Welcome back to Dimensions Healthy Living!, a place to learn more about developing and living a healthier lifestyle. In this issue, you’ll find a variety of tips, tools, and links to sources on health and wellness as well as an exclusive interview with Barbara Howard, PhD, professor in the Department of Medicine, at the Georgetown University School of Medicine, about motivation. If there is a particular topic you’d like to see covered, click here to let us know.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way, so states the cliché. Then why do some of us have such difficulty making the positive changes that we know we should make in our lives? We asked Barbara Howard, PhD, professor in the Department of Medicine, at the Georgetown University School of Medicine. Click here to see the interview in its entirety.

We all know that fruits and vegetables provide essential vitamins and minerals, and are an important component of a healthy diet. If you’re like most people, you also know that you don’t eat nearly enough. For ideas on how to incorporate more fruits and veggies into your diet, click here to view the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “Fruits & Veggies Matter” homepage.

Getting more exercise during the day doesn’t necessarily mean joining a gym or even jogging a mile or two after work. Every day activities—like gardening, scrubbing the floors, even painting the kitchen, can help you reach your fitness goals. Learn more from Karen Miller-Kovach, MS, RD, chief scientist at Weight Watchers International by clicking here.

No longer limited to yoga practitioners, deep breathing is an easy way for just about anyone to deal with stress and anxiety. So the next time you’re tempted to grab a cookie when you’re stressed, try deep breathing instead. Click here to learn a simple six-part breathing routine from Weight Watchers Online.

How much water should you drink each day? If you answered eight 8-ounce glasses, you’re not alone. This is a widely recommended guideline, which according to an article published in the June 2008 issue of The Journal of American Society for Nephrology, has no basis in scientific fact. The fact is that the amount of water you need depends on many factors, including your general health, how much you exercise, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, and where you live. To learn more, click here to read, “Water and Health” by Karen Miller-Kovach or here to view “Water: How Much Should You Drink Everyday?” from MayoClinic.com.

When it comes to weight loss, it’s often hard to decipher fact from fiction. Here are two looks at some of the most commonly held misconceptions about weight loss, nutrition, and fitness. From the National Institutes of Health, click here to read “Weight-loss and Nutrition Myths” and from Psychology Today, “Weight Loss Myths Blasted.”

Make pain-free dental hygiene practice part of your reality by incorporating basic preventive strategies and ergonomic principles into your routine. Learn more about common physical injuries and what you can do to prevent them by clicking here to access, “Making the Principles of Ergonomics Work for You” by Tabitha Tavoc, RDH, MEd, and Marylou E. Gutmann, RDH, MA. This article was first published in the January 2005 issue of Dimensions.