Working out on the road By Pat Regel After the holidays, you had a serious talk with yourself and decided to take action. So far, you’ve dropped ten pounds, and your personal commitment to getting back in shape is starting to pay off. But, now you have a problem. How can you exercise while you’re traveling? You don’t have to check into a hotel that offers gym facilities just tuck one of these books into your luggage. Each is relatively small and describes in words and pictures exercises that you can do in your hotel room without any special equipment.

Karen Bressler’s compact Workout on the Go (Andrews McMeel, $10.95, 0836265319) is the smallest of the three books and even comes with a fitness band that you can use while doing the exercises. Anyone who has used a fitness band can attest to its effectiveness in toning and firming muscles. A band increases the intensity of your workout, and intensity makes the difference between a workout that yields results and one that doesn’t. Not wild about exercising with elastic? Bressler also includes upper and lower body exercises that use only the furniture in your hotel room. Fitness bands have been around for some 30 years and haven’t changed much. They’re still perfect for travelers because they weigh practically nothing, are easy to pack, and simple to use.

A Flat Stomach ASAP (Pocket Books, $16, 0671014080) by Ellington Darden explains not only how to tighten and shrink your stomach but also guarantees inch loss all over your body. Dr. Darden is a nationally renowned fitness expert with some 40 health and fitness books to his credit. His new step-by-step program details a method that helps you lose from 7 to 11 pounds of fat and 2 1/2 inches from your midsection in two weeks. His no-fad strategy is based on eating five mini-meals a day, superhydrating, and performing super-slow strength training exercises for 30 minutes a few days a week. His program is designed especially for busy people on the go who don’t have access to gym equipment. The book’s remarkable before-and-after pictures provide enough encouragement to keep you dedicated and pointed in the direction of your goal. If you need extra motivation to stick to an exercise/diet program, Patrick The Sarge Avon provides it. His book, Boot Camp: The Sergeant’s Fitness and Nutrition Program gives you more than just pep talks: . . . spare me your whining and hit the deck, soldier. Get the idea? The Sarge combines military-style humor with sound instruction in his three-week fitness and nutrition program that has worked for thousands of real-life civilians. This program consists of 15 workout sessions that take 45 minutes each. As Avon states, . . . health and fitness are about progression, not maintenance. If you only do as many repetitions as you can until you start to feel the exercise, you will not progress. You must push beyond that point. Get used to it now! Good advice. The idea that fitness is a journey, not a destination, becomes crystal clear. Take a lesson: If your only goal is to fit into a smaller dress or jeans, it’s a shortsighted goal that will not help you get fit. Sooner or later, anyone who stays in shape is struck by a simple truth: There will never be a time when you can stop exercising or monitoring calorie intake. These three books keep you on the road to good health that must be traveled daily no matter where you happen to be.

Pat Regel writes, gardens, and weightlifts in Nashville.

Working out on the road By Pat Regel After the holidays, you had a serious talk with yourself and decided to take action. So far, you’ve dropped ten pounds, and your personal commitment to getting back in shape is starting to pay off. But, now you have a problem. How can you exercise while you’re traveling? You don’t have to check into a hotel that offers gym facilities just tuck one of these books into your luggage. Each is relatively small and describes in words and pictures exercises that you can do in your hotel room without any special equipment.

Karen Bressler’s compact Workout on the Go (Andrews McMeel, $10.95, 0836265319) is the smallest of the three books and even comes with a fitness band that you can use while doing the exercises. Anyone who has used a fitness band can attest to its effectiveness in toning and firming muscles. A band increases the intensity of your workout, and intensity makes the difference between a workout that yields results and one that doesn’t. Not wild about exercising with elastic? Bressler also includes upper and lower body exercises that use only the furniture in your hotel room. Fitness bands have been around for some 30 years and haven’t changed much. They’re still perfect for travelers because they weigh practically nothing, are easy to pack, and simple to use.

