Don't Let the Recession Make You Overweight

By Craig Ballantyne

I'm no economics genius, so I can't help solve the recession. But I do know that times of stress cause some folks to eat more than they need - and that means weight gain for many.

Japanese scientists studied 122 workers between the ages of 21 and 60. They found that work stress (in the form of tension, anxiety, and depression) was associated with an increase in what they called "eating to satiety" (meaning eating until they were completely full). Unfortunately, eating to satiety was also associated with weight gain.

The researchers concluded that work stress can negatively impact your eating patterns, causing you to gain weight. And in today's stressful world, that is not good news.

So here's what you need to do. If stress is making you eat more, make sure you keep high-calorie, energy-dense processed carbohydrates (chips, cookies, baked goods, etc.) out of your house and office. Load up on whole, natural foods - fruits, vegetables, and raw nuts. (Yes, nuts!) These foods will fill you up before you can eat too many calories, and you'll limit your risk of gaining weight, even if you eat to satiety due to stress.

The Language Perfectionist: Present Perfect

By Don Hauptman

Here are three sentences, drawn from an Internet search:

• "Legalizers suggest that heroin should be used much in the same way as is morphine presently... ."
• "[I] am from India, presently residing in the United States."
• "Where are you presently in your career?"

The above uses of presently are incorrect - or at least dicey enough to warrant rephrasing the sentences. The word is used correctly in this sentence: "Bill is almost finished with the Thompson audit and he will presently begin work on the Witherspoon report."

Hundreds of years ago, presently meant "now." But it subsequently came to mean "soon," "later," "in a while." Today, once again, people frequently use it in the "now" sense. But the "later" meaning is regarded as standard.

It's easy to imagine how this ambiguity might result in confusion. Understanding whether something is happening now or will occur later could be important. So it's best to avoid the word entirely and substitute now, currently, or at present. These alternatives are simpler and clearer. In communication, that's always a good thing.

Can you recall when and where you first encountered certain words?

As a kid in the 1950s and early '60s, I was a fan of superhero comic books. A convention of the genre was to caption the top of a panel "Presently..." I was puzzled by it at first, but quickly realized that the action in the captioned panel was happening at a later time, not simultaneously with the previous sequence. That's how I learned the word and its proper meaning.

[Ed Note: For more than three decades, Don Hauptman was an award-winning independent direct-response copywriter and creative consultant.]

It's Fun to Know: Entrepreneurship in a Pill

Instead of building a profitable business the ETR way - by learning through experience, practice, and with the help and advice of others who have "been there, done that" - Cambridge University researchers would like to think you will one day be able to do it by taking a pill.

The esteemed scientists are exploring the possibility of creating a drug that would replicate the brain chemistry of successful entrepreneurs. According to Barbara Sahakian, Ph.D., leader of the research team, such a drug has the potential to enhance risk tolerance (necessary for decision making) and cognitive flexibility (necessary for problem solving).

Right. That'll do it.

(Source: CNN)

Word to the Wise: Frowsy

"Frowsy" or "Frowzy" (FROW-zee) - possibly related to the Old English for "smelly" - means dirty and untidy or musty.

Example (as used by Charles Dickens in Oliver Twist): "The cold wet shelterless midnight streets of London; the foul and frowsy dens, where vice is closely packed and lacks the room to turn; the haunts of hunger and disease; the shabby rags that scarcely hold together; where are the attractions of these things?"

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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2628, 03-28-09], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.