How To Stay Healthy This Holiday Season

“Ho ho ho ho, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!” As this holiday season approaches, many of us are preparing for big celebrations and parties. Food, snacks, wine, beverages… there is no better time of the year to fill yourself to your heart’s desire!

However, if you are a health-conscious type of person, then this article will reveal some tips for staying healthy this holiday season (while everyone else around you gains 5 pounds!).



Below are 5 tips for keeping yourself healthy this holiday season:

1. Eat Snacks Moderately – Let’s face it, snacks are abundant during the holidays seasons (as if they aren’t already throughout the year). If you take a seat within an arm's reach of the snack table, you're going to have a tough time keeping yourself from unconsciously grabbing handfuls of party mix, candies, and the like and picking at them all day. By sitting on the other side of the room, getting to the snacks involves a conscious effort into getting up and walking over to get at the snacks.

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2. Exercise, Exercise, Exercise! – There is no better thing to do during this festive season than to exercise! If the weather permits it, go out and take a quick walk around the house or block. If your celebration is taking place in a colder climate, you'll be more inspired to quicken your pace and burn a few extra calories in the process. If the weather is bad, do 10-20 squats, stretches, or other brief exercise each time you go to the restroom. You only want to do just enough to elevate your heart rate, but not break out into a sweat. Chances are, no one will know what you're doing, and you won't have to feel self-conscious about trying to maintain your figure.

3. Eat More Healthy Foods - Take an extra scoop of vegetables and fruit when filling your plate, and by the time you finish, you won't have room for the other foods which are higher in calories and more likely to cause you to gain weight. Also, avoid those fatty and fried foods (they taste good, but you know they aren’t healthy!)

4. Drink A Lot Of Water Throughout The Day – Water helps your body stay fit. Drink a fair amount of water or other unsweetened beverage before each meal, as well as during and between them. The liquid in your stomach will help trick your mind into not feeling as hungry, which reduces the tendency to gorge yourself on potentially fattening foods.

5. Eat In Smaller Portions – Instead of eating platefuls of food, try eating smaller portions throughout the day. No doubt, everything at the table looks good, and it's all you can do to keep from filling your plate 2-3 times so that you can sample everything. An easy way to combat this urge is to simply take a smaller portion than you normally would of those dishes you're most interested in, especially belt-bursting desserts. Split a piece of pie or cake with your spouse, child, or another family member who may be watching his or her waistline.

Keeping healthy during this holiday season is simply making sure you follow healthy habits just like anytime of the year. However, don’t fret it if you end up gaining a few pounds during the holidays. After all, the holiday season is only one of the few times of the year where you can truly enjoy yourself!

How to Produce a Christmas Number One Hit

The worst thing about Christmas has to be listening to Top Of The Pops and the Christmas Number 1 – Girls Aloud, Robbie Williams, Westlife and Mr Blobby for goodness sake! Surely anyone can produce a better Christmas Hit than those. After all, a computer does all the work, doesn't it - all you do is press a few buttons and jiggle a few drum and bass lines around.

So what do you need? You need a PC with a reasonable amount of processing power under the hood - a Pentium III at least, preferably a P4 - in order to run the music software.

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Audio files are quite large - forget MP3s, we're talking the real thing here - and for each track of audio you record you'll need around 10.6Mb of hard disk space per minute. Every track won't be filled with audio so you won't need quite that much in a multi-track recording but for a four-minute 16-track song it would be wise to allocate around 500Mb of hard disk space.

Playing cards

You need a soundcard. All modern PCs have one of these but if you don't want your song to sound like it was recorded in a back bedroom - even it if was - get a decent card.

At Christmas-stocking prices are a range of SoundBlaster cards such as the Audigy 2 ZS (for under £70/$100) with a good set of built-in sounds. But more than that, they support SoundFonts. These are samples the card uses to produce realistic instrument sounds and better beefy bass lines than yer average sound card.

If you've a rich Mummy and Daddy they’ll be pleased to buy you a more expensive card such as E-Mu’s Emulator X (around £220/$380), a desktop sampling system that also supports SoundFonts. If you own a nightclub you'll be able to afford one of CreamWare's high-end systems with on-board synthesisers that can do everything but sober up the drummer - not that you need a drummer 'cause the cards have all the drum sounds you need.


Key move

You'll also need a MIDI keyboard to record your masterpiece. There’s a vast choice here from E-Mu’s XBoard 25, XBoard 49, and Swissonic’s CK490 (all running around £100/$150 give or take) to the Fatar range running from the TMK61 (£130/$225) up to the VMK 188 Plus (£599/$1000) with several models inbeween.

These keyboards don't have any on-board sounds like synthesisers but they're much cheaper than synths and there are sounds in the soundcard anyway. If you've seen an Elton John concert and can't face the thought of touching a keyboard, don't worry - you can use pre-recorded loops and samples and cleverly arrange them in stunning combinations without a keyboard.


Listen 'ere

A decent pair of speakers is essential. The ten quid jobbies that were bundled with your PC may be fine for playing MP3s but they simply won't do for mixing music.

The Big Boys use dedicated monitor speakers which can cost as much as a holiday in Barbados but if you leave the other half at home you could easily afford Behringer’s MS16s (£46/$79), or Edirol’s MA7A (£80/$135) or MA150 (£120/$200).

If your PC is near your hi fi you can run the audio through that but switch off any bass boost or EQ settings. The idea is to get a flat, uncoloured response so if it sounds good on those speakers it should sounds good on any speakers. So the theory goes.


Good arrangement

The Big Boys can fiddle with high-end music sequencers but the new and incredibly modestly-priced Cubase SE 3 (less than a ton/$170) lets you record and assemble audio and MIDI parts with almost as much aplomb. It shows both types of recording on the same arrange page making it easy to see how they fit together.

And finally, you need a CD recorder so you can burn your finished hit to CD and send it to lucky record companies. If you’ve a modern PC you’ll have one already. But do use a labeller and create a CD inlay, too, to give the CD a pro finish. In the music biz, looks, fashion and style are far more important than content so spend at least as much time on the outside as on the music. Put your contact details on the CD label as well as the inlay.


Hook and line

Now let's make a song. You need a hook. This is the bit everyone sings so it has to be catchy. It's usually the chorus but you can have a catchy bass line, drum line or even a vocal hook such as shout or a catch phrase like "Eh Oh". Well it worked for the Teletubbies – are you old enough to remember them with embarrassment?

Let's say you've come up with a stonking chorus. Build a verse around it. It doesn't have to be memorable; few verses are. You can meander around in a relatively tuneless way until it's time to unleash the chorus on the world.

When building a song, start with the rhythm section. Grab some groovy drum loops, string them together then add the bass line. You can play this on your new MIDI keyboard or drop in bass samples - jolly useful things, samples.

Next you'll want to add some keyboard parts which can be clever rhythmic figures or you can play pads by holding down some chords using a broad-texture sound such as strings.


Very vocal

Then add the vocals. If you can't sing - but remember that never stopped anyone making a record - you might like to nip down the pub and ask the winner of this week's karaoke contest to do the chanting for you. Play your cards right and they may even pay you for the privilege.

If you've too much musical nous to be in the same room as a karaoke singer, you can always fall back on your old friend, the sample.

