Men Free Blog

Get ready to laugh: among Health magazine’s top healthiest restaurants are - drum roll, please - Denny’s, Bob Evans, and Romano’s Macaroni Grill.

Hmm - the kings of maple syrup-drenched sausage and carb-heavy pasta dishes, respectively, are also the healthiest?

Granted, I don’t go out to eat very often. But - are these places actually healthy? I find it hard to believe.

The magazine’s other choices are equally as confusing: Olive Garden? Uno Chicago Grill? Last time I checked, phrases like “extra cheese” and “more breadsticks” were the norm at these haunts.

It makes slightly more sense when you read their explanation as to how the spots were judged: Health’s editors looked at availability of nutritional information, number of trans-fat free and low-sodium dishes, and portion control, among others. But as we know, just because restaurants are forthcoming with their nutritional info, doesn’t mean the food is automatically good for us.

Then again, does anyone really go out to these places in search of healthy fare?

The mag also features their healthiest independent restaurants, and to round it out, the least healthy.
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By NATASHA ROBINSON, Associated Press Writer
Sat Apr 26, 5:58 AM ET
 
DETROIT - There are days 26-year-old Emily Schaller can barely breathe because of cystic fibrosis — and playing in smoke-filled bars hasn’t helped.

By day, Schaller is an employee at a retail store. By night, she’s the drummer of Hellen, a Detroit-based rock band that hosts concerts to support CF research.

She was a whirlwind of activity recently as she sped up stairs, down stairs, from the front to the back of the Royal Oak Music Theatre putting the finishing touches on her annual “Just Let Me Breathe” concert fundraiser.

“It doesn’t seem like this should be happening today,” she said.

Through Hellen and her organization, the Rock CF Foundation, Schaller has generated thousands of dollars for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Cystic fibrosis is a genetic chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system. It stems from a defective gene that causes the body to produce thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs, obstructs the pancreas and stops natural enzymes from helping the body absorb food. About 70,000 people have it worldwide, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation says.

Every morning, an air-filled vest shakes Schaller’s lungs to loosen mucus. She lives in the hospital anywhere from two to eight weeks each year — fighting off bacteria that could kill her. But she doesn’t focus on the fact that life expectancy for people with CF is 37 years.

“Just in the past few years I thought I wanted to do something I love, which is fundraising,” Schaller said.

She feels for her peers who can’t go out for fear of getting sick.

“That makes me not feel really good because I’m playing in a bar two nights a week. But you gotta weigh it,” Schaller said. “Is it sitting at home and watching a movie, which you don’t really want to do, or is it going after my passion which is drumming in a smoky bar?”

Schaller has no plans of slowing down anytime soon.

“She takes her medical needs in stride,” said Dr. Joan Germana, the pediatric director of a cystic fibrosis care center at a New York hospital. “She dedicates herself to life.”

Schaller worked with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation on a Web site video advocating healthy lifestyles for CF patients. She participated in a medical trial for VX-770, a drug designed to help restore the balance of salt and water by acting directly on a malfunctioning protein.

Schaller’s goals don’t allow her to play victim to the lethal genetic disease.

“I’ve got two older brothers that don’t have CF, and my parents have always treated me like I don’t have CF,” she said. “It made me realize that yeah I do have CF, I do have a genetic disorder, but it’s not gonna stop me from doing anything.”

___

On the Net:

The Rock CF Foundation: http://www.letsrockcf.org/

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By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer
Sat Apr 26, 10:31 AM ET
WASHINGTON - In fury and despair, patients harmed by Lasik eye surgery told federal health advisers Friday of severe eye pain, blurred vision and even a son’s suicide. The advisers recommended that the government warn more clearly about the risks of the hugely popular operations.

About 700,000 Americans a year undergo the elective laser surgery. Like golf star and famed Lasik recipient Tiger Woods, they’re hoping to throw away their glasses, just as the ads say.

And while the vast majority benefit — most see 20-20 or even better — about one in four people who seeks Lasik is not a good candidate. A small fraction, perhaps 1 percent or fewer, suffer serious, life-changing side effects: worse vision, severe dry eye, glare, inability to drive at night.

