As Candy Pratts Price so colorfully said in The September Issue documentary, “September is the January of fashion.” We think she should add fitness on to the tail-end of that quote, as fall is a fantastic time to start fresh as well.

That’s why FITiST.com created a one-off package to help you kick your fitness regimen into high gear. Introducing the Special September Plan, a mix of classes curated by Sharon Richter, FITiSTs in-house Nutrition Expert, AEROSPACE, and EBoost. For $430 you get six classes (2 Indoor Cycling, 2 Core/Pilates, and 2 Performance), one personal training session with Leila Fazel (co-founder of AEROSPACE), a one-on-one session and meal plan with dietician Sharon Richter, and a 30-day supply of EBoost.

Learn more about FITiST and their 10 plans here; and sign up for the Special September Plan here.

Popular diets like Atkins and South Beach have tricked us into thinking that carbs are the enemy and hence have led us to become a nation plagued with “carbophobia.” We’re severely affected.

However, The CarbLovers Diet—from the editors of Health—is a book based on a study conducted at the University of Colorado Health Science Center for Human Nutrition, which reveals a surprising side to the anti-carb craze. The book suggests that by increasing your intake of resistant starch carbs, you’ll burn and shrink fat cells, curb cravings, regulate blood sugar, and your lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

So what are these magical resistant starch carbs? A few include whole-grain pasta, sweet potatoes, and bananas. Go get yourself The CarbLovers Diet and start making healthy (yet not self-depriving) changes for life. What are you waiting for? Eat up!

We’re sure there are many of you who, like us, have a sweet tooth that has a mind of its own. More often than not, we’ll find ourselves craving all sorts of sweets after we’ve just eaten! We’ll try to beat the craving by brushing our teeth or popping a piece of gum into our mouths, but it usually doesn’t fully sate our cravings. We recently discovered cinnamon sticks—a sweet and slightly spicy, calorie-free treat that may curb cravings. And what’s great about the sticks is that they’re not difficult to make at home! All you need are toothpicks, cinnamon oil, and a glass jar. Simply soak the toothpicks in the oil overnight (any longer might make them too hot to handle), lay on a nonabsorbent surface to dry! Keep in mind that besides working as a great diet trick, the toothpicks are popular with people trying to quit smoking, and they serve as a great calorie-free breath freshener. And they’re so small that you can carry them anywhere! Tote them in a lipstick holder for a discrete, fashion forward look.

Picture this: yoga class begins at 6:30PM, thirty minutes after you’ve left the office. The studio is right by your office, but you live across town so you don’t want to go home in between work and class, plus you’d like to get a small bite to eat. So you lug your yoga mat from home in the morning to work, then to class, and finally home again. Don’t you resent its bulky, awkward shape when it bumps the person next to you in the subway, or as you walk down the street? (We’re sure you do.) But with Yoga-Paws—small pieces of yoga mat that attach to your hands and feet, this is no longer be an issue. Not only do they provide plenty of traction, they also offer thick, comfortable padding. The tops of the paws are mesh and the insides are lined with a towel-like material, both of which wick excess sweat. The only drawback is if you wear shorts and perform a pose where your knees are down, as your skin will be in direct contact with the floor. Even so, Yoga-Paws seem well worth the $36.95 investment. (If for nothing other than not having to lug your mat around ever again!)

Have you been increasing the intensity of your workouts to try to lose more weight, only to find yourself starving after a tough sweat session, eating back all the calories (and maybe more) that you just worked hard to burn off? Unfortunately, this scenario is not uncommon. Levels of hunger hormones rise after exercise, especially in women—a “perk” of childbearing, as women’s bodies hold onto extra energy for reproduction purposes. But while dieting may produce more desirable short-term results than exercise, exercise keeps more pounds off in the long-term. So don’t cut back on your workouts, just be cautious of how many calories you’re eating as opposed to how many you worked off. A good trick is to eat no more than half of the calories you burnt during your workout. So if you ran two miles (about 200 calories), don’t eat more than a 100-calorie snack afterwards. Now that a lot of your favorite foods come in convenient 100-calorie packs, it shouldn’t be difficult to monitor your intake. And be sure to eat something small before your trip to the gym so that you don’t develop hunger pangs midway through, ultimately cutting your workout short and forcing you to eat the first fatty food in sight (like the 600-calorie double chocolate brownie attractively displayed in the window of the bakery conveniently located next door to the gym).

Are you ready for this? Those who suffer severely from allergies may be in store for much more nasal annoyance, as allergies are no longer just a spring-season occurrence. Sadly, your stuffy nose, watery eyes, sinus headaches, itching, et al will be around for a little longer. Le sigh!

According to a study conducted by the USDA Agricultural Research Service, recent climate changes may be doubling the production of ragweed pollen, which will drastically extend and exacerbate your allergies.

Have you been tested? If not, now is the perfect time to go and find out exactly what you’re allergic to. (Fingers crossed your allergist says NOTHING!) If so, stock up on allergy medication; it looks like your sneezing and wheezing is set to get a bit worse in the years to come.

For more information on the study, please visit USDA.gov.

Ibuprofen is used to rid us of headaches, but it may also be the key to keeping Parkinson’s disease at bay.  A study published in Neurology found seniors who took ibuprofen twice a week, as opposed to acetaminophen and other NSAIDs had a 38% lower risk of developing the disease. The anti-inflammatory aspects of the drugs may reduce the beginning symptoms of Parkinson’s. Though this may be a correlation, the researchers advised not to start taking ibuprofen since more research needs to be done but understanding the disease has become much easier.

For more information, please visit Neurology.org.

xx, Valis Vicenty

In vitro fertilization experts are looking into a new method of IVF using three people to reduce the chance of genetic birth defects and diseases. Using similar cloning technology that created Dolly the sheep, British researchers are looking to further develop a new technique that would involve an embryo’s nuclear DNA being extracted and placed into an donor egg whose nucleus is removed and discarded. It would result in 98% inherited genetic material from the mother and father with the remaining two percent coming from the donor egg. The need for this technique is based on many genetic diseases being the result of faulty mitochondrial DNA, which power the cells in the body and are inherited from the mother. Currently this technique is banned under British law, but the researchers are looking to have the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority review their research to approve further investigation.

For more information, please visit HFEA.gov.uk.

xx, Valis Vicenty

As the skirts get shorter and the heels get higher, it’s not just your gams that are getting all of the attention. Ankles also get noticed, and it may be time to cut back on the salt if yours look more like cankles. Salt is known to cause water retention and bloating, and it can visually affect obscure areas. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends only 2.3g of sodium per day, which equals to 5.8g of salt. Choose foods with less than than 1.25g of salt (0.5g of sodium) and check the labels of baked goods, soups, ready-made foods and cereals. Keep yourself hydrated with plenty of water to flush out your system of excess salt and watch as your cankles start to shrink within a week!

For more information on how salt affects the body, please visit CDC.gov.

xx, Valis Vicenty