Jennifer Nicole Lee, The Pillow Fight League, Itrainharder.com, The StressErasser, and Andy Langberg Invade Dr. Fitness and The Fat Guy!

It's been two weeks since my last blog and here's why. No computer and no internet service. So now I am armed with a $2000 laptop and after 5 tries with the cable company, I now have internet service. 2 big thumbs down to Comcast Cable. They seem to have difficulty honoring their appointments and to make matters worse, really do not care about making the customers happy....so a big fat raspberry to Comcast.

Big Congratulations to Angela Hackwell from Utah for winning a consult with Jennifer Nicole Lee! Jennifer is one of the best motivators and Angela is on her way to achieve her goals. We wish her the very best!

We had two great shows the past two weeks. We had Fred Muench, Director of research for www.StressErasser.com. Fred talked about the dangers of stress and gave some good tips on how breathing properly can help you relax. He shared lots of good information about the Stress Eraser (which is like a mini bio-feedback machine) and how it can help you coordinate your breathing with your heartbeat which helps you relax. The Fat Guy and I have each been using it for awhile now and we both love it also. Please go to their website and check it our for yourself www.stresseraser.com It is also available at Sharper Image, Sky Mall and a bunch of other high end catalogues. It is Super Cool!!!!

We also got to spend some quality time with Sarah Bellum...get it!!!! head trainer and professional Pillow Fighter. (I don't think that is her real name..it might have been because she seemed pretty smart) Sarah represents the Pillow Fight League. The Pillow Fight League has been sweeping Canada and has recently made it's way into the United States. Recently the league got banned from competing in New York because they violated a law that prohibits the use of weapons at various venues. The Fighters pillows were considered weapons. Sarah shared some of the pillow fighter techniques and training tips. She said that fighters do get hurt and this is not like the kind of pillow fights you had when you were a kid. To me the pillow fight league sounds like a cross between roller derby and the glamorous girls of wrestling. Check them out for yourself at their website www.gopfl.com They have dvds, t-shirts, and even pillow cases for sale there. You can also check out where they are competing next.

Andy Langberg, the professional athletes secret weapon, joined us this past Sunday. Andy developed a technique to treat athletes and regular folks who have normal aches and pains called Total Body Reactivation or TBR. This technique can improve your range of motion and helps get your body in a position to heal itself. Tiki Barber , ex New York Giant running back and current Today Show contributor says "I recommend that every athlete get on Andy's table." Andy works with athletes in every sport and has treatment centers in New York, NewJersey and soon to be in Florida. to learn more check out Andy Langberg's website www.reactivateme.com.

We also found out about this cool new website called www.ITrainHarder.com this site was developed by Harold E Smith III. He created it after trying other online training sites and combining all the best elements and getting rid of the lousy elements. ITrainHarder has a nutrition/food tracker as well as a training tracker. Harold said that they are working on demonstrations of the exercises as well as a message board/forum for additional support. Please check out his website www.itrainharder.com this is a solid and affordable online fitness program.

Once again, My favorite Calendar girl, Jennifer Nicole Lee, Queen of the bikini herself, joined us and is training hard for her upcoming Bikini Universe competition. She is also putting on a special Bikini Bootcamp for anyone who wants to stop dreaming about that perfect beach body and wants to have it. Jennifer also talked about her dvds, her hot!!! hot!!! hot!!! calendar as well as the personal consultation program she offers. Check out all things Jennifer at www.jennifernicolelee.com.

This week's guest is the legendary Jack Lalanne, my hero. jack is pushing 92 and is still fit as a fiddle. He was the original gym franchiser. We also have Jonny Bowden, PhD, C.N.S. is a nationally known expert on weight loss and nutrition and is a and the author of the best-selling “Living The Low Carb Life: Choosing the diet that’s right for you from Atkins to Zone”(Sterling Books, 2004) (winner of the Consumers Choice Award for Best Nutrition Book of 2004). His much anticipated new book, “The 150 Healthiest Foods on the Planet” (Fair Winds Press, Jan 2007) is already in it’s second printing and made the top 100 at Amazon within weeks of publication. He is the host of a popular call-in health show (“The New You Show”) on KLLI in Dallas/Fort Worth, and previously hosted the popular “Jonny Bowden Show: Your Body Your Health and Your Life!” in New York City.

