Domestic Geek

Quitting smoking is the best thing you can do for your health. My friend Marisa agrees. She used to be a smoker and has succeeded in giving them up. I know many people that smoke get really irate when you bring up this fact. Seriously, though, they call them cancer sticks for a reason.

This one is near and dear to me because I lost my mother indirectly to smoking. She developed pneumonia while being sick (smoking lowers your immune system), slipped into a diabetic coma and ultimately passed away. While she was in the hospital, they were pumping all of the crap out of her lungs and it was solid black for days. Totally grossed me out.

You can't get proper oxygen to your system when you're choking it out with smoke. Then there are the chemicals you put into your system. Besides being bad for you, the danged things are expensive. Just to let you know that I've been there, I used to smoke back when I was in college (late '80s) and gave them up then because they were costly. Look at how much the price has increased since then!

I have a couple of other friends online that are trying to give up the habit — good luck to Marcus W. and Cass in this endeavor.

One of the best (and easiest) forms of exercise we can get is walking. We've become such a sedentary, lazy society...we don't even have to walk around the grocery store anymore if we get our groceries delivered. There are also safety concerns about being out and about, especially for a single female.

Walking doesn't require any special equipment other than a decent pair of shoes. You can do it any time. Many malls have mall walk programs if you don't want to be out in the elements or don't feel safe walking in your own neighborhood. You can even make it a social activity — grab your friends and take off. Also, take along a dog and both of you can get some exercise.

My friend Colleen suggests getting a pedometer so you can get a good idea of how much you're walking everyday. She's the queen of walking knowledge as she does her own cancer fund raising over at 3DayMom.com by participating in a Breast Cancer 3-Day to support the Susan G. Komen Foundation every year.

As with anything related to our health, the experts put out mixed messages as to whether alcoholic beverages are healthy or not. Beer is good. Beer is bad. Wine is good. Wine is bad. Wine is OK as long as you drink only red and limit it to one glass. Maddening, isn't it?

I'm going to give my humble opinion of this matter. Unless you're an alcoholic, moderation is the key. If you can't stand the taste, don't drink it just because somebody says it is healthy to do so. I personally can't stand red wine (or grape juice for that matter). I enjoy having a beer once in a while, but I don't drink 3 a day.

In response to "Are you drinking enough water?", a lot of people say yes, I drink Gatorade (or SoBe or the like). The fact is, these types of drinks are being misused. Sports drinks like Gatorade are intended to replace nutrients lost during exercise (meaning you should exercise first). "Health" drinks like SoBe worry me. Quite frankly, the fact that most of them have some type of caffeine and/or manufactured sweeteners such as High Fructose Corn Syrup make them far from healthy. Energy drinks are just bad for you. I'm running across more and more people using them not as an occasional pick-me-up, but as a crutch to overcome lack of sleep and poor eating habits.

Let's start this off by talking about water. I know very few people who actually get enough liquids during the day and when they do, it's usually a sugar and/or caffeinated (and possibly artificial chemical) laden beverage.

The great debate raging now is whether you should be drinking tap or bottled. We use tap here at home that's been run through a Pur water filtration pitcher.

There are many important health benefits of drinking water. First, it aids in weight loss. The body that is not getting enough water will retain fluids. We need to flush fluids to get rid of excess stuff in our systems. The body also needs water or muscles to function correctly and to metabolize food.

Of course the experts all disagree as to how much you should be drinking a day. There's the standard 8 (8 oz.) glasses a day. This is probably meant to be a guide more than anything. Some people tell you to drink only when you're thirsty and then others telling you that if you're thirsty, you're already dehydrated. I'm no expert, so I don't know the answer, but you do need to get a good intake of water into your diet to live a healthier life.