“Too many Americans have been harmed by this procedure and it’s about time this message was heard,” David Shell of Washington told the Food and Drug Administration’s scientific advisers before their recommendation that the FDA provide clearer warnings.

Shell held up large photographs that he said depict his blurred world, showing halos around objects and double vision, since his 1998 Lasik.

“I see multiple moons,” he said angrily. “Anybody want to have Lasik now?”

Colin Dorrian was in law school when dry eye made his contact lenses so intolerable that he sought Lasik, even though a doctor noted his pupils were pretty large. Both the dry eye and pupil size should have disqualified Dorrian, but he received Lasik anyway — and his father described six years of eye pain and fuzzy vision before the suburban Philadelphia man killed himself last year.

“As soon as my eyes went bad, I fell into a deeper depression than I’d ever experienced, and I couldn’t get out,” Gerard Dorrian read from his son’s suicide note.

Matt Kotsovolos, who worked for the Duke Eye Center when he had a more sophisticated Lasik procedure in 2006, said doctors classify him as a success because he now has 20-20 vision. But he said, “For the last two years I have suffered debilitating and unremitting eye pain. … Patients do not want to continue to exist as helpless victims with no voice.”

The sober testimonies illustrated that a decade after Lasik hit the market, there still are questions about just how often patients suffer bad outcomes from the $2,000-per-eye procedure.

But one thing is clear, said Dr Jayne Weiss of Detroit’s Kresge Eye Institute, who chairs the FDA advisory panel: “This is a referendum on the performance of Lasik by some surgeons who should be doing a better job.”

The FDA advisers — a group of mostly glasses-wearing eye doctors — recommended that the agency make more clear the warnings it already provides for would-be Lasik patients:

• Add photographs that illustrate what people suffering certain side effects actually see, such as the glare that can make oncoming headlights a huge “starburst” of light.

• Clarify how often patients suffer different side effects, such as dry eye. Some eye surgeons say 31 percent of Lasik patients have some degree of dry eye before surgery, and it worsens for about 5 percent afterward. Other studies say 48 percent of Lasik recipients suffer some degree of dry eye months later.

• Make more understandable the conditions that should disqualify someone from Lasik, such as large pupils or severe nearsightedness.

• And spell out that anyone whose nearsightedness is fixed by Lasik is guaranteed to need reading glasses in middle age, something that might not be needed if they skip Lasik.

That’s a big reason why Weiss, the glasses-wearing ophthalmologist, won’t get Lasik even though she offers it to her patients.

“I can read without my glasses and … operate without my glasses, and I love that,” she said. “The second aspect is I would not tolerate any risk for myself. … Does that mean Lasik is good or not good? It means Lasik is good but not for everyone.”

Lasik is marketed as quick and painless: Doctors cut a flap in the cornea — the eye’s clear covering — aim a laser underneath it and zap to reshape the cornea for sharper sight.

The FDA agrees with eye surgeons’ studies that only about 5 percent of patients are dissatisfied with Lasik. What’s not clear is exactly how many of those suffer lasting severe problems and how many just didn’t get quite as clear vision as they had expected.

The most meticulous studies come from the military, where far less than 1 percent of Lasik recipients suffer serious side effects, said Dr. David Tanzer, the Navy’s Medical Corps commander. That research prompted Lasik to be cleared last year both for Navy aviators and NASA astronauts.

“The word from the guys that are out there standing in harm’s way, whose lives depend on their ability to see, are asking you to please not take this away,” said Lt. Col. Scott Barnes, a cornea specialist at Fort Bragg who described Army troops seeking Lasik after losing their glasses in combat.

No one’s actually considering restrictions on Lasik — but the FDA is pairing with eye surgeons to begin a major study next year to better understand who has bad outcomes.

“Millions of patients have benefited” from Lasik, said Dr. Peter McDonnell of Johns Hopkins University, a spokesman for the American Academy of Ophthalmologists. “No matter how uncommon, when complications occur, they can be distressing. … We’re dedicated to doing everything in our power to make the Lasik procedure even better for all our patients.”