So don't miss the show!!!!!

Imus Drank Too Much Caffeine?

Is Imus crazy? To make stupids comments about the college sports "powerhouse" Rutgers University, he must have overdosed on Caffeine. Here is some info from a recent article titled "Pros and Cons of the Caffeine Craze," by Kathleen Doheny.
Emerging Dangers
Caffeine abuse is an emerging problem, some experts say, especially as caffeine shows up in more products and in higher amounts. Soda sizes have gotten larger, the amount of caffeine in the so-called energy drinks has increased, and dietary supplements for weight loss often include caffeine

"Freakonomics" Stephen Dubner Gets To The "Heart" Of The Matter

Stephen Dubner's, co-author of the best selling book, "Freakonomics," makes some dead-on comments in response to recent information about how coronary stenting is no more effective typically than heart drugs, even though it is far more invasive, and far more profitable for the medical personnel involved. He writes:
An editorial in the current British Medical Journal makes a very sharp point that many of us have probably been thinking about in the last few weeks while reading the latest medical news in the papers:
It’s easy to feel contempt for deluded practitioners of the past who advocated bloodletting and tonsillectomies for all. Easy, that is, until one considers emerging evidence that coronary stenting and postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy may well be the contemporary equivalents of those now discredited practices.
This recent New York Times article tells of the compelling study which found that coronary stenting is typically no more effective than heart drugs, even though it is far more invasive — and, to be sure, profitable for the medical personnel involved.
Indeed, another article in the same issue of BMJ suggests that stenting is less common in Europe than in the U.S. mainly because “there have not been the same financial incentives to carry out some stenting.”
FWIW, we mentioned this subject briefly in Freakonomics:
If you were to assume that many experts use their information to your detriment, you’d be right. Experts depend on the fact that you don’t have the information they do. Or that you are so befuddled by the complexity of their operation that you wouldn’t know what to do with the information if you had it. Or that you are so in awe of their expertise that you wouldn’t dare challenge them. If your doctor suggests that you have angioplasty—even though some current research suggests that angioplasty does little to prevent heart attacks—you aren’t likely to think that the doctor is using his informational advantage to make a few thousand dollars for himself or his buddy. But as David Hillis, an interventional cardiologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, explained to the New York Times, a doctor may have the same economic incentives as a car salesman or a funeral director or a mutual-fund manager: “If you’re an invasive cardiologist and Joe Smith, the local internist, is sending you patients, and if you tell them they don’t need the procedure, pretty soon Joe Smith doesn’t send patients anymore.”
The BMJ editorial also asks a wise question. Perhaps some of you can offer an answer: “What other medical orthodoxies might join hormone replacement therapy and stenting on the ever-growing list of discredited interventions?”
I have one prediction: late-stage chemotherapy for many types of cancer.

Hey Rosie O, Check out "Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think"

What a show last night!!!! three wonderful guests....good times....And our lovely Kathie Larkin is back....and better than ever before!!!! The Fat Guy congratulated me (in his fat guy way) on getting engaged to my lovely girl, Nanci!!!! And to continue in the festive spirit of the evening we had on Dr. Brian Wansink, Author of the new great book "Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think," and Director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab. We also had on Gillian Verga, founder of http://www.weightcircles.com/, a wonderful free weight control support group, and fitness and yoga specialist and member of the HOT MOMS CLUB, Sara Holliday from the web site http://www.fitbysara.com/ .... and I gave out some more wonderful tips on things you can do today to lose weight tomorrow!
#1, take a fast food break. No more drivethru's for the rest of the month. #2, spring is a great time to clean out your pantry. Get rid of high calorie snacks and try some new recipes. And #3, break out that food journal again. Some bad habits have probably snuck back into your eating so write down what you are currently eating to see where you are at. Remember, if you are not assessing you are guessing. There were a couple more tips from Dr. Fitness, but you'll have to listen to the podcast or go to his blog to get the rest.

