It's part of our human nature to compare ourselves to others. But in a world where money is king and the perfect body can be bought for the right price, it can be damaging to judge ourselves by other people's standards. Last week, we asked you if you were in the habit if comparing yourself to others ... and you spoke up. The results were pretty clear:

• 63% of you compare yourself to others all the time -- you can't help it.
  
• 31% of you only do it sometimes.
  
• 5% of you never do.
  
  

Wow -- it''s very clear that we can't help making comparisons often. Comparing yourself to others isn't necessarily a bad thing -- just make sure you have realistic expectations of your own self and body.

When you're watching what you eat, that doesn't mean snacks have to hit the highway. On the contrary, actually. Snacking can be part of a healthful diet. When you choose the right snacks, they can be helpful in maintaining stable blood sugar and can help ward off the cravings that hit when you get overly hungry.

Fresh fruit or veggies are always a good choice for snacking ... but that's kind of a no-brainer. If you're in the mood for more of a treat, it's not as easy to determine what your best options are.

Cooking Light did some side-by-side comparisons of relatively healthy treats. Take hummus and salsa for example. Two tablespoons of hummus with carrot sticks has about 60 calories, 3 grams of fat, 1 gram of fiber, and 105 milligrams of sodium. Two tablespoons of salsa with tortilla chips has 147 calories, 7 grams of fat, 0.5 gram of fiber, and 187 milligrams of sodium.

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Our pals over at DS Fanboy have taken an in-depth look at the pros and cons of practicing yoga guided by a DVD (Yoga for Beginners) versus using the Nintendo DS game, Let's Yoga. First, there was an awesome review of Let's Yoga, and overall, they were fans.

However, as with any at-home automated guide (including a DVD), it's easy to cheat or do poses incorrectly. The game itself sounds like it's easy to navigate and follow, and it has lots and lots of short lessons, so you can tailor your yoga workout to fit into your schedule.

After reading the review, I checked out the comparison, and, long story short, the game totally won. To demonstrate the differences, DS Fanboy provided a chart highlighting similarities and differences, so if you have a particular concern (like you don't want an annoying instructor), you can easily see which option would work best for you. I'm not normally a huge fan of video games, but this sounds like a cool way to get involved in yoga without dragging your karma-challenged butt to a class.

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Most people, when told they need a major medical procedure or surgery, simply go to whatever hospital their doctor has it scheduled in -- without a second thought. But in the face of a new trend that may no longer be the case in many situations. Washington, in response to state lawmaker's requests, has created a website that makes hospital pricing for medical procedures, surgery, and other information like customer service more easily accessible to the public. The idea being that if you're told you need knee surgery, for example, you can look it up online and see at a glance which hospitals charge more or less, and which have better patient teaching and end-result track records.

Not to say that your doctor isn't referring you to the best hospital in his opinion, but it's just that -- his opinion. I think it's awesome that patient's can now take a more active part in how and when they are treated, and this has to be having a positive impact on how the hospitals manage things. Plus I can honestly say, from experience, that the last thing on most doctor's minds is making sure you get the best deal financially. That's entirely up to you.

Can't wait until this catches on in my area.

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