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Tag: Lifestyle

  • Bible-based diet could unlock the secret to lasting wellness, experts say

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    What role does faith play in healing?

    Fox News senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel shares insight from his book ‘The Miracles Among Us,’ set to be published Nov. 18, on ‘The Big Weekend Show.’ 

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    Many people turn to the Bible for guidance in times of both triumph and hardship — but some say it can also serve as a guide for physical health. 

    Dr. Josh Axe and Jordan Rubin, co-authors of the book “The Biblio Diet,” believe that ancient foods of the Bible can be transformed into a modern dietary plan to enhance health and even help reverse life-threatening conditions.

    “I think the Bible is the greatest health book ever written,” Axe, a doctor of natural medicine in Tennessee, told Fox News Digital in an interview. “If somebody’s dealing with any health condition, whether it’s depression, anxiety, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, PCOS, infertility, hypothyroidism or low testosterone, the Bible has a solution. If you follow a diet based on the Bible, you can be made well.”

    PROTEIN SHAKE SAFETY DEBATE ERUPTS AFTER PROBE REVEALS LEAD IN POPULAR PRODUCTS

    Here are more details. 

    Faith and healing through biblical principles

    Both Axe and Rubin have faced serious health challenges that deepened their faith and inspired their work, they said.

    Dr. Josh Axe and Jordan Rubin are co-authors of the book “The Biblio Diet.”  (Hannah Corwin; courtesy of Dr. Josh Axe)

    Rubin was diagnosed with Crohn’s colitis as a teenager, and later with severe cancer. 

    After visiting dozens of doctors with no success, he met a man who told him that if he followed a diet based on the Bible — proven through history and confirmed by science — he could be well.

    “After another 40-day period of an upgraded diet — plus detoxification, and emotional and spiritual therapy — I overcame cancer that was referred to as terminal and did not undergo chemotherapy, radiation or additional surgeries,” Rubin told Fox News Digital.

    KETO DIET HAS SURPRISING IMPACT ON MENTAL HEALTH, RESEARCHERS DISCOVER

    Dr. Axe’s own journey began while he was helping his mother overcome breast cancer. 

    “I put together a program for my mom that included certain foods in the Bible, like pomegranate and olive oil — and also prayer, faith, praise and worship,” he said.

    “I think the Bible is the greatest health book ever written.”

    Later, when a medical procedure left Axe with a spinal infection, he again turned to a Bible-based diet and prayer, combining them with regenerative treatments to heal.

    “I listened to the diagnosis of my great physician, not my ordinary physician,” the doctor said. “The great physician tells you to live with hope in all things and believe in the miraculous — and I did. Now I’m 100% healed.”

    What a Bible-based diet looks like

    Food is mentioned repeatedly in the Bible, and both authors believe the core foods discussed can form the foundation of a healthy modern diet. 

    Key examples include red meat, whole-grain sourdough bread, olive oil, dairy, fruits like pomegranates and figs, and natural sweeteners, such as raw local honey.

    Fruits and vegetables in the background of a group of people praying over a Bible

    A Bible-based diet includes foods like red meat and dairy, which some have argued should be foods to avoid. (iStock)

    Red meat, the authors say, is a “superfood” that provides protein, creatine, glutamine, carnitine, zinc, iron and B6. 

    “If you look at the Bible’s longest-lived heroes, anytime they could afford red meat, they would consume it,” Rubin said.

    RED MEAT CAN HELP YOUR MOOD IF PART OF A HEALTHY, BALANCED DIET, STUDIES SUGGEST

    Bread, often demonized in modern diets, also plays a key role when prepared correctly. 

    “Properly sourced and properly prepared grains can be a part of a healthy diet,” Rubin said. “With Jesus being called the bread of life, it wouldn’t make sense if bread was bad for everyone. The way it’s processed and preserved matters.”

    VIRAL MORNING WELLNESS ROUTINE PROMISES MORE ENERGY AND FOCUS BY NOON

    Olive oil, frequently referenced in scripture, supports skin, metabolism and cardiovascular health. Dairy — particularly from sheep, goats or certain dairy cows — can also be beneficial. 

    “The land of milk and honey was not just a euphemism,” Rubin noted. “Dairy can be very healthy if it’s whole, raw and grass-fed.”

    “Eat foods that God created and in a form that’s healthy for the body.”

    Raw, local honey serves as a natural sweetener and immune booster, while unprocessed whole salt provides essential minerals. Avocados, figs and fresh fruits are other staples. 

    “Eat foods that God created and in a form that’s healthy for the body,” Rubin advised. “You can take red meat or an apple and make it unhealthy by how you grow, raise, process and prepare it.”

    Foods to consider avoiding

    The authors argued that people should avoid foods labeled “unclean” in Leviticus — such as pork, shellfish and shrimp. 

    “Pigs, shrimp and other scavengers don’t have the system to properly process toxins,” Rubin said.

    Dr. Axe standing in a white kitchen with a table covered in fruits and vegetables

    Axe believes that living a healthy life is one important factor to living faithfully. (Courtesy of Dr. Josh Axe)

    They also warned against modern processed foods, including those with high-fructose corn syrup, food dyes and refined sugars.

    Even foods considered healthy can become harmful when overly processed. 

    “If Moses were here today, what would the food laws look like?” they ask in “The Biblio Diet” — encouraging readers to apply biblical principles to modern nutrition.

    Fasting and other biblical health practices

    Beyond food, Axe and Rubin highlight spiritual disciplines that impact both body and soul — particularly fasting.

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    “There’s no doubt that fasting is one of the greatest healing breakthroughs someone can experience,” Dr. Axe said. 

    Fasting can begin simply by avoiding food for a 10-hour window overnight, allowing the body to “clean up damaged cells, cancer cells, parasites and infections.” 

    “Fasting is one of the greatest healing breakthroughs someone can experience.”

    He added, “There’s a lot of medical literature on it being the greatest thing you can do to reverse the aging process and activate longevity.”

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    For some, fasting can also bring spiritual clarity. 

    “I can tell you personally [that] spiritual growth [brings a] deeper connection to God [and] clearer thinking — the ability to hear God’s voice,” Dr. Axe said.

    Extra virgin olive oil

    Olive oil is a key food noted in the Bible, and can be used in a variety of recipes.  (iStock)

    Rubin agreed, emphasizing the importance of emotional healing as well. 

    “During my successful battle with cancer, I made spiritual health a priority,” he said. “I wrote out a prayer from the Bible and quoted it out loud three times a day — it was medicine to me.” 

    He also focused on forgiveness, calling it “essential” to his recovery.

    Best to consult multiple sources

    The authors stressed that “The Biblio Diet” isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution.

    “It’s a great diet for everyone, but due to the number of health problems people have today, there is a level of customization that people can benefit from,” Dr. Axe said.

    TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ

    The diet, they noted, isn’t restrictive — it can even include waffles, pizza, cookies and ice cream made with wholesome, Bible-approved ingredients.

    Rubin advises anyone facing health challenges to stay calm, seek peace and consult multiple sources. 

    Jordan Rubin surrounded by greenery

    Jordan Rubin still eats delicious foods while following a Bible-based diet, but he does so in a healthy way. (Sarah Partain Tran)

    “Take a deep breath. Believe that God has provided for your healing. Seek a second opinion, and most of all, do what you have peace about.”

    Axe and Rubin view health as a form of worship, they said — a way to honor God through the body.

    CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES

    “I think God wants us to be excellent in everything we do,” Dr. Axe said. 

    “One of the greatest things we can do to influence others and let them see the truth of the Bible and what Jesus teaches is by being physically healthy.”

    Ashlyn Messier is an Associate Editor on the SEO team for Fox News Digital. 

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  • Here For A Good Time and A Bad Time

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    Life doesn’t always go as planned. Sometimes you’re riding the wave, and sometimes the wave absolutely smacks you in the face.

    This gallery captures both ends of that spectrum: the highs, the lows, the laughter, and the “how did I end up here?” moments.

    It’s a reminder that not every day needs to be perfect to be worth remembering. Whether it’s a night that went off the rails or a wholesome win that made it all worth it, we’re here for it.

    Good time, bad time – either way, it makes a great story later.

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    Ryder

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  • Met Museum’s first Egypt show in over a decade brings ancient gods, goddesses to life

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    NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — The powerful gods of ancient Egypt are having a get-together on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

    That would be at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It’s been more than a decade since the museum’s last big Egypt show, so “Divine Egypt” — a lavish exploration of how ancient Egyptians depicted their gods — is a major event, as evidenced by the crowds packing the show since its Oct. 12 opening.

    After all, few things excite the museum-going public like ancient Egypt, notes Diana Craig Patch, the Met’s curator of Egyptian art.

    “It’s the first ancient culture that you learn in school,” says Patch. “Pyramids, mummies, the great tomb of Tutankhamun … they’re in our popular culture, books, films and now video games.”

    But Patch hopes visitors will learn something deeper from “Divine Egypt,” which explores how the gods were portrayed by Egyptians both royal and common, and not only in temples where only kings or priests could go, but in daily worship by ordinary people.

    Ancient Egyptian civilization lasted some 3,000 years; the show, which runs into January, covers all periods and features over 200 objects, from huge limestone statues to tiny golden figurines. It includes 140 works from the Met’s collection, as well as others lent by museums across the globe.

    “The divine landscape of ancient Egypt is full of gods — actually 1,500 if you count all of them,” said Patch, leading The Associated Press on a tour last week. The show focuses on 25 main deities.

