Why do people sometimes judge harshly men and women whose list of required attributes in a long term partner includes a fit, healthy body? Not long ago, a friend accused me of being a female version of the movie character Shallow Hal when I refused her attempts to set me up  with a heavyset male friend of hers. “Yes.” I said. “And you know what “Hal” is short for? Hallelujah! Because I’ll be with someone who can keep up with me!”

She didn’t think it was funny. “You’re too picky.” She told me.”  To which I replied, “Comparing me to a movie character won’t make me more open to dating a guy whose activities, energy level, eating habits, overall lifestyle and health for raising future kids are so drastically disparate than mine.” Besides, I had tried overlooking things like that in the past, and knew from personal experience that it just doesn’t work for me.

“By the way”, I went on to explain, “Shallow Hal desiring the more svelte version of Gwynyth Paltrow, as opposed to the obese version, is not a critical flaw in a man, because brain biology compels men to desire those women who are more capable of reproducing and perpetuating the species!”

This is the same brain biology that causes women to seek out, and be attracted to, men who would be good providers. Sure, she gets labeled as a gold digger, in much the same way that Hal is labeled as “shallow” for wanting the healthiest fertile female to bear his children, but in essence, “gold digging” is rooted in her brain biology. And how can you blame a woman for wanting to choose a man who would best be able to provide for their future offspring?  But I have long maintained that fertile women especially, also have a biological need to be concerned with a man’s physicality just as he is with hers. 

Read the rest of this entry »

When is the last time you wanted to get down and dirty with your man? Do you find yourself making excuses and turning away from his advances? Did you used to initiate, and now wait for him to? Were you once the horny girl who couldn’t get enough sex, and now you don’t crave it at all?

Letting a low libido continue may seem harmless, but is it really fair to your mate? Hell, is it even fair to yourself to give up orgasmic release, and all the health benefits associated with maintaining healthy, functioning, sex organs?

And if you aren’t in a relationship, a low libido could be keeping you from seeking one, in which case you could also be missing out on the benefits of the emotional connection that comes with a loving, sexual relationship.

Staying Fit After Thirty means staying on top of things sexually. (Pun fully intended!) Ideally, women would have their hormones tested when their libido is at its healthiest and strongest - possibly in their early twenties, for a baseline measurement of all sexual hormones. Then they would have a “norm” to compare to, if things start to change in their thirties and beyond.

Read the rest of this entry »

GiddyUp, Girls!! Remember playing horsey when you were little? The grown up version is now here.

Do you remember when you were a little girl with a mad crush on Lee Majors’ character, Heath Barkley, on The Big Valley TV show, dreaming of riding behind him on his horse, hair blowing in the wind, as the two of you trotted off into the sunset? NO? Was I the only one?

Well, okay then  - have you ever envied the lower body shape and tone of female equestrian riders in their riding breeches?  Did you watch Nicole Kidman in the movie Australia and just wish you could have the feeling of freedom of riding a horse like that?

Have you ever gone horseback riding and realized what great exercise it is when every muscle in your butt and thighs was sore for the next three days? Well, now you don’t have to own a horse and have three acres of land to enjoy the benefits of horse riding.

This fitness gadget pretty much takes a child’s innocent fantasy about Heath Barkley into the adult world-and turns it R rated. Watch Ellen Degeneres try the igallop:

When I was on the birth control pill during part of my twenties, I told the gynecologist that I thought it had decreased my libido, made me less orgasmic, and turned me into a moody, emotional basket case. Just based on my common sense belief that anything that affects hormone levels could likely affect libido, I asked her innocently, “Can the pill cause those symptoms?”

As if she had stock in the very company that made them (and she probably did), she insisted that there was no evidence that the pill could cause any of the symptoms that I described.

I never researched it; I just chalked it up to her being stupid, went along my merry way and stopped taking the damn things. Thanks to incessant media coverage of the AIDS epidemic when I was a teen, I was already a diligent condom user, regardless of how much I trusted my boyfriend, so stopping the pill didn’t cause a disruption to my normal routine.

