That's Fit

Tomorrow is the deadline for my book, The Everything Flat Belly Cookbook. I'm thrilled with Adams Media for hiring me to write it but on occasion, my body has been very angry at them for giving me such a tight deadline. This uber short deadline has caused little Miss Fitzness Trainer to sit for 12 hours at a time with my head buried in my laptop quite often. My brain is thrilled, but my back has been bummed.

The only reason I've survived is because I'm already really good at taking care of my body. I've never had to sit down for such long periods of time as a requirement of my job, but when the side effects of doing so set in ... I knew how to respond.

I imagine a lot of you are stuck at a desk for hours on a daily basis. I feel for you. I also have some ideas to help you survive it without all of the stiff, achy and strained body parts.

When I worked in an office, I was that girl who pushed her swivel chair away in favor of sitting on an exercise ball. To be honest, I don't know that I noticed a huge difference, but I actually found it to be really comfy and kind of fun. The only problem was when I'd get up from my desk -- it would roll away and get in the way, which is totally embarrassing if you're talking to a customer. Trust me.

Gaiam has come up with a solution -- the BalanceBall Chair, which, according to their website, "combines exercise and fitness with comfort and ergonomic support for an affordable price." At $99, it is pretty affordable, especially when you consider the fact that you'll get use out of it every day at work!

But how does it improve your fitness level? Well, for one thing, just sitting on a ball, rather than a flat seat, engages your core. Holding yourself straight requires all of the muscles through your core to remain active, whereas with a comfy seat, you might be inclined to slouch down. But that's not all.

She recently shocked the nation by being named John McCain's running mate in the 2008 federal election. But Sarah Palin has been her own running mate for a long time -- only this time, we're talking conventional running, the kind you do on the side of the road. She recently opened up about her healthy habits:

• Her diet: Palin and family eat a lot of wild Alaskan seafood, moose, caribou and fresh fruit.
• Her fitness: Palin ran seven to 10 miles a day until her pregnancy, then switched to aerobics. Nowadays, she is running around three miles a day. "Conventional running is my sanity," she says.
• Her unhealthy habit: She skips breakfast: "I know it's the most important meal of the day but I still haven't bought into it. I hate to admit it, but a skinny white-chocolate mocha is my staple in the morning."
  

Love or hate her politics, it sounds like she's living well and making healthy choices despite her busy schedule. What do you think?

(via Celebrity Diet Doctor)

My husband seems to have solved all of the world's workout problems with one quick fix: to save time, he uses the treadmill while he works on his laptop, thanks to a handy laptop shelf he built for the treadmill in his company's gym.

Pretty savvy, eh? His coworkers know where to find them if an IT emergency arises, and he becomes fit during work hours, at a normally sedentary job. Merits a Fitku, don't you think?

Tread and type workout
Kills two birds with one laptop
Fit and efficient

What are your tricks for staying active at work?

Compared to a job like deep-sea welding, working in an office behind a desk seems like a pretty safe career move. You might think that there's little chance for injury, but don't forget that there are still are a few dangers: Weight gain from inactivity, depleted eyesight, poor posture, and let's not forget probability of severe mid-afternoon fatigue.

Divine Caroline has some excellent rules for avoiding some of the dangers of the desk job:

• The 20/20 Rule - Save your eyesight by looking away from your computer every 20 minutes for 20 seconds at something three feet away.
• The Floating Mouse Rule - When moving your mouse, move your whole arm instead of just your wrist.
• The Mini-break Rule - take a 30 to 60 second break every 30 minutes -- use this time to take a short walk or do some stretches.

They have even more excellent tips to share ... click here for more info.

Our friends over at Fitsugar alerted me to an important tidbit: September is yoga month across the nation. Thinking back, I realized that September was the month I myself became a yogi five years ago -- maybe it's the month you can become one too?

Here are a number of ways you can honour yoga month in your own way:

• Check out Fitsugar's list of the Top 10 Yoga DVDs and pick one up for you or a friend
• Find a yoga class near you and sign up.
• Already a regular yoga participant? Take a non-yoga friend with you.
• Make time each day for a few moments of meditation or prayer
• Build up good Karma by doing good deeds -- no matter how small or big -- for those around you

Over at Fitsugar, they recently addressed this question: What's more important, sleep or exercise? Obviously, both are essential to a healthy lifestyle, but if you're so busy that you have to lose precious sleep to get your exercise, which activity should be cut? Their answer: You should always be getting seven to eight hours of sleep, and if that means you can't get to the gym at 6 am every morning, so be it.

Still, that doesn't mean you can't exercise. You owe it to yourself to try to fit in a workout where you can. Some suggestions?

• It's an oldie but a goody: take the stairs, and go up them as quickly as you can. Ten minutes of intense exercise a few times a day can have the same results as a 45-minute non-intense workout.
• Ever considered biking or walking to work or school? It's exercise -- and you're getting somewhere while you're at it.
• Instead of getting up an hour earlier to go to the gym, why not get up 20 minutes earlier and do a workout at home? There are tons of 20-minute workout DVDs out there, or you can make your own workout plan with simple exercises like sit-ups, push-ups, jump rope, etc.

