That's Fit

As your loving online fitness trainer, I'm constantly searching for fun new products to help you achieve ultimate fitness with the most ease and enjoyment. Thomas Kemper Low Calorie Root Beer, with only 20 calories per 12 ounce bottle, is one of those products. Look. We all know that plain old water is the best beverage in the world health wise. But...I'm a big fan of the no and low calorie drinks as well. I find that a diet soda satisfies my sweet tooth and keeps me from hunting down muffins throughout my day. It keeps me in the teeny jeans I like to wear as well.

Thomas Kemper did a great job creating the perfect low calorie version of their Original Root Beer. It tastes delicious and my die hard root beer loving neighbor guzzled it down to rave reviews, without even knowing it was a low calorie drink! He almost fell off of his chair when I told him it was a 'diet' drink. Having said that, I think his new addiction to Thomas Kemper Low Cal Root Beer is going to help him get rid of his 'regular beer belly'. Such an easy way to lose weight!

Not only is the Low Calorie Root Beer a yummy treat, the bottle will make you feel fancy. It's brown and beige with a cutie logo, and will make you feel like you're sitting on a farm with Wilford Brimley and Huck Finn. Not that those two characters were known to hang out together, but Thomas Kemper will make you feel like they did. It will make you feel like you're all three together on the farm throwing rocks....or something else sweet and old fashioned like that!

Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria believes in indulgence, sensuality, and yes, chocolate. This makes her new side job quite a fit for the 33-year-old actress.

Longoria is the new face of a chocolate campaign soon to be featured in ads shown in the U.K. and Europe. The chocolate lover will promote Mayan Mystica, a chocolate ice cream covered in milk chocolate flavored with cinnamon, honey, and nutmeg and Magnum Minis, small chocolates available in a variety of yummy flavors. The good thing about the minis is that they are well, mini. Yes, they are small. Which means you can enjoy one or two here and there. If you can get your hands on one of these minis, then, give it a try. Just don't go overboard.

After your indulgence, stop over here at AOL's Celebrity Diet and Fitness site and see what the stars do to stay in shape when they're not endorsing chocolate.

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.

I just got done chatting with myself....I think. No, it probably wasn't me. The person on the other end of my conversation is world famous and has a couple of of Olympic medals. Nope...it couldn't have been me. But! The other person sounded like me. I asked her questions about health and fitness, and she spat out the same stuff I've spent my professional life teaching. This person raved about the benefits of produce, lean meats and frequent challenging exercise. Yes. It could've been a brilliant fitness expert I was conversing with, but it wasn't. It was champion ice skater and Olympic Sliver Medalist, Sasha Cohen.

I chose Sasha to interview, because of her elite success in athletics. She's also touring with Smucker's Stars on Ice and puts on one heck of a show. She's one of the strongest, most flexible and entertaining athletes on earth. Beyond that...she turned out to be one of the best people I've ever talked fitness with. The girl gets it. I mean, she really gets it! She's a chic who seeks out highly nutritious, low fat, high fiber foods whenever she picks up a fork. She also pursues a well-rounded workout routine outside of skating. I loved what she had to say. I want you to pay close attention as well. She's physically small, but not just because of good genes. She works at it, and I believe she'll always be fit. It's a lifestyle for her, and that's what it should be for you.

Fitz: You're a brilliant skater and make a tremendously difficult sport look effortless. Do you remember when skating was hard?

Sasha: Oh Gosh! Skating is always hard. Sometimes it's a challenge to simply put one foot in front of the other. Every day requires effort just to get through it.

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.

My guest this week has something many of us have dreamed of having; Olympic Gold and a successful professional career traveling the world as an athlete. Russian born skater, Ilia Kulik, is living the dream and spent some time with me to chat about it. Ilia endured many grueling years of competition which lead him to win an arsenal of shiny medal, including some heavy gold in Nagano, Japan in February 1998.

It was fun hearing of the ease in which Ilia prepares and performs magically on ice around the world today. He's now enjoying his work on the Smuckers, Stars on Ice tour. This father of two shares some unique insight on the lifestyle and fitness habits of a former world champion. Has he maintained the ability to perform jaw-dropping jumps? Has he gained weight from a decrease in training? Read on to find out!

Fitz: What goes through your head while actually skating for the Gold Medal during the Olympics?

Ilia: You know, I worked very hard on only focusing on techniques and my skating routines. Nerves can kill you, so the most important rule about competition is to conquer nerves. I didn't have time to be nervous, I had to focus on every detail of what I was doing.

