That's Fit

Thanks to genetics, many of us lovely ladies are destined to have a run-in with cellulite and stretch marks (if we haven't already). So if you've ever seen your grandmother in a bathing suit and felt like you were looking into the future, it's good to know that there are ways to effectively prevent and minimize the appearance of these epidermal nuisances. From diet and exercise to camouflage and cure-alls, learn more from Dr. Howard Murad, a dermatologist and CEO/founder of Murad, Inc., and Dr. Ronald Moy, a dermasurgeon and professor at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine.

What's your cellulite and stretch mark solution?

I've talked about Emerita before here at Fit Beauty -- it's a great company that makes a wide range of fantastic products for fabulous women over 40. Looking for a skincare routine made to accommodate the changes you've seen in your skin as you've aged? Look no further -- whatever you need, I would bet they have.

And now, you might just have the chance to try out the whole line of high-quality skincare products for free with this week's Fit Beauty Giveaway! Here's what we're giving away this week:

• Microdermabrasion Face Scrub,
• Day Face Cream with SPF 15,
• Regular Day Face Cream,
• Night Face Cream,
• Dark Circle Eye Serum,
• Fine Line Eye Serum,
• Moisturizing Face Cleanser,
• Deep Hydrating Body Lotion,
• and Exfoliating Face Cleanser.

And, because you'll be looking fierce and feeling frisky after using all these products, we're throwing in a Pink Zebra Animal Print Scarf from The Pashmina Store, too!

Entering the giveaway couldn't be easier. See below for details.

• To enter, leave a confirmed comment below saying what your biggest skincare problem is.
  
• The comment must be left before 5pm ET on Friday, December 12, 2008.
  
• You may enter only once.
• One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
  
• One winner will receive one Emerita goodie bag and one Pink Zebra Print Scarf (valued at $280!).
• Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, and the District of Columbia who are 18 or older.
  
  

Click here for complete Official Rules.

Winners are notified by email, so make sure to check next week to find out if you're the winner!

I've spent a lot of time with various celebrities this year and have poked them all about their health and fitness habits. Two of the most inspiring were not the young hard bodies we see on the covers of tabloid magazines each week. No, these two celebrities have healthy capable bodies, which have endured many years of living.

The woman I speak of, at 57 years old, is every bit the blond bombshell she was known as 30 years ago. She works out six to seven days a week, mixing up her workouts with: kickboxing, yoga, water aerobics and climbing her steep driveway known as "butt hill."

The man who stood out is in his late 60s and still plays basketball and baseball on a regular basis. The guy has probably been in every hit sitcom in the past three decades and told me that the highlight of his year would be if I could hook him up to throw the ball around with the Heisman Trophy winning University of Florida quarterback, Tim Tebow.

You're never too old to start a fitness program. That's one lesson learned from Joy Johnson, an 81-year-old Californian who recently finished her 21st consecutive NYC Marathon in slightly over six hours. What shocks me is Johnson started a fitness program after retiring at the age of 56.

Her retirement walking program metamorphosed into jogging, running a 10K, then racing marathons -- all 50 of them. Johnson loves the energy running imparts. She can also eat whatever she wants, sleeps like a baby at night and confounded researchers at Stanford once with surprisingly good results on a bone density test. They thought the machine had busted.

If you've always been on the sidelines of fitness and your 40th birthday is a distant memory, it's not too late to start an exercise program. Preventive fitness programs are popular. In this article, USA Today highlights the benefits of senior fitness -- not only is the Silver Sneakers Fitness Program exploding nationwide, certifications for senior personal trainers are in demand, and one 2008 study found senior fitness lowered long-term health care costs.

Occupational Therapist and uber fit mom Wendy Alexander knows her stuff and shares a simple strategy for staying strong and fit! Who knew it could be so easy?

To learn if yoga is right for you, the top 10 things a wellness chef wouldn't eat if you paid her, and to check out more health and fitness videos ...

We all know Courteney Cox Arquette is beautiful. She's a former model and once landed on the cover of People magazine's Most Beautiful People issue. But what might surprise you is that even a stunner like Cox Arquette is feeling the effects of time marching on. So what does she do to fight Father Time? She exercises.

