It’s tough to muster up an excuse to not exercise when you have a partner already waiting for you at the gym. It’s even harder to peter out mid-session when your partner’s workout depends on your full participation, according to a study cited in a 2012 article published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

Americans as a whole consume too much sugar, that much seems to be clear. But where is most of the sugar in our diets coming from?  Pinning the blame on liquid calories like soda and other sweetened beverages seems easy enough. Since the 1970s, the average percentage of daily calories that comes from sugary drinks has more than doubled.  But new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that most of the added sugar in the American diet comes not from beverages, but from food.  In its latest National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the agency reported that although soda and sugary drinks are obvious targets for public health campaigns, they make up on average a third of the calories from added sugars that Americans consume in a typical day — a significant amount, but not the lion’s share.

For many grilling season started with the first springlike temperatures.  But barbecuers should remember to take precautions with raw meats, particularly chicken, to keep food-borne illness to a minimum.  Cases of illness caused by Campylobacter, bacteria commonly found in raw milk and poultry, grew 14 percent the past five years, a government study found. Though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released in mid-April was based on food-borne infections in only 10 states — about 15 percent of the American population – it’s seen as a good indicator of food poisoning trends.

CHRISTOPHER BERGER, 42, an exercise physiologist and professor at the University of Indianapolis, has an uncommon view of airports and business travel.  Where some see frustration, anxiety and long lines, Dr. Berger sees opportunities to move and relieve stress. Where some see an interminable wait, he sees an invigorating walk.  “What I try to promote with my interest in air travel is the simple fact that flying can be healthy,” Dr. Berger said. “Travel does not mean deconditioning. You’re stuck in a terminal for three hours, boo hoo, but you have a climate-controlled place where you can walk literally for miles at some airports if you want.”  He urges airport managers to develop signs and promotional materials to encourage walking. He talks about the surprising number of airports that are adjacent to public parks and pedestrian paths, easily reachable during layovers. He points out that terminals themselves are big enough to create your own indoor walking path. In other words, Dr. Berger is saying, instead of exercising patience with flight delays, security agents and airlines, just exercise.

Drinking just one 12-ounce soda a day may increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes, a new study from Europe suggests.  In the study, people who drank a 12-ounce sugar-sweetened soda daily were 18 percent more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes over a 16-year period compared with those who did not consume soda. And people who drank two sodas daily were 18 percent more likely to have a stroke than those who drank one; those who drank three sodas daily saw the same risk increase compared with those who drank two, and so on.

As soon as your body hits the bed, it’s like a gun firing at the starting line. Your thoughts take off like a pack of horses, each thought racing faster than the first.  Did I do everything on my list? Did I pay the cable bill? What’s the due date on that project, again?  It’s this kind of internal racket that hinders sleep