10 Ways to Make Your Office Better for Your Health

You spend eight hours a day at work—at least. Here’s how to make your office a healthier place to be

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Weight-Loss Solutions for the New Year

These weight loss tips can help you stick to your new year’s resolutions this time around.

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10 Reasons Your Belly Fat Isn’t Going Away

Yes, stomach pudge may be stubborn, but here are a slew of research-proven ways to dump it for good.

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32 Ways to Reverse Holiday Weight Gain in 1 Week

If you gained a few pounds during the holiday season, you’re not alone. But the good news is that you can lose the weight quickly—in fact, it’s possible to do it in just 7 days.

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13 Weight Loss Resolutions You Shouldn’t Make

Swap sure-to-fail New Year’s resolutions with goals you’ll actually stick to.

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12 Ways to Have Your Happiest and Fittest Year Ever

New year, new chance to live well. Experts share simple ways to enjoy your happiest, fittest, and most prosperous year yet.

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28 New Year’s Resolutions to Look and Feel Better

Simple goals to eat healthy foods, make time for workouts, and feel healthier than you did the year before.

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21 New Year’s Resolutions You’ll Actually Keep

Science is shedding new light on how to turn a goal into action—and then lasting success.

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30 Easy Tips to Get Slimmer in 30 Days

Follow this monthlong plan and say hello to a thinner, healthier you.

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5 Moves for Stronger Arms

Looking to tone your arms but don’t want to add bulk? In this video, Cassey Ho demonstrates how to do 5 exercises to strengthen up your arms, blast fat, and get toned.

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Cassey Ho Tells You How to Get Strong and Lean in 2016

Cassey Ho strolls onto the set of her Health cover shoot sporting short-shorts and a cropped T, looking every bit the California girl. “Hello!” she says, flashing a smile. Immediately you want to be her best friend. She’s just so darn relatable—which is probably one of the reasons why the POP Pilates creator has more than 2.6 million subscribers to her Blogilates YouTube channel. Her fans even include such famous fitness fanatics as Lolo Jones and Taylor Swift.

But it wasn’t easy getting here. At an early age, Cassey struggled with her father’s expectations (more on that later). Today, the 28-year-old is a power brand, helping women reach their fitness goals while spreading a body-positive message. Her workouts—fun mat Pilates choreographed to Top 40 music—are taught offline, too, in 24 Hour Fitness gyms.

Here, Cassey shares how she has stayed strong all these years. Better yet, she worked with us to create the 30-Day Total Body Challenge. Sign up for exclusive fitness videos and tips that will help you get a killer body and have fun doing it.

What is the first piece of get-healthy advice you would give us?
Find a workout you love. A lot of times people are like, “CrossFit is in, so I am going to do CrossFit,” but it’s not right for everyone. Neither is yoga or Pilates. When you wake up and you cannot wait to get going, that is the workout for you. You’ll stick to it, it won’t feel like a chore, and then everything else will fall into place. You’ll start losing weight and you’ll feel less stressed—less stress will mean less cortisol, and you know, for women, stress leads you to hold extra fat in your lower belly.

RELATED: Why You’re Not Losing Belly Fat  

You make it sound so easy.
You just have to get on track. You don’t have to feel good while you are doing it. Once you get through a workout, you should feel exhausted, but also strong. Build on that the next day!

What do you love most about exercise?
Working out makes me feel so victorious and like I can do anything. I love that it’s not dependent on anything but you and how far you want to go.

You’ve built a pretty impressive brand. What’s your secret?
I always tell people to just get started. That’s what I did. I was working a job in a toxic environment and I wasn’t happy, so I quit. The only plan I had was to believe in myself. A lot of people stay stuck, but you are the CEO of your own life, and you can make it what you want it to be. Seriously, just get your message out there. Everyone has a smartphone, and there are so many avenues—Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube.

What mind-set will help us succeed with our New Year’s goals?
Even though you are on a weight-loss journey, you have to realize that you may not be happy when you get there, so you need to love your body and every step along the way. This is not about vanity; it’s about finding the joy in working out and making it your lifestyle.

