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Cutting Grocery Costs without Cutting Nutrition
Simple, healthy, and affordable ways to weather the rising price of food
by Karen Collins, R.D., American Institute of Cancer Research
Grocery prices are projected to increase again in 2008 – that’s following 2007’s highest annual increase in 17 years. But surviving these tough economic times doesn’t have to mean sacrificing good nutrition. Some simple strategies can help you cut food costs and eat more healthfully, too.
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Some things should never be said...
by Kristyn Kusek Lewis
What Not to Say About Someone's Appearance
Don’t say: “You look good for your age.”
Why: Anything with a caveat like this is rude. It's saying, "You look great―compared with other old people. It's amazing you have all your own teeth."
Instead say: “You look great.”
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7 love rules you need to break
‘Cosmopolitan’ magazine lists nonconventional tips for happier relationships
These relationship secrets go against conventional wisdom, but “Cosmo” believes in shaking things up. Colleen Rush shares seven new rules for today's relationships:
Just because you’ve always done something one way doesn’t mean it’s the right way. Remember how much your life improved when you finally gave up super-low-rise jeans, dating only bad boys, and dial-up modems? Relationship experts say that ditching the following seven love rules can be just as liberating — maybe more.
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Holding Her Head High
Actress Janine Turner Inspires Single Mothers
New Book Uncovers Moving Stories of Single Mothers Throughout History
by Janine Turner
Nashville, TN – History yields to all types of mothers. Helena Augusta, abandoned single mother of Constantine, helped forever change Christianity. Widowed single mother Belva Lockwood would become the first female presidential candidate in 1884. And Harriet Jacobs, a slave, chose to live in a small airless attic for 7 years so her children could have freedom while diligently fighting for her own freedom and her children's safety.
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Single Mom Dating Tips from Ms. Single Mama
I have been a dating single mom for over two years now.
And the first thing I can tell you is this - it's not easy. First you have to get past your divorce, the heartbreak, the anger and the tears. And then, once you are finally ready to get back out there, you have to factor in the kids and their feelings.
Here are a few of my single mom dating advice articles that are a good base. Start here and then come back to my blog every day, because as you'll soon see - I'm learning as I go!
Ms. Single Mama advises on How to meet men as a single mom and date them, The good stuff: falling in love as a single mom, The not-so-good stuff: breaking up as a single mom.
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Single Moms - find here resources on financial aid, scholarships, help with basic needs, food, prescription drugs, health care, housing, legal info, and much more...
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Published by Little, Brown and Company; April 2007;$12.99US/$16.50CAN; 978-0-316-16682-9
Copyright © 2007 Arianna Huffington
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From the Publisher
What are you afraid of? Being assertive? Looking fat? Getting older? Going broke? Are you afraid for your children? Afraid of losing love? Afraid of leading the charge? Whatever your fear, women everywhere confront the same fears every day.
Enter Arianna Huffington, bestselling author, Internet entrepreneur, journalist, mother, and one of the most influential people in America. She believes that conquering fear is crucial to living a full life and to making a difference in the world, and in this powerful and daring manifesto, she inspires us to take on the task.
Huffington is fearless but not by nature; she's had to learn to overcome her fears and relies on these hard-won lessons every day. In her own life and in the lives of women she admires, Huffington has again and again encountered moments of extraordinary strength, courage, and resilience. It is from these moments that On Becoming Fearless is built. Huffington shows us how to be bold from the inside out-from feeling comfortable in our own skin to getting what we want in love and at work to changing the world.
In order to live a happy, fulfilling life, we need to reach the point where our fears do not stop us from daring to think new thoughts, take risks, fail, start again, and, ultimately, succeed. Provocative, empowering, and enriched by the voices of remarkable women everywhere, On Becoming Fearless is the road map to a life without fear-a life of truth, love, and freedom.
The following is an excerpt from the book On Becoming Fearless
by Arianna Huffington
The Price Isn't Right
With so much internal and external pressure to be beautiful, it's no wonder women go to such absurd lengths to achieve the goal of perfection. Fear that we will not measure up leads to stifling conformity as we try to squeeze ourselves into the mold.
Conformity is not the only cost of our obsession with our bodies, however. There are psychological and financial price tags as well, not to mention the toll on our physical health.
