Insights from the Editor

Americans eat more on Super Bowl Sunday than on any other day of the year except Thanksgiving. Here are four ways to keep from overeating at your Super Bowl party:

Eat before you go
Make yourself a healthy, filling meal before you go. You'll be less likely to graze.

Set a drink limit
Drinks aren't calorie free, and drinking, especially in social settings, can lead to overeating.

Skip the pizza
Look for healthy alternatives like carrots and other veggies. Or bring our low-cal salsa.

Make your own halftime show
Instead of sitting on the couch, go outside and toss a football.

Are you planning a Super Bowl party? Here are three dishes you can put out Sunday--guilt-free:

‣ A Healthy Super Bowl Party Menu

Makes 30 servings; serving size 1 bar

This remake of a cookie classic has only 160 calories and 2.5 grams of saturated fat. Not bad for a sweet dessert and a lot better than traditional Seven Layer Bars.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 cup garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup wheat germ
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut
One 14-ounce can low-fat sweetened condensed milk

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil or coat a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

2. Spread the oats evenly on a baking sheet and bake until lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir occasionally to ensure even browning. Remove and set aside. Place the walnuts on the same baking sheet and bake, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned and fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes....

For much of the last year, my wife's constant companion has been a work-issued pedometer. She wears it everywhere we walk--on hikes, to dinner and to events. ("Can you please take your pedometer off when you come to bed, dear?")

She has bought completely into her employer's walking-based wellness program. The pedometer tracks all her steps and uploads them via computer to a program. Those steps can be traded for incentives--from restaurant and store gift cards to $500 cash. She hit the latter level in October and turned her 2011 walking effort into Christmas gifts for the family.

Watching her strategically place the pedometer on an outfit for a nighttime wedding ("You get a lot of steps dancing.") got me wondering: Does paying people to exercise really work?

I've worked for two companies that reimbursed gym membership fees, but I've never been offered cash in exchange for achieving a certain goal. Would this kind of incentive help me exercise more and maybe lose weight?

Most people already have plenty of reason to exercise. Studies have found that people exercise to improve...

There's nothing quite like the smell of a fresh cut Christmas tree. That is, unless it makes your nose run and your eyes turn red. For many allergy sufferers, real trees are a source of discomfort during the holidays, even if the tree itself isn't to blame.

That's right. Very few people actually have an allergy to the tree itself, according to the American Academy of Asthma and Immunology. For some people, the tree's piny fragrance may be irritating, but in most cases the offending allergens probably hitched a ride on the tree.

Trees spend years gathering pollen, dust and mold spores while standing vigil on tree farms and in the forests. When you chop one down and take it home, you drag those allergens into your house.

The Academy recommends letting real trees dry in a garage or enclosed porch for a week and giving them a good shake before bringing them inside.

Another option: If you sneeze or wheeze around Christmas trees but still want one, get someone else to set it up and decorate it in a room...

My wife and I just renewed our homeowner's insurance this week. Deciding on our deductible and limits for coverage always reminds me of how fragile our lives are.

It's not like we need much of a reminder. Last April, a devastating tornado ripped through the woods near our Alabama farm. The storm destroyed homes and lives along a 60-mile stretch from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham. Many of those lives are still disrupted and the homes are vacant lots.

For years, my wife and I have played the game, "What would you grab if your house were on fire?" But that's no substitute for disaster preparedness.

Surprisingly, most people are unprepared. One survey found only a third of households had put together and discussed an emergency plan. [LINK http://www.homesafetycouncil.org/aboutus/Research/re_survey_w002.asp]

Here's how we're preparing for the disaster we hope never comes.

Train your family.
Because I used to be a volunteer firefighter, our children already know what to do in the event of a fire. (It wouldn't hurt to review.) We've chosen a place outside the house to meet.

For older...