Congratulations! When you take the formal steps to becoming an investor, you're becoming that much more self-determined. You start life relying on your parents to make your financial decisions, and by the time many of us advance to young adulthood, we might go so far as having someone at our employer's accounting department recommend a 401(k) for us. Sure, this is technically the desirable "passive income" under some definition, but with too much emphasis on the adjective and not enough on the noun.

What It Means to InvestMany people get intimidated at the idea of buying their own investments, and thus never commit to doing so. On the other end of the continuum are people who are only interested in buying Google at its initial public offering price ($100) and selling it four years later at its $714 peak.

You can do that - somebody must have - but the chances of succeeding at it are tiny. It's important to remember that investing is not defined as "trying to build wealth with as little effort as possible." That's not investing, that's speculating. We have lotteries for that. Investing is deferring spending in the hopes of a greater return. Get a dollar today, by whatever means, and you can either exchange that dollar for something or hold onto it. In that way, investing is analogous to saving.

In fact, it doesn't hurt to think of "save" and "invest" as synonyms. Put your money in a hollowed-out tomato can instead of spending it on something perishable, and you're investing. Granted, you're investing with a zero rate of return, but you're still investing, instead of consuming. (Also, in the event that the currency deflates, you'll actually enjoy a real rate of return, when you store your money in said tomato can, instead of investing in the conventional way.)

There's no general-purpose form of investing for everyone, just as we all require different diets, or different wardrobes, depending on where we are and what we're trying to achieve. The Upper West Side society matron can probably forgo a pair of steel-toed work boots, just like she doesn't need a portfolio heavy on growth-company stocks. The 22-year old unmarried coal miner could get tremendous use out of both.

What Happens Next?When you contact an investment professional, the first thing you'll be asked is, "What are your objectives?" Most people will respond to that by sitting there agape and trying to formulate an answer, without betraying their naivet. To be fair, it's a complicated and overarching question that you need to have spent time figuring out the answer to, long before someone asks you.

Before you meet with an investment professional, step back. Schedule the meeting at least a couple of weeks down the road, because you're going to need to do your homework with regard to answering the above question. You do that by asking yourself, and giving frank responses to, some other questions:

How's your financial situation right now? Your investment advisor is going to lay your financial life bare in ways you might find uncomfortable. That universal taboo about never discussing money? Money is all that investment advisors discuss.

If you're already drowning in consumer debt affixed to high interest rates, then you're not ready for formal investing yet. Say you have a $13,000 credit card balance that you're making minimum monthly payments on, on a card that charges 17.9% per annum. The best investment you can make at this point is living like a Paris underground dweller for as long as it takes to pay the debt off. Unless you know of some investment that can guarantee you an 18% return, and if you do, please tell us about it.

If you're paying your bills with room to spare, and are building a savings account balance every month without knowing what to do with it (a good problem to have), proceed.

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So You've Decided To Invest ...

By Alan Mozes HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, May 8 (HealthDay News) -- Now there's another reason to hate your commute.

New research has found that the longer your driving time between home and office, the less likely you are to exercise, the more your waistline widens and the worse your overall heart health becomes.

The findings come from a study of nearly 4,300 workers in Texas cities whose daily commute times were compared to their odds of various health risk factors.

"Previous studies have looked at sedentary behavior like TV viewing and total time spent driving," said study lead author Christine Hoehner, an assistant professor in the division of public health sciences at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. "But we wanted to look specifically at commuting distance, since it's an important part of people's daily routine."

"What we found ... is that long commutes can take away from exercise and are associated with high blood pressure, higher weight and generally lower fitness levels," Hoehner said. "This may make a lot of sense, because it's extremely intuitive. But it nonetheless suggests that longer commutes are really getting under the skin and affecting people's health."

The findings appear in the June issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

According to the researchers, the number of workers driving to work by private car more than doubled between 1960 and 2000, increasing from more than 41 million to nearly 113 million. The average distance traveled to work also has grown in recent years, from nearly nine miles in 1983 to more than 12 miles in 2001, the researchers said.

The new study focused on adult Texans living in either the Dallas/Fort Worth or Austin regions.

No participant had a history of heart attack, stroke or diabetes, and none were pregnant. All were employed in jobs that required a commute of some kind.

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That long commute may be harming your health

DAKAR, SENEGAL--(Marketwire -05/15/12)- Canadian partners the Micronutrient Initiative, the Government of Canada and Teck launched a major project with the Senegal Ministry of Health today that will save young lives from diarrhea, a condition that can be deadly if untreated.

