29 Gifts For People Who Can’t Live Without Coffee

Buzzworthy coffee gifts for the budding barista in your life.

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Hoda Kotb: “Suddenly Life’s Not So Scary”

Her first name means “guidance” in Arabic, but Hoda Kotb’s most defining quality might just be resilience. At 51, the Egyptian-American journalist has survived divorce and breast cancer, not to mention reporting on war zones and natural disasters. While millions tune in to watch her on TV (NBC, 10 a.m. EST), Hoda often looks to others for inspiration. Now she’s collected powerful stories about people (some famous, some not) who’ve found their true callings—and true selves—in a new book, Where We Belong: Journeys That Show Us the Way (out Jan. 5). “I think we’ve all felt at some point—you don’t know if you’re on the right path,” says Hoda. “It’s nice to read about people who changed direction not because of circumstance but because they decided, ‘This is the way I’m going to go.'”

RELATED: Worst Things to Say to a Breast Cancer Patient

One key lesson from the book: If you realize you’re not in the right place, that doesn’t mean you should quit your job and choose a wildly different track. Here’s the thing: We need insurance. You can take baby steps toward that thing you’re really meant to do, all the while living in a way that’s still smart and practical.

You wrote about your dream to open a camp for underprivileged kids. Are you pursuing that?
Yes. I’ve met so many kids who are right on the bubble. They can be so much, but they live in difficult circumstances. You feel like if they just had a little more attention, love—something—they could be great.

Do you have other dreams you’ve yet to accomplish?
When I’m walking down the street with my boyfriend [New York City financier Joel Schiffman], I stop every baby. Seriously. It’s totally crazy. He’ll just walk slowly next to me. I think that, because I didn’t have my own kids, the summer camp will fulfill me in that way.

RELATED: 10 Tips for Getting Pregnant

Were there times in your life when you felt you weren’t in the place you belonged?
I worked in accounts payable at USAir. Look, numbers are not my thing. My checkbook is on the floor in my dressing room somewhere. That was not a fit. I covered hard news for a long time. I’m sure I was fine at it, but it doesn’t feel as right as this job does.

What is it about this job that feels so right?
When I’m sitting with Kathie Lee, it’s like breathing. It doesn’t feel like work. I was very buttoned-up at first, so it took a while. But when you’re with someone who will catch you and support you, you feel safe.

Next Page: What is it about this job that feels so right?

You’re very fit. How do you take care of yourself?
First of all, I think I’m sort of fit. I do a little, a lot. This morning I ran in Central Park. I bet if you took my blood pressure while I’m running down Sixth Avenue toward the park versus the minute I step into the park, something happens. It just feels peaceful, especially when it’s predawn.

RELATED: 15 Running Tips You Need to Know

You started walking, then running again after having a mastectomy and reconstruction in 2007. What did you learn about yourself during recovery?
Before getting sick, I always felt very lucky to have my career. I couldn’t believe I got hired at Dateline. I felt kind of like I didn’t deserve it. My illness empowered me in a way I didn’t expect. Before, I never would’ve asked for my current job. I would’ve thought, Why would they pick me? But it gave me courage, knowing you get one ride around the sun. And then, suddenly, it isn’t so scary.

You wrote last year that your body confidence was at about 90 percent. What got you there?
I think that when someone loves you, you get a kind of confidence. When you look into someone’s eyes and they see beauty, it really does change how you see yourself. I guess I feel freer now than I ever did before. I don’t think I ever wore a bikini before I got sick. But now I feel like “OK, this is my body,” you know? “Have at it.”

RELATED: Instantly Improve Your Relationship

Lessons Learned
A few epiphanies from the pages of Where We Belong.

