Bristol Palin’s back on Dancing With the Stars: All-Stars. With fewer pounds. Check out the weight loss evident in her new promotional pic vs. 2010’s … Returning to the ballroom for this week’s DWTS premiere with partner Mark Ballas, Bristol Palin impressed the judges with her cha cha, but also turned heads with her slim waistline. “I’m definitely in better shape than I was last time, definitely. I’m just more active and I cut all the crap out of my diet! It’s that simple,” the 21-year-old said backstage this week. It’s unclear how much weight Bristol lost, but she looks a lot thinner! The “most improved” returning contestant also credited Tripp: “My kid’s a lot more rowdy, a lot more active. I’m running after him a lot! He’s huge! He thinks he’s a teenager already.” Bristol’s competitor, Kristie Alley, recently weighed in on the Lady Gaga weight gain controversy. Alley looks great this season, as does Bristol. But who will last longer on the parquet?!
Bristol Palin’s back on Dancing With the Stars: All-Stars. With fewer pounds. Check out the weight loss evident in her new promotional pic vs. 2010’s … Returning to the ballroom for this week’s DWTS premiere with partner Mark Ballas, Bristol Palin impressed the judges with her cha cha, but also turned heads with her slim waistline. “I’m definitely in better shape than I was last time, definitely. I’m just more active and I cut all the crap out of my diet! It’s that simple,” the 21-year-old said backstage this week. It’s unclear how much weight Bristol lost, but she looks a lot thinner! The “most improved” returning contestant also credited Tripp: “My kid’s a lot more rowdy, a lot more active. I’m running after him a lot! He’s huge! He thinks he’s a teenager already.” Bristol’s competitor, Kristie Alley, recently weighed in on the Lady Gaga weight gain controversy. Alley looks great this season, as does Bristol. But who will last longer on the parquet?!
The Real Housewives of New Jersey celebrated the Summer Solstice by trying to open up their third eye chakra on last night’s episode. Yeah, we don’t know what that means either but we break it all down here in THG’s +/- recap! Teresa is excellent … at placing blame. On taking responsibility, not so much. First off she’s still upset about her husband’s black eye which of course is all Richie’s fault. Minus 12 . I’m sure poor Joe was just an innocent bystander in that scuffle. Who is she kidding? But in usual Teresa fashion she can’t let it go. She even tells Rich he could have poked his eye out.
And little bit of law (& order) is coming to True Blood . Former SVU star Christopher Meloni has joined the cast of this HBO hit for its upcoming fifth season, coming on board as a character named Roman who is part of the much-talked-about-but-never-actually-seen vampire Authority. On season five, this ruling sect will be very much talked about and seen, as Stephen Moyer’s Bill and Alexander Skarsgard’s Eric team up to try and take it down. Get your first look below at Meloni in this new role, and then visit our friends at TV Fanatic for a slew of season five photos, along with True Blood spoilers that reveal clues about what’s to come this summer…
Gluten, you have been put on notice by Kim Kardashian. The reality star took a break from her packed schedule of red carpet appearances and staged photos ops this weekend to go on a Twitter rampage. Among the items she linked to: The video for ” Follow the Leader ” by Wisin & Yandel, featuring Jennifer Lopez. These profound words by pal Brittny Gastineau: The first to apologize is the bravest. The first to forgive is the strongest. The first to forget is the happiest. And an old Instagram photo of herself as a blond, donning lingerie and bondage boots and including the simple caption: Gluten free is the way to be…Oh Hi. Miley Cyrus also slammed Gluten recently, explaining away controversy over her own Twit pic by saying she’s taken up this diet and she recommends it to all followers. Poor Gluten. That protein composite is getting worse press these days than Patricia Krentcil .
