That's Fit

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.

What do Kate Hudson, Keri Russell, Tobey Maguire, and Gwyneth Paltrow have in common besides their star status? They're all concerned about their kids' safety. And they're all sharing some eco-friendly advice in the new book Healthy Child, Healthy World. Other stars chime in too.

Paltrow shares in the book her recipe for baby Moses's Brown Rice Baby Food. Hudson dishes about her own line of natural hair products and admits she hides veggies in son Ryder's food. Holly Robinson Peete tells how she gets her kids to help with household chores -- using only the greenest of products, of course.

Everything in this book is accessible, reasonable, and doable, says author Christoper Gavigan. It's a book about small changes. It's for everyone, he says. It's also a companion for this website: healthychild.org. Check it out when you can.

How many times have you heard a startlet credit her fabulous body with good genetics or a busy lifestyle. You know, "I swear, I eat junk food all the time! I just don't put on any weight!" Well, I don't know about you, but I generally want to punch those girls. You know, good for them and all, but most of us just aren't that lucky.

Well, it turns out most of them aren't, either. We're always hearing about celebrity diets and fitness routines, and this article in the Daily Mail gives us nine reasons why most of us don't look like most of them. And trust me, these are not things you want to do in order to get bodies like theirs.

Entertainment Tonight closed a recent show with a blurb about Marie Osmond and her recent weight loss. A brand new Marie Osmond, the hosts called her just prior to flashing before and after photographs of the former Dancing with the Stars contestant.

Forty pounds this Osmond girl has lost and boy is she proud. She's never looking back, she says, and is simply in awe that she has a waistline again.

A combination of dancing and Nutrisystem is what helped Osmond combat her out-of-shape and too-much-weight condition. She looks great. Congratulations to her.

My kids and I caught Oprah's Friday episode featuring Dancing with the Stars past champions and the new season's line-up too. My boys love to dance and have perfected some pretty good moves in their few years of life. Now, after watching a few pro performances, they're bound to get even better.

My interest in this Oprah show was not skill related. I don't dance and don't aspire to learn how. I do appreciate physical prowess, though, and must say I am simply amazed at what I saw happening on the dance floor. The professional dancers were on fire. Their partners, stars like pro football player Emmitt Smith and boy band guy Drew Lachey, start with no real ballroom dance experience, train their butts off in non-stop fashion, and then dance to kill. Inspiring, this stuff is -- for my boys who could hardly wait through the commercials to see each dancing team and for me too.

Need some of your own inspiration? Check out the new season of Dancing with the Stars, beginning Monday March 17 (8:00-9:30 p.m., ET) on ABC.

Sabrina Bryan, former Dancing with the Stars hopeful and member of Disney's Cheetah Girl singing group, is committed to fighting childhood obesity and promoting health body image among young girls. How exactly is she doing it? With a hop-hop fitness DVD, that's how.

"My opportunity with the project was to bring a health-conscious topic up in a fun way for girls," says Bryan whose three-part workout (called Byou: pronounced Be You) was a team effort with Healthy Kids Challenge, a nonprofit that focuses on creating children's nutrition.

Bryan, 24, remembers clearly body image issues she experienced during her adolescent and teenage years.

"I went through this whole, 'I hate my body,' thing," she said.

Becoming active in sports and dancing was key for Bryan who practices balance in her adult life.

"It is good to have balance," she says. "Anything that is too one way or the other is where you end up doing binge kinds of things which is not what we want in the minds of young girls."

For more on Bryan's dance outreach, visit the official Byou site.

All you need to remember for this diet plan is the number 5, says Harley Pasternak, trainer to the stars and author of The 5 Factor Diet.

Eat five meals per day, advises the most sought-after trainer among celebrities. Besides three main meals, have two substantial snacks so you never get hungry. Also, try to include these five components in every meal.

• A lean protein, such as chicken, fish, or egg whites.

• Filling carbs, like sweet potatoes, beans, brown rice, or oatmeal.

• Healthy fats. Try olive oil or nuts.

• Five grams of fiber, best obtained through fruit, vegetables, or whole grains.

• A sugar-free beverage. Water, tea, coffee, an unsweetened energy drink, or diet soda all count.
  

And finally, exercise five days per week. Strive for 25 minutes on a treadmill, take a Pilates class, or power walk with a friend.

Jennie Garth, formerly known as Kelly Taylor on FOX's 90210 and current contestant on ABCs Dancing with the Stars, has whipped her body into tip-top shape with all her recent fancy footwork.

"I've lost weight and I'm looking great," she says.

She may not keep her slimmed-down figure for long, though, because she's pretty sure she'll have another baby.

