by Staness Jonekos, author of The Menopause Makeover from Harlequin Nonfiction

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I have a confession – menopause is the best thing that ever happened to me!  Except for marrying my Prince Charming!

Ready for the shocking news?  Menopause and marrying the man of my dreams happened at the same time!

After 30 years of dating in Los Angeles, I was finally engaged for the first time.  My wedding day was about to be ruined by hourly hot flashes, itchy skin, crankiness, fuzzy thinking and monthly weight gain.  My poor fiancé proposed to one girl and was about to marry Bridezilla.

Depressed that everything normal in my life was changing, I focused on planning my wedding day.  Using a wedding planner book filled with checklists, calendars and to-do lists, I was able to plan the perfect wedding.

Then, something incredible happened during my wedding dress fitting.   The tailor was letting out the seams to accommodate my new fat, menopausal body, as I was chatting about how easy it was to plan the perfect wedding using a planner book. Then I asked myself, “Why isn’t there a planner for menopause?”  I just wanted someone to tell me what to do so I would feel and look good again.

There were no menopause planner books online or in bookstores.  It was months to my wedding day, so I created my own 12-week program.  It was during this process that I realized menopause was a gift.

Being angry that my uninvited wedding guest, menopause, had kidnapped my dream wedding, I discovered something that changed my life.  Menopause was more than fluctuating hormones, it was an opportunity to reinvent myself.  Once I navigated the confusing hormone options, I had to address my overall health and happiness.

Redefining how I ate and exercised improved my health.  Updating my beauty regimen boosted my self-esteem.  Addressing my emotions and relationships gave me the opportunity to find balance.  Embracing my spirituality held the key that opened the door to happiness.  This combination of changes resulted in the ultimate mid-life makeover.

Staness’s “before” and “after” shots! Doesn’t she look amazing?

Years ago when my only monthly concerns were PMS and an occasional pimple, I would hear people joke about hot flashes and women going through “the change.”   I have news for them – those women are busy making changes that will make their life and YOUR life better.

Menopause was a wake up call to ME.  I wrote The Menopause Makeover so YOU would have a map to find and celebrate the new you!

Editor’s Note: Still not convinced by Staness? Check out the book trailer for The Menopause Makeover below then head over to the Harlequin Community to follow Community Manager Jayne and community members as they go through their own 12 week count down to Fit and Fabulous!

by Elizabeth Somer, M.A.,R.D., author of Eat Your Way to Happiness (Harlequin Nonfiction)

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If you’re like me, you have had a bit of experience with New Year’s resolutions – they come and go. We have great hopes and intentions to head off to the gym, start a new diet, lose weight, be healthier. By February, the gym shoes are at the back of the closet, the diet plan is history, and the weight is still haunting us. Well, I have a solution to that.

Over the years, I’ve honed a few painless, super easy steps to a better diet, slimmer waistline, and more fit body. Here are five fool-proof resolutions from my latest book, Eat Your Way to Happiness.

1. Eat breakfast: No excuses! Hey, it takes no more than 5 minutes to fix and eat a good breakfast, yet the benefits will last you lifetime. Breakfast eaters have more energy, think more clearly, perform better at school and work, and are less vulnerable to cravings throughout the day, therefore, they are more successful at weight loss and maintaining the loss over time. The 1,2,3 Breakfast I discuss in the book is your mainstay: 1) a whole grain, 2) a protein, and 3) one to two colorful fruits and vegetables. My favorite is a bowl of whole grain cereal (shredded wheat, Kashi, Grapenuts, etc), low-fat milk or soymilk, and a handful of blueberries. Smoothies also fit the criteria, as does whole-grain waffles with peanut butter and a glass of OJ.

2. Start lunch (or dinner) with a bowl of soup: It’s the volume or weight of food that fills us up. If it takes a pound of food to feel satisfied, you can gobble a pound of French fries for a zillion calories or a pound of carrots for 50 calories. The best way I’ve found to boost volume is to eat foods that have water and fiber in them. Vegetable soup is a perfect example. When people have a bowl of soup before a meal they consumed 200 calories less and still feel full and satisfied. So, add a bowl of chicken noodle or cream of tomato to your sandwich for lunch every day and you could lose up to two pounds a month. That’s 24 pounds by the end of 2010!!

3. Cook in cast iron: If you are a premenopausal woman and you are tired, more than likely you are one of the up to 80% of women during the childbearing years who is iron deficient. You probably aren’t so deficient that you are anemic, but the symptoms are the same: You are tired, more susceptible to colds and infections, can’t think clearly, and might even have trouble sleeping. Years ago, I tossed the fancy cookware and went back to my mom’s cast iron pots. The iron leaches out of the pot into the food, boosting iron content several fold, especially in acidic foods, such as spaghetti sauce.

4. Chew gum: Do you taste test while cooking? Pop food scraps in your mouth as you load the dishwasher? Take a bite of the leftover lasagna while rummaging through the fridge for tonight’s dinner? That is called mindless eating, and it could be at the root of your weight problems, since every bite averages about 25 calories. Four mindless bites in a day and you’ve gained a pound in a month. Instead, chew sugarless gum when cooking or in the kitchen to discourage putting anything else in your mouth.

