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Season 14 of The Biggest Loser premiered last weekend, featuring three teenagers for the first time ever, and critics are in an uproar. There’s so much controversy surrounding the decision to include teens on the show, and I’m finding myself kind of angry about the criticism.

Why is it so bad that there’s a show helping obese teens lose weight? It’s not like they have 100-pound cheerleaders competing. These are actual obese teens who can’t do normal teen things because they’re so overweight. These are teens who want to change their lifestyles.

Critics of the choice are saying that having teens on the show presents a confusing message and perpetuates body image issues. Huffington Post Teen Associate Editor Carolyn Gregoire said:

“You see adults on the show who are running until they fall, until they’re vomiting, and they’re being yelled at. We don’t want to be sending that message to a vulnerable young person who can be very triggered by seeing this kind of activity. I don’t think that shame and creating a fat-phobic culture is a motivating way to tell people they need to be healthy.”

It appears that most of the critics haven’t even seen the show. The teens aren’t doing the same tasks as the adults. The kids don’t even participate in weigh-ins, and they don’t get eliminated. Longtime trainer Bob Harper says:

“With the kids, we wanted to do exactly the opposite of when we work with the adults. We do no breaking down, just lifting up … It’s about getting kids to move around again and getting kids to be kids.“

Isn’t this better than shows like Teen Mom and 16 And Pregnant? I know those shows are controversial on their own, but why is there so much backlash about kids getting healthy? This theory that all teens who watch the show will get body dysmorphic disorder and become fat-phobic is absurd. I think if anything, seeing obese teens get their lives back will be inspiring and helpful.

Surely there are obese teens watching that will aim to make changes in their lives. I don’t think this is going to send teens into an eating-disorder frenzy. The show never encourages contestants to starve themselves. It encourages healthy ways to lose weight, healthy workouts, healthy everything.

It’s also kind of insulting to the teen population that these critics think so little of their intelligence. Y’all are smart. You’re not going to think you’re fat simply because three teens on a show are working out and losing weight to you know, not be obese anymore.

I think having teens on The Biggest Loser is great. I hope these teens have so much success on the show that producers decide to have an all-teen series.

What do you think about there being teen contestants? Do you think it will help other overweight teens? Do you think it will be harmful? Tell me what you think in the comments!

Since we’re talking about weight, Facebook could be the culprit for those extra pounds!

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I love makeup, but I hate the prices! I’ve spent years as a beauty guru, and my wallet has certainly suffered. Mainly because I like high end brands because the products are better. I’d rather pay a little more for better quality.

But I’ll tell you a little secret: some drugstore make up products are essentially the same as high end ones! I know, it’s a ripoff. Criminal even!

Lucky for you, I have a breakdown of high end products and their budget-friendly twins.

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Make Up For Ever HD Microfinish Powder $32

I use this stuff every.single.day. It lasts a while, but $32 is a hefty tag.

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e.l.f. High definition powder $6

e.l.f. makes virtually the same exact product for about 1/5 the cost!

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Benefit Benetint $29

Another go-to product for me. I use it on my lips and cheeks, but it's hard for me to justify $29 for a such a small bottle.

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The Body Shop Lip & Cheek Stain in Rose Pink $8.40

$8.40! I can't even believe it.

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MAC Cosmetics Viva Glam Nicki $15

MAC is actually pretty affordable, but $15 for lipstick that I won't use that often isn't worth it.

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CoverGirl Lip Perfection Lipstick in Temptress $6.99

CoverGirl makes the same shade for much cheaper, and you can pick CG up at pretty much any drugstore.

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Stila Stay All Day Liner $20

I hate that I've spent $20 on an eyeliner. Granted, this stuff really does stay on. But there are more affordable products.

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Maybelline EyeStudio Master Precise $7.99

Once I realized how stupid $20 eyeliner was, I switched to this. It's my favorite eyeliner ever. EVER.

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NARS Orgasm $28

Okay, NARS Orgasm really is my favorite blush in the world. I will always buy it, but there are other options!

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Milani Baked Blush Luminoso $7.49

Milani makes a pretty spot-on dupe for Orgasm. This color is flattering on nearly every skin tone so it's a steal for under eight bucks!

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Smashbox Photo Finish Primer $49

I used to be under the impression that primers have to be expensive to work. High end primers are awesome, but there is a much, much cheaper alternative.

