That's Fit

Katherine Heigl's beach body might start with good genetics, but the girl works hard to keep her torso long and strong. Her trainer, Missy Beaver, shared some of her secrets with People magazine, and let me tell you -- she's not doing anything fancy that you can't do, too!

Katherine uses kettleballs for 20 minutes, two or three times weekly which gives her long, lean muscles. Her trainer also suggests doing dumbbell back rows and tricep extensions to "help with improving your posture, lifting your boobs up."

Obviously she does a lot more than that, but if you haven't tried those exercises before, there's no time like the present to give it a try. Because, really, who couldn't use a free boob lift?

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 not just a judgment call that bikinis make men stupid -- it's a scientific fact. Check out this month's issue of the Journal of Consumer Research for the skinny on this truth. Here's the gist of it.

Belgian researchers conducted tests on 358 young men and found that they made poor decisions after looking at images of women in bikinis, touching bras, and watching video clips of young women, dressed in bikinis, run across hills, fields, and beaches. Basically, men become more impulsive after exposure to sexual cues. Ever wonder why automakers place leggy models in front of high-priced cars at auto shows? This is why.

Other studies offer their support. In 2006, for example, it was determined that sexually-aroused men would do all sorts of things they might not otherwise do. Essentially, sex narrows a man's mind. When they think about sex, pretty much all they can do is think about sex. Whether or not women are blinded by sex remains to be seen -- most studies have been done on men only.

Don't let bikinis get the best of you this summer, guys, or you might end up looking like quite a boob.

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.

Depending on where you live, summer may be right around the corner, or it might already be here. And you know what that means ... bathing suit season! If the thought of being out in public in a bikini makes you cringe, don't worry -- you have time to join America Takes It Off and get your body where you want it to be, and if, by some slight chance, your body doesn't end up looking quite the way you planned before your next trip to the beach, you have wardrobe options (check out the gallery if you don't believe me).

First of all, let's take a minute to talk about your body. I'm hoping that you love every inch of it, but if there are some things you'd like to change, I'm right there with you. Perhaps you're not too confident about your mid-section, or there's a little more junk in your trunk than you'd like. Or, maybe you're really thin and wish you had more curves. What we all need to do is realize what parts of our bodies we like best and figure out how to play up those assets when we put on our bathing suits.

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.

Ghost Whisperer actress Jennifer Love Hewitt can't catch a break. First, the media scrutinized her bikini body and blamed her for putting on too much weight. Now a new rumor has surfaced: Jennifer Love Hewitt is pregnant.

"She is not pregnant," says the star's rep, despite reports to the contrary.

Love Hewitt was spotted recently wearing flowing, baby doll styles while running errands and while attending last weekend's Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. That's when baby rumors began to flow.

It seems Love Hewitt can't bare her body or cover it up without being scrutinized. Fortunately, the actress seems happy with her body on all occasions.

Country singer LeAnn Rimes, now secure with her fit, bikini-ready body, says she once turned to food for love. This eating habit, and the sedentary ways she adopted on her bus while touring, came to an end once she got herself a husband -- who happens to double as her workout partner.

"We both push each other to be better," says the 25-year-old.

Her diet doesn't hurt either.

"I usually eat a bowl of oatmeal with agave nectar, dried cherries and walnuts in the morning," Rimes reports. "I have a protein shake after the gym, then grilled chicken, a whole-wheat pita and humus for lunch." For dinner, Rimes might have trout with spinach sautéed in garlic and olive oil. For dessert: A piece of dark chocolate.

Rimes appears on the cover of Fitness magazine's March issue, in her bikini.

Fitzness Fiends is a section devoted to you, the reader! We all have learned so much on our path to becoming more fit, and now it's time to learn from and inspire each other! Fitzness Fiends are constantly working to better themselves. Some are perfect, some are not. All have health on the mind. Please send Fitz your answers to these questions with a photo of yourself. Time for you to be the motivator!

Name: Elizabeth Lienhart

Age: 23

Occupation: Mechanical Engineer

How often do you exercise? Five to seven days a week.

What type of exercise do you do? Spinning, running, kickboxing, weight training, dancing around the house.

What gets you to workout, even when you're feeling lazy? Two piece swim suits and skinny jeans!

