One of my favorite pre-pandemic memories is seeing Lizzo in concert twice in one year. One was in a small, packed venue so close to the star that she was basically sweating on me. I’m not religious but when I say it was a religious experience, I’m not kidding. Her talent, her energy—it made me emotional more than once. Seeing her on Zoom yesterday during an event with Dove brought me right back to that inspirational moment. Lizzo also posted a gorgeous unedited nude photo on Instagram announcing her partnership with Dove.

Lizzo is working with the brand on its Dove Self-Esteem Project and The Selfie Talk campaign. They’re taking on digital distortion on social media, the way many blue their skin and edit their body into the standard idea of beauty. Dove’s study found that by age 13, 80 percent of girls have edited their photos before posting them. That just shows you what the self-esteem of young women is like right now.

Source: Instagram

“The scary thing about it is when I was their age, the girls now who are like 12, 13, I felt the same way,” said Lizzo. “I remember waking up and wanting to be someone else, change my body, changed my eye color, my hair texture, the shape of my body, the color of my skin. But I didn’t have photo retouching, I didn’t have filters or anything like that. So that feeling was already there, and it scares me to think that now there is a tool that actually cashes in on that insecurity.”

Folks on TikTok and Instagram constantly ask Lizzo how she’s so confident. For her, there was no other option. “It was no choice for me. It was literal survival,” she said. “I was like, if I’m going to continue to live in this body and survive in this body and be happy and actually enjoy life, I need to find a way to like myself.”

Source: Instagram

“It’s not a political statement. It’s just my body,” she continued. “When you see it, keep it pushing. Keep that same energy that you keep with all the other bodies you see. That’s what body normative really means to me, it’s just being like, ‘I’m here, don’t say anything. Just keep it pushing.’ It’s not a statement, it’s my body.”

Dove’s study also found that there is a direct relationship between social media appearance pressures and self-esteem. Girls with lower body esteem distorted their photos more (56 percent) than girls with high body esteem (42 percent). Plus, the more girls edited their photos, the lower their self-esteem got. A whopping 68 percent of girls said they “would not end up feeling judged on the way they look” if images on social media were more representative of the way girls look in everyday life.

That’s why Lizzo posting such a beautiful, honest, unedited photo is so important. “Black joy is important, Black celebration,” she said. “And that’s what I want to do right now, just celebrate myself, celebrate my blackness and my body and have a positive conversation that will bring some change.”

Head over to Dove’s website to learn more about the campaign.

Teresa Giudice’s Blue and White Printed Jumpsuit

Real Housewives of New Jersey Season 11 Episode 10 Fashion

While we don’t always know where Housewives alliances really lie, when a ‘Wife is wearing a look designed by a fellow cast mate it’s safe to say they’re in a good place or they just love free clothes. Although in the case of Teresa Giudice’s blue and white printed jumpsuit (which is actually a top and pants), it may just be to make up for sending someone to pull the designer’s gorgeous hair.

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Also Seen on Margaret Josephs:

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Originally posted at: Teresa Giudice’s Blue and White Printed Jumpsuit

It’s important to stay active as we get older. If you want to live a healthy long life with the strength, endurance, and energy to enjoy all of the activities you love without the aches and pains, you need regular strength training.

As we age, strength training becomes an essential part of our workout to maintain and tone muscle, build bone density, and protect our joints. It is not enough to use walking as our only workout. Starting as early as our 30s, our body starts to lose muscle mass in the natural process of aging if we are not actively strength training.

You might start to see this with aches creeping into your joints as your muscles struggle to protect your joints; or you might find it more difficult to lift items; or you feel like you are losing strength in general.

I remember when my husband woke up on the morning of his 30th birthday and his back hurt. He declared, “This is it! I’m getting old!” Okay, that was not the case at all!

But it is important to incorporate strength and resistance training into your workout to build and keep muscle, protect your joints, and build bone density. 

Listen to Your Body and Start Slow

The first and most important tip related to strength training, is to listen to your body and start slowly. If you feel something is painful or not right, do not keep pushing through it. Pause your exercise to adjust your technique or lower your resistance and see how you feel.

If after adjusting technique, positioning, and resistance, you still feel pain then that might not be the best exercise for you. Also, it can be tempting to try to make up for lost time if you are starting a new exercise program after not being as active as you wish you were.

Going too fast and too intense is a recipe for injury – start slow and listen to your body. I have seen this time and time again, especially during my years working as a Licensed Physical Therapist Assistant. When certain new exercise programs or fads popped up, so would more injuries related to them. 

