That's Fit

This week I've been sampling Dannon's Light & Fit 0% Plus Yogurt, and I absolutely love it. Before I go any further though, let me tell you how I feel about yogurt. I like it, but only if I feel like I'm getting a high in calcium, low in sugar, legitimately fruit-filled snack. Now, there is always yogurt stacked up in my fridge, because I have two little children. But, rarely do I even open up a cup for myself. Not that I would ever buy my babies anything "bad"... cause I don't. But I regularly expect perfection of the things I put in my mouth. I'm simply not willing to waste 100 calories on a teeny cup of yogurt. I'd rather have two big pieces of fruit.

So! I was thrilled instantly by the calorie count on Dannon's new Light & Fit 0% Plus Yogurt. Each cup boasts only 50 or 60 calories, depending on the flavor. That I can do! The fruity varieties are also full of real fruit chunks. Fresh and healthy fruit chunks, not the icky stuff dumped in from a can. On top of all that, each flavor has proven to be delicious to both my children and me, and then a few of my personal training clients as well.

Before you go give Dannon's Light & Fit 0% Plus Yogurt a try, I encourage you to do a side-by-side comparison of it's nutritional content versus that of other yogurts. I did this a few days ago and couldn't find anything as good. This is the type of thing you want to put in your fridge if you're trying to lose weight. It's a great fix for your sweet tooth, while providing a decent amount of protein, calcium, vitamin D and other important nutrients.

Vaccinations aren't only for kids. In fact, CNN has a list of seven vaccinations adults need to seriously consider. For instance, you may have been vaccinated for whooping cough as a child, but experts say the bacterial infection is back, due to immunity of those vaccinated in the 70s wearing off. Doctors are recommending a booster for adults.

Other shots you might want to talk to your doctor about:

• chicken pox, if you've never had the illness
• shingles, approved for people over 60, but may be given to people over 50
• MMR, especially if you were born between 1957 and 1967
• traveler's diseases if you're taking a trip (influenza, typhoid, meningitis, and yellow fever, for instance)
  
• hepatitis B
  
  

If you vaccinate, talk to your doctor to see if any of these shots are appropriate for you.

I ran really far on Sunday, and when the time came to go to the gym with my husband on Monday, I thought I'd be too beat to perform. I literally was contemplating stretching for an hour as I walked through the front doors. But then! Then I saw something beautiful to my left. Over the dozens of cardio machines to my side, I saw Tom Cruise plopped down on the couch with Oprah and was drawn over to the treadmills.

Curiosity got my goat, and up I climbed on to the machine before me. Now strangely enough, because of a back injury, walking hurts more than running. So with emotional bricks in my shoes I cranked up the speed to six miles per hour and got going. I swear to you that before I turned that darn machine on, I would have never imagined my legs would take me half a mile. Apparently I was wrong.

Turns out that even though I felt sluggish and was full of doubt, I was capable of running for an hour straight! Isn't that insane? I think so. Listen. I've been in this business a long time, and have made a living out of proving to people that they could do the things they thought they couldn't! Feeling slow, tired, and unmotivated is not unusual. What is unusual, though, is finding the inspiration to yank out your personal best, even under those circumstances.

Here at That's Fit, we're forever grateful for the service, courage and sacrifice made by the heroic men and women who serve as military, law enforcement officers, and firefighters. We're so grateful, that we'd like to dedicate some features to both showing our heroes off, and learning a little bit in the process as well. If you serve your country courageously, are a veteran or know someone who does, please return this form completed to Fitz along with a photo and we'll share your story with the world.

Name: Frank Kinsey

Age: 29

Heroic Occupation: Deputy Sheriff

How often do you exercise? Two to three times a week.

What type of exercise do you do? I lift weights, run and play basketball.

You suddenly cannot recall your phone number. You find the phone in the fridge. Your new sandals are sitting in your kids' shoe tree. You're starting to Google the key phrases "early dementia" and "early Alzheimer's."

It's a frightening concept, losing your marbles. Many Boomers have faithfully been married to physical fitness for years, but as they gray around the temples they're starting to worry their noggin' may someday ask for a divorce. According to a recent study of older Boomers (born 1946-1955), a growing number believe in the plasticity of the brain -- calisthenics for the mind, if you will.

Beyond $1,000 genetic tests to examine risk factors such as Alzheimer's by 23andMe and deCODE genetics, there are also brain health products such as Posit Science's $395 computer cognitive exercises, MindFit's $149 assessment/personalized cognitive training software and Nintendo's $19.99 Brain Age 2 video game offering math/memory exercises. As I reported earlier, brain fitness is a young industry poised for big growth.

I can see it now, Boomers Aerobics where the instructor shouts cognitive training directives from the podium. How about a Cardio/Cranium Theatre challenging your memory from the big screen? Don't forget the monthly brain massage.

