Lindsey Vonn gold rush

Lindsey Vonn, two-time world champion in skiing and the most successful American skier, male or female, came on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. This is part of a series of television appearances for the cute and accomplished skier, promoted by NBC in the run up to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada.

NBC is the televising network for the 2010 Winter Olympics, which will be shown from February 12 through to the 28th. Lindsey Vonn will be at the Aspen Winternational, also to be telecast on NBC at 3 pm on November 29. Lindsey Vonn looked beautiful in a designer dress on the show and handled herself, and Conan, like a seasoned celebrity. She thrilled O'Brien when she talked of racing at 150 mph in her Audi RS6 on the German Autobahn. Then Conan showed a clip of Lindsey's terrible crash at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. But Vonn took it in her stride and joked about Conan's accident a few weeks ago on the Tonight Show set. Few Americans follow skiing, and not many in the audience would have known that Lindsey Vonn added to her record title wins even after getting injured in Tarvisio, Italy this February.

This is not Lindsey's first appearance on the celebrity circuit. Last month the alpine skier was attending the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, wearing a Tory Burch dress. "It's really flattering that Tory Burch offered to dress me for the Emmys," said Vonn. "I'm sure like most girls, I love the chance to get dressed up and look my best, and the dress I'm wearing is gorgeous!"



Above, 5'10" tall Lindsey Vonn (right) with her sister Karin at the Emmy's wearing the Tory Burch dress. Lindsey is originally from Minnesota, but now lives with her husband Thomas Vonn in Utah, and skis mostly in Europe where she is very popular. Lindsey Vonn's facebook fan page has many European followers; the good thing is, that it is updated regularly and includes some of her healthy cooking recipes!

Although she told Conan O'Brien that in skiing the overall world championship is more important than the Olympics, Lindsey Vonn will embark on a gold rush in Vancouver next year. "Obviously, my life goal is to win a gold medal," she told the LA Times earlier.



Following her success in Alpine Skiing over the years, Lindsey Vonn has the backing of a number of sponsors like Red Bull, Uvex, and Audi. Recently she changed her skiing manufacturer from French company Rossignol to the Austrian company Head. "I definitely haven't lost anything. The equipment is working really well and if anything I think I'm skiing much better," said Vonn. During her off season, Lindsey keeps fit through weight training and riding a stationary bike. She also enjoys riding bicycles on the road and playing tennis and golf. Vonn says that her favorite food is Kaiserschmaren, an Austrian dessert.

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Breakfast cereals sugar and salt

Breakfast cereals are very popular in Britain and are generally healthy, because they contain high-fiber carbohydrates, proteins, unsaturated fat, vitamins and minerals. Childhood obesity is on the rise in the country and healthy cereals are being marketed to children as an alternative to fast food and unhealthy snacks. But the intense competition among cereal manufacturers for this market has lead to healthy cereals being coated with sugary treats like chocolate and honey to attract children. And this sugar is always refined. Another white poison, refined salt, is added as a preservative during the manufacturing process.

Unsuspecting parents give in to their child's taste buds and purchase sugary cereals because of the health claims made by cereal manufacturers. Some cereals are marketed as being good for 'growing bones', others claim to be 'fortified with vitamins and iron', and Kellogg’s Bran Flakes takes the prize for false assertions when it claims to 'enhance heart health, keep nervous and immune systems working and support concentration levels'. But many of these are high in sugar and salt, for example Sugar Puffs, which claims to maintain healthy skin and eyes, has 10.5g of sugar in every 30g of cereal!



Image from the Daily Mail depicting the cereals high in sugar content. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) defines high sugar content as being 10g per 100g! And these cereals have more than three times that limit. High salt content is defined by the FSA as being 0.5g of sodium per 100g. The FSA also says that anyone over the age of 11 should not consume more than 6g of salt a day.

Traditional porridge, made from oats nuts and other cereals, may be a little cumbersome to obtain and prepare, but does not have the added health risks of refined sugar and salt.

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Marisa Miller fighting fit

Marisa Miller gets to wear the fantasy bra in this year's Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Designed by Italian jewelry house Damiani, the 2009 Harlequin Fantasy bra is hand set with over 2,350 white, champagne and cognac-colored diamonds in a harlequin pattern. The bra is accentuated with a heart-shaped 16-carat champagne diamond pendant. The 2009 Harlequin Fantasy bra can be worn in five ways: strapless, halter, crossback, one-strap or classic. It has a total carat weight of 150 carats and sells for $3 million. The bra will be on display during the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show on December 1 on CBS.