    Even pared down to 25, the research was daunting. The material and the textual information in Egyptology is fragmentary. What’s more, the Egyptians kept bringing in new gods, or giving established gods new roles. “And so that makes it a very complex, but fascinating landscape,” Patch says.

    One aim is to show visitors that all of these images concern “how ancient Egyptians related to their world. Those gods were how they solved problems of life, death, and meaning — problems that we’re still trying to solve today.”

    Some highlights:

    You’d think that the boy king Tutankhamun, aka King Tut, would be the star of any party, given the astounding riches from his tomb the world has come to know. But in a sculpture that first greets visitors, from the Louvre in Paris, the solar god Amun-Re sits on a throne, presenting the much smaller pharaoh beneath his knees — or rather, protecting him — with hands resting on the small shoulders. The god is identified by his feathered crown, curled beard, divine kilt and jewelry — and is definitely the main attraction. Amun-Re was worshipped at the Karnak temple complex; the presence of Re in his name links him closely to the sun.

    The first of five galleries, “Expressing the Divine” focuses on two main deities, the god Horus and goddess Hathor. Horus is always represented as a falcon with a double crown, which signifies he is the king of Egypt and linked to the living king. But Hathor, who represents fertility, music and defense, among other things, takes many forms, including a cow, an emblem, a lion-headed figure or a cobra. In one statue here, she wears cow horns and a sun disc.

    “So these are two main ways gods are represented: sometimes with lots of roles, sometimes with only one,” Patch says.

    This gallery looks at the all-important Re, whose domains are the sun, creation, life and rebirth. Re often merges form with other deities. “Re rules the world — he’s the source of light and warmth,” Patch says.

    He’s presented in this room as a giant scarab beetle. “That’s his morning aspect,” Patch says. “He’s seen as a beetle who takes the sun out from the underworld and pushes it up into the sky.”

    Also here is a vivid painted relief of the goddess Maat, from the Valley of the Kings in Thebes (modern Luxor). She embodies truth, justice and social and political order. Patch notes: “The best way we translate it today is rightness. She stands for the world in rightness, the way it should work.”

    This gallery explores five myths surrounding the creation of the world and its inhabitants.

    “This is one of the things that I hope people begin to take away: that Egyptians had multiple ways of dealing with things,” Patch says of the competing myths. “I find that fascinating. They overlapped.”

    She’s standing beside a huge statue of the god Min in limestone — a headless representation of a hard-to-define god associated with vegetation, agricultural fertility and minerals.

    Only kings and priests could access state temples to worship their gods. What were regular folks to do?

    Patch explains: “At festivals, the god came out of the temple on a sacred barque (sailing vessel), and people could commune with that image in the streets, and ask him or her questions.”

    In this room, curators have arranged a set of objects as if on a barque. At the top and center: a gleaming, solid gold statuette of Amun, which the Met purchased in 1926 from the collection of Lord Carnarvon, who was involved in the 1922 discovery of Tut’s tomb.

    Some of the most striking art connected to Egyptian gods is about death and the afterlife. “Overcoming death is something that kings and non-royals alike had to deal with,” says Patch.

    The gods in this section include Anubis, who embalms the deceased and leads them to the afterlife; Isis and Nephthys, the sisters of Osiris, who mourn and protect the dead; and Osiris, judge and ruler of the afterlife.

    This gallery houses the show’s signature object: a stunning statuette, on loan from the Louvre, depicting the triad of Osiris, Isis and Horus. Made of gold inlaid with lapis lazuli, it shows the shrouded Osiris, falcon-headed Horus, and Isis in a sun disc and horns. The gold represents the skin of the gods, the lapis their hair.

    Although this last section is about overcoming death, “I think you will have seen that most of the exhibition is about life,” Patch notes. “And that is what all of these deities were about. Even in overcoming death, it was about living forever.”

    ___

    Associated Press video journalist Ted Shaffrey contributed to this report.

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  • Music could help ease pain from surgery or illness. Scientists are listening

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    Nurse Rod Salaysay works with all kinds of instruments in the hospital: a thermometer, a stethoscope and sometimes his guitar and ukulele.

    In the recovery unit of UC San Diego Health, Salaysay helps patients manage pain after surgery. Along with medications, he offers tunes on request and sometimes sings. His repertoire ranges from folk songs in English and Spanish to Minuet in G Major and movie favorites like “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

    Patients often smile or nod along. Salaysay even sees changes in their vital signs like lower heart rate and blood pressure, and some may request fewer painkillers.

    “There’s often a cycle of worry, pain, anxiety in a hospital,” he said, “but you can help break that cycle with music.”

    Salaysay is a one-man band, but he’s not alone. Over the past two decades, live performances and recorded music have flowed into hospitals and doctors’ offices as research grows on how songs can help ease pain.

    The healing power of song may sound intuitive given music’s deep roots in human culture. But the science of whether and how music dulls acute and chronic pain — technically called music-induced analgesia — is just catching up.

    No one suggests that a catchy song can fully eliminate serious pain. But several recent studies, including in the journals Pain and Scientific Reports, have suggested that listening to music can either reduce the perception of pain or enhance a person’s ability to tolerate it.

    What seems to matter most is that patients — or their families — choose the music selections themselves and listen intently, not just as background noise.

    “Pain is a really complex experience,” said Adam Hanley, a psychologist at Florida State University. “It’s created by a physical sensation, and by our thoughts about that sensation and emotional reaction to it.”

    Two people with the same condition or injury may feel vastly different levels of acute or chronic pain. Or the same person might experience pain differently from one day to the next.

    Acute pain is felt when pain receptors in a specific part of the body — like a hand touching a hot stove — send signals to the brain, which processes the short-term pain. Chronic pain usually involves long-term structural or other changes to the brain, which heighten overall sensitivity to pain signals. Researchers are still investigating how this occurs.

    “Pain is interpreted and translated by the brain,” which may ratchet the signal up or down, said Dr. Gilbert Chandler, a specialist in chronic spinal pain at the Tallahassee Orthopedic Clinic.

    Researchers know music can draw attention away from pain, lessening the sensation. But studies also suggest that listening to preferred music helps dull pain more than listening to podcasts.

    “Music is a distractor. It draws your focus away from the pain. But it’s doing more than that,” said Caroline Palmer, a psychologist at McGill University who studies music and pain.

    Scientists are still tracing the various neural pathways at work, said Palmer.

    “We know that almost all of the brain becomes active when we engage in music,” said Kate Richards Geller, a registered music therapist in Los Angeles. “That changes the perception and experience of pain — and the isolation and anxiety of pain.”

    The idea of using recorded music to lessen pain associated with dental surgery began in the late 19th century before local anesthetics were available. Today researchers are studying what conditions make music most effective.

    Researchers at Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands conducted a study on 548 participants to see how listening to five genres of music — classical, rock, pop, urban and electronic — extended their ability to withstand acute pain, as measured by exposure to very cold temperatures.

    All music helped, but there was no single winning genre.

    “The more people listened to a favorite genre, the more they could endure pain,” said co-author Dr. Emy van der Valk Bouman. “A lot of people thought that classical music would help them more. Actually, we are finding more evidence that what’s best is just the music you like.”

    The exact reasons are still unclear, but it may be because familiar songs activate more memories and emotions, she said.

    The simple act of choosing is itself powerful, said Claire Howlin, director of the Music and Health Psychology Lab at Trinity College Dublin, who co-authored a study that suggested allowing patients to select songs improved their pain tolerance.

    “It’s one thing that people can have control over if they have a chronic condition — it gives them agency,” she said.

    Active, focused listening also seems to matter.

    Hanley, the Florida State psychologist, co-authored a preliminary study suggesting daily attentive listening might reduce chronic pain.

    “Music has a way of lighting up different parts of the brain,” he said, “so you’re giving people this positive emotional bump that takes their mind away from the pain.”

    It’s a simple prescription with no side effects, some doctors now say.

    Cecily Gardner, a jazz singer in Culver City, California, said she used music to help get through a serious illness and has sung to friends battling pain.

    “Music reduces stress, fosters community,” she said, “and just transports you to a better place.”

    ___

    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • What to Stream: Brandi Carlile, ‘A House of Dynamite,’ Demi Lovato and ‘Nobody Wants This’

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    Kathryn Bigelow’s nuclear fallout thriller “A House of Dynamite” and albums from Brandi Carlile and Demi Lovato are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.

    Also among the streaming offerings worth your time this week, as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: Season 2 of “Nobody Wants This” sees things get more serious between Adam Brody’s rabbi and Kristen Bell’s agnostic podcast host, Ninja Gaiden 4 asks gamers to fight their way through cyber soldiers and other malevolent creatures, and director Ben Stiller pays tribute to his comedian parents with “Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost.”

    — An old genre — the hypothetical nuclear fallout thriller — returns in Kathryn Bigelow’s “A House of Dynamite” (Friday, Oct. 24 on Netflix), a minute-by-minute White House drama in which a mystery missile is bearing down on Chicago. The film tells the 18-minute run-up to impact from three different perspectives, with an ensemble including Rebecca Ferguson, Tracy Letts, Anthony Ramos and Idris Elba, as the president. In my review, I wrote: “With riveting efficiency, Bigelow constructs a taut, real-time thriller that opens explosively but dissipates with each progressive iteration.”

    — In “Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost,” director Ben Stiller pays tribute to his comedian parents, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, while reflecting on how their show business lives influenced those of his own family. The film, premiering Friday, Oct. 24 on Apple TV, is a distinctly family affair, that culls from the extensive archives of Meara and Stiller, who recorded as much in their private lives as they did in film and television.

