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.

Just had my tummy tuck one week ago. All is going well -- better than I'd anticipated, actually -- and just yesterday I went with my mom while she picked my boys up from school. I even accompanied them to the park for an afternoon play date. It was great to get out of the house and away from the recliner that doubles as my daytime resting place and my bed. It's where I sit, sleep, write, watch TV, read bedtime stories -- and worry about how all I've gained through strenuous exercise over the past year is about to be lost.

According to my doctor, I can't really exercise for six full weeks. I can walk, and I can gradually add other movements to my routine, but I can't full-out run -- my favorite fitness activity -- for quite some time. This worries me. Will I gain weight? Will I lose my muscle tone? Will I be completely out of shape by the time I lace up my running shoes? It's possible.

What ever will I do?

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.

I know I need to keep my bones strong because my grandmother, when she was alive, had osteoporosis. The more she aged, the more rounded her frail little back became. And like many seniors do, she eventually broke a hip and struggled to recover from this bone-crushing experience.

Ideally, I would have built strong bones nearly a decade ago -- it's most important before the age of 30 and can be the best defense against developing osteoporosis, a disease in which bones become fragile and are more likely to fracture, or break. Typically occurring in the hip, spine, and wrist, osteoporosis can be prevented. Good thing, because there is currently no cure or treatment for the disease.

Straight from the National Osteoporosis Foundation, here's how you can baby your bones.

• Get your daily recommended amounts of calcium and vitamin D.
  
• Engage in regular weight-bearing exercise.
• Avoid smoking and excessive alcohol.
• Talk to your healthcare provider about bone health.
• When appropriate, have a bone density test and take medication.

We have become a nation of screen watchers. Television screens, movie screens, computer screens, and even cell phone and iPod display screens. Hell, even when we go to concerts, we usually pay less attention to the actual performers on the stage and focus our intentions instead on their image on the jumbo screens. While much, if not almost all, of this serves a purpose, eye doctors suggest that all this 'screen time' is doing a number on our eyes.

Dr. Jeffrey Anshel, founder of Corporate Vision Consulting, suggests performing what he calls the 3B approach to keeping your eyes from aging prematurely: Blink, Breathe, and Break.

Blink more often. Our blink rate goes down from about 12-15 times per minute to about times as few when we stare at a screen.

Breathe. When faced with stress, we tend to hold our breath. This tension affects our eyes over time.

Break. Take about 10 seconds every 10 minutes to take a break. Ideally, you should try to get up and move around. But, if this isn't an option, at least spend that time staring off to something in the distance and keep your eyes moving.

Buy a bike with a price tag of $1,000 or less in Ontario and you won't pay any tax. No tax on accompanying safety equipment either.

"I trust this will encourage people to take the opportunity to become more active and to lead healthier lives," said Margarett Best, the province's minister of health promotion.

It seems biking incentives are nothing new in Canada. British Columbia has had a program in place since the early 1980s that cuts the tax from purchases of bikes, parts, and accessories. Alberta residents get $300 toward a bike when they retire an old car. And the federal government offers a fitness tax break to parents who enroll their kids in athletic programs.

While tax breaks don't even compare to parental and peer encouragement when it comes to healthy living and while fitness doesn't have to cost a cent -- consider the good old-fashioned walk -- this is certainly an option that may prove inspiring to some.

How about you?

FitSpirit explores the mind-body connection and the intangible benefits we gain from our efforts to stay physically fit.

I didn't exercise at all on Thursday. That was my plan, to purposely not work out, to give my body a breather and my mind a break. It wasn't easy. For people like me -- those who feel the urge, for some obsessive reason, to accomplish exercise every single day -- it's hard to let go. But I must tell you, it's a good thing, the letting go.