Kirsten Haglund was crowned Miss America back in 2008, but she was hardly the vision of health and happiness she appeared to be, by her own admission. The blonde beauty has suffered from severe anorexia-nervosa most of her life. The Michigan native, 23, has opened up to CNN about the shocking details of her illness, which she says began to take its toll when she was only 12. Haglund says she picked up bad habits from other aspiring ballet dancers. “I was in ballet from just 3-years-old. So from a very early age, the ideal female body type was very thin,” Haglund says. “That was the first image I had.” “I always equated beauty with being skinny. I looked at what they were doing and so many of them were throwing away their lunches and not eating.” “I thought, ‘If I can at least be thin, I know I can be successful at ballet.’” “I was living off coffee, Diet Coke and gum,” she said about her diet. “Every once in a while, I’d have vegetables, fruit or a spoonful of peanut butter.” “I knew there was something wrong , but I didn’t know how to stop.” Her disease continued to worsen, and in the next three years, Kirsten dropped over 30 more pounds before her mother intervened and got her help. After quitting ballet and focusing on recovery, she decided to enter a local beauty pageant – something that ironically helped her cope with the issue. “It was a really good educational period for me,” she said. “From hearing other people’s stories, I learned how to share my own personal struggles.” The stunner has since started the Kirsten Haglund Foundation, a charity that provides financial aid to people seeking treatment for eating disorders. She is currently a political science major at Emory University. [Photo: WENN.com]
This is going to be hard to hear, but the truth is, for those of us working to combat the aging process, sugar is a formidable enemy. I know it tastes really good and we’re conditioned to love it, but unfortunately, the sweet stuff pillages our skin’s elasticity . What’s even worse is that pigging out on sugar can make us deathly ill and dangerously fat. Sorry folks, but we’ve had our fun fling with sugar; time to kick it to the curb. Let’s be real though, most of us (myself included) will never be able to get over sugar entirely. We’re going to creep back to it, ’cause the stuff is just so good. But, we really have to learn to keep it to minimum if we care about our health and youth. Here’s why: Sugars (ALL sugars, even natural sweeteners like agave, honey, and maple syrup) raise our blood glucose level. Natural sugars are a little better for us, because they raise it less, or more slowly, and they do contain some nutrients (white sugar has none), but, all sugars raise the blood sugar level and that is a problem… According to anti-aging specialist Dr. Nicolas Perricone, a spike in our blood sugar level causes inflammation on a cellular level, which causes our skin to wrinkle. Did he say wrinkle ? Sugar gives us wrinkles? Yes, it does . Time for us to drop the donuts. Back away from the Krispy Kreme. Dr. Perricone is hardly alone in his assertion about sugar and wrinkles. Because I read books and articles on anti-aging as frequently as most of us check Facebook and Twitter, I know that many of the anti-aging doctors including Dr. Mehmet Oz, Dr. Howard Murad, Dr. Jessica Wu and Dr. Adrienne Denese advise us to avoid sugar. Dr. Wu, a Beverly Hills dermatologist, says: “Glucose actually eats away at your skin’s collagen and elastin .” The horror. Here’s the science behind the claim: When our blood sugar spikes quickly and repeatedly, the sugar attaches to the proteins (collagen and elastin) in our skin, rendering them stiff and inflexible . This process is called “glycation.” These harmful sugar molecules form compounds called “advanced glycation end-products,” or AGEs. As these “AGEs” accumulate they damage adjacent proteins, which leads to sagging skin, and wrinkles. This is sad news for those of us who just can’t go without something sweet. I’m sorry, but life is not worth living without my daily dark chocolate! (It’s okay, we can indulge in a little .) But, if you’re serious about staying young-looking, even as you move into middle-age, you have got to consider cutting back your sugar intake considerably. Now, you might be saying some of the same things I said myself at first: “I’m not gonna worry about this. I have good genes. My mother ate sugar and she still looks good. Black don’t crack.” I hear you. If wrinkles aren’t enough to get you off the sweet stuff, though, I’ve got more for you and the news gets worse. In April of 2011, The New York Times published an article called “Is Sugar Toxic?” written by Gary Taubes. The article discussed the work of a hormone specialist, Dr. Robert Lustig, who presented a lecture in 2009 called “Sugar: The Bitter Truth,” which I highly recommend. You can find it on Youtube. Lustig’s research concludes that sugar is, indeed, toxic and that it is not only aging us , it’s making us sick and fat . His evidence, which includes statistics on diabetes and obesity levels since the “low fat” craze began, is compelling. Processed “fat free” foods generally contain more sugar , which helps