Our 10 Most Popular Recipes of 2024

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Our 10 Most Popular Recipes of 2024

Anyone who knows me knows I’m a foodie! When I come across a healthy recipe that sounds too good to pass up, I immediately add the ingredients to my next grocery list and get to work making it. This year, I discovered some of my all-time favorite recipes – from savory proteins and soups, to healthier versions of sweet treats.

Below, I’ve listed out our top 10 recipes from this year – I encourage you to try one whichever one (or two) calls your name! These recipes are well worth the effort, trust me. 

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Our 10 Most Popular Blog Posts Of 2024

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Our 10 Most Popular Blog Posts Of 2024

As it’s been tradition for us to do since 2021, from now until the end of the year we’ll be sharing our “Best Of” series, starting with our Best Of Pure Joy Wellness Blog Posts 2024! 

You will find our 10 most popular blog posts from this year – based on your engagement and feedback.

As you’ll see, 2024 was a pretty transformative year for our content. We interviewed numerous experts, covered a wide range of topics, and did some serious self-reflection.

I hope you enjoy this roundup, and that you learn something new, interesting, and valuable from these 10 posts. 

I

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10 Ingredients I Keep On Hand For Healthy Meals

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10 Ingredients I Keep On Hand For Healthy Meals

Leading up to Thanksgiving, I shared a list of shelf-stable ingredients I keep on hand for all of my winter holiday cooking and baking. This week, I’m dishing on the 10 ingredients I always (always) have in my kitchen that make throwing together a healthy meal easy, cost effective, and delicious! 

Whether you’re a cooking beginner or you cook all the time, these ingredients (and categories of ingredients) are worth adding to your shopping cart on your next trip. I’ve even included recipes for each one that I hope you’ll try!

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The Unexpected Risks of Being Too Thin After 50

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The Unexpected Risks of Being Too Thin After 50

When I was growing up, women were taught that they could never be too thin and that “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” This “thin is best” viewpoint has dominated for decades, and it certainly made a lasting impact during my childhood and teenage years. But as I got older and learned more about fitness and longevity, I realized just how damaging this belief really is. 

Aside from the serious psychological issues that arise from society expecting all women to be stick thin (think eating disorders, body dysmorphia, and more), the long-term physical effects can be debilitating.

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68 Lessons I've Learned in 68 Years

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68 Lessons I've Learned in 68 Years

This week, I joyfully celebrate turning 68 years old!

I can hardly believe it. How did time fly by so quickly?! It feels like just last week I was jumping double dutch on Grey Avenue in Evanston, Illinois, surrounded by my neighborhood girlfriends.

It seems like only yesterday that I was practicing scales on the piano, diving into "Charlotte's Web" for the first time, and participating in an integration program as one of a handful of Black kids, being bused miles from my home to attend Dawes School, an all-Jewish elementary school.

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Stressed About The Election? Here’s How to Manage Your Anxiety

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Stressed About The Election? Here’s How to Manage Your Anxiety

If you’re reading this on November 3, election day is just two days away! The race to the finish line has been anything but predictable, with Kamala Harris and Donald Trump dominating the social discourse. Even though all votes will be cast on Tuesday, we likely won’t know the outcome until several days later, which means until then, we’re stuck with election stress. 

If, like me, you’re not sure how to best handle your election stress and anxiety, and want an outlet for your pent up energy, you’ve come to the right place

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My 5 Secrets For Aging Well

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My 5 Secrets For Aging Well

Come this November, I will have spent 68 years on this planet… I can hardly believe it! I feel lucky and proud to say that I feel better now than I did 30 years ago – and I want you to feel as good as I feel. That’s why, in the blog post below,

I am sharing a few of my secrets for aging healthfully. To do that, I’m providing in-depth answers to the questions I get asked all the time by my clients, friends, and members of the PJW Community.

So, let’s not waste any time… 

What are some of the daily habits that contribute to feeling better as you age?

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5 Movements For Strengthening Your Feet with Jenavieve Adams

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5 Movements For Strengthening Your Feet with Jenavieve Adams

I am SO excited to share this week’s blog post with you – featuring our resident Pilates expert and movement extraordinaire, Jenavieve Adams! I have been taking Pilates with Jenavieve for a long time and I can tell you there is no one better out there. She is a thoughtful and engaging teacher who has become a trusted and caring friend – and this week she’s giving us a tutorial on five of the best movements for strengthening your feet! 

But first, why does foot strength matter? 

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How To Reinvent Your Mindset As You Age

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How To Reinvent Your Mindset As You Age

I had a conversation with a client the other day and she expressed to me how hard aging has been for her. I asked her in what way and she said she felt less relevant and she no longer had a place in society. She said “I feel invisible” and “people used to look at me on the street, or pay attention when I talked. Now it feels like everyone ignores me, just because I’ve gotten older.”

Now, when I look at her, I see a highly successful, wonderful woman who women of any age would aspire to be like! I hear this sentiment from a lot of women. To help us all revamp our mindset towards aging, I brought in my new friend Jack Trama – host of the Mindset Reinvented Podcast.

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Understanding Cholesterol: What's The Deal?

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Understanding Cholesterol: What's The Deal?

There’s so much buzz (and misinformation) about cholesterol circulating right now – specifically about high cholesterol and how it can often sneak up on us without any apparent symptoms. While this can certainly be the case for some people, it’s not as black and white of a topic as the media can sometimes make it seem.

So, in the interest of keeping the PJW community happy and healthy, I wanted to explain cholesterol a bit and provide a primer for those who aren’t familiar with it. 

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Does Your Health Routine Need A Reset?

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Does Your Health Routine Need A Reset?