The final step is the mixing. This is where you balance all the parts you recorded, add a dash of reverb and generally tart the thing up.

Then save the entire song as an audio file ready for burning to CD. This means recording the MIDI parts as audio tracks. You need to mix all the tracks into one stereo track so the final file will be 10.6Mb x the length in minutes.


Looks good

Now you have to interest the A&R men in your CD. It's all about image so if you're dull and ugly - name three ugly pop stars, apart from Madonna and Mick Hucknall - you may have to get one of your beautiful friends to pose for the publicity photos.

Write a one-page biog - they don't want to know that you have a GCSE in music, they want to know what gigs you've done and any Big Name bands you’ve supported. Drop a few names such as Bruce, Robbie and Tina. You don't have to mention surnames...
If you do catch the ear of an A&R person, be prepared to throw your ego out the window - you can't afford one at the moment and when you're rich and famous you can buy a much better one anyway.

You'll see the months of blood, sweat and Pils which you poured into your song pouring straight down the drain as the record company drafts in a 14-year-old DJ to remix your song using the latest Dance breakbeats and crap - sorry, rap - vocals.

But don't worry - you can laugh all the way to the bank when it reaches Number One!

How To Not Blow Your Budget This Christmas.

Every year thousands of families make a fresh decision to start living by a budget. They set up accounts on their home computer, begin to track everything they spend and set limits designed to help them save more and spend less.

Gwen Mathews is the Mother/Chief Accountant in one of these new budget conscious families. She and her husband Pete set up some ambitious financial plans with the goal of paying off their credit card debt. They split their family income up into categories and were doing just great. That is until the holiday season came along.

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As Gwen scanned the family Christmas list she realized that the ‘gift giving category’ her and Pete had agreed to early in the year wasn’t going to cut it.

Pete, Gwen and their three children sat down after dinner that night and laid out the situation. Christmas was a month away and the budget was clearly not going to buy the family the kind of presents that they were used to. They needed to make some decision together as a family. What did they want more? Expensive Christmas gifts or a shrunken credit card balance?

The secret to keeping a budget during the holidays is to:

A. Have a clear vision of your priorities. Remind yourself and your entire family of the reasons you had for getting on a budget in the first place.

B. Make a complete gift shopping list and then prioritize it according to your relationship with that person. Immediate family comes first, extended family, friends, co-workers, etc. Start at the bottom and cross off any names that absolutely don’t need to be there – then assign a portion of your budget to each of the remaining names.

C. Get creative with your gift giving. A day in the kitchen with the oven at 350 degrees will take care of a lot of people on your shopping list. A plate of home made Christmas cookies is a welcome and touching gift.

D. Give up keeping up with the neighbors. The surest path to a blown budget is to start comparing what you’re doing with what someone else is doing. Remember, they’ll likely be crying come January.

E. Don’t start shopping too early. Many a Mom has spent their entire holiday budget before Thanksgiving thinking she’s a smart cookie to get it all out of the way. Then the Christmas sales kick in and she’s kicking herself and thinking ‘Well I can spend just a little bit more can’t I?”.

F. Final rule: No impulse buying. If someone gives you an unexpected gift, it doesn’t mean you have to run out and buy them something – that’s what 'Thank You' is for.

By keeping their goals in mind and recruiting the support of their children, Pete and Gwen survived the holidays within their budget. As their gift to each other they wrote an extra payment to the credit card company. If they keep that up, they’ll be celebrating a debt free Christmas next year.

How To Indulge And Win The Battle Of The Bulge During The Holidays

If you are trying to lose weight, the holidays literally are the heaviest time of the year.

So how do you eat, drink and be merry while you’re counting every single calorie? By getting a buddy who will help you make the right choices bite by bite.

Scientific studies have shown that people who diet with partners are much more likely to lose weight and to keep it off. And there’s no more crucial time to have a buddy on your side than from Thanksgiving to New Year’s.

“During the holidays, you can use all the help you can get,” says Alan Gettis, a nutritionist and clinical psychologist in River Edge, N.J. “I urge my clients to get a full-time year-round a buddy, it could be a husband or a wife, a neighbor or a friend. I But don’t wait for the first feast to find a buddy, says Susan Holmberg, a nutritionist and behavioral therapist in Oradell, N.J. “Once you start overeating, you don’t want a “Buddy,” she says.

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Buddies give you moral support and help you identify bad eating habits and patterns because they have been there, too, she says. “You may want to have more than one buddy,” she says. “You can have one on the phone and one who exercises with you and goes to parties with you. You can make deals with your buddy where you both go to the party but only one of you goes through the buffet line or where you agree to split one meal.”

Buddies also are like therapists and coaches, who listen to you and keep you on the right path. “Your buddy should be a person you can share your feelings with and rely on in a pinch without fear that your feelings will be used as ammunition against you,” Gettis says.

Holmberg says that using a “Buddy” is particularly helpful to people who may be reluctant to change because those who sign on can choose a either real-life buddy, someone in their geographical area they can meet and exercise with, or select someone to work with solely online or via the phone. “Sometimes anonymity is good,” she says. “You are much more likely to try it if you don’t have to meet the person.”

Gettis points out that with a “Buddy”, “you can find someone with similar goals, and both of you can support each other.”

Buddies also take on active roles, getting you to stop a bad habit and replace it with a healthy one. Gettis likens the process to a marathon, where the runners are tempted to give up before the 26th mile because it is so difficult to stay the course. “The 18- to 19-mile mark is the crucial one,” he says. “During a marathon I was once in, I came upon two guys running – one was hurting, and the other was encouraging him to keep running. I followed them for two to three miles, and the one kept saying, ‘Leave me.’ The other kept saying, ‘I’m not going to.’ And I thought, ‘What great friends!’ Then I heard the one hurting say, ‘What’s your name?’”

Perhaps the most important role that buddies play is helping plan strategies and then making sure that you make them work. “They can teach you to take baby steps and to change your environment,” Holmberg says. “For instance, they may suggest that you keep sneakers in your trunk or put on your gym clothes as you leave the office so you don’t have an excuse not to exercise. They can call ahead to the party to check on the menu and give you a low-cal recipe to bring so there’s at least one thing that you can eat.”

Holmberg says that some of the changes are so simple that people overlook them. A buddy may, for instance, suggest that you get at the end of the buffet line so there is less food available or help the host wash dishes because if your hands are wet, you are less likely to nibble on the last remaining crumbs from the serving dishes. “If you are asked to bring dessert, your buddy may remind you not to make chocolate chip cookies because the last time you ate a dozen cookies before you brought them to the party and nibbled the chips while baking and suggest that instead you make something like a pie that can’t be nibbled because it is cut only when served.”

Buddies also can help you practice being assertive, not aggressive to make significant changes in your diet and your lifestyle. “By being assertive, you attack the task,” Gettis says. “By being aggressive, you attack the person. You need to stand your ground and in a firm but angry voice say: ‘I really would appreciate it if you would not bring home anything fattening. You may have had good intentions, but I’d feel better if you didn’t do it again.’”

