Blog Posts by Oprah.com

Photo: ThinkstockBy Corrie Pikul

Treat Monday Lunch Like Friday Happy Hour

Studies show that people who eat in front of their computers consume more calories, feel less full and are hungry again sooner than usual. Janis Jibrin, Best Life's lead nutritionist, suggests stepping away from your desk and eating with a friend--even better, choosing a bistro or a bar with high-top tables and giving your stools to other patrons. Standing burns 40 percent more calories than sitting, and Jibrin says there's no medical reason you shouldn't eat on your feet. If you take a similar approach at breakfast and drink your coffee while standing (that's how the Italians do it) and then spend 30 minutes checking your email out of your seat, you'll trim about 100 total calories from your day.

Spice Up Your Condiments

It's time to toss your desk-drawer stockpile of ketchup and barbecue packets: Not only does the same amount of mustard have 12 fewer calories (so cutting out the four packets you use on

Read More »from 5 No-Brainer Tricks to Save 100 Calories a Day

Photo: Chris CraymerBy Jenny Bailly and Clarissa Cruz

Juice It Up

A lime skirt gets an equally bold partner in an orange-red knit tank. "I typically lean toward whites and grays, but I'm in love with these pop-y colors," says Australian-born Yvonne Strahovski, who plays mysterious newcomer Hannah McKay on the Showtime drama Dexter. To make sure the separates work together: Add a thick black belt, which mitigates the clash factor.

Top, Theory, $170, theory.com. Skirt, Tibi, $525, tibi.com. Belt, Lanvin, net-a-porter.com. Shoes, Giuseppe Zanotti, price on request, 212-650-0455. Green sofa: Bijan Royal Antiques.

Photo: Chris CraymerFeeling Blue

A royal blue gown with painterly dashes of black isn't a conventional choice when it comes to holiday dressing. But an edgy leather jacket makes this mermaid-style dress winter-appropriate.

Jacket, Topshop, $390. Dress, Angel Sanchez, Sak's Fifth Ave, 212-940-2714. Headband, Jennifer Behr, $498, jenniferbehr.com.

Photo: Chris Craymer

On

Read More »from Color Shock: 9 Gorgeous Party Dresses

Illustration: Raphael UrwillerBy Harriet Brown

The woman in the ICU bed was almost unrecognizable. Her chest rose and fell mechanically, her eyes screwed shut in something between sleep and death. Her arms were puffy from fluid that her kidneys would normally carry away but that instead leaked from her cells and accumulated under her skin. Her beautiful straight nose, the one I wish I'd inherited, was mashed to one side by the tape holding the tube in her mouth, which connected to the ventilator breathing for her.

It was my 76-year-old mother in the bed, and she was dying of sepsis, a disease I'd never heard of--a disease she may not even have had when she came to the hospital six days earlier, complaining of abdominal pain.

Each year more than one million Americans develop sepsis, a systemic response to even the tiniest infection in which a devastating cascade of inflammation races through the body, potentially leading to organ failure. It tends to strike those over 65 and people with weakened immune systems.

Read More »from A Leading Cause of Death You Don't Even Know About

Photo: Alison Gootee/Studio DBy Amanda MacMillan

Well-Served

The couple behind Ladies & Gentlemen Studio salvage vintage serving utensils by restoring shine and giving handles a cheerful color treatment

Server, $60 each; LadiesandGentlemenStudio.com

Skipping a paper towel in favor of a cotton tea towel--like this handwoven, fair-trade version by Creative Women--can make a big impact: It's been estimated that if everyone did this just once a day, Americans would save 571 million pounds of paper a year

Tea towel, from $28; CreativeWomen.net for stores

Photo: Alison Gootee/Studio DCheers!

Pack a bottle of organic bubbly in a wine tote (made from old sails!) that encourages re-gifting. Write the date and recipient's name on the bag's "log," and start it on a journey around the world--or at least your circle of friends.