Each year, 1.5 million children under the age of five die from complications associated with diarrhea, including 6,000 in Senegal. Zinc is an essential micronutrient that can prevent and treat diarrhea, yet two billion people around the world do not get enough zinc through their diets.

The Zinc Alliance for Child Health (ZACH) project in Senegal will scale up the use of zinc supplementation and oral rehydration salts (ORS) to treat diarrhea across the country. This simple solution, that costs as little as 50 cents per treatment, reduces the severity of diarrhea and can save lives.

The project will aim to treat more than two million cases of diarrhea in children under the age of five over the next three years. Zinc and ORS treatment will be delivered through health care workers at 4,000 service delivery points in Senegal.

The project is being launched as part of Senegal's wider diarrhea prevention and treatment program under the "Division d'alimentation, nutrition et survie de l'enfance". It will contribute to the country's overall efforts to reduce child mortality rates and to meet its commitment to the United Nations Millennium Development Goal Four: Reducing Child Mortality.

"Our government values strong partnerships that make a difference in the lives of children and women in developing countries. The Micronutrient Initiative has been a Canadian partner that has helped improve the health of millions recognizing the importance of good nutrition and food supplementation," says Canadian Minister of International Cooperation Beverley Oda. "We are proud to have Teck join our existing partnership to promote the benefits of zinc to ensure healthier families."

This project is recognized as a high impact solution that supports Canada's Maternal and Under-five Child Health objectives.

"As one of the world's largest producers of zinc, we recognize the ability we have to make a difference," says Doug Horswill, Senior Vice President at Teck. "Through this partnership with the Micronutrient Initiative, the Government of Canada and the Ministry of Health in Senegal, we will improve local awareness about zinc deficiency, enhance distribution systems and ultimately save children's lives."

Project components include behaviour change communication and increasing knowledge so that more caregivers, health practitioners and community members know of the importance of treating diarrhea with zinc and ORS. The project also aims to make the management of childhood diarrhea a key part of reducing of child mortality. ZACH will work with all levels of government to help ensure the availability of supplies and treatment that is affordable for families, communities and the health system as a whole. Treatment will be monitored to track progress on the project.

"With the Government of Senegal's clear commitment to reducing child deaths, launching the first ZACH project in this country was a natural choice," says Venkatesh Mannar, President of the Micronutrient Initiative. "We will prove how effective zinc and ORS is in treating diarrhea and saving children's lives. This could very well be the next revolution in child survival."

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The Micronutrient Initiative, Government of Canada and Teck Launch New Initiative with Senegal Ministry of Health to ...

GUELPH, Ontario, May 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- LifeLearn, Inc. announced that it has received three Communicator Awards of Distinction for multimedia educational programs that the company developed for Bayer Animal Health (Bayer), Nestle Purina, and Novartis Animal Health (Novartis) during 2011. These programs used multimedia games, activities, and simulations to teach scientific principles to healthcare staff.

For example, Bayer's Parasite Scene Investigation online accredited continuing education program mimicked the popular show "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" to teach veterinary technicians to correctly identify, diagnose, and treat common parasites found in pets. Nestle Purina's Veterinary Diets Challenge computerized game was used at industry trade shows to engage attendees while teaching them about proper pet nutrition. And the Novartis It's a Pet's Life game is a team-based activity that educates veterinarians and their staff members on parasite prevention and treatment.

"Every educational program, meeting, and event we produce is geared toward enhancing the education of our clients' target audiences to achieve corporate goals, and we're thrilled to receive this recognition for our creative, results-oriented work," said Leah Stephenson, chief creative officer at LifeLearn. "Bringing learning to life through fun activities and multimedia stimulation results in better retention and application of knowledge. The value we provide to clients is simply marrying complex scientific principles with creative learning techniques for longer-lasting results."

The Communicator Awards are judged and overseen by the International Academy of the Visual Arts (IAVA), a 550+ member organization of leading professionals from various disciplines of the visual arts.Current IAVA membership includes representatives from acclaimed media, advertising, and marketing firms such as Conde Nast, Coach, Disney, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Estee Lauder, HBO, Keller Crescent, Monster.com, MTV, Polo Ralph Lauren, Sotheby's Institute of Art, Tribal DDB, Victoria's Secret, Wired, Yahoo!, and many others.

For more information about LifeLearn's Corporate Solutions, visit http://www.lifelearn.com/for-corporate-partners/ .

