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If you smoke marijuana, does that mean that you’re eventually going to start smoking cigarettes? According to one recent study, um, sort of. Apparently, prolonged exposure to THC, which is the main ingredient in marijuana, can make you more vulnerable to the addictive aspects of nicotine, which is found in cigarettes. Basically, new research says that smoking pot can lead to smoking cigarettes down the road, especially for teens.

This sounds a little weird to me. I mean, smoking cigarettes and smoking weed are two entirely different things. How can one lead to another? I was really skeptical about this and hesitant to believe it, but apparently the science is there to back it up. The lead scientist of the study says that in the majority of cases, people start smoking marijuana before they start smoking cigarettes. He adds that teens who smoke weed are even more likely to develop an addiction to cigarettes when they’re older because the longer you smoke marijuana, the greater your risk is for being addicted to tobacco.

To sum things up quickly, a lot of THC in your system makes you more likely to be addicted to tobacco. So if you’ve been smoking pot for a few years, and one day you decide to pick up a cigarette and try it out, you’re more likely to become addicted than someone who has never smoked pot in their life.

Sounds scary, right? Yeah, sort of. Who knew that marijuana could be a gateway drug for cigarettes? As researchers pointed out, cigarettes are usually the ones being called a gateway drug for other drugs… like weed. But I guess that all we knew is wrong. Sigh.

This doesn’t mean that just because you smoke pot you’re going to smoke cigarettes at some point in your life. But if you do smoke marijuana, this is a pretty big warning sign to never consider trying a cigarette. Not only are cigarettes really, really bad for you, but you’re also now even more at risk for getting hooked on nicotine. And as any former smoker can tell you (you can talk to my grandpa about it if you want), nicotine addictions are not fun.

What do you think about this study? Do you smoke cigarettes? Would you ever try? Does this make sense to you? Tell us in the comments.

Which is worse for you: smoking weed or drinking alcohol?

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This morning I read a really cool story about a woman from Massachusetts, Phoebe Baker Hyde, who stopped shaving, wearing makeup and doing her hair for a full year. As someone who spends way too much time shaving, putting on her makeup and focusing on her hair, I was fascinated. This woman talked about how stopping her daily beauty regime made her feel liberated and more beautiful than ever.

Why did Phoebe do this? She explained on the show Katie that she was sort of starting to feel trapped by her shaving cream, makeup and hair supplies. Before you say that sounds ridiculous, listen to how she explains it – you might be able to relate. She said, “I had become a nervous, critical, angry, insecure woman. I was not the woman or the role model I wanted to be, especially in front of a big-eyed baby daughter. I was at war with the word around me and at war with myself.”

Phoebe went on to explain that she threw out her makeup and cut off all of her hair so that she literally had to put no effort into her appearance. Every day, she “did what a man would do” and only put on deodorant and used a little hair gel. She saved tons of money on beauty supplies, started feeling super comfortable with herself and also gained a lot more free time. Okay, let’s just stop right here. I’m not only fascinated by this woman… I’m also really jealous.

I fee like I could never give up my beauty regime. I feel naked without makeup. I feel uncomfortable when I don’t shave. And I will miss out on events if I’m having a really bad hair day.  Before you call me superficial, hear me out. Sometimes, I wish I didn’t feel this way… but I do. And I honestly can’t imagine a life without wearing makeup, doing my hair or shaving. But I wish I could.

I mean, I love makeup a lot (just look at my bedroom for proof), but I’ve had some moments where I wish it didn’t exist. As much as I love the way eye shadow and eye liner can change up and glam up your entire look, there are some days when applying it is just, ugh, exhausting. Sure, I’ve gone out without makeup on before – but in general, you’ll always catch me with at least a little mascara, eyeliner and foundation on. I just enjoy the way I look with a little makeup on my face.

As for shaving? Don’t even get me started. I hate shaving. Like really, really hate it. But, I don’t know, I just couldn’t imagine going a week, let alone an entire year, without using a razor. Feeling clean shaven makes me feel good about myself. It’s the same with my hair – as annoying as it can be to blow dry it or curl it or whatever, I always feel more confident whenever my hair looks good. Always. Also? Most of the time I like taking a long time to get ready to go somewhere. It’s kind of like my me time.

