Breakfast of champions? Or gut-wrenching nausea?

I have been a breakfast eater as far back as I can remember.

When I was a child, my mother encouraged me to eat a bowl of cereal or a piece of toast with a glass of milk before I headed off to school.

Now, I keep up my breakfast habit. What I eat has changed over the years, partly because of my schedule and partly because I have learned new things about what to eat and what not to.

Currently, I eat half a wheat bagel topped with a layer of natural peanut butter, followed by a serving of fruit cocktail a couple hours later.

Because I am a breakfast eater, does that mean I think everyone should eat breakfast? Not necessarily.

My husband is the other side of the coin. He hardly ever eats breakfast. He says he's just not hungry in the mornings, and if he forces himself to eat before his body is ready, he gets nauseous. Instead, he goes to lunch at 11 a.m., which is earlier than most people.

Should people like my husband be forced to eat breakfast? Common belief says so. And this Web site, Mr. Breakfast.com (the name of which makes me chuckle), backs up that common belief.

This site gives four reasons to eat breakfast:

1. Children who eat breakfast perform better on standardized achievement tests and have fewer behavior problems in school.


2. Eating breakfast has an advantageous effect on late-morning mood, satiety and cognitive performance.


3. Eating breakfast keeps you thin.


4. Breakfast is delicious.

Let's look to my husband, the non-breakfast eater, to examine those reasons. He never had any major problems in school on tests, nor did he get in trouble for his behavior. He works through his mornings just fine until he eats his lunch at 11 a.m. He has maintained his same healthy weight for several years now.

As for the last reason, I have to wonder how many scientific experiments they had to run to figure that one out.

It's interesting to note that not one of those reasons is: because you're hungry. I have always eaten breakfast in the mornings because I'm hungry, and I want to.

I came across an interesting post giving a different take on the breakfast debate. This view lets my husband and others like him off the hook.

Cari Corbet-Owen in her blog post challenges the assumption that an early breakfast keeps you slim. She says, "The breakfast buzz may have less to do with our bodily needs than to do with the clock, custom and breakfast ‘research’ funded by groups with a vested interest in our breakfasting habits."

Hmmm ... so, maybe the research that tells us breakfast is the most important meal of the day may not be from the most objective source. Are you surprised? I'm not.

Cari advocates a body-based approach to eating, meaning you should honor your body's wisdom, eat quality foods and check these theories for yourself.

I agree. In other words, if you're hungry in the mornings, eat breakfast -- and make it a nutritious one! If you're not hungry in the mornings, don't eat breakfast.

In the end, after you've read up on some information and considered the pros and cons, the best person to decide whether or not you should eat breakfast is you

Do you eat breakfast? Why or why not?

Letting the cable sleep*

(*with apologies to rock band Bush for the paraphrase of their song title)

I did it. I have made a major lifestyle change.

As of yesterday, I no longer have cable television. I had it disconnected. It no longer fits my lifestyle, and in today’s tough economy, it’s just costing me money for something I’m not using.

I’ve had cable TV ever since I was a child. I remember when my parents had it installed, and we used a rectangular box with a slide bar to select the channels.

Television has come a long way since then, but in my own household, I have always just had the basic package. A few comedies and dramas on the networks were all my husband and I watched, so we just needed enough to get good reception. For many years now, we have not been beholden to the network schedule. We would tape shows on the VCR and watch them later.

Ever since the writer’s strike earlier this year, we have gotten away from taping network shows. For three months, there was nothing new to tape, and during that time, we switched over to buying full seasons of shows on DVD and watching those.

We’ve gotten spoiled. We don’t have to deal with re-runs or commercials, and the next episode is on whenever we decide to turn it on. It’s great!

As the economy has started to slide downhill and gas and food prices are increasing, we decided we could kill the cable and use the money to offset the rising prices.

Even when the new shows come back on in the fall, I don’t think we’ll be going back to cable. We’ll be content to just wait until they put the season out on DVD and buy it then.

How does cutting my cable off fit into a healthy life?

It is an example of evaluating your needs and your wants. I no longer need cable, but I do need extra money to fill my gas tank and buy groceries.

It's also a lesson in patience. We have been used to taping the shows when they're on, then watching them a day or two later. Now, we'll have to wait several months to a year to buy them on DVD.

In the meantime, we'll save some money.

In order to keep your life healthy, you need to reassess things from time to time, and if you see something that is no longer serving you – especially if it’s something you are paying for – let it go.

