Healthy Eating With Him

Whether you've been married for 25-plus years or just started dating, you've probably figured out that going from being single to being part of a couple can really change how and what you're eating. See ya, salad with grilled chicken and dressing on the side; hello, cheeseburgers and french fries. As you've settled into couple-dom, chances are some of your healthy eating habits have started to slip. But the reality is that most women simply can't eat like guys do for very long without packing on the pounds. Here are four of the most common pitfalls to watch out for.

Pitfall: You're eating as much as he is—and not realizing it.

You may be equals in the relationship, but men are taller and more muscular, so they can simply eat more than women without gaining weight. To maintain a healthy weight, men need between 2,200 and 2,800 calories a day, whereas women need only 1,400 to 2,000. That means your guy can handle the equivalent of an extra slice of pizza, two cocktails and dessert without doing damage. How can you stick to healthy portions while he's piling his plate high? One of the biggest problems is that men tend to be speed-eaters. If you try to keep up the pace, you're not giving your stomach time to register that it's full—which happens at least 20 minutes after you've started eating. So stay on track with a few mindful eating tips: Put your fork down between bites, sip water often and make a conscious effort to chew your food thoroughly. It's not always easy, but it is doable. And once he sees you doing this, you can nudge him to follow suit so he can slow down as well.

More pointers that can help you keep portion sizes in check: Use a smaller dish than he does. A 4-oz piece of chicken, 1/2 cup rice and pile of veggies may seem measly on a platter-size plate, but it looks like a veritable feast when served on a salad dish. When dining out, consider ordering a salad and an appetizer (or two appetizers) as your whole meal. Or divvy up the dishes in a different way: You order an appetizer but then also have a small amount (about 1/4) of his main dish. Restaurants notoriously serve portions that are way too big—even for him—so this will help you both eat less. Then take a few forkfuls of his dessert instead of ordering your own.

Pitfall: You're matching him glass for glass.

Sorry, but it's no coincidence that you can't hold your liquor (or wine or beer) as well as he can. Women produce less of the liver enzyme that breaks down alcohol, so alcohol stays in our system longer. And premenstrual hormonal changes make matters worse, causing your body to absorb alcohol even faster than usual. (Birth control pills and other medications containing estrogen can also slow the rate at which your body eliminates alcohol.) As a result, we're also more susceptible to alcohol-related health problems, like liver damage. Excess alcohol may also raise your risk of developing breast cancer, possibly because it may increase estrogen levels, which can fuel the development of tumors.

Don't worry: I'm not going to suggest that you abstain completely. Just keep it moderate—meaning no more than one 5-oz glass of wine, 12-oz beer, or 1 1/2 oz of hard liquor per day— particularly around your period, since that's a time when you can get drunk faster. And keep in mind that imbibing has a caloric price tag, so if you drink regularly, you'll probably need to cut back on other treats like chocolate and ice cream. Five ounces of wine will run you 120 calories, a 12-oz bottle of regular beer clocks in at about 150 calories (100 for light beer), and a 1 1/2-oz shot of hard liquor has approximately 100 calories (and that's without any added juice or soda). Also be warned that a study showed that mixed drinks containing artificial sweeteners were absorbed more quickly into the bloodstream. So it's probably best to stick with a mixed drink made with zero-calorie club soda and a splash of fruit juice rather than one with diet soda.

Pitfall: He doesn't eat your healthy dinners.

When you were single, you may have chosen calorie-conscious ingredients and used healthier cooking techniques. But when a guy enters the picture and isn't keen on a veggie or chicken stir-fry, chances are you start catering to his preferences. Now, you're cooking (and eating) more fried foods, red meat and cheesy pastas. My advice: Forget forcing steamed chicken and broccoli on him, and start by making small switches like replacing the regular mayo with reduced-fat, using low-fat cheese instead of the regular stuff, or cooking with ground turkey instead of beef.

You can also learn to make slimming versions of some of his favorite recipes. Chicken parm sandwiches and chips were both staples in my hubby's diet before we got married. I replaced the regular greasy chips with healthier ones, and a new and improved version of chicken Parmesan is now a Bauer family staple. A few more favorites-made-healthier tricks: baked "fried" chicken, ziti with meat sauce using lean ground turkey and a whole-wheat-blend pasta, and homemade pizza made with a wholewheat crust and reduced-fat cheese. You can even make lower-fat meat loaf. For a meat loaf recipe that my husband and brothers adore as well as my healthy chicken Parmesan, go to WomansDay.com/JoyRecipes.

