The RVRS Carolina Girls, who lost a total of 8.97 percent, won first place while The Awesome 4 from Southwest Elementary, who lost a total of 8.23 percent, came in second.

Congratulations!

Avoid high-fat meals
Keep an eye out for meals that use the following words in their description: Au Gratin, Parmigiana, Tempura, Alfredo, creamy and Carbonara, because these descriptions usually mean a high fat content.

Be mindful when you are eating
Pay attention to what you are putting in your mouth. In other words, sit down and pay attention to the food you are eating. Really enjoy each and every bite. If you’re watching TV or working while you eat, you won’t pay attention to what’s going into your mouth and you might eat more than you should and enjoy it less!

Drink more water
Drink water instead of grabbing for a high-fat snack. Drinking six to eight glasses a day will fill you up and help your waistline.

Ask for a “doggie bag” before you eat
Ask your waiter for a take-home box before you begin to eat your restaurant meal and put half of your main course into the take-home box. Putting the food away before you start your meal will help you eat a more sensible portion and you’ll have leftovers to take home for tomorrow.

Leave something on your plate
Challenge yourself to leave half of your sandwich on your plate, remove the bun from your burger or eat only half your spaghetti and meatballs. You might find out that you are satisfied eating only half of a portion and not consume the rest of your meal.    

And most of all: exercise, exercise, exercise 

If you’ve been following our tips, you know that in addition to eating the appropriate amount of calories, increasing your exercise activity can be the key to helping you lose weight. In fact, a Duke University study suggests that you should walk for 45 minutes a day. The study found that “while 30 minutes of daily walking is enough to prevent weight gain in most relatively sedentary people, exercise beyond 30 minutes results in weight and fat loss.” Evidently walking 45 minutes can burn an additional 300 calories a day which could help you lose 30 pounds in a year without even changing how much you’re eating.

Scripps Howard News Service

Way too many Americans — particularly children — are winding up in emergency rooms and operating rooms with rotten teeth.

School-system surveys done in 10 states within the past three years show the percentage of third graders with untreated tooth decay running as high as 40 percent in Arizona, to just under 15 percent in Washington State, according to tallies compiled by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A national CDC survey in 2007 found that 44 percent of 5-year-olds have had cavities.

A February study by The Pew Center for the States found that preventable dental conditions were the primary reason for more than 830,000 emergency room visits in the U.S. in 2009, up 16 percent from just three years before.

Experts say emergency room care is 10 times more expensive than routine dental services. ER care for preventable dental problems — not from trauma — often runs $1,000 or more per episode, while a preventive exam and cleaning in a dental office is $60 to $100.

The Pew study noted, for instance, that there were more than 115,000 dental-related ER cases in Florida in 2010, at a cost of more than $88 million.

Nationwide, in 2009, the study noted, 56 percent of children enrolled in Medicaid did not receive any dental care, even a routine exam.

“The fact that so many Americans go to hospitals for dental care shows the delivery system is failing,” said Shelly Gehshan, director of the Pew Children’s Dental Campaign in a statement.”The care provided in an ER is much more expensive and it generally doesn’t solve dental problems.”

Most hospital emergency departments don’t have dentists on staff, and are likely to treat patients for pain, give them an antibiotic for an infected tooth, but are unable to address underlying problems.

In many cases, full-scale surgery under general anesthesia becomes necessary. Officials at Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora said they performed more than 3,000 operations for pediatric dentistry last year, with the average cost of treatment around $3,000.

“There is an inextricable link between oral health and general health, and it is crucial that we find better ways of taking care of the oral health of our most vulnerable populations,” said Dr. Scott Tomar, a public health dentist and epidemiologist at the University of Florida College of Dentistry.

There are many reasons behind desperation dentistry. More than 1 in 6 Americans lack health insurance, and dental coverage is even less common. Many people who do have dental coverage find it limited and subject to high deductibles or caps.

Many dentists (fewer than half in 25 states) don’t accept patients on Medicaid or state child health programs because of low reimbursement rates, a problem highlighted in a report last year from the Institute of Medicine on improving access to oral care. And 47 million Americans live in areas that lack a sufficient number of dentists.

