That's Fit

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: Alexandra Harris

Age: 51

Occupation: Life Coach

How often do you exercise? I eat seven days a week, and I exercise seven days a week!

What type of exercise do you do? Power walking, light weight training (for muscle tone), and yoga (for balance, flexibility, and occasionally turning my organs upside down). I think there's something really healthy about moving your organs around!

Hey team! I just made one of my favorite "tastes really sinful but isn't" snacks and thought I'd share it with you. Cheese Fries are something I used to enjoy frequently while living in my former bigger body. Did they wreak havoc on my belly and butt back then? You betcha! Were they pretty darn tasty? You betcha! So, a while back I decided to use my moderate sized brain to create a version of them which wouldn't make my belly and butt so sad.

Have a looksy here at the recipe for my Low Fat Cheese Fries (page 33), give it a try and let me know what you think! I love great food, and have had great success substituting the fattening parts for equally tasty not so fattening parts. Enjoy!

I'm always shocked and amazed that anyone would actually consider the doughnut an appropriate part of breakfast. I imagine most folks would snub the idea of eating cake as a good idea in the morning. The doughnut is literally FRIED CAKE! Who the hell thought that would be a good idea for a meal?

In my younger years, I suppose I just considered doughnuts, well.......doughnuts! My parents always seemed to have a bag or box of them on the counter and they were a fairly regular part of my breakfasts growing up. (My Mom probably never thought about what she was actually feeding me either!) Then one day I had the epiphany. Doughnuts are made by frying cake batter in oil for about 90 seconds. They're also often filled or covered with cream, chocolate or just pure sugar.

School cafeterias are getting healthier and healthier. They may not be perfect just yet, but progress is certainly apparent.

According to a blurb in the November 5, 2007 issue of TIME magazine, about 19 percent of schools noted in a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report offered French fries in 2006, compared with 40 percent in 2000. Vegetable sales increased from 51 percent in 2000 to 71 percent in 2006. And junk food in vending machines was prohibited by four percent of school districts in 2000. In 2006, 30 percent nixed the junk.

Fitness pursuits are also on the rise. The percentage of districts requiring elementary schools to teach physical eduction increased from 83 percent in 2000 to 93 percent in 2006. And fewer schools are allowed to punish kids with push-ups, which associates exercise with pain. How about recess? There's improvement here too. In 2000, 46 percent of elementary schools required recess, compared with 57 percent in 2006. Sadly, though, the percentage offering intramural sports has not changed since 2000.

A lot has happened in six years. But is it enough?

I was elated to read in my first-grader's school newsletter on Monday that first and third-grade students will have their Body Mass Index (BMI) measurements calculated during the month of October. I'm not sure why these two grades were chosen, but I'm happy to see some attention paid in the public school system to the issue of childhood obesity.

After I read this exciting BMI announcement, I flipped through a few more newsletter pages and landed right on the school's lunch menu. Interesting what I found. On October 9, kids can ingest loaded fries or a chicken patty -- fried or breaded, I assume -- and on October 10, they get to pick either a hamburger or a corndog. On October 17, the options are chicken fried rice or beef nachos. Chicken nuggets make the menu on many-a-day. So does mac and cheese. And pizza is served every Friday. Now I know there are nutritional guidelines that float around somewhere near where this food is prepared and perhaps I'm jumping the gun and making claims that are not warranted -- but I can't bring myself to believe these food items are very healthy. I do know fruits and vegetables are served as side dishes so that's a plus. Still, I'm just not OK with what comes out of our school cafeteria.

My question is this: If administrators are willing to screen kids for obesity, can't they do a little preventative maintenance and fuel our kids with the good stuff? I know crappy food costs less than healthy fare, but isn't the health of our nation's children worth it? I think so.

Most of us have a few foods that are without a doubt off limits. For me, it's chicken wings. And while I've been known to indulge from time to time, I try to keep to down to once a year or less because oh. my. goodness. Are they ever bad for you! They're so bad, in fact, that I don't even really enjoy them, particularly the next day.

eDiets has made a list of food items that you should consider adding to your list of forbidden foods and stay away from at all costs. They are:

• Doughnuts
• Cheeseburgers with fries
• Fried chicken and chicken nuggets
• Packaged lunches (think Lunchables)
• Sugary cereal
• Processed meats (YUCK!)
  
• Canned soup (unless it's low sodium and MSG-free)

What would you add to the list? I was thinking movie popcorn would make a worthy addition, as would bacon, deep-fried cheese and, well, deep-fried anything.

I love potatoes, whether they are yellow, white or red. Add some fresh green beans and various spices (plus garlic) into fresh potatoes and you have a very healthy meal starter (if not a complete meal).

But don't think of potatoes as nutritious when eating french fries, obviously. Outside of that and other fried venues, potatoes have a great nutrient content and are really quite healthy. Ever try some slightly heated on the stovetop with Italian spices and olive oil? Mmm.

