Celebs Share Their Fitness Stories

Celebs Talk to DC Urban LifeStyle Magazine About Their Fitness Routines

Fifty Million Pound Weight Loss Challenge (National Mall, 2007)

Yolanda Adams

Y.A.: "My work out regime is very, very simple. I start with at least forty-five minutes of cardio."

"If I am doing televison I double it up. I do an hour and thirty minutes of cardio. Forty-five minutes of either running or doing the treadmill, or riding the bike. It’s according to how I feel that day, but I always mix it so that I don’t get bored, so that it doesn’t become dull."

"My cardio can consist of fifteen mintues of jumping rope, fifteen minutes of uphill tread mill climbing, but I always do at least forty-five minutes to an hour each day simply because I’m on television all the time, I’m in magazines all the time."

"No body wants to see a bulge, nobody wants to see you looking crazy, and I’m very aware of how important it is because I am a role model to young women to let them know they don’t have to exercise as intently as I do it, but even if they incorporate twenty minutes of cardio – because the cardio helps you burn the fat. You build the muscle with the weights, but the cardio helps you lose the fat. So the more cardio you do, the more fat you burn. But that doesn’t mean the more cardio you do, the more cake you can eat."

..." I delve into the lean meats... a lot of chicken, a lot of turkey, a lot of fish, very seldom will I do the steak. If I feel a little sluggish, I’ll do a steak every now and then because I was a vegetarian up until I had my daughter. My doctor said I had to have more protein since I don’t like soy – so I started doing the chicken and the poultry again and it’s really basically how you live everyday."

"I grew up eating lean cuts and lots of fruits, lots of vegetables so living this way is easy for me."

"It’s not a task, it’s not a chore - so when I know I have to do television or when I know I have to do an awards show I always amp-up my cardio and I always make sure that I stay away from even the wheat bread. We use whole wheat in my house."

"My daughter, she’s six years old – and she’s never gotten in to the white bread because that’s not in our house – so I believe if you train the kids up in nutrition and fitness because they are days when I get a little sluggish and I don’t want to do my ab routine, and my daughter is like ‘ok Mom, we got to hit our stomachs.” And again, she’s six years old and I’ve been doing this (exercising) since she was in the womb."

DC Urban LifeStyle Magazine: What exercise equipment do you take with you on the road?

Y.A.: "I always take equipment with me on the road, because I never know if there is a full-fledged gym, or whatever. And then there are times when I only have ten or fifteen minutes to myself, so that's when I can use the bands. I also carry the aqua weights that you fill up with water."

DC Urban LifeStyle Magazine: What do you think about Dr. Ian's challenge?

Y.A.: "He is a great person. I met him a few years ago. I think he is practical, I think you can really find time in your schedule to do his program."

"There are a lot of programs where you have to have so much equipment, so many hours to devote to it. The great thing about him (Dr. Ian) is that you can be in a hotel room or at home. And what he concentrates on is using the body as a weight machine so that it’s (exercise) easy."

DC Urban LifeStyle Magazine: "Has anyone in your family had issues with weight?"

Y.A.: "Never." "If a child grows up eating right, and exercising and you make exercise a family routine they learn to do that when they're older."

"My dad was a coach, so we did everything from playing golf to running sprints because he was a track star in his day. He coached at a middle school, and he did everything – football, basketball, track..."

DC Urban LifeStyle Magazine: Did you play basketball?

Y.A.: No. I played tennis and golf."

Dr. Ian smith

“Take small steps to make a difference. Live longer and live healthier”.

“African American men live six years less than white men – and a lot of that has to do with what we are eating, a lack of movement, and a lack of exercise."

"Log on to the website to get the free tools you need for fitness and diet tips…then after you leave here go back home and encourage others to do what you’re doing.”

steve harvey

"I just turned 50 so I kinda want to stick around. I just got all this money last summer, so I wanna stick around so I can spend it."

Steve Harvey on State Farm Insurance Agency leading The 50 Million Pound challenge...

..."for an insurance agency to step aboard and help America get healthy that is almost a contradiction."

"If you got more sick people you’d probably sell a lot more medical insurance,…… for State Farm to even take an opposite position is great right there..."

"State Farm obviously cares enough to want people to stick around. Instead of paying a death benefit why not stick around and be a benefit? And I think that that’s a great thing. So I think it sells itself."

"If you’re talking to a person about longevity and living healthy and being able to get around, walk, and be mobile in your golden years, that pretty much sells itself. Anybody who doesn’t want to hear that, you probably just have to let them go on and watch them ride off into the sunset. You won’t have to wave long – it’ll only be a couple of years and they’ll be outta here." (laughing)

DC Urban LifeStyle Magazine: Steve what’s your work out routine?

sH: "I do a lot of cardio. I did one hour of cardio this morning."

