For most of you, my loyal readers (all 2 of you), you are probably wanting to know how the weight loss is going.  I am happy to say that I am still keeping active and slowly shedding the pounds.  In September and part of October I “fell off the wagon” so to speak when I was doing a lot of traveling.  It’s so easy when you travel to overeat and to stop being active.  Hotel gyms are usually sparsely equipped, and after a long day of taking care of business it’s all I could do to just fall into bed and fall asleep watching Letterman.

However, I’ve fallen off the horse many times and each time I pick myself right back up.  That’s the most important part of any fitness program.  When you take a step back, that is OK.  You don’t need to beat yourself up every time you put on a pound or two.  Overall fitness means that you will fluctuate, and you may put on some pounds now and then, but in the long run you are still maintaining your workout and healthy eating goals.

Of course, with the holidays upon us it’s a real challenge for many of us to stay healthy.  What with all the pies, cookies, cakes, holiday candy and fudge that seem to be teasing us everywhere we go.  My advice?  Enjoy it in moderation.  The absolute worst thing you can do is deny yourself these treats.  Because if you do then you are setting yourself up for failure.  It’s just like any fad diet – if you deny yourself something that you like, you are going to fail.  Plain and simple.  The problem is when you fail, you fail harder (and usually eat way more) than you would have if you just ate the foods in the first place.

Again, I’m not saying to run out and eat every piece of pecan pie or homemade fudge that you find.  What I am saying is to enjoy them as a treat this holiday season on occasion and know that when you do then you need to cut back in other areas.  When I know I’m going to a holiday party I cut back on other meals during the day.  I may just have a bananna and a piece of toast in the morning, for example instead of an egg-white muffin and a bowl of cereal.  Just remember – what you do, don’t skip meals!  That is the worst thing you can do for your metabolism.

And now for the rest of the story…

With the holidays approaching many of you know that the economy is still very fragile.  Unfortunately, I know many people who are still trying to find work.  Things are looking a little better, but we have a long way to go.  With that in mind I’ve decided to setup a holiday challenge to not only get me more active in keeping the blog up to date, but also to share some tips that can help you have a great holiday season without spending a fortune. 

There are so many things you can do for the holidays that don’t cost a lot – or are just plain out free.  Christmas has become, unfortunately, a time where we forget about spending time with family and friends and focus way too often on gifts.  So from now until Christmas I am going to post an article each day about how to spruce up your home, make homemade holiday treats, and decorate on a budget.  Check back here bright and early on November 18th for the first post.  I look forward to your feedback on each of them.  I think it’s going to be a great project and I’m excited!

So welcome back readers – let’s get ready for a great holiday season!  Together, there is nothing we all can’t do together!

Exploring Windows 7 – Devices and Printers Video Tutorial

In this video I walk you through an example of how the tool works while I talk a little bit more about the geeky side of Windows 7!

Exploring the Geeky Side of Windows 7 – Math Input Panel

One of the cool features in Windows 7 is that it is smart enough to know not to defragment solid-state or USB drives to help preserve their life.  A lot of people are unaware that solid-state drives (like that USB stick you store your files on) have a limited number of read/write cycles to them!

It’s just one more way Windows 7 is helping make your digital life a little bit easier.

Windows 7 in 77 Seconds – Disk Defragmentation

This guy has been around since the Vista days, but in Windows 7 it is now installed by default in Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate.  It’s a great way to help communicate with your friends, family and co-workers visually – share as little or as much as you want!

I have no doubt this little tool will soon find itself amongst those “can’t live without” tools that you use everyday!

Windows 7 in 77 Seconds – Snipping Tool

With Windows 7 Microsoft has made it easier to keep your digital life in order by including a built-in ISO burner that lets you easily right click on an ISO file and burn it to CD or DVD.  Now only if they would let us view the contents of an ISO file without having to burn it first!

Windows 7 in 77 Seconds – Burning ISO Images

In this video I walk you through this feature and show you how it makes my digital life just a bit easier.

Windows 7 in 77 Seconds – Pinning

Windows 7 in 77 Seconds – Start Menu Searching

Stay tuned for more Windows 7 in 77 seconds tips as we countdown to the launch of Windows 7 on October 22nd!

Windows 7 in 77 Seconds – Desktop Slideshow

It’s all this buzz about Windows 7 that got me thinking – what could I do that would be a cool twist on the whole “7” thing and then it hit me – short, 77 second training videos for Windows 7!  There are so many cool little features that are hiding in Windows 7 that short little videos are all it takes to get users going “Oooh, Ahhh” and wanting to try it for themselves.

So tonight, live on this very blog (well, not technically live) I present the first in a series of Windows 7 in 77 Seconds training videos – Window Resizing.

Windows 7 in 77 Seconds – Window Resizing