E-Reading for your health

We could open our own medical library at our house. Medical journals are piled up on the coffee table, brochures for health products languish on the kitchen counter with the rest of the mail, and yes, health magazines are stacked in the bathroom too. Maybe that's what happens when you're married to a doctor.

As most of you know by now, I love technology. Those journals and magazines? They're my husband's. I prefer to read current events, including health and fitness news, online. I love how I can use links in an article to explore a topic in more depth... or open a new browser window and Google an author to find out what else they've written.

I make sure I read at least little bit of health news every day as I scan all the international and national news, entertainment gossip, the weather, and politics. Being in the know about new health and fitness developments and discoveries is exciting and useful.

There are many ways you can make any kind of reading more available on the web. Of course you can always bookmark your favorite news sites, blogs, and other sources.

Google and Yahoo both use widgets to make information appear automatically on your personalized Google or Yahoo page. I've added a "widget" to my Google page called The World's Healthiest Foods. (If you don't use iGoogle, you can also just read The World's Healthiest Foods by itself.) Every week this widget focuses on a healthy food (this week's is broccoli), and usually includes at least one recipe for that food.

Many news sites allow you to customize what kind of news you see once you've created a (usually free) account. Today while reading the news on the MSNBC website, because I've added the Health section to my customized page, I found an article on getting the starch out of my dinners.

In addition to links found on web pages, there are lots of websites that will email  free subscription newsletters. Shape Magazine, a mainstay of the fitness reader, has many email newsletters to help you stay motivated and smart: Just go to this website, check the boxes for the newsletters you want, and fill in your email address.

If you got an iPad or other tablet for a gift this holiday season, there are so many apps out there that it'll require a whole new article to explore just a few of the health and fitness-related. But here are some links to get your started:
iFit: 50 Coolest Fitness and Health Apps for the iPhone (most of these can also be used on an iPad as well)
Top Ten iTunes Health Apps of 2011
For example, I was excited to find a Yoga app that lets me design my own routines. The tablets open a whole new exciting dimension and lots of possibilities.

I think keeping health and fitness news in my digital life can't help but be a reminder to stay on a healthy track. If you're reading this blog, chances are you like to get your information online, too. Please share with us if you find something interesting!