One of my friends passed away this year. She was only 60. She died from cancer. She was a smoker. And she knew smoking is what did her in. Another of my friends, also age 60, has a different story to tell. A number of years ago, she had bronchitis.…
I read in the New York Times some disturbing information about people not wearing bike helmets. According to the article, head injuries account for three-fourths of the nearly 700-plus bicycle deaths that occur each year nationwide. In New York City, 97% of cycling deaths and 87% of serious cycling injuries…
I had the good fortune of sitting in on a “You Are What You Eat” presentation by Talia Segal Fidler. Talia came to the United States years ago to continue her education. After a few years here, she developed a health condition. One thing led to another and she eventually…
In the “Be Healthy” chapter of my book, I provided 52 suggestions for healthier eating. It’s been nearly six years since the book was published and I was wondering how many of my eating suggestions would be different if I wrote the book today. As much as I would have…
I’m not a big drinker. I never have a drink at lunch (I would be too tired at work if I did that) and I have one drink at most when I go out to dinner (almost always wine or beer). I'm a "lightweight" drinker and when I have more…
Last year I wrote about my Fitbit, which I had become very attached to. The impact the Fitbit had on me was a surprise: I went from being someone who already exercised a lot, to someone who exercised even more. A few months ago, I lost my Fitbit. It was…
I’m not the last person who should writing this, but I may be close. I like dogs, and I probably could be someone who loves dogs, but mostly I don’t have much interaction with them. When my siblings and I were kids, we begged our parents for a dog. After…
Here's another reason it's so hard to eat well. While people are more driven to avoid pain than they are driven to pursue pleasure, the pain of bad health is not immediately visible. So the pleasure of a eating a piece of cake is stronger than the idea of the…
In an episode of the TED Radio Hour, "The Food We Eat," I learned more about why watching our sugar intake is so important. One of the speakers was Robert Lustig, a professor at the University of California at San Francisco. When you consume fruit, such as an orange, you…
I've changed the way I eat in small, but important, ways once again this year. The changes began with my goal of eating more unprocessed whole grains. At first, I moved from cereal made from processed whole wheat (Grape Nuts, made from whole grain wheat flour) to granola, made from…
A piece I read last year in the New York Times on healthy eating greatly appealed to me. First, I like its title, "Simple Rules for Healthy Eating." It's pretty obvious: I like simple rules. I wrote a book called, "Six Simple Rules for a Better Life" and you are…
As we enter the holiday season, it's a good time to talk about healthy eating. About a year ago, I read a terrific letter to the editor that led me to the Web site of the American Heart Association (AHA). In the letter, which appeared in the Record, a newspaper…