That's Fit

You've fortified your weight loss goals this holiday season with a solid plan, extra workouts, and a dash of willpower.

But one thing you don't want to underestimate this month are the holiday diet saboteurs, well-meaning loved ones who can wreck your weight loss in a ho-ho-ho-hurry.

Luckily, Laura knows how to stop them, so pop on over to Holidash and see what she has to say.

Let's face it. Most of us have those days where we're tempted to use the old "I have a headache" excuse. But wouldn't it be a heck of a lot more fun just to take care of your sex drive like you take care of other aspects of your health? Try these tips:

• Exercise. Aerobic exercise gets your blood flowing, boosts your energy, and triggers endorphins. And when you incorporate exercise into your daily routine, you'll just feel better about yourself and confidence has everything to do with feeling sexy.
• Relax. A stressed-out mood isn't exactly made for the bedroom. In addition to your cardio workouts, try yoga or tai chi -- they offer mind-body benefits that can help you relax.
• Add a little novelty. And I don't mean novelty in the bedroom (although that's not a bad idea, either). Spend some quality time with your significant other doing something different -- go for a hike, play a game of tennis, or try your hand at a rock climbing wall. Any activities that have you working together will help increase your physical awareness of each other and will strengthen your relationship.
• Get your vitamins. Some supplements, such as Ginkgo biloba, have been linked with sex drive, but the science is sketchy at best. You're better off just sticking to a healthy diet including a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.
  

The whole dinner and a movie thing is so played out. We've all been there, done that, haven't we? The next time you go out on a date -- whether it's with your spouse, existing boyfriend/girlfriend, or a brand new love interest -- why not plan on something more active?

• Jogging. Be like Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon. Drive to a local park or nature preserve and lace up your running shoes. A jog along a path is a great way to spend quality time together. You can unwind later by unpacking that healthy picnic lunch you have waiting in the car.
• Bowling. So it's not the most strenuous activity there is, but bowling can be a lot of fun. Besides, bowling gives you a chance to check out your date from (ahem) all angles. Hopefully you're not as serious about your game as Mario Lopez is, though.
  
• Yoga. There go Reese and Jake getting all fit again ... not to mention Orlando Bloom and his model girlfriend. A yoga class is a perfect way to spend time together and do something a little different.
  
• Adventure sports. Rock climbing, mountain biking, and other adventure sports are a great date choice for the physically fit. Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens recently went kayaking together -- another fun activity.
  
  

The options are limitless. Opt for exercise the next time you have a date -- it's way more rewarding than dinner and a movie.

Life Fitness is a process of continuous growth: physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Need motivation and guidance to facilitate positive changes in your life? Ask Life Fit Expert Laura Lewis!

Dear Laura:

My husband and I work full-time. By the time we get home and eat dinner, we really aren't interested in having sex. I know all I want to do is get ready for bed to sleep! My husband is usually asleep by the time I get into bed. I read somewhere that exercising might help by putting us "in the mood." Would joining a gym help us out in the love department?

Thanks a bunch!

"Feeling like a slug" in Chicago

Dear Feeling,

So many people are low energy, depressed, stressed and just plain unhappy. Like you, there is not a lot of activity happening in the bedroom. Many are sedentary. Yet, did you know that simply exercising, specifically doing weight resistance exercise at least three times per week can naturally elevate your testosterone or "T" levels? And the higher your testosterone levels are the more you will be in the mood to hop in the sack with your honey. If you are interested in having some smoking hot activity in the boudoir with your sweetie pie, listen up! Check out these 5 "T" boosting tips on how to turn up the heat!

1. Join a gym. If you have never had a private session with a trainer, then book one. An experienced personal trainer can give you a thorough orientation on how to properly use all of the exercise equipment a gym has to offer. Most gyms will provide a free session upon request to help you get started.Then once you get going, really focus upon the goal of doing three high intensity sets on each piece of equipment with resting periods in between sets, of 30 seconds to three minutes. Workout hard and push yourself to go beyond your comfort zone. Higher intensity workouts result in higher elevation of testosterone. Also, the harder you workout, the longer you can rest before you move on to the next set!

Do you sometimes feel like marriage problems are inevitable? They might be -- recent studies show that marriage problems have been linked to a specific gene variation in males. The gene variation, involved in brain signaling, affected the ability to mate for life in rodents and experts believe that it may produce similar results in humans, based on findings that showed that men with the gene were more likely to be unhappy in their relationships.

Still, don't let these findings get you down. Marriage is hard but a little compassion, understanding and quality time goes a long way. Our Life Fit expert Laura Lewis has some valuable tips on how to make love last -- check them out!

Prenuptial agreements are traditionally drawn up to protect parties in the case the marriage fails and they need to divide their assets. But according to Michelle Andrews, over at U.S. News & World Report, lawyers are increasingly seeing prenups that include clauses related to health.

Some potential spouses want to be assured their betrothed won't gain weight or pick up smoking. Others want a guarantee on how many times a week they'll have sex or, in one case, put a weight restriction on physical intimacy. Of course, these clauses aren't legally enforceable, but I suppose if your fiance asks you to agree to them, then you know up front exactly what you're getting into.

We all want our spouses and partners to take good care of themselves. But putting healthy habits on a legal contract? That feels controlling and manipulative to me, not emotions you want to feel when you're saying "I do, till death to us part." I'd have run, far and fast, if my husband had approached me with one of these.

What about you? Are you willing to put your health requirements on paper? Or does this give you the same icky feeling it does me?

