Before you can follow through with your New Year's Resolution to lose weight, it's important to know the facts. So over at the Daily Mail, they put together a list of weight loss myths that you should know. Here are some you might be interested in:

• Spot training doesn't work. Don't like your upper arms? Sticking only to arm exercises won't help -- you need to work your whole body. Same goes with sit-ups. You may have a six-pack, but you have to blast the fat on top to notice it.
  
• You don't need exercise. You do. Accept it. Diet alone isn't enough to sustain weight loss in the long run.
  
• Weight training makes women big. Uh-uh -- it tones your body, and you'll really like the results.
  
• Olive oil will help you lose weight. Olive oil is a healthy fat, but it's still a fat, and it's still full of calories.
  
• Running is bad for your joints. Why are there so many lifelong runners who have been doing it for years then? Shouldn't they all be laid up in the hospital getting knee surgery? With the right sneakers, running could be your ticket to fitness.
  

Click here for more excuse-busting weight loss truths.

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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 a man who's made a career out of crashing and smashing both people and things. What fun! Ron Pitts' first career had him smashing into other large men as an NFL defensive back. This lead him into his second career as a Fox Sports Sportscaster, a job that kept talking about other men crashing into each other. Most recently, he's joined the team at Discovery Channel as host of the thrilling Destroyed in Seconds. As you can imagine, there's lots of crashing, exploding and worse during this exciting show.

Beyond all of this, Ron has pursued fitness for his whole life and after 17 years retired from the NFL, the guy is still pretty buff. He's a working father and husband, though, and struggles just like every other man in this world to squeeze it all in. Read on and learn how you can manage your life and rock your body too.

Fitz: You've been out of the NFL for 17 years but still look like you could step on any field and compete today. How do you do it?

There is something simple you can do to ease osteoarthritis if you already have it, and reduce your risk if you don't.

A recent study shows that nearly two in three obese people will develop osteoarthritis. It's a painful, degenerative condition and can result in reduced mobility, knee replacement surgery, even disability. Losing weight can be the single most important thing you do for your knees -- every pound you lose reduces four pounds of pressure on your knees.

Exercise is also vital. If your joints are sore, try swimming or water walking. Other low impact activities such as walking may also be helpful. You can also ask your doctor for advice on appropriate physical activity.

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Ah, the power of food. Even small portions of food have power, like small salads.

Small salads eaten just before a meal can keep your knees and hands free of arthritis. It's the vitamin K found in leafy greens like cabbage, spinach, and swiss chard that reduces the risk of joint damage.

Here's what science says about this salad scoop: Those with higher blood levels of vitamin K have significantly less chance of developing bone spurs and cartilage damage, common complaints of those with painful osteoarthritis. Hands seem to benefit the most, but knees get a dose of protection too.

Once word of caution before you mix up those greens: if you are on blood thinners, check with your doctor to determine how much vitamin K is appropriate for you.

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Last week, the Jumpstart Your Fitness post was about how we all take advantage of our feet, using and abusing them and neglecting to take very good care of them until they start screaming out in pain or discomfort. Well unfortunately the same can be said for the way we treat our joints. Knees, hips, ankles ... they all do their jobs on a daily basis, usually quietly and without complaint, but also without a second thought or moment of consideration from the people to whom they belong. Men and women are quick to work on health routines for strengthening muscles and protecting skin, but what about strengthening and protecting your joints? Nothing slows (or halts altogether) a workout routine faster than knee pain, hip pain, shoulder pain, etc.

So follow these guidelines for having healthier joints, starting today:

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Do you ever wonder why your body makes all those creaky noises? You know, the snap, crackle and pop you sometimes hear eminating from your knees, shoulders, wrists, or wherever else. What causes that? Interested to find out, I started my search. And thanks to the rapid retrival of a Google search, I had my answer in about 3 seconds.

On Men's Health's website, I came across a recently published article explaining why our bodies make these sounds and what health implications, if any, they may signal.

Here's what the article had to say.

SNAP

This sound is the result of friction between two structures (such as tendons) gliding past each other. If the snapping body part (usually the hip, ankle, or shoulder blade) doesn't hurt, don't worry about it. But if the area also feels stiff or tight, the tendons are constricted and could benefit from regular stretching.

CRACKLE

Most cracking sounds are the result of a vacuum being created between two joint surfaces and then releasing (like the noise a wet glass makes when you lift it off a table). Contrary to popular lore, cracking your joints has not been proved to cause damage. In fact, it actually relaxes the muscles surrounding the joint, improving joint movement and reducing pain. Just don't do it too often, or you'll overstretch the joints, making them unstable and injury prone.

POP

In most cases, popping occurs when a joint dislocates and then pops back into place. The danger is that one day it may not go back where it belongs, and the very movement may also irritate tissue around the joint (an especially common problem in the shoulder socket). Rule out exercises that may be causing damage, such as behind-the-neck pulldowns and shoulder presses. Strengthen the rotator cuffs with exercises such as external rotations, but also see a physical therapist for treatment.

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Many people believe that exercise and pain go hand-in-hand. And sometimes it's true -- after a good workout, your muscles and joints can be sore for days afterward. It's a good pain, a satisfying pain, but a pain nonetheless.

But you know, pain and exercise do go hand-in-hand, though not necessarily in the way you might think. Exercise has been shown help with pain, particularly of the chronic variety. I'm serious! If you're suffering from chronic pain, a workout routine could be the cure for what ails you. Or, if not the cure, at least a very good treatment.

According to this article from Johns Hopkins University, exercise can help with pain in several ways:

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Each week, we'll be offering original recipes and unique ways to use those Super Foods that pack nutritional power. After all, you are what you eat -- make it count!