Last year's fantasy bra was worn by Adriana Lima. Here a backstage photo of Marisa Miller fitting into the fantasy bra as she is prepped for the photo shoot:



Marisa told People magazine, "It is an enormous honor to wear the Fantasy bra. It’s one of the main features in the Fashion Show every year and I’m so excited to walk the runway in it." And hectic promotions for the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show are on, with the opening of many new stores. Below Marisa Miller with the fighting men of the US army at the opening of the VS store in Honolulu:



And in conjunction with the opening of a new Victoria's Secret store in Chicago, Marisa Miller presented Derrick Rose with a Bulls jersey that had "SEXY" and "1" written on the back, naming him Chicago's sexiest athlete. Marisa Miller is herself an athletic model, into sports and working out.



Marisa Miller trying out the Jukari exercise equipment at New York's Reebok gym. Marisa is an avid surfer who seeks variety for her workout programs: "I box a lot, I spin and I surf," says Miller. "I try to mix it up. I obviously have to be in shape 24 hours and the gym can be super monotonous, so I just get outside and try to make it fun so my body doesn't get bored." Marisa also uses resistance bands for strength training because, "I want to keep my curves but look toned. I want things to bounce but not jiggle."



Marisa Miller has her beauty insecurities, like fighting acne and dry skin, specially with winter looming ahead. She says, "When you have that glow and you're moisturized the light hits you in a different way. Especially after winter we have really dry skin it's important to exfoliate, moisturize and do a self-tanner."

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Essential omega oils are NOT fat

Fat is a four letter word in our popular culture and used in the fashion industry for any girl who is not size zero. Fat is an adjective (I am a fat person), a noun (I have lots of fat in my body), and a verb (I am fattening by the day). Chemically fat is a long carbon molecule with hydrogen molecules attached, which is lighter than muscle and does not dissolve in water. In medical and biological terms the basic building blocks of fat are omega oils, also known as essential fatty acids. These omega oils are essential requirements for many body functions, but most young people are not as aware of them, as they are of proteins and carbohydrates, because the same word "fat" is used everywhere.

Carbohydrates turn to energy and protein into muscle, but fat is stored as fat. And because the word fat has such a negative meaning in popular culture, there is no use talking of good fat (unsaturated) or subcutaneous fat (under the skin) as opposed to bad fat (saturated) and visceral fat (excess fat stored in the body). We should stop referring to the essential omega oils in our diet as "fat", because they are beneficial for our body in these ways:

• Omega oils lubricate our joints
• Keep our skin supple and glowing
• Help in the absorption and transportation of hormones and vitamins
• Insulate the body in winter
• Act as shock absorbers for the body and for the internal organs.

Omega oils are very essential for women because of reproduction, and the ideal percentage of fatty acids in a woman's body is between 19-26 per cent of body weight. We don't need more of these oils, because when unused they are stored in the body and cause obesity and the related health problems. "We need about 1 percent of our diet to come from fat. However, we eat 20, 30, 40 times that amount," says Dr. James Shoemaker of St. Louis University School of Medicine, who has a doctorate degree in nutrition.

The human body is today largely protected from the severe cold of winter, and modern human beings cover up and take care of their skins from the vagaries of weather, and we are less outdoorsy and active than ever. So while we need less oils in our diet, the traditional food habits and recipes, which came up in very different times, contain excess amounts of these oils. We don't, for example, need to eat meat as much as our ancestors did. And meat is bad for us because it has so much solid saturated fat and takes so long to digest. The liver manufactures the only cholesterol you need, which is HDL or good cholesterol, but if you keep eating excess amounts of meat, egg, or cheese, all that is converted into LDL or bad cholesterol.

The healthiest source of essential omega oils (Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids) are grains and vegetables, like sunflower oil, flax seed oil, walnut oil, safflower oil, and olive oil. Other good sources of Omega 3 are seafood like mackerel, herring, salmon, tuna, and shellfish. Many people who want to eat healthy, and follow a mostly vegetarian or vegan diet, try and eat some fish to get these essential omega oils like Olivia Wilde.

Other sources of fat

Even for those who follow a meat-free diet, fat is a bad word, but in their bodies it does not come from the minute amounts of omega oils in their grains and vegetables....but from eating too many carbohydrates! Like breakfast cereals, chips, desserts, sauces, ice creams, etc. Any excess carbs not used by the body are converted into fat. This is another reason why the good omega oils in the diet should not be confused with the fat in the human body, which comes from many sources.

