A peek at useful health and fitness books, magazines and Web sites

By Barb Berggoetz
barb.berggoetz@indystar.com

» If you're having trouble managing your diabetes, The New Glucose Revolution for Diabetes (Marlowe & Co., $16.95) may have some good advice for you. It was written by four of the foremost authorities on diabetes and the glycemic index, led by University of Sydney nutrition professor Dr. Jennie Brand-Miller. They offer real-life solutions on how to deal with sugar, nutritive sweeteners, alcohol, snacks and eating out. You can learn how to use the glycemic index as an effective weight-control strategy.

» A self-healing program that combines daily exercise with practical psychotherapy is described in The Body Mind Soul Solution: Healing Emotional Pain through Exercise (Pegasus Books, $15.95), by Bob Livingstone, a licensed social worker who has worked as a psychotherapist for 19 years. With the mind and body working in concert -- exercise stimulating the brain -- painful emotional issues begin to be resolved, says the author. Improved mental health is accomplished by integrating into daily workouts the psychotherapeutic technique of self-questioning, asking yourself about grief, anger, trauma and other emotions and life events. Journaling after exercise is also an important part of the practice.

» Would text message reminders get you to exercise more regularly? If so, check out www.extracon.com. The Web site by Extracon Science, based in Memphis, offers a free and interactive "virtual coach" by text message called EcFit. EcFit users can get exercise reminders, tracking and feedback via two-way text messages. EcFit has a library of reminders and feedback, so you get something different each time. You can also create personalized reminders and feedback.

» If your workouts aren't producing results, you might be making some of the six workout mistakes highlighted in April's Prevention magazine. Bad practices are: sacrificing form for speed, exercising while thirsty, reading on the treadmill, running if you hate it, doing only cardio and trusting gym-machine calorie-burn estimates.