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Monistat Soothing Care Chafing Gel $5.99

No I'm not kidding about this. It literally has the same formula as most primers. And it's like six dollars. Trust me, it works.

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What are your favorite drug store brand products? Do you know of any dupes? Tell me in the comments!

Here’s a cheap trick to get rid of puffy eyes

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Science told us this week that it’s basically impossible for men and women to be just friends. But it can happen! Sometimes you really are purely friends with a guy. Sometimes a guy can be your BFF. What happens when rumors start flying that you like your guy BFF? Sara can help you figure out what to do and how to keep your friendship in order.

Have you ever dealt with rumors of liking your best guy friend? How did you deal? Tell us in the comments!

Does your best gal pal’s boyfriend totally suck?

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Jennifer Lawrence might beat out Jessica Chastain for Best Actress at the Oscars [Crushable]

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Dudes wearing Uggs. I didn’t know this was a thing, and I can’t look away! [Smosh]

Does your BFF have a sucky boyfriend?

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Taylor inadvertently gave me some wisdom. Source Wenn

I never thought I would be taking sex advice from Taylor Swift, but I learned something really important from her today. Obviously Taylor has dated a lot of guys. Four albums worth to be exact. Homegirl falls in and out of love faster than I eat an entire pack or Oreos, which is like really fast.

Since her very public breakup with her very public boyfriend, Harry Styles, everyone’s been trying to figure out why it ended. Well, one insider is saying Harry ended it because Taylor’s a prude. To sum it up, Harry apparently finds the popstar “sexually uninteresting.”

My favorite part: “What she doesn’t get is that the guys keep dumping her because she’s being a prude.”

I have to sound off here. I’m not Taylor’s biggest fan in the world, but after reading this article I’m pretty ticked.

A person’s sex life is nobody’s business, celebrity or not. Taylor can have sex or not have sex with all of her boyfriends, and it shouldn’t matter. We get upset about slut-shaming all the time, but we should be getting upset about prude-shaming too, which is exactly what’s happening here.

It seems us girls can’t win either way. If we have sex with a number of people, we’re sluts. If we don’t have sex with anyone, we’re prudes. Where does it end?

If you are comfortable with the choices you’re making in your sex life, that’s all that matters. You are your own judge here, not anyone else. If you want to have sex, great (be safe!). If you don’t want to have sex, great. It’s up to you, and you should never let someone–your boyfriend, your friends or even Harry Styles–dictate how to handle your life.

If you’re with a guy and you feel pressured, speak up. You’re allowed to say no to anything you don’t want to do. It doesn’t make you a prude to say no.

Gotta love her! Source drneeb

Ms. Norbury in Mean Girls really has the best advice. And you know what? You all have got to stop calling each other prudes. It just makes it okay for guys to call you prudes.

How do you feel about people calling Taylor Swift a prude? Have you ever been called prude? How did you handle it? Tell me in the comments!

What you need to know about incurable gonorrhea

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Seeing him with someone else isn’t so bad Source Shutterstock

I dated this guy for about three years in college, and we had a pretty nasty breakup. We both moved on but didn’t speak for a very long time.

Well I heard from him recently. He said he still thought about me all the time, but he’s been channeling everything that went wrong into making his new relationship work. I felt like he was checking in to see if I was miserable because he was finally happy with someone else.

I didn’t want the conversation to carry on. So when he was going on about his newfound love, I said I was glad that he was happy and I truly hoped things work out for them. I meant it, but he seemed surprised.

It can be really difficult to say you’re happy for your ex, but here are ten reasons why I really am.

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Our relationship became toxic

After about a year, we were fighting constantly and threatening breakups every other week. If we were still together, it would have just gotten worse every day.

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He's not my mess anymore

I felt like a mom more than a girlfriend most of the time. Yes, you want to take care of who you’re dating but without feeling like a parent.

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He needed someone different from me

I’m a pretty anxious and intense person, and he was super laid back about everything. Opposites attract, but sometimes not enough to last.

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I didn't want to move to Florida

I’m a Southern girl, but I always had a life plan to move to New York. He wanted to move back home after college and live in Florida. Forever. My hair can’t handle that humidity.

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I learned a lot

As tumultuous as it was, I can say that I learned a lot during the course of our relationship. Looking back, I know how to deal with issues that I didn’t before. Moving forward, my relationships will be much more healthy.