The fashion world goes to the extremes of calling a model, with just a hint of curves, fat like Behati Prinsloo (above) was. Recently the 5'10" tall Ralph Lauren model, Filippa Hamilton, who weighs 120 pounds and wears size 4 says she was fired by Ralph Lauren for being "fat". Popular media finds a hint of cellulite on a girl and screams FAT, as happened with Karolina Kurkova and Mischa Barton. If we want girls to eat well and stay healthy we should never use the word "fat" for the essential omega oils in our diet.

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Alicia Silverstone vegan

Alicia Silverstone turned vegan in 1998 and says, "It transformed my life. My hair, my skin, my body—everything improved. Plus I have more energy." Now in her new book, The Kind Diet, Alicia Silverstone has turned her vegan diet into a vegan philosophy. In an interview with The Daily Green Silverstone says, "Eating 'Kind' is about being really, really good to yourself and the planet via the foods you put into your body. A plant-based diet filled with whole and organic foods will give you tons of energy, mental clarity, gorgeous skin and a zest for life. But this kindness also extends to the earth itself. Adopting a plant-based diet is one of the most impactful ways to help heal the planet. By requiring less fuel, water and other resources, a plant-based diet is much lighter on the planet. And because it is clean, this diet helps our soil, water and atmosphere get healthy as well."



The book has many recipes for a vegan diet, rich in grains and vegetables, and includes some select desserts like pecan pie. Alicia Silverstone does Yoga for her body, but she also incorporates other physical activity in her fitness routine. The 32-year old actress goes for long walks with her dogs, does gardening, and jumps on the trampoline. Alicia told Shape magazine, "It turns out that jumping is really good for your circulation, and you get great ab muscles from it. Plus it really makes me laugh."

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Muscle memory in sport and workouts

You never forget how to ride a bike, or how to swim. Your body just remembers how to swing a tennis racquet or dribble a hockey ball. In sport they call it "muscle memory" and many scientists agree with the concept. The scientific term for muscle memory is neuromuscular facilitation, or motor skills. The brain sends electronic signals through the motor nerves to activate the muscles. But when that movement or skill is repeated over and over again, till it becomes second nature, muscle memory takes over. Now that movement or activity is carried out with greater speed and efficiency. The electric signals, or nerve impulses, are still traveling the same path to the muscle but much faster, so that you carry out the movement without thinking. The skills are programmed in your muscle memory.

When an athlete stops playing a sport after a certain age, he or she still retains the motor skills to execute those movements after a gap of many years. So how long does it take the body to acquire muscle memory, and how long to lose it?

Scientists say that such time periods vary greatly in different people. Naturally gifted athletes take less time to acquire motor skills, and retain them for a longer time, than non-athletes. But muscle memory is important not only in sport and outdoor physical activity. Driving a car, playing video games, or typing on a keyboard all require muscle memory. When you first learn typing, you cannot type a single word without looking down at the keyboard. But as you practice and practice and practice, the location of the keys becomes programmed in your muscle memory, and you can type without looking down at the keyboard.

Muscle memory works differently in workouts. Many of us exercise to change the way we look, hoping to alter the shape, strength, and size of our muscles, and burning away fat. But over time the same workout is performed with greater efficiency by the targeted muscles; each movement is anticipated because of muscle memory and there is less change in those muscles. Such people are advised to change their workouts at least thrice in a year.

If you workout for health, then muscle memory is not a concern. A person will get benefits from walking even if they've been walking the same distance, or for the same period of time, for years and years. And Yoga is useful for flexibility, pain relief, and peace of mind, even if you've been doing it all your life. Because here you are not trying to challenge the muscles to change their shape.



But even if you stop a workout, try a new one, and then go back to the old one, muscle memory does not disappear in such a short time. Actress Jessica Biel said in an interview: "I'm trying Yoga now. I work out maybe three times a week. My problem is I get really built and it gets to be too much. I think it's from the muscle memory of all the training I've done as an athlete growing up. It's my fault -- I push myself. I can't go in there and do five-pound weights and go woo hoo! I just can't. I really go for it."

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Free alcohol for Chlamydia tests

The National Union of Students has a countrywide scheme in which students who agree to take sexual health tests are given tokens which can be exchanged for alcoholic drinks. The scheme comes as chlamydia emerged as the most common sexually transmitted infection in the UK accounting for 121,000 cases last year, with two-thirds among 16 to 24-year-olds.
Daily Mail
The NUS promoted the idea to universities across the country as part of its Sexual Health Advice and Guidance campaign aimed at new undergraduates. Student unions in London, Manchester and Birmingham have already carried out the incentive scheme. On Thursday City University in London offered free alcohol to students who completed chlamydia tests, provided free by the Brook Advisory Centre charity.

