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Hula Hooping For Exercise

Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness

Hula hoops might seem like a fad from the 1950's, but did you know that using one can be a great form of cardiovascular exercise?

To use a regular hula hoop or a weighted hoop, hold the hoop against your back, put one foot in front of the other, and swing the hoop around your waist in a circular motion, shifting your hips from side to side. If you're able to hoop for 10 minutes or longer at a time you can consider it part of your aerobic exercise plan.

It's an easy way to burn calories, lose weight, and have fun! Hula hooping burns more than 150 calories per hour.

These days, Hooping, a grown-up version of the childhood activity, is all the rage. Participants use weighted hoops that make it easier to keep the hoop up and incorporate tricks or dance moves into their hula hooping routines.

Beyonce's Workout

Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Celebs & Entertainment

Bootylicious pop star Beyonce Knowles has one of the most coveted bodies in Hollywood, so just how does she do it? Beyonce, 28, dances her butt off -- literally. When she's not performing her high-intensity shows, Beyonce is rehearsing for hours at a time. In fact, prior to touring, rehearsals will regularly last for 12-hours, and she spends the entire time dancing in high heels to prepare for the concerts. But that's not all -- Beyonce also admits to doing "regular" workout things like running on the treadmill and doing squats. She reportedly keeps her abs in shape with numerous crunches, bicycle crunches and planks.

But perhaps Beyonce's best workout secret is that she fits exercise into whatever she does. She admits that she tones her butt and glutes by taking the stairs whenever she can, and she spent a recent vacation with her husband Jay-Z jumping on trampolines and jet-skiing in the tropics. But she's not afraid to take some downtime when necessary too. "Either I'm doing absolutely nothing and relaxing -- reading a book, sitting by the ocean and not answering any questions -- or else I'm hands-on and giving 100 percent, working really hard," she says.

And, of course, Beyonce watches what she eats, even trying controversial juice fasts (for which she apologized later) when she needs to slim down in a hurry.

Is the lemon detox diet dangerous?

Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements

While Americans are bagging leaves, Australians are bagging lemons. Bikini season is nearing in Australia, and the lemon detox diet is ramping up in popularity. Kilos are reportedly dropping like crazy Down Under, and Hollywood celebrities such as Beyonce Knowles and Mariah Carey have shed pounds on the diet, but is this detox healthy?

On the diet, you're drinking six to nine glasses per day -- for five to 14 days -- of a special concoction of Madal Bal Natural Tree Syrup, lemon juice, cayenne pepper and pure water. No solids. Here are a few lemon detox dangers cited by nutrition experts:

  • It's been labeled a starvation diet -- you know what that means -- dizzy, moody, hungry (there goes vigorous exercise). Also, like a squirrel gathering nuts, your body will start storing fat for emergency survival.
  • Should you be solely nourishing yourself with a drink containing nearly zero protein, little fat and few vitamins/minerals?
  • Be prepared to lose lean body mass, a real metabolism-slower, making future weight loss more difficult.
  • Critics contend the diet puts you at risk for a quick re-gain of fat, not muscle.
  • Detoxing for more than three days can rob your bod of vitamins/minerals.

Sounds like a bunch of unhealthy, sour lemons to me. I'd rather avoid the need to detox entirely by eating loads of fresh fruits and vegetables, drinking tons of water and keeping processed foods to a minimum.

Healthy diet hints from around the world(click thumbnails to view gallery)

From Okinawa: Sweet PotatoesFrom the Middle East: LentilsFrom India: CurryFrom Summaria: HoneyFrom Ireland: Cabbage

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Yo-Yo diets: Which celebs are the worst offenders?

Celebs & Entertainment

You know that we love to gawk at fit celebs -- but we also love to gawk at the non-fit ones. You know, the ones who stumble from scary skinny to curvaceous and all the way back again. Our friends over at AOL Health recently compiled a list of celebs who are guilty of riding the yo-yo rollercoaster of weight loss. Here are some of the top offenders:

  • Nicole Ritchie. In The Simple Life, she was sweet. Prior to daughter Harlow's birth, she was skeletal. Now she's somewhere in between -- let's hope she stays that way.
  • Matthew Perry. Yes, it was all down to drugs, but that didn't stop Perry's alarming weight loss to raise a few eyebrows.
  • Christian Bale. Already-slim Bale reportedly lost 63 pounds to play a heroin addict. Yikes - that cannot be healthy.
  • Beyonce Knowles. The bootylicious star resorted to drastic measures -- the lemonade diet -- to slim down for a role.

Check out AOL Health for more scary slimdowns.

Shocking Celebrity Slimdowns(click thumbnails to view gallery)

Perez Hilton - BeforePerez Hilton - AfterStar Jones - BeforeStar Jones - AfterKristen Johnston - Before

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Beyonce on the ups and downs of weight gain

Diet & Weight Loss, Celebs & Entertainment

Beyonce KnowlesEveryone knows it's more fun to gain weight than to lose it. And if you're getting paid big bucks to gain it, well, all the better. But there comes a time when the bagels and fried food have to be put away and the weight has to come back off.

That's what happened to Beyonce Knowles. She was asked to gain 20 pounds for her role as Etta James in Cadillac Dreams. But when shooting was finished, she was left not only with a paycheck, but with 20 pounds extra weight, which she had to lose for psychological thriller Obsessed. "I had to lose it," she said, "I was so angry with myself. I was like, 'D'oh! Why do you have to go through this?'"

Losing weight is such hard work. I've always wondered about celebrities who gain weight for roles. Matt Damon recently buried his fit figure under a layer of extra pounds for the movie The Informant, and Hillary Swank will put on 20 to 30 pounds (ironically) for the movie version of the book French Women Don't Get Fat. Not only is it hard mentally, I imagine, to get back into healthy habits after being out of them so long. But isn't all that yo-yoing hard on your body? Maybe not as hard as giving up a million-plus dollar role in a major motion picture, I guess. What do you think?

Beyonce Knowles(click thumbnails to view gallery)

Sexy ShouldersShe's got legsBeautiful smileToned and on keyConfidence

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