Frosted Mini Wheats couldn’t be left out. Being a skinny champion apparently wasn’t enough. Kellogg’s just recently went through a media debacle by claiming that kids with ADHD that ate Frosted Mini-Wheats improved their attentiveness by nearly 20%. Well, that didn’t go over well for a myriad of reasons, the main one being insufficient scientific data. Suffice it to say, Frosted Mini Wheats went back to being just a cereal.

Cheerios must have missed all the brouhaha with Frosted Mini Wheats and decided to tip its own hat into the wonder cereal arena. Cheerios has always claimed to be heart healthy, but new marketing has taken Cheerios to new heights. It now states loud and clear on every box that it can lower your cholesterol by 4%.  Drug companies like Lipitor almost had a heart attack themselves with this new campaign. As no surprise to anyone, except for the makers of Cheerios, the FDA has now put the kabosh on this pseudo science claim. “In order for Cheerios to be clinically proven to lower cholesterol, the product would have to be approved like it were a drug.” Call it me, but I’m not sure being classified as a drug would be the image Cheerios is after.

The spokesperson for Cheerios said this is all a matter of semantics and that Cheerios when eaten in conjunction with a healthy diet and exercise program will lower your cholesterol. Needless to say, Cheerios is going to be joining Frosted Mini Wheats back on the grocery shelves as simply a cereal again, too. This all makes me miss Mikey of Life cereal. How about we eat cereal again because ‘we like it, we really, really like it!’ Even if it won’t make us a thinner, more focused, heart-healthy champion.

The findings determined that students from all three schools got about the same amount of physical activity and intensity level over the course of an entire day regardless of whether there were additional structured periods of exercise at school. The idea being that if you as a student were very active during the school day, then when you got home you were more likely to take it easy. Conversely, if you sat at a desk all day, you would be playing outside or riding your bike after school to burn off the excess energy. Researchers said the key was to focus on the big picture of the entire day of activity, rather than look at what happens before the final bell rings at school.

The timing of this study seems awfully coincidental to me in these economic times of major budget cuts in schools. Recess and PE in schools across the country are becoming a distant memory. How convenient that science now says “Guess what, PE doesn’t matter anyway.” I respectfully disagree.

In this day and age, when children are popping ritalin like candy, it is an injustice to say that barely existent exercise in our schools could possibly be beneficial to the health and welfare of our children. In fact, studies have shown just the opposite. Intense exercise is especially helpful to children with ADHD in helping them stay focused.

The premise of looking at exercise as a whole entity rather than a segment of a day, is also flawed in my book. It sounds good to say that children will run home to engage in physical activity if they were sedentary all day, but the truth is children today have no problem being sedentary 24 hours a day. The primal urge to exercise is lost on this video game generation because they have never developed the habit of vigorously exercising every day. Call it me, but the lack of regular PE class in school can’t be helping in this regard.

In a perfect world of schools valuing the mental, physical, and emotional health of its students as much as the academic health, an hour of PE would be mandatory for all students kindergarten through 12th grade. PE, if done well, is so much more than releasing pent up energy. It establishes the lifelong habit of daily physical activity, teaches you skills to improve your game, and challenges your body physically. PE should, at a minimum, be the base line of physical activity for children of all ages. Whatever happens after 3:00 is just value added. In this time of alarming childhood obesity rates, it seems irresponsible to justify the absence of physical education in our schools as scientifically irrelevant. Nothing is more relevant for our future than the physical health and well-being of our nation’s children.

Now it’s not enough being nurse, short order cook, chauffeur, homework helper, activity director, and bedtime story reader. Let alone being a friend, lover, and confidant to your significant other who may or may not be your baby’s daddy. Throw in everything you do at work and you are lucky if you can watch “Dancing With The Stars” without seeing stars yourself. Moms can’t even find two minutes to themselves a day that do not revolve around the needs of others.

It’s no surprise then, that when it comes to diet and exercise, the number one reason moms give for failing to commit is that they just don’t have the time. Now all of a sudden this book comes along and tells us moms that we now need to be “hot” too. The only hot most women my age are feeling comes in the form of hot flashes. Maybe this book is about living next door to a hot mommy instead of requiring us to be a hot mommy ourselves.

The truth is no matter how chaotic life is and how drained and exhausted you feel at the end of the day, you are only as good to others as you are to yourself.  Instead of being always last on the list in the family pecking order, give yourself the best Mother’s Day gift ever and put yourself at the front of the line. It is no different than putting the oxygen mask on you first during an emergency airplane landing before placing the oxygen mask on your child. Your family and success in your career are dependent on your overall health and wellness.