I also recommend figuring out which healthy foods he actually likes—keep serving those salads and veggies and he's bound to show a preference for at least one—and make those more often. And if it helps keep the peace, make one of his more fattening favorites once a week. (Just limit yourself to a smaller portion.)

Another option is to cook the same thing for everyone but make his main dish be your side (or vice-versa). If he's craving pasta for dinner, let him have a big bowl with a little chicken mixed in while you have a piece of chicken with a little pasta on the side.

Pitfall: He's the cook. And boy, does he pile on the cheese and oil.

I know, I know, it seems downright ungrateful to complain about this. How can you criticize a guy who just took the time and effort to prepare dinner? Try appealing to his ego as well as his problem-solving nature. Tell him how much you appreciate his culinary skills, but add that you're worried that all the delicious food he's making is going straight to your hips. Then, instead of offering specific tips, say something like, "How can we lighten up that chili without sacrificing the flavor?" If he enjoys experimenting in the kitchen, he may happily take this on as a challenge.

If you don't see any changes, or if they're too small to make a difference—say, he's using low-fat cheese in the grilled cheese but coating the bread in butter—consider taking a collaborative approach. Suggest that the two of you research some new healthy recipes, and maybe even take a cooking class together. That will give you the chance to discover some new, lighter meals. Or you can offer to split the cooking: When it's your turn, make some of the healthy substitutions you're hoping he'll pick up. When he eats those mashed potatoes with cauliflower added in (to cut calories and carbs), be sure to point out how the healthier version tastes just as good!

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Is Your House Making You Fat?

Between enticing eats in the grocery store checkout line and coworkers' birthday treats at work, it seems as if we're bombarded with temptations every time we step out the door. But did you know that many reasons those stubborn pounds won't budge may actually be inside your own home? Whether the type of plates you use is causing you to eat more than you realize or your bedroom isn't letting you catch enough zzz's, learn how your house may be sabotaging your weight-loss plans.

Your serving plates are too large.

Those oversize restaurant-style plates make a dramatic statement on your dining table, but have you ever considered the effect they have on your waistline? "The size of your plate influences how much you serve yourself," says Brian Wansink, PhD, author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think. "By switching from a 10-inch plate to a 12-inch plate, people will serve themselves 22 percent more." Think you'll notice if you accidentally over-serve yourself? Think again. According to Dr. Wansink, on average, people eat 92 percent of the food they serve themselves, so it's worth it to downsize your dishes. Or, as Linda Mintle, PhD, author ofPress Pause Before You Eat recommends, use your salad plates for your entrées. Similarly, notes Dr. Wansink, when you use a larger serving spoon—a two-tablespoon version instead of a single-tablespoon size—you'll dole out 14 percent more food. So skip the giant serving utensils in favor of traditional cutlery. Photo: Thinkstock

Your drinking glasses are the wrong shape.

If your go-to glass is short and squat, it may be responsible for your similarly shaped figure. Dr. Wansink's research has shown that we end up pouring an average of 25 to 30 percent more liquid into short, wide 16-oz glasses versus tall, thin 16-oz glasses because, he says, our brains tend to over-focus on the height of objects at the expense of their width. That means when people pour drinks into tall glasses, they assume that they've reached their drink quota sooner, since they overestimate how much a tall glass can hold. So while your stumpy glasses may be perfect for guzzling down more water throughout the day, serve the sugary stuff in something else. Photo: Thinkstock

It's too easy to eat in front of the TV.

When your dining room table becomes a drop-off spot for mail, backpacks and other non-food-related items, it can be tempting to gather around the television for dinner or scarf down breakfast while checking your email. Avoid it, urges Dr. Mintle. "I always tell people to sit down at the table to eat their meals; it will slow them down. You eat more in front of a screen because you're multitasking and not concentrating on the feeling of fullness or enjoying the meal." Mike Moreno, MD, author of The 17 Day Diet, suggests making your television less visible. "The TV needs to be looked at as something that's an effort, as opposed to something that's in your face. Turning it on almost has to be a chore." So place it inside a media cabinet with doors or move it away from your comfiest couch so you aren't tempted to plop down and start snacking—especially since Dr. Mintle found that food commercials often prompt people to head for the kitchen. Photo: Shutterstock

Your bedroom isn't conducive to sleep.

