Spring has sprung! 

My Sweet Peas are just about to bloom, Easter and Passover are on the horizon and kids are off from school.

That means family time, a few large meals, abundant chocolate and shifting schedules.  It may even mean some travel.

Good time for a refresher of the Happier Holiday Habits:

1.     Set a goal for the week.

2.     Plan it.

3.     Stay connected.

...

Geneen Roth is a genius. 

She’s a writer, observer and knower of women and food. 

You may recognize her as the author of the best selling book, Women, Food and God. 

Her latest offering just came out this month and it’s an incredible read. This Messy Magnificent Life: A Field Guide builds on her kind, keen, shared experiences with food and growth. 

I often say, how we do one thing is how we do everything. ...

Eat breakfast!

Most people who drink coffee in the morning report not feeling hungry.

The reason you don’t feel hungry is because you’ve ingested a drug (caffeine) whose side effects include appetite suppression.  The problem with appetite suppression is that it only masks a body signal; it doesn’t satisfy the bodily need.

It’s like taking pain medication for a toothache; the tooth problem is not solved by the medication, it...

Environmental control . . .

. . . is one of my very favorite topics!

. . . is the cornerstone of weight management.

. . . is well summed up by the phrase, “if it’s not there, you can’t eat it”.

Most people think Will Power is the key to weight management—“if I could just be better . . .” but knowing yourself and your limitations is so much more powerful. 

If you have trouble resisting a chip, then...

I just finished listening to the podcast documentary from Chicago Public Radio called Making Oprah.

Besides being a fascinating audio study of the 25-year history of the Oprah Winfrey show, documenting its development from cheating husbands to a wagon of fat to Live Your Best Life TV, it presents the natural evolution of Oprah herself.  I highly recommend the 3-part series.

Three ideas stuck with me in particular.

#1  Focus

With...

Sweet Emma made a lovely meal.  Delicious, visually pleasing and healthy. We sat down to enjoy and one minute later her plate was empty. 

I mean one minute! 

It was hard to believe.  

I considered it might be an aberration until we had dined together multiple times and the same thing kept happening.  She was self-aware and unapologetic, “I’m a very fast eater”. 

Now, Emma was not obese, but according to...

As tempting as that sounds, here are 3 reminders for the day after the “Holiday of Heart-Shaped Chocolate”

1.     Day is done.  Accept what may have happened yesterday and start fresh today.  Get rid of the candy.  Don't buy more.  Environmental control is everything. 

2.     Remember, accept the love and kind intention and ditch the sugar.  (See this previous blog for...

Mini Math Review:

Eating 3500 calories over the needs of your body will result in a gain of one pound of fat.  

Similarly, eating 3500 fewer calories than your body uses will result in the loss of a pound of fat.

As an example, 700 calories a week for 5 weeks is 3500 calories.  That is 100 calories a day for 5 weeks.

So, 100 extra calories a day is a one-pound gain while consuming 100 calories fewer a day, consistently, will be a one-pound loss at the...

Another note-worthy book on the bedside pile that I got to finish last week was Rework by Jason Fried and David Hansson.  It’s a collection of essays around business and productivity.

The page I dog-eared included this quote: 

“When you are high on inspiration, you can get two weeks of work done in twenty-four hours.  Inspiration is a time machine that way.”

Have you ever experienced that? 

When you are ready, really...

My body is doing a great job of fighting off a cold. 

I’ve helped by taking it very easy this week. 

That meant one thing—time to devote to finishing the books piled up on my bedside table.

Being in the middle of several books at once is relatively new for me.  I used to be of the mindset that once you start a book you finish it, darn it, and that’s that.

Even if I was struggling to get through it, I would not allow myself...