Health

Do you live with an overweight partner? Nearly two-thirds of Americans do, and it can be challenging on several levels. You want to try and change him or her—especially because excess weight puts your loved one at risk for heart disease, diabetes and stroke. But I've found from personal experience that nagging and criticizing doesn’t work. It's more effective to let your partner know that you love and support him or her, and that you hope for a long, healthy, adventure-filled life together. Here are eight secrets to help an overweight partner adopt a healthier lifestyle.

1. Change what's in your kitchen. Get rid of temptations. Fill up the fridge with ready-to-eat fresh fruit—apples, strawberries, red grapes, pineapple chunks and clementines are good choices.

Fall, the season of the harvest, is the time when winter weight gain creeps into our lives at a steady pace. Primal evolutionary survival mechanisms urge us to store fat when the temperature drops to keep warmer. With the days shorter and less sunlight to make vitamin D on our skin, Seasonal Affective Disorder can set in, with varying degrees, causing sadness and low-energy which trigger a desire for carbs and sweets. Then the holidays arrive to cheer us up around the winter solstice, ironically bringing more stress and oh, the dinners and parties replete with rich, calorie-laden cuisine, pastries and drinks (soothing that stress temporarily)—clearly, all the ingredients of a conspiracy.

Many people wrongly assume that if they simply lose weight, they'll get rid of sagging skin. The problem is, many diets focus on losing pounds, but it's pounds of fat and muscle if you don't do it right. And when you lose muscle, your skin loses its tone.

Sagging skin isn't folds of fat. It's the result of skin that's not being supported by underlying muscle. That's why people who are "thin" often have floppy underarm skin or folds above their knees—like the now-famous images of Demi Moore's knees before her rumored plastic surgery. Once your skin detaches itself from the muscle, it ages quickly. Skin stays healthy by attaching itself to muscle and being nourished by it.

A recent study published in the journal NeuroImage found that when study participants engaged in self-criticism or self-blame, their brain showed activity in the regions of the brain strongly correlated with depression, eating disorders, and anxiety. Translation: If you're preoccupied with your faults and mistakes, you put yourself at risk for emotional eating and weight gain.

This brain research confirms what I have long known. I used to have a poor self-image and a great deal of anxiety. As a result, I engaged in unhealthy patterns around food and eating. I soon went from being an attractive TV soap opera star to being obese.

With the flu season in the immediate future and the threat of H1N1 looming over our heads, it is no surprise that people are asking, "Do I still have to shake hands?" A firm handshake has been a typical Western cultural greeting in business and social situations, a standard offering of the Sign of Peace at mass, and a congenial way to approach others as a sign of goodwill.

Sitting in church this past Sunday the priest made an announcement that until further notice the offering of a handshake or a hug was banned in an effort to deter the spread of H1N1.

Whether singing in the shower, in a choir or with a small child "sound therapy" is linked to health benefits for body and spirit. Since ancient times singing has been considered a healing tool, especially chanting, and we all know that countries have created national anthems to generate patriotism to motivate people to do things for their nation. Sounds can influence brain wave frequencies and promote well-being, specifically:

* Reduce stress and improve mood
* Lower blood pressure

You have undoubtedly heard that childhood obesity is rapidly on the rise. It now outranks all other health problems as the number one concern for children in the United States. Equally disturbing is the fact that stress now ranks among the top 10 child health problems in America.

I'd be willing to bet that the rise in childhood obesity and stress directly corresponds with three things:

1. The decline in physical activity, the once obligatory recess and P.E. class, in schools.