    — Ron Howard’s “Eden” (Wednesday on Prime Video) is based on a true story about a group of disillusioned Europeans who in 1929 sought to create a utopia on an island in the Galápagos. It didn’t go so well. Howard’s film struggled mightily at the box office despite a starry cast including Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby and Sydney Sweeney. In her AP review, Itzel Luna wrote that the ensemble, “isn’t always enough to make up for the overambitious plot of a film that drags in the middle.”

    — AP Film Writer Jake Coyle

    — On Thursday, the contemporary R&B talent Miguel returns with his first full-length in nearly a decade. The bilingual “Caos” (the Spanish word for “Chaos”) is the long-awaited follow-up to 2017’s “War & Leisure,” and marks a conceptual pivot for the musician. “To rebuild, I had to destroy myself. That is the core confrontation of ‘Caos,’” Miguel said in a press statement. “Through my personal evolution, I learned that transformation is violent. ‘Caos’ is the sonic iteration of me bending that violence into something universally felt.”

    — Who is busier than Brandi Carlile? Just a few months ago, the musician known for melding folk, alt-country, rock and Americana partnered with the great Elton John for a charming collaborative album, “Who Believes In Angels?” Now, on Friday, she’s gearing up to release a new solo album, “Returning to Myself,” her first since 2021’s “In These Silent Days.” If you need any reconfirmation of her timeless talent, cue up “A War with Time,” written by Carlile and frequent Taylor Swift collaborator, Aaron Dessner of The National. And on piano/background vocals? That’s Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon.

    — It’s a “BRAT” autumn for Demi Lovato, whose ninth studio album, “It’s Not That Deep,” embraces club-dance rhythms in addictive pop songs. That’s a noted departure from her last two records, 2022’s “Holy Fvck” and 2023’s “Revamped,” which leaned more traditionally rock ‘n’ roll. Both modes work for Lovato: give her space to belt with some edge, and she’ll fashion an earworm.

    — AP Music Writer Maria Sherman

    — As we get closer to Halloween, a number of new horror shows debut this month. Sam Claflin (“Daisy Jones & the Six”) stars in a new Prime Video mystery from bestselling author Harlan Coben. He plays a forensic psychiatrist who finds himself connecting the dots between a number of cold cases after his father’s death. “Harlan Coben’s Lazarus” debuts Wednesday.

    — The delightful TV romance between Adam Brody’s rabbi, Noah, and Kristen Bell’s agnostic podcast host named Joanne carries on Thursday in Netflix’s “Nobody Wants This.” Season 2 picks up shortly after the first season ended with the two characters attempting to blend their lives as they get more serious. Joanne is also still grappling with the idea of committing to Judaism because it’s a non-negotiable for Noah. In a world that seems to have just gotten more complex in the past year, investing in these two fictional characters’ relationship is a great distraction. Team Joah!

    — AMC continues to adapt and draw from the works of Anne Rice (known as the Immortal Universe), with “Anne Rice’s Talamasca: The Secret Order.” Debuting Sunday, Oct. 26 on AMC+, it’s about a secret society that tracks immortals like witches, vampires and the like. “Talamasca” stars Nicholas Denton and Elizabeth McGovern and has cameos from “Interview with the Vampire” cast members, Eric Bogosian and Justin Kirk.

    — A prequel series to the “It” films called “It — Welcome to Derry” (thankfully not titled “Stephen King’s: It — Welcome to Derry” and therefore less of a tongue twister), arrives on HBO Max also on Sunday, Oct. 26. Set in 1962, Taylour Paige and Jovan Adepo star as Charlotte and Leroy Hanlon, couple who moves to Derry, Maine, with their son and begin to recognize the town is pretty creepy. “It” fans will recognize the Hanlon name and its lore. Also, Bill Skarsgård reprises his Pennywise the Clown role from the films.

    — Alicia Rancilio

    — Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2 puts you in the cape of a bloodsucker named Phyre who has been asleep for a century and has somehow woken up in Seattle. But you are not alone — a “vampire detective” named Fabian has infected your blood and will update you on grunge, that “Twilight” nonsense and 21st century goth culture. That includes six competing vampire clans, some brutal, some sneaky and some just outright seductive. It’s all based on a popular tabletop role-playing game that has had difficulty translating to video games, but publisher Paradox Interactive has had some success with RPGs like Pillars of Eternity and Crusader Kings. Take a bite Tuesday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC.

    — If you don’t want to be a vampire for Halloween, why not try on Ninja Gaiden 4? In a near-future Tokyo, a prodigy named Yakumo must fight his way through cyber soldiers and other malevolent creatures as he tries to lift a curse from his neon-drenched city. He soon crosses paths with Ryu Hayabusa, the legendary hero of the previous Gaiden games. The latest chapter is a collaboration between two esteemed Japanese studios: Team Ninja, which has been handling this franchise for 20 years, and Platinum Games, best known for the loopy hack-and-slash favorite Bayonetta. The swords start swinging Tuesday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC.

    — Lou Kesten

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  • Food influencer highlights hidden gem restaurants in Seattle

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    SEATTLE – Pax Leatherman is highlighting under-the-radar restaurants in Seattle with his social media accounts “Palate Provisions.”

    Leatherman, a former real estate agent, walked away from his steady paycheck to pursue his passion.

    Heading out at the beginning of the year, Leatherman has gained thousands of followers in just a few months.

    Leatherman found his niche, standing out among a sea of food influencers, by highlighting the restaurants that most might pass by daily, but never visit.

    What they’re saying:

    “There are so many mom-and-pop [stores] right now that are struggling with a million different things,” Leatherman said. “It was just kind of cool to be able to help out these restaurants if they make great food and have a great product.”

    Some of Leatherman’s videos on his account have garnered hundreds of thousands of views, and hundreds of comments. Leatherman tells FOX 13 Seattle that restaurants tell him they have seen a massive bump in sales since his videos. He also says a lot of people are reaching out to him about where he should try next, including local restaurants, even offering him food or money.

    However, Leatherman said he never takes money from any of the businesses he reviews and always pays for his food. 

    “I just say, “thank you so much for seeing my value as a creator and seeing what I’m worth but I cannot take monetary compensation for any of this,’” said Leatherman.  “I don’t want to be that guy who’s going to wherever he’s pushed to,” he added.

    Local perspective:

    Leatherman has created a few iconic elements to his videos to also make him stand out among a sea of creators, including his greetings: “What’s up, big dogs.”

    “That was something I started saying so long ago. I want to say, probably more than five or six, or years ago. I did in real estate too. I just love saying something off kilter,” he said.

    Also, his “dank” food ranking scale may be confusing depending on which generation you grew up in.

    “My parents are like, ‘Dank is bad. Dank is like wretched, gross,’” he said. “But because I skied all the time in Oregon, everything was ‘dank.’ I loved that skater culture at that time. So, this is dank, so we’ve always been saying it.”

    His last Seattle review was shot at Bau 9 Thai in the Columbia City neighborhood. From this point, Leatherman hopes to keep his food reviews moving across the country.

    To keep up with Leatherman’s food journey, you can follow him on TikTok and Instagram under his handle: @PalateProvisions 

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    To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter.

    Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national news.

    The Source: Information in this story comes from original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle reporter AJ Janavel.

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    AJ.Janavel@fox.com (AJ Janavel)

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  • From Spice Girl to fashion mogul, Victoria Beckham grabs the chance to tell her own tale

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    NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — Now here’s something you might not quite believe about Victoria Beckham, glam Spice Girl turned high-profile fashion designer: At theater school, they purposely put her in the back row. Because she was too heavy.

    “It was really difficult,” she says now of the memory from her youth, sipping a sparkling water in a Manhattan hotel in between work engagements. “We were all judged on how we looked. I was young. I had bad skin, my weight was going up and down, I had really lank hair.”

    Beckham was also bullied in school and told she was a bad learner, revelations that come in a new documentary, “Victoria Beckham.” The three-part Netflix series traces her career and especially her ascension in the fashion world — building up to a grand Paris runway show at a palace in front of 600 people.

    That 2024 show — with a rainstorm threatening to scuttle the whole thing — is presented as a career pinnacle for a designer who spent years proving herself alongside giants of the field, showing she wasn’t simply a celebrity slapping her name on a label. ( Vogue’s Anna Wintour is among the fashion luminaries attesting to Beckham’s hard-won industry acceptance in the documentary).

    Of course the show also features liberal doses of Beckham’s soccer legend husband David — just as Victoria appeared in his own recent, popular Netflix documentary “Beckham” (both were produced by David Beckham’s own Studio 99).

    Some reviews have said Victoria’s documentary feels more guarded and less revelatory. In any case, Victoria Beckham says wanted to tell her own story, her own way. She focuses only briefly on what a certain generation knows her best for — the four years she spent as Posh Spice — and mostly on the two decades she’s been building her eponymous fashion and beauty brand.

    Other revelations: While she was the richer partner when they married in 1999 and in fact bought their first house, it was David Beckham who later invested in her label and helped get it going.

    She also talks about how her company almost fell apart due to bad business decisions — like spending 70,000 pounds (about $94,000) on office plants and 15,000 (about $20,000) more to water them — and how she learned, with investors, to right the ship.

    Beckham, 51, sat down with The Associated Press this week during a visit to New York. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

    BECKHAM: Well, his documentary wasn’t about me, you know. I was in the documentary as David’s wife and I’ve been part of his journey and I was so honored to talk about that. People’s response to me in that really surprised me, and there was something quite liberating about that because when I saw myself … I didn’t like how I came across. But then I think I’ve always felt that way about myself. I suppose it gave me the confidence to do my own.