More than half of American women have gone on a diet at some point in their lives. That's probably because the three-quarters of women who are of normal weight consider themselves heavy. And then there's the financial cost: We spend some $33 billion a year (yes, billion) on diet books, diet foods, diet programs, and diet accessories.
Worse, disturbing numbers of women -- vastly more than ever -- are basically starving themselves. National Institute of Mental Health statistics show that over 3 percent of women suffer from bulimia and over 4 percent from anorexia. This trend takes the fear of fat to a fatal extreme.
If we can't starve our way to beauty, many of us turn to costly medical interventions. In 2005 alone, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, more than 10 million cosmetic surgery procedures -- including liposuction, "nose jobs," breast implants, eyelid surgery, and "tummy tucks" -- were performed in this country. That's more than a 10 percent increase from the previous year. And those numbers don't even include the close to 9 million relatively minor procedures, such as face-freezing Botox injections.
An especially ugly truth is that women are going under the knife at a younger and younger age. Thousands of teenagers are getting breast implants, even taking out loans if they can't afford them. According to a Texas A&M study reported by Richard Conniff in The Natural History of the Rich: "It is customary for upper-class parents in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to give their daughters breast implant surgery as a high school graduation gift. It is explicitly recognized by both parents and daughters that the young women will get more dates and be more popular in college if they have larger breasts. As one student put it: 'Among the wealthier families, the boys get hot cars for graduation, and the girls get big breasts.'"
And if changing our bodies isn't enough, we're resorting in larger and larger numbers to changing our brains, with mood-altering drugs. A 2004 Centers for Disease Control study found that one in ten women take antidepressants such as Prozac. The National Sleep Foundation (yes, there is one) found that 63 percent of women experience symptoms of insomnia several nights a week. And one health care company reported that in 2004, 58 percent more women than men took prescription drugs to sleep. Sure, there are plenty of legitimate reasons to take these medications, but can anyone doubt that part of the reason for their popularity is that women need a way to shut down and get some respite from our constant fears and anxieties?
On Becoming Fearless About How We Look
The first step to becoming fearless about our physical appearance is knowing that our fears of inadequacy are manufactured and mass-marketed. The fear-generating messages of perfection we measure ourselves against come not from Moses on the mountaintop but from the multibillion-dollar cosmetics and fashion industries whose profits are directly tied to our levels of insecurity.
As Jean Kilbourne writes in Can't Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel, the reason so much is spent on market research and advertising is because it works. Marketers know that if they team up with the multibillion-dollar entertainment industry, they can not only sell us fantasies but also then sell us the products we think will help us realize them.
That's only half the story, however. We are, after all, the ones perpetuating the game of comparisons. The urge to compare, to see how we're doing relative to others, is a part of the human condition. But we can enlarge our perspective to dilute the power of our narrow, self-destructive comparisons. I know this is hard, but if we can't completely stop playing the comparison game, we can at least start changing whom we compare ourselves to. Instead of comparing ourselves to Angelina Jolie, how about comparing ourselves to a victim of Hurricane Katrina, a woman who lost her legs fighting in Iraq, or a woman diagnosed with breast cancer? They're out there, too. When we do this, we are sure to tap into our reserves of empathy and gratitude instead of our endless self-judgments, fears, and jealousies.
It was only when I began observing the critical voices inside me rather than giving in to them that I could start to take control over them. Instead of being drained by the negative self-talk, I found myself amused by it the way you are by a naughty child. We have a choice about what to do with the messages we hear. We may not be able to tune them out entirely, but we don't have to let them run the show.
For example, if the voice is saying something specific, such as "I want to slim down," "I need more exercise," or "It might be fun to get highlights," then fine, go ahead and do it. But if the voice is just mindlessly nit-picking and running us down, we have a responsibility to lower the volume. If we let these voices deplete our energies, they will. Since the comparison game is a game that no one can win, why play in the first place?
