Blog Posts by Jessica Ashley, Senior Editor

Most of the new moms I've known have a stack of pregnancy, child development, and parenting books that could rival some libraries. They are piled up on the night stand, tucked into a cushion of the couch, stuck away in a work bag. Sure, they have sites they visit and women they call on for advice. But the books? They are always there to offer up info on fruit your fetus is comparable in size to and how in the world to use that snorkler thing to aspirate snot from a sick baby's nose. There's something trusty about the words on the page, at least when it comes to the unknown territory of vaccinations and how much caffeine it is OK to consume.

But what if you aren't gifted hundreds of dollars worth of books? Or are too busy working multiple jobs to squeeze in reading chapter after chapter? Or have to return what you've poured over to library every two weeks? What if what would serve you and your baby best was really just basic information, a quick and easy read with medical

It's Veterans Day and that means Facebook status updates, Twitter feeds, and forwarded emails are full of flag waving and hat tipping for the people who have served and are serving our country in the military. I like to see those moments of honor and it also makes me wonder what we tangible things we can do to show our thanks.

I think one company may have figured it out. HydroMassage is offering anyone who has served in the U.S. military a free massage from November 11 - 14.

The company says they hope to provide some stress relief to veterans and that their HydroMassage systems use specially-made beds that "combine the soothing benefits of water, heat and massage, while allowing users to remain clothed and comfortably dry throughout their experience."

Print off the coupon at the bottom of this page for yourself or for a loved one who has served, then check the map for participating locations to redeem a massage in your area.

Massage has been shown to not only ease achy muscles, but

After ditching the gushy white bread for whole grains, meticulously stripping your kitchen cabinets of anything with high-fructose corn syrup, minding your portions, gulping down gallons of water, and eating superfoods like antioxidants could soon be extinct, wouldn't it just piss you off to hear that some guy in the middle of the country lost a whole bunch of weight on a diet of Twinkies, Doritos, and Mountain Dew?

Would it irk you even more to know that, in the process of consuming Corn Pops and packaged brownies, his good cholesterol (HDL) went up, his bad cholesterol (LDL) went down, his triglycerides decreased, and his BMI got to a happy place? And that he did it all as an experiment?

Oh, yes. That's right. Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University spent ten weeks on a junk-food diet to see if simply reducing caloric intake would lead to weight-loss, even if the food is not nutritious. After Haub dropped 27 pounds, it seems the conclusion -- no matter

One more study confirms what many of us have already heard: You are more likely to be obese if you have obese friends.

It makes sense. When work is tough, we call our girlfriends for nachos and commiseration. On road trips with a football game at our alma mater, we cheer as we swing through a drive-thru. We're so happy to make our schedules work over the holidays with our closest friends, that we stack the buffet table with drippy, greasy, comforting splurges. In the joyous occasions, tough times, and rituals, our friends are there, often bearing calories, fat grams, and trigger foods along with the hugs, inside jokes, and support.

Of course, friendships are not that simple and how we get -- or risk getting -- obese is not that simple either. Some of us have friends who run alongside us, encourage us to get back to eating well at home, or provide inspiration and a shining example of health and wellness. And that's great and how should be and, according to this most recent research,

I am one of those people who wears a seat belt in a taxi cab. While my friends slide in effortlessly and I'm fumbling for a place to click the belt, they tease me and I laugh it off. I wouldn't ride in my own car without a seat belt, so why wouldn't I buckle up in a cab? Plus, that strange feeling of nakedness when the strap's not across me always seems to whisper the thousand dangers of an unprotected $15-ride.

I've been a seat belt safety girl for years. Until last month when -- and I don't have any reason at all for this -- I hopped in a cab after a concert, chatting happily with the friend who was sitting next to me, and did not put it on.

That was a mistake, because about ten blocks later, our cab was in an accident. It wasn't the taxi driver's fault, but he did t-bone another car and by grace or luck or something wonderful I can't even remember doing years ago, nobody involved was seriously hurt. I did get whiplash that has led to discomfort and chiropractic care, but that is

When I see Madonna sitting in the front row of a Dolce & Gabbana show or photos of her rehearsing for her next world tour, I'm inspired to make my dominatrix outfits look a little more classy, to steer clear of the cat-ifying cosmetic surgery, and maybe consider dating a 25-year old sexually ambiguous back-up dancer or hunky athlete. But what I am not called to do is jump on a treadmill or bust out some Capoiera.

The inspiration to hit the yoga mat or run five miles comes from some deeply lodged desire to feel better in my own body, to keep up with women I know who are running marathons and looking more fabulous than ever at 40, to eat cleaner and feel centered and sane. I just don't get why in the world we'd need Madonna's name stamped on a gym to actually sign up for one.

Alas, Madonna's in partnership with her manager, Guy Oseary, and Mark Mastrov, the man behind 24 Hour Fitness, to open gyms called Hard Candy Fitness. The first will open next month in Mexico City, with plans to

Hazmat trucks at the Georgetown dorm. credit: Chris Bien/The HoyaOver the weekend, two Georgetown freshman and a visiting student from the University of Richmond were arrested when a drug lab was discovered in their dorm room on campus.

Shortly after 5 a.m. on Saturday, the Metropolitan Police Department reports that they detained and then arrested John Romano, Charles Smith, and John Perrone, all from the class of '14, on the charge of manufacturing a controlled substance. While drugs were not found in the room, police say the chemicals necessary to create the hallucinogenic drug Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) were on the premises.

All three men could face 20 years of prison time and up to $1 million in fines, and, according to the campus paper, Georgetown students Romano and Smith may be eligible for suspension or dismissal for violating university drug and alcohol policies. University officials say that the DEA confirmed the drug was being produced in the freshman residence hall with the intent to sell.

DMT, often compared to LSD and confused with

If terms like "epidemic" and "public health emergency" and "national crisis" used to describe obesity aren't enough to scare you on to the treadmill or make you veer your cart away from the frozen pizza aisle toward fresh produce, then perhaps this statistic will: By the year 2020, it is projected that 3 out of 4 people will be obese.

That means that ten years from now, when you and three of your friends go out to dinner, all but one person at the table will be candidates for diabetes, stroke, depression, sleep apnea, cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, a reduced life span, and many other medical complications, not to mention "The Biggest Loser."

This startling information is a part of analysis conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), partly in collaboration with the World Health Organization, for its recently released publication "Obesity and the Economics of Prevention: Fit Not Fat."

"Before 1980, obesity rates were generally well