Men's health blog

GET YOUR BODY MOVING: FRIENDS HELP FRIENDS LOSE
In 1994, Anita Beattie’s doctor gave her a harsh ultimatum: “Lose weight or don’t come back to see me, because you’re wasting my time and your money.”
His words stung, but Anita knew that her doctor was right. She weighed 157 pounds and she also had diabetes

GET YOUR BODY MOVING: MOTHER NATURE GOT HIM IN SHAPE
John Bradley always loved being outdoors. As a youngster growing up in northern Maine, he spent many more summer nights sleeping outside than in. His days were filled with work on his family’s potato farm, fishing, swimming, canoeing, and hiking in the woods.
Now age 45, John still finds joy in the great outdoors. It not only relaxes him but it also helped him lose 30 pounds.
John, who ran his own farm for more than 20 years before becoming a student at the University of Maine, had a weight problem | for most of his life. He ate too much of the wrong kinds of foods, and despite his active lifestyle, it showed.
“My family always kept a lot of sweets around the house,” he says. “And I had a special fondness for french fries and Coke. I drank Coke all the time.”
Every now and then, John would diet and lose some weight, only to regain it. By age 40, he reached 220 pounds. “I realized that slimming down wouldn’t get any easier as I got older,” he says. “And I knew that I’d be a lot healthier without the extra pounds. So I made up my mind to get rid of them for good.”
John paid more attention to his food intake, eliminating fried foods, desserts, and high-calorie snacks. He kept an eye on his portion sizes, too. For exercise, he began doing situps, working up to 100, five times per week. But what really made a difference, he says, were his nightly nature walks.
Every evening after dinner, John, sometimes accompanied by his wife, would step out his backdoor and head for the old logging roads that cut through his 270-acre farm. He’d wander the roads for an hour, sometimes two, observing nature in all her glory. He’d spy bears and their cubs; coyotes; moose; and deer. “Even when I walked alone, it was never lonely,” he says. “I might see muskrats or beavers or trout in my stream. But I knew I’d almost always see something.”
John so enjoyed his nature walks that he never really thought of them as exercise. Yet in combination with his improved eating habits and his sit up regimen, they got him down to a healthy 190 pounds in about 6 months. He’s been holding steady since 1996.
“If I wasn’t active, I’d gain weight quickly,” John says. “But the exercise that I do is a pleasure. I’m always glad to get outdoors. It’s where I feel best. It’s the place where I most love to be.”
WINNING ACTION
Pursue your exercise through your passion. One of the best ways to stick with your exercise routine is to find an activity that you look forward to. If the traditional choices such as running, biking, and swimming don’t interest you, ask yourself what does. Bird watching? People watching? Karate Swing dancing? Anything that gets you moving can help you slim down and shape up.
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GET YOUR BODY MOVING: SHE FOUND HER MOTIVATION IN CYBERSPACE
Stephanie Caviness wanted to slim down. But the 33-year-old Jersey City, New Jersey, woman had a hard time sticking with an exercise routine. So she turned to her computer for help, and she ended up losing 23 pounds.
For Stephanie, exercise was nothing new. She had tried it several times in the past as a way of getting in shape. “I had been gaining weight ever since I was in college,” she recalls. “I wanted to look better and feel better. But every time I started an exercise program, I’d lose interest. Eventually, I’d abandon my workouts.”
By 1998, Stephanie weighed 173 pounds. “I’m 5 foot 9, so I wasn’t really obese,” she says. “But I was having problems with my heart

FENCING BROKE DOWN HIS FITNESS BARRIER
At the tender age of 21, Dan Collins was so overweight and out of shape that his doctor feared he was killing himself.
“I was 5 foot 10′/2 and weighed 239 pounds,” he says. “I was diagnosed with high blood pressure, and my doctor was concerned enough to put me on medication.”
That was in 1984. Rather than sit back and let medications take control of his life, the young newspaper reporter from Towson, Maryland, embarked on a complete body makeover. He cut the salt in his diet way down, put the brakes on his runaway eating habits, and began walking and stationary cycling regularly.
Two years later, Dan had his blood pressure under control and was down to a lean 182 pounds. He felt and looked great but was afraid that he was entering an exercise slump. “I didn’t mind the walking and other exercises, but I really wanted a different kind of sport that I could really get into,” he says. “I knew that was important if I was going to keep the weight off for good.”
For Dan, that sport was fencing. While not as chic as aerobics a la Jane Fonda was in 1986, fencing really piqued his interest because it is both physically and mentally demanding. Working up a sweat was fun and exciting each time he picked up his foil and donned his mask and protective vest. “People don’t realize that a good fencer needs both aerobic and anaerobic conditioning as well as a sense of strategy and emotional control,” says Dan, who’s the co-founder of the Chesapeake Fencing Club of Baltimore.
While many others have piled up old, trendy sports gear in basements and attics over the years, Dan still fences every week, just like he’s been doing for the last 14 years. He also works out at home using a stationary bike and free weights to enhance his fencing performance. After all these years, it’s safe to say that this lean, mean fencing machine has found the perfect activity to help him keep the weight off.
WINNING ACTION
Go for the unusual and exotic. Learning how to move your body

