More than ever, restaurants are accommodating regarding the dietary needs of their patrons. Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, and other options appear on many menus. To paraphrase an old Burger King commercial, the theme at most restaurants these days has become, "Special orders don't upset us." Long before these options began to…
I’ve written a lot about gratitude as a happiness strategy. When you spend time thinking about ways you are grateful, and things and relationships in your life about which you are grateful, it’s hard to be unhappy at the same time. Gratitude is a proven activity of proactive positivity. But in a…
The big goal, “eating well,” which is part of the even bigger goal, “be healthy,” is challenging for most people. There are several reasons. First, unhealthy foods often taste delicious! So delicious, they are addictive. It’s true when they say in those commercials, “Bet you can’t eat just one.” You…
Not long after I published Six Simple Rules for a Better Life, I read a book called Willpower, by Roy Baumeister & John Tierney, which had come out the same month. In my book’s introduction, I talk about how to make changes that stick. I knew my method worked, but…
In the spring of 2015, my daughter Julie had the good fortune of spending a college semester in Prague, in the Czech Republic. A year later, reflecting on the experience, she shared the following lessons from her experience. I'm sharing them here because her learning is applicable to many other…
I don’t believe in jinxes, but for some reason I still say, “I don’t want to jinx myself, but…,” and you might find me wearing a "lucky" shirt to help my favorite professional sports team win. I also “knock on wood”when I say something in front of someone else, so…
A couple months ago, as a favor to a friend of mine, I was the speaker at a temple in Brooklyn. In addition to the members of her congregation, my friend invited Joe, a friend of hers, who I knew and who wanted to hear me speak. A couple of…
Last week, new healthy eating guidelines were released by the US departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services. The big message was to consume less sugar. Specifically, the recommendation is to limit to 10% the maximum daily calories from added sugars. In addition, less than 10% of calories should…
It’s a new year and resolutions are being made once again. And once again, many will be broken. Here are a ways to help make changes that stick: Be realistic when setting goals. If your goals are too big (and the goals most of us make tend to be too…
As I have done for each of the past three years, here are the many ways I enjoyed the experiences of my year, including places I visited, books I read, and even what I watched on TV. Books I love reading and I love learning. I read quite a bit…
I was taking a continuing education class recently and the instructor told us a great story. A child was with one of his parents in the kitchen and the parent decided it was time to teach the child how to cook a roast. Early in the process, the child asked,…
The following is a guest post by Stacey Marshall. As a child, I was always active. I was into competitive gymnastics for 10 years. I was into track and field, cheerleading, and basketball. I never watched what I ate. Weight loss or weight gain or anything of that nature were…