That's Fit

As if young women aren't already blasted with images and messages about whether or not they're thin enough, MTV is sending the message to its young viewers that, in order to be beautiful, you need to lose weight with their new reality show Model Maker.

The show is holding auditions around the country now for women who "appear" to be between 18 and 25 and are willing to make their dreams a reality by dropping serious amounts of weight -- at least 30 pounds, and up to 80, within just 12 weeks. Basically, a pound a day.

Weight-loss shows are certainly successful, and it's not that I'm against a show that helps young women get down to a healthy weight, whether it's because they want to model or simply because they want to be healthier. However, the tone of this show (which still hasn't been given the green light for production -- they're waiting to see how the auditions go) seems to tell girls, "You're pretty now, but you could be beautiful if you lost a lot of weight -- fast."

Does this upset you as well? Or do you think it's just another reality show?

• Eat right. If you eat right, your kids are likely to follow suit. That means five servings of fruits and veggies each day, whole grains instead of refined products, and a limited number of red meats and processed foods.
  
  

• Move. Inspire your kids to get 60 minutes of vigorous exercise most days of the week by engaging in your own fitness pursuits. Discuss the value of being active with your kids too.
  
  
• Avoid smoking. Don't smoke, don't hang out around smoke, and chat with your youngsters about the dangers of smoking.
  
  
• Practice skin smarts. Protect your own skin from the sun, and slather your kids too. And teach them this American Cancer Society jingle: Slip! Slop! Slap! Wrap! Slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen, slap on a hat, and wrap sunglasses around your eyes.
  
  

What ideas do you have for heading kids in a healthy life direction?

In many ways, celebrities are just like the rest of us. Some of them pack on the pounds during pregnancy, while others stay relatively fit. Some of them love to exercise, while others want nothing to do with it.

Milla Jovovich is one of those celebrities who experience major weight gain during her pregnancy, and, according to her trainer Harley Pasternak, she "is not someone who embraces exercise." She got up to 192 pounds by the time she gave birth in November, and then she had to be ready to be filmed in a bikini less than half a year later.

She got back down to her goal of 130 pounds in five months by ... get ready for it ... working out hard and eating well. I know, it's not exactly breaking news, but we all know this is the system that works. Milla trained with Harley five days a week, and he prepared three meals a day for her and two snacks.

It's a healthy step, says larger-than-average model Emme -- she wore a size 14/16 at her career high -- of the "plus-size" crowning of 20-year-old Whitney Thompson. But it's still ridiculous, she says. "In our society, she's normal."

What does the big winner have to say about all of this? Here are a few of her thoughts.

• Revenge is sweet, she says, after being called "fat" by mean girls in her Atlantic Beach, Florida hometown.

• Despite teasing, she's never obsessed about her diet. "You don't have to starve to be beautiful," she says. "I made that decision in seventh grade, when my friends were drinking Slim-Fast."

• About speculation that she hasn't always been a size 10 but once fit into size 4 clothing: Never, she reports. She was once a size 6 but shot up to her current 10 in college. She has no plans for slimming down.
  
  

• Thompson also says she was never asked by ANTM staffers to put on weight to fit into the "plus-size" category. Had they asked, she says, she would not have done it.

The world of plus-size modeling may not be large, but here are a few celebs known for strutting their full-figured selves.

Model extraordinaire and Project Runway pioneer Heidi Klum reveals her stay-slim secret in May's Good Housekeeping magazine. She doesn't whisper anything about strict diets and hard-core workouts, though. Nope. It's all about her kids.

Klum's three children -- ages four, two, and one -- keep her busy all the time, says this beauty who reports that staying active with her little ones is how she stays in such good shape. I'm not sure that's all it takes -- I'm a mom too and simply moving with my boys just isn't enough -- but apparently it's one piece of the puzzle for this Supermom who says working in the garden, jumping on the trampoline, climbing trees, and feeding ducks in the park top her activity list.

Do your kids keep you in shape?

For more celebrity diet and fitness scoop, check out this AOL Body site.

Tyra Banks' and her America's Next Top Model panel of judges just crowned another winner. Her name is Whitney Thompson, and there's nothing skin and bones about the girl who says she feels validated after so many years of being judged.

