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KEEP THE COMFORT, LOSE THE CALORIES

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Replace meat with mushrooms to slash major calories and saturated fat, and increase taste.

When winter has you reaching for lasagna, sloppy joes, chili and other hearty beef-based dishes, you don't have to consume all that aging saturated fat or just make do with grilled tilapia. Instead, slash major calories and saturated fat, and increase taste by using chopped mushrooms instead of meat. People who chose this in one study ate about 420 fewer calories a day. Wow. And they said the mushroom makeovers tasted just as good and kept them feeling full just as long as the all-beef versions did. Just ask Rocco, the meat-loving cowboy whom we just featured on 'The Dr. Oz Show.' We had him cut out meat entirely for 28 days and walk every day. As a result, he lost his diabetes and hypertension as well as six inches of waist and 35 pounds. You can make changes like this, too. A bonus if you replace meat with mushrooms: Shrooms are a big source of ergothioneine, a compound that may help prevent plaque from forming in arteries. Ergothioneine does its work by inhibiting adhesion molecules, which help the cells that form plaque stick to blood-vessel walls. That was key for Rocco, who had 97 per cent occlusion of his coronary arteries. Portobello mushrooms contain a motherlode of ergothioneine, but button mushrooms aren't too shabby, either.

PREFERENCES DEVELOP EARLIER THAN YOU THINK

Most of us assume that the womb is like grandma's off-limits closet - dark and mysterious. But the truth is that there is some connection to the outside world while you're there, and many people develop preferences based on experiences in there. Here's what developed when you first started to smell and taste: Your preference for Chanel or Old Spice. Scientists used to believe that fetuses had about as much of a sense of smell as they had a sense of fashion. We now know that amniotic fluid jets through a baby's nasal and oral cavities and that sets up his or her sense of smell - an ability that starts at about 30 weeks. Your baby can smell everything eaten or inhaled by Mom. If you're pregnant, eat whatever you want your baby to like to smell. Whether you like broccoli or shrimp cocktail. Taste buds start in utero by week eight, and they begin communicating to the brain about five weeks later. Located around the perimeter of the tongue, each of the fetus's 4,500 taste buds has about 40 receptor cells, which bind with food and send information to the brain. Fetuses can taste some flavours by two months, and by 15 to 17 weeks, the amniotic fluid can smell of curry, cumin, onion, or other tastes come from Mom's diet.

EASY STEPS FOR BETTER SLEEP

Between holiday parties and economic stress, is anyone getting a good night's sleep? YOU can, if you set up your evening for maximum sleep success. Four to 6 hours before bed: Stop caffeine. Two to 3 hours before bed: Stop eating. One hour before bed: Turn off all electronics. The light from computer monitors and TV screens messes with your sleep/wake cycles, so your body won't be ready for Zs when you hit the pillow. Thirty minutes before bed: Take 10 minutes to do essentials for tomorrow; 10 minutes for hygiene; and the most important 10 minutes of all, take 10 for meditation. You don't have to twist yourself into a pretzel or say "om." Just sit quietly and practice letting go of your thoughts. For any of this to work, you have to know when bedtime is. If you work, watch TV or do fitness DVDs in the room, you're basically training your body to be alert in the bedroom space. Your bedroom should be a sanctuary from the normal hustle and bustle of life (use it only for sleeping and sex).