That's Fit

Join recent Olympic gold medal winning gymnasts, Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson, tonight (Monday, September 22, 2008) for an exciting webinar. Hosted by Secret, the two champs will be chatting LIVE about their recent experiences and will even offer a few of you the opportunity to ask them questions personally!

Both Nastia and Shawn have achieved their athletic goals, and are joining forces with the Secret Sport Challenge in efforts to give away twenty $5,000 athletic scholarships so others can follow their dreams as well. This event promotes sports, fitness and health, and that's why I thought it would be a perfect event to share with you!

To attend the Secret Sport Challenge Webinar with Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson tonight at 5pm EST click here!

My son is starting soccer practice soon, and I can't wait. Last season, he had so much fun... and I did, too. Parents aren't required to stay at practices, but I attended every one. I think it was good for my son, because I got to observe the drills and skills the coach was teaching the kids. Then, my son and I practiced them at home. It's end up being extra practice for my son and great exercise for me!

Tournaments and games were fun, too. I loved seeing my son work so hard and excel at a sport. It's such a positive environment to encourage his love of sports, work on social skills, and bolster his self-esteem. And I had fun getting to know all the other parents and cheering on our team.

But, except for in the younger set, soccer doesn't have quite the following that other sports have in the US. Caught Offside lists seven reasons that Americans should learn to love soccer.

Those who work their butts off physically often enjoy a bit of added protection against cancer. And sometimes they don't. Just ask Olympic swimmer Eric Shanteau, who was just recently diagnosed with testicular cancer.

Shanteau, 24, won't let cancer stop him from going for Gold in the 200-meter breaststroke -- he plans to delay his surgery until after he competes. Don't worry. The swimmer will be closely monitored and will drop out of the Olympics should his cancer appear to spread. "By no means am I being stupid about this," says Shanteau, who has high hopes for a successful recovery.

According to the American Cancer Society, testicular cancer, one of the most curable forms of cancer in the United States, will strike about 8,090 U.S. men in 2008. Because treatment is so successful, the risk of dying from this cancer is very low: about 1 in 5,000.

Although I will expand on Randy Pausch, I imagine you're already well aware of who he is. He's the unstoppable man, who has inspired millions and millions of people around the world by his passion for life while he fights an almost impossible battle with pancreatic cancer. I learned of Dr. Pausch many months ago as Diane Sawyer interviewed him on ABC. He blew me away with his humor, dedication to his family, and outrageous courage.

His journey since his diagnosis put him on stage at the University he was a professor at, Carnegie Mellon, for his Last Lecture. This Last Lecture made it to YouTube (embedded below) and then became a best selling book, The Last Lecture. His outlook on life and stories of his childhood and career have inspired other cancer patients to fight harder and regular people to just be better. Although he's truly only concerned with getting his message across to his three young children, he's positively affected millions of others as a side effect.

Recently, President Bush was compelled to write to Randy Pausch. This can't change Randy's fate with cancer, but as a representative of the American people ... it was a fantastic way to show our appreciation for Randy setting a new standard for 'goodness' and dedicating his life to teaching others.

The American Cancer Society tells us that the hot dogs, burgers, and chicken we take on our picnics should be kept at 140 degrees F or higher and that our cold food should stay chilled at 41 degrees F or colder. Real Simple magazine weighs in on a few temperature matters too.

There are the basics: Normal body temperature is 98.6 degrees F, water boils at 212 degrees, and it freezes at 32 degrees. But what's the ideal temperature for wine? Well, 45-50 degrees F for white wine and 60-65 for red. What about that relaxing bath that's calling your name? Water temp should be 96-104 degrees. Make it any hotter and you may break down your skin's protective barrier, which guards against pollution, germs, and bacteria. Who knew?

