That's Fit

In those classic Kung-Fu movies, the wise, old teacher would always tell his dutiful student that he must learn to know his enemy. Know his style of attack, know his weaknesses ... that sort of thing. You too can benefit from knowing your enemy this Thanksgiving (and, no, I don't mean your cousin Larry, who you hated since you were both kids), and by doing so you will save yourself from the merciless attack unwanted fat and calories.

First, of course, you need to figure out who your enemy is. Could it be the mashed potatoes, smothered in brown gravy? Yeah, could be. They contain quite a bit of calories and high-GI carbs. But, is it possible that your Thanksgiving enemy is the turkey itself? Not really -- turkey, especially white meat, is a rather lean bird and also contains a great deal of protein. What, then, is the true Thanksgiving Day Enemy?

The Pies. Muhaa-ha-ha-haaaa. Yes, as you probably guessed, the dessert pies are what can really throw your attempts at eating a healthy Thanksgiving dinner out of whack. For starters, by the time you even reach dessert, you've probably already consumed well more than enough fat and calories for that meal (if not the entire day). Second, given the fact that it takes approximately 20 minutes for your brain to receive the "I'm Full!!" signal from your stomach, chomping down some pie is adding like sand to ... to .... to some clever analogy that I can't seem to think of at the moment.

Know your enemy, people. If you absolutely, positively cannot say no to pie this year (and I know I'll fall into this category, too), you should at least know what you're getting yourself into. Here's a quick fat and calorie breakdown for a variety of pie slices, many of which may be staring you down at your Thanksgiving dinner:

Cherry Pie - 22 grams of fat. 486 calories.

Apple Pie - 19.4 grams of fat. 411 calories.

Pumpkin Pie - 14.4 grams of fat. 316 calories.

Pecan Pie - 27.1 grams of fat. 503 calories.

Blueberry Pie - 17.5 grams of fat. 360 calories.

Lemon Meringue Pie - 16.4 grams of fat. 362 calories.

Make your choice carefully, grasshopper. Pass your knowledge to your loved ones, and the student will then have become the teacher.

As obesity rates in youth and teens continue to rise at a staggering rate, it goes without saying that something needs to be done. And where there is necessity, you can almost always find capitalism. Such is the case with Overtime Fitness; the cyber-gym that hopes to be to the teenage set what Curves has become for women.

Boasting a variety of virtual features -- including a fitness arcade that includes such games as MoCap Boxing, InTheGroove Dancing, and a variety of other video games that require physical exertion -- Overtime Fitness has created a place where teens actually want to work out. Why? Well, because 1) It's fun, and 2) They don't have to do it in lieu of playing their favorite video games -- because they're favorite video games are actually part of the workout.

I'm just sorry they didn't have these virtual gyms while I was in my teens. It would have been a hell of a lot more fun than working out in my buddy's grimy basement, where the only outside stimuli were the spiders in the floor joists and pictures we had posted of Elle McPherson.

Having never actually worn Under Armour clothing of any kind, I figured I'd give it a shot this past weekend. Clearly, this form-fitting -- but very breathable -- clothing is quite popular in the fitness world, so there has to be something to it, right? After struggling to get my body into the shirt, I found out just what that something is.

It's comfortable, in a strange, uncomfortable sort of way. It sticks to your body much like you'd imagine a superhero's costume would, providing you ever imagined what a superhero's costume would fit like. All in all, it's ... I really can't explain it. Actually, come to think of it, yes I can. It's a line of Ego Clothes.

If you're in shape and want to show off a little bit, then Under Armour clothing is probably for you. Irrespective of the fact that it was invented to be worn underneath football gear (instead of a loose-fitting, sweaty cotton T-shirt), the reason why the Under Armour corporation currently has a revenue stream of over $430 million is because regular people (meaning non-football players) are buying the apparel and wearing it to the gym (and sometimes to dance clubs, which is just plain foolish).

Personally, I found Under Armour to be a bit too tight and far too "look at me, I work out" form fitting. But hey, that's just me. Some people may feel differently (hint, hint -- comment, comment). Still, it's definitely a much better fitness fashion trend than those balloon weightlifting pants from the early 1990s.

I'll be the first to admit it, I find infomercials to be some of the most entertaining programs on television. I don't really watch all that much TV, but the few times I do, I can't help but at least stop and watch an infomercial for a few minutes. My favorites definitely have to be the fitness infomercials.

Where else can you see such bad acting, even worse efforts of making "the old version" of an exercise look like it can break your back, and at the same time make absolutely mendacious claims about being able to make you fit almost overnight? Nowhere but in the magical, wonderful world of infomercials.