So don’t wait until you’re boxed in by back-to-back parties and surrounded by wall-to-wall goodies to find a buddy. Make an early New Year’s resolution to do it now, long before the marathon feasts begin, Gettis says. “You have to be realistic, so don’t count on losing 10 to 12 pounds during the holidays. Don’t say you’ll lose 10 pounds during the holidays, and don’t gain 10 either. And get someone to be your buddy for all 12 months of the year. You have nothing to lose – but weight.”

Copyright Weight Loss Buddy Press 2005

How to Enjoy the Holidays With Your Relatives

Here are five simple things that will make the next holiday party enjoyable for everyone.

1) Leave Home Without It

Unless you visit like-minded people, leave your private cause at home. Cover the tattoo, remove the nose ring, take out the tongue stud. Similarly, avoid editorials, lectures, and sermons. Remember: it's a holiday party. No one comes to be offended.

2) Make Them Special

Let others talk. Be impressed (or at least interested) with what they say. Ask questions to encourage telling more. Find something to praise. Give your complete attention while listening. Appreciation is a gift that lasts a lifetime.

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3) Detach

Let others be themselves. Accept what people say, regardless how outrageous. Avoid correcting, criticizing, or complaining. Ignore bait that lures you into arguments. Avoid taking things personally. Just say, "Ah, how interesting," and move on.

4) Talk Friendly

Offer compliments. Be positive. Be gracious. Be mature. Find diplomatic ways to express your ideas. Avoid negative words, especially "not," because negative ideas trigger a defensive response. Be a source of solutions instead of complications.

5) Behave

Avoid trick questions ("What kind of idiot would do this?"). Avoid punitive stories that contain hidden insults. Avoid baiting people into arguments. Spend time with people who enjoy your ideas. Realize it is always a bad idea to start an argument.

How to Create the Most Memorable Photo Christmas Cards Received by ALL

Generic, store-bought, holiday greeting cards have served their purpose of sending a festive greeting to those we think about during this special time of year.  Please note that the key word here is ‘served’- past tense is used, for such cards will probably be seen quite soon on a shelf in the Smithsonian under the title, “Antique Holiday Greeting Cards”, as photo holiday greeting cards are taking over.

Amazing advances in computers and photography have made it easier that ever to snap the ideal photo to represent your family to those on your holiday card mailing list.  Digital cameras allow you to take the picture, view it, erase it and retake it within minutes, all before downloading it to your computer or printing it immediately through your printer.

Recent trends have changed from the traditional family photo with everyone dressed in their Sunday Best and set into a proper sort of pose into a more casual themed attire. A shot of everyone, including the dog, all wearing red, Santa-style hats and collarless red shirts create a more playful, everyday sort of look, showing the family as they typically are.

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Each year, thousands upon thousands of would-be photo greeting card senders don’t get the chance, for they were completely unhappy with the finished product.  Maybe they tried to create it themselves on their PC and realized that they weren’t as computer savvy as they had thought (or at least hoped).  When it comes to this once a year symbol, an annual image of your family that will be sent across town and across the globe, there should be no messing around: leave it to the experts.

Of course, there are traits for you to look for in such a company, as you shouldn’t leave this important task to just anyone.  First, find a company that creates unique card templates each year- not one that just changes the year and leaves the same background.  Unless, of course, you choose to have the same template each year and simply change the year and photo for all to see exactly how your family is changing.

Make sure that you have options for the size of your finished card, as well as the finish (matte or gloss) involved.  A better company will have options for the paper other than the finishes, such as an option to have your cards be actual photographs using real photo paper that can be framed and/or scrap-booked by the recipient.

You’ve spent an entire year with your family, but not everyone else has had the privilege.  Creating memorable holiday photo greeting cards is one way to ensure a special place in the hearts of all who receive them.

How Is Your Budget For The Holidays?

Most people have tried it – spending more on the holidays than intended. I comes as a surprise again an again. What is it with money and budgets that do not work? People split up because of money. It is an invisible force from our subconscious mind that tricks us to buy stuff we can not afford at a given moment.

The best way to stop spending too much money over the holidays, is to set a budget for how much you can spend, especially for gifts, and then stick with it, no matter what. Even if you subconscious mind tells you it is okay.

Do it outside the holidays too, people should keep a rein on their spending there as well. If you do it at all times it should be no problem in the holidays as well.

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Sixty-one percent of Americans either does not have an annual household budget or feel it is difficulty to stick with it. Out of those who have tried to keep a household budget, fifty percent gave up trying to follow it. Your subconscious mind is doing its thing even if you do not like it.

The best way to maintain financial discipline might be to stop using credit cards. If you know you do not have enough money to buy something and pay for it this month, then maybe you should not buy it at all. Without a credit card in your pocket, you can not be tricked by your own mind to buy anything.

Maybe you have doubts whether you should spend anything on the holidays or not. Is it not just an industry game that is way too expensive for regular people? I think not, don’t be afraid. You can get tons of great stuff that is not too expensive and that will bring joy and smiles in the house.

Have fun and thank you for your time.

How To Save Money During the Holidays

It seems that each year, the holidays bring not only fun and family gathering but they bring financial stress as well. To head off this stress, it is a good idea to plan a Christmas budget now during the fall months, so that when the holiday shopping is in full swing, you won't be stressing out over overspending.

There are many categories of holiday purchases that we all make every year. It is a good idea to make your holiday budget comprehensive enough to include all the ways that you spend money on holiday preparations and Christmas related purchases. Here are a few ideas about how to set up your Christmas Budget.

Start early - ideally you should start in January for each holiday season. Many of us don't think about Christmas that early. If you are like most of us, October is when we start to think about the winter holidays. If you do start early, you can take advantage of those after Christmas sales to make purchases of holiday stables like ornaments, gift-wrap, and party supplies.

Make sure you sock some holiday savings away each month throughout the year so that you can have a Christmas Spending account that won't dig into your regular household account during the holidays. The last thing you want is to take money away from paying your monthly bills in order to buy presents.

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You can open a Christmas Club account at most financial institutions including credit unions that you can designate an amount such as $25, or $50 to come out of your paycheck each month and deposited into this Christmas fund. You can even set up auto-transfer for each pay period.

Shop for Christmas year-round. There are many sales events that you can take advantage of throughout the year, saving you money.

Make up a master-shopping list for Christmas that includes each person you need to buy gifts for along with some gift ideas. Keep this in your wallet or purse all year, so that you can refer to it while passing sales items.

Don't forget about the values you can find online. You can comparison-shop to discover what stores have the best deals. When actually making purchases online, don't forget to take shipping into consideration when comparison-shopping for price.

Major stores will often have Internet discounts that are just for their online customers, so check Websites of stores that you frequent most often for these deals.

Save money by baking or making presents for relatives who may appreciate the extra thoughtfulness of these personal gifts.

There may be some people on your list who really do not need or want more "things", but may be happy with the gift of time (running errands for them, or doing yard work, or household chores).

Keep a pocket notebook handy all year and jot down in it whenever someone mentions something they need, or something they see that they would like. When you notice sales events of these items you can then purchase them at a savings. This handy notebook will also assure you that you are indeed buying gifts that the recipients will truly enjoy getting.

Holidays Screensavers - How To Select Best Free Holidays Screensavers?

