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Jamie Oliver Takes On America's Fattest Town

Diet & Weight Loss, Celebs & Entertainment

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Photo: Getty Images

British chef Jamie Oliver has made it his personal mission to change the way people in England eat, so it's not surprising that he's taking America under his wing, too. The best place to start? The fattest town in the country, of course. Oliver recently met with the people of Huntington, W.Va. -- known as the unhealthiest place in America -- and admitted that the encounter was a hair-raising experience. So was finding out what they feed their children for lunch. "That's quite scary," he commented after discovering the school menu of hot dogs, funnel cake and hamburgers.

But he's not being mean to the town's 49,000 residents -- he's legitimately worried about their diets. "They are not stupid, they are not ignorant -- it's just they have never had food from scratch in their life," he said about the families he's worked with so far. Oliver blames the large food corporations who sell nothing but processed junk to residents, and points out the difficulty in finding fresh produce even though Huntington is a rural community surrounded by farmland.

There's no doubt that old habits will be tough to break for these southerners -- will this bumbling English chef be able to change a lifetime of bad eating? Looks like we'll have to stay tuned.

In the the meantime, find out what chef Gordon Ramsey thinks about vegetarian diets.

FitSpirit: Seeking the strength of waterfalls

While our neighbors head to church, a friend and I plan to hit Great Falls National Park on Sunday morning and sweat it out on the trails. We're both going through very challenging times and we need to escape and work our bodies and breathe and take in something much bigger than us and our worries. Something tells me God approves. In fact, He will be there.

There's something about waterfalls. The power. The beauty. The refusal to stop going. That's it. They just keep going. So that's what we'll do. We'll take a lesson from the waterfalls. The Stone Roses song comes to mind:

She'll carry on through it all.
She's a waterfall.
She'll carry on through it all.

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A favorite snack for fish -- your feet

Diet & Weight Loss

I love a good pedicure. Not sure I'd love one if it involved flesh-eating fish devouring my dry skin and callouses. Hey, I guess fish need to eat too -- which is exactly what they are doing is some spas and salons. Ouch.

People are swimming to one salon in Alexandria, Virginia -- the only U.S. salon featuring the feasting fish from Turkey -- and as one reporter notes in this video after giving it a try, it's not all that bad. It's amazing, actually. As for her feet: they are so soft even her husband noticed.

Here's how it all works: First, you wash your feet. Then, you step into a tub of water, have a seat, and allow the fish to nibble for about 15 minutes. Don't worry, they're only drawn to dead, unhealthy skin areas and won't attack your healthy skin, allegedly. And by all accounts, the whole process is safe. The fish are safe, the water is safe -- it's changed after each use -- and your bank account won't suffer too badly either. The cost of this fishy experience starts at $35.

Sound strange? Does to me. Would you give it a try? Don't think I would.

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Working in the Workouts: Stuff with wheels

Mommy and Daddy can't decide what we want to do today. Haul the jogging stroller to a hiking trail along the Potomac River? Hook up the bicycle trailer and head out on the Washington and Old Dominion trail?

Either way, stuff with wheels will make a good workout in the nice weather possible with our toddler. Some might think it's crazy to have three strollers, as we do. But once your kid weighs more than 30 pounds, putting them in a body carrier just doesn't work. We've put plenty of miles on the jogging stroller, and not all of them jogging. Trekking over grass, mud and stone is nearly impossible without one. Certainly, an urban or suburban walk around town serves as a wonderful workout with a conventional stroller, too. We just love being among more trees, water and wildlife. And the jogging stroller makes it possible.

As for the bicycle trailer, that was last year's Father's Day gift before we spent a family weekend vacation in Chincoteague and rode rented bikes around the nearby Assateague Island. Our daughter loved cruising along, looking out the plastic windows, safe from the mosquitoes that seemed to be hatching faster than you could say no DEET please. The really cool thing is that mosquitoes couldn't make a swift landing on our skin with the breeze whisking past as we peddled.

My point is that stuff with wheels have been a crucial element for our active family activities that have been well worth the investment. You don't need to spend a lot, either. Both the jogging stroller and bicycle trailer were purchased at Target for a little more and a little less than $100, respectively.

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No rights to not breathe cigarette smoke

Healthy Habits, Healthy Home, Healthy Places, Womens Health, Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Celebs & Entertainment, Nutrition & Supplements, Men's Health

Since the United States does not have federal smoking control legislation and each individual state must determine legislative bans, only about half of Americans are covered by a smoke free ordinance of some degree. Efforts to ban smoking have been developing since the early 1990s when research showed that secondhand smoke not only was an annoyance to nonsmokers, but actually was contributing to their death from lung cancer.

So I know some of you feel this subject is beat up but I have to speak out as a cancer survivor and also someone who is presently battling cancer and I am not a smoker. This is my two minutes. Moving back home to Virginia was nice to be around family members and old friends, but it has put a damper on how many times I will actually go out to eat or even go enjoy bowling or other social events. Because it means breathing second hand smoke. Going to a bar or even to a coffee shop to listen to live music is even a health risk and I just won't do it. As a songwriter and performer if I want to get paid shows in this state I have to breathe the smoke that comes with the places I would perform like restaurants, bars, or coffee shops. Could it be the fact that the largest manufacturer of cigarettes, Phillip Morris, is located in the state capital of Virginia in Richmond?

And coincidence or not, to even go south of me 15 minutes into North Carolina is not any relief either because North Carolina is the home of R.J. Reynolds tobacco company located in Winston Salem and legislation to ban smoking in public places has not passed in that state either.

When people talk about freedoms and being able to smoke in public, I think somebody else's freedom ends when it enters my lungs and causes serious health risks and forces me to give up the freedoms of going to places that I enjoy or need to work in to survive. Looking at research it seems for people to escape smoking in public places they have to move to northern states or to the west coast. The R.J Reynolds website states "Adults who smoke should avoid exposing minors to secondhand smoke." Well what about adults? See a map of the states with smoking bans by clicking here.
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