You can reduce your costs, as in my case, or you can reduce your stress or gain time by making lifestyle changes that reflect what you need – and maybe what you want – at this time.

What lifestyle changes have you made lately? Let me know.

An open letter to the rude gym rat

Dear rude gym rat,

You know who you are. You’re the guy at the gym who leaves his towel on the seat of the bicep machine I want while you are four machines away doing three other sets. Yeah, rude gym rat, I’m talking to you.

Let me tell you, dude. You don’t own the place. So stop being rude to your fellow gym-goers.

I’ve been going to the gym now for about five years, and I’ve seen many examples of bad gym etiquette. You’re not the first, and unfortunately for me, you certainly won’t be the last. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll see this post and realize that your behavior affects others, like me. And maybe you’ll learn some gym etiquette and straighten up.

A gym is a community of sorts, and everyone there is paying good money for the right to use the machines. And they’re paying that money because they want to get fit.

So, rude gym rat, please keep some rules of etiquette in mind to make the gym a more pleasant experience for everyone.

You done? Clear out!

When I walk up to a bench lugging a pair of weights to do my bicep curls, I don’t want to see your towel or water bottle still sitting there while you’re nowhere in sight. Are you still using that bench or not? If you are still using it, please be there so it’s obvious to me. I’ll be happy to find another space. And if you’re done, take your towel, your weights and your water bottle with you so I’m not left wondering if I’m taking your turf.

Put your dumbbells back!

Put your weights back on the rack. Don’t leave them next to the bench. If you’re strong enough to lift those 70-pound weights for bicep curls, you’re strong enough to walk them back over to the rack. I certainly am not strong enough to lift them, and I don’t want to scoot your heavy weights out of the way so I can do my curls with my little ol’ 17-pound weights.

And when you re-rack the weights, put them back in order. The weight rack starts with the small five-pounders at one end and goes gradually up to the 95-pounders at the other end. If you got the 25-pounders out to do your set, they go after the 20-pounders and before the 30-pounders. Pairs also go together. Nothing annoys me more than to be looking for two 15-pound weights, only to find one where it is supposed to be and the other stuck next to the 50-pound weights because you were too lazy to walk it down to where it’s supposed to go.

Don’t be a machine hog

Don’t take up the whole gym. Like I said at the beginning, you don’t own the place. Use one machine at a time, do your sets efficiently, then move on to your next machine. I don’t mind waiting for you to finish if I see that you are moving quickly through your sets. What I don’t want to see is you doing your first set, then leaving your towel there while you wander around the gym. You don’t need to rest for five minutes. I could have done two or three of my own sets during your rest break. And you certainly don’t need to walk halfway across the gym to talk to your friend. If you want to have a social hour, give the machine up so that those of us who are there to workout can do so.

You also annoy me when you stand next to the machine, leaning against it while you talk to your friend. I want that machine. Are you going to use it to exercise, or are you going to use it as a prop to hold you up while you talk? If you’re not going to use it, take your conversation elsewhere so I can have it.

And if you want to superset between two machines, that’s OK with me. I do that, too. Just pick adjacent machines so you don’t go back and forth between two machines that are halfway across the gym from each other. If you like to superset, don’t do it when the gym is crowded and or when someone wants one of the machines. You might just have to finish with one machine, then grab the other one.

I don’t care how hot you think you are

This one is for you female gym rats. You know who you are. You’re the young one -- early to mid-20s -- wearing the skimpy little sports bra and short shorts, doing some flashy exercise in the middle of several guys while stealing little glances at them to make sure they are looking at you.

But it gets really bad when you look at me to make sure I’m looking at you.

I’m a 30-something woman. I am trying to concentrate on my exercises, and I am trying not to look at you. I won’t be hitting on you, and your flashy exercises are not going to make me jealous of you. Your flashiness just distracts me from what I’m trying to do and makes me wonder why you have to have so much attention. So please, stop it.

So, rude gym rat, the next time you are at the gym, please keep in mind that I might be at the machine next to you, and I and your other fellow gym-goers are just looking for a pleasant workout experience. The behaviors above are just a few that bother me. There are many other ways you can breach gym etiquette.

Luckily, you can follow these links here and here to see some other rules of etiquette to follow. Please take a look at them, and next time you’re at the gym, follow them so you can be better than the guy who inspired this letter.