I don’t think being “hot” means donning thigh high stiletto boots and a bustierre. I can barely spell bustierre, let alone wear one.  Justin Timberlake said that President Obama brought swagger back into The White House. To me, being a “hot” mom means bringing your swagger back into your life. It’s bringing back your essence, your joy, and your sense of self. It’s about not settling for eating the cut off crusts of your kid’s sandwiches and knowing you’re worthy of every bite of a whole one.

Eating well, exercising, prioritizing, and owning and being proud of the “you” you are now is the new presecription for moms. To be able to walk with confidence and feel beautiful inside and out will make your neighbors take note that they are living next door to a true “hot” mommy.

Think foam rollers are just for Self Myofacial Release? Think again. Foam rollers are also an excellent tool for instability exercises such as planks, bridges, crunches and more.  In this video clip, you will see 2 and a half minutes of really intense isometric holds as well as a short series of movements which SERIOUSLY engage the core - shoulders, abdominals, back and hip area.

Well, some genius beat me to the punch (and to the bank) with an answer to the age-old question “Why Am I Still Fat?” THISISWHYYOUREFAT.COM might be one of the funniest albeit disgusting things I’ve seen in a long time. Check it out immediately. Blown up, full color pictures of actual food found on menus throughout the country, replete with descriptions are the sole content of this outrageous site.

Some of my favorites were the steak sandwich with wet-cured ham, linguica, and sausage covered with melted cheese in a hot thick tomato and beer sauce. The bacon crusted pizza topped with extra cheese and bacon was also special. It’s one thing to hear about food like this, but to visually see it takes on a whole new meaning.

The tag line of this site is ‘where dreams become heart attacks.’ This site would be hilarious, and I’d be lying to you if I wasn’t laughing when I saw it, if it weren’t true. One of my favorite things I heard from an expert in weight loss years ago was about the glycemic index. Carrots have become a sinful food because they are rated high on the glycemic index because of their sugar content. This expert said go eat carrots by the bagful for all he cares. Nobody has ever gotten fat because they eat too many carrots.  Ain’t that the truth.

I’m not saying that people are overweight because they eat gallons of ice cream and cookies all day. But, I am saying that they aren’t only eating egg whites and broccoli. The bottom line is that losing weight is not a mystery. If you are truly eating healthfully and exercising daily, you would not be asking me “Why am I still fat?” Take your own pictures of what you are really eating and you will see for yourself the answer to your question.

What is so fascinating about Michelle Obama is she is not the stereotypical face of beauty that bombards us on runways and glamour magazines. She is fit and strong, but she is not a size 00. Nor will she ever be. Michelle Obama has shown the world that beauty is about showcasing your strengths and assets. She owns her body and wears it proudly. Michelle Obama’s confidence and comfort in her own skin is her true beauty.

The fact that Michelle Obama is famous around the world for her arms is also telling about fitness. Sculpted arms, especially on women, announce to the world that you are someone who exercises and takes care of your body. Legs, abs, and butt are important too, but toned arms get noticed immediately.

For those of you who also want Michelle Obama’s arms, here are a few things to keep in mind.
First, even if you are the First Lady of The United States, you have to work hard to have killer arms. They do not happen magically or appear overnight. Second, good arms are not just strong biceps. Amazingly toned arms are a result of intense total upper body strength conditioning. Triceps, shoulders, lats, and core are equally important to target in your resistance training program. 

For me, the single best exercise you can do for your arms is push-ups. Push-ups are the most efficient, comprehensive upper body exercise that exists for serious arm strength and definition. Abs are engaged the entire time and your shoulders, chest, and arms are majorly worked.  The variety of push-ups that you can do is mind numbing. Military push-ups, stagger push-ups, incline/decline push-ups, tricep push-ups, traveling push-ups, and push-ups on both sides of the BOSU ball are just some of the push-up exercises you can and should incorporate into your daily fitness program.

The best part of push-ups is they are so intense that a little goes a long way. Start out slowly and build. Before you know it, you will be able to do 50 push-ups without stopping. Your toned arms will make even Michelle Obama stop and take notice.

For the most part I follow this lifestyle religiously, give or take a good hot fudge sundae. But, I am no different than anyone else. The minute an alternative exists which will allow me to be a couch potato stuffing my face with nachos while maintaining a lean and sculpted body, I will be first in line. Yesterday, I got a preview into the world of ‘the quick fix’ and I have to tell you it didn’t suck!

