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When celebrity trainer Jackie Warner recently dropped by the FITNESS offices — she’d dashed in between doing a TV segment and hitting some other morning meetings — she was fresh off the success of her latest book, 10 Pounds in 10 Days, and already on to the next big project. Fans who watched her Bravo TV reality series Thintervention With Jackie Warner will recall scenes where the fitness pro showed up in contestants’ kitchens and taught them to whip up healthy, don’t-blow-your-diet shakes. Turns out, Warner sensed a secret ingredient was missing. “I’d read a lot about protein powders and consumed them myself but I couldn't find anything with all the all-natural, organic components I thought they needed,” she says. “I wanted whey protein powder with more than protein isolate. So I spent two years developing some myself.”

The resulting product can be found in her just-launched Wellness Collection, which also includes a multivitamin, a combo Omega-3,-6 and –9 supplement, flavored H20 boosters and 150-calorie snack bars. “Plus it tastes great,” adds Warner.

Before her morning workouts, Warner whips up a healthy shake (click on the link below for the recipe) with the vanilla bean protein powder. “It has the perfect combination of carbohydrates, fat and protein to fuel your workout,” she says.

Read on to get the recipe to Warner's shake.

More from FITNESS Magazine:

Are Weight-Loss Reality TV Shows Really Effective?

8 Healthy and Refreshing Smoothie Recipes

10 Diet Tips from Olympic Nutritionists

Source: Flickr User ginnerobot

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Last Wednesday was officially the first day of the most belly-baring season: Summer! While we may be tempted to chill out by the pool with a tasty drink, it's not the time to slack off on staying fit and strong (but when is?). We asked Jill Miller, trainer and creator of the new Coregeous workout DVD, to share five of her favorite, unique moves that tone the midsection.

Add them to your routine this week and hit the beach with confidence all Summer long!

Magician's Assistant on a Ledge

1. Place your right hip on a brick and right elbow on the ground.
2. Engage your side-waist muscles to raise your legs to hover four to six inches above the ground. (Make sure that your shoulders, pelvis, and ankles line up with each other, and that the two legs remain glued together.)
3. Sustain the position while breathing deeply for one full minute, then switch sides and repeat.

WHY? "This exercise targets the internal and external oblique layers and a deep low back muscle," Miller explains. "You will feel this one tomorrow!"

Learn another crunch-free ab move after the break!

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When the weather warms up, our tastes naturally veer toward lighter, oven-free fare. Whole Foods Market's Health Starts Here program has dozens of low-calorie, refreshing ideas to help you fit in your fruit and vegetable servings all Summer long. Here are two of our favorites, all of which will please a crowd!

Double Grape Slushies

Serves 4

• 1/2 cup concord grape juice
• 1 cup seedless red or green grapes
• 1 cup honeydew melon chunks
• 2 cups ice cubes

1. Pour juice into a blender. Drop in fruit and ice.
2. Put the lid on and blend until smooth.

Nutrition information per serving: 60 calories, 0 g fat

Banana Nice Cream

• 2 bananas, sliced and frozen
• 1 cup unsweetened soy milk
• 2 tablespoons smooth almond butter or peanut butter

1. Put bananas, soy milk, and nut butter into a blender.
2. Puree, turning off the motor and stirring the mixture two or three times, until smooth and creamy.
3. Pour into two bowls and serve.

Nutrition information per serving: 280 calories, 13 g fat

Read on for two more DIY summer desserts.

More from Fitness:

Your Guide to Healthy Portion Sizes

The Dessert-a-Day Diet

8 Healthy and Refreshing Smoothie Recipes

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How often do you get home too tired to cook, struggle with what to eat, and end up ordering takeout? We all know that when hunger hits it's convenience over health that ultimately wins, so make it easy next time and be prepared. Stock up on these 10 staples and nix the takeout. Just think of the money you'll save from not having to tip the pizza guy!

