That's Fit

If you're looking to buy new outdoor gear this summer, Outside Magazine's already done some preliminary footwork for you. Their 2008 Summer Buyer's Guide lists 392 pieces of top gear across the following categories:

• Run
• Ride
• Travel
• Hike
• Float
• Women

One other nice touch, Outside offers several videos within each category to show you some of the gear up close.

We just purchased an REI Half-Dome 4 HC tent (pictured/www.rei.com) for our family of four as we felt it combined generous space with a low weight. Also, its unique pole design allows for easy set-up in wind, and the fly ventilation flaps deliver awesome airflow. We were right on the money with this tent -- the 2008 Summer Buyer's Guide listed REI's Quarter-Dome (a smaller version of our tent) the winner for Best Space-to-Weight Ratio. Employees at our local REI were raving about the tent, and we saw two other Half-Domes in a field of 15 tents or so during a recent rock climbing weekend with the Chicago Mountaineering Club.

If you're starting to think about winter gear, consult Outside's 2008 Winter Buyer's Guide to get a jump on cold weather gear shopping!

Does fishing burn any more calories than sitting at a bar sipping a margarita? Tomorrow my family departs on a five-day canoe trip to the Boundary Waters and plan to fish for sustenance. If we don't want to eat another noodle dish for dinner, we'll have to cast a few lines to reel in shore meals.

To be upfront, fishing is not my favorite activity. I find it boring and am ever-itching to move onto a five-hour hike. But if I'm fishing to avoid another carbo-filled noodle dish, I know I will be extremely motivated to cast lines for hours. I will need lean protein on this trip -- the beef jerky won't taste so good by Day 3. Besides, the kids just scored two new Zebco 202s from their generous uncle and are primed to fish.

For all you fishing fitness fans out there, here's how many calories you burn when fishing (based on a 155-lb person). Fishing is definitely a better workout than lifting a margarita, especially if you pull on waders or get off the boat:

• Fishing while sitting on a boat: 176 calories per hour
• Fishing while standing on a bank: 246 calories per hour
• Fishing in stream with waders: 422 calories per hour -- now we're talkin'!

If pulling on the waders results in over 400 calories burned per hour, just think of how many calories it takes to haul in a marlin from the sea.

Is your favorite sunscreen safe? The Environmental Working Group (EWG) investigated nearly 1,000 sunscreens and determined 4 out of 5 sunscreens provide inadequate protection or contain ingredients with safety concerns. Surprisingly, EWG named Coppertone, Banana Boat and Neutrogena as the worst offenders -- fewer than five percent of their products are recommended as safe and effective.

EWG recommends you purchase sunscreen with SPF 30 or higher and at least seven percent zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. AVOID oxybenzone or benzophenone-3, spray or powder sunscreens (inhalation hazard), added fragrance, and sunscreen with bug repellent (you might absorb too much pesticide). Another tip, apply bug repellent 15 minutes after sunscreen to cut down on pesticide soaking through the skin.

Here are EWG's Top 10 Sunscreens:

• Blue Lizard (anything without oxybenzone)
• California Baby (SPF 30 or more)
• CVS with zinc oxide
• Jason Natural Cosmetics Sunbrellas Mineral Based Sunblock
• Kiss My Face "Paraben" free series
• Neutrogena Sensitive Skin Sunblock
• Olay Defense Daily UV Moisturizer (with zinc)
• SkinCeutical Physical UV Defense
• Solar Sense Clear Zinc for Face
• Walgreens Zinc Oxide for Face, Nose & Ears

Happy 4th of July!

My food dehydrator has been running 24 hours a day the past week -- we're drying a bunch of food in anticipation of a 5-day remote canoe trip into the Boundary Waters. Pre-kids, I used to dehydrate a ton of food for backpacking trips. Not only is the food incredibly lightweight, it's easy to rehydrate on the trail and the taste is fantastic. No chemicals either. A handful of dried blueberries rehydrate perfectly overnight in a water bottle, ready to be folded into pancake batter!

At the risk of sounding like a perky infomercial, did you know you can dry homemade fruit leathers (e.g., fruit roll-ups), all sorts of fruit, beef jerky at about half the cost of store-bought and even veggies to stir into your dried spaghetti sauce on the trail? Even if you're not camping, a food dehydrator is a great way to prepare healthy snacks for the pantry.