Holidays and screensavers make a great combination. Holidays are important because they change our mood. The most busy and depressed of us become happy and energetic during holidays. Watch the faces during Christmas, Halloween, thanksgiving and other holidays. You will find a distinct glow and smile. The hearts are full of love and giving. The anxieties and envies are forgotten for a day.

Holiday screensavers designed for specific holidays add to this mood by providing us the visuals. Please remember that most of us are visual persons. Words don't affect them much, but a visual does. A drawing of Santa makes more difference to visual people than a paragraph about Christmas. For such visual persons, Holidays screensavers are a great boon.

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Today, on a very good website, you get free holidays screensavers. Download as many as you wish. Holidays or no holidays, watch them any time and any day and you will feel a change in your mood. The holidays screensavers are normally made for holidays such as- 4th July, Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Hanukkah, Happy Holidays, Memorial Day, New Year, Patriot Day, Rosh Hashanah, St. Patrick's Day, Thanksgiving, Valentines Day etc.

Download screensavers that are good looking, have bright colors, with low file weight, easy to install and uninstall, with music and good to look at. Download free holiday screensavers and enjoy a holiday everyday on your computer desktop.

Holiday Winners, Losers, And The Vicious Cycle Of Debt

Holiday shopping brings bargain hunters and retail outlets together to fight it out over the once mighty dollar. As always, there are winners and losers in this economic game. The winners from the business side are the retailers that met or exceeded their sales expectations. The winners from the consumer’s side are those of us who did not overspend, or break our holiday shopping budget. Of course, you must first need to know what your holiday shopping budget is in order to know if you have won that game.

The losers on the business side are the retailer who did not meet their sales expectations. Of this group, the big losers are the small, locally owned shops without any corporate backing. This group must find ways to pay for excess inventory, and extra hours worked by their employees. Unfortunately, this could mean borrowing money. Which of course leads to further reductions to the bottom line in the form of increased interest payments.

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Another unfortunate occurrence is when these small retailers no longer can obtain a quick loan, or cannot receive more credit from their vendors. They may turn to business credit cards to “bail them out”. This is a huge gamble, as credit cards usually carry higher interest rates that can increase at any time, just because the bank wants them to. Businesses that use credit cards to fund parts of their business operations are setting themselves up for a vicious cycle of debt. This should always be avoided.

As for the consumers, the losers of course are those who overspend on holiday gifts. The biggest losers are those who overspend using their credit cards, and do not immediately pay them off. Even while paying a bit more than the monthly minimum, after adding interest and fees, it could take months, or even years to pay off just one season of holiday shopping. And we start this all over again in less than 11 months.

What about those consumers who did not break their holiday spending budget? Did they win? Well if they shopped using cash, checks, or debt cards, then yes, they are the winners. However, if their spending budget was based on the fact that they could charge their purchases, and make small monthly payments, then they too are losers in this game. Interest on the debt built up over the gift giving season can easily break anyone’s budget. Most people do not stop to calculate the interest paid on specific purchases, and the banks will not help you do this. For too many people, the finance charge on their monthly statement is just another line item. Just part of life, or part of their expenses that can’t be avoided. We get to pay that in small monthly payments too. Plus more interest.

Holiday Spending Tips - Ten Ways To Keep From Having A Holiday Spending Hangover

Ah the holidays… a time for parties, over eating, and over spending. Americans routinely overspend during the holidays, often resulting in increasing credit card debt to go along with that increasing waistline from too much pumpkin pie.

The holidays are stressful enough. Don’t add to that stress by overspending your holiday budget. Here are ten tips to help you save time, money and stress this shopping season:

1. Make a list. Decide how much you can afford to spend this year and write it down. Decide who you want to buy for, and how much you want to spend on each person. Take this list with you when you go shopping to ensure that you don’t buy on impulse or exceed your spending limit. Also, don’t forget to include wrapping paper, decorations and shipping costs. These can add up fast!

2. Pay cash for your holiday gifts. It’s much harder to spend cash than credit, so this tip alone could save you hundreds of dollars this holiday season. Also, avoid credit card offers or store charge card offers that offer you a discount if you sign up. These cards usually have high interest rates, and could end up costing much more in the long run than the discount you receive when you sign up for the card.

3. Do your shopping online this year. Buying online could result in discounts not available in stores. Just remember to include the shipping cost when buying online. Even if you don’t actually buy online, the time you can save by doing comparison shopping before you go to the malls could be invaluable.

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4. Have a Secret Santa gift exchange, where you put names in a hat and each person draws one name to purchase for. If you have a large family, this could mean tremendous savings! You should set a dollar limit so each person knows how much to spend. That way no one overspends and relatives with smaller budgets won’t feel bad about not spending a fortune on a gift.

5. Another alternative for those with large families is to do a group gift. Have several relatives go in on one big gift instead of each person buying a separate gift. You will probably all save money and you can buy the recipient one big, cool gift that they really want.

6. Start early! Shopping early allows you to comparison shop and to catch pre-holiday sales, which could mean huge savings. This also curbs impulse shopping, which can be very expensive. Another benefit to shopping early is lower shipping costs if you need to mail a gift. Waiting til the last minute can be expensive because you’re more likely to pay full price for the gift, and you may have to pay extra to ship it if you want to guarantee it arrives in time.

7. Make your holiday gifts. If you have creative talents, such as cooking, crafts, etc., making your own gifts can be very special. If you’re not very creative, consider giving your time. Offers to baby-sit or to do something special for someone can be very personal and appreciated gifts. How many parents do you know who wouldn’t love to have free babysitting?

8. Purchase wrapping paper, holiday cards and other decorations right after the holidays. Seasonal items are usually offered at deep discounts after the holiday, and they never go out of style. Stock up on clearance-priced items for next year, this year!

9. If you’ll be traveling this holiday season, book your travel plans early. Airline flights, train tickets and bus tickets usually go up significantly during the holidays, so booking your travel plans early can save you money and stress.

10. Start a Christmas fund in January for next year’s shopping. Many credit unions and banks offer special accounts just for this purpose. A CD is another great way to save for next year’s holiday expenses. It never hurts to sock away a little money every month between now and the next holiday season. You’ll earn a little interest and you’ll have cash to spend on your holiday gifts and other expenses when the holidays roll around.

Holiday Sanity Savers From A Mostly-Sane Mom

The Holidays are a stressful time. Between the additional errands, the extra traffic, and the stress of spending money that you don’t have – even the sanest mom will be questioning her sanity as the holidays near.

Here are a few ideas to help you keep your sanity this holiday season.

Make a list (and check it twice). Keep your shopping list in your purse to keep from being overwhelmed or worse – overspending. If you walk into a store and are bedazzled by all the shiny things, I can relate. I get so overwhelmed that I get nothing accomplished. But, as the Holidays near, I tend to switch into “SuperMarket Sweep” mode and I start throwing everything into my cart (whether I really need it or not). Having a list can help fight this urge, keep you sane – and help your budget stay sane in the process.

As soon as you start buying, start wrapping. There's nothing more stressful than tackling a mountain of unwrapped gifts two days before Christmas. Save on the cost of wrapping paper by buying it after the holiday each year and stowing it away for next year. Be sure to attach gift tags as you wrap. If you're wrapping a month in advance, there's no way you're going to remember what that funky rectangular shaped box is, let alone who it's for.

