Kids sometimes look as if they're glued to their cell phones. If they could only complete their homework as quickly as they can send text messages, they'd really be set. Even better: Maybe text messaging could also help them lose weight.

Researchers are actually questioning if text messaging could become a weight management tool. We already know that keeping a journal of weight loss or other health-related goals is a tried and true method. However, many people can't stick to journaling for the long-term because it can become tedious. A recent study followed three groups -- one that monitored health goals through text messaging, one that kept a paper journal, and one that didn't self-monitor progress at all. The study included children (ages 5-13) and their parents. The group reporting progress via text message had a lower attrition rate and had significantly greater adherence to self-monitoring.

I think keeping track of weight loss progress through text messaging is a great idea -- it's convenient and it could offer instant feedback. However, I question whether it's a good idea for children and teens. Weight loss is obviously the primary goal when a child or teen is obese, but another goal must be protecting/correcting the child's relationship with food and bolstering their self-esteem. Will reporting their progress through text messaging be motivating or demeaning? What do you think?

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Does blogging about your weight loss progress lighten the load? Or is it just dead weight? Blogger Jessica from Jezebel pondered this question in a recent post.

Blogging can be the ultimate weight loss journal. Recording your progress in a journal is a tried and true tactic to keep you on track. And when you put the information out there for anyone to see, well, that's just more reason to stay on course. In addition, there is a wide ring of weight-loss bloggers out there -- starting your own blog and following along with others can be a great source of camaraderie and support.

But I can also see how a weight-loss blog could become a burden. Particularly if it is a paid blogging position, as in the example on Jezebel. It is possible that the pressure of reporting your actions/progress on a blog may lead you to make decisions you otherwise wouldn't. Losing weight isn't a short-term game -- it's a long-term process. Healthy eating and exercising are habits that have to last a lifetime, but everyone has days where they eat birthday cake or skip an exercise session. Even weight-loss bloggers have to give themselves enough room to live a little.

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Journaling, or keeping a diary, has been shown to have amazing benefits. It can lower your stress level, help you let go of what's bothering you, raise self esteem, and assist you in clarifying your wants and needs in life. It's cheap, and it's easy, but a lot of people still have a really hard time with it.

It's not hard for me to sit down and write a couple pages on my thoughts of the day (or, even just a particular episode). But then again, I'm a writer -- that's what I do.

The thing that seems to throw the people I've talked to for a loop is trying to write something to and for themselves -- they're able to write letters to other people, and they can write a paper if you give them a topic, but they have a hard time just sitting down and writing whatever comes to mind, just for the heck of it. I've got some suggestions (some are courtesy of RedBook) that might make it a little easier to get started. Leave a comment if any of these, or something else, has worked for you!

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I'm thinking back to the dinner I had last night. I'm visualizing it: Spinach lettuce, red grapes, shredded carrots, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, topped with salmon. No dressing. Just a bowl full of healthy stuff, all mixed together, simply scrumptious.

This visualization exercise is intended to cause me to eat fewer calories today. Not sure it's working. I think it's making me hungry instead.

According to the August issue of The Oprah Magazine, the findings of a study published in the journal Physiology & Behavior (2008) reveal that women who wrote a detailed description of their last meal (it happened to be lunch for this study) ate fewer cookies than those who didn't. OK, so maybe I should have written down my dinner items. No. I don't think that would have worked any better. Obviously, for some, journaling past meals does work. Might want to try it and see if it works for you.

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Losing weight can be a tricky business. Despite all the fancy programs and diet claims, weight loss boils down to one thing: burning more calories than you consume. But if you're not careful, you may be consuming more calories than your realize.

Counting calories seems so hopelessly 1980's, though, doesn't it? And, let's face it, tracking every calorie is a bit of a pain. But a food diary doesn't have to be an obsessive tabulation of every little thing -- it's merely a way for you to ensure you're getting a balanced, nutritious diet in the range of calories you want to consume.

It's a habit that is well worth the effort. A Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research study found that participants who kept a food diary lost almost twice as much weight as those who didn't.

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Do you have trouble sleeping sometimes? Yeah. Me too. Standard recommendations for getting a good night's rest include going to bed at the same time each night, avoiding caffeine and alcohol before bed, exercising regularly, and avoiding daytime naps. It's also good to make your bedroom a restful environment -- not for working or other activities, just for sleeping. Also, avoid using the computer and watching TV just before bed.

But what works for one person, doesn't work for everyone. In my case, it's almost necessary to sleep with the TV on. The main reason I can't sleep at night is I just can't turn my brain off enough to rest. Leaving the TV set on some old re-runs allows me to distract myself enough from worrying but yet not pay too much attention. That way, I'm able to get to sleep. It's odd, and it's completely opposite of the typical suggestions, but it's what works for me.

BBC Health users submitted some tips for beating insomnia. The tips include playing Sudoku, counting backward from 300, and writing down everything that's on your mind. They certainly aren't the most common recommendations, but they must work for the people who sent in the idea. How about you? What are your tips for a better night's sleep?

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Several years ago my father had a cancer scare. Pre-surgery, the doctor's exact words were "I'll be floored if this isn't cancer." My oldest sister, an RN, gathered all of my siblings and my mom together and talked to us. She told us how incredibly important it is to maintain a good attitude and to be strong. Our dad was going to need us to be strong so that he could go through any emotions he needed to. He also needed us to be strong so that, after his initial anger, grief, and fear, he could find his own strength again.

During my dad's surgery to remove 3/4 of his right lung, my sisters, brother, mom and I sat and held each other's hands. Knowing this was the moment to be scared because after we knew for sure that it was cancer, it was time to rally the troops. Once the biopsy was back, however, I guess my dad's doctor was "floored." It wasn't cancer after all. But the scare really brought our family together and showed me how important attitude is for recovery.

Doctors know how emotional illnesses like cancer can be. And the connection between a positive mindset and healing is well known. So this trial that includes journaling (or "expressive writing") as part of an overall cancer treatment plan makes great sense. 63 leukemia or lymphoma patients were asked to journal for 20 minutes as well as complete pre- and post-writing surveys. Nearly 50% of participants felt that journaling changed how they thought about their illness and improved their quality of life. 35% thought writing changed the way they felt about cancer. The vast majority of the patients wrote positively about their experiences.

Take this AOL Body quiz to see if you're do what you can to avoid cancer.

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It can be hard to pull yourself out of a negative rut, but here's some good news: it seems negative feelings and emotional pains can be helped by simply putting them into words. When study participants were shown angry faces their brains triggered a "danger" response, but when they called the face what it was -- "angry" -- a different area of the brain became active. Talking with somebody, journaling, or any other way you can use to "label" the emotion triggers brain responses that are designed to manage emotions and essentially "put the brakes" on bad feelings.

I think most people agree that talking things out with somebody or writing in a journal can help a lot with emotions of all kinds, but who knew it had such a scientific basis? Does it work for you?

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