Simmerling recently returned home to Vancouver from Aspen, Colorado where she had taken a fall injuring both her knees, along with her fourth concussion. When asked if she was in pain, Georgia replied, “no not at all, I just want to get back racing.” Her comment personifies this world class athlete, from her passion for the sport of alpine racing, to her contagious smile and electric personality that is combined with a fearless nature, and strength on the hill that is awe-inspiring.

Skiing is in the blood of the Simmerling family. Growing up in West Vancouver, Georgia’s parents had a vision for the entire family to ski together. Georgia’s three older brothers were put into the Grouse Mountain Tyee Ski Club, and Georgia soon followed at the age of six. This resulted in a family that loved to race down the mountain together, and were very good at it.

Georgia knew from a young age that ski racing was her life, but there have also been some major decisions along the way. She had to choose between University in Kinesiology studies, or making the national team. With only one opportunity at this time in her life at downhill racing, Georgia headed out for a life similar to that of a rock star – minus the unhealthy habits – with goals and a determination to excel and reach her full potential on the World Cup circuit.

She is fearless and has been willing to pay the price for the risks she takes. Simmerling has a theory that skiers get injured in one area of their body, and hers just happens to be her face! Although she feels exceptionally lucky that she has never been out of racing for more than 8 weeks, Georgia has had some serious injuries. Her worst fall was in 2005, when she was recreationally skiing in Chile and accidentally skied off a cliff due to poorly marked trails. This resulted in a compound fracture to her jaw, multiple teeth broken and her mouth wired shut for a month. In another serious fall in Germany, she bit her tongue seventy-five percent off and needed fifty stitches to sew it back on. It was this particular injury that made it mandatory for the Canadian team to wear mouth guards. Since then, Simmerling has fallen twice and contributes wearing the mouth guard to protecting her jaw. With injuries being so common in the sport, Georgia considers herself lucky that she has not had more and contributes this to good genetics, as well as being one of the strongest and fittest members of the team.

Georgia is a great example of an athlete with amazing dedication to her strength and conditioning. At 21 years of age, not only is she one of the strongest athletes on the team, but she actually loves spending hours sweating at the gym! A typical training day in the off season for Simmerling would be hitting the gym at 8am, where she completes a lower body workout which may include a lower agility and core focused session, or a lower plyometric and agility session for two hours. This is followed by a short rest with time to eat, and then a two hour bike ride in the afternoon. Four hours a day of intense training, five days a week is what an Olympic alpine skier such as Georgia Simmerling needs to accomplish, so that her body can handle whatever the mountain may challenge her with during a downhill race.

Simmerling also incorporates yoga into her fitness regime – which she credits her mom with for introducing Georgia to the practice five years ago. “Yoga not only helps me with flexibility in my tight hip flexors and glutes, but has done wonders for my skiing.” If you ask Georgia her favorite exercise, she will answer with “olympic cleans”. Her most hated exercise – which is probably the same for a lot of downhill skiers – is pull ups.

Not everything has been smooth running for this Canadian athlete. Simmerling has had her share of frustrations and setbacks during her young career in this sport. One of the toughest that she has had to face, was when she was unable to compete in one of her race days during the Whistler Olympics. Extremely poor course conditions, as well as several other athletes falling led Georgia’s physiotherapist and coaches to pull her from the race 5 minutes before the start. “I was extremely disappointed with that decision” says Simmerling. “I ski best when I am faced with challenges, so when things get tough, I get going.” Georgia has also been faced with making the World Cup team and also being cut. “The criterion to make the full World Cup team is extremely difficult” says Simmerling.

When discussing the topic of fear – a natural curiosity for someone who watches these elite athletes move down the course, sometimes reaching speeds of 130+ kilometers – Simmerling explains,

that the only moment of fear that a downhill skier should ever feel in a race is when they have already made a mistake and are about to fall and are now thinking, how can this be corrected? How can I protect myself? Or, this might not end so good.”

After capturing a ­­­NorAm win just weeks ago in Aspen Colorado, this young gun will mend her recent injuries and continue to set her sights on getting back on the mountain and chasing her dream of becoming an Olympic Champion. With the next winter Olympics being held in Russia in 2014, Simmerling should be at the peak of her career and hungry for glory.

