In honor of Marilu’s superior autobiographical memory, we have a song for today. It’s the kind of song that might make you want to get up and move – and we encourage that!

It might make you think back to when you first heard the song – or the artist.

What memories do you hold dear?
What holiday memories do you try to re-create?
What memories are you making today?

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Marilu on 60 Minutes
CBS, 7 PM Eastern

Spend time with your special someone this weekend. Here’s a song to put you in the mood. *wink*

The song is sung by Linda Bianchi, from her album Christmas in New York. Linda is a member here at Marilu.com and we’re really proud of her success.

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Interval training is a way to work out so your body burns more calories. Just change the pace between fast and slow to create intervals.

It works like your furnace – if you turn your furnace off and on throughout the day it uses a lot more energy than if you have it set at one temperature and leave it.

So get your interval on, and change it up – warm-up, slow, fast, slow, fast, slow, fast, slow, stretch. Create your music playlist so you’ll automatically have an interval training session, just by moving to your music.

(CBS) They can tell you what the weather was 20 years ago on a day picked at random when the rest of us have trouble remembering what we ate for lunch yesterday. They can recall almost every day of their lives. People with “superior autobiographical memory” are a tiny, but growing group that scientists are just beginning to study.

“60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl brings some of them together for the first time – including actress Marilu Henner, who Stahl realized had this ability but never knew how rare it was – for a report to be broadcast this Sunday, Dec. 19, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

…

As she considered doing this story, Stahl realized Henner, one of her longtime friends, had this ability and didn’t know how rare it was. Henner, who starred in the hit television show, “Taxi,” describes it. “It’s like putting in a DVD and it cues up to certain places. I am there again…seeing things visually as I would have that day,” she says.

Henner was tested by McGaugh and pronounced the sixth person with superior autobiographical memory the scientific world is aware of.

Read the complete article.

Marilu on 60 Minutes, Sunday, December 19, 7 PM Eastern.
May be delayed by football, so add an extra hour to your DVR.

It’s one of Marilu’s favorite tips, and it’s something she learned from her mother (who had a husband, six kids, and two home-based businesses).

If, every time you leave a room, you do a quick scan and pick up one thing that belongs where you’re going, picking up the house becomes less of a problem. If everyone in your house does it, just think of how much easier it will be to clean the house, and how much more free time you’ll all have.

We’ve seen a spin-off of this with piles of stuff to go up or down the stairs. Don’t leave the pile, though! Take it up (or down) on the next trip. (Yes, we’ve seen those stair baskets – the last thing anyone needs is permanent clutter on the stairs. Skip the basket!)

Today we’re sharing some of our favorite “adult” beverages for the holiday season. Alcohol is permitted on Marilu’s Total Health Makeover®, with some guidelines. Remember that alcohol clouds your judgment, and gives you empty calories. As always, if you shouldn’t drink (for health reasons or for alcoholism), then don’t.

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Cosmopolitan

2-1/2 ounces organic fruit-juice sweetened lemonade (try Santa Cruz or R.W. Knudsen’s)
1-1/2 ounces vodka (optional)
1 teaspoon unsweetened natural cranberry juice
1 orange wedge (1/4 orange) or 1 Tablespoon orange juice

Combine lemonade, vodka if using, and cranberry juice. Squeeze in the orange juice. Shake with ice, strain into a martini glass, and serve.

Pear Bellini

2 ounces pear juice or nectar (try Ceres)
4 ounces champagne OR 2 ounces sparkling mineral water and 2 ounces sparkling cider (try Martinelli’s)

Pour the pear juice into a wine or champagne glass. Slowly add the champagne (or sparkling water and sparkling cider).

Hot Toddy

2 ounces R.W. Knudsen’s unsweetened Cider and Spice (or similar all-natural product)
1-1/2 ounces whiskey or rum (optional)
4 ounces boiling water
cinnamon stick

Pour the Cider and Spice and the whiskey, if using, into a coffee mug. Add the boiling water, and garnish with the cinnamon stick, if desired.

White Russian

2 ounces vodka
1 ounce Kahlua or other coffee liqueur
1-2 ounces soy milk or soy creamer

Pour the vodka and Kahlua into a glass of ice and stir. Float the soy milk or soy creamer on top. Serve with a stir stick.

Yes, treat yourself like a child – or rather, do for yourself what you would do for a child.

• Use positive words * You wouldn’t trash talk a child, and you don’t deserve to hear that from yourself either. Be kind and supportive in the words you speak to yourself.
• Feed yourself well * You wouldn’t give a child cookies and candy all day, just because it’s “treat day” at school. You’d still require balanced meals made with whole foods. You need those balanced meals, too.
• Drink water * You wouldn’t allow a child to drink soda all day, and it won’t do you any good either (and neither will a lot of coffee). Just as you’d have a child drink water through the day, you can drink water through the day.
• Dress for the weather * Yes, we know the fashionistas want to look good, but if your weather is cold or wet, you need to dress for it. There’s no shame in warm clothing if it keeps you from getting sick.
• Play – outside if you can * Fresh air and activity are good for children, and they’re good for you, too. Take time to relax, run around, throw a snowball, build a snowman, or play a game.
• Get a good night’s sleep * We all know children get cranky when they don’t get enough sleep. Make sure you avoid a cranky attitude (and poor decisions) by going to bed at a decent hour and getting a good night’s sleep.

Sometimes we hear music that just makes us want to do some kind of exercise.

Maybe you’d like to walk to this, but we feel like doing squats. And really, if there’s ever a song that makes us want to do squats, we take note of it. Because we can always use more squats.

So get up and do something to this song.

(Remember, if you’re doing squats, don’t let your knees go past your toes – if they do, you need to move to a wider stance, or turn out (or not turn out) your feet so much, or sit back more into the squat.)

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My two-part 60 MINUTES is on this Sunday, Dec 19 on CBS (check for local time).

It’s all about memory, so please don’t forget to watch, TiVo or DVR! *

XO
Marilu

* If football goes past 7:45 pm EST, the show may be rescheduled for January.

Also note that setting your TiVo or DVR for an extra hour is a good idea, in case the football game goes long, but 60 Minutes still airs.