The 20-year-old Thompson is the first plus-sized model to win Top Model honors and the first of the show's winners to kind of resemble the average American woman. Media reports peg Thompson as a size 8/10.

Thompson said she's already heard from boys and girls all over the world who are struggling with weight and eating issues. "They're thanking me for standing up and saying, 'I am a plus-size model and I am beautiful,'" says this Florida gal who is the lucky recipient of an Elite modeling contract and a fashion spread in Seventeen magazine.

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 went back to talk with one of my favorite past guests, Mr. Colin Egglesfield. (To view Colin's in-depth interview click here.) Spring is here, summer is coming and this All My Children star has the most perfectly fit body one could wish for. We all want to know how celebrities earn their great bodies, and Colin was sweet enough to share his tips for preparing for swimsuit season. These tips are exactly as our favorite Calvin Klein underwear model gave them to me. So play close attention, follow his advice, and prepare to strut your stuff this summer!

• Run! You can do all the weight training in the world, but nothing burns off that winter weight better than a good 30-45 run at least three times a week. I like to start out doing about 30min and then gradually work up to an hour over the course of a few weeks as I start to get my stamina back. I love to run outside by myself with my headphones and some great music on my iPod and just go! It's my time to be alone with my thoughts, and anything that might be on my mind always seems to be a lot clearer after a good run.

Good Morning America co-host Robin Roberts is bald, thanks to breast cancer and chemotherapy. She's done a bang-up job of covering up since she shaved her head in preparation of the big fallout -- her wig is a perfect match for the hair that once sprouted from her scalp -- but she recently decided to bare her shiny scalp. She did it to challenge her comfort zone, she says.

What started as a dare had Roberts braving the catwalk the other day as part of Isaac Mizrahi's runway show, live from New York Fashion Week. All of her friends and fans knew she was doing the show -- they just didn't know she'd do it bald.

"This is who I am," Roberts said about her decision to ditch the wig.

When Roberts was diagnosed with breast cancer last July, the last thing she felt was beautiful. When the folks at Good Morning America dared her to be model, she seized the opportunity. It was a perfect way to push herself outside a certain comfort zone.

To transform herself into a supermodel, Roberts worked with Tyra Banks on walking the runway, Mizrahi on finding the perfect gown, and model Nikki Taylor on photo shoots -- a special layout will appear in an upcoming Redbook magazine.

Check out Roberts here in this video where you'll see a courageous woman make a bold statement as she fights to regain her health. Now that's what I call a model -- a role model.

Tyra Banks has a few words for those recently poking fun at her weight. "Kiss my fat a--," she says. She says a whole lot more to her studio audience in this video clip.

Wearing the same swimsuit that caused the media to comment on her weight, Banks shows fans of The Tyra Banks Show how a camera angle or body stance can manipulate the way weight is portrayed in photographs.

On her critics, the 33-year-old says: "Luckily, I'm strong enough and I have a good enough support system. I love my Mama, and she has helped me to be a strong woman so I can overcome these kinds of attacks, but if I had a lower self-esteem, I would probably be starving myself right now. That's exactly what is happening to other women all over this country."

Banks makes no secret of the fact that she's put on 30 pounds since her runway days. She also makes no secret of this fact: "I still feel hot."

All My Children soap star and Calvin Klein model Colin Egglesfield and I have been talking lots of fitness lately, so I thought I'd get his advice for stay completely gorgeous for the holidays, and making it to the new year without an ounce of regret. This is what Colin has to say:

"My tips for the holiday season revolve around the theme of "CALORIE CONTROL!" You can enjoy most of the same treats you traditionally desire if you simply use the lowest calorie ingredients available. And of course, I'm never too conscious of exact calorie amounts, that would drive anyone crazy, I just try to be sensible about what I order and try to eat small portions when possible. "

Here are a few tips that I try to heed:

1. Latte, cappuccino, and hot chocolate lovers be sure to use non-fat milk! I love cappuccinos, so when I do order one... I order it with skim milk. I try to limit my intake of coffee to only two or three a week. The rest of the time I drink herbal teas.

Last week, I tuned into the Victoria's Secret fashion show on television. Wow! What fun they have with bras and panties! And watching the models strut up and down the runway with their enormous angel wings and teeny underthings made me want to do some crunches at ten o'clock that night.