Right now I have some cherry fruit leather drying, and to date have dried blueberries, a ton of teriyaki beef jerky, cinnamon apple slices, banana chips, chopped onions/green pepper, spaghetti sauce (which peels off the drying sheet just like fruit leather) and peas/carrots to stir in with our kid-friendly trail mac 'n cheese. Home-dried banana chips (chewier) are much healthier than store-bought dried banana chips which are typically crispy fried.

So next time that food dehyrator infomercial comes along, take a closer look. The National Center for Home Food Preservation offers helpful tips to get started. I own an 11-year-old American Harvest Snackmaster dehydrator -- it's still drying like a champ.

Do kids play less and eat more junk food during the summer? If so, it's likely they'd pack on more pounds, too. I'm a big supporter of solid school nutrition programs, but what happens to kids when the bell rings and they're back home for the summer?

A New York Times article explored this question just the other day. There's not much research on the subject, but one study from 1998-99 revealed body mass index for kindergarteners and 1st graders increased two to three times as fast in the summer as during the regular school year. Minority and already overweight kids were even more at risk for summertime weight gain. While school nutrition might not be the best, this study suggests the school year does deliver structured eating times and guaranteed movement if kids are lucky enough to have gym and recess every day.

However not every kid heads to an activity-filled summer day camp with a healthy-packed lunch and snacks in hand. Also, for kids privileged to attend an extended away camp, is camp nutrition necessarily any better than many of our nation's fat-filled school nutrition programs? What about kids hanging out at home, are they eating more and moving less? As the article points out, children staying at home don't run from one activity to another like a day camper. Even worse, kids from low-income families often spend summer at home unsupervised. Personally, I'm a stay-at-home mom and our oldest is just entering 1st grade, so I have no perspective. My kids pretty much eat the same year-round. Any parents with school-age children have thoughts to share?

The new slogan for the South Plainfield, NJ police department is "to protect and con-serve." I totally understand this slogan. I just swiped $71.49 to fill up our mini-van, and that was after their kind $.03 per gallon discount for being a frequent customer. Gas was $1.90 a gallon when we acquired the guzzler in 2004 -- uh oh -- reminiscing is a sign of old age.

In response to the gas crunch, South Plainfield is setting many of their officers out on segways, on bikes and on foot. Idling the police fleet is no longer allowed, riding in pairs is common. Police Chief John Ferraro says the gas-cutting measures have a real upside -- officers are interacting with the community and garnering new tips leading to arrests.

Funny, no one said anything in this story about officer health. Walking or biking a beat is much healthier than riding in a squad all day. Calling all exercise physiology researchers out there -- here's a prime opportunity for a before/after fitness study. Conserving gas may just conserve our lives.

Mosquito season has arrived -- I spent much of last weekend swatting them off my exposed neck, ankles and arms on a rock climbing trip. I try to avoid insect repellent, if at all possible. I don't like rubbing chemicals into my skin or the chemical aftertaste when spray drifts onto my tongue.

Besides waiting for a big wind to blow the buzzers away, what if you could simply slip into an insect repellent outfit? With Buzz Off Insect Shield, you can carry your flyswatter right on your back thanks to a wide line of repellent apparel. Also repels ticks, chiggers, ants, flies and no-see-ums, too. Insect Shield Apparel binds fibers with permethrin, a man-made version of the natural repellent found in chrysanthemum plants.

At the retail level, you can find Insect Shield Repellent Apparel through ExOfficio, REI, Orvis, Mad Dog Gear, L.L. Bean and Sloggers. You can also Insect Shield your own favorite outdoor gear, which will last for 70 launderings. Of admirable note, Buzz Off is providing their repellent apparel to relief workers and at-risk populations around the globe to prevent insect-borne diseases. To give you an idea of the variety of Insect Shield apparel available, don't miss the gallery!

Focus groups held by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) reveal cancer and heart disease are considered much more severe than diabetes. This is no surprise to me. As a daughter and sister of two brothers and both parents with type 1 diabetes, I've heard this attitude spouted from many friends and acquaintances. Their logic goes something like this, "Since insulin has been discovered to treat type 1, there's not a problem, right? I mean, people used to die from diabetes before insulin."