From $35; SeaBags.com

Photo: Courtesy of Wine PuntsBottoms Up

Made from wine bottles recycled from restaurants, these hip Wine Punts drinking glasses take their name from the dimple

Read More »from 7 Stylish (and Eco-Friendly!) Party Ideas

Photo: ThinkstockNot to Sweat the Small Stuff
The thing that's grand about spending your time thinking about the universe is that it makes you feel insignificant. I don't mean that in a bad way. If you understand that we've now discovered entire solar systems that contain planets similar to Earth, and that those are just the ones we know about, since most of the stars we've looked at are within about 300 light-years of Earth and the distance to the center of our galaxy is nearly 100 times that--then you realize that the laundry you've left undone and the dumb thing you said yesterday are about as significant as slime mold.

--Alyssa Goodman, PhD, professor of astronomy, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Pace Yourself
A therapist once told me something that's as true now as when I first heard it: "You can only go as fast as the slowest part of you can go."

--Singer Bonnie Raitt, who took a seven-year hiatus from the studio before releasing her new album, Slipstream


The Secret to Trying New

Read More »from 10 Things Really Successful People Want You to Know

Photo: Alison Gootee/Studio D By Karen Asp

You can't always judge a food by its label. A low-fat option might be loaded with unhealthy oils, while veggie offerings can include unhealthy amounts of sugar and salt. Here, the scoop on five supposedly good-for-you foods and what you're better off eating.

Turkey Burger

Reality Check
We think of turkey as healthier than red meat because it has less saturated fat, but in terms of total fat and calories, they can be virtually identical. Unless the patty is made with 93 percent lean meat, steer clear, says dietitian Kate Geagan, author of Go Green, Get Lean.

Smart Swap
Choose wild salmon burgers, which are full of omega-3 fatty acids to benefit your brain and heart and also contain vitamin D. Look for Trident Seafoods frozen salmon burgers in your grocer's freezer aisle.

Photo: Alison Gootee/Studio D Reduced-Fat Peanut Butter

Reality Check
Reduced-fat peanut butter spreads can be as little as 60 percent peanut. (By law, products labeled "peanut butter" in the U.S. must be at

Read More »from Health Foods that Are Secretly Bad for You

Photo: ThinkstockBy Leigh Newman

No More Magical Math

Sometimes we're so concerned or worried or--okay, panicked--about the future of a relationship, we resort to a form of late night, scientific crunching called magical math. We subtract the time it is now from the time he last called/emailed/texted and compare that figure with the median number of hours that pass between his average calls/emails/texts. We calculate the probability of our having been boring/too tired/too intimidated/too loud during the last dinner. We forecast the percentage of times he's broken up with other people based on a numerical analysis of his past relationships. We guestimate if he's a big fat jerk.

Here is the ugly truth: If you got beyond the second grade, you literally know better. This kind of thinking is not math. It is self-torture, and the last thing that is going to make love come to you is a session of emotional waterboarding. Go to sleep. Wake up in the morning. If you have to use all the rapid-fire

Read More »from 5 Things You No Longer Have to Do for Love

Photo: ThinkstockBy Suze Orman

Assess the purchases that put you in the hole. Are they "needs," like utilities or medical bills, or "wants"? Simply reviewing your statement honestly can make you realize how easily the "wants" creep up--and help you curb your spending going forward.

Pay more than the minimum, even if it's just an extra $20 a month. Otherwise you're playing right into the card company's hands--the less you pay per month, the longer you're indebted to them.

RELATED: Are You on the Road to Financial Independence?

Read the fine print. In the past, it was a no-brainer to transfer a balance to a new card with a promotional low (or zero) introductory rate, usually for a fee of up to 75 bucks. But now, as you'll learn by inspecting the promo terms, the fee is often 3 percent of the amount being transferred.

RELATED: How to Avoid Hidden Fees

Get help. The Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies can connect you with a reputable counselor who will guide you through your

Read More »from 4 Steps to Beat Credit Card Debt for Good