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Mom nails a perfect impression of every wellness influencer you've ever seen on social media

Her dry delivery is EVERYTHING.

@bigtimeadulting/Instagram

"Memories not macros."

It was hard enough to find sound health advice before social media. But now, we are bombarded by conflicting information, pseudoscience, and product-pushing from influencers every time we open up Instagram or TikTok.

Just to really drive home the next level ridiculousness of it all, a mom named Caitlin Murray recited every single bit of diet, fitness and wellness advice you've no doubt heard online in one hilarious take.

Delivered with all the dryness of a Daria episode, Murray begins:

"Hey ladies. Have you been struggling to lose belly fat? Guess what? You've ruined your metabolism by not eating enough. You're not getting enough protein. Okay, you're going to need to take grams of protein and multiply it by the number of stars in the sky, and that's how much protein you're going to need in a day in order to lose weight, but you're also going to need to stay in a caloric deficit in order to lose weight. Idiot."

But of course, she quickly retorts, “you also have to live your life, okay. Memories not macros."

Also included in her “advice” is to start lifting heavy weights 3-4 times a week and stop doing cardio…while also still getting in 10,000 steps per day, “"Sounds like cardio but we don't call it that anymore." That one had me literally LOL’ing.

In essence, we need to "Get with the times," Murray says. Which is really simple: get your 10,000 steps every day, but don't exercise every day. Oh, and rest. “Otherwise your cortisol levels are going to be through the roof."

And if you’re still somehow confused by all this, don’t worry. Just comment “science” to receive Murray’s “six-week plan to get totally snatched.” Oh, and “follow for more tips."

It wasn’t long before thousands of viewers applauded Murray for her spot-on accuracy.

"You are ... hilarious! And yes, it does feel EXaCTLY like that! Thanks for reminding me that I’m not alone," one person wrote.

Another echoed, “The F’d up thing is that this was probably the most comprehensive and logical summary of all the shit on my IG feed these days. So, thank you? 🙃”

A few celebrities even chimed in. "Omg this is the funniest thing ever," Pink wrote, while model Molly Sims added, "You're PHENOMENAL."

In an interview with Good Morning America, Murray shared that her own frustrations with being exposed to so much wellness content inspired her parody.

"I've been consuming this content like it's my other job,” she told GMA. And during that time she had repeatedly come across fitness catchphrases like "snatched" and "belly fat," which are specifically targeted toward women. Shocker.

Besides offering the world some grade-A comedy, Murray hopes it also reminds people—especially women—that there are no extreme diets, pricey supplements, or quick-fix plans that can replace long term, consistent good habits. So all advice suggesting otherwise should be “taken with a grain of salt.”

But hey, at least you burned a few extra calories giving yourself a good laugh.

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20-year-olds are sharing their 'hardest pills to swallow' about becoming adults

"You have to decide what you want to eat for every meal for the rest of your life."

Photo credit: Canva

Sometimes these harsh truths ultimately help us become better people.

When we’re kids, we can’t wait to finally be grown up. Then, before ya know it, BAM! You get your wish. You’re a grown up. And you learn the hard way that while having more freedom and independence is awesome, being an adult isn’t all perks. Not by a longshot.

Recently, Redditor u/BluebirdIll6390 asked, "What's the hardest pill to swallow in your early twenties?"

While answers varied, one huge theme was the harsh reality of having to hold ourselves accountable. It’s up to us to manage our health and finances, continue learning, live by our values and generally create a life that fulfills us. And even then, there are no guarantees—another harsh reality.

And while these responses might be a little sobering, there’s also some relief to be had in knowing that these are “hard pills” we all must swallow in order to continue being well adjusted adults.

Scroll below to check out some of the most interesting answers.


1. "You have to become the driving force making the next steps of your life happen. There’s a pretty clear, direct pipeline from childhood to university. After that, it's all open. A lot of people get stuck floating around in post-college purgatory, waiting for something to happen, but you just have to be the one to make those things happen now. It’s very easy to get sucked into the rhythm of the first job you get out of college, setting up wherever you’re situated, having ideas of what you’d like to do with your life with no urgency to get started because you’re under the false assumption you’ve all the time in the world. You’re young, but the days are long, and the years are short. Don’t wait to start living." —u/shroom_in_bloom

2. "The hardest thing for me was realizing that some of my friends and family were objectively bad people who would never change and/or grow up." —u/Mirraco323

3. "You have to decide what you want to eat for every meal for the rest of your life."

growing older, ask reddit, deciding what to eat, eating healthyForever in menu paralysis until the day I die. Photo credit: Canva

—u/Niramarsk

4. "For me, a hard pill to swallow was realizing how much I actually have to make to have the lifestyle to which I was accustomed and how far I was from that as a recent graduate." —u/Smgt90

5. "Some careers don't start till you're in your 30s." —u/Neither-Historian227

6. "Your parents are getting older and won't be here forever.” —u/themagicbong

7. “Holidays won't be magical unless you make them magical. You have to go out of your way to decorate and do themed things to get that sense of excitement you had as a kid.”

growing older, ask reddit, halloween decorBut hey, at least you can decorate your home the way YOU want to. Photo credit: Canva

—u/Little-Bones

8. "You will either cultivate habits, willpower, study, exercise, and routines for success, or you will slowly watch yourself fade. No one is protecting you from yourself anymore." —u/phoenix14830

9. "This is likely the best your body will ever feel. Put in the work now, and your body will thank you. I'm talking about flexibility work, strength work, skin and teeth."—u/myic90