Getting a good night's sleep is essential to keeping your weight in check. When you're tired, levels of leptin, which controls appetite, decrease, while levels of ghrelin, an appetite stimulator, increase. Dr. Mintle recommends working on your "sleep hygiene" to ensure you get enough zzz's. Swap your regular curtains for blackout shades, which will keep your room darker, or invest in a noise machine to cancel out distracting sounds. Even a too-soft or too-stuffed mattress can impede a restful night's sleep. For more tips on how to sleep better, check out " 10 All-Natural Ways to Get a Better Night's Sleep" and " 10 Foods That Can Help You Sleep." Photo: Thinkstock

Your snack foods are always within reach.

When you're hungry, you're going to grab what's closest, so if you take time to strategically arrange the food in your pantry, you can count on keeping off some of that excess weight. "You're three times more likely to eat the first thing you see than you are the fifth thing you see," says Dr. Wansink. Bury the unhealthy snacks in the back of the cabinet and place good-for-you foods front and center so they catch your attention first. And if you're in the habit of stockpiling family favorites from warehouse clubs, be sure to relegate the extras to the basement or garage. In a study documented in Mindless Eating, Dr. Wansink found that when people kept an excess of food and snacks in their kitchen—12 boxes of cereal instead of the usual two—they ate them at almost twice their usual rate during the first week. The surplus, suggests Dr. Wansink, encouraged them to finish up the food quickly so that the quantities would return to a "normal" amount. Photo: Veer/Woman's Day

The music you play while you eat is too fast.

You know how fitness experts recommend listening to up-tempo music while you work out so you'll increase intensity? The same logic applies to eating, but not in a good way. "The faster and more upbeat the music that's playing, the more you're going to eat," says Dr. Mintle. "It's an unconscious cue to pick up the pace at meals—think about fast-food joints that play these types of songs." On the other hand, she notes that nicer restaurants play slower music, which encourages you to linger and enjoy your meal. "If you eat slowly and enjoy every bite, your brain and stomach have time to talk and figure out that you're full before you overeat." So play some slow-tempo tunes to dial down your pace at the dinner table. Photo: Thinkstock

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Is My Child Overweight?

Photo: © Getty Images

Not too long ago, a reader wrote in telling us that her 10-year-old came home from school with a body mass index (BMI) report that said he was obese. "But he looks fine to me," she said. Which begs the question: How accurate is BMI in kids? Childhood obesity researcher David Kaelber, MD, an internist and pediatrician at MetroHealth in Cleveland, explains how it all works, healthy BMI ranges and how parents can teach their kids healthy eating habits in the event that they may show early signs of easy weight-gain.

The 411 on BMIs

In children, BMI percentile is pretty accurate, Dr. Kaelber says. First, you take a child's height and weight, and calculate his BMI the same way you would an adult's. That number is then plotted onto the standard BMI growth chart, which compares his BMI to the BMI of other kids the same age and gender—giving you his BMI percentile.

Underweight = less than 5th percentile
Healthy weight = 5th to 85th percentile
Overweight = 85th to less than 95th percentile
Obese = 95th percentile or greater

For example, a 10-year-old boy who is 4'5" and weighs 95 pounds would have a BMI of 23.8, placing him above the 95th percentile (obese). Because these calculations involve several steps, it's easiest to figure out your child's BMI percentile by plugging the info into an online calculator, such as the one at Apps.Nccd.Cdc.gov/Dnpabmi.

"BMI percentile isn't perfect, but it's extremely rare that someone would fall into the obese category simply because he's muscular," says Dr. Kaelber. But with many Americans now overweight or obese, most of us have lost sight of what a healthy weight looks like. So be sure to discuss your child's BMI percentile with his pediatrician, and take the information seriously. "Parents often assume, 'My child will hit a growth spurt at puberty and that will solve the problem.' That's absolutely not true," says Dr. Kaelber. In fact, his research shows that children who are overweight or obese before puberty are about 20 times more likely to be overweight or obese after puberty.

Conditions like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes and fatty liver disease (when fat deposits accumulate in the liver) are more common in overweight and obese kids, so if your child is heavy, make sure his doctor screens him for them annually.

Healthy Eating Tips for Kids

Instead of putting kids on a "diet," which implies deprivation, help them adopt healthy habits, like the five below, that'll last.

