Blog Posts by Oprah.com

By Lynn Andriani

We go beyond fruit, raw veggies and cheese sticks to find the best salty and sweet bites.

Photo: ThinkstockBy Lynn Andriani

You're Making a Reservation on the Phone
Even great restaurants have empty tables sometimes, and while you might be able to snag one by calling at 5:00 on the evening you want to eat, online services like Savored and OpenTable do a fine job of searching for availability--plus, they reward you with a discount. If you use Groupon-owned Savored, for instance, which currently lists restaurants in 10 cities and is adding more soon, you could pay 30 percent less for food (and drinks, too) if you want to dine that night at 8 p.m., and up to 40 percent if you're willing to eat at 6 p.m. (bonus: no coupons necessary).

RELATED: Shocking Restaurant Secrets -- Exposed!

You're Walking in Hungry
You've heard it's not wise to go grocery shopping when you're famished--and it turns out that advice applies to dining out, too. Aaron Allen, a restaurant consultant who has advised clients including The Cheesecake Factory and TGI Fridays, says over-ordering is a common mistake among the

Photo: ThinkstockBy Corrie Pikul

The Cough That's Tough to Kick

Whooping cough (pertussis)
In the early 1900s, about 200,000 children in the United States got whooping cough each year, and about 9,000 died as a result, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). After a vaccine became widely available in the 1940s, reported cases dropped to about 900 annually. However, last year, more than 41,000 cases were reported to the CDC--the most since 1955.

Why it's still around: Throughout the 1990s, the U.S. switched from using a vaccine that contained the entire bacterium (which posed a higher risk of side effects) to a less potent "acellular" version. Experts now suspect the newer vaccine is wearing off faster.

What you can do: Talk to your doctor about a booster shot of Tdap (for tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis), especially if you haven't had one in 10 years, you're in contact with infants or you're pregnant. The "whoop" occurs when the infected person tries to suck in air to

Illustration: Rachell SumpterBy Michelle Konstantinovsky

Janice Bremis was stunned the day her husband came home and announced that, after six years of marriage, he was moving out. When he did finally pack up and rent a room from a friend, Bremis had to come to terms with the fact that the relationship was over. As her steady life radically changed, the 41-year-old latched onto the only activity that gave her any sense of stability: strict calorie counting.

RELATED: Dr. Oz's 24 Smart Strategies for Feeling Great at Every Age

It wasn't the first time Bremis had turned to rigid self-control to get through a difficult phase. Decades earlier, when she'd struggled to maintain good grades in her first year of college, the self-described overachiever had used food as a reward. "I wouldn't allow myself to eat until I'd finished my homework or written the paper I'd been assigned," says Bremis, now 57. "And then when I started to lose weight, seeing the results of my discipline felt empowering. Before I knew it, I'd

Photo: ThinkstockBy Jenna Pincott

His Belt Size

Over the years, his waistline has stealthily expanded (whose hasn't?), but you've never let it get between you and a great sex life. The surprise: His extra weight may actually have tipped the balance in your favor. Fat men last longer--so finds a study published in The International Journal of Impotence Research showing that men with a higher body mass could make love for more than seven minutes on average, versus less than two for their fitter and slimmer peers. Body fat may protect against premature ejaculation because it contains high levels of the sex hormone estradiol, which slows down a man's ability to ejaculate. (Note: There's a sweet spot--levels that are too high may lead to erectile dysfunction, a condition more common in obese men.)

RELATED: Appreciate Your Partner

The Wrong Pocket Rocket

Your super-charged, jelly-rubber rabbit may be turning you off--you just don't know it yet. Some sex toys (seven out of eight in a study by

Photo: ThinkstockBy Amy Shearn

The 14.5 Percent Tip
Dinner was lovely, and he made you laugh and, as promised, the chicken mole was nothing short of revelatory. But then, as you noticed and tried not to notice you were noticing, he was snippy to the waitstaff and left an underwhelming tip. Yes, you can spin this into a playful little debate about whether tips ought to be performance-based, and maybe it will be amusing in a Seinfeld-y way. Still. Think it through. He might have made charming conversation and looked meaningfully into your eyes, but if this relationship progresses, sister, someday you're going to be the one bringing him a plate of spaghetti and getting the stink eye.

RELATED: How to Raise the Men We'd Want to Marry

Bertha. His Pet Boa Constrictor
If life were a movie, a pet boa constrictor would read as "quirky." But this is no Wes Anderson film; this is a life you have to live. And boa constrictors live up to 30 years and keep growing that entire time. That's three decades of feeding a

By Corrie Pikul

There are products out there for every sleep conundrum...and while we can't guarantee their effectiveness, at least none of these have the potential side effects of sleeping pills.

Photo: ThinkstockBy Valerie Ross

"Rule" #1: Men More Often Avoid Costly Credit-Card Mistakes

Men are five percentage points less likely than women to carry a balance at all, a study last year by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation concluded. The study, which surveyed 28,000 people across the country, found that women are more likely to pay only the minimum amount required and incur fees for paying after the deadline or exceeding their credit limit than men.

"Rule" #2: Men Don't Forget One Small Raise Builds Over Time

When considering what benefits they want from their employer, women place a higher premium on work-life balance, while men are somewhat more concerned with the size of their paycheck, a 2010 study by WorldatWork found. Flexible work schedules and other benefits, like more paid time off, can be extremely valuable. "With women shouldering more care-taking duties than men, there's clear value in negotiating for non-salary benefits," says Selena Rezvani, a women's