Kids Christmas Activities And Games

To save time and sanity, wrap gifts that go together in all the same paper. For instance, wrap all gifts that will be going with you to your mother-in-law's on Christmas Eve in the red paper with the gingerbread men. And put all gifts for your friends and neighbors in the blue paper with the snowflakes, etc.

Cook in advance. Did you know that you can make mashed potatoes during the summer, freeze them, and have them ready for the holidays? Mashed potatoes can be kept in the freezer for months if you use a freezer-friendly recipe. Cook your mashed potatoes in advance and offer to bring them to Christmas dinner. You can skip the stress of cooking, because they’ll be ready and waiting for you.

Limit your travel. The holidays are about family, but they are also about togetherness and making memories. If you’re spending your holidays trapped in the car together, driving down icy roads, stressed out, consider ways to travel less.

The Holidays are a time to make memories. Oftentimes the memories we are making are of a stressed-out mom, running around missing out on all the fun because she’s trying to create a perfect moment. Instead, relax and experience the holidays with your family. Between a little planning and taking some of the pressure off, you’ll have a Holiday that would make Norman Rockwell sigh.

Holiday Planning Tips For Busy Moms

Ahhh, the Holidays…… The Thanksgiving turkey comes out of the oven golden brown, with an enticing aroma that fills the entire house. All the china is in pristine condition and not a single piece in the set is missing. The family is gathered for holiday pictures, the children are poised perfectly; hands to themselves, not a hair out of place and their smiles are shining brightly for the camera. Then just as the photographer is about to capture the shot… you wake up!

Let's be realistic ladies. Without proper planning, the holidays are anything but a holiday. Just look at the list of things that need to be done: Shopping, cooking, cleaning, decorating, sending holiday mail, the list goes on and on.

Let me clue you all in on a few key questions that you should ask yourself in order to have a holiday season free of stress and worry, and instead filled with fun and laughter:

What types of holiday celebrations do you want? For example: Do you want to have an immediate family only holiday affair or an extravaganza including immediate and extended family plus a few friends? Once you've thought everything through and decided on the type of holiday gathering you would like, you can then start making your plans.

If you are ready to get a head start on organizing yourself, your family and your holiday check lists, then keep reading:

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Holiday Cards: Start early! I use a holiday card list that I derive from saving names and addresses from holiday cards my family has received in past years. I created a simple, computerized list that is easy to edit and print onto address labels. Be sure to stock up on stamps so that when you have your cards signed, stuffed and addressed you can affix a stamp to them and make one, simple trip to the Post Office.

Holiday Gifts: There's nothing like getting a HUGE credit card bill in the mail at the start of the New Year. Many of us tend to want to be generous when shopping for holiday gifts. While your generosity will be appreciated at gift giving time, keep in mind that it is very easy to succumb to "impulse buying" and go all out on your holiday shopping. While your intentions may be good, your pocketbook may be singing a different song. Set a budget and stick to it – your bank account will thank you for it after the start of the New Year.

Wrap it up: Wrap your gifts and place nametags on them immediately after you bring them home, then store the gifts in a secure spot. This will cut down on those late night wrapping sessions that I am sure we ALL have experienced a few times, if not every year.

Baking & cooking: If you will be cooking during the holidays, it is important to plan your meals ahead of time. Be sure to stock up ahead of time on all the necessary non-perishable baking ingredients such as flour, sugar and spices. Create a list of your holiday menus and a list of the ingredients you will need to prepare each of those meals. Also, try to think of a few dishes that can be prepared ahead of time and then frozen as an extra timesaving measure

Delegate: This is one of my favorite tips. Be sure to enlist the help of your family or friends. Sit down and discuss what needs to be done then ask for volunteers. If no hands are raised, simply assign small tasks to each of them. Whether it is arranging for a babysitter so that you can escape for a child free day of shopping, passing the shopping list onto another family member or friend so that they can pick up the items for you, or letting the children decorate your home. Be sure to get the whole family involved in the holiday preparations so that you will not be overwhelmed.

Enjoy: Whatever you decide to do, remember to relax and enjoy yourself. You and your family will have much fonder memories of this holiday season if you are not spending it pulling your hair out.

Holiday Money

We are getting close again to the holidays again. While this is always a joyous time of year it can be stressfully too. It is a time when many people celebrate, but everyone can use some extra money to help pay the bills. A lot of people are looking for the extra income by the searched on the web such as holiday money, earn extra holiday money, Christmas extra money, extra holiday money, Holiday money and extra money for the holidays.

As a work at home web site owner it is important to realize that many of these folks are not looking for an online business as much as a way to create some quick cash to help pay for presents or even help with the monthly bills. The Internet seems like a good place for those desiring to create some additional income.

Here are just a few of the areas that may fit well for these folks:

Telephone Answering
Data Entry
Type At Home
Online Paid Surveys
Mystery Shoppers
Focus Groups
Ad Publishing

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This is just a few of the many that I have located, but this does cover the most popular of programs.

You need to use a SCAM filter, because there are many bad programs that will take your money and give you nothing in return. My suggestion is to use a website like mine, whereby the research has been done for you rather than spending hours researching the web. The cost is the same for you whether you use a website like mine, but not necessarily mine, because the companies pay site owners a small commission. The cost of the program if there is one is the same as if you were to buy from them directly.

Once you have either found a website or done the research yourself you will then need to choose from the many programs that are available to you. There are many good programs out there you just need to find them so you don't waste your time. Just give yourself the best chance for success.

You need to be prepared to do some work at home. It will take some effort, not as much as your day job, but it can be done. Who knows you may want to continue after the holidays.  In my opinion you will need the following basic equipment to operate from home:

Computer
Printer
Access to the Internet
Word processor with spell check

Many people are making a lot of money online and have replaced their day jobs, in some cases, so that they can stay home with their families and enjoy a better quality of life. You can be very successful if they pick the right program to meet their goals and dreams. You must make sure that the match is right for you.

Take your time, make your selections, join one or two programs, get started and start making money today. Please feel free to read more of this article by visiting my link in the resource box below. I always enjoy getting emails pertaining to my articles or my site. Your feedback is important to me.

Holiday Guide-Enjoy your holidays & be healthy!

Holiday season is the best among all seasons. Holiday season is the best for family gatherings, spending time with friends, and snowball battles. All of us want to enjoy holiday season. Several people feel migraine problems and severe headaches due to wrong strategy of spending holidays.  You should follow some guidelines to enjoy wonderful holidays.

Following are some ideas that will definitely help you to make great holiday season:

During holidays try to eat little of everything whatever you want because holidays means fun not eating! Eat little instead of joining a gym after holidays.

Avoid potatoes & stuffed food. You should eat more vegetables during holidays to be fit and fine.

Don’t spend your holidays in watching TV. You should spend your time with your nears & dears.

Make a list of important activities that you want to do during holidays. This will reduce your tension and headache.

You should also make a budget for your holidays and be familiar with your limitations. Don’t try to create more social events.

Kids Christmas Activities And Games

You may also handover some of your important tasks to a responsible person who is able to perform those tasks efficiently.

Get familiar with your financial limitations and also don’t try to cross your spending limit.

Don’t forget to take rest because you’ve to go back to your work after holidays.

Do your regular exercises and drink plenty of water and juices.

