Sophia Yin: A New Year's Resolution for You and Your Pooch: Get Fit with Your Dog

Is your New Year's resolution to loose weight and get fit? Well, if it is, remember that routines are easier if they involve a friend or partner. What better exercise partner than your dog? Take this from a veterinarian and animal behaviorist who exercises with her own dogs and her clients' dogs regularly: combining the two can be a great way to bond as well as an efficient way to exercise. The following are some tips to help you get fit with your dog.

Tip 1: Walking with your dog is a great exercise. Be sure that you're walking at a brisk pace. Your dog should be at a fast trot to benefit the most from the walk.

Tip 2: Ideally, your dog is walking by your side rather than pulling your arm out of your socket or dragging you to each bush to water the plants. As a result, it's best to incorporate dog training into the workout. Instead of feeding your pooch his meal before the walk, carry the kibble in a fanny pack or in your pockets and use it to reward him for good behavior. That is, reward him throughout the walk by giving him a kibble or two for remaining at your side. The goal is to reward him frequently at first so that he gets the idea where he should be, but then with successive walks or as the walk progresses, require that he walk longer distances by your side before he gets a reward. Ultimately you won't need to reward with portions of his meal; the walk itself will be rewarding.

Also consider trying a gentle leader head collar, which is like a head halter for dogs. By controlling the head, you can more easily control where your dog's body goes.

Tip 3: Will your dog run with you? Most dogs that engage in a good round of fetch or sprint around with dogs at the dog park can run at least a couple of miles. But to make the run fun for you, it's best if your dog can stay by your side instead of dragging you by the leash and messing up your running form. To train your dog to run nicely, start the same way you start with walks. That is, bring a portion of your dog's meal and reward him for being at your side. You can break your first runs into short running intervals interspersed with walks so that you can reward him both while he's running alongside you as well as when he slows down to your brisk walking pace. That way, you get him used to the conditioning and train him to stay at your side.

It's also easier to run if you have your hands-free leash. My favorite such leash is the buddy system:

Tip 4: Work on your dog's sit or down-stay while you perform calisthenics. For instance, have your dog lie down and reward him frequently with bits of his meal -- just frequently enough so that he remains lying down. Then increase the time in between treats by doing exercises. For instance, do a few squats and then reward Fido for remaining in his down-stay before he has a chance to get up. Systematically increase the number of squats or lunges or pushups that you do in between going back to reward him for staying in down-stay. This way, you can build up both duration and the distance you are away from him at the same time. The bonus here is that not only are you training him to lie down and stay, reliably, but you're training him to do so with the distraction you create by doing weird things in between. Graduate to jumping jacks and burpees -- dogs generally take these exercises to be a cue to get up and play. So be sure to hurry up and reward them for staying before they have a chance to get up.

Tip 5: Play fetch with your dog while you do calisthenics. This is a great way to ensure that your dog gets as much exercise as you do. If your dog does not have a 100-percent immediate come when called, make sure you're in a dog-safe area such as a backyard or fenced-in park. Toss the ball, and while he's running, see how many squats or pushups or jumping jacks you can get in before he gets back to you.

Mix Up the Routine

My Jack Russell Terrier and I do all of these, including sprints followed by some heeling followed by pushups, burpees or squats on my part. Make up your own routine using things you've learned in exercise class. It's a great way to work in your own exercise and quality time with your dog.

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To see the New Year's Fitness workout I shared with my dog, read Get Fit with Your Dog: My New Year's Day Dog-Human Exercise Workout.

For tips on how to train your dog to behave politely so that you can work out easily, go to www.drsophiayin.com and read the blog articles or watch the videos.

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Anne Hill: Paying Attention to Omens for Success in 2011

I was explaining to my teenaged daughter yesterday what a tough year 2010 was for most people, by way of an example from our own life. Here we were, driving on the freeway in my old Honda, heading down to San Francisco. On the back window of my car was a big white "11" on a pink piece of paper, a temporary registration tag from the DMV. Consequently, the entire way down I was being extra good on the road and keeping an eye out for the CHP, who could reasonably pull me over at any time asking why my registration was out of date.

