Trying to shed a few pounds? It’ll be easier to skip high-calorie treats when you carry a photo of a new swimsuit or dress you want to fit into and look at it whenever cravings strike. A new University of Texas at Austin study shows that having a strong reminder of the long-term benefits of not giving in to temptation—such as fitting into a smaller size—makes it significantly easier to stick to a diet plan since folks tend to focus on the short-term benefits of giving in—such as how good the treat will taste.
[photo: Alaskan Dude]
When the interviewer asks you to tell him or her about yourself, simply finish this sentence: “I’m kind of like a…”, then pick a specific image of an object, person or animal that represents you and explain why. For instance, you could say, “I’m kind of like a band leader—I coordinate all the musicians and make sure everyone is playing at their very best” or “I’m kind of like a pit bull—I’m loyal, steadfast and work till I get the job done.” “Creating a vivid image engages the interviewer’s senses and emotions, which makes you automatically more memorable than a job applicant who just talks about facts and figures,” says Nicholas Boothman, author of Convince Them In 90 Second or Less.
Want to wow family and friends even more with your homemade lemonade, smoothies and milkshakes? Serve these drinks in a glass or mug rather than a plastic or paper cup. Sounds strange, but in a study published in the Journal of Consumer Research, participants were convinced that beverages served to them in sturdy cups tasted better than those served in a flimsy cups—even though the beverages were the same. Why the difference? Our perception of how good or bad drinks taste is affected by how sturdy the container is—the firmer it is, the more we like what we’re drinking.
Love sandal season, but aren’t ready to show your toes? Good news: All you need is the right kind of babying to make your feet ready for your even your skimpiest warm weather footwear. Here’s what dermatologist Richard Scher, M.D., recommends for getting beautiful-looking feet fast:
To start off on the right foot at a new place of employment, think positive! In a new study of over 500 recently hired workers from a wide range of fields, researchers found that those who expected to be successful at jumping right in and getting the hang of things were, in fact, more successful than their less positive peers. The reason? Their upbeat attitude made them more willing to seek out information about their workgroup, tasks and organization that helped get them up and running faster, explains study author Sarah Burke, Ph.D., a researcher at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand.
Now that your feet are on display in sandals and open-toe pumps, you’re probably getting more pedicures so they look their very best. Whether you do your pedicures yourself or get them done professionally at a salon, the American Podiatric Medical Association points out important ways to keep your feet safe from harmful infections they can cause:
Quick—which do you think would make folks want to be closer to you:
Wonder why someone did something nice for you—for instance, a neighbor bringing over flowers from her garden or a stranger giving you $2 you were short at the cash register? It may be because you did something nice for someone first. That’s the news from researchers out of Harvard and the University of California, San Diego, whose recent study shows that when you do a good deed for someone else, it inspires that person to do a good deed for three more people, and those people to do good deeds for three people they know and so on. As a result, you start a chain reaction that makes dozens of folks in your neighborhood, school and work become more generous and giving!
Want to land a job? Start a new business? Find romance? You can boost your luck in finding these and more by simply introducing yourself to new folks at pot luck dinners, P.T.A. meetings, St. Patty’s Day parties and other social events. Ten years of luck studies prove that the luckiest folks around are those who know lots of people, says psychologist Richard Wiseman, Ph.D., author of The Luck Factor. The reason? Word of mouth is by far the best way to find out about great opportunities you would have otherwise missed, he explains.
If you’re a woman, wiggle as you walk and if you’re a man, channel a John Wayne-like shoulder swagger. According to studies from a research team out of Texas A&M University and New York University, women who sway their hips as they walk are perceived as 50% more attractive and men who sway their shoulders as they walk are perceived as more than twice as attractive as those who tread with less motion. Researchers chalk it up to an evolutionary quirk that makes us use body cues to help decipher gender: extra movement in the hips makes us look more feminine and more movement in the shoulders makes us appear more masculine.
In a recent 