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I grew up

Two years ago, I wouldn't have written this article. That relationship kept me in a very immature state of my life where I was trying to move forward, but I just couldn’t because I was stuck.

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Closure

I moved on quickly after our relationship ended, but he didn’t. I was the bad guy. So to see him really move on with someone who’s right for him makes me feel better.

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I've dated some great guys since then

I had another serious relationship after this one, which I am so grateful for even though it didn’t work out. But I’ve dated some really wonderful guys.

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He's really happy

And that makes me happy. I was with him for three years, and while I don’t have feelings for him anymore, I still care about his wellbeing.

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I'm really happy

If I were miserable, I’d probably get really thrown off whenever I heard from him. But I’m not, so all is well.

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There are some exes that I don’t like to hear from ever, but it’s really nice to have those that still care about how you are. I’m not going to go hang out with this one in my spare time or anything. It’s comforting to know that we don’t hate each other like we did right after our breakup.

It takes a while to get to the point where you can be happy about your ex being with someone else. Or just being in general.  Most of the time it has to do with you being happy with yourself.

Is your ex dating someone new? How do you feel about it? Are there any exes that you’re truly happy for? Tell me in the comments!

This girl isn’t so happy with her ex, so she gets revenge instead!

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I’ve been working on the internet for a long, long time. It can be an exhausting job, and sometimes we wonder why we do what we do. But really, we do it for y’all. And when we get Facebook posts, tweets, and emails from readers, it makes us feel so great. I know it probably feels like you’re just sending an email off to no one, but we really do read everything you send us! It’s part of why we love our jobs so much.

I’m not a very emotional person, and I don’t really like rom-coms. But every now and then, something makes my heart shine bright like a diamond a la Rihanna. Well, that something today was a sweet email from one of you.

Dear Gurl.com,

This website has taught me so much. About sex. About relationships. About friendships. About things I didn’t even know existed. And about life in general. Without this website, I would be clueless about the world. You’ve opened my eyes to so many things and I can’t stress how grateful I am. I really believe the things I’ve learnt from this website will help me in life. Some of the things I read on this website are hilarious and cheer me up before I can even think about being upset. My parents should be grateful too, I’m not addicted to drugs or alcohol, I’m simply addicted to Gurl.com.

This website gives me hope about people I could possibly meet in the future. I hope to have experiences as cool as some of the things I’ve read here (although some I wouldn’t mind giving a miss!). You’ve taught me that I’m beautiful inside and out, as is everyone else. Without this website, I fear I’d be just like the small minded girls I’m surrounded by each day, interested in nothing other than boys, makeup, popularity etc. You’ve given me inspiration to become a strong, successful, independent woman in society and have taught me that I’m just as important as anyone else. I’m not just a 14 year old girl anymore. I’m a 14 year old girl with an opinion that deserves to be heard. I honestly believe that when I’m older I’ll remember this website. So, thank you. Thank you for everything I’ve learned, and everything I’ve still got to learn. The staff at Gurl are the big sisters I never had.

I can’t even. This is why we do what we do. Knowing that we’re making a small difference in your lives, whether it’s making you laugh with a funny video or helping you through a tough issue, this is why we do it. Hearing from you beautiful and smart young women makes us love our jobs even more.

You are the reason we write everyday. You are the reason we strive to be better people. We want you all to know that you are wonderful, and it’s because of you that we get to do this. Without readers, we wouldn’t have a reason to write. So thank you for reading. Thank you for talking to us. Thank you for being the amazing girls that you are.

We love hearing from you, and we do read what you have to say so keep it up in the comments or send us an email!

As if this story isn’t cute enough, this 10 year old boy donates his allowance to save kittens.

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Don’t let it get to this point. Source Shutterstock

Girls fight. There’s no way to avoid it, really. It comes down to human nature and that you’re not going to get along with everyone. But when you get into a tiff with your friends, how do you handle it?

Some women have been turning to friendship counseling and have ended up spending thousands of dollars. Two women spent three thousand dollars to mend their strained relationship. Three thousand dollars! That’s a bit excessive, right?

The idea of friendship counseling seems pretty solid to me, actually. There’s relationship counseling and family counseling. So, why not for friendships too? But I think there are a lot of steps to take with a friendship before getting to that point of counseling.

Over the years, I’ve lost friends for one reason or another. And to tell you the truth, I can’t name a single one of them that I’d go to a friend counselor with. Sometimes people grow apart, and that’s totally okay. And sometimes if there is a toxic person in your life, you might need to let them go.

