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It seems as though we are always reading stories about social media sites are making us all dumb and anti-social. Why go out to see a friend when you can check in with 900 of them without even needing to put on pants? Well here's a sweet story for you: one woman spent last year traveling around to meet, in person, all her Facebook friends. That's 325 people, in 13 countries. What makes it even more amazing is that this mother of 2 suffers from agoraphobia, an anxiety disorder that renders a person terrified of social interactions.

ArLynn Presser was having severe, debilitating panic attacks several times a week and finally stopped leaving her house. Then she decided to reclaim her life by facing her fears. Luckily for us, her filmmaker son came along to document her journey. Watch this ABC News clip to see how Presser went from being panicky and scared  to joyfully slicing open a champagne bottle with a saber and learning to box and sing opera. Presser acknowledges that this was a crazy thing to do. And while she can't cure her agoraphobia and still suffers social anxiety, she says this experience has helped her to gain control over condition. Let's hear it for Facebook!—and for a woman brave enough to reimagine her life.

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Do yoga! Meditate every day! Don't get so worked up! Despite my resolve to chill out this year, my goals are full of stress-inducing action verbs. That's why I've become hooked on this calm-inducing video from Equinox gyms in New York. When it first arrived in my in-box, I was annoyed. Who has time to watch some other woman do yoga, never mind for a full 3 minutes and 28 seconds (she's a pro--can't she whip out poses out in less than a minute)? Won't this make me feel guilty for not having done anything yoga-related since mid-2011? But then I got drawn in by the soothing music, the soft lighting and yoga instructor Briohny Smyth's smooth, flowing movements. She's clearly not phoning in this workout. I'm inspired by the way she keeps her upper body completely still and solid while folding her legs down to the ground (I'm usually flopping all over the place). Even her downward dog poses look strong and active, just the way my instructor is always telling me to get mine (not sure what a downward dog is? Here's how to do them--and why they're so important for full-body fitness). At the end of the video, I'm feeling almost as relaxed as Smyth is--and motivated to sign up for a class after work.

(If you don't have time this week for a full 90-minute yoga session, you can still get stronger and more flexible with a quick morning stretch routine, like this one from Dr. Oz)

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I would like to get smarter this year. Wouldn't everyone? But—and I don't mean to brag—I have been feeling exceptionally stupid lately. I have young children, which is enough to make anyone feel a little brain-sapped. There are days when I don't leave the building and my longest conversation is with a 2-year-old and concerns the exploits of Dollhouse Grandpa, who keeps his vest in the fridge. So any tips on intellectual edification are very welcome. Particularly if they are kind of easy. I mean, let's be realistic here: I have about 15 minutes of free time a day, assuming I ignore all household chores.

Behold: The Daily Beast's 31 Ways to Get Smarter in 2012. Click through the slide show for some encouraging, invigorating tips. Eating dark chocolate and drinking coffee? Yes, please. Also recommended are checking out iTunes U and Shakespeare plays, learning a new language, and playing violent video games (really!). Some of the suggestions we've all heard before, like playing word games to increase your mind's agility, and some (writing reviews online!) are unexpected. Take a sip of coffee and click on over. That's right. We're getting smarter already.

Boost Your Brain By:
Sleeping Better
Eating Smarter
Exercising More

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Back in the days of yore, my dad called his parenting technique "the carrot and the stick." This metaphor probably had something to do with his own childhood, spent on a ranch raising sheep. The "carrot" part occurred when he'd offer me jelly beans in order to get me to do something I didn't want to do—for example, wash his truck or keep hiking up a steep mountain trail. The "stick"  part occurred when he'd yell at me in the world's deepest and most booming voice, also to get me to do something I didn't want to do—for example, wash his truck or keep hiking up a steep mountain trail. He switched between the two methods at whim and to great success, at least in my book. As a child, I did what my dad said.

Now we're all our own parents, and there are so many things we don't want to do. Like wake up at 6 in the morning and pay the bills we ignored the night before (whoops, slept in) or get to the gym as we publicly vowed to do in 2012 while tipsy on New Year Eve. Luckily, A new service called Gym Pact, which appeared in the New York Times this week has come to our aid, using an app that mimics my dad's old fashioned method. Basically you sign up on your smart phone and register how many days you want to commit to working out. The gym's computers are linked to the app, so if you don't go, you get fined $5. If you do go, you get paid—that's right, paid!—an amount that's determined each week by pooling and dividing all the money collected from no-goers. Right now that's about $1.50 a week, or $6 a month—an amount that I will try to  spend on organic kale or carrots, but will probably spend on...jelly beans.

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It's a bold move for a health writer to come clean about her personal struggles with weight. But in a recent New York Times Magazine cover story, Tara Parker-Pope used her experiences as well as the weight-loss efforts of others to bring to life the frustrating truth about obesity. As she explained, the bodies of once-overweight dieters actually work against them, making them feel hungrier, more preoccupied with food, and more prone to weight gain than those who hadn't tried to shed pounds. One couple she profiled, the Bridges, said they've only been successful by following every diet rule in the book (regular weigh-ins, no processed foods, intense daily exercise, obsessive calorie counting)--every single day of their lives (these before-and-after photos show how their efforts have paid off). 