“You’re the only one who can decide…what you’re going to do with your day. You can sit around thinking, I have no choice, but there’s always another choice.”
—Chef and internist Michelle Hauser, MD, whose high school guidance counselor in Mason City, Iowa, suggested she aspire to factory work

“Everybody’s going to have an opinion, but you have to do what’s in your heart.”
—Laila Ali, on her decision to box and step into the spotlight

“When you look back at your life, it’s really who you loved and who loved you, and how you spent your time with those you’re close with.”
—Neshama Abraham, who grew up in a mansion in the lap of luxury, then helped found a cohousing community in Boulder, Colo.

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Train Like an Olympian With Lindsey Vonn’s Lower-Body Workout

Lindsey’s lower-body workout torches calories and builds muscle in all the right places.

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Turning 40 Inspired Me to Lose 75 Pounds

Jennifer Lasher
41, 5’6″
Hauppauge, N.Y.
Before: 210 lb.
Dress size: 16
After: 135 lb.
Dress size: 6
Total pounds lost: 75 lb.
Sizes lost: 5

Growing up Italian, I had carb-heavy meals as the usual dinner fare. And while I exercised at times in high school and college, my weight would continually flip-flop: down a few pounds one month, then back up two months later. Once I married and had kids, any interest in going to the gym was gone; the baby weight never went away. By March 2013, I was 210 pounds, my highest ever, and it struck me that I would soon be 40, overweight and unhappy. So I decided it was time to drop the weight for good.

RELATED: 16 Ways to Lose Weight Fast

Real food = real energy
Using all the healthy lifestyle tips I’d learned from magazines and my girlfriends, I cleaned up my diet, swapping deli sandwiches with high-sodium meat and mayo for Tupperware containers of big butter-lettuce salads topped with carrots, walnuts, feta and homemade dressing. Tracking everything I ate held me accountable, and I found that ditching processed foods left me with more energy, a clear head and better skin, too.

Couch to 26.2
Next, I tackled a longtime goal: running. I had wanted to start my entire life, but I never had the confidence to lace up my sneakers. With a friend, I slowly moved from power walking to hitting the trails for 10-milers. It was overwhelming at first—I was often out of breath—but I quickly gained strength. Thanks also to my healthy eating, I dropped 35 pounds in four months. I reached my goal weight of 140 in September 2014, and now I’m happily at 135 pounds! I’m even running my first marathon next May. I’m not out there to break any records, just to run and love it.

RELATED: 15 Eating Habits That Make You Live Longer

Jennifer’s Weight-Loss Journal
To lose big, Jennifer got advice from friends. Now she’s sharing her own hard-won secrets. Find even more tips at http://ift.tt/1EzX92l.

Set scary goals
My goal is to run 100 miles in a month. I finally hit it (and then some) this past August, with 104.

Spiralize it!
As an Italian-American, I find it tough to cut out pasta, but I use zucchini linguine or spaghetti squash instead. It’s just as delicious!

RELATED: 7 Ways to Eat More Veggies

Carry a Mary Poppins purse
My bag is always packed with nuts, apples and hard-boiled eggs. It stops me from getting so hungry that I overeat.

Become an early bird
My old excuse: I have no time to exercise with two kids and a full-time job. Now I fit in a two-mile run and strength training at 5 a.m., long before my children get up and I head to work.

Share your transformation
Did you reshape your body? Tell us about it at health.com/i-did-it and let us know what diet and fitness strategies worked for you.

What Jennifer is wearing
GapFit gFast Print-Panel 21″ Capris ($60; gap.com); Space-Dye Running Pullover (gap.com for similar styles); and Interlace-Back Tank ($40; gap.com)

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8 Party-Pleasing Holiday Appetizers You Can Feel Good About Eating

Say au revoir to fattening hors d’oeuvres.

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4 Decadent Chocolate Recipes That Have Secretly Healthy Ingredients

Festive, superfood-filled treats for the holidays

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9 Pampering Gifts For a Friend Who Needs To Chill

We all need to unwind, and these gifts make it that much easier to do so. Give one—or more—to a friend who wants some relaxation in her life (which really is just about everyone!).

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