The point is, I don’t really think there’s anything wrong with feeling more confident from shaving or wearing makeup or doing your hair. I think that everyone feels confident from different things and I think that generally people should do what works for them. But I can also admire a woman who can stop doing all of those things and feel confident in her own skin. That’s pretty cool. And I’m jealous because, seriously, think about all of the free time I would have if I stopped shaving and doing my makeup and hair? So much free time! I would stop being late everywhere and also I could watch more TV. That’s pretty important.

In the end, I think this would be kind of a cool experiment to try… one day. Maybe not any day soon. Because as jealous as I am of this woman, I do genuinely enjoy my beauty regime… and I don’t see us parting any time soon.

What do you think? Could you go a year without shaving or wearing makeup or doing your hair? Why or why not? Tell us in the comments.

I have hairy legs and I like it that way

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The other day I read the words “incurable gonorrhea” and kind of freaked out a little bit. I mean, does the world really need another incurable disease, especially a sexually transmitted one? No. No, it doesn’t. But it looks like we got one anyway, because incurable gonorrhea is a thing and it’s happening.

I know this sounds super scary, but before you freak out, it’s important to know exactly what’s going on. This incurable gonorrhea has been a threat to us for a while now, with individual cases popping up in the United Kingdom, Austria, France, Japan and Norway since about a year ago. Up until recently, there were no known cases of this particular strain of the disease in North America, but that changed when researchers found that nine patients in Toronto, Canada seemed to have contracted it.

Gonorrhea is normally treated by the antibiotic Cephalexin, but this new incurable gonorrhea is resistant to the drug. The nine patients in Toronto with the disease were still infected with it even after being treated with Cephalexin. The good news? They were eventually cured when doctors used an injectable form of the antibiotic.

But even though those patients were cured, doctors are still worried that this means this new strain of gonorrhea could become resistant to all forms of the antibiotic. Eek. That doesn’t sound too promising. However, the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control are well aware of the problem and are actively searching for new ways to treat this disease.

Still, searching for new disease treatments can take a very long time, and even though no one knows for sure what’s going to happen, I’m going to have to urge you guys to be super careful whenever you’re hooking up with someone. I know you’ve heard this all before, but this is some pretty serious stuff.

For one thing, you should be in the know about what exactly gonorrhea is. It’s the world’s second most common STD and it can be spread through contact with the mouth, vagina, penis or anus. Symptoms in women include vaginal discharge, burning and pain while urinating, increased urination, sore throat, feeling pain during sexual intercourse, pain in the lower abdomen and fever.

For another thing, this is just a reminder to always practice safe sex. Girls – condoms. Wear them. Your chances of getting incurable gonorrhea will decrease a lot if you put those little bad boys on before you do the deed. It’s a good idea to get tested for STD’s after each new sexual partner, and it’s an even better idea to have a sexual partner get tested before you two get it on.

Despite everything I just wrote about how scary this sounds, I’m not trying to freak you guys out here. Just keep this info in the back of your head – and always use a condom. Trust me.

What do you think about this news? Are you worried about incurable gonorrhea? Do you always practice safe sex? Tell us in the comments.

Are you at risk for gonorrhea?

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Facebook may raise your self-esteem–but can it also make you fat?! | Source: ShutterStock

Apparently, interacting with your pals on Facebook can up your self-esteem, which is awesome, right? Right. Unfortunately, a side effect of that raised self-esteem is less self control, which can affect what you eat–and how much you eat of it.

A new study says that people who use Facebook most have a body mass index (BMI) of about 26, while people who log in less are at about 24. (A normal BMI is typically between 18 and 24.9, but BMI isn’t necessarily an indicator of health–it doesn’t account for muscle weight, which weighs more than fat, and there’s a lot more to the equation than this!) High Facebook use was also linked to binge eating, but again, correlation doesn’t mean causation. But it does make you think about those times you sort of plowed through a bag of Doritos without even realizing it while you were lurking your ex’s pictures. Ahem.

