This tragic disease strikes 1 out of every 3.8 women between the ages of 11 and 67 in America. On any given day, 10,982,120,596 trillion women and girls are plagued with this debilitating disease. And, the saddest part? No real statistics exist on it! I had to make these up!

Hell, the syndrome doesn’t even show up in a Google search!

Go ahead, Google “FOYOC Syndrome” and see what happens. See — told you! Nada, Nothing, ZIP.

Why the cover-up? Because most of us don’t realize FOYOC afflicts us until it’s too late. When we finally piece together the symptoms, we’re left with a painful secret that silences us. Simply put, embarrassment floods us and we refuse to tell anyone else, so we live in silence.

It’s time for the syndrome to come out in the open and reveal itself for every guilt-provoking, please-don’t-let-it-get-warm-yet,  how-the-hell-did-I-ever-fit-into-this, thought we’ve had. Ladies, your read it here first! A CGN exclusive just for you, FOYOC Syndrome defined:

Fear Of Your Own Clothes (FOYOC) Syndrome

Sound bone-chillingly familiar? Read on to learn the 4 ways to diagnose yourself:

1. Unusual fear of the warm weather — While others are donning short sleeves and shorts, you relentlessly hold on to your sweater dress/ tights/ boots ensemble insisting that it’s not that WARM OUT YET!
2. Your pulse races and you break-out in a sweat when you walk near your closet — A classic symptom that manifests when you contemplate trying on something from last summer.
3. You refuse to send any of your ‘current’ outfits to the cleaners — If you do that, an outfit comes out of the rotation leaving you with a gap. A gap which must be filled by a visit to your closet. (See #2 for further information.)
4. You start to isolate yourself — Social invitations overwhelm you. A simple lunch invitation reduces you to a babbling idiot. I’d love to, but I can’t possibly accept any invitations until we get our national debt straighten out! What you’re really thinking is, Are you insane? Then I not only have to deal with what to wear, but I need to order food! Are you some sort of freaking lunatic? Is this some sort of sick joke? You bitch!

Suffer no more! I finally admitted my FOYOC syndrome a few weeks ago at a networking lunch for the SBAC. I just blurted it out! I‘m currently afraid of my own clothes. And, then I waited for the inevitable backlash.

To my surprise and delight my friend answered, Me too!

Since then, I’ve been sharing my experience with everyone! It’s so freeing to come out of the closet….no pun intended!

The post 4 Ways to Know if You Have FOYOC Syndrome appeared first on Career Girl Network.

Last year, I trained for and ran two half marathons. This year, while I’ve taken a break from running, I’m just starting to get my running motivation back (maybe it’s the beautiful weather). So naturally, I started to think about my favorite running products. I dug out my favorite running shoes, socks, water bottle, etc. and I also started looking at new ways to enhance my run. That’s why I was so excited when our friends at Klutch Club posted “Fitness Essentials for Your Marathon Season.“

My favorite of their recommendations is a product I’ve seen recently but never tried. It might just alleviate that Friday night “can’t sleep because I’m thinking about tomorrow’s long run” anxiety.

Dream Water.

I would be lying if I told you that the long runs on the weekend didn’t give me anxiety. I would also be lying if I told you that increasing my mileage didn’t take a toll on my body. Dream Water helped with both! Increased sleep is recommended for marathon training to assist with recovery, so getting to bed early was essential. I also had to fit my running into my busy schedule, which made early AM wake up calls the standard. Downing a Dream Water helped me fall asleep naturally and wake up feeling ready to run. Since I used it in my training, I was able to confidently use it the night before the marathon to get a solid night of sleep before the big day.

Check out Klutch Club’s recommendation for Dream Water and other great training products for runners here. And tell us in the comments below – what are your favorite running (or just health and fitness in general) products?

The post Training for a Run? These Are Your “Must Haves” appeared first on Career Girl Network.

What does cutting out pictures have to do with your health?

Vision boards are a mainstay in life coaching and popular self-help circles. The theory behind vision boards is that if you can see or visualize what it is you want or the outcomes you want to achieve in your life, business, or career, you are more likely to achieve them.

