Takes

QUESTION OF THE SEASON Do You Expect to Gain Weight Over the Holidays? Santa won't be the only one looking corpulent his month. A survey conducted for Prevention magazine and NBC Today-Weekend Edition finds 43 percent of respondents expect to gain weight as a result of their holiday gluttony. And that number may be on the low side, considering that 61 percent confess they plan to "eat whatever I want" during this celebratory period. How much weight are we talking about here? Plenty. Among those who expect to expand, 46 percent forecast they'll be adding 3-5 pounds, while 7 percent think it will be more like 6-10 pounds and a ravenous 4 percent figure on gaining more than 10 pounds. A more restrained 21 percent think they'll gain just a pound or two. On the bright side, 57 percent say it's "very likely" they'll shed the holiday poundage eventually. And while the weight-gain data may sound alarming, it actually represents an improvement on the findings of a 1994 survey. That year, 28 percent of respondents said they'd be eating healthily during the holidays rather than pigging out at will. This time, 37 percent expressed that laudable intention. Credo The Life of the Soul If you wonder whether young women are optimistic, consider the fact that they're much more likely to believe in heaven than in hell. On the other hand, belief in sin is slightly more common than belief in redemption, so maybe the women aren't so upbeat after all. The intriguing bits of data come from a poll Self conducted among its readers. In all, 70 percent described themselves as spiritual, and 88 percent said they believe in a Supreme Being. The most striking finding: 47 percent said they have personally "witnessed a vision, had a visitation or experienced a miracle or other mystical experience." Fast Company Let's Not Have Lunch Some Time Given the statistics on obesity in this country, you'd think most people never miss a meal. But you'd be wrong! As you can see from the chart, there's a good deal of regional variation in this matter. You can make your own guess as to whether this reflects the quality of cooking or the pace of life in different places. The numbers come from Zagat in connection with the release of its new restaurant guides. St. Louis ranks as the national capital of meal-skipping, at 2.8 missed per week. Connecticut/Southern New York ties with Houston (at 1.7) for the fewest skipped. Highs and Lows Extremism in Shopping Is No Vice You take the high road and I'll take the low road, and neither of us will take the middle road. A Yankelovich Partners study foresees a holiday season of "extreme shopping." Its survey indicates consumers will shun midpriced retailers and gravitate instead toward high-end stores (when they want top quality) and low-end merchants (when they're chiefly concerned about price). Asked to cite various factors that shape their shopping choices, 54 percent of those surveyed said they seek a retailer that "consistently offers the lowest prices," while 59 percent look for "outstanding customer service." The study finds 31 percent of shoppers actively hunting for new discount stores, guided by the belief (held by 90 percent of respondents) that it's "usually not necessary to pay full price for most products."

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