Here are, in my opinion, the worst 5 infomercial fitness products EVER:

5 - The Thigh Master. Suzanne Somers may look fantastic for her age, but let's face it -- it ain't because she used a Thigh Master. Squeezing together two pieces of plastic a total distance of about ten inches will do about as much for your thighs as squeezing a zit would. Even more ridiculous is the marketers' attempt to make it seem possible to get a bicep workout by squeezing the Thigh Master with your arm. Good luck not punching yourself in the face.

4 - Soloflex. Fine, I'll admit it ... I owned a Soloflex. Although it's a decent idea in theory, in practice it just doesn't cut it. The biggest problem with the Soloflex is that its resistance band "technology" (I always loved it when they called it that in the infomercial - as if they invented rubber bands) provided almost no negative resistance. Being that most of your muscle-building is done during this portion of the exercise (this is the lowering portion), you only received half of a workout. FYI: I ended up selling mine (at a huge loss) about eight months after I bought it.

I hate to be a holiday jumper, but I have to bypass Thanksgiving for this one. Trust me, it's worth it.

It seems that our friends across the pond have decided that Christmas needs a makeover this year. In efforts to provide children with a more positive and healthy role model, a shopping mall in England is putting their holiday Santa Clauses through fitness boot camp!!

The 12 commissioned Santas have already begun their one-month boot camp training sessions with their trainer, according to mall's property manager. Guests of the mall can watch the Santas as they perform such exercises as the "Santa Sack Lift" (I swear I'm not making this stuff up), helping to tone-up and trim down the soon-to-be svelte Father Christmas. Whether the children will respond favorably to this newer and fitter version of Santa remains to be seen, but what is certain is that Santa Claus will have much less difficulty sliding down chimneys this year.

Some mushrooms taste great on pizza. Some mushrooms can kill you. Some mushrooms can make you see purple dragons. And some mushrooms can boost your immune system. In the interest of keeping things healthy, I think I'll focus on the kind I mentioned last.

White button mushrooms, also known as the table mushroom and the cultivated mushroom, have been shown to strengthen the body's defense against the common cold and even cancer. A report in The Journal of Nutrition revealed that mushrooms enhanced the activity of immune system cells.

This immune system boost comes from the high levels of the super-antioxidant ergothianine, which exists in abundance in the white button mushroom variety.

Today, November 9th, is official Diabetes Blog Day, or D-Blog Day as the cool kids call it. In the ongoing effort to find a cure for diabetes, the blogosphere celebrates today as their own holiday of sorts.

Having previously been a blogger at the now retired TheDiabetesBlog.com, in addition to being engaged to a proud D-Blogger, I'm well aware of the enormous amount of support this community can provide. From patients sharing stories about their triumphs and setbacks, to parents of diabetic children who wish to simply know that they are not alone in their struggle, the diabetes blogosphere was created, albeit completely organically, to serve those very purposes.

If you're wondering where to find a list of diabetic blogs (D-Blogs), a good place to start is HERE at the Six Until Me Blogroll.

How familiar does this scene sound:

You eat lunch at work, somewhere around noon or so, only to finish your day at around five. Given that you didn't have the time to grab a quick mid-afternoon snack, it's now been almost five hours since you've last eaten. Then, you drive for about a half an hour from work, spend ten minutes or so settling in at home, and then finally swing open the fridge. Staring you in the face are the tasty leftovers from last night's ravioli dinner, so you wolf them down in about three bites. Minutes later, you finally plop down on the couch and flip on the TV.

That all too familiar scenario alone points to a number of problems with our diets:

1) We generally spend waaaaaaaaaaay too much time in between meals. The less often you eat, the more weight you will gain. Long periods of not eating will cause your body to respond by slowing your metabolism. By contrast, the more often you eat, the more weight you will lose (or, at least, your chances of gaining weight will be diminished). By not allowing your body to ever feel hungry, your body will respond by revving up your metabolism.

2) We stress ourselves fat. Rushing around town, trying to be here and there, worrying about this and that - all of that worry and stress leads to an increased release of cortisol. Put simply, cortisol is a hormone that can affect not only your weight gain and muscle loss, but can also raise blood pressure and be immunosuppressive.

Many Americans wonder how Europeans are able to stay so relatively thin (comparatively speaking, anyway) when they are known for sometimes eating less-than-healthy foods. To begin solving this mystery, it's first worth mentioning that many Europeans' diets are more healthy than you realize; foods such as fish, olive oil, red wine and many others are quite popular. The major difference, though, has more to do with portion size.