Further, the more time you spend on your newsfeed instead of reading the actual news appears to have an effect on your food choice: People in a study who read their Facebook feed for a while and people who read the news were each given the choice between a cookie and a granola bar. The Facebook users chose the cookie, while most of the news readers took the granola bar. Again, it may just be this particular panel–if you’re truly hungry, too, you’ll probably spring for a granola bar, too. There are a lot of different things at play here.

One of the researchers explained it like this: The self-esteem boost you get from Facebook is what may ultimately make you fat, not Facebook itself. “A bit of self-awareness can help you avoid engaging in this behavior. Facebook is not the problem. It’s the feeling of entitlement that’s the problem.”

That’s because it’s a self-esteem boost that is sort of artificial: It’s not the kind of feeling good about yourself that comes from actually doing things or accomplishing something, like, say, working out. And when you get the rush of 50 Facebook “likes” in a row, you’re more likely to want to hang around and surf your social network a bit more instead of heading out for a sprint, right? And when you’re vegging out, you’re also more prone to reach for junk food. When you feel good about yourself and cookies are nearby, you’re sort of like, “Hey, I earned it!” See the pattern here?

At the end of the day, Facebook can’t really make you fat. And if something improves your self-esteem, dude–we’re all for it, because we think you’re awesome, and we want you to know you’re rad, too. But just make sure you have a balance between your awesome digital life and your awesome real life–so your self-esteem isn’t dictated by comments on your Facebook status. You’re better than that!

Do you pick at junk food while you’re on Facebook? Does Facebook up your self-esteem or make you feel crappy? Do you think Facebook can really make you fat? Tell us in the comments!

This 10-year-old made his own version of Facebook!

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That’s exactly why we found a few quotes that will help you love your body. We’re all about positive body image here at Gurl, and so are these awesome quotes. Read them if you’re feeling totally down in the dumps about your looks or you just need a healthy boost of confidence. These positive words will definitely remind you of just how awesome you are.

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Which of these quotes was your favorite? What did we miss? Do you think you could just more confidence, or do you love your body now? Tell us in the comments!

10 quotes that will help you get a fresh start

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I’ve heard of a lot of crazy weight loss diets, secrets, tips and tricks – but this one just may take the cake. Apparently, the inventor of Segways has teamed up with a company called Aspire Bariatrics to design a pump that will literally suck the fat out of your stomach. I can’t be the only one who thinks this is completely crazy.

Here’s how this would work, according to the Aspire Bariatrics site: the pump basically reduces the amount of calories absorbed by your body so that you don’t gain weight (more calories = more weight gain). How does it do that? After you eat something, food is temporarily stored in your stomach as the digestion process begins. Your stomach starts breaking down your food and then passes it to the intestines and that’s where your calories are absorbed. The AspireAssist (the name of this crazy pump) sucks that food out of your stomach before the calories can be absorbed.

Does this sound familiar to anyone else? Yeah, it’s basically like eating and then throwing up your food. But instead of throwing up, you’re just going to stick an A-Tube™ into your stomach through a hole in your abdomen. No biggie. The A-Tube™ will suck the fat out and is controlled by a little handheld device. UM. There are so many things wrong with this.

For one thing, how does this actually effectively work? The ladies over at Jezebel asked a lot of the same questions I was thinking of: what about the risk of infection? What about all of the other scary complications that come with sticking a foreign object in your body? How does this work once you’ve reached a goal weight? Your body isn’t properly losing weight, so your metabolism isn’t really changing – so I’m going to assume that once you stop using this, you’ll probably just gain all of that weight back simply because you’re once again eating and digesting food normally.

I mean, this thing just doesn’t sound healthy at all. As Jezebel pointed out, this is coming from the dude who invented Segways, otherwise known as the guy who gave us a lazy alternative to walking. That means that this is a lazy alternative to eating healthy. The idea of this seems to be that you can eat whatever you want and still lose weight (although one newspaper discovered that that’s not true). That can’t possibly be safe or good for you.

