That's Fit

Got some healthy leftovers to store? Something you can take to work and eat for lunch? Something that will make a great dinner a second time around? If so, you'll want to properly store your food in the greenest of ways, says Jessica Jensen, co-founder of Low Impact Living. Here's how.

• Use glass first. It can be used over and over and is easily recycled.
• Go for aluminum foil next since it too can be recycled.
• Opt for plastic containers before bags because they can be reused and some can be recycled. It's best to use as little plastic as possible, though, since it's made from petroleum, a nonrenewable resourse.
• Last choice: Plastic wrap. It's only good for one-time uses and can't be recycled.

Quite a few years ago, a friend of mine had breast augmentation surgery. Nothing outlandish -- in fact, you could barely notice a difference. She just wanted to restore herself to the nicely-filled B cup she was before her pregnancies. She said that after her pregnancies and the subsequent years of breast feeding, she had "deflated." (Her words, not mine.) As a result, she felt self-conscious and didn't even like to wear t-shirts because she didn't feel good about herself.

Post-surgery she had two young kids that wanted their mom to lift them and play with them like she always did. She kept the explanation simple and just told them that mommy had an "owie" and wouldn't be able to lift them up for a while. When Jacki had her tummy tuck, she also had to find an age-appropriate way to explain her surgery to her young kids.

It can be scary for kids to see their parents hurting. And plastic surgery -- where a parent might end up looking a little different than they did before -- can be even scarier. A plastic surgeon has written a book called "My Beautiful Mommy" to help explain plastic surgery to kids in a positive, non-frightening, and age-appropriate manner.

The Active Health Network has just launched and you can find it at SportsHealthExercise.Org. I'm very excited to announce this to you, because I'm one of the several health and fitness experts contributing to the site. Unlike other health and fitness sites, SHE is owned by a fitness expert, Master of Exercise Physiology, Tracy Benham. She has also surrounded herself by other experts (like me) in unique genres of health.

SHE sports a bunch of great text info, and it's full of FITNESS TELEVISION! You don't have to settle for words, when you can see and hear the various experts blabbing about and showing you personally what they want you to know about becoming a better you. General fitness training, yoga, healthy cooking, etc...

So ... I'm stoked! We've done tons of work leading up to this point, and now I can't wait to see how all of that effort pays off for you. So ... what are you waiting for? Stop reading what I say and go listen and see instead.

There are certainly a million plus reasons to quit smoking: the smell, the cancer risks, the heart disease, etc ... But now there is a new one! If you want to have plastic surgery on your face (and if you've smoked for a long time ... you probably want to), your doctor may insist that you quit before she'll do the procedure. Smoking interferes with the healing process.

This article tells the tale of a woman who repeatedly tried to quit smoking with no success. Until! That is ... her purpose for quitting was vanity. Hooray for that! I don't honestly care what she does with her face, I'm just grateful to have one less smoker in the world. I'm also thrilled that doctors have found a legitimately convincing way to get people to stop.

Funny lady Kathy Griffin makes no joke about the fact that she's had plastic surgery. The 47-year-old also makes no joke about her recent proclamation that she will never again go under the knife.

The star of Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List tells Fitness magazine that surgery never made her any happier, didn't make her look younger, and didn't help her get any jobs. And guess what, she says: "No one expected me to come out in a bikini anyway."

Griffin's new body-image plan: To learn to live with the normal fluctuations in her weight.

Be honest: Do you ever take a moment to think about what your food packaging does to the environment? I do, and I cringe a bit when I head to my favourite salad bar, where the only takeout option is a non-reusable plastic container. Hey -- at least it's not Styrofoam. But if you don't think about how much waste that lunch of your is producing, you should. By now, I don't think any of us can feign ignorance towards the fact that we're destroying our earth piece by piece.