Even though my forehead is permanently scrunched and wrinkled like a sharpei dog and the space in between my eyes makes me look like I’m pissed off all the time, I was a hold-out in the world of Botox for the longest time. You can now call me a convert!

It is said that beauty is the last thing to go in a bad economy. Not that I’m vain usually, but wow was this worth the money. Botox isn’t cheap, but it is worth scrimping for once or twice a year in my book. In less than 5 minutes and no pain, I took 10 years off my face. I’ve received compliments all day from unknowing acquaintances telling me how refreshed I look. This sure beats the usual, “Are you mad about something?”

If only getting a smaller butt was as quick and easy! I have found that the best part of getting Botox is I have created a red herring. By focusing attention on my wrinkle-free, youthful face; people aren’t even noticing the size of my butt! That’s money well spent if you ask me.

Erin

Ryanair Airlines, a low-budget Irish airline just announced that overweight passengers will have to pay by the pound to fly. Ouch! Don’t get cocky that we, in this country, are more sensitive to the plight of the obese. United Airlines and Southwest Airlines, to name a few, recently have required overweight passengers to buy an additional seat if they want to be permitted on the flight. There is an actual policy which defines ‘being too overweight to fly.’  “A passenger must fit in a single seat with armrests down and/or require only one seat belt extender.” Seriously?

Has it really come to this? Are we as a nation so fat that airline policy has to specify “more than one seat belt extender?” Isn’t the fact that such a thing exists as a seat belt extender troubling enough. But, now you find yourself dancing the hora in the aisle if you are fat enough to only require one seat belt extender, not the dreaded two.

I have to admit that I’m a little confused. The last time I flew I could barely fit my purse underneath the seat in front of me and I felt incestuously close to my relatively slim seat mate who happened to be a stranger. I’m still stuck on the notion of two seat belt extenders. Houston we really do have a problem!

Now, I’m not one to blame all of the world’s ills on fat people; skinny people do more than their share of screwing up. Just this past Earth Day, when overweight and obese people were basically blamed for causing global warming, even I thought this was harsh and far reaching.

Except now when the Association for Airline Passenger Rights comes out blasting airlines for discriminating against fat people, I take pause. Let’s consider for a moment my new favorite airline policy of weighing luggage. Is anybody’s luggage ever the right weight? No, this is a sneaky way for airlines to get away with an additional fee to check your bags. If my luggage, whether or not is stuffed like a sausage, gets charged up to 50 bucks extra, is it really a stretch to charge people for the extra baggage they are carrying on their butts?

Forgive me for sounding callous, but there are several realities to this scenario that trump being politically correct. First, fuel expenditure and airplane safety are dependent on the excess weight that the plane is having to support. If airlines raise the already exorbitant cost of flying to match the increased girth of the passengers, this is not right either. I exercise regularly and eat right. I forgo the need for even one seat belt extender, let alone two. Why should I have to get a second mortgage on my home in order to fly? This isn’t being discriminatory, it’s being frank.

Secondly, there is no such thing as a short airplane flight. Even when the flight is supposed to last less than an hour, it is always a lengthy ordeal. Throw in layovers and cross-country travel and you are looking at hours cramped in a confining space with strangers. If you are so large that you require two seat belt extenders and your arm rest has to stay permanently in the up position, you are guaranteed sitting at least one butt cheek on my lap. The only difference between then and now is you were getting away with it for free. This is not being discriminatory, this is being real.

Couple this with the Swine Flu mania and I am not a happy camper. I think planes are cesspools of germs in the best of times. But, when there is a genuine flu epidemic sweeping the world, I for sure don’t want to be spooning with a stranger, fat or not on the airplane. Seats on the plane are designed to be individual seats, not love seats. Wanting your own seat on a plane is not being selfish for comfort reasons, it is being prudent against the spread of disease.

The final reason this airplane policy of requiring obese people to purchase an additional seat does not  offend me is because it is illustrative of a much bigger issue at play. This isn’t about passengers’ rights to fly. It is about how jaded we have become as a society as to what is acceptable when it comes to weight. The bottom line is this. It is not ok for your health to be so fat that you can’t fit on an airplane properly. This is not being discriminatory, it’s saving your life. By feeling the punch in your wallet, you are hopefully feeling the punch in your gut to get healthy. Forget about flying and double seat belt extensions. Living is of much greater import than the cost of any airplane seats.

The ‘know it alls’ are the most dangerous types of experts in my opinion. And perhaps the most interesting thing about them is they are the first and loudest to dispense of advice to anyone that will listen. What I particularly like about the ‘know it alls’ is that no subject when it comes to fitness is out of their range of expertise. Weight loss, nutritional supplements, vitamins, periodization, and weight lifting of course are all within their domain.