Did you always know you wanted a career in fitness?
My dad wanted me to be a doctor, but I had no passion for that. I wanted a different career, but he told me that I would fail. I was 16! He said I was dishonoring the family. We stopped talking for a few years. It was crazy stuff that could break a person, and it almost broke me. But I knew that I had to live for myself. Now my dad brags about me, and both my parents are very happy for me.

Do you ever feel pressure to stay camera-ready?
Absolutely. I feel the pressure to look a certain way every single day. And I get it—I am a fitness instructor. But there are some people who think that because I don’t have six-pack abs, I am not a great instructor. That has nothing to do with my 10 years of experience of teaching. It has nothing to do with all of the lives I’ve changed.

RELATED: 10 Simple Tricks to Lose Weight Fast  

What do you love most about your body?
My legs—they are very strong. I can leg-press 270 pounds! Also, I love where my legs take me, metaphorically and realistically.

What gives you the most confidence?
Being sure of myself and continually working toward getting better and stronger—that makes me feel beautiful from the inside out.

With social media, is it hard not to compare yourself with others?
You should only compare yourself with who you were yesterday and try to be stronger than that. If you are trying to be someone else, you have already lost yourself. Plus, on Instagram, people post the perfect portfolio of their life; it’s not real. I don’t post myself crying or stuffing my face with burritos.

What are you eating when we aren’t looking? What’s your cheat meal?
Instead of “cheat,” which has a negative connotation, I say “YOLO.”

As in you only live once?
Yes! I recommend one YOLO meal a week. Sometimes you just need to feed your soul! So there is this one place, and it has these fried French toast sticks with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and strawberry. But to be honest, as much as I love YOLO meals, I go into a food coma and just get sleepy because of all the sugar. I’ve found that the more you eat clean, the more your body wants to stay on that path.

What is your biggest fear?
Losing all motivation. I really believe that is the beginning point of everything; that is the thing that makes you get up in the morning. Once you lose it, you lose confidence. You kind of lose everything.

Take the 30-Day Total Body Challenge!

Cassey’s Food Diary

Breakfast
“I love Paleo banana pancakes. All you need is two eggs and one ripe banana; mash them together until they form a batter, and then pour it into a skillet. And it’s already sweet, so you don’t need the syrup.”

Lunch
“Some type of salad, such as spinach with salmon, cranberries, nuts and raw onions with a little raspberry vinaigrette, or a chicken fiesta salad with corn, salsa, avocado and baby greens.”

Afternoon pick-me-up
“A power smoothie is the best thing ever. I use orange juice, almond milk, strawberries and bananas. You can add spinach, too. It’s also a great way to refuel post-workout.”

Dinner
“Brussels sprouts and salmon. Or I buy rice paper and fill the sheets with boiled chicken and lettuce, and then roll, roll, roll. I’ll dip them in a homemade sauce made with hoisin, sriracha and tons of lemon juice. It is such a great healthy, make-it-at-the-table meal.”

Cassey is wearing:
TK CREDITS

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Take the 30-Day Total Body Challenge

Follow along with the 30-Day Total Body Challenge from Cassey Ho of Blogilates. Cassey will set you up with the best exercises to tone and strengthen your arms, thighs, butt and core, plus she’ll give great tips for getting through cardio and rest days.

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Rest-Day Tips from Cassey Ho

You’ve worked hard and you deserve a rest. In this video, Cassey Ho gives tips for what to do on your rest day, how to make the most of it, and why it’s an important part of your workout routine.

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Cassey Ho’s 7-Move Total Body Workout

Want to work out your entire body in just a few moves? Cassey Ho, founder of POP Pilates and Blogilates, demonstrates how to get a toned body in just 7, fat-blasting moves.

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5 Ab Exercises That Blast Belly Fat

Having an excess of belly fat can cause serious health problems—from heart disease to type 2 diabetes. In this video, Cassey Ho demonstrates how to do 5 different ab exercises to whittle away belly fat.

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5 Booty-Burning Moves for a Better Butt

Your glutes are some of the strongest muscles in your body, so you need to make sure your butt stays in shape. Watch this video for 5 awesome butt workouts from Cassey Ho of Blogilates.

