’re good for you.

Rutabagas have a craggy surface, but when you’re shopping, look for ones that have an undamaged peel and feel firm.

Avoid any that are woody or dull-looking.

Rutabaga peels are often given a waxy coating (which is removed when you peel the veggie) to help them keep longer, so don’t be alarmed if they feel a bit sticky at the grocery store. They’ll keep for up to three months when stored in a cool, dry place or in the refrigerator.

An easy sub for other starches, rutabagas can be used anywhere you would a potato. Slice them into sticks or wedges and roast them until crisp. Boil them and “mix and mash” with other root vegetables like squash and sweet potatoes to create a delicious and healthy alternative to mashed potatoes. Peel and grate rutabagas to create a lower-carbohydrate version of latkes or fritters. If you’re craving something sweet, stir grated rutabagas into muffins to add fibre and moistness. Serve rutabagas as a side dish with steak, pork or lamb—the vitamin C in rutabagas will help you absorb the meat’s iron more effectively.

Try using them in puréed soups to bring silkiness and body without the milk or cream. And rutabagas can go beyond your standard root vegetable: They also perform exceptionally well as veggie noodles made with a spiralizer, where their texture is perfect for creating tender, al dente strands that don’t turn to mush like other vegetables (ahem, zucchini). With a little creativity, rutabagas quickly become a kitchen workhorse. This winter, branch out from potatoes and carrots and delve into some of the more rugged-looking tubers and roots—they deserve the love and a spot on your table too.

Laura Jeha is a registered dietitian, nutrition counsellor and recipe developer.

Find out more at ahealthyappetite.ca.

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Cook This SKILLET COTTAGE PIE WITH MASHED RUTABAGA

INGREDIENTS

TIP

For this recipe, avoid rutabagas that are overly large. They become tough and fibrous when they’re too big and will be difficult to mash into a smooth topping.

1 tbsp olive oil 1 medium onion, diced 2 cloves of garlic, minced 1 lb lean ground beef 1 celery stalk, diced 1 medium carrot, diced ½ cup red wine 1 cup beef broth 2 tbsp tomato paste 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme 1 cup frozen peas Rutabaga mash 3 lbs of rutabaga, peeled and chopped into 1-inch pieces ½ cup whole milk ¼ cup unsalted butter 1 ½ tsp kosher salt INSTRUCTIONS Step 1 Place chopped rutabaga in a large pot, fill with enough water to cover and bring to a boil. Boil until the rutabaga is soft and tender, 25-30 minutes.

Step 2 Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a 10-inch oven-safe skillet

PHOTOGRAPH BY LAURA JEHA

over medium heat. Add the diced onion, season with salt and pepper and cook until softened and translucent, about five minutes, then add the garlic and cook for two minutes more. Crumble the ground beef into the skillet and cook until browned, about five minutes. Stir in the carrot and celery and cook until just softened. Add the red wine to the skillet and cook for three minutes, then add the tomato paste, Worcestershire, chopped thyme, broth and half a teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until saucy, about 10 minutes.

Stir in the frozen peas during the last two minutes of cooking. Remove the skillet from the heat.

Step 3 Preheat the oven to 350 F. Drain the rutabaga, return to the pot and mash roughly with a potato masher. Add the mashed rutabaga and remaining salt to a food processor and process, adding butter one tablespoon at a time and drizzling milk in gradually until a smooth purée forms. Spread the rutabaga mash evenly over the mixture in the skillet, then bake for 40 minutes until the filling is bubbling and the crust is golden around the edges. Turn on the broiler and broil for five minutes until the top browns in some places. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Serves 4-6 Prefer plant-based? Substitute a ground meat alternative for the ground beef.

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VITALS

YOUR SEX LANGUAGE

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sexual partner than one who is willing to explore with you, as I’ve recently learned.

My current friend-with-benefits and I swap sex fantasies, share theories about the best ways to boost intimacy and have a rather filthy checklist of all the things we’d like to do with each other’s body.

Our relationship is the most open sexual environment I’ve ever experienced, which has given us both a greater sense of liberation. The key, for us, was learning about the five erotic blueprints. The concept—created by Jaiya (who goes by only her first name), a renowned somatic sexologist who looks at the mind-body sexual connection—helps people identify what they need in order to establish better sexual connections.

Last fall, Jaiya gained notoriety when she appeared on Gwyneth Paltrow’s Netflix series, Sex, Love & Goop, with the task of helping couples improve their sex lives.

“Your erotic blueprint is a map to your own wiring and your own turn-ons,” she told the couples in one of the episodes. “People speak different erotic languages, and we can learn how to speak any of them.”

The blueprints are: energetic (someone who is turned on by anticipation, teasing and long ing), sensual (turned on by senses, like taste and smell), sexual (turned on by the most traditional view of sex, like nudity or penetration), kinky (turned on by a taboo), and shape-shifter (turned on by any of the other blueprints, and can shape-shift to match their partner’s). Many of us have a primary one that activates our arousal in an especially intense way, which ideally leads to more powerful orgasms.

“It’s a person’s sexual template and is an extension of the popular five love languages, which can tell you how your partner prefers to communicate their love. In this case, it’s about sex,” says Vancouverbased sex therapist Soraya Mortimer.

“That psycholog ical aspect is the fun pa r t of a sexual relationship. It’s what drives the excitement.”

My partner and I took Jaiya’s quiz, which can be found on her website, and I learned I have a sensual blueprint, while he’s a shape-shifter. We then decided to play with our senses more when we have sex by carefully considering the music we’d play and the material of the sheets under us. For him, we’d have nights dedicated to one blueprint or another to help him discover where his interest lies. It has created a greater intimacy between us and built a space where there is less fear of saying or doing the “wrong” thing. In other words, it made us better communicators, which added to the thrill.

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ILLUSTRATION (SEX LANGUAGES) CSA-PRINTSTOCK/ISTOCK; (LOVED) ISTOCK

Get To Know

BY SADAF AHSAN z There is no greater

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“Understanding not only what turns you on but also what turns you off are key elements in creating an ideal sexual experience,” says Josyln Nerdahl, a clinical sexologist and intimacy coach based in Vancouver. “All too often in my coaching practice, I encounter partners who have a desire discrepancy, meaning they have a miscommunication around the different types of touch being offered or requested.”

Nerdahl g ives an example of a man approaching his partner from behind, arms around their waist; she says each person may interpret this action in different ways. While one might see it as an affectionate gesture, the other might see it as an unwanted sexual touch. Situations like this can lead to resentment and arguments, says Nerdahl. Knowing your erotic blueprint makes it easier to minimize these stressful occurrences because each blueprint has its own “shadows,” which are the parts that might need healing. For instance, a sensual blueprint might often get stuck in their own head if everything in their physical space isn’t just right, while a person with an energetic blueprint might shut down if they’re too stimulated.

It’s all about communication—and it can lead to better sex. When a person is supported with the knowledge of their erotic blueprint and its shadows, they can come fully armed to ask for what they need and discuss their struggles. For us, it took the quiz and a lot of vulnerability to determine our blueprints. For others, it may take speaking with a sex therapist who can moderate that conversation for you.

“Talking about sex, fantasies or desires can be really intimidating for folks, especially if they haven’t had much practice with it,” says Nerdahl. “You have to receive the information without judgment. If you’re creating an honest, open dialogue that is about agreement, curiosity and tolerance, you’re setting yourself up for success.”

Don’t panic, though, if you discover that you and your partner have different blueprints. “A lot of people don’t go into relationships thinking about this, so it’s easy to end up with someone who doesn’t have a similar blueprint or has a very fixed blueprint,” says Mortimer. “Maybe they only connect with one type, or maybe you’re wanting more variety. When I was married for 15 years, we did the same thing over and over again and, for us, it was beautiful, because we learned how to build energy.

Now, with my current partner, we’re into kink. So it’s possible to experience and find joy in different dynamics.”

In other words, you might not know until you try. And the discovery can be the best part, because it encapsulates the entire body—the physical, the mental, the

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emotional. Your blueprint tells you what makes you respond to your partner, creating space for surprises, quirks, kinks and ultimately a deeper connection.

It’s worth keeping in mind that an orgasm is “a brain event,” according to sex educator and Come As You Are author Emily Nagoski.

That means that sex is so much more than

a physical act. “Bringing mental and emotional elements into our erotic understanding deepens our awareness of ourselves and also our partner,” says Nerdahl. “It creates the space for greater exploration and opens a doorway into heightened sexual experiences. And that is something that we can all benefit from.”

Crash Course HOW TO MAKE YOUR PARTNER FEEL LOVED attention when you’re together. Concentrate on your partner during dinner, when you’re in the car, on date night. Make eye contact and focus on them during conversations.

Compliment them Tell your partner that you think they look hot, smell good, or whatever the case may be.

Say thanks for the small stuff Express your gratitude, even for something as small as taking out the trash or driving the kids to soccer practice. For the sake of your relationship, it’s important to say “thank you”—a direct and easy way to convey your appreciation.

Hug them (a lot) Instead of giving each other a quick peck on the lips, embrace for a bit and let the touching linger. Hugging releases oxytocin in your brain and will make you and your partner feel more connected and attached.

Tell them “I love you” You can never express these three words enough and few people will tire of hearing them. Say these heartfelt words meaningfully and give your partner your full attention when doing so.

Put your phone down An email, text, or phone call will always need a response.

But do your best to give your partner your undivided

Spend meaningful time together Do something fun, even if it means scheduling it in.

—Stacey Feintuch

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VITALS

We Tried It

BY LAURA HENSLEY z Like so many others over the past two years, my home has become my gym. I was one of thousands of Canadians who invested in a Peloton bike during the pandemic, and its daily classes immediately became part of my routine.

High-quality fitness equipment isn’t cheap, so when the Peloton treadmill became available in Canada, I was curious to see if it was worth the hype—and the steep $3,295 price tag, plus an additional $49 monthly subscription to Peloton’s classes if you don’t already have the bike.

The mach ine is f it ted w it h a nearly 24-inch touchscreen that tilts, and easyto-use knobs that control your speed and incline. The treadmill was released in Canada in early 2021, but recalled shortly afterwards due to several reports of injuries from falling screens. The re-released Tread has addressed the screen issue and

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includes safety features like a required four-dig it passcode to unlock the belt and a safety key that brings the treadmill to a quick stop.

While Peloton’s bike is ideal for small living spaces, the Tread needs room. It weighs a lot—almost 132 kilograms—and is about 1.7 metres in length. Though that is smaller than most couches, you also need at least two metres of clearance behind and just over half a metre on each side and in front of the machine for safety reasons.

A similar amount of space is needed overhead. In other words, you need to have a decent-sized home for this thing.

The first time I got on the Tread, I was overwhelmed by the class options: There are runs of all kinds, ranging from five minutes to an hour in length. You can join live scheduled classes or choose from ondemand ones. New classes are added daily.

If I felt like doing my own thing, I could also go on a scenic run in virtual locations like Iceland or Hawaii.

According to Peloton instructor Becs Gentry, a 20-minute music-themed class is the way to start. “In fact, the main point of the run is to enjoy the music at whatever speed you fancy that day,” says Gentry.

I started with a 20-minute class with Susie Chan. We did a warm-up, then progressed into a run, which included intervals and recovery time. Each time the instructor changes things up, a recommended speed and incline range appears on the screen. I was nervous to use the knobs as I was worried the belt would start flying under me.

Thankfully, I had decent control and could slowly adjust my pace.

If you’re new to running, Jennifer Lau, a Toronto-based fitness coach at Fit Squad and a Nike Canada master trainer, says

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PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF PELOTON

PELOTON TREAD

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consistency is key. “Building muscular and cardiovascular endurance is important,” Lau explains. “Maybe start [running] two to three times a week, and then as you build, you can build on the intensity and the length of your training on the treadmill.”

Lau also suggests new runners try interval training, which is where you use ratios for your workout: walk for two minutes, then jog for one minute, for example. “As you build your strength, you can start to play with those ratios so eventually you’re just walking for one minute and running for two minutes,” she says.

It’s also important to schedule time for recovery. Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, a preventive cardiologist and member of Peloton’s Health and Wellness Advisory Council, emphasizes that runners should take at least one recovery day a week—but the harder you train, the more of a break your body may need. If your body is sore, listen to it.

“Taking days off is not a break; it is essential for recovery,” says Steinbaum. “On those off-days, do strength training, yoga or a stretching class. This active recovery from daily running will help improve your cardiovascular fitness and your ability to improve.”

One thing I find challenging about running is that it can be boring—Peloton classes help solve that. The instructors make you feel like you’re running with a friend. As I got used to the Tread, I started to select runs based on the music, like ‘80s- and ‘90s-themed classes. Just like the bike, each song brings a new running format: You might be doing interval sprints for one song, followed by a recovery jog the next, then an incline run to take you home. This format helps keep the workout interesting by mixing things up and pushes you to do your best for short bursts of time.

Peloton’s membership comes with a bunch of other classes like Pilates, barre, s t retc h i ng a nd b o dy weig ht s t reng t h classes. The machine’s large screen makes it easy to follow a class on a mat next to the Tread. Because I still haven’t returned to an indoor gym, I really like that investing in a bike or treadmill actually gives you a bunch of exercise options.

One thing I didn’t love about the Tread was how loud the machine is. I understand all treadmills are relatively loud, especially when you’re sprinting on them, but for the price tag I was hoping the Tread would have been engineered to be quieter.

Noise complaints aside, I really liked the treadmill and if I had a larger home with more space I would consider investing in the equipment—especially since new classes are always being added and I don’t love running in the cold. But with the hefty price tag, size and noise, I’ll stick to outdoor running for now.

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We Also Tried This PELOTON APP’S RUNNING CLASSES At no point in my life have I ever said, to myself or anyone, “Gosh, I would just love to go for a run.” I don’t love to run. I started doing it because I smoked through my 20s and felt I should atone for the damage to my lungs; I kept doing it because, as exercise goes, running is cheap and portable. But I still find it boring and hard—and that was before a global pandemic zapped my will to do virtually anything. I needed professional motivation.

Peloton’s app had a twomonth free trial. (It costs $17 per month after that.)

There’s a boatload of content available through the app, even for those of us without a Peloton treadmill or bike: tens of thousands of live and recorded classes on everything from strength training to Pilates to dance. I scrolled down to the guided outdoor runs, picking a 20-minute option because it was the shortest length on offer and I liked the look of its ‘90s- and aughts-pop playlist.

(All of Peloton’s classes, even the meditation ones, tell you what music to expect.) I cringed when instructor Robin Arzón called me a queen—but when she nudged me to pick

up the pace during the chorus of “Since U Been Gone,” I did.

When she told me I’d reached the halfway point and to turn around, I did (gratefully). And when she promised I had 60 seconds to go and could I maybe just sprint to the end, I did that too.

This is emphatically not an app for runners looking to zone out: Peloton’s instructors, charismatic as they all may be, talk constantly over the 20 or 30 or 45 minutes. But since they’re ostensibly doing the run alongside you, as they would in a treadmill class, they have a keen sense of when you might want to bail and direct their encouragement accordingly. I benefited from the reminders to check my breathing and form, and I really liked knowing I only had another two minutes of hard running before I could drop down to a comfortable pace. (These classes are big on intervals, but they’re broken into very digestible bits.) And my pandemic brain appreciated being liberated from any sort of decisionmaking: All I needed to do was queue up the next run, point myself toward the park and press play.—Danielle Groen

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VITALS

Life Lesson THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LONELINESS AND BEING ALONE

BY RENÉE REARDIN ց “I’d never go out to eat by myself,” I overheard a man tell his date over dinner at a buzzy restaurant in Manhattan. I was sitting at the bar, picking at a salad, eavesdropping on the couple.

“On work trips, I just grab takeout and go back to the hotel,” the man continued.

I pulled my breadbasket close, took my pick of the piece with the best inner-to-crust ratio and wondered, What’s the problem with eating alone in public? I couldn’t imagine forfeiting the chance to try a new restaurant in a new city in favour of filling up a to-go container at the hot ‘n ready section of Whole Foods and plopping in front of a television.

But maybe that’s just because I love being alone—or, at least, I used to.