Find some different ways that can make you happy. Forget the difficulties of past and be ready to enjoy your future.

Don’t spend a lot on travel. You should try to participate in the festivals, marriages, birthday parties and other lovely occasions.

Always spend your holidays with your caring friends, colleagues and family members.

And of course don’t forget to laugh.

Holiday Family Entertainment: Multimedia Slideshows

Holidays should be a time for families to get together and catch up on the past year. But, these days with so many distractions (Xbox, Blackberries and iPods) it’s a lot harder to promote positive family interaction. So when attention spans are short, headphones are on and cell phones are ringing it might leave you asking what happened to that Norman Rockwell family holiday? Unless you can compete with the latest technology and stimulate all the senses there’s not much chance of hearing about winning the state championships or the camping trip to Yellow Stone this summer.

The only answer is to bring technology and interaction into the holiday by proposing a multimedia presentation contest. It might sound extravagant and even impossible to you, but rest assured many school aged children and teenagers know how to build slideshows in PowerPoint or even produce a video on their computer. The best thing about having a family multimedia presentation is that it’s a great activity that all ages can enjoy together.

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To keep it fun and creative ask the participants to build a photo slideshow or video essay of what they what to share about their year. This can include scanned photos, digital photos, or even video clips put together in a computer presentation format that can be easily shared. Since production could be time consuming make sure you give everyone enough time to pull everything together. Also, if you have a large family having a competition between family members adds more fun and excitement to the gathering. If you don’t have a large family, having the kids put together one large presentation works well.

A good way to set up the competition is to have the children of each separate immediate family put together a presentation. This way you ensure that everyone gets their turn and it builds a little friendly competition. Scoring is easy; every presentation gets a score from one to ten on the following three categories: content, production and presentation skills. The one with the highest total score by adding up all three categories wins. If you want to up the stakes you could even handout family Oscars.

To make your family presentation more impactful try projecting the presentation on a large wall using a PC projector or hook it up to a large screen TV. These days family time is almost non-existent, a family multimedia presentation is a good way to change that and who knows if might even become a fun family tradition.

Holiday Cards and Holiday Invitations

The holidays are a wonderful time to send a personal letter to old friends and new friends. There are a great variety of holiday cards to send depending on what the occasion is. Holiday cards don’t need to be sent just at the end of the year either. There are holiday cards to send year round. And with holidays, also come holiday parties, so don't forget about holiday party invitations too.

The end of the year is the most popular time to send holiday cards. If the sender is sending Christmas wishes or hosting a Christmas party, there are numerous types of cards and invitations available. There are many themes for holiday parties including traditional Christmas elements such as Christmas trees, wreathes, and presents. Other elements may include poinsettias, snowmen, and bells. For a Hanukkah celebration, there are many wonderful invitations and cards featuring traditional menorah or Dradle.

Kids Christmas Activities And Games

There are lots of other holidays year round that may call for sending a card or throwing a party. Independence Day invitations or 4th of July invitations are very popular. The summer time is a great time to get guests together for an outdoor barbeque or picnic. There are some great invitations that feature the flag or fireworks. Halloween is also a great opportunity to send cards or throw a costume party. Halloween invitations have some great themes like pumpkins, ghosts, and trick or treaters.

Since you will often need to order lots of invitations or holiday cards, it is important to find a distributor that offers a discount. Many distributors will offer a discount for orders over 25 or 50 invitations. Others offer a discount for ordering invitations online. Look for discounts like 25% off or free shipping. These types of discounts can help save a bundle, especially helpful at the holiday times when money can be spent on other things.

So no matter when or what the occasion, cards and invitations can always come in handy. Choose the best theme for your party and find discount cards and discount invitations to stay in a budget. And most importantly, have fun!

Holiday Blues Are Just Around The Bend

Holidays, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, are usually the most awaited events of the year. It is a time when families gather for a reunion with relatives and friends. While it is a time for gift-giving and merry-making, it can also be a source of stress and depression. During these times, when the whole world is in a spirit of celebration, there are some people who can only wish there were loved ones nearby to share the season with. Think about the senior citizens in welfare homes, those convicts in jail houses, the doctors and nurses who are on duty and cannot come home to be with their loved ones. There are those whose loved ones are long gone or have recently departed and coping with their loss can be unbearable during this season. Even the loss of job during this time can cause depression. Being hard-pressed to buy presents for loved ones can lead to stress and anxiety.
Keeping humor up and having realistic expectations help a great deal in being in tune with the holiday spirit. The National Mental Health Association recommends that you take care of yourself first and foremost. Setting realistic goals for the holidays and keeping your expectations simple for yourself and everyone else is the key to avoid stress and anxiety brought about by the occasion. Do not make the mistake of spending more than you can afford to avoid facing a huge credit card debt after the holidays that can certainly lead you to more troubles and worries. Since the holidays last for more than one day, pace yourself and spread your activities throughout the season.

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Don't spend the holidays confronting relatives about past conflicts, but instead, extend grace and show kindness to forgive and forget. Holidays are not a good time to tell your parents your hurts for their neglect. If you want to resolve issues, wait till after the holidays to bring them up again. That doesn't mean you should bottle up all your feelings. Seeking out a sympathetic family member or friend can go a long way in keeping your sanity.
 While overindulging on sweets and carbohydrates may feel comforting at the time, the after effects can make you moody later. Same with drinking alcohol to excess. Try to continue your fitness regimen to burn off the calories from the holiday dinner.  If you don't have time to go to the gym, take a long walk with a friend to alleviate some stress.

 For those who don't have close friends or relatives nearby with whom to share the holidays, reaching out to others may make you feel more in tune with the holiday spirit. Try to volunteer help to someone who can't get out to shop, serving food in a soup kitchen, or inviting over other friends who are far away from family may make you feel less lonely.
Be wary of family members who are using more than normal amounts of alcohol, pain medications, or sleeping pills. Be vigilant when someone is acting confused, can't concentrate, seems lost in the midst of family affairs, or can't seem to stop crying.

 Feelings of despair or apathy that don't go away for two weeks or longer may lead to depression and needs professional help. The typical symptoms of depression include a sense of hopelessness, boredom with or lack of enjoyment in activities that were previously pleasurable, changes in appetite and sleep patterns, thoughts about suicide, and difficulty concentrating.
The National Mental Health Association reminds us about life being full of changes. “Consider what is important in your life and the good about these times.” Experience will tell you that those who've had the holiday blues in the past that they usually subside once you jump back into a regular routine.

History of Some Christmas Traditions

Christians celebrate Christmas to observe the birth of Jesus Christ, which is an event and not a tradition. But many other
activities related to celebrating the Christmas season evolved from certain traditions, many of which are from other countries,
particularly from peoples in Europe.

Among common items used in Christmas decorations are the holly and the mistletoe. Both are used primarily in wreaths
and garlands. The Druids started the tradition of using the mistletoe as decorative items up to two hundred years before Christ. To
celebrate the winter season, the Druids would gather the plants and use them to decorate their homes. The Druids believed the
mistletoe would bring good luck and ward off evil spirits. They also believed that the mistletoe had a healing quality and could be
used for everything from healing wounds to increase fertility.
In Scandinavia, the mistletoe was seen as a plant of peace and harmony and was associated with Frigga, the goddess of
love. This association is probably what led to the custom of kissing under the mistletoe. In the Victorian period, the English also
would hang mistletoe from ceilings and in doorways during holidays. The habit developed that if someone was standing under the
mistletoe, someone else in the room would kiss that person. Such outright behavior was not generally seen in Victorian society.
The use of the mistletoe in Christmas celebrations was once banned by the church however because of its associations with
pagan traditions, and the use of holly was suggested as a substitute.

