Jennifer Hudson’s weight loss advice: ignore Hollywood – Blisstree Start your week off with a gentle flow yoga sequence – Yoga Journal Leash on! Five ways to exercise with Fido – Huff Po Get your whole grains on with farro pilaf featuring kale – Vegetarian Times A dozen fitness trends to watch in 2012 – Shape Recharge your morning routine with overnight oats – Peanut Butter Fingers

Downhill skiing is a blast, but if you’re not in the mood to race against frigid winds or deal with crazy crowded lift lines, try cross-country skiing this Winter. It may not be speedy, but cross-country skiing will tone your upper and lower body, give you a great cardio workout, and burn almost 500 calories in one hour ! Like snowshoeing, cross-country is more social than downhill skiing since conversations aren’t limited to just time riding the lift. You get to slush along snow-covered trails and gab while taking in the breathtaking scenery. Plus, there is no expensive lift ticket needed. Some find cross-country more comfortable than downhill skiing because the boots are more flexible and the skis lightweight. Ready to get started? Here are some tips for newbies. First, find some cross-country trails. Some downhill-ski resorts have groomed trails, but also check out nature centers or parks where you hike in the Summer. You might have to pay a fee (around $15 to $30) to use the grounds. Don’t be shy about asking the staff to point you toward the easier trails. Rent boots, skis, and poles at the place where you’re skiing, but if this isn’t possible, rent equipment the day before from a gear store; rentals are about $15 a day. Definitely head out with someone who has some cross-country skiing experience or take a lesson to learn the basic techniques for moving, slowing down, stopping, and getting up hills. Keep reading for more beginner cross-country ski tips.

Plan B became the week’s big health story when, as the WSJ reported , the head of HHS overruled the FDA and blocked the emergency contraceptive pill from being made available to teens under 17 without a prescription. President Obama joined the fray yesterday , when he said he didn’t influence HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’s decision, but agreed with it. (We heard from plenty of you when we asked whether Sebelius was right .) Here are answers to some basic questions about Plan B. What is Plan B One-Step? It’s a form of emergency contraception . But it’s not the same as a regular birth-control pill, says Cora Collette Breuner , professor of pediatrics and adolescent medicine at Seattle Children’s Hospital and the University of Washington School of Medicine. (Breuner is also a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Adolescence ; the AAP was among the medical groups criticizing Sebelius’ decision this week.) Plan B consists only of the hormone progestin; birth control pills typically include both progestin and estrogen, says Breuner. That means Plan B doesn’t carry the risk of blood clots associated with oral contraceptive use. So what are the potential adverse effects? The prescribing label for Plan B One-Step says the most commonly reported problems in clinical trials were heavier menstrual bleeding, nausea, lower abdominal pain, fatigue, headache and dizziness. There’s no reason to think that side effects would be any more serious in the youngest women that Sebelius said she was concerned about, Breuner says. A 2009 review of cases of unintended ingestions of birth-control pills by toddlers (with an average of five pills taken by kids ) found only minor symptoms including vomiting and irritability. What about ectopic pregnancies? The label cautions that while a history of ectopic pregnancy isn’t a reason not to use Plan B One-Step, physicians and health-care providers should consider the possibility of one if a woman becomes pregnant or complains of lower abdominal pain after taking the drug. But it’s not clear whether the drug increases the risk of ectopic pregnancy, Breuner says. Could Plan B be used as routine birth control? It’s not intended for that use, and the manufacturer, Teva, says it isn’t as effective as the regular birth-control pill. Also, at $50 or so a pill , it’s not particularly affordable. Is Plan B the same as the abortion pill? No. Despite what you may have inferred from watching “The Walking Dead,” the so-called morning-after pill (which can actually be taken up to 5 days after unprotected sex , though the label says it should be taken within 72 hours) does not induce an abortion. It won’t work if a woman is already pregnant. The chief way Plan B works is by delaying or suppressing ovulation, says Breuner. She says there are conflicting studies on whether in some cases the pill may change the lining of the uterus so that a fertilized egg cannot implant. Can guys buy Plan B? If they’re 17 and up, men can buy Plan B One-Step without a prescription, just like women. But the drug is only prescribed to women under the age of 17. Image: Associated Press

Spondylosis is a term used to describe degeneration in the spine. Two specific conditions may develop from this degeneration – degenerative disc disease and spinal osteoarthritis – depending on if the degeneration occurs in the discs or in the facet joints, respectively. The development of bone spurs may also occur as part of the degeneration of the spine with spondylosis and with either of the degenerative conditions. read more

TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami) – Fewer middle school and high school students are smoking cigarettes or using smokeless tobacco, according to 2011 Florida Youth Tobacco Survey. Compared to last year, this data shows a decrease of 9.2 percent among high school students and a decrease of 28.6 percent among middle school students. According to the 2010 survey, 2.7% percent of middle schoolers in Broward said they smoked cigarettes on one or more of the past 30 days compared to a statewide average of 4.9%. At the high school level, 8% said they smoked cigarettes in the last 30 days compared to the 13.1% statewide. When it came to not using any tobacco products, 73.8% of middle schoolers said they had never smoked or used smokeless tobacco compared to the state average of 68.6%. At the high school level, 62.4% said they had never smoked or used smokeless tobacco compared to the 55.4% statewide average. In Miami-Dade, 3.6% percent of middle schoolers said they smoked cigarettes on one or more of the past 30 days compared to a statewide average of 4.9%. At the high school level, 8.7% said they smoked cigarettes in the last 30 days compared to the 13.1% statewide. When it came to not using any tobacco products, 67.1% of middle schoolers said they had never smoked or used smokeless tobacco compared to the state average of 68.6%. At the high school level, 60.3% said they had never smoked or used smokeless tobacco compared to the 55.4% statewide average. In Monroe County, 5.3% percent of middle schoolers said they smoked cigarettes on one or more of the past 30 days compared to a statewide average of 4.9%. At the high school level, 19.8% said they smoked cigarettes in the last 30 days compared to the 13.1% statewide. When it came to not using any tobacco products, 66.5% of middle schoolers said they had never smoked or used smokeless tobacco compared to the state average of 68.6%. At the high school level, 45.9% said they had never smoked or used smokeless tobacco compared to the 55.4% statewide average. This year the numbers were even better; 11.9 percent of high school students and 3.5 percent of middle school students statewide reported that they smoked at least once during the past 30 days. More significantly, since the Tobacco Free Florida campaign launched in 2007, 17.9 percent fewer high school students and 42.6 percent fewer middle school students in Florida were current cigarettes smokers. And it was not just the children who were impacted by the state’s anti-tobacco campaigns. Tobacco Free Florida said from 2007 to 2010, the smoking rate for adults in Florida decreased by 18.6 percent, resulting in nearly half a million fewer Floridian adult smokers an estimated savings of as much as $4.2 billion in personal health care expenditures. “The continued decrease in the smoking prevalence rate among our state’s youth is a clear indication of the effectiveness of our tobacco prevention programs,” said Dr. Frank Farmer, Florida’s State Surgeon General. “However, tobacco prevention remains a critical issue in Florida where tobacco use remains the number one cause of disease and preventable death.” Despite the promising decline of cigarette smoking among youth, the prevalence of smokeless tobacco use has trended upward among Florida youth over the past several years. This is consistent with an increase in smokeless tobacco use nationwide. Smokeless tobacco products are perceived to be less harmful. But in reality, these products contain more nicotine than cigarettes and 28 cancer-causing agents.

Exposure to a man-made chemical known as trichloroethylene, or TCE, is associated with a sixfold increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease, according to a new study published Monday in the Annals of Neurology. TCE is a common organic contaminant that pollutes groundwater, soil, and air. The study also found that exposure to another man-made chemical similar to TCE, known as perchloroethylene or tetrachloroethylene, or PERC, is associated with a tenfold increased risk of Parkinson's. Both chemicals are found in metal degreasers, metal cleaners, paint, spot removers, and carpet-cleaning fluids. "The fact that we were able to find a six-to-tenfold increased risk in exposure I think is very meaningful," says Dr. Samuel M. Goldman, an associate professor of clinical research at The Parkinson's Institute and the lead author of the study. Chemicals and solvents like TCE have been anecdotally linked to Parkinson's disease before but according to Goldman, no epidemiologic study has been done to verify the relationship until now. To conduct the study, Goldman and his team identified six specific solvents previously suspected to be related to the development of Parkinson's, two of which were TCE and PERC. They then reached out to 99 all-male pairs of twins, each composed of one twin with Parkinson's and one without. The twins were all male because they were part of the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council World War II Veteran Twins Registry that was founded in the 1960s using military records. Goldman and his team interviewed the twins using detailed job-specific questionnaires to gauge the likelihood of each person being exposed to the predetermined solvents. "We designed these extremely detailed interviews so that we didn't have to rely on the memory or the knowledge of the respondent," explains Goldman. For example, if one of the study participants said he used to work as an aircraft mechanic in the 1950s, Goldman and his team would question the participant about the different duties or machinery the job involved. "We know the geographic locations where [each participant] worked, the decade, and what they did so we can say, 'OK – we know that with someone who worked in the 1950s, in a plant with air plane engines, and they were working with the degreasing process, there is a high likelihood that person was exposed to TCE.'" By working with twins, Goldman and his team were able to account for genetic and lifestyle factors and focus on the job differences between each brother, one of whom had Parkinson's. They found that exposure to TCE, PERC, and to a lesser extent another chemical known as carbon tetrachloride, were all associated with an increased risk of the neurodegenerative disease. Goldman says that single finding could have major public health implications given how ubiquitous these chemicals, particularly TCE, are in the environment. "These results need to be replicated," says Goldman. "Even though we have this single epidemiologic study, it's something that needs to be studied quickly." That sense of urgency is reinforced by the Environmental Protection Agency's recent decision to classify TCE as a known human carcinogen. In an email to CNN, a spokesman for the EPA says the agency believes there is no "acceptable" level of the chemical in groundwater because of its designation as a carcinogen. However, the agency has set a maximum standard of five parts per billion (ppb) to help measure and enforce the amount of TCE in water supplies around the country. "Clean water is critical to the health and prosperity of every American community and a fundamental concern to every American family," the EPA spokesman wrote to CNN. The findings in Goldman's study support an emerging line of thought among Parkinson's researchers that the disease is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. "In Parkinson's disease, research has been pointing in the direction supporting the notion that genetics loads the gun, and the environment pulls the trigger," says Dr. Michael S. Okun, medical director of the National Parkinson Foundation. "This may make the investigation of pesticides, toxins, and trauma very important to understanding what leads to this disease." Goldman agrees and says more research needs to be done to identify potential environmental triggers like TCE.