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5 Exercises for Tighter, Leaner Thighs

Blast cellulite on your thighs and get lean legs with these 5 exercises from Cassey Ho. Watch this video to see the best way to slim down your thighs for leaner legs.

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Cardio-Day Tips from Cassey Ho

Youve reached cardio day! Its time to get your heart rate up and your blood pumping. In this video, Cassey Ho gives a few tips for getting through cardio day and having a successful workout.

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8 Smartwatches That Will Take Your Workouts to the Next Level

Exercisers, rejoice! These time tellers up your game and look great, too.

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4 Steps to Slim, Sculpted Arms

Tracy’s secret to trim, toned arms? Hint: It’s part strength, part cardio.

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21 Products for the Best Sleep of Your Life

From the softest organic pillowcases to the sleekest high-tech tools, these must-haves will help you catch the most restorative z’s ever.

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6 Habits All Healthy Women Share

While we love a lively debate about the latest in dietary science or the hot new workout craze, the truth is that great health isn’t so complicated. It all comes down to a few simple rules. Besides exercising, eating fruits and veggies and never smoking (you already knew that, right?), here’s what the healthiest women do every day.

RELATED: 21 Reasons You’ll Live Longer Than Your Friends

They put themselves first
“Many women don’t approach their own needs thoughtfully,” says David Katz, MD, president of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and author of Disease Proof. “They just give themselves whatever is left over”—like eating scraps off your kid’s plate rather than making your own dinner, or sacrificing sleep to squeeze in an extra work report. But time for yourself should be the last thing to come off your schedule.

They’re not afraid of fat
We now know that the type of fat you consume is more important than the amount. For one, low-fat diets don’t seem to be any more effective than higher-fat diets at helping people lose weight. And when it comes to heart health, replacing saturated fats with refined carbs doesn’t do you any favors—but replacing them with unsaturated fats can reduce heart disease risk by up to 25 percent, says a recent study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Aim to get most of your fat from foods rich in mono- and polyunsaturated fats (such as avocados, nuts, seeds and fatty fish), says Marjorie Nolan Cohn, RDN, spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

RELATED: Best Superfoods for Weight Loss

They don’t drink their calories
Other than water, the only drinks worth a pour are coffee (mind the cream and sugar) and tea, along with the occasional alcoholic drink (no more than one per day), if you so desire. Even juices should be seen as a treat. That’s because juicing removes most of the fruit’s healthy fiber while preserving the sugar.

They use a shot of sunscreen
As in 1 ounce, enough to fill a shot glass, spread out over every exposed inch of the body. Don’t forget places like your ears (the third most common spot for basal cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer), neck, the back of your hands and—during sandal season—your toes, plus SPF lip balm.

RELATED: 22 Strange Ways the Sun May Affect Your Body

They don’t fight stress with screens
By the end of a long, harried day, the path of least resistance is often paved with wine, Häagen-Dazs and endless mind-dulling games of Candy Crush. But these types of activities offer only instant gratification—a little hit of dopamine in the brain’s reward center. “Do something instead that fosters a genuine positive emotion; that’s what induces feelings of calm and safety and puts the brakes on your body’s stress response,” says sociologist Christine Carter, PhD, senior fellow at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center and author of The Sweet Spot. One of the best ways to tap into good vibes: Connect with others in person, not just via Instagram and Facebook likes.

They’re strict about bedtime
Mix up your meals, your workouts, your social life—but be consistent about when you hit the sack. Going to bed and waking up at the same time every day is essential to making sure you get enough shut-eye—a lack of which can, over time, increase your risk of heart disease, obesity, depression, diabetes and more. Plus, it’s hard to feel productive or fend off stress and mood swings when you’re yawning through the day. If you struggle with sleep, check out our great-sleep guide. And set up a relaxing bedtime routine to help you wind down. That includes turning off all electronic devices, notes Carter. Your Pinterest boards will be there in the morning.

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6 Winter Salad Recipes as Satisfying as Comfort Food

Who doesn’t love greens year-round? Try one of these extra-delicious meals in a bowl.

