Healthy Swellness: Community gardening linked to healthier BMI

(Vegetables, Tips to Grow Your Own Food)

Considering getting a spot in a community garden? Fresh veggies you grow on your own, yum — and how rewarding!

Plus, a study conducted by researchers at the University of Utah has found that people who are community gardeners tend to have a lower BMI than those who don’t garden. For a 5’5″ female community gardener, the BMI was 1.84 less (or 11 lbs) compared to those not gardening.

Almost makes me want to get a plot to garden. Almost. I’ve got the opposite of a green thumb, though, and that’ll will keep me getting produce at the farmers market instead…even though it’d be nice to have a reason to get and wear these cute boots.

Women’s rainboot, Bogs.

Healthy Swellness: How many minutes to walk off that cupcake?!

Would you still indulge in that cupcake if the menu showed you had to walk more than an hour to burn off the calories?

Chances are no. A new study has found that menus featuring the number of minutes of brisk walking it’ll take you to burn it off leads to people choosing healthier foods (more so than menus featuring calories or no extra info at all).

Cupcake, Wedding Dish.

Beauty Swellness: Bliss Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Eye Mask

Anyone who’s travelled with me and allowed me the task of creating the trip itinerary knows I can get a little cray cray with cramming in as much as possible. I’ve tried to relax a bit on pushing myself (and friends) too much, but still, I like to do as much as possible — sleep can happen when I’m back home.

So I’m super stoked about the new Bliss Triple Oxygen Energizing Eye Mask for travel to help me look and feel more bright-eyed and less weary. It’s 5.5 mL per mask, so it’s carry-on friendly, and how can you not love the little MacGyver-ish manoeuvre of poppng the fluid chamber (the fluid’s got actives including three oxygenating ingredients and vitamin C for brightening and evening skin tone) so that the fluid saturates the eye masks. (Oh, it’s got cucumber extract, too, to help with depuffing!).

I tried out the mask this past weekend in Philly and my skin felt incredible after — soft and refreshed, and it erased signs of the late night of karaoke and early mornings of going to buy delicious donuts (more on that later in my travel story on Philly).

Since it’s carry-on friendly, use it right on your flight if you don’t mind your seatmates’ curious glances. (I myself will reserve its flight use to an airplane’s private pod away from other people’s view — ah Cathay Pacific, you’ve ruined me by allowing me to experience the luxury of your business-class pods…).

Bliss Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Eye Mask, $65 for a box of four masks. Available at Sephora and The Bay.