Curb Those Cravings (CTC) Interview With Celebrity Trainer Kathy Kaehler

CTC: I have read that your fitness and health philosophy builds awareness of “how simple daily choices about nutrition and fitness” promote a healthier and more productive lifestyle. Can you give a couple of examples of these choices and how this works?

Kathy Kaehler: Making good choices 90 percent of the time allows you to have fun and not feel guilty during the 10 percent of your time that you’re “just living life.”  Also, make exercise a priority that you can't let the sun go down without your exercise done. 

CTC: Your approach focuses on workable fitness solutions for today’s busy world. Can you give examples of this --- how do you help people find the time.
Kathy Kaehler: Knowing that you can have exercise in small increments and understand that those increments add up at the end of the day gives you more motivation to get up and take the stairs, do manual labor for the benefit of exercise, multi task home/work chores with physical activity. Dancing to your favorite song, playing tag with your children, washing windows, jumping rope or rearranging your furniture are fun ways to get in some exercise.
 
CTC: You’ve worked with a lot of celebrities, including celebrities who train (like Jane Fonda) and trainers who are fitness celebrities (like Jack La Lanne). What’s the best piece of advice you’ve gotten from Jane Fonda or Jack LaLanne?
Kathy Kaehler: With Jane and Jack it was seeing first hand that age plays no role in fitness that you can start and continue with your fitness quests at any age. Their roles as fitness icons are what I rely on for motivation personally but also for those out there who remain skeptical.

CTC: What are the differences between training celebs and non-celebs? Can we (most of whom are not celebrities) learn something from this?
Kathy Kaehler: To be honest, there is no difference between training a celebrity versus a non-celebrity. Celebrities want the same things from fitness as anyone else. We all want to get in shape for weddings, reunions, birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, and seasons. For celebrities they can add on movie roles but some non-celebs might have to be shape for their jobs. What people need to learn from this is that comparing yourself to a celebrity will not get you anywhere. It is time to learn that you must focus on yourself and be the best that you can be. 

CTC: Many people, especially women, suffer from carb cravings. What tips can you offer Curb Those Cravings! readers to help cope with, work with or combat those cravings?
Kathy Kaehler: It’s really important to find something that will satisfy your cravings. Cravings are natural and if you put them off and try to ignore them they will come back with a vengeance. Look for a treat or snack that is lower in calories and will give you the satisfaction you are looking for without blowing it. Smooth and Dreamy from Breyers is what I choose and I have a huge chocolate tooth. With the bars and sandwiches at 120-160 calories, I can have one, love it and then move on.

CTC: What is your Sunday Set-Up?
Kathy Kaehler: Sunday Set-Up is a simple food routine that is about stocking up on all your good food in the beginning of the week and prepping it so that you will have all your healthy staples to grab for snacks and meals all week long. Some great photos and examples from my shopping list is at www.kathykaehler.net under Sunday Set-Up.

CTC: Can you tell me about your Mini Workouts? Kathy Kaehler: I am constantly doing workouts featuring myself, my kids, celebrities and others. These workouts might be 1-30 minutes long, shot in numerous locations and focus on strength, cardio and stretch. They are free and easy to follow.  

CTC: One problem I have myself is motivation in sticking to a program. Can you offer some advice as to real-world motivation other than just fitting into that swimsuit or that pair of pants?
Kathy Kaehler: Your health should be the best motivation. Heart disease, diabetes, stroke, blood pressure are all risks that can be reduced with exercise. 

CTC: You live by your 90/10 rule, which encourages individuals to watch what they eat 90 percent of the time and indulge here and there during the other 10 percent. Is this do-able or too hard? What are ways people can indulge in that 10 percent which you recommend?
Kathy Kaehler: This is the easiest way to eat and live, as you can manage it easily. My 10% is satisfied with dark chocolate and sandwiches and red wine!

CTC: Any general suggestions especially for young girls (since teenage girls --- I have a teenage daughter myself --- are more prone to eating and body-image disorders than are boys) in terms of eating, exercise and body issues?
Kathy Kaehler: The time is NOW to get the routines and habits established. Eat well balanced foods, limit sugar and salt. Also, take part in physical activity on a daily basis. Find something you love to do and do it, as you will be so thankful you did.

About Kathy
A “Today Show" fitness expert, Kathy Kaehler is the author of the books Fit and Sexy for Life, Kathy Kaehler Celebrity Fitness and Real World Fitness with Kathy Kaehler. Her workout videos include “Kathy Kaehler Basics: Total Fitness Workout” and “Kathy Kaehler Basics: Workout Class.” Clients include celebrities such as Julia Roberts, Drew Barrymore, Cindy Crawford and Samuel L. Jackson. Kathy’s website is: www.kathykaehlerfitness.com

In the land of (real) women

By James J. Gormley

Spring Break is fast approaching and many young women (not to mention, lots of men) are alternately looking at the calendar and peeking at the mirror, worried that they will not be able to fit into that swimsuit that’s two sizes too small that was bought as an “incentive” after New Year’s Eve.