I’ve learned, courtesy of the pandemic, that being alone tastes best when offered up a la carte. It needs to be an item you can choose—not one you’re helplessly served. Once the chance to have meaningful interactions is taken away, being alone can quickly morph into loneliness—a state of sorrow that is said to be as harmful to a person’s health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. But experts say you don’t have to be alone to become lonely. “Loneliness is very complex,” says Dr. Katy Kamkar, a clinical psychologist at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

“It has to do with a feeling and experience,

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and it’s not dependent on an amount of social contact.”

Before the first lockdown, I’d periodically travel to various major cities for work and tag on extra days to explore each place on my own. When my long-distance boyfriend and I would plan trips, I’d head over a day or two early to enjoy the city solo, checking out must-see spots to revisit (or skip) with him. Berlin, Reykjavik, Paris— I can tell you how to spend the most marvellous 24 hours alone there and never feel lonely. So, when the pandemic hit and I was by myself in my tiny Toronto apartment, I thought, I got this. All I had to do was keep busy.

I did all the things that are proven to promote a positive mindset. I established a routine that included an early bedtime and early morning alarm. I got ready every day, complete with a spritz of Chloé Eau de Parfum. I read a book a week. I exercised twice a day and logged my 10,000 steps outside, snow or hail. I spent hours on the phone with my favourite people. I ate lots of vegetables and little to no packaged foods.

I started taking online French lessons.

After a few months, there was a shift.

I began finding it difficult to absorb the words in my books. My daily walks felt like a chore. I lost my appetite and ran out of conversation topics. My French was going

well, but only because my lunchtime lesson with my tutor had become a reprieve from a morning spent smothered by ruminating thoughts about not sharing memories with anyone, not making memories w ith anyone, not getting closer to my goals, not having a purpose. I felt heavy, suffocated by the thought that time was running away from me and I was fastened to the same place. I’m lucky, I told myself.

So many people have it so much worse, I repeated. But nothing I tried prevented the spells of self-pity.

It’s because I’m alone, I assumed. But it turns out, singles aren’t the only people feeling lonely during the pandemic. According to a July 2021 CAMH survey, about a quarter of people living in households with children reported feeling lonely. “You can be surrounded by a lot of people and still feel lonely,” says Kamkar.

Loneliness happens when we don’t feel heard, understood or have a sense of belonging. Kate Mulligan, assistant professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, points to adults with kids under 18 navigating home-schooling last year: “They may feel impacted by the isolation and loneliness of raising kids without their village, and that their needs aren’t being prioritized by governments or decision makers.” This type of experience is called epistemic injustice, which occurs when a person’s views and experiences in the world aren’t valued. “There’s that sort of existential loneliness of, ‘Why is what I’ve been doing not part of the broader conversation?’” says Mulligan.

Epistemic injustice hits marginalized communities hardest. “If you’re Black, if you’re LGBTQ2+, if you’re Indigenous, you’re more likely to experience feelings of loneliness,” says Mulligan. This is often because there’s not enough being done to effectively address the systemic issues marginalized people face.

Alia Chan, a psychotherapist at Avery Therapy Centre in Vancouver, says she experienced this type of loneliness during a recent rise in anti-Asian hate, particularly in early 2021. To help herself and others in the Asian community, Chan led a free sixweek therapy facilitation group. “There was an authenticity behind it,” she says.

“People were sharing their traumas, they were feeling seen and were in a safe space.”

Feelings of loneliness won’t dissipate until there’s justice for the collective, but support from others can help, says Chan.

Even before COVID came along, there was a loneliness epidemic, with studies indicating that one in five Canadians identified as lonely. It’s an issue worldwide, too.

In 2018, the United Kingdom appointed a minister for loneliness after noting the rates

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of loneliness had doubled since the 1980s.

While technology has kept us more connected, we have fewer face-to-face interactions, which are much more meaningful.

Japan recently followed the U.K.’s lead, appointing a minister for loneliness in February 2021. It’s a serious issue—long-term loneliness is associated with a host of physical health problems, including an increased risk of heart disease, stroke and dementia, and a range of mental health conditions like depression, anxiety and suicide.

Kamkar says treating loneliness starts with self-awareness, ref lection about our value system and asking ourselves: Why am I feeling this way? Is it because I’m not

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“YOU CAN BE SURROUNDED BY A LOT OF PEOPLE AND STILL FEEL LONELY,” SAYS PSYCHOLOGIST KATY KAMKAR.

ILLUSTRATION BY HOLLY STAPLETON

surrounded by others or that my needs aren’t being met? Talking to a health care professional can be useful, she says, as mental health experts can help you recognize your feelings and form a treatment plan.

In most cases, Kamkar explains that treating loneliness includes social prescribing, which is when doctors recommend healthpromoting activities to patients. For many people, social prescribing is the only treatment for loneliness they need, says Mulligan. Whether someone is living alone or with a family, needing human interaction or to feel heard, these activities can help build a support network that makes an individual feel accepted—while also stimulating happy hormones. Certain activities, like playing a sport or taking an art class, naturally boost serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphins. “Sometimes we forget that we have that as a resource,” says Chan.

But I had already “prescribed” myself physical, playful and educational activities—so how come I wasn’t seeing the benefits? According to Mulligan, it’s because my activities didn’t support my mental health in the optimal way. “You need to feel a sense of autonomy to feel like you have choice in what’s happening in your life, mastery to feel you’re in control, belonging to feel seen in your community and beneficence to feel good about giving back,” says Mulligan.

Based on those four categories, I realized what was missing from my life was a sense of belonging and well-being. My day job had gone remote, my night job had succumbed to lockdown, my barre studio had closed and I was tethered to my Toronto neighbourhood—I lost all the ways I used to connect and bond with others. My current situation wasn’t working, so I knew I had to make a change in order to feel happy again and not sink into another bout of loneliness.

As soon as it was safe to do so, I gave my landlord my notice. After eight years living on my own, I pushed my furniture, piece by piece, into the hallway, waited for some stranger on Facebook marketplace to pick it up, and I left.

With no permanent address, I split my time between loved ones. I spent time with my parents, comforted by the feeling of being doted on. I visited friends, soaking up old memories and meeting their pandemic babies. I reunited with my boyfriend, discussing plans for our future. I dropped in on my sister, helping her care for her little ones while my brother-in-law was out of town.

The truth is, while being alone doesn’t cause loneliness, not being alone can certainly help treat it. “Emotions go through a cycle,” says Chan. “You need to feel it to heal it.”

Right now I’m looking forward to eating solo at the bar in a nice restaurant again, happy that I’m happy to be alone.

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VITALS

Quick Question

any 24-hour period. A typical concert can reach 120 to 129 decibels.

I NEED TO WORK WITH HEADPHONES ON. WILL IT SCREW UP MY HEARING?

Forget about cleaning You can ditch so-called cleaning “tools” like Q-tips because the ear is self-cleaning. Studies show that when a dot of ink is placed on the eardrum, it migrates out in a few weeks. Your body creates earwax for protection—it’s lubricating and has antimicrobial properties. Cleaning your ears takes that away. “You can introduce bacteria by microabrasion if you’re using something rough,” Chung says, or “you can cause a perforation of the actual eardrum if you go too deep.”

If you’re still confused about what can go in your ear, take this piece of advice that Chung learned in residency: “Anything narrower than your elbow should not be put inside your ear.” If you really want that wax out of there and your doctor okays it, she says you can put a few drops of clean olive oil or mineral oil into your ear, which will make the wax slippery and more likely to come out on its own.

Hearing and the brain “There has been a lot of research looking at what happens to patients who start losing their hearing,” says Chung. Many of these studies point to the mental health effects, such as depression, which result from the social isolation often experienced by people who lose their hearing. Studies have also shown that hearing loss can contribute to a faster rate of brain cell death—potentially because the cells associated with hearing aren’t being used as much. This, combined with social isolation, can also contribute to dementia.

BY TINA KNEZEVIC z From communication to mental health, our ears play an extremely important role in our overall well-being.

Men are more often affectedby hearing loss, likely because they tend to work in noisier environments (like construction) and may not always wear ear protection.

Though fewer women lose their hearing, one study found those who do fare better than men because they tend to focus on improving communication, rather than on the loss. Women may also use more facial expressions, body language and gestures, making it easier for others with hearing loss to understand them.

“Day-to-day communication is the most important reason why our ear health matters,” says Dr. Janet Chung, division chief for otolaryngology at Trillium Health Partners in Mississauga, Ont. She says healthy

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ears allow us to “maintain relationships, create relationships and experience life.”So, what can we do to protect, maintain and learn to value our ear health?

Turn down the volume If you use loud equipment, like a blender, or work in a noisy environment, like in an ambulance, Chung says it’s important to wear ear protection as repetitive exposure to loud noise can lead to hearing loss.

Ear plugs are a great option: They help by dampening sound and decreasing the decibel level that enters your ears. This goes for your headphones too. Chung recommends setting your volume to 70 percent or lower.

How loud is too loud? The Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations state that workers shouldn’t be exposed to sounds over 87 decibels for eight hours in

ILLUSTRATION BY CHANELLE NIBBELINK

Hearing and the body Your ears help pick up cues while you move and the loss of these signals can impact your balance. Chung adds that people who have hearing loss might need accommodations—for example, common devices like fire alarms or egg timers should have flashing lights for safety reasons.

When to see a doctor When you go to the doctor with ear pain, you’re usually told it’s an ear infection, says Chung. But there are “so many nerves that end in the ear [that the pain] can actually be due to many other conditions.” For example, you could have a dental infection, jaw pain or a tonsil infection, she says.

See your doctor if you experience sudden hearing loss, which in some causes could be caused by a virus that can be treated with anti-inf lammatories within a certain time frame—essentially, Chung says, “as soon as possible.”

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Do It for the Climate

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF JUST EGG

JUST EGG

BY REBECCA GAO z Going plant-based has major environmental benefits: A quarter of all global greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions can be chalked up to food production and agriculture—with meat and dairy farming and ranching accounting for more than half of those emissions. As well, 27 percent of the world’s total forest loss between 2001 and 2015 was caused by large-scale farming and ranching. Luckily, there are plenty of easy-to-source milk and meat substitutes, but what about eggs? Can we get beyond the tofu scramble?

Enter Just Egg, a pourable liquid egg substitute that cooks (and tastes) like the real deal. It’s made primarily from mung bean proteins and gets its yellow hue from turmeric. The product first launched in the United States in 2019, but the faux egg only crossed the border this past year, first with Just Egg Folded, an omelette-like product meant for sandwiches, then with its signature liquid product, which you can use in place of a beaten egg.

While eggs are a more sustainable choice than beef (eggs produce about 4.67 kg of GHGs per kilogram of food, compared to

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beef’s 99.48 kg of GHGs per kilogram of food), farming eggs uses up another precious resource: water. To produce just one egg, you need an average of 200 litres of water. Just Egg, meanwhile, uses about 98 percent less water and 86 percent less land, according to its website, and produces 93 percent fewer carbon emissions than chicken eggs.

The health benef its of switching out chicken for Just Egg are also worth cracking into. “The two are very similar when you look at the macronutrients—the calories, fat and protein,” says Caroline Doucet, a registered dietitian in Kelowna, B.C., and owner of Nourished by Caroline. The main difference is that Just Egg has both poly- and mono-unsaturated fats, “healthy fat s t h at we shou ld be i ncor porat i ng into our diet,” she says, but no saturated fats. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that chicken eggs have more nutrients like vitamins D and B12. But Doucet notes that as long as you’re eating a balanced diet, you’ll get those nutrients elsewhere (though vegans should ensure they’re meeting B12 needs).

I am a veritable egg lover. I’ll toss a softboiled egg onto just about anything, so I was a bit skeptical of the faux egg at first.

But I was pleasantly surprised by the fluffy egg-like texture of Just Egg Folded, a frozen omlette-like disk. I loved using it in my breakfast sandwiches in place of a fried egg, especially on mornings when I couldn’t handle anything more complicated than a piece of toast (you can heat it up from frozen in your toaster).

I was even more skeptical about the goopy yellow liquid product. I made a spinach and feta frittata with it, using an entire bottle of Just Egg to substitute about six eggs (according to the company’s website, 3-4 tablespoons is equal to one chicken egg).

My frittata turned out amazingly—the “egg” had set nicely, making the frittata jiggly and soft but not liquid-y in the centre.

While I am going to continue buying chicken eggs (I just can’t do without a runny yolk!), I plan to swap in Just Egg occasionally to help lower my personal carbon footprint. If you’re a vegan or someone looking to incorporate more plant-based protein in your life, it’s a great option.

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VITALS

So This is Weird

BY LISA KADANE ¬ Several years ago, not

EMPATHETIC PAIN

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ILLUSTRATION BY CHELSEA CHARLES

long after we welcomed a puppy into the family, my shoulder became stiff and sore.

It quickly morphed into “frozen shoulder,” a condition that commonly strikes women in their 40s and can be triggered by repetitive strain. I assumed it was from the dog constantly pulling on her leash like an outof-control yo-yo.

My husband of nearly two decades was, of course, sympathetic about the searing pain that shot down my arm like a lightning bolt whenever I reached for something slightly out of range. But then, a few months later, a weird thing happened: Just as my shoulder was loosening up and the sharp pain was receding to a dull ache, my husband developed a frozen shoulder in his left arm, too. It wasn’t from the dog—I did most of the walking and by the time his pain appeared, the puppy was all trained up.

I would have chalked it up to coincidence, but when I started experiencing tendonitis in my right elbow last year—likely a result of too many hours spent clacking on my laptop—hubby began complaining about pain in his elbow at the same time, and he rarely sits at a desk all day long. What were the chances? And also, how annoying! Instead of being nursed through my ailment I was once again mustering sympathy for his copycat symptoms.

A quick Google search turned up a story about how long-term couples have a tendency to become in sync, health-wise, over time. “People have been aware of this phenomenon for the last half century—that we’re connected—but now we have the methodology to begin to model these dynamics in new ways,” says Shannon Mejia, an assistant professor in the department of kinesiology and community health at the University of Illinois UrbanaChampaign. “As we’re studying how people’s lives unfold, we recognize that they’re unfolding with others’.”

Mejia calls her area of research “lifespan psychology.” It looks at the way individuals shape their own development, and how shared environments, shared behaviors, shared beliefs about aging, and partner selection all intersect to influence health as couples age together.

Her research has shown that couples who share optimism about aging are healthier overall. They share fewer constraints on daily activities, such as climbing a f light of stairs or picking up a coin, as they get older. What’s more, partners who have weathered decades together have similar cholesterol levels, kidney function and grip strength, which is an important indicator of muscle endurance and overall health. Other studies have linked these shared health behaviours—termed “spousal

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concordance”—with diabetes, cardiovascular disease and depression, making a strong argument that long-term intimate relationships can inf luence physical and mental health trajectories over time.

To explain how my husband and I both became stricken with a frozen shoulder within months of each other, Mejia posits that shared behaviours over the years might have led to similarities in posture and vulnerability, which could have resulted in the same shoulder injury. Called “postural synchrony” in psychology circles, ours is a more extreme case of two people whose feet fall into step while walking or who lean into one another like mirror images to show interest on a date.

Playing into it, too, is the notion of “pain empathy”—the fact that seeing someone in pain creates, at the very least, psychological pain in the observer. Watching another person suffer, particularly a loved one, “evokes a strong psycho-social reaction,” says Kenneth Craig, director of the B.C. Pain Research Network and professor emeritus of psychology at the University of British Columbia. “There’s going to be some correlation between the reaction of the observer and the person who’s actually in pain.”

An instance of this phenomenon is a sympathetic pregnancy, where non-pregnant people find themselves experiencing much the same symptoms as their partners.

“Extreme reactions can go beyond pain to include weight gain, fatigue, difficulty walking,” Craig says. But he points out that it can also include pain that mirrors their partner’s distress during contractions.

These examples all tie into the idea that shared experiences, beliefs, behaviours and environments lead to similarities in health, for better or worse, and that’s really the crux of Mejia’s research.

