That's Fit

As I've been leading you through the paces of enjoying the best Walt Disney World has to offer, without trashing your health and fitness habits, this is one of the easiest days to master. On our second day of vacation we headed to the holy land of wholesome family fun, The Magic Kingdom. Ahhh yes! This is the place where children squeal, Mommies well up with tears of joy on a regular basis, and Daddies shout like kids themselves on the roller coasters. It's also a place where every last visitor is likely to do a ton of physical work. In fact ... read on and you'll learn exactly how many calories we burned during this day. It's insane!

So! Our day consisted of pushing the kids in the double stroller, then watching the castle show. Did I mention each of my children weigh almost 40 pounds? Then we pushed the kids in the double stroller some more, and rode some rides in Fantasyland. In fact, before we even stopped for lunch, we pushed the double stroller again and rode rides in: Fantasyland, Tommorowland, back to Fantastyland, Mickey's Toontown Fair, Adventureland, back to Tommorowland and finally landed back in Adventureland for lunch. Then we ran circles in the water squirters at both Ariel's Grotto and Pooh's Corner to cool off for about an hour. The latter half of the day resembled the first half, except it seemed even busier.

Every time I wander outdoors and smell the aroma of BBQ chicken or burgers or sausage wafting through the neighborhood air, I want to slap something on my backyard grill and simulate the smells that send my taste buds soaring. We do grill a lot at our house -- we have the pleasure of doing it year-round here in Florida -- but we don't tend to cook with much variety. We grill chicken, and we grill salmon, but we don't venture out too much more than that. How about you?

If you're feeling stuck this grilling season, flip through that Parade magazine that may have arrived with your newspaper this morning. What you'll find are a few methods for spicing up your tired and predictable outdoor menu. Check out four exciting dishes, including Grilled Whole Trout, Bacon Swiss Burger, Meatloaf in an Onion, and a Banana Boat. Featured in video format, you can watch these items come to life -- with enough time to get to the store, get some ingredients, and get cooking by dinner time.

Bon Appetit!

Ever feel like you're running on empty as you power through your hectic days? Likely, you do. And it's likely you find it difficult on your busy days to sit down and enjoy healthy meals and snacks. Parade magazine wants to help and offers these handy tips for eating on the run.

About 75 percent of office workers eat at their desks two to three times per week. If you fit this profile, try these tricks: Stock the office fridge with low-fat yogurt, low-fat cheese and whole-grain crackers, hummus, natural peanut butter, and raw veggies. Take sandwiches to work or salads with canned tuna, salmon, lean meats, and skinless turkey. Microwave oatmeal, carry along some apples, and fill your desk candy jar with the soybean snack edamame.

While driving in the car, take along peanut butter sandwiches -- especially for the kids -- and fruit and veggies such as apples, oranges, bananas, and baby carrots.. Control your portions by using small plastic bags, and if you must swing through the drive through, opt for grilled over fried foods, chicken over burgers, salad over fries, and milk or water over soda. Other good-to-go snacks include: Energy bars high in fiber and low in fat and sugar, nuts, and dried fruit.

For more guidance on how to stick to your diet in the face of stress and chaos -- AOL Body calls this "regrouping" -- jump on aboard the America Takes It Off train.

Think you're making a pretty good attempt at going green? You might want to think again. Sunday's Parade Magazine tells readers that just because something is marketed as green doesn't mean it actually is. Take paper shopping bags. Pick them over plastic and you're doing a great thing, right? Not exactly. They are biodegradable but it still takes four times more energy to manufacture paper than plastic, leading to even more air and water pollution. Oops. Opt for sturdy, reusable totes and you'll be doing the planet a favor.

Have you been picking up organic processed snacks at the store lately? If so, then stop. These processed treats require hugs amounts of energy to produce, pack, and ship. Snacking on whole foods that are locally or organically grown is so much better.

Are you a fan of recycling your plastic water bottles. Good for you, if you are. But even better than using these bottles in the first place is to sip tap water from a safe reusable metal bottle. Why? Because we dispose of about 70 million plastic bottles every day. Fewer than 15 percent are recycled.

Surprising stuff? There's more right here -- like how to redecorate your house in the greenest way possible, how to buy the best green car, and what eco-friendly duds to wear.

Cat Cora, star of the Food Network's Iron Chef America and author of Cooking From the Hip writes in Parade magazine about her love for desserts and her lack of love for what desserts do to her hips.

So that she can have the best of both worlds -- decadent desserts and happy hips -- Cora has learned to create healthy dishes that still taste like the original sin. Her secret? Substituting lighter ingredients like yogurts, light puddings, soy, or light ice creams. Less fat and calories are the end result, with taste and flavor still intact.

Check out these four delights -- Kiwi Parfait, Affogato, Baked Apples, and Clafouti -- by clicking here. Read the recipes word for word or watch video clips of Cora as she prepares each one.

Want to have your cake and eat it too? Cora says it's possible. Just follow her lead.

Whoopi Goldberg is all about honesty these days. She just recently declared her own personal war on smoking -- "Whoopi Kicks Butts" is the slogan used on her talk show The View -- and now she's speaking out about her love for junk food, the love that's caused her to gain 50 extra pounds.

"Folks don't tell the truth about sex and money or about what they eat," says Whoopi in the November 11 issue of Parade magazine. "But I'm not going to lie to you: I love potato chips, big bags of them. I love junk food. Not sweets. I like salt."

Whoopi isn't hiding the fact that she's been indulging of late. The extra pounds aren't hiding either, she says, which is why she's back on her diet. It's meat, vegetables, protein, and fruit for this Oscar-winning star who knows this is the way she's supposed to eat.

Whoopi has quite a challenge ahead of her. She wants to be completely done with smoking by December 15, and now she's taking on a major diet overhaul. The work may be hard. But the rewards will be oh so sweet.