1. Get them to help with prep. "Kids are more likely to eat what they've been involved in making," says Keith-Thomas Ayoob, EdD, RD, associate professor of pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. In fact, that's the idea behind a new nonprofit campaign, The Kids Cook Monday. Toddlers can "paint" vegetables with olive oil; older kids can dice them. Learn more atTheKidsCookMonday.org.

2. Encourage volunteering. Boredom often goes hand-in-hand with overeating; volunteering keeps them busy and boosts self-esteem (which can help protect against disordered eating), says American Dietetic Association spokeswoman Melinda Johnson, RD.

3. Limit eating at the kitchen table. Munching while distracted (by a TV show, video game, etc.) leads to eating hundreds of extra calories, says Karen Ansel, RD, coauthor of The Baby & Toddler Cookbook.

4. Let them eat dessert. Indulging a little every day means kids won't feel deprived and will be less likely to overeat, says Elisa Zied, RD, author of Feed Your Family Right! Just remember to keep portions small.

5. Track it by texting. Research shows that kids are more willing to track their eating habits via texting than pencil and paper. If your child is struggling with his weight, suggest that he text himself every time he eats.

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6 Ways to Win the Weight-Loss Battle

Photo: © iStockphoto

Hopefully your program is off to a smooth start, and you're happy with your progress so far. But for others who aren't seeing results yet, it's been a little more frustrating. Many dieters tend to make similar mistakes when trying to lose weight. But being aware of these mistakes—and making small physical and mental changes—will help you lose the weight and keep it off for good. Here's how:

Slower is Better 
The first mistake dieters make is having unrealistic weight loss expectations. The SparkPeople program is set up to help you safely lose between half a pound and two pounds per week. Studies show that individuals who rapidly lose weight are more likely to gain it back. So if you've lost a few pounds this month—excellent! Don't discount that because you see someone on T.V. losing 15 pounds in two weeks.

Everyone is Different 
While some people lose a lot of weight in the first few weeks, others might not lose any weight for a few weeks. Although this can be frustrating when you're doing everything right, it's not a reason to give up. Sometimes it just takes a little while longer to see the results of your hard work reflected on the scale. Remember, eating right and exercising regularly have positive impacts on your health in many other ways, such as more energy, less stress, better sleep, and reduced risk of many diseases. You'll receive those benefits—regardless of the number on the scale.

Weight Loss is Rarely Constant from Week to Week 
Many people lose a lot in the first few weeks, and then their weight loss slows down considerably. It's totally normal to have weeks when you lose more than expected, and weeks when your weight remains the same despite your consistent efforts. Our bodies are very complicated and don't always cooperate with the estimates of how much we should expect to lose. People rarely lose a consistent amount of weight each week. Measuring your weight loss on a monthly basis can be a more accurate gauge of how well you are doing.

Weight Loss is Not Immediate 
Cutting calories today (through diet and exercise) will not necessarily show up on the scale at the end of the day or even by tomorrow. Your weight can fluctuate from day-to-day for reasons that have nothing to do with your diet and exercise program. Much of this fluctuation is due to water and food intake. While your scale may show changes throughout the day, fluctuations that could be due to food & water alone are not permanent weight losses or gains.

Weighing yourself immediately after wearing a "sweat" suit, getting into a sauna, or finishing an intense workout might (or might not) show a loss on the scale. But that is temporary water loss that will come back after you rehydrate yourself by drinking. Remember—you're trying to lose fat, not simply "weight" or water weight.

This is a good reason to not weigh yourself more than once a week. The Fitness Resource Center has several articles that expand on this idea, including Body Composition Measures Results and Measure Progress Without the Scale.

Setbacks Are Normal 
No one is perfect. You can expect to hit some bumps in the road, no matter how hard you're trying. The important thing is not to let those bumps get you totally off track, but to learn from them and move forward.

The article "1 Step Back, 2 Steps Forward", located in the Motivation Resource Center, offers tips for dealing with setbacks, and Coach Dean's message board post about staying motivated includes even more helpful advice.

Eating Less Isn't Always Better 
A lot of people assume that the less you eat, the faster you will lose. One of the biggest mistakes dieters make is not eating enough. Your calorie range is based on your current weight, goal weight, how aggressive your goal is (whether you want to lose weight quickly or slowly) and how much exercise you are doing. Your recommended calorie range might seem like a lot of food—especially if you are accustomed to fad, restrictive diets.

