That's Fit

Last night, I watched in both horror and hysterics as Bear Grylls, one of my past Celebrity Fitzness Report interview guests, devoured "too many" worms in Zambia -- which left him with an atrocious case of diarrhea. Imagine that!!! He cooked and ate a few big, gooey, spiny worms that he found on a tree, then continued to groan in agony throughout the rest of the show due to his "killer diarrhea." The guy is a combination of handsome, athletic, daring, brilliant, and accidentally hysterical all at the same time.

If you've never seen Bear's show Man vs. Wild on Discovery Channel, it's about time you check it out. Bear was a survival expert in the British Special Air Services (21 SAS). He's an elite adventurer and stops at nothing to teach us how to survive if we ever happen to get stranded in the wild. A part of survival is finding safe and energy-filled food sources. Normally I find this disgusting; typically I watch much of Man vs. Wild with my eyes under my blanket. Lately though, I've been peeking out, because Bear's facial expressions in response to his nasty food choices are side-splitting.

Watching him climb up waterfalls and run through the brush agonizing over diarrhea was priceless. My husband and I squirmed as he ate the worms, giggled as Bear grimaced while chewing on them, and then rolled in laughter as he suffered through his tummy troubles.

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

My guest this week is the very excellent athlete and adventurer Will Gadd. Starring on Discovery Channel's Fearless Planet, Will guides us through the world's most spectacular natural wonders to teach us how these land formations were created. The show is really so gripping that as I lay sick and exhausted in bed a few weeks ago, I refused to fall asleep. I couldn't miss his journey through and lesson about the Sahara. (No.....I don't have TiVo.Yes, I know I'm a nerd.) I was wishing this show was around when I was back in school learning about geography. If it was.....I think I would have actually been interested in the subject and learned all of the things I was supposed to learn back then. Totally entertaining!

From Canmore, Alberta, Will has won every major ice-climbing competition in the world and holds the distance world record in paragliding. He's one of the most successful outdoor sports athletes in the world, as well as an award-winning film-maker and writer. He has flown his para-glider over the Grand Canyon, climbed icebergs in the North Atlantic, won the X Games, written a best-selling outdoor instructional book and regularly writes for the New York Times and other international magazines and newspapers.

As I interviewed Will, we giggled a lot as he was totally down to earth (when not hanging from it). He's a new Daddy and considers that his most exciting, yet rewarding adventure. He's also the real deal when it comes to healthy living. He has some especially unique insight on food, which I think we could all learn from.

Fitz: You're the ultimate outdoor sports guy....in amazing shape. You're world renowned for excellence in ice climbing, mountain climbing, paragliding, kayaking , caving and skiing; a bit of a lunatic. How did you get started with all of this?

Will: I actually began my escapades in utero. My Mom was hitting the mountains while pregnant with me. My Dad's a climber too. I grew up with it.

Fitz: What does your wife think about you dangling upside-down from ice all the time?

Will: She totally gets it. She's (Kim Csizmazia) also a champion ice climber.

Fitz: That would probably help! And now you have a daughter?

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.

This week I'm featuring one of the coolest guys in the world. A real life action hero who actually couldn't answer some of my questions, because he's been sworn to military secrecy. I love it! Bear Grylls is the star of Man vs. Wild on the Discovery Channel.

Bear was a survival expert in the British Special Air Services (21 SAS). He's obsessed with adventure as well as breaking rules and records. Bear is a brilliant outdoors man, built like a guy movie producers choose for their action flicks, and handsome enough to make girls want to watch him eat zebra guts. A fantastic combination for television.

To shoot each episode of Man vs. Wild, 33 year old, Bear gets dumped out of a helicopter in to the wildest most extreme regions in the world where tourists are likely to become stranded. He then gets to work trying to teach our sorry butts how to escape eminent doom. On Man vs. Wild, Bear has: thrown himself into both quicksand and an ice lake to demonstrate exit strategies, hidden from a sandstorm inside of a camel he'd previously gutted, and chowed down on everything from elephant dung to goat testicles. All for our benefit.