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The pop icon has recently announced the she will be launching a gym chain worldwide called Hard Candy Fitness which will be a blend of fitness and entertainment. Madonna, 52 and a keen fitness enthusiast has been associated with trends such as yoga and Pilates, and will now be partnering with 24 Hour Fitness founder Mark Mastrov to open 10 gyms worldwide. Madonna was introduced to the practice of yoga by Sting, who asked her to join him during a session with a yoga guru who taught Ashtanga yoga.

According to a press release, the first gym will be located in the Bosques de las Lomas section of Mexico City with 30,000 square feet and feature “the very best in innovative training methods” with private and group training in kick-boxing, yoga, zumba, barwork, capoeira as well as weights and specially-designed programs.

A statement by Hard Candy Fitness says gyms “will open in major cities around the world,” including 10 more locations in Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Europe and Asia. No gyms are immediately planned for the United States, but the statement noted that more locations are possible in the future.

Hard Candy Fitness will be a reflection of Madonna’s point of view and will reflect her input on every detail including music space, light and other design cues,” Mastrov said. “Madonna’s touch will be everywhere.”

Her first gym opens in Mexico City on Nov. 29. Madonna is expected to attend the launch opening, so if you plan to workout wear your hottest gym attire.

The 37-year-old actress has a much healthier figure these days but there was time according to the star of  “Ally McBeal” and “Arrested Development” that she let her body weight slip down to a very dangerous weight.

At one point you got down to 82 lbs and you were proud of being 82lbs” says Oprah in an interview with de Rossi “It wasn’t that I was proud of it, but, it was certainly a recognition for my self control I definitely had some pretty amazing will power to get down to 82lbs and that is what I was holding on to I did not think about anything else”

In her new memoir which will be available in stores this week “Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain,” de Rossi explains that it was her struggle to come to terms with her sexual identity that led her to an eating disorder in which she limited herself to fewer than 150 calories a day.

According to London’s Daily Mail, she took 20 laxatives a day while keeping her illness a secret from her cast mates and friends. She reportedly collapsed on the set of the 2001 film “Who Is Cletis Tout?” and was told she was suffering from Osteoporosis, cirrhosis, organ failure and the auto-immune disease lupus. Portia says of her mindset at the time:

I would prefer to die than fail another diet” Once she overcame her anorexia, the five-foot-eight actress shot up to 168 lbs in a single year”

At a concert for “Rock the Vote,” de Rossi was introduced to talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, who eventually changed her whole perspective on life – for the better.

Ellen saw a glimpse of my inner being from underneath the flesh and bone, reached in and pulled me out,” de Rossi said.

DeGeneres, 52, and de Rossi married at their home in Beverly Hills on the Aug. 16, 2008. In a legally recognized ceremony, they exchanged vows in front of 19 of their closest friends and family.

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The LA Times article by James S. Fell, a certified health expert, criticized the reality TV fitness trainer’s methods for getting the show’s contestants to lose weight, according to Yahoo.com. Fell, who hails from Canada, further went on to say that Michaels training techniques on her new workout DVD, “Shred-It With Weights,” are unsafe.

The strength and conditioning expert and co-author of a fitness book, Fell says the blurb on the DVD boasting that clients can lose up to five pounds a week is misleading. When he broke down how much it would really take to lose that weight using kettlebells, which are cannon-sized weights, he concluded that a beginning user would have to do four hours of kettlebells every day.

In the article, Fell also refers to other personal trainers in the industry who take issue with Michaels’ kettlebell instructions. Mark Cheng, a Los Angeles kettlebells specialist, told Fell,

“Her technique is appalling. What she says in the video and what she demonstrates are two different things. She doesn’t break this down into manageable pieces that prompt people to get the correct form, so instead she is enabling bad form…I would not recommend this from a safety perspective.”

Michaels has fired back and defended herself by responding to the LA Times piece by sarcastically telling UsMagazine.com: “Apparently I’m an actress.” She further added: “I currently own two certifications, one of which doesn’t expire. I developed my own conditioning education program for trainers, with sports medicine doctors.”

It’s not the first time Michaels has received criticism about her products. So far, she’s been sued four times over her dietary supplements. In August, an anonymous plaintiff filed a $10 million suit alleging that her product, “Triple Process Total Body Detox & Cleanse,” contained dangerous ingredients. Last February, two women separately sued Michaels for false advertising on a diet pill she endorses, “Jillian Michaels Maximum Strength Calorie Control.” Michaels has called the lawsuits “baseless” and she told the Associated Press: “My reputation and credibility are of the utmost importance to me.”

Although Heidi Klum has parted ways with Victoria’s Secret after 13 years that doesn’t mean she is out of the modeling game. RadarOnline.com has reported that Klum will return as the face of Ann Taylor for their new campaign.

I love dressing up! If you’re going to a party, why not make the most of it? Klum commented on her latest gig.

The new active-wear line was introduced by the 37-year-old supermodel in New York this week with Klum wearing one of her own creations. Speaking at the unveiling, Heidi Klum described her clothesline as versatile and unique with the extensive collection of totally chic separates, combining fab fashion with functional workout wear.

Heidi Klum is not taking any chances on her new clothing label. The supermodel was online, early in the morning, the day her new collection, Heidi Klum for New Balance, went on sale.

I ordered already — I did!” Klum told StyleList. “I’m curious to see how it works — I want to see how it looks when it comes. I ordered two ponchos and the hoodie that I’m going to give away.”

Klum also celebrated her New Balance launch with a “Project Runway” viewing party at Cedar Lake on New York City’s West Side. The party was jam-packed with former “PR” contestants, including Emilio Sosa, and Kenley Collins.

The collection will not be available in any fashion store. Instead, Heidi Klum for New Balance is available exclusively on Amazon.com, with a price range of $32 to $168.

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However, Lady Gaga was hospitalized six times last year because of her extreme dieting according to David Ciemny, her former tour manager. In a new book written by New York Post veteran reporter Maureen Callahan, Poker Face: The Rise and Rise of Lady Gaga, Ciemny claims she would binge on junk food such as cakes and sweets, then not eat for weeks to fit into her costumes — once losing 20 pounds between fittings for one of her outfits reports RadarOnline.

On the topic of diet and nutrition, Lady GaGa revealed to Daily Telegraph on February 18, “I’m on a very strict, healthy, pop star diet. A diet of three meals and two snacks daily, consisting of low fat protein, fiber, healthy carbs, and fats. “I don’t eat bread, just vegetables and salad and fish. Eating like that is much better for me anyway but on Sundays I sometimes eat pasta.”

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While there has not been a response by Lady Gaga’s entourage to any of these claims surrounding the pop star, millions of young women are suffering from eating disorders such as compulsive eating, binge eating, anorexia nervosa, and bulimia. About 40% of 9 and 10 year old girls are trying to lose weight, according to a study in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. What frightens some researchers is that many of these girls aren’t even overweight. They are not dieting for health reasons, but because of dissatisfaction with their bodies.

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The 57-year-old’s weight has been known to yo-yo and has been the focus of numerous entertainment stories in the media. In December 2008, Goodman attracted more attention with the U.S tabloid The Globe, publishing an article about his weight gain on the set of his movie Confessions of a Shopaholic in New York.

John Goodman has admitted that his past life style choices have not the best, eating what he wanted, excessively drinking way to much alcohol and smoking since he was very young. In a 1992 interview with Entertainment Weekly, he claimed to be indifferent about his weight, which was around 300 pounds at the time.

I lose it, I gain it back,” he said.  “No big deal.”

The New York Times reported Goodman’s friend Tom Arnold as saying that “John is much too hard on himself. He’s got that thing. I have it too. That fat kid thing. No matter what, we look in a mirror, and that’s what we see.”

According to John Goodman, he has given up drinking and also quit smoking which he has described as one of the most challenging things he has ever done. He also has changed his eating habits to include healthier choices, and adding exercise to his life. This has resulted in Goodman appearing years younger and healthier at the AFI Tribute to Mike Nichols in Los Angeles this past week.

