New Year’s Eve may be the highest alcohol consumption night of the year, so it may be a good time to review alcohol’s effect on weight loss. Most people associate the beer gut with the calories in alcohol. But there is a more important component to the alcohol and fat equation.

Because of the liver’s need to metabolize toxic substances first, the body shuts down fat metabolism activities until all alcohol in the body is metabolized. That means that as long as there’s alcohol in your system, you won’t be burning any body fat.

So, if you have one or two drinks, you might halt your fat loss for a few hours. If you have many drinks, it might be as long as four days before you are metabolizing fat again. 

New Year’s Eve is meant for smooching. In my opinion, you may as well not celebrate New Year’s if you aren’t going to kiss someone at midnight! It’s the kiss that makes the celebration, isn’t it?  

Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks this way, because a recent TouchTunes Corp survey of 84,500 people found that 34 percent of people think kissing someone at midnight is even more important than watching one’s weight. (Call me shallow, but watching your weight might be a prerequisite for getting a midnight kiss.) 

So, why is the midnight kiss so important? The theory is that it is supposed to signify whether you will have abundance of love in the coming year. If you have a significant other, the kiss will ensure that the passion is maintained in your relationship in the new year. If you are single, kissing someone (anyone) will set the love wheels in motion, bringing you romance and passion in the year ahead.

If you want to be lucky in love in 2009, you had better find a pair of lips to lock with by midnight! (Those of you who find yourself surrounded by only attached men and men you find highly un-kissable, I give you a reprieve.) But because I am an optimist, I believe every one of you, in a relationship or not, kissed at midnight or not, will be getting lots of sex, love, and romance in the new year.

To prepare, I’m giving you my list of love rules for 2009 to bring romance in and keep passion alive. Feel free to pass these on to your men!

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I know you want to feel sexy and beautiful in the new year. The only way you can do that, is if you are healthy! The other day I suggested fitness resolutions for the new year that could benefit your health greatly. Today, one day away from New Year’s Eve, I am giving you a list of diet related commitments you can make to yourself in order to be Fit After Thirty in 2009! Don’t get overwhelmed by thinking of it as making ten resolutions. Think of it as making one big resolution to eat healthier, using these ten tips as your guide for how to do it! Here’s to a sexy, healthy, new you, in the new year!

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If you read number 8 on my list of Resolutions for 2009, you know that we recommend building muscle with weight bearing exercise. I’ve uncovered a list at How To Maximize Your Health of some great reasons to incorporate strength training into your routine!  Don’t worry; lifting weights does not have to make you look bulky and burly.

You only have a few more days to come up with your resolutions for 2009. We suggest staying Fit After Thirty with some of these commitments in the new year!

Fit After Thirty’s Top 10 Fitness Resolution Ideas

1. Give up looking frumpy when working out. Buy cute and comfortable workout apparel and dress for the activity. Looking good makes you feel good, which invigorates you for a great workout.

2. Make a conscious effort to incorporate stress reduction activities into your lifestyle. A yoga class twice a week, 15 minutes of meditation per day, five minutes of deep breathing morning and night, are ideas on how to start.

3. Train for a 5K or 10K – setting a goal helps motivate you to stick to a workout schedule, and keeps your heart in shape for number 4 on the list.

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I saw the Benjamin Button movie the other day and it got me thinking about the inevitability of aging. But then I got to thinking about the extent to which some of the visible signs of aging are preventable. Well, maybe not completely, but the process of aging can be slowed or delayed, at least. 

Obviously, exercise, eating right, getting enough sleep, and reducing stress all help in the process, but there is another important factor that can play a key role in keeping you from being a Benjamin Button - a young person looking older than she is- and that is toxin elimination.

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We, at Fit After Thirty, believe that it’s much easier to lose the fat and get *f.a.t. if you set goals for yourself, and track your progress on your way to achieving them! Since a study by Gail Matthews, of Dominican University, proved that writing down goals, making a commitment, and having accountability, improves one’s chances of accomplishing them, I looked for a tool that would help you do those things, so that you can start 2009 off on the right track!

Check out this article and FREE downloadable workout log from AnswerFitness.com. Whether you are newly starting out in a weight loss program, training for your second marathon, or just wanting to take your fitness program up a notch, this is a great tool!

Listen up singles! If you haven’t already planned a skiing or snowboarding trip for this season, then it’s time to get your warm clothes out of the closet, buy your plane ticket and get ready to meet other singles on the slopes.