5. Move more: OK, I’m an exercise junkie and most people think I’m nuts to bike when it is raining outside! But, I also know most people aren’t as addicted to sweat. If the likelihood of sticking with an hour vigorous workout at the gym is slim, you can boost activity and shed pounds by just adding more movement to your daily routine. Walk up the escalator – it drives me nuts when people stand like a statue as the escalator works for them! Park at the end of the lot, rather than drive around for 15 minutes looking for a closer parking spot. Throw out the remote control and get up every time you want to change the TV station. Studies show that adding little 10 minute bursts of activity to your day add up to significant health benefits and even a few inches off the waistline.

Editor’s note: Best of luck with all of your resolutions in the new year from Elizabeth and the whole team at Harlequin!

by Olga Kwak, friendly neighborhood blogess.

Hey, have you heard? Today is National Cookie Day! Personally, I don’t need a designated day to celebrate the deliciousness of cookies—I do that every day. Chocolate chips, macadamia nuts, raisins, toffee bits, powdered sugar…I have ALL the fixings at home for great cookie recipes.

Which is great, because I’ve been dying to try the recipes from Debbie Macomber’s CEDAR COVE COOKBOOK. And did I mention that this is the perfect season for cookie baking? Of course it is—you’ve already baked eleven dozen batches for cookie swaps, haven’t you?

Well, in case you haven’t and you’re still up for some more baking, try this one for Jack Griffin’s Christmas Cookies. They’re so easy to make, you’ll want to make them for every occasion (and you can—just swap the candy for holiday favorites!)

Jack Griffin’s Christmas Cookies
From Debbie Macomber’s CEDAR COVE COOKBOOK

Ingredients:
- Chocolate Chips
- Ritz crackers
- Peanut Butter
- Holiday candy sprinkles or other small candies (like crushed up candy canes for Christmas or Reese’s Pieces for Halloween!)

There are no exact amounts in this recipe. Just get a jar of peanut butter, a box of crackers, a bag of chocolate chips and the candies of your choice—and start creating!

1. Place a wire rack over a large sheet of wax or parchment paper.
2. Pour at least 1 cup of chocolate chips in a glass bowl. Microwave in 1-minute increments until melted, stirring after each minute.
3. Spread peanut butter between 2 crackers to make a sandwich. (Refrain from eating it.) Dip sandwich in melted chocolate (or spread chocolate on sandwich) and place on wire rack. While still warm, sprinkle with candy. Store in refrigerator.

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by Elizabeth Somer, M.A.,R.D., author of Eat Your Way to Happiness (Harlequin Nonfiction)

I’ve been studying the link between what we eat and how we feel ever since the early 1990s when I published my first book on this topic, Food & Mood. I can’t tell you how many times people have taken my feel-good diet advice over the years and said to me, “I never knew I could feel this good!”

Some of those stories are in Eat Your Way to Happiness, as well as all the latest research on how to eat to:

• boost your mood
• think fast
• remember more
• lower stress
• sleep better
• and even how to lose a few pounds!

Along with recipes, menus, shopping lists, 1-minute breakfasts, lunch and dinner ideas, and hundreds of other tips and secrets of happy, skinny people.

Maybe you’ve already read about the book—it was featured in the November issue of Shape magazine. Or maybe you’ve seen me talking about the book, since I’ve been on television shows from Rochester NY, Greensboro NC, and Charleston WV to Fresno CA, Albuquerque NM, and Denver CO.

As we head into the holiday season, don’t let the stress and food temptations undermine your mood or your waistline. Follow a few of the tips from Eat Your Way to Happiness, such as:

• SAMPLE, DON’T GORGE. The enjoyment of tasting new foods comes in the first few bites. Savor the flavor of one appetizer, but don’t eat the whole tray.

• BE POLITE, NOT NICE. Rehearse ahead of time how you will gracefully say no to food offers, coaxing and coercion.

• HAVE A SPECIFIC PLAN. Decide ahead of time exactly what and how much you will eat and drink. Stick with your plan.

• JUST SAY NO TO ALCOHOL. Even one beer or wine spritzer can breakdown your defenses and lead to overeating. Avoid alcohol altogether, or if you must, dilute your drinks, or alternate one alcoholic beverage with two nonalcoholic beverages.

• LOOSEN UP. Give yourself permission to attend a party, even if you don’t eat or drink.

• NEVER ARRIVE HUNGRY. You are less likely to overeat and more likely to feel relaxed and ready to enjoy the festivities if you have a healthful snack or mini-meal before a party.

• THINK VEGGIES. Fill your plate with vegetables, fruit, low-fat crackers and cheese, and an extra-lean slice of meat from the buffet table and enjoy the company guilt-free.

• IT’S A MYTH that food has to be dripping in fat to taste good. You can cut fat and never even miss it. Better yet, it doesn’t take any more time to prepare low-fat foods. For example, most people know to remove the skin from chicken before cooking, use broth and wine for sautéing instead of oil or broth instead of butter in your stuffing, and to use cornstarch and broth instead of butter and flour for a roux when making creamed sauces. You can also cut fat by adding more vegetables and salads to the center stage. You can also:

- Use potatoes instead of cream to make a rich and creamy soup or

- Use fruit puree. Use baby prunes or apple butter in place of all or part of the fat in baked goods, such as breads and muffins.

With these tips, you’ll have no problem sailing through the holiday season with less stress and a better outlook! For more options, check out Eat Your Way to Happiness, on bookshelves now!

I’ll be on The TODAY Show on December 9th. Then, in January and February, I’ll be traveling the country, appearing in cities such as San Francisco, New York City, Chicago and Miami. For more information about my appearances, check out my Facebook and Twitter pages! Hope to see you then!

What are your tips for surviving the holiday season?

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