But there are also problems with getting parents to appreciate the need for dental care starting with the first teeth. Too many still have the false impression that “baby teeth” somehow don’t count, that they’re going to eventually fall out anyway.

In fact, infections and decay in primary teeth can be life-threatening if unchecked, and may cause permanent teeth to be misaligned or not come in at all, among other problems. And by the time the permanent teeth do come in, bad habits have been established. More than 1 in 5 children ages 6 to 11 have decay in their permanent teeth.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry both recommend that parents start taking their infant to a dentist by age 1, and work with professionals to teach kids to brush and floss as early as they can and avoid too many sweets and juices.

Dental experts also note that adults and children who primarily consume bottled water miss out on needed fluoride from public water systems. And, according to the CDC, only 27 states have met a national goal of having at least 75 percent of residents on public systems with fluoridation. Those who don’t drink fluoride-treated water should take supplements.

Emergency medical technician Debra Lund, right, prepares to hang an IV bag as co-worker Stacey Kreitlow, center, inserts an IV catheter into the arm of a patient in Las Vegas. The bus picked up 16 patients on its first weekend as a mobile treatment center for tourists who spent the night before drinking in all the nightlife Las Vegas has to offer. For a fee, they get a quick morning-after way to rehydrate, rejuvenate and resume their revelry. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Doc rolls out ‘Hangover Heaven’ on Vegas Strip

By JULIE JACOBSON and KEN RITTER,Associated Press

A few months ago, I decided I would run a 5K on April 22. Well, let me tell you folks, it’s April 18 and the chances of me running in that 5K are basically nonexistant.

1. I have learned that I don’t like running. In fact, I like it so little I still can’t even force myself to run half a mile without stopping.
2. I don’t want to drive to New Bern early on a rare day off and then pay money for what will basically be a suicide attempt.
3. Why am I going to pray to be lucky enough to finish the race when I could just go see “The Lucky One” in theaters?

But I’m not being completely lazy. We’re switching tactics blog friends.

We began walking a large husky, have tried running, have worked out at a friend’s home gym, done random workouts printed out from the internet and we are now moving on to workout DVDs! Enter Jillian Michael’s “Ripped in 30.”

Courtesy from Amazon.com

Let’s be clear: I do not believe it is possible to be “ripped” in 30 days unless you eat like a bird and workout for a ridiculous amount of time per day. I think it’s closer to be a bit closer and to be in better shape in 30 days, yes. But I’m no sadist and I like my occasional serving of junk food as much as anyone else in this country.

Friday I did ripped in 30 after running errands and giving said large husky a bath, which is followed by a walk to prevent the inevitable “I’m wet but want to roll in dirt” incident. While Chopper was sulking and drying off the last bit, I put in the DVD and got to work. Nearly an hour later, I was fairly certain I was dying. My heartrate has not been that high in nearly a year. I have not felt so inadequate while trying to do a workout in a year.

I tried it again Saturday with better results. I still felt like I was going to die, but I was getting the hang of it. Same with Sunday and Monday, each day got a bit better. Tonight I will do day five of week one and I’m a bit nervous. If I thought JM was a sadist on day one of week one, what will week two be like? And, God forbid, week four?

I suspect “Ripped in 30” is going to become “Ripped in 45” or so since I tend to wander away for a day or two here or there, but this DVD-type workout is a new experience. And I have to say, I’m enjoying doing an entire workout right under a fan.

On a side note, remember the April goal of 100 miles walked/run and 50 on the bike? I’m making progress on at least part of it. I’ve logged 39.1. miles on the bike and 14.3 walked. Clearly my outdoor activities are lacking this month.

The results appear in the 20^th anniversary issue of FITNESS, on stands now and online at Yahoo! Shine, the leading site for women’s lifestyle content. Highlights from the findings are below.

Happy at Your Ideal Weight?

The survey revealed that 74% of adults aren’t currently at their goal weight; 44% of women and 38% of men believe they would be happier at their ideal weight.