A Flat Stomach ASAP by Ellington Darden explains not only how to tighten and shrink your stomach but also guarantees inch loss all over your body. Dr. Darden is a nationally renowned fitness expert with some 40 health and fitness books to his credit. His new step-by-step program details a method that helps you lose from 7 to 11 pounds of fat and 2 1/2 inches from your midsection in two weeks. His no-fad strategy is based on eating five mini-meals a day, superhydrating, and performing super-slow strength training exercises for 30 minutes a few days a week. His program is designed especially for busy people on the go who don’t have access to gym equipment. The book’s remarkable before-and-after pictures provide enough encouragement to keep you dedicated and pointed in the direction of your goal. If you need extra motivation to stick to an exercise/diet program, Patrick The Sarge Avon provides it. His book, Boot Camp: The Sergeant’s Fitness and Nutrition Program (Simon ∧ Schuster, $12, 0684848996) gives you more than just pep talks: . . . spare me your whining and hit the deck, soldier. Get the idea? The Sarge combines military-style humor with sound instruction in his three-week fitness and nutrition program that has worked for thousands of real-life civilians. This program consists of 15 workout sessions that take 45 minutes each. As Avon states, . . . health and fitness are about progression, not maintenance. If you only do as many repetitions as you can until you start to feel the exercise, you will not progress. You must push beyond that point. Get used to it now! Good advice. The idea that fitness is a journey, not a destination, becomes crystal clear. Take a lesson: If your only goal is to fit into a smaller dress or jeans, it’s a shortsighted goal that will not help you get fit. Sooner or later, anyone who stays in shape is struck by a simple truth: There will never be a time when you can stop exercising or monitoring calorie intake. These three books keep you on the road to good health that must be traveled daily no matter where you happen to be.

Pat Regel writes, gardens, and weightlifts in Nashville.

Working out on the road By Pat Regel After the holidays, you had a serious talk with yourself and decided to take action. So far, you’ve dropped ten pounds, and your personal commitment to getting back in shape is starting to pay off. But, now you have a problem. How can you exercise while you’re traveling? You don’t have to check into a hotel that offers gym facilities just tuck one of these books into your luggage. Each is relatively small and describes in words and pictures exercises that you can do in your hotel room without any special equipment.

Karen Bressler’s compact Workout on the Go is the smallest of the three books and even comes with a fitness band that you can use while doing the exercises. Anyone who has used a fitness band can attest to its effectiveness in toning and firming muscles. A band increases the intensity of your workout, and intensity makes the difference between a workout that yields results and one that doesn’t. Not wild about exercising with elastic? Bressler also includes upper and lower body exercises that use only the furniture in your hotel room. Fitness bands have been around for some 30 years and haven’t changed much. They’re still perfect for travelers because they weigh practically nothing, are easy to pack, and simple to use.

A Flat Stomach ASAP (Pocket Books, $16, 0671014080) by Ellington Darden explains not only how to tighten and shrink your stomach but also guarantees inch loss all over your body. Dr. Darden is a nationally renowned fitness expert with some 40 health and fitness books to his credit. His new step-by-step program details a method that helps you lose from 7 to 11 pounds of fat and 2 1/2 inches from your midsection in two weeks. His no-fad strategy is based on eating five mini-meals a day, superhydrating, and performing super-slow strength training exercises for 30 minutes a few days a week. His program is designed especially for busy people on the go who don’t have access to gym equipment. The book’s remarkable before-and-after pictures provide enough encouragement to keep you dedicated and pointed in the direction of your goal. If you need extra motivation to stick to an exercise/diet program, Patrick The Sarge Avon provides it. His book, Boot Camp: The Sergeant’s Fitness and Nutrition Program (Simon ∧ Schuster, $12, 0684848996) gives you more than just pep talks: . . . spare me your whining and hit the deck, soldier. Get the idea? The Sarge combines military-style humor with sound instruction in his three-week fitness and nutrition program that has worked for thousands of real-life civilians. This program consists of 15 workout sessions that take 45 minutes each. As Avon states, . . . health and fitness are about progression, not maintenance. If you only do as many repetitions as you can until you start to feel the exercise, you will not progress. You must push beyond that point. Get used to it now! Good advice. The idea that fitness is a journey, not a destination, becomes crystal clear. Take a lesson: If your only goal is to fit into a smaller dress or jeans, it’s a shortsighted goal that will not help you get fit. Sooner or later, anyone who stays in shape is struck by a simple truth: There will never be a time when you can stop exercising or monitoring calorie intake. These three books keep you on the road to good health that must be traveled daily no matter where you happen to be.

