The promise of a new year brings with it the sure-to-be-broken promises of a leaner physique and healthier living. And every new year there are plenty of magazines published promising to help you bring about those changes. Which should you buy? Read on.
Health
Khloe Kardashian is your body transformation guide in Health magazine’s January/February issue. The now-blonde Kardashian graces the cover and talks about making peace with her body in the wake of her divorce from Lamar Odom. Even so, it wasn’t an easy journey. Her personal trainer stirred up sibling rivalries by telling the younger Kardashian: “Kim has a body like a Ferrari and you have a body like a Honda.” Slow-burns aside, Health magazine offers a helpful mix of healthful recipes, beauty tips and gym routines. Pasta lovers will sigh with relief after being told that the “anti-carb attitude is outdated.” That said, if you’re hoping to “lift your butt with yoga,” you may be disappointed to find that only two of the seven moves listed target your backside.
Self
It’s the swan song for Self magazine’s print edition and, judging from the current issue, the staff may have called it quits one issue too soon. The issue fails to capture excitement in its 100 pages despite promising on the cover a plan to “make any dream happen.” A photo spread featuring female Olympic athletes seems to be left over from September. The requisite winter-skin section offers a $250 mask that is mixed with 24-karat gold. Anna Breslaw writes about transforming her mind and body over a one-month period with — get this — the help of “a trainer, two nutritionists, a sleep psychologist, a career coach, and access to any boutique fitness class in New York City” — all supplied by Self. Not surprisingly, she felt wonderful after working with them for 30 days.
Women’s Health
New Yorkers will scoff at being told by Women’s Health that the “proper portion” of a pepperoni pizza slice is “four fingers wide at the crust.” It seems three fingers more than what readers might reply to Editor-in-Chief Amy Keller Laird. The issue falls back on a classic make-over MO: the “before and after” photos. Not that we’re complaining. Also big in the issue: features on people changing their weight, their hairstyle and even their eyebrows. Cover model Ashley Hart walks readers through “The Joy of Yoga,” but offers only four moves with no promises of getting her “killer abs.” Dancer Selena Watkins is Women’s Health’s “next fitness star” and she offers a dance-infused routine that is heavy on the dumbbells (insert joke here). Most inspiring is the eight-page spread on how to “Live Long and Prosper.” As further proof that it’s never too late to start a hobby, 98-year-old yogi Tao Porchon-Lynch is also a competitive ballroom dancer, despite taking it up only nine years ago.
Shape
If you want the “killer butt” Shape magazine promises in its December issue, you’re going to need a medicine ball — and 21 minutes to fight with it. Will you get the same high-octane butt like cover-girl Heidi Klum’s? Maybe. Maybe not. Other than that, this month’s issue features the usual mix of recipes and shopping tips. Dieters may be annoyed with registered dietitian nutritionist Lauren Slayton, who says “relying on the same nutritious foods over and over is an easy way to keep your weight steady because it takes all the guesswork out of the process.” Shape also offers a new mix of “super powders” such as collagen and spirulina to mix into your smoothies. Just don’t call them “super foods” says Dr. Mark Moyad.
If you’re feeling sluggish after holiday indulging, the best piece of advice here is the five-day attack plan for winter colds.
The Atlantic
The Atlantic takes two decidedly different views on the lessons to derive from President Obama’s legacy — and why President-elect Donald Trump won the election. Jeffrey Goldberg in his Editor’s Note column argues Obama did not believe in tribalism, and American tribalism became his undoing. Nice believable irony. Unfortunately, the presumption of American racism lies at the core of 2015 National Book Award winner Ta-Nehisi Coates’ views he expresses in an exhausting 18-page cover story. He believes Obama failed to recognize that an African-American was never going to have broad national appeal, and that many Americans would be determined to defeat him. However, Trump defeated white Hillary Clinton, and there is little solid proof that he won because too many Americans are racists. How about this: Hillary was not as good a candidate. White Democratic primary voters defeated her in 2008.
Harper’s
Harper’s offers up a timely and insightful short article on why Israelis are moving into the settlements: The houses are cheap. A three-bedroom home in the territories is only $210,000, making it appealing to non-religious Israelis who are being priced out of the cities. A Lords of Lambeau essay on the Green Bay Packers football team has added meaning now that the New York Giants face them this week in the playoffs.