While interviewing Bear, I started the conversation off by telling him that I love the show, but spend half of the run time covering my eyes and ears. He didn't seem surprised. I often inquired about why he is willing to go to such extremes. He also didn't seem phased; unlike you and I....hiding inside of a camel doesn't seem appalling to him. The man is the real deal. He takes his job seriously and is literally willing to do anything to survive. I think I'm inviting Bear to vacation with me from now on.

Fitz: How did you get into this whole survival thing?

Bear: I was a survival expert in the Royal Marines. We had a tight unit and I loved it. I served twice.

Fitz: What kind of exciting missions did you go on in the military?

Bear: I can't tell you much, it's all kind of hush-hush! But in one of my unfortunate incidents, I broke my back in three places during a free-falling parachute accident in Africa.

Fitz: Ouch! I'm impressed that you recovered and came back for more. What kind of kid were you?

Bear: Oh God! I was always dirty and causing lots of trouble. Kind of like I am now.

Fitz: How did you end up with your own show on Discovery Channel?

Bear: I had done a television series about the French Foreign Legion in the UK. The people from Discovery Channel invited me to do Man vs Wild. They had to ask three times, because the first two times I told them no. I felt like they wanted some 'smart guy' and I was not what they were looking for.

Bear Grylls (at right) used to be a more cuddly bear. The athletic star of Discovery Channel's Man vs. Wild recently revealed to me that he used to be quite overweight. After completing his service to the British Special Forces and getting married, Bear gained two and half stone! Not familiar with stones? Well, each of the British survival expert's extra stones equal a whopping 14 pounds! That's quite a lot. 35 pounds to be exact.

Bear is ripped now. How did he make the transformation? He decided to! Bear says that he just was sick of being a loaf and changed his ways. He also was suffering from back pain. (He broke his back during a free-falling parachuting accident). To stay in shape for his adventures and remain pain free, Bear trains three hours a day. He varies his workouts with: martial arts, running, climbing, yoga, swimming, pull-ups, push-ups and more. When he's not eating all sorts of disgusting live and dead animals to demonstrate survival skills, Bear avoids meat and dairy. He feasts on fruits, veggies, and whole grains.

The guy knows what it's like to be out of shape, and has decided that's not the way he wants his life to be. His training is not 'easy' for him, but it's something he feels passionate about. Bear is not chubby at all anymore. In fact, his ripped. What a lucky lady his wife is to get to cuddle up with that Bear.

Never a dull moment with Bear Grylls. The star of Discovery Channel's Man vs. Wild and I spoke last week during a long interview in which he will be featured in an upcoming Celebrity Fitzness Report. Definitely 45 of the most interesting minutes in my life. I can't imagine anyone having more incredible tales.

Bear told me about visiting the Sahara Desert in Africa and enduring the extreme temperatures, highs of 130 and lows of 20 degrees ferenheit. What he didn't tell me is what I saw last night while watching his show. He was given a camel from some local tribesmen that he met on his journey, and showed how to skin it to make a blanket (which he slept with later that night). Fun! He also demonstrated how to remove the water reservoirs from the camels humps in order to drink. Tasty! But wait ...there's more!

I know. Isn't this a disgusting topic? Blech. How do I know this information you wonder? Well, a few days ago I had the luxury of speaking with one of the coolest men on television, Discovery Channel's Man vs. Wild star, Bear Grylls. Bear travels to the wildest locations around the world and teaches survival skills. So, just in case you get stranded in Antarctica some day......you'll know what to do.

Bear's complete interview will be featured in an upcoming Celebrity Fitzness Report here on ThatsFit.com, but in the interim I thought I'd share this fun information with you. A huge part of surviving in the wild is knowing what to eat and what not to eat. Bear discriminates against poisonous things, not disgusting things. Apparently neither should we.

This season he feasted on goat testicles. He was presented with them by some nomadic tribesman and contrary to Bear's initial projections, they did not taste like hard boiled eggs..................