That's Fit

Oranges are healthy. No doubt about it. But did you know there's a certain way to eat an orange that capitalizes on its health benefits? Talk show host Jenny Jones says it's true. And here, in this video, she demonstrates just how to eat the fruit in the healthiest way possible.

We've got an entire post devoted to the power of the orange -- check it out here -- but here are some highlights to consider as you sink your teeth into this super food.

• Oranges offer the most readily available supply of vitamin C -- 93 percent of what you need, in fact.
  
• An orange contains only 60 calories.
• Nearly 170 phytochemicals and 60 flavonoids are packed into an orange -- these help fight off cancer and reduce inflammation, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and asthma.
• A daily orange will help combat diabetes and obesity and can lower blood pressure and cholesterol.
  
• An orange's peel contains limonene, which may ward off skin cancer.
  
  

Jenny has more to say. Check her out.

In case you haven't already seen it, here's the video that everyone was abuzz about on the internet several weeks ago. In it, several cell phones are placed next to popcorn kernels on a table. Then, the people in the video coordinate their cell phones to make them ring at the same time. That's when the supposed radiation magic happens. Within seconds, the kernels begin popping, springing to life as they leap off the table.

Could it be? Is there truly enough radiation and heat given off by a cell phone to pop kernels of popcorn? And if so, what implications does that have on our health?

Not much, say researchers. As a physicist interviewed on the popular techie site Wired states, "The videos are cute ... but that's never going to happen." Still, you have to admit that if it's a hoax, it's a pretty good one.

Check it out for yourself.

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.

Hooray! I just completed a perfectly fun and grueling weekend shooting a ton of fitness videos for you. The videos were filmed for Tracy Benham's Sports Health and Exercise (SHE) company which is known for quick, smart, energetic and fun health and fitness tips from some of the foremost experts in the world.

We created a bunch of strength training and cardiovascular workouts which you'll be able to train with at home, as soon as they are released this summer. One of my favorite parts of the videos was being able to include my fellow blogger and friend, Kristen Seymour. Kristen has trained with me off and on for a few years, and truly has amazing levels of strength and endurance. She also has a perfect smile and looks brilliant on camera.

We were also blessed with the opportunity to film in one of the most beautiful gyms in the world. The Gainesville Health and Fitness Center generously opened their doors to myself, SHE and our team. The facilities are stunning, and all of the equipment is top of the line. Who could ask for more?

I finally had a chance to use a Wii. After getting over some initial embarrassment, I had an awful lot of fun! I tried the tennis game and, sadly enough, I'm as bad at virtual tennis as I am on an actual tennis court. While the Wii was certainly more active than playing any other video game system, it wasn't nearly the same type of exercise as a real sport.

Both Bev and Bethany have written about the exercise potential in the interactive gaming system before. And, compared to sitting like a lump playing regular video games, the Wii is a great thing. But it doesn't take the place of real exercise. The active games are a great alternative to regular video games. Also, many of the games aren't violence based -- as a parent, I know I appreciate that. They also offer hand-eye coordination benefits. And, for kids (or adults) who aren't active at all, the games may be a stepping stone for developing interest in real sports.

So the Wii isn't a bad thing at all. But don't count time spent playing interactive video games as exercise time. It's just not the same as the real thing. The CDC recommends that kids be physically active for at least an hour every day. So put away the video tennis, grab a racquet, and play a game of REAL tennis with your kids.

I'm literally a sobbing crying mess as I write this. I fell in love with a dying man a few weeks ago when I caught wind of him giving an amazing gift to his students, colleagues, friends and family at Carnegie Mellon University. Randy Pausch, a computer science professor gave his Last Lecture now famous on YouTube, on September 18, 2007. Randy's lecture was called "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams." Now, I have my own spectacular husband, but I imagine anyone who knows, or knows of Randy . . . would love him very much.

For a man whose pancreas is being destroyed by a cancer that could take his life within months . . . he was hysterical, energetic, inspirational, and relentless about the idea that life can be wonderful every day, and that his days still are. He told stories of his childhood and made one of the most insightful statements I've ever heard. "Are you a Tigger or an Eeyore? Choose!"

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.

As if last week's Celebrity Fitzness Report with Anthony Field video wasn't cool enough....we're back with a new video that will literally chisel you and your abs up like Roman statues. Oh my! Think you're doing everything you can to slim down, build muscle and cut up? Only if you're doing this stuff!

Read more.....

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. Hi Fitz, Can you recommend any good kickboxing videos? I lift weights and run, and I'd like to integrate kickboxing into my routine. Thanks for your help. Samantha

A. Hello Miss Samantha. Great question and you've come to the right place. Kickboxing is actually my sport. I've been training/competing as a full contact kickboxer for over ten years. You're smart to want to include it in your training. I always tell folks at the seminars I teach that I can brag about the sport, because I didn't invent it. Kickboxing literally works every single muscle in your body head to toe. It also offers an insane combination of cardiovascular, strength and flexibility training in one shot.....when done right.

For the parents out there: do your children spend a lot of time in front of a screen most of the day? If you have teenagers (or happen to be one) then "screen time" is another term for "hobby." I played sports as a kid, but even back then I tried to absorb video games and TV like a sponge. Well according to Canadian researchers, some teenagers spend as much time in front of a screen as it takes to be employed in a full-time job.