Hummus and Veggies

The Middle Eastern chickpea spread is an easy, protein-rich snack that fights hunger and balances blood sugar levels — and a little goes a long way. Baked pita chips aren't the worst thing you can eat, but substituting some veggies can make a bigger impact than you think. "Hummus boosts energy because it contains iron, and red bell pepper slices are high in vitamin C, which helps to utilize and absorb the iron from the hummus," says holistic nutritionist Peggy Kotsopoulos, author of Must Have Been Something I Ate. Follow her easy recipe for plain hummus by throwing 1 can of chickpeas in a blender with a dash of ground cumin, sea salt, extra virgin olive oil, and a splash of lemon juice. Keep a few batches in the freezer so all you have to do is thaw.

Salsa

When not paired with greasy fried tortilla chips and margaritas, salsa is surprisingly low in calories. Kotsopoulos suggests buying yours from the refrigerated section of the grocery store, where it's the freshest. Make an easy, low-cal substitute for nacho layer dip by putting hummus on the bottom of a dish, layering with salsa, then topping with olives or lettuce. Instead of chips, try Mary's Gone Crackers, which are made of brown rice, flax, and sesame seeds ($5.49, grocery stores nationwide).

See what other skinny foods you should be eating after the break!

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Earlier this month, new research was released that showed it really isn't more expensive to eat according to USDA guidelines than to maintain a steady diet of junk food. Still, one gripe that many have about fresh, nutritious food is how quickly it can go bad (especially compared to that boxed pastry on grocery store shelves). So we asked Coupons.com savings expert Jeanette Pavini to fill us in about the best ways to save dough while shopping in the produce aisle.

1. Keep onions, potatoes and garlic out of the refrigerator. Place them in a cool, dark and dry spot. And to try Pavini's top trick, grab an extra pair of nylon stockings next time you're at the drugstore. She swears that onions last longer if you store them in the legs of stockings!
2. Store apples in a separate crisper. Since the fruit emits ethylene which can increase the ripening speed of other produce in your fridge, keep them in the bag you carried them to the register in and pop them in a bin solo.
3. Ripen in a paper bag. Your supermarket may have some foods on special if they're not quite ripe. Stock up and save: Buy underripe pears, peaches and nectarines and get them ready to eat by putting them in a brown paper bag (at room temperature).
4. Prep greens for easy eating. Wash leafy greens and herbs under cold water, drain in a colander and store in the refrigerator in a plastic bag with a few paper towels. They'll be more appealing to add to a meal when they're pre-washed, and the early cleaning of these items doesn't increase their spoilage speed.

More from FITNESS Magazine:

Fire Up the Grill: 8 Healthy Grilling Recipes

Easy Recipes with Summer's Freshest Ingredients

Go Green: Superfoods to Add to Your Diet

Source: Flickr User North Charleston

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Bionic and iconic, these game changers have inspired us over the years to perspire and put our best body forward. Take a cue from our 20 favorite masters of motivation as they share their secrets to getting better, fitter, stronger than ever.

The Rock (Hard) Star: Gwen Stefani

Before Gwen Stefani began strutting her stuff as the superfly front woman for the otherwise all-guy band No Doubt in 1995, the role of female lead singer tended more toward being a sexpot than having a six-pack. The blond bombshell, now 42, brought a new athleticism to the stage with a bod she credits to "lifting weights [and] a little boxing."

The Legend: Jane Fonda

She has played many roles — Oscar winner, political activist, billionaire's wife — but for millions of women, Jane Fonda's legacy is all about leg warmers. It was 1982, and fresh off her triumph in On Golden Pond, one of Hollywood's leading ladies, at the age of 44, decided her next act would be as a fitness guru. Workout: Starring Jane Fonda, originally on VHS and Beta, remains the best-selling fitness video of all time, having sold 17 million copies.

"It launched the home fitness video industry and made it okay for women to have muscles," Fonda reflects. Only years after its release did she reveal that the cover photo of her in a striped leotard and those maroon leg warmers, legs scissored skyward, was that of a woman who had embraced exercise as a way to save her­self from bulimia.

In 2010, despite hip and knee replacements, Fonda was back in the studio — wearing yoga pants now — to film her Prime Time DVD series targeted at inspiring older people to move. At 74, Fonda loves hiking up mountains, and she has a body most 30-year-olds would envy. Her secret? "It's one-third good genes and less than one-third diet, and all the rest is working out," she says. When asked what's next, Fonda demurs. "I don't know. And if I did, I wouldn't tell because I wouldn't want someone else to get there first."

Keep reading to learn about other important fitness icons.