Yup. That’s right. We’re giving you the best places to combine both skiing and singles life this winter. I call them “skingles” trips, and they are the best use of your free time if you want to get some great exercise while having fun and meeting the opposite sex! You may just find a skiing partner who can also keep you warm by the fire in the lodge when the day is over! So to make your planning easier, I’ve gathered some information about some of the best ski destinations for singles in 2009!  Get your plane ticket ready, it’s time for a “skingles” trip! 

1. For the fifth year, Jackson Hole Singles Ski is planning it’s Singles Ski Week, January 18-January 24th. Singles fly to Jackson Hole, Wyoming from all over the country to ski and snowboard among hundreds of other singles. This is a beautiful destination spot, where you will enjoy the outdoor scenes during the day and indoor nightlife during the evening.

2. Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort was ranked the top spot to ski and stay in North America by TransWorld SNOWboarding magazine 2009. This place has won many media awards and reader surveys through the years, and in 2004, was named the “Best Singles Adventure” place by SKI Magazine. They offer an adult ski school and an adult board school, which offers more than just a lesson environment, but an ambiance to connect with other people. They even have women’s only classes for those women who don’t feel comfortable falling on their ass and doing face plants in the snow in front of male classmates. Other things offered at the resort are ecotours, snowshoeing, dog sledding, helicopter tours, and horse drawn sleigh rides!

3.Vail Colorado has some of the best skiing in the nation. Skiing in Vail tends to attract wealthy, good looking people, so if you are looking for an elite crowd on one of the best skiing mountains around, head to Vail.

3. Mountain Creek Ski Resort in Vernon, New Jersey is just an hour and a half from New York City. It attracts a young crowd, and is known for the great nightlife, as well as good skiing.

4. Winter Park, Colorado is just an hour from Denver, making it easily accessible to all the young, athletic men and women who live in Denver and Colorado Springs. And there are a lot of them!

5. Park City Ski Resort is located in Park City, Utah and is the one place in Utah that seems to be home to a great nightlife and lively, singles crowd. Unlike other parts of Utah, alcohol flows freely here. Obviously, since this city hosted the 2002 winter Olympics, the skiing is also amazing, which is why it is a mecca for people all over the nation!

6. Killington Ski Resort, located in Vermont, just three hours from Boston, has plenty of pubs and restaurants around the mountain to keep you busy when the ski day is over. This resort is having some great New Year’s specials if you want to ring in 2009 on the slopes!

7. Heavenly Mountain Resort in Lake Tahoe, California has great skiing terrain, but because of it’s proximity to casinos, it is the perfect place for partying and socializing when you’re not skiing. 

8. Breckenridge Colorado Ski Resort offers plenty to do whether you stay in town or slopeside. This town attracts a lot of great skiers, which tends to mean singles rather than families. It is also known for great snowboarding parks, which tends to be a male dominated sport. Therefore, if you’re a single woman looking to meet men, grab your board and head to Breckenridge!

9. Mont Tremblant, Quebec -The village at the base of the mountain makes it easy to mingle with other singles. This town attracts a lot of U.S. east coasters.

10. Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort in California is not only beautiful, but it’s a great place for any level skier. This is also a great place for snowboarding, cross country skiing, and snowmobiling. Even though this place attracts a lot of families, there are tons of single people that inhabit the mountain and surrounding establishments.

Singles Vacation Organizations:

Planning your winter ski vacations through a service or organization can be a great way to plan a trip for the single person who doesn’t have a lot of single friends to travel with. It’s also great for a group of singles who want to be part of a larger group. The best part is, all the planning is done for you. They have pre-scheduled trips planned that anyone can take part in. You will meet tons of other singles! Here are a few to try:

NorthAmericanSnow.com

MeetMarketAdventures.com

SinglesTravelService.com

Also, every major city usually has a ski club that offers similar ski trips and social opportunities. Search the web for your specific area for more information.

If anyone still doubts me about the health benefits of sex, orgasms, and all things vagina, I give you the proof you need in the form of history. I am starting to think that the father in the movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, was right - everything important was derived from the Greek language.

Let’s start with female orgasms. Okay, okay, the Greeks did not invent the female orgasm, but almost! From the Greek word paroxusmos comes the word paroxysm, which is a burst of emotion or a spasm or fit, which is from the word paroxunien which means to stimulate, provoke, or excite.

When women in the olden days were “nervous” or exhibiting “hysteria”, from the Greek word hystera, meaning uterus, it was a doctor’s job to manually stimulate her to orgasm, or “paroxysm”! Yes, you read that right - orgasm was a medicinal treatment. A therapeutic practice! What a pent up Greek girl needed, the Greek doctor delivered! 

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