Sincerely,
Jennifer

What rude gym behaviors bother you? Leave a comment and let me know!

Practice portion control for waist control

My husband and I enjoy going out to eat on the weekends. We eat a few less-healthy foods than we might during the week.

Trouble is, neither one of us can eat the huge meals served in restaurants these days. A typical meal might include a salad, a 12-ounce steak, a large side of mashed potatoes a pile of vegetables and rolls. Even if we had the appetite to down that much food, we know it's not good for our waistlines to stuff ourselves.

The reason for this is simple: When you consume more calories than you expend, you gain weight.

A major key to losing or maintaining your weight is portion control, something we Americans have trouble with.

Maybe we should take a lesson from Okinawans. They practice the principle of hara hachi bu - or eating until you are 80 percent full.

They're on to something. In Okinawa, heart disease rates are 80 percent lower than in the U.S., stroke rates are lower, cholesterol levels are typically under 180 and cancer rates are 50 to 80 percent lower.

Interestingly, there is a society, called aptly the Calorie Restriction Society, that advocates the concept of Calorie Restriction. They say that since the 1930s, extensive scientific research has shown that calorie restricted diets improve health and extend lifespans of nearly every species tested, including worms, spiders, rodents, dogs, cows and monkeys. They believe it is likely that people who carefully adopt a calorie-restricted diet will see similar results.

However, when you're at a restaurant, it can be difficult to strike a balance between enjoying yourself at lunch or dinner and maintaining a healthy weight.

How do you do it?

Martha Edwards, a That's Fit.com blogger, recommends a few suggestions, including ordering off the kids menu, asking for a half portion, going for an appetizer (one that’s not fried!) instead of an entree or getting a side salad and lean meat.

These are all good suggestions, and I have one more to add to the list.

My husband and I control the amount of food we eat in restaurants by splitting meals. Luckily, we like many of the same foods, so we have a pretty easy time finding something we can both agree on. We specify to our server that we will split the meal, and we ask for an extra plate. If the meal doesn't look like it will be quite enough for the two of us, it's easy to add an appetizer or an extra side.

We have been doing this for several years, and we haven't had a restaurant balk yet. If it did, we would probably take our business elsewhere.

Splitting meals has the added benefit of keeping our costs down, too, which is a good thing in today's economy.

We have encountered a few restaurants that are nice enough to split the meal for us, and we appreciate this extra service when we get it. But most of the time, we have to split the food ourselves. This takes a little extra time and effort, but the calorie savings -- and cost savings -- are well worth it.

How about you? Do you find it easy or difficult to control your portions? What suggestions do you have to add to the list? Leave a comment and let me know!

How long do you want to live?

How many years would you like to live? Is 50 enough? Or would you like to be around for 60, 70 or 80 or more?

While most of us don't know exactly how long we have to live, recent research backs up a core belief that I have held for many years: Our lifestyle choices influence our lifespan.

The study, published in the journal PLoS Medicine and conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health, says that life expectancy has declined in nearly 1,000 counties, especially for women, "primarily because of chronic diseases related to smoking, overweight and obesity, and high blood pressure."

According to a New York Times story citing the same study, most of the counties with declines are in the Deep South, along the Mississippi River, and in Appalachia, as well as in the southern Plains and Texas.

In the worst-performing counties, all in southwestern Virginia, the drop in life expectancy over the 16-year period was nearly six years for women and two and a half years for men. In the counties showing the greatest improvement, many in the desert West, life expectancy rose nearly five years for women and nearly seven years for men.

This trend reflects the long-term consequences of smoking -- a habit women took up after men did -- and the slowing of the historic decline in heart disease deaths. It may also represent the leading edge of the obesity epidemic, according to the Washington Post.

If that is the case, we ladies can expect our life expectancies to drop significantly across the United States in coming years, ending a nearly unbroken rise that dates to the mid-1800s.

This is not good. Not good at all. The researchers call this decline a "reversal of fortunes."

Aptly put. If we are not making the best choices we can about our diet, exercise and health, then we may be responsible for shortening our own lives.

The Washington Post story cites health trend information that we have seen before, if we've been looking.

But I'll cite it again here, because it seems that we're just not getting it:

• About half of all deaths in the United States are attributable to a small number of "modifiable" behaviors and exposures, such as smoking, poor diet and lack of exercise.


• About 33 percent of women are now obese, compared with 31 percent of men. Extreme obesity is twice as common in women (7 percent) as in men (3 percent).


