Blog Posts by genConnect.com

© ShutterstockBy genConnect | Amie Valpone

Once thought to be riddled with fats, avocado is making a new, healthy name for itself. High in folate, oleic acid and vitamin E, this fruit has been shown to lower cholesterol, help stroke and breast cancer prevention and maintain overall health.

Related: The Best Foods for Your Heart

Avocado Rocket Salad with Basil Lime Dressing

Gluten-Free and Vegan

Serves 2

• 2 large fennel bulbs, slice stalks and bulbs into thin strips
• 3 cups fresh rocket salad
• 1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced
• 1 small white onion, chopped
• Juice from 1 organic lime
• 2 Tbsp. Blood Orange Olive Oil
• 1/4 tsp. lime zest
• 6 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
• Pinch of sea salt and freshly ground white pepper
• 2 Tbsp. ground chia seeds
• 1/3 cup cashews, ground

Directions

1. Prepare a large ice bath.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add fennel and cook for 3 minutes. Drain fennel; immediately

© ShutterstockBy genConnect | Kelly Sheerins

It's that time of year again, when everyone begins to think of starting fresh in the New Year. The New Year's resolution lists begin to pile up and at the top of many peoples' lists will be the most popular goal: to lose weight. The intention is there to make this the year it happens. However, too many of these resolutions seem to disappear as the New Year becomes less and less new. The million dollar question: "How can we make our resolutions a reality?"

If I had to sum it up in 3 words, it would be: keep it simple. Many times we go into the New Year with the highest expectations. To make this the year to shed that extra 15 pounds, stick with an exercise regimen, eat the healthiest diet, and keep as an incentive to lose weight, all those clothes in the back of your closet that are too tight. It is important to have goals but it is all in the approach of how to meet them.

On the journey to make 2012 a year of losing weight, try working on

A breastfeeding mom's right to nurse is taking center stage once again.

More than 250 protests took place at Target stores across the country Wednesday as mothers held "nurse-ins" to assert their right to breastfeed their children in public. The protests came after one Houston-area mother, Michelle Hickman, said she was asked repeatedly on Nov. 29 to relocate to a fitting room after she sat on the floor in the women's clothing department to discreetly nurse her 5-month-old son, who was covered by a blanket. Hickman, who organized a Facebook campaign to encouraged the "nurse-in," says she was approached by two female employees who asked her to move to a fitting room. Hickman said one of the employees allegedly commented "you can get a ticket and be reported for indecent exposure."

Related: Breastfeeding and Formula Can Go Hand-in-Hand, Guilt Free

"It's not about bullying people or other people and their choices," Hickman told MyFOX Houston. "It's about supporting people

Holiday entertaining can leave you playing bartender while your guests get to have all the fun. Switch it up for your next party! Hosting a New Year's Eve get-together? Turn up the fun with a party-friendly beverage. Serving a punch at parties is a great way to free yourself up for your guests and provide great drinks at the same time. Check out the video recipe below from mixologist and restaurant owner Julie Reiner:

"Punch is really making a comeback," mixologist Julie Reiner told genConnect. "It's one of those things that your Grandma used to make these ridiculous punches with sherbet and all this really silly stuff and you stayed away from the punch bowl. We're sort of bringing back the old tradition of punch which was really the first cocktail. The granddaddy of all mixed drinks is punch."

Gold Coast Punch (serves 10 people)

By Julie Reiner

This punch is one of the house specialties at Julie's cocktail lounge, Lani Kai, located in New York City.

• 1 750 ml

Tired of slathering creams and cosmetics packed with antioxidants on your skin for a more youthful glow? A new line of cosmetics is coming out that you actually can eat.

Related: How Nutrition Influences Your Skin's Aging Process

Sue Devitt, an Australian makeup artist with a celebrity clientele and the Miss Universe Organization's official dietician, Tanya Zuckerbrot, are launching a new beauty product on QVC in February loaded with antioxidants and minerals that is supposed to be great for your skin. The $38 Beauty Booster is part of the duo's new partly ingestible io Beauty collection that "works from the inside out"; it can be drizzled over yogurt and into club soda, or eaten alone - and it's calorie-free. The amount of liquid in two droppers of Beauty Booster is supposed to have more antioxidant value than five servings of fruits and vegetables. And results are promised within 28 days.

Devitt and Zuckerbrot's new products are the latest in a recent line of edible

By genConnect | Amy Newmark

If you are engaging in extreme multitasking these days, here are a few tips from the folks at Chicken Soup for the Soul that might make the rest of the season go a little easier:

1) Remember to use your positive thinking! Almost every cloud has a silver lining, and if you make a conscious effort to find the positives in your life, you really will feel better. Let's say that you have to park a quarter mile away from the mall at the farthest end of the parking lot - just think of it as an opportunity to get ten minutes of exercise that you wouldn't otherwise have thought to fit into your day.

WATCH: Q&A With Chicken Soup for the Soul Publisher Amy Newmark

2) Count your blessings! Gratitude and thankfulness are proven to make people healthier and more popular. Remember that the reason you have so much work to do is because there are so many people in your life who you love. Now doesn't that make you feel better about buying all those gifts

By genConnect | JJ Virgin

To hell with consequences: you're going to dive into that gooey piece of caramel praline cheesecake after your three-cheese lasagna and garlic-butter infused baguette. Tomorrow, after all, you're going to diet.

Familiar scenario?

That fast-famine mentality only sets you up for failure. Fast fat loss isn't an all-or-nothing scenario, and good eating habits don't happen at the spur of the moment. That's why your lasagna-and-cheesecake scenario - or whatever your metabolic poison might include - is like Groundhog Day. You keep doing it over and over, and you end up defeated and discouraged every time.

Let's make a pact. I want you to dump the dramatic, abrupt resolution traps and focus on meaningful, lasting changes. Focus your intention on what inspires you to take these action steps.

Say your 2012 resolution involves fast fat loss, more burst training, and doing an elimination diet to identify food sensitivities. You'll want to identify, for

Still looking for the perfect gift for someone this holiday season? Here are some great gift suggestions for the traveler in your life:

Phone Lens Dial; photo by Photojojo1. Hard to find, but worth the hunt, Cartier's newest parfum, Baiser Vole, comes in a roll-on small enough to fit in your evening clutch.

2. The iPhone Lens Dial is the essential camera accessory; with a simple spin of a wheel, this nifty gadget by Photojojo, allows you to take panoramic pictures on your iPhone.

Related: 10 Travel Tips

3. Decoupage trays with luggage label motifs by John Derian …they are so cool, so chic, so vintage.

4. Go Clean travel bags by Flight 001 for your gym gear, laundry, shoes and boots…at last, someone came up with bags large enough to pack a pair of knee high boots in your suitcase. I can finally get rid of the plastic bags from the drugstore!

Related: Flight 001 Founder Brad John: The Key to Great Travel (VIDEO)

5. The Canon Powershot S100 is the oh-so-perfect compact point and shoot camera