But if your body is not getting enough nutrients and calories (especially if you eat less than your recommended calorie range), your metabolism will slow down. This is called "starvation mode" because your body thinks it is experiencing a famine, so it starts holding onto every calorie you give it, making weight loss much slower or impossible, and weight gain more likely. That's why it's so important to eat within your calorie range. If you aren't, you could be doing more harm than good.

Hopefully these tips will help you avoid many of the common pitfalls dieters face, and deal with the ups and downs of weight loss more easily. Hang in there! It's not always easy, but you can do it!

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Losing Weight Saved Our Lives

Just after Christmas in 2007, Bob Dawson left his father's hospital bedside and walked up a flight of stairs. He was so winded that he could barely catch his breath. "At the top of that stairwell, I realized that if I didn't make some serious changes, I'd be right where my dad was—recovering from a quadruple bypass—sooner rather than later," recalls Bob, who lives in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, where he runs a cleaning business with his wife, Anne.

At the time, Bob was just 46 years old, but his blood pressure was on the cusp of being high enough to warrant medication, probably because he weighed 265 pounds and had a body mass index (BMI) of 36, which meant he was obese. Meanwhile, he was frequently taking aspirin and ibuprofen to cope with back pain. "I imagined myself in the not-so-far-off future being bedridden with a wife who wouldn't be able to take care of me because of her own health problems. It was a scary picture."

About two years earlier, Anne was diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). The disorder, in which there's reduced blood flow back to the heart after sitting or standing, frequently caused her heart rate to increase by 30 beats or more per minute. "My heart would race, my vision would blur and then I'd hear loud thudding, which meant I was about to faint," she recalls. After driving to the grocery store, she'd often find herself clinging to the shelves to avoid falling. She carried 200 pounds on her 5'4" frame, which only exacerbated her symptoms, but her condition made doing any sort of physical activity difficult.

The night Bob came home from seeing his father in the hospital, he sat down with Anne to talk about how they both needed to lose weight or face potentially life-threatening consequences. "Seeing Bob's father suddenly be so debilitated was really scary, especially since my dad had had bypass surgery a few years before and Bob's mom had recently had back surgery," says Anne. "I had tried losing weight in the past, but this time I decided that quitting wasn't an option."

The next day, Bob sat in front of the computer for hours, hunting for a weight-loss program that seemed easy to follow and didn't cost a fortune. "Most of the plans were too complicated or required buying expensive premade meals." Finally, SparkPeople ( SparkPeople.com), a free online program, caught his eye. "It appealed to me because we could create individualized plans for our goals," said Bob. He and Anne typed in their initial goal weights (for Anne it was 150 pounds; for Bob, 225), and the site generated a meal planner and recipe suggestions for each of them.

Setting the Stage for Success

The first thing that Anne and Bob did together was clear out all of their frozen pizzas, chips, dips and cookies, and make a shopping list for a week's worth of healthy recipes. Since their three boys, now 30, 24 and 22, were out of the house, they only had to cook for themselves.

One of Bob's early goals was simple: Eat at least four servings of fruits and vegetables a day, something he had never really done. "Once I started eating these healthy foods, I noticed that the expert advice about fruits and vegetables filling you up rang true: I did feel full and wasn't hungry all the time," he says. Anne's big change: eating fewer starchy foods like potatoes and pasta and more protein. And both of them used the tool on Spark- People to track their calorie intake. Within three months, Anne lost nearly 30 pounds. Bob had lost even more and loved to tease his wife about it.

"I was kicking her butt for the first three months, and I told her so," Bob says. "Then my weight loss tapered off and she kept right on going. I was the hare and she was the tortoise. I was a little jealous when she reached her goal before me. But because her health was at stake, her victory meant more to me than my own."

One afternoon in the grocery store, shortly after Anne had hit her first goal weight, Bob hoisted a 40-pound bag of dog food onto the cart and pointed out to Anne that the bulky bag weighed as much as she had lost. "I couldn't believe my body had been carrying all that around, every day," Anne says.

By the time Anne had dropped those 40 pounds (20 percent of her body weight), her heart symptoms were less severe and she was energized enough to start walking. Within a few months, walking became jogging and then running. She still got lightheaded (POTS can't be cured), but her episodes became much less frequent.

