HEALTH AND FITNESS

The latest heath and fitness news and updates

"Solace of Nature: A Photographer's Journey" by John R. Kemp (Author), Julia Sims (Photographer).

Julia Sims' journey of healing through nature began on a day in the early 1980s when a friend invited her on an airboat ride into the Manchac swamp.

"I had wanted to go there 'back there' all my life. But I always thought of it as the dirty old swamp," said Sims, who recalled as a child seeing the boggy flatlands that seemed to disappear into the darkness as her parents drove Airline Highway from Baton Rouge to New Orleans.

Once the airboat voyage unlocked the unseen mystery of "back there," Sims was hooked.

Kathy Anderson /
The Times-PicayuneLois Pendergrass loads up on salads and plenty of movement to stay healthy.

LOIS PENDERGRASS
56, investment consultant

Favorite exercise: Dancing.
Days of exercise a week: Five to seven.
Diet do: "Lots of salads, water, fresh fruits, vegetables and lean meats."
Diet don't: "Life is too short; I eat what I like."
Guilty pleasure: "Dancing every morning in my underwear with a cup of coffee."
Exercise benefits: "Physical, emotional and spiritual well-being."

Kathy Anderson / The Times-Picayune
Molly Kimball is a registered dietitian in New Orleans.

Everybody should have gotten the message by now that fiber is good for you. It can lower your cholesterol and stabilize your blood sugar. It keeps you feeling fuller for longer, making it easier to cut back on calories, which can translate into weight loss.

And everybody should be familiar with the most common high-fiber foods: oats, beans, whole wheat breads, cereal with textures not unlike the boxes they're sold in.

Kathy Anderson / The Times-PicayuneSarah Roy

SARAH ROY
26, judicial law clerk

Favorite exercise: Spinning.
Days of exercise a week: Six.
Diet do: "I always pack a lunch, and keep a healthy snack in my bag."
Diet don't: "Eating out."
Guilty pleasure: "Mexican food and margaritas."
Exercise benefits: "Increased energy, focus and stamina."
Exercise philosophy: "Keep challenging yourself to try new things. You don't know the benefits of an exercise until you try it."

Chris Granger / The Times-PicayuneExercise guru Richard Simmons is mobbed by local mom and daughter fans Patricia and Alice Joyce. Simmons led a roomful of people in sweating to some oldies at Harrah's Casino in New Orleans.

John Thibodeaux, 25, wasn't even born when Lesley Gore hit the top of the charts in 1963 with "It's My Party," Richard Simmons' favorite tune in his "Sweatin' to the Oldies" lineup.

Yet Thibodeaux was among the many 20-somethings who joined boomers-and-beyond for Simmons' musical workout at Harrah's Theatre.

Thibodeaux earned himself a place on the stage with the fitness icon by cloning Simmons, complete with curly wig and headband, sparkling tank top and short shorts. The outfit was one he had worn recently to a friend's Simmons-themed 29th birthday party.

Eliot Kamenitz / The Times-PicayuneLori Shumpert

LORI SHUMPERT
28, athletic program coordinator

Favorite exercise: Elliptical trainer.
Days of exercise a week: Five.
Diet do: "Plenty of water, fruits, vegetables, protein."
Diet don't: "Processed foods."
Guilty pleasure: "Anything with sugar."
Exercise benefits: "Relieves stress; makes me feel better all over."
Exercise philosophy: "Always listen to your body."

HARRAH'S SWEATS TO THE OLDIES

• What: A workout session, meet-and-greet and photo op with celebrity fitness guru Richard Simmons. Participants are encouraged to bring their cameras.
• When: Registration begins Saturday at noon; workout begins at 2 p.m.
• Where: Harrah's Theatre, 228 Poydras St.
• Cost: Tickets are $20 and must be purchased in person during registration on Saturday.
• More info: www.harrahsneworleans.com

When Richard Simmons' parents took him shopping at Sears as a small child, they told him they were going to the husky department.

"Oh, good, we're getting a dog!" he says he thought.

But what he learned was that he was fat for his age. And what he figured out as an adult was that that needed to change.

Simmons says growing up in New Orleans prepared him for his chosen career as a fitness icon.

That's why Simmons regards his visit to Harrah's Theatre on Saturday, when participants will "sweat to the oldies," as a homecoming. He knows the neighborhood; the French Quarter provided his childhood stomping grounds.

"I could go to Johnny's and get a french-fries-and-fried-oyster po-boy or to Central Grocery for a muffuletta," he says. "My father went to the farmers market every day, and at Catholic school, we had five-star lunches with fresh French bread and jambalaya."