Our 1st guest, Dr. Brian Wansink was great...real funny and engaging! He had loads of info and practical advice from his new book Mindless Eating and you can go to his web site and sign up for the National Mindless Eating Challenge at www.MindlessEating.org. He has appeared all over the place including, the New York Times, MSNBC and now on an upcoming PBS special. His work was instrumental in the creation of all those 100 calorie snacks bags that are in your grocery store. He also invited our listeners to attend a very special FREE Consumer Camp being held at his lab on April 13-15. You can see firsthand how he does his groundbreaking research and hopefully you'll come away with a handle on controlling your snacking.

Next up was Gillian Verga, founder of http://www.weightcircles.com/ and she was great and really fired up about her web site and the success of social networking for weight loss. WeightCircles is a great new online community that helps people who want to lose weight keep it off. There are circles for seniors, for men, for women, for those who need to lose a lot of weight and for those who just need help maintaining the weight they have already lost. Please go to www.weightcircles.com and you can explore this website yourself. I'm sure you will find a circle to help you achieve your goals.

Lastly, we had Sara Holliday a yoga expert and a contributor to the Hot Moms Club. She was awesome trying to teach Dr. Fitness and The Fat Guy how to breath....good stuff!!! Sara has produced a series of yoga videos specifically for mothers to help them stay in shape during pregnancy and lose the weight and get in shape after the birth of their baby. She has the only yoga programs out there that are tailored to each trimester of pregnancy. And after you have your kid please check out her Postnatal total body toning video as well as her classic Stroller Workout for moms video. Go to her website to learn more about this amazing mom and all of her dvds at www.fitbysara.com

JNL to me, and Jennifer Nicole Lee to everyone, sent me her swimsuit calendar....All I can say is HOLY SMOKES!!!!! Our Hot Mom, Kathie Larkin, who body doubles for celebrities like Alyssa Milano, was even impressed with her tush!!!!! Not that there's anything wrong that!!! Seriously, Go check out JNL's Web Site and Bikini Booty Camp at http://www.jennifernicolelee.com/ She is awesome!!!!!

Don't forget to tune in this week to Dr. Fitness and The Fat Guy live on Sundays from 7 - 8 PM Eastern because we have more amazing guests like Matt Mullen with www.GoPFl.com, Dr. Fred Muench from the cool product that helps you reduce your stress with better breathing, The Stress Eraser, www.stresseraser.com, and Stanley Gravel with Polar USA (www.PolarUSA.com) and we are going to talk about their Heart rate Monitors built into clothing in conjuction with Adidas....Cool Cool Stuff!!!!

And if you want more of the latest health and fitness News, sign up for the newsletter at www.DrFitnessandTheFatGuy.com

Makers of Artificial Sweeteners Going Swingtown With Each Other!

Ladies and Gentlemen....In this corner, wearing yellow trunks and weighing in at a 1/2 gram.... Splenda....and in the opposite corner, wearing blue trunks, weighing in at svelte 1/4 gram....Equal. Merisant, the makers of Equal and McNeil Nutritionals, the makers of Splenda are scheduled to go before a jury in Federal District Court in Philadelphia. Apparently, The maker of Equal contends that Splenda has been misleading millions of consumers by fostering the notion, through television and print advertising, that Splenda is made from sugar and is natural. Splenda’s maker counters that the process to make the sweetener does indeed start with sugar.
I am not a big advocate of artificial sweeteners to begin with and I have read some interesting information regarding the effects of Aspartame on serotonin levels and for those of you who suffer from fibromyalgia or chronic migraines, I would strongly suggest you look into the relation. Here is some info that I came across. The Connection between Aspartame (Artificial Sweetener) and Panic Attacks, Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Memory Problems, and Other Mental Symptoms

Don't forget to listen to "Dr. Fitness and The Fat Guy" Every week live on Sundays 7-8 PM Eastern and Podcasted Monday Mornings and don't forget to sign up for our Newsletter packed with loads of info on health and fitness!!!!