To make a vision board, different methods are employed. You can flip through old magazines (yard sales are a great source, as are services like Freecycle.org), cutting out photos and phrases that represent your greatest dreams, goals, and desires and pasting them on a big piece of poster board. Pinterest offers an easy way to create a vision board using the myriad images and ideas stored online, and you can access your board anywhere there is an internet connection. Or you can get creative with crayons, markers, or colored pencils and let your inner artist run wild as you spill your dreams and goals onto draft paper in colors of your choosing.

Whatever your method, your vision board, when complete, should make your heart scream YES! when you look at it. It should be a true statement of what you most want from life.

As a wellness coach, I have used vision boards to help clients get clear about what it is they want to achieve from their coaching or fitness training sessions. What is it that they really signed up to achieve in the long run? What is the big driver behind their decision to pay for an expert’s help to improve their health? Is it really losing weight, or is it much more than that? (Hint: It’s usually much more than, and very different from, what they originally thought.)

But there’s a huge, gaping hole in the theory behind vision boards. In my next post, I’ll alert you to that gap and let you know how to bridge it with a complementary tool that no vision can be achieved without.

The post A Vision Board for Your Health appeared first on Career Girl Network.

Warmer weather finally arrived (more or less) and we scramble to get outside for some sunshine and fresh air. Our pathetically low Vitamin D levels delight in the sun exposure. Our moods perk up, life becomes easier, and we embrace all that the universe offers us. (Well…perhaps I exaggerate, but I had acupuncture yesterday, so I feel unusually ‘Zen’ today.)

However, while I hate to act as the buzz-kill, I’ll risk it on behalf of preserving your skin’s health. Ladies, it’s time for our annual ‘safe sun’ chat.

Before venturing any further, let me state the obvious – wear a daily sunscreen, preferably one with a SPF (Sun Protection Factor) of 15, or more. And, a note of caution – many dermatologists believe there is no such thing as ‘safe sun’ time and prefer you wear a SPF of 30+ daily and avoid the sun as much as possible. I’m a bit more realistic than that.

Okay, with that out of the way, let me set the record straight on some of your most common sun questions:

What does broad-spectrum sunscreen mean?

There are two types of rays that attack the skin. The UVA ray is the AGING ray—it penetrates into the dermis of the skin and breaks down our collagen and elastin fibers accelerating premature aging. You don’t see the damage that night – you see it in 10-12 years. It appears in the form of a wrinkle, a sunspot, or loose skin. The more UVA rays you absorb, the more damage results….down the road…in 10-12 years…when you least expect it…or want it.

The UVB ray is the BURNING ray – it attacks the uppermost surface of our skin (epidermis) prompting our bodies to produce melanin. The melanin acts as a defense system desperately trying to fend off a burn. Once we tap out our melanin supply, the skin begins to burn and we lose the battle. We are now the proud owner of a remarkably red sunburn. (Bummer.)

A broad-spectrum sunscreen is protecting us from both the UVA and the UVB rays TO A POINT.  Think of it like smoking a filtered cigarette versus a non-filtered. Neither is great for you, but the former is the lesser of two evils.

So, do I just live my life as a pale, hermit who comes out after sundown?

No – that’s creepy. This just means you employ some common sense when enjoying the great outdoors. Clearly, fair skin people possess less melanin to begin with, leaving them with a weaker defense system to fight off a burn. Wear a higher number (50+) if you’ll be outside for an extended period. Plus, bring a hat, shades, and a cover-up. If your skin starts to feel taught, tight, or sensitive, get out of the sun ASAP.

Women of color own more melanin, so they have a stronger defense mechanism, and age more gracefully than fair skin folks. (Think, Sophia Loren, or Lena Horne.) However, women of color can tan, or burn if precautions aren’t taken. Wear a SPF 15+ if you’re out for an extended period of time. Plus, follow the same advice; bring a hat, wear shades, and cover-up. If you feel the slightest bit of a burn, get out of the sun.

What else do I need to know to protect my skin?

There is no such thing as a complete sunblock, or a waterproof sunscreen. I don’t care what the label says. Reapply sunscreen liberally and often. Derms recommend applying at least a shot glass full of sunscreen with reapplication every 30-45 minutes. (Don’t ask me what brain trust decided to use shot glasses as the standard of measure for sunscreen, but whatever!)