She’s found that up to 20 percent of the differences in health that married adults experience are due to the relationship rather than the individual. So why not harness the power of two for good? Couples can inspire each other to stick with healthy habits like exercising, eating well and going to bed at a reasonable hour.

After nearly 25 years of marriage—and two healed shoulders—I like to think that my husband and I share a lifestyle that’s conducive to healthy aging (our adorable pulling dog aside).

So do Liz and Remy Tompkins, both 55, a couple from Calgary married 31 years.

They recently sold their home and just about all of their possessions and are currently driving across North America in a retrofitted van, taking the time to stretch, exercise and meditate daily. Though they each have their ow n indiv idual aches and pains, they’re eerily sympatico when

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it comes to a low resting heart rate and healthy blood pressure. They chalk it up to genetics and an active lifestyle, but it also looks a lot like spousal concordance.

The Tompk ins share the dream of a future where they’re healthy and active.

They’ve gone so far as to set intentions around these healthy behaviours, and a big motivator has been watching their own parents age.

“I don’t want to end up in the same sort of condition as I see [my parents] in their 80s,” says Remy, whose dad has had a couple of strokes and whose mom is diabetic.

“I want to preserve my abilities.”

Liz is also of the “use it or lose it” mentality and shares her husband’s positive vision

about aging. “We’re going to have a very active old age because we share an active, healthy lifestyle,” she says.

Talking about health in this way and figuring out how to support each other through aging are steps in the right direction for couples who don’t want to be limited as they grow old, says Mejia.

“I would advocate for formalizing this shared environment. ‘Who are we? How do we think about our health? How do we want to support our health?’” she says. “Really recognize that you’re in this together.”

For tips on how to ease frozen shoulder, turn the page.

Crash Course HOW YOUR PARTNER AFFECTS YOUR HEALTH Research confirms that your partner’s personality, exercise habits and supportiveness can impact your own well-being.

An optimistic partner is a good influence, reports a University of Michigan study.

When researchers followed nearly 2,000 couples (over age 50) for four years, they found that when one spouse was an optimist, the other had better mobility and fewer chronic illnesses, regardless of their own levels of optimism. A positive-thinking partner may be more likely to encourage their spouse to eat well or exercise because they genuinely believe these habits can make a difference.

If your partner tends to lend a hand, your heart might benefit. People who reported feeling that their partner is always helpful had lower levels of calcium buildup in their arteries (a predictor of

heart disease) than those who said their partners were sometimes helpful, sometimes not, according to University of Utah research.

Pairs had the highest calcium levels (and therefore the greatest heart risks) when both members felt their spouse was unsupportive, slightly lower calcium levels when only one spouse felt that way, and the lowest calcium levels when neither spouse felt the other was unsupportive. Researchers think that a perceived lack of support could increase stress and in turn harm cardiovascular health.

And if your partner suffers from chronic pain, your sleep may suffer. One study found that partners of arthritis patients reported sleeping more poorly on nights their bedmates were in more pain.—Lauren Gelman, adapted from Thehealthy.com

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The Mini Guide

3 WAYS TO GET STARTED

HOW TO THAW YOUR FROZEN SHOULDER

BY REBECCA GAO z Adhesive capsulitis, better known as frozen shoulder, is an uncomfortable condition characterized by pain in the shoulder joints and restricted range of motion. “I like to describe it as bubble gum in your shoulder, and you’re trying to move but it takes so much effort to move past a certain point,” says Surabhi Veitch, a Toronto-based physiotherapist and owner of the Passionate Physio. This condition makes simple tasks like grabbing something off a high shelf or even scratching your back feel impossible.

The bones, ligaments and tendons that make up the shoulder joint are encased in connective tissue. Frozen shoulder occurs when that connective tissue thickens and tightens around the joint, restricting movement—as the name implies, frozen shoulder comes with an unpleasant “stuck” sensation. Often, people develop frozen shoulder because they’re not moving the joint frequently, such as when they’re in recovery from a surgery or injury, though a sedentary lifestyle can also cause the painful condition. People aged 40 to 60, and particularly post-menopausal women (thanks to a change in hormone levels), are the most likely to develop frozen shoulder.

Treatment for frozen shoulder typically focuses on pain management, and doctors will often suggest anti-inf lammatory medications like aspirin or ibuprofen. In addition, easing frozen shoulder pain requires stretching out the connective tissue and restoring the joint’s range of motion. Getting into the habit of stretching can also fight off other aches and pains and help improve flexibility. According to

Veitch, a stretching routine in the middle of your workday, especially if you’re sitting at a desk, can help maintain good range of motion and prevent injury.

One of the best exercises to integrate into your daily routine is called the lying pendulum [1]. “With frozen shoulder, your muscles will be stiff. This stretch can help you regain movement in the shoulder,” says Ivana Sy, a Vancouver-based kinesiologist. Do the exercise for 30 seconds seconds and, as you progress over time, increase the duration to up to five minutes. According to Sy, the pendulum can really help improve range of motion and reduce aches and pains.

Veitch sug gests using a wall to help stretch your shoulders [2]. Start by facing a wall with your toes as close as possible to the baseboard. Then, place your hands at eye level and slowly creep them up the wall to create a stretch in your shoulder blades.

Try to reach as high as you can!

Regaining or maintaining the ability to reach behind you is also important. As we age and lose mobility, Veitch notes that reaching back often becomes a challenge, even without a condition like frozen shoulder. “Many people are struggling to put on their bras, and they flip it around to do their bra up in the front,” says Veitch.

“But if we avoid the movement, it becomes more difficult.” Practice reaching behind your back by using a scarf (or any length of fabric) as a stretching aid [3].

“With true frozen shoulder, it can take a long time, even with treatment, to feel better,” says Veitch. “But the goal with stretches is to maintain mobility so your entire life is easier.”

֑

1

2

3

1. THE PENDULUM Lying face down on a bed or couch, let one arm hang off the edge and move it back and forth and side to side to increase range of motion. Repeat on the other side.

2. WALL SLIDES Facing a wall with your feet as close to the baseboard as possible, place your hands on the wall at eye level and slowly inch your fingers up.

Get them as high as you’re able!

3. BEHIND THE BACK Grab a scarf end with one hand and reach up and over your shoulder, so the scarf dangles down behind you. Reach back with the other hand and grab the bottom of the scarf. Slowly pull on the scarf with your top hand to get your bottom arm to move up. Switch hands and repeat.

GOT A PARTICULARLY BAD CASE? If the mobility in your shoulders is really restricted, you can use something like a broomstick handle or a cane or ski poles—anything that’s a long rod. What you’re going to do is place it across your lap and hold onto it from the underside with both hands, palms facing up, while keeping your upper arms against your side. Forearms stay parallel to the ground as you move your unimpacted arm inward to your stomach, moving the impacted arm outward [to find a stretch]. Imagine you’re passing a dinner plate to someone seated next to you.–Surabhi Veitch 26

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Rise and Shine How to make the most of your winter mornings

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BY ANDREA YU ¬ The birdsong starts just

as the sun breaks over the horizon. You stretch your arms over your head, crack a huge smile and swing your feet down to the floor.

Or, maybe that’s not quite how it goes.

Cold, dark winter mornings are unwelcoming. The stress and anxiety of the pandemic may be making it harder to get a good night’s sleep. (A 2021 survey from the DNA testing company 23andMe reported that 23 percent of respondents were waking up at night more than usual.) And being underslept makes those initial waking hours all the more difficult to get through.

For many of us, kick-starting the morning isn’t as easy as it used to be. So we’ve uncovered five underrated, science-backed rituals that could help. While they might not transform you into an early bird, these tweaks to your routine will put a little more spring in your step.

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Change up your wake up It’s a luxury that isn’t available to everyone, especially those on a strict 9-to-5 work schedule, but turning off your alarm to wake up naturally could be beneficial to your health, according to the Munich-based researcher Till Roenneberg. For some of us, morning alarms end our sleep cycles too soon. That’s because we each have a chronotype, which is a natural desire to sleep at a certain time. Morning types find it easy to go to bed early and get up in the morning while evening types usually don’t feel sleepy until after 1 a.m. That means night owls might be depriving themselves of necessary shut-eye when they have to log on early for work. Chronic sleep deprivation contributes to an increased risk of obesity, hypertension, diabetes, depression, heart attack and stroke. Ditching the alarm, however, lets our bodies get the amount of sleep we need.

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How we wake up and go to sleep is governed by two different processes, explains Dr. Elizabeth B. Klerman, a professor of neurology at the division of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School and a research investigator at Massachusetts General Hospital. The homeostatic process is how long you’ve been awake or asleep. “If you’ve been asleep for a long period of time, you’re more likely to wake up,” says Klerman.

The second cycle is our circadian rhythm, controlled by a part of the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus. It’s like an internal clock or pacemaker. “It governs when you feel awake and alert, when you fall asleep and when you wake up.”

Different parts of our brains wake up at different times, according to Klerman.

If an alarm wakes us up prematurely, we might still be in deep sleep, which leaves us with sleep inertia—that uncomfortable feeling of grogginess. “If you’ve woken up spontaneously, you might have a little bit of sleep inertia,” she says. “You’re not ready to do physics, but part of your brain is awake to turn off the alarm clock, get out of bed and start working. [However], part of the brain is still waking up. And so you feel like you’re groggy.”

Stirred, Not Shaken If you need to use an alarm, consider these options

The OneClock alarm uses musical compositions that build in intensity over 30 seconds, which minimizes stress to your nervous system. The songs also cycle randomly to avoid alarm fatigue. $385, oneclock.co

The Philips SmartSleep Wake-up Light produces a sunrise simulation over 30 minutes, emitting soft reds, then warm orange and finally bright yellow light.

You can also add nature sounds. $190, philips.ca [ LOWER THE TONE ]

A 2020 study from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology found that soothing ringtones reduced perceived sleep inertia, or feelings of grogginess, among participants. Compared to these gentle melodies, harsh sounds confuse or disrupt the brain when it’s waking

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With new remote work policies eliminating many morning commutes and making flextime perks more common, more of us have the option to sleep in and retire our alarm clocks. A July 2020 study from the Journal of Public Health Research surveyed 1,511 adults and found that their average wake-up time had been delayed by about 51 minutes during the initial COVID lockdown in March 2020, compared to before lockdown.

When I quit my 9-to-5 job to become a freelance journalist in 2013, I had the joy of regularly waking up without an alarm clock for the first time in my adult life. True, the liberating career change might have contributed to me feeling fresher, more alert and happier. But I now naturally wake up between 8 and 9 a.m. every day, and most days I feel great when I get up. A 2021 survey conducted by the sleep health website Each Night found that respondents who woke up without an alarm were 10 percent more likely to feel well-rested than those who woke up with an alarm. Respondents who didn’t use an alarm were also more likely to report being in a positive mood and not feeling rushed during the day.

My mom is a naturally early riser, getting up at 6 a.m. or earlier. So I always felt guilty for sleeping past the crack of dawn, as if that made me lazy or unmotivated.

But ever since I found my own rhythm as a freelancer and ditched my morning alarm, I’m so much more productive and happy.

Follow the light As tempting as it is to lie in bed and scroll on you r phone before get t ing up, Dr. Raed Hawa, a sleep medicine specialist at

Loftie’s two-phase alarm lulls you out of sleep, first with soft ambient sounds (think singing bowls) that automatically fade after 30 seconds. Nine minutes later, it moves to phase two with a continuous, perky melody.

USD$149 store.moma.org

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Toronto Western Hospital, advises against it. Instead, we should expose ourselves to sunlight as soon as possible after waking.

“Light exposure during the day helps to regulate your sleep-wake cycle,” Hawa explains. Early-morning daylight exposure helps us feel alert during the day while also encouraging sleepiness at night when we need to get to bed.

Natural light is the best option, according to Hawa. Fewer of us may be fetching the newspaper from our front porch in slippers and a bathrobe, but it’s not a bad idea to bundle up and step outside first thing in the morning. “By going out, you are being behaviourally activated by the natural light, the air, smells, nature,” says Hawa.

“Therefore, you’re going to be more alert.

There’s the physical activity as well that you’re doing by going outside.”

So do es t he l ig ht f rom you r phone screen or simply turning on a lamp count, too? Not quite. For shift workers or early risers who get up before sunrise, Hawa recommends a light therapy box to mimic the correct type and quantity of exposure.

“It is very specific how much intensity you get with a light box,” he explains. Most emit light at 10,000 lux—a measurement of light brightness—that best regulates our sleep-wake cycles. “You should put it within an arm’s length of you when you wake up in the morning.”

And as tempting as it is to pair this earlymorning light exposure with a cup of coffee, it might be better to delay that first hit of caffeine until an hour or two after you get up. That’s because our body’s cortisol levels are higher when we first wake up, giving us a natural boost of energy and focus. A caffeine kick at this time won’t be as effective, so holding off helps give you a more sustained boost of energy throughout your morning.

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Since food in the gut can delay when caffeine peaks in the blood, you may want your morning coffee on an empty stomach, which might give you a quicker energy boost than if you drink it over breakfast.

Acute cold exposure has immuno-stimulating effects, especially after physical exercise, according to a 1999 study in the Journal of Applied Psychology. This means that cold water could help increase immune system activity to help your body fight infections and diseases. A 2015 study from Amsterdam found that people who, for 30 days, had a hot shower followed by up to 90 seconds of a cold shower had a 29 percent

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Douse yourself in chilly water Yes, yes, a cold shower is a tough sell. But Katy Poon, a user experience design consultant from Vancouver, swears by this frigid yet effective morning ritual, and science backs her up. “I try to be under the cold for at least a minute,” Poon explains.

She’ll then transition to warmer water for the rest of her shower.

Poon says that she feels “shock” at first, then a rush of adrenaline. “Honestly, it is quite addictive. The secret is to not hesitate and just jump in.” Poon first started the habit in 2013 when she began riding her bike to the office. “The building was at the top of a hill and I would always sprint up,” she says. “I had to find a way to cool down before the morning meetings.”

[ RUSH HOUR ]

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reduction in absences from work due to sickness. And a 2008 paper from a journal called Medical Hypotheses proposed cold showers as a treatment for depression.

“Due to the high density of cold receptors in the skin, a cold shower is expected to send an overwhelming amount of electrical impulses from peripheral nerve endings to the brain, which could result in an anti-depressive effect,” the paper’s author, Nikolai A. Shevchuk, wrote. That means a cold shower could be a natural way to give your body a boost of feel-good hormones.

Get a (tiny, little) move on As glorious as sleep is, it can cause problems for our joints and muscles. Lack of movement, or sleeping on body parts (most commonly the hands or arms), limits blood f low, causing muscle tightness and stiffness. A 2005 study in the Korean Journal of Adult Nursing found that morning stretching lowered levels of depression and promoted feelings of motivation among stroke patients in rehabilitation.

Renata Szado, a physiotherapist at Tenzr Health, a wearable rehab technology company based in Surrey, B.C., recommends light morning stretches to ease muscle strain and get our bodies ready for the day. Before that, though, it’s important to do 30 minutes of movement—such as walking, light exercise or even the regular activity like showering and dressing involved in morning routines—to generate blood f low around your body and allow your muscles to stretch safely. “I suggest keepi ng movement s a nd st retches so light in the morning that you can barely fe el t hem i n it i a l ly,” Sz ado ex pl a i n s.

Rising Stars How celebs hack their mornings

CHRISSY METZ

In 2020, the This is Us star told Good Housekeeping that she starts her day by reading over a list of things that she’s grateful for, then meditating for 25 minutes.

KATHARINE HEPBURN

In the book How to Hepburn: Lessons on Living from Kate the Great, author Karen Karbo writes that the silver screen star started every morning swimming in water that was “cold enough to turn her lips blue.”

[ A Q U I E T P L AC E ]

Meditating is a fast, cheap and simple way to reduce stress, but you don’t have to do it formally to set a positive tone for the day. Try eating breakfast in silence. (That means no phones or devices—no multitasking either.)

Sitting in silence apes the benefits of meditation, namely by decreasing your blood pressure, breathing and heart rate.

