With over 16 million workout videos sold since 1980, Kathy Smith has become a household name in fitness. A mother of two, Kathy also serves on the board of the USC School of Gerontology, the Women's Sports Foundation and is a recipient of the IDEA Lifetime Achievement Award from IDEA Health & Fitness, the world's largest professional fitness organization.

Fall

I just got back from a trip to Ohio with my daughter Perrie - it’s hard to believe, but it’s college visit time in our family, and Perrie wanted to check out Denison and Kenyon. We had a terrific time at both schools - the people of Ohio are truly salt of the earth, and so much fun to meet - especially the lovely ladies who took such good care of us at the Mt. Vernon Inn Bed & Breakfast.

We giggled when we visited Kenyon and and heard that some of the students were having a party that night with a hilarious them: Would you still love me if I dressed like this? I asked my friends the same question a couple weeks ago when I put on this Amy Winehouse costume for Halloween:

winehouse

Back to the Ohio trip: When we arrived there, we drove for two hours or so from the Cleveland airport. Being on the road reminds me once again how fortunate I am to live in a place with easy access to open air markets with plenty of fresh, healthy options. And while Whole Foods is quickly appearing in more and more cities across the country, what’s not catching on is getting quick, affordable food. Around 10 pm, on our way from the airport, we were starving, and pulled into town with three choices for food: KFC, McDonald’s, or Pizza Hut - so we opted for the pizza.

Perrie had a laugh as I attempted to create the healthiest option possible by making something resembling a “pizza salad,” requesting every vegetable available: bell pepper, mushroom, spinach, black olives, doing my best to get as many nutrients as I could stacked onto the pizza. It was a pretty tasty solution - and no big deal since it was only for a night. But those situations always gets me thinking: if those are the options you’ve got, those are the options you’re going to take.

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