Just Ask David

It’s easy to feel a little jealous of kids playing together outside. It brings us back to a time before adult responsibilities.

You can’t make your obligations go away, but special guest Teresa Bergen says that outdoor activities can work wonders on your physical and mental well-being. According to her, it doesn’t matter how old or able you are. Everyone can benefit from a little fresh air and exercise.

“A lot of studies are saying being outside helps with getting better sleep, better concentration, decreasing stress, stimulating creativity, making you feel overall a little better,” Teresa explains.

Teresa Bergen is a Portland, Oregon-based health, fitness and travel writer. She’s a yoga teacher, a certified personal trainer and, of course, a huge outdoor enthusiast.

Most Accessible Outdoor Activities for Non-Outdoorsy People

“I’m a big believer in beginners going on group activities,” Teresa advises. “I would just go on an easy, guided kayak tour. I like the guide because if you do fall in, he’s responsible for pulling you back out of the water.”

And there’s still plenty to do in the winter - and it doesn’t have to be downhill skiing.

“For those of you who are in colder climates, at least in winter, snowshoeing is a really nice alternative to scarier stuff, like skiing,” Teresa says. “It’s just like taking a walk in the snow. It’s a little harder than walking and it’s much easier than skiing.”

The Wackiest Outdoor Activities You’ve Never Heard Of

Like goat yoga.

“This is a trend originating from Oregon sweeping the country,” Teresa explains. “Where you do yoga with goats wandering around. They’re very cute, which makes it kind of funny so people don’t take themselves so seriously while doing the poses. If the pose is really hard, you can stop and pet the goat.”

What do you think: super cute or super weird?

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When it comes to weight loss, maybe giving up the cheesecake wouldn’t be so bad if your new low-carb diet didn’t leave you feeling like you’re starving 80% of the time.

Good news - you don’t have to be.

Nutritionist Amy Gorin, MS, RDN, has a few things to share with Just Ask David about eating healthy. She’s a former magazine editor who’s written for publications like Health, Prevention, Parents, and Weight Watchers Magazine. She also creates healthy recipes on her blog Amy’s Eat List, which are often featured on Food Network and Everyday Health.

An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away!

“Fruits and vegetables, in addition to offering so many minerals and vitamins also have a lot of attributes that can help with weight loss and weight maintenance,” Amy says. “They’re rich in water. Many vegetables contain almost 90% water - that’s a lot. And they also offer a lot of fiber.”

All of that water and fiber does a great job of making you feel fuller for longer.

“There’s actually some really cool research that shows when you eat a low-calorie salad before a meal, or something that’s high in vegetables, then that significantly reduces how many calories you eat in that meal,” Amy adds.

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For some of us, shaving is a nightmare. Nicks and ingrown hairs become a fact of life. We’re forever chasing that leg stubble or five o’clock shadow.

Laser hair removal is an alternative approach that has been around for a long time. But make no mistake - laser hair removal is a lot different than it was 10, even 5 years ago.

Beauty editor Ani Palen joins another segment of Just Ask David to give us the inside scoop on laser hair removal - the good and the bad.

How Does Laser Hair Removal Work?

So what’s actually going on when we get laser hair removal treatment?

“The way the lasers work is that they damage the hair follicles under the skin’s surface, which stunts future growth,” Ani says. “They pick up on the pigment of the hair. So for example, if you have gray, red, or blond hair, your results may not be as drastic. But you can still get results.”

Speaking of results, what should you expect after a treatment?

“Laser hair removal is technically more like laser hair reduction, but that shouldn’t make anyone shy away from it,” Ani explains. “After each treatment, you tend to see a 12-13% reduction in hair. It takes 4-5 treatment to get your full results. After that, maybe a touch up or two every year.”

The Latest in Laser Hair Removal Technology

“Before is used to be if you had really dark skin, [laser treatment] was not really something you could’ve done because it could leave you scarred and not really be effective,” Ani explains. “But these days because of great technology, anybody with the right laser could do laser hair removal.”