CHOW recently rated popular brands of take-out containers by their eco-friendly factor. Not surprisingly, Styrofoam came out on the bottom of the list, meaning it's the worst thing you can take your food home in. Not only is it bad for the earth -- it's bad for your health too. In fact, many cities are trying to pass laws to outlaw Styrofoam. Maybe it's time you considered banning it from your own home or workplace.

Want to know where other containers ranked? Click here for the whole story.

What's in your freezer these days? If Lean Pockets make the list of frozen goods in your house, listen up. Nestle recently announced a recall of 200,000 lbs of frozen chicken that might have been used in the convenience food, which is sold in stores across North America. The recalls applies specifically to Spinach Artichoke Chicken Lean Pockets--they come in boxes of two pockets--with a best before date of November 2009, package code of 8144 544616 and establishment number of 8144 544616. It's believed that the perps hit stores around May 23rd.

The recall was initiated after two complaints were registered about the product to the USDA. It's believed that the chicken may contain bits of plastic.

Say goodbye to the Zamboni ... Mitsubishi plastics has developed a new rink without the ice. Japan has seen a growing interest in ice skating, yet -- due to the high costs -- not many ice rinks are operated. This new skating surface is made up of panels of resin-based plastic coated with a thick layer of special wax. The surface is nearly as slippery as real ice and be skated on using regular ice skates.

The plastic surface would allow more skating rinks to operate -- the reduced air conditioning and water costs can save rinks up to $190,000 each year.

One amateur skater who's tried out the surface stated that it was fine for turns and other basic figure skating moves, but more complicated moves would be better performed on real ice.

Today, I made the change. I said "no, thanks" to my grocery store bagger when he offered me paper or plastic and instead allowed my new green totes to shimmy up to my cashier where she promptly handed them over to Mr. Bagger -- who then shared with me a few facts about my eco-bags.

Bagger Boy told me the tote trend makes life a bit hard for baggers because they hold so much darn food. Typically, like foods are stashed together and with plastic, this works well. The bags are small and it's not a big deal to use a pretty good stack of them if necessary (well, it is a big deal, environmentally speaking). But the roomier alternatives often lead to food cramming. Un-like foods sometimes end up together -- think bread with eggs with cereal boxes -- and this is well, problematic, said the guy strategically placing my kids' popsicles with my few crates of strawberries.

Bagger Boy also told me these planet-safe bags aren't doing customers any favors. With the high cost of everything nowadays, people like to believe they're getting a lot for their money. You get a lot with plastic. Not so much with totes -- I have six, for example, and will rarely use that many -- so buyers feel they're getting less for more.

Gabriel Olds is a Hollywood actor. He's appeared on CSI, Law & Order: SVU and Six Feet Under, and his most recent film is Life of the Party. Usually the bad guy on TV, Olds is really a pretty good guy. Why? Because when it comes to women, it isn't fake boobs or fixed noses he prefers. Forget puffy lips and implanted buttocks. This guy like the real thing.

It took this guy a string of unsuccessful dates to figure out exactly what he wanted: Real bodies. He suspects other guys feel the same way.

"This is the part I think women don't understand," says Olds in a Glamour magazine interview. "When a guy falls in love, his lover's body parts become bewitching. I'm not going to tell you that our heads don't turn when we see a stacked blond walking down the street. But when we fall for you -- really, really fall for you -- you hijack our sense of beautiful. What's sexy to us? You -- in the "before" picture."

I'm a fan of honesty when it comes to my kids and teaching them about life. Not brutal honesty -- they're only seven and nearly five -- but gentle and age-appropriate honesty. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer several years ago, saying I had cancer wouldn't mean much to a then-three-year-old and 18-month old. So I explained that I had a "boo-boo" in my "boobie," that a doctor would take it out, that I'd take medicine and my hair would fall out, that I'd be sick for a little while. They understood. And that's exactly how it all happened. We didn't talk about worst-case scenarios. If ever one comes up, we'll discuss it then.

