Month: August 2020

The symptoms of too much caffeine and how to counteract it.

Caffeine is basically the Jekyll and Hyde of beverages. At first, those cups of coffee completely energize you, helping you get through your work meetings and deadlines with ease. But after one cup too many, things can quickly take a turn for the worse, leaving you with everything from jitters and headaches to diarrhea and heart palpitations. Yeah, not fun.

If you’ve gone beyond the recommended limit for caffeine, your body will certainly let you know. Symptoms of too much caffeine generally affect the nervous system, since caffeine is a stimulant. Those symptoms have a wide range, from mild issues to more serious problems that can really start to affect your life and health.

The most common symptoms of too much caffeine you may experience are:

  • nervousness or jitters
  • headache
  • shakiness
  • dizziness
  • irritability
  • diarrhea or stomach upset
  • irregular heartbeat or heart palpitations

The side effects on too much caffeine

If you have too much caffeine in your body day after day, you may start to experience some side effects. If you’ve been dealing with any of them on a regular basis, you may not have even realized they’re due to your caffeine intake in the first place.

You may experience anxiety—especially if you’re already prone to it—as well as insomnia if you’re susceptible to it and have caffeine close to bedtime. You may also experience dependency and withdrawal symptoms, such as a headache, when you suddenly stop taking it. And heartburn in people suffering from gastritis and peptic ulcers.

When taken in excess, caffeine can also cause the aforementioned heart palpitations. Too much caffeine is one of the prime triggers of the heart flutters, where it feels like your heart is skipping a beat.

How to counteract caffeine

If you’ve had too much caffeine and are feeling the effects—be it jitters, a headache, or anxiety—the main thing you have to do is wait it out. There’s not much to do once caffeine is in your body except wait for it to be metabolized. With that being said, there are some things you can do to ease the symptoms.

1. Drink water

One of the best things you can do when you’re feeling the effects of too much caffeine is grab your trusty water bottle. Caffeine can act as a mild diuretic, and dehydration can make symptoms worse. Stay well hydrated until the caffeine naturally leaves your system.

2. Take a walk

There are numerous benefits to taking a walk. Walking helps with your digestion, boosts your brain health, and—you guessed it—can also counteract the effects of too much caffeine. Gentle physical activity can help calm the jitters. In fact, working out can help reduce headache symptoms as well. If walking isn’t for you, also try other gentle workouts like Pilates and yoga.

3. Practice breathing exercises

One of the easiest things you can possibly do to combat the side effects of too much caffeine is breathe. Deep breathing techniques can help relieve the anxiety that an excess of caffeine can cause. After you’re done deep breathing, you’ll instantly feel more relaxed. Past research has shown it can help alleviate stress, too.

If you’re not sure how to go about deep breathing, there’s a simple technique you can try. I Wayan Linggen, a healing therapist, recommends lying down, then breathing in as much as you can through your stomach, allowing it to expand like a balloon. After your chest rises, hold your breath for a few seconds before slowly exhaling through your chest then your stomach. “Eventually you will feel warm in your head. This is the easiest way to do deep breathing,” he says.

4. Meditate

While you’re lying down with your eyes closed practicing deep breathing, you might as well add some meditation into the mix, too. Meditation can also be useful to calm all that nervous stimulation. Instead of just taking a handful of deep breaths, allow yourself to meditate for at least 10 minutes. By doing so you’ll increase the supply of oxygen in your brain and stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, which promotes a state of calmness.

The next time you know you’ve had one cup of coffee too many, practice the simple techniques above to help counteract the caffeine. Then do your best to keep that caffeine to the minimum.

Article by Tehrene Firman of Well + Good

Facebook Scams You Need to Take Seriously

A healthy dose of skepticism

Facebook can be a wonderful place full of opportunities to learn new things, share the special moments in your life, and reconnect with old friends. While Facebook is a lighthearted site for sharing, liking, and commenting, it is also one of the most common places for scams and fraud on the Internet. Unfortunately, while you’re sharing your life with friends and family, you might be unintentionally sharing private information with those who wish to do you harm.

On the bright side, there are ways to protect yourself against the nefarious and sometimes quite believable scams. More and more scams are being exposed every day and each new scam is more clever and less detectable than the last. As a rule of thumb, remember to do your own research, never click on suspicious links, and distrust sites asking you to enter personal information.