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Over the next few months, families will travel across the U.S. via plane, train or car during summer road trips. Kacie Fischer will be covering the same distance (nearly 4,000 miles, on her route), but on inline skates. . . and in just 74 days. If she reaches her goal, Fischer will also be breaking five Guinness World Records in the process.

We caught up with Fischer, a Promax DOer, after a long day of skating to get the backstory about her fit trip which has been two years in the making.

How did you get started with inline skating?

I started skating when I was 7, but didn’t start skating longer distances until I was cross training as a college runner. I found that I could travel a lot farther and see a lot more, plus it was a lot more exhilarating—try flying down a hill at 40+ miles per hour! Inline skating is like running on steroids.

More of Kacie's interview after the break.

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Ever wish you had a personal chef to deliver diet-friendly meals right to your home? Us, too! That’s why we had to catch up with Jillian Michaels at her recent event at the W Residences in Hollywood to get the skinny on her new partnership with Freshology, a food delivery program that brings gourmet, calorie-controlled meals straight to your door.

"I've been wanting to get involved with something like this for a long time, but either the food sucked or it was packed with unhealthy preservatives," says Michaels. "It's not just calories — the quality of the food matters when it comes to health and weight loss, which is why I really clicked with the Freshology's commitment to fresh, clean food."

Teaming up with Freshology’s five-star chef, Michaels used her nutrition principles to create a total weight-loss plan that delivers healthy, wholesome, and delicious food with no preservatives, no hormones, no artificial sweeteners, and no trans fats. On the program, you’ll receive a twice-weekly delivery stocked with daily meals totaling 1,400 to 1,800 calories: breakfast (240 to 475 calories), lunch (230 to 470 calories), dinner (303 to 536 calories), and a dessert. The 28-day rotation ensures you’ll never experience taste bud boredom. And all the food is precooked, chilled, and ready to go, so at the very most, all you have to do is zap it in the microwave. For added "thinspiration," you’ll also get Michaels’s fitness DVDs, texts to keep you motivated, and a copy of her book, Master Your Metabolism.

Keep reading to see if Freshology passed our taste test.

More from Fitness Magazine:

Five Moves to Get Jillian Michaels's Amazing Arms

Bob Harper's 20-Minute Fat-Blasting Circuit

The New Diet Rules: Eight Easy Steps to Eat Better

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Whether you're going by boat, plane, train, or automobile, travel bugs are bound to greet you. Here, some cringe-worthy stats on germs and traveling — and tips on how you can take a trip unscathed.

Stay Hydrated

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the air inside planes has anywhere from 10 to 20 percent humidity, which can dry out mucous membranes and make people more susceptible to germs. Staying hydrated throughout the trip can prevent nasal passages from being irritated, so load up on water and skip the carbonated beverages and booze. "Alcoholic and caffeinated drinks should be followed with water or fruit juice to rehydrate because they are diuretics and can cause water loss," advise Ray Fillmore Garman, MD, MPH, and Susan Spengler, MD, both associate professors with the Department of Preventive Medicine at the University of Kentucky. Sipping on water assists with immune function — and in some cases even helps with jet lag. For longer, international trips pack electrolyte-friendly snacks like GU Energy Chomps, a banana, nuts, or a small bag of fortified cereal to keep drowsiness at bay.

Keep reading for two more healthy travel tips after the break.

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As the reporter of ESPN's College GameDay for football and basketball Jenn Brown travels almost 70 percent of the year. That might sound like a dream job, but when your dream wedding is coming up, all those late night drive-thru dinners and wonky work hours can take a toll on your shape! We caught up with Brown just days before her wedding, where she gave us her secrets to how she stayed slim on the road and prepped for her big day.

What have you been doing differently to get ready for your wedding?

I took a different approach to working out than I usually do. I am typically a cardio junkie; I’m always running on the treadmill and follow it with 45 minutes of lifting. For my wedding, I really wanted to focus on looking lean and toned. I had just come off of covering football, where I gained my usual footfall five [pounds] from eating on the road in all these towns with delicious food, so I had three months to get into shape. I started doing Pilates three to four times a week. It was weird to me that you could go and work out for an hour and not be dripping in sweat, but I’ve seen an amazing transformation because of it.