Bikini Anxiety 101
What’s with all of this bikini anxiety? As I pointed out in 1999, in an article called “Giving Barbie the ‘Boot’ ”: (1) real women have different body types than do most fashion models, who are often emaciated and (2) typical diets don’t work. In addition,  the Barbie body-myth acculturation is now beginning in very young girls who should, arguably, be excited about many things -- such as science, math, sports, and jump-rope -- but not about losing weight!

Rachel Caplin, author of I’m Beautiful, Dammit! Waging Your Own Curvolution and co-founder of Curvolution, a Calif.-based entertainment company that’s working to put real women, of all sizes, into the media, said in a 2006 interview with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: “The fact that it’s bathing suit season doesn’t mean that this is the moment in time where you have to be what the season is telling you to be.”

Our society’s bathing suit obsession becomes even clearer when we look at a few stats on women, girls, and weight extracted from the book, The 7 Secrets of Slim People, by Vikki Hansen, M.S.W., and Shawn Goodman.

I learned from authors Hansen and Goodman that “young girls are more afraid of becoming fat than they are of nuclear war, cancer, and losing their parents,” then it makes me more determined than ever to try to encourage my (trim) teenaged daughter to enjoy her summer and not get sucked into the dysfunctional body-type vortex that surrounds us.

Fitness Anxiety too?
Adding to bikini anxiety is its kissing cousin, fitness anxiety: Are we buff enough? Although we can sometimes feel stress as we unfairly judge ourselves by looking at the aerobics instructor next to us on the StairMaster®, we might not be aware that many everyday activities --- including shopping at the mall! --- really help us to be more fit and burn more calories each day.

For example, did you know that 25 minutes of brisk walking at the mall (the best way to avoid buying too much!) or 30 minutes of washing windows burn the same amount of calories as 20 minutes of medium aerobics or 20 minutes of tennis? Better yet: did you know that 30 minutes of mowing the lawn (although be careful in the heat) or 45 minutes of washing dishes offer the same calorie-burning as the aerobics? All true.  That’s what I call putting things in perspective.

So what if it gives us another excuse to go to the mall!

Craving Carbs: Is It Depression?

Craving Carbs: Is It Depression?

Sunshine For the Mind, Jack Challem

Sunshine For the Mind, Jack Challem

Discomfort Food: How to Calm Carb Cravings

By Jennifer Sygo
Edmonton Journal


If you woke up this morning to another grey, blustery pre-winter day and thought to yourself, "Why get out of bed?" then you’re not alone. While the bright lights of the holidays can bring cheer, at least for a while, the bleak days of January are not far off, and with them comes the desire to hibernate until the days are longer and spring flowers have broken through the frozen ground.

With the winter blahs also comes the desire for comfort foods, rich in carbs and fat, which can seemingly pick us up when we’re in the doldrums. The pile of mashed potatoes that seemed only mildly appealing in the heat of July suddenly feels like just the ticket on a day when it’s dark by mid-afternoon. Are we just weak, or is there something more to it?

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Discover How to Fight Food Cravings with These Supplements

Discover How to Fight Food Cravings with These Supplements

Do Sugar Cravings Have You by the Neck?

by Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP

It’s that time of year again when it seems like sugar is everywhere. For some of us the push-and-pull of holiday sweets starts at Halloween and lasts all the way through until New Year’s Day — and it can feel like a wild rollercoaster ride. My patients often tell me they can’t wait to get off, but many aren’t quite sure how. Most women I talk with at the clinic and in my personal life have experienced sugar cravings, no matter what time of year — or time of the month. Whether it’s having a taste for something sweet after dinner each night or speeding to your local supermarket for the biggest bag of Swedish Fish you can buy, I know craving sugar can be a powerful urge. And the disappointing truth is that once we start to include sugar into our daily routine, it becomes more and more difficult to stop.

As humans we’ve evolved to appreciate the instant energy sugar provides us, but food is a highly emotional topic, especially when it comes to sweets. We often associate sweet foods with love and acceptance, and scientists have looked at our brain chemistry to understand how food can directly affect our “feel-good” neurotransmitters like serotonin. There are many other physical causes for sugar cravings, too, like hormonal fluctuations, intestinal yeast, and stress, to name a few.

Sadly, we’ve been told for far too long that indulging in sweets is connected with a lack of self-will or some other character flaw. This is just not true! Craving sugar is not simply about willpower, nor is it simply about emotions. There may be several underlying physiologic causes feeding your desire for sugar, and it may take some perspective and investigation to get to the bottom of it. Let’s take a closer look at what might be behind your sugar cravings and how you can develop a healthy, loving relationship with sweets.
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