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Poinsettias are another traditional decorative flower used at Christmas. It is native to Mexico and is named after Joel
Poinsett, who was the first U.S ambassador to Mexico and who brought the plants to America in 1828. Mexicans believe the plants
were a symbol of the Star of Bethlehem and that's one reason they are associated with Christmas. There's also the story that a young
boy was going to see the Nativity Play at a church but realized he didn't have a gift for Baby Jesus. The boy gathered some green
branches, which others scoffed at. But as he placed them near the manger, a bright red poinsettia flower started to bloom on each
branch, which gave rise to their traditional use at Christmas.
Candy canes became a Christmas tradition not because their red and white stripes matched the colors of the season, but for
the most unusual reason of discipline. that's because they were first used as treats that were give to German children to keep them
well-behaved for the duration of church sermons. Over time, the legend of candy canes at Christmas came to be associated with some
of the strongest symbols and beliefs of Christianity: the Father, Son and Holy Ghost known as the Trinity, the Blood of the Son of
God, Jesus as the embodiment of holiness, purity and without sin and the Son of God as the shepherd of man. The candy cane
represents these symbols respectively with its three stripes, its red and white color and its shape.
Sending greeting cards during Christmas and the holidays is as prevalent today as the custom of giving gifts. The tradition
of sending Christmas cards started in 1840 in Britain with the start of public postal delivery service of the 'Penny Post.' Then from
about 1860, large numbers of Christmas greeting cards started to be produced. The popularity of the cards increased in Britain when
they could be sent by the postal service for one half-penny, which was half the price to post a standard letter at the time, if they were
in an unsealed envelope. Religious pictures of Mary, Joseph , Baby Jesus, the angels, shepherds and Wise Men were traditionally
placed on Christmas cards. Some cards today include scenes from the Nativity, but pictures of Santa Claus, winter scenery, Christmas
trees, gift packages and others are also depicted on contemporary Christmas greeting cards.

History of Christmas

Commercial activities during Christmas today are often decried as making
the season too materialistic. This has caused comments that the religious aspect
of Christmas is so overlooked and overshadowed that its celebration seems to be
purely pagan. But today's comparisons aren't the first there has been some link
between Christmas and pagan celebrations. As a religious, church leaders
instituted Christmas during winter because that time of year was a popular for
the celebrations of many pagan festivals. The hope was that Christmas would also
become a holiday that would gain much popularity.
 Long before the birth of Jesus Christ, people in various parts of Europe would
celebrate light and birth in the darkest days of winter. The winter solstice,
when the harshest part of winter was over, was a time of celebration for many
peoples because they would look forward to more hours of sunlight during the
longer days ahead.

The Norse in Scandinavia celebrated Yule from the winter solstice on
December 21 through to January. Men brought home logs that were lighted and a
feast would take place until the log was completely burned. Each spark from the
fire was believed to represent a new pig or calf to be born in the coming new
year.
The pagan god Oden was honored by Germans during the mid-winter holiday. Oden
inspired great fear in the Germans who believed that Oden traveled at nights
through the sky to observe people and make a decision about who would perish or
prosper in life. This belief caused most people to stay inside during the
period.
In Rome it was the god of agriculture, Saturn, who was honored in a
holiday called Saturnalia. It was a holiday that started during the week that
led up to the winter solstice and continued for a month with hedonistic
celebrations. There was plenty of food and drink and the normal social class
rules of who had privilege and power in Roman society were totally disregarded
as everyone participated in the festivities. Some Romans also had a feast called
Juvenalia to honor children and the birthday of the sun god Mithra was sometimes
celebrated by the upper classes.

Jesus: The Man And His Work.

In the early years of the start of Christianity the main holiday was
Easter. It was in the 4th Century that church officials made a decision to have
the birth of Jesus celebrated as a holiday and Pope Julius I chose December 25
as the day of Jesus' birth. The holiday, which was first called the Feast of the
Nativity, spread to England by the end of the 6th Century and to Scandinavia by
the end of the 8th Century.
Church leaders achieved the goal of having Christmas celebrations, including
attendance at church, become popular during the winter solstice, but they were
unable to control other pagan-like celebrations during Christmas. Believers
would attend church on Christmas and then participate later in raucous and
drunken celebrations. But by the Middle Ages, from around the  5th to the 16th
Century, Christianity had outgrown paganism as a religion.
The celebration of Christmas in Europe changed in the early 17th Century
when Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans gained power in England in 1645. To remove
decadent behavior from the society, Cromwell cancelled Christmas as the Puritans
noted that the Bible doesn't mention any date for Jesus' birth. The lack of this
information and specific Biblical references to Christmas is also cited by
religious groups like Jehovah Witnesses as the reason they don't observe or
participate in Christmas. Christmas celebrations returned in England around 1649
when Charles II was restored to the throne.
Christmas wasn't a holiday in early America because the Pilgrims who came
to America had even stricter beliefs than Cromwell and the Puritans. Christmas
celebrations were even forbidden in Boston from 1659 to 1681. During the same
time however, settlers in Jamestown in Virginia were reported to have enjoyed
Christmas.
After the American Revolution Christmas again lost popularity and it wasn't
until June 26, 1870 that Christmas was declared a federal holiday. Christmas in
the United States gained popularity as a holiday period during the 19th Century.
Christmas celebrations also changed at that time to be more family-centered
rather than being carnival-like.

Health And Diet During Holidays

Holidays are a perfect time to enjoy and chill out with families and friends. Parties with wide variety of food on display tempt one and all to indulge in mouth watering delicacies. If you are the kind who swears by a fitness routine, you might tend to enjoy less of yummy foods and spend more time worrying about the increasing waistline. You can still stay healthy and fit by savoring all the delicacies. Little of planning, a dash of goal setting and dose of old fashioned discipline and control over your self will let you enjoy the holiday season without any worries. Let me list down few ways wherein you can follow your diet and stay in great shape too.

- Holidays are just an excuse to go off track from your fitness program. The mindset of people is that since we follow our fitness regime all week / month / year long, we can indulge in gorging over those cakes and ice creams. Aim to stay on track with your fitness program this and all other holidays. By skipping workouts, eating more, exercising less one tends to gain weight. It’s like going back where we started off from. Make a decision to stay in shape with all the food around you.

- Holidays are a hectic time. All premeditated schedules can go haywire. To stay on track, create a work out time table listing down all the parties, dinners and so on. Keep the time table at such a place where you are forced to look at it every day. This serves as a reminder to stick to your time table religiously.

Reverse Dieting 

- If you think you would like to lose 25 lbs during holidays despite enjoying parties, set a goal much before and start working towards it. Goal can also be to gain few kilos also.