Learn how Jenn stays fit on the road after the break.

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Feeling a little lackluster in the kitchen lately? How about the bedroom? The two could be related. Food can be a very sensual prop that helps keep things spicy behind closed doors, but which ones should you be welcoming with open arms and which should you close your taste buds to? JJ Virgin, cohost of TLC’s Freaky Eaters, gave us some food for thought on how to kick things up a notch for supersizzling results!

The three main things to look for in an arousing appetite are a rise in blood flow, circulation, and dopamine levels, Virgin explains. Try adding these to your next candlelit dinner for a big bite of romance!

• Oysters and avocados both have a big dose of healthy fats, which are full of dopamine, a neurotransmitter triggering the part of our brain that recognizes reward and pleasure.
• Walnuts (or any nut except peanuts) have high levels of arginine, a natural amino acid that boosts blood flow.
• Fish not only have arginine, but an added bonus of omega-3 fatty acids, which can improve your cardiovascular health and increase dopamine. A triple threat!
• Spicy dishes, like this Roast Salmon With Thai Red Curry Sauce, stimulate your tongue and kick-start the nervous system — great for postdinner activities!

And if you don’t want to send your sweetheart flying out the door (OK, maybe that’s a little extreme), keep reading to see which foods to stay away from.

More from Fitness:

• Sex Positions That Double as Exercise
• Ten Health Benefits of Having Sex
• How the Scale Sabotages Your Sex Life

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You carry your own water bottle, use a reusable shopping bag, and sort your recyclables from the trash. Here are more easy ways to green your daily routine without thinking about it.

Choose Wisely

Look for eco-friendly companies when shopping for workout clothes and gear. Gaiam, Patagonia, and GoLite are just a few of the companies that use organic fibers in their clothing and accessories. Green your yoga session by investing in a mat made from sustainable ingredients, like Manduka's eKO Mat.

Reuse Old Fitness Gear

If you've Downward Dogged your yoga mat into tatters or have equipment from your days of being in the neighborhood soccer league, blow off the dust bunnies for a cause. Bring new life to your old gear through these programs.

Recycle Your Mat: Send your old mat (or drop it off at a participating location), and this company will work with other organizations to find creative new uses for it.

Sports Gift: Organize a collection in your neighborhood, school, or office for old gear like soccer balls, tennis rackets, and athletic shoes, and this nonprofit will ship them to underprivileged children worldwide, so they can enjoy sports too.

Reuse-a-Shoe: Donate worn sneakers to Nike's Reuse-a-Shoe program, and they'll turn your pair into material for playgrounds and other Nike products. Find a drop-off location or start your own shoe drive at Nikereuseashoe.com.

Keep reading for more green fitness tips.

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The last thing you probably want to think about on your wedding day is the food you can and cannot eat. But you might be interested to know that what you munch on can make a big difference in how you feel on the big day. Here, the best and worst foods to nosh on before and after saying, "I do."

The Secret Superfood: Asparagus

It might not be the first food that comes to mind when planning your menu, but according to Lauren O'Connor, MS, RD, munching on some stalks throughout the day has some big perks. O'Connor says asparagus has diureticlike properties that can help fight bloating, along with keeping you fuller longer due to the high fiber content. And when you're trying to look good in a custom-fit wedding dress, these two things are kind of a big deal.

For On-the-Go Grazing: Homemade Trail Mix

Your wedding day will be the happiest day of your life and also the longest. It's important to have a stash of snacks on hand to prevent mindless munching until your next meal. Lauren Harris-Pincus, MS, RD, and Kathleen Siegel, RD, CDN, of NutritionBabes.com suggest creating your own trail mix with dried fruit, almonds, walnuts, and seeds to keep your hunger in check no matter how hectic the day gets. No time to DIY? Fresh fruit is another option to fill you up fast.

See which other foods are wedding-day-approved after the break!

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When you see Madonna on a talk show this week promoting her new album, MDNA (out now!), or during one of the stops on her world tour, which kicks off on May 29, you’ll be checking out moves choreographed by former Broadway dancer Nicole Winhoffer. She appeared in shows like Wicked and 42^nd Street, among others, before joining the Material Girl for her Sticky and Sweet Tour in 2009. Winhoffer, who is also a personal trainer, now works in the gym with Madonna six days a week to ensure that she’s ready for her grueling performances.

