MISTAKE 1: Dropping pounds with diet drinks.
A University of Texas Health Science Center study found that people who sipped one diet soda a day for seven years were 41 percent more likely to be overweight than non-soda drinkers. The reason: Diet drinks often lead to overeating as people "spend" the calories they just saved on a second slice of pizza or a cookie. There's also evidence that artificial sweeteners may whet your appetite for more sweets.

THE SOLUTION: Sip water, coffee, or unsweetened tea. If you crave a sweet taste, add a half teaspoon of sugar (just 7 calories) or natural agave syrup (10 calories) to coffee or tea. If plain water is too bland for you, try a flavored unsweetened water.


Related: 5 Secrets of the Highest-Paid Women

MISTAKE 2: Skipping the second opinion on a major condition.
It could alert you to alternatives your first doctor never mentioned or even correct a dangerous misdiagnosis. The best plan is to find an experienced doctor affiliated wit

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By Jessica Ashley, GalTime.com Senior Editor

It was a special occasion, a rare holiday weekend getaway at a spa several hours from the constant buzz of my laptop, phone and calendar alarms. My boyfriend and I decided to set our busy lives aside and just be as much as we could for three days. That meant a few nice dinners, a great bottle of wine, workouts without the rush, sitting in the steam room, taking slow walks around the lake and through little shops. It also meant a massage.

My boyfriend chose an 80-minute session for each of us, with time enough beforehand to languish in the sauna and whirlpool. We both believe in the benefits of regular massage but we both have trouble making it a part of our monthly schedules. Just settling in for nearly an hour-and-a-half of near-silence and essential oils felt like enough.

My massage therapist was strong and diligently worked at knots in my shoulders that never seem to unwind. She used elbows and forearms and wiggled the tips of h

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Do these every day - or whenever you'd like - for an instant lift.

1. Give Your Sweetie a Stealth Hug
Tiny acts of love - a favorite meal, a mushy text-message, or an unexpected touch - make us see ourselves as kind and supportive partners. In fact, we get the bounce in self-image even if we do something nice our spouses don't notice, a Swiss study of 102 couples found.

2. Include the Barista in Your Thank-Yous
In case you missed the news that reflecting on your blessings is like Miracle-Gro for your mental health, a new English study reports that keeping a daily gratitude list reduces anxiety as well as therapy does. Be specific: "To say, 'I am grateful to the coffee barista' is less effective than consciously thinking about the fact that she remembers that you like a tall latte with low-fat milk," says Robert Emmons, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis.

Related: 15 Easy Ways to De-Stress

3. Take a Grace Break
Psycho

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Authored By: Bob Berkowitz For QuickEasyFit

If you are looking for a way to get healthy while saving money, you are in luck: adopting a healthier lifestyle is certain to get you a lower rate with your health insurance company, making this one opportunity from which you stand to profit in at least two ways: saving money and adopting a healthier lifestyle.

Recommended Lifestyle Changes

What insurance companies are looking for is people in good health who are likely to stay that way. This automatically precludes unhealthy habits and unsafe behaviors like smoking tobacco products, drinking alcohol in excess, taking illegal drugs, not exercising and eating fatty foods that are high in caloric content.

See Also - 8 Top Holiday Health Offenders (And How to Defend Yourself)

Any of the above will put you at a higher risk for certain diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and certain cancers. There are sites like InsuranceQuotes.org that can tell you more a

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