As it turns out, she was uneducated about the issue, because I now know that studies existed from years prior to that conversation, which reported the negative effects of oral contraceptives on sexual function, including diminished sexual interest and arousal, suppression of female initiated sexual activity, decreased frequency of sexual intercourse and sexual enjoyment. 

Read the rest of this entry »

Okay, ladies (and gents)- as promised, I had Nik Herold, personal trainer and owner of Fitness Doctors, write up his three favorite exercises for strengthening your Transverse Abdominal area. Remember, these are the smaller, support muscles that help tighten your pelvic floor muscles, help give you a flat belly, and help in preventing back injuries.  Add these to your gym routine to get that flat stomach before summer! Here they are:

Read the rest of this entry »

By Nik Herold of The Fitness Doctors

The other day, Suzy mentioned in her Better Sex With Kegels article, the importance of strengthening your transverse abdominals as part of your conditioning regimen for your pelvic floor muscles. The connection between the TVA muscles and your pelvic floor muscles that Dr. Laura Berman mentions in the transcript within Suzy’s article, is that the pelvic floor naturally tightens when the transverse abdominals are contracted. Indirectly, strengthening the TVA group, helps strengthen the pelvic floor. (And also helps the other muscles in maintaining a flat stomach).

Read the rest of this entry »

Okay, ladies, so I recently got a question from a reader about the Kegel article I wrote last year, about having better orgasms, and giving more pleasure to your man, by doing kegels.  I mentioned various types of Kegel exercises to can do to strengthen your PC muscles, the reader specifically asked about how it is possible to do the last type mentioned, Wild Wandas. (Note, these are my silly made up terms - nothing clinical). Here they are for a recap:

1. Contracting and holding for a count of five or ten, and then releasing - Slow Sallys

2. Quickly contracting and releasing repeatedly, doing sets of five or ten, and working up to higher numbers of reps just as you would with your dumbbell routine - Rapid Rhondas

3. Flexing with sets of up and down movement, and side to side movement. (YES, it is possible). These are more advanced so you may need to start with very few reps. - Wild Wandas

Now, I’m not a sex therapist, I just know what the experts say can be done, and what has worked for me personally. It takes practice and it’s a subtle movement - don’t expect to be feeling the earth move when doing them. (Though the orgasm benefits you experience as a result of doing them, may in fact make the earth move - or at least make you feel like it is.)

Read the rest of this entry »

Here we go again with my favorite topic: pelvic floor muscles. A study out last year seems to confirm that wearing high heels can strengthen your favorite girl muscles! This may well be the coolest study I’ve ever reported on!

Just when you were ready to bitch and moan about your growing corns, bunions, and overall feet discomfort from wearing high heels, you can now take comfort in knowing they are good for your Gynecological Goddesses -the muscles in your body that help urinary and sexual function!  

Leave it to a female doctor from Italy to invent a study that proves that the beautiful Italian shoes we all love so much, have more redeeming value than just making our legs and butt look sexier!! 

Italian urologist, Maria Cerruto, seems to have proven her theory, and here is a bit from the full article:

She said her study of 66 women under 50 found that those who held their foot at a 15 degree angle to the ground - the equivalent of a two inch heel - had as good posture as those who wore flat shoes, and crucially showed less electrical activity in their pelvic muscles.

This suggested the muscles were at an optimum position, which could well improve their strength and ability to contract. 

However, this doesn’t excuse you from doing your Kegel’s so bone up on my advice for turning your vagina into a vice grip here.

You may have all heard about the recent pornography study  by a Harvard business school perv - I mean, professor - which ranked States by their level of online porn consumption. The results found Utah to rank number 1 in online porn  consumption - with the highest number of online porn subscriptions. I know what you’re thinking: Does *f.a.t. Suzy just look for excuses to write about sex, or what?

Answer: Kind of.

Reason: Because sex and health/fitness are inextricably connected. A healthy body has a libido; an unhealthy one does not. A healthy body “performs” well sexually, an unhealthy one does not. A balanced appetite for sex is a sign of a healthy mind and spirit and an addictive appetite indicates a problem.

So, what does the new porn viewing study have to do with health, fitness, and diet, you ask? Keep reading and I’ll tell you.

Read the rest of this entry »