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OPRAH WINFREY

In a 2017 interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Oprah said: “I have never set an alarm, I don’t believe in them.” She does, however, have the benefit of being a naturally early riser, waking up between 6 and 6:20 a.m. every day regardless.

“Continually focus on relaxing the muscle and letting the stretch relax to a point where you can’t feel it.”

For neck stiffness, use your left hand to gently bend your neck to the side, left ear to left shoulder, until a stretch is felt. Hold for one minute and repeat three times. Then repeat on the right side.

Experiencing lower back pain? Lie with your back on the f loor and bring your knees to your chest while keeping the neck, shoulders and back relaxed. Wiggle from side to side gently, keeping your upper back and shoulders on the floor. As you exhale, consciously relax further, feeling a gentle stretch. Repeat three times.

If you’ll be on your feet for the rest of the day, Szado recommends doing a few back bends. When standing, place your hands on your lower back. Reach the hips forward as you arch the head and upper back gently, keeping the neck long. Hold for the stretch for two seconds, then activate your core and squeeze your glutes as you come back up to standing. Repeat five times.

For those who will be sitting all day, Szado recommends a letter T stretch. Lie on your back with your knees bent, then slide your chin down to lengthen the back of your neck. Gently f latten your lower back to the ground so there’s no arching.

Bring your arms up to shoulder height on the ground, palms facing up, making a T shape with your body. Gently press backs of hands, wrists, elbows and shoulders into the ground. Feel the chest and front of the shoulders lengthening but don’t force your arms back. Hold this position for one minute. Repeat three times.

Eat dinner for breakfast The sweet yogurts, refined cereals and granola bars that we associate with healthy mornings could actually lead to hangry moments soon after eating, according to Dakota Sinasac, a registered dietitian at Six Nations Health Services in Ontario. “Starting off the day with a bunch of sugar can cause spikes and crashes in your energy levels,” she says. “With foods that are higher in sugar, your blood sugar is ramping up really, really fast. Your body recognizes that and it compensates by crashing it back down.”

A better option is to shift your breakfast foods from sweet to salty. By eating savoury breakfasts, says Sinasac, “you’re more likely to have adequate sources of protein with the meal and a little bit more of those nutritious fats that can help you feel full longer.” A 2015 study couldn’t find enough data to determine if eating breakfast is good for you, but did

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find that protein matters: It showed that a high-protein breakfast reduces hunger later in the day.

Protein and whole grains take longer for your body to digest, resulting in a more sustained source of energy that’ll bring you to lunchtime before you get hungry again.

Weekday sweet-to-savoury swaps involve some thinking outside the box. “Instead of a regular blueberry muffin, you could do egg muffins and include a little bit of spinach, peppers and turkey bacon in there,” Sinasac suggests. Instead of instant oatmeal, which tends to have lots of added sugar, make your own with steel-cut oats and top it with steamed spinach, tomatoes and an egg. Or, go savoury with your morning smoothie by swapping fruit for vegetables, like celery, kale and dried seaweed powder or rehydrated kelp for a nutrient-rich kick.

Sinasac recognizes that savoury breakfasts usually require more prep time than pre-packaged sugary options. If you’re already batch-cooking your lunches and dinners, consider adding savoury breakfasts to that routine. “A lot of these foods you can prep ahead of time for the week,” she says. “They last in the fridge or the freezer and they’re easy to pull out.”

Sugary breakfasts may be the norm in North America, but there are many other places and cultures around the world that traditionally serve a savoury dish first thing in the morning. For example, in Hong Kong, macaroni noodle soup with mixed vegetables is topped with a fried egg or spam for breakfast. And in Venezuela, eating arepas—baked corn flour bread filled with eggs, cheese, meat or beans—is a common way to start the day.

BESTHEALTHMAG.CA

PRIYANKA CHOPRA JONAS

In a 2020 interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Priyanka Chopra Jonas said she gets moving in the morning by blasting Top 40 tunes.

Night Moves How a swing-shift nurse gets going LIZZO

As part of a 2019 New York Times interview about her beauty routine, Lizzo said she uses Evian spray on her face to help her wake up.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY HEIDI BERTON

“When I’m working a night shift, I normally get home at about 8 a.m. I get my kids to school, and then I go to bed as soon as I can. I’m asleep by about 9 a.m. and I wake up around 11. It’s then a broken sleep until 1 p.m., when I get up for the day. I pick up my kids from school, then I make dinner.

If I’m going back into work, I’ll have coffee to perk me up and get me into go mode.

I’ve been a shift worker for 20 years so I’m very in tune with how my body is affected by sleep. I try to maintain a routine—going to bed at the same time every day and waking up around the same time. I don’t drink any caffeine through the night as I work since I find even the smallest amount really affects the quality of my sleep. I’ve tried dark sunglasses and sleeping with a sound machine on to maximize my sleep, but they didn’t make much of a difference. And with the stress of being a nurse working through the pandemic, it’s hard to decompress.

I don’t always work the night shift. I think that for people who work permanent nights, it’s a little bit easier because they get into a rhythm. I worked permanent nights before I had kids and it was perfect.

But when you have to flip back and forth, which a lot of nurses do, it’s very difficult to maintain any kind of normalcy. You’re all over the place.”—Holly Orlesky, registered nurse in Oakville, Ont.

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VITALS

Tieghan Gerard became a teenage social-media sensation after teaching herself how to cook, style and photograph incredibly tasty food.

Her new cookbook, Half Baked Harvest: Everyday, features the comfort classics with a healthy twist that made her famous. Here are three to try.

“I come f rom a bi g f a m i ly.

Crazy as it may be, my family recently g rew, and I’m now one of EIGHT kids! My littlest brother, Oslo, arrived in 2020, and he is the g reatest thing that came out of that whole year. While most of my siblings are scattered all over the place now, I’m still up in the mountains of Colorado. I live in a renovated log horse barn steps away from our separate studio barn, where I cook and shoot photos and generally stay busy. A lot of days, I’m on my feet all day cooking and testing new recipes. Other days, I race against the setting sun to get photographs of the f inished dishes. And then there are the days I huddle in front of my pizza oven to keep cozy while catching up on emails and calls.

I do all this with my family just next door, which I love. They LOVE food, always have, and they are what started my cooking and keep me cooking—if only because they are constantly hungry! My little sister, Asher, and my brothers (whenever they roll through town) are constantly popping into the studio looking for something to eat. Somehow, no matter how busy I am, I can’t resist stopping what I’m doing to make them their favorite foods—that’s just what you do for the people you love!

But when my schedule overf ills and

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stress sets in, taking care of myself is usually the first thing to go. And I bet the same is true for you. But it doesn’t have to be! No matter what else is going on, we all need to eat—every single day.

Food is, quite literally, fuel for life. So sometimes you need a quick sheet pan meal thrown together from whatever’s on hand, while other times you can leisurely enjoy both the cooking process and the meal. Sometimes you crave a clean, light, nutrientpacked dish, while other times you just want a big plate of something comforting.

For me, the days are all different, but one thing is constant: I always want to be sure my loved ones and I are eating well.

To me, “eating well” means not only sustaining your body but also giving yourself what you feel you need. I am definitely NOT an expert on any sort of healthy eating.

What I have learned, though, is that I care about how food makes me feel, but I don’t want to spend a lot of time stressing about it.

I want to know where my food came from, what’s in it, and who made it. I want to feel good about what I eat without sacrificing f lavour or overcomplicating the process.

And that’s the approach I take in my cooking every single day: I aim to make food that is delicious, usually healthy, sometimes decadent, and always satisfying.”

PHOTOGRAPH BY TIEGHAN GERARD AND KRISTEN KILPATRICK

Spicy Tomato Basil Zucchini Involtini I’ve always enjoyed zucchini, but I know it can seem a bit boring— especially during the summer when you have sooo much on hand.

But there’s a ton of fun stuff you can do with it.

Enter this zucchini involtini.

In Italian tradition, involtini is made using sliced and grilled eggplant, but I love it with my favorite summer veg instead. Basically, it’s cheesy zucchini baked in tomato sauce, and it is DELICIOUS. Think stuffed pasta minus the pasta and plus lots of great vegetables.

It’s perfection—and sure to become a new favourite.

You can prepare this dish twelve hours in advance, completing all the steps up until the final bake. Let it cool, then store it in the fridge until you’re ready to cook and serve. If any excess water collects on the surface of the sauce, drain it off or blot with a paper towel before baking.

SERVES 6

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing 1 medium yellow onion, chopped 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, plus more for serving, or 2 teaspoons dried 1 tablespoon dried basil 1 tablespoon dried oregano 1-2 teaspoons fennel seeds 1 teaspoon smoked paprika Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes Fine pink Himalayan salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 tablespoons tomato paste 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped 1 (14-ounce) can crushed tomatoes or 2 cups tomato sauce 2 large zucchini or yellow summer squash 1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese

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Spicy Tomato Basil Zucchini Involtini PAGE 34

Oven-Fried Eggplant Parm PAGE 37

VITALS

½ cup shredded fontina cheese ½ cup fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped, plus more for serving 8 ounces low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella, torn

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a 9 × 13-inch baking dish.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

When the oil shimmers, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the garlic, thyme, basil, oregano, fennel, paprika, and a pinch each of red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Cook until very fragrant, another 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste to combine. Reduce the heat to low, then add the bell pepper and tomatoes.

Simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, about 10 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

3. Meanwhile, using a mandoline or vegetable peeler, cut the zucchini into ¼-inch-thick strips and lay them flat on clean kitchen towels. You should have around 30 strips. Sprinkle the zucchini with salt.

PHOTOGRAPH (EGGS) YVONNE DUIVENVOORDEN

SIZE MATTERS

IF YOUR ZUCCHINI ARE ON THE SMALLER SIDE, YOUR STRIPS MIGHT BE A BIT NARROW. LAY TWO SIDE BY SIDE LENGTHWISE, OVERLAPPING SLIGHTLY. FILL AND ROLL THEM AS ONE PIECE. BESTHEALTHMAG.CA

4. In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, fontina and basil.

5. Spoon about ¾ cup of the tomato sauce into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Working with 1 zucchini strip at a time, spoon about 1 tablespoon of the ricotta mixture onto the center of one of the ends.

Roll the strip into a coil and place seam-side down in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining zucchini. Spoon the remaining tomato sauce over the zucchini. Scatter the mozzarella over the top.

BH

Best Health’s Favourite Comfort Food Recipes

6. Bake until the mozzarella is melted and lightly browned on top, 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove the baking dish from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes.

7. Serve hot, topped with fresh basil and thyme.

Prep 45 minutes Cook 35 minutes Total 1 hour and 20 minutes

Oven-Fried Eggplant Parm I will be the first to tell you eggplant has never excited me. That may or may not be why I don’t cook it a whole lot. But like with most ingredients, what I’ve discovered is that when prepared properly, eggplant is indeed delicious.

Case in point: this eggplant Parm. The cheese and bread crumbs are KEY here (though they’d make pretty much anything delicious, if we’re being honest). While the eggplant is traditionally pan-fried in oil, I like to do mine in the oven—it’s hands-off, less messy, and I personally think the taste comes through better. In fact, I think of this dish as a kind of lasagna bake, minus the noodles, plus pesto and insanely delicious cheesy oregano bread crumbs.

SERVES 8

Spanish-Style Eggs 1 tbsp olive oil 2 oz cured chorizo sausage, thinly sliced 1 onion, thinly sliced 1 sweet red pepper or yellow pepper, thinly sliced 1 clove garlic sliced 1 can diced tomatoes 2 tsp red wine vinegar 1 tsp smoked paprika 1 tsp dried oregano 3 tbsp cilantro or parsley, chopped 4 eggs Salt and pepper to taste

Step 1 In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat; cook sausage, onion, sweet pepper and garlic, stirring often, until softened, 6 to 8 minutes.

PHOTOGRAPH BY TIEGHAN GERARD AND KRISTEN KILPATRICK

Step 2 Add tomatoes, vinegar, paprika, oregano, salt and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in half of the cilantro.

Step 3 Using the back of a large spoon, make 4 indents in the sauce, spaced evenly apart; crack 1 egg into each indent. Cover and cook over medium-low heat until egg whites are set and yolks are still runny, 6 to 8 minutes.

Sprinkle with remaining cilantro.—Alison Kent Serves 4

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VITALS

Vegan BLT Soup

8 cups tomato soup (homemade or store-bought) TEMPEH BACON 1 pkg (9 oz/250 g) smoked tempeh 2 tbsp maple syrup 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar 1⁄2 tsp soy sauce ARUGULA & ALMOND PESTO 1⁄3 cup almonds, toasted 1 garlic clove, smashed 1 1⁄2 cups packed arugula 1⁄4 cup grated Parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast 1⁄2 lemon (zest and juice) 1⁄2 cup good-quality olive oil

Step 1 Thinly slice smoked tempeh; place in a wide, shallow bowl. In a small bowl, combine maple syrup with balsamic vinegar and soy sauce.

Pour over slices; marinade for 15 to 20 minutes (or overnight).

Step 2 Meanwhile, make pesto.

In a food processor, pulse together toasted almonds and garlic until finely chopped.

Pulse in arugula, grated Parmesan and lemon zest and juice. With

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motor running, gradually add olive oil; set aside.

Makes about 1 cup (250 mL). (Make-ahead: Cover and refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months.)

Step 3 Arrange tempeh slices on a lightly oiled baking sheet; brush tops with any leftover marinade in a bowl. Broil until crispy around edges, about 5 or 6 minutes, rotating sheet often.

Flip slices over; brush with any remaining leftover marinade and broil until edges are crispy. Alternatively, pan-fry slices in an oiled cast-iron frying pan over medium heat until crispy and browned on both sides. When cool enough to handle, chop coarsely.

Step 4 Reheat soup. Divide among bowls; swirl a few spoonfuls of pesto in each and sprinkle with bacon. Serve with avocado toasts topped with lemon, ground sumach spice, toasted sesame seeds and sea salt.—Jennifer Danter Serves 4

The one thing to note is that it’s important to salt the eggplant before cooking to draw out excess moisture, so be sure not to skip this step. And feel free to prep the dish in advance, all the way up to the final bake. You can keep it in the fridge for a day or two, then fire it off and add the bread crumbs before you serve it. This is eggplant to get excited about. Trust me.

4 pounds eggplant, cut lengthwise into ¼-inchthick planks Fine pink Himalayan salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing and drizzling ¾ cup panko bread crumbs ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving 2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves 1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese ¾ cup pesto Crushed red pepper flakes 1 (24-ounce) jar marinara sauce (I like Rao’s) 1 cup shredded low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella cheese Fresh basil leaves, for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease two baking sheets.

2. Place the eggplant on a clean kitchen towel and heavily salt each side.

Let drain for 15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the olive oil, bread crumbs, ¼ cup of the Parmesan, and the oregano. Season with salt.

4. In a separate small bowl, stir together the ricotta, pesto, and a pinch of red pepper flakes.

5. Pat the eggplant dry.

Drizzle both sides with olive oil and season with pepper.

Arrange on the prepared

PHOTOGRAPH BY TIEGHAN GERARD AND KRISTEN KILPATRICK

baking sheets (it’s okay if the slices overlap). Roast, rotating the pans halfway through, until the eggplant is soft and beginning to brown slightly, 25 to 30 minutes.

6. Spread ½ cup of the marinara sauce on the bottom of a 9 × 13-inch baking dish.

Arrange a quarter of the eggplant over the sauce, overlapping as needed to create an even layer. Dollop with about ½ cup of the ricotta mixture and spread it out evenly. Spread on another ½ cup marinara sauce.

Repeat the layers twice more.

Add the remaining eggplant, the remaining marinara, the mozzarella, and top with the remaining ¼ cup Parmesan.

7. Cover with foil and bake until the mozzarella is melted and bubbly, about 30 minutes.

Remove the foil, sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the top and continue baking until the topping is lightly golden and crisp, about 15 minutes more. Let stand for about 10 minutes.