Certain medications and skincare products make our skin more sun-sensitive. Bump up your sunscreen if you take medications, use skincare products with retinols, or anything with glycolic, alpha, or beta hydroxy acids. If goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway – if you’re using any type of dark spot reducing product, for the love of GOD, stay out of the sun! The sun caused the hyper-pigmentation in the first place. You’ll undo any and all progress you made in reducing the hyper-pigmentation by hanging out at the pool.

Alcohol (as in drinking it) and sun don’t mix well! The alcohol dilates our capillaries, as does sun exposure, which means we burn easier, burst little blood vessels, lose track of time, and usually end up with a nasty hangover and sunburn. (UG!)

Now you’re ready to go, Career Girls! Grab your sunscreen, shades, hat and a cover-up, and let’s hit the great outdoors!

The post Safe in the Sun? appeared first on Career Girl Network.

This week CGN tracked down some of the top beauty apps for you. As we head into summer, make sure to download these on your phone, or tablet. Happy apping!

Good Guide – Concerned about the ingredients in your next beauty, or household product purchase? Use Good Guide to scan your potential new mascara to find out about said ingredients as well as the business practices of the manufacturer. Good Guide allows you to,

Find safe, healthy, green & ethical products based on scientific ratings. Led by Professor Dara O’Rourke of UC Berkeley, GoodGuide’s science team – chemists, toxicologists, nutritionists, sociologists, and lifecycle analysis experts – rates products and companies on their health, environmental and social performance.

Beauty Tips from DailyGlow – Want fluffy curls, or straight, smooth hair? Beauty tips from DailyGlow offer up more than 500 tips and ideas for hair, make-up, and skincare. Bored with your usual look – see a plethora of make-up tips, how-tos and product picks. Ditto for skincare, hair, and nails!

BangStyle – Find new hairstyles and add them to your folder, so the next time you want a change you have ideas right at your fingertips. BangStyle lets,

Hair stylists shoot and share the latest from their own chairs. Users can browse recently posted articles, instantly upload pictures and locate their nearest hair salon.

Simply Being – Learning how to meditate? This lovely app tunes out the world and allows you to clear your mind. You set your mediation time for five, 10, 15, or 20 minutes, choose your mediation (with, or without music), and chill. A quiet mind always reflects beautifully on our faces.

SpaFinder – A classic app, but one worth mentioning especially if you travel and need a quick manicure, or pedicure. Type in a location, choose your service, and voilà: spa options populate the map, plus many of spas let you book your appointment with the app. Our heros!

What did we miss? Tell us your favorite beauty apps, so we can add them to the CGN list!

The post CGN’s 5 Must-Have Beauty Apps appeared first on Career Girl Network.

Sara Hauber performs the TVA 1-leg lift core strengthener for back pain relief.

In my last post, I rocked your world by revealing that crunches don’t help you relieve back pain.

Now, after an agonizing two weeks, I’m here to appease your curiosity and give you the good news: You can get rid of back pain with super-simple back- and core-strengthening exercises that have nothing to do with crunches!

The first and most important thing to know is that back pain is typically caused by weak deep (not superficial) abdominal muscles—ones with super-fun names like “transversus abdominus.” In fact, the transversus, or TVA for short, is what I consider to be the ultimate helper in improving your posture and supporting your spine in a pain-free position.

The thing about these deep abdominal muscles, like the TVA, is that they are stabilizer muscles (I explain this in detail in my free back pain videos on my Hauber Method^TM site and YouTube channel). So what do you think we need to do to work these muscles? That’s right: Contract the deep muscles, and then . . . stabilize ourselves!

In the first few minutes of my Hauber Method^TM back-care program, I walk you through the details of finding your TVA and contracting it while holding yourself upright. Then, you get to try my favorite (and still the most effective) exercise for contracting the TVA and stabilizing your lower back. I call it the “TVA 1-leg Lift,” and you can watch the video clip for free as part of Session 1 on my web site. Many of my students have found relief from chronic or acute back pain just by practicing their TVA contraction and TVA 1-leg lift. You can too, right now! And you never have to do crunches again, trust me. I’ve been back pain-free for 20 years, and I never, ever do crunches.

Many of my students have found relief from chronic or acute back pain just by practicing their TVA contraction and TVA 1-leg lift. You can too, right now!

If you have questions about these simple moves, comment here.

The post Core Strengtheners that Really Stop Back Pain appeared first on Career Girl Network.