Want some potato facts? You'll love these, promise. A medium-sized potato has...

• only 160 calories
• almost 4 grams of fiber (when the skin is eaten)
• twice the potassium of a banana
• no fat
• about ½ day's worth of vitamin C
• 4 grams of protein

Cool, eh?

Have fitness questions? Fitz has your answer. Our ThatsFit.com fitness expert -- and now your own virtual personal trainer -- will help you get fit, increase your overall health and do it in a fun way. Drop your questions here in the Comments section below and we'll choose two per week to publish on That's Fit! Learn more about Fitz here.

Q. Dear Fitz: I have two kids and I admit to going through the McDonald's drive through a few times a month out of convenience. Is that really such a bad thing? Angie

A. Hey Angie. Going through the McDonald's drive through a few times a month is certainly not a bad thing....if you order wisely. Grab the grilled chicken sandwich for each child and order some apple slices or a yogurt parfait to go with it. Two percent milk or water to drink.

Angie, the key to this whole 'raising healthy children' thing is to have standards. High standards. I assume you wouldn't put vinegar or catsup in your cars' gas tank, would you? Those items probably wouldn't do a whole lot of good for it. Have the same standards for the most precious people in your life. The greasy and sugary crap sold at the golden arches is just that. Crap! And, McDonald's offers healthy options now. You don't need to even consider nuggets and fries. Those items are not acceptable for your perfect little people.

Last year, my mother took my then 3 year old daughter, Ginger, out and bought her fries at McDonald's. Sure that one time didn't kill her, but now she knows the fries are there. So on the rare occasion we hit a Mickey D's, Ginger asks for some fries. I order a healthy meal, and let Ginger know that "I love her too much to put unhealthy fried food in her body". I follow that up with. "honey, if you'd like fries I'll bake you some at home". That way we both win. Go to McDonald's Angie, just educate your kids on the importance of healthy living and the ease in which it can be maintained. Fitz

Q. How's it going, Fitz? I've recently lost 43 pounds and surprisingly I lost a shoe size too. Is that normal? My wife thinks I'm imagining things. Reggie.

Ladies, next time you find yourself overtaken by irrational cravings for anything sweet, salty, savory or just plain bad for you, check the calendar--it's probably that dreaded PMS rearing it's ugly head yet again. Myself, I crave carb to the point where I could pretty much consume a loaf of bread on my own, but don't.

AOL has put together this guide to the most common cravings and suggests healthier choices that should satisfy the craving just as well. Chocoholics should try for some chocolate-covered fruit to get their coco fix with along with some vital nutrients as well. Salt fiends should try some nuts. And carb-fiends like myself should opt for whole grains and limited servings.

What helps you through that time of the month?

Just wanted to spout out about something that really irritates me. I know a woman I'll call Nancy who was totally adamant that her baby only be nursed for the first year of his life. Formula was too "dangerous and unhealthy" for her. Nursing 100% is completely great with me, and just FYI ... I nursed both of my children for about a year as well. Mine were given formula here and there though and I truly felt it made no difference. To each her own, right?

Nancy nursing her son was terrific, but Nancy was also a big idiot about others who gave formula. A BIG IDIOT. Constantly putting down the formula, and baby food, and everything else. What drives me most crazy about this buffoon is that as soon as her boy turned one year old I caught her several times with a stroller tray full of Burger King cheeseburger bits and french fries!

Nursing is phenomenal. But don't go from strictly giving your kid the BEST food to the WORST food. What the heck is that all about? That first year of a child's life is crucial to development and counts so much. Nursing is not sustainable forever. What matters most are the habits you give them to grow on. Sustainable and realistic habits that will set them on course for a healthy childhood, followed by a long and vibrant life. Parents.Com has some great advice on pursuing this option.

I was listening to Shawn Hannity's talk show today while the great debate on fast food continued. Should fast food joints be banned in the USA? Lots of people think so. Others think they should stay, and we should take responsibility for controlling excessive use of the most fat-laden caloric products.

Some believe fried drumsticks and onion rings are a sin to be made. Could it be true that the "evil" folks at KFC and Burger King are purposely trying to poison the American public? Maybe we should all just get a grip and learn to visit these restaurants less frequently or simply order the healthy choices while we're there.

As a fitness pro, I've mixed emotions on the subject. Knowing what horrible repercussions the worst of fast food can do to a person, of course I wish it didn't even exist. I wish the fast food execs would simply have a conscience and resolve to serve super healthy food. That sure would make a "know it all" like me happy.

If you've been known to grab a meal or two on the run at your local fast food joint, test your knowledge of the food you're eating with this quiz. The answers to the questions you are given may surprise you. Do you really know how many calories you're adding to your pizza with that dipping sauce? And do you really know which breakfast choices are the best? I got 7/10 -- less than I thought I would get since I research this stuff every day. Some of the answers shocked me, which is hard to do when I'm surrounded by alarming facts every day.

What did you get? What answers surprised you?