Did you know your fridge should be set between 32 and 40 degrees and your freezer should register at a big fat 0? Food will spoil faster in warmer temps, and the quality of food will change if it's too cold. What about green tea? Your water should reach 170 degrees. This is lower than what you need for black tea because green leaves burn more easily. An omelet? You want an internal temperature of 160 degrees. And when your day is coming a close and it's time for a little shut-eye, snuggle in at a nice 68 degrees. A good sleep requires your body temperature to drop by losing heat into the environment. Sticking your arms and legs outside the covers and removing your bedtime socks will help the heat escape.

Protect yourself in the outdoors, says The American Cancer Society (ACS) -- read all about it here -- and protect your picnic food too, say the cancer experts who are sending me an electronic monthly newsletter all about healthy living.

Warm weather poses a big threat of food-borne illness, according to the ACS. So: Keep bacteria away at your next outdoor feast with these five easy steps.

• Wash your hands before cooking and again after cooking, especially after touching raw meat. If you aren't near a faucet, grab a wet napkin or hand sanitizer -- they'll reduce the number of germs on your hands.

• Keep hot food hot. Hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken should be kept at 140 degrees F or warmer.

• Keep cold foods cold. Even if you've got your food packed in a cooler, tuck it in a shady area. Keep at 41 degrees F or cooler.

• Wash melons before cutting them. This way, less bacteria will slip into the flesh from the rind when you slice them.

• Bring extra plates to cut down on cross-contamination. Use some to handle raw foods and others to handle cooked foods.

Just wanted to wish all of my fellow Americans a very happy Fourth of July, and to remind everyone why we celebrate. Of course politics can be rough, and the economy sometimes varies, but those things pale in comparison to all that this country has to offer. As I was explaining to my three and five year old children this week, we celebrate our freedom this Friday. As Americans we are able to choose our jobs, choose our religion, choose our spouse, choose our homes, and have as many or as little children as we'd like to have.

Nothing is perfect of course, but America is perfect for me. I rarely walk by a man or woman in uniform without thanking them for their service, nor an elderly man proudly wearing his baseball cap describing which branch of the military he served. I value the local and state law enforcement officers for placing their lives on the line each day to protect ours. I'm even grateful for the sometimes messy brood of politicians we elect to run this beautiful country of ours.

Lastly, I'm grateful for the nation of Americans. Thank goodness the majority of us are really good hardworking people. The good certainly outweigh the bad. I thank you for voting, working, educating your children, volunteering, helping strangers, and just making this country what it is today. I love it here. I'm proud to be here, and I'm grateful to those who laid their lives on the line to provide my family and I the simple yet irreplaceable luxury of freedom.

Reader's Digest calls it the "American Paradox," the curious way the proportion of fat in the American diet is going down while the numbers on our American scales are going up. The explanation: While the percentage of fat in our diets may be dropping, the amount of fat we consume as a nation is going up because we're eating larger portions of everything.

All is not lost, though. Here are six steps for slashing some calories from your diet. Calories, after all, are the golden ticket for weight loss.

Keep food off the table. Serve your food onto plates right from the stove or kitchen counter. No serving platters, no extra calories.

Don't eat from packages. It's too easy to lose track of how much you've consumed when you keep grabbing from a bag. Try portioning out crackers, pretzels, and other snacks on a plate and you'll have a clear sense of what you're eating.

Downsize your dishes. Smaller plates and bowls make portions seem larger.

Take it slow. Put your fork down after each bite, sip slowly from your drink, and when you're done with your food, wait 20 minutes -- this is how long it takes for the brain's appetite-control center to register that there's food in the stomach.

Work for your food. Eat foods that require some effort. Peel an orange or crack open crabs and your eating pattern will slow down.

Socialize outside the kitchen. You won't be so tempted to nibble if you congregate in the living room.

I met a woman the other day while waiting to get my annual mammogram. She had a suspicious something she was waiting to have examined and during our discussion about her concerns, I told her about my history with breast cancer. At some point during our chat, she shared that she wasn't so sure diet plays any real role in preventing cancer. Maybe no one can be entirely sure but it does seem a worthy endeavor to clean up your diet just in case. If it turns out diet and cancer have no link -- most evidence, however, supports that fact that they do -- then at the very minimum, you've stepped up your health a bit. There's no harm in that.

