After a breakup, or following a reorientation of any kind of relationship, it can be tough to know what to do with the big jumble of emotions filling your head. Where do you start to move forward and how can you accept these big new changes? We asked Lissa Coffey, author of Closure and the Law of Relationship: Endings as New Beginnings, to explain what closure is and how you can use affirmations to move forward without anger.

Q: What is closure?

A: Closure is resolution. It's tying up any loose ends. It's replacing resentment or anger or any ill feelings with gratitude. It's that feeling that there are no unanswered questions, and that you've learned from the experience and are a better person for it. We know we have closure when we have gratitude for all of it, no matter what has happened.

You might think your fridge and pantry are stocked with healthy items, but are you eating enough "real food." We asked Dana Joy Altman, founder of the blog Real Food Rehab, to explain how eating real food changed her life and to dispense some advice on how to eat better.

Q: Why did you start Real Food Rehab?

A: I started Real Food Rehab with a desire to help people make a pleasurable transition from processed foods back to real foods and do it in a way that didn't feel oppressive. I wanted to approach it without judgment and without "shoulds." I also had a strong desire to write in my own voice. I had been doing PR and writing branding copy for years - essentially furthering other people's creative projects, when what I really wanted to do was further my own. It was liberating to finally be able to do that. Over time, I also decided it was important for me to write about my own process in discovering how to be the most authentic version of myself that I could be, so I incorporate lots of ideas on how to live a richer and more fulfilling life.

Q: What do you mean when you say "real food"?

Even when things are going great, do you find that you get bogged down by the imperfections of life? Turns out you're not alone. Lots of women have a tough time ignoring that nagging voice that tells them they need to fix every little problem before they can be happy. In a new book, The Nine Rooms of Happiness: Loving Yourself, Finding Your Purpose, and Getting Over Life's Little Imperfections, Lucy Danziger and Dr. Catherine Birndorf use the metaphor of a house with nine rooms that each represent an area of a woman's emotional life. Here, Dr. Birndorf explains how even trivial negative self-talk can hold you back and how to start to turn things around.

Q: Why did you use the metaphor of a house?

Big, industrialized agriculture is hardly a new target. We've heard a lot over the past few years about how we're losing food taste and quality, how we're being poisoned by hormones and antibiotics, and how food is being genetically modified to become virtually unrecognizable - and how it's all driven by the demands for bigger and bigger profits. But a recent film, Food Fight, directed by Chris Taylor, describes a short history of how politics and business converged in the United States (where so much of our food comes from) to create the current situation of barely edible food and an increasingly problematic obesity epidemic.

We all have fears that affect the ways in which we interact with those around us. But sometimes those fears are so powerful that they prevent us from achieving true intimacy and trust with those we love. Psychologist and relationship counselor Dr. Brenda Shoshanna, author of the upcoming Fearless (The 7 Principles of Peace of Mind) explains how fear can ruin a relationship - and how you can take steps to get rid of the fear that gets in the way of living a full, satisfying life.

Q: How does fear change the way we behave?

A: Fear is a toxin that infiltrates every aspect of our lives. It lowers our immune system, clouds thought and creates all kinds of catastrophic expectations that will never take place. Our lives become constricted and [we're] unable to live with joy, spontaneity, well being and ease.

Q: Where does fear come from?

Do you spend most of your day hunched over a keyboard? If so, you might find that you accumulate a lot of stress and strain in your wrists, hands, shoulders and back. We asked fitness expert Kathleen Trotter to provide some tips on how to counteractive the negative effect of working at a desk all day.

Q: What are some of the most common physical problems associated with sitting at a computer all day?

A: Sitting at a desk all day can cause numerous postural problems including rounding in the upper back, tightness in the chest, arm bones that sit too far forward in the shoulder socket, forward head position, and wrist and elbow pain and/or weakness. In the last few years, within the discourse of physical activity and health, people have become more aware of the negative relationship between sitting at a desk and posture, core and back health. I consistently get told by new clients that they want to improve their posture when they sit at their desk. They want to learn to use their core and upper back muscles properly so they don't slouch.

Most of us are trying our best to eat more healthfully, locally and naturally - occasional lapses with something aside - and it just seems like common sense that anything grown at home or on display at a farmers' market is better for you than something that's been sitting in a fluorescent-lit, highly temperature-controlled big-box supermarket. Well, it turns out that one vegetable might be an exception to that general rule: the almighty spinach. A recent story in the Los Angeles Times (Supermarket spinach may have some advantages by Jeannine Stein) explains how spinach does better, nutrient-wise, in the cool temperatures and artificial lights of supermarkets.

So why is supermarket spinach healthier?

For many people, living with a partner before considering marriage just makes sense - it's a test run to determine whether you can really live together peaceably, or whether you'll actually send each other screaming in opposite directions. It might come as a big shock that he refuses to do the dishes or that she sometimes watches 12 straight hours of television. You can learn a lot about people when you're dating, but when you have separate apartments you can still retreat to your own space to engage in whatever weird behaviour you want. This week, Sam Roberts at The New York Times looks at a study that explored whether couples who live together before they get married are more likely to stay married.

And what's the verdict?

March is national Nutrition Month, so you're likely going to hear a lot about how Canadians eat - and how they can eat better. A recent Canadian Press story (More Canadians favour local food over imported, dietitians survey reveals by Judy Creighton) shares the results of a survey conducted by the Dietitians of Canada.

So what were their findings and suggestions for Canadians?

1. Following the increasing popularity of the local food movement, Canadians favour food produced in Canada as opposed to food that has been imported. Of those domestically produced foods Canadians favour, the most popular are beef, cheese, corn on the cob, potatoes, apples and (of course) maple syrup.

Some people think of exercise as something that pumps you up and boosts your adrenalin, but the results of a new study indicate that regular exercise can actually significantly reduce the symptoms of anxiety. According to a story over at ScienceDaily (Regular Exercise Reduces Patient Anxiety by 20 Percent, Study Finds), University of Georgia researchers looked at the exercise patterns of nearly 3,000 patients with a variety of medical conditions (from heart conditions to arthritis) and found that, on average, those who exercised regularly reported a 20 percent reduction in the symptoms of anxiety (nervousness, worry, etc.) than patients who did not exercise.

So how can exercise lower anxiety?