Fitz: That is really hard to do! Were you actually able to do that?

Ilia: Yes! In fact I was perfect in concentration. That's why I had success.

Fitz: What was going through your mind when you were standing on the podium being awarded Olympic Gold?

Ilia. Ahh! I was exhausted! I was trying to relax, but it was very hard to do and I was very tired. It wasn't until a couple of days later that I really got a grasp of what I had actually accomplished. In fact, my wife won two Olympic Gold medals. She too, was overwhelmed with her first victory. She says she enjoyed the second win much more though. She was able to relax and absorb it all.

Do you love to chew on ice? I've had friends who do and it seems like a fairly common habit to me, but apparently it can be (in some cases) a sign of anemia. The connection may not seem clear at first, but chewing on ice is a form of pica, which is defined as the practice of eating non-food items (often including metal and paper also). Pica is commonly a symptom of iron-deficiency anemia, although doctors aren't sure exactly why this is.

So if you have the habit of chewing on ice cubes it's probably a good idea to make an appointment and have your iron levels checked. The good news is that anemia is usually easily treated with iron supplements.

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

My guest this week is the very excellent athlete and adventurer Will Gadd. Starring on Discovery Channel's Fearless Planet, Will guides us through the world's most spectacular natural wonders to teach us how these land formations were created. The show is really so gripping that as I lay sick and exhausted in bed a few weeks ago, I refused to fall asleep. I couldn't miss his journey through and lesson about the Sahara. (No.....I don't have TiVo.Yes, I know I'm a nerd.) I was wishing this show was around when I was back in school learning about geography. If it was.....I think I would have actually been interested in the subject and learned all of the things I was supposed to learn back then. Totally entertaining!

From Canmore, Alberta, Will has won every major ice-climbing competition in the world and holds the distance world record in paragliding. He's one of the most successful outdoor sports athletes in the world, as well as an award-winning film-maker and writer. He has flown his para-glider over the Grand Canyon, climbed icebergs in the North Atlantic, won the X Games, written a best-selling outdoor instructional book and regularly writes for the New York Times and other international magazines and newspapers.

As I interviewed Will, we giggled a lot as he was totally down to earth (when not hanging from it). He's a new Daddy and considers that his most exciting, yet rewarding adventure. He's also the real deal when it comes to healthy living. He has some especially unique insight on food, which I think we could all learn from.

Fitz: You're the ultimate outdoor sports guy....in amazing shape. You're world renowned for excellence in ice climbing, mountain climbing, paragliding, kayaking , caving and skiing; a bit of a lunatic. How did you get started with all of this?

Will: I actually began my escapades in utero. My Mom was hitting the mountains while pregnant with me. My Dad's a climber too. I grew up with it.

Fitz: What does your wife think about you dangling upside-down from ice all the time?

Will: She totally gets it. She's (Kim Csizmazia) also a champion ice climber.

Fitz: That would probably help! And now you have a daughter?

Winter is here as some of those in the Midwest and Great Plains easily know. Although winter sports can be fun, do you take all the precautions you need to ensure safety is at the top of the fun list?

As in: don't stay out too long, protect yourself from the elements and make sure protective gear is used for those winter snowboards and other items like sleds and toboggans.

Accidents, after all, can occur very fast and can turn those winter activities into complete nightmares in an instant. Just like bike riding and water skiing in the summer, you want to make sure you take care when having that cold winter fun. After all, it's better to enjoy the white stuff outside rather than from inside a window with a broken leg.

A recent study in Chicago found that an alarming number of restaurants, more than 1 out of every 5, has more bacteria and fecal matter in their ice cubes than in a random testing of toilet water.

Seriously? I don't even know what to say! But I do feel a little sick.

Apparently the bacteria found wasn't the kind that's necessarily dangerous to the average person, although the potential for illness is definitely there for the very old, the very young, and people with compromised immune systems. But still! How can that be okay with health inspection agencies?

Via Gadling

I'm Canadian, which means that more than half the year is spent under a frost, in which we crazy Canadians have come up with multiple ways to enjoy the outdoors when it's cold out. One such way is Curling, that sport where you slides rocks across the ice, furiously sweep and hope your colourful stone is closest to the centre.

We spent yesterday curling, my family and I, and we had a lot of fun. The time passed quickly and easily, even though we spend 5 hours there. Today, I am sore, and since curling is a slow, easy sport more focused on strategy than brute force, this surprised me. But what's even more surprising is how much calories it burns -- about 280 per hour, which means that I burned about 1400 calories. Whew -- that's a day well spent.