There is always some annoying (happy) person out there who says something like, “Well, if you’re miserable, then you’re choosing to be miserable.” The same person says things like, “Why are you allowing yourself to be stressed?” We generally hate these people, or at least I do. When you’re in a good mood, it’s hard to get out of it, and the same goes for a bad mood. It’s hard to get out of. But one author is telling us there is real, scientific research to the idea that you need to “choose” something new.

Marilyn Tam is the author of The Happiness Choice: The Five Decisions That Will Take You From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be, and after reading her recent Huffington Post profile, I’m wondering if perhaps we should all start thinking more about our choices and how they might be making us happy or unhappy.

There are five decisions we make every day to bring us either more happiness or less — what we choose to do with, and how we treat our: Body, relationships, money, spiritual life and community.

Every day, are you finding ways to decide to be happy in your body, happy in your relationships, happy with your money, happy with your spirituality, and happy in your community? I know there are at least three of those areas I’m not focusing on daily, and perhaps making a decision to focus on even one more area might just make me…happier. What do you think?

The post 5 Decisions To Make You Happier appeared first on Career Girl Network.

I want to talk to you about food messages today. I just completed  “The Whole 30”  nutritional eating plan with a friend of mine.  A brief summary of how it works: For 30 days “we eat real food – meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruit, healthy oils, nuts and seeds. We chose foods that were raised, fed and grown naturally, and foods that are nutrient-dense.”  We eliminate dairy, grains & sugar. That’s it. Eat real food. No counting calories or points or only eating grapefruit. My friend and I decided to jump in.

30 days later, what I learned is that I can totally do it. I don’t need sugar. I need protein for breakfast.  My body functioned so much more successfully with more protein.  I also learned that my body doesn’t much prefer gluten or dairy though I’m not necessarily allergic.  I really don’t need an afternoon snack or caffeine pick me up if I’m eating enough at breakfast and lunch.  Great lessons.

What was the most valuable lesson? The judgement that I place on food.  A few months ago I was talking to my therapist about feeling as if some of the foods I was eating at that time were “bad” and placing a lot of judgement about myself in eating them.  Eating a piece of pizza is “bad” or having a piece of cake as “bad”. Are you with me? Ever done this? Total shame story about a blueberry muffin this morning?

I don’t need to do that any longer.  Instead I can address food by looking at it’s nutritional content.  Will pizza solely meet my nutritional needs for the day? No. Can I eat it as a part of a meal? If I so choose.  Pizza is not bad.  In fact, for me, it’s delicious.

The other thing I noticed is that other people have their own food judgement that they totally project onto others.  People had A LOT of opinions about this Whole 30.  “Your body needs grains.” “You don’t need animal protein.” “You’re eating too many greens.” “You need sugar”. Someone actually said to me that my bowl of spinach was too large. Pardon my French, that’s bullshit! I’m consuming too many leaves of spinach? What??

No wonder I was worried about eating pizza.

The message I’m internalizing is this one.  I’m going to eat intuitively.  I’m going to listen to MY body.  I’m going to eat as many leaves of arugula as I’d like.  I’m going to eat animal protein if I decide that my body benefits from it.  And people are going to continue to make comments based on their understanding of food.  I’m totally open to learning about nutrition and I’m no longer open to taking on other people’s food judgements.

Have you ever done a food challenge? What did you learn?

A darling, brilliant lady named Katie Jasper is doing New Rules- Nutrition for Real Life through her company, Prescribe Nutrition. Check it out if you’re interested in learning more about you and your body.

The post Deciding What to Eat With No Judgement appeared first on Career Girl Network.

I drew in a quick breathe of delight as I looked down at my May InStyle magazine – finally they smartened up and put Isabella Rossellini back on a cover. Sanity returned to the media industry and they remembered who the true beauties of our time are.

Then I realized it wasn’t my beloved Isabella, but instead Emily Blunt. F_ck, I thought — I just aged-out of InStyle’s demographic. After all, Isabella Rossellini is 60 years old, and Emily Blunt is (knife twisting slowly) 30.

By way of background, Isabella Rossellini was the face of Lancôme from 1982 to 1990. I happen to work for Lancôme during this time as a Regional Training Manager and simply idolized Izzy-Belle (as I referred to her) and believed she epitomized the essence of a woman’s beauty.