8. Top with fresh basil leaves and serve.

Prep 30 minutes Cook 1 hour 15 minutes Total 1 hour 45 minutes

Sweet Potato Nachos with the Works When I was growing up, my dad would often make nachos on the weekends, especially in the fall, because nachos and football go hand in hand. We’d go for a family hike in the Cleveland metro parks—the weather was usually cold and rainy, but his nachos were something to look forward to afterward. He piled them high with cheddar cheese and, um, more cheddar cheese. I’m sure there were other toppings, too, SERVES 6

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2022

PHOTOGRAPH (SOUP) STACEY BRANDFORD

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Sweet Potato Nachos with the Works PAGE 38

VITALS

Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

½ butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 2-inch (5 cm) pieces 1 clove garlic halved 1½ cups 2% milk 1 cup vegetable broth 1 tsp salt 1 tsp dry mustard 1 pinch cayenne pepper 1 pinch ground nutmeg 1 cup ricotta cheese 1¾ cups extra-old cheddar cheese, shredded 1 pkg whole wheat elbow macaroni ½ cup whole wheat panko or dry bread crumbs 1 tbsp canola oil or melted butter

Step 1 In a medium saucepan, combine squash, garlic, milk and broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; partially cover and simmer until squash is tender when pierced, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Remove from heat; stir in salt, mustard, cayenne and nutmeg.

Step 2 Using an immersion blender, blend mixture in pot until smooth.

(Or, let cool slightly.

Transfer to blender; place lid, without its centre feeder cap, on

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blender. Cover blender lid with a kitchen towel and, holding towel and lid securely, carefully blend on low speed until smooth. Don’t fill blender more than half full; blend in batches, if necessary.)

Step 3 Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions, until tender but still firm. Drain and transfer to a large bowl; stir in squash mixture, the ricotta and 1¼ cups (300 mL) of the Cheddar cheese. (The mixture will seem soupy but thicken when baked.)

Step 4 Scrape mixture into a lightly greased 10-cup (2.5 L) ceramic oval or 9-inch (2.5 L) square ceramic or glass baking dish. Toss remaining ½ cup (125 mL) of the cheddar cheese and bread crumbs with oil; sprinkle evenly on top.

Step 5 Place on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 400°F (200°C) oven until bubbly and golden, about 20 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.—Alison Kent Serves 8

but all I remember is A LOT of cheese. Well, I love his nachos, but I also love reinventing an old favorite.

So what I did here was replace the tortilla chips with roasted sweet potato slices.

They’re definitely different but delicious and much healthier than fried tortilla chips. The potatoes are topped with, yes, cheese, but lots of other bright favorites, plus a homemade spicy jalapeño ranch to finish it all off. Serve these up right out of the pan so everyone can dig in and go to town. They’re fun for family dinner, game night with friends, or watching football, of course!

2 pounds sweet potatoes (4 to 5 sweet potatoes), cut lengthwise into wedges 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil Fine pink Himalayan salt 2 teaspoons onion powder 2 teaspoons smoked paprika 1-2 teaspoons chipotle chile powder 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon garlic powder ½ teaspoon dried oregano ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 1 (15.5-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed ¾ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese ½ cup shredded pepper Jack cheese 1 large avocado Juice of 1 lime 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for serving

sweet potatoes in a single layer, being sure not to crowd the baking sheet. Bake until the potatoes are slightly softened, 15 to 20 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil with the onion powder, paprika, chipotle powder, cumin, garlic powder, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Drizzle the spice mix over the potatoes and toss to coat. Continue baking until the sweet potatoes are crisp on the outside and tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, leaving the oven on.

4. Scatter the black beans over the sweet potatoes, then cover with the shredded cheeses. Return the baking sheet to the oven and bake until the cheese is melted and bubbly, 5 to 10 minutes.

5. In a small bowl, combine the avocado, lime juice, and cilantro. Mix well, mashing up the avocado. Taste and add salt as desired. Top the nachos with the avocado mixture.

Top with the dressing, green onion, and crumbled feta as desired. Sprinkle with more cilantro before serving.

Prep 15 minutes Cook 45 minutes Total 1 hour

FOR SERVING Store-bought ranch dressing (optional) Sliced green onion (optional) Crumbled feta cheese (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. 2. On a baking sheet or in a cast-iron skillet, toss together the sweet potatoes and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil.

Season with salt. Arrange the

Reprinted from Half Baked Harvest: Every Day. Copyright © 2022 by Tieghan Gerard.

Photographs copyright © 2022

by Tieghan Gerard and Kristen Kilpatrick. Published

by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Random House.

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2022

PHOTOGRAPH (MAC AND CHEESE) JIM NORTON

BH

Goods

35 Items to Bring on the Calm

by EMILY HOWES and RENÉE REARDIN photographs by SUECH AND BECK

Purple Reign 1. This groovy purple foam roller isn’t just prettier than your standard option, it has added benefits, too. The ridges help release tension in your back, legs and other body parts, making it essential for taming aches.

Lululemon Double Roller, $58, lululemon.com

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2. Soothe cold-irritated skin, diminish puffiness and relieve facial tension by gliding this ice-cold glass globe across your face. Cyro-Facial Cooling Globe, $10, Marshalls 3. Sip a cup of this lavenderchamomile tea and settle your racing mind—each bag is infused with 10 mg of CBD and a small amount of THC. Everie CBD Lavender Chamomile Tea, $19, fikasupply.com

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STYLING BY EMILY HOWES

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GOODS

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Cozy Corner 6

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4. Slip into a pair of wool-topped, rubber-soled breathable shoes that’ll keep your feet warm while you putter around the house.

Allbirds Wool Loungers, $135, allbirds.ca 5. The sculptural design and cheery hue of this handmade soap dish will bring a little flair to your washroom. Recreation Center Soap Dish, $38, nordstrom.ca 6. This bubbly cube candle adds a soft glow to any reading nook or workspace. BrighterSkyBoutique Bubble Candle, $16, etsy.com 7. This lavender-infused body lotion helps speed you off to sleep. Body Lotion Sleepy, $13, lush.ca

8. Whether you’re working at your desk or surfing through Netflix on your couch, this pillow helps support your head and prevent shoulder tension. Wellness Weighted Grey Neck Pillow, $50, chapters.indigo.ca 9. This handmade purple scalloped mug makes a nice addition to your afternoon coffee routine. Recreation Center Mug, $58, nordstrom.ca 10. Your standard-issue weighted blanket gets a makeover with this chunky cotton jersey knit that’s soft, breathable and sunshiney bright—and still delivers comfort and warmth. Knit Weighted Throw Blanket, $279, chapters.indigo.ca 11. Going anywhere this weekend?

Us neither! How about tackling this adorable 1000-piece puzzle?

Whiled Ladies Who Lounge 1000Piece Puzzle, $45, nordstrom.ca 12. You know practicing gratitude is good for you, but sometimes it’s hard to get started. This book will help you recognize the good things in your life. The Five Minute Journal, $32, nordstrom.ca 13. This illustrated book offers tips for managing anxiety and shares tools for practicing selfcompassion and staying focused.

The Illustrated Self-Care Bible, $13, Homesense

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PHOTOGRAPH BY SUECH AND BECK

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2022

GOODS

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BESTHEALTHMAG.CA

STYLING BY EMILY HOWES

GOODS

Float On

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14. Drop this lavenderscented bath bomb into your tub and it’ll release stars as it fizzes from pink to purple to indigo. Bath Bomb Twilight, $8, lush.ca 15. Inspired by #cottagecore, this shades-of-green bath bomb delivers notes of apricot and amber that’ll leave you feeling warm and fuzzy.

Bath Bomb Lakes, $8, lush.ca 16. Patchouli, lemongrass, orange and pine come together to create a soft and soothing bar of soap.

Soap Karma, $9, lush.ca 17. The magnesium chloride in these bath salts helps relieve muscle tension and soreness. Papaya enzyme, passionflower augments and French green clay work together to calm you down before bed. Fortifying Magnesium Soak by Nature of Things, USD$36, goodeeworld.com

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PHOTOGRAPH BY SUECH AND BECK

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2022

GOODS

Peace Offerings 18. Chill out with these CBD-infused passionfruit and mango gummies.

Ace Valley Passionfruit Mango CBD, $35, ocs.ca 19. Need help finding your happy place? Try this grapefruit-flavoured sparkling water, which contains THC. Houseplant Grapefruit Sparkling Water, $5, fikasupply.com 20. Slow down with this cucumber- and mintflavoured sparkling water that’s spiked with a little CBD. Quatreau Cucumber and Mint Sparkling Water, $5, ocs.ca

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21. These cannabis gummies taste like summer and contain 10 mg of THC to help you feel at ease.

Ace Valley CBN Blackberry Lemon Dream Soft Chews, $10, ocs.ca.

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STYLING BY EMILY HOWES

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GOODS

A New Leaf 22. This classic organic black tea delivers the caffeine (and antioxidant) boost you need.

The Champion, USD$20, firebellytea.com 23. Satisfy your sweet tooth with a fruity tea like this hibiscusraspberry blend. A portion of Cup of Te’s proceeds are donated

to causes that support mental health awareness. Noms Berry Delight, $15, cupofte.ca

26. This flower-infused jasmine green tea is a brilliant mood-lifter.

Flower Power, USD$19, firebellytea.com

24. On dark winter days, reach for this Japanese Gyokuro green tea with hints of cherry—it tastes like spring sunshine. Blossom, USD$30, firebellytea.com

27. Calming chamomile, lavender and lemon tea can help you catch some much-needed Zzzs.

Paradise, USD$15, firebellytea.com

25. Sip peppermint tea to freshen your breath, boost digestion and calm your stomach. Peppermint Devotion, $15, cupofte.ca

28. Make time for a cup of this spicy-floral chamomile rosehip tea before bed—it’s the perfect antidote to a frenzied day.

Sip & Chill, $15, cupofte.ca

29. We love this white glossytopped teapot for its sturdy handle, stainless steel filter, non-drip spout and striking silhouette. Firebelly Tea pot, USD$100, firebellytea.ca 30. Anyone can get a handle on this pert little teacup.

Firebelly Teacup, USD$23, firebellytea.ca

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PHOTOGRAPH BY SUECH AND BECK / STYLING BY EMILY HOWES

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GOODS

On the Scent 31. Boost your mind, spirit and living space with a refreshing, relaxing aroma. This best-selling diffuser mists for up to 22 hours and features a timer and automatic shut-off for fuss-free use. Aroma Om Deluxe Diffuser, $138, Saje.com 32. This budget-friendly diffuser provides the health-supporting benefits of aromatherapy and comes in a slender shape. White Stone Diffuser, $30, Winners

33. Create a calming atmosphere with this eco-friendly soy wax candle that delivers notes of flowers, leather and smoke.

Haeckels Dreamland GPS 23’ 5”N Candle, $68, goodeeworld.com 34. Soak up the decadent notes of flowers, suede and amber with this perfect-for-all-seasons candle. Boy Smells Kush Candle, $44, chapters.indigo.ca 35. Transform any room into a tranquil escape with these spicy-floral scented incense sticks. Aphrodisia Incense

by Supersense Studios, $24, norsdtrom.ca

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PHOTOGRAPH BY SUECH AND BECK / STYLING BY EMILY HOWES

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2022

It took years, and tireless self advocacy, for Amanda Propp to finally get an answer for why she was enduring so much digestive distress.

Women are more likely to suffer from digestive disorders than men are.

So why is it so difficult to get a diagnosis?

Written by Anicka Quin / Photographs by Kayla Rocca and Rachel Pick

gut feeling

of low points along Amanda Propp’s four-year journey to a diagnosis for her digestive disorder, but she has a pretty clear memory of the lowest.

During the last year of her undergraduate studies at Queen’s University, she regularly visited the campus health clinic because of frequent stomach pain. At first, she thought she’d developed a lactose intolerance, but over a period of four months, her symptoms ramped up from inconvenient and distracting to excruciating and frightening. Anything she ate would go right through her.

Scariest of all, she was seeing blood in her stool.

One night, the pain and bleeding were so severe that she checked herself into the emergency department. But she didn’t get the help she’d hoped for. “I went to the hospital, and the nurse said to me, ‘Well, are you sure that you’re bleeding from your bum and that it’s not your period?’” recalls Propp recalls, who had been dealing with symptoms for months and was very familiar with her menstrual cycle. “Even a doctor said to me, ‘I don’t really think you had blood.’ I just remember feeling like my experience was being minimized.”

According to the Canadian Digestive Health Foundation, more than 20 million Canadians suffer from digestive disorders each year. And yet, for many who experience one— whether it’s recurring diarrhea or constipation, or more severe symptoms—getting to a diagnosis (never mind treatment and relief) can feel like a confusing, uphill battle.

And of those millions of sufferers, most are women.

According to the American College of Gastroenterology, women are diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) two to six times more often than men, and with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)—which includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis—twice as often. Canada also has the unfortunate title of being first in the world for prevalence of IBD: One in 150 Canadians is diagnosed with the condition. (Theories as to why include western dietary patterns, stress levels and vitamin D deficiencies due to our greater distance from the equator, as well as the so-called “hygiene hypothesis”: Countries that focus on “clean” environments have fewer microbial contaminants, and THERE WERE A LOT

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their citizens seem to be at a higher risk for developing autoimmune conditions like IBD.) Additionally, up to 73 percent of women experience gastrointestinal symptoms—ranging from abdominal pain and diarrhea to nausea and vomiting—related their menstrual cycle.

Despite this prevalence, getting to a diagnosis can be incredibly frustrating.

The first barrier isn’t that surprising: Sufferers often feel stigma and shame around conversations about, well, poop. And it’s something that women seem to feel more acutely than men. While men will casually (and publicly) grab a newspaper on their way to the bathroom, one survey of 1,000 Canadian women found that 71 percent of them went to huge lengths to avoid having a bowel movement, particularly in a public bathroom. We see it ref lected in pop culture and in our own experiences: A guy farts, and it’s hilarious; a woman does, and she’s mortified.

“It can definitely feel awkward for some people to talk about gas and bloating, diarrhea and constipation,” says Amy Chow, a registered dietician in Vancouver whose Chow Down Nutrition helps patients struggling with digestive issues related to food allergies and intolerances. But it’s not always squeamishness at the root of that awkwardness, she notes. “Some people feel embarrassed because they brought it up in the past and were dismissed by their practitioner.”

There’s certainly evidence that women experience that dismissal more often, too.

One study in the journal Academic Emergency Medicine found that women experiencing abdominal pain in the ER had to wait an average of 33 minutes longer than men for pain-control medications—and were less likely to be prescribed them in the first place. Another found that women’s pain was underestimated compared to men’s, and they were more likely to be prescribed psychotherapy rather than pain medication. (Horrifyingly enough, the word “hysteria” comes from the Greek word for uterus.)

Once women do open up, their digestive disorders can still be tough to diagnose because the symptoms often overlap across several conditions. “The biggest challenge with many digestive health diagnoses is that the symptoms are very non-specific,” says Dr. Maitreyi Raman, gastroenterologist, nutrition specialist and clinician researcher and associate at the University of Calgary who studies the role of the diet on gut inflammation, as well as the relationship between the gut and the brain. “Symptoms of IBS may mimic symptoms seen with IBD. It may even mimic symptoms seen amongst new diagnoses of colon cancer.” Symptoms like abdominal pain, bloating and gas, as well as constipation or diarrhea (or both), can indicate any number of disorders—is it something you ate, or does it just never go away? That’s why context and supportive information like blood work, imaging and colonoscopies are very important to make a diagnosis, as are more alarming symptoms like bright red blood in your stool or unexpected weight loss.

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Amy Chow, a registered dietitian in B.C., specializes in food allergy management and identifying food triggers.

signs you might have an unhealthy gut

You need the right balance of bacteria to maintain gut health. Here’s how to know when your microbiome might be out of whack.

especially when they colonize in the small intestine and interfere with absorption of vitamins, minerals and fat.

Your stomach doesn’t feel right Diarrhea, constipation, bloating, nausea and heartburn are classic symptoms of problems with gut health.

You’re anxious or feeling blue Roughly 80 to 90 percent of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that affects mood, social behaviour, sleep, appetite, memory and even libido, is produced in the gut. When less serotonin is produced, it can negatively impact your mood.