Rosie and Bill O'Reilly Need More Cheeracise and Hypnotherapy!!!!

C'mon guys....lighten up already!!!! They both need a few more laughs so someone please send our show to them!!!! Sunday night was loads of fun with Dr. Fitness and The Fat Guy!!! We had some really cool guests this week including Celebrity Fit Club's Hypnotherapist, Marisa Peer, our friends Todd Regenbogen and hottie Kathlyne from Cheeracise, and the always entertaining Bob Fox who was promoting World Sport Stacking Championship. I also gave 5 more tips on things you can do today to lose weight tomorrow! Here are a few of my secrets...,(1) use props and smaller plates in order to really visualize what a proper portion size looks like. For example the meat portion of your meal should be no bigger than a deck of cards. (2) When you are eating...concentrate on your food, bite by bite. Eating slowly and chewing deliberately will help you feel full faster. (3) listen to your body. Pay attention for cues that you are full. And when you feel full - stop eating. Also don't eat if you are feeling full to begin with. There were a couple more tips but you'll have to listen to the podcast for the rest!!!!

Passover started Monday night and even though I love getting together with family and friends, the next eight days are going to suck, from an eating perspective. Talk about throw a wrench in your schedule!!!! No restaurants, no convenience and I really didn't prepare as I usually do. So I will be suffering this week eating lots of Matzoh coupled with lots of fruit!!!!

I joked with the Fat Guy on this Sunday's show about bringing me a "Venti" tea from Starbucks!! How about calling it just a small, medium, and large?

Our 1st guest on the show was Todd and Kathylne from Cheeracise and they were hysterical. Cheeracise is their company and they have dvds and a website www.cheeracise.com that teaches girls how to cheer like a pro cheerleader and also gives exercise DVD lovers a change of pace from their same old boring exercise routines with hot new cheerleader dance and fitness moves. Todd Regenbogen, the founder of Cheeracise and one of the original Cheeracise girls Kathlyne, talked to us and Todd shared with us how hard it was to weed out 800 hot professional cheerleaders. On their website, they have pictures of the Cheeracise ladies and my favorite was Summer!!!! The Fat Guy liked Winter, who happens to be a guy, but that's a different story!!!!!

I found our next guest while I was watching VH-1's Celebrity Fit Club. I forgot who Marisa Peer was counseling on the show about emotional eating but she was great and with her English accent, she had me at hello. I think it's because I grew up on watching a lot of 007 James Bond movies. She had a lot of great advice for our listeners and also touched upon how the artificial sweeteners reduce serotonin uptake levels which could impact hunger and mood and all sorts of things. She is also traveling around the U.S. starting in May called "Get Thin, Stay Thin", has a new book called "Think Yourself Thin Forever," and a new CD called "You Can Be Thin." She is super prolific and you can truly tell that she loves helping people sh check her out at www.marisapeer.com

Our last guest was our buddy Bob Fox from www.speedstacks.com He wanted to let our listeners know that the 2007 WSSA World Sport Stacking Championships will be held April 14-15 in Denver. Once again ESPN will be televising this great event. Go to Bob's website www.speedstacks.com for more info about sport stacking in general as well as links to the Championship event coming up. Bob's daughter who plays point guard for the University of Minnesota, is a World Champion as well as a couple more of his kids!!!! It's such a great sport for young kids and adults to work on hand-eye coordination and develop certain centers of the brain. I highly recommend it for all kids!!!!! so check it out at their website, www.speedstacks.com

We've got another great show this Sunday, April 8th with Brian Wansink, The Great Author of the book "Mindless Eating, Why We Eat More Than We Think", I can't wait to talk to him about this book!!!! Gillian Verga from www.weightcircles.com, a fabulous weight control support group, and straight from the "HOT MOM'S CLUB" Sara Holliday from www.fitbysara.com

Happy Pesach and A Happy Easter!!!!!