Free and natural ways to get skin that glows – Huffington Post Build a home gym with these inexpensive fitness must haves – Real Simple Beachbody fitness DVD review: TurboFire with Chalene Johnson – The Fitnessista A healthy apple empanada recipe to welcome in Fall – Fitness Tote your gear in one of Fall’s hottest gym bags – Blisstree Healthy, hearty, whole grain bread recipes – Health

Viagra Protection: A federal judge ruled yesterday that a Pfizer patent on the erectile-dysfunction treatment Viagra is valid and enforceable, protecting the blockbuster drug against generic competition until 2019, the WSJ reports . Teva Pharmaceutical had proposed a generic version of the drug, arguing that certain claims of that 2019 Pfizer patent were invalid, the paper says. Cheap Screening: Hospitals are advertising inexpensive low-dose CT scans for current and former smokers on the heels of a government study that found such lung-cancer screening can save lives in a certain group of people, Kaiser Health News reports . But the study didn’t fully answer questions about who might benefit from the screening and how they should be screened, and the tests produce a lot of false positive results that require follow-up. Critics worry the low-cost screening programs will overemphasize possible benefits without detailing potential health harms and financial costs, KHN says. Fewer Funds: Countries including the U.S. contributed less in HIV/AIDS funding last year, even as recent research shows it’s possible to prevent transmission of the virus through preventive drug treatment, the WSJ reports . The U.S. contributed a bit more than $3.7 billion last year, about $700 million less than in 2009, as Congress tightened up its process for handing out funds to recipient countries, the paper says. Different Discounts: With Medicare in the cost-cutting crosshairs, a new report that finds that government health-insurance program pays more for many prescription drugs than does Medicaid, the federal-state insurance program for the poor, could draw the attention of lawmakers, the NYT reports . The report is from the inspector general of HHS, and finds drug rebates cut spending on 100 popular brand-name drugs by 19% in the Medicare program but by 45% in Medicaid, the paper says. Image: iStockphoto

I’m all about making healthier choices that don’t make me feel like I’m depriving myself. Even better? When I can cut a few calories at a time without missing them – those saved calories can really add up once you’ve finished the week. If you’re trying to lose weight, a mindful diet plan full of whole foods and lots of nutrients is as important as your exercise routine. But if you’ve got a healthy routine going but still feel like you’d like to save a few calories here and there, here are some suggestions to make those healthy meals even healthier and cut hundreds of calories in the process. Breakfast Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so make sure your meal measures up to the meal’s significance. You should eat soon after waking up in order to get your body’s metabolism revved up for the day ahead. How to cut calories: Instead of granola, opt for oatmeal. Why: Both are healthy options, but if you’re looking to cut a few calories switch from your daily granola to a bowl of oatmeal. While granola and nonfat yogurt clocks in at about 290 calories , a packet of oatmeal (made with water) will set you back about 160 calories, saving you 130 calories. Using skim milk instead of water will increase the calorie count of your oatmeal to about 205 calories, but you’ll still be saving a total 425 calories if you sub oatmeal for granola throughout the work week. Check out more of my suggestions for shaving hundreds of calories from your day after the break.

Sugary drinks have been the bad boys in nutrition lately. Recently everything from flavored milk to sodas have been showing up in the news as culprits for many of our diet problems. Do you know just how bad these drinks are for you? Test your knowledge with this quiz! Take the Quiz