Ladies, please don’t fall into this. If you want to get healthy, the best way to do it is to simply eat foods that are good for you, maybe eat less and workout on a regular basis. I’m so sick of hearing about these crazy fad diets, like no eating after 5 PM (that’s INSANE), and these ridiculous pills and/or machines that promise results that don’t even sound like they’re good for you. That kind of stuff might help you lose weight quickly, but it’s not going to keep it off. It’s also not going to keep you healthy, which is the most important thing you should be worrying about.

Would you ever try something like this? Do you think it’s ridiculous? Have you ever tried a crazy diet? Tell us in the comments.

Being slightly overweight may be a health benefit

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Get moving and give your self-esteem a boost! | Source: Shutterstock

A survey was recently published that explores the connection between exercise and mental health in adolescents, focusing on athletics’ role and more than 7,000 students in the Netherlands (ranging in age from 11 to 16) participated in the survey. One of the researchers’ findings was that students who were active in organized sports reported being happier and felt better about themselves, including a boosted self-esteem and a more favorable self-image.

Teenagers who exercised also had lower rates than those who didn’t for things like acting aggressively and trouble-making. There were benefits socially too, as the students who participated on sports teams were found to have more friends.

Being on a sports team was the launching point for a lot of my friendships, and while it wasn’t the only thing going in my life that affected my self-esteem, I also defined a lot of my personality – and as a result, my self-image – around sports and exercise.

I switched schools right before ninth grade, and I think my high school experience would have been very different if I didn’t play on a sports team. In the last weeks of summer vacation during field hockey preseason I was able to make friends, and I started school feeling more comfortable than I may have otherwise.

Plus, combined with my accomplishment of making the team, all the training I’d put in had me feeling good about my body, and both of those gave me that boost of self-esteem to start powering through all the other parts of school. Sports teams and exercise weren’t a magic trick where I participated and POOF, suddenly I knew how to be happy! They were though essential ingredients to building up a solid self-image that made me happier with my life.

Team sports aren’t necessarily everyone’s jam, and that’s okay! There are so many types of options for exercise that run such a wide range of possibilities. If you try some things out, you’re likely to find something that works for your interests and lifestyle. Between the people you could meet to how you could feel about yourself, making physical activity a part of your life can have such awesome benefits, so it’s certainly worth giving a whirl!

Do you play sports? Do you prefer team sports or individual forms of exercise? Do you find that when you exercise you feel better about yourself? Tell us in the comments!

5 Of The Most Hilarious Workout Videos You’ve Ever Seen

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Must be that time of the month! | Source: Shutterstock.com

The service is called Le Parcel, and for $15 every month, you get a package that you have customized for your period! To start, you select up to 30 tampons, pads and/or panty liners from some big-name brands, like Playtex, Kotex, Tampax and Always.

And now for the best part (in my opinion at least)! Not only do you get the necessary stuff mailed to you each month, but there is also chocolate (which I always want to eat at all times every month) and a gift! As Le Parcel puts it on their website, “Nature’s gift stinks so we give you a better one.” I like how they think!

If you’re curious about the whole “Uhhh, what if it doesn’t get here in time?” situation (a very valid concern in my book), well Le Parcel addresses shipping right on their site. You actually select what date you’ll be needing your products by, and it should get there by that day or earlier.

Just in case you forgot your period was approaching, now when you receive your package in the mail, you’ll know! I guess as is the case with all mail, there is always the chance that something could happen to it and leave you stranded, but it seems like the Le Parcel people have tried to plan out a system where that shouldn’t happen.

Le Parcel’s website also highlights this particular benefit: “No more awkward stares at the checkout stand.” I know that can definitely be a point of concern for some girls, and I’ve done the try-not-to-make-eye-contact-with-the-cashier thing on a number of occasions. Buying these things is totally not something to be embarrassed about, but that doesn’t always mean that all of us don’t feel a little uncomfortable at the time of purchase.