make them taste better after all the delicious fat has been removed. Sugar and its evil twin High Fructose Corn Syrup , which is ubiquitous in processed foods and beverages, is not just bad for us; according to Lustig, it’s a POISON akin to alcohol and cigarettes. I knew that too much sugar could contribute to diabetes, but Lustig’s research found that sugar consumption also leads to heart disease, hypertension and many common cancers as well. Astonishing, isn’t it? If I didn’t know people who’ve had heart disease, hypertension and cancer I might be disinclined to believe this. But knowing the dietary habits of friends and family who have been victims of these conditions makes me less skeptical. Each of them ate sugar with abandon. Another surprising and disheartening thing I learned via Lustig is that fruit juice isn’t as good for us as we thought. Whole fruit is much better than juice, because whole fruit contains fiber which helps keep it from suddenly spiking our blood sugar level. Fruit juice has a lot of sugar, with no fiber to mitigate it. Too much of it can raise the blood glucose level as fast as regular sugar. Even if you aren’t convinced of the correlation between sugar and diseases, the fact that it speeds up the aging process has been accepted in the anti-aging community well before Lustig’s 2009 lecture. Doctors overwhelmingly agree that sugar and HFCS cause inflammation and inflammation is an enemy to our skin. Omitting sugar from our diets entirely is probably never going to happen, because even fruits, vegetables and whole grains turn to glucose (the type of sugar that fuels glycation) when digested. And we’re never giving up chocolate, right? Of course not. But we can cut back. An article in Prevention, written by Karen Repinski recommends the following guidelines: “Keep added sugar to no more than 10% of total calories. If you’re a 45-year-old woman of average height (5-foot-4), that’s 160 calories (or 10 teaspoons) from added sugar–about the number in one 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola or six Hershey’s Kisses. By comparison, the average American consumes 31 teaspoons per day of added sugar, or the equivalent of 465 calories.” So, if you’re among those who can’t live without regular sugar, follow her guidelines. Processed sugar doesn’t do it for me, because it’s got no health benefits at all, but I do like honey, maple syrup and agave, so I’m trying to stick to no more than 160 calories per day from those. I also recommend Stevia , which is a natural sweetner (made from a plant) that doesn’t contain harmful chemicals. Stevia has very few calories and it’s recommend by Dr. Wu, author of Feed Your Face, and also by by Dr. Howard Murad, author of The Water Secret . Other than Stevia, most anti-aging specialists do not recommend artificial sweeteners, like Equal, because the chemicals in them cause us to crave sweets. Here are some recommendations: 1. Read labels and check for sugar in prepared foods. Don’t eat foods that contain high fructose corn syrup . This is easier said than done, because it’s in so many things, but if you eat fewer processed foods and more whole foods, you can avoid it. 2. Consider omitting sodas from your diet. Instead drink water, carbonated water with a splash of lemon or lime, tea, or coconut water. 3. Stop adding processed sugar to food and beverages. Replace it with honey, agave or maple syrup, but use the least amount your taste buds will allow. 4. Drink less fruit juice (which is all sugar, no fiber) and eat the whole fruit instead. Or make smoothies from low sugar fruits, like strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. 5. Eat fewer high glycemic carbohydrates like white flour, white rice and pasta. Instead, eat whole grains, like brown rice, oatmeal, quinoa or whole wheat pasta. Sorry to have been the bearer of bad news. The fact that sugar is so damaging to us is hard to accept. Sugar has comforted us throughout our lives and it’s immensely difficult to revise our view of it and to curb our habit of consuming it without worry. Still, knowledge is power and it is empowering to know the consequences of what we feed ourselves. That said, I’m not suggesting that we live joyless, abstemious lives never eating anything fun and sweet. Just cut back and eat less sugar. You know you’ll be better off if you do, even if you’d rather not hear it. Wishing you good health and great beauty. For many more anti-aging tips, please check out my book, VIBRATING YOUTH available on Amazon in paperback or as an ebook. And please follow me on twitter @Vibratingyouth and on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vibrating-Youth/291243730912385 www.vibratingyouth.com The Top Foods That Will Fight Dry Skin, Low Immunity & More This Winter! How To Beat The Mid-Afternoon Energy Slump