Taking quizzes

Your friend just found out what ‘80s pop star is their spirit animal and now you can’t wait to find out either. Don’t let your curiosity get the better of you, though. Some Facebook quizzes will ask for access to your profile, and others will even go a step further by throwing certain questions into the quiz itself, says Adam Levin, founder of global identity protection and data risk services firm CyberScout and author of Swiped. “They’re purely to gather information because … they could be the answers to security questions,” he says. Only take quizzes on sites you know and trust and create fake answers for password recovery questions so they’re hard to crack, says Levin. It might be easy enough for Facebook scams to figure out your mother’s maiden name, so leave an easy-to-remember lie instead.

Insane giveaways

Free iPad giveaway? Sign me up! But wait—before you click that sweepstakes link, ask yourself whether it seems real, says Eva Velasquez, CEO and president of Identity Theft Resource Center. “Yes, there are legitimate sweepstakes and raffles and giveaways, but there’s usually an end goal there,” she says. Most companies are hoping the promise of a free iPad (or flight or jewelry) will entice you enough to, say, sign up for a newsletter or buy a product. Before you give any personal information to a company, weigh the chances of winning with what you’ll lose giving up personal information. 

The “new” old friend

Be skeptical if you receive a friend request from someone you could have sworn already had a Facebook page. Sure, some people like to clean house by ditching their old profiles, but other friend requests aren’t so innocent. Scammers will clone a person’s entire Facebook profile, creating a fake profile of a real person. From your “friend’s” page, the hacker could send a link for a get-rich-quick scheme or a cute quote. It’s the kind of thing you’d ignore from an anonymous email message, but not from a loyal friend. “They’re banking on the fact that you will trust the message,” says Levin. The problem is, clicking that link could add malware to your computer. Before you accept a weird friend request, shoot over a text or call the person to confirm it’s not a fake account.

A friend’s strange request

Even if you haven’t received a new request, don’t immediately trust a message from a friend you can’t see face-to-face. Hackers can find a person’s password and break into their account, then message their friends. The person might claim to have lost their wallet in Europe and ask you to send money. It might sound obvious enough now that it’s a scam, but those messages could tap into your fear so you don’t think straight. If you’re wondering if your “friend” is who you think it is, get in touch on a platform other than Facebook. Ringtones sound different in America than in other countries, so you’ll be able to figure out if your friend is traveling, even if they don’t pick up the phone, says Levin. Still not sure? Again, get in touch off of Facebook to find out what’s going on. 

Gossipmongers

Whether you know the person who posted it or not, you might go into panic mode when someone leaves you a message warning, “OMG look what they’re saying about you” and click the link to find out what’s going on. “It’s really about engaging your curiosity and getting your curious nature to say, ‘I want to know,’” says Velasquez. But don’t click! A vague message (“Did you see this picture of you?” vs “LOL at your face eating cake at Sam’s party last weekend”) is suspect, and clicking it could load malware onto your computer, says Velasquez. Text your friend to confirm the link is real.

5 New Athleisure Brands You Should Be Adding to Your Rotation

Article by Samantha Leal for Well + Good

Athleisure has come a long, long way. From workout clothes to lounging to now even business-meets-athleisure brands, the go-to outfit for many (especially in COVID-19 times) probably includes at least one piece of athleisure. And while the category expands, it can be hard to keep up with all of them. (Plus, are they even good?) You’ve got this. Or rather, we have. Here are five newer athleisure brands you should be adding to cart.

Photo: Courtesy Solely Fit and ENVT / W+G Creative

Athleisure has come a long, long way. From workout clothes to lounging to now even business-meets-athleisure brands, the go-to outfit for many (especially in COVID-19 times) probably includes at least one piece of athleisure. And while the category expands, it can be hard to keep up with all of them. (Plus, are they even good?) You’ve got this. Or rather, we have. Here are five newer athleisure brands you should be adding to cart.

OFFLINE by Aerie

Photo: Courtesy OFFLINE / W+G Creative

Aerie just launched a new athleisure line called OFFLINE made for movement and comfort (aka working out or ordering takeout from your couch). Available online and with two retail store locations to come, these leggings, tanks, sports bras, and more are all super soft without being sloppy. Try the Real Me legging ($40 – $45) as a go-to for every day or the Goals legging ($50) to lift the booty and have you feeling (and looking) good.

Solely Fit

Photo: Courtesy Solely Fit / W+G Creative

Founded by ABC News reporter Stefania Okolie, this fitness apparel line launched right in the middle of COVID, and has everything to make your body stand out. As “elevated athleisure” the shapes and sillhouettes of this line are super strong and flattering for any body. The favorite: The Moremi Biker Shorts ($54).