The last thing we’re all dying to know - does it hurt?

“If you somewhere that has the latest lasers and is really up-to-speed on all of that, it’s pretty much pain-free,” Ani reassures us. “Especially if you’re used to waxing or other alternative methods of hair removal.”

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We all have childhood memories of our parents telling us to sit up straight. Back then, it just felt like an excuse for them to tell us what to do.

What did sitting up straight have to do with anything?

Turns out, mom was exactly right.

“We should sit up straight,” says special guest and U.S. News Staff Writer, Ruben Castaneda. “It does have an impact on our health and how we feel about ourselves”

Ruben brings his health and wellness expertise to Just Ask David to share with us three reasons why we’d ought to heed our parents’ advice on maintaining a good posture. He’s also written for The Washington and General Dynamics Information Technology in the past.

“Something called ‘forward-head posture’ is a common condition that happens when your head is aligned forward in relation to your spine,” Ruben points out.

A minor misalignment in your spine may not sound very serious, but maintaining poor posture can really affect your health in the long run.

“Ideally, your head and neck would align with your shoulders. So if you’re lurched forward all the time, you could develop a myriad of musculoskeletal dysfunctions that impact different parts of your body. They could cause strain to your head muscles and cause tension headaches.

“It turns out having poor posture can put more stress on certain muscles and joints, which can cause them to be overworked and therefore, fatigued,” Ruben explains. “Many patients who have chronic pain issues by addressing their poor posture.

“People who have good posture tend to have a more positive outlook on the world and feel better about themselves,” Ruben says. “People who have poor posture tend to have a more negative outlook and have problems with their self esteem. So there are a myriad of ways that posture can affect our health.”

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Don’t forget to check out his Twitter @rcastanedaUSN!

Men are getting swept up in the skin care craze. And who can blame them? Who doesn’t want clear, healthy skin?

But as the beauty industry is adjusting to more of a male consumer presence, a lot of men are left wondering where to start.

What skin type do you have? How many products do you need? How long do you have to wait to see if a product works?

According to men’s grooming expert and Just Ask David favorite Barret Wertz, all you need to do is look inside your girlfriend or bestie’s beauty cabinet. “There are a lot of these products that sort of cross into categories if you can look past the marketing of them all,” he says.

Wait, Men and Women Can SHARE Beauty Products?

The only difference is, some products are geared toward women to meet female consumers’ demands. But male consumer demands can change, too.

For example, Barret points out that many women’s moisturizers include some type of SPF. This is from decades of women knowing that sunscreen is great for anti-aging, heavily influencing expectations for moisturizers.

What does that mean for men? Just that using women’s moisturizer will probably protect your skin from the sun’s harmful rays better than a men’s moisturizer.

“It’s definitely going to be something that will likely work for you,” Barret says. “These products are going to be made and intended to be very transparent and very sheer and lightweight. So it wouldn’t be something that would bother a lot of mens’ skin.”

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Wellness is an important part of our overall health -- much more than we realize. We all need a breather from our stressful day-to-day lives.

Ava Roxanne Stritt, the most influential person in the world for spa & wellness travel, joins Just Ask David to convince us that wellness adventures (especially wellness travel) are not a luxury, but essential to a healthy body and mind.

What Can we learn from the europeans about wellness

And all this time, we thought we were pampering ourselves by hunting for spa Groupons!

“Europeans just have a totally different concept when it comes to going to the spa. For them, it’s more about their wellness and their health,” Ava explains. “It’s not seen as luxurious. They take their children.”

Can Wellness Spas Really Help You Detox?

So it’s not much of a stretch to suspect that spa treatments are ineffective or even a contributing factor.

“We all want to have fun on vacation, so detox is a harsh word,” Ava says. Still, she says that there’s a way to detox on vacation without having to sacrifice your fun and relaxation. “You always want to do everything in moderation, including moderation,” she adds.