It took some mental toughness to not lace up my running shoes and head outside on my day off. It was a challenge to not jump on my treadmill and log a few miles. But I didn't do it. Even with a dinner out and an overload of bread dipped in that yummy olive oil and pepper mixture, I didn't do it. I think it was good for me. Here's why: Our bodies need rest, and my body was not resting. If I hope to maintain long-term fitness strides, I need a body that won't wear out on me. In a nutshell, I need down time.

Our minds also need vacations. Mine is always focused on the pursuit of exercise -- What will I do today?, When will I fit it in? What if I don't have time? My head was tired of running through the same old stressful questions. On Thursday, my brain took some comp time.

If you're one who rarely works out, get out there and get to work. But if you're one who rarely takes time off from working out, then stop -- even if for just one day. Free your body. Free your mind. And then get back to work.

When I exercise -- when I'm actually completing my fitness tasks -- I'm not obsessive. I simply do my thing, which typically includes running and/or walking, sometimes a few push-ups, and occasionally a few planks. I exercise for about 45 minutes at a time. Nothing overboard, I don't think. I admit, though: I'm a bit obsessed with exercising every day. And this is something I need to work on -- not because it's bad to work out every day, but because thoughts of exercise consume my mind until I can accomplish it. Every day. And this can't be very healthy.

Today, I am not exercising, for no other reason than this: I need to let go of my compulsion to work out each and every day. Maybe I won't burn a few calories, and maybe I'll hang on to a reserve or two of fat, but in the whole scheme of life, what's the big deal really?

I don't know exactly why I've made such a big deal of exercise, but I suspect I like the results I've seen from my hard work so much I don't want to let go of them in any small way. Losing a day feels like losing ground. I guess you could call it dedication. Today, I'm calling it obsession -- because I want to be OK with a day void of exercise and until today, I haven't been. So here I am, running with the idea of giving it a break. Will I make it through the day without giving in? I hope so.

Today on The Martha Stewart Show, Martha and her healthy initiatives consultant, Dr. Brent Ridge talked cravings. They discussed the reasons for cravings:

Genetics -- an ancestor's need to get their hands on calories.

Habits -- you traditionally eat sweet cereal in the morning, so when you wake up ......you crave sweet cereal.

Emotional correlation -- It's a birthday and birthdays are happy times, so you crave cake.

Pica -- A pregnant woman's odd and dangerous desire to consume non food items like soap, soil, or starch.

Physical need -- You are low on iron, so your body craves steak. This is the craving you should give in to!

If you are craving unhealthy food and truly don't want to give in to it, Dr. Ridge suggests you distract yourself for eight to fourteen minutes. He says that's the time our bodies take to kill a craving. Go for a walk, do some laundry or chat on the phone. Fourteen minutes is survivable!

After a brief hiatus from That's Fit, I'm back in action. The Thanksgiving holiday proved to be rather time consuming, leaving me almost no time to blog and even less to workout. On Thanksgiving morning, I took advantage of the amazing 60 -plus degree New England weather and went for a leisurely 2.5 mile walk with my father. The following day, because I was out of state for the holiday (and therefore away from the gym to which I belong) I took advantage of the nationwide, free visit campaign at Gold's Gym, banging out a more traditional weight lifting split routine.

But, I didn't manage to squeeze in a workout again until tonight. I felt good and refreshed. Granted, some of my weekend was spent making poor food choices (including, but not limited to, a stop at the Cheese Cake Factory on Saturday night), but I felt as though my body was due for a little reprieve.

Just as it can sometimes be quite difficult to get motivated to workout, it can also be just as difficult to slow yourself down once and a while. It becomes a routine. A healthy routine, but still one that is capable of becoming somewhat of an obsession. You fear that eating one slice of pie or skipping one day at the gym will turn your body to Jello, even though your common sense tells you otherwise.

This can quickly become a very slippery slope and, if never remedied by the occasional mental and/or physical break you allow yourself, may lead to overtraining. So, when Christmas rolls around, don't be afraid to indulge a little bit and enjoy yourself. It may be the healthy break your body needs.