Your weight is fluctuating abnormally Certain types of gut bacteria can cause either weight loss or weight gain,

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Continued on page 57.

Patients can go long periods of time without a formal diagnosis, Raman notes, particularly if there is a lengthy wait to see a specialist. “It becomes very challenging in terms of how to apply therapies, or how to seek therapy,” she says.

Propp’s symptoms were repeatedly dismissed. Over eight months, she was in and out of the hospital twice and a regular visitor to the campus clinic. And while she underwent tests for parasites and bacterial infection, no doctor ever ordered a colonoscopy, a key step when a patient has what’s known as an “alarm” symptom: blood. Plus, like many women, she found herself being judged for her appearance— that she hadn’t lost enough weight to be as sick as she felt. “They just looked at me and said, ‘Well, you look pretty healthy.’

Because I wasn’t a size two, I feel there was a lack of appreciation for the severity of what I was experiencing,” she says.

“I’m in health care now, and if anybody said, ‘I have blood in my stool,’ you know it’s a red flag.”

Propp was diagnosed with IBS—a common disease that can cause stomach cramps, bloating, diarrhea or constipation—but that wasn’t sitting right with her. “I was looking up irritable bowel syndrome, and I thought, ‘This just doesn’t describe me,’” she says, noting that IBS sufferers never have blood in their stool. “I remember how it impacted my life back then. I remember being so worried about going out anywhere in case I urgently needed a washroom. And it just felt like no one could offer me any help.”

She continued to have bouts of diarrhea and pain, and then four years later, she hit another so-called “flare”: “Every time I went to the bathroom, it felt like my insides were going to fall out, the pain was so bad,” she says. But by this time, she had a family physician who took her seriously. He ordered blood tests, spotted inflammatory markers and got her an appointment with a gastroenterologist, who immediately arranged for an emergency colonoscopy.

The results were clear: She had ulcerative colitis. It’s a form of IBD that can come with life-threatening complications if left untreated, and by the time Propp was finally diagnosed, her colon was so inflamed she was in danger of it perforating. She’d also spent the previous four years missing classes and fretting about bathroom locations anytime she was out of the house—an incredible emotional burden, and a lot of time she won’t get back. Propp will likely be on and off medications for the rest of her life (she’s presently considered in remission), but having a viable treatment plan, as well as a group of doctors who finally recognized what was going on with her, meant everything.

When women come up against these kinds of walls in their path to a diagnosis, it can sometimes help to get another opinion, like Propp did. She believes it made a different to have her own doctor, who knew her well, rather than rely on walk-in clinics, as she did when she was a student. When Chow sees a patient who’s either been unsuccessful in getting answers from their GP or hasn’t spoken with a doctor at all, she’ll look at their symptoms

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and outline the tests they need to ask for. In some cases, she will recommend a referral to a specialist for a colonoscopy. “We can also advocate for the clients by communicating directly to the doctor if they don’t feel comfortable or they already tried in the past,” she says. “But I always encourage people to continue that relationship with their doctor, going back for follow-ups and letting them know that you’re still not feeling well.”

And if you’re feeling outright dismissed, like Propp was?

“Get another opinion,” she says. “Nowadays, it’s pretty convenient with telehealth services.”

HILE PROPP’S SYMPTOMS were severe, a digestive disorder doesn’t have to be that debilitating to have a serious impact on a person’s life. Ivy Young, who works in curriculum development for the University of Calgary, was in her late 20s when she started to experience bloating and stomach aches almost every time she ate. She was a vegetarian, and things she’d eaten for years—peanut butter, tofu dogs, wheat of any kind— were suddenly triggering a reaction.

Six years into the bouts of symptoms, and still without a diagnosis, she developed a bumpy, painful rash. She first sought a test for celiac disease from her GP, which came back negative, so that was the end of that road. “It was my vanity that got me to seek out other help, since these bumps on my jawline and my throat were so visible and large,” she says. “I had to accept the fact that I wasn’t feeling good.”

She’d been seeing a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine to help with stress and her digestive issues, and while her treatments were helping with the former, she also connected with a naturopath to try an elimination diet. It took about a year of cutting out and re-introducing foods to discover what was triggering her reactions. She learned that when she stopped consuming wheat, sugar, tofu, vinegar, wine and dairy, she would feel better. “I noticed such a decrease in inflammation, increase in mental clarity and decrease in depression,” she says.

Still, says Young, she sometimes feels frustration over the lack of answers—and no clear diagnosis—for why her body started to reject foods she’d always eaten. And the new diet is not always easy to stick with. “If I’m looking for that external validation that, yes, I don’t feel good after these foods, it’s never happened. Because no doctor has ever said, ‘You really shouldn’t eat this.’”

Chow herself has seen how that lack of clarity can be deflating for her patients. “When you don’t have a diagnosis, it can feel like your symptoms aren’t true or valid,” she says. “A lot of the clients I work with, they’ve already tried different diets, they’ve reduced foods, and the restrictions become more [intense] without them really understanding the reasons why these foods are bothering them.”

Elimination diets, which are often used to see if a food sensitivity is the cause of symptoms, can be tricky to manage on your own—particularly when it comes to determining when and how to reintroduce a food to identify if it’s a trigger for gastrointestinal issues, as well as ensuring a balanced diet of vital nutrients. And without a support person to guide you through dietary changes, other problems can come up. “Because of the gut-brain connection, going through these diets can be very stressful and anxiety-provoking, and then that cycle of having more stress, anxiety and depression is going to fuel your symptoms‚” says Chow. “You’re just really

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guessing at that point—and there’s just a lot of misinformation out there.”

It can still seem like there is a lot of trial and error involved on the path to feeling better, but there are some encouraging current studies in gut health. Many of them look at the gut microbiome—the trillions of bacteria, fungi and microbes that are part of the digestive system—and have focused on how food, stress and other factors can shift that system toward “healthy” bacteria that can affect GI symptoms for the better.

In fact, shifts in the makeup of our microbiome are among the prevalent theories for why people can develop allergies or intolerances to foods later in life, whether it’s from travel (eating foods that introduce new bacteria to the gut), life events like pregnancy, or even doses of antibiotics that the gut doesn’t fully recover from.

The University of Calgary’s Raman has been studying the role of various therapeutic diets in the context of IBD, like the Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes healthy oils, fruits and vegetables, dietary fibre, limited processed foods, food additives and meat proteins. An anti-inflammatory diet like the Mediterranean diet has been linked to lower levels of diabetes, heart disease and other conditions, as well as the potential to recover a healthy gut microbiome. Raman was recently published in the Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology showing that the Mediterranean diet can also go a long way toward reducing gut inf lammation and alleviating suffering from Crohnಬs disease. Hers and similar research concluded that after 12 weeks on an anti-inf lammatory diet, not only did patients feel better, their gut bacteria also shifted in a positive, healthy direction—and that shift toward more diverse bacteria in the gut microbiome may be protective against developing future flares in patients with Crohn’s disease.

As to why women are more likely to suffer from diseases like IBS or constipation, there are a few theories, but surprisingly few studies on it. A 2015 study from the American Physiological Society suggested it was because nerve cells that control the movement of food through a woman’s intestine are more sluggish in response to brain input than in men. Stress is also a major contributor to diseases like IBS, and the American Psychological Association notes that women are more likely than men to report physical and emotional symptoms of stress. And then layer on the hormone changes that happen during women’s menstrual cycles—those same hormones are also known to exacerbate IBS symptoms.

For Young, a big part of recovery was learning to let go of the social angst and stigma she felt about not being able to eat certain foods. “I’m still embarrassed about saying that I have food sensitivities if I’m going to somebody’s house for dinner, and I minimize it constantly in my own mind,” she says. “But for me, it is a women’s issue, because we’re often not validated with our health issues. I guess I’ve had to learn that it’s okay—it’s okay that I’ve got special needs. I wish I could eat everything that I wanted. But this is a real thing.”

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four experts weigh in on buzzy gut-health trends The trend: Cleanse kits The expert take: “Box-prepared cleanses contain mostly laxatives and diuretics,” says Courtney Holmberg, a naturopathic doctor in Toronto. They force the bowel to empty and they reduce water retention, she says, but they offer no long-term benefits.

The trend: The Keto diet The expert take: This high-in-fat-andprotein diet has a rep for improving an imbalanced gut. But it won’t do your gut any good unless you’re eating a lot of vegetables, says Holmberg. “A diet high in vegetables, balanced fibre and lean fats has the best long-term benefit [on the gut].” The Mediterranean diet, which is high in fibre and rich in polyphenols, can stimulate good gut microbes, says Jessica ter Haar, a microbiology expert and probiotic educator in Toronto.

Calgary’s Ivy Young learned to let go of the social angst and stigma she felt about not being able to eat certain foods.

You’re not sleeping well Not having enough serotonin can lead to bouts of insomnia or difficulty getting to sleep. Chronic fatigue and symptoms of fibromyalgia can be tied to gut bacteria imbalances as well.

Your skin is acting up Skin rashes and eczema, a chronic condition characterized by inflamed and itchy red blotches on the skin, can be a sign of poor gut health because they develop when there is an imbalance in gut bacteria.

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You have an autoimmune condition Imbalance in the microbiome can cause more than just GI symptoms.

Diseases affecting the immune system, known as autoimmune diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis, can also indicate an imbalance.

plus How do you build a healthier gut?

Eating right is the first step. The foods we eat can change our microbiome in as little as 24 hours.

To feed your good bacteria and starve the less desirable ones, swap out processed foods for plants, fruits, seeds and nuts. Fermented foods—like yogurt containing live cultures, unpasturized kombucha, kimchi and kefir—naturally contain probiotics.

—Colette Harris, adapted from thehealthy.com

The trend: Colonics The expert take: The purported health benefits (weight loss! toxin removal! mood boost!) are not proven, and there are severe risks involved— colon cleanses can lead to dehydration, infection and rectum tears. Concentrate instead on eating gut-supporting foods, says Leah Gramlich, a gastroenterologist and physician nutrition specialist at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton. “[The goal is] a well-rounded diet that contributes to gut health, as manifested by regular bowel movements.”

The trend: Drinks and supplements The expert take: Those digestionsupporting teas and anti-bloating supplements “often contain foods we don’t need or that we already get in our healthy diet,” says Abby Langer, a registered dietician in Toronto. “And they just don’t often contain enough active ingredients to be effective.”

The trend: At-home gut tests The expert take: Gut health test kits claim to detect thousands of microbes in your gut, but the data isn’t all that useful. “There’s no evidence behind making dietary recommendations based on somebody’s microbiome,” says Langer, “because we have no idea what a healthy microbiome looks like for each individual person.” Langer suggests listening to your body’s response to foods to learn what does and doesn’t work for you.—Renée Reardin

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bOdY D In aesthetic sports like figure skating, female athletes experience so much body shaming it’s tantamount to emotional abuse.

Here’s how skaters, coaches and mental health experts are working together to finally change the damaging practice.

BY STACY LEE KONG / ILLUSTRATIONS BY NIKKI ERNST

¿Fat

Ks`}qá Dy¥À Tara McDougall, a former competitive figure skater who has been coaching young skaters since 1992, remembers hearing a high-level American skating coach casually drop this statement. It was during his presentation at a seminar for competitive skaters about 12 years ago and he clearly thought nothing of making this sort of body-shaming comment to a “packed room of skaters, coaches and parents,” she says. Worse, “some parents and skaters accepted that as something that needed to be addressed."

It was a startling throwback to her own days as a competitive skater in the '80s.

She didn’t experience the over t body shaming that many young skaters did, but the attitude that thinner was better was hard to avoid.

“I had more of an athletic physique, so while there was no direct pressure to be thinner, you felt it,” she says. “What surrounded me was subtle. I often competed against very slim, petite teenage girls. Now I appreciate and love having a fit body, but back then it felt like they had the advantage, as they were ‘pretty’ and had nice lines on the ice. You felt that those with slimmer bodies were rewarded by the slimmest of margins.”

That’s entirely possible. Figure skating is an aesthetic sport; as in gymnastics and diving, judges for these types of sports evaluate an athlete’s performance based on their appearance and artistry as well as their technical skill, which means preconceived notions of what is “pretty” can

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skew the results. According to a 2020 study published in the Journal of Eating Disorders, “these sports are [also] considered lean sports due to the pervasive belief that a lower body weight results in more favorable judging.”

That’s why it’s common for coaches to tell their athletes they’re “too heavy” to perform the jumps that yield the highest scores during competitions, or to demand they follow restrictive diets. Rinkside conversations between parents might revolve around skaters’ body measurements, and skaters themselves regularly compare their bodies to their peers’.McDougall remembers her competitive program instituting weigh-ins, though the parents soon put a stop to that. In fact, she considers herself lucky to have been surrounded by supportive coaches, friends and family who encouraged her to use her strengths to her advantage. “I skated in more of a dramatic fashion and got really into the music, which I learned was also appreciated,” she says.

“I was a shyer skater, but my choreographer Kevin Cottam saw my potential.[And my] scores, friends, other skaters’ parents and strangers also expressed this.Even when the jumps didn’t work, they still enjoyed watching me skate.”

She aims to be just as supportive in her own coaching. Now a national-level skating coach at Minto Skating Club and personal fitness trainer at Rideau Sports Centre in Ottawa, she believes it’s important to treat skaters sensitively—especially as they enter puberty.

“Body image always comes into play.

Young girls experience a lot of changes in their bodies and often that can bring struggles with skating. It is important to have patience and help them to understand what is happening and that they will adapt,” she says.“I never talk about body weight. It is important to simply be fit for one’s natural design.”

Unfortunately, McDougall’s experience as a skater was all too rare—and her style of coach ing, wh ile fa r more com mon now, hasn’t totally replaced the previous approaches. In fact, when it comes to body image, not enough has changed in organized sports in general. This is particularly true in the aesthetic sports, like figure skating, which require technical skill and artistry as much as power, speed, endurance and flexibility. Coaches, members of an athlete’s team, judges, parents and other adults often still focus on weight and appearance, creating a body shaming culture in the name of elite performance.

This focus has serious, long-term effects on female athletes’ mental and physical health—and it creates a system that is long overdue for change.

According to a study of 850 female high school athletes, which was published in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy in 2011, disordered eating was more prevalent among aesthetic athletes than those who played other types of sports. What’s more, young female athletes who reported disordered eating were more likely to experience injuries than those who reported healthy eating behaviours—and aesthetic athletes in particular had the highest percentage of self-reported injuries, at 78 percent. A 2021 study by University of Toronto researchers in the faculty of kinesiology and physical education concluded that female athletes in aesthetic sports experience degrading comments and other forms of body shaming that are equal to emotional abuse and can cause long-lasting harm.

“It seems like it doesn’t matter which particular aesthetic sport and which era, there always seems to be a focus on your body.

It’s [not just] how well you can perform but how good it looks,” says lead author Erin Willson, a PhD candidate at U of T and a former Olympic synchronized swimmer.

Willson’s study focused on the experiences of eight retired athletes, five of them former Olympians. All eight reported experiencing negative comments, body monitoring and extreme food and water restrictions throughout their careers, which led to eating disorders, poor performance and decreased enjoyment in their sport. One athlete said her coach put her on “ridiculous” diets, including

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instructing her to eat only watermelon on the weekends. Most talked about constant surveillance, whether that was “being weighed all the time, having your weight called out, or even seeing your teammates having their bodies picked apart or their weight determining their spot on the team,” Willson says. A ll of the athletes in the study reported experiencing symptoms that resembled those of post-traumatic stress disorder; they all had to seek out counselling or other mental health care.

This sounds ver y familiar to former Olympian Elizabeth Manley. Once considered “Canada’s sweetheart,” Manley

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won more than 50 national and international medals, including a silver at the 1988 World Figure Skating Championships in Budapest and a silver medal at the 1988 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary. She was also one of the first Canadian athletes to publicly address her mental health—in 1983, when she was just 18, she was dealing with severe anxiety and depression.

She lost all her hair, gained 50 pounds of water weight and began experiencing suicidal ideation. She had to withdraw from training, and she thought her life was over.

Looking back, she says that her mental health struggles weren’t only about body image, but they did play a role.

