You’re at work.  It’s been a long morning, and you’re starting to get hungry.  You decide to pull out that bag of almonds from your desk drawer.  You dump a few on a napkin.  And you dump a few more.  You check the label - a serving is 2 Tbsp.  That looks about right, you decide.  You fold the bag back up and stash it away for another day. But here’s a question.  Why is a serving size of almonds 2 Tbsp?  Is that all you need of nuts for the day?  Is it a perfect portion for YOU?   These “serving sizes” were actually determined back in the 1980’s - 1990’s after a group of researchers with the USDA surveyed Americans regarding how much they would eat of a certain food “per eating occasion.”  The average of the collected data became the serving size when nutrition labels became standardized in 1994.  So, basically, that ½ cup serving of Life cereal you had this morning was dictated by the rest of America.  Not sc...

Remember back on New Year’s Day when the resolution to lose weight seemed like a fantastic, and certainly easily attainable, goal.  You were motivated.  You had a plan.  You were going to stick with it this time.  But now, it’s March and it’s cold and it’s gross outside.  You haven’t seen the sun in an eternity.  And eating salads every day is really boring.  You’ve lost the motivation to try.  Maybe next year... Motivation.  Have you ever wondered where we get our motivation from?  Why are we motivated to do certain activities but not others?  Why can’t we tap into this part of our brain and MOTIVATE ourselves to do what’s best for us regardless of how we are feeling each day.   Oxford Dictionary defines “motivation” as “the general desire or willingness of someone to do something.”  And to take that to the next step, the meaning of “desire” is “wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen.”  Wis...