Putting our energies into a creative project can help put an end to our obsessions with ourselves. Actress Rosanna Arquette confessed to "stressing" about having a "chicken neck" as she approached forty. But the obsession to look perfect -- all the more intense in her profession -- no longer consumed her after she reached out to others and produced a film called Searching for Debra Winger, about balancing motherhood and art. "It set me on my path to stay positive," she told me, "to connect with other women, my tribe. We have to cut out competition, because we are all on the same path of fearlessness, to be truly who we are, and this is our birthright! It's time we support and love each other in what we want to do in life so we can look at each other and know we are safe. Let's celebrate each other's individuality, blessings -- and cellulite."
Published by Little, Brown and Company; April 2007; $12.99 US / $16.50 CAN; 978-0-316-16682-9
Copyright © 2007 Arianna Huffington
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About author:
Arianna Huffington has written eleven widely praised books, appeared on numerous television and radio shows, and founded the Huffington Post, an enormously successful online source of news and opinion. In 2006 she was chosen as one of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World." She wrote this book for her two daughters, in the hope that they will lead fearless lives.
Huffington has made guest appearances on numerous television shows, including “Charlie Rose,” “Oprah,” “Nightline,” “Real Time with Bill Maher,” “Inside Politics,” “Larry King Live,” “Hardball,” “Good Morning America,” the “Today” show, “Countdown” and “The O’Reilly Factor.”
She serves on several boards that promote community solutions to social problems, including A Place Called Home, which works with at-risk children in South Central Los Angeles. She also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Archer School for Girls.
Arianna Huffington lives in Los Angeles with her two teenage daughters.
Please visit her website: www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/
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Utility Prices are Significant Expenses
by Randi Lynn Millward
I don't know about you, but my electric bill is sky-high. I've been running around the house unplugging everything in sight so as not to incur charges from my appliances using "phantom energy".
read more...
Because you are somebody special!
by Annette Bridges
Since my trip to Italy, my husband and I have enjoyed a delicious breakfast routine that often includes French toast, fresh fruit and a yummy cup of cappuccino.
read more...
Our Friendships
by Laurie Cesario-Overton
We all have those days when we get overwhelmed and it seems like every
time we turn around there is another problem.
read more...
3 Money Rules for Stay-at-Home Moms
As we all know, life is unpredictable. We lose jobs, get divorced and even become widowed...
Here are three steps stay-at-home parents should take to better manage their own and the family’s finances.
read more...
You May Have Too Much Debt But You Also Have Options
How Life Works
If you feel like you're in over your head with personal debt, you're not alone. Millions of Americans have become overextended, many as a result of easy credit and the recessions. Credit cards, medical bills, personal loans and raising interest rates do not make a good financial mix.
read more...
Could fat babies mean fat toddlers?
A new study from Harvard Medical School found that babies who gained weight quickly had a sharply higher risk of obesity. The study followed close to 600 babies and found those in the top quarter of weight for their length at 6 months had a 40 percent higher risk of obesity by age 3 than smaller babies.
read more...
Offer to barter
Dr. Marie - Advice for Pet Owners
A vetʼs office is a business that requires a lot of
services. In many cases your vet may be willing to
barter in exchange for veterinary services.
read more...
How to Find the Best Car Loans for Single Moms
Financial Advice for Single Moms
The best car loans for single mothers might be just around the corner at your local car lot.
read more...
Crystal Bowersox - A Single Mom And A Real American Idol
Read how the amazing Crystal Bowersox. the runner-up of American Idol Season 9, handles fame and life as a single mom, raising her 17 month old son.
read more...
5 Ways for Single Moms to Save Money
Single moms are always looking for ways to save money, and for good reason... It’s important to find ways to cut corners on the little things that perhaps you don’t think about too often, because those are usually where your biggest money drains are.
read more
Suze Orman's Recession Rescue Plan - helps you survive in times of financial crisis
OPRAH.com
Do you know what your family would do if you lost your job - or worse, your home? Financial expert Suze Orman is ready to help you devise a recession rescue plan to survive - and possibly thrive - during this deepening financial crisis...
read more...
Your Just-in-Case Emergency Plan
by RealSimple
Who do you call if you can't make it home in time to meet the kids' bus? Who do
you trust to take in your mail when you're on vacation? Who do you trust with
the extra set of keys to your house?
read more...
How to save $10,000
By Liz Pulliam Weston
If you were hoping for a list of small tweaks you could make in your spending to save $10,000 a year, sorry.
