5 Solutions for 5 New Year’s Resolutions

The start of a new year brings another opportunity to reinvent or fine tune ourselves. Luckily, there’s a product for every resolution.

By Maxine A. Hurt

1. Lose Weight

X7 Advanced Adjustable-Stride Cross-Trainer

If you are looking to shed a few pounds in 2008, adding this machine to your home gym (and actually using it) is a step in the right direction. The X7 from Life Fitness is a surprisingly quiet, low impact machine that helps you target every muscle group by allowing you to electronically adjust your stride length throughout your workout. A choice of two different consoles allows you to customize workouts to fit your needs. Engineered to follow your body’s natural movement and cushion your body weight, once you get on, you might not want to stop. $4,299 (call for special offers) Busy Body, 3815 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, 805.374.1293

2. Get Organized

AT&T Tilt

Hailed as a “mobile powerhouse,” the Tilt, a Windows Mobile 6 device, is the most feature-packed smart device available in the United States. There is very little you can’t do with this portable media center and PDA. With a 2.8-inch color screen that slides back to reveal a keyboard then tilts up for reading and creating e-mail, browsing online, checking your Outlook calendar, or following on-screen driving or walking directions, the Tilt is ideal for those on-the-go. It also packs a 400 MHz processor, Wi-Fi, speedy 3G wireless broadband connectivity, and Bluetooth 2.0 support, along with a 3-megapixel camera and access to music and streaming video. And you can even make phone calls with it! $299.99 (after 2-year contract and mail-in rebate, original price is $549.99) AT&T, 1955 Daily Dr. Suite 103, Camarillo, 805.445.6562

3. De-stress

Aromatherapy Interventions

The Chill Out candle is a handmade, pure burning soy blend candle and the ultimate antidote for a stressful day. The combined powers of ylang ylang and lavender essential oils will induce the calm and peaceful state of mind necessary for taking on the rigors of 2008. This is true aromacology, the science of scent, applied to the modern mind. Sit back, don’t speak, and chill in the glow of candle light. The candle features a burn time of 50 hours. $18.95, Salzer’s, 5777 Valentine Rd., Ventura, 805.639.2160 Ext. 5

4. Look Better

Basic 5 Skin Type Packages

If you’re thinking of starting a new skin care regiment in 2008, consider trying one of the ARCONA packages created for normal, oily, aging, sensitive, dry, or acne prone skin. Each package includes daytime and nighttime treatments formulated to strengthen, enhance, and speed up your skin’s own renewal cycle by continuously dissolving dead surface layer skin and stimulating collagen and elastin production in the deepest layer of skin. The products are all natural and incorporate cosmeceutical-grade ingredients such as enzymes, antioxidants, and amino acids, which are cold-processed at low temperatures to keep them active and effective. $192 - $206, Ojai Valley Inn & Spa, 905 Country Club Rd., Ojai, 805.646.1111

5. Be More Earth-friendly

Reusable Shopping Bags

Billions of plastic bags, which require vast amounts of oil for production, end up as litter, eventually breaking down into toxic pollutants. In response, Ventura Climate Care Options Organized Locally (VCCool), a citizen's global warming action group, teamed up with locally owned businesses to promote reusable cloth shopping bags. The bags are made in the United States and are approved by the Fair Labor Association. They are made of 100% recycled soda bottles. Here’s a great opportunity to go green in 2008 and support the local economy. $12, Korazon Organic Fashion, 671 E. Main Street, Ventura, 805.652.0899 (For more information, visit www.VCCool.org)