Author: Caite Hamilton

Caite has been at C-VILLE since 2007, when she started as a part-time proofreader. Over the last 16 years, she's held the positions of Online Editor and Special Sections Editor. Currently the Magazine Editor of C-VILLE, Caite oversees content in special issues and special publications (ABODE, Knife & Fork, C-VILLE Weddings, and Best of C-VILLE).

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Living

Learn to love

When you pick out a car, you expect it to have certain features—doors, an engine, a gas tank—for it to run smoothly. The same is true, says local relationship coach Marya Choby, when you pick out a mate.


Among the pearls of dating wisdom Marya Choby shared with SUGAR: “Date for fun and practice.”

Every relationship, she says, must meet each partner’s emotional and functional needs. That builds a solid foundation, so if the wants aren’t met (no sunroof or CD changer), the relationship will still manage (and the car will still operate). “[The wants] can add another level of fun or enjoyment to the relationship,” Choby says.

This is just part of what Choby tells participants (whom she says range in age from 35-70 years old!) during her “Get Ready for Love” workshops. During each session, which she holds a few times a year for five weeks each, Choby delivers a few key messages: Align your values with your search, know what you want from your life, and know what you want from your relationship. Her workshops help singles get clear about each of these things. “When you know what you want,” Choby says, “it helps you to balance your heart and your head.”
More information about Choby’s workshops can be found on her website (maryachoby.com), where you can sign up for the free “Conscious Dating package” and hear audio programs. She blogs at cvillesingles.blogspot.com.

Categories
Living

Zap me!

Unwanted body hair got you down? A laser might hold the answer. Using pulses of high-energy light to make hair follicles inactive, laser hair removal is touted as a permanent fix for your smooth-leg dilemma. However, says Charlottesville Skin & Laser Center’s Laser Technician Stephanie Snell, results really depend on the person. “Things like hormones and life changes can affect how long it lasts,” Snell says.


Is laser hair removal successful? It depends.

You should expect to have four to six treatments, all at least six weeks apart depending on the area you’re treating. How much will it set you back? In Charlottesville, laser hair removal can cost anywhere from $75 for the face to $700 for a man’s back.

People who’ve had laser treatments say there’s some pain involved (like a rubber band snapping the skin, according to writer Julyne Derrick, who offers a lengthy account of her bikini and leg lasering at beauty.about.com), and you should be realistic about what “permanent” means: Nothing’s guaranteed. Derrick, for one, experienced a regrowth of leg hair in the spring following her treatments. “I’m pretty happy with the bikini treatment, but I’m not sure if I’d recommend a full laser leg treatment,” she writes.

If it still sounds like a gamble, Snell offered this tip: “The thicker and coarser the hair, the more successful you’ll be.”

Categories
Living

Fat days: Nope, you’re not crazy

Finding a good pair of pants is the shopper’s equivalent of playing Goldilocks. Some are too big, most are too small, and a few (if you’re lucky) are juuuust right. But, catch a woman on a “fat day,” and even the formerly good pants are cast aside in favor of sweats.

But wait—a “fat day”? According to Kelli Hughes, a clinical nutritionist at UVA, there really is such a thing. “The two most common causes,” she says, “would pertain to water weight.” Hughes says a high intake of sodium (especially if you ate out the night before) could be a factor. The other is water retention related to a woman’s menstrual cycle.


The weight of water can tip the scale on certain days.

“The five days leading up to a period, women tend to consume more calories and become bloated,” says Cynthia Moore, an assistant clinical nutrition manager at UVA.

Of course, it isn’t just women who feel this way. Hughes says anybody’s weight can change from day to day based on what they’ve been eating and fluid shifts. So much for that second helping of porridge.