That's Fit

Just wanted to wish all of my fellow Americans a very happy Fourth of July, and to remind everyone why we celebrate. Of course politics can be rough, and the economy sometimes varies, but those things pale in comparison to all that this country has to offer. As I was explaining to my three and five year old children this week, we celebrate our freedom this Friday. As Americans we are able to choose our jobs, choose our religion, choose our spouse, choose our homes, and have as many or as little children as we'd like to have.

Nothing is perfect of course, but America is perfect for me. I rarely walk by a man or woman in uniform without thanking them for their service, nor an elderly man proudly wearing his baseball cap describing which branch of the military he served. I value the local and state law enforcement officers for placing their lives on the line each day to protect ours. I'm even grateful for the sometimes messy brood of politicians we elect to run this beautiful country of ours.

Lastly, I'm grateful for the nation of Americans. Thank goodness the majority of us are really good hardworking people. The good certainly outweigh the bad. I thank you for voting, working, educating your children, volunteering, helping strangers, and just making this country what it is today. I love it here. I'm proud to be here, and I'm grateful to those who laid their lives on the line to provide my family and I the simple yet irreplaceable luxury of freedom.

Here at That's Fit, we're forever grateful for the service, courage and sacrifice made by the heroic men and women who serve as military, law enforcement officers, and firefighters. We're so grateful, that we'd like to dedicate some features to both showing our heroes off, and learning a little bit in the process as well. If you serve your country courageously, are a veteran or know someone who does, please return this form completed to Fitz along with a photo and we'll share your story with the world.

Name: Frank Kinsey

Age: 29

Heroic Occupation: Deputy Sheriff

How often do you exercise? Two to three times a week.

What type of exercise do you do? I lift weights, run and play basketball.

Here at That's Fit, we're forever grateful for the service, courage and sacrifice made by the heroic men and women who serve as military, law enforcement officers, and firefighters. We're so grateful, that we'd like to dedicate some features to both showing our heroes off, and learning a little bit in the process as well. If you serve your country courageously, are a veteran or know someone who does, please return this form completed to Fitz along with a photo and we'll share your story with the world.

Name:

Age:

Heroic occupation:

If you're in the military...where are you?

How often do you exercise?

What type of exercise do you do?

Here at That's Fit, we're forever grateful for the service, courage and sacrifice made by the heroic men and women who serve as military, law enforcement officers, and firefighters. We're so grateful, that we'd like to dedicate some features to both showing our heroes off, and learning a little bit in the process as well. If you serve your country courageously, are a veteran or know someone who does, please return this form completed to Fitz along with a photo and we'll share your story with the world.

Name:

Age:

Heroic Occupation:

If you're in the military...where are you?

Here at That's Fit, we're forever grateful for the service, courage and sacrifice made by the heroic men and women who serve as military, law enforcement officers, and firefighters. We're so grateful, that we'd like to dedicate some features to both showing our heroes off, and learning a little bit in the process as well. If you serve your country courageously, are a veteran or know someone who does, please return this form completed to Fitz along with a photo and we'll share your story with the world.

Name: Rob K.

Age: 42

Heroic occupation: Police Lieutenant

If you're in the military...where are you? N/A

How often do you exercise? Five times each week.

What type of exercise do you do? Running, strength training, lots of pull-ups, and a variety of cardio machines.

What gets you to workout, even when you're feeling lazy? The knowledge that I'll be glad I did when I'm done. I also feel that the most rewarding workout is the one that you didn't want to do in the first place.

I heard it on the radio yesterday, the news flash revealing that some police officers in Canada are parking themselves at fast-food drive-thru windows in order to catch drunk drivers. Why go fast-food? Because law enforcement officials kept hearing from drive-thru employees, "You should be here late at night." And because who doesn't like to eat after consuming too much alcohol?

Project WULF -- stands for "would you like fries?" -- puts cops right in the drive-thru booths where they can pick up on slurred speech and can sniff out the smell of liquor. When suspicions mount, the observing officer advises a second officer who stops the vehicle as it departs.

Already, a number of impaired-driving charges and roadside suspensions have been issued as a result of Project WULF. But does this make it a good venture? One of my morning radio co-hosts says it's a great thing. Getting drunk drivers off the road is critical, he says. His partner says it's totally unfair, a form of entrapment even. What do you think?

What makes you feel sexy? I was talking with some friends the other day, and the whole group of us agreed that sexy has nothing to do with Frederick's of Hollywood. (Those things are just scratchy.) My friend Kristen thought her little black dress made her feel sexy, and Ann felt it was her perfume.

I honestly feel the sexiest things I own are my black cowboy boots. I'm in no way shape or form a western type girl; I was born and raised in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. I think that I think my boots are hot, because I feel powerful in them. I love powerful men, so maybe that's the connection. Lingerie had little to do with sexy in the minds of my friends and I.

It's become so common there's actually an acronym for it! Driving while texting, or "DWT," is becoming such as issue across the nation that not only are many state governments looking at passing laws to regulate (or ban altogether) using cell phones and other devices to send text messages while driving but insurance agencies are also getting in on it -- they could actually look at your phone records and refuse to pay a claim if they see that you were texting at the time of an accident.

What do you think, fair or not fair? I say fair. I'm guilty of popping out a few texts while sitting at stoplights, but that doesn't mean I think it's right. Truth is that when we text message while behind the wheel we're not paying as close attention to the road -- and that endangers everybody.

Crime is growing every day it seems, and according to the news there's really nothing but violence happening on the street these days. There are many differing opinions out there on why this is, but one consensus is that it's simply a side-effect of population growth. More people = more lawbreakers.