Garth, wife of actor Peter Facinelli and mom to three young daughters, says she secretly looks forward to being pregnant again. Why? "So that she could eat and have ice cream," says her hubby.

Before she focuses on family, Garth, 35, must first finish her ballroom competition. It's down to five dancing couples. Could Garth win it all?

Jennifer Lopez just gave new proof of how sexy and capable pregnant women can be. She seemed to bust all of her old Fly Girl moves and do it well during her Dancing with the Stars performance. Her clothes were breezy as to hide her bump, but if one didn't know she was expecting before the show...they would never had known as a result of it.

I say "good for her", and "thanks" too. Pregnancy is certainly a time for cautiousness, but she wasn't risky.....she was just doing her job. In hindsight, I wish I would have vamped it up a bit more when I was pregnant. Oh well. Maybe I'll have an oops! baby and get my chance. Thanks Jennifer for the inspiration.

Moments ago, after her very athletic Dancing with the Stars routine on Live television, Marie Osmond passed out and fell back on stage. Tom Bergeron, while shocked, kept it together enough to call for a commercial break. Now that the break is over, Marie confessed it happens sometimes "when she's working really hard and forgets to breath". Makes us trainers seem less silly for coaching our clients to breath regularly, huh? First words out of Marie's mouth when she came to were "Oh crap!"

Manicures, pedicures, facials and visits to a salon for haircuts, coloring and hi-lites can be incredibly expensive. So what's a girl to do if she wants to maintain a polished, movie star look but obviously doesn't have the same kind of money to spend as a star? Well, you can try some of these tips on getting an expensive look for less.

The piece offers advice on how to keep hair looking shiny, keeping a just-polished look on finger and toe nails and getting celebrity-worthy eyebrows. Tips include not washing hair every day or using mousse as both will make your mane look dry and dull, shilling out for a really great, classic and personalized haircut a few times a year rather than opting for a trendy cut that needs maintenance every six weeks and buffing nails or using light, shimmery polishes -- like opal and taupe -- to keep nails looking like you've just been for a mani-pedi.

Let's face it, unless you've got too much money to throw around -- and most of us don't -- it's not really realistic to try to keep up with all of the treatments and styles that the stars favor, but these hints will help you look great without spending a fortune.

I've always thought how great it would be to have a job that naturally keeps you in shape, and of the jobs in the world that do that being a celebrity is at the top of the list. Starring in an action movie often means months of vigorous training and workouts before filming even begins, and a star like Matt Damon would know that better than anybody with his third Jason Bourne movie, The Bourne Ultimatum, out this summer.

Damon, who's 36 years old, has been in famously good shape to play the ex-hitman character over the years, but this time was different: he has a family now. Damon was quoted as saying of his life before "I really used to have no life outside movies. I'd work all day, go to the gym and go to sleep." But then he married his wife Luciana back in 2005 and they now have a 1 year old daughter together, Isabella, both which give him a reason to come home after work instead of always working out. And despite the film being shot in a total of 8 different locations the family was only separated once.

After a nearly five-year absence from the big screen, there has been a lot of talk recently about how fantastic Michelle Pfeiffer still looks at nearly 50 years-of-age. Pfeiffer has always been one of the most beautiful women in the world (I don't know of anyone who doesn't think she's stunning), and maybe she still looks incredible at her age because of great genetics and a great deal of attention to skin care.

The fact is though that few people look as fantastic at (nearly) 50 as Pfeiffer, at 40 as Nicole Kidman, at 60-plus as Goldie Hawn or (and I can't even believe it's possible) at almost-70 Tina Turner. So what is their secret? In many cases, it has a lot to do with genetics and none of us can improve on what we're born with.

As this piece points out though, many stars do resort in botox injections or expensive and invasive plastic surgeries to keep their youthful look. Many others go with face creams and treatments that most of us can't afford. So does that mean that the rest of us can't possibly age well? Even if you can't afford any of the products and procedures that celebs go for, you can still stay young by staying out of the sun, wearing moisturizer with SPF, eating healthy and drinking lots of water.

Do you have any tips on how to keep a youthful look?

For many -- myself included -- summer is the absolute best time of year. The long, hot days mean little more than relaxing and getting to spend some time tanning on a beach, playing in the ocean and generally enjoying as much time outdoors as possible.

It's important to remember though, that being out in the elements can wreak havoc on your skin and hair. If you want to not only have a great time this season but to also look great doing it, check out these tips from make-up artists who keep stars like Jessica Alba and Ashley Simpson looking great through the dogs days of summer.

You'll find advice on the best beach make-up, how to keep hair sleek when it's humid, moisturizers with SPF to protect your skin from sun damage, great summery fragrances and more.