Yummy. Delicious. Insanely flavorful. I feel silly gushing over potato chips, but "Oh my God!" Kettle Brand just introduced some new baked chips, and I was blessed with a bag of both Hickory Honey Barbeque and Sea Salt & Vinegar flavors.

To be honest ... even with my super-human-like fitness guru discipline, it was really hard to stop eating them. I had to physically place the bags in another room to avoid devouring every last chip. I'm a salt-loving type of lady, and I was ecstatic when the world introduced baked chips. Are they as pure and nutritious as fresh blueberries? No! But are they a much healthier version of something most people really enjoy? Absolutely.

If you are a lover of chips and a hater of fat thighs, Kettle Brand Baked Chips are going to float your boat. Each serving of "around 23 chips" contains only 120 calories, and only 25 come from fat. Have high standards and when party time comes, serve some of these. Dip will not be necessary!

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Exercise and routine -- those are two words you frequently see paired together. It's a good thing to make a habit of exercise and to schedule time in your day for your workout. But you shouldn't make your routine too, well ... routine.

Think of it like this. If you knew how to play the piano, you might find a particularly challenging piece of music. At first, playing it would be difficult but as you practiced, it would become easier and easier and eventually you'd be able to play it by memory. Your muscles are no different -- a workout that was once very challenging can become easy after time; muscles have a memory of sorts.

But if you vary your routine, you can keep your body guessing and working as hard as you want it to. Divine Caroline has some great suggestions for varying your workout. Variety in your exercise program will prevent your body from hitting a plateau and, as an added bonus, variety also prevents you from getting bored.

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Before we started cutting back on excessive spending and junk food, our Friday night tradition was to go out for burgers and beer, loading up on those ginormous restaurant portions we love to talk about here at That's Fit.

Now, we still go out for burgers (or sometimes, just the beer), but it's not a weekly event. Which is how I found myself home last night, furiously cooking up a couple of new recipes to clean out the leftovers in the fridge.

One of them happened to be this kale and chickpea soup. When I'd added the kale, the last ingredient, I could not get over how colorful the soup was. The orange sweet potatoes, the red peppers, the green kale, and the white beans, onions, and garlic made it one of the most visually appealing dishes I've ever made.

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Think of your diet as a three-legged stool. Your job is to keep it standing. Let one leg become weak, and the whole thing can come toppling over. Keep the legs strong, and good health will be all yours. Wondering about those three legs? Here's what they represent and how you can keep them in working order.

• Variety -- Select a number of different foods within a particular food group. Eating the same 'ol foods all the darn time will rob your body of key nutrients. Eat all carrots and you'll get a good dose of vitamin A but no folate. Got to have dark greens too, like spinach, broccoli, and asparagus. Go colorful with your fruits and veggies and you'll get plenty of variety.
• Balance -- Eat foods from all food groups. Eat grains, veggies, fruits, milk, meat, and beans. Eat a bean burrito with salsa, an apple, and a low-fat glass of milk and you've covered all of these groups. Make it your job is to consciously consume balanced meals throughout the day.
• Moderation -- Portion control is a must. Don't over-consume any one food, and don't ban your favorite foods if they don't meet perfect nutritional standards. There's a place for many different foods in your diet if you control how much you consume.
  

Tell us, do you have three legs to stand on?

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It's easy to get stuck in a rut, eating the same foods day in and day out. But variety, as they say, is the spice of life.

I hope you aren't headed to the hospital anytime soon but should misfortune land you there, you might find a better variety of food on your meal tray.

Hospitals are apparently beefing up the quality of food they serve patients. Even well-known chefs, like Wolfgang Puck, are serving as consultants to the hospitals aiming to upgrade their menus. Some locations are even offering hotel-style room service, delivering meals when patients are willing and able to eat them.

Typical dishes you might find gracing your tray: Grilled honey-lime grouper with shrimp and watermelon salsa, soba noodle salad and, for dessert, fresh fruit or a slice of heart-healthy cheesecake. How do these picks sit with you?

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Remember how happy we all felt when Lay's introduced Baked Potato Chips? I do. It was a feeling of relief for me. I had given up chips in lieu of a hard fit body. Fair exchange I thought! But then, there was this company telling me that they weren't going to fry all of their chips anymore, and yes ... there would be a healthier version for people like me. Yahoo!

Once again, snack lovers get to rejoice. The LesserEvil brand snack company has created an amazing variety of popcorns and krinkle potato sticks to make just about everyone drool. Most single servings contain about 110 calories of which about 20 come from fat. Not bad!

The Classic Kettle Corn is the perfect combination of sweet and salty, and thank goodness my bag was a single serving. If it weren't, I could have devoured nine! It was better than any of the junky stuff they sell at carnivals for sure! The Black and White Kettle Corn made my children's "movie night" here at home an even more special event. Good news for me ... I didn't feel the slightest bit bad about giving it to them. The Zesty Pizza Krinkle Sticks were odd to my husband and I though. Why? Because we could not figure out how they made them taste exactly like pizza! It was both weird and wonderful at the same time.

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Five things. I've got five things for you to consider as you begin to overhaul your diet -- you do want to renovate your eating habits a bit, right?

Quality:

Eat the best quality foods most of the time, like fruits and vegetables, grains, lean cuts of meats, beans, nuts, and items low in fat, dairy, sodium, and sugar.

