That's Fit

I talked with my kids' PE teacher the other day about how my boys are doing at their physical education tasks. He told me he used seven-year-old Joey to demonstrate a push-up recently -- he keeps his back straight and perfectly parallel to the ground, which is what "Coach" wanted the other kids to see -- and how five-year-old Danny is getting better and better at jumping rope. Then he prompted Joey, who was standing by my side, with a very important question: "What are The Big Four?" he asked.

Joey was quick with his response: "Push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, and jumping rope."

No need for a fancy gym, says Coach, when you've got your own body and a few essentials, like a pull-up bar and a jump rope. He's right, you know. We've got the tools to work our bodies right at our disposal. We just need to get working.

The Big Four. Are they part of your exercise routine?

I'm shocked and saddened and reminded once again of the fragile nature of life after hearing that NBC's Tim Russert died this afternoon of an apparent heart attack.

Russert, 58, reportedly collapsed in his Washington office while recording voiceovers for this Sunday's Meet The Press. He could not be revived.

Click here for more information on Russert and his tragic passing. And in honor of this fine man whose death comes just two days before Father's Day, take a look at his book, Big Russ and Me -- a story about his relationship with his father. Russert himself was father to one son, Luke.

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.

Lean protein. Vegetables. Nuts. A wise trio to incorporate into your diet if you're looking to shed a few pounds and complement a solid fitness routine. It's the exact combo used by The View's Elisabeth Hasselbeck as she clawed back after having baby number two.

It's been six months since Hasselbeck had her second child. And now her bikini-clad body is up for grabs on newsstands everywhere as she graces the cover of the June 2008 Fitness magazine -- where she appears to be in tip-top shape yet says she's not so concerned about the numbers on her scale.

"Body image has nothing to do with scale numbers, it's how you feel inside," says Hasselbeck, who turns 31 this month. This is the first time I've felt free from that, because I am working out in a way where I feel so strong that there's no room for those doubts."

Hasselbeck worked out for six weeks to prep for her cover gig. She ran, strength trained, and did ab work twice a week. Her goal was never to lose weight. She just wanted to eat healthier and have more energy.

Need some of your own fitness inspiration? Give Hasselbeck's workout mix a try.

I'm literally a sobbing crying mess as I write this. I fell in love with a dying man a few weeks ago when I caught wind of him giving an amazing gift to his students, colleagues, friends and family at Carnegie Mellon University. Randy Pausch, a computer science professor gave his Last Lecture now famous on YouTube, on September 18, 2007. Randy's lecture was called "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams." Now, I have my own spectacular husband, but I imagine anyone who knows, or knows of Randy . . . would love him very much.

For a man whose pancreas is being destroyed by a cancer that could take his life within months . . . he was hysterical, energetic, inspirational, and relentless about the idea that life can be wonderful every day, and that his days still are. He told stories of his childhood and made one of the most insightful statements I've ever heard. "Are you a Tigger or an Eeyore? Choose!"

Meet Carla Birnberg, a self-described writer, babymama, and wife. Also known as "MizFit," this self-starter once owned a boutique personal training studio where she worked with clients from all walks of life and learned that the key to lifelong fitness is a healthy helping of education, motivation, and humor.

Educational, motivational, and humorous this woman is. Now a health and fitness columnist -- see her column in Austin's The Good Life (click on "Fitness" under "Gusto Departments" on the right) -- this cool gal authors her own blog where daily posts feature recipes, tips and trends, viewer mail, freebies, and for the purpose of this post: Monday Facetime. Yep, every Monday, you get to see MizFit via video as she teaches something related to fitness.

Wondering about flax seeds? See what MizFit had to say on February 18 about the nutty treat that is oh so good for you in an Omega-3 kind of way. Want to perfect your crunch technique? MizFit got down on the floor on February 25 and to show you how. On March 3, this spunky girl talked about weight training in preparation for some specific instruction that will begin next Monday.

I recommend you pay MizFit a visit when you get a free moment. I think you'll love what she has to offer. You just might learn a thing or two. Click here to meet my friend.

In my December interview with Oprah Winfrey's health expert, Dr. Oz, I harassed him about not doing real pull-ups with a bar. (He was using the Gravitron). I gave him a bit of a ration, detailed in his Celebrity Fitzness Report interview, and he promised to get a bar and start doing them. He was very inspired viewing this video of Anthony Field of The Wiggles performing an amazing pull-up routine. So, I emailed Dr. Oz some links on where to get pull-up bars etc. and harassed him only a teeny bit more.

Well, Friday I randomly sent him an email asking "how are the pull-ups coming"? His awesome response was that he just filmed an Oprah show and demonstrated 21 pull-ups on air! Hooray for Dr. Oz! The show will air tomorrow, Tuesday February 5th and I'm looking forward to it. I'm so proud of him!

I've heard it before: The pill protects against ovarian cancer. And here the news presents itself again, this time in the form of a study revealing birth control pills can protect women from this disease even decades after they stop taking it.