That's in the ballpark of 40 hours per week. Over a thousand teens were studied for half a decade beginning in 1999 to assess habits related to watching TV, playing games, and using computers. Collectively, this was known as screen time.

Guys are the big offenders, over half of whom absorbed over 40 hours in total time spent in front of a screen. Only about a quarter of the girls spent that much time soaking up the technology. It's always interesting to see connections like this drawn, even if they refer to teens of a different region. Judging by activities back in the States, things are not drastically dissimilar over here.

It's not hard to see how some people would identify the physical therapy initials "PT" as "pain and torture." Trying to recover after a surgery or broken bones can be very unpleasant. Having gone through a few sessions myself, rehab is boring too! If only Nintendo had released their Wii gaming platform back when I could have used it for rehabilitation.

Does using a video game for therapeutic purposes sound strange? To some people it might, but to others it's a way to get outside the box and have fun while staying healthy. Many of the movements that the Wii gaming system require players to do are similar in nature to those demanded by physical therapists. But instead of a rote boring routine, this is actually fun.

The great thing is that this loosens up limbs and gets people active without them really being aware. Sure, they obviously know that they're exerting energy, but by playing the Wii they are avoiding having to painfully stretch, lift and pivot that much more. Even though Nintendo's console is a supplemental rehab device used in this particular setting, it could also be a great way to bring the therapy home -- especially if the costs of traditional PT start to stack up!

Men can sometimes take flack for playing too many video games, but it turns out that it's just the way we're made! According to this article, gender actually contributes to guys' ability to get "hooked" to games like Halo. They use strong words like "addicted," but clearly it's just in our genes and not a problem (at least I'm going to keep telling myself that).

Interestingly enough, Stanford researchers hadn't meant to address video game habits with this study. Originally, they were trying to figure out territorial tendencies among the two genders. Twenty-two guys and gals were monitored while playing a special video game that was meant to gauge whether or not men were more territorial than women. It was a customized game where each player tries to gain as much territory as possible.

The results showed that the men's brains reacted differently than women's. When they were playing, the area of the brain that's connected to the feeling of reward and addiction was active -- and even more so when they gained territory! This proves that we're wired differently when it comes to video games, as much as the industry would hate to admit it. Now guys can arm themselves with science next time they catch and earful for spending too much time behind a controller.

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. Hi Fitz, I'm trying to lose weight, but exercising is a problem for me since I am almost 300 pounds. I have a bad knee and my hip hurts, so I am looking for an exercise tape that is low impact but helps me burn as many calories as possible during the work out. Thank you, Paula

A. Hello Miss Paula, I'm glad to hear from you. I've trained many people who weigh between 300 and 500 pounds, and the pain you're feeling in your knees and hip is not unusual. The more weight we carry, the more strain our joints endure. You're wise to look for low impact exercises.

In my December interview with Oprah Winfrey's health expert, Dr. Oz, I harassed him about not doing real pull-ups with a bar. (He was using the Gravitron). I gave him a bit of a ration, detailed in his Celebrity Fitzness Report interview, and he promised to get a bar and start doing them. He was very inspired viewing this video of Anthony Field of The Wiggles performing an amazing pull-up routine. So, I emailed Dr. Oz some links on where to get pull-up bars etc. and harassed him only a teeny bit more.

Well, Friday I randomly sent him an email asking "how are the pull-ups coming"? His awesome response was that he just filmed an Oprah show and demonstrated 21 pull-ups on air! Hooray for Dr. Oz! The show will air tomorrow, Tuesday February 5th and I'm looking forward to it. I'm so proud of him!

Have you ever heard of the game Second Life? It's a virtual world experienced via the computer, much like popular video games. People immerse themselves in this world by trying to build an online persona called avatars. In fact, lifetime accounts can be purchased for $225.

But unlike other games, Second Life offers a world where people's avatars can do just about anything -- even seek therapy. CBS has a remarkable story about a woman who suffered from agoraphobia, which kept her locked inside unable to even go shopping at the grocery store. But after signing up for an SL account and building a character named "Baji," Patricia sought help.

She took virtual therapy sessions from a real life therapist, right there inside the game. Patricia was able to engage social interactions with other residents in ways she could never do outside this virtual world. By using Second Life as a testing ground for new experiences, she overcame the fear that kept her from living a fulfilling life. In case you were wondering, psychologists charge about $100 a pop for these online sessions. We live in changing times, and it's comforting to know platforms like Second Life exist that can reach people who may never have been able to seek help otherwise.

Anyone who thought video games were a waste of time have probably been surprised about Nintendo's latest and greatest, the Wii. It gets people active by using their arms and motions to simulate sports such as tennis, baseball, even bowling. But it doesn't stop there! A new useful application is emerging: surgical training.

Resident surgeons were found to perform better on simulated operations after playing a bit of Wii than those who opted out of the fun. How much better? They scored nearly 50 percent higher on tool control and performance.

Of course, not all games are going to improve coordination. Games that require subtle movements and precision are obviously better than those that require you to swing a bat. But this approach could be a very valuable medical training tool for countries which can't afford higher-end solutions. They are developing special software for the console, which costs only $250, that could hone surgical skills even more. Imagine bringing home your own copy of "Surgery 101" in the future!