10. "Remember how, as a kid, a year took forever? Like the week after Christmas, had this crushing reality that it would be forever before it happened again? Now, remember how fast this last year went? Yeah. That's your life. You'll be 30, wondering what happened to time. It just keeps getting faster. Don't try to speed through, even in the bad times. Take time. Don't live for the weekend, don't put things aside for 'another time.' People say you won't be young forever, but nobody prepares you for how short 'not forever' it actually is." —u/MentalSewage

11. "Your comfort zone quickly becomes a prison if you indulge in it. You need to push your boundaries and only fall back into your comfort zone when you absolutely need it. Staying in your comfort zone will breed anxiety when you leave it. You have to put yourself into uncomfortable situations to build up resilience for the future." —u/Crackracket

12. "That feeling of being a kid who is just figuring shit out never actually ends." —u/Former-Finish4653

13. "Realizing that adulting is a full-time job with no time off."

growing older, ask redditDay off? I don't know her. Photo credit: Canva

—u/FrostyGameKnight55

14. “Everything you think is so unique about yourself has been done a million times over by other humans.” —u/Fishfishbirdbirdcat

15. “At the end of the day, you are on your own. No parent, teacher, or camp counselor will swoop in, resolve conflicts, and guide you to the next step. You have to figure it all out. You can ask people for advice, but the problems are infinitely more complex and never have a 'right' answer, only a 'best we can figure' answer given what you have available. Yes, close friends or a significant other can be there to aid you when you need help with projects, moving, or a shoulder to cry on. But at the end of the day, it's your life, and you must steer the ship."—u/adunk9

16. "All the fun of going to school, having summers off, having 'breaks' for fall or winter...that's just about over. Time to go to work every day until you're ready to retire. Hope you enjoyed your school years!" —u/cibman

17. “Friendships grow out of proximity- once that proximity is gone it requires effort to maintain.So once you leave school those people whom you thought were ride or die for life, will move on without you. Your best friends at work will forget about you 6 months after one of you leaves the job. To maintain friendships, you need to maintain shared interests. The corollary of this is also true- to gain friends, take an interest in their interests and use that to gain proximity.”

growing older, ask redditLook how much fun they're having. Photo credit: Canva

—u/The4th88

And last, but certainly not least…

18. "'You can be the sweetest, juiciest peach in the world, and there will still be people who don't like peaches.'"—u/HazelGhost

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How a simple shift in your morning routine can improve your sleep and energize you all day

The good news is this 'biohack' requires almost no willpower.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Going outside and facing the sun every morning can be life-changing.

Most of us have a desire to improve our health, sleep more soundly, have more energy and just generally feel better in our daily lives. And yet those things feel elusive to many of us, so we're always on the hunt for hacks that can help us—and if those hacks don't require a huge change in lifestyle or herculean feats of willpower, all the better.

Thankfully, there's one small change you can make to your morning routine that can make a big difference in how you feel, think and sleep, and it's refreshingly simple.

In a nutshell: Go outside and face the sun. More specifically, go outside as soon as possible after waking, but definitely within the hour, and look toward the sun for 2 to 10 minutes if it's a bright, sunny day and a little longer on a cloudy one.

Most of us know we get vitamin D from sun exposure on our skin, but that's really not what getting morning sunlight is about. It's about the sun's light energy hitting our eyes.

As Dr. Andrew Huberman, Stanford University neuroscience professor and opthamologist, explains, "This is not some 'woo' biological thing. This is grounded in the core of our physiology. There are literally hundreds if not thousands of quality peer-reviewed papers showing that light viewing early in the day is the most powerful stimulus for wakefulness throughout the day and it has a powerful positive impact on your ability to fall and stay asleep at night."

Huberman calls it a "power tool" for getting a great night's sleep and lists it as one of the six pillars people should invest in every day—morning sunlight, daily movement, quality nutrition, stress control, healthy relationships and deep sleep.

While the advice to look toward the sun flies in the face of all the times we've been warned not to look at the sun, in the early morning, the sun is less intense and you don't need to look directly at it to get the benefits of its light rays. The photons still enter your eyes through indirect light, triggering the cortisol spike that sets your circadian rhythm in order.

"Getting sunlight in your eyes first thing in the morning is absolutely vital to mental and physical health," Huberman says. "It is perhaps the most important thing that any and all of us can and should do in order to promote metabolic well-being, promote the positive functioning of your hormone system, get your mental health steering in the right direction."

He explains that artificial lights aren't the same and won't have the same impact. Conversely, artificial light can mess up your circadian rhythm if you look at them too late at night or when you should be sleeping.

"There's this asymmetry in our retinal, in our eye biology and our brain's biology, whereby early in the day, right around waking, you need a lot of light, a lot of photons, a lot of light energy," he says on his podcast. "And artificial lights generally won't accomplish what you need them to accomplish. But at night, even a little bit of artificial light can really mess up your so-called circadian, your 24-hour clocks, and all these mechanisms we're talking about."

The good news is that stepping out your front door and standing in the sun doesn't require a whole lot of willpower—at least not like exercise or resisting screens in the evening does. Simply go outside and stand there (though walking is even better). Give it a try and see if it makes a difference for you.

And you can also see Dr. Huberman go a lot more in depth about the benefits of sunlight and light therapies of all kinds here.


This article originally appeared on 1.13.24

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These two tricks will clear your stuffy nose instantly

Both tricks take less than two minutes

via Prevention Magazine/YouTube)

How to clear a stuffy nose instantly.

With cold season upon us, there's no better time to learn a couple of awesome and easy tricks that will clear up the dreaded and annoying stuffy nose.

Prevention magazine created a short video showing two easy ways to get you breathing free again no matter how stuffed up you might be.

Both tricks take less than two minutes and are certainly worth trying out when it feels like that runny nose might never go away.


Watch the YouTube video below:

This article first appeared on 9.8.17.

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