Adults said if they were at their goal weight they believed they would:

• Be happier                                                                                                          41%
• Have a better love life                                                                                   18%
• Make more money                                                                                         7  %
• Have more friends                                                                                          5  %

Celeb Body Confidence

28% of women said  they wished they could steal Halle Berry’s body confidence.

Here’s how other celebs stacked up:

• Halle Berry                                                                                                          28%
• Beyonce                                                                                                              20%
• Kate Winslet                                                                                                      15%
• Kim Kardashian                                                                                                 8  %                       
• Adele                                                                                                                    6  %       

Fat Days

• 48% of women admitted to having an “I feel fat” day once a week or more, compared to only 28% of men. 19% of women polled said they felt fat every day.
• 40% of women and 22% of men noted saving “fat clothes” – clothes that are too big – in their closet in case they gain a few pounds.

Dare to Compare

• Women are tough critics: 31% thought they looked fatter compared to other women, and only 10% thought they looked better.
• Not surprisingly, men weren’t as hard on themselves. 18% thought they looked just as good as other men, with only 16% admitting to believing that they looked fatter.

Battle of the Bulge

55% of women and 43% of men polled admitted that after gaining weight, they would watch what they ate, but they wouldn’t resort to extreme dieting.

What women do when they gain weight:

• Watch what I eat, but don’t go on a diet                                                                55%
• Head to the gym/start exercising                                                                              17%
• Drown my sorrows in cookies/candy                                                                       12%
• Start a diet immediately                                                                                                10%
• Curse out the scale                                                                                                         10%                                                       

Body Issues

• 51% of women have deleted a photo of themselves because they thought they looked fat versus 21% of men. Young women (age 18-34) were more likely to do so, with 60% hitting delete.
• 33% of women have been too embarrassed to change clothes in public compared to only 21% of men. Another 20% of women have bought clothes that are too small in hopes of one day fitting into them;  only 9% of men have done this.
• 43% of women said a husbands or boyfriend was the person most likely to make them feel good about their weight, followed by best friend (13%), sister (6%), and mother (5%).

Full survey results available by request.

Follow Yahoo! Shine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/YahooShine

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Follow FITNESS on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/FitnessMagazine

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# # #

About the Survey:

Yahoo! partnered with Ipsos MediaCT to conduct the Yahoo! Shine weight survey in January 2012. We interviewed n=2,001 Americans ages 18 to 64 representative of the U.S. online population via an online quantitative survey.

Editor’s note: The above was received via email from staff at Fitness Magazine.

A runner splashes through a mud pit during the Irvine Lake Mud Run. (David Whiting/Freedom News Service)

By DAVID WHITING

Freedom News Service

I had a few reminders during a recent weekend what it’s like to try to get back in shape.

The first was at the gym. Wow, those weights are heavy. The second was running — or rather trying to run.

Starting an exercise regimen can be tough, discouraging, even a little scary.

The last thing you want to do is get injured, or re-injured.

With a pair of busted ribs, I had to skip workouts for two months. OK, I climbedMount Kilimanjaroin the middle. But that hurt more than helped the healing process.

So join me in launching a new outdoor routine.

Isn’t it a shame that the human body isn’t like a machine? You leave a machine alone for months, and it’s exactly the same as when you left it.

If we don’t regularly exercise, our bodies in a matter of weeks transform from sleek cars to tricycles.

With lengthening daylight in the early evening, this is a perfect time to refresh our New Year’s fitness resolutions, decide to get in shape for summer and set some new goals.

The rules are the same whether you’re an athlete coming back from an injury, a former hard body gone soft or a coach potato thinking it might be nice to walk the dog.

And there are only three rules: Avoid injury, stay motivated, have fun.

Fortunately, there are plenty of tips on how to stick to those rules.

BOB’S TIP

Bob’s a gym buddy who lives inMission Viejo,Calif., As I grimaced doing leg lifts recently, Bob told me this story:

He had the flu the month of January. When Bob finally made it back to the gym, he enthusiastically tried to catch up. Suddenly, pain. The doctor said Bob had pinched a nerve in his neck. Now, Bob’s in his late 50s. You might blame it on age. And you would be wrong. The doctor told him too much, too soon.

