Welcome to the department dedicated to habits. As you can tell by the picture to the right, we cover both the good and the bad: how to form helpful habits such as eating the right foods and how to break bad ones such as eating the wrong foods. (Among many other habits.)

Updated frequently, the departments below offer article tips, to help you take control of your habits before they take control of you.

The Best Advice You'll Ever Hear

Navigating the treacherous waters that are negative habits isn't easy. Trying to change confuses and frustrates. It teases with bits of progress, only to tug you right back down the next day. It can be downright maddening. That is why speaking to someone who knows is so valuable.

No matter what you want to stop--or start--doing, someone has done it. They've lived through the crises and came out alive. They have dealt with the confusion and found a way to make sense of it all. They've done it, and they can help you do it too.

To get the best kind of advice--the type that comes from people who have been there--begin with the simple tips below.

1. Ask around. Do you know any friends that had the same habit as you and successfully replaced it? How about people at work? Maybe your husband's or wife's great aunt?

Whoever it is and wherever they are, get in touch with them. Talk about what you're going through. They'll be flattered that you sought them out. Not only that, but they'll also tell you insights that you couldn't have found anywhere else.

2. Join a group. For the big players in the world of negative habits, groups abound. Whether you want to quit smoking or shopping or losing your temper or eating too much, chances are good that a formal or informal organization is there to help. If one person can make such a big difference, just imagine what a gang of friends could accomplish.

3. Look it up. I can't think of many resources that can beat the value, convenience, and cost of your public library. It's an amazing tool, rarely used and often ignored. But not by you.

If you want to change, you're going to visit to your local library (or their Web site) and check out a few books on your habit. Experts and firsthand witnesses have sat down, written out proven ways to beat your habits, and hid the solution between two covers. What more could you ask for?