We caught up with Winhoffer to take a peek behind the scenes and to learn more about how everyone can train just like the amazing 53-year-old pop star!

If our readers could steal one trick from your work with Madonna, what would that be?

Body awareness. They must engage their mind while performing their exercises. Time and time again, I see people reading papers or watching TV while they work out. This might bring about injury, and if the mind is not connected to the body, you can't exert the proper amounts of energy needed to gain the desired results.

You were in Indianapolis to help Madonna prepare for the Super Bowl and are now gearing up to go on tour with her. How do you prepare for each performance?

Right before the show, we warm up in her dressing room. We complete active hamstring stretch sequences as well as other stretches, ensure joint mobility by performing jumps on the ground and on trampolines, and do ab work. As a result, her body is connected, warm, and ready for the performance.

People are still buzzing about her amazing halftime show performance. How do you get your body ready for something like that?

We increased our cardio for stamina — her show was the most physical 12 minutes I have ever experienced! Due to her high heels, we made sure her core was strong to support the stress placed on her lower back. We practiced several movements and routines from her performance within the workout so once she was on stage, her muscle memory kicked in.

Read on to get more tips on how Madonna stays in shape.

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The Love-Your-Legs Workout

Your Guide to Spring Clean Your Life

Run a Half Marathon in 10 Weeks: Beginner Training Plan

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Five years ago, Dimity McDowell and Sarah Bowen Shea immersed themselves in running while training for the Nike Women's Marathon together. While they had support from one another, they realized that there weren't many resources to help working moms balance race training with life.

"There is a huge community of women just like us: women who get up before the sun rises, lace up, and head out," McDowell says. "We wanted to write a book that spoke to those women — our tribe — that addressed the various reasons why we run." And that is how Run Like a Mother: How to Get Moving — and Not Lose Your Family, Job, or Sanity was born. The pair's new book, Train Like a Mother, is in stores now and "fills in the gaps." You'll find motivation tips, "motherly advice," funny anecdotes, and nine busy-woman-friendly training plans for races from 5Ks to marathons.

We laughed, nodded in agreement, and dog-eared countless pages while reading Train Like a Mother, but nothing stood out quite like the running bucket list. It's like a fitness game full of fun challenges that you can start today! Here are a few bucket list items from the authors to get you started — check out the book for more or brainstorm your own ideas that will inspire you to "run this mother!"

Read on to get the bucket list!

More from Fitness Magazine:

Rock Your Run: Eight Beginner Running Tips

The 10-Week Half-Marathon Training Guide

The Top Seven Foods For Runners

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To get the best results from your workout — and stay safe, too — you can't keep ignoring the necessary upkeep and replacement of your most important items. "It's worth it, especially since most gear is fairly inexpensive and other gear may have useful upgrades," says Corey Twedt, NordicTrack Research and Development Manager. "You should always check your items for tears, cracks, or yellowing, and replace them so you can prevent injuries." Here's how to know when it's time to pony up the dough for a better performance.

Tanks, Pants, and Other Apparel

When to replace them: Varies

Must-know info: The lifespan of your apparel depends on each garment's type of material and the manufacturer's specific instructions (which can be found on the tag, the information/price tag, or inside a pocket). Fabric softener diminishes the breathability, water repellency, and wicking ability of performance fabrics — so those items will lose their power within months if you don't care for them properly. You should line-dry these items as well, when possible.

More details on replacing gear after the break.

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Ironman triathlete and ultramarathoner Brendan Brazier realized early on in his career that diet would play a big role in his overall performance. "Longer events really level the athletic playing field. It becomes more about training and the speed of recovery than about natural ability," Brazier says. "Nutrition allows you to train harder and recover faster."

The refined white starches he had added to his diet to make up for the carbohydrates he was burning weren't increasing his energy levels as much as he had hoped. After extensive research, Brazier found that about 80 percent of recovery is linked to good nutrition. "Eating more doesn't always mean more energy. You can be overfed while being undernourished," he says.

Brazier eased into a whole food-based, vegan diet heavy on healthy whole grains (amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat), plant proteins (hemp, pea, rice), and dark leafy greens. Besides increasing his rate of recovery, he discovered that this eating plan of frequent, small meals helped him be more productive and sleep better.

"Look at Google. They were trying to decrease the amount of sick days their staff members were taking, so they put in cafés with healthy food. Since everything was free, employees would graze throughout the day. There was no midafternoon crash, and many people were more productive and took fewer sick days," Brazier explains.

Today, Brazier enjoys fitness recreationally and advises professional athletes about nutrition (Montell Owens, a Jacksonville Jaguar Pro Bowler, and Simon Whitfield, an Olympic triathlete, among others). He guest-lectures at Cornell University, has written three books, most recently Thrive Foods, and just launched Thrive Foods Direct meal-delivery service.

We couldn't wait for the meals to hit our doorstep, so we asked Brendan to share one of his favorite recipes. Keep reading to learn how to make his superpowered pizza.

More from Fitness Magazine:

How to Rewind Your Health History

Go Green! Springy Superfoods to Add to Your Diet

Reboot Your Metabolism

Source: brendanbrazier.com

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Are you plagued with period pain, fatigue, or other symptoms that turn you into a zombie for the week? Get relief by upgrading your diet. Here, experts share the foods that can boost energy, beat cramps, banish moodiness, and more.

Iron-Fortified Whole-Grain Cereal

Many women, especially those who consume very little meat or are vegetarians, don't get the iron they need. This saps their energy and makes it difficult for them to concentrate, says Karen Ansel, RD, an American Dietetic Association spokesperson. "For women with heavy periods, iron is even more important because they lose larger amounts with each monthly flow. Iron-fortified whole-grain cereal is an easy way to get your daily dose." Ansel recommends looking for a box that provides at least 25 percent of the daily value for iron, then chase it down with a glass of orange juice — its vitamin C will help you absorb even more iron. At dinnertime, if you're craving iron-rich red meat, go ahead and have some, says Marissa Lippert, RD. Just stick to a lean cut (flank steak or tenderloin) and a 3- to 4-ounce portion.

More foods after the break!

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When Cheryl Forberg — registered dietitian, James Beard award-winning chef, and creator of The Biggest Loser meal plan — signed onto the show for its first season, she was shocked at the contestants' states of health. "Most of what I did was not on camera; at the beginning of every season, the applicant pool was huge. Season five alone had 220,000 applicants. Once we weeded applicants out down to about 75, we could start doing physical tests while I met with them to talk about eating habits and their weight loss and weight gain tendencies," she said. "The first season was shocking to hear their eating habits, but after a few seasons, I realized I was hearing the same thing over and over again."

Read below as Forberg shares her experiences with The Biggest Loser, the nutrition factors she used to make the meal plan, and a healthy spread you can make easily at home.

What were you most surprised to discover about with the diets of the past contestants on The Biggest Loser?

I found all the contestants had things in common, like the belief that skipping meals promotes weight loss, drinking too many calories, having too much processed fast food, not eating very many fruits and vegetables, little to no water consumption, not eating enough whole grains, and forgetting to plan ahead. Everybody had a different combination of one these things, but what they all had in common was prioritizing their family, work, or something else over themselves. They needed to put their head in the game and get healthy so that they could be around to take care of the people and things they loved. They needed to start taking care of themselves.

More healthy eating tips after the break.

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We often hear that probiotics are important to maintain healthy digestion, but what exactly do they do? Fitness recently learned all about the friendly bacteria from Dr. Melina B. Jampolis, MD, who we met with at an Activia event. We asked her about the digestive system, the role of probiotics in overall health, and how to incorporate the live microorganisms in our diets. Here’s what she had to say:

How do probiotics help regulate our digestive system?

Probiotics are friendly bacteria that live in our intestines. The gut contains 70 percent of our body’s immune tissue, so a healthy gut is important for healthy immune function. Probiotics help keep the cells of the colon healthy, promoting good digestion. Things like stress, lack of sleep, medication, and infection can throw off the ratio of good to bad bacteria in the intestines, which can lead to overall health and digestive problems. This bacteria keeps the cells that line the gut healthy. They produce vitamins and produce lactase, an enzyme that helps break down milk.

Can you get probiotics from frozen yogurt? Learn this and more after the break!