Curling has a reputation of being a sport of older people and maybe it is, but it's fun, and I encourage you to try it if you're looking for a fun and fit way to spend a day with friends of your family.

Milk does a kid's body good, according to a Penn State study concerning American children and their consumption of the dairy drink. Yet the only youngsters reportedly drinking enough milk are 2 and 3 year olds. All others are falling short on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's My Pyramid dairy recommendations which suggest two cups of milk for 1 to 3 year olds, two to three cups for 4 to 8 year olds, and three to four cups for 9 to 18 year olds.

Also noteworthy per the same study, published in the online Journal of Pediatrics, is that children are consuming more of the highest fat varieties of cheese, yogurt, ice cream, and dairy-based toppings. It's not smart to make up for missed calcium from milk by stocking up on high-fat dairy sources, says one researcher who notes these additional calories will only add to the current problem of childhood obesity. So stick to good old fashioned milk for your kids -- and make it low-fat while you're at it.

Although physicians once recommended that children receive whole milk during the first year of life, that recommendation has changed. Doctors now recommend baby formula if the child is not nursing. And for the second year of life, reduced-fat or fat-free milk is appropriate.

Ouch! I have shin splints. It's a common running-related injury with the official name medial tibial stress syndrome. This highly medical term really just refers to pain along the shinbone (tibia), the long bone in the front of the lower leg. The pain is caused by an overload on bones and tissues. The bad news is that the discomfort I feel when I run is slowing me down. The good news is that my problem can be alleviated.

Rest is one treatment plan. I don't mean giving up on exercise altogether, but switching to a low-impact program is certainly wise. I could try swimming, biking, walking, and weight training, for example, while my legs heal. I can ice the affected area for 15 to 20-minute intervals, four times per day, for several days. I can elevate my shins above my heart, take an over-the-counter pain reliever, make sure my shoes fit my foot, my stride, and my sport, look into arch supports to disperse stress on my shinbones, strengthen the area with exercises such as toe raises, and then gradually resume running. I can also broaden my running horizons -- which I plan to do starting this week.

A free series is being offered here in town to prep area runners for a local marathon in February. I don't have any big plans to run 26.2 miles anytime soon, but there's no doubt I can learn a thing or two about proper running. So I'm headed to the first seminar on Tuesday. The topic: Core Strengthening, Form Running, and Dynamic Flexibility. I'll be back to report on what I learn. In the meantime, tell me what you do about shin splints. Any words of wisdom about how you prevent or treat this irritating injury?

This is it. This is the dessert we've come to know and love at my house. No more big bowls of ice cream, chocolatey brownies, or sinful creations. This is all we need, all we want, all we crave. Seriously.

Who knew a hearty serving of fresh fruit could be so inviting? Not us, until we gave it a try and then stuck with it. Now, the sugary, fatty stuff isn't even appealing. Our mouths drool for strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, grapes, watermelon, and kiwi. When the season for this fruit finally comes to an end, we'll substitute apples, oranges, and bananas. Give us any sort of fresh fruit and we're satisfied. You could be too.

Why not slice and dice some of your own fresh fruit today? Forget the ooey, gooey something you'd normally eat and give this a try. Do it again tomorrow, the next day, the day after that. See if you can let go of your unhealthy habits and learn to love what's good for you. I have a hunch you can.

To read up on the merits of fresh fruit, click here.

I did a little investigative reporting the other morning while walking the hills in my neighborhood. It happened to be trash morning and black cans and blue and orange recycling bins lined the streets. Call me nosy, but I made it my business to peek in those bins -- they are open-topped bins so I only had to look in their direction, no actual snooping -- and check out just what my neighbors are consuming. It was an eye-opening experience.

My neighbors seem to be drinking many of their calories -- and sugar too. Coke, Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper, and hoards of wine and beer bottles overflowed from the bins. Also present were empty ice cream containers, sugary cereal boxes, kiddie snack packages, and more. I did come across an occasional healthy neighbor whose trash consisted mostly of empty water bottles but for the most part what I saw was junk.

The trash truck that collects this weekly waste boasts an inspiring statistic on its side -- something about how great amounts of recycling are saving great amounts of trees. Super! Until you consider that we are saving trees at the expense of our health. How about cutting down on the crappy food. Less recycling will occur as a result. And the trees will still come out victorious. So will we.

Yes, the truth is in the trash. What do your bins say about you?