Whether it’s the middle of a busy work season, motivation is low, or you’re just beginning to build a consistent workout routine, deciding what type of exercise is best for you and how often to do it can be challenging. Because everyone’s goals, age, and other factors will vary, the “right” workout plan will differ. Here are a few general strategies, broken down by goal: Before embarking on a weight loss plan, chat with a physician and/or nutritionist to find out what is safe and what will work best for you....

So let’s talk about how to be friends with your ex—and when it does and doesn’t work. According to licensed marriage therapist Weena Cullins, LCMFT, sometimes two people find they don’t work as romantic partners, but there are aspects of their relationship that are still valuable and can be healthily maintained through a friendship. “Being friends with your ex can be a good idea when other aspects of the relationship were valuable to your growth, development, or life goals,” she explains....

Moreover, our relationship with ourselves is the only one we’re guaranteed to have for the entirety of our lives—and so it’s worth nurturing it so we’re able to enjoy our own company as much as we do that of our friends and lovers. This self-awareness and self-tending are vital to our daily functioning, as being disconnected from our own feelings and needs often comes at the cost of our health and well-being....

Focusing on varying the types of vegetables on your plate can certainly make healthy eating more interesting, and using tactics to sneak veggies into your day will make it that much easier to adequately fuel and nourish your body. If you are a numbers person, the USDA guidelines recommend you consume between 2 and 4 cups of veggies each day. The exact amount varies by age and gender, and variety is encouraged across several key categories: dark green; red and orange; beans, peas, and lentils; starchy; and other vegetables (plus, loads of examples of what actually constitutes 1 cup based on whether the particular vegetable is fresh, cooked, frozen, chopped, etc....

So here are six proactive steps to prepare yourself for breaking up with someone you love and really move on: Have you been lowering your standards and accepting far less than you deserve? Imagine you’re helping your best friend gain perspective on their relationship. What would you be pointing out to them about their partner? Take a heartfelt inventory of how much pain, anxiety, sadness, and disappointment you’ve been experiencing (or suppressing)....

In the same vein, sometimes mental health struggles can manifest in our appearance, and scalp picking is one common example. While it’s not always related to mental health struggles, it certainly can be—and is in many cases. We ask mental health professionals and scalp experts for the 101 on scalp picking—here’s what they want you to know. If you pick at the scalp due to product buildup, tight hairstyles, or itchiness from a new hair or scalp product, it’s not necessarily something to worry about....

This year’s holiday season is a paradoxical source of joy and tension. Even those who’ve never suffered from anxiety and stress are wrestling with a sense of overwhelm after months of pandemic-related life changes. Those with pre-existing mental health issues are discovering that additional stressors—and disrupted holiday traditions—are exacerbating anxiety, stress, and depression. The groups that may be hit the hardest include those who are isolated due to relationship status, health issues, age, or strict social distancing preferences....