    BECKHAM: I’ve been in the fashion industry for almost two decades. I was in the Spice Girls for four years — and have been so defined by that four-year period in my life. A time that I’m so proud of, but I’ve fighting preconceptions because of that period. I feel that only now is my brand in a place where me talking about my past will not affect the brand that I’ve built.

    BECKHAM: I’m not ashamed to say I’m really ambitious. And it’s been the first time that I’ve ever looked back and, having that bird’s eye view on my journey so far, even I found it inspiring what I have done … the fact that I have been told “No” so many times, told that I’m not enough, not good enough. And by the way, that started when I was a child, when I was at school. If anybody watches this documentary and I can give them the confidence to follow their dreams, that’s another really good reason to do it.

    BECKHAM: Oh absolutely, I think that for many years I was misunderstood, before social media, you know, the media told the narrative, and then there were paparazzi pictures where most of the time I looked incredibly unhappy. And I think looking at the documentary telling my story from ME explains the why. I can’t blame people for looking at the pictures of me looking really grumpy.

    BECKHAM: Never quite like this. The opportunity has never really presented itself. And I know a lot of people can relate to my story because of all the messages that I’ve had since people have watched the documentary. … From, yes, people that I know, but people that I don’t know, people who say, “I can relate, I have been through that.” It’s taken this process finally for me to feel at my age proud of what I’ve achieved and also to finally believe that I am enough.

    BECKHAM: I’m so respectful of my time with Spice Girls. I still see all of the girls now. I wouldn’t be who I am now … the Spice Girls gave me the confidence to be me. I remember Geri (Halliwell) saying to me, “You’re funny, be funny.” I’m shy. And they really gave me my personality back. … I think people would be surprised to know that I was only a Spice Girl for four years. I’ve been in fashion nearly two decades, but people like to pigeonhole.

    BECKHAM: Maybe. I don’t know. … I think I’ve earned my place to be showing where I am. I think that I’ve more than proved myself and earned the right to be there. Now I have to work hard to maintain that.

    BECKHAM: I’ve learned so much. I know what I know and I really know what I DON’T know. It got to a stage where my investors told me that we had to re-strategize not just the business side of things but the creative things as well. And that was difficult. … We had to change a lot of things to fix the business and I took it on the chin. Of course that meant compromising, but I wanted to save the business.

    BECKHAM: Fashion in its own right is profitable. And to be able to say that in this current climate is something I’m very proud of. I’m an independent brand as well, so I’m incredibly proud to say the fashion is making money. Beauty is also doing incredibly well. And now, it is about building the house that I really have always dreamed of.

    BECKHAM: I recognize that I am really blessed. I am very appreciative of the life I have. You have to take it along with the other stuff.

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  • Meta adds parental controls for AI-teen interactions

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    Meta is adding parental controls for kids’ interactions with artificial intelligence chatbots — including the ability to turn off one-on-one chats with AI characters altogether — beginning early next year.

    But parents won’t be able to turn off Meta’s AI assistant, which Meta says will “will remain available to offer helpful information and educational opportunities, with default, age-appropriate protections in place to help keep teens safe.”

    Parents who don’t want to turn off all chats with all AI characters will also be able to block specific chatbots. And Meta said Friday that parents will be able to get “insights” about what their kids are chatting about with AI characters — although they won’t get access to the full chats.

    The changes come as the social media giant faces ongoing criticism over harms to children from its platforms. AI chatbots are also drawing scrutiny over their interactions with children that lawsuits claim have driven some to suicide.

    Even so, more than 70% of teens have used AI companions and half use them regularly, according to a recent study from Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that studies and advocates for using screens and digital media sensibly.

    On Tuesday, Meta announced that teen accounts on Instagram will be restricted to seeing PG-13 content by default and won’t be able to change their settings without a parent’s permission. This means kids using teen-specific accounts will see photos and videos on Instagram that are similar to what they would see in a PG-13 movie — no sex, drugs or dangerous stunts.

    Meta said the PG-13 restrictions will also apply to AI chats.

    Children’s online advocacy groups, however, were skeptical.

    “From my perspective, these announcements are about two things. They’re about forestalling legislation that Meta doesn’t want to see, and they’re about reassuring parents who are understandably concerned about what’s happening on Instagram,” said Josh Golin, the executive director of the nonprofit Fairplay, after Meta’s announcement Tuesday.

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  • Meta adds parental controls for AI-teen interactions

    [ad_1]

    Meta is adding parental controls for kids’ interactions with artificial intelligence chatbots — including the ability to turn off one-on-one chats with AI characters altogether — beginning early next year.

    But parents won’t be able to turn off Meta’s AI assistant, which Meta says will “will remain available to offer helpful information and educational opportunities, with default, age-appropriate protections in place to help keep teens safe.”

    Parents who don’t want to turn off all chats with all AI characters will also be able to block specific chatbots. And Meta said Friday that parents will be able to get “insights” about what their kids are chatting about with AI characters — although they won’t get access to the full chats.

    The changes come as the social media giant faces ongoing criticism over harms to children from its platforms. AI chatbots are also drawing scrutiny over their interactions with children that lawsuits claim have driven some to suicide.

    Even so, more than 70% of teens have used AI companions and half use them regularly, according to a recent study from Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that studies and advocates for using screens and digital media sensibly.

    On Tuesday, Meta announced that teen accounts on Instagram will be restricted to seeing PG-13 content by default and won’t be able to change their settings without a parent’s permission. This means kids using teen-specific accounts will see photos and videos on Instagram that are similar to what they would see in a PG-13 movie — no sex, drugs or dangerous stunts.

    Meta said the PG-13 restrictions will also apply to AI chats.

    Children’s online advocacy groups, however, were skeptical.

    “From my perspective, these announcements are about two things. They’re about forestalling legislation that Meta doesn’t want to see, and they’re about reassuring parents who are understandably concerned about what’s happening on Instagram,” said Josh Golin, the executive director of the nonprofit Fairplay, after Meta’s announcement Tuesday.

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  • Smucker sues Trader Joe’s, saying its new PB&J sandwiches are too similar to Uncrustables

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    The J.M. Smucker Co. is suing Trader Joe’s, alleging the grocery chain’s new frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are too similar to Smucker’s Uncrustables in their design and packaging.

    In the lawsuit, which was filed Monday in federal court in Ohio, Smucker said the round, crustless sandwiches Trader Joe’s sells have the same pie-like crimp markings on their edges that Uncrustables do. Smucker said the design violates its trademarks.

    Smucker also asserted that the boxes Trader Joe’s PB&J sandwiches come in violate the Orrville, Ohio-based company’s trademarks because they are the same blue color it uses for the lettering on “Uncrustables” packages.

    Trader Joe’s boxes also show a sandwich with a bite mark taken out of it, which is similar to the Uncrustables design, Smucker said.

    “Smucker does not take issue with others in the marketplace selling prepackaged, frozen, thaw-and-eat crustless sandwiches. But it cannot allow others to use Smucker’s valuable intellectual property to make such sales,” the company said in its lawsuit.

    Smucker is seeking restitution from Trader Joe’s. It also wants a judge to require Trader Joe’s to deliver all products and packaging to Smucker to be destroyed.

    A message seeking comment was left Wednesday with Trader Joe’s, which is based in Monrovia, California.

    Michael Kelber, chair of the intellectual property group at Neal Gerber Eisenberg, a Chicago law firm, said Smucker’s registered trademarks will help bolster its argument. But Trader Joe’s might argue that the crimping on its sandwiches is simply functional and not something that can be trademarked, Kelber said.

    Trader Joe’s sandwiches also appear to be slightly more square than Uncrustables, so the company could argue that the shape isn’t the same, Kelber said.

    Uncrustables were invented by two friends who began producing them in 1996 in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Smucker bought their company in 1998 and secured patents for a “sealed, crustless sandwich” in 1999.

    But it wasn’t easy to mass produce them. In the lawsuit, Smucker said it has spent more than $1 billion developing the Uncrustables brand over the last 20 years. Smucker spent years trying to perfect Uncrustables’ stretchy bread and developing new filling flavors like chocolate and hazelnut.

    Kelber said one of the biggest issues companies debate in cases like this one is whether the copycat product deceives consumers.

    Smucker claims that’s already happening with Trader Joe’s sandwiches. In the lawsuit, Smucker showed a social media photo of a person claiming that Trader Joe’s is contracting with Smucker to make the sandwiches under its own private label.

    This isn’t the first time Smucker has taken legal action to protect its Uncrustables brand. In 2022, it sent a cease and desist letter to a Minnesota company called Gallant Tiger, which was making upscale versions of crustless peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with crimped edges. Smucker said Wednesday that it hasn’t taken further action but continues to monitor Gallant Tiger.

    Smucker likely felt it had no choice but to sue this time around, Kelber said.

    “For the brand owner, what is the point of having this brand if I’m not going to enforce it?” Kelber said. “If they ignore Trader Joe’s, they are feeding that, and then the next person who does it they won’t have an argument.”

    Kelber said trademark cases often wind up being settled because neither company wants to go through an expensive trial.

    Smucker’s lawsuit comes a few months after a similar lawsuit filed against the Aldi by Mondelez International, which claimed that Aldi’s store-brand cookies and crackers have packaging that is too similar to Mondelez brands like Chips Ahoy, Wheat Thins and Oreos.

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  • Big Tech is paying millions to train teachers on AI

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    SAN ANTONIO — SAN ANTONIO (AP) — On a scorching hot Saturday in San Antonio, dozens of teachers traded a day off for a glimpse of the future. The topic of the day’s workshop: enhancing instruction with artificial intelligence.

