That's Fit Club is our feature devoted to you, the reader! We have all learned so much on our paths to becoming more fit, and now it's time to learn from and inspire each other! That's Fit Club members are constantly working to better themselves. Some are perfect; some are not. But all have health on the mind. Besides showing you off, we want to reward you for all of your hard work! Everlast and Everlast Woman are giving gorgeous workout T-shirts to each featured member! To join, please send Fitz your answers to these questions with a photo of yourself. Time for you to be the motivator!

Name: Jonathan Borrego

Age: 40

Occupation: Student Data Manager

How often do you exercise? Six days a week for 90 minutes.

What type of exercise do you do? Walk, run and stationary bike.

What gets you to work out, even when you're feeling lazy? Pictures of my old body.

To see Jonathan's bigger old body, read on!

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At 45, Marla Maples looks great -- don't you agree? Maples looks as fit and fantastic as she did when she was Mrs. Trump. She recently spoke to People Magazine about how she stays slim and youthful as she enters her late 40s.

"I have a lot of willpower," she says, crediting a mostly vegetarian diet, free of caffeine and dairy. "With things like pizza and pasta, you go to a restaurant and it's ever so tempting," she says, "but if I know it's not going to make me feel good after, I'm going to stay away from it."

So we know what she doesn't have -- what does she have? Digestion-friendly Ayurvedic teas. No wonder she looks so good.

Got a vegetarian in your life? Consider one of these gallery gifts for the holidays.

(via Fitsugar)

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Journaling, or keeping a diary, has been shown to have amazing benefits. It can lower your stress level, help you let go of what's bothering you, raise self esteem, and assist you in clarifying your wants and needs in life. It's cheap, and it's easy, but a lot of people still have a really hard time with it.

It's not hard for me to sit down and write a couple pages on my thoughts of the day (or, even just a particular episode). But then again, I'm a writer -- that's what I do.

The thing that seems to throw the people I've talked to for a loop is trying to write something to and for themselves -- they're able to write letters to other people, and they can write a paper if you give them a topic, but they have a hard time just sitting down and writing whatever comes to mind, just for the heck of it. I've got some suggestions (some are courtesy of RedBook) that might make it a little easier to get started. Leave a comment if any of these, or something else, has worked for you!

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Losing weight can be a tricky business. Despite all the fancy programs and diet claims, weight loss boils down to one thing: burning more calories than you consume. But if you're not careful, you may be consuming more calories than your realize.

Counting calories seems so hopelessly 1980's, though, doesn't it? And, let's face it, tracking every calorie is a bit of a pain. But a food diary doesn't have to be an obsessive tabulation of every little thing -- it's merely a way for you to ensure you're getting a balanced, nutritious diet in the range of calories you want to consume.

It's a habit that is well worth the effort. A Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research study found that participants who kept a food diary lost almost twice as much weight as those who didn't.

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I'm a writer and yet I've never filled a journal. I've started many. But then I get distracted with other projects and life and writing for work ...

But one of my dearest friends has filled 37 journals in the past 10 years. Why? It's one of her main stress relievers. She swears by it. It's helped her recognize unhealthy patterns and make healthy changes. Sometimes it's easy. Sometimes it's painful. Sometimes excruciating.

It's the only place she can be honest. The only place she's free. It's a look in the proverbial mirror. And clarity looks back. "My journals save me," she says. "They're solace. A release."

Wow. Sounds good. Maybe I'll dust one off and fill the pages for once in my life.

Got a sensitive digestive system? I sometimes do. Mostly, my trouble comes in the form bloating and I never really know exactly why it happens. I've stumbled upon a few possible reasons, though. Here they are.

Maybe I'm not eating enough fiber. The recommended intake for adults is 25 to 35 grams a day but the average American gets only half of that. Slowly adding fiber to my diet and keeping my intake consistently high should minimize bloating, and cramping too.

Perhaps I'm lactose intolerant, which tends to happen at midlife. I'm 37. Antibiotics could be the culprit -- except that I'm not taking any at this time and haven't for a while now. Maybe I need a probiotic to replenish bacteria in my tummy. It could also be water -- I know I need more of this staple in my diet.

