If you are still struggling with the perfect gift for someone on your list - consider a book. I like giving books because a book can change a person's life forever. The book on the top of my list this year is The Egoscue Method of Health Through Motion: Revolutionary Program That Lets You Rediscover the Body's Power to Rejuvenate It, Dr. Pete Egoscue does a great job of explaining how our body is one system, dependent on movement to keep all of the parts working properly. I also like Egoscue's book, Pain Free: A Revolutionary Method for Stopping Chronic Pain. I've sent this book to several people as an early Christmas present - they have been very pleased with the results the exercises in the book bring. Dr. Grandpa has also had great results from those exercises.

Another favorite of my is Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. This book is a great way communicate the great benefits of exercise to people who don't exercise. Almost every one has a problem that exercise will "cure" - from depression, fear of losing cognitive function, or anxiety to diabetes, cardiovascular disease or arthritis. The book is actually very inspirational without being preachy about exercise. Although I will be preachy and point out that just the visual difference between people who exercise regularly and those who don't becomes more pronounced with age. I have two friends who turned 65 this year. The difference between my friend who exercises and my friend who doesn't is dramatic.

For those on your list who are searching for a solution to a weight problem, The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite provides insights into why we can't stop eating even when we know better. The author, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, David Kessler, offers useful tools to help find a solution. Another excellent book in this category is Breaking the Food Seduction: The Hidden Reasons Behind Food Cravings---And 7 Steps to End Them Naturally. This book provides:

• Simple steps to break craving cycles and tame your appetite.
• Advice for kids’ sugar cravings and how to halt them.
• A three-week kickstart plan.
• Recipes that help your body end the cravings and put you on the path to weight loss, better health, and greater well-being.

For those on your list who are interested in the politics behind the obesity epidemic, The Innovator's Prescription is an enlightening read about the critical condition of our healthcare system and what steps we need to take to cure it. Harvard Business School’s Clayton M. Christensen—whose bestselling book The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business — presents a comprehensive analysis of the strategies that will improve health care and make it affordable.

Happy Shopping.