    After marveling as AI graded classwork instantly and turned lesson plans into podcasts or online storybooks, one high school English teacher raised a concern that was on the minds of many: “Are we going to be replaced with AI?”

    That remains to be seen. But for the nation’s 4 million teachers to stay relevant and help students use the technology wisely, teachers unions have forged an unlikely partnership with the world’s largest technology companies. The two groups don’t always see eye to eye but say they share a common goal: training the future workforce of America.

    Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic are providing millions of dollars for AI training to the American Federation of Teachers, the country’s second-largest teachers union. In exchange, the tech companies have an opportunity to make inroads into schools and win over students in the race for AI dominance.

    AFT President Randi Weingarten said skepticism guided her negotiations, but the tech industry has something schools lack: deep pockets.

    “There is no one else who is helping us with this. That’s why we felt we needed to work with the largest corporations in the world,” Weingarten said. “We went to them — they didn’t come to us.”

    Weingarten first met with Microsoft CEO Brad Smith in 2023 to discuss a partnership. She later reached out to OpenAI to pursue an “agnostic” approach that means any company’s AI tools could be used in a training session.

    Under the arrangement announced in July, Microsoft is contributing $12.5 million to AFT over five years. OpenAI is providing $8 million in funding and $2 million in technical resources, and Anthropic has offered $500,000.

    With the money, AFT is planning to build an AI training hub in New York City that will offer virtual and in-person workshops for teachers. The goal is to open at least two more hubs and train 400,000 teachers over the next five years.

    The National Education Association, the country’s largest teachers union, announced its own partnership with Microsoft last month. The company has provided a $325,000 grant to help the NEA develop AI trainings in the form of “microcredentials” — online trainings open to the union’s 3 million members, said Daaiyah Bilal, NEA’s senior director of education policy. The goal is to train at least 10,000 members this school year.

    “We tailored our partnership very surgically,” Bilal said. “We are very mindful of what a technology company stands to gain by spreading information about the products they develop.”

    Both unions set similar terms: Educators, not the private funders, would design and lead trainings that include AI tools from multiple companies. The unions own the intellectual property for the trainings, which cover safety and privacy concerns alongside AI skills.

    The Trump administration has encouraged the private investment, recently creating an AI Education Task Force as part of an effort to achieve “global dominance in artificial intelligence.” The federal government urged tech companies and other organizations to foot the bill. So far, more than 100 companies have signed up.

    Tech companies see opportunities in education beyond training teachers. Microsoft unveiled a $4 billion initiative for AI training, research and the gifting of its AI tools to teachers and students. It includes the AFT grant and a program that will give all school districts and community colleges in Washington, Microsoft’s home state, free access to Microsoft CoPilot tools. Google says it will commit $1 billion for AI education and job training programs, including free access to its Gemini for Education platform for U.S. high schools.

    Several recent studies have found that AI use in schools is rapidly increasing but training and guidance are lagging.

    The industry offers resources that can help scale AI literacy efforts quickly. But educators should ensure any partnership focuses on what’s best for teachers and students, said Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education.

    “These are private initiatives, and they are run by companies that have a stake,” Lake said.

    Microsoft CEO Brad Smith agrees that teachers should have a “healthy dose of skepticism” about the role of tech companies.

    “While it’s easy to see the benefits right now, we should always be mindful of the potential for unintended consequences,” Smith said in an interview, pointing to concerns such as AI’s possible impact on critical thinking. “We have to be careful. It’s early days.”

    At the San Antonio AFT training, about 50 educators turned up for the three-hour workshop for teachers in the Northside Independent School District. It is the city’s largest, employing about 7,000 teachers.

    The day started with a pep talk.

    “We all know, when we talk about AI, teachers say, ‘Nah, I’m not doing that,’” trainer Kathleen Torregrossa told the room. “But we are preparing kids for the future. That is our primary job. And AI, like it or not, is part of our world.”

    Attendees generated lesson plans using ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, Microsoft CoPilot and two AI tools designed for schools, Khanmingo and Colorín Colorado.

    Gabriela Aguirre, a 1st grade dual language teacher, repeatedly used the word “amazing” to describe what she saw.

    “It can save you so much time,” she said, and add visual flair to lessons. She walked away with a plan to use AI tools to make illustrated flashcards in English and Spanish to teach vocabulary.

    “With all the video games, the cellphones you have to compete against, the kids are always saying, ‘I’m bored.’ Everything is boring,” Aguirre said. “If you can find ways to engage them with new technology, you’ve just got to do that.”

    Middle school teacher Celeste Simone said there is no turning back to how she taught before.

    As a teacher for English language learners, Simone can now ask AI tools to generate pictures alongside vocabulary words and create illustrated storybooks that use students’ names as characters. She can take a difficult reading passage and ask a chatbot to translate it into Spanish, Pashto or other languages. And she can ask AI to rewrite difficult passages at any grade level to match her students’ reading levels. All in a matter of seconds.

    “I can give my students access to things that never existed before,” Simone said. “As a teacher, once you’ve used it and see how helpful it is, I don’t think I could go back to the way I did things before.”

    ____

    The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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  • Big Tech is paying millions to train teachers on AI, in a push to bring chatbots into classrooms

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    SAN ANTONIO — SAN ANTONIO (AP) — On a scorching hot Saturday in San Antonio, dozens of teachers traded a day off for a glimpse of the future. The topic of the day’s workshop: enhancing instruction with artificial intelligence.

    After marveling as AI graded classwork instantly and turned lesson plans into podcasts or online storybooks, one high school English teacher raised a concern that was on the minds of many: “Are we going to be replaced with AI?”

    That remains to be seen. But for the nation’s 4 million teachers to stay relevant and help students use the technology wisely, teachers unions have forged an unlikely partnership with the world’s largest technology companies. The two groups don’t always see eye to eye but say they share a common goal: training the future workforce of America.

    Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic are providing millions of dollars for AI training to the American Federation of Teachers, the country’s second-largest teachers union. In exchange, the tech companies have an opportunity to make inroads into schools and win over students in the race for AI dominance.

    AFT President Randi Weingarten said skepticism guided her negotiations, but the tech industry has something schools lack: deep pockets.

    “There is no one else who is helping us with this. That’s why we felt we needed to work with the largest corporations in the world,” Weingarten said. “We went to them — they didn’t come to us.”

    Weingarten first met with Microsoft CEO Brad Smith in 2023 to discuss a partnership. She later reached out to OpenAI to pursue an “agnostic” approach that means any company’s AI tools could be used in a training session.

    Under the arrangement announced in July, Microsoft is contributing $12.5 million to AFT over five years. OpenAI is providing $8 million in funding and $2 million in technical resources, and Anthropic has offered $500,000.

    With the money, AFT is planning to build an AI training hub in New York City that will offer virtual and in-person workshops for teachers. The goal is to open at least two more hubs and train 400,000 teachers over the next five years.

    The National Education Association, the country’s largest teachers union, announced its own partnership with Microsoft last month. The company has provided a $325,000 grant to help the NEA develop AI trainings in the form of “microcredentials” — online trainings open to the union’s 3 million members, said Daaiyah Bilal, NEA’s senior director of education policy. The goal is to train at least 10,000 members this school year.

    “We tailored our partnership very surgically,” Bilal said. “We are very mindful of what a technology company stands to gain by spreading information about the products they develop.”

    Both unions set similar terms: Educators, not the private funders, would design and lead trainings that include AI tools from multiple companies. The unions own the intellectual property for the trainings, which cover safety and privacy concerns alongside AI skills.

    The Trump administration has encouraged the private investment, recently creating an AI Education Task Force as part of an effort to achieve “global dominance in artificial intelligence.” The federal government urged tech companies and other organizations to foot the bill. So far, more than 100 companies have signed up.

    Tech companies see opportunities in education beyond training teachers. Microsoft unveiled a $4 billion initiative for AI training, research and the gifting of its AI tools to teachers and students. It includes the AFT grant and a program that will give all school districts and community colleges in Washington, Microsoft’s home state, free access to Microsoft CoPilot tools. Google says it will commit $1 billion for AI education and job training programs, including free access to its Gemini for Education platform for U.S. high schools.

    Several recent studies have found that AI use in schools is rapidly increasing but training and guidance are lagging.

    The industry offers resources that can help scale AI literacy efforts quickly. But educators should ensure any partnership focuses on what’s best for teachers and students, said Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education.

    “These are private initiatives, and they are run by companies that have a stake,” Lake said.

    Microsoft CEO Brad Smith agrees that teachers should have a “healthy dose of skepticism” about the role of tech companies.

    “While it’s easy to see the benefits right now, we should always be mindful of the potential for unintended consequences,” Smith said in an interview, pointing to concerns such as AI’s possible impact on critical thinking. “We have to be careful. It’s early days.”

    At the San Antonio AFT training, about 50 educators turned up for the three-hour workshop for teachers in the Northside Independent School District. It is the city’s largest, employing about 7,000 teachers.

    The day started with a pep talk.

    “We all know, when we talk about AI, teachers say, ‘Nah, I’m not doing that,’” trainer Kathleen Torregrossa told the room. “But we are preparing kids for the future. That is our primary job. And AI, like it or not, is part of our world.”

    Attendees generated lesson plans using ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, Microsoft CoPilot and two AI tools designed for schools, Khanmingo and Colorín Colorado.

    Gabriela Aguirre, a 1st grade dual language teacher, repeatedly used the word “amazing” to describe what she saw.