"You remember that fender-bender you had in my car last January, Jojo?" I asked her.

"Yes," she replied sheepishly.

"Remember how I thought I'd taken care of all the paperwork and repairs and spending a new fortune on your insurance, by the end of May?"

"Yes." She remembered that, too.

"And then how in August I found out they were not letting me re-register my car until I had all kinds of other inspections done? And then I paid for all those and sent them their paperwork in September, but here it is the end of December and I am still waiting for the actual registration tags?"

Oh yes, she knew all too well about the incredible tide of incompetence that her accident had unleashed.

"Well, that is exactly what 2010 has been like for almost everyone I know. You have setbacks that you expect to move through fairly easily, but instead, they take 84 times longer than they normally should, and no matter how hard you try, they just grind on, getting worse and worse, until either they are good and ready to be over or you die of exhaustion, whichever comes first. That, my dear, was 2010." She understood perfectly.

On the radio on Friday I inevitably wound up talking about dreams and predictions, because it was my last show of the year. If I'd had a guest or callers, I would have asked for their new year's predictions, but since it was just me, I started talking about what I thought 2011 was really going to be like.

The first thing I thought about was the night before, driving home by myself from the city, and coming across the blinking yellow "Flooded" signs blocking the road, because of all the recent rain. I thought that the road was probably passable since it had been clear all day, but wasn't sure -- and it was pitch black and freezing cold out, so I didn't want to make any tragic mistakes.

There was a car pulled over by the side of the road, and I sidled up to it and lowered my window. Inside were two or three kids, either stoned or just young and stupid. I asked whether they'd tried the road yet, and they said no. Then the guy driving said, "I just saw a shooting star. Do you think that's a good omen?"

Without even thinking, I said, "Definitely. I'm going to give it a shot."

"I'm following you!" he called as I pulled away from them, squeezed past the signs, and started down the road. Of course, that meant he tailgated me the entire mile-long, slow journey down the road because he didn't know any better, but that is a minor side point.

The real point of the story is that I didn't even hesitate before declaring the shooting star a good omen. That is new this year, the unquestioned assumption that all omens are essentially good. It ties into a dream I had six years ago that maybe I'll talk about someday, but which was basically about interpreting an omen positively when privately I thought it might go either way and probably involved lots of bad news regardless.

The last, very difficult year was full of good omens, and great things happened, or started to happen, to lots of people, including me. The thing I have become most aware of, as I struggled through the year's challenges, is that everything can change in a second. Luck is basically random, which means that if you're having lots of what you consider bad luck, the longer you keep going the more likely it is that your luck will change for the better.

It's not like I knew anything about the shooting star that that kid saw; it's just that I believe our best move is always to accept the omen as a gift. If nothing else, it means that we are paying attention and that we recognize an omen when we see one and have the presence of mind to ask what its impact will be in our own lives. Especially in 2011, I think that kind of behavior is the absolute key to success.

The hardships of 2010 did not evaporate on Jan. 1, and the dreadfully slow processes of change will still be with us in 2011, but there will be real opportunities opening up, doors suddenly swinging wide that we have been banging on for months if not years. The ones who will notice, and who will be able to act, are the ones who keep going because they know it's just a matter of time before the tide turns. So pay attention, don't let the bastards (or the DMV) get you down, and remember that the omen is always a gift.

A version of this article was originally published on the Blog o' Gnosis.

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Lorrie Febus: 7 Goal-Setting Tips for the New Year

Welcome, 2011!

Happy New Year! This is the time of the year when we all reflect on the last year and our lives in general. We think about what we want to bring in for the new year and reflect on our best life. It is the perfect time for goal-setting! Here are seven goal-setting tips:

• Make it a treat!

• Set up a good mood for your goal-setting time. Build a fire and pour a glass of wine, sit in the middle of a grove of trees, put on some great music, or get snuggled up in your coziest sheets and pour a cup of tea. Create an environment that makes you feel good.