Pat Regel writes, gardens, and weightlifts in Nashville.

Of course, you may be perfectly happy with your weight and physical condition some people are. But, like most, you’re probably . . . well, fed-up with eating regimens, exercise, and extra inches that don’t seem to come off no matter what you do. If this is the case, Just the Weigh You Are shows you how to improve your nutrition without dieting and how to exercise moderately with positive results. Authors Steven Jonas and Linda Konner propose a foolproof, natural approach to living that won’t make you feel deprived; the personal life histories of their everyday clients will sound all too familiar. This book teaches you how to accept yourself now, not 50 pounds later.

If he won’t stop and ask for directions, he probably won’t read this book but she will. When the Man You Love Won’t Take Care of His Health by Ken Goldberg is a helpful guide for women, who are more likely to be the caretakers in a relationship. Goldberg covers everything they need to know to help the men in their lives stay healthy, including the most common male health issues. He explains simple self-exams for the most common forms of male cancer, starting and maintaining an exercise program, male nutrition and weight loss, coping with prostate problems, stress, depression, impotence, STDs, and the biggest mystery of all why men don’t take care of themselves.

It probably won’t come as a surprise that the market for alternative medicine therapies has grown into a 14 billion dollar industry or that one-third of all Americans used such services last year. If you were one of those users, you’ll be interested in Energy Medicine by Donna Eden. Practitioners of T’ai Chi Ch’uan and other martial arts know the secrets of the body’s energy flow and how to control it, but now, Eden offers the everyday consumer a practical guide for managing these energies. For 22 years, she has studied the subtle energies that underlie the body’s health and shown how certain therapies work with the body as an energy system. Her case studies, recent supportive research, and program for personal self-care warrant a closer look.

It’s no secret that Americans are known for the large portions of everything they can pile on a plate. Using American know-how, Carrie Latt Wiatt approaches weight gain from a different angle portion sizes. In her book, Portion Savvy: The 30-Day Smart Plan for Eating Well, Wiatt maps out an eating plan that satisfies the palate and reduces the weight. Her program matches intake to energy needs and includes perforated illustrations of right-size portions which pop out for easy reference. Wiatt’s unique informational snippets, kitchen savvy, and scientifically proven program make recipes like Chocolate-Orange Biscotti and Pizza with Shrimp, Mushrooms, and Red Pepper a weight watchers delight.

Personal trainer Kathy Kaehler believes in keeping exercise simple, especially if you spend most of your time working. She stresses that the average person doesn’t need to spend money on personal trainers, expensive equipment, or gym memberships to get fit. Her book, Real-World Fitness is designed to offer effective exercises that can be squeezed into everyone’s busy day. Kaehler also includes her 8 Weeks to a Show-Off Body, a program she developed for the Today Show, where she is a monthly contributor. Helpful photos demonstrate exercises, and the appendix suggests books, videos, Internet sites, and academic journals to take you further along the fitness path.

The Women’s Complete Wellness Book is a weighty tome that focuses on women’s wellness, instead of illness. Its message is rooted in prevention, taking women from puberty to pregnancy and on to menopause. It is an excellent resource for topics that are essential to women’s health, yet focuses on the key elements of wellness: becoming an informed consumer regarding health care providers, charting a family health history, mastering lifestyle choices such as proper diet, exercise, and stress reduction, and examining the body for early detection of various illnesses. Edited by doctors Debra Judelson and Diana Dell, the book is fully illustrated an indispensable resource for young and old.