Topic: Family

Holiday Stress Management: How To Handle Family That Drives You Nuts

Holiday Stress Management: How To Handle Family That Drives You Nuts

Family holidays are filled with laughing children, beautiful food, decorations…and stress. Yep, the holidays are here, and the anxiety and emotions that come with them can make you want to punch the nearest unsuspecting relative. If your parents, siblings or in-laws tend to drive you a bit nuts during this time of year, you are most certainly not alone. But there are healthier stress management strategies than wishing the holidays away while reaching for another cocktail (although, admittedly, taking down your bossy older sister does have a certain appeal, right?), so we spoke to a few experts to help you get through Thanksgiving–and the rest of this season’s family holiday celebrations. More »

Old Dads, Beware: Study Says Men’s ‘Eggs’ Can Dry Up, Too

Old Dads, Beware: Study Says Men's 'Eggs' Can Dry Up, Too

A new study says that old dads‘ sperm could account for as many as 30% of autism cases, and increased risk of other diseases, included schizophrenia. This is important in the field of autism research, certainly, but it also indicates that men’s “eggs”–i.e. their sperm–are not totally immune to the sands of time. Obviously, increased autism and schizophrenia rates aren’t cause for celebration, but admit it: A tiny voice in the back of your mind is cheering for the fact that women might not be the only ones who have to worry about a biological clock, after all. More »

Getting It Right: UK Issues Body Positive Teaching Guide For Parents

Getting It Right: UK Issues Body Positive Teaching Guide For Parents

The British government is on the forefront of body positive initiatives and eating disorder awareness, but their new plan to give parents a guide to building kids’ body confidence is my favorite by far. The UK has also banned ads for using too much photoshop, and even blamed the fashion industry for the recent death of a 14-year-old who killed herself after suffering bulimia, but educating young boys and girls has far more potential to nip the problem in the bud…and perhaps even transform the industry out of consumer demand, instead of government-enforced restrictions. More »

Tracy Anderson Had A Baby…Now Let’s Nervously Await Her Post-Baby Weight Loss

Tracy Anderson Had A Baby...Now Let's Nervously Await Her Post-Baby Weight Loss

Tracy Anderson gave birth to baby girl Penelope last night with husband Matt Mogol…and it is very, very hard to resist baby food diet jokes. Penelope is her second child, and Anderson has helped several celebrity moms lose weight, so she knows all about whipping post-baby bods into shape…Which is why we’re really nervous about whether she’ll promote a healthy weight loss approach for other new moms. More »

Wild Excerpt: The Beginnings Of A 1,100-Mile Hike

Wild Excerpt: The Beginnings Of A 1,100-Mile Hike

Cheryl Strayed hiked about 1,100 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail alone when she was just 26. We interviewed her about how the experience helped her cope with her mother’s early death, but her new memoir, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, puts into words an almost unimaginable journey. This excerpt from the book gives a glimpse of what it was like when she started her hike in the summer of 1995: More »

Cheryl Strayed: Hiking The Pacific Crest Trail To Cope With The Loss Of A Mother

Cheryl Strayed: Hiking The Pacific Crest Trail To Cope With The Loss Of A Mother

At 26, four years after her mother’s death, Cheryl Strayed hiked over 1,000 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail—alone—to cope with her grief and a life that had spun out of control. Today, a New York Times bestselling author, her experience is laid out in Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (read an excerpt here), a moving memoir that has us thinking a lot about our own mothers. Not to mention, what it would take to get through that kind of experience, with or without the grief of losing a mother. More »

Placenta-Eating May Be Healthy, But Is It Good For Women?

Placenta-Eating May Be Healthy, But Is It Good For Women?

Placenta-eating has now become so popular that even January Jones is doing it, and hospitals are changing policies to make it easier. Meanwhile, Jessica Alba founded an entire company to ensure that toxins don’t come into contact with her babies, and Alicia Silverstone is making moms wonder if chewing food for their kids is part of the job. But it’s not just celebrities (or crunchy hippies) jumping on the trend of all-natural, health-conscious parenting; now, all moms are pressured to gain the right amount of weight, eat their own placenta, breast feed long enough, and safeguard their kids against everything from BPA to GMOs. On the face of it, these all seem like a good things—after all, who wants to give their kids gestational diabetes? And what new mom isn’t desperate for a way to jack up her energy levels without having to fake a need for adirol? But much as we here at Blisstree favor being ‘natural’ and ‘healthy,’ we also wonder if all those pressures add up to a new kind of unhealthy—particularly because they’re mostly placed on women. More »

Dara-Lynn Weiss and Vogue Got It Wrong, But Is It Ever OK To Put Kids On A Diet?

Dara-Lynn Weiss and Vogue Got It Wrong, But Is It Ever OK To Put Kids On A Diet?

Most people agree that when Dara-Lynn Weiss put her seven-year-old daughter on a diet (and wrote about it in Vogue), she did it wrong: Her methods—which many feel amount to fat-shaming her daughter—seemed more psychologically damaging than physically beneficial. But in the midst of the criticism, many nutritionists and health experts are happy to have the spotlight on childhood obesity; even if Weiss set a bad example for other Moms, her situation is one that a growing number of parents are also dealing with. Child and family dietitian Louise Goldberg RD, CSP, CNSC wrote on her blog, An Apple A Day, that some aspects of Weiss’ story resonated with her—particularly the lack of support from schools and other parents when it comes to help kids eat well. More »

Dara-Lynn Weiss Got A Book Deal For Fat-Shaming Her Daughter In Vogue

Dara-Lynn Weiss Got A Book Deal For Fat-Shaming Her Daughter In Vogue

As I’ve said before, I really wanted to like Dara-Lynn Weiss for opening up about the extremely difficult and somewhat taboo situation of helping an obese daughter lose weight. But as it worked out, she mostly ended up fat-shaming her daughter—both in the way she forced her to diet and in the course of publishing the sordid details in Vogue. The article got plenty of backlash, but, as was announced yesterday, it also got her a book deal with Random House. As an editor and writer, I’m all too familiar with the pressure to exploit controversial personal stories for attention, but exploiting a young girl’s body (and body image) crosses a line. More »

Click for more posts