Blog Posts by Tips on Healthy Living

By Rob Waller
Author of End of Worry
The holiday shopping list is done: Chocolates for the in-laws, a football for the sweet kid next door, a book for Uncle Jim. But what to get my mother? You would think that with nearly 40 years of buying presents for her I would've gotten the hang of it by now. For some of us, these concerns can become all-consuming fears. Will my spouse think less of me? What will my niece tell her friends? Did I give my brother that last year? None of these questions have a definite answer-especially because I threw away last year's gift list.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder is a common condition where the sufferer is stuck in cycles of worry-they just don't seem to be able to let it lie. It can cause muscular tension, disturbed sleep, tiredness, and family arguments. This is especially tricky when the worry is about questions that really don't have an answer, or when "big issues" like family and faith are involved. Will there be a family fight? Have

By Dr. Sandi Chapman
Author of Make Your Brain Smarter
Feeling stressed out this holiday season? Does your brain feel like Grand Central Station during rush hour? Are you on overload and overdrive? Follow these tips for keeping your brain fit during the holiday season and maximizing your cognitive performance.

1. Rest during the holidays. Even a quick nap invites mind renewal and innovation, so schedule periods of brain downtime to seek "a-ha" moments.

2. Practice sorting the essential from the trivial. Make a list of your top 10 tasks and goals that you want to complete each day. Identify the two items that are most pivotal to your success and sense of major accomplishment each day.

3. Avoid brain drain. Limit multitasking; it diminishes mental productivity, elevates brain fatigue, increases stress, impairs sleep patterns and reduces overall health by altering immune system.

4. Give your brain a workout. Write down high-level take-home messages to share

By Philip Galanes
Author of Social Q's
No more scented candles! If we wanted our homes to smell like "Summer Rain" (with its sticky humidity and propensity to mildew), we'd move to Seattle-or buy the stinky candle ourselves. Don't take my word for it. I've got scads of letters to prove it. They come to me care of "Social Q's," the advice column I write for the Sunday Styles section of The New York Times (and now a book of essays about how to skate through the most awkward moments of your life).

The holidays are a few of them. And while we're on the subject of holiday gifting, please put down that "personality" sweater, jaunty hat, sachet of lavender potpourri, and zippy necktie. Now! We don't want them. Trust me.

Cases in point: I am a 35-year-old woman, and my father has given me a silk scarf for every Christmas and birthday since I was 21. Do you know how many silk scarves that is?

Let me guess: Twenty-five too many?

Or this one: My children have decided

By Sharon Knolle
In Tim Gunn's Fashion Bible, the ever-stylish Project Runway fashion guru declares "Thou shalt look fabulous." His informative book, co-written with Ada Calhoun, provides a history of clothing through the ages-did you know jeans originated in Italy?-and suggests which clothes look best on you. He doesn't just preach fashion do's and don'ts, although Gunn isn't shy about sharing which clothing trends he can't stand.

Here are some of our favorite Gunnisms as he goes through the typical closet, item by item.

1. "Tight underwear is your friend, America!"
In years past, women had to wear corsets or girdles to "control" their figures, but with the liberated styles of the 20th century, more and more people want to just let it all hang out. If you also want to look good in your clothes, a little constraint is a small price to pay, Gunn argues, especially since less constricting garments like Spanx are available. "You have to make a choice between freedom

By Karen Kingsbury
Author of The Bridge
It was 1970 and we were a one-station-wagon Michigan family. I was the oldest of five kids, a kindergartener consumed with the sheer magic of snow and Santa Claus and Christmas. Times were tight, the cupboard rarely full. My dad worked three jobs to keep food on the table, and as December drew near he talked often of the meaning of Christmas.

The real meaning.

During Thanksgiving weekend he had an idea. A new movie musical was playing at the local theater. It was Scrooge, starring Albert Finney. "Let's all go," he announced. The chill of November air painted a pale red on his cheeks and his smile stretched across his face. "I have a feeling it'll be a classic." My mom mentioned something about the cost, but my dad waved off any worry. "This is Scrooge. Some things are worth the money."

And so it was. I remember partway through the movie catching a glimpse of my dad, quiet tears falling down his face. The depth of emotion

Chef Buddy Valastro is best known as the Cake Boss, but he loves to cook more than just pastry. "You would think that I just know how to bake, but I am a really good cook," he told George Stephanopoulous on Good Morning America as he unveiled a unique way to stuff a turkey for Thanksgiving.

To promote his new book Cooking Italian With the Cake Boss, Valastro showed how to make his Sausage-Stuffed Turkey Rollatini on GMA. He started by sautéing onions, sausage, mushrooms, and spinach, then rolled them up into a butterflied turkey breast. The dish is then tied up and seared in a pan with onions, carrots, celery, and some chicken stock, covered and cooked in the oven for about an hour. "It's great, just to give you a different spin on turkey," he noted. "It's simple to do. It doesn't have to be Thanksgiving for you to do this recipe."

The "Turkey Boss" explained, "All these delicious, simple family recipes are in my book. My approach to cooking is just do simple ingredients that

By Chloe Coscarelli
Author of Chloe's Quick-and-Easy Vegan Party Foods
When you think of the holidays, do you imagine a table full of guests feasting graciously on your delicious meal? Or do you get flashbacks of Aunt Mimi lecturing you that you made the potatoes wrong, Cousin Susie crying because she doesn't like cilantro and you added it to everything, and everyone demanding to know "How much longer 'til we eat?" Unfortunately, the second scenario is closer to reality for most home cooks. Sure, food brings guests together, but it can also tear them apart if we the hosts don't plan properly to make sure everyone is happily fed.

In my new e-books, Chloe's Quick-and-Easy Party Foods and Chloe's Vegan Chocolate Classics, I share my go-to recipes for a mixed crowd. These recipes rely on everyday ingredients that can be found at any grocery store and are super-easy to prepare (I'd rather NOT feel like I'm solving an advanced math equation when I'm just trying to bake a

By Carla Hall
Author of Cooking With Love
It's here: The gateway to the holiday season. Thanksgiving is the time to pull out all the culinary stops. It is the time to make an impression. Of course, and most importantly, it is the time to be thankful.

Plan ahead. Think ahead and plan out a few days in advance. You can begin making side dishes such as cranberry sauce and sweet potato casserole earlier in the week that can be refrigerated until the day of.

Make a storage plan. Your oven will be crowded, as will your refrigerator. Take advantage of resealable bags. They lay flat, are stackable, and are transparent so you can see what's in them. If you've marinated something, you use less marinade when using a resealable bag.

Buy in bulk. Don't forget to plan for the leftovers. Use some of the bulk items for the big day, and some for the next day to stretch the leftovers into something new. For example, cubed stuffing makes great croutons for a turkey Caesar salad