Your week
YOUR HEALTH
For many of us, sticking to our health routine can be difficult. Valerie Waters, celebrity fitness trainer and contributor to publications like In Style, Fitness, Self and People, offers motivational tips just for you:
• Get your Omega-3s, even if you don’t like fish. Omega-3s have heart, brain and eye benefits.
• Eat at optimum dinnertime. When you eat dinner between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., you are less likely to munch early or eat something late at night.
• Eat seasonal fruits and veggies. Options include butternut squash, kale, sweet potatoes and grapefruit. Complement your choices with a multivitamin.
• Quench your thirst before you feel it. Dry rooms and extra heat cause you to lose more water in the winter.
• Get off the couch, but stay close to it. Squats, lunges, planks and pushups can all be done in your own home. Aim for at least 15 to 20 minutes a day.
» Find more health and fitness tips in Tuesday’s Today section.
YOUR HOME
Architect Duo Dickinson thinks there’s a positive fallout from the lackluster housing market: Instead of continually moving up, more people are staying in their homes and forming long-term emotional bonds with the places where they live.
He’s encouraging that trend with his new book, “Staying Put: Remodel Your House to Get the Home You Want.”
Dickinson helps homeowners imagine the possibilities and think through the practicalities of remodeling their homes. The projects he features range from simple changes to extensive additions.
“Staying Put” is published by Taunton Press and sells for $24.95 in softcover.
» Find more home and garden ideas in Sunday’s Today section.
YOUR FOOD
Doctor a jar of store-bought tomato salsa with vibrant chunks of pineapple for a quick twist on an old favorite. Marinate thinly cut chicken breast cutlets in the salsa, then quickly pan fry for a tasty dinner entree. For the recipe, see page C5.
» Find more recipes and restaurant news in Wednesday’s Food section.
YOUR FUN
Here’s what’s on the schedule for this week:
On CD (Tuesday)
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
On DVD (Tuesday)
“Buck”
“Final Destination 5”
On TV
“Rudolph’s Shiny New Year”: Santa’s trusty reindeer goes on a special mission. (8 p.m. today, ABC)
“The Closer”: A resolution is reached in Brenda’s federal lawsuit, and nobody is happy, in the winter finale. (9 p.m. today, TNT)
“34th Annual Kennedy Center Honors”: Yo-Yo Ma, Meryl Streep, Neil Diamond, Sonny Rollins and Barbara Cook are honored. (9 p.m. Tuesday, CBS)
“Elf”: Sure, Christmas is over. But it’s never too late to watch Will Ferrell in an elf suit. (9 p.m. Wednesday, ABC Family)
“Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve”: Would it be New Year’s Eve without Dick Clark? We think not. (10 p.m. Saturday, ABC)
On stage
“Sisters of Swing: The Story of the Andrews Sisters”: Interplayers, extended through Friday
Spokane Symphony: Beethoven’s Ninth, Saturday, The Fox
Kamatana: Duo from Kenya, Tuesday, Bing Crosby Theater
“Sound of Music” Sing-A-Long: Friday, INB
Brian Setzer’s Rockabilly Riot: Friday and Saturday, Northern Quest
Around town
First Night, Saturday, downtown Spokane
Campbell House Holidays, through Sunday, Museum of Arts and Culture, Spokane
New Year’s Eve at Schweitzer: Saturday, Schweitzer Mountain, Sandpoint