That's Fit

"Pretty Boy Floyd" is not known for mincing words or sugar-coating anything. In fact this elite fighter who has won six world championship belts in five weight classes and has gone undefeated as a professional says it straight. He describes himself as the "greatest athlete ever," and honestly ... has done a lot to back that up.

He's featured in the book, Men's Health Celebrity Diet Secrets 2008, and I think one of his quotes is both poignant and hysterical. I encourage you not to read any further if you're easily offended though. He wasn't vulgar, but his thoughts on maintaining flat abs isn't for children either.

Before I go there, I just want you to know that Floyd not only walks the walk, but he has made it possible for his team (those who bust their butt to keep in at the top of his game) to get and stay fit as well. He's purchased memberships to 24-Hour Fitness for all of his employees. "I want to keep everyone around me healthy and in shape," he says.

The other day, while hosting over a dozen of my children's playgroup friends here at my house for some outdoor fun....I created a frozen treat guaranteed to fill their little tummies up in a completely nutritious and fun way. Bapaloneo (a weird word my three and five year old children made up) Pops served the purpose I had intended and energized the group for several hours of insanity. Try them this summer.

Fitz's Bapaloneo Pops:

• Cut bananas in half length-wise, and stick a popsicle stick in the flat end.
• Coat the banana with creamy peanut butter.
• Roll the peanut butter coated banana in a bowl of regular cheerios.
• Place pops on a pan covered with freezer paper and then put them in the freezer for an hour or so.

BIggest Loser trainer Jillian Micheals, once a chubby girl who transformed her body and her life, has just the plan for shedding a few pounds prior to that perfect party, wedding, or class reunion.

Cut the carbs, says Michaels. Not permanently -- just two days before the big event. Ditch the grains, rice, pasta, cereal, sugar (even fruit sugar) and you'll look stunning and feel fabulous.

An idea for more long-term weight loss: Make a list of reasons why you want to lose weight and get into shape. Be realistic -- don't plan to run a marathon right off the bat -- and use your list to guide your efforts. Take responsibility, says Michaels. Choose your actions wisely. And your actions will influence your results.

Now get to work -- Jillian continues to pave the way right here, at AOL's AmericaTakes It Off location.

Halle Berry was seen this weekend at the Revlon Run/Walk for Women in Los Angeles (possibly with an engagement ring on her all-important finger), and let me tell you -- she looked fantastic. And the fact that she gave birth to her daughter, Nahla Ariela, just about a month ago makes her fabulous body just that much more amazing.

New moms in the real world shouldn't hold themselves to Halle's standards -- I mean, she had a ridiculously amazing figure before the baby. However, she dished about her post-pregnancy fitness routine to People, and I've got the scoop for you!

She's been working out five days a week for an hour with her trainer, Ramona Braganza. She implements three cardio segments using the elliptical, stairs, and kickboxing, as well as some strength-training that works her abs and legs.

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. Fitzy. I work out a few times a week and eat pretty well, but "six-pack" abs have always escaped me. I do plenty of crunches, but nothing seems to bring me even close to the abs I see on the cover of Men's Health magazine. What is the secret to it? Chase

A. Ahhhh Chase. The elusive six pack. Doesn't every body wish for that? Yes ... almost everybody does. Very few actually achieve it, though. This is the deal Chase, the "secret," if you will. If you want to look like an athlete, you're going to have to behave like an athlete. Train ridiculously hard and eat ridiculously well. Six-pack abs are a sign of elite fitness for sure, and you're probably not going to earn them working out a "few times a week and eating pretty well."

No one ever said losing weight is easy. The method for losing weight -- burn more calories than you consume -- is easy enough to understand, but putting this formula into practice is downright difficult for anyone who enjoys eating. Even more difficult: Keeping off any weight you do manage to lose.

Once dieters reach their goal weights, they understandably want to relax a bit, celebrate a little, enjoy a treat now and then. But it's important to remain vigilant. Don't think you're "done" once you lose the weight, say the experts. Instead, stay true to your new body, choose food wisely, and eat responsibly. Here are some pointers for staying on track.

