Kimberly Garrison

Here's the latest Philly Fitness and Health Podcast. This week Kimberly talks to talks to Susan Budenstein, principal of Healthy Living, about simple ways you can look better and feel better fast, even if you don't have the time or motivation to spend much of your time at the gym. Be fit, be strong and be your best with Philly Fitness and Health.

You can post any questions at the COMMENTS link or e-mail Kimberly at kimberly@phillynews.com.

Here are 9 tips to help get you a healthier and happier life
I CAN'T BELIEVE it. Here we are in our 12th and final week of the Daily News From Flab to Fab Fitness Challenge. It's been an amazing 12-week journey, with many lessons learned.

Hope you've been inspired to follow in the "Fab Five's" energetic footsteps. But just in case you're still hesitating, here are nine essential tips to jump-start you on your way to a fit, healthy and happy life.

1. Persistence.

Our nation's 30th president, Calvin Coolidge, summed it up like this: "Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb."

2. Have faith.

Take inspiration from this Arabian proverb: "He who has health has hope, and he who has hope has everything."

3. Maintain PMA (Positive Mental Attitude).

No doubt, your thoughts create your reality. Make sure you keep your thoughts positive. We're always manifesting, whether positive or negative. So we might as well make a conscious effort to choose PMA.

As Bobby McFerrin sang, "Don't worry - be happy."

4. Pick your parents well.

OK, it may be a little too late for that. But there is a link between genetics and health. Yet, your parents' poor health does not have to be your destiny.

If genetics predispose you to certain conditions, act wisely, implement prevention strategies and go to the doctor for appropriate tests and screenings.

5. Bounce, rock, skate, roll.

In other words, keep it moving!

Fitness should be a daily priority, but at the minimum, make an effort to move. Give yourself excuses to move, like getting up to change the channel, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, and parking on the far side of the mall and walking to your destination.

If you need a change from your gym routine, throw on some roller blades, take up salsa dancing, or hop on a bike. You can do it, and it feels so good!

You can post any questions at the COMMENTS link or e-mail Kimberly at kimberly@phillynews.com.

12 weeks and 148 pounds later, they've gone from flabby to fabulous

YES, IT REALLY does take a village. If we've learned anything during the Daily News From Flab to Fab Fitness Challenge, it's that we need each other's support to lick the obesity epidemic that plagues our affluent nation.

Over the past 12 weeks of the Challenge, our five participants repeatedly cited the encouragement of family, friends and co-workers, and the guidance and support of their trainers, in helping them stay focused on their fitness goals.

But each challenger also demonstrated an inspiring personal commitment despite the challenges life threw at them. All of them can proudly proclaim themselves winners, having shed a total of 148 pounds and 40 years in body age. Not to mention dropping from a size 20 to a 14 in some cases.

Paradoxically, the person who began this contest dead last, Sherita Jackson, ends up stealing the show and has been declared the overall winner. She'll get a free year's membership at the 12th Street Gym, plus free training with Optimal Wellness Training as she gets ready for her September wedding.

Sherita is proof positive that it's not where you start but where you finish that counts. She made the most overall improvements in four out of the five key areas: cardiovascular, strength, flexibility and body fat.
B.J. Wilson took first place for weight lost, shedding a whopping 37 pounds in 12 weeks.

The challenge has been a truly gratifying experience for me. It's been a lot of work for everyone, but it's been so worth it. We'll continue to follow our five challengers, too, checking back in three months to see how they've maintained their new fitness lifestyle.

— Kimberly Garrison

Here's the latest Philly Fitness and Health Podcast. This week Kimberly talks to Melanie Marchand, president and founder of Sisters in Shape as well as owner of the gym SIS Fitness. Melanie discusses her path to fitness entrepreneurship and the lineup for the upcoming Fitness Explosion. Be fit, be strong and be your best with Philly Fitness and Health.

Benefits are both physical and spiritual
YOGA CAN improve your flexibility, strength, balance and cardiovascular system, and perhaps even cleanse your soul.

This ancient health discipline comes in a myriad of forms, from gentle to downright acrobatic. Because poses can be modified to accommodate fitness and health limitations, you can begin a yoga program if you are overweight, out-of-shape, stiff, older, pregnant or recovering from a recent surgery or injury.

I have been fascinated by the physical and esoteric aspects of yoga since I was introduced to it through the PBS television show "Lilias Yoga and You." I thought it was cool then and I still do.

I've tried various forms of yoga, such as hatha, Bikram hot yoga and, my personal favorite, the more athletic form known as ashtanga. I must admit, gaining some mastery of yoga is on my list of 100 things I want to accomplish before I leave the planet.

Luckily for us, Philadelphia is becoming a premier yoga town, with studios cropping up all over offering a variety of styles. How to sort it all out? Here's a Yoga 101 primer.

A conversation with the inventor of Tae Bo, Billy Blanks
LAST WEEKEND Philly was full of fitness and fun activities, with the Sisters in Shape symposium, yoga on the Art Museum steps and more. Hope you got involved and, more importantly, got moving.

I attended Jami Appenzeller's fourth Philly Fit Bash out in Oaks, where I had the immense pleasure of interviewing the creator of Tae Bo, Billy Blanks.

The 50-year-old Blanks is a native of Erie, Pa., and the fourth of 15 children. Against great odds, Blanks overcame poverty and a childhood struggle with undiagnosed dyslexia. He pursued his passion for karate, becoming a world-class champion, seventh-degree black belt.

In the late '80s, quite by accident, Blanks invented Tae Bo when he combined music, dance moves and Tae Kwon Do. He demonstrated it for his wife, who encouraged him to polish it up and take it to the marketplace.

He'd opened the Billy Blanks World Training Center in Sherman Oaks, Calif., in 1989, and started teaching Tae Bo there. The technique's popularity exploded after Paula Abdul discovered it in the early '90s. Today, Blanks' videos and DVDs are the No. 1 selling product on QVC.

On Sunday, I had a chance to catch up with the glorious yet gracious Blanks. Here's a snippet of our conversation.