"Ideal Weight" For Americans Increasing, Study Shows

Image by Alan Cleaver on Flickr

The "ideal weight" Americans feel they should strive for has increased in the last two decades, a recent Gallup poll has shown -- with the average "ideal" cited as 165 pounds.

According to the poll, U.S. men claimed their ideal weight to 185 pounds, their actual weight being on average 196 pounds. This ideal weight goal is 14 pounds heavier than the "ideal" 20 years ago.

Getting "Clean" And Kicking The Toxins Out Once And For All

Image by kaibara on Flickr

Over the past several years, I found myself settling back into a routine I thought I had left behind: eating poorly, relying caffeine and sugar as my "fuel" for the daily work grind, and kicking back at night with alcoholic beverages. My daily "ritual" didn't seem to be that much different than that of large sections of my peer group: it was all "normal" ways to stay productive, unwind, and generally "enjoy life."

My body was crap. It felt like crap.

Two months ago, I decided to attend a free "wellness" evaluation at my place of work. Blood test, body mass index, weighing, blood pressure, etc. And what the registered nurse told me shocked me. No, actually it didn't shock me at all. But it was bad:

"Healthy" Cereal With High Sugar Content

image by kaibara87 on Flickr

Here is a current bugaboo that is bedeviling me as I write this, my soggy plastic cup of sugary cereal staring at me from my desk.

I didn't have much time to get into work today, so I decided to buy my breakfast at a little bodega-type place. Truly healthy options seemed slim, but one item was promising: Kellogg's "Smart Start Antioxidants" (yes, that is the real title) cereal, packaged in a handy, single-serving size.

This cereal seemed to have it all: "Original Antioxidants" in big letters, STRONG HEART posted under that (with a helpful graphic of a heart). On the side of the container was a green "call out" that boasted "Good Source of FIBER."

Learn When To Sway: Lessons Learned From Hurricane Sandy

World turned upside-down, roots coming to light

I haven't updated this blog in a good long while...so long, in fact, that I was actually embarrassed to go back to it. Like a cat who trips or accidentally walks into a wall, then acts like it meant to do it. "Oh, I had started this thing, but then it dropped off the map like so many things do..."

Why Going "Cold Turkey" Doesn't Work

No matter what bad habit you're trying to break -- over-eating, over-spending, even smoking -- going "cold turkey" may be just setting yourself up for failure. How could such good intentions end up going so wrong?

"Cold turkey" -- stopping your bad habits "cold" -- is problematic because it subscribes to the Perfectionist Fallacy. Following the Perfectionist Fallacy sets you up for failure because perfectionism doesn't square away with reality. Nothing is 100% perfect. You can never be 100% perfect. While there is nothing wrong with creating lofty goals for yourself, absolute perfection cannot be achieved.