The 3 square meals a day dietary construct is fundamentally American, one that is seldom followed by other industrialized nations. In lieu of eating three large mega-meals, many Europeans will eat several small meals throughout the course of the day. This adjustment, by itself, can have a significant impact on metabolism, as can the size of the portions consumed. Think of it this way: Even if you're eating healthy foods, it's not wise to eat massive amounts of them in one sitting. For example, bananas are healthy, right? Right indeed. But, if you were to eat three bananas in a row, you've just consumed far too many calories, carbs and sugars. Now, apply this logic to foods that aren't particularly good for you, and you'll soon see why eating such large portions of food is a surefire way to pack on the pounds.

Apparently, the new diet trend follows this portion size approach, using specially-designed plates and bowls to ensure that portions are kept under control.

In less than two weeks, Thanksgiving dinner will be served in millions of households throughout the U.S. As a variety of dinner sides are shared, so too will some interesting bits of conversation. In most cases, they're basically the same conversations you have every year. Sometimes they're funny, sometimes they're dull, but for the most part they're always worth listening to.

But, what if you found yourself at a dinner table filled with a whole new group of people? And, let's pretend for a second that you could choose five people who would be at that table and whose conversations you would like to listen in on. Who would you choose? The one ThatsFit stipulation is that your five people have to be related, in some way, to health and fitness.

Playing along myself, I think these would be the five guests at my ThatsFit Thanksgiving dinner table:

5 - Arnold Schwarzenegger. If we could check all political conversation at the door, I'd be fascinated to hear the Austrian Oak speak candidly about his bodybuilding career. Having Arnold at the table would be akin to having someone read directly from a health and fitness encyclopedia (which, incidentally, Arnold wrote).

4 - Bill Phillips. As the owner of EAS and the guy behind the "Body for Life Challenge," this fitness expert and author would presumably have some great fitness tidbits to offer up. Plus, if he can pay someone $1 million each year for winning his challenge, he could probably spring for dinner.

3 - Kim Lyons. Known best as one of the personal trainers on the TV show "The Biggest Loser," she not only would add some much needed femininity to this testosterone-filled dinner table, but a great deal of fitness knowledge, as well. In addition, I think it would be quite interesting to hear her personal success stories with some of the contestants.

2 - Kevin Trudeau. Yup, the guy that tries to hawk those books in his infomercials. You know, the Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About guy. Having never read any of his books, I would at least be interested to decide for myself whether this dude is for real or just full of ... stuff(ing).

1 - Dr. Andrew Weil. In case the name doesn't jump out you (don't feel bad if it doesn't - I just spent about 10 minutes Googling it), the face probably will. In the event that Kevin Trudeau doesn't bring much to the table (no pun intended), I'd hope that Dr. Weil could offer up some natural health conversation. But, if he too turns out to be a dud, maybe he'll at least bring some healthy desserts.

Those would be my esteemed guests. Who would be yours?

With the holiday season now upon us, you can already feel that strange mix of joy and stress starting to percolate, can't you? Spending time with loved ones brings (most of us) a great deal of pleasure, while at the same time following through on holiday-related commitments, making travel arrangements, and being everything to everyone can sometimes be a bit too much to take. Be this as it may, for some people, this time of year ushers in a far more serious problem, one that truly has little to do with holiday stress and even less to do with holiday joy.

Seasonal Affective Disorder, also known as SAD, triggers feelings of lethargy, sadness and depression during the colder months in those who suffer from it. Last month, our own Bethany Sanders talked about this disorder, referencing its onset and some potential treatment methods. Now, a whole month later -- and with the days growing shorter and colder -- people with SAD may be finding themselves in an extended period of doldrums.

There are many nutritional supplements on the market that claim to be able to positively effect your mental acuity. Ginko biloba, vitamin E, vitamin B, and even aspirin are supposed brain-boosters, helping to give you somewhat of a mental lift when you need it.

Skeptical? Yeah, me too. Fortunately, a new book called YOU: Staying Young clears things up a bit with regard to this whole brain supplement debate. Here's just a few of the authors' (Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Michael Roizen) opinions:

Vitamin E: Yes. People who consume the RDA of this vitamin have been shown to have a 43-percent less chance of developing Alzheimer's Disease.

Vitamin B: Yes. The authors suggest 400micrograms of folic acid, 800 micrograms of B12, and 40milligrams of B12, stating that B vitamins help your neurotransmitters work more effectively.

Ginko Biloba: Not Really. Although the authors point to some promising research, there is nothing conclusive yet regarding ginko biloba's alleged brain-boosting benefits.

