Model Andreja Pejic Comes Out as Transgender

Model Andreja Pejic Comes Out as Transgender

Model Andreja Pejic

Andreja Pejic, the Bosnian-born supermodel known for her striking androgyny, has come out as transgender, announcing on social media Thursday that she’s officially transitioned from male to female, and that doing so has saved her life.

“As a transgender woman I hope to show that after transition (a life-saving process) one can be happy and successful in their new chapter without having to alienate their past,” the 22-year-old wrote in amessage to Facebook fans, in which she thanked everyone for their support over the years. “I think we all evolve as we get older and that’s normal but I like to think that my recent transition hasn’t made me into a different individual. Same person, no difference at all just a different sex, I hope you can all understand that.”

Reactions to Pejic’s announcement — made with fanfare not only on social media but on E Online, Style.com and People.com, and with careful guidance from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) — have ranged from supportive to downright celebratory.

“Andreja has been globally known for her beauty, and now she will be globally known for her courage,” Jenny Boylan, a noted transgender memoirist and GLAAD’s national board of directors co-chair, told Yahoo Health. “She is doing a very brave thing — being unashamed of who she is — which will send a message to other transgender people that there’s nothing wrong with who you are.”

On Twitter, transgender advocate and “Orange is the New Black” star Laverne Cox wrote to Pejic, “Congrats on publicly claiming your truth as a trans woman. You’re now part of a resilient, beautiful & mighty sisterhood.” Actor Wilson Cruz tweeted, “Happy for you!,” while Janet Mock, activist and “Redefining Realness” author, wrote, “Sending love to @andrejapejic as she steps fwd publicly as a #trans woman. Welcome to the sisterhood!”

The Australian-raised beauty, who, as Andrej Pejic, has graced the covers of Serbian Elle and French Vogue and modeled everything from Jean-Paul Gaultier tuxedo jackets to Rosa Clara bridal gowns, has been helping break ground for a widening field of transgender models for years. Though she was previously listed as a male model with agencies around the world, she walked both the male and female Gaultier runways in 2011. Since then, transgender model Lea T of Brazil has appeared on the cover of Brazilian Elle, Dutch Valentijn de Hingh was featured in the pages of Italian Vogue, and Carmen Carrera made a bidto become the first transgender Victoria’s Secret model. Earlier this year, Naomi Campbell publicly spoke out in support of trans models.

In her interview with Style.com, Pejic was particularly open, addressing the sexual reassignment surgery she underwent recently and describing it as being the “icing on the cake” of her transition. She spoke about how the surgery is much more than a “plastic procedure,” and has been of great importance to her overall mental health. “You have to get a psychiatric evaluation, which I started at the age of 13,” she explained. “I started seeing psychiatrists, and then I stopped when I started modeling, and I started again about a year and a half ago. But medical attention is crucial for any trans person because it helps you figure out who you are. You go through some really strict testing before you’re even allowed to have the surgery.”

She admitted that knowing who she was from an early age sometimes made for a difficult boyhood. “Gender dysphoria is never an easy thing to live with, mainly because people don’t understand it,” she said, referring to clinical diagnosis for having conflict between one’s physical sex and identified gender. “For most of my childhood, I knew that I preferred all things feminine, but I didn’t know why. I didn’t know that there was an explanation. I didn’t know about the possibilities.”

The idea of Pejic’s transition being life-saving could have a couple of meanings, Antonio Caretto, a Michigan-based clinical psychologist specializing in transgender issues, told Yahoo Health. “For some, it could mean being faced with a choice: ‘Do I live like this, in the wrong [gender] presentation? Or do I kill myself?,” adding that, in the LGBT community, there are well-documented higher rates of attempted suicide as well as drug and alcohol abuse. But also, on a very basic level, Caretto said the idea could mean, “If you’re not living your true self, you’re not really living.”

That explanation rang true to Boylan — who documented her transition from male to female, father to mother, and husband to wife in her most recent book, “Stuck in the Middle With You.”