    “It can save you so much time,” she said, and add visual flair to lessons. She walked away with a plan to use AI tools to make illustrated flashcards in English and Spanish to teach vocabulary.

    “With all the video games, the cellphones you have to compete against, the kids are always saying, ‘I’m bored.’ Everything is boring,” Aguirre said. “If you can find ways to engage them with new technology, you’ve just got to do that.”

    Middle school teacher Celeste Simone said there is no turning back to how she taught before.

    As a teacher for English language learners, Simone can now ask AI tools to generate pictures alongside vocabulary words and create illustrated storybooks that use students’ names as characters. She can take a difficult reading passage and ask a chatbot to translate it into Spanish, Pashto or other languages. And she can ask AI to rewrite difficult passages at any grade level to match her students’ reading levels. All in a matter of seconds.

    “I can give my students access to things that never existed before,” Simone said. “As a teacher, once you’ve used it and see how helpful it is, I don’t think I could go back to the way I did things before.”

    ____

    The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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  • Prepare for wild weather and don’t bother the sheep: What to know about visiting the Faroe Islands

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    KALSOY ISLAND, Faroe Islands (AP) — While once the Faroe Islands might have slipped under the radar, more tourists than ever are arriving on the remote archipelago in the north Atlantic.

    According to Statistics Faroe Islands, a record 94,954 check-ins occurred last year at hotels, hostels and guesthouses.

    That’s relatively small for a European destination, but authorities are already thinking about how to protect the windswept 18 islands from the tourism pressure that has led to backlash elsewhere.

    Like Greenland, the Faroes are a self-governing territory of Denmark. So far, U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed no public interest in taking control of them.

    Here’s what to know about visiting.

    The weather above all

    Be ready for anything, especially when hiking. At some point, it will rain. Strong winds can pick up quickly, and fog can be disorienting.

    The Landsverk local authority has weather cams on its site, and so does FaroeIslandsLive. The official Visit Faroe Islands site has detailed advice on safe travel, as locals are aware that people can slip off trails into the sea – and sometimes do.

    “I will take photos to die for, without dying for them,” says a tourist-focused flier called “The Faroese Pledge” on the library door in the village of Fuglafjordur.

    Trails marked as suitable for children may not be. Keep in mind that hiking times and difficulty levels have been estimated by locals. A few of the most heavily traveled routes ask for a fee. The popular hike to the Kallur lighthouse on Kalsoy Island is about $30. Do not miss it.

    Undersea tunnels, upper-tier fees

    It’s best to explore with a rental car for more flexibility. Public buses are available to many locations, but timetables are limited. They are available at the Strandfaraskip site. Multi-day travel passes can be purchased at the airport’s visitor center.

    The Faroe Islands now have four undersea tunnels linking a few of the most visited islands, but prepare to pay. Fees range from over $15 for a round trip to over $27 one way. Plan day trips accordingly. Fees are paid to the rental car company at the end of a visit.

    On land, some of the older tunnels are single lanes with designated passing areas. Some of the scenic “buttercup” routes are single lanes as well. Guardrails are not always present.

    On one stretch of road leaving the community of Tjornuvik, a signal has been installed to limit traffic to one direction at a time along the well-battered guardrail above the sea. Tourists don’t know how to reverse, residents said.

    Mind the sheep, and other details

    The need for cash is almost nonexistent. The AP used it once, for a coin-operated shower in one of the public restrooms often found at camping locations or tourist-frequented villages. Pay with cards and phones.

    Food is expensive, as most of it is imported.

    English is widely enough spoken and displayed.

    Drone use is restricted. The Visit Faroe Islands site has details.

    Don’t bother the sheep. Call the police if you hit one.

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  • Career experts say asking for a raise isn’t off the table in a tough job market

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    NEW YORK (AP) — With the U.S. experiencing a significant hiring slowdown, it’s a daunting time to be looking for a job. Many workers are staying put instead of changing jobs to secure better pay. Artificial intelligence tools increasingly screen the resumes of applicants. Now may seem like an inappropriate time to request a raise.

    But sticking around doesn’t mean wages and salaries have to stagnate. Career experts say it’s not wrong, even in a shaky economy, to ask to be paid what you’re worth. Raises aren’t even necessarily off the table at organizations that are downsizing, according to some experts.

    “A lot of people think if their company has done layoffs, the likelihood of getting a raise is pretty low,” said Jamie Kohn, a senior director in the human resources practice at business research and advisory firm Gartner. “And that might be true, but the the other way to think about it is that this company has already decided to reinvest in you by keeping you on.”

    This article is part of AP’s Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health. Read more Be Well.

    When should you ask?

    If you’ve taken on greater responsibilities at work and have received strong performance reviews, or if you’ve learned you’re paid substantially less than colleagues or competitors with similar levels of experience, then it may be the right time to ask for a pay adjustment.

    “They know that you’re taking on more work, especially if you’ve had layoffs on your team,” Kohn continued. “At that point, it is very hard for them to lose an employee that you know they now are relying on much more.”

    Another signal that it’s time to ask for an adjustment is if you’re working a second job to make ends meet or your current financial situation is causing angst that impacts job performance, said Rodney Williams, co-founder of SoLo Funds, a community finance platform.

    “There’s nothing wrong with saying, ’Hey, I need to raise my financial position. I’m willing to do more,” Williams said. “I’m willing to show up earlier, I’m willing to leave later, I’m willing to help out, maybe, and do other things here.”

    Some people view asking for more compensation as less risky than switching to a new job. “There is a sense of not wanting to be ‘last in, first out’ in a potential layoff situation,” said Kohn.

    Know your worth

    Before starting the compensation conversation, do some research on current salaries. You can find out what people with comparable experience are making in your industry by searching on websites such as Glassdoor, where people self-report salaries, or ZipRecruiter, which gathers pay data from job postings and other sources.

    Three years ago, a lot of people asked for 20% pay increases because of price inflation and high employee turnover coming out of the coronavirus pandemic, Kohn said. Companies no longer are considering such big bumps.

    “Right now, I think you could say that you are worth 10% more, but you’re unlikely to get a 10% pay increase if you ask for it,” she said.

    Your success also depends on your recent performance reviews. “If you’ve been given additional responsibilities, if you are operating at a level that would be a promotion, those might be situations where asking for a higher amount might be worth it,” Kohn said.

    Compare notes with colleagues

    Many people view the topic as taboo, but telling coworkers what you make and asking if they earn more may prove instructive. Trusted coworkers with similar roles are potential sources. People who were recently hired or promoted may supply a sense of the market rate, Kohn said.

    “You can say, ‘Hey, I’m trying to make sure I’m being paid equitably. Are you making over or under X dollars?’ That’s one of my favorite phrases to use, and it invites people into a healthy discussion,” Sam DeMase, a career expert with ZipRecruiter, said. “People are way more interested in talking about salary than you might think.”

    You can also reach out to people who left the company, who may be more willing to compare paychecks than current colleagues, DeMase said.

    Brag sheet

    Keep track of your accomplishments and positive feedback on your work. Compile it into one document, which human resources professionals call a “brag sheet,” DeMase said. If you’re making your request in writing, list those accomplishments when you ask for a raise. If the request is made in a conversation, you can use the list as talking points.

    Be sure to list any work or responsibilities that typically would not have been part of your job description. “Employers are wanting employees to do more with less, so we need to be documenting all of the ways in which we’re working outside of our job scope,” DeMase said.

    Also take stock of the unique skills or traits you bring to the team.

    “People tend to overestimate our employers’ alternatives,” said Oakbay Consulting CEO Emily Epstein, who teaches negotiation courses at Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley. “We assume they could just hire a long line of people, but it may be that we bring specialized expertise to our roles, something that would be hard to replace.”

    Timing matters

    Don’t seek a raise when your boss is hungry or at the end of a long day because the answer is more likely to be no, advises Epstein, whose company offers training on communication, conflict resolution and other business skills. If they’re well-rested and feeling great, you’re more likely to succeed, she said.

    Getting a raise is probably easier in booming fields, such as cybersecurity, while it could be a tough time to request one if you work in an industry that is shedding positions, Epstein said.

    By the same token, waiting for the perfect time presents the risk of missing out on a chance to advocate for yourself.

    “You could wait your whole life for your boss to be well-rested or to have a lot of resources,” Epstein said. “So don’t wait forever.”

    Responding to “no”

    If your request is denied, having made it can help set the stage for a future negotiation.

    Ask your manager what makes it difficult to say yes, Epstein suggested. “Is it the precedent you’d be establishing for this position that might be hard to live up to? Is it fairness to the other people in my position? Is it, right now the company’s struggling?” she said.

    Ask when you might revisit the conversation and whether you can get that timeframe in writing, DeMase said.

    Laura Kreller, an executive assistant at a university in Louisiana, recently earned a master’s degree and asked for her job description to change to reflect greater responsibilities and hopefully higher pay. Her boss was kind but turned her down, citing funding constraints. Kreller said she has no regrets.

    “I was proud of myself for doing it,” she said. “It’s better to know where you stand.”

    ___

    Share your stories and questions about workplace wellness at [email protected]. Follow AP’s Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health at https://apnews.com/hub/be-well

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  • Colleges are fighting to prove their return on investment

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — For a generation of young Americans, choosing where to go to college — or whether to go at all — has become a complex calculation of costs and benefits that often revolves around a single question: Is the degree worth its price?

    Public confidence in higher education has plummeted in recent years amid high tuition prices, skyrocketing student loans and a dismal job market — plus ideological concerns from conservatives. Now, colleges are scrambling to prove their value to students.