National Women's Health Week kicks off on Mother's Day with the purpose of empowering women to get healthy by taking action. Your health should be a major priority, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health has a few steps designed to help you achieve that. Businesses, government, and health organizations across the United States, hopefully near you, will be taking part in this event.

Objectives of the week are designed to teach women the benefits of:

• Engaging in physical activity most days of the week
• Making healthy food choices
• Visiting a health care provider to receive regular check-ups and preventive screenings
• Avoiding risky behaviors, like smoking and not wearing a seat belt

It's inevitable that we will all someday shuffle off this mortal coil. Still, there is much we can do to stick around for as long as we possibly can, and it's no secret that a healthy lifestyle is the key to celebrating more birthdays.

Growing old is not so much a matter of how old you are, but rather how fast you're aging, say Dr. Michael Roizen and Dr. Mehmet Oz. in an article for Open Air magazine. The way our bodies react to stressors can affect the speed of our aging process, similar to the way our brake system changes the speed of our vehicles. Considering that our rate of aging doubles every eight years, if we are able to put on the brakes, so to speak, we could -- at least in theory -- live to be well over 100.

Three tips for life extension, all of which are offered by the docs in the aforesaid article, are to: 1 - stay active with regular exercise; 2 - keep glucose levels in check by limiting your intake of simple carbs; and 3 - be sure to floss regularly, for it will not only keep your teeth and gums healthy, but it will also help prevent inflammation in your arteries.

A recent Japanese study, published in the Kobe Journal Medical Sciences and most recently highlighted in Fitness Rx magazine, confirms what we've known for quite some time: eating foods high in simple, fast-digesting carbs can cause you to pack on more fat. The difference this time around, however, is that this study provides an additional explanation for why this happens.

When you drink copious amounts of regular soda and chomp on white bread, you spike your blood glucose levels (also known as blood sugar). You may be familiar with this concept from your own knowledge base or from hearing of this process from someone who has diabetes. In response, your body produces a large amount of insulin in efforts to bring your blood glucose back down from orbit by moving the glucose out of the blood and into the cells (whereas a person with diabetes may have to use synthetic insulin -- administered either by shot or pump -- to make up for what their pancreas is not able to sufficiently do on its own in this regard). After this occurs, all excess glucose is stored for later use as fat in white adipose tissue.

When we hear about people dying from vaccine-preventable diseases, we tend to associate such loss with poorer countries than our own. This assumption is not terribly off-base, as many third-world nations do suffer an enormous amount of preventable human loss due to a lack of access to proper medical treatment. However, such vaccine-preventable loss is not exclusive to these less fortunate countries; an article in Women's Health magazine asserts that 50,000 adult Americans die each year for the same reason.

According to the article, the following is a list of five of the eleven vaccinations that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests getting:

1) Hepatitis A: A virus spread by infected food and water that can cause liver infection. Most often a danger to travelers to foreign countries.

2) HPV: The Human Papillomavirus is a sexually transmitted disease that can potentially lead to cervical cancer in women. Genital HPV is the most common sexual transmitted infection in the United States. About 6.2 million Americans will get infected with genital HPV this year.

Curious to know how celebrities squeeze fitness into their daily lives? Want to know the secrets of the stars? Bi-weekly our That's Fit fitness expert Fitz sits down with the celebs we want to know more about, and digs out their great and not-so-great methods to staying healthy.

This week I got to sit down on a beautiful sunny day, in The Swamp with the very sweet, smart and athletic ESPN College GameDay Analyst Mr. Kirk Herbstreit. No, we weren't knee deep in mucky water. We were in the heart of Gator Country enjoying the breeze after Kirk completed his workout, running zillions of steps at the University of Florida football stadium, The Swamp. Kirk retired from playing football more than 15 years ago, after four years at quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes. But now, he's one of the major faces of college football. Pandemonium strikes college campuses across the country when he -- along with host Chris Fowler and analyst Lee Corso -- set up shop outside the biggest games of each week.

Kirk brings something unique to the team. Every time the GameDay crew heads to the University of Florida, I find more than just the expected crowd of rowdy football fans swarming their booth. There is always an unusual amount of females in a frenzy to get as close a look as possible into Kirk's pretty blue eyes. He's definitely worthy of the attention. From my interaction with Kirk, I think he's a genuinely nice and genuinely thoughtful person. Before we started talking fitness, Kirk shared concerns over all the violence taking place on college campuses. He's a protective father and husband who tries to excel in his career while taking care of his family. He is just plain old sweet! And even though his professional life has been built around sports, he works hard to squeeze in fitness and manage nutritious eating just like the rest of us. Kirk seems to be an expert juggler of life and shares some great tricks for staying fit on the go. He also dishes a few doozies on football.