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10 Natural Ways to Beat Heartburn

Heartburn can be such a pain, especially when it interferes with your everyday life. Luckily, there are some natural ways that you can fight heartburn, like eating smaller meals. Watch this video for more tips and tricks.

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7 White Noise Machines For a Good Night’s Sleep

For natural noise: Marpac Dohm DS While many sound machines play audio tracks on a loop, this one generates white noise mechanically with a built-in fan. The result: A natural and consistent whir. By twisting the top of the machine, you can open or close air passages until you discover the tone and volume most pleasing to your ears. Don’t expect any fancy features, like an alarm clock or auto-off timer. There is only one button on this machine (the one/off switch). But the Dohm creates such realistic and calming white noise its been dubbed the official sound conditioner of the National Sleep Foundation.($60; amazon.com) For high-quality sound: Marsona DS-600A There’s a reason that Marpac, the company behind this device (as well as the Dohm), has been in the sound machine business since 1962. The Marsona isn’t much to look at, and doesn’t offer any special features aside from a 60-minute timer. But it’s really designed to do just one thing well: help you unwind to any of six popular soundscapes—crashing surf, a babbling brook, waves lapping against a lakeshore, distant thunder, a chorus of crickets and spring peepers, and of course, white sound.($100; amazon.com) For dynamic sound: LectroFan What makes this minimalist machine stand out is software that dynamically generates sound. Translation: No predictable looping clips! Before you go to bed, you choose one of two options—white noise or fan—and select from 10 variations in pitch and volume. For those who only have trouble falling asleep, the LectroFan provides a one-hour timer. But if you need continuous sound to stay asleep, you can run the efficient device all night long for far less energy than it takes to power an actual fan.($55; amazon.com) For super-clever tech: Ecotones Sound + Sleep Machine The priciest of our picks, the Sound + Sleep offers a good deal of versatility. It can actually detect other noises in your environment (say, the neighbor’s howling dog, or a snorer down the hall) and adjust to mask them. The gadget also has a unique “richness” feature, which allows you to add more detail to each of the 10 soundscapes (which include various nature settings, as well as options like “fireplace,” “trains,” and “city”). So for example, if you choose “ocean,” you’ll hear breaking waves. Touch the richness button to add in birds and seals. Touch it again and you’ll hear bells and foghorns. Other nifty extras: A headphone jack (in case your bedmate prefers to snooze in silence) and four auto-off timer choices (30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes).($150; amazon.com) For all-night therapy: Homedics HDS-2000 Deep Sleep II You may like zoning out to the sounds of a rainstorm—but in the wee hours, a clap of thunder may be enough to rouse you from slumber. The brilliance of this machine is that you can set it to gently transition from one of the eight water or nature settings (think “brook,” “ocean,” “summer night”) to the steady hush of white noise after you’ve fallen asleep. Another bonus is the “tone” button: Turn it up for a higher pitch, or down to add bass, until you find your personal sweet spot (which the machine will remember the next time you turn it on). Want to tweak the volume, or kill the “wind chimes” and switch to “campfire”? Use the handy remote control and you don’t have to leave your bed.($90; amazon.com) For portability: Homedics SoundSpa SS-2200 If you need a machine you can take on the road, this one’s light (1 pound), compact (6 x 6.5 x 2 inches), and may be just what you need to relax in a strange bed. It can run on four AA batteries when, say, you’re traveling abroad and short an adapter, or you’ve pitched your tent next to a rowdy group of Boy Scouts. Pick from six sound options: thunder, rain, ocean, summer night, brook, and your standard white noise. Plus you get an auto-off timer that you can set for as long as an hour.($36; amazon.com) For the most bang for your buck: Conair Sound Therapy Not sold on noise machines just yet? You might want to try experimenting with this no-frills device before your spring for a more sophisticated system. For its budget-friendly price, the Conair plays an impressive 10 sound channels, including some more unusual settings like “tropical forest,” “waterfall,” and “heartbeat.” The machine should drown out ambient noise that might be keeping you up. But if you find yourself wanting more features or better sound, you can always upgrade to a higher-end system.($23; amazon.com)

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