Yesterday, our family joined some friends on a outing to the North Carolina Carnivore Preservation Trust, where we saw a bunch of very large cats, including a 700-pound tiger who was truly breathtaking. The thing about cats, as Dr. John McDougall reminds us, is that Keep Reading…

Q: I want to eat right, but I find it hard to make the right choices all the time. Help! Keep Reading…

Q: I read an article about German scientists isolating a cancer-fighting compound in hops called Xanthohumol, and creating a beer with ten times the normal amount of this substance. Would you drink it?

A: How does it taste?

Seriously, this question brings up three points. First, lots of foods that aren't particularly good for you do contain certain nutrients. Smart marketers will use these scientific tidbits to tell us to feel good, not guilty, about eating those foods. Keep Reading…

Life puts a lot of demands on us: the question is how to balance work, family, and our own desire to better ourselves. Eating right and exercising are both things we intend to do, but often we fall short on these goals. Whether we're unmotivated to work out, too busy to get to the gym on a regular basis, or reluctant to trade time with the family for 45 minutes on a treadmill, there are solutions.

The first principle of fitness is to "play out, not work out." Let's start by rediscovering the fun activities we enjoyed as kids: hiking, jump roping, dancing around the house to the radio, or playing tag with the dog. By modifying a few of your mental preconceptions, it's definitely possible to feel as lean and vital and strong as you did when you were a kid. It might even be fun.

Many of us confuse taking care of ourselves with selfishness – in fact it's just the opposite. If you want to provide service, you must be well and strong. If you want to show love to others, you must have a well of self-love to draw upon.

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Many fitness and nutrition experts act and speak as if they have "all the answers." When you hear this attitude from someone, run away screaming. 

We're all different, and one size will never fit all. The important thing is not to do it perfectly, but to do it at all. Experiment – the timing of workouts, rest, and eating is an infinitely variable thing, and we all do things we think we're "supposed" to do, that may not be serving us at all.

I don't eat much breakfast, for example. All the books say I need a big breakfast, but I don't. A morning meditation session and some light exercise, following by a piece of fruit or a fruit smoothie will keep me happy and sharp all morning.

Now, there are definitely "best practices" and ranges of well and unwell habits. I doubt you could find the person who will thrive on 3 meals a day at McDonalds. But is everyone suited to be a raw-foodist, or a vegan, or a vegetarian, or a swimmer, or a meditator? No. You will be attracted to experts who look like they've "got it all together" – and absolutely challenge yourself to get better and better yourself by modeling them. 

But model their curiosity and commitment to self-discovery at least as much as you model their tactics.

Look for good research to guide you, but in the details, be your own scientist.