But the Daily Mail has learnt that some students have been taking advantage of the scheme by pouring beer into sample vials and giving out false names and addresses to get more than one free drink. One female student said: "There were loads of people who headed down there when they worked out there was free booze on offer. They weren't interested in getting tested to see if they had a serious health problem, just how quick they could get drunk."

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Ashley Greene athletic body

Ashley Greene has an athletic body and is getting paid to stay in shape!



Taylor Lautner is not the only Twilight vampire with amazing abs. Ashley Greene shows off her abdominal muscles at a hotel pool in Italy this May. While Ashley has an athletic body, she doesn't get to show it off in Twilight, though this may change in the upcoming installments. She's been getting into serious shape for her intense fighting scenes in Eclipse. "Oh, it's so hard, but I know I'm going to love it in three months," Ashley said. "I usually do Pilates. But I worked with an amazing trainer who really catered my workouts to what I like to do. He'd say, you like to go kayaking? Let's go kayaking."



Ashley Greene surfing in a wetsuit at Carpinteria State Beach. She was taking part in the Oakley Learn to Ride Surf Camp, sponsored by bodybuilding brand 'Muscle Milk' from Cytosport, this July.

The young actress, who did some modeling and bit parts before landing the role of Alice Cullen, says that Twilight has changed many other aspects of her life. Greene's natural hair is long and thick; she is made to wear a wig for the movie. Earlier this year Ashley got herself a bob, "I cut it to make my hair fit under my wig properly. I didn't have to go quite so short but I figured it's the only time I would ever do it."



Ashley Greene wearing a black Signorelli tank and Converse sneakers for Buy Hollywood. "She's friends with the humans and her skin glitters when she's in the sun," says Ashley of her character, Alice, and all the makeup that goes on her. "I have a big issue with under eye dark circles. I feel like I wouldn't have to wear makeup if those were gone. On set is when I notice them most." She says her must have makeup products for her skin are Borba and Dermalogica. "I love Matrix sleek products for my hair - they work very well for me. Rose bud lip gloss is the best. YSL has a great illuminating concealer. Shiseido you can't go wrong with either....their tinted moisturizer is great."

Ashley was studying at Wolfson High School in Jacksonville, Florida, when she decided to drop her studies and try to become an actress. "I skipped my senior prom to move to California, but I went the year before with my high school sweetheart. My dress was a little low-cut, so my parents wouldn't buy it for me and I had to pay for it myself. I'm actually working with a charity called 'Donate My Dress'. I've held onto my prom dress for so many years, but I can't wait to share the feeling that it created when I put it on with another girl."



The 5'5" tall Ashley Greene tries her hand at some lacrosse in her upcoming movie Warrior. Of her own high school experience Ashley told Nylon magazine: "I was never the party kid. I didn't have a boyfriend until I was 16. I had the same boyfriend-who I thought I was gonna marry-until I moved out here. I studied, played my sports, went home."

But when she came over to LA, Ashley cut loose, a bit too much: "You're 17. There are no adults. It's LA. And so I went through this stage where I would just go out, not be responsible, not focus on work or class...." But she's now wised up and says that there is no time for boys or partying. "I will work until I'm secure in this world." Ashley Greene's constant companion is Marlow, a Toy Fox Terrier, "I cuddle with my dog. My dog, I would say, is the man in my life."



Ashley Greene in a bikini at age 19, proving that she had an athletic body before Twilight. Some of that may have come from her passion for tae kwan do, in which she won awards: "I was such a little tomboy. Eventually I was like, Fighting girls is boring——can't I just fight the boys?" Ashley Greene also took acting and dance classes, and was a competitive cheerleader, part of an all star squad.

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Christina Applegate ambassador

All this month football fields across the United States will have players sporting the color pink, on their jerseys, caps, towels, gloves, and patches. October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and the National Football League (NFL) is playing a part in spreading awareness for this disease. Their campaign titled "A Crucial Catch", is in league with the American Cancer Society and teams will auction off football gear and clothing to raise funds.

In another development for Breast Cancer Awareness month, Christina Applegate has been named the 2009 ambassador for Lee National Denim Day, one of America's largest single-day fundraisers for breast cancer, benefiting the Women's Cancer Programs of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF). "Lee National Denim Day is such an effective grassroots campaign and its importance has become even more real to me in this past year," said Applegate. "By joining together on October 2, we can raise millions to support breast cancer research. It's so simple and so powerful. I truly believe that events like this help save lives." Christina is the first ambassador to be named for the second year running and the first to be a breast cancer survivor.



Christina Applegate (left), wearing a patterned jacket over slim-fit Lee jeans, is applauded by breast cancer survivors Lorri Hunt(center) and Liz Romano at a Denim Day event Friday afternoon in the Power & Light District in Kansas.

Christina Applegate underwent a double mastectomy last year and told the Kansas City newspaper: "Having had this happen to me was my opportunity to help people. If I would have just pulled the covers over my head, then this didn't have a purpose, and I like to think everything that happens in your life has a purpose and a reason. My reason was to start (the foundation) Right Action for Women and to bring a younger face and awareness to the disease." Applegate, with the help of 10 local breast cancer survivors, raised $4.5 million bringing the total money ever raised for Lee National Denim Day to about $80 million.

Other celebs taking part in the campaign include Fergie, Ashley Tisdale, Heidi Klum, Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi, Carrie Ann Inaba and Gabrielle Union.



Christina Applegate at Variety's 1st Annual Power of Women Luncheon last month. The Samantha Who star is wearing a green Christian Dior Pre-Fall 2009 pencil skirt and blouse, paired with nude strappy sandals and a nude clutch.

Christina Applegate got the condition because her mother also had breast cancer. And early detection helped her survive: "I'm alive because of an MRI," she told the Power & Light audience in Kansas. She also underwent breast reconstruction surgery and appears on the cover of October Women’s Health Magazine, wearing a tank top with no bra. Christina is a vegetarian and eats macrobiotic food. "I have a chef that cooks me all my macrobiotic food," Cristina told Wonderwall at the the Feeding America charity event in Los Angeles on Sept. 29. "All I have in my fridge is my macrobiotic food. I don't have much else."

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Menstrual Period: asking questions

A strange mix of shame and shyness seems to grip some women when they need to be open and asking questions about their menstrual periods. We live in the 21st century and a girl's first period is nothing traumatic; most of us know about periods and read up on menstruation before we hit puberty. But to state some facts: when you menstruate, your body is shedding the lining of the uterus, and the menstrual blood flows from the uterus through the small opening in the cervix, and passes out of the body through the vagina. Most menstrual periods last from three to five days.

Menstruation begins with puberty, the development of breasts, pubic hair and the lot....it is a sign of dawning womanhood. The ovaries make eggs, which pass to the uterus, and if not fertilized by sperm are released in the menstrual period with the thick, bloody lining that has built up in the uterus. But in some girls periods may come as early as the age of nine, when the other indicators of puberty have not set in. Other girls can get their periods fairly late like supermodel Tyra Banks:



Tyra Banks' yearbook photo; she revealed on the Tyra Banks Show that she got her first period in 11th grade at age 16. Tyra should be applauded for speaking publicly about her menstrual period and encouraging other women to come forward and share their experiences. And these experiences can be very different in the vast female population.

Menstrual periods have a cycle of 28 days (from the first day of the first period to the first day of the next) but some girls have a shorter cycle of 3 weeks. Only about 50 - 100 ml of blood is discharged but in many women the flow is heavier and is some others it is lighter. The color of the blood can also vary from red to dark brown.

Pads and Tampons

Most girls start out using pads to absorb the menstrual blood; these are worn inside the underwear and wrap around the vagina. They are also called sanitary pads, sanitary towels or napkins. There are different sized pads for heavier and lighter flows of menstrual blood. To prevent smell and infections, pads should be changed every 3 to 4 hours, but most women make do with longer periods.

Pads are easy to use, simple to dispose off, and it's easy to remember when to change them. Usually pads are comfortable, but can be a problem in hot and sticky weather when the sweat builds up in the crotch area.

Tampons are little cylinders of absorbent material inserted inside the vagina to soak up the menstrual blood. They come with a string, which dangles outside, so they can be pulled out when it's time to change. Tampons are useful in giving freedom of movement for girls in athletic events, sports, and swimming. But it takes time to get comfortable with them and learning how to insert them properly. Some women don't like the idea of the string dangling there and getting wet with urine.

There are two big fears about tampons; if they stay too long inside the vagina, completely soaked in the discharged blood teeming with bacteria, you may develop toxic shock syndrome (TSS). The other fear with tampons is that they may get lost inside the reproductive system! This never happens because the opening of the uterus is too tiny for a tampon; usually if the string breaks the tampon just stays lodged in the vagina and can be removed by a doctor or gynecologist.

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