New Orleans, Simmons says, has more temptation than other cities. Add that to the post-Katrina and recent Gustav stress, he says, and you've got the good makings for a Simmons-style class and an exercise plan. Both he will provide Saturday.

Kathy Anderson / The Times-PicayuneThree-year-old yoga student Solon Love tries out a move.

Kids have distinct advantages over adults when it comes to yoga. They live in the moment, however fleeting that moment may be. And they embrace pretzel poses as comfort zones, not challenges.

"Good morning, Me!"

Three-year-olds at the Jewish Community Center nursery school, taking their very first yoga class, recite their "sun salutation" as they mimic their teacher, pretending they are getting out of their beds and greeting the sunrise as they rise up from their tike-size purple yoga mats.

Like any teacher of preschoolers, Tonya Jordan-Cayula begins yoga class with a few rules.

"We don't play with the mat."

Illustration by Kenneth Harrison / The Times-PicayuneAll across the country, building better diets and saving money by making healthier decisions. More cost cutting tips »

Tightening our budgets just might tighten our belts -- literally.

Saving money spent on gas burns calories. Just ask any driver who now bikes to work or walks to the grocery store. And saving money spent on food builds better diets -- if it leads us to make more healthful food choices, whether dining in or eating out.

Kelly Nicholas, a local bike commuter who also walks to her destinations when possible, is gaining the benefits of cutting back. For her, it's nothing new. It started in junior high school.

"The added exercise usually drives me to crave healthy food options," Nicholas says. "Some days for me the hankering for a broccoli-tofu stir-fry is equally as strong as my periodic need for gravy fries."

WAYNE CHRISTENBERRY
52, florist

Danny Bourque / The Times-PicayuneWayne Christenberry

Favorite exercise: Walking.

Days of exercise a week: Three.

Diet do: "Proteins like chicken and tuna, vegetables, fruits, oatmeal."

Diet don't: Fried foods.

Guilty pleasure: Sweets.

Exercise benefits: "Maintaining the weight loss I have achieved."

Exercise philosophy: "Take charge."

Stress. Tension. Anxiety. Why don't we just call it what it is: Worry. That pretty much covers all the emotional bases when facing an impending hurricane.

We worry that if we don't evacuate, we will relive the horrors of Hurricane Katrina. We worry that if we do evacuate, we may never get back home. We worry that if the next storm is a Katrina, no one will return. We worry that any storm could change our lives yet again. So is there a better way to worry so we can put this stress and tension to more productive use?

It's non-competive, family-friendly, and for a cause. The American Cancer Socie´
ty's 10th annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5K is Sat., Oct. 11, 2008 at the New Orleans Lakefront (Lakeshore Drive and Robert E. Lee). Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. and
the event begins at 8:30 a.m. For information or to form a team: 504.
833.4024 or makingstridesneworleans@cancer.org. You can also visit www.cancer.org/stridesonline.

CNN's Anderson Cooper stood in the rain in the French Quarter, gusts of wind accenting his report as Gustav stopped waiting to exhale.

Sherry Smith from Belle Chase watched him on television with others in the lobby of the Lakeshore Motel, just across the Mississippi River from Greenville, Miss.

Chris
Bynum

I left New Orleans at 4 Saturday morning, trying my best to beat the traffic with three dogs and two birds in tow. Six hours later I pulled into a motel usually occupied by fisherman who come to test their luck in Lake Chicot in the Arkansas Delta. A storm in the Gulf wouldn't rock their boats on the last holiday of summer.

As I entered the small lobby to check in, I noticed a woman with her husband and son ahead of me. She and I immediately locked eyes. There was something very familiar about her expression. One of us finally said, "Are you from New Orleans?" The other nodded, and we hugged each other. We cried just a little.

I did not know that she had lost her home in Chalmette during Katrina, and she did not know that I had lost my home in Lakeview. We would share that later; the immediate bond was unspoken -- like a secret handshake among Katrina survivors.

Illustration by Kenneth Harrison / The Times-PicayuneNew Orleans parents Parents have a delicate mission preparing for a new storm while dealing with their children's lingering fears from an old storm.

When a storm approaches, it swirls not only in the Gulf of Mexico, but also in the minds and emotions of children who lived through Hurricane Katrina. Parents here have a delicate mission preparing for a new storm while dealing with their children's lingering fears from an old storm.

Maggie Brown's two daughters, Dawntrenice and D'wan Allen, were 17 and 14 when floodwaters forced them onto the roof of their 9th Ward home and, ultimately, to another, higher rooftop on the other side of the street. After a traumatic night waiting for help, they were rescued.

With those memories fresh and Gustav approaching, they have talked about their evacuation plans. They know what they are taking and they know where they are going: The Texas family that took them in as strangers and Katrina evacuees has invited them to come back as the friends they have become.