    Borrowed from the business world, the term “return on investment” has been plastered on college advertisements across the U.S. A battery of new rankings grade campuses on the financial benefits they deliver. States such as Colorado have started publishing yearly reports on the monetary payoff of college, and Texas now factors it into calculations for how much taxpayer money goes to community colleges.

    “Students are becoming more aware of the times when college doesn’t pay off,” said Preston Cooper, who has studied college ROI at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. “It’s front of mind for universities today in a way that it was not necessarily 15, 20 years ago.”

    Most bachelor’s degrees are still worth it

    A wide body of research indicates a bachelor’s degree still pays off, at least on average and in the long run. Yet there’s growing recognition that not all degrees lead to a good salary, and even some that seem like a good bet are becoming riskier as graduates face one of the toughest job markets in years.

    A new analysis released Thursday by the Strada Education Foundation finds 70% of recent public university graduates can expect a positive return within 10 years — meaning their earnings over a decade will exceed that of a typical high school graduate by an amount greater than the cost of their degree. Yet it varies by state, from 53% in North Dakota to 82% in Washington, D.C. States where college is more affordable have fared better, the report says.

    It’s a critical issue for families who wonder how college tuition prices could ever pay off, said Emilia Mattucci, a high school counselor at East Allegheny schools, near Pittsburgh. More than two-thirds of her school’s students come from low-income families, and many aren’t willing to take on the level of debt that past generations accepted.

    Instead, more are heading to technical schools or the trades and passing on four-year universities, she said.

    “A lot of families are just saying they can’t afford it, or they don’t want to go into debt for years and years and years,” she said.

    Education Secretary Linda McMahon has been among those questioning the need for a four-year degree. Speaking at the Reagan Institute think tank in September, McMahon praised programs that prepare students for careers right out of high school.

    “I’m not saying kids shouldn’t go to college,” she said. “I’m just saying all kids don’t have to go in order to be successful.”

    Lowering college tuition and improving graduate earnings

    American higher education has been grappling with both sides of the ROI equation — tuition costs and graduate earnings. It’s becoming even more important as colleges compete for decreasing numbers of college-age students as a result of falling birth rates.

    Tuition rates have stayed flat on many campuses in recent years to address affordability concerns, and many private colleges have lowered their sticker prices in an effort to better reflect the cost most students actually pay after factoring in financial aid.

    The other part of the equation — making sure graduates land good jobs — is more complicated.

    A group of college presidents recently met at Gallup’s Washington headquarters to study public polling on higher education. One of the chief reasons for flagging confidence is a perception that colleges aren’t giving graduates the skills employers need, said Kevin Guskiewicz, president of Michigan State University, one of the leaders at the meeting.

    “We’re trying to get out in front of that,” he said.

    The issue has been a priority for Guskiewicz since he arrived on campus last year. He gathered a council of Michigan business leaders to identify skills that graduates will need for jobs, from agriculture to banking. The goal is to mold degree programs to the job market’s needs and to get students internships and work experience that can lead to a job.

    A disconnect with the job market

    Bridging the gap to the job market has been a persistent struggle for U.S. colleges, said Matt Sigelman, president of the Burning Glass Institute, a think tank that studies the workforce. Last year the institute, partnering with Strada researchers, found 52% of recent college graduates were in jobs that didn’t require a degree. Even higher-demand fields, such as education and nursing, had large numbers of graduates in that situation.

    “No programs are immune, and no schools are immune,” Sigelman said.

    The federal government has been trying to fix the problem for decades, going back to President Barack Obama’s administration. A federal rule first established in 2011 aimed to cut federal money to college programs that leave graduates with low earnings, though it primarily targeted for-profit colleges.

    A Republican reconciliation bill passed this year takes a wider view, requiring most colleges to hit earnings standards to be eligible for federal funding. The goal is to make sure college graduates end up earning more than those without a degree.

    Others see transparency as a key solution.

    For decades, students had little way to know whether graduates of specific degree programs were landing good jobs after college. That started to change with the College Scorecard in 2015, a federal website that shares broad earnings outcomes for college programs. More recently, bipartisan legislation in Congress has sought to give the public even more detailed data.

    Lawmakers in North Carolina ordered a 2023 study on the financial return for degrees across the state’s public universities. It found that 93% produced a positive return, meaning graduates were expected to earn more over their lives than someone without a similar degree.

    The data is available to the public, showing, for example, that undergraduate degrees in applied math and business tend to have high returns at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, while graduate degrees in psychology and foreign languages often don’t.

    Colleges are belatedly realizing how important that kind of data is to students and their families, said Lee Roberts, chancellor of UNC-Chapel Hill, in an interview.

    “In uncertain times, students are even more focused — I would say rightly so — on what their job prospects are going to be,” he added. “So I think colleges and universities really owe students and their families this data.”

    ___

    The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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  • Michelle Obama to promote new book ‘The Look’ with podcast series

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Former first lady Michelle Obama will be promoting her upcoming book on fashion, “The Look,” through a special, six-part companion series to the podcast “IMO” that she hosts with her brother, Craig Robinson. Guests will include Jane Fonda, model-activist Bethann Hardison and designer-former J. Crew executive Jenna Lyons.

    Higher Ground, the media company founded by Michelle Obama and former President Barack Obama, announced Thursday that “IMO: The Look” will premiere Nov. 5 and run weekly over the following six weeks. Obama’s book, a look at her fashion choices during her time in the White House and throughout her public life, is scheduled for Nov. 4. Obama’s previous books include “Becoming,” one of the bestselling memoirs in history by a former political figure.

    Obama will launch “The Look” podcast series with an appearance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where she will be joined by entertainer-producer Tracee Ellis Ross.

    She is also scheduled to appear at Sixth & I on Nov. 12 in Washington and be interviewed by New York Times critic Wesley Morris.

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  • Take a ‘stormcation’ in the dramatic Faroe Islands, where James Bond died

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    KALSOY ISLAND, Faroe Islands (AP) — The tiny Faroe Islands in the north Atlantic could be a poor choice for travelers with vertigo, seasickness or a fear of enclosed spaces. There are crumbling cliffs, sudden gale-force winds and hillsides so steep that even the sheep can tumble.

    Three tourists disappeared over two days in September. Police told the media their last locations were near a well-known waterfall that drops into the sea. Be careful, a shaken staffer at the site’s entrance said days later. “Come back.”

    The risks come with landscapes so dramatic that one became the site for James Bond’s end in “No Time to Die.” Now the Faroe Islands, a self-governing territory under Denmark, like Greenland, are trying to handle a growing number of travelers also drawn by bird-watching, adventurous eating and “coolcations” as global temperatures rise.

    Its sure-footed residents once hiked over mountain passes and maneuvered wooden boats onto rocky shores just to visit church or each other. Unlike tourists, they know when to stay away from hiking trails alongside unprotected cliffs, and how disorienting sudden fogs can be.

    A rainbow appears near a lighthouse on Kalsoy Island in Faroe Islands, Sept. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Cara Anna)

    “When you make a mistake here, nature usually wins,” a food truck vendor at one popular site said.

    It’s easier than ever to learn that lesson while exploring the Faroe Islands, which for now are largely free of the zip-lined commercialization of one of its nearest neighbors, Iceland.

    A growing network of undersea tunnels, including what’s called the world’s first undersea roundabout, are helping to link the 18 islands. Rugged isolation is giving way to smooth highways, and Airbnb has hundreds of listings among a population of over 50,000 people.

    A new co-chairmanship of the Arctic Council is bringing more global visibility, along with a stunning run toward its first soccer World Cup.

    ‘Closed for maintenance’

    Authorities are trying to both encourage tourism and protect the Faroe Islands from it. A yearly “closed for maintenance” program began in 2019, with volunteers from around the world chosen to help with anti-erosion efforts, path upkeep and other work. The national museum later launched a project to protect lands and biodiversity.

    And this year, the tourism office introduced self-navigating tours that steer visitors from the churned-mud trails of the most popular spots to lesser-known areas.

    Tour routes are revealed online as you go along. One sends users to a seaside village that hosts a popular music festival, followed by a tiny botanical garden, a fjord-side memorial to a deadly shipwreck and a small forest plantation enjoyed by Faroese on the otherwise treeless islands.

    The last leg was along a one-lane road that at times had no guardrail between its lack of shoulder and the drop to the sea. Sheep walked along one stretch, another reason for visitors to stay alert in the stunning surroundings. (There’s a police number to call if a driver hits one.)

    Visitors who love the outdoors can easily spend a week in the Faroe Islands cycling, fishing, trying an emerging sauna scene, eating sushi from locally farmed salmon and shopping for newly knitted wool sweaters. In the summer, boat tours include music concerts inside a sea cave or puffin-watching.

    Winters are fierce — a ferryman said a storm two years ago ripped the roof from an old house next to the AP’s seaside rental cottage in Sydradalur — but interest in the islands is starting to extend the peak tourist season into October.

    Ferocious winds and bewildered sheep

    Villages, especially in the wilder northern region, can have just a handful of residents. There are few tourist-focused businesses outside the capital, Torshavn, but the village of Gjogv has a welcoming guesthouse and cafe, and the village of Fuglafjordur has a charming main street and visitors’ center. English is widely spoken and displayed.

    Just be prepared for rain in the often-shifting weather, with webcams available from popular locations.

    And mind the guidance, even scolding, that some Faroese have posted for tourists who overstep.

    “Due to unmannerly behavior and lack of quietness on the graves, the cemetery is closed,” said a sign on the church in the village of Saksun.