GET YOUR BODY MOVING: HE DROPPED 200 GETTING LOST IN THOUGHT
Seven years ago, Mitch Lipka tipped the scales at 450 pounds, thanks in large part to a steady diet of high-fat foods. But he never got serious about slimming down until the day he tried to climb a short flight of stairs to his mother’s apartment. The effort left Mitch, who could no longer fit through a turnstile or slide into a restaurant booth, exhausted and gasping for air. On the spot, he resolved to lose weight.
He started by giving up meats and fried foods, then eliminated cheese, ice cream, and other high-fat fare. In their place, he learned to prepare low-fat meals, using a cookbook that his mom gave him. The pounds started coming off almost immediately.
Inspired by his progress, Mitch started plotting his next strategy: exercise. At first, he tried walking around the block. But because his job as a newspaper reporter had him working odd hours, he had to find an activity that better fit into his crazy schedule. So he invested in a stationary bike, which he rode when he got home from work. “I’d set little goals for myself,” he recalls.
“I’d ride for 5 minutes the first five sessions, then 7 minutes the next five sessions, and so on.”
Of course, some nights Mitch could hardly bear to look at his bike, much less ride it. That’s when his diversionary tactic came into play. He’d throw a towel or a T-shirt over the timer, then concentrate on something else. He’d get so lost in thought that before he knew it, his time was up.
After 2 years of his diet-and-exercise regimen, Mitch had lost 200 pounds. Five years later, at age 34, he’s still fit and feeling good about himself.
WINNING ACTION
Let your imagination go. Boredom can put a crimp in even the best-laid exercise plans. If you’re not enjoying what you’re doing, chances are, you won’t stick with it. So find ways to make your workout interesting. Mitch hides the timer and thinks about something else. If you’re using a stationary bike or other fitness equipment, try watching TV, flipping through a magazine, or cranking up some Tina Turner, Madonna, or your favorite uptempo tunes. Personally, as dull as it seems, I’m a fan of nothingness, like Mitch. I like quiet time when I’m on my treadmill. My mind wanders everywhere!
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GET YOUR BODY MOVING: SHE LOST WEIGHT BY ACCIDENT
Having discovered the secret of calorie-burning chores, Kay Black has never had a trimmer figure

GET YOUR BODY MOVING: THIS EARLY BIRD CAUGHT THE POUNDS-OFF PRIZE
At age 42, LaVonnia “Bonnie” Johnson weighed 225 pounds and wore a size-22 dress. Then she started getting up earlier in the morning

GET YOUR BODY MOVING: THEY’RE COMMITTED TO EACH OTHER

GET YOUR BODY MOVING: OPRAH MADE HER MOVE HER MUSCLES
Nica Russell was certain that she’d never get out of the negative mindset that allowed her weight to escalate to 270 pounds. Then she saw a talk show that completely changed her life.
“Television programs and infomercials about weight loss would bring me to tears, but they couldn’t inspire me to get off the sofa and dosomething,” says the 36-year-old Los Angeles resident. “Then I happened to catch an Oprah Winfrey show in which Oprah was crying and talking about her lifelong struggle with her weight. I felt that she was talking directly to me, that she knew exactly how I was feeling. She motivated me to tackle my weight problem.”
The next day, Nica went to the nearest mall and headed straight for the video store. She scanned the rows of aerobic exercise videos and purchased a selection of tapes with workouts ranging from beginner to advanced. Every day for 4 months, in the privacy of her own home, she did a 45-minute video workout. “At first, I could do only about 1 percent of the routines. I felt like I was going to die,” she says. “But every time I thought about giving up, I remembered
Oprah’s words. I found myself going longer without a break and without feeling like passing out. Eventually, I could do my tape routines from beginning to end.” At that point, she felt confident enough to visit a gym.
With guidance from a personal trainer at the gym, Nica started lifting weights. Over time, she became an exercise fanatic, working out for 3 hours a day, 7 days a week. “I was obsessed,” she remembers. “But I had a goal to meet.” To help her get there, she also made some adjustments in her eating habits, giving up fried foods and filling up on fruits and vegetables. Within 7 months, she lost 135 pounds.
Satisfied with her new, slim physique, Nica began having second thoughts about going to the gym. She was tired of paying the high membership fee, fighting traffic to get there, and waiting in line for equipment. So she decided to create a gym at home.
Over a 2-year period, Nina invested in advanced aerobic exercise videos, sets of 5- to 25-pound dumbbells, and weight-training equipment with a stairclimber attachment. “My home gym definitely motivates me to stay fit,” she says. “Without it, I wouldn’t work out as consistendy or maintain my weight.”
Today, Nica works out for an hour, 4 or 5 days a week. She has maintained her weight at a healthy 135 pounds for 4 years.
WINNING ACTION
Build your own gym. If you’re not comfortable going to the gym, invest in some exercise equipment for your home. Start by purchasing aerobic exercise videos or a treadmill for walking or running. Then work your way up to dumbbells and weight-training equipment. You’ll have all the essentials you need to stay fit, without the inconvenience of packing a bag, jumping in your car, and driving to the gym. I invested in a treadmill, and I love it.
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GET YOUR BODY MOVING: SHE FLATTENED HER STOMACH WITHSPINNING
When Mindi Epstein signed up for a Spinning class at a gym near her home in Evanston, Illinois, she had no idea that it would be so hard