Enavant Active (ENVT)

Photo: Courtesy ENVT / W+G Creative

Chic. Chic. Chic. I typically shy away from using that word, but this athleisure brand lives up to it. From the French phrase “en avant,” meaning “to move forward” this brand is committed to sourcing the highest standards of technical materials, which is why it spent two years perfecting its trademark fabric Enavance™. Spun from luxury Italian fibers, Enavance™ boasts revolutionary performance while feeling incredible against the body. As a premium line, the pricing can seem high, but as someone who has lived in her sets for days at a time (I mean, what? Who? Not me…) I can say they’re so comfortable and flattering. My favorite set? The Malibu Bra Top ($88) with the Sunset Leggings ($89).

WVVY

Photo: Courtesy of WVVY / W+G Creative

Wellness influencer Britney Vest joined forces with HSN to launch her own athleisure brand this summer called WVVY, with sizing up to 3X and everything under $100. (Size inclusive and budget-friendly? Yes, please.) The line was inspired by Britney’s love for California and the ocean, and features leggings, sports bras, biker shorts, jogger pants, and t-shirts. Try the cropped hoodie ($47) paired with the lace-up legging ($48).

Mind Body Love

Photo: Courtesy Mind Body Love / W+G Creative

The new workout collection from the line “Peace Love World,” by Alina Villasante is full of liveable styles in mostly black and white. It launched with QVC in June, and consists of eight key pieces for everyday workouts and post-workout style. Sizes go up to 3X, and feature designs in petite, regular, and tall. Some standouts? The performance tank ($38) with a great square neck and the biker shorts ($51) with secret pocket.

Source: wellandgood.com©

How to Clean a Coffee Maker With Vinegar

For many, a daily run to the local coffee shop has become a cherished morning routine. But costs for that store-bought brew can add up quickly. And when getting out isn’t possible, nothing can be more convenient than a morning walk to the kitchen for that cup (or several cups) of just-right joe.

Your coffee routine should include basic cleaning to ensure your home auto-drip brewer makes its best tasting coffee and doesn’t breed germs. A 2011 study conducted by NSF International found that coffee reservoirs ranked as the fifth-germiest place in the homes sampled.

Lisa Yakas, a microbiologist and senior project manager at NSF International, says coffee makers are so germy for two primary reasons: moisture and warmth. “Also, people may not be aware of the need to clean their coffee makers regularly, which allows more time for growth,” Yakas says.

Always check the cleaning recommendations in your machine’s manufacturer’s manual. Yakas also recommends the following cleaning routines. You’ll just need a little soap for daily cleaning. Every month or so you’ll want to clean your coffee maker with vinegar.

Daily Cleaning for Auto-Drip Coffee Makers

  1. Dump the grounds or use in the garden.
  2. Wash the carafe and other removable parts, such as the lid and filter basket, in the sink with warm, soapy water or in the dishwasher if marked dishwasher safe.
  3. Rinse and towel dry, or set aside to air dry.
  4. Wipe down the machine with a damp towel.

Monthly Coffee Maker Cleaning With Vinegar

  1. Add up to 4 cups of undiluted vinegar to the reservoir.
  2. Let stand 30 minutes.
  3. Run the vinegar through a brewing cycle.
  4. Follow with two to three cycles of fresh water until the vinegar smell is gone.

And since mold, bacteria and yeast grow in moisture, empty any unused water and leave the lid to the coffee reservoir open to air dry between uses.

Vinegar also works great for cleaning single-serve coffee makers made by Keurig, De’Longhi, Lavazzo, or one of the many other brands available.

Signs that it may be time to clean your single-serve coffee maker include:

  • Longer than usual time to brew a cup of joe
  • When you expect a full cup of coffee but the brewed batch only fills half of your cup
  • Extra grounds or granules in your brewed cup
  • Any unexpected, moldy or mildewy smells
  • Mineral build-up on visible parts of the machine

Source: hgtv.com/lifestyle

Photo credit: Shutterstock/Aleksandra Suzi

39 Budget Curb Appeal Ideas

Whether you’re looking to sell, or just want to give your home a spring refresh, these simple curb appeal ideas will go a long way.

First step: paint your front door.

If you don’t want to paint, just give your door a good scrub.

Spray paint your existing door hardware.

Add a stylish door knocker

Install new porch lights

Or just upgrade the ones you have.

Article by Jessica Probus of BuzzFeed