LOOKS, LIVERS AND LOVE

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Which brings us to that age-old question: Is it better to have lost and gained than never to have lost at all? The best approach to this complex issue is to eat a low-fat, highcomplex-carbohydrate diet and get regular aerobic exercise. Permanent weight loss is the goal (who wants to do this again), so select a program that will help change your lifestyle. Even if you've been a yo-yo dieter in the past, don't despair; you can still take control of your weight. It may just require a little more patience and effort this time around—and, most of all, a determination to maintain that hard-earned loss.

How Far, Not How Fast

"Distance is more important than pace," say Dr. Terry Kavanagh, a cardiologist at the Toronto Rehabilitation Center, after comparing the cholesterol profiles of two groups of runners averaging seven- and 10-minute miles and walkers taking 16 minutes to cover a mile. All exercisers lowered overall cholesterol levels equally and improved the proportion of high-density lipoproteins (HDLs, the "good" protective cholesterol), provided they covered the same distance. The most significant changes occurred beyond 12 miles a week, whether walking or running.

Togetherness

A study of long-term relationships found that the longer a couple had been together, the closer their scores of math and vocabulary tests became. But, because of economic factors, husbands influenced their wives' intelligence more than wives influenced their husbands', since a smart wife may not earn enough to improve her husband's lifestyle (hence mind), while intelligent husbands, who are apt to be well-off, often have extensive opportunities for self-improvement. In yet another study of couples' recent and long-ago photos, it was discovered that spouses even grow to look like one another. What's more, the couples who looked most alike were the happiest.

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