“I’m only four foot, 11 and a half inches, and I’m very muscular,” she says. “I was constantly criticized and harassed about my weight.”

She was eventually able to compete again thanks to the help of Terry Orlick, a worldrenowned sports psychologist. But the comments about her weight never stopped.

“I would go to a competition, and I would be in really good shape. And commentators or media would make a point of saying, ‘She’s lost a tremendous amount of weight.

She looks great.’ And as an athlete, you go, ‘Why can’t you just focus on my triple lutz?

Why can’t you focus on the great skate?’”

Even after she retired from competing and embarked on a pro career, she was haunted by questions about her body. “[Thinking about my] weight is a forever thing. I think it was embedded in my mind as an athlete,” she says, explaining that when she signed a contract to join the Ice Capades, the now-defunct touring theatrical ice skating show, she had to commit to maintaining a particular weight—and there were weekly weigh-ins to ensure she, and all the other athletes on the roster, did.

Even later on, “there have been situations in my pro career where I was terrified to go into an event because I had an extra five pounds on me,” she says. “I had people who wanted to hire me for something, but through the grapevine would contact someone else and say, ‘How’s her weight?’

You start to feel afraid to be seen and you wonder what people were going to say.”

Though their careers were separated by decades, former competitive skater Meagan Duhamel’s experiences echo Manley’s.

During Duhamel’s competitive career, she won seven Canadian national titles (every year between 2012 and 2018), two world titles (in 2015 and 2016) and three Olympic medals (silver in 2014 and gold and bronze in 2018). But even in the face of these massive accomplishments, she was the target of body shaming.

“I was a very athletic skater and had a stocky muscular body. I was always aware that I didn’t look like other figure skaters,” she says. “I remember my coach taking me to the gym with him when I was 14 years old. He never said I was fat or needed to lose weight, but he’d take me with him and I’d run on the treadmill.”

It got worse from there. At 21, she had moved to Montreal for training and needed new competition dresses, which at the time ran about $1,000 each. After using them once, she says officials from Skate Canada, the governing body for figuring skating in Canada, told her they made her look “too big” and that she needed new dresses.

“I was working full-time to pay for my skating and had borrowed money from my

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sister to buy those costumes, so that was pretty heartbreaking and devastating to deal with,” she says. “In the end, my skating club paid for me to get one new dress that ‘fit my body better,’ they told me. But I was by no means too large. I weighed 115 pounds.”

Since then, Skate Canada has started working to change its culture, likely due to a conf luence of factors, says mental performance consultant Judy Goss. These include coaches’ increasing awareness of body image-related issues among their skaters and better education around Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S), a condition that encompasses disordered eating, missed periods and decreased bone density. Goss also cites the impact of larger cultural conversations around the #MeToo and body positivity movements, as well as celebrity athletes who have spoken out about their experiences around body image, mental health and exploitation in sports (like Serena Williams, Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka).

“Figure skating was primed and ready for a shift,” says Goss.

In 2019, Skate Canada hosted a highperformance camp, where it came to leadership’s attention that an off-ice trainer was weighing skaters. “All of us were like, ‘You’re not supposed to do this!’' Goss says.

“We went a little berserk.”

That led to conversations about what kind of information the organization could provide to coaches and other ancillary members of skaters’ teams—including off-ice trainers, who are employed by individual skaters or skate clubs rather than Skate Canada itself— and how the organization could ensure that they were using the right language. At the time, there weren’t many sports organizations that had guidelines around body image; Goss reviewed Gymnastics Australia’s policy, instituted in July 2019, and U.S. Figure Skating’s policy, and then worked with Skate Canada to write their own body positive guidelines in an attempt to “set boundaries on what is acceptable practice, language and behaviour for coaches, parents, officials, volunteers and staff when working with athletes of all ages, genders and skating abilities.”

Goss helped develop the guidelines using insights from several academics, including Catherine Sabiston, University of Toronto professor, Canada research chair in physical activity and mental health and director of the Mental Health and Physical Activity Research Centre. Sabiston’s research has found that addressing female athletes’ body image will require a collaborative effort between coaches, officials, parents and role models (like celebrity athletes or club alumni), as well as athletes themselves. It also suggests sports

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organizations should offer public education and casual, voluntary support, and that revealing uniforms need to be reconsidered. As a result, Skate Canada recommends avoiding body shaming language, includ ing words like fat, over weight, large, heavy, skinny or stick-thin, as well as words like toned and lean, which “can also perpetuate body preoccupation and should be avoided.” They ask coaches to praise skill, execution, power, strength, effort, persistence or other attributes that are not appearance-based and “emphasize factors that contribute to personal success, such as motivation and effort rather than body weight or shape.” They also include links to additional resources on eating disorders and mental health in sports, and provide scripts to help coaches give performance-based feedback that doesn’t touch on physical appearance.

Par t of the organization’s goal is to protect athletes as they continued to compete, but the guidelines are also intended to keep skaters from leaving the sport entirely.

According to a 2020 report from Canadian Women & Sport, one in three Canadian girls leave sports by late adolescence, compared to a drop-out rate of just one in 10 for boys.

“One of the reasons we lose them is because their bodies change and develop,” Goss says. “When skaters start, they’re usually younger and smaller, because skating, like gymnastics, is an early specialization sport. [When they go through puberty] there certainly is physiological impact in terms of your ability—your centre of gravity shifts, so I wouldn’t say it becomes more difficult to do the jumps or the tricks, but it takes some time to adapt.”

Good coaches who understand that shape or size does not dictate performance can be integral to helping skaters adjust— and therefore stay in sports.

McDougall agrees. “Skating has changed.

It has become very athletic with women doing triple axels and quad jumps. It isn’t simply about how you look. It is also about speed, edges, skills—the entire package,” she says. “Suppor t has to be there by associations and clubs to make sure all members train in a safe and inclusive env ironment. Coaches have a unique role in their skaters’ lives. Ultimately it comes down to us on a day-to-day basis to create that environment and help create changes if we see situations that do not support or are detrimental to our young athletes.”

Coaches are only one piece of this puzzle, though. Adults who surround the skaters must stand against all forms of body shaming. That means parents, mentors and even teammates are all part of the cultural shift away from prioritizing appearance

Winter Olympians on Body Image յ over performance. Perhaps even more urgently, so must officials and judges.

But change has been slow-going. “I’m not sure how much we’ve improved,” Duhamel says. “Skaters are still being told to use certain dress designs to make their body look a certain way.”

Goss agrees, noting that figure skating has historically been slow to respond to the growing body of research into higher incidences of eating disorders, injuries and menstrual dysfunction in aesthetic sports.

“They have been successful for a long time, so it’s kind of like, ‘Why would we change what we’re doing?’” she says. She points out that some coaches have been working for years and years and have huge value to the system, but it’s hard for them to change their ways. “So, we have some factors that make it a little more challenging, but that’s okay. I’m up for the challenge.”

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2022

Alyson Charles

¿ NdbnYPQm aynQ`V `qN_y¥À Short track speed skater Competing in the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games

W

e used to get weighed in front of the entire team. That was an issue.

When I first started competing as part of the national senior team in 2018, I had to get on a scale every day prior to a competition and write down my weight. We all did. That sheet of paper was visible to the whole team. It was a very uncomfortable practice. I remember at one point, I realized I was heavier than two of the men.

Body image, and the pressure to look a certain way, isn’t talked about in speed skating. I’ve never been asked about it in an interview before, but it’s something that affects many athletes.

Speed skaters tend to have huge thighs and a small upper body. I started speed skating at age five, and at times, because of the way my body developed because of my sport, I felt like I wasn’t feminine

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enough or I was too muscular. As a teenager, I saw girls at school and my teammates developing breasts and hips. I had none of that. It made me feel self-conscious, almost like less of a woman— especially because in skating, there’s no way to cover up. Our skin-tight suits show everything.

For a long time, the South Korean short track speed skaters were absolutely dominant. Most of their athletes were really slim, and that became the unofficial goal.

When I got to higher levels of competition, the pressure to be lean intensified.

If it was getting close to competition and I saw that I had gained weight, I would feel anxious. It could’ve just been that I drank more water that morning or didn’t go to the bathroom right before testing. But in my mind, I worried that a few added kilos might slow me down. Or maybe that extra

weight would let my team down because in relays we physically push each other.

Looking back, it’s easy to see how practices like seeing the weights of all your teammates can make you selfconscious. I’ve had moments where I compare myself to other skaters, thinking that if I had less body fat or if I had a six-pack like hers, maybe I would be stronger. I consider myself lucky to have always been surrounded by a good group of professionals and teammates. I never got offhand remarks from them about my weight or my physical appearance.

In fact, talking to other athletes, either from my sport or in other sports, helped me feel less alone. They struggled with the same pressures and self-consciousness that I did. Other speed skaters have told me about coaches that really focused on their weight, even though they ate well.

A former figure skater, who is also Black, told me about the discrimination she faced from judges. She had to work harder and be better to make it. Thankfully, I didn’t feel like that in my sport.

Everything’s objective: You either finish first or you don’t.

When I made the national team, I star ted to realize that different body types can be successful in speed skating.

I saw other girls who were tall like me, and had figures like mine, in my sport— and it helped me feel normal. With athletes from Europe, the U.S. and Canada excelling in short track, the podium at the world championships and even the Olympics is much more diverse now in terms of body shape and weight. We are starting to see that athletes don’t have to be small and skinny to win.

There have also been changes with how we train. Women on the speed skating team spoke up about how uncomfortable being weighed, and the public recording, made them feel. Now, we still get weighed, but our numbers are kept private. And the coaches are not allowed to comment on the numbers anymore.

That input is reserved for the dietitians and nutritionists we work with.

It’s heavy to carry around these insecurities and I feel that a lot of young girls who are in elite sports are going through that.

For myself, as I grew older, I understood that I am perfect the way I am. My physical appearance doesn’t define me because I know what I am capable of. I am strong.

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Brittany Hudak

¿ PYPb¶p pXYb_ GMdqp MdPy YaGWQ qbpY` MQNGaQ Gb Q`YpQ GpX`QpQ¥À Two-time Paralympian (2014, 2018) Competing in the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games

I

’ve always been fairly lean, but not muscular. I did jazz dancing growing up, and I felt like I had the preferred body type. Like any kid, I was selfconscious, but that was more in relation to my physical disability, which I was born with. I avoided asking for help because I just wanted to be like my peers and prove that I could do the same activities as them. I didn’t think much about body image—until I became an elite athlete.

I was 19 and working at Canadian Tire when I was approached by Colette Bourgonje. She's a 10-time Paralympian skier, who now mentors Para athletes and encourages athletes with disabilities to get into snow sports. She asked if I had ever

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considered training for cross-country skiing (I hadn’t until that moment). I decided to give it a try, and within two years, I was competing at my first international competition, hoping to earn a spot for the 2014 Paralympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

As I progressed to an elite level of skiing, I started undergoing testing that would demonstrate my fitness progressions.

Every spring and fall, I’d get different parts of my body—from height and weight to the circumference of my thighs and forearm— measured. These measurements provided a snapshot of things like fat percentage, muscle percentage, power-to-weight ratio.

There’s definitely some stress on the day you’re going to be weighed and have

skinfolds measured. I found myself wondering what people might think when they saw my data and how these numbers played a role in performance.

Cross-country skiing is endurancebased, and there’s this perception that if you have a higher fat percentage, you’re carrying that around the ski course. In high-performance sports, podiums can be won by a matter of seconds. So it can feel like being lean or having less body fat is one way to ski faster, even though that’s not always the case.

This perception, combined with body composition testing, makes it easy for athletes to go down a rabbit hole of selfassessing, thinking, Oh, I’m getting bigger, this isn’t good. When we race, we wear skin-tight spandex suits, which can add to the heightened awareness of any aspects of your body that you might be self-conscious about.

But body image isn’t something that we really talk about.

I’m one of those athletes who likes to be informed. Why is this in my training plan? What purpose does this workout serve? Over the years, I’ve figured out what works best for me so that I can be my fastest. Sometimes that is being a bit leaner, other times it’s fuelling more in order to maximize how much I can train.

Even though the team measures every part of me, things like menstruation or normal weight fluctuations don’t get discussed. A few years ago, I told my male coach I hadn’t had my period for six months. That conversation was uncomfortable, but it helped us build trust.

The past couple of years, I star ted talking more openly to my coach about how my numbers will fluctuate slightly throughout the year. We discussed that I might be a few kilos heavier in the summer, but that’s what I need to maintain my energy. Having his feedback that it’s not sustainable for me to be at race weight all the time was critical for me to understand.

These conversations can be awkward at first, but talking about my metrics has really helped me. Being more informed, and talking openly with my coach, has helped me have a healthier mentality towards my body and performance.

Living and training out of Canmore, Alberta, which is a huge skiing hub, I’ve met national athletes from across Canada with so many different body types. It’s helped me recognize that an athlete’s body type alone does not lead to success. We need to balance body composition with individual needs and performance goals.

I once heard someone say, “an athlete is an athlete.” I’ve learned that’s not true.

Every athlete is different.

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2022

Cynthia Appiah

¿ `dd_QP kXQbdaQbG`¦ Mqp VQ`p GMnd`qpQ`y pQmmYM`Q¥À Bobsleigh pilot Competing in the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games

I

remember taking my braids out.

They had just been freshly done, but I needed to remove any extra weight before stepping onto the scale. When I saw that I had only lost two kilograms, I was on the brink of tears. I felt defeated.

It was December 2015 and I had been diligently watching my eating for months in order to compete in bobsleigh.

I came to the sport after leaving track and field in 2013, where I competed in shot put and hammer throw. I was a thrower for nearly a decade, but it became clear that the Olympic Summer Games weren’t going to happen for me. After watching brakewoman Shelley-Ann Brown medal at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, I decided to

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move to bobsleigh. I soon learned that to slide without getting my team disqualified, I had to lose at least 13 kilograms.

During my time as a track and field athlete at York University, I had put on 18 kilograms of mostly muscle as a result of my training. There was no pressure to be a certain weight, but in throwing, the bigger you are, the farther and faster you’ll throw.

At the same time, there is pressure, particularly on women, to avoid looking too muscular or masculine. That was always in the back of my mind. I had this internalized fear of being seen as “fat.” When I learned I had to lose weight to become a bobsledder, my first instinct was, OK, I get to be skinny again.

I worked with a nutritionist, cut back on snacking and made sure that I balanced the rice, meat and vegetable portions when enjoying my family’s Ghanaian meals. As I transitioned into bobsleigh, people noticed the weight coming off and I got a lot of compliments. It was positive reinforcement that thinner was somehow better.

But in August 2015, the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) cut the women’s weight limit by 15 kilograms, apparently to encourage a wider range of body types to enter the sport.

My body was perfect for the old weight limit. These new measures meant I had to lose even more weight. I was shredded, had washboard abs, my speed suit fit me in all the right places. I looked phenomenal, but after months of trying to lose more weight, I felt absolutely terrible. I was eating the minimum of what I needed to sustain my body, nearly half the calories that I average today. I did not have more weight to lose.

I ended up being paired with a pilot whose weight, combined with mine, allowed us to meet the new regulations. I made the team. But I vowed never again to let myself get to the point where I was missing out on team dinners or declining offers to go for ice cream. I’m a big foodie and I love sweets, so I work at eating balanced meals so I can maintain my body throughout the year.

Even so, as a high-performance athlete, you constantly compare yourself to competitors and fellow teammates. So naturally, I ask myself: “How do I look compared to the rest of the team? Am I too big? Too small?” These questions were amplified for me during the pandemic, when access to gyms was restricted.

I wondered if my body would be ready for the Games, if I’d be fast enough, strong enough. Am I going to be pudgy?

Body image isn’t something that gets talked about in elite sports. I don’t remember ever having a conversation about insecurities or the pressure to look a certain way with other athletes or coaching staff.

Even when I felt my worst in 2015, I was still performing well, so no one checked on me. It felt like I had no resources and I had to figure things out on my own. Athletes shouldn't have to talk about their struggles or experiences with disordered eating for teams to work with health professionals and start conversations. That support should just always be available.

