The days before Christmas are winding down. If you're in need of a quick gift, a DVD is a good choice. While a couple of hours plopped on the couch certainly doesn't do anything for fitness, many sports-themed movies have an inspiring message. So, when picking out a flick for your favorite movie buffs, why not choose one that motivates them to become more fit? Check out the gallery for some ideas.

Kate Winslet is one of my body image idols. She is who she is -- she embraces her curves and doesn't buy into the idea that you have to be a size zero to be successful in Hollywood. And according to her costume designer for the upcoming film Revolutionary Road, her body is perfect as it is. "Kate's Body is terrific to work with," says Alberta Wolsky.

Speaking out amidst the scandal surrounding her potentially airbrushed Vanity Fair cover photo, Wolsky goes on to say, "Kate is a serious actress but she is someone who really cares about what she looks like. She is not out to be someone that she isn't, she wants to be herself. She is terrific." Adds her representative: "She is in terrific shape and what you see is how she looks or she would never have agreed to pose for those shots."

I couldn't agree more. Your thoughts?

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We've written before about how celebs gain and/or lose weight for certain roles. It makes their portrayals of characters more believable, but it can't be a good practice for their health. Look at how these celebs changed their bodies for a role:

• Jake Gyllenhaal bulked up for his role in the upcoming film, Prince of Persia, by working out two to three times a day, six days a week. He followed that routine for three to four months, in addition to stunt training for the film.
• Irish actor Michael Fassbender lost 33 pounds in 10 weeks by severely restricting calories -- 900-1,000 calories for the first six weeks, then dropping down to 600 calories a day.
  
• Christian Bale survived mostly on apples and coffee when shedding pounds for his role in The Machinist.
• Robert de Niro packed on 60 pounds for his 1980 role in Raging Bull; by the end of shooting, he was visibly not feeling well.
• Renee Zellweger knows all about putting on extra pounds -- she's done it twice for the Bridget Jones movies. While she admits eating whatever you want many sound fun, she says: "After a week your glucose levels are going crazy. It doesn't feel good."
  

Sure, celebrities may seem to lead glamorous lives ... but a job that requires you to risk your health? As for me, I'm happier just being an average Jane.

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Celebrities slimming down for a film is nothing new, but one would hope they'd do it in the healthiest way possible -- after all, yo-yoing weight is unhealthy enough as it is. Hunky Irish actor Colin Farrell recently slimmed down dramatically for his role in the upcoming film Triage. How did he do it? Here's what he ate each day according to FitCeleb:

• Two cans of tuna
• Black coffee
• Diet Coke
  

That's it. That's about a net caloric intake of 300 calories a day. No wonder he lost 44 pounds. Though Farrell previously said his weight loss was healthy, he's changed his tune -- he now admits that his weight loss was not 'healthy' or 'advisable.' No kidding, huh? He has since gained it back: "I just ate like a pig,'" the actor says.

This is probably the least healthy way to slim down, don't you think?

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What's on your top 10 list of I know I shouldn't have it but I want it so badly foods? For me, movie popcorn ranks pretty highly on the roster. It's difficult to go to a show without getting a big bag of salty goodness, the more buttery the better. It's expensive and it probably has a million calories, but once I smell that popcorn smell, I feel like I have to have it, sometimes even when I'm not hungry.

But we know that kind of buttery indulgence is going to cost us in the calories department -- well, if we get butter anyway. Popcorn itself is considered a whole grain, and whole grains are good, right? So, theoretically, if we don't pile on the calories by adding butter, we should be ok. Right?

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Renee Zellweger did it for Bridget Jones' Diary. Charlize Theron did it for Monster. Gaining weight for a movie is commonplace in Hollywood. But in the case of Hilary Swank's new movie, it certainly is unexpected. As Elastic Waist reveals, Swank will be appearing in the book adaptation of French Women Don't Get Fat -- and ironically, she is gaining 30 lbs for the role. Doesn't that totally defeat the theme of the book?

Apparently, Swank will play the manager of a champagne company that deals with French women who remain slender despite eating all the things we're told to stay away from: Bread, cheese, dessert, and so on.

Me thinks a little bit of meat on the bones of this frail-looking actress can't hurt. Though, gaining weight and losing it quickly can. Your thoughts?

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Everyone knows it's more fun to gain weight than to lose it. And if you're getting paid big bucks to gain it, well, all the better. But there comes a time when the bagels and fried food have to be put away and the weight has to come back off.

That's what happened to Beyonce Knowles. She was asked to gain 20 pounds for her role as Etta James in Cadillac Dreams. But when shooting was finished, she was left not only with a paycheck, but with 20 pounds extra weight, which she had to lose for psychological thriller Obsessed. "I had to lose it," she said, "I was so angry with myself. I was like, 'D'oh! Why do you have to go through this?'"

Losing weight is such hard work. I've always wondered about celebrities who gain weight for roles. Matt Damon recently buried his fit figure under a layer of extra pounds for the movie The Informant, and Hillary Swank will put on 20 to 30 pounds (ironically) for the movie version of the book French Women Don't Get Fat. Not only is it hard mentally, I imagine, to get back into healthy habits after being out of them so long. But isn't all that yo-yoing hard on your body? Maybe not as hard as giving up a million-plus dollar role in a major motion picture, I guess. What do you think?

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I remember watching Ice Castles as a kid and wanting nothing more than to be an ice skater. (Preferably without a terrible accident that caused blindness, though.) So maybe the movie is a bit cheesy and admitting that I had a little crush on Robby Benson certainly dates me as a child of the '70s, but it motivated me into trying something I'd never tried before. And that's exactly what a great sports movie can do.