The season is a’changing and autumn will soon be here in New York City. Summer comes to an official end in less than a month, and in preparation for the change of season, I’m taking full inventory of my health, mindset, and routines. I’ve had a very enjoyable summer – I got to take a little time off to rest, and I made a lot of fun memories. However, I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t stray from my usual healthy path the past few months…have you?

Summer always ends up being my most indulgent season – probably because of how social it is – and now I’m ready to clock back in and do the work. 

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Your Wellness Check: Annual Health Screenings For Women Over 50

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Your Wellness Check: Annual Health Screenings For Women Over 50

If your goal is to prolong your life – and to live happily and healthily while you’re here – it’s going to take more than just healthy eating and exercise.

Don’t get me wrong, those are two major components, but another core piece of the puzzle is staying on top of your health from a medical perspective, including seeing doctors for regular check-ups. Right now, the only way we can truly investigate our symptoms and know if we’re living with a disease is by seeing a doctor and getting tested for it.

Once I hit 50, I made it a priority to get these regular health checks each year, to make sure if I did have anything going on, I could catch and treat it early.

So for this week’s blog post, I’m sharing a list of the most important health screenings and tests for women over 50.

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Trips To Recharge, Featuring Travel Expert Roman Sacke

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Trips To Recharge, Featuring Travel Expert Roman Sacke

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – finding time to unwind and recharge is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. Whether it’s a weekend getaway or an extended vacation, spending time away from home can be a welcomed respite – a moment to relax, rejuvenate, and come back stronger.

In this week’s blog post, Roman Sacke, a seasoned luxury travel advisor, offers invaluable insights into the best places to relax and rejuvenate, drawn from his extensive travel experience!

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Are You Sleep Deprived? An Interview With Dr. Janet Kennedy, NYC's Sleep Doctor

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Are You Sleep Deprived? An Interview With Dr. Janet Kennedy, NYC's Sleep Doctor

With everything we have going on in our lives – jobs, relationships, extracurricular activities, other commitments – it’s easy for many of us to let sleep fall by the wayside. Sometimes sleep feels like the one part of our day where we can steal some time from, when really it should be the last place we look to make cuts. Prolonged periods of poor sleep have pretty devastating health effects – especially when someone enters into a state of sleep deprivation. 

For this week’s blog post, I interviewed Janet Kennedy, PhD, otherwise known as the NYC Sleep Doctor, to learn more about sleep deprivation – including how to identify it and how to treat it.

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The 411 On Ultra Processed Foods

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The 411 On Ultra Processed Foods

In case you didn’t see it, The New York Times recently published an interesting article about ultra processed foods, shedding light on their prevalence and potential (negative) health impacts. The article explores the work of Carlos Monteiro, a nutritional epidemiologist from Brazil, who identified a rise in obesity rates linked to changes in food consumption patterns.

As someone who has always valued nutrition and its role in longevity, I wanted to summarize this article for the Pure Joy Wellness community and give you the gist of what you need to know from these new findings. 

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Fish Oil 101: What You Need To Know

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Fish Oil 101: What You Need To Know

Fish oil, best known and loved for its abundance of omega-3 fatty acids, is a key player in promoting overall health and wellbeing. Its positive impact on heart health, cognitive function, and skin health is unmatched, not to mention it can benefit our eyes, digestive system, joints, and more.

Fish oil is an out-of-the-park homerun supplement, and in this week’s blog post, I’m covering the benefits, where to get it from, and my tips for finding your own fish oil. 

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The Guide To Strength Training For Women Over 50

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The Guide To Strength Training For Women Over 50

Age is often seen as a barrier to fitness, but for the most part, that’s a made-up and arbitrary aging belief. Hitting a certain age doesn’t mean you have to slow down or give up on physical activity—on the contrary, we need movement even more as we age, especially strength training! 

If there’s one piece of advice I can give you to totally transform your health and the way you feel, it’s this: start strength training. Not only will it help you maintain your vitality and independence as you age, but it will boost your self-esteem and confidence, which we could all use. 

Here’s where I would recommend starting, if you’re a strength training beginner. 

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Do You Have IBS or Leaky Gut?

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Do You Have IBS or Leaky Gut?

According to the American Gastroenterological Association, between 60 and 70 million Americans suffer from gastrointestinal diseases—including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), which affects between 25 and 45 million people. Statistics show that about 2 in 3 IBS sufferers are female—looking at us, ladies—but not everyone who thinks they have IBS actually has IBS.

In some cases, that IBS-looking condition is actually a different condition called Leaky Gut, which can have similar symptoms, but requires a different approach to fix it. 

In this blog post, I’ll show you the difference between IBS and Leaky Gut, with hopes of helping you understand which you’re dealing with (and hopefully giving you good info that you can use to improve your symptoms!).

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The Best Supplements For Women Over 50

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The Best Supplements For Women Over 50

Navigating the world of supplements can feel like diving into an endless sea of options, especially as we age and our bodies evolve.

While our primary source of essential nutrients should always be a balanced diet—check out my Top 10 Foods For Aging Well blog post here—the reality is that our plates don't always cover all the bases. That's where supplements can come in and bridge the gap between what we eat and what our bodies need.

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The Health Benefits of Orgasms with Dr. Laurie Mintz

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The Health Benefits of Orgasms with Dr. Laurie Mintz

Sexual wellness is an often overlooked topic, and the same goes for orgasms. I’ve never believed that sex should be an off-limits topic for people who want to discuss it, as demonstrated by the series on sex I did with Dr. Juliana Hauser (you can find Part One here and Part Two here), my post on the importance of a healthy sex life for aging, an interview I did with a sex expert about low libido, etc.

Until now, I haven’t really delved into the specific benefits of orgasms for our overall health or discussed the sexual wellness gap that exists between men and women.

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