• Being overweight greatly increases the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. A national survey in 2002 found that 85 percent of diabetics were overweight or obese.


• In recent years, the prevalence of high blood pressure has been increasing in women, as well -- partly the result of weight gain. In 1990, 42 percent of women older than 60 had hypertension; by 2000 it was 51 percent.

We need to reverse our fortunes back the other way. But can we?

The study's authors argue that their results are troubling because an often-stated aim of the U.S. health system is the improvement of the health of “all people, and especially those at greater risk of health disparities.”

In a 2006 study, the same group concluded that life expectancy disparities would have to be addressed through public health strategies aimed at reducing the risk factors that cause chronic disease and injuries.

Okay, this sounds great, but why wait on them? We can do this as individuals, if only we will. There is enough health information out there that if you just want to badly enough, you can change your lifestyle and get healthier.

Unfortunately, studies like this one make me pessimistic that enough of us really -- I mean really -- want to do what it takes to live a healthier life. How many of us say it's too hard, or that we don't have enough time or money or that we just can't give our favorite foods up?

If you're still using those excuses -- and that's all they are -- then you're not ready to make a lifestyle change.

And if you're not ready to make a lifestyle change, and to listen to what experts like the authors of the Harvard study are telling you, then you are well on your way to shortening your own life.

I realize our choices are not the only factor. There are genetic factors that influence our health as well. We may have a family history of cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure or diabetes.

But our health is not a foregone conclusion, either. We can control whether we succumb willingly to our genetics or whether we go down fighting. Do you want to just throw your hands up and say, "Well, I'm going to get cancer (or diabetes or high blood pressure) anyway, so I may we well eat what I want and not bother"?

Or do you want to fight it?

I choose to fight it.

We make our own health fortunes. What will you choose?

Wet socks for better sleep? Not for me!

The field of sleep study is filled with a lot of pseudo-science.

Take this insomnia solution I saw recently.

It calls for putting on a pair of cotton socks dunked in cold water and wrung out lightly. Then, put on a pair of dry woolen socks over the wet socks, wrap your feet in a towel and go to bed.

Supposedly, you'll sleep like a baby.

The cure was published in a book called Health20 by integrative physician Alexa Fleckenstein and Roanne Weisman, but a Bavarian priest introduced the concept more than 100 years ago.

I suffer from a few insomnia problems, mainly with sleep onset, and sometimes I get pretty desperate to get myself to fall asleep. However, I'm not up for trying this one. This might work for some people, but I don’t think I could fall asleep with wet, squishy feet.

I have found the theory behind the remedy to be sound, though. Studies show cold feet and insomnia are linked, which I have found to be true. If my feet are cold, the rest of me is cold, too. Thus, if I warm my feet up, it helps me fall asleep.

Most nights, I sleep wearing a simple pair of slipper socks, especially in the winter. My husband quite enjoys making fun of me for this – the slipper socks are not very attractive. I retort that the alternative is for me to toss and turn all night (which he also complains about) or put my icy-cold feet on him.

What is the fool-proof remedy for a good night’s sleep? I don’t think there is one, at least not a 100 percent approach. But rather than rely on wet socks, it's far better to practice good sleep hygiene.

Sleep hygiene is the practice of following simple guidelines to ensure more restful, effective sleep. Some of them are:
— going to bed and getting up at the same time every day
— exercising early in the evening
— avoiding caffeine and nicotine if they affect your sleep
— avoiding alcohol in the evening
— avoiding the TV and computer screen an hour or more before bedtime. Or better yet, — don't have either one in your bedroom
— keeping the bedroom quiet, cool and dark
— using the bed only for sleep and sex

All of those may not work for every person, but they make more sense to me than wrapping your feet in wet socks.

How to keep your vacation (sort of) healthy

I have just returned from my vacation to Washington, D.C. At the same time, I am also getting this healthy lifestyle blog started. Thus, I came home with a few ideas for future posts.

But first, I thought I would give a few short snippets of things I did during my trip to stay a little on the healthy side.

Airplane abdominals

During takeoff on the flight from Detroit to Baltimore, I noticed my husband leaning forward, bracing himself against the upward tilt of the airplane. He said, “Hey, this is great for the abs!” So, of course, I joined him. I leaned forward and tightened my abs to resist the angle of the plane, and a few seconds later I felt a burn in my abs and thighs.