FitSugar recently asked readers what their favorite motivational sports movies were... and they came up with a great list. Some of the picks are:

• Remember the Titans.
  
• Million Dollar Baby
• Miracle
• Rudy
  

Click over to FitSugar for the full list. A couple of my favorites that didn't make the list are Hoosiers and The Rookie. What other sports movies have inspired you?

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We told you back in December that PEOPLE magazine's 2007 Sexiest Man Alive would plump up for a role in the upcoming thriller The Informant. Sure enough, six months later, Matt Damon is, yes, plump.

Damon estimates that he's put on 20 to 30 pounds -- not to look fat, really, but to look "doughy," he says. Mission accomplished.

How did the Oscar-winner pack on the pounds? Well, he did just what we preach here at That's Fit not to do. He stopped working out and basically ate whatever he wanted.

"I ate a lot of In-N-Out, a lot of burgers, a lot of beer and basically had a great time," he said. A great time it may have been but I bet in no time, this guy will be back in fighting shape, looking more like the photos featured in the gallery below.

More on Damon's expanding waistline in the Bodywatch section of this week's PEOPLE, on newsstands today.

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There's no disputing that actress Kate Beckinsale has a rockin' body -- the girl is just gorgeous. However, the actress isn't comfortable showing her bare bottom on the big screen and has requested a body double for a nude shower scene in her new film Whiteout.

Body issues aren't new for the star, who was named England's #1 beauty by Hello magazine in 2002. She battled with anorexia as a teen and as an adult has admitted that, if she could switch bodies with someone for a day she'd choose "Someone with gigantic real breasts, like Queen Latifah."

A source on the set of Whiteout said that Kate was very open about not liking her body, specifically her bottom and that she couldn't face the thought of seeing her butt up on a big screen. Personally, though, I can't help but wonder how much of it is that she doesn't like her butt and how much of it has to do with the fact that she doesn't want her nude tush on the big screen, period. She's not a fan of gratuitous nudity in movies, so regardless of her reasons, we're glad she stood up for what she wanted. After all, seeing your backside on the big screen can be difficult -- just ask Jack Black!

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Alicia Keys is super excited to see the sun for the same reasons we are -- she loves getting active outdoors. When the musician isn't camped out behind her piano or deep in thought writing a new hit, she says, "I like to do outdoorsy things. Hikes, trails, running, swimming. I love the sun. I'm all about the warmth."

Mariska Hargitay put down the Pringles and chocolate and found something new and healthier to crave -- tropical fruit.

Britney Spears is rumored to be trying a new diet to slim down -- the Victoria Beckham diet, which starts the day with water and lemon. Mmmm, satisfying.

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I'm pretty torn: Do I go see the big green guy tear up New York City tomorrow night or watch the first R-rated release from M. Night Shyamalan? As of this writing, I'm leaning toward seeing The Incredible Hulk, although I wonder if a "sold-out" sign may force me to go with option number two, The Happening.

Whichever tentpole film I ultimately decide on, I can't fall victim to a far more real threat than a 9-foot tall, 1,500-pound green monster or an inexplicable phenomenon that causes people to commit suicide. Yup, I'm talking about the calorie- and fat-laden food expo that is the movie theater concession stand.

To assist me in my efforts to steer clear of the worst offenders, help is available thanks to Men's Health and Yahoo!, who published this list of The 6 Worst Things to Eat at the Movies.

1. Large Popcorn - 1,283 calories, 78g fat (49g saturated fat), 1,850mg sodium

2. Large Nachos with Cheese - 1,101 calories, 59g fat (18.5g saturated fat), 1,580mg sodium

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Jack Black might not be the laughable, lovable lug we've come to know for long. No doubt he'll remain laughable and lovable, but the comedian decided it was time to lose some weight after seeing his bare tush on the big screen in Margot at the Wedding.

I can see where that would be some motivation.

Anyway, Jack has joined a gym and is cutting down on fast foods. Though a big part of the priority is to look better, he's interested in health as well, saying "I want to feel good too. Now, if I eat a cheeseburger and fries, it tastes so good at the time and then right after it's like, 'What did I do? Why?'"

Now, as a father of two, I'm sure health is more important to him than ever, so I'm going to wish him all the best on his new, healthy lifestyle.

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A lot of celebrities credit their work for their fabulous physiques. Actors aren't exactly stuck behind desks, and while some films and shows certainly require them to be more sedentary than others, they all require the actors to get up off the couch.

Liv Tyler is a great Fit Celeb role model. She keeps her figure lean and healthy without resorting to any extremes. She says she loves working out and loves the feeling of breaking a sweat, but admits that a lot of her workouts revolve around her work. For her last two movies, The Strangers and The Incredible Hulk she was required to do lots of running, screaming, crawling, and jumping, all day long.

Christina Ricci showed off how strong her training for her latest movie, Speed Racer, made her. She showed off her skills on Last Call with Carson Daly by doing a one-armed push-up, all while in heels.

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Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones character will have aged in real time in his newest movie, but I swear the 66-year-old actor himself has turned back the clock. His physique this week at the Cannes Film Festival rivals that of many actors half his age.

Over a year ago, his girlfriend Calista Flockhart (whom he is reported to be marrying this summer) said Ford was working hard to get buff for the role by eating a high-protein diet with lots of fish and vegetables, wanting to make sure "Indy is as tough as he always was."

Ford performed many of his own stunts for this latest film, and Steven Spielberg said that he managed them "amazingly well, far beyond what I expected. And he did it so brilliantly and so effortlessly. He was just a little more out of breath after every stunt, just a little more -- and so was I."

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