I was also honest with my guys about the tummy tuck I had 12 days ago. I didn't use the word "tummy tuck" and I didn't introduce the term "plastic surgery." But I did tell them I would have an operation on my belly to fix some skin, a muscle, and a hernia. I told them the truth: Mommy's skin stretched a lot when she was pregnant, her muscle separated, and she has a hernia just like Danny had a hernia when he was three years old. Danny had an operation. And mommy will have an operation -- for the hernia and the other things too. My boys understood what would happen, that I'd be resting for a few days, that Daddy and Nana would be taking them to and from school, that I couldn't lift them or race around in the back yard for a short time. By the time I had my tummy tuck, the whole event was somewhat of an non issue. And now I'm better. And they've moved on.

Experts say not being up front with kids about major life events opens up the possibility that little minds will concoct their own versions of what's going on. Since these interpretations are often worse than reality, they say honestly is the best policy. I do too.

Think you're making a pretty good attempt at going green? You might want to think again. Sunday's Parade Magazine tells readers that just because something is marketed as green doesn't mean it actually is. Take paper shopping bags. Pick them over plastic and you're doing a great thing, right? Not exactly. They are biodegradable but it still takes four times more energy to manufacture paper than plastic, leading to even more air and water pollution. Oops. Opt for sturdy, reusable totes and you'll be doing the planet a favor.

Have you been picking up organic processed snacks at the store lately? If so, then stop. These processed treats require hugs amounts of energy to produce, pack, and ship. Snacking on whole foods that are locally or organically grown is so much better.

Are you a fan of recycling your plastic water bottles. Good for you, if you are. But even better than using these bottles in the first place is to sip tap water from a safe reusable metal bottle. Why? Because we dispose of about 70 million plastic bottles every day. Fewer than 15 percent are recycled.

Surprising stuff? There's more right here -- like how to redecorate your house in the greenest way possible, how to buy the best green car, and what eco-friendly duds to wear.

I just washed and refilled my single-use water bottles. Put them in the fridge to chill. Will pull them out one by one as needed. Oops. Shouldn't do that, says this TIME magazine article.

Single-use water bottles -- you know, the ones with names like Dasani or Aquafina -- are made of polyethylene terephthalate, or PET. It's a lightweight plastic used in many drink bottles. But it's not intended for re-use. Here's why: PET degrades with use and its wrinkled surface can host germs. And backwash too.

Should you re-use your bottles, then? Not for drinking. Use them for a flower vase. Or recycle. Just don't wash, refill with water, and chill. Like I just did.

A little nip/tuck action went a long way last year according to a new report coming from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. In 2007, Americans went under the knife for 11.7 million cosmetic procedures.

These weren't just surgical, however, some were like Botox. This is a 2 percent jump from the year before in 2006. Even though 2004 set a record with 11.8 million, the popularity of these procedures has caused a 457% increase over the past decade. Over 90 percent of these operations were done to women.

They even have a list of the top surgical and non-surgical procedures. Cosmetic surgeries saw liposuction as the most popular, followed by breast augmentation and eyelid surgery. On the non-surgical side, Botox reigned supreme at well over 2.5 million procedures. Laser hair removal was located in the #3 spot.

Ever seen those big plastic beverage bottles that are used when working out a lot? They are practically indestructible, but some people are worried the bottles could pose a health hazard. These plastic containers are made with bisphenol A. The BPA compound is known to disrupt hormonal systems due to its mimicking nature.

Products made with this chemical are said to be harmless by the FDA and plastics industry. But others believe the small amounts used in bottles such as Nalgene could be an issue after all. The claim comes from evidence citing that Americans are exposed to more BPA than what's already considered harmful for lab animals.

Considering the publicity lead has gotten due to product composition, bisphenol A could become the next whipping boy. Companies may want to consider safer alternatives in the future. Some stores, such as Mountain Equipment, may decide to halt restocking the popular bottles. We'll keep an eye on this to see how the issue develops.