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Has Your Hard Work Paid Off? Show Us The Results!

Motivation

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Are you proud of your recent weight loss success? Or have the hours you've logged in at the gym paid off with toned tummy? Whether you've lost 50 pounds or five pounds, we want you to share the results of your commitment to being healthier. Upload your photos yourself feeling fit and happy, and you could be featured in our new daily gallery.

How To Submit Photos:
If you'd like to be featured on That's Fit, upload photos of yourself into the That'sFit Flickr Pool. Be sure to read our main Flickr page for more information.

Ashley Greene's "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" Diet

Diet & Weight Loss, Celebs & Entertainment

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How does Twlight's Ashley Greene stay fit? She doesn't eat. At least that's what the "New Moon" star said her secret to being slim is.

The 22-year-old actress, who plays vampire Alice Cullen, said getting in shape for "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" was "really easy." She told UsMagazine.com, "We were working 12 hours a day, so it didn't leave too much time to eat."

After being nudged from her publicist following that comment, Greene added that when they did eat, it was "really healthy stuff." Apparently, she has not been sinking her teeth into her guilty pleasure: Cheez-Its.

"Cheez-Its are my vice, so I never buy them myself," she told People Magazine in an earlier interview. "I will eat a whole box. I have no self control."

Greene reported they also had a personal trainer on set, worked out four hours a day and that she practiced Pilates in the mornings. And just because filming for "New Moon" is over, that doesn't mean Greene has been slacking off.

When she's not hitting the red carpet these days, Greene is hitting the gym in preparation for the third movie in the Twilight series, "Eclipse", which is scheduled for release in 2010. "I get to fight in "Eclipse." My trainer is teaching me mixed martial arts right now. So. Cool. But I feel if I was in a real fight, I'd get my ass kicked."

Read about other "New Moon" stars and how they stay fit.

Can Fat Come Between Friends?

Diet & Weight Loss

Weight can be a touchy subject among friends. Honestly telling a friend whether those jeans do make her look heavy is a hard thing to do. While the number on the scale shouldn't mean a thing when it comes to close pals, the reality is some of us do change our habits, bite our tongues or plan different activities when dealing with friends who have more curves.

Click on the gallery below to take our survey and tell us how you really feel about friends and weight.

Should Yoga Qualify as an Olympic Sport?

Fitness

It would feel very weird to me if after a series of sun salutations my yoga instructor looked around and said, "And the winner is Holly! Perfect form, Holly!" Yoga is something I do to unwind, relieve stress, become more flexible - and above all, not be judged. But now Rajashree and Bikram Choudhury, the couple who created a style of yoga known as Bikram, are trying to qualify yoga as an Olympic sport. "It's far away. A lot of work needs to be done before we get into it, but this is our dream," Mrs. Choudhury told The New York Times.

Isn't yoga based on a philosophy emphasizing being uncompetitive? "Its initial intention was to be an inward experience, a path to enlightenment. Competitive yoga takes this spiritual element away," said April Martucci, a Manhattan-based yoga instructor. "I also think once you present it as a sport, less people will do it because they'll feel intimidated, and say, 'I could never do that.'" Tom Larkin, owner of Sanctuary for Yoga, Body and Spirit in Nashville, Tennessee said this Olympic quest isn't being taken seriously by many yoga enthusiasts. "Most of our students and fellow teachers find it to be completely ridiculous," he said.

I'm definitely in Martucci's camp. But not all yoga practitioners agree. "I think it could get the attention of all sorts of people who might not necessarily be drawn to traditional yoga, like young adults who want a physical outlet but aren't into conventional sports, or those that tend to be bookish. It could also attract people who previously viewed yoga as being just for wimps and nerds," said Paula Heitzner of Nyack, New York, who's been teaching classes that incorporate her own unique blend of yoga styles for 40 years.

Thanksgiving: Pick Your Poison

Diet & Weight Loss


thanksgiving dinner

Photo: Corbis


The November issue of Self Magazine suggests that many people fear Thanksgiving. Fear? Seems like an odd emotion for a day where you give thanks to the universe for everything it has provided. However, when you consider that Thanksgiving is on record as the single most fattening day of the year, the fear begins to make sense.