• Set goals for all the main areas of your life.

• We tend to set the most intense goals in the area where we want to effect the most change. We may set all our goals regarding better finances or fitness and forget to set goals in the other areas of our life. The suggested main life areas to consider goal-setting are health and fitness, finances and money, career, primary relationships (spouses), family (kids and others), friends, spirituality, education and personal growth.

• Don't be too serious.

• These are your goals. Don't get analysis-paralysis. Get started and just let it flow.

• Keep it realistic.

• Set yourself up for success. Create goals that are attainable. You can always increase your goal if you attain it before the year's end (see advanced goal-setting below).

• Create a wish list in addition to your goals.

• List places you want to go, things you want to do and things you want to acquire.

• Have fun with it, and dream!

• Imagine you are limitless. What would you want to do? Set your goals from your mind and your heart. Don't only "think" what you need to do; think about how you "feel" about the goal. Does it feel good, happy or fun? Let your emotions be your guide.

• Just do it!

Goal-setting is one of the most important things to do to transform your life. You may not know where all this "goal-setting stuff" will lead; all you need to know it that it is the next step on your journey of awakening.

Advanced Goal-Setting: Set three levels of intensity:

• Easy: the "I just need to form the habit" goal.
• Challenging: the "I need to put forth more effort" goal.
• Outrageous: the extreme, "I will be thrilled beyond belief" goal.

Here is an example regarding health and fitness: the easy goal may be walking three times a week and doing some weight training; the challenging goal may be walking three times a week and doing some weight training and cutting out all sugar; the outrageous goal may be doing the previous two goals and adding the goal of eating only raw foods three times a week.

My Favorite Goal suggestion:

This is a very powerful personal growth goal suggestion: start a gratitude journal. Before going to bed, write down five things on that day that you are grateful for. It will enable you to float off to dreamland with the great feeling of gratitude and abundance.

Best to you in the new year, and happy goal-setting!

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Michael Russnow: Black Swan: A Must See Even if Ballet Ain't Your Thing

I don't go to the ballet and have only seen one a long time ago. Interestingly, it was Swan Lake performed, as in the film Black Swan, at Lincoln Center in New York City.

It is an art form that doesn't interest me and I say this at the outset, because, as in the case of The Fighter, about which I recently wrote, though I'm not drawn to the arena I was captivated by the motion picture itself.

Like The Turning Point and Billy Elliot, two major films that dealt with similar subject matter, Black Swan is elevated by a story of conflict, hopes, unfulfilled dreams and the fear of failure, and in those areas the movie soars.

Plus, it's a mystery and a bit of a thriller, as we're not really sure what's going on at the beginning when we meet the young ballerina Nina Sayers, played so movingly by Natalie Portman. We see red marks on her body and it appears that perhaps her career will be cut short by a serious illness. Maybe it's leukemia or Hodgkins, we don't know. But we are saddened by the prospect, and that's all I'm going to tell those of you who haven't yet seen the film.

We are introduced to her mother, Erica, portrayed by the always surprising and still beautiful Barbara Hershey, and though we might be expecting a ballet version of Mama Rose, it's not quite so. There are similarities in the sense that there is a competitive drive she instills in her daughter, but it's not pathetic and there's no cruelty. She has missed her own chances and, yes, there may well be a vicarious thrill she experiences in her daughter's success, but she is loving and genuinely cares.

We also see the political world of ballet, the cutthroat competition exhibited by newly arrived dancer Lily, played by a fairly transparent but intriguing Mila Kunis. Lily is alternately likable and devious, and to the audience it's clear she wants to be the star, and the only way to get the principal role is to get rid of the timid and haunted Nina, whom she aggressively befriends.

All this, as Nina fights to become the White/Black Swan and to seduce the choreographer with her persona. However, Thomas Leroy, played in a tough, yet loving manner by French actor Vincent Cassel, would prefer a true sexual dalliance, as he'd had with the soon to retire, now over the hill ballet star, Beth MacIntyre, whose performance is conceived so well by an embittered Winona Ryder.