Regardless of why, it's important to know how to protect yourself so you don't become somebody's next victim. I came across this article that gives tips and advice on what to do in different situations like being on the street at night, going to a bar, going to a show, and when you're in the car alone. You can never be too careful! And although being prepared and alert won't stop all crime, it will help a lot.

If you won a huge payout in the lottery (enough to never work again) would you go back to your job or would you never return? For many, there is no question that they would walk right off the job and never return again, but there are also plenty of people who really enjoy their work and find it satisfying. These people might stick around either way. Just who are these lucky workers who are so happy with their careers?

A study done in the UK found that corporate managers and senior officials are the most satisfied with their jobs, as they combine an important combination of good pay, prestige and working with others. While a hefty paycheck and status help, they're not the be-all and end-all when it comes to contentment at work. Creativity and freedom is big as well -- hairdressers and artists are both in the top 10 despite receiving lower wages, and high-paying careers like architecture and law, came in relatively low (28th and 44th respectively).

What about you? What do you like or dislike about your job? And just out of curiosity, if you won the lotto, would you keep working or quit on the spot?

Ever had raw milk? It sounds like a simple enough product, but depending on where you live it may be illegal to buy it or sell it. Some 70+ years ago milk caused 25% of all food related illnesses, but with the advent of pasteurization that number dropped sharply to a mere 1%. Raw milk (meaning straight from the cow and unpasteurized) may taste richer, have more natural enzymes, and appeal to many because it's more "natural," but along with those perks comes a much greater risk of ingesting dangerous bacteria like E.coli, salmonella, and others. Currently 15 states in the U.S. outlaw the selling of raw milk, and many others have severe laws and restrictions.

Raw milk is becoming more and more popular every day -- people are showing that they want it bad enough that they're either ready to deal with all the red tape or they're finding ways around the laws altogether and basically buying it on the black market. What do you think? Should people have the choice to buy what they want or should it be against the law?

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'm trying so hard to shrink my tummy and I do tons of crunches. My friend says I'm doing no good. What's the truth? Katie

A. Very good questions Katie. It reminds me of a funny story my husband, who's in law enforcement just told me. The Chief of his department is a cool guy who also has been a certified fitness trainer. Very knowledgeable on two cool topics I think. My hubby's' Captain is also a really neat guy who I consider to be in pretty good shape. Looks good to me, you know? So anyway, one day in the department gym the Captain is on the floor doing crunches and the Chief comes along and tells him to stop wasting his time, because he's just "pushing the fat out". Makes me laugh every time I think about it. Poor Captain.

Here's the truth. If you're trying to shrink your tummy, crunches aren't the way to go. Crunches will absolutely strengthen and harden your abdominal muscles, but they will not shrink your tummy the way you'd like. Strong abs are great, but if you have a layer of fat over them.....you'll still look like a girl with a big belly.

What to do? Lose weight. Burn more calories than you consume. Eat foods that are low in calories and high in nutrition. Burn many extra calories with great workouts. When the fat disappears, we'll all be able to "Ooh and Ahh" over the sturdy abs you've been earning. Fitz.

Q. Hey Fitz. My butt is super saggy and it drives me nuts. My profile from the waste-down is flat wihich is not hot. Can you guide me on what to do? Erika.

All the drama from New York City's recent regulation requiring fast food restaurants to post calorie counts on menus is about to come to a head as the deadline, this Sunday, approaches. Burger King, McDonalds, and Wendy's are all openly planning to defy the order and will not be making any changes to their menus anytime soon. And due to a pending lawsuit by the New York Restaurant Association the city won't be handing out any fines until at least October, if the new law is still standing by then.

In the meantime fast food chains say it's not that they don't want consumers to know calorie counts (many of them make the information available voluntarily anyway), but they say that putting them on the menu in print as big as the price would make for a messy, hard to read display that would look like "a bad day at the eye doctor's office."

What do you think? I like the idea of easily accessible calorie information, but I don't know that it needs to be in huge print right on the menu board.

I must say, one of the things I'm most thankful for in this world of media and agendas is the "truth in advertising" concept. Now it's true that companies put all kinds of spins and catch phrases on their products, but it's nice to know that ultimately what they literally say on the label must be true.

Case in point: Quaker has agreed (albeit after threat of lawsuit) to re-word some of the claims on its oatmeal packages to eliminate "exaggerated health claims." No worries, oatmeal is still a very heatlhy food. But it's not necessarily magical in its abilities to fight cholesterol and other conditions, so the label will no longer imply that it is.

Now I'm not saying food and nutrition labeling is perfect, in fact it's far from it. But I do take some solace in the fact that at least it's supposed to be.

What you aren't aware of can't hurt you, right? We wish. Here is something that doesn't ring a bell every time we go to pick up our groceries: the handles of shopping carts are literally crawling with disgusting bacteria and germs. Okay, so the fear of using such a common item could border on obsessive compulsive, but that isn't stopping the state of Arkansas from passing legislation encouraging businesses to clean up those buggies.

How is this for following up with your constituency: legislator Fred Allen from Little Rock put the "Arkansas Health-Conscious Shopper Program" bill into action after hearing from many older women during his campaigning last fall. They voiced concerns over not wanting to go shopping due to the dirty nature of grocery carts. Mr. Allen thought they were on to something so he pitched the legislation and even cited a University of Arizona study which uncovered the truth about the matter.

It turns out that shopping cart handles are one of the dirtiest public surfaces you can touch, right next to public door handles and vending machines. Makes you think twice before putting your child in the front seat of one, doesn't it? Don't worry though, as germy as they might appear you would be hard-pressed to find medical cases where someone died from picking up their weekly shopping list.