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By PAUL ELIAS, Associated Press Writer
Sat Apr 26, 1:45 AM ET
 
SAN FRANCISCO - A top-ranking official at the Department of Veterans Affairs defends the agency’s treatment of disabled veterans and denies the agency has tried to cover up the number of veterans committing suicide.

Dr. Michael Kussman, a department undersecretary for health, testified during a trial in San Francisco federal court that will determine whether the VA is shirking its duty to provide adequate mental health care and other medical services to millions of veterans.

The two veterans groups suing the VA want U.S. District Court Judge Samuel Conti to order the agency to dramatically improve how fast it processes applications and how it delivers mental health care, especially when it comes to preventing suicides and treating post-traumatic stress disorder.

The groups contend that veteran suicides are rising at alarming rates in large part because of VA failures. In court, plaintiffs’ lawyer Arturo Gonzalez clashed Thursday with Kussman over how to compile and report the suicide rates.

For instance, VA Secretary James Peake told Congress in a Feb. 5 letter that 144 combat veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan committed suicide between October 2001 and December 2005.

But Gonzalez produced internal VA e-mails that contended that 18 veterans a day were committing suicide. Kussman countered that the figure, provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, included all 26 million veterans in the country, including aging Vietnam veterans who are reporting an increased number of health problems.

Kussman said Thursday that suicide prevention was a VA priority and that the agency instituted new measures in the past 18 months, including training its workers to identify suicidal patients and establishing a 24-hour suicide hot line for veterans.

Court documents given to the judge by Gonzalez showed that 2,508 veterans called the hot line in March, the busiest month so far.

“People are using it,” Kussman said. “It’s a good thing.”

Gonzalez also asked Kussman to explain several e-mail chains among agency officials that discussed an unwillingness to share suicide statistics with CBS News, which was preparing a story on the subject.

“I don’t want to give CBS any more numbers on veterans suicides or attempts than they already have — it will only lead to more questions,” wrote Everett A. Chasen, chief communications officer in a March 10 e-mail to several VA officials.

On Monday, the first day of trial, an e-mail message written in December by Dr. Ira Katz, the agency’s mental health director, was given as evidence. It alerted Kussman and others that 12,000 veterans under VA care were attempting suicide a year.

“Is this something we should (carefully) address ourselves in some sort of release before someone stumbles on it?” the e-mail asks.

Katz also reported that of the average of 18 military veterans who kill themselves each day, four to five of them are under VA care when it happens.

Three Democratic senators, including Sen. Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, called for Katz’s dismissal this week.

“I disagree with the premise that there was some effort to cover something up,” Kussman testified Thursday. “We don’t obfuscate.”

Instead, Kussman said, there’s concern about how suicide rates are compiled among the nation’s 26 million veterans.

“It’s been hard to track exactly,” said Kussman, who noted that only 5.7 million veterans are under VA care.

The trial is scheduled to last another week; there was no testimony Friday. The judge is hearing the case without a jury.

(This version CORRECTS that Sen. Akaka is from Hawaii, not Alaska.)

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By GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer
Sat Apr 26, 4:12 PM ET
SEATTLE - Timothy Garon’s face and arms are hauntingly skeletal, but the fluid building up in his abdomen makes the 56-year-old musician look eight months pregnant.

His liver, ravaged by hepatitis C, is failing. Without a new one, his doctors tell him, he will be dead in days.

But Garon’s been refused a spot on the transplant list, largely because he has used marijuana, even though it was legally approved for medical reasons.

“I’m not angry, I’m not mad, I’m just confused,” said Garon, lying in his hospital bed a few minutes after a doctor told him the hospital transplant committee’s decision Thursday.

With the scarcity of donated organs, transplant committees like the one at the University of Washington Medical Center use tough standards, including whether the candidate has other serious health problems or is likely to drink or do drugs.

And with cases like Garon’s, they also have to consider — as a dozen states now have medical marijuana laws — if using dope with a doctor’s blessing should be held against a dying patient in need of a transplant.