The couple also gave each other advice along the way. "Over the two years we lost weight, we never reached our goals at the same time," Bob says. "Whenever one of us would hit a plateau, we'd sit down together and search SparkPeople for tips to trigger more weight loss. At one point, Anne was frustrated because even though she was eating at the lower end of her calorie limit, the scale was still stuck. I told her to eat a little more for a couple of days." It worked. "I think it gave my metabolism a jumpstart," she says, explaining that your body can go into starvation mode and hold on to fat if it's not getting enough calories.

Beyond Weight Loss

A few months after they started running, Bob asked Anne if she'd do a local 10K with him, and she reluctantly agreed. "He hadn't run that far in more than 25 years, and I had never run a race at all, but I was willing to try," Anne says.

During that race a tradition was born: Bob crossed the finish line before Anne, then circled back into the crowd of runners until he found her and crossed the finish line again by her side. Since then they've run more than a dozen 5K and 10K races together, and each time Bob— who has lost a total of 65 pounds—finishes and then jogs back to find his wife. "As soon as I spot him, I know I have about a quarter-mile to go," says Anne.

Today, Bob's blood pressure is normal, and his back pain rarely bothers him. And Anne can't remember the last time she had a near-fainting episode (though she still takes medication for POTS). Aside from helping her lose a total of 70 pounds—and keep it off for more than a year—Anne's regimen of running, aerobic dance workouts and strength training has strengthened her leg muscles dramatically. Her doctors say that helps pump more blood back to the heart, which may in turn reduce the symptoms of her disorder.

At a recent checkup, Anne's cardiologist marveled at her progress. "I told him that we'd just run a half-marathon and the doctor said, 'That's farther than I've run in my whole life!'" Soon after, at another checkup, the physician actually walked Anne out to the busy waiting room and announced, "This woman has lost so much weight and she's now healthier than ever, despite her heart condition. She's proof that it is possible to make a dramatic change!"

"I was embarrassed," says Anne. "But if one person who heard my story went home and made the commitment to get healthy, it was worth it." Photo: Gregg Ruffing

The Dawsons' Best Advice

Anne and Bob Dawson are proof that teaming up can go a long way toward helping you reach your goals. In fact, research shows that people who have weightloss partners shed almost twice as much weight as those who diet alone. Tips from the couple:

Encourage each other. It was Bob, the runner, who encouraged Anne, who was content walking, to jog with him. Once she started, she kept it up and eventually completed a half-marathon. Anne's good about lifting weights and doing core training, but they're not Bob's favorite activities. "Bob really only strength-trains when I ask him to do it with me," says Anne. "Now I'm trying to persuade him to join me for yoga!"

Compete kindly. The Dawsons had a good-natured competition to see who could get to goal weight first. They also challenged each other with their running. "If Anne told me she ran 9 miles, I'd increase my mileage so I could match hers," says Bob.

Celebrate small victories. Every time the Dawsons lost 5 pounds, they would treat themselves to something special—and remind each other to do it. Anne would indulge in a manicure or pedicure; Bob would buy himself new exercise clothing or shoes. Photo: Gregg Ruffing

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The One Product That Fights All Blemishes

This past weekend I headed up to Saratoga, NY—a sleepy country town that also happens to have awesome food, great shopping and a really fun horse-racing scene (don't worry, I saved my money for the boutiques). I loaded up on SPF and enjoyed some quality time outside including a BBQ on Saturday that went well into the night.

By Dawn Davis

Unfortunately, while hanging out enjoying nature, I realized I was being attacked by nature: mosquitoes, ugh. I don't know why no one else had a problem, but they were feasting on only me. Even though I'd packed about 300 beauty products, there was no bug spray to be found, and all of the drugstores had been closed for hours (which really made me appreciate the 24-hour everything we have in NYC). I swatted as best I could, but in the morning it was clear that the bugs had won the battle.

Related: 4 Reasons You're Getting Chapped Lips 

Then, the search for anti-itch lotion began: I dug around in my cosmetics bag, and just as I was about to give up, came across this cute, pink roll-on stick—not exactly hydrocortisone cream, but a surprisingly good alternative. I've been obsessed with the the Sampar Prodigal Pen for years—if you dab it on a zit in the early stages, it will kill it right then and there—and it's also a great multitasker. I vaguely remembered learning that it works on bug bites, so I rolled the cool, tingly essential oils all over my splotchy legs. By the time I got in the car to head back to the city, not only had my bites stopped itching, they'd almost disappeared! It also works on razor burn and ingrown hairs...the list goes on. I just ordered another one to keep in my desk at work.

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