There may be no more perfect book for the LifeTwo audience than Gretchen Rubin's new book "The Happiness Project". Rubin spent a year as a one person focus group testing every possible way to increase personal happiness. Part memoir and part "how to fix your life", "The Happiness Project" is a joy to read. »more»

We all make resolutions though not always calling them that. Sometimes we just say to ourselves "I need to start doing X" or "I need to quit doing Y". One of the most common such self-promises involves weight and diet. »more»

Whenever the Mayo Clinic lends its brand to a health product, it is worth taking a close look. In this case, it is a diet plan for quickly losing weight but also continuing to lose weight at a slower pace but over a longer period of time. This addresses two needs of most diets. »more»

Most people can tell you what foods are good for a healthy heart and which foods will mess with one's blood sugar. But bone health, which becomes increasingly important as we age, generally gets much less attention beyond knowing that calcium supplements should be taken. »more»

Though ancient, the practice of mediation is enjoying significant contemporary popularity. But can meditation help with midlife and/or marital woes (the subject of this site)? »more»

Randy Pausch passed away yesterday of complications from pancreatic cancer. He was 47. Pausch was the terminally ill computer science professor whose poignant farewell lecture at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University became a viral video phenomenon and then a best-selling book (see link below). He symbolized living life to the fullest. »more»

"Body Electric" is a companion book to the long-running PBS show of the same name and contains every buzzword that one could want in a fitness program including "convenient, affordable, effective, and enjoyable." Margaret Richard's resistance exercises can all be done at home and are aimed at countering age-related afflictions such as osteoporosis, stiff joints and of course weight gain. »more»

"Skin in the Game" is about fixing the broken health care system in the United States and the first thing I noticed about the book was the praised it was receiving from people like Mark Hurd of Hewlett-Packard, one of America's top CEOs and biggest employers. »more»

Economists look at the world in terms of incentives and disincentives. Telling people to do one thing while providing them incentives to do something else will almost always fail. Welfare programs are the classic example of this quandary. Obesity in America is a multi-billion dollar issue that impacts all facets of the economy so it is not surprising that economists have been studying it. Furthermore, since economics is the study of decision making, they are well positioned to help shed light on the root causes of the epidemic. »more»

Can a book make you smarter? Perhaps not, but "Illusion of Certainty" by Erik Rifkin and Edward Bouwer can certainly help you make smarter decisions--especially when it comes to personal health decisions. »more»