I have pineapple on my mind because we just happen to have a fresh one in our house. It's been sliced and diced into nice little squares, and it sits in a Tupperware bowl in our fridge right now. My boys and I are happy to have this juicy fruit during a time when all of our favorites -- strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, watermelon -- are disappearing from the grocery store produce aisles. It's a great fruit for many reasons -- it's super for nibbling, super if you're in a pinch and need to grab a quick bite, super for school lunches, and well, it's just plain super.

Pineapple is a Superfood because of its healing power on the joints. A top source of bromelain, an enzyme that helps support joint health, pineapples have anti-inflammatory properties that can alleviate osteoarthritis. Bromelain also cleans up dead cells after injury, helps reduce inflammation related to asthma, and even inhibits the growth of malignant cells in both lung and breast cancer.

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Anyone who's ever had a problem with their knees, ankles, hips or another joint -- whether serious or not -- knows the importance of keeping your joints healthy. After all, without they're what keep you moving. So do something good for your joints by following these tips from Everyday Health:

• Keep your body at a healthy weight -- excess weight puts unnecessary stress on joints.
  
• Get regular exercise to build muscle around your joints
• Be cautious when doing heavy lifting
• Don't ignore pain -- talk to your doctor about it
• Move frequently -- don't spend too much time in one position unless necessary
• Wear wrist pads and knee pads when doing activities that might lead to injury.
  

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We know that we have to warm up before a workout to make sure our muscles don't cramp up. But how important is the cool-down? My fitness instructors always insist on doing an adequate cool-down -- they claim it's just as important as the warm-up.

Still not convinced? Read this post on Fitsugar. The cool-down has a number of great benefits -- it prevents next-day soreness (particularly if your cool-down includes stretching), it helps you increase the range-of-motion in your joints, and it helps keep you from fainting. And as someone who is prone to fainting, I can tell you that it really does help if you walk it off after a run -- I've fainted after not adequately cooling down following a particularly grueling cardio session.

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Running is a great way to get and stay fit. It burns a ton of calories and challenges your whole body in a way that few other activities can. There's only one downside to running: it can ruin your knees if you're not careful.

But not surprisingly, where you run is of utmost importance to the health of your joints. Fitsugar has put together a list of the best and worst surfaces to run on, with 10 being the best for your knees and 1 being the worst:

• Grass: 9.5
• Wood chips: 9
• Dirt: 8
• Cinder track: 7.5
• Track: 7
• Treadmill: 6.5
• Asphalt: 6
• Sand: 4
• Snow: 2.5
• Concrete: 1

So running on the sidewalk isn't good -- stick to the treadmill, track or a grassy area instead. Where do you run?

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Though I spent many a day of my youth without proper shoes, these days, the only time I go barefoot outside of the house is when I'm recklessly dancing at a wedding. I once went on a 3-day jungle trek through Northern Thailand with a guide who didn't wear shoes the whole time, through swamps and over logs, across branches and bushes and rice patty fields. I looked on with some sort of odd bohemian envy that he could live with little more than god gave him and I needed my expensive sneakers, which still gave me blisters. We were born without shoes, so why do we need them now? Because we've become weak, that's why.

There's a movement out there that I read about on Mark's Daily Apple called the Primal Health philosophy.They believe that the closer we are to nature, the better. Which mean -- you guessed it -- the less we rely on shoes, the better, even when running. There are lots of reasons behind the idea of running shoeless, including this one:When we run in shoes, our heels are the first parts of our body to hit the ground. But if we were to run shoeless, we wouldn't do this. Running with our heels first adds unnecessary impact to the joints in our leg. Interesting. If you want to read more, check out the original post.

Still, before we had shoes, we also didn't have pavement and unforgiving urban landscapes. So I'm sticking to my running shoes for now at least. What about you?

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I was buying glucosamine tablets for my dog to cut down on arthritis inflammation. Then saw some in the drug store for people and thought I would give them a try for the pain in my joints from arthritis. I did not notice much change for either of us. Then I read an article today that glucosamine trials show little benefit against arthritis. The results of 15 trials of over the counter glucosamine vary so widely that industry bias may be a factor influencing the more positive outcomes, concludes a team writing in the July issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism.

Click here to read the MSN health news article and you be the judge.

Native Americans have used cayenne pepper as both food and medicine for at least 9,000 years. It has also been used as a topical remedy for arthritis and muscle pain. So I think I will pull one of my favorite spices out of the cabinet and give it a try to remedy the knee joint pain the natural way. The University of Maryland Medical Center has an article on the healing powers of cayenne pepper. Click here to read their report.

I sprained my ankle about a year ago and one of the hardest things to get used to (besides using crutches) was taking a break from my workout routine. Most people would welcome the imposed laziness but I was really into going to the gym and when I'm tin the mindframe to go to the gym, I don't want to mess with that -- fore soon, I'll be a full-blown couch potato if I don't keep up with my workouts.

My sprain was a result of my overwhelming clumsiness, but it's surprisingly easy to injure yourself while working out. Don't let an injury sideline you -- here are some tips for avoiding injuries:

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With more than 300 foot problems possible, it's no wonder that 3 out of 4 people will have some kind of foot issue in their lifetime. But the fact that obesity is on the rise isn't helping things, as problems and pain in your feet can often be caused or made worse by being overweight. Although your feet are designed for carrying loads in excess of what you actually weigh (each step you take actually puts 1 1/2 times your weight on each foot), each pound you gain adds additional stress and pressure.

So if you suffer from foot problems expect to not only get localized treatments from your podiatrist, but also advice to shed some pounds.

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