• Allow yourself a weight-gain range of three to five pounds without panicking. Enjoy some of your favorite foods but if your weight increases by another pound or two, pull in the reigns and get back to your desired range.

• Stay in touch with your weight. Hop on a scale regularly or measure your waist size by trying on the same pair of jeans each week.
  
  

• Ditch your fat clothes so you'll be motivated to never fit into them again.

Did you eat breakfast today? How about yesterday? If you answered "No," you may be interested to learn that starting the day off with a substantive meal can help keep your weight in check.

The American Journal of Epidemiology reports that participants in a recent study who sourced 22 to 50 percent of their total daily calories from their breakfast gained an average of only 1.7 pounds over a four-year span. By contrast, those who did not eat breakfast -- or only sourced up to 11 percent of their daily calories from breakfast -- gained about three pounds.

Researchers posit that eating a meal after a long period of fasting -- as in, sleeping through the night, skipping breakfast, and then eating at around noon -- releases excess amounts of insulin, leading to fat storage and, as a recent Japanese study revealed, prevents the breakdown of stored fats.

This week I've been sampling Dannon's Light & Fit 0% Plus Yogurt, and I absolutely love it. Before I go any further though, let me tell you how I feel about yogurt. I like it, but only if I feel like I'm getting a high in calcium, low in sugar, legitimately fruit-filled snack. Now, there is always yogurt stacked up in my fridge, because I have two little children. But, rarely do I even open up a cup for myself. Not that I would ever buy my babies anything "bad"... cause I don't. But I regularly expect perfection of the things I put in my mouth. I'm simply not willing to waste 100 calories on a teeny cup of yogurt. I'd rather have two big pieces of fruit.

So! I was thrilled instantly by the calorie count on Dannon's new Light & Fit 0% Plus Yogurt. Each cup boasts only 50 or 60 calories, depending on the flavor. That I can do! The fruity varieties are also full of real fruit chunks. Fresh and healthy fruit chunks, not the icky stuff dumped in from a can. On top of all that, each flavor has proven to be delicious to both my children and me, and then a few of my personal training clients as well.

Before you go give Dannon's Light & Fit 0% Plus Yogurt a try, I encourage you to do a side-by-side comparison of it's nutritional content versus that of other yogurts. I did this a few days ago and couldn't find anything as good. This is the type of thing you want to put in your fridge if you're trying to lose weight. It's a great fix for your sweet tooth, while providing a decent amount of protein, calcium, vitamin D and other important nutrients.

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. Hey Fitz. Yesterday I did two classes in a row - Cardio sculpt and Extreme training, which are both really tough. Two days before that I ran three miles to the gym, did a class and ran three miles home. For the first time in a long time I did not enjoy the exercise one bit. I have been exercising regularly for a long time now - usually I love it. I have been practicing good nutrition habits with the occasional sweet tooth fix, drinking lots of water and STILL the number on the scale is staying the same. I feel like I am on the verge of burning out. I can't seem to lose the flab around my tummy - particularly under my belly button and backs of my thighs, no matter what I do. Plus, short of starving myself and getting very cranky, I don't know how to actually lose the weight. Funny how a number on a machine, the scale, can be so vital to my state of mind. It's ridiculous, really. PLEASE - do you have any advice? Cindy

A. Whoa there Cindy! You need a break! Sounds odd for me to say this, but put your sneakers away and sit the heck down! Fitness is not supposed to make us insane, fitness is supposed to help us maintain our sanity. You are burnt out to the max, and need to just let it go for a while. I'm not suggesting forever, but take at least a week off. I know what you're going through. You already have an elite fitness level, but particular parts of your body are just not responding the way you want them to. You have incredibly high standards for your body. That often leads to frustration. Especially when you're 'starving' and running a million miles a week!

Here at That's Fit, we're forever grateful for the service, courage and sacrifice made by the heroic men and women who serve as military, law enforcement officers, and firefighters. We're so grateful, that we'd like to dedicate some features to both showing our heroes off, and learning a little bit in the process as well. If you serve your country courageously, are a veteran or know someone who does, please return this form completed to Fitz along with a photo and we'll share your story with the world.