I was just chatting with a friend about a recent blurb I wrote about Kelly Ripa. Kelly suggested wearing jeans tight in the tush, so they would act as a push-up bra for your booty. I thought it was funny, so I wrote about it. I found the responses in the comment section interesting. A bazillion people commented that they 'hate her' and think she's a "bony b&^%" . I was surprised by the response, because I think she's a nice enough lady. We're all entitled to our opinions though.

So that brought me to this thought. I imagine the people who commented do not like the look of thin and that maybe they loved bigger bodies. Kelly is on the cover of Fitness magazine in a bikini. I wondered how many other people would do that. So this topic is not about Kelly; it's about you. Would you pose in your under things or a bikini for the world to see? I would. Would you?

Jennifer Love Hewitt has been making quite a splash lately, ever since she was photographed in a bikini on the beach and the media began ridiculing her supposed weight gain. The Ghost Whisperer actress set the record straight in her November 29 "bikini blog post" when she declared her frustration over the scrutiny given to women and weight.

Hewitt has inspired other celebrities to show their solidarity. Here's what some of them have to say.

Model Petra Nemcova says, "There are different angles that everybody, even if you're in great shape, can look bad in a photograph. And printing these images is definitely influencing people's minds -- the stars themselves, but also the people who are reading and looking at the images, the teenagers. It's definitely good that she spoke out."

Rosario Dawson says, "They'll make a whole story about it if someone gains 5 lbs. ... I think there is a huge obsession with size-zero jeans, and it's just really scary. I don't really know where that comes from. We're not really in the Twiggy era anymore. It makes me really nervous, because I don't know how in the world we're supposed to be that thin unless we're totally starving and drugging up."

And Anne Hathaway says, "[As an actress], most of the year, your body is your own. But to be ridiculed for it is upsetting. But to also have to defend it or explain it or rejoice in it or put it down, or to be expected to have a public opinion about it ... I don't understand when that happened. I don't think women should only be defined by their bodies and their weight. It's a cycle we've been in for some time, and I don't really like it."

What do you have to say?

You may remember her as Jennifer on the classic TV show Family Ties or as the 34-year old wife and mom struggling to lose weight on VH1's Celebrity Fit Club 4. What you should remember now is that Tina Yothers has made some pretty impressive health and fitness strides. She just had a baby on September 24, in fact, and at her five-month pregnancy mark, she weighed less than she did when she first stepped on the Fit Club scale.

Mom to an almost two-year-old daugther and two sons from her husband's previous marriage, Yothers says, "I was triple this size when I was pregnant with Lilly since I only worked out my hand and mouth."

What joy Yothers must be experiencing. A new baby boy -- Jake -- and a new body. Yothers, who says her weight loss is due to a modified NutriSystem diet and working out three days a week, arrived at a bikini-ready body last October. I think congrats are in order all around.

So celebrities look great (most of them, anyway), and despite ourselves we love it. It's still nice to see the real thing sometimes, but in today's world of airbrushing and photoshop that makes them look impossibly good, and tabloids snatching up every horror shot that makes them look impossibly bad, we rarely get that chance.

Well here's one of those chances. The Skinny Website has some photos of Jennifer Lopez on the beach in a bikini with her husband and she looks very real. She doesn't look perfect, but she's beautiful all the same. I think it's great.

It's a gloomy day where I live, and the days are getting shorter, which unfortunately means a resurrection of the sweaters that have been taking up room in my closet. The thought of it makes me kind of sad actually.

But as Fitsugar points out, just because summers almost over, doesn't mean that you should let the bathing-suit body you spend countless hours trying to get into tip-top shape go. The motivation to trim the tummy might not be as strong anymore, but there are many good reasons to keep up your bikini routine, including:

• Exercise combats the effects of SAD (seasonal affective disorder)
• Winter sports, like skiing and skating, require you to be in fairly good shape
• It will make it easier to get ready for next year's bikini season

Want more motivation? Check out the post on Fitsugar.

Did you vow to get a bikini-perfect body this summer? Are you in a bit of a panic because the hot weather's here and there's less than 9 weeks until labour day? Ack! Me too! But apparently it's not too late to get in shape ... with little help from celeb trainer Jillian Michaels and Las Vegas star Vanessa Marcil. They've outlined a number of exercises that will improve your body -- and your abs especially.

The moves they recommend are pretty good, but don't forget to incorporate some cardio -- after all, that's what will burn the fat that is hiding your fab abs.

What workouts are you into this summer?