“No one should have to live an inauthentic life, in which they are not true to themselves,” she said. “Some people think the biggest change [in transitioning] is going from being male to female. But the biggest change is going from someone who has a secret to someone who lives their truth out loud.”

Getting Eight Hours of Sleep a Night? You Might Just Want to Cut Back

Eight Hours of Sleep a Night

CEOs, politicians and other high achievers (we’re looking at you,Hillary Clinton) may only need an insane three to five hours of sleep a night. But normal folk require the optimal eight. Right? Not exactly, according to a glut of new research that shows Americans are on average sleeping less than they used to — and that seven hours might actually be the better span to aim for.

“The lowest mortality and morbidity is with seven hours,” Shawn Youngstedt, a professor in the College of Nursing and Health Innovation at Arizona State University Phoenix, told the Wall Street Journal. “Eight hours or more has consistently been shown to be hazardous.” Experts still generally recommend the range of seven to nine hours nightly for healthy adults, but the ideal number seems to have dropped ever so slightly. It’s why both the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has funded a partnership with the American Academy of Sleep Medicine — the National Healthy Sleep Awareness Project — to discern how to best update recommended sleep guidelines in the coming year, and why the nonprofit National Sleep Foundation is doing the same.

The CDC currently suggests seven to eight hours a night for healthy adults, but, a spokesperson told Yahoo Health, “as more evidence is presented by the scientific community, it is expected that these recommendations may change.”

Findings pointing to seven hours as a better goal than eight, according to the Wall Street Journal article, include those by Daniel F. Kripke, an emeritus professor of psychiatry at the University of California San Diego; in one study, he tracked 1.1 million people who participated in a cancer study, and found that people who reported sleeping 6.5 to 7.4 hours had a lower mortality rate than those with shorter or longer sleep. He also recorded the weeklong sleep activity of about 450 elderly women; a decade later, the researchers found that those who slept fewer than five hours or more than 6.5 hours had a higher mortality.

Then, in 2013, a study in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience looked at the self-reported sleeping habits of about 160,000 users of cognitive-training website Lumosity, as well as results of spatial-memory, matching and math tests. They found that cognitive performance increased as people got more sleep, and reaching a peak at seven hours before starting to decline. After seven hours, “increasing sleep was not any more beneficial,” study co-author Murali Doraiswamy, a professor of psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center, told the Wall Street Journal.

Still, doctors caution against scaring folks away from sleeping longer, pointing out that self-reported sleeping patterns from the various studies could be inaccurate, and that, depending on factors including age, state of health and genetics, optimal sleep time can vary with each individual. “I’m very nervous when I hear all these numbers,” M. Safwan Badr, director of the Sleep Fellowship Program at Wayne University and past president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, tells Yahoo Health. “Because it doesn’t answer the question for any individual, and doesn’t help me with individual patient, who could need anywhere from seven to nine hours — the amount of time it take you to wake up feeling comfortable and alert.” That said, Badr adds, “If we can get everybody to sleep at least seven hours a night, we have made progress.” 

As the nation’s foremost sleep experts, including Badr, convene over the next many months to decide how to best update healthy sleep recommendations for the CDC, others will be doing so for the National Sleep Foundation, in an effort unrelated to that of the CDC. “NSF recommended sleep times combine the best available evidence with expert opinion,” the foundation’s scientific advisory council chair Max Hirshkowitz said in a press release. “As the nation’s leading organization focused on sleep health, it is our responsibility to ensure that we regularly revisit these estimates with an updated literature review and improved methodology.” Until that time, though, the recommended number of hours will stay at the tried-and-true eight. Just stay tuned for word on when to reset that alarm clock. 

Are Wedding Diets Healthy?

Are Wedding Diets Healthy?