Ever considered placing yourself in a time-out? I have. When my kids are driving me crazy, or my responsibilities are mounting, or I just need a bit of silence, a time-out seems quite heavenly. And if I follow the proper time-out protocol of sitting quietly for one minute per each year of age, I'd get a whole 37 minutes all to myself. Not bad.

OK, so maybe a mommy time-out is not likely to happen. A food time-out might be in my future, though, especially now with holiday eating in full force.

Nutrition experts recommend we all take food time-outs during our meals. They suggest taking 20 minutes between courses -- the amount of time it takes for fullness signals to travel from your stomach to your brain. Stop, think, and listen to your body's natural hunger cues, and you'll take control of your appetite and avoid overeating too.

I don't buy into the whole no pain, no gain mentality. The way I see it, the less pain I experience, the more I have to gain. For a while, running gave me pain up and down my shins. The pain stopped me in my tracks and forced me to rest and recuperate. Had I not taken a break, had I kept on running in spite of the pain, I would have surely gained very little. Well, I may have gained a severe injury and maybe a trip to a medical clinic but physically and mentally, my gains would have been nonexistent.

I'm not alone in my thoughts about pain and gain. Author and celebrity trainer Harley Pasternak is right with me on this one.

According to Pasternak, many people think if their muscles don't hurt, they're not having a quality workout. This is simply not true, he says. While some training can be intense and can produce some level of discomfort, pain is never a requirement for a successful workout. Don't forget, he says, that pain can be a warning sign of an exhausted muscle or a torn ligament.

If you're a no pain, no gain advocate, you'd do best to toss that myth right out the window -- before you get hurt.

My kids aren't into sports yet. They show some interest in at-home athletics -- like tossing around footballs, batting at the balls their daddy pitches at them, and running in an occasional fun run. But at the moment, they don't show much interest in organized sports. That's fine by us. We're not pushing. When they're ready, they're ready. And if they're not ever ready, well then, they just aren't.

In the event my boys do take a turn into the world of sports, it'll be important that we continue to not push -- when it comes to practice anyway.

While practice may make perfect, practicing every day can increase a child's risk of injury. In fact, up to 50 percent of all injuries seen in pediatric sports medicine are related to overuse, according to a recent report of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). To protect your mini-athlete from overdoing it, consider these AAP recommendations:

While at Canyon Ranch -- a health, healing, and fitness resort in Tucson, Arizona -- a nutritionist told me to take a breather from hard-core healthy eating once in a while. "Order a pizza once a week," she told me. "Everyone needs a break." At the time, before I embarked on my strict diet overhaul, this seemed like sound advice. It was an invitation to let loose. I liked it. But now, five months and 15 pounds later, I can't seem to let go of my nutrition reins and give in to that cheesy, greasy pizza.

Is my diet behavior too extreme? Should I loosen up? Perhaps. But what about those who go to the other extreme? The one where letting loose is practiced a bit too often.

While every health nut should lighten up now and then and a short hiatus from the gym is certainly OK, it's not wise to go overboard. Practicing a healthy diet all week long only to guzzle beer on the weekends, shovel in the junk food, and party until the wee hours of the morning is simply counterproductive.

All of the conflicting information about food that is circulating out there -- what you should eat, what you shouldn't, what's going to make you fat, what's going to give you cancer -- can be a bit maddening. How is anyone ever supposed to know which of the information to believe?

Perhaps this article on nutritional myths may help. Written by a nutritionist who explains that many client's were getting grilled about the foods they'd been recommended, the author tries to set the records straight on a few common misconceptions about what you should and shouldn't be eating.

Five food rules that you should break are discussed in the piece, so if you're interested in reading the nutritionist's information about whether red meat causes cancer, if salt consumption really leads to high blood pressure, whether too much protein will damage kidneys, and why butter isn't so terrible after all, take a look at the full article here.