Bright and beautiful fruits. Hearty whole grains. Vitamin packed vegetables in the most delicious of sauces. Are you ready for this? Here are some of our best tips, tricks, and advice on eating healthy.

January 1, 2018 is no different than December 31, 2017. You probably woke up with big plans to "really make some changes this year," but you know what? It's not going to work. Why? Because you've already decided that waiting until the new year to become the new and improved you is the right course of action.

For a few years now, Netflix has been providing kid-friendly fake New Year's Eve countdowns so you can put them to bed early and enjoy your adults-only party. They're back again this year with a bunch of new videos.

I don't always stay up until the stroke of midnight on New Year's, but you can bet your buns I am this year, if only to watch 2016 die (and make sure it stays dead). I assume most of you will be doing the same, so why not do so in style, with a fancy, festive champagne bar?

When it comes to celebrating the new year, champagne is almost a requirement. This handy guide to building a champagne tower can help you take your party, and your champagne consumption, to the next level.

It's that time of year again when everyone starts thinking about making promises to themselves that we're supposed to keep for at least 365 days. That usually doesn't go well. Instead of making a resolution, make these two lists.

After trying Remember the Milk, Todoist, Sandy, and Basecamp, blogger Zee found his best solution for tracking goals and tasks in Google Calendar. He created five-year, one-year, and then quarterly goals. For each three-month goal, he creates a new, different-coloured calendar, and schedules tasks along the road to completion. By the end of it you should have a calendar full of your tasks, appointments and all of them focused on achieving goals which you set yourself. The important thing to remember is always think when you're about to add a task: "Which three month goal is this helping me achieve?" If the answer is none, dump it. I use Google Calendar to schedule milestones along the way to goals (like saving money) as well, and with email reminders, it's an effective way at least to keep your finish line in your mind as the year progresses.
Google Calendar as a Todo List

Serious enough about your New Year's resolutions to put money on them? To appoint a referee and cheering section to check in on your progress? You can do just that at StickK, a goal monitoring web site where you commit to achieving something and literally pay if you don't make progress. Set up a goal at StickK, like losing 20 pounds in the next four months, and then decide to put $20 a week towards that goal. If you don't make it? Your total cash goes to a charity of your choice. You can also appoint a friend or relative to be a referee, who checks up on your progress. Looks like a neat way to turn peer and financial pressure on yourself to achieve your goals. stickK.com

In his new book, Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think, author Brian Wansink argues that lesser obvious, small changes over time to our daily habits can lead to gradual weight loss. What kind of small changes? Reason Magazine reports:
Wansink recommends such tactics as using smaller plates (which make portions seem larger), keeping serving dishes in the kitchen (which discourages second helpings), replacing short, wide glasses with tall, thin ones (which make drinks seem bigger), keeping food scraps and bones on your plate (which reminds you how much you've eaten), and dividing snacks from big packages into smaller bags or plastic containers (which discourages you from devouring the entire package). Love all these ideas, which won't make you feel like you're depriving yourself at all. What little ways are you helping yourself eat less? Let us know in the comments.
Secrets of Weight Loss Revealed!

Productivity blogger Merlin Mann recaps his January "Fresh Starts and Modest Changes" podcasts and posts in an attempt to make New Year's resolution season less unrealistic and more doable. The point, as ever, is that change is not to be found in the play-acting and sense of personal revolution that the resolution -- good-natured as its intention may be -- demands of us. The real cipher is to just get into the habit of noticing the small things that might bring about outsized improvements in our lives. We linked several of Merlin's posts on the topic last year when they originally ran, but they're worth another read if you're already rubbing your bottom after falling off the resolution wagon. What small changes are you making in your life in '08? Let us know in the comments.
Beginning the Year with Fresh Starts

If you've got both a weight loss goal for the new year, don't spend money (or gift cards) and time obsessing over the latest and greatest diet book. That's according to the New York Times' personal health columnist, who offers a helpful reminder that if you cut your calorie intake below your maintenance level, you will slowly but surely lose weight:My advice here is to save your money, toss out (or donate to a soup kitchen) the leftover high-calorie holiday fare, gradually reduce your portion sizes and return to your exercise routine (or adopt one if you spent too much of '07 on your sofa).Also simple but still relevant, the Times says, is the "gold standard" meal, stacked with vegetables, fruits and whole grains, with a small bit of protein. For a helping hand achieving your goal, check out Gina's compilation of weight loss hacks.
No Gimmicks: Eat Less and Exercise More

Happy New Year, lifehackers! Lots of you are kicking off 2008 with New Year's resolutions, but they won't keep themselves. To reach the goals you've set out for yourself in '08, follow through each and every one of the next 365 days—several free tools can help you with just that. Track your progress and help motivate yourself to stick to your New Year's resolutions with our favorite goal tracking webapps and tools.

Lose weight. Save money. Quit smoking. Get fit. Rule the world. Is this what your New Year's resolution list looks like? We spend all day yapping about the ways you can improve your life, and the brand New Year is the time lots of people choose to muster the resolve. So tell us, dear lifehackers, what is your grand Poobah of all resolutions in 2008, the one you'll grit your teeth and stick to like glue for as long as you can possibly stand it? Inspire us by shouting out your resolve in the comments.

The New Year is almost upon us, a time of relentless weight loss product commercials and self-improvement talk. Personally, I love to make resolutions. That said, hitting the gym on January 2nd is a nightmare, and you can work on improving yourself any time of year. So before we hit you with a barrage of New Year's resolution posts, we want to know:

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Two years ago almost 65% of you were all "Bah, humbug!" about resolutions. State your case on resolutions this New Year in the comments. Photo by Joe Shlabotnik.

Are you celebrating New Years with a nice dinner party? Dress up your table with affordable and elegant centerpieces or table-settings that show some creativity. Take a vase and fill it up with hand-picked flowers. Use colorful tablecloths. Repurpose your holiday ornaments and scatter them throughout the table. Light a candle or two. Make art with napkins:
Cloth napkins are not at all expensive, but lend a real elegance to a table. You know you've officially grown up when you have these at a dinner party. Learning how to fold a napkin is a simple way to lend a cool, elegant look to your table, or you can simply roll your napkin and tie a few inches of ribbon around it in a bow.
It really doesn't take too much cash to add a little decor and spark to any meal and your guests will appreciate the added effort to make the meal feel just a tad more homey and welcoming.
7 Inexpensive and Chic Table Setting Ideas