I'm sure you have even more great ideas on how to fit in a workout -- please share!

Offices in England might soon be invaded by weight loss vigilantes, who will conduct weigh-ins, meetings and nutritional seminars, all aimed at getting employees healthy. Weight Watchers UK has developed a scheme aimed at office workers in the UK, and it's expected that at least 500 companies will sign up for the program, according to this article from The Daily Mail.

Mads Ryder, the senior VP of Weight Watchers UK, says there are a number of benefits of helping employees shed excess pounds: "For the employer it will help cut healthcare costs and cut down on the number of days staff are off sick, and I don't think employees will have a problem with taking part. Losing weight makes you more confident about yourself and improves your ability to do your job." As for how they will go about helping employees lose weight, Ryder says, "We are about changing attitudes to food."

I think this is a great idea, but they should expand it by offering fitness classes as well. Do you agree?

We can't ignore the fact that the economy is in a bit of a slump. And whether or not we recognize it, this affects nearly every aspect of our lives -- including our eating habits. During times of financial hardship, it's a natural reaction to stock up on foods that are processed and full of preservatives, but our healthy habits shouldn't be the first thing to go when things get a bit tough.

At least that's what nutritionist Jane Clarke says in her weekly column for The Daily Mail. She offers a few tips for reducing waste -- and ultimately cost -- when you're shopping for the family:

• Buy sliced, fresh whole wheat bread and freeze what you don't use right away.
• Add cheap, healthy ingredients like beans to your meat dishes to make the meat go further.
• Buy only as much fresh fruit as you know you can consume, and stock up on frozen fruit instead.
• In fruits do go limp, cook them (or freeze them) right away instead of throwing them out.

How do you stretch your grocery dollars?

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 26 years old and have never been happy with my upper body. My arms are lanky and my chest is soft. I have a demanding job as an attorney, and simply don't have the time nor the know how to get involved in a complicated training regiment. I know I have to "earn" a good body, so I was hoping you could dumb things down for me. A simple routine I can do in a hurry. P.S. I love your fit tip videos! Thanks. Tim

A. Hello Mr. Tim! Training for a guy with "no time" huh? That' my specialty! Glad you asked. Look pal, I wish I could pull off the persona as a rocket scientist, because I'm on top of this stuff ... but I can't. Fitness is painfully simple, and you can achieve your goals without much complexity.

Unless you're: A) under the age of two; B) in high school; or C) eligible for an AARP card, naps are not usually considered socially acceptable. And anyway, who has the chance to nap? Most of us spend our afternoons in an office, running errands or doing something else that's productive.

But a nap, even a quick one, can really help restore alertness and improve your mood, so don't feel guilty about taking one. Divine Caroline has seven tips for napping effectively. Here are a couple:

• Don't sleep longer than 45 minutes. After this amount of time, you'll be drifting into deep sleep and will feel groggy when you wake up.
  
• Find a place to lie down -- it takes longer to fall asleep sitting up.
• Don't nap too close to bedtime -- you'll be lying awake when it's time to hit the sack.
  

Want more tips? Read the full article here.

Few things can make you feel sexier than donning a fabulous pair of heels. But if you practically live in stilettos, here's a good reason to take a break from all that height: Heels can cause major problems in your feet, legs and back. In fact, you could end up like the British Apprentice contestant Claire Young, who says that heels ruined her spine and left in with pain so severe that she missed the final of the show.

It started as a nagging pain that she ignored, but the TV reality star eventually did so much damage to her spine that she couldn't get out of bed for weeks. In her own words: 'I've suffered too much to go back to my high heels again - I wear them only on special occasions. I had always joked that my shoes had killer heels, but believe me, I've learned to my cost the real meaning of the term.'

My advice? Stick to flats, and save the heels for rare dressy occasions. And when you do wear heels, wear them well.

I make a point of always eating breakfast, but if I have to get it on the run, one place I rarely go is Starbucks. Sure, they have some yogurt and fruit (not to mention those fantastic Americanos), but other than that, the options seem limited to sugary baked goods.

Well, good news Starbucks lovers. The gourmet coffee chain is coming out with some new and improved healthier breakfast offerings, currently referred to as Morning Source. USA Today has all the details, but here are some sample items:

• A protein power plate, available with or without peanut butter.
  
• Oatmeal with a variety of toppings, including fruits and nuts.
  
• Multigrain rolls with almond butter and/or fruit preserves
• Bran muffins.
  

What would you like to see on the new menu?

(Via Fitsugar)

Women's Health magazine just sent me a release with some fun tips entailed, and I thought I'd share this one with you. Four fabulous moves useful for those of you guilty of missing morning workouts to sleep in late, and then missing the gym after work due to fatigue. As your online trainer I want to make this clear to you: skipping your workouts on a regular basis is detrimental to your health!

Of course, early morning workouts can be tough. They're also what keeps you full of the energy you need to get through each day with vigor! Check out this gallery, and next time you go to hit the snooze button ... get your fanny up and do the Cat Cow pose instead. (No moo-ing necessary!) These four easy moves will give you the energy to get to the gym and start your day off right!

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: