H.E.A.T. Blog

Wow! What a great time I had in L.A. this past week! I was fortunate to get the opportunity to do a private training session with Jackie Warner from Bravo's hit show, "Work Out." I arrived about an hour early to make sure I didn't disappoint my trainer and did the stupidest thing possible -- ran on the treadmill and did a ton of push-ups. (I felt the need to pop out a little for our initial meeting.) 

Once she arrived, we got straight to the workout: a four-drill circuit that was to bring me to total muscle failure. Round 1 went fairly ok; during round 2, I started to regret my warm-up; by round 3, she was doing most of the work ... ha ha. From there, we ramped it up to another four-drill circuit, which totally and completely kicked my ass! (Don't worry, all the campers will get to endure the same workout.) Let's just say I’m still sore from last Thursday.

Getting to the good part ... throughout our workout, we talked about her new show, "Thintervention," and her upcoming book. It was so great to learn about her training style and philosophies about health and wellness. We found common ground with the mind-body connection and discussed how she took her training to a new level by incorporating counseling into her Sky Lab business.  She has also moved her training to the SLS Hotel, and I was honored to be one of the first to train with her in the new gym. Seriously, she was still trying to figure out where everything was while we were training. We ended our time with a big hug, and I promised I would be back on my next trip! What a great experience! :)

Check out this hilarious video -- introducing yogaboarding!

Y'all be good while I'm gone, or I'll have to make this a Saturday workout. ;P

Looks like the flu is making its rounds again. Ugh! Wanna protect yourself from getting sick? As long as you're still feeling well right now, one of the best ways to stay that way is to exercise. According to medical experts, regular workouts may help fight off colds and flu, as well as reduce the risk of certain cancers and chronic diseases!

"Physical activity has long been known to bestow such benefits as helping to maintain a healthy weight and reduce stress, not to mention tightening those abs," The Wall Street Journal reports. "Now, a growing body of research is showing that regular exercise -- as simple as a brisk 30- to 45-minute walk five times a week -- can boost the body's immune system, increasing the circulation of natural killer cells that fight off viruses and bacteria. And exercise has been shown to improve the body's response to the influenza vaccine, making it more effective at keeping the virus at bay."

Yep, that means you're doing something right! So when all your couch potato friends come down with that pig flu and you're still goin' strong, you'll know (one of the reasons) why! {Read the rest}

Hey gang, check out this incredibly inspiring story about two identical twins. One was diagnosed with diabetes, practically guaranteeing that his brother would get it, too.

But 14 years later, Tim still does not have diabetes. And he doesn't take any medicine to keep his blood sugar down. Instead, he has been able to make small changes to his eating habits and exercise to keep diabetes at bay. And he isn't alone -- a large national study conducted at 27 sites around the country, including Massachusetts General Hospital, found that small lifestyle changes are far more successful at warding off diabetes than a drug.

{Read the rest}