Wrong. Many people are still dying thanks to type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and they're facing serious, horrible complications living with the disease. Now the ADA is changing their communication strategy to acknowledge the deadly consequences of the disease, reports the New York Times.

According to chief executive Larry Hausner, the term 'deadly' was a potentially controversial word over at the ADA. However beginning in 2009, the organization is adding 'deadly' to their prevention and hope message. People sure do need to take this disease seriously, whether it's type 1, type 2, gestational or pre-diabetes. If you'd like to read more of my personal thoughts on this topic, check out a post I just wrote over at Trusera, a new and growing online health network where you can find health answers from real people and share your personal experience in return.

PureSport, a new performance drink, launches today. Some U.S. swimmers training for the Olympics have been gulping it down, including the incredible Michael Phelps.

Phelps says PureSport is the best performance drink he's ever found and would never train without it -- that's a powerful stamp of approval for a new product within a competitive sports drink market. PureSport was concocted last year, sporting an optimal blend of carbohydrates/protein/electrolytes to improve performance and hasten recovery. Grape, fruit punch, lemon lime and banana berry flavors can be purchased in bottled or just-add-water powder form directly from PureSport or available retail in a handful of states.

PureSport Workout is designed for use prior to and during exercise, while PureSport Recovery needs to be swallowed within 30 minutes post-workout to take advantage of a narrow window of muscular sensitivity to nutrients, a topic which That's Fit has covered previously here. Will Michael Phelps make PureSport a rockin' choice for fitness warriors? I'm guessing there will be a big media blitz with the 2008 Olympic games. Don't miss the Phelps gallery -- we'll be hearing from him in Beijing. Pics from Gettys.

With all the concern over bisphenol A (BPA) in baby bottles and water bottles, we're hearing louder rumblings of BPA-free alternatives. However, beyond tainting baby and water bottles, BPA is also in many canned goods, which has made me wonder if there are any BPA-free cans on the marketplace. BPA is linked to precancerous tumors, urinary problems and early puberty in animals. It's also a known endocrine disrupter.

Julie's Health Club just turned me on to Eden Organic Beans. According to Eden's website, they spend 14 percent more to can all their bean varieties in a BPA-free steel can. They're the only U.S. company using this type of can, lined with an oleoresinus (a natural oil and plant resin mix) c-enamel. Eden also states the acidity of their canned tomato products do require an epoxy-based coating which may contain BPA, however they claim it's a minute amount.

So there you have it -- organic, canned beans without any BPA. While I'm not a big canned goods consumer, beans are my number one canned goods purchase. Nice to know Eden's been using BPA-free cans for nearly a decade.

To many Americans, summertime in the great outdoors is associated with food. Giant grill-fests where everyone brings a dish to pass. People tend to focus more on the spread than the outdoor activities. I just spent this past weekend climbing and hiking with a local mountaineering club, where I had the chance to quietly observe the general eating habits of rock climbers. I felt a bit like Jane Goodall.

For a majority of the climbers, eating was simply a means to climb. Oatmeal or whole-grain cereal with fruit was a common breakfast favorite, as it provided decent energy for the morning ahead. I never saw a box of donuts or a slice of danish. After hiking and setting ropes for a couple hours, I had to remind myself to grab a handful of trail mix before scaling the wall -- I had already burned through my small breakfast. At lunch time, climbers rummaged through their pack to locate a modest sandwich, a can of protein-rich sardines or a pack of ready-to-eat tuna. I never saw a bag of chips, a soda or a candy bar. Water was the main hydration of choice.

Emotional eating expert Geneen Roth says, "Our relationship to food is a perfect reflection of our relationship to life itself." For the handful of climbers I observed on this trip, eating and hydrating was secondary -- it was a tool to fuel their love of climbing. When you start thinking about food in this way, it's hardly the superstar in your life anymore. I'm guessing it's one reason climbers on the trip were fit. This was my kind of picnic.

Climbers tend to stick together. If you like to rock climb, mountaineer or hike, a great way to find like-minded trail friends is through your local mountaineering club. The United Kingdom's CHAmois Mountaineering Club offers a nice list of clubs around the world to help you identify a club in your area.