Cox Arquette isn't unrealistic about her looks. She said, "People who read a magazine can look at the picture and go, 'She looks great for over 40!' But guess what? That's not what I look like. Lighting is everything. When you're in your car and you look in the mirror and the sun's beaming in, you're like, 'Wow, times are getting tough.'" Personally, I think it's refreshing to hear celebs state the problems we all have. I certainly don't have make-up artists and professional photographers snapping shots of me -- but I know I've had days when things looked pretty good in my bathroom mirror, but then all the age lines and pores showed up in the light of day.

Cox Arquette fights back against the natural signs of age with cardio and weight-training five times a week. She enjoys running, hiking, and doing total-body exercises.

My colleague at the Active Health Network, and yoga expert, Stacy McCarthy, has some pretty enlightening information to share about the two things that keep you running, jumping, and dancing for fitness. Your feet! Spend about a minute watching this great clip, and spend the rest of your life moving in the upright position.

For more fun fitness tips, recipes and videos ...

Carol Alt might be a world-famous model, but she insists she's never been comfortable with her body. She says she was a heavy kid -- in fact, her sister is a plus-size model -- and even at 20 years old, she was tremendously uncomfortable with posing in a bathing suit.

Now, at 47 years old, she's decided to pose for Playboy -- kind of a big change, right?. So what's changed? Mainly, her diet. Alt is a raw food devotee, and says that it's the reason she looks (and feels) as great as she does. She's even written a book about eating raw.

"In reality, at my age, to know that I have come to such a point, where I am comfortable enough with my own body after 12 years of eating raw ... is an amazing miracle in itself," said Alt. "I want to enlighten other people to the fact that as they age, they don't have to start feeling worse about themselves -- getting tired, getting moody, getting fat and becoming ill," adding that her purpose in posing nude is to get people talking about her message, which is "eat healthy, look healthy, and be healthy." Well, this certainly is getting people talking!

Have fitness questions? Fitz has your answer. Our ThatsFit.com fitness expert -- and now your own virtual personal trainer -- will help you get fit, increase your overall health and do it in a fun way. Drop your questions here in the Comments section below and we'll choose one per week to publish on That's Fit! Learn more about Fitz here.

Q. Hi Fitz. My sister lost a bunch of weight recently. She's thirty years old and the weight loss was necessary, but now she looks closer to forty. She's not smoking or sunning, so why does she appear older? Rachel

A. I've heard this before Rachel, so you're not crazy. I've also seen people look decades younger due to major weight loss as well. For the most part, I think people just associate a fuller face with youthfulness. Know many angular -faced children? Probably not. Know any gaunt elderly folks? Yeah ... we all know a lot of them!

This story is proof positive you can pivot toward a healthy lifestyle at mid-life, no matter how many overflowing ashtrays you've left in your wake.

Kantilal Talati, a native of western India currently living in Texas, celebrates his 90th birthday next month. He's never sick, doesn't take any medication and attributes it all to yoga. He's successfully doubled his life since a heart attack at the prime age of 44, when he smoked four packs a day. After that scare, Talati tossed the smokes and dove into relaxation, meditation and yoga, even studying with a famous guru in India.

Here's a typical day from Talati's 30-year regimen:

• Before dawn he drinks a cup of hot water with lemon juice and honey to cleanse the body.
• He then devotes every inch of his 5-foot, 125-pound frame for pranayam (breathing exercises), then an hour of yoga. After breakfast he teaches yoga to family.
• A solo afternoon yoga session wraps in more challenging poses for whole-body health.
• He then walks two miles before retiring for the night, where he dreams of opening a yoga studio in 2009.
  

Your body is magical, if you treat it right.

When people think about muscle, they think biceps, triceps, glutes, and abs. But beyond the muscle you can gawk at see, there's a lot of muscle that's in action all the time inside your body -- like your heart, for one. So, even if you're not trying to build rock hard abs, it's important to remember to feed the muscles you can't see too.