The writing by Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz, John J. McLaughlin, with the story by Heinz is taut and unpredictable, and the melodrama is kept to a minimum as any good suspense mystery should be. And it's wrapped together in a wonderful package by director Darren Aronofsky to such an extent that you are gripped from almost the beginning right until the captivating end.

Ballet may not be your thing and it may keep the box office grosses from setting any records. But if you like to watch beautiful images and at the same time engross yourself in a masterful world, at times unexpectedly keeping you at the edge of your seat, I recommend Black Swan as one of the best films of 2010, sure to be an Oscar contender in major categories.

Michael Russnow's website is ramproductionsinternational.com

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Beth Arnold: Letter From Paris: A Very Joyeux Christmas

Christmas Eve is finally here, and what have I brought to you from Paris?

I come bearing the star of our brilliant tree Bébé-Marie, the Christmas Monkey.

Photo by Beth Arnold

Every year Bébé-Marie crawls out of your liquor cabinet and swings through your trees to shake things up. She likes toe-tapping jazz and Cajun music not to mention a good party, and, oh, how she loves to dance! Bébé-Marie crowns our tree resplendently, overseeing her subjects that include Mexican tin Day of the Dead decorations, sparkly balls, golden bows, and our newest acqusitions, brightly colored (and wiggly) fishing lures. They take on a special glow beneath her skirt.

Photo by Beth Arnold

If you're lucky, Bébé-Marie might just swing into your house to liven up your Christmas! To entice her, leave mincemeat cookies and a glass of old rum next to some rocking CDs.

Wishing everyone a Happy Holiday Season filled with peace, love, and joy. Blessings to all. Have a very Joyeux Christmas!

Beth Arnold lives and writes in Paris. To see more of her work, go to www.betharnold.com.

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The Best Dinner Roll Recipes From Food52.com

For the past year, Food52.com readers have been voting in weekly showdowns of reader-submitted recipes on a given theme. The winning recipes of each week will end up in Food52's upcoming cookbook, along with bios of the people who submitted them (Food52 explains the process in simple detail here).

Food52 and its co-founders Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs have invited HuffPost Food readers to vote on week 16's contest (of the second year, and the second book).

This week's showdown is for the best holiday breakfast recipes.

Check the finalists out below, and vote for your favorite here.

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Heavenly Oatmeal-Molasses Rolls

Photo: Sarah Shatz

Amanda and Merrill's notes on Heavenly Oatmeal-Molasses Rolls on Food52.com:

Monkeymom's supple, rich rolls have just a hint of sweetness to them -- they're chewy and tender and full of deep flavor from the molasses, but versatile enough to complement (rather than overwhelm) a variety of main dishes. We love the ease of the first refrigerator rise, and these are virtually guaranteed to come out looking beautiful, with their butter-slicked and oat-flecked tops. - A&M

View the Heavenly Oatmeal-Molasses Rolls recipe here.

Vote for this recipe here.

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Sour Cream Dinner Rolls

Photo: Sarah Shatz

Amanda and Merrill's notes on Sour Cream Dinner Rolls on Food52.com:

Accomplished bread baker AntoniaJames showcases her best practices with this recipe. We love the attention to detail in her instructions, as well as the option of a quick or slow rise. These rolls are complex and layered in flavor because they use a combination of several different starches, and they're enriched by the dairy fat from the sour cream and butter. We found that our dough needed some time outside the fridge to finish its first rise. - A&M

View the Sour Cream Dinner Rolls recipe here.

Vote for this recipe here.

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Joe Berrios Gets Memo Warning Against Hiring Relatives

Weeks after Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios drew criticism for putting his son and sister on the payroll, a report was sent out by two county watchdogs reminding of ethics rules against hiring kin...

Weeks after Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios drew criticism for putting his son and sister on the payroll, a report was sent out by two county watchdogs reminding of ethics rules against hiring kin...

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