In theory, I really like trying new things. However, in reality, sometimes I get scared, although, I always feel a lot more comfortable going into a new experience if I have an idea of what to expect.

For those of you who are scared to join a gym because, you know, it's big and intimidating and full of scary equipment and giant, sweaty, loud men (and women), prepare to be, well ... prepared. There's a book just for you, called "The Gym Survival Guide: Your Road Map to Fearless Fitness."

The Fit Bottomed Girls reviewed it, and said it was perfect for beginners because it tells them what to expect in different classes, explains how the equipment works, talks about goal setting, provides sample workouts, talks about fitness myths and truths and discuses gym etiquette. So, basically, you can read this book and be a pro before you ever set foot in your local health club. Where was this book 10 years ago when I was hitting the gym for the first time and doing nothing but the treadmill because I was scared of the equipment?

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Metabolife's former CEO and co-founder Michael J. Ellis released his tell-all book "The Metabolife Story: The Rape of Cinderella" on February 13th. Now as you know, I'm a fitness pro who is adamantly against weight-loss drugs and snakeoil salesmen. I am, however, a business woman who's definitely interested in learning about the rise and disastrous fall of a bazillion dollar corporation.

Even though Mr. Ellis starts his book by sarcastically confessing to being a drug dealing thug who set out to murder people and cheat the government (if you believe the media's side of the story), the next few chapters paint him as a pretty light-hearted guy who simply created a product to help his father survive cancer.

Desperate to save his Dad, Michael experimented with herbs and other holistic remedies. He notes that a surprising side-effect of his concoction was weight-loss. The story just twists and turns from there on out.

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Want to melt off the muffin top? Can those cankles? Well, you know you can't do it all by working out. Even though fitness is definitely important, you're not going to lose a bunch of weight unless you modify your diet. And, if you ask the authors of Skinny Bitch, there's no better diet to follow than a vegan one.

In case you didn't know, veganism is really the driving force behind the Skinny Bitch books. The girls have now come out with workout videos, but the diet was the first step. And, in my interview with them, they dished on how they went vegan and gave tips for helping you make your diet a bit healthier. Check it all out in the gallery below!

Also, be sure to check out the first part of my interview with Rory and Kim.

Frosting, of course, will never reach the 'healthy factor' of fresh fruit and vegetables. It can, however, be made more wisely to preserve the sweet flavor and creaminess while excluding all the fat.

My Fat Free Cream Cheese Frosting tastes amazing, spreads on easily and is the perfect substitution for the full-fat stuff. And ... if you're eager to go a bit further with it, substitute the sugar for Splenda and you'll have yourself a sugar-free treat as well.

Find this recipe on page 11 of my online recipe book at Fitzness.com. For more great recipes, pre-order my soon-to-be released book, The Everything Flat Belly Cookbook here.

I'm a big fan of Mexican food, but not a fan of all the fat that usually goes along with it. That doesn't hold me back from enjoying it whenever I want, though. I just order or make each dish in a much smarter and healthier way.

Homemade Tortilla Chips are a staple item and the great news is, they're painfully easy to make. I whip up a batch quickly and serve them with salsa (which is naturally nonfat) or my Fat Free Mexican O-Layered Dip.

Both recipes are available in my online recipe book at Fitzness.com, and I hope you'll give them a try. Other fun toppings to add to your chips are lean grilled meat, veggies, low fat or nonfat cheeses and sour cream.

Just like any other style of cooking, whenever you ditch the oil, butter and fatty sauces ... you'll end up with a much healthier meal. Ole!

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Tiki Barber was on NBC yesterday morning promoting his new book, Tiki Barber's Pure Hard Workout. The man may not be playing football anymore, but judging by his body, he's still hitting the gym, hard.

Tiki's workout focuses on powerlifting using basic lifts, like squats and deadlifts, rather than machines. It's intense -- when Tiki first entered the NFL, everyone thought he was too slight to be a star. However, after he started working with powerlifting legend Joe Carini, "Tiki became pound-for-pound the strongest man in the NFL and a true force on the field."

The book contains 300 full-color pictures of Tiki performing every exercise as well as in-depth instructions to help you perform each exercise and understand which muscles the exercises are working. Sounds like a great book for anyone serious about gaining strength and muscle. And, with all those pictures, it's something the ladies probably wouldn't mind having around the house, either.

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Over the course of the week, we cover tons of celebrity diet and fitness scoop. We know it's hard to keep track of it all, so we have it all wrapped up here for your clicking pleasure. Click on your favorite celebs above to get the latest news on how their staying in shape!

Alicia Silverstone is well-known for her views on animal rights and for being a vegan. Several years ago, she appeared in a series of ads for PETA and Jacki recently told us why Silverstone is thankful for her healthful diet. Now Silverstone is taking her knowledge of the vegan lifestyle and releasing a diet book called The Kind Diet.

The book is scheduled to release in Fall 2009 and will include a 3-step diet program that doesn't focus on weight loss, but on the environmental impact of meat production and how the food we eat affects how we look and feel.

Want to give some vegetarian and/or vegan recipes a try? Check out Vegweb.com.



[via Chatterbox]

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When trying to lose weight, there are probably a few rules you follow, including lowering your intake of fats and sticking fast to your lower-calorie diet. But, maybe you shouldn't -- AOL Health took a look at some of the ideas behind Crack the Fat Loss Code by Wendy Chant, and some of the suggestions might surprise you.