Aspirin: Yes. According to the authors, people who take 162mg of aspirin per day have been shown to have a 40-percent decrease in arterial aging, which contributes greatly to memory loss.

If any of you have ever experienced any benefits (or none at all) from some of these supplements, we'd all be interested to hear about it.

I've commented a few times already on this site about gym etiquette, mostly pointing out things you generally should not do in a gym. Doing barbell curls at a squat rack is one that immediately comes to mind. Each time I workout, I tend to notice yet another two or three examples of gym no-no's that I feel are worth adding to this list, so I think right now I will do just that.

The Talking Spotter. A few words of encouragement here and there are fine. "C'mon, dude. Two more reps," and mini-pep talks like this aren't a big deal. What is, however, is when a loquacious spotter feels the need to talk about anything and everything in the entire world while you're doing your set. As your face is turning beet red, veins are popping out of places you never even knew you had them, and the sweat leaps from your brow, this guy feels it's the perfect time to tell you about the color he's thinking of painting his house next spring or how he thinks that Rod Carew was one of the best hitters of his generation. Don't be this guy. Nobody likes this guy ... not even his mother.

Pointless Towel Man. I feel like I've mentioned this guy before, but maybe it's because I can't believe that I haven't. At any rate, this is the guy -- usually an older fella -- who feels the need to stand around the locker room and make small talk before he gets into the shower. Meanwhile, of course, he's standing there completely naked. The funniest part is that he has a towel, he just prefers to drape it over his shoulder rather than wrap it around his waist. In a word: Awkward.

Circuit Training Freak. Even though I'm a big fan of circuit training routines, I am well aware of how annoying they can be for other people in the gym. Just as you're about to get on a machine or grab a dumbell, you suddenly hear a voice from across the gym yell "I'm on that, bro." Um ... okay. So, you move onto a different machine or lay down on an incline bench, only to hear that same person pipe up with "I'm on that, too, my man." How could they possibly be using all of this gym equipment at the same time? Truth is, they're not. They're just making their way through their circuit, hoping that nothing slows them down. Problem is, about 50 other people are also trying to workout, so to take complete ownership of an entire gym is a sure-fire way to make some instant enemies.

I swear, I could go on and on with a list of this kind. But, I find your stories to be far more comical and interesting, so feel free to post your own list of people or things that drive you nuts at your gym.

Surfing a wave - an exercise. Surfing the web - an exercise in futility. Most of the time, anyway. I'll be the first to admit that I spend far too much time jumping from page-to-page, never really having a destination in mind. Fortunately, there are some cool websites that can help you turn your exercise in futility into exercise utility (I'm not sure that even makes sense, but I'm keeping it).

If you're looking for some inspiration, or just want a few new fitness ideas, the internet may not be such a bad place after all. Here are a few suggestions I found in Fitness Magazine:

Google Earth. Aside from finding your own house on this amazing Google feature, you can also use it to locate and plot hiking trails. To use it, click the Layers list -- which will then bring up Featured Content. Select the Trimble Outdoors Trips Finder. Lastly, type in the city in which you wish to go hiking. You can even download the trail info. into your cell phone or GPS.

GoRunEasy.com. If you're an avid runner, you either already know about this site or will be sure to visit it often from here on in. Site visitors can plot their running paths, post photos of sites to seen on those paths, share iPod playlists, and even connect with local running clubs.

YouTube.com. Yes, yes, yes ... you can find some of the most asinine videos imaginable on YouTube, but you can also find some pretty useful workout videos. If you're ever wondering how to perform a certain exercise, chances are there is a video on this site that will show you. In addition, there are entire exercise videos that you can watch, such as 8 Minute Abs, entire pilates routines, and cardio-boxing lessons.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to wasting time online.

Actress Halle Berry, who is probably best known for her Oscar-winning performance in the film "Monster's Ball," has long been suspected of stretching the truth about her diabetes diagnosis. A self-proclaimed type 1 diabetic -- a form of the disease that involves the complete cessation of insulin production by the pancreas, regardless of diet or any other external factor -- Halle Berry claims to have done something that medical doctors, research scientists, and entire health organizations have not been able to do: Cure It.

If I seem a bit snarky, it's for good reason. I'm engaged to be married to a wonderful young woman, who also happens to be a type-1 diabetic herself. Not only is she an active member of the diabetes support community, but she is also quite adept at managing her chronic illness. However, regardless of how perfect her diet is or can be, how physically active she is or can be, or what holistic health practices she follows or can follow, the fact remains that none of these measures will cause her pancreas to produce insulin. This also holds true for the estimated 1.5 million other Americans who are afflicted with type-1 diabetes, Halle Berry certainly notwithstanding.