I'm so excited to share with you the recipe for my Protein Power Potato. It's something I've been eating several times a week, and it really has served me well. I insist that my food be: low cal, low fat, high fiber, often high in protein and overall nutritious. This Protein Power Potato fills me up, and gives me the energy to get through tough workouts or wild days with my kids. (It keeps me really trim too.)

I've included an option for making this a vegetarian or carnivorous option as well. Since I understand food, and know what I want out of it ... sometimes I just look in my fridge and concoct something that's going to give me what I need. That's how we got this meal. Did I mention this thing is delicious too? Mmmmm. I could eat it every day!

To give it a try, visit the Recipe section available at Fitzness.com, page 42.

If you're craving something festively sweet this holiday season, reach for a gingerbread cookie. It's sure to hit the spot -- with it's mere 180 calories -- and it just might fight cancer at the same time.

Two recent studies indicate that the compounds in ground ginger -- the kind used in most gingerbread recipes -- help battle breast cancer. Another study finds ground ginger causes ovarian cancer cells to attack themselves and die. It's not yet clear how much ginger is necessary to combat these diseases, but using ginger in everyday dishes is a good start.

If your mouth is watering for a little gingerbread, check out this cookie recipe.

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Is there any truth to the five-second rule? You know, that guiding principle we use when our food drops to the floor and we pick it right back up and eat it. As long as it hasn't been on the floor for more than five seconds, we're safe. Right?

We actually have longer than five seconds, says Anne Bernhard, assistant professor of biology at Connecticut College, whose students put this rule to the test.

Bernard and her team dropped apple slices, a wet food, and Skittles, a dry food, on a cafeteria floor -- which incidentally had been smeared with E.coli -- and then measured the results. Their conclusion: Moist foods are probably safe for 30 seconds, and dry food can stay on the ground for one minute. And that's with E.coli in the mix.

So the five-second rule appears to be legit -- if you trust this study, that is.

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My grandma had osteoporosis. For her, it reared its ugly head in her back which became more and more rounded with each of her passing years. It caused her great pain. And it caused her to continually urge me to stand up straight and practice good posture -- which is important for young women like me who wish to maximize bone health. But even more critical for mostly Caucasian and Asian women is weight-bearing exercise and resistance training.

Walking, running, dancing, and playing tennis are just a few good weight-bearing activities. Biking and swimming don't count because they provide no impact of bones on the ground.

OK, so are you ready for your mission? Here's what you've gotta do: Start slow if you must and tackle 10 minutes of walking three times per week. Gradually build up to 30 minutes a day, five times per week. Do more if you can. Then add weights for resistance. Take on some strengthening exercises for 20 minutes, three times per week. If you don't feel very fit at the moment, begin walking with ankle weights and then tack on small amounts of weight, beginning with one pound and working your way up.

Personally, I hope to turn back the clock on osteoporosis. How about you?

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Introducing kids to sports is a wise idea. It's steers them away from television and video games, channels their boundless energy, teaches lessons in cooperation and determination and well, it's just good for the body. Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts, herself a life-long athlete, says sports are particularly good for girls.

"If you're a mother of daughters, encouraging them to participate in sports is the best gift you can give them," Roberts says. "Playing sports, feeling the competitive drive, winning and losing -- these experiences build self-esteem and character."

Roberts says even grown women become timid because they get stuck feeling they have to be liked by everyone. Sports shakes that out of you, she says. It's the best training ground for adult life.

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How many of you use that old sponge at your kitchen sink until it is about ready to crumble apart forcing us to get another one out of the pack under the sink? Guilty by admission. How many of you use the sponges on a handle that will dispense soap to wash dishes. I Used to. Dish washing sponges are full of concavities, millions of them and these concavities help produce foam but are also a breading ground for lots of different bacteria. Most of the bacteria nestled inside sponges comes from food when we wash dishes or wipe counters, especially raw foods, like meat or poultry and vegetables.

Some people put sponges in the microwave to kill bacteria. Well lets blow this myth out of the water. The spores that some kind of bacteria make to survive harsh conditions do not contain much water and they might survive microwaves. Bacteria that spill food may be killed in a microwave, but the toxins that they produce are the actual substances that make us ill, and they are not destroyed by microwaves. Improperly cleaned microwaves are a breeding ground for germs and bacteria also.

Wooden and poly cutting boards are full of crevices and if you wash them with a sponge that is full of bacteria you are just pushing bacteria deep into the board creating a risk for food poisoning or infection.

So how do you protect yourself from these bacterias and germs breeding around your kitchen sink and in your sponge. Start healthy habits when cleaning. Wash your hands even before you pick up the sponge to wash dishes. Leave your sponge very dry and without any residue of organic material by cleaning your sponge after you wash your dishes and by all means keep it away from your cutting board. Soak your sponge in vinegar which is a natural bacteria killer. Most important is to change your sponge every week. Oh come on, you can't complain about that. You can buy 4 sponges for $2. The cost of a trip to a hospital for food or bacteria poisoning is $200. Cost of the sanity to know you are safe.......... PRICELESS.

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