Understated, elegant, and refined – Lancôme’s choice of Isabella raised eyebrows at the time. She was (gasp) 30 – an age when most models and actresses searched for retirement homes, which, of course is what I dug about Lancôme’s bold move.

Fast-forward two decades while I stare down at an amazingly beautiful woman – 22 years my junior and contemplate my reality. I hopped on my laptop and found the image of Rossellini, which mirrored that of Blunt’s cover shot. The first thing that ran through my mind was Coco Chanel’s famous quote,

Fashion fades, only style remains the same.

Career Girls, it’s time for a style-check. Spring is here and we’re ready to kick the winter make-up colors to the curb. But before you jump onto the hot summer color trend ask yourself this: Will it pass Coco’s style test? Here are a few tips to make sure it does:

Skip the full nod to seasonal color trends, and instead wink at them: Orange is huge this season – try a fabulous coral or peach lip and cheek shade, but pass on overdoing the look. Keep eyes and nails neutral.

Save the periwinkle blue nail polish for your toes: Yes, I agree the shade is friggin’ adorable, and depending on your workplace, it’s fun for your toes as the peek out of your sandals. But, it’s difficult to take a business presentation seriously, with blue nails distracting the conversation.

Take it easy with the bronzer: A hint of color on the chin, cheeks and at the brow bone looks professional and finishes a look. Steer clear of using it all over, or using too much of it. It looks harsh and unpolished.

No make-up communicates style without a clean canvas: Proper skincare habits, like cleansing twice a day, wearing a daily sunscreen, and exfoliating a few times a week enhance your make-up now and forever. Unkempt skin looks lifeless and dull no matter what you slap on top of it. Take care of it now, or pay the price later. Trust me.

If you’re unsure of a shade choice, just remember the 22-year question: Will you cringe when you see a picture of yourself 22 years from now? 

The post Generations of Beauty appeared first on Career Girl Network.

It’s official. I’ve turned into a conspiracy theory-ed, middle-aged female who believes the entire mediated world is plotting to reverse women’s meager progress in this God Forsaken patriarchal society.

Case in point — I should have jumped up and down when I saw the Dove ad campaign, “Real Beauty Sketches.”

It begins with individual women self-consciously describing themselves to an FBI forensic sketch artist who renders a drawing of each of them. The catch? The sketch artist never sees any of them…..he just draws them based on their own self-description.

I don’t need to tell you how pained each woman sounded, or disappointed, disillusioned, or discouraged either as they prattled off their list of flaws.  BUT, never fear, my frown turns around after I hear other women (and two men, WTF?) describe that very same woman as ‘pretty, she had a thin nose’ and ‘blue eyes, very nice blue eyes.’

I know, I know….What’s wrong with that? you ask. What a terrific idea! Women are so hard on themselves and this sends such a positive message.

That’s what I thought — at first – but their words left me feeling uneasy. Pretty? Thin? Nice, blue eyes? Close your eyes and tell me who else comes to mind resembling that very same description.

Barbie – her last name is Mattel.

These are two of my biggest gripes:

The conventional standard of ‘beauty’ remained unchallenged:  According to the sassy blogger, Jazzy Little Drops,

You have to be beautiful. And “beautiful” means something very specific, and very physical. Essentially every movie and tv show and commercial shows us that, right?

If we are to believe Dove’s spiel, physical beauty determines our lot in life: One of the participants wrapped-up the segment by saying,

It’s troubling. I should be more grateful of my natural beauty.  It impacts the choices and the friends we make, the jobs we go out for, they way we treat our children, it impacts everything. It couldn’t be more critical to your happiness.”

Ouch, ouch, ouch…….natural beauty is critical to our happiness?? Is that what I just heard? Who, pray tell, determines what is ‘natural beauty’?  The media? The advertisers? Wikipedia?

I appreciate Dove’s attempt to capture the negative self-chatter that bounces around our heads, but the commercial simply missed its mark. So, instead of gratefully saying, “Thanks, Dove! You’re my hero!” I’m saying this:

I want better, Dove. Women and girls deserve a world that allows them to flourish regardless of what they look like. Reinvent beauty, so our actions define our beauty, not our appearance.

The post Who Defines Real Beauty? appeared first on Career Girl Network.