Now, of course the girls are ten feet tall and they are quite trim. But they are not the anorexic looking waifs we see on other runways. In fact, these chicks are fairly curvy and mostly resemble women. NOT THE TYPICAL WOMAN, but they look womanly.

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'm featuring one of the sexiest men alive (to heck People magazines list! If they haven't figured out to put this guy on their list....they've no credibility with me.) Colin Egglesfield is both a successful actor with a sweet job as Josh Madden on ABC's soap All My Children, and one of the most popular male models around. If you don't recognize the name, go check out his website, ColinEgglesfield.com and you'll whack yourself on the head in one of those "I could have had a V-8 type moments". The guy has been the face and body of the biggest print campaigns around. Calvin Klein, Versace, Nautica, Clinique....the list goes on.

Before interviewing Colin, I literally had to shake my giggles out for about three hours. He's that insanely handsome. It was very stressful to me, until he said "hello". Besides being ridiculously delightful to look at, the boy is sweet! Pleasant, funny, down to earth, smart and thoughtful. The kind of guy anyone would adore, even if he were not so pretty. Colin is the all-American man, with a cautious Irish mother who happens to be a big star. He only happened across show business while pausing before medical school.

On the fitness side, Colin's body speaks for itself. He's not genetically gifted; he works damn hard. He runs, lifts and cycles. He's mastered nutritious eating in a way that allows him to continue looking quite perfect all the time, without having to starve or suffer. He's not strangely large or small.......he's just right. Fit. Fit. Fit. So enjoy learning about the guy who you may have drooled over in the men's section of department stores, or just wanted to be like(if you're a guy). I did. And when you're done, check out Colin's custom T-shirt company ShoutOutClothing.com. The ever-changing T's are the perfect holiday gift for everyone on your list.

Fitz: How did you get into modeling and acting?

Colin:I decided to take a one year break after graduating from the University of Iowa and before attending medical school. I kind of fell into a modeling contract and then pretty immediately landed on runways around the world.

Padma Lakshmi is an Indian-American supermodel, actress, chef, cookbook author, ambassador for the United Nations Development Fund for Women, and host of Bravo TVs Top Chef. She can also add "blogger" to her resume because this accomplished one has been recapping snippets from her reality show via her video blog.

Lakshmi, a culinary goddess who features in her cookbooks recipes for a delicious low fat diet, reveals more than critiques of Top Chef contestants on her blog. She also shares tidbits about her own approach to food and drink. Through my own tour of her blog, I learned that she's a big lover of breakfast -- it is the most important meal of the day, you know -- and while she doesn't consider herself a big drinker, she does enjoy white wine, red wine, and single malt Scotch. She also loves green markets and enjoys cooking with items grown by local farmers. Lakshmi likes to take classic recipes, like macaroni and cheese, and add one or two ingredients to add a twist. And she's all for basic cooking. The better the chef, the more simple the cooking gets, she says.

There's quite a lot to learn Lakshmi, whose cookbook Easy Exotic was awarded Best First Book at the 1999 World Cookbook Awards at Versailles. See for yourself what this top chef has to offer by visiting her blog.

Yay for Prada! In the world of freakishly-thin models (heck, there's even a Halloween costume for it!) Prada, one of the biggest and most influential fashion houses in the world, has made a bold move: Miuccia Prada chose a curvier mannequin to showcase a new sweater on the runway in Milan and a curvier model to actually walk the runway during a recent show.

It's pretty sad when one mannequin and one model are such a big deal, but although it may be small it's a definite step in the right direction.

The modeling world has been hit with some hefty criticism as of late. Martha Edwards recently posted on comments made by Dame Helen Mirren, who believes that women in the fashion industry are to blame for the too-thin models skulking down catwalks, and I wrote a post on Australian Prime Minister John Howard's criticisms of a fashion show in that country that used a very young model as the face of the show.

Former model Iman is the latest high-profile figure to comment on the industry, saying that the obsession with and focus on weight and thin women is taking the focus away from each girl's individual identity, meaning there are no new 'supermodels' emerging. Iman is also unhappy about the lack of diversity in the fashion industry and isn't impressed that race is still an issue when it comes to models.

I think she makes some pretty valid comments, but what do you think?