Now, while I’m not sure that buying my own products inconveniences me enough that I’d personally sign up for Le Parcel, I still think it sounds like a pretty neat idea that could be particularly useful in a number of situations. I think it’d be awesome for a freshman in college with no car access and a campus convenience store that is not well-stocked, or if you live a little out of town from the nearest store and are sick of making specific mini-road trips once a month. It could be Le Parcel to the rescue!

Overall, it seems like a cool and creative way to make the monthly event that many women dread a little more fun and exciting. Plus, who doesn’t love getting mail?!

Do you find it embarrassing to have to buy your tampons, pads and/or panty liners at the store? Would you ever use a subscription service like Le Parcel? Tell us in the comments!

The Funniest Lies You Tell When You’re On Your Period

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I’ve always heard that one of the biggest appeals of smoking cigarettes is because they supposedly help relieve stress. My smoker friends are constantly telling me that breathing in a steady stream of nicotine helps them calm down, relax and feel stress-free for at least a few minutes. In fact, one of the main reasons people start smoking to begin with is to help with anxiety. But guess what? Everyone is apparently wrong, according to a new study.

A recent British study on 500 smokers discovered that smoking doesn’t relieve stress – quitting smoking relieves stress. Researchers studied 500 smokers before and after they quit and found that the people who quit had less stress than those who tried to quit but failed. Bam – another reason you should never start smoking. Or, if you’re already a smoker, this is another reason why you should quit.

Look, I totally understand the idea that smoking helps you feel more relaxed. But I understand even more how quitting can actually help you feel more relaxed, not to mention better about yourself. I’m a little ashamed to admit this, but I was a big social smoker when I was in college. I was never addicted and I very rarely smoked a cigg on my own, by myself – it was mostly when I was out with friends and they were all puffing away. But after a while, I started to believe smoking cigarettes calmed me down, and I started smoking more often. Whenever I was upset, angry or feeling super anxious, I would reach for a cigarette because I thought they made me feel better.

Looking back, I realize that the cigarettes weren’t making me feel better. They were actually making me feel really light-headed and kind of out of it, which is never a good thing, and I associated that with feeling more relaxed. What was making me feel better? The few minutes of peace and quiet I got while smoking – not the cigarette itself.

When I made the decision to stop smoking entirely a few years ago, I instantly felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders. Not only are cigarettes extremely bad for your health, but they’re also really expensive! When I was smoking, I was constantly worried about what I was doing to my lungs or how much I was spending on packs of them. Also? I was always stressed over whether or not my parents were going to catch me. Once I stopped, I felt so much better about myself. So I can completely understand this study and I definitely believe that it’s true.

I know the idea of cigarettes can be alluring to some people, especially if you think of them as a stress reliever. But girls, trust me, there are so many other ways to get rid of stress that are fun and aren’t threatening to your health. The idea that smoking a cigarette is calming you down is all in your head. If you ever feel the urge to smoke a cigarette to deal with your anxiety, try something else instead: take a walk, scream into a pillow, do some yoga, play a video game. Anything but smoking. How many more times do we need to be told they aren’t doing us any good before we stop smoking them entirely?

Do you smoke cigarettes? Have you ever smoked them? Do you think they really do relieve stress? Tell me in the comments. 

10 ways to relieve stress that are actually fun

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You would so not ace this on Jeopardy! | Source: Shutterstock

* Estrogen is a group of hormones produced by ovaries, adrenal glands, and male testes (yes, dudes have estrogen, too!)

* Girls and women have a far greater amount of estrogen than men do, as estrogen helps the development and maintenance of the female reproductive system, and helps regulate your period.

* Estrogen is also pretty important for bone health, which is why guys have it, too.

* Low estrogen levels can make you more prone to anxiety or mood disorders–high levels can help you deal better in stressful situations.

* Birth control pills contain estrogen, mimicking the increased amount of estrogen the female body produces during pregnancy.

Are you on birth control to regulate your hormones? Did you know that guys have estrogen, too? Tell us in the comments!

More On Hormones Right Here!

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