Women Affairs

If you ate your way through your twenties, and worked your way through your thirties, you’re probably showing a bit of wear. But, don’t despair. You have a long-lost friend in South Carolina who’s going to help you regain the vigor of your teenage years - or, at least help you bring the downward spiral to a screeching halt. Dr. Dana King, of the University of South Carolina, reports rather stunning results concerning the impact of midlife lifestyle changes. It takes a mere four years - think about that - to effectively reverse the damage done in those years of work and wantons. But… There’s a plan you must follow to achieve these results. It’s not a complicated plan, and it requires no special tools. It requires only the full participation of one critical component for success: your horribly neglected body. So, take these simple steps to reduce your risk of heart disease by 35%, and your risk of death by 40%: -Eat five or more fruits and vegetables each day -Exercise a minimum of 2.5 h...

Harry Jackson Jr. St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MCT) ST. LOUIS - Andrea Riggs was ready to take on the competition when she opened her personal training studio in Black Jack, Mo. The niche for Body Beautiful was to help black women get into shape, be healthy and look good. The competition she ran into, however, wasn't Bally or Gold's or 24 Hour Fitness. Instead, her greatest competition came from attitudes about exercise and diet from the people she wanted for her clients: black women. "They told me they didn't want to lose weight," Riggs said, recalling her efforts to recruit clients. "It's cultural expectations and pressures. African-American women seem to say, `We want meat on our bones, and we all want to be bootylicious and appeal to African-American men.'" People who battle health disparities in African-Americans agree with Riggs. But they admit the topic rarely is broached because of fear of political incorrectness. Still, th...