DC Urban LifeStyle Magazine: Do you run?

sH: No, I don’t run I’ve got torn meniscus from playing basketball."

"I don’t run, but I can walk. Walking is healthier anyway for you on your joints. You can get your heart rate nice and high on the treadmill with the right incline. I walk with a 3.2 speed, and I put the treadmill on twelve (minutes), and I climb up the hill for fifteen minutes, and I let it down for five. Then I let it back up for fifteen, let down for five…."

DC Urban LifeStyle Magazine: Any resistance training? Do you have any muscles?

sH: “Aw, yeah. Look at that (flexing his muscles in his right arm). You don’t understand… that’s the flex position, baby. Steve Harvey is sexy”. (laughing)

Doug E. Fresh

DEF: …"what made me want to get involved is that I know that once we get the word out everybody will start to get into the flow of it and it will be more fun…..”

"You’ll start to do things naturally that made you lose weight instead of thinking of exercise as chore.”

When asked by a reported how to get motivated, Doug E. Fresh replied, “by coming to this event and by listening to the speakers here and adding that to your program."

"It’s a gradual step. Some people get caught up because they try to go to the top level and they weren’t working out at all!” “You know what I mean?” …. You got to let yourself gradually catch it (fitness). Make it a part of your lifestyle instead of saying “I’m just gonna go on a diet."

DC Urban LifeStyle Magazine: What do you do to stay fit?

DEF: "I’ve been eating a certain way for a long time."

"My style is different from everybody else. I don’t eat meat at all. The one thing that I want to take out of my program is that sometimes I eat too late."

"My lifestyle makes me eat too late. I’m going on this plane, and that plane and leaving one event and going to another event, and sometimes my lifestyle makes that happen." "But the way I live, I do pretty good. I drink a lot of water, I eat a lot of vegetables and fruits and I exercise. I go on and I go off of it. I may say I’m going to do the push-ups or the sit-ups and some running but I may have to pull something out because of my time."

"So I just stay more focused, more committed, you know, but gradually."

"And don’t beat yourself up if you get thrown off. Some people, if they get thrown off say I’ll never make it. Just be cool. That’s how I look at it."

Kimberly locke

DC Urban LifeStyle Magazine: Kimberly, what is your workout routine?

kL: I work out everyday. Everyday is cardio, and at least 3 times a week try to do weights. If I can do an extra day of weight training I do, because I’m trying to lose an extra 14 pounds.

DC Urban LifeStyle Magazine: What does your cardio routine consist of?

kL: "I jump rope, I run on the treadmill. I do it all, but sometimes it gets really, really boring. But Dr. Ian is always telling us switch it up – do fifteen minutes here, and fifteen minutes there, and (Steve) Harvey is always telling us the same thing, so it’s like you try to switch it up as much as possible."

DC Urban LifeStyle Magazine: What was the biggest challenge for you being on the Celebrity Fit Club?

kL: "The biggest challenge for me was just mentally shifting my brain to start thinking that eating healthy doesn’t mean eating bad tasting foods, or that healthy food is not flavorful – or that we’re missing out on something. I guess we are – we’re missing out on all the fat, cholesterol, heart disease and diabetes. That’s what we’re missing. So for me that was hard, but once I got it it was like second nature and I don’t even think about it. But now I can enjoy a bagel one morning , and be ok with it – I can have some fruit and yogurt the next day and be okay with that."

DC Urban LifeStyle Magazine: How long to you think it will take to lose the 14 pounds?

kL: “It’s going to take me a couple of months. A pound or two a week, that’s reasonable ‘cause I don’t want to gain it all back”

DC Urban LifeStyle Magazine: Do you have issues eating late at night?

kL: "I’m the new spokesman for Jenny Craig, so doing Jenny Craig teaches you the proper portion, so you learn how to eat three meals and have two snacks."

"And you learn how to not over eat – and so it really doesn’t matter what time it is and how late it is when you’re eating. As long as you’re not overeating on your calories."

'da brat

DC Urban LifeStyle Magazine: "How many pounds have you lost?"

db: "I've lost 24 pounds on the Celebrity Fit Club. I'm not where I want to be right now, but I'm really happy with where I am with my weight. When I started I was about 172 pounds."

"One thing people gotta do is work on their butts, 'cause when you lose weight you gotta make sure your butt is in shape too."

DC Urban LifeStyle Magazine: "What do you use, a stair-stepper to work on that area?"

db: "No, I just walk up and down the steps in my home every day."

"I walk up and down my stairs 100 times a day and that keeps my butt toned and in shape."

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