It took a lot of time and internal work for me to accept my body. I realized my body helped propel my career—it's taking me to the Olympics. And I can’t let societal beauty standards knock me down.

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Erin Mielzynski

¿ wGn ^qnp pmyYbW pd MQ kQmVQNp¥À Alpine skier, three-time Olympian (2010, 2014, 2018) Competing in the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games

P

eople started commenting on my body pretty early. I was a competitive water skier starting at age six.

We’d go to the fair and my sister, who also water skied, would volunteer for the “guess your weight” booth. As muscly athletes in deceivingly small frames, we thought it was so funny that people's guesses would be completely off.

By Grade 8, kids started commenting on how big my arms were getting from water skiing. It didn’t stop me from wanting to get stronger and compete, especially because in the water skiing world, I was completely normal. But as a kid, it was hard. I started wearing long-sleeve shirts, hiding my arms from view, and

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avoided putting my hair up in a ponytail in front of people because my muscles would flex.

As an alpine skier, I’m now in a sport that isn’t judged—the best time wins—but I still hear comments about women’s bodies from the spectators. I’ve heard bodies compared to the shape of a cell phone, presumably because they’re flat-chested, square-shaped and stocky. Some athletes don’t want to wear the padding, which protects us from injury, because it makes them look bigger. I’ve had those moments, too. As athletes, we’re chasing perfection and that can extend to how we look.

When I transitioned from water skiing to alpine, I started training in a gym. I had

never lifted weights or done squats before, and I felt behind the rest of my team. I wanted to improve as quickly as possible, so I studied the athletes around me and diligently followed the provided diet plan.

When the team’s nutritionist told me to eat 10 almonds as a snack and eat lean chicken with no sauce, that’s how I ate.

At 19, my body composition results— meaning the battery of tests measuring everything from muscle mass to body fat percentage, to inform our training— said that my body fat was too low. I was sent to Calgary, where I met with the person who ultimately helped me develop a healthy body image: sports physiologist Matt Jordan. He’s an amazing teacher and he taught me to start asking why: Why am I being told to eat less oil or drink only skim milk? Matt helped me understand that skiers need more than muscle.

I need weight to get down the hill and fat to keep me healthy throughout the year and protect me if I fall.

I’ve had coaches make suggestions that should only come from a sports physiologist, nutritionist or doctor. One coach told me that based on my body composition results, I looked like a prepubescent boy, and that with those numbers, I couldn’t be a contributing woman in society. I think what he meant is that it’s not sustainable to stay this way. He was trying to scare me into changing. Another told me and my teammates to go biking to burn calories before having lunch and frequently made comments about my body. That same coach questioned why I wasn’t skiing well at the time, since I had the perfect body for alpine racing. I remember thinking, “What is the perfect body in skiing?” I saw people of all different heights and sizes making it to the podium, but he had this one, narrow idea of what an athlete should look like.

I don’t look at my body composition data anymore. I now ask my coach just to tell me whether I’ve improved or if there’s a concern, but I don’t need to know the specific numbers because I trust him completely. I’m also careful with how I talk about my body, diet and training because I know that I am setting an example for younger skiers. For instance, I no longer call body composition tests “the fat test” as we did when I was younger.

It bothers me that we define how hard someone works by how they look. I built my body for skiing, to get down the hill fast. But beyond that, I’m a person. When viewers watch athletes compete at the Winter Games, I want them to realize that there’s beauty—and strength—in all different body types and sizes. We shouldn’t define anyone based on what we see.

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2022

Catriona Le May Doan

¿ wdmmYQP GMdqp Xdw kQdk`Q vYQwQP aQ ay wXd`Q NGmQQm¥À Four-time Olympian (1992, 1994, 1998, 2002) Two gold medals and one bronze in long track speed skating

I

used to joke that speed skaters are built like pears. We tend to have big butts, big legs and a small upper body. I think strong, muscular bodies are beautiful. But it’s hard not to feel selfconscious, especially if I think back to my peak training days leading up to the 1998 Olympics in Nagano and 2002 in Salt Lake City. Then you add the skin-tight suits and television cameras, and you look a lot bigger than you are.

During that time, if I wore a bikini in the summer, people would always stare because I had massive, super strong legs.

Did I worry about how people looked at me? Pretty much my whole career. That’s part of the reason I started wearing the

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Catriona Le May Doan is Team Canada's Chef de Mission at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

She leads the national delegation of athletes, coaches and behind-thescenes team members, and is the spokesperson for the entire team.

dark glasses—I loved that extra layer to hide behind. I wasn’t worried about how I looked—I celebrated whatever size I was through sports performance—but I was hiding from the opinions and pressure of all those watching me.

I’ve been retired for 18 years and people still ask if my legs are as “huge” as they were. I realized that’s the image people had. I’m nearly 51 and, naturally, my body has changed since I was an Olympian. I now understand how people get into a funk, not wanting to work out. When I was competing, I had so many people involved in my weight, body and health. Now it’s all up to me.

As a mother, I’m also more aware of the pressure on women athletes to look a certain way. When my daughter was around eight, she asked me, “Mom, are my legs going to be big?” I told her “Well, they might be like Mommy’s—and Mommy’s legs are pretty big.” My daughter is 17 now and a great ringette player. She will still make comments about her body. I try and remind her that being healthy and strong is the best look there is, but there’s more pressure now, especially with social media, which wasn’t around when I was competing. Being a woman and an athlete means that your body is held to two different standards that sometimes don’t align.

We’ve started to celebrate strong bodies, but not enough. We need to be having conversations with young girls, and boys as well, about preconceived notions about what an athletic body looks like.

We need to build self-confidence in these young athletes, separate from the pressure to look a certain way.

It took me quite a few years of retirement to be more comfortable with, and more accepting of, my body. I’ve started playing “old lady” hockey and ringette, and going for runs. I’m super slow, and my teams are in the lowest division, but there isn’t the same end goal.

If I really wanted to look ripped, I could change what I eat and drink. But these days, I’m more focused on how I feel about myself. That’s really what’s changed: I’m not doing this for somebody else. I’m doing this for me.

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BUYER BE WARE Tara McKenna, the Toronto-based evangelist for low-waste living, shows us how to rein in our consumption habits and learn to live with less by taking a no-buy-month challenge.

It’s easier than it sounds.

ILLUSTRATION BY MEL ANIE L AMBRICK

I I WAS FEELING a bit financially hungover, and January seemed like the best time to try to quit cold turkey in the spending department. Cold turkey except for minor but important exceptions, like, you know, paying the mortgage and buying groceries.

I was inspired to undertake this challenge to save money and reduce my consumption, which in turn would also reduce my waste. This, I knew, would be a new and different way for me to document my consumption patterns to help me live with less beyond the no-buy month. It’s taking minimalism to the next level!

A no-buy month gives us the chance to slow down, get off the consumer hamster wheel and undertake a self-assessment.

This is an opportunity to come out the other side with a clean slate where we call the shots (like taking more time to make purchases or choosing not to make them at all)

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rather than succumbing to societal norms and marketing. It’s similarly a chance to become more resourceful and less materialistic, focusing on other things in our lives that we enjoy, like spending time with loved ones, rather than online shopping.

When I think back to my first no-buy month, I was 100 percent into it. That’s

because I was very clear about the reasons why I was doing the challenge in the first place.

Before you actually decide what you’re going to cross off your shopping list for the entire month, take the time to sit down and ask yourself why you’re making the change. I decided to do the challenge as a way to evaluate my consumption, reduce my waste, explore minimalism further and become a more conscious consumer.

You may have similar inclinations, but you get to decide for yourself what your motivation is! There’s no right answer or specif ic number of reasons that you should have before embarking on this journey. Consider ref lecting on and, if you want to, writing down responses to questions like these: • Why do I want to do a no-buy month (or week or year)?

• What specific outcomes am I hoping to achieve? (To pay off a certain amount of debt, build a new habit, save for a big-ticket item, etc.)

• Are there other related intentions I have that this challenge will help with? (Maybe you want to stop eating out, explore minimalism, learn about finances, work on decluttering, etc.)

Here were some of my intentions going into my no-buy month: • Enjoy and use what I have • Explore minimalism a little more deeply • Determine what I really need • Save money and develop better budgeting and spending habits

The nice thing about a self-imposed nobuy month was that I got to make the rules. That’s probably why it felt so reasonable to do the challenge, and why I didn’t feel like I was depriving myself for the month. You don’t have to deprive

"The nice thing about a self-imposed no-buy month was that I got to make the rules. That's probably why it felt so reasonable."

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yourself either, but some ground rules will help make it effective.

Start by getting a snapshot of your current financial situation. Whether you go all out and create a detailed spreadsheet of your income and expenses for the last few months or you choose to just brief ly g la nce over you r most f requent (a nd unnecessary) purchases is up to you. But a word to the wise: The more specific you are in knowing where you spend your money, the better. Once you have an idea of where your money goes, you can determine more easily the types of things you want to stop spending money on during your no-buy month.

St a r t by ma k i ng a l ist of necessa r y expenses that you will continue to incur (like rent/mortgage, bill payments, food, toiletries). Then make a list of ground rules, including what’s going to be off-limits (like clothes, shoes, makeup, home decor, tools, hobby equipment, etc.) and what isn’t. My list looked something like this: • No buying stuff (clothes, books, decor or other household things) • Okay to spend on necessities like household bills, food, toiletries, business expenses • I will still buy experiences and eat out occasionally

The best thing you can do for yourself during this no-buy month is to fully follow through on your ground rules. While you’re at it, journal about it regularly (daily could be helpful), document it on social media and/or tell your friends and family about it. Whether publicly or privately, documenting your progress will help keep you accountable to yourself. If you decide to share your progress online, you may also find that the positive reinforcement you receive from your friends and family helps keep you feeling inspired.

What was your experience like during your no-buy month? Set aside some time to ref lect on your initial reasons for taking on the challenge, determine whether or not you met your goals, consider if you learned anything you weren’t expecting to and decide if it provided an opportunity to explore other curiosities (like learning more about finances, if that was on your list). Write down what you took away from the experiment, or at least give these things some thought, and maybe even share your experiences online and with friends and family. What did you learn? Would you do it again? Did you break any of the rules, and if so, why? It’s these lovely life lessons that’ll get your ass in gear moving forward.

Whatever you do, don’t make up for not shopping by binge-shopping afterward!

Find free alternatives, like: • Going to the library and tool library as needed • Doing activities and experiences that are free (like hiking and game nights) • Hosting potlucks and get-togethers

Based on my self-inflicted (I mean, developed) ground rules, it was a successful month! I didn’t do any shopping (other than groceries) and ate out only a few times. While I could have removed eating out from my list of exceptions, I chose not to because my main purpose was to stop purchasing tangible “stuff ” for the month, rather than to 100 percent limit my experiences. Still, I decided to do far fewer paid activities, while focusing as much as possible on free events and hobbies, so I went on more hikes in the woods and had more potlucks with friends.

Feel free to use this to develop your own list of ground rules. Or you can make your own completely from scratch! Now you need to set your start and end dates for the challenge. Once you get started, be sure to refer to your ground rules if you get tempted to buy something.

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Excerpted from Don’t Be Trashy by Tara McKenna. Copyright © 2022 Tara McKenna.

Published by Penguin Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.

If you’re like me, you may discover by the end of the month that your mindset has shifted. For me, it became very clear that I don’t need to buy everything that I want.

Like me, you’ll probably learn to better decipher what you need versus what you want, and then realize that you don’t need as much as you previously thought. That’s the game changer! When your perception shifts and you start to see the world differently, you can carry your new outlook with you into the future, even if you decide not to maintain the strict parameters you set out for yourself during your no-buy month.

If you do decide you’re going to go all in on this lifestyle choice and commit to a no-buy year, good for you! But even if you choose to let the challenge go completely, or to repeat it just once a year, you’ll find that the monthlong reset will help set you on a less consumer-driven trajectory.

In the long run, it’s what you learn about yourself through this experiment that is most important, because you’ll take it with you forever.

Since completing my first no-buy month, I’ve spent very little money on stuff that I don’t need. And when I did make a few purchases in the following year, I made sure I took time to determine whether I would get enough use out of each item to justify the purchase. Essentially, I developed the perspective of a badass conscious consumer.

I’ve also found that shopping less results in less of what I call “stuff management.”

Stuff management is all the work you have to do to bring a new item into your home.

So if you order something online, for example, the package arrives at your house, and first you have to deal with the packaging.

Then you have to either wash the item, if it’s new clothing, or find a home for it.

Beyond that, stuff management is also about the care and maintenance of an item over its lifetime. Stuff management is making sure things are cleaned, maintained and put away where they belong. The more things we own, the more stuff management we have to do. I learned that I prefer less stuff management, which also drives my personal preference to own less and shop less. Looking back, I’d say it was “mission accomplished” in terms of my stated goal to explore minimalism a little more deeply during my one month no-buy challenge.

Minimalism and working toward more sustainable living through reducing my waste both put me in a good place to do this trial. I was ready to kick ass, and I’ve changed for the better as a result. I’m way more careful with how, where and when I spend my moolah (meaning that I spend it less), and I no longer feel part of the consumer rat race. I still like to buy stuff, of course; I just don’t do it as often.

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PRESERVATION

Karen Kim

The owner of Toronto’s Binu Binu Soap House has created a modern ode to Korean bath culture

BY HANNAH SUNG ց Throughout Korean

history, public bathing has evolved. In the 10th century, Koreans bathed together in rivers and hot springs. Centuries later, when Koreans adopted tubs, a hot bath was seen as an exclusive luxury for royalty.

When the cholera epidemic in the early 1800s spurred policymakers to consider

average citizens with no access to indoor plumbing at home, they created public bathhouses, and the modern Korean bath culture was born.

Karen Kim grew up in Toronto, half a world away from the Korean peninsula, and launched a fashion career that took her to Vancouver and New York. In 2015,

Kim came home to Canada and founded Binu Binu Soap House, a line of bath items featuring simple, elegant soaps rooted in Korean culture.

Her Boricha soap is named for barley tea, a staple in Korean households. There is the super-mild Ae Gi, the Korean word for baby, and two soaps named for traditional women’s work: Shaman, a charcoal soap, and Haenyo Sea Woman, made with sea tangle kelp and salt and named for coastal women who free dive in the ocean, foraging for abalone, octopus or sea cucumbers to sell and to feed their families.

In her first year of business making soaps, Kim was featured in Vogue. The press hasn’t let up since: Vanity Fair, The New York Times, Architectural Digest—Kim’s fashion-forward evolution of an ancient practice seems to have struck a chord.

Kim first experienced Korean bath culture during a trip to Korea in her late 20s.

There, her mother and four aunts took her to a bathhouse spa, or jjimjilbang, every single day. The bathing areas, with their showers and baths, are divided by gender.

“It wasn’t what you would think of as a spa in North America. It was just a modest building,” Kim explains. “You go in, there’s a shower area and you strip completely naked. I was like, What? I remember saying, ‘Okay, Mom, by the way... I have a tattoo.’ I gave her a two-second warning,” Kim laughs.

“You do a pre-shower. There’s bar soap there. It’s very no frills. Once you take off your clothes, you get over yourself really quickly. No one’s even looking at you. There is such a sense of relaxation that that brings about, you know? You’re like, I’m okay.

You’re okay. We’re just people.”

That deep sense of relaxation, for Kim, comes from being in community. “North American spas are about pampering and luxury and ‘me time.’ To me, the bathhouse wasn’t me time but ‘us time,’ which is, of course, a form of self-care too, but it’s community care. I love that.”

Kim says her work is a way for her to connect the present with the past. “It’s a familiar story for children of immigrants.

You grow up, you reject being Korean or ‘other,’ and you try to get as far away from that as possible. And now, I’m desperate to just explore that and speak about it. What guides me today is thinking about other people like me, connecting and just being like, ‘Hey, I’m here and thinking about these things, too.’”

LATHER UP The sea-salt-tinged Haenyo Sea Woman soap ($22)

is named after the female free divers of Korea’s Jeju Island.

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ILLUSTRATION BY JACQUI OAKLEY

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2022