• Pig out -- Not all the time, of course, but every 18 days -- this keeps your body from getting used to the same caloric intake, thereby increasing your metabolism.
• Forget fat-free -- Skip the skim and opt for low-fat (or -- gasp! -- even full fat) dressings and dairy products, and make sure you get omega 3 fatty acids like tuna and flaxseeds, and monosaturated fatty acids like you find in nuts and nut butters.
• Spice things up -- Adding just half a teaspoon of a spice, like cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, or cayenne can boost your metabolism nearly 80%!
  
  

AOL Health has plenty more tips and tricks for cracking the fat loss code, and you can find them right here.

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Remember Babar the Elephant? I don't know about you but stories of Babar and his family were a fixture on my childhood bookcase -- I love the one where Babar and family go skiing because that's what my family spent their weekends doing.

Now Babar is at it again -- the lovable elephant is joining the worthy cause of getting kids in shape by encouraging them to get in the yoga groove. Babar's Yoga for Elephants by Laurent de Brunhoff is a beginners guide to yoga for pachyderms and kids alike. One word of warning: It might not be the best 'bedtime story', as it encourages active participation.

Getting kids healthy is definitely a worthy cause, and this is a fantastic way to get kids moving, if you ask me. What do you think? Have your kids tried yoga?

(via Fresh Fitness Tips)

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Today, on the Today Show, they're featuring the Flat Belly Diet, which sounds too good to be true. We know that burning more calories than we consume is the way to lose weight -- however, plenty of people will vouch for this diet and how flat it made their bellies without incorporating any sort of crunches or sit-ups. Don't believe that certain foods can help flatten your belly? Check out AOL Health's slideshow of Flat Belly Diet success stories.

The claims about this diet are pretty major -- it targets unhealthy belly fat first, allowing you to eat foods you love without making you hungry. You can lose up to seven pounds and five inches in 96 hours, and you don't have to exercise. Oh, and there's a 91 percent success rate. Seriously, why am I not doing this?

The Flat Belly Diet is based on a calorie controlled Mediterranean diet, combining monounsaturated (MUFA)-rich foods, veggies, whole grains, lean proteins, and low-fat dairy. That means you get to eat things with olive oil and nuts, and even dark chocolate, but you have to stay away from refined grains, trans fat, and artificial additives.

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It's been one whole year since Valerie Bertinelli dropped 40 pounds as Jenny Craig spokeswoman and still, she's trying to get cozy in her new skin.

"I'm just getting more and more comfortable in this body," said Bertinelli. "It's still a journey. I'm not done yet."

Bertinelli, now weighing in at 132 pounds, just recently paraded down the red carpet at the Creative Arts Emmys, where she presented three awards and sported a dress by David Meister, who she says knows a woman's body: "It's okay to have a small waist and big hips," said Bertinelli, referring to her body and his masterpiece.

Next up for the former One Day at a Time star and author of bestselling book Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time: A daytime talk show. It's in the works, and is scheduled to air next year.

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I'm a bit of a sucker for memoirs. I even read A Million Little Pieces after James Frey was deemed a fraud. (He's still working, by the way. No such thing as bad press, right?) I just finished The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan.

Jacki Donaldson read and posted about the book a while back. But I read it after a new friend of mine recommended it. She recently went through the excruciating experience of losing her mother to ALS while living an airplane ride apart. I am currently going through the same thing.

The Middle Place instead involves dealing with cancer, but the themes involving parent-child relationships, distance, disease, and faith are the same. Kelly, who survived her cancer, struggles with all of it, but particularly faith. She is baffled by the Buddhist truth of detachment, "even to people." She still struggles with faith to this day, several years later. I struggle with it a bit as well and I suspect all of us do to some degree. It's the very nature of faith, after all. It's transparent, intangible.

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Normally I wouldn't work a book review into Fit Beauty, but this is just too perfect. I recently read Nina Garcia's The One Hundred: A Guide to the Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own, and just like watching an inspirational sports movie makes me want to hit the gym, this book made me want to shop. But with a purpose.

It seems like each season, I look in my closet and think, "Holy crap, I have nothing to wear." I know that's completely untrue, but I also know I'm not alone. And while that might not seem like a big deal, it really can take a toll on you emotionally when you can't find anything to wear, and you know you spent a bit of cash on clothes just a year ago.

With some help from this book, I now feel confident that I can shop in a way that will be productive and stay relevant from season to season, year after year. Let me explain.

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Maintaining health in my mind and body has always been important to me. But it became more so after I became a mother. I've been fortunate, for the most part, to be one who enjoys motherhood and has been able to achieve a good balance most of the time.

Still, I was intrigued when my friend and neighbor handed over her copy of Mother Nurture to add to my bedside table. It's a fabulous resource regardless of how well a mother might be coping, or not. It could be a lifesaver for some.

If anything else, reading about preventing depletion, building teamwork with your partner and achieving balance in your life is fabulous motivation to keep moving forward and enjoy being a parent rather than viewing it as a task to be completed. I'm actually putting it on my short list of great baby shower gifts. I suspect it would be a lot more valuable than another blanket in the nursery.

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