- With so much lip smacking, gorgeous food all around, you will feel tempted to just give your fitness program. Keep one day aside where you can treat your self to all your cravings and give in to all your bingeing. Stick to your fitness program rest of the days. And don’t feel even one iota of guilt while satiating your self. Schedule your day to cheat on fitness routine when you have major event lined up.

- If you skip one day of exercise, don’t despair. Get on with it the next day. Nothing goes waste. One day of holiday in your fitness schedule should be a motivating factor for you to get back on your fitness regime.

- If you have planned a big dinner, you might tend to skip either morning or afternoon meal. Avoid changing your eating pattern. Treat the big dinner party at night just like regular dinner time and eat how much you would eat normally.

- Control food portion size in holidays. Eat your favourite foods in moderation. Overindulgence will show around your waistline.

- One always has choices, no matter where you are. Make the best possible choice based on the alternatives available in front of you. If it’s impossible, eat a small portion than a big one.

- Drink 8 – 10 glasses of water daily. Drink few glasses of water before dinner to control your appetite and not kill those hunger pangs. If you just drink and not eat a well balanced meal, you will bloat. Drink water throughout the day to maintain a steady state of hydration.

Have Yourself an Awful Little Christmas

Words are very powerful. In fact, vocabulary has a remarkably high correlation with IQ scores. We use words to communicate our thoughts and feelings. Internally, we use words to think. For both reasons - thinking and communicating - having a strong vocabulary is valuable, and improving our vocabulary is a worthy self-improvement goal.

I'm not writing about a new, highly technical, or difficult word though. I'm writing about a word that most of us use everyday. And I'm writing to tell you we all under-use or misuse it.

The Holiday Season

I have always found it interesting to observe behaviors and listen to conversations about the Christmas season. If you listen to shoppers they'll talk about long lines and out of stock items. They'll talk about rude clerks and over-priced merchandise. They'll talk about getting things shipped on time, finding the gift for Uncle I-Never-Know-What-To-Get-Him, stale fruitcakes, and nasty weather. They'll talk about getting the wrapping and baking done, and the cards mailed. They'll anguish over whether the decorations on their house look ok. They'll grieve over the gift they bought before it was marked down 30%.

You've heard the tirades, the stories of woe. You may have even had them or told them yourself. Somewhere in that conversation you described someone or something as "awful". Others in the conversation shook their heads in agreement.

The Christmas Season

During the same month as those complaints and frustrations something else happens too. People smile more. People who rarely talk all year, whether neighbors or people whose offices are opposite ends of the hallway stop, or even make a point, to say "Merry Christmas". We even wish total strangers "Happy Holidays!" We listen to a whole different set of CDs and cassettes, and for a couple of weeks it seems the #1 Song in America is "Joy to the World", or "I'll be Home for Christmas", and not the latest hit from a band no one will remember in two years. People are kinder on the freeways, making room for someone in their lane. People are more giving and forgiving. Even in the midst of the hustle and bustle, the shopping and wrapping, people still have the Christmas spirit.

When I think of these circumstances, of these positive changes in behavior, I am literally filled with awe - that we seem to automatically move into a mental space of being more kind, gentle and loving, simply because we turn our calendars to December.

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The Word

About a week ago, I wrote down the phrase "awful vs. awe-filled" on a piece of paper and began ruminating on that as my thesis for an essay. I was going to talk about how a couple of additional letters could change a word - and our perspective a great deal.

I decided to check my book of word origins, looking up "awful" and "awe" to see what I could learn. I learned nothing. So I went to the Dictionary, and here is what I learned:

Aw-ful adj. [see awe and full]

1. inspiring awe; highly impressive

2. causing fear; terrifying

3. dreadful; appalling

4. full of awe; reverential 5 very bad, ugly, unpleasant, etc. [an awful joke] *

I would bet that no one reading this uses the word awful with its number one definition. Definitions 2, 3 and 5 - well that's another story. Then I realized my Dictionary is old - with a 1988 copyright. Hmm… perhaps the meaning has changed, I thought. So I went to Dictionary.com, to get a more recent definition, and here is what I found:

Awful adj.

1. Extremely bad or unpleasant; terrible: had an awful day at the office.

2. Commanding awe: "this sea, whose gently awful stirrings seem to speak of some hidden soul beneath" (Herman Melville).

3. Filled with awe, especially:

a. Filled with or displaying great reverence.

b. Obsolete. Afraid.

4. Formidable in nature or extent: an awful burden; an awful risk.

The order of the definitions is different, but the message is the same. We are shortchanging the word awful! My earlier thesis about adding a few letters is out the window. Awful and awful, the same word with two very different meanings.
While awful isn't the only word that has conflicting meanings, it is a powerful example precisely because of those meanings and how different they are. The words we use are powerful. They define our state of mind and our perspective. They help us explain the world around us.

Not Just in December

I picked December to make my point because while we all want to get into the spirit of the season, some seem to get there quicker and stay in that spirit longer. The people who succeed at "getting the spirit" are those the most reverent about why we celebrate and the wonderful things that can happen during that time of year. In other words, people choosing to see the awe in the season.

While I described a whole set of positive and negative behaviors that occur during the holidays, I could do it for any month and any situation. I could point out what people find to be unpleasant - awful - about that time or situation, or I could describe what is highly impressive - awful - about that situation. So while I write this essay in December, the message should be clear all year. We can make a choice which definition of this word we want to use, and which definition we want to look for.

The Challenge

I see people who seem to search for things to complain about; looking for things to confirm how awful things are. We find what we look for. If I am looking for "very bad, unpleasant" things around me, I will find them. However, if I am looking for things that "inspire awe", I will find those awful things as well.

Which of those do I see during the holidays? Which do I seek the rest of the year? Recognizing that you have a choice in what you look for, which will you be looking for tomorrow?

I wish you an awful Christmas, and an awesome New Year.

Happy Holidays? It’s Up To You

The Holiday Season. Does time seems to compress, or is it just me? There's so much going on - the end of autumn, the beginning of winter, and all the holidays that follow. As a child it was an exciting time of year. As an adult, it seems filled with more shopping, baking, parties, and other events than I can squeeze into the available time.

In Aikido, the martial art that I practice and teach, we have something called "randori," an exercise in which the student stands alone on the practice mat and as many as five opponents attack simultaneously. Sometimes the holidays feel like this - which task, event, or relationship do I take on first?

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The first secret of randori is to handle one attack at a time. I can't let myself become overwhelmed by the enormity of what's out there. I must stay fully present with what's right in front of me. It's hard to do, but it saves time, energy, and wear and tear!

Secret #2 is to engage the attack. Though it sounds counterintuitive, welcoming the attack puts me in charge of it. I decide what I want to handle first and move toward it.

Planning a family dinner, finding places to stay for the relatives, shopping for holiday gifts, getting the budget report done on time, AND hiring a new administrative assistant - each task by itself might be doable, even enjoyable, but taken together they seem overwhelming. How to stay balanced and effective?

In the midst of life's multiple, simultaneous events:
- Know that each can be an attack or a gift - it's up to you.
- Engage one task at a time.
- Every time you experience the pressure of "How can I possibly do it all?" - stop and BE where you are, and give your relaxed presence to the task at hand.

Gradually you'll feel in charge of the only things you can be in charge of - yourself and the present moment.

Happy Holidays!