What Muscle to Work

The 2nd tip is related to a very important strength training principal: specificity. If you want to get better at an activity, you need to practice that activity. If I wanted to learn to play the guitar, I would need to practice the guitar – starting with some scales and working towards some songs.

In that same respect, if you want to see improvement in your daily activities of regular life and leisure, research shows it is best to use dynamic and functional motions instead of stationary machines or exclusively using lying down exercises.

For example, if you are performing squats or step ups you will see much more carryover with ease with climbing stairs or getting up from a low surface than if you did a seated weight machine. If you are unsure of how to perform a squat or are worried about your knees, check out this video for some quick tips and exercises! 

Which Muscles to Focus On

Another point related to specificity is that you want to strive for a full body workout. Pick exercises that focus on a variety of areas of the body but ones that also focus on the extensors (or the muscles on the back of your body) twice as much as the front.

Adding rows, squats, and exercises that focus on our postural muscles and the muscles on the back of our body is so important because all day long we move in a forward motion. We sit hunched over at our desks for too long, gardening, and even housework all focus on forward motion.

Building the muscles on the back of your body will help you to stay strong and keep your body in great alignment, which prevents injury. 

How Much Strength Training Do You Need?

Now that you know what to do, let’s figure out how much you need! The National Strength & Conditioning Association recommends strength training at least twice a week. As you get stronger, you can add a third or fourth session or challenge yourself more in your workouts.

Strive for 8-12 repetitions using a weight, resistance band, or resistance that gives you a challenge by the end of your set. Give yourself a rest between sets or alternate body areas and aim for 2-4 sets of each exercise. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the hardest, you should aim to work at a level 7-8.

Make sure you are using proper form and start with stability first. Don’t push the weights to the extreme where you can’t finish your set or can’t maintain technique. But your body does need a challenge with each workout.

If you are doing the same weight, same reps, and same resistance in each workout, your body will not continue to see the benefits with exercise. Vary up your weights, resistance, or intensity to give your body a good challenge. Going slower or holding some exercises can be a challenge for your body! 

Working with a personal trainer is a great way to have the guidance and support you need to ensure you are getting the most out of each workout! For more tips with your workouts, check out my Thrive at 55 Exercise Guide! 

What kind of strength training are you doing these days? When did you start lifting weights? What was your reason to go for it? How often do you do strength training? Please share your story!

Even though The Aristocats is an older movie—like, 51 years old!—there’s something about those talking Parisian cats that get us every time. Chances are, your parents busted out the movie when you were a kid and you loved the pink-bowed Marie as much as us. It seems we’re not the only ones. I Heart Revolution just launched an Aristocats makeup collection inspired by Marie. Yes, it’s as cute as it sounds.

This new Disney collection includes an ultra-colorful eyeshadow palette, highlighter in three shades, a brush, faux-mink lashes, three hues of lip gloss and a cute paw-shaped mirror. Of course, it’s not just the iconic packaging. You’ll want to try out these colors and finishes for spring and summer get-togethers. Even better: it’s all available at Ulta. Grab those points!

Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale.

I Heart Revolution.

I Heart Revolution & Disney’s The Aristocats Marie Highlighter

In Duchess (a champagne gold) and Beloved (a pearlescent pink).

I Heart Revolution.

I Heart Revolution & Disney’s The Aristocats Marie Paw Brush

Apply blush and highlighter with this synthetic hair brush.

I Heart Revolution.

I Heart Revolution & Disney’s The Aristocats Marie Palette

With 36 matte, shimmer and metallic shades.

I Heart Revolution.

I Heart Revolution & Disney’s The Aristocats Marie Lip Gloss

In Berlioz (a clear with a hint of pink), Marie (sheer gloss with iridescent pink hues) and Toulouse (a dusty-peach color).

I Heart Revolution.

I Heart Revolution & Disney’s The Aristocats Marie Mirror

A metallic-pink compact mirror.

Dolores Catania’s Black Floral Maxi Dress

Real Housewives of New Jersey Season 11 Episode 10 Fashion

Dolores Catania looks better than ever during season 11 of the Real Housewives of New Jersey, and so does her wardrobe. It’s just one fab, floral, feminine look after another. And while many of them have been sold out, her black floral maxi dress on tonight’s episode happens to have some stock left for those who act quickly.

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Big Blonde Hair

Click Here to Shop her Cynthia Rowley Maxi Dress on Sale

Photo #1: @DoloresCatania

Originally posted at: Dolores Catania’s Black Floral Maxi Dress