About LifeLearn

LifeLearn is an industry leader in developing quality and trusted educational products for the human and animal health industries. LifeLearn's mission is to Bring Learning to Life, and its Corporate Solutions group provides integrated, full-service marketing solutions that develop effective learning experiences. LifeLearn began in 1993 as part of the Veterinary Continuing Education program at the Ontario Veterinary College. Today, LifeLearn is a privately held company with headquarters in Guelph, Ontario. For more information, visit http://www.LifeLearn.com.

About The Communicator Awards:

The Communicator Awards is the leading international awards program honoring creative excellence for communication professionals. Founded by communication professionals over a decade ago, The Communicator Awards is an annual competition honoring the best in advertising, corporate communications, public relations and identity work for print, video, interactive and audio. This year's Communicator Awards received thousands of entries from companies and agencies of all sizes, making it one of the largest awards of its kind in the world.

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LifeLearn wins awards for three multimedia education programs

Getting more fish in your diet could lower your risk of developing colorectal cancer, according to a new review of studies.

Researchers from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School looked at the research to find that people who ate fish as part of their regular diets have a 12 percent lower chance of developing colorectal cancer, than people who don't eat much fish at all, Reuters reported.

The association was stronger for rectal cancer, but a "modest trend" was still seen for colon cancer, according to the study, published in the American Journal of Medicine.

But "if you eat fish very frequently, it's not clear whether your benefit continues to go up (by eating even more)," study researcher Dr. Michael Gochfeld told Reuters.

Earlier this year, a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that eating at least three servings of fish a week can lower women's risk of some kinds of colon polyps -- which can turn into cancer.

Researchers of that study, from Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, said fish may work in this sense because the omega-3 fatty acids in fish can decrease inflammation, thereby lowering risk of colon polyp development.

Colorectal cancer is currently the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S., according to the CDC, but the number of new cases and deaths are both decreasing, due to better treatment and early detection. While more adults are being screened, one in three adults still isn't getting screened for colorectal cancer when they should be.

Want to take action against colorectal cancer? Check out this slideshow of foods and behaviors that are linked with a decreased risk of colorectal cancer, or its risk factors:

Researchers from Britain and the Netherlands found that the more total dietary fiber and cereal fiber people consumed, the lower their colorectal cancer risk. For example, people who consumed an extra 90 grams of whole grains a day also had a 20 percent lower risk of colorectal cancer, according to the British Medical Journal review.

However, that same study didn't show a link between eating fiber from fruits and vegetables and a lowered colorectal cancer risk, meaning there may be something else in whole grains at work, too.

Researchers from the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands found that people who take aspirin once a day have a 30 percent decreased risk of dying from colorectal cancer, if taken for at least a nine-month period.

And, the benefit extended to after a person had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer. The researchers found that people who had already been diagnosed and who took aspirin had a 23 percent decreased risk of dying from the disease, compared with people who didn't take it at all.

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Colorectal Cancer: Eating Fish, And 8 Other Things That Could Lower Your Risk

EDMONDS, WA--(Marketwire -05/16/12)- People who need to lose weight should forgo fad diets and instead should focus on sensible eating and exercise, says Dr. Gregory Jantz, a nationally certified psychologist, author of many books on eating disorders, nutrition and diet and founder CaringOnline.com, an Internet resource for eating disorder information and recommendations for eating disorder treatment.

"Losing weight can be hard because it requires destroying old, unhealthy habits and replacing them with new ones," says Dr. Jantz, "but trying to follow a complicated fad diet only makes weight reduction even harder. These diets seldom produce any result except frustration for the dieter."

Despite the promises they make and the celebrity endorsements they often garner, fad diets can lead to poor nutrition and even disordered eating, says Dr. Jantz. He points out that research consistently shows that weight loss is best achieved by eating balanced meals with appropriate portion sizes and exercising regularly.

Jantz cites a study published April 10 in the online edition of the American Journal of Preventative Medicine. Researchers who studied some 4,000 obese people found that those who lost 5 percent or more of their body weight over a year reported eating fewer fatty foods and exercising more. Following fad diets did not correlate with weight loss.

Some fad diets are worse than others in terms of the healthy foods they eliminate and the poor eating habits they encourage. A survey conducted by the Dietitians Association of Australia rated these popular diets as the three unhealthiest ones to avoid in 2012:

Dr. Jantz also founded and operates The Center for Counseling and Health Resources in Edmonds, WA, a residential treatment facility for those struggling with eating disorders and other major life challenges.

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Fad Diets Don't Work, Can Compromise Health, Says Dr. Gregory Jantz of CaringOnline.com