Most transplant centers struggle with the how to deal with people who have used marijuana, said Dr. Robert Sade, director of the Institute of Human Values in Health Care at the Medical University of South Carolina.

“Marijuana, unlike alcohol, has no direct effect on the liver. It is however a concern … in that it’s a potential indicator of an addictive personality,” Sade said.

The Virginia-based United Network for Organ Sharing, which oversees the nation’s transplant system, leaves it to individual hospitals to develop criteria for transplant candidates.

At some, people who use “illicit substances” — including medical marijuana, even in states that allow it — are automatically rejected. At others, such as the UCLA Medical Center, patients are given a chance to reapply if they stay clean for six months. Marijuana is illegal under federal law.

Garon believes he got hepatitis by sharing needles with “speed freaks” as a teenager. In recent years, he said, pot has been the only drug he’s used. In December, he was arrested for growing marijuana.

Garon, who has been hospitalized or in hospice care for two months straight, said he turned to the university hospital after Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center told him he needed six months of abstinence.

The university also denied him, but said it would reconsider if he enrolled in a 60-day drug-treatment program. This week, at the urging of Garon’s lawyer, the university’s transplant team reconsidered anyway, but it stuck to its decision.

Dr. Brad Roter, the Seattle physician who authorized Garon’s pot use for nausea, abdominal pain and to stimulate his appetite, said he did not know it would be such a hurdle if Garon were to need a transplant.

That’s typically the case, said Peggy Stewart, a clinical social worker on the liver transplant team at UCLA who has researched the issue. “There needs to be some kind of national eligibility criteria,” she said.

The patients “are trusting their physician to do the right thing. The physician prescribes marijuana, they take the marijuana, and they are shocked that this is now the end result,” she said.

No one tracks how many patients are denied transplants over medical marijuana use.

Pro-marijuana groups have cited a handful of cases, including at least two patient deaths, in Oregon and California, since the mid-to-late 1990s, when states began adopting medical marijuana laws.

Many doctors agree that using marijuana — smoking it, especially — is out of the question post-transplant.

The drugs patients take to help their bodies accept a new organ increase the risk of aspergillosis, a frequently fatal infection caused by a common mold found in marijuana and tobacco.

But there’s little information on whether using marijuana is a problem before the transplant, said Dr. Emily Blumberg, an infectious disease specialist who works with transplant patients at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital.

Further complicating matters, Blumberg said, is that some insurers require proof of abstinence, such as drug tests, before they’ll agree to pay for transplants.

Dr. Jorge Reyes, a liver transplant surgeon at the UW Medical Center, said that while medical marijuana use isn’t in itself a sign of substance abuse, it must be evaluated in the context of each patient.

“The concern is that patients who have been using it will not be able to stop,” Reyes said.

Dale Gieringer, state coordinator for the California chapter of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, scoffed at that notion.

“Everyone agrees that marijuana is the least habit-forming of all the recreational drugs, including alcohol,” Gieringer said. “And unlike a lot of prescription medications, it’s nontoxic to the liver.”

Reyes and other UW officials declined to discuss Garon’s case.

But Reyes said that in addition to medical concerns, transplant committees — which often include surgeons, social workers, and nutritionists — must evaluate whether patients have the support and psychiatric health to cope with a complex post-operative regimen for the rest of their lives.

Garon, the lead singer for Nearly Dan, a Steely Dan cover-band, remains charged with manufacturing weed. He insists he was following the state law, which limits patients to a “60-day supply” but doesn’t define that amount.

“He’s just a fantastic musician, and he’s a great guy,” said his girlfriend, Leisa Bueno. “I wish there was something we could do legally. … I’m going to miss him terribly if he passes.”