Syd (hubby) and I just spent our first weekend immersion into the land of the Chicago Mountaineering Club (CMC). We'd had our eye on this club for years, but little kids and a 4-year stint in no-altitude Florida stunted our chances. Back living in Chicago, it was time to join one of their guest weekend climbs in Devil's Lake, Wisconsin, a Midwestern climbing mecca.

Saturday morning, a mix of about 25 club members and guests split into two separate climbing groups and headed out. After brushing up on my knots, our group dropped around eight or nine ropes along a variety of routes to fit the raw beginner to the elite. Club rope leaders carefully checked each top rope system. Rain shortened our climb time, but all in all it was an incredible day. Rock climbing with a group offering that many different routes is a Disneyland climbing experience. After the exhilaration of finally making it up a 5.7-rated crack, I happily earned sore muscles that haven't ached in years -- rock climbing is a full-body workout. Thanks to the club, we also met new friends and will tie into another outing soon.

How come saying "no" can be so difficult for most people? I used to really stink at it, hence I played on five softball teams one summer, further unable to say "no" when each team headed out for post-game drinks. It may have been fun in college, but five barfly nights a week are not healthy when you're actually working for a living.

If you're incapable most moments of an empathic "No!", O, The Oprah Magazine has a few suggestions. Creatively saying "No!" truly is a communication art form:

• To the dinner companion sticking their fork in your face with a sample: My kids have no problem saying "No!" with this one. Try saying, "Absolutely not! I'm getting such a kick out of watching you enjoy it!" or "The bite would be wasted on me, I'm just not a fan."
  
• To the dessert-ordering companions pressuring you to order the chocolate lava cake: Defuse with a different vice: "I think I'll drink my dessert tonight. One more glass of Pinot, please." For the skinny teetotaler, try humor: "I'm that annoying too-full-to-eat-dessert person -- there's always one you know!"
• To a Girl Scout selling cookies: C'mon, you'd say "No!" to a Girl Scout? Buy one box -- give it to a friend if absolutely necessary.
• To the nice-but-not-your-type guy (or girl) asking you out on a date: Be honest here, "I'm flattered, but no thanks." A co-worker of mine used to pull out her famous line, "I'm sorry, but I have to wash my hair this Friday." Not nice.

Check out the O, The Oprah Magazine (July 2008) for the full article, 54 Ways To Say...No! It's a good read.

Chinese red yeast rice, a common ingredient in Chinese food, may prevent a repeat heart attack.

In a newly published study in The American Journal of Cardiology, nearly 5,000 men and women with recent history of heart attack either took 600 milligrams per day of a yeast rice extract or a placebo. Over five years, extract-takers reduced their risk of a coronary event by 45 percent, and risk of death and need for an operation to improve blood supply to the heart was reduced by about one-third.

Purchasing red yeast rice extract over the counter is not the answer here -- the study's senior author stated these findings do not apply to the red yeast extract sold in health food stores. Who knows, maybe they'll bottle this stuff for retail sale in the future.

I'm an outdoor girl with granola in her pockets. I get excited over a good pair of Merrell hiking boots, not a pair of Enzo flats. A camping vacation is truly a vacation to me. My husband and I spent nearly a month camping and backpacking on our honeymoon. Yes, we're a tad odd.

But what I've realized over the years is not everyone loves camping. Some people hate it. I know people who will intestinally blow-up before pooping in the woods. Yet this does not mean they don't love the stars, fresh air, a crackling campfire and even the chilling call of a coyote in the middle of the night. They'd be willing to camp if their Home Sweet Home porcelain perch was nearby.

Voila -- a solution to this intestinal barrier! Join the festivities this Saturday in the National Wildlife Federation's 4th annual Great American Backyard Campout. You can set-up the tent right in your backyard or hook-up with other close-to-home camping enthusiasts via their campout finder. Over 22,000 are gathering their gear for backyard fun this weekend. I'll be camping, too. We're heading up to Devil's Lake, Wisconsin to camp and rock climb sans kids with the Chicago Mountaineering Club -- our virgin outing with this influential group. See you under the Big Dipper.