Bob Harper: Healthy Living, Butt-Kicking Yoga

As a fellow vegetarian yogi who loves wholesome living, I happen to be a big fan of "The Biggest Loser's" Bob Harper. He promotes an important message about eating healthy and saving the environment. Naturally, I was more than happy to attend a yoga class for media professionals, taught by Bob.

The program was a collaboration between Harper and FilterForGood, an environmental company that promotes the use of reusable water bottles instead of plastic ones. Yoga and going green? Sounds good to me.

The class was more challenging than I expected -- but it was nice that Bob had faith in our muscles (maybe too much faith). From downward dogs to plank-chaturanga push ups, I definitely got a yoga-kick in the butt. Bob was encouraging, positive and creative with his moves. I felt the burn in my abs when I had to reach each leg out to the side in plank pose and I felt my thighs shaking when I had to do a wide squat for longer than I'm used to. Though my muscles were begging for a break, Bob's "tough girl" attitude pushed us harder and harder.

That is, until Savasana.

One of the most rewarding parts of the class was being able to talk with Bob and hear his thoughts and feelings about healthy living. While the show deals with people who have gone completely off track, he expressed his gratitude to be able to connect with the people in his class, those who "really seem like [they] get it."

"I believe that there's a storm out there, a storm of change," Harper said. "It's about getting back to a balance -- I think people now are really trying to do what they can for the environment and what they can to live a natural and healthy life. What we eat and how we live on a day to day basis really affects that flow."

He continued to explain his frustration with America's protein obsession.

"These diets that are out there that say 'I can eat all the protein and fat that I want and I'm going to lose weight,'" Harper said. "Well you know what? You're absolutely going to lose weight when you eat like that. But what you're doing to your heart and arteries with all that animal protein and fat -- it's damaging to the molecular structure of your body."

He is disappointed in the food industry, claiming that we don't eat real food anymore; we eat "food like food." Encouraging Americans to get back to the basics -- fruits, vegetables and whole grains -- Harper sees optimism in our future. He strongly encourages us to get more information about what we're putting into our bodies and putting out into the earth. Healthy living starts with you.

If you need a good reason to drop the fast food, find out what this study revealed about fast food being as addictive as cocaine and heroine.