We’ve been following Tom Cruise’s road back to the ‘M:I’ series, leading up to the film’s release Wednesday (December 21). By Kara Warner Tom Cruise in “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” Photo: Paramount After a five-year hiatus, Tom Cruise is back as superspy Ethan Hunt in “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.” This is Cruise’s fourth foray into the world of fancy gadgetry, high-stakes missions and crazy action sequences, with “Incredibles” director Brad Bird at the helm of his first live-action film. To celebrate Cruise’s long and winding road back to Hunt and the “Mission: Impossible” franchise, here is everything you need to know about “Ghost Protocol,” which releases wide Wednesday (December 21). The Return of Ethan Hunt Although Cruise’s third “Mission” film was a bona fide box-office success following its $134 million gross in 2006, the green light for a fourth film was a long time coming. First, director J.J. Abrams confirmed that he would not be back to helm the film, though he would stay on as a producer, then in February 2010, Cruise announced he’d be back , and the hunt was on for a new director. New Blood In May 2010, Paramount announced that Pixar mastermind and director Brad Bird would take on the fourth “Mission” with Cruise , which was followed by casting announcements of new leading lady Paula Patton, Jeremy Renner and “Lost” alum Josh Holloway. Returning castmember Simon Pegg promised us that his character had an improved bag of tricks in the form of a “promotion” in IMF . We also soon learned the film’s proper title: “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.” Cruise Defies Death, Scales World’s Tallest Building As soon as photos emerged of Cruise scaling Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, interest in the film picked up considerably. How can you ignore one of the world’s most famous film stars dangling from and then standing atop the world’s tallest building? You can’t. Bird told us that people wouldn’t believe that it was actually Cruise performing the “crazy” stunts and assured us that no CG was needed for those scenes. Amped-Up Action Once the first trailer arrived , we put it through our expert analysis , and it was obvious that once again, Cruise and Co. had upped the ante with regard to ridiculously complicated action sequences. Even Cruise’s wife, Katie Holmes, admitted Cruise’s stunts were “intense,” alongside Guillermo Del Toro, who provided the very excellent bonus trailer reaction by humming the theme song and comparing “Mission: Impossible” to his diet . All Systems Go As we got closer to the film’s release date, more trailers , posters and clips started rolling in. Then it was time for the press junket, which, incredibly enough, Paramount hosted in Dubai, from where two members of our intrepid MTV News team sent in daily reports of their experiences and interviews , the highlights from which include a Tom Cruise “After Hours,” Cruise revealing the most interesting and mundane facts about himself, and just how many more “Mission” films Cruise has in him. Check out everything we’ve got on “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Videos MTV Rough Cut: ‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol’
Janet Jackson is set to share her diet tips with her fans after signing up as the new spokesperson for the NutriSystem weight loss program. Janet opened up about her struggles with weight in her 2011 bestseller “True You” when she ballooned up to 180 lbs for a movie role, becoming the butt of fat jokes in the tabloids. In this new role, Ms. Jackson will be the iconic new face for the Nutrisystem brand, the focal point of the SUCCESS campaign and the co-founder of a new initiative to help combat hunger. Janet has reportedly lost 10 pounds in just over a month on the weight loss system and says: “I am so impressed by both the thought and the nutritional science behind the program. There are millions of women like me who want to be successful but don’t have the tools to do it on their own. I hope I can help inspire them.” Janet Jackson Stuns For “Blackglama” Photoshoot [PHOTOS] Janet Jackson Rocks Colorblock Trend At Cannes [PHOTOS]
Amid a flurry of salacious allegations, GOP Presidential candidate Herman Cain is thinking seriously about becoming former GOP Presidential candidate Herman Cain. All before a single vote has been cast in the race, no less. The Georgia businessman told his staff this morning that he’s “reassessing” his bid for the White House after yet another female accuser – Ginger White – came forward with accusations against him, specifically that they had a 13-YEAR affair. Ginger White Speaks on Herman Cain Affair The Iowa caucuses are scheduled for January 3. While he no longer has frontrunner status, polling indicates Cain could still be competitive in Iowa. Cain has denied the affair allegations in public and did so again during the conference call, but told his staff, “Obviously, this is cause for reassessment.” Before Ginger White, four other women accused Cain of sexual harassment during his tenure as head of the National Restaurant Association in the ’90s. He refuted those claims as well, but acknowledged that with White, he says, ” we have to reassess whether or not this is going to create too much of a cloud, in some people’s minds, as to whether or not they would be able to support us going forth.” Cain admits he knows White, but had only been trying to help her out financially … as a friend. No word if Gloria Cain will back him up on that one.