First the 2014 summer of love brought news of Kim Kardashian’s corset-wearing, calorie-restricting pre-nuptial plan. Then came Jessica Simpson’s wedding-prep diet, which included going vegan (minus vegan baked goods, presumably) to ensure she’d fit into her Caroline Herrera gown in early July. Now, luckily, comes Lauren Conrad, whose refreshing bride-to-be preparation is just business as usual, meaning she’ll avoid both carbs and the gym.

“I really love food,” the reality-TV star, set to soon marry fiancé William Tell, recently told People. “I’m not good at dieting. I try to make smart choices but just eat a little bit less.” Plus, she added, “I think it’s important to look like yourself on the day.”

Conrad’s attitude was a little bright spot in the big dark cloud of the wedding-diet obsession — a trend spurred on by the multi-billion dollar wedding industry, which emphasizes model thinness and picture-perfect beauty as ideals for the big day. A Cornell University study, in fact, found several years ago that the goal of losing 20 pounds was right up there with that of ordering flowers and planning a honeymoon for 70 percent of the 272 brides-to-be surveyed — and 14 percent even purposely bought wedding dresses that were too small, as cruel incentive. “Most women engaged to be married idealize a wedding weight much lighter than their current weight,” wrote lead researcher Lori Neighbors.

The practice of crash dieting before you tie the knot — or at any time — is not even healthy, Linda Bacon, diet expert and author of “Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Weight Loss,” tells Yahoo Health. “All calorie restriction is dangerous — after all, you’re depriving your body of nutrients — and the more extreme, the more danger they pose,” she explains, listing compromised immune system, lost muscle and bone strength, and a miserable mood as some of the pitfalls of the practice.  

Someone who seems to understand it all is Cosmopolitan writer Loni Albert, whose piece “Why I Won’t Diet for My Wedding” this week has been another positive note in the discussion. Soon after her boyfriend proposed and she felt “happy and hot,” she wrote, she was bombarded with negativity.  

“A month later, once the planning began and I signed up at a wedding website, emails cluttered my inbox and ads filled my web browser: Wedding-Arm Lipo, Bride-Only Juice Fast, Start Shedding for the Wedding. It planted a seed in my head that maybe I should drop from my usual squishy size 6 to a svelte size 4,” wrote Albert. “And the idea didn’t just come from strangers on the Internet, she adds. “Pals started asking which crazy diet fad I had chosen to get wedding-ready. A coworker offered me the Paleo book that got her tiny for her wedding. A trainer I’m friendly with stopped by my treadmill and asked if I was ready to step it up and sculpt a ‘hot bride bod.’”

And even more disturbing, she noted, “was hearing my married girlfriends reminisce longingly about their ‘wedding weight.’” Albert wanted to look amazing on her big day, she said, but not to the detriment of her psyche, which had gone from feeling great about herself to insecure as those around her poured on the “skinny bride” pressure. “Shouldn’t women work on prepping for a kick-ass marriage,” she asked smartly, “instead of kicking their own ass prepping for a wedding?

Bacon believes women who are driven to be extra-thin on their wedding days have other issues at play. “Here’s what’s really happening: Women feel inadequate and the only way they know to feel better is to lose weight,” she explains. “It makes sense: Women are taught that the way they get value in this world is to have a thin body. But is that the world you want?” Finally, Bacon notes, “You’re entering into a marriage. Ostensibly you’re looking for a partnership, to be seen and appreciated for who you are, right? Weight loss won’t help you get there.”

Epidural During Childbirth Can Cut Postpartum Depression Risk

Epidural During Childbirth Can Cut Postpartum Depression Risk

Women who receive an epidural during childbirth significantly lower their risk of postpartum depression, according to new research.

Study participants whose pain was managed during labor had a 14 percent rate of depression six weeks after delivery, compared to a nearly 35 percent rate of depression for those who did not have the pain relief. The study also found that women who attended childbirth classes during pregnancy and those who breastfed after labor also lowered their risk of postpartum depression. Breastfeeding was more common in the group that had an epidural for pain (70 percent) compared to those who did not (50 percent).