Many people gain an average of one pound each year during the holiday season, a pound that begins its growth spurt on Thanksgiving Day when, according to the American Council on Exercise, many of us eat over 3,000 calories not including snacks and drinks. Sixteen little ounces may not seem like such a big deal until you consider they typically pile on year after year and ultimately blossom into 10 pounds of excess weight over the course of each decade. Now that is something to fear – for your appearance and your health.

Holiday Diet Destroyers: This Week on AOL Health

AOL Health

Diet & Weight Loss

Photo: Getty Images


Tomorrow's D-Day. Okay, that's a little dramatic, but it is the day before the 2009 holiday season officially kicks off. There's no avoiding it: Your waistline is under assault. As much as we all hope that our will power, like our belts, will hold fast until January 1, the fact of the matter is that most Americans experience some amount of holiday weight gain. It's really not a surprise, though -- oversized portions, nonstop partying and decadent desserts are all working against you. However, knowing what you're up against can sometimes help you prepare for the battle of the bulge. Here, AOL Health reports on the 11 holiday diet destroyers and how you can get around them.

Save some room (and some calories) for dessert with Tanya Zuckerbrot's pumpkin pie recipe.

Top Off With Agility

Fitness

You may be first in class in cardio and weights, but what about agility? Training for the Turkey Trot, hanging out with an elliptical, and lifting yourself silly will definitely build your body, but you need to transfer these heart and muscle gains to the specific movements inherent in outdoor sports you do love -- snow skiing, tennis or even chasing the dog.

If you don't break up your love affair with forward-plane cardio and the same lifting regime, you're just another weekend-jock trading former excellence for a sub-par performance. You're also at greater risk for injury when the annual ski trip comes round.

Outside Magazine's "Four Steps to Peak Agility" re-focuses your fitness on two critical, but oft-forgotten skills -- agility and coordination. First, you must be willing to move laterally. Then prepare your knees, before mixing in agility exercises. Finally, learn how to get your mind and body working together so when you lose your weekend warrior balance, and you will, the body will respond in agile kind instead of tearing in two.

Stuck Between Sizes, Yoga For Weight Loss and More

Fit Links
As fabulous as we at That's Fit think this blog is, the truth is there are hundreds of wonderful blogs on healthy living to be seen all over the blogosphere. So in this feature, Fit Links, we'll introduce you to some that have caught our eye.
Health.com
Losing weight is an amazing feat, but things can get tricky when you're stuck between sizes.
US News
Now that school cafeterias are getting healthier, is there a chance they could start implementing calorie limits?
FitCeleb
Not convinced that yoga is a great workout? Apparently, it's how Rachel McAdams stays skinny.
Starbucks
Now that the holiday beverages are back at Starbucks, be aware of how many calories your drink has.
Thatsfit.ca

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Fad Diets Make Obesity Crisis Worse

Diet & Weight Loss

You know fad diets don't work when it comes to reaching long-term weight loss goals. But did you also know they can actually make you fatter?

Doctors now warn that celebrity diets are contributing to the obesity epidemic. Think Lemonade, Grapefruit, Tiger, Mayo Clinic, Apple and Cabbage Soup. All of these so-called diets may help you lose weight in the beginning, but can you really stick with them? Only if you don't like food.

Most of these diets have the same thing in common -- they place heavy restrictions on what you can eat. Take the Lemonade Diet (also known as the Master Cleanse) for instance. You mix up a batch of "lemonade" with lemon juice, maple syrup, cayenne pepper and water. With six to 12 glasses allowed each day (no other food), this diet is likely to leave you a little sour. The Cabbage Soup Diet allows you to eat as much of its soup that you want each day along with fruits and vegetables, but it neglects other important food groups which can lead to nutritional deficiencies.

Traditional Thanksgiving Recipes: Stuffing, Green Bean Casserole and More

Looking for low-fat, low-calorie and all together healthier Thanksgiving recipes (albeit last-minute)? We've pulled together a diet-friendly menu of lighter version of your holiday favorites: tradition turkey dinner, stuffing, green bean casserole and low-fat pumpkin dessert.

 

Want to build muscle? It's all about how much protein you're eating. ...

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