YOU: On A Diet, The Owner's Manual for Waist Management by Drs. Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz should be purchased for the graphics alone. Comic book style pictures accompany the articles which greatly enhances the readability of the book.

Find out why you crave chocolate or stuff yourself at a buffet.  Tips and factoids provide you with information on whether or not you should drink water or a sports drink, how many calories you burn per minute of exercise and much more. 

I found YOU: On A Diet to be worth the money for the way that it distinguishes between fact and fiction and its' easy to read style. Let's face it diet books are not great literature. We read them in the hopes of discovering a miracle that will help us lose weight without devoting all our free time to exercise.

Included in YOU: On A Diet are recipes, exercises, weight management strategies and personality tests to help you identify your own personal weight management challenges.

Some friends and I are going on a combination hiking and wine tasting trip to Portland, Oregon in April. The dates of our trip to Portland were chosen because of the half marathon that will take place there. The Portland, Oregon Race for the Roses will be held on April 15, 2007.

Only one of my traveling companions runs. She is a dedicated runner trying to run a half-marathon in each state over the next few years. The rest of us had planned to sleep in while she was running the race. But, when we went to the race web-site we saw that in addition to the half marathon there is a 5K walk/run which anyone can participate in. We have now changed our plans and rather than sleep in we will walk the 5K.

The Race for the Roses in Portland, Oregon benefits the Albertina Kerr Centers. Registration for the walk is $25 if done prior to April 2.