So, if you want to do a bit of isometrics on an airplane, just lean forward during takeoff. You have to do it as soon as the plane lifts off the ground, though. Once the plane levels out to cruising altitude, you lose the resistance.

I’m resting my feet

I am a yoga practitioner, and I am sensitive to the tension in my body caused by daily living. The routine tension of sitting at my desk all day, staring at a computer, carrying groceries and the like can usually be relieved by a series of yoga poses.

On vacation, my body suffers different tension because I put it through different stresses than at home. Walking a lot, sitting on an airplane and carrying a bag on my shoulder all take their toll. Therefore, I often find opportunities to stretch and twist to relieve the tension.

One pose that I like to do after walking a lot always gets a laugh from my husband, but it feels darn good. It’s called Legs Up the Wall, and it’s a great little inversion. He’ll look over and ask what in the world I’m doing, to which I answer, “I’m resting my feet!”

Basically, you lay with your back on the floor near a wall and rest your legs vertically up the wall. This causes the blood to flow away from your feet, which makes your feet happy after you’ve stressed them all day by walking on them. After a few seconds, you’ll feel a pleasant tingling sensation. You can point and flex your feet, and if you’re flexible enough, bring your leg back toward your face and stretch your hamstrings a bit. This pose also releases the lower back and shoulders, and you can lay in it for as long as you need to.

Restrained indulgence

On a vacation, our eating routine is always different than at home. This is partially because of circumstances – the usual salads, fruits and yogurt I would eat for lunch at home just aren’t readily available in a hotel room. You can’t carry any of these things with you, and you can’t always get to a grocery store near your hotel, and if you could, you don’t always have a refrigerator in your room to keep anything cold.

So you’re stuck with eating out for just about every meal. Don’t get me wrong – I enjoy going out to eat and experiencing different foods. That’s part of why I go on vacation – to eat things I can’t get or don’t normally eat at home.

But on this vacation, I found myself really paying attention to my food choices. For one meal, I wanted nothing more than a salad. Nothing but crisp green lettuce, a few toppings and dressing would do. I just didn’t want anything greasy or full of carbs. So we stopped at a McDonald’s, and my husband got burgers and fries while I got a salad. And it was delicious.

At other meals, I chose turkey sandwiches or grilled salmon and substituted sides of French fries for steamed vegetables.

However, since it was vacation, I didn’t entirely hold back. We went to this delicious steak house called Bugaboo Creek. I ordered sirloin tips with mashed potatoes. And boy, was it good! That was the same day I had the salad for lunch, so I figured I could justify the red meat and carbs.

When you’re on vacation, you should definitely have a meal or two where you can get something not-so-healthy and not feel too guilty about it. If you watch your choices at other meals, you can minimize the overall damage to your diet.

Although I have no doubt I gained a pound or two during my vacation, I feel like I did my best in striking a balance between indulgence and restraint. At no time did I feel like I was depriving myself or not enjoying my vacation to its fullest extent.

Now that vacation is over, though, it’s time to get back to the gym and the salads, fruit and yogurt!

Take a vacation! It's good for your health

My husband and I really enjoy traveling. We like seeing new places and experiencing new things. In the years we've been together, we've managed to take at least one vacation almost every year.

So far, our travels have taken us to Washington, D.C., Boston, St. Louis, Chicago, Niagara Falls — and we were fortunate enough to be able to take a cruise to the Bahamas for our honeymoon.

We are going back to D.C. this week with another couple, and we hope to take a couple of short trips later in the year.

However, many people don't take an annual vacation. Many people don't even take all of their paid time off from work.

According to the 2008 International Vacation Deprivation Survey results from Expedia.com, about one-third of employed U.S. adults usually do not take all of the vacation days they receive each year. They lose an average of three vacation days per year.

This adds up to a total of 460 million vacation days and an estimated value of $65.52 billion, according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics.

That's a lot of time — and money — to give up to your company. Why would you want to let your company have time that you've rightfully earned?

One reason, according to Expedia.com's survey, is that 38 percent of women and 28 percent of men feel guilty about taking time off from work.

Many people also worry they will lose their job if they take a vacation, according to the Families and Work Institute, a nonprofit center for research on the American work force. Their surveys show that in 1977, 45 percent of people felt truly secure in their jobs while only 36 percent have felt that way in recent years.

I have to admit that as a journalist, I'm one of those who is not totally secure about my job, or my industry. But I am not going to let that scare me away from taking my time — time that is guaranteed to me by the employee handbook.

