My brother’s been talking about taking a trip to Cancun. We got to talking about how we’ve always heard that you shouldn’t drink the water in Mexico or you get really sick. We decided a colon cleanse might be preferable to the problems we’ve heard about people having. Curious why they say not to drink the water, we did a little reading. According to a few websites the water table there is close to the surface, therefore contaminated by dumps and runoff. Even one of the Cancun sites said visitors should drink bottled water. Hmmmm. Not exactly a visitor enticing thing, is it.

With summer approaching lots of people are trying harder to lose weight. Some exercise. Some take a diet pill. some count calories. No matter which way you’re doing it, I’ve always found a little help welcome. Some people prefer a little inspiration. There’s a website called WeightView that allows people to upload a current photo and after entering their current weight they’ll receive a computerized image of how they’ll look at their target weight. The site is free to join and offers a member community as well.

Money is getting tighter and tighter these days. There are still a lot of people out there with no health insurance, as well as countless others with poor coverage. Two women in my office have actually started diagnosing and treating their own minor illnesses based only on reading. There are some things, like diabetes, that I feel must be followed by a doctor. Other things, like whether or not Colonix really works are another matter. I found a website called AskADoctor that allows people that submit a question online to receive answers from three licensed doctors by email for one fee. I myself probably wouldn’t do it but I can see where people with no insurance might find it helpful.

If you’ve seen the show The Biggest Loser you probably know who Jillian Michaels is. A diet trend that I’ve heard is doing well is holding the Biggest Loser contests within groups on a local level. Everyone meets up and puts money in. Participants meet every week for a weigh in. At the end of a certain number of weeks the person who’s lost the most weight gets half of the money. The other half of the money goes to the group sponsoring the meetings, who is also selling their products there as well. It seems like a good way for people who are competitive to stay motivated to lose weight.

Have you ever been to the doctor and had to fill out one of those long questionnaires? Did you know all of the answers? That is to say, did you know what diseases your relatives have had? It’s important, because a genetic factor is very strong in some things. Here’s a project that will help you learn more about your family and prepare you for the next time you’re presented with those questions. Construct a family health tree.

That’s right, I said a family health tree. Have some fun learning more about your background and tracing your ancestors. While building the tree you’re going to encounter some of those same facts that doctors ask such as the family member’s name and their place and date of birth. But you could also include their blood type, allergies, immunizations, illnesses and surgeries. You’ll learn more about your background and be a little more prepared for those questions in the doctor’s office.