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For those of you aching to get your hands on the 2009 Audi A3, we have good news: it will go on sale this September and pricing information should be available close to that date. Audi’s adapted press release for the U.S. market is available after the jump, but the short and sweet version is we get a choice of either the 200 hp, 2.0-liter TFSI or the 250 hp, 3.2-liter six with Quattro. If you want your power dolled out to all four wheels, but want the turbo’d 2.0-liter, you’ll be able to swap cogs with Audi’s S-tronic transmission. Hit the jump for all the details.PRESS RELEASE

2009 AUDI A3 FOR USA TO LAUNCH IN FALL 2008

- Innovative high-tech concepts in the 2009 model year
- Expressive exterior design, elegantly sporty interior
- S tronic transmission, Audi magnetic ride and efficient engines

Ingolstadt – The Audi A3, offered in the USA exclusively with the five-door body style, raises its sporty profile with a raft of improvements and an accentuated design. Innovative technologies such as the S tronic dual-clutch transmission and Audi magnetic ride, the suspension control system, makes for even greater driving pleasure. Its sharper, more striking design lends even greater expression to the A3. Dealer deliveries will coincide with the change of the model year, around September 2008, with pricing and equipment not yet finalized for the USA.

The Audi A3 strengthened the premium compact car segment upon its debut in 2005 in the USA. Since its worldwide market introduction in 1996, 1.9 million units of the Audi A3 have been built. After four successive record-breaking years, the one millionth second-generation A3 – which went into production in 2003 in Europe and 2005 in USA as a five-door – left the assembly line just a few days ago. Audi is now solidifying its lead.
The exterior: even sportier profile

New visual details for the five-door A3 bring its stretched, sporty profile into the foreground. The front lid and fenders are more expressively styled, and the bumper and large single-frame radiator grille have been modified. A curved trim element in the headlamps known as the “wing” accentuates their technical perfection. Daytime running lights are standard features, and the optional bi-xenon headlamps incorporate LEDs. Down the sides, the highlight features are exterior mirrors with integral turn indicators, new door handles and attractive wheels.

At the tail end, the modified bumper and the lights help this car make a grand exit; the five-door A3 now has innovative fiber optic rods arranged in a flat, continuous strip that creates an impressive optical effect in the dark. The sporty proportions of the five-door A3 remain virtually unchanged at 4.29 meters (168.90 in) in length.

The interior: sporty elegance

Inside the car, too, the designers fine-tuned the atmosphere of sporty elegance. Aluminum-look elements on the air vents, light switches and center console accentuate the premium character of the Audi A3. The switches and controls beneath the audio system have been given a new, modern look. The instruments have black dials and red needles to reinforce the impression of precision and advanced technology, and a shift indicator displays the recommended gear in any given circumstances in the driver information system.
The A3’s trunk is the roomiest in its class, at 370 to 1,100 liters (13.06 to 38.83 cubic ft.) on the five-door A3. On quattro versions, the trunk floor is a few centimeters higher, to accommodate the special rear axle. Audi can also supply the options of a panoramic sunroof for the versatile five-door A3.

Powerful drive: the engines

As before, Audi is bringing the five-door A3 onto the U.S. market with two different gasoline engines. The 2.0 TFSI has 200 hp, while the 3.2 quattro with its six cylinders musters 250 hp.

High tech from Audi: the new transmissions

The range of transmissions has been extended and become even more appealing. The 2.0 TFSI engine is supplied as standard with six-speed manual transmission, and the 3.2 is available exclusively with the S tronic dual-clutch transmission, now also available for all engine versions. The high-tech S tronic changes gears with extreme speed and smoothness. The driver can set it to operate in a fully automatic mode or change gears manually – either at the selector lever or with the standard shift paddles on the leather sport steering wheel.

The S tronic on the six-cylinder engine and the 2.0 TFSI has six speeds. Its clutches are dry-running – an innovative approach. This means that they do not need a separate oil supply, further adding to their already impressive efficiency.

New for the five-door A3 is the 2.0 TFSI quattro, available exclusively with S tronic transmission. In its latest technical form, the central hydraulic multi-plate clutch responds even faster when the engine’s power needs to be redistributed between the front and rear wheels. This increases stability, traction and driving pleasure for the driver.