The study, which will be published in the August issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, involved 214 women, half of whom were given an epidural to reduce their pain during the vaginal delivery of their child. The other 107 participants were not given any pain medication during delivery. The mental statuses of all study participants were examined three days after delivery, and again six weeks after delivery, using an established postnatal depression scale.

"It's a huge omission that there has been almost nothing in postpartum depression research about pain during labor and delivery and postpartum depression," Katherine Wisner, M.D., a Northwestern Medicine® perinatal psychiatrist, said in a press release. "There is a well-known relationship between acute and chronic pain and depression." 

Up to 80 percent of new mothers experience some degree of emotional distress after childbirth. It is common for women to have a range of emotions, including weepiness, anxiety, and mood swings. However, if these symptoms last longer than two weeks and become more severe, postpartum depression (PPD) could be the reason. PPD is a type of clinical depression with symptoms such as fatigue or exhaustion, changes in appetite or eating habits, loss of interest in activities you usually enjoyed, and physical pain, including, headaches, stomachaches, or backaches. According to the American Psychological Association, between 9 and 16 percent of women will experience PPD, which can have significant consequences for both the new mother and family.

According to Wisner, managing acute postpartum pain supports the new mother's ability to emotionally attach and care for her infant. "Pain control gets the mother off to a good beginning, rather than starting off defeated and exhausted," she said. "Whether it's vaginal or cesarean-section delivery, pain control postpartum is an issue for all new mothers. There is no way to have a delivery without pain. The objective here is to avoid severe pain. Controlling that delivery pain so a woman can comfortably develop as a mother is something that makes a lot of sense."

Wisner recommends that women who experience chronic pain one to two months after delivery be screened for depression.

Helen Mirren's Secret to Staying Bikini Fit: A 12-Minute Military Workout

Helen Mirren's Secret to Staying Bikini Fit

It's no secret that Helen Mirren has a hot bod, but how she stays trim certainly is.

The Queen actress, who turns 69 on Saturday, revealed that when she needs to tighten up her waistline she actually follows a Royal Canadian Air Force exercise plan... from the 1950s!

"I'm not very fit at all actually. Just this morning I started my exercises, which I haven’t been doing for months, maybe years. I do a thing that leads me into exercise. It is the Royal Canadian Air Force exercise plan; it is 12 minutes and they have charts you follow… Each day, you have to do the exercises within the 12 minutes and until you can, you can’t move up," Mirren recently told reporters, according to her publicist.

"It is the exercise I have done off and on my whole life. It just very gently gets you fit. Two weeks of doing that and you think: 'Yeah, I could go to the gym now.'"

The regimen, which was designed by physician Bill Orban in the late 1950s, includes 10 basic exercises for women that are intended to work all your muscle groups in a short amount of time. It includes moves like knee raises, arm circling, push-ups, sit-ups, chest raises, leg raises, and running and hopping. The workout doesn't require any equipment, which makes it ideal for jetsetting stars like Mirren.

Yes, the trendy dame was well ahead of the bootcamp craze that has been popping up in gyms worldwide over the past year.

And clearly all the hopping and leg raises are paying off for the British stunner. In 2008, Mirren was snapped wearing a red bikini while she was on vacation in Italy. The photo, which she has called just a "flattering angle," shows off her impressive physique for a woman of her age. In the photo, you can see her taut tummy, trim arms, and overall amazing body.

"That photograph will haunt me for the rest of my life," the Oscar winner told the Telegraph of the infamous photo that won her accolades like "Body of the Year."

Whether or not she'll own up to her svelte figure or not, if this 1950s Royal Canadian Air Force exercise plan is what is doing the trick, sign us up!

Plus-Size Model Wins Praise for Posting Unretouched Bikini Photo

Plus-Size Model Wins Praise for Posting Unretouched Bikini Photo

Australian model Robyn Lawley is no stranger to body talk. The 25-year-old chose health over mainstream success when she switched from straight-size to plus-size modeling. Since doing so, she has covered magazines including Vogue Italia, Elle France, and Cosmopolitan Australia and become the face of Mango's new plus-size line, Violeta.