In fact, Ava says that you can do a wellness detox no matter what kind of vacation you’re on. You don’t have to go a spa retreat in Switzerland to improve your wellness.

“Do you really want to invest the time, effort, and money for the trip and come back feeling worse and heavy and weighted down? No!” Can’t argue with that.

Follow Ava Roxanne Stritt on Social Media!

Check out Ava’s website Spa Travel Gal and don’t forget to follow her on Twitter and Instagram @SpaTravelGal!

We all have to treat ourselves every now and then, and what better way to pamper yourself than with luxury beauty?

Content writer Tiffany Raiford joins Just Ask David to give you a few pointers on how to splurge -- the RIGHT way. Tiffany is a mommy blogger of 4. She has been featured in various online publications, including She Budgets and her own lifestyle blog.

Shop Smart, Splurge Big!

“One thing I think works best is to know your skin,” Tiffany says. “If you’re going to spend money on something, you have to know what’s going to benefit you most.”

So if you want to make this splurge really count, you might want to hold off on that expensive mascara you’ve been eyeing and opt for something that’ll make more of an impact on your appearance.

“If you’re going to splurge, make it your foundation and concealer,” Tiffany suggests. “That is how you’re going to get the most coverage and that’s what makes the most difference on your face.”

Do Your Retail Research

So when you decide to make that huge skin care purchase, you owe it to yourself to make sure you actually are getting the best your money can buy.

“You should be looking for ingredients you don’t want in your products,” Tiffany adds. “For example, talc. You do not want to use anything with talc in the ingredient list. It’s irritating and it’s known to cause breakouts.”

On the flipside, it helps to know which high-quality ingredients to look for in luxury products, especially ingredients that are rarely found in more affordable beauty products.

“I encourage people to stick with the classics. Ask your grandmother,” she adds. “Those are the [brands] that usually do what they promise.”

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Tiffanyraiford.com

Say goodbye to hair plugs and Rogaine!

World-renowned celebrity surgeon Dr. John Kahen has applied the regenerative technology of Platelet-rich Plasma (PRP) to hair restoration, and is one of the first to do so. With just a few injections, your natural hair will be growing back in as little as a couple weeks!

Dr. Kahen’s practice Beverly Hills Hair Restoration has access to some of the most advanced hair technology in the world, including SmartPRP®, which was invented by Dr. Kahen himself. He has been featured in Robb Report Best of the Best, Newsweek Top Doctors, ESPN, CNN, CNBC, Marketwatch, BBC, USA Today, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, UK Daily Mail, and Beverly Hills Times Magazine.

How Does SmartPRP Work?

It’s true. With hair loss comes the frustration and hopelessness of finding a remedy. Hair plugs are expensive and can look unnatural. Hair growth medicine doesn’t always work. Many of us just resign to the fact that our hair is gone forever. But not anymore.

“Things have changed,” Dr. Kahen says. “It’s 2018 and we have new technology.” So how does PRP therapy help grow hair back?

“Platelet-rich plasma has been very successful in restoring miniaturized follicles. Miniaturized follicles are follicles that are going into the thinning phase,” he says. “If someone is going through the thinning phase and I inject this platelet-rich plasma in the scalp, the majority of follicles will actually revive and get restored.”

The best thing about SmartPRP (other than its effectiveness) is that it’s your own natural hair growing out of your scalp! So although the results aren’t instant, they’ll absolutely last.

“The majority of patients see results at least within 2-3 weeks after the procedure,” Dr. Kahen adds. “They will notice the hair color changes - it becomes darker, the follicles become a lot thicker, and they will notice new follicles starting to spread out as well.”

It’s Not Just Male Pattern Baldness

SmartPRP is effective for both men and women, who make up “39% of all hair loss” according to Dr. Kahen.

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Don’t forget to follow on Twitter @DrKahen and Instagram @beverlyhillshairrestoration!