Other people don't take vacations for reasons that have little to do with job security. They consider themselves indispensable or are too competitive to take the time off. Ambition and self-imposed getaway guilt all help explain why workers don't use all of their vacation days, according to a New York Times article.

Research also shows that even when American workers go away, they don't really get away. About one in five people do some work during vacation, according to the Families and Work Institute study.

Ken Siegel, president of Impact Group, a Los Angeles-based consortium of psychotherapists who counsel CEOs and other executives, rebuts this argument far better than I could. "There is no executive who is so indispensable that the enterprise will collapse in his absence. We're all going to die, and our companies will go on without us."

Agreed. This company was here before I got here; it will be here long after I leave.

Vacation time is important because it allows you to refresh, recharge and reconnect with your family. A true vacation - not just away from home, but away from the e-mail and the PDA - can help your health.

The Families and Work Institute study found that overworked employees are more likely to make mistakes and be angry at their employers and at colleagues who do not work as hard. These employees are also more likely to have higher stress levels, experience symptoms of clinical depression, report poorer health and neglect themselves.

However, the good news is former NASA scientists found that vacationers experienced an 82 percent increase in job performance after they came back from a trip, according to a Business Week article.

In order to get the full benefits of a vacation, you need to take at least a week off. Micro-vacations — taking two or three days off — do not deliver the same stress-reduction benefits as vacations that last one and two weeks, according to the Business Week article.

In 2007, 39 percent of American workers anticipated taking a full week off, then using their remaining time here and there, and only 14 percent plan to take a full two-week vacation in 2008, according to the Expedia.com study.

I fall into the one-week category. We'll return from D.C. with a couple days to spare, giving us a nice long weekend to rejuvenate at home before we go back to work. Then, I'll have a couple of vacation days to use for the rest of the year.

You won't find me letting my company have what I've earned. I plan to take every vacation hour alloted to me.

The way I see it, there's too much at stake for me not to take my vacation days, not just in terms of my health and stress levels, but in connecting with my husband. We enjoy new experiences together and the time away to just be with each other in a different environment. It encourages us to dream about changes we'd like to make, and we almost always come back relaxed and with a fresh perspective.

With such obvious benefits, why would you not want to take a vacation? You could do yourself - and your family - a world of good by going away.

What is a healthy life? Or, why am I starting this blog?

I see the world in terms of its impact on the health of any individual's life. Your eating and exercise habits, your relationships, your career, your spiritual values - they all contribute to the level of health in your life.

I'm going to guess that if you are reading this blog, you would love to have a perfectly healthy life - that you would like to be at a perfect weight, have the perfect romantic relationship, have perfect friends, have the perfect amount of money, have the perfect career. Hey, I would, too.

But one thing I have learned is that a life does not have to be perfect in order to be healthy. Perfection is not possible, and the more you strive for it, the less likely you will be to achieve it. The harder you try for it, the more you will stress yourself out, and the less healthy your life will be.

So, if it's not about perfection, what is a healthy life about?

It's about balance, between discipline and indulgence, between stress and relaxation, between the good and the bad.

How do you achieve that balance? Only you can decide that. What is balance for me may not be balance for you. What works for me may not work for you. I can pass along information, tell you how I relate that information to my own life and even give advice on how you can do the same thing. You are, of course, free to take or leave my advice, or modify it to fit your own needs.

Since I am just starting this blog, I should probably answer a critical question before we go much further. Who in the world am I, and why do I presume I can give advice to anyone?

I am just a person with a skill for writing who tries to live the best life I can. I am not a health professional of any sort. I am a communications professional with a background in journalism who is jumping into the “blogosphere.” Go to my Web site to learn more about me.

Since journalists are trained to interpret, distill and disseminate information for an audience, I can do this for you. My chosen topic is health. I have a passion for health topics and healthy living. I enjoy researching and reading about health and applying it to my own life. Sometimes I agree with what I read; sometimes I disagree. It all goes back to that balance thing.

A healthy life is one lived as well as you can, with as much care and attention to the only thing you will have for your entire life: yourself. You only have one body, one mind and one spirit. It is important to nurture those three aspects with the choices you make.

I realize that genetics play a big role in your lifelong health, but so does lifestyle. It's the lifestyle part that we can - and should - control, to the best of our ability. How do we do that? Well, that’s what this blog is all about. I hope you’ll share the journey with me.