Maintaining health in my mind and body has always been important to me. But it became more so after I became a mother. I've been fortunate, for the most part, to be one who enjoys motherhood and has been able to achieve a good balance most of the time.

Still, I was intrigued when my friend and neighbor handed over her copy of Mother Nurture to add to my bedside table. It's a fabulous resource regardless of how well a mother might be coping, or not. It could be a lifesaver for some.

If anything else, reading about preventing depletion, building teamwork with your partner and achieving balance in your life is fabulous motivation to keep moving forward and enjoy being a parent rather than viewing it as a task to be completed. I'm actually putting it on my short list of great baby shower gifts. I suspect it would be a lot more valuable than another blanket in the nursery.

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.

Nutrition expert, Elizabeth Somer, and I recently sat down in New York City at the Prilosec OTC round table event to chat about aging without feeling or looking OLD! She tosses out tons of great advice about living well, living long and looking hot while doing it. The interview was fun and her books are great!

View Elizabeth's books below:

See more training videos at SportsHealthExercise.org on the Active Health Network!

The Active Health Network has just launched and you can find it at SportsHealthExercise.Org. I'm very excited to announce this to you, because I'm one of the several health and fitness experts contributing to the site. Unlike other health and fitness sites, SHE is owned by a fitness expert, Master of Exercise Physiology, Tracy Benham. She has also surrounded herself by other experts (like me) in unique genres of health.

SHE sports a bunch of great text info, and it's full of FITNESS TELEVISION! You don't have to settle for words, when you can see and hear the various experts blabbing about and showing you personally what they want you to know about becoming a better you. General fitness training, yoga, healthy cooking, etc...

So ... I'm stoked! We've done tons of work leading up to this point, and now I can't wait to see how all of that effort pays off for you. So ... what are you waiting for? Stop reading what I say and go listen and see instead.

If you haven't heard by now, researchers have found that women who take birth control pills may be choosing or staying with the wrong mate due to their influence upon sense of smell. Humans typically, as part of the survival of the species, naturally are attracted to those of the opposite sex who genetically have a different make up. Our sense of smell guides us towards choosing our ideal mate for procreation. I don't know about you but the way someone smells can make or break my moving forward in a relationship. I love the way my boyfriend smells and I have to admit, even more when he gets back from the gym! Is that TMI? We've been together almost two years and I have always had a sense that our genes would make great babies, not that more kiddos from my body are in my future! Anyway, oral contraceptives are not on my daily menu so I feel pretty good that I can trust my sense of smell in telling me that genetically he is a great match for me.

The study was conducted by a few folks at the University of Liverpool. One hundred and ten women were given t-shirts previously worn by men who were similar and dissimilar in genetic make up as determined by researchers. None of the women were taking oral contraceptives when the study commenced. In the beginning, most of the participants typically were attracted to the scent of men who were genetically a good match. Later in the study, forty of the women began taking the pill and then all participants were tested again. The result? Those on the pill were more attracted to the scent of men who were similar in genetic make up and not the best match for making babies.

Wow. Now that's something to ponder.

This morning was a special day for the mommies in my playgroup and I. Today we donated over 150 stuffed monkeys to the children being cared for at North Florida Regional Medical Center (NFRMC) in honor of our Angel Odessa. Odessa Virginia Webster was born at NFRMC on February 24, 2003, and landed back at the same hospital on March 25, 2004 for care after a fatal head injury. At thirteen months old, Odessa was stolen from her parents Matt and Anita, her loving family, and our already tight playgroup family. It was devastating for all of us, and out of our grief came an intense drive to honor our "Angel O".

To back up a bit, our playgroup began when our infants met at a "new mommy" luncheon hosted at NFRMC when they were two weeks old. Well, the infants didn't exactly meet each other, but us moms did ... and we decided then and there that we wanted to stick together. That made ten families dealing with the insanity of newborns and leaning on each other for friendship, advice, stress relief, and fun. We literally have been getting together for "playgroup" every Tuesday since, and our children are all addicted to each other; the best of friends. At the start, we would have never imagined what would come for us, for her, the following year. I just remember checking my email one day and opening one from Anita with "Odessa Virginia Webster" as the title. I expected to see a new photo from a portrait studio. A portrait was included, but it went along with a letter written by Anita informing us that her daughter was gone. "Please don't call now. I'm not ready to talk" she wrote. I simply can't describe the agony that followed for all of us.

Would you loan your husband out to a single friend for the night? Let a friend in need use your car? Invite house guests to stay for an indeterminate amount of time? Though these may seem like generous sacrifices you can make for friends and family that you love, a marriage and family therapist at Canadian Living lists them as some of the six sacrifices you should never make.

Why? Because these kinds of sacrifices invite trouble. An accident may wreck more than your car, it could wreck your driving record. And sharing your house can lead to stress and damaged relationships. And doesn't everyone fight about money at some point in their life? Though it feels rewarding to help people in these big sorts of ways, think long and hard, says this therapist, before making a sacrifice you just might not be able to afford (in more ways than one).

I think that much of it boils down to trust. There are friends for whom I'd do almost anything, because I know without a doubt they'd never take advantage. But those are people in my innermost circles, not even just good friends or acquaintances.

What do you think about these six sacrifices? Do you think she's right when she says that people should never make them, or do you think there are instances when you just need to help another person out?

Want to cut your heart attack risk in half? How about boosting your immune system by 30%? You can have these perks and more just by (ahem) getting busy.