Health

And you think you text too much: Some people actually send messages (often gibberish) in the wee hours of the night without knowing it.

Ladies, we tend to beat ourselves up. And our self-loathing extends to all kinds of things — from sleeping with the "wrong" guy (or dating that same guy for a year, despite all possible warning signs) and ordering the flourless chocolate cake for dessert (after two helpings of pie!), to the raise we never asked for or the project we're happy to let others take credit for.

We all have our dirty little secrets, and we certainly have our bad habits. From gnawing on our fingernails to being a sucker for a pretty face, our worst habits are often the toughest to break.

On Monday of this week, the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canadian Institute for Health Information released a joint 62-page report on obesity in Canada (PDF). Dr. Arya Sharma is an internationally-renowned Canadian obesity researcher who referred to this report as “thoughtful, insightful, and thorough...” I’ve been reading Dr. Sharma’s blogs for a while, and this is a guy who doesn’t pull punches. He had largely good things to say about the report, but criticised the way the media covered it.

A story by Jeannine Stein at the LA Times — "Happily married? That's good news if you're undergoing bypass" — looks at the benefits that long-term coupling can have on recovery rates, especially if you're in a happy relationship.