The cast of the newest season of Dancing with the Stars has been announced. Although Bristol Palin will not be replaced by former Delaware Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell, it will feature boxer Sugar Ray Leonard, wrestler Chris Jericho, and Playboy Bunny and reality TV personality Kendra Wilkinson.
Kirstie Alley will also be among the show’s performers, and she says she has modest expectations. Her goal, for herself and fellow contestants is to “try not to fall on our butts the first week out. That’s what I’m going for.” Kirstie Alley is no stranger to reality TV after starring in Kirstie Alley’s Big Life on A&E.
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Teresa Scanlan is the newest Miss America. She is also the youngest woman, at 17 years of age, to win this title since 1938 when an age limit was implemented for the pageant. Joy Behar, one of the judges of the pageant, commented on Scanlan’s “cute” bikini body that was a completely “cellulite-free zone.”
So, what are the diet secrets this beautiful young woman uses to stay in such great shape? Surprisingly, she does not use any “beauty tricks,” but instead relies on moderation, an active lifestyle, and her age to stay in shape.
A younger person will have a more active metabolism than an older person because a person’s metabolism slows down with age. This decline usually starts between ages 25 and 30 for women. Constantly putting your body through fad diets and extreme dieting can also slow your natural metabolism.
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When you think fitness, what comes to mind – fun or drudgery and effort? Do you imagine dragging yourself to the gym, dreading every work out? Do you make up ways to avoid getting it done? Are you tired of using the same equipment over and over?
Fitness doesn’t have to be an effort. You don’t have to dread the cardio equipment and fear the weights. Boredom is one of the top reasons that those who begin a fitness effort stop. If you’ve just begun your fitness journey, take heart. It doesn’t have to be this way. There are plenty of fun activities that do double duty, getting your heart rate up while being enjoyable. A workout that teaches a new skill can build self confidence, and the reality that you are improving in your new area of study makes you more apt to stick with it.
“Exercise doesn’t have to be boring,” says Shawn M. Arent, director of the Human Performance Lab at Rutgers University in New Jersey. “It can be fun and addictive in a good way.”
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Actress Natalie Portman portrays a prima ballerina in the upcoming film Black Swan, and she was determined to look the part. “[Natalie] took [the role] very seriously,” said director Darren Aronofsky. “These dancers get really, really skinny.”
Natalie took her diet and workouts to such an extreme that Darren began to worry about her. “At a certain point I looked at her back and she was so skinny and so cut — I was like, ‘Natalie, start eating,’” Darren told Access Hollywood. “I made sure she had a bunch of food in her trailer.”
The 29-year-old actress said she’s glad to be done with the filming, so that she can go back to her normal eating habits. Portman is a vocal supporter of vegetarianism, and indulged in pasta when shooting ended. “It was pretty immediate. I was ready to leave the ballet life,” she said. “I was like, ‘Please don’t let there be re-shoots for this [film] because I don’t think I could get back into the costumes!’”
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Despite the fact that I’ve been teaching group exercise for close to 10 years now, I am not always the most gifted when it comes to coordination and dance skills. Sure, I can do the basic step-touch or even a mamba here or there, but when you start asking me to do one thing with my feet, another with my hips and something entirely different with my arms, my eyes cross and my body simply does not compute.
I recently decided to try a new dance exercise class: BodyJam by Les Mills. Just like any group exercise class, there was a bit of a learning curve, but I really enjoyed it. With high-energy music that makes you want to move and a variety of dance formats — salsa, hip hop, jazz, contemporary and even some rock ‘n’ roll moves — there were a few parts during the class that I felt like I actually “got” it. Other times, not so much, but the instructor had a fabulous way of breaking down even the most complicated moves to easy-to-do steps. At one point, I looked in the mirror and couldn’t believe that I was moving my arms up and down, while shaking my hips and turning my knees in and out! It was a group-fitness miracle.
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