Protein is important to muscle health, because it contains amino acids necessary for growth and repair. According to MSNBC, most Americans get plenty of protein in their diet, but tend to eat less of it as they get older. But not only is the amount of protein you eat important, so is it's quality. Choose high-quality proteins like eggs and fish over fattier meats like ground beef.

Protein isn't the only nutrient necessary for strong muscles. Find out what else you need over at MSNBC and in the gallery below.

Not everyone who follows a calorie-restricted diet is hoping to lose weight. Some consciously choose fewer calories in hopes of living longer, as previous research has shown calorie restriction is an effective longevity-booster in rats and mice.

But new research suggests calorie-restriction alone may not crown you a centenarian, unless you simultaneously pay attention to your protein intake. Hmm, how much protein does 113-year-old Tomoji Tanabe eat? In animal longevity models, longer life is connected to lower levels of IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor-1). When scientists compared IGF-1 measurements among short and long-term calorie restricters, regular exercisers and even a sedentary, Western diet group who changed nothing, IGF-1 levels were similar. Then the white coats took at look at long-term, strict vegans.

Vegans had significantly lower levels of IGF-1, even those heavier and fatter than calorie restricters. The vegans consumed about 10 percent of their calories from protein, while calorie-restricters were downing protein in the 23-24 percent zone. Here's the kicker, when six of the calorie-restricters agreed to try lowering their protein intake, their IGF-1 levels lowered dramatically in only three weeks. So to get in the running for Oldest Living Soul on the Planet, type of calories, not total calories may be key.

Have fitness questions? Fitz has your answer. Our ThatsFit.com fitness expert -- and now your own virtual personal trainer -- will help you get fit, increase your overall health and do it in a fun way. Drop your questions here in the Comments section below and we'll choose one per week to publish on That's Fit! Learn more about Fitz here.

Q. Hi Fitz, I'm a lady who is happily turning 51 next week and am finally ready to get into shape. It seems like I went from a skinny-as-a-rail teen to a weighty 180 pound middle-ager. There are so many weight-loss programs, tips, recipes out there, and it gets quite confusing. I don't like to exercise per se, but I love to garden, wash the car, play kickball, and dance. For both weight-loss and aging concerns, I know there are some diet changes I need to make as well. For instance, I've had to cut out 2% milk and switch to 1% because the higher-fat just didn't agree with me anymore. But what's the next step? High fiber, low-fat, no carbs, or carbs for daylight hours only? I missed the point when my body was supposed to be racked, stacked and packed! I'm now hoping it's not too late to achieve that at this stage in my life. Can you help? Atia

A. Hello Atia! I love your question. Glad to hear that after 50 years you're ready to make a grand effort towards a fitter, stronger, and with no shyness ... a hotter looking body! Of course it's not too late; it never is. I also agree with you that the information put out about fitness is far too confusing. Being an "expert" in the field, it's nice that people give me credit for being somewhat brilliant about it. I'll let you in on a little secret though (promise not to tell a soul?): All my years of education and experience have taught me this: Fitness is ridiculously simple.

At nearly 80, Ray Moon has suffered through polio, open heart surgery, financial ruin and two minor strokes. And he has a pacemaker. So you might be surprised to know what Mr. Moon's claim to fame is: He's a bodybuilding champ in his native Australia.

He recently took home the top prize in the Victorian Bodybuilding Championships in Melbourne in the 'over 60' category, which is quite a feat considering he is well over 60 -- by nearly 20 years! What's even more amazing? He only started working out four years ago. For more of this story, click here.

Mr. Moon works out six days a week for 2.5 hours and walks 4 km every day. Feel lazy yet? I sure do.

I haven't hit the big 4-0 yet. In a few weeks time, however, I'll be officially in my late 30's -- unable to deny it any more. As much as I would like to say my body is just like it was in high school, that's sadly not the case. Time has marched on. In some cases, time has marched downward if you catch my drift.

So while I think this ab workout from More Magazine is appropriate for anyone, regardless of age, I do understand the greater need once you're in your 40's. (Or maybe once you're in your late 30's!)

After all, I think the concept of aging gracefully is silly. Why settle for being graceful when we can be active and fit? Instead of time marching on, why don't we march all over it?