Blog Posts by Intent.com

Do you have a spare tire, love handles, or a belly bulge left over from the holidays? Or maybe it's been accumulating for more than a few holiday seasons? Did you have your cake, drinks, cookies and turkey dinner - and eat them too? Don't fret. Here are a few simple tricks from my best-selling book: The Life Force Diet(Wiley, 2006) that can help you start the New Year on the right-and maybe lighter-foot:

1. Drink plenty of water throughout the day to beat dehydration. Alcohol consumption, fatty foods, and insufficient water are some of the main reasons people feel "hung over" and heavy from the holidays. Every cell in your body needs adequate water to function properly so try to drink at least 2 Litres a day to flush fat and toxins out.

2. Take a high-quality B-complex and vitamin C supplement, both of which are depleted by alcohol consumption and stress-and chances are you had both during the holidays.

3. Eat fruit in the morning on an empty stomach-fruit is the best

When it concerns happiness, many studies focus on how to achieve it. However, this is not getting to the heart of the matter as even depressed people experience happiness; instead the focus should be directed to maintaining feelings of joy. In other words, it is not merely about finding your bliss, but rather about holding on to it. A new study from the University of Wisconsin suggests that depressed patients are unable to sustain activity in brain areas related to positive emotion.

The study challenges previous notions that individuals with depression show less brain activity in areas associated with positive emotion. The new data suggest similar initial levels of activity, but an inability to sustain them over time.

Even if you are not depressed, consider how the intense delight you feel about a new car, a new home, and a new love wears off - don't you wish you could prolong it? Generally, senior citizens feel happier than younger counterparts because they know what is

"Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking." ~ Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

With Marcus Aurelius Antoninus' quote in mind, I invite you to explore these 15 Simple Ways to create happiness in 2010!

1. Be your own BFF (best friend forever). Enjoy your own company. Embrace everything about you! Without a doubt, it's the most important step towards being a happy person.

2. Smile, giggle, snicker, or chuckle! Smiling releases serotonin in the brain, which instantaneously gives your mood a lift.

3. Dream big in every area of life. Set your life in motion and manifest your heart's desire.

4. Shut the doors and the windows tight! And then put on your favorite song and sing out loud. Let it rip!

5. Cook a healthy, delicious meal. Serve it up pretty and savor the flavor, one bite at a time.

6. Expect a miracle. Believe that something wonderful will happen for you today. The universe is waiting to shower happy blessings

Have you heard the philosophy that we are always provided for with what we need? I started to combine that way of thinking with the budget beliefs I was forming mid-recession, and you know what came out? Truth like fireworks.

What would you do?
What would you do if you knew that you would always be provided for with what you need? To be totally honest and wide open about it, I would buy an awesome pair of designer jeans every three months, and a James Perse shirt. Maybe a new pair of shoes every now and then. I would eat a raw diet (they take more time and money than I have now to prepare), and I would be set.

What I discovered in my desire is that I would be decadent with what I gave myself in terms of food, clothes, and material items, but they would be fewer, and higher quality.

What I further discovered is that budgeting is about making different spending decisions, not just cheaper ones. Nurturing yourself in the middle of crunching the cash flow means being completely honest

Many of us wish for alone time, but sometimes we get what we wish for and then some. Loneliness is not defined by physical isolation because one can feel alone in a crowd at or a party, but rather it is an emotional distance usually self-imposed due to depression, negativity, or shyness. Many people who feel lonely never admit that they are lonely because loneliness carries the connotation of being a "loser." A recent study by John Cacioppo in an article published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology claims that like happiness, loneliness is contagious. And interesting to note: women are more likely to catch loneliness from other lonely people.

Don't underestimate the role stress plays in loneliness. Stress makes us feel irritable, abrupt and capable of road rage - road rage doesn't only happen on the road, but also happens in our interactions with other people. Our perception of people and our compassion for them correlates directly to how we feel about ourselves.

Despite what the economy may look like to the naked eye, we truly live in an abundant universe. Everything you want and need is readily available to you when you realize that you are in the driver's seat of your own life. It starts by understanding how the laws of the universe operate.

In the western world, business acumen has taught for centuries that, when you increase demand, supply decreases. Universal law operates differently. When you increase demand, more is created!

Sounds simple, you might say, but in practical terms, how does it work? How do you create what you want just like that?

You create with your thoughts. All day you are intending, and what you intend you create. Where you put your attention, there is your energy for creating.

The key is to train your mind to consciously choose thoughts because whatever you focus on shows up more in your life. If you constantly focus on the challenges of life, you will have an abundance of challenges!

Abundance

'Tis the season… for stress? NBC Dateline reports that 41% of people interviewed said that the holidays are as stressful as a job interview. In other words, "very stressful." It's not hard to imagine why this is the case. Besides our normal work schedule and routine, add to that the traditional holiday obligations: office parties, cooking, eating, shopping, wrapping, traveling, visiting and general socializing, and our capacity for stress tips the scales on the verge of overload.

Then of course, there's the economy. A Los Angeles radio station does an annual poll of its listener's resolutions. Every year "Get Fit" or "Lose Weight" ends up being the most popular goal. But this year "Get Out of Debt" ranked the highest. How do we reconcile this with the barrage of store catalogs and television ads broadcasting all the great deals we can get on all kinds of stuff? It's enough to make a person cringe every time Jingle Bells plays in the grocery store.

We can't fast forward

I went to a MaryKay party for clothes. A girlfriend was hosting a designer line that women sell from their living rooms. We sipped wine, tried on pieces and when it came time to fill out the order form for purchase, our hostess elicited the biggest laugh of the night. She said, "Now if you don't want your husband to know you're buying clothes, you can write a check to me personally and pick up your items here when they arrive."

Everybody understood. Even I bought a jacket and didn't tell my husband when I got home. And my husband and I are open about money. What is the allure of secret spending?

A financial planner friend of mine refuses to meet with only one person in a couple. There are different stories people have around spending money, he says, and that even if couples decide together how to meet a budget, individuals spend according to their own agenda.

So what is the agenda behind secret spending? Most women I ask say that they don't like feeling controlled, and that men