The standard-fit dynamic suspension, too, provides safety, dynamic handling and comfort all rolled into one. The captivating precision with which the five-door A3 handles and its well-balanced character owe a great deal to elaborate concepts such as the four-link rear suspension and the efficient electromechanical power steering. There is optional sport suspension that supports the body 15 millimeters (0.59 in) lower.

Way ahead of the competition: Audi magnetic ride

There is another new feature that puts the five-door A3 ahead of its challengers: The adaptive-action shock absorber control system by the name of Audi magnetic ride. This system overcomes the age-old conflict between dynamic behavior and ride comfort. The driver can choose between “Normal” and “Sport” programs by flipping a switch. A magneto-rheological fluid circulating in the shock absorbers changes its flow properties within milliseconds when a voltage is applied; this affects the damping characteristic, which can be varied from comfortably supple to crisply firm. In the U.S., this is optional on both 2.0 TFSI, and the top 3.2 version.

Pricing and equipment will be available in Fall 2008 upon arrival at U.S. dealers.

Photographs and further information are available at www.audi-mediaservices.com/en; For USA information, please visit media.audiusa.com.

NEW 2009 AUDI A3 (SPORTBACK) - PRODUCT SUMMARY - USA
As of April 24, 2008 – Subject to Change

PERFORMANCE

- 2.0 TFSI direct injection engine with manual or S tronic (aka DSG) front-wheel drive
- Stats: 200 hp, 207 lb-ft torque
- 0-60 mph in 6.7 seconds (manual); city/hwy 20/29
- 0-60 mph in (TBD) seconds (S tronic); city/hwy 22/29
- 0-60 mph in (TBD) seconds (S tronic quattro; city/hwy TBD

- 3.2 V6 engine with quattro permanent all-wheel drive with S tronic
- Stats: 250 hp, 236 lb-ft; 0-60 mph in 5.9 seconds (S tronic); city/hwy 18/25

- Audi A3 is a typical Audi statement of form, function, as well as sporty, sophisticated, and progressive. It maintains its competitive edge in safety, performance, and technology. Safety is tops in the industry via its first IIHS “Top Safety Pick” designation for top frontal, side, and rear crash performance, awarded in late 2007. Top performance, efficiency, and fuel economy is achieved via the high tech 2.0 TFSI, which has as much overall power/torque as traditional V6 engines.

New for 2009:
- quattro AWD now available with 2.0 TFSI (200 hp, transverse layout)
- Magnetic Ride Control is optional
- Updated ESP
- Up-shift light
- LED Daytime Running lights for Bi-xenon
- Headlamps with daytime running lights
- Hood and front fenders
- Grille design
- Front bumper
- Tail lamp design
- Wheel program
- Interior: decorative inlays, interior colors, instrument bezels in white colors
- Pricing and equipment TBD until Fall 2008 at time of launch during normal model year changeover period.
NOTEWORTHY VEHICLE PHILOSOPHY

- A3 is specifically a car for people living in urban areas who still want German luxury, style, function, and performance.
- May 2005 launched the US version of the A3, known as the “A3 Sportback” around the world.
- A3 has received regular optional lifecycle upgrades, including the Titanium package which is an upgrade of the S line package from quattro GmbH, Audi’s performance and equipment upgrade subsidiary.

NOTABLE FEATURES

Exterior

- Single-frame front grill design
- Brake disc wiping that optimizes braking performance in wet or inclement weather
- Satellite radio antenna with standard Sirius satellite radio

Interior

- Bauhaus front dashboard with wraparound aluminum or wood trim, similar to Audi TT
- Usable dual cupholders in center console and two power outlets
- Dual-zone climate control system
- 10-speaker sound system, Bose premium sound available
ACCOLADES: AUDI A3

- (2007) AutoWeek’s Reader’s Choice – Best Economy Car: A3
- (2007) IIHS Top Safety Pick: A3, A4 and A6
- (2007) Sacramento Bee – Bee’s Best Bets: A3, A4 and A8
- (2007) Auto Pacific Ideal Vehicle Award: A3
- (2007) Auto Pacific - Vehicle Satisfaction Award: A3
- (2006-2008) Ward’s 10 Best Engine: 2.0T in A3
- (2008) ForbesAutos.com – Ten Best Cars for City Dwellers: A3
PRICE AND EQUIPMENT NOT AVAILABLE UNTIL FALL 2008
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Curious to know how celebrities squeeze fitness into their daily lives? Want to know the secrets of the stars? Bi-weekly our That’s Fit fitness expert Fitz sits down with the celebs we want to know more about, and digs out their great and not-so-great methods to staying healthy.

