It’s January, meaning we all just made New Year’s fitness resolutions revolving around health and wellness. To that end: We linked up with real women to help them find new favorite sports bras that would help propel them through their workouts. They put some of our merchants’ picks through their paces at the gym, in the dance studio and on the trail, then reported back. Here, in part one of our two-part series, is what they found—so you can find new ways to power through this year, too.
Eradicating the scourge of breast cancer is simply another day at the office for Dr. Leah Gendler. The renowned medical oncologist and breast surgeon spends each of her 14-hour workdays deftly excising tumors in the operating room or counseling breast cancer patients on what should be their next lifesaving move. That’s why we’re honored this Power Figure gave Bare it All so much of her valuable time to share what drives her forward and what gives her hope.
As our Power Figures monthlong series continues, we managed to snag a coveted slot on Bari Seiden-Young’s jam-packed calendar: Bari is the Vice President of Corporate Communications for The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC), and she leads the Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign on behalf of ELC, focusing media attention on annual high-wattage efforts to raise major awareness and funds that fuel life-saving research.
No matter if she’s illuminating the Empire State Building pink with supermodel and global ambassador Elizabeth Hurley or attending a black tie gala, for Bari, every last action she takes comes back to beating cancer. As with Lauren, the survivor, and Pamela, the fundraiser, Bari has an all-too personal cancer connection that drives her, too.
Power Figures take myriad forms. In lockstep with the brave front-line warriors fighting breast cancer—the survivors battling for their lives, supported by their tenacious medical teams—you’ll find driven, impassioned advocates and fundraisers. Count Pamela Lipkin among them.
Though Pamela works full-time at USI Insurance Services as a bond manager, she also devotes herself to organizing events for the Cure Breast Cancer Foundation, for which she serves as a board member.
For Pamela, it’s personal.
The stats about breast cancer are as staggering as they are ubiquitous: 246,660 new cases this year. 1 in every 8 women. More than 2.8 million women in the United States with a history of breast cancer.
Behind the dizzying numbers are flesh-and-blood human beings going to war every day in their own ways against breast cancer. They are Power Figures in every sense of the word: raising awareness at the same time as they are making plans for the rest of their lives. Following our 4-part series last year on the science and politics of Breast Cancer Awareness Month with medical correspondent Dr. Sharon Mass, this year, we’re honored to introduce you to four of them. Taken together, they’re profiles in courage, in caring, in the conviction that we can and will turn this tide.
Meet Lauren Cohen who, at 33, is already a breast cancer survivor. She graciously opened up to Bare it All about her path from blindsiding diagnosis to the new normal.
Summer or winter, the Olympics always seem to seriously ramp up the intensity of everybody’s workouts, which got us thinking: How do Bare Necessities staffers stay fit, have fun and feel fab—even during these hazy late August days? Read on for your daily dose of fitspo, and check out our brand-new activewear arrivals for even more motivation.
While most people could tell you that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, breasts are also being honored right this minute: The first week of August is World Breastfeeding Week, an international event celebrated by more than 170 countries. While fundraising walks and the omnipresent pink ribbon mark the former, this month we turn our attention to encouraging and supporting breastfeeding as a way to improve infant health globally.
Believe it or not, the United States is the only industrialized country that doesn’t provide workers with legally mandated paid maternity leave. In fact, only 21 percent of private employers offer paid leave. That’s not good news for boosting breastfeeding rates. Some innovative companies, though, have made breastfeeding and adequate leave a priority: Netflix now gives new parents up to one paid year off. Similarly, Google reduced its new mom attrition rate by half when it lengthened maternity leave from 12 to 18 weeks.
How else can we support our breastfeeding moms and their babies?
It’s only fitting that we have a July 4th tête-à-tête with someone in possession of a fierce independent streak, an indomitable spirit and an iron will.
That would be Becky Burt.
At 30, she’s created a surf school for girls, run exclusively by women, on the East coast where surfer girls are something of a rarity—and she did it after suffering a debilitating injury that threatened not only the new venture but life as she knew it.
The sun is a powerful thing—it can boost your mood, yet it can wreak havoc on your skin and your health. Despite all we know about skin cancer, there’s still pressure to score and maintain that perfect summer glow. You know, the one that declares to the world that you’ve been away on some exotic family vacation, you’re rested and rejuvenated and somehow also younger and thinner. So we’ve put together a list of SPF and skin care tips and advice to get you through the summer wrinkle- and worry-free—because there’s nothing sexy about sun damage.
American Heart Month is not only the time to think about Valentine’s Day and heart-shaped chocolates but, more importantly, the perfect opportunity to reflect on the state of our actual hearts. In fact, the American Heart Association believes that protecting your heart should be every woman’s top priority, as heart disease is the #1 cause of death for women in the United States. To put that into perspective, it kills more of us each year than all forms of cancer combined. We’ll let that sink in a minute….
According to Dr. Sharon Mass, OBGYN and medical correspondent exclusive to us here at bare necessities, high blood pressure, high LDL cholesterol and smoking are the biggest risk factors for heart disease, and about half of Americans have one or more of those risk factors. Obesity, diabetes, excessive alcohol consumption and lack of exercise also come into play.
The good news? You can follow these healthy living tips to keep your heart pumping:
With fitspiration as its annual peak, we’re bringing you an inside look at five of the hottest fitness trends for 2016 that our staffers are all about right now—not to mention the corresponding activewear trends. Because when the elliptical starts to feel like a snooze, you definitely don’t have to default to the couch!
Donna Lewis had her aha moment in a mud pit.
As the executive assistant to the CEO and COO here at Bare Necessities, Donna—the good-natured glue holding this office together; our tough-as-nails, can-do jack-of-all-trades—has had her share of ups and downs over the years. But when she hit her lowest low, Donna was quite literally in the dumps. A friend had talked her into participating in a Dirty Girl Mud Run. On a mixed-ability team—senior citizens; women who had just finished cancer treatments—it quickly became clear that Donna was the weak link.
“It was me holding the group back. I didn’t want to be that chick! But when I was running, I thought my heart was going to explode. I couldn’t haul myself over the obstacles, and that frustrated the hell out of me,” says Donna. “I made up my mind then and there to get in shape.”
She lost 75 pounds in nine months.
As our month-long look at becoming the best version of ourselves continues, Donna opens up about her very personal wake-up call, her inspirational weight loss success story of dropping from a size 16 to a size 4, her disciplined-yet-doable regimen and how she proudly maintains the new normal.