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Other actors have followed suit in this quest to take on a role that is opposite to their body type. Christian Bale’s highly publicized weight loss for “The Machinist” has been compared to the likes of Robert DeNiro in “Raging Bull” and Charlize Theron for her lead role in “Monster”. Some other well known actors dropping massive amounts of weight in order to play specific roles are Tom Hanks, who shed 55lb in “Cast Away” and Colin Farrell in the thriller “Triage”.

Although the hip hop icon 50 Cent has stamped his dedication on this film project while also assuring fans that he will gain back his muscular physique, you have to wonder – is it worth it for actors to lose or gain that much weight for a particular role?

They may make it look effortless, but actors losing or gaining weight fast is often a team effort with safety playing a very important factor in the process. The kind of yo-yoing seen with Christian Bale’s physique can have a chain reaction on hormone balance and mental health and consequently, may not be such a healthy option after all. Here are some of the ways that Hollywood actors have gained or lost weight for movie roles.

Personal Trainer

High-priced personal trainers help actors stay in shape for the premieres and the stylists. Some actors spend as many as three hours in the gym per day to lose weight, and it is all done with a licensed trainer at their side. Hollywood’s most famous movie stars have long owed their bodies – and their careers – to a personal trainer. These days, stars will check each other’s bodies and say “who’s your trainer?” in the same way that they check each other’s clothes and ask who their stylist is.

Diets

Some actors follow fad diets that are developed to make them lose weight fast. Actress Beyonce reportedly used The Master Cleanse system to drop 20 pounds for her part in the movie “Dreamgirls”. The Master Cleanse system advises a consumption solely of a lemonade-based mixture to flush out the body. While fad diets may help you lose weight fast, they are definitely not healthy and the weight almost always is gained back.

Personal Chef

Oprah has one, so does Tom Cruise. Because of the need to stay fit and pleasing to the eye, actors often have a personal chef on hand to ready to create food creations that are healthy and nutritious. If the goal is to gain weight and increase muscle, the chef can design a meal plan focused on a high protein diet. If the actor needs to lose weight for a role the meals will often incorporate fish, lean protein, vegetables and fiber.

Supplements

Weight-loss aids, Diet pills, Supplements, they come with several names but the goal is the always the same, to boost your metabolism and help lose or gain weight fast. The appeal of losing weight quickly is hard to pass up, especially in a very competitive and unforgiving film industry like Hollywood. The FDA has banned ephedra, saying “dietary supplements containing ephedra present an unreasonable risk of illness or injury, and should not be consumed.” Ephedra (ma huang) and ephedrine can be dangerous especially when combined in weight-loss products with other stimulants such as caffeine. It is also important to know that ephedra can cause such side effects as irregular heartbeat, insomnia, and elevated blood pressure. As far as weight loss is concerned, don’t be surprised if you regain every pound you lose once you stop taking supplements containing ephedra or other stimulants. Not only are these products dangerous to your health, but can also be highly addicting.

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January 2010 has arrived and we at Fitness Goop wanted to let you decide who was the fittest female celebrity of 2009. We have selected a group of females that we feel reflects what it means to be fit and healthy through proper nutrition and working out regularly. Which female celebrity do you feel was the fittest in 2009?

We all know that Madonna works hard on her physique to get it looking so perfect and her fitness regimes have almost become legendary. Recently, Madonna has attracted media attention for her sinewy and very lean muscles, also raising questions in the heads of critics and her fans alike. Is she healthy, or is she overdoing it? It is not unusual however, to see veins appear more visible and muscles to become extremely lean when a person’s body fat drops extremely low, such as in the case with Madge.

Sources say Madonna has been working out on the gyrotonic expansion system, which incorporates levers and pulleys to elongate the muscles. She also practices pilates and yoga and does a regimented 200 to 400 sit-ups a day. As far as what she puts in her body, Madonna follows a strict Macrobiotic diet. This is a low-fat, high fiber diet that is a predominantly vegetarian diet, emphasizing whole grains and vegetables.

We want to know what you think of Madonna’s ripped physique. Do you think she has a healthy looking body?