The reality is that $10,000 is a lot of money. And saving big money usually means making big changes in the areas where we spend the most, such as: Housing, Transportation, Food.
read more...
The Super, Sexy, Single Mom on a Budget
by Renee Rayles
A quick reference guide designed for the busy, single mom who has
little time to read while running the mom taxi, cooking dinner, helping with homework, and trying to fit in a date night every now and then.
read more...
Single Mothers &
Male Role-Models / Mentors
Single mothers carry an enormous load of responsibility, especially those having sole and/or primary custody of minor children. They nourish, they nurture, they teach, they discipline, they shelter, they protect, and they provide… all without the assistance of another equally-invested adult.
read more...
Mom's Obesity Raises Newborn's Heart Risk
from the National Institute of Health
The more obese a woman is when she becomes pregnant, the greater the likelihood that her newborn baby will have a congenital heart defect, a new study suggests. The finding raises concerns because 1 in 5 women are obese at the start of pregnancy in the United States.
read more...
The 10-Ingredient Shopping Trip
By Tara Parker-Pope and Mark Bittman
... In his latest “How to Cook Everything” segment on the Today Show, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman makes it surprisingly easy to cook a week’s worth of dinners with just a 10-ingredient shopping trip.
read more...
Your 5-minute guide to protecting your identity
20 steps to protect yourself from identity theft, and seven ways to clean up things if you become a victim.
read more...
Single Moms in the News
6 Best Celebrity Single Moms
Read about Halle Berry, Sandra Bullock, Michelle Williams, Reese Witherspoon, Kimora Lee Simmons, Mary-Louise Parker... read more
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
by Jeff Kinney
For those wondering why tween boys don’t read very much, the answer is that more books aren’t like this...
read more...
Get more self-confidence
Psychiatrist Gail Saltz and body language expert Janine Driver discuss ways to gain more confidence.
read more...
Teens Report Parental Inattention to Their Important "Rites of Passage" has high price tag
by Amanda Bach
Almost half of America’s high school teens report parental inattention to what they consider to be key transitions during their adolescence, according to a SAAD.org study released. The study suggests that this lack of timely parental involvement in important “rites of passage” comes with a high price tag: the potential for dangerous behaviors that can lead to illness, injury, or death as teens seek alternative milestones to demonstrate growing maturity and independence.
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HowToDoThings.com
Is resource with a multitude of "How-To" topics. For instance, single moms can find helpful information about family life with informative articles on the topic of "Building a Family". HowToDoThings.com presents expert-contributed information on a wide variety of family-related topics, including adoption, pregnancy & birth, parenting, and celebrating family events. Some of our most popular articles are on subjects like "How to Understand a Fetal Monitor", "How to Prepare for Breast Feeding while Pregnant", "How to Set Up an Inflatable Birthing Pool", "How to Choose Nanny Agencies", and "How to Buy Infant or Baby Cribs".
read more...
The Breast Cancer Site
Please support the site sponsors, above, that make The Breast Cancer Site possible -- they pay for the mammograms your daily click provides. 100% of collected revenue from site sponsorships goes to pay for mammograms. Your click, along with others today, will fund free mammograms for women in need.
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Komen Breast Cancer Foundation
Breast cancer affects all women, young and old, directly and indirectly. This is why the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation www.komen.org stresses the importance of the breast self exam, the mammogram and early detection during October and throughout the year.
read more...
Get back in the game! Dating after divorce
Dr. Laura Berman offers smart strategies for finding romance again
TODAYShow.com contributor
Dating is often a risky and adrenaline-pumping adventure, but when you date after divorce, hearts aren’t the only commodities on the line. Between kids, potential step-relations, money issues and exes, dating after divorce can be a tricky and stressful undertaking.
Rather than delve into this stress, many divorcees choose to isolate themselves from dating and romance.
read more...
My Story as a Single Mom
by Gail Showalter
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Author Gail Showalter is looking for stories from single mothers to use as examples in a book that will reveal how personalities affect the different ways we handle difficulties. This submission should tell of a situation that you found yourself in as a single mother. It should tell what you did and relate that to your own personality and temperament. In other words, why you did what you did when another person of a different temperament probably would have done it entirely differently given the same circumstances. To find out more about the submission, CLICK HERE.
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