Fitz: What types of things do you do to stay in shape?

Kirk: It's kind of a lifestyle really. As an athlete I worked out so hard, I could eat anything without paying the price for it. As I got older, I still had that appetite and I was not able to work out as hard as I did when I was playing football. What I really try to do is control my portions, and mix in cardio and strength training workouts four to five days a week. If I can do that, I feel like I'm in a pretty good place. It's just about doing it though!

Fitz: What do you do while you're on the road?

Here at That's Fit, we're forever grateful for the service, courage and sacrifice made by the heroic men and women who serve as military, law enforcement officers, and firefighters. We're so grateful, that we'd like to dedicate some features to both showing our heroes off, and learning a little bit in the process as well. If you serve your country courageously, are a veteran or know someone who does, please return this form completed to Fitz along with a photo and we'll share your story with the world.

Name:

Age:

Heroic occupation:

If you're in the military...where are you?

How often do you exercise?

What type of exercise do you do?

Eating healthy meals usually isn't all that difficult to do. If you have a little prep time and a few good recipes, you can usually do wonders. But, what may not be so easy to come up with are ideas for healthy snacks. While it may not always seem like it, there are many to choose from. For the sake of this post, though, I would like to turn your attention to a healthy, yet oft-forgotten, fruit. The fig.

Fig Newton's? Not exactly. But, not any less tasty (but far less carbs and simple sugar). That's what to expect from these nutrient-filled fruits. Figs were eaten in abundance by the ancient athletes of Greece and Rome, who relied on these high-fiber treats to help them build their godlike, statuesque physiques. What's to say, then, that they can't help you do the same?

In addition to containing a host of valuable nutrients -- including iron, calcium, potassium -- and antioxidants, they are also a natural laxative. Though this last part may not seem like much of a benefit to some, it's important to remember that keeping your bowels clean promotes good health and can help you lose weight.

So, the next time you're hungry, reach for this fruit of the gods. You'll be looking like Adonis before you know it!!

For whatever reason, green apples give me heartburn. I still eat them from time to time, but without fail, I feel a little bit of acid reflux after I do. Many people also suffer from occasional heartburn, though their respective food or foods that cause it can be quite different. However, when heartburn is a frequent problem, it might be something known as GERD.

Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (let's stick with GERD, shall we?) happens when stomach acid makes its way back into the esophagus, resulting in that slight burning sensation in your chest. What makes GERD different than the occasional instance of heartburn is that it is due to a slight bodily malfunction: the muscular valve where the esophagus meets up with the stomach is weak and/or does not close properly.

Left untreated, GERD can lead to many esophageal disorders, such as bleeding, damage to the tissue lining of the esophagus, and inflammation. In more extreme cases, it may even be a precursor to esophageal cancer. Signs of GERD, beyond those already stated, include chest pain, raspy or sore voice, bad breath, and difficulty swallowing.

If you have any of these symptoms, you may want to schedule an appointment with your physician or a GI specialist very soon.

All old people may not be happy, but surveys of Americans taken since 1972 say that more than half of black men and women over the age of 80 are very happy. Older white men and women follow close behind. Young people, on the other hand: Not even close.

Only one-third of 18-year-old white men and 28 percent of white women say they are very happy. Young black Americans are even less happy. And Baby Boomers -- born between 1946 and 1964 -- are the least likely to report being happy.

Between 1972 and 2004, happiness trends went like this:

• General levels of happiness did not grow over the years, even though America became a wealthier country.
  
  

• Differences in happiness by gender, race, and education level lessened as people aged.
  
  
• Happiness increased over time, rising to high levels when people were older -- even for folks facing health problems and the deaths of friends and family.

Why are old people so happy? Maybe because so many of them live social lives -- volunteering, attending religious activities, spending time with neighbors -- or maybe because they're able to successfully compare themselves to others and feel pretty fortunate with what they've got. Or maybe we all just assume old people can't be all that happy, when the reality is much different.

Do you wish to one day be old and happy? Check out this AOL Body resource for a few longevity tips.

When things get hectic and crazed around my house, my old stand-by dinner is invariably whole-wheat spaghetti and marinara sauce with added veggies. It's quick, easy, always a hit with my son, and passable nutrition-wise. It turns out my "old faithful" dinner also has benefits for the skin.

Researchers have determined that antioxidants in tomatoes help protect the skin against UV rays. Lycopene, one of the antioxidants found in tomatoes, has previously been linked to a reduction in prostate cancer risk. The skin benefits are just the icing on the cake... or the sauce on the spaghetti. Participants in the study ate up to 55 grams of tomato paste daily. In addition to the UV protection, lycopene may also be linked with anti-aging properties.

Lycopene is found in many other red fruits and vegetables including watermelon, guava, and pink grapefruit.