    “Do not wash your shoes in the sink!” said a sign at the ferry stop on Kalsoy island. A worker at the island’s unexpected Thai restaurant — a sign of the small but growing migrant population — estimated that about 200 tourists a day came to a much-photographed lighthouse there this summer.

    The official Visit Faroe Islands doesn’t hold back, either, as it balances the appeal of growing tourism with the responsibility of warning travelers. Finding equilibrium is a long practice in the nation whose fishing-dominated economy requires cordial ties with a range of countries including Russia and China.

    “Stormcation,” the Visit Faroe Islands site declares, but adds: “Ferocious wind can overturn cars, fling bicycles, wheelbarrows — and sheep — or anything else that’s not anchored down.”

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  • From Grammy winner to children’s author: Laufey’s new book is ‘Mei Mei The Bunny’

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    NEW YORK (AP) — She’s won a Grammy, collaborated with Barbra Streisand and performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Now Laufey is taking on a new challenge: creating a children’s story inspired by her mascot-alias, Mei Mei The Bunny.

    Penguin Workshop announced Tuesday that Laufey’s picture book, “Mei Mei The Bunny,” will be published April 21. Illustrated by Lauren O’Hara, the book tells of Mei Mei’s determination to become a professional musician even as she encounters some initial struggles.

    “I’m so excited to now share Mei Mei The Bunny in storybook form!” Laufey said in a statement. “Mei Mei has been a part of my life for over the last few years and opening up the world around her has been the most beautiful exploration. I hope that anyone at any age can find something in Mei Mei’s story that inspires them and connects them to the people in their lives.”

    Born Laufey Lín Bing Jónsdóttir in Iceland, the 26-year-old Laufey is known for her distinctive blend of pop, classical and jazz. Her release from 2023, “Bewitched,” won a Grammy for best traditional pop vocal album. Earlier this year, she released the album “A Matter of Time.”

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  • Project connects Americans to the Dutch people who honor their relatives at World War II cemetery

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    DALLAS (AP) — In the decades since June West Brandt’s older brother was killed in World War II, her kind and artistic sibling who loved to play boogie-woogie on the piano has never been far from her mind. So she was delighted to discover he’s also being remembered by a Dutch couple who regularly visit a marker for him at a Netherlands cemetery.

    “It’s wonderful for me to know that someone is there,” said Brandt, 93, who lives near Houston.

    Her introduction over the summer to Lisa and Guido Meijers came by way of a new initiative aiming to increase the number of connections between the family members of those buried and remembered on the walls of the missing at the World War II cemetery and the Dutch people who have adopted each one.

    The project was spurred on by “The Monuments Men” author Robert Edsel, whose newest book, “Remember Us,” tells the story of the adoption program at the Netherlands American Cemetery. His Dallas-based Monuments Men and Women Foundation teamed with the Dutch foundation responsible for the adoptions to create the Forever Promise Project, which has a searchable database of the names of U.S. service members buried and remembered at the cemetery.

    “I’d like us to find and connect as many American families to their Dutch adopters as is possible,” Edsel said.

    Ton Hermes, chairman of the Foundation for Adopting Graves American Cemetery Margraten, said that while each of the about 8,300 graves and 1,700 markers for the missing at the cemetery near the village of Margraten have adopters, only about 20% to 30% of them are in contact with the service member’s relatives.

    When the Meijerses adopted the marker for Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. William Durham “W.D.” West Jr. several years ago, they knew only basic information about the 20-year-old whose body was never recovered after his B-24 bomber was shot down over the North Sea on a mission into Nazi Germany.

    Through talking with Brandt, they’ve learned that West was “quite a creative soul,” Lisa Meijers said.

    “That obviously makes a huge change in how to remember someone,” she said.

    Brandt said her brother loved to paint and played the piano by ear, and even though she was six years younger, they were “big buddies” growing up in the small western Louisiana city of DeRidder.

    “We loved being together, so it was very hard when he left,” Brandt said.

    Brandt’s daughter, Allison Brandt Woods, said it’s heartwarming knowing Meijerses are watching over the marker. Woods met up with them on a recent trip and hopes the connection between their families will continue with future generations.

    The cemetery, Lisa Meijers said, is among many reminders of World War II in the southern Netherlands, which was liberated by Allied forces in September 1944 after over four years of Nazi occupation.

    “We just really feel how extremely important it is to remember these things and to honor the sacrifices these people made for us,” she said.

    The Meijerses, who have a 1-year-old son, visit West’s marker about once a month, bringing flowers.

    Hermes said the program is so popular that there’s a waiting list to adopt a grave or marker.

    Names on the walls for the missing were opened up for adoption in 2008, said Frans Roebroeks, secretary for the Dutch adoption foundation. The formal adoption process for graves began to take shape during a 1945 meeting of the Margraten town council.

    “They were meeting to figure out the answer to the question: How do you thank your liberators when they are no longer alive to thank?” Edsel said.

    Many initial adopters took on the grave of someone they had gotten to know.

    “Once they heard their soldier was killed in action, the Dutch people decided to adopt his grave, to bring flowers and to correspond with the wives or mothers in the United States,” Hermes said.

    Roebroeks said many of the graves have been cared for by the same family since the end of the war, including one that’s been passed down through his family. He said Army Pfc. Henry Wolf had stayed at his grandfather’s farm and became “like a son” to him.

    Wolf’s grave has passed from Roebroeks’ grandfather to his mother and now to his sister, who will pass it to her daughter, he said.

    “That grave stays in the family,” he said.

    Edsel said that so far, over 300 families have asked to be put in touch with their adopters.

    “And we’re just starting,” he said.

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  • Walking is good for you. Walking backward can add to the benefits

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    Here’s a simple way to switch up your walking routine, according to experts: try going backward.

    Taking a brisk walk is an exercise rich in simplicity, and it can have impressive mental and physical benefits: stronger bones and muscles, cardiovascular fitness and stress relief, to name a few. But like any workout, hoofing it for your health may feel repetitive and even boring after a while.

    Backward walking, also known as retro walking or reverse walking, could add variety and value to an exercise routine, when done safely. Turning around not only provides a change of view, but also puts different demands on your body.

    Janet Dufek, a biomechanist and faculty member at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, has researched the mechanics of both walking and landing from jumps to identify ways of preventing injuries and improving physical performance. And as a former college basketball player and a regular exerciser, she’s also done her fair share of backward walking.

    In humans, reverse locomotion can increase hamstring flexibility, strengthen underused muscles and challenges the mind as the body adjusts to a new movement and posture.

    “I see a lot of people in my neighborhood and they walk, and that’s good,” she said. “But they are still stressing the same elements of their structure over and over again. Walking backward introduces an element of cross-training, a subtly different activity.”

    On the treadmill

    Kevin Patterson, a personal trainer in Nashville, Tennessee, recommends the treadmill as the safest place to retro walk. You can adjust it to a slow speed. However, Patterson likes to turn off the treadmill — termed the “dead mill” — and have clients propel the belt on their own.

    “It can take a while to get the treadmill going, but from there we have them be the horsepower for the treadmill,” he said.

    Patterson said he uses backward walking with all his clients as an “accessory exercise” — a weight-training term for add-on movements designed to work a specific muscle group — or during warm-ups. The activity typically makes up a small part of the workouts, he said.

    “The treadmill is great for older clients because you have the handles on the side and you reduce that risk of falling,” he said.

    Off the treadmill

    Dufek suggests working a one-minute segment of backward walking into a 10-minute walk and adding time and distance as you get comfortable.

    You can also do it with a partner; face each other, perhaps clasp hands. One person walks backward, and the other strolls forward and watches for problems. Then switch positions.

    “At first, you start really, really slowly because there’s a balance accommodation and there is brain retraining. You are learning a new skill,” Dufek said. “You’re using muscles in different ways.”

    If you work your way up to running and get really good at it, you can try running a marathon backward — 26.2 miles or 42.2 kilometers. Yes, people have done that.

    Backward walking as cross-training

    Dufek classifies backward walking as a form of cross-training, or incorporating a mix of moves into a fitness program. Doing a range of exercises can help prevent overuse injuries, which can occur after repeatedly using the same muscle groups.

    For many people, cross-training involves different activities and types of exercise: for example, running one day, swimming the next, and strength training on a third day. But the modifications required to walk backward work in the same way, but on a micro level.

    Do small tweaks make much of a difference? Once an avid runner, Dufek said she had several pairs of running shoes and did not wear the same pair two days in a row.

    “The shoes had a different level of wear, a different design,” she said. “Just by changing that one element, in this case footwear, it would provide a slightly different stress to the system.”

    Retro walking as rehabilitation

    Physical therapists instruct some of their clients to reverse walk, which can be useful after knee injuries or for people in rehabilitation or recovering from surgery.

    “Backward walking is very different than forward walking from a force perspective, from a movement pattern perspective,” Dufek explained. Instead of landing heel first, “you strike the forefoot first, often quite gently, and often the heel does not contact the ground.”

    “This reduces of the range of motion in the knee joint, which allows for activity without stressing the (knee) joint,” Dufek said.

    Backward walking also stretches the hamstring muscles, the group of muscles at the back of the thigh. Dufek is interested in finding out if it improves balance and reduces fall risks in older adults by activating more senses of the body.

    Athletes do it naturally

    There is nothing unnatural about backward walking. In fact, backward running is a key skill for top athletes.

    Basketball players do it. So do soccer players. American football players — particularly the defensive backs — do it continually.

    “I played basketball and I probably spent 40% of my time playing defense and running backwards,” Dufek said.

    ___

    Follow AP’s Be Well coverage, focusing on all aspects of wellness, at https://apnews.com/hub/be-well

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