Variety:

Branch out. Don't eat the same four vegetables all the time. And move beyond your usual wheat and rice and go for grains like quinoa, barley, and millet. Throw in a few new fruits too, like papaya, mango, kiwi, or starfruit.

Frequency:

Eat lighter meals every three to four hours instead of three large meals. Add in snacks to help maintain steady energy levels throughout the day and help control your weight too.

Joy:

Love the foods you eat. Every nutrition plan has room for favorites, even if they do fall into the junk food category. Just keep your consumption minimal and you'll be OK.

Adventure:

Try different flavors and textures, cook new recipes, eat unfamiliar foods, go to new restaurants, and pat yourself on the back for moving outside your comfort zone.

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Research shows there are at least seven reasons we eat. Hunger isn't always one of them.

• Time
• Sight
• Smell
• Variety
• Temperature
• Refined Carbs
• Alcohol
  
  

For the skinny on these seven, check out the following gallery.

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What's better: An all-cardio exercise program? Or all weights? According to fitness experts, any kind of physical activity is good for you. Giving your all to yoga, surfing, or running without mixing it up is A-OK.

"All exercise counts," says Dr. Jeffrey Tanji, associate medical director of sports medicine at the University of California, Davis. Shopping even counts, says Tanji who reports that when his wife shops, she moves so swiftly from store to store there's no doubt she's getting an aerobic workout.

Get at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity most days of the week and you won't be cited by the fitness police. But there's definitely something to be said for variety, and for picking the right method for meeting your desired goals. Want to look lean and mean, for example? Then all weight training won't do it. You'll gain muscle mass this way, but you won't lose much fat if you're overweight. Watch your diet and add some intense cardio for more streamlined effects.

So what's better? Both cardio and weights are great, depending on what you wish to achieve. But toss them together and your more well-rounded workout routine will really make a difference.

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I have a definite bag of tricks when it comes to fitness. In my bag, I've got running, walking, push-ups, a handful of core exercises, some resistance band stuff, and occasionally, some weight lifting. That's about it. It seems enough on the average day. It gets my heart beating, causes me to sweat, and lets me know I've worked some major muscle groups. But sometimes, when I throw something new into my bag, I realize there's so much more I could be accomplishing.

Recently, my mom and I hopped on our bikes and peddled around town for 90 minutes. We never realized how hilly our area is until the burn in our legs made it abundantly clear. It was also clear my core was engaged in a whole new way. My arms were tensing and tightening differently. My butt was sore. My hands were too. And my back -- well, my back is apparently very weak.

What I realize now after mixing up my workout routine is that I need to do it more often. I need to distribute my physical work more evenly so all my muscles benefit. Consistency is good. But so is variety. So I'll stick with what works for me on the average day. When I get a chance to change gears, though, I'm going to embrace a little diversity.

It seems a little variety is not only good for the body -- it also helps us stick with our fitness goals. Read here for more about this topic.

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Dieting can be a lonely, boring business for many of us -- but it does not have to be. If you're tired of chicken breasts in the evening and whole-grain breakfast cereal in the morning, who says you need to settle for the familiar every day of the week?

A simple and smart food choice listing (not really a cookbook) can go a long way towards making you choose a variety of decent diet foods when grocery shopping.

Ans, planning ahead will alleviate the feeling of being bored while eating -- which can lead to a disastrous diet-busting action such as stopping for a double cheeseburger or something. My advise: don't repeat the same meal more than two times in a given week.

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I've got these three amazing men whom I train: Jody, Jeff and Steve (shown in order at right.) All three men are around 60. All three men have been kickboxing with me (real kickboxing) for months. And all three are excellent at it! Who would ever imagine these three highly esteemed business men to show up at my door looking to get in shape, and becoming skilled fighters? Not only do they kickbox, they BOSU, jump rope, run, Rebound, use Gliding Disks, Ballast Balls and more.

The point I'm trying to relay to you is that when it comes to your fitness activities.....there are no rules! Don't pigeon-hole yourself. Ever think the tango was cool? Go take some lessons. Beach volleyball sound fun? Find some sand and give it a go. Age shouldn't hold you back from training out side the box. Physical limitations may, but age should not.

If something looks fun, sounds fun, sounds silly, whatever! Give something new a try. As for my crazy men....they literally brighten up may days. I couldn't think of a more fun way to start my mornings, than training these brilliant, energetic, bright, ridiculous men. They give me a hard time, but they're truly this fitness trainers dream come true.

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Looking for a way to spice up your gym routine? How about getting some serious cross-training benefits and variety at the same time, while maximizing the resources at the gym? This mini-triathalon plan not only sounds fun, but I bet if you try it the time will fly by so fast that before you know it your workout will be over.

It involves 15 minutes of lap swimming in the pool (or on the rowing machine if you prefer), 15 minutes of cycling on a stationary bike, and 15 minutes of running on the treadmill. And the best part? It's completely adjustable, with the times easily shortened or lengthened to fit your personal fitness level!

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It's not often that you hear kids begging for Broccoli, but that's exactly what happened at a school in Las Vegas, when a group of kids organized a letter writing campaign, imploring their lunch lady to stop serving green beans at lunch time. Tired of eating them every day, the kids asked for broccoli, carrots or corn instead to add some variety to their noon-time veggies. And it worked -- the lunch people have listened and promised to add some variety to her menu.

When asked what they wished would be served at lunch, the answers varied from steak to chicken cordon bleu to chocolate-filled panda cookies. Awwww.

I agree with them -- the same veggies every day is boring. What do you think?

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