Unhappy with the offerings in the plus-size swimwear department, she launched her own collection, Robyn Lawley Swimwear, full of sexy suits beginning at size 10. To promote the line's latest offerings, Lawley posted a picture of herself modeling one of the bikinis on Instagram. The candid photo of Lawley in a pink two-piece was tagged #retouchandmakeupfree and has gotten more than 1,400 likes.

She looks gorgeous – and thin – in the pic, causing many to wonder why someone with a body like Lawley's would be considered "plus size" to begin with. "If this is plus sized then I hardly know any skinny people," one woman wrote in the comments on Lawley's Instagram. Another added "Plus size your a**, fashion industry!" 

And the comments echoed throughout social media. "This is a plus size model? No wonder eating disorders are on the rise," wrote one woman on Twitter. "Her body be bangin'!" commented another, sharing a different bikini pic of the model.

Lawley, a longtime body-image activist, has never been shy about talking about weight and health. Earlier this year, she and three other plus-size models created their own take on Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue cover. The shoot was sponsored by the U.S.-based plus-size brand Swimsuits For All and was designed to challenge the notion of what a “swimsuit body” is supposed to look like. "I feel sexy in a swimsuit when it's fitting me correctly and it's beautiful to look at," Lawley said in a promotional video for the campaign. 

For Lawley, whose body is her living, every single photo becomes a point of scrutiny. In June, the model posted another Instagram pic – this time of herself in workout pants and a hoodie – with commenters immediately claiming that she had lost weight and was getting too thin. Lawley addressed the comments on her Facebook page, saying, “I don't ever starve myself or diet...I try to eat as healthy as I can day to day and always have.” She also said that she stays in shape by doing yoga and kickboxing. 

And what does Lawley do when she’s not busy being a body-image hero and supermodel? Updating her food blog, Robyn Lawley Eats, and working on the cookbook she’s due to publish next year. Models eating? In Lawley's world, it's no big deal.

'Big Bang Theory' Plots Major Career Change for Penny in Season 8

Big changes are coming for Kaley Cuoco's Penny on The Big Bang Theory's eighth season.

When Penny decided she didn't need to be famous and have a "big career" in order to be happy after she was canned from a B-movie, Penny will continue to make what she called "smart decisions" for her career in the upcoming season of CBS' hit comedy.

PHOTOS 'The Big Bang Theory's' Nerdiest Guest Stars

"Penny has an interesting arc this year where she puts acting down," said co-creator and executive producer Chuck Lorreat the Television Critics Association's summer press tour. "She gets a shot to be a pharmaceutical rep at Bernadette's [Melissa Rauch] company."

As it turns out, the new gig will come with a nice paycheck that could create some friction with her husband-to-be, Leonard (Johnny Galecki).

"She's going to start making some money, which will unbalance their relationship as the power shifts," Lorre said of the storyline. "She's going to find some confidence and self-esteem, which acting does not provide in great heaping doses."

STORY 'Big Bang Theory': 15 Things You Didn't Know

While the series still takes a wait-and-see approach to storytelling — the show has never plotted out entire seasons at once — Lorre says Big Bang will still keep its core focus of incrementally growing all its key players and relationships.

"These characters, as they grow, they deal with more things. Sheldon [Jim Parsons] has grown unbelievably over seven years from where we began. We could never have imagined the stories we've been doing in the past year or so six years ago," he said.

PHOTOS Behind the Scenes: 'The Big Bang Theory'

In terms of the core cast's contract negotiations, Lorre doesn't foresee a problem — or production delay. 

"There are people at Warner Bros. Television and people representing the actors who have done this before," he said. "This will work itself out. I think it's great; I want them all to be crazy wealthy because nobody deserves it more than this cast. It'll work out."

Rewatch Penny's career-defining moment and Leonard's proposal, below. Big Bang Theory returns on Monday, Sept. 22, before moving back to Thursdays starting Oct. 30.