Neither Parker-Pope or the Bridges are complaining, but Slate writer L.V. Anderson thinks that they're taking the wrong approach. She believes medical professionals should focus on getting fat people to adopt healthy behaviors, not drop pounds, and she says the food-obsessed, calorie-conscious lifestyles Parker-Pope describes of those who have been able to keep the weight off remind her of anorexic eating disorders. Other readers who believe they're fitter than they look, and resent the idea of measuring each day by bites taken and then burned off, agree. But as we've read many times during this first week of the new year, resolutions need to be specific to work. The trick is finding indicators of health and wellness that are as easy to measure as pounds on a scale, and things we can do to get healthy that are as straightforward as counting calories. 

Fortunately, Dr. Oz has come up with a 28-day plan of small changes you can make to live a longer, fuller life that don't have anything to do with traditional diets, starting with drinking green tea and even eating some dark chocolate.

Read more:
Dr. Oz's on how to renew your mind, body and soul
Study shows what's really causing the weight to come back

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My to-do lists recently have been rivaling a Russian novel – long, complex, and a touch gloomy. So the only thing to do is to power through until I'm done, right? 

Not so, says Tony Schwartz, writing for the 99 Percent. Apparently, the way to accomplish more is to “pulse and pause,” taking breaks throughout the day to rest or refuel (some of his suggestions include going to the gym, taking an actual lunch break, and, my personal favorite, taking a quick  nap). Schwartz writes, “Maintaining a steady reservoir of energy – physically, mentally, emotionally and even spiritually – requires refueling it intermittently.” Read the article for a run-down of the “law of diminishing returns” and how it effects the desk-bound work day, and as you blast through your holiday preparations, cooking, and all the rest, remember to “pause” now and then.

More Ways to Recharge Throughout The Day:
Eat for Energy
Unplug and Achieve Balance

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In the same way that our actual waistlines have expanded over the past few decades (Americans are 20 pounds heavier than in 1990), our "in a perfect world" waistlines appear to be getting bigger, as well. A new Gallup poll found that women's idea of their ideal weight have generally increased. You might assume that we're just being realistic about what's possible, but sadly, the difference between our ideal and actual weights is going up, too: it's now 22 pounds vs. 13 pounds just 20 years ago. Clearly, cutting our ideal selves some slack isn't helping us stay healthy. This is something to keep in mind when we're looking for fitness motivation: instead of vowing to slim down "soon" but in the meantime buying the next size up in pajama jeans, maybe we should really focus on fitting into those old, uncompromising skinny jeans that refuse to give an inch.
 

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Just now—I swear this really happened—I saw a truck driver park in front of a bodega, pull out an accordion and start playing it there in his parked truck. I was tempted to open his door and give him a high five. Shouldn’t we all have such unexpected and unique hobbies? Well, here’s one man who’s found an awesome new hobby: skateboarding. What's surprising about it is that he’s 76. Years old. 

I love a good story about an older person staying young by doing amazing things (that I myself am too cowardly for) – and Lloyd Kahn is just such a man. As he told ABC News, "I started skating when I was 65, but the first ride I took I fell and screwed up my wrist, but I kept at it.”  Kahn, who thinks that too many people give up as they get older, said, “Every day, I really do want to have some kind of fun.” Well, Mr, Kahn, I’ve been taught to listen to my elders, and this is some wise advice I am super into. With the proper padding and a helmet, of course.

Visit ABC News for the whole story, and to watch a video of the 76-year-old skater in action!

Read More:
The unexpected hobby of a famous poet
5 ways to stay youthful as you age

Men! What are they thinking? We can't always answer that, but we'll be posting our favorite glimpses into their world in this space every Thursday.

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* How many kids in how many countries does Santa have to distribute gifts to? One reporter does the math. (The Atlantic)

* A handy outline of everything you need to know about quarterback Tim Tebow. (Washington Post)

* Dr. Oz, the first man to appear on the cover of O, talks to Oprah about food, family, and what it really means to be healthy. (O Magazine)

* How Carlton Banks became an NBA style icon. (Grantland)

* "At first I was sad I wasn’t a solider, but as the role grew it became pretty important. Not to brag or anything."—Justin Souriau-Levine, who plays the littlest mouse in American Ballet Theater's production of The Nutcracker. (NYTimes.com)

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You probably already know to bring your salad plate up to the buffet to avoid overeating. But here's something you probably never thought of: You'll be able to limit portion sizes even more effectively if your plate doesn't match the color of your food. A study recently published in the Journal of Consumer Research (by one of our favorite food behavior experts, Brian Wansink) found that people were more likely to load up their plates with spaghetti and sauce if they were using red plates (the same theory would also lead them to put bigger hunks of buttered cornbread on yellow plates, or scoop giant helpings of pesto on green plates). This has something to do with the way the food appears to blend into the plate color, which creates the illusion of a smaller portion size. The researchers advise us to look for high contrasts between the color of our food and our tableware. So stick with white plates for just about all of those buffet party foods...except for Grandma's coconut cream pie.

Read more: What's the recommended portion size for pasta?