This volume presents criteria for evaluating treatment programs for obesity and explores what these criteria mean--to health care providers, program designers, researchers, and even overweight people seeking help. Discusses information necessary to make wise program choices and evaluations; examines how client demographics and characteristics--including health status, knowledge of weight-loss issues, and attitude toward weight and body image--affect these programs.

Whether we're buying a pair of jeans, ordering a cup of coffee, selecting a long-distance carrier, applying to college, choosing a doctor, or setting up a 401(k), everyday decisions—both big and small—have become increasingly complex due to the overwhelming abundance of choice with which we are presented. As Americans, we assume that more choice means better options and greater satisfaction. But beware of excessive choice: choice overload can make you question the decisions you make before you even make them, it can set you up for unrealistically high expectations, and it can make you blame yourself for any and all failures. In the long run, this can lead to decision-making paralysis, anxiety, and perpetual stress. And, in a culture that tells us that there is no excuse for falling short of perfection when your options are limitless, too much choice can lead to clinical depression. In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz explains at what point choice—the hallmark of individual freedom and self-determination that we so cherish—becomes detrimental to our psychological and emotional well-being. In accessible, engaging, and anecdotal prose, Schwartz shows how the dramatic explosion in choice—from the mundane to the profound challenges of balancing career, family, and individual needs—has paradoxically become a problem instead of a solution. Schwartz also shows how our obsession with choice encourages us to seek that which makes us feel worse. By synthesizing current research in the social sciences, Schwartz makes the counter intuitive case that eliminating choices can greatly reduce the stress, anxiety, and busyness of our lives. He offers eleven practical steps on how to limit choices to a manageable number, have the discipline to focus on those that are important and ignore the rest, and ultimately derive greater satisfaction from the choices you have to make.

How economic analysis can help us design economic policies to address the looming challenges of global warming As scientific and observational evidence on global warming piles up every day, questions of economic policy in this central environmental topic have taken center stage. But as author and prominent Yale economist William Nordhaus observes, the issues involved in understanding global warming and slowing its harmful effects are complex and cross disciplinary boundaries. For example, ecologists see global warming as a threat to ecosystems, utilities as a debit to their balance sheets, and farmers as a hazard to their livelihoods. In this important work, William Nordhaus integrates the entire spectrum of economic and scientific research to weigh the costs of reducing emissions against the benefits of reducing the long-run damages from global warming. The book offers one of the most extensive analyses of the economic and environmental dynamics of greenhouse-gas emissions and climate change and provides the tools to evaluate alternative approaches to slowing global warming. The author emphasizes the need to establish effective mechanisms, such as carbon taxes, to harness markets and harmonize the efforts of different countries. This book not only will shape discussion of one the world's most pressing problems but will provide the rationales and methods for achieving widespread agreement on our next best move in alleviating global warming.

The four principles that can help us to overcome our brains' natural biases to make better, more informed decisions--in our lives, careers, families and organizations. In Decisive, Chip Heath and Dan Heath, the bestselling authors of Made to Stick and Switch, tackle the thorny problem of how to overcome our natural biases and irrational thinking to make better decisions, about our work, lives, companies and careers. When it comes to decision making, our brains are flawed instruments. But given that we are biologically hard-wired to act foolishly and behave irrationally at times, how can we do better? A number of recent bestsellers have identified how irrational our decision making can be. But being aware of a bias doesn't correct it, just as knowing that you are nearsighted doesn't help you to see better. In Decisive, the Heath brothers, drawing on extensive studies, stories and research, offer specific, practical tools that can help us to think more clearly about our options, and get out of our heads, to improve our decision making, at work and at home.

Find Your Way Home! What is keeping YOU from coming home to your family? Are you a working parent looking for a way to leave the paid workforce to become a stay-at-home parent? Or, are you a stay-at-home parent looking for a way to successfully maintain your home-based lifestyle? Whether you are currently at home, or in the process of looking for a way to come home, this is the book for you. Finding Your Way Home offers comprehensive step-by-step strategies to help you plan and implement an exit from the workforce, and create a sustainable life at home with your family. In this book, you will: - Learn why a stay-at-home parent is so beneficial to children of all ages. - Discover how having a parent at home can improve your health, marriage, family life, and yes, even your budget! - Analyze your options for working: full-time, part-time, home-based business, free-lance, or stay-at-home parenting full-time. - Learn how to cut household expenses. - Create a new one-income household budget. - Conquer fear and turn in your resignation! - Maintain your self-esteem and overcome resistance once at home. - Create new home-based routines and become a successful household manager. - Create a safe haven: a relaxed, secure, and sustainable home-based lifestyle for the whole family! Based on the author's extensive research, interviews with dozens of parents and her highly personal account of her own struggle to find her way home, this book offers everything a parent needs to come home successfully. Finding Your Way Home will be referred to again and again as you transition to the calmer, less hurried, and family-focused lifestyle of your dreams.

A penny saved may be a penny earned, but a penny invested can be even more. In this financial crisis, old advice about equities, mutual funds, commodities, and real estate may no longer hold. Here is a fresh look at all aspects of investing to help readers protect and grow their wealth. This edition includes the most current information on: • Corporate fundamentals • The sub-prime crisis and its effects • Practical tools for evaluating mutual funds • Advice about riding the equity market • The use of Exchange Traded Funds

Even the most successful people in the world are not exempt from failure. In fact, they have probably failed more times than the average person! Most of them have failed spectacularly and fallen flat on their faces. The truth is, successful people are people just like you and me. At one time, they were exactly like the majority of the population – living average lives and nursing their bruised egos and hiding away in their comfort zones. However, they had big dreams. And they were passionate about their dreams. No matter how life tried to knock them down, they bounced back and fought with every fiber of their being. They overcame their failures and mistakes, they learned from the experience, and eventually came out stronger and more confident.