Problem: Article: Before starting any diet, even the 20/20 diet, consider talking to your doctor first.  They will be able to provide with you guidance on whether or not this program is appropriate for you.  Start by talking to your doctor about your desire to lose weight by following the 20/20 diet. Bring in the book, recipes and allowed food lists so your doctor can familiarize himself with this eating plan. In general, the 20/20 diet can be viewed as a well-balanced diet; however, the initial phase (which is short in length) is fairly restrictive.  Talk to your doctor specifically about this phase of the diet and whether he thinks it'd be safe for you. Ask your doctor whether or not he has additional guidance, advice or resources on safe and healthy weight loss for you. Like many diets, the 20/20 diet is fairly specific — especially in the initial phases.  To help make your transition to this diet a little easier, write out your meal plan and a corresponding grocery list.  Start by reviewing the allowed foods for whatever phase you're following.  Also review the corresponding recipes that incorporate these allowed foods. To make your meal plan, take a calendar or date book and write in what you plan to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner and any planned snacks.  Do this for one week at a time. Review your meal plan and recipes and write up a corresponding grocery list.  This will help keep you on track in the grocery store and prevent you from purchasing things you don't need. In addition to following a specific eating plan in the 20/20 diet, Dr. Phil also suggests setting up an exercise schedule.  He gives some specifics in the diet to help support your weight loss.  The first thing to do is to get clearance from your doctor.  The diet recommends this and it's a general safety practice you should always follow.  You need to make sure exercise is safe and appropriate for you. Consider joining an exercise program at a gym, working with a personal trainer, buy some fitness DVDs or watch them for free online, or just start walking for 30 minutes every day. As you become more familiar with which exercises you enjoy, try to write out an exercise schedule for yourself week by week (you can ask a trainer to help you with this, too).  It should be similar to your meal plan.  Write out what type of exercise you want to do and for how long on each day of the week. In phase one, it's recommended to start by increasing your steps and overall endurance.  This is especially important if you haven't been overly active previously.  However, if you're already in fairly good shape, Dr. Phil recommends that you start the 30 second exercise plan, which is detailed in his book. This is where you do 30 second bursts of very high-intensity activity alternating with lower intensity exercises. In addition to the 20/20 book, there is also an app that you can download to your smartphone or tablet.  This is an extra resource that may prove to be useful as well.  The 20/20 app is available for both iPhone and Android devices. It's free to install with both. The app provides a lot of the same information as the book; however, the sources are less robust as is the overall content. You can find information on each of the phases, lists of allowed foods and a variety of recipes on the app. The app also has information on performing the recommended exercises.
Summary: Talk to your physician. Write out your meal plan and grocery list. Set up your exercise schedule. Consider downloading the 20/20 app.

Problem: Article: Gather all of the pieces of your cracked compact powder and put them in the pan. Place plastic wrap over the compact powder so that the pan's edges are completely covered. Use a spoon or your fingers to crush up the powder so that it becomes very loose. The plastic wrap will allow you to crush up the powder without getting your fingers dirty or making a mess. Remove the plastic wrap and fill a dropper or spoon with rubbing alcohol. Drop a few drops into the compact powder — you want to aim for creating a paste-like texture. How many drops you add will largely depend on the size of your compact, so start with 2 or 3 and go from there. If you oversaturate your powder, don’t worry — it will just take longer to dry out. After you’ve created a paste with the powder and rubbing alcohol, flatten it out using a spoon so that the top is nice and smooth. Try to make sure that the paste reaches all of the edges of the compact and that there aren’t any air bubbles. Once your powder is smooth, wipe off any residue around the edges of the compact. Let the powder dry for 24 hours or overnight. Once it’s dry, it’s ready to be used again! This method works well for cracked eyeshadows, blushes, bronzers, highlighters, and broken powders. If your compact’s mirror shattered when the powder cracked, it’s best to remove the mirror entirely. Make sure there’s no glass in the powder and then cover the powder up with plastic wrap or a cloth. Dampen a paper towel or cloth with acetone and start to loosen the glue keeping the mirror attached to the compact, scraping the glass pieces off with a sharper tool. Use acetone to remove any extra residue.  If you’d like to find another mirror to replace the broken one, visit a craft store or go online. Protect your fingers from getting cut by glass by wearing gloves, if desired.
Summary: Cover your compact powder with plastic wrap. Crush the powder into tiny pieces inside the compact. Add a few drops of rubbing alcohol to the powder. Smooth out the paste using a spoon. Let the powder dry for 24 hours. Remove a broken compact mirror with an acetone-soaked paper towel.

Problem: Article: Turn on the oven to 375 degrees F (190 C). Get out a few baking sheets and lay parchment on them to prevent the rugelach from sticking to the pans as they bake. Remove the disks of chilled rugelach dough from the refrigerator and let them set out for a few minutes. You should have your filling(s) ready and set aside before you roll the dough out. Unwrap one of the disks and sprinkle your work space with some powdered sugar. This will keep the dough from sticking. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to a rectangle that's 12-inches (30 cm) wide by 7 to 8-inches long (17.5 to 20 cm). Keep the wide side of the rectangle towards you so you can easily roll it into a log later. Take the prepared filling of your choice and place a quarter of it onto the dough circle. Use an offset spatula or the back of a large spoon to spread the filling evenly across the dough. Leave 1/4-inch (6 mm) edge bare on the side that's closest to you. This will help seal the dough together when you roll it up. You'll need about 2 to 4 tablespoons of filling for each log. Hold the edge of the rugelach that's closest to you. It should be the long, bare edge. Use your fingertips to gently roll the dough over the filling. Continue tightly rolling the dough to make a log. Pinch the ends together to form tight seals. Set the log on a baking sheet in the freezer and chill it for 10 to 15 minutes.  Chilling the log will make it easier to cut. Roll out and fill the remaining logs of dough once you've finished the initial portion of dough. Consider filling each log with a different flavor of filling. Remove the logs from the freezer and cut away the ends of each log so they're neat. Use a sharp knife to cut each log into 10 to 12 pieces, depending on how thick you want them. Place the rugelach slices cut-side down on the prepared baking sheets. Ensure that there are a few inches (5 cm) of space between the rugelach. Bake the rugelach for 20 to 25 minutes. They should turn golden brown. Giving the rugelach space will prevent them from baking into one another.
Summary:
Preheat the oven and prepare the sheets. Roll a disk of dough into a rectangle. Spread filling over the circle of dough. Roll the dough into logs and chill them. Slice and bake the rugelach. Finished.