I went to Costco Sunday for the first time in over a year.

I was prepared:

• I had a list (and it was short)
• I ate lunch at home just before I went (so not hungry)
• I was alone (no kids in tow)
• I had on comfortable shoes (ready for the long aisles)
• I gave myself a time limit (one hour)

Even still, I was overwhelmed by the visit.

I was amazed at how strong the pull was to check out the TVs and the teeth whitening strips and the fleece jackets (none of...

Midlife is full of change. Families shift with parents aging and kids growing, eventually leaving the nest. Careers build and transition. Relationships ebb and flow. And that’s just the external atmosphere. Internally, hormones can wreak havoc on our bodies and minds. It’s called a second adolescence for good reason.

Estrogen, insulin, cortisol, leptin and ghrelin are 5 of the hormones that contribute to the insidious expansion of our middles during midlife....

A three-day weekend.  Woo hoo!  A gift of time.

Now, what to do with it?

Use this 3 step process to get the most out of this opportunity:

1. Assess
2. Plan
3. Enjoy!

First, assess your needs.

What kind of day or weekend do you need/want?

• Since the kids just started school, do you need a catch up day?
• Maybe a last summer hurrah? Beach day, pool party, BBQ?
• Is it a well deserved rest day?
• Or last chance for a weekend away for a while?
• Perhaps a combo?

Sit quietly for...

It’s part of the cycle of life with kids. We’re often oh so ready for school to be over in June and then we’re equally ready for school to start back up in September (or mid-August as the case may be).

What this signals for us grown-ups is a change in schedule.

It’s an opportunity to revisit what works and what doesn’t in our morning and afternoon routines.

• Were you getting your exercise in early because you had a little more...

In a land of plenty, when is enough, enough?

When it comes to food, your body has an answer.

If you’re eating more calories than your body needs, you gain weight.

It’s concrete.  It was too much.

The real question, then, is about “need”.

You can’t know “enough” if you don’t know your need.

In this country, many of us have the luxury of access to more food than we need—per day and even...

First try clicking the video above to play it, but if that doesn't work click this link: Watch the video here

In this fantastic TED talk by physicist, Ruben Meermen, you will learn exactly what happens to the fat you lose--and I bet it's not what you think!  Well worth the 21 minutes . . .

Here's what you can expect minute by minute:

1:45   What do we think happens to fat when we lose it?

3:45   Chemical formula for human fat

...

As I was sitting at the dining table enjoying breakfast and staring at the humming birds hovering over the trees, I pondered our country’s problem with food supply and weight gain.

(Why?  What do you think about at breakfast?)

It got me thinking about Nature’s original dilemma: how to get humans to spend time and effort obtaining and consuming food to fuel their bodies.

Nature had to make it worth it—humans needed incentives, and pleasure is...

Dr. Robert Holden, a psychologist whose focus is happiness and love, talks about “meeting” grief.  He says there’s nothing to heal except maybe our relationship to grief.  Grief itself can not be healed, like any other feeling, it just wants to be met.

Met, felt and respected.

Being with grief, then, is the goal.  Letting it be, pass through, reappear unbothered.

There’s a skill in this.  It’s easy to be...

Remember summer camp?

Day camp.  Sleep-away camp.  Family camp.

I did ‘em all.

It was such a break from my regular life. A separate, exciting world of friends and fun. My brain could relax, there was nothing to get done.

The setting perfected our utopia. Tucked into the hills, we enjoyed warm days, tree lined trails, swimming pools, arts and crafts and epic campfire sing-alongs.

Love those memories.

Now my kids go to...

We just got back from a road trip to Yellowstone National Park.

It was the longest drive we’ve ever taken as a family. Over 15 hours each way.

We passed through parts of Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. The red, dry deserts gave way to green flatlands interlaced with flowing rivers surrounded by snowcapped mountains. It’s easy to see the lure of fly-fishing out there. So peaceful.

Yellowstone is known for it’s thermal...