It makes me cringe when I hear these personal trainer wannabes in action because the people they are talking to are hanging onto every word. There are several problems with taking fitness advice from people who are not trained in fitness. Besides the fact that your body will not yield better results because you followed this advice, the biggest problem people face is they are opening themselves to injury. Just because Joe the Expert has big guns, doesn’t mean Joe has any idea about proper form or what exercises are best for you given your physical limitations and abilities.

In fact, most often in weight rooms, the people with the biggest muscles have the worst form. Is it really worth injury to expose your vulnerabilities to these people? Bad advice even occurs from the well-intentioned exercisers at times. Just the other day, a person who has been a regular hard core exerciser for the past 25 years gave what she believed to be innocent advice to someone about an exciting new exercise she recently discovered and has had positive results with.  This well-intentioned exerciser simply wanted to share the exercise with someone else that was interested in adding it to  their exercise routine. Even though this avid exerciser had done this exercise herself at least 100 times, she had apparently been doing it 100 times incorrectly. By then demonstrating this incorrect form to someone else, she was inadvertently passing bad advice on like a bad chain letter that keeps going and going. The point is the intention doesn’t matter. Bad fitness advice equals bad form and bad form equals injury.

The other problem with being the master fitness expert is that what works for you might not work for somebody else. It is just like with diets. Some people lose weight on a high protein diet whereas others lose weight on a strict vegan diet. Fitness is not one size fits all. By pretending to have the magic formula for building muscle mass, losing weight, or toning problem areas, these pseudo trainers are setting people up for disappointment and failure.

The best advice for when you are at the gym is to pay attention to your surroundings. Notice other people’s bodies and workout routines and use that as fuel for what you want to look like and what you plan on doing to achieve it. But, instead of using these people as role models and experts, go to a real fitness expert and make an exercise plan that is right for you. A personal trainer can tailor a program specifically to meet your needs and goals while at the same time showing you how to properly use the weight equipment and maintain good form in order to prevent injury.

A ‘know it all’ in the gym might be fun to share a protein shake with, but that’s about all.

I exercise 7 days a week for 2 hours a day. Now I know that is not typical and not realistic for most people. However, I’m more ‘more is more’ rather than the ‘less is more ‘ if I were to be completely honest with you. I think that exercise should be intense, full of variety, and done for at least 45 minutes to an hour a day. Every day. I never quite understood the so-called fitness experts who recommend taking the weekend off or every other day in between working out. First of all, exercise is a habit. If you do not foster and nurture this habit, it will become a choice. And I ask you, if you were given the choice to workout or not, which choice would you make?

The other reason I believe in exercising every day is the weekends are the time when food and alcohol consumption are at their highest. This is the time, if there ever was one, to step up the exercise. Even though I am of the ‘more is more’ philosophy, I am by no means insane when it comes to exercise. People who work out 3-4 hours a day are not only in need of a head check, but are actually doing their body harm by overexercising. I am a moderate ‘more is more’ type of woman. But, if this study was to be believed that 3 minutes a day of exercise is all we need to see results, then I am in LaLa Land. This isn’t even ‘less is more.’  Maybe it is ‘anything is better than nothing.’

In the Scottish study, adults who did six 30 second sprints on the exercise bike with rests in between for a total of 3 minutes, “improved their body’s ability to metabolize blood sugar by 25% after six sessios.” As of this weren’t unbelieveable enough, they also lowered their risks of diabetes and heart disease. Interesting.

The good news about this is I will never have to hear from people again the ubiqitous excuse of  “I just don’t have time to exercise.” Hogwash to that now! I challenge anyone to say they can’t spare three minutes of their day to improving their health.

I am not swayed by the findings of the 3 minute rule enough to practice it in my life anytime soon. However, if you are currently doing nothing and are inspired by the 3 minute a day rule of exercise, by all means put on your sneakers immediately.

If you truly only have 3 minutes a day to exercise, I think push-ups, squats, and planks make for a good 3 minute trio. They work major muscle groups simultaneously, require no equipment other than your own body weight, and are effective in small doses. For 3 minutes, do 10 push-ups, 20 squats, and a 30 second plank on your elbows. Rest for 30 seconds and repeat the series for a total of 3 minutes. As you get stronger, lessen the rest time in between sets.

Perhaps the best result of this study is that exercise, even in the smallest of quantities makes a difference to your overall health. If 3 minutes does every thing this study says it does, then imagine the benefits to your health and body, if you were to exercise intensely an hour a day.