I recently spent some time with Shane “Scooter” Christensen, one of the multi-talented athletes of the World Famous Harlem Globetrotters. Shane played at the University of Montana, leading his team to the NCAAA tournament in 1992 and was twice awarded the Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the year. With his combination of elite athleticism on the court and fantastic comedic and dancing skills, The World Famous Harlem Globetrotters turned out to be the perfect professional team for Scooter. Feature continued on next page.

If you’ve never been to see the Harlem Globetrotters or haven’t been since you were a child, it’s time to go again. The first time I saw the show was at the age of thirteen. This time, twenty years later, I brought my own babies. Four year old Ginger, and two year old Parker literally sat on the floor with their toes touching the court. I don’t think I could have peeled the smiles off of their faces if I tried. I also, was buckled over with laughter most of the night. There is good clean fun for the whole family….and then there is clean fun for the family that is legitimately GOOD!

The show is long, so you get lots of bang for your buck, and our buddy Scooter here is one of the stars. First of all, the boy is pretty. Second….he’s sweet, down-to-earth, athletic and one heck of a dancer. Everything we’d want our Globetrotters to be. I interviewed him before the show, but if I would have interviewed him after…I would have requested a dance lesson as well. For now though, you have this terrific interview featuring Shane “Scooter” Christensen on his training, nutrition and overall fitness habits.

You’ll also find out if Scooter will be the first Globetrotter to pose in the buff! Coming soon, you’ll see the interview where Scooter teaches me, your loving Fitzness trainer, to slam dunk. You’ll be impressed to know that I did, in fact, slam one into the basket.

So! Enjoy Scooters’ interview, and make sure you go see the World Famous Harlem Globetrotter next time they perform at venue near you!

**Thanks again Scooter! It was so much fun working with you!

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If you’re trying to lose weight and can’t seem to turn out good enough numbers, chances are you’re doing something wrong. When my pounds start stacking up, it’s always because I’ve let go of something critical to weight management. Often, it’s losing sight of one of these 10 tips that derails my success.

• Eat a diet full of color

• Eat whole grains

• Eat good fats

• Eat often

• Snack before meals

• Eat whole, fresh foods

• Keep moving

• Treat yourself

• Decipher food labels

• Beware of liquid calories

          Read

• Some doubt genome’s value as health tool (By Carey Goldberg, Globe Staff)
• Mood lifting (By Carey Goldberg, Globe Staff)
• Chickens are more like you than you think (By Barbara Feder Ostrov, Globe Correspondent)
• My Perspective From Boston to Burma, with vision (By Dr. Bil Ragan, Boston Globe)
• Meeting the Minds The go-to person on HIV (By Billy Baker, Globe Correspondent)
• calendar Health/Science calendar (Boston Globe)
• White Coat Notes Help for traumatized soldiers (Boston Globe)
• Ask Dr. Knowledge Will new collider create black holes that destroy us all? (Boston Globe)
• Health Answers Does breastfeeding protect a woman against breast cancer? (Boston Globe)
• Discoveries Blood sugar checks costly, and raise depression risk (Boston Globe)

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Perhaps you watch NBC’s Biggest Loser and are impressed by the weight loss that each person experiences each week. Well, now you can eat just like they do. For $100 a week, you too can get the meals mailed to you each week, packaged and shipped to your front door. There have already been other Biggest Loser-ish meal plans, but this is the first with meals that will ship to your home and sanctioned by the network and producers. You get 15 meals for the week.

Now if they want people at home to lose weight, they should also mail a trainer to your house to yell at you.

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