In order to pinpoint my exact problem, I'd be wise to keep a diet and symptom diary -- I'm already toying with a food journal for calorie counting purposes so I suppose I could blend the two -- to help me detect exactly when my problems arise. I might see some connections between bloating and eating this way.

Is bloating a bother for you? If so, what ever do you do?

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I'm not starting a food diary because I have a big weight loss goal. But I do have an issue with my mid-section -- it's just a little too loose for my liking -- and since months and months of healthy eating and vigorous exercise have not produced many results in this area, I've decided to write down what I put in my mouth so I can determine if my healthy eating is not so healthy after all.

Yesterday was day #1 of my food journaling and already I know I have some bad habits. How do I know? Because there are certain items I don't want to write on my list. I must not want to see them in writing because I know they aren't conducive to my overall goal of shedding the tummy flab. All day, I steered clear of the tub of cashews in my pantry and the graham cracker sticks my kids eat. While not the most dreadful of diet pitfalls, these snacks, when eaten regularly or in excess amounts, can surely sabotage my stomach. So for now, they are off my list.

I highly recommend a food journal if you want to know the error of your ways. All you need to do is write down everything you eat and drink. Here are a few ground rules.

• Take your food diary with you wherever you go so nothing is forgotten and left off the list. If you don't wish to keep a bulky notebook with you, hang onto a small notepad so you can jot down what you consume. Transfer it to your official journal later.
  
  
  
• Write immediately after you eat. Document what and how much you eat right after you commit the act. Include condiments, dressings, butter, everything that enters your mouth -- even that mini candy bar, the last quarter of your toddler's grilled cheese, that half a soda you're sure doesn't add up to much.
  
  

• Keep it specific. Record the type of food and the portion size. Avoid vague descriptions. If you ate 10 crackers, write just that. Don't write "handful of crackers."
  
  

• Don't forget calories. Look up the calorie value of your foods and drinks and be sure to adjust for portion size. Add your calories as you go so you see your running total and know what wiggle room you have for the remainder of a day. To determine your ideal daily calorie total, check out this formula.
  
  

While food journaling may seen taxing at first, it will get easier. You'll be surprised at how quickly you learn the calorie counts of your usual foods. And you'll love it when you start seeing results. You will see results, by the way. Studies show that people who use food diaries tend to lose more weight and keep it off longer than those who don't.

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I guess at times I'd consider myself an emotional eater. Sometimes I eat for comfort. Sometimes I eat when I'm stressed. Occasionally, I eat to satisfy a craving that seems bigger than my power to keep it at bay.

Emotional eating stops many of us, especially women, from reaching our healthiest weights. To get a handle on this type of eating, you've got to look at the problems behind it, says Susan Lolen-Hoeksema, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Yale University and author of Eating, Drinking, Overthinking.

Some emotional eaters indulge in the form of celebration when they're happy or excited. Many more eat when sad, stressed, lonely, or angry. In one study, women ate 23 percent more than normal after suffering a blow to their self-esteem. Why exactly does this happen?

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Unless she's purposely packing on pounds for a movie role -- think Bridget Jones's Diary -- actress Renée Zellweger always looks fit and trim. No wonder she had crowds buzzing at the London premiere of Jerry Seinfeld's animated Bee Movie. Zellwood is the voice of character Vanessa, a quirky New York City Florist.

How does the 38-year-old stay so slim?

"I have a lifestyle," she says. "It involves keeping my sanity by going to the gym."

Zellweger reports that she doesn't miss her Bridget Jones curves, but she does have this to say: "I don't think my curves are absent. I think I'm doing alright, thank you very much."

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It can be hard to pull yourself out of a negative rut, but here's some good news: it seems negative feelings and emotional pains can be helped by simply putting them into words. When study participants were shown angry faces their brains triggered a "danger" response, but when they called the face what it was -- "angry" -- a different area of the brain became active. Talking with somebody, journaling, or any other way you can use to "label" the emotion triggers brain responses that are designed to manage emotions and essentially "put the brakes" on bad feelings.

I think most people agree that talking things out with somebody or writing in a journal can help a lot with emotions of all kinds, but who knew it had such a scientific basis? Does it work for you?

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