Name: Frank Kinsey

Age: 29

Heroic Occupation: Deputy Sheriff

How often do you exercise? Two to three times a week.

What type of exercise do you do? I lift weights, run and play basketball.

Is an apology really an apology when it's mandated? I don't think so, given the fact that it's not really rooted in sincerity. Maybe it's better than nothing, though.

Britain's Daily Mail newspaper was made to apologize to the daughter of Elvis after printing last month that Presley, like her late father, was packing on the pounds with a poor diet. But Presley wasn't "growing just like her dad," as the paper claimed. She was growing because of the baby in her belly. So Presley sued for libel. And the paper published an apology. It went like this:

On March 4 we published a photograph of Lisa Marie Presley while she was dining with friends. We suggested she might have an unhealthy appetite similar to her late father. We now accept that the suggestion is untrue and apologize to Ms. Presley for any distress caused.

Presley, 40, is expecting her third child this Fall.

About 10 years ago, I stopped drinking soda. I lost seven pounds. The soda eventually crept back into my diet. One year ago, I stopped drinking it again. I ditched sweets too. I lost 15 pounds.

Is there one habit you can eliminate from your diet? A candy dish on your desk you could trash? A morning stop for doughnuts you could do without? A late-night dish of ice cream you could trade for a bowl of fresh fruit? Surely, there's something you can get rid of. Surely, you'll see results when you do.

Fitness magazine asks a few women in their May 2008 issue about small changes they've made in their lives that delivered great gains. One women nixed alcohol for one month. Social drinking was her diet downfall. She'd end up having a dozen beers while mixing with friends, and it always led to snacking on junk food. While this gal says she won't give up alcohol for good, she does plan to minimize her intake, for the sake of her health.

An easy way to lose weight is to include more fruits and vegetables in your diet. Produce is famous for jamming massive amounts of vitamins, nutrients and fiber into very few calories. With most produce, you can consume lots of food for a very low caloric price. More bang for your buck that is!

I ask my personal training clients to try to include at least five meals per week consisting of pure produce. No meat. No grains. Most folks eat at least 21 meals per week, so this five meal plan doesn't deter anyone from getting enough protein. What it does do though, is get them to try new fruits and learn new ways to turn veggies into a meal.

Another benefit to this effort is that by keeping a few meals to just produce, you will more than likely be cutting quite a bit of calories out of the day. Over time, the more you rely on fruits and vegetables for snacks and meals, the more likely you'll be to achieve and maintain your ideal weight.

Just had my tummy tuck one week ago. All is going well -- better than I'd anticipated, actually -- and just yesterday I went with my mom while she picked my boys up from school. I even accompanied them to the park for an afternoon play date. It was great to get out of the house and away from the recliner that doubles as my daytime resting place and my bed. It's where I sit, sleep, write, watch TV, read bedtime stories -- and worry about how all I've gained through strenuous exercise over the past year is about to be lost.

According to my doctor, I can't really exercise for six full weeks. I can walk, and I can gradually add other movements to my routine, but I can't full-out run -- my favorite fitness activity -- for quite some time. This worries me. Will I gain weight? Will I lose my muscle tone? Will I be completely out of shape by the time I lace up my running shoes? It's possible.

What ever will I do?

Coffee has a bad reputation. Is it the jitter-inducing caffeine content? The bitter taste that for some people makes it necessary to load it with sugar? The fact that it's often served topped with whipped cream? Maybe all of the above. But take a second chance on coffee -- it could be help you get slim.

Yes, that's right: Coffee is slimming. Regular coffee has 0 calories, so it can help curb your hunger without doing too much damage to the numbers on the scale. It also has all-important antioxidants. And even more importantly? According to AOL Body, it can help boost your metabolism for up to two hours after you drink it.

Of course, this doesn't apply to fancy, fat-laden coffee drinks at Starbucks. When grabbing your java, make sure to keep it simple: Black is best, but adding a little skim milk and splenda won't hurt. And be sure to stick to no more than one or two cups a day.