Back to the cancer connection, and the evidence that says meals really do matter.

What you eat counts, say the American Cancer Society experts. Food choices not only provide vital nutrients that can help prevent cancer, but they also help people maintain healthy weights. Research suggests that one-third of U.S. cancer deaths each year can be attributed to poor diets and inactivity. Another third is due to tobacco use. The last third: genetic variations and environmental factors.

American Idol doesn't typically contain great health and fitness material. I mean, when I watch the show, nowhere in my head do I think I'll grab onto something I can later write about here -- well, with the exception of the show I watched last night, the one where the two Davids -- Archuletta and Cook -- faced off in an attempt to win the entire singing competition.

So these two guys were competing, and their match-up was referred to on the show as a fight, which is all about health and fitness. It went something like this: Train hard. Prepare your body. Because in a fight, it's the first thing to go.

And so it occurs to me that this is so perfectly right. It's exactly what I've been doing for one year now. I've been preparing my body through a clean diet and strenuous exercise so that it won't go. I've had one major fight already -- cancer -- and by the luck of the draw, I won. In the event another opponent faces me, I want to be as fight-ready as I can be.

Train hard. Prepare your body. That's what I'll do. You should too.

My kid got a cavity. Just had it filled recently. It cost me a bundle and makes me rethink getting dental insurance. It also makes me rethink what I need to do to ensure my two little guys do the very best they can with their pearly whites.

Of course, they need to brush. If I had it my way, they'd brush after eating, every time they eat. But this is hard since they spend a few hours each week day in school and I can't realistically mandate classroom brushing after snacks and lunch. I can be vigilant at home, though. I can hover like a helicopter over them, judging their respective techniques. Let's face it: Kids left to their own brushing devices will cheat, even if unaware their form is not exactly right.

My boys can floss -- and they do -- but as a team, we can do better. We can also swirl around a little mouthwash. And use this cool pink solution the dentist gave us (well, sold us) that marks the hiding places of food bits. And my favorite: We can cut down on sugary, sticky, sweet treats. We've got them down to a pretty good minimum but there's always room for improvement.

What can you do to treasure your kids' teeth? Visit this American Dental Association site for age-appropriate practices.

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?

Bad news for women in the Washington Post yesterday. A study, also published yesterday, reveals evidence that life expectancy is falling for a significant number of American females.

According to the Post, the study cites that in nearly 1,000 counties that together are home to about 12 percent of the nation's women, life expectancy is now shorter than it was in the early 1980s. This marks the first decline in life expectancy for a significant number of women since the Spanish influenza of 1918, the Post reports.

I don't want to be too heavy or too sedentary. I know both will increase the odds that my cancer will come back.

Most cancer survivors know a healthy lifestyle can help prevent recurrences and increase life expectancies. Yet, new research finds that this group has rates of obesity and physical inactivity similar to those of the general population. This is troubling because maintaining a healthy weight and getting regular exercise is critical for cancer survivors who wish to conquer their diseases and live a long life.

The details of this research, published in the June issue of Cancer, include the following.

• Less than one quarter of cancer survivors were physically active.

• Thirty-four percent of survivors were overweight. Almost one in five were obese.

• The lowest rates of physical activity were found among colorectal cancer survivors, breast cancer survivors, and female survivors of melanoma.
  
  

Kevin Stein, director of Quality of Life Research at the American Cancer Society, says this research underscores the fact that cancer survivors need to pay attention to their health.

"There is a teachable moment when someone is diagnosed," he says, "It's the perfect opportunity to say, 'We all need to eat healthy and exercise, but it's even more important for you as a cancer survivor.'"

If avoiding cancer is a priority for you, check out this AOL Body site.