I have a lot of girlfriends that are scared of confrontation, even now as adults. It’s actually a really big issue that I’m seeing among girls these days. We’re so afraid of someone being unhappy or mad at us that we don’t take the time to address small issues before they blow up. And then when it does blow up it takes forever to fix. I find myself caught in the middle of issues between friends, so I guess I’m a friendship counselor in a way. Maybe I should start charging.

Before you start looking up friendship counselors with your bestie, let’s talk about some ways that you can handle confrontation so you’re not out three thousand dollars.

1. Communication: This is probably the biggest factor in any relationship. We’re not mind readers! Sure, we may have some freaky telepathic moments with our best friends, but that’s not the norm. You need an open line of communication. If something upset you, speak up. If you’re mad that your friend flaked on you for the umpteenth time, tell her. You might think she should know you well enough to pick up on your cues, but she really might be unaware.

2. Honesty: Another huge relationship cornerstone. Anything you lie about is going to come back and bite you in the butt. Maybe you don’t want to meet your friend for lunch, but just be upfront. If you’re not okay with something your friend is doing, don’t lie about it. If you’re honest in your friendship, you’ll avoid a lot of issues.

3. Watch your tongue: Girls can be sassy. There are times when it’s right to be snarky, and you might feel warranted in snapping at one of your friends because she’s been on your nerves. But that’s not going to get you anywhere. Instead your friend might feel attacked, and she’ll get mad and it’ll be a big thing. Try to avoid snide comments as a general rule anyway.

4. Don’t be passive aggressive: This is the worst! Don’t post Facebook messages or tweet about “someone” who did “something” because that person will more than likely figure it out. Don’t send passive aggressive texts in an attempt to tell your friend that you’re upset. Just tell her.

5. Confront the person involved: If you’re in a situation with your friend whether you’re feeling neglected or taken advantage of or any kind of issue, confront that friend. Don’t go to your other girls and talk about the issue behind her back. You certainly wouldn’t want them to do that to you. Hash it out and figure out how to move forward instead of having to say, “I think we should go to friendship counseling.”

Really all of this comes down to talking to each other. If you’re at a counselor’s office, they’ll make you do that anyway so you might as well do that for free. Try to deal with the issues together. If your friendship has really become toxic, then take a friend-break for a while before googling therapists.

How do you deal with girl fights? Would you consider friendship counseling? Tell us in the comments!

How to end a toxic relationship

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I really like lists. So without futher ado, here are 10 things you should know about me:

1. I’m an amazing juggler. I learned at camp when I was in 6th grade, and it became a random talent that just stuck. I wanted to be in the circus, but I’m afraid of clowns.

2. I’m terrified of fish. Like really, irrationally afraid. This comes after a snorkeling incident from my childhood, and I won’t even go in the ocean if I can’t see my feet.

3. I love, love, love Harry Potter. I’m that girl. I will gladly stop what I’m doing if ABC Family has an HP marathon on, I own a wand, I’ve played Quidditch.

4. I drink more coffee than water. It’s not healthy, I know. But I can’t help it. I generally have a latte and my phone attached to my hand at all times.

5. I shop at thrift stores. I shop at regular stores too, but I go to Goodwill a lot. I find stuff that’s too big and alter it. I found a Dior blazer for $4 once. You never know what you’ll find!

6. My eyes change color. They’re usually green, but they change quite frequently to blue or gray or gold-ish.

7. I’m the only Southerner in my family. I’m a Georgia peach, born and raised. Everyone else in my family is from Long Island, NY.

8. I love sports. I grew up around lacrosse and football. I’d rather watch a game over reality TV anyday. And I went to Alabama, you have to love football. And we just won our 15th National Championship so…no big deal.

9. Starbucks has only spelled my name right once. I get Caitilin, Kaitlin, Katelyn, Kathleen, ???, and more. But one time I did say my name was Voldemort and they wrote “He who must not be named,” which was the coolest.

10. I’ve had four near death experiences, and I’m only 22. Hopefully, I won’t have anymore in the near future. Knock on wood.

You’ll learn a lot about me as we move forward. I mean, I know this relationship is new. I don’t want to go too fast. I want y’all to feel like you can chat with me so feel free to ask me questions in the comments!

Check out these self-esteem boosters and get happy!

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