Before you start your Memorial festivities, take some healthy news and Memorial dishes from DIR and our friends.

Mike Crooks Joined a Gym and Lost 133 Pounds 

Mike Crooks is a 24-year-old nurse in Florida. Mike had been overweight most of his life, and weighed 377 pounds. He signed up for a membership at a local gym and seven months later Mike dropped down to 204 pounds.

The Glow Run 5K Will Light up the Plains this Summer 

The Glow Run 5K is making its way to the plains. The run will take place at night and runners are encouraged to wear as many glow-in-the-dark items as they want. The event is described as running through a sixty-foot black light tunnel and laser light shows. DIR friends in the Midwest sign up fast, Glow Run 5K will take place in Kansas City, Wichita, and Omaha.

How to Get Your Refund From the $40 Million Skechers Lawsuit 

Looks like Skechers made some false claims about its Shape-Ups. If you purchased Skechers Shape-Ups after August 1, 2008 you may be entitled to a refund from the company. Skechers agreed to pay $40 million to settle the lawsuit. The amount you’ll receive from Skechers depends on the type of shoe and amount of shoes you’ve purchased.
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By Sarah Shultz

Singer Kelly Clarkson, brought to stardom by winning “American Idol,” is once again the subject of celebrity gossip because of her recent weight loss. The 30-year-old recently appeared at the Billboard Music Awards showing off a new, trim figure. Clarkson credits her trainer for helping her slim down about 20 pounds. She says her trainer makes exercise fun, and they schedule a variety of activities, like hiking, to keep things interesting. Clarkson calls her “Chuck Nora” because of her hardcore, G.I.-Jane-like persona. She also said she has been eating healthier to help shed weight. Overall, though, Clarkson says that she exercises as a stress reliever.

New events in the singer’s life have prompted her most recent exercise and diet regimen. She recently began dating Brandon Blackstock, Reba McIntire’s stepson, and says that spurred her desire to be healthier. In an interview, she said she likes being toned when she is in a relationship. In fact, they use the same trainer – but they don’t work out together. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, “We did that once and I didn’t like huffing and puffing. I didn’t like looking all red and gross.” She is also beginning a new reality TV show, “Duets,” which will feature her singing on stage every week along with an amateur singer.
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It’s been said that a creative life is a healthy life, but how many people actually achieve that? Pursuing our passions can be difficult, but recent research shows that it’s a worthwhile endeavor because it’s good for our health.

Evidence that creative minds are healthy minds is popping up left and right, saying that the act of creating gives us a sense of happiness, can help lessen anxiety, and even make us more resilient and capable of problem solving.

But one of the greatest obstacles in actually following through with the things we’re passionate about is our jobs.

Studies have shown that work stress is killing us, and not just creatively, but also when it comes to our health. This is because workplace stress doesn’t just stay at work; it follows us home and affects our sleep, causes weight gain and elevated glucose levels, and can even promote upper respiratory infections and cardiovascular disease.
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Paul Deen, the Food Network’s southern belle, is speaking out about her new diet, dropping two dress sizes, and how she’s coping with Type-2 diabetes.

On a recent episode of ‘The View‘, the star opened up about how she’s altered her diet and managed to lose 30 pounds. The episode titled “The Fat Show,” was looking at the rising obesity rates in America, and saw Deen as a key guest.

When asked how she views her diabetes in light of her love of cooking with butter- and sugar-laden foods, Deen pointed to some scientific evidence for comfort.

“Studies have shown that there’s no one food that causes diabetes. What causes Type-2 diabetes is being overweight,” she said. “There’s a good chance if you’re overweight that you’ll become diabetic or pre-diabetic.”
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It’s obvious when talking to someone who’s an elite athlete as compared to someone who can barely run a mile, that there’s a difference in mindset and basic pain threshold. Up until recently, most people assumed this was a genetic trait; and it may still be in slight. But scientists now believe there might be something more revealing about the athlete’s ability to cope with pain.

In a recent study published in the journal Pain, scientists found that most athletes’ high pain tolerance while exercising may also help them deal with pain when they’re not exercising.

The study, which took place at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, found that athletes can tolerate more pain than their non-athletic friends. And this is because regular physical activity can alter the way a person – marathoner and couch potato alike – can perceive and tolerate pain.

To conduct the study, researchers analyzed 15 separate studies which compared the pain thresholds of very active and non-active individuals. What they found was athletes – especially elite level, endurance athletes – consistently seemed more capable of dealing with pain as compared to non-athletes.
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