British researchers have found that women taking the pill for 15 years cut their chances of developing ovarian cancer by half. The risk remained low more than 30 years later, although protection did weaken over time, according to study findings that were published Friday in The Lancet.

Overall, this is good news. Not only do you get to prevent pregnancy, you get to prevent ovarian cancer at the same time (long-term protection against endometrial cancer is a bonus too). But there's a downside to this hopeful news: The pill also slightly increases the chances of breast and cervical cancer. The risk seems to disappear once a woman stops taking the oral contraceptive but still, the gamble remains for as long as the medication is used.

I frequently speak about the mind-body or mind-muscle association here on That's Fit, pointing to the importance such interconnectivity plays in your total health. More or less, what this relationship requires is a connection between your emotional/mental health and your physical well-being.

That's all well and good, but in today's busy world it may not always be a realizable goal. Oddly enough, the side of that relationship that most times gets neglected is our state of mind. We rush around all day long, only to then spend an hour or so hammering away at our bodies in the gym. When do we make time for our mental health?

To that end, here are five easy ways to help both your body AND mind stay as healthy as possible.

5. Be Positive - I've mentioned this poem before; two men looked out from behind the prison bars, one saw stars and the other saw mud. A positive outlook can protect and improve your health in both the short and long term.

4. Be Calm - If yoga does it for you, great. Meditation works? Great. Exercise let's it all out? Awesome. Whatever you need to do to release stress, do it. High levels of stress can be extremely debilitating, leading to free radical damage and an increase in the muscle-ruining hormone cortisol.

It's easy to take good health for granted, to skip along happily through life fully intending on never falling prey to a major health issue. Yet, we all are at risk for a health catastrophe. How you handle such a crisis may remain to be seen. How Kelly Corrigan handled her nightmare can be seen, well read, in the pages of her book The Middle Place.

"The Middle Place is about calling home," writes Corrigan. "Instinctively. Even when all the paperwork -- a marriage license, a notarized deed, two birth certificates, and seven years of tax returns -- clearly indicates you're an adult, but all the same, there you are, clutching the phone and thanking God that you're still somebody's daughter."

Corrigan, now surviving stage 3 breast cancer, learned in the midst of treatment that her dad had cancer too, for the third time. Her story is about her own dance with cancer, her dad's repeated encounter with the disease, and how their lives unfold because of it all. It's a touching story and an enlightening one too. It will remind you to never lose sight of the day, for it may be one a few you have remaining.

For more about the woman who writes this tragic and happy book, visit kellycorrigan.com. To view The Middle Place trailer, take a peek here.

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.

I caught a minute of ABC's The View on Tuesday and learned that co-host Whoopi Goldberg is trying to quit smoking. Good for her.

"I want to be done by December 15," Whoopi told her audience. A wise plan, considering smoking damages nearly every organ in the human body, is linked to 10 different cancers, and accounts for 30 percent of all cancer deaths, according to the American Cancer Society. Yet one in four Americans still light up.

Smoking is by far the leading risk factor for lung cancer. And it is far more dangerous for women than men. Now wrap your head around this fact: The nicotine found in cigarettes is as addictive as heroin. If that's not reason enough to stop smoking, I don't know what is.

Jennifer Lopez just gave new proof of how sexy and capable pregnant women can be. She seemed to bust all of her old Fly Girl moves and do it well during her Dancing with the Stars performance. Her clothes were breezy as to hide her bump, but if one didn't know she was expecting before the show...they would never had known as a result of it.

I say "good for her", and "thanks" too. Pregnancy is certainly a time for cautiousness, but she wasn't risky.....she was just doing her job. In hindsight, I wish I would have vamped it up a bit more when I was pregnant. Oh well. Maybe I'll have an oops! baby and get my chance. Thanks Jennifer for the inspiration.

Moments ago, after her very athletic Dancing with the Stars routine on Live television, Marie Osmond passed out and fell back on stage. Tom Bergeron, while shocked, kept it together enough to call for a commercial break. Now that the break is over, Marie confessed it happens sometimes "when she's working really hard and forgets to breath". Makes us trainers seem less silly for coaching our clients to breath regularly, huh? First words out of Marie's mouth when she came to were "Oh crap!"

Men and women all over are prepping to walk and run their butts off this October, all in the name of breast cancer and the month dedicated to this deadly disease. There's the Avon Breast Cancer Walk, Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, and Susan G. Komen 3-Day, to name a few. These events will raise awareness, funds, even hope. This is all so important. What I like about these charitable causes, though, is that they center around fitness.

There seems no other appropriate way to honor those fighting and losing their battles with breast cancer than by pounding the pavement. Exercise is critical in the prevention of cancer. It helps alleviate the burdens of cancer treatment. And it helps ensure survival of a disease the American Cancer Society reports will strike 178,480 women and kill 40,460 women in the United States during 2007.

If you've not yet registered to make your own strides, consider walking or running in a local event. Or just start walking and running. It's good for breast cancer. It's good for your health.