The doc’s advice was to take it easy.

MOM’S TIP

I got a phone message from my Mom and her voice mail went like this:

“I heard you were chasing the dog on Friday after Buddy got out. With your broken ribs, I hope you’re not running today. But I hope you’re outdoors enjoying this wonderful day.”

Mom’s point, of course, is that overdoing things leads to injury.

I’ll mention that, yes, I’d just come home after wincing down a trail. A mother’s radar is amazing.

While Bob’s and my Mom’s stories are similar, I tell them to drive home a point: Overtraining is the number one cause of injuries.

How do I know this?

In the past five years, I’ve had Achilles tendinitis, broken bones in my foot, plantar fasciitis, blown knee … you get the idea. Nearly every time, I extended the healing process by coming back too early and pushing too hard.

Yes, dumb. But this time I’m actually being careful. Honest, Mom.

KEEP IT FUN

Don’t forget, this is about having fun. The only way to stay motivated is to enjoy yourself.

One of the best ways, is to find a training buddy. You can chat, support one another.

Also, keep in mind that time is on your side. Our goal isn’t to be in great or even in good shape by summer. Just in better shape.

And we have plenty of time. Let’s break down our journey into threes.

FIRST THREE WEEKS

This is crucial to keep in mind: During these weeks, you only are trying to get in shape to get in shape.

Don’t expect miracles. You may lose weight, you may not. You may go faster, farther. You may not.

Remember, your goals are to see some positive change by summer and have fun. This isn’t about returning to your high school glory years unless you’re in high school.

Before you start, seriously consider consulting your doctor about your plans. How much is too much?

This also is a good time to consider the expert advice of a personal trainer. If you do, be sure to make your goals clear. Avoiding injury is more important that looking good in a swimsuit.

During your first day out, you may feel great, even amaze yourself. But keep in mind, your body is fresh. So cut yourself off ridiculously early.

If you get up the next day with mildly sore muscles — not knife-like pain indicating a serious injury — that’s fine.

But if you get up barely able to move, then you didn’t mind Mom.

Too much, too soon.

Walking is great. But running can be brutal on your body. My rule of thumb for running is to jog one-tenth my former distance.

At the gym, reduce weights and move slowly. Remember Bob’s lesson.

Better yet, swim or bike. This is the perfect time to hit the bike paths.

SECOND THREE WEEKS

Now, your body is used to moving, used to a little exertion.

Plan your regimen. But don’t do anything two days in a row. Cross train. And rest at least one day a week, perhaps every other day.

And, yes, be careful to avoid overtraining. Regardless of your activity, a solid rule is never to increase an activity by more than 10 percent a week.

FINAL THREE WEEKS

By now, you will have some sort of groove. You’ll notice some muscles hardening. And depending on what you eat, you might see some pounds melting.

Still, the rules apply. 1. Don’t push past a 10 percent increase in activity each week. 2. Rest at least one day a week. 3. And cross train, avoiding the same activity on consecutive days.

This month I will walk/run 100 miles, and ride another 50 on my stationary bike.

Daily it works out to a 3.5 mile walk each day for 29 days and a 1.8 mile ride daily for 28 days. This is doable. In fact, it is so doable I have a plan. Anyone who has dealt with me and my to-do lists, calendars and overall need for a plan all the time should not be surprised by this. The plan is as follows: walk/run and abs in the morning, 100 workout with the 1.8 mile ride in the place of the 10 minute run or the 1,000 rep workout followed by the 1.8 mile ride at night.

The plan came about tonight at the end of a 3 mile walk, so tomorrow I’ll need to walk four miles to be caught up but I’m good with that. In fact, I’m beyond good with it since, oddly enough, working out makes me very at peace with the world and my life. Who would’ve thunk it?

So my alarm clock’s set for 6:30 a.m. so I can get my workout in, eat breakfast and still make it to the office in time for me to get everything I need to do done without pulling my hair out.

For more regular updates, follow me on Twitter: @AmandaWrites