Miss America 2009 Lifestyle & Fitness Winners

There's just no short cut to getting ready for the fitness portion of your pageant competition. You've got to have a nutritious eating plan, a balanced workout program, and focus on maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Join Valerie as she talks with Miss America 2009 Lifestyle & Fitness Winners Leigh Taylor Smith, Miss New York and Christine Kozlowski, Miss Mississippi. They'll share their secrets for preparing for the Lifestyle and Fitness competition and talk about the importance of a well planned approach. Their personal stories will inspire and motivate you to be fit and prepared for your next pageant!

Episode Segments:

Leigh-Taylor Smith Miss New York Leigh-Taylor Smith talks about what it takes to win the fitness competition at the State and National level. She also talks about some of the memorable moments of her reign, and her final days at Miss New York. Plus, get Leighs three top tips to make your body pageant fab!
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Christine Kozlowski Miss Mississippi Christine Kozlowski tells Valerie why she chose diabetes as her platform. She also talks about some of her unusual training techniques, her typical workout program, and whats in her training diet.
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Ask Valerie! We all have bad days, but Valerie will let you know how you can make the most out of any bad day! Plus, get advice on the types of shoes you should be looking at for swimsuit and evening gown, and how you can work though a bad knee injury.
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Guest(s) Appearing on this Episode

Christine Kozlowski Christine Kozlowski is 20 years old and was salutatorian of her graduating class. She is a Luckyday Scholar and Nutrition and Dietetics major at the University of Southern Mississippi. Her platform is D.A.N.C.E. which stands for Diabetes Advocates Nourishing Children’s Education. This is an aspiration to help raise awareness and prevent diabetes among our youth through the education system. Christine hopes to use her education in nutrition, her experiences in fitness, and her passion for diabetes to help her state begin taking the steps necessary to pursue an overall healthier lifestyle.

Leigh Taylor-Smith Leigh-Taylor Smith is a 23-year-old graduate of the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Arts in Theater. Originally from Hampton, Virginia, Leigh-Taylor now makes her home in Manhattan where she is employed by Scott Sanders LLC, an interior design firm, as an assistant designer. Competing as Miss Brooklyn at the Miss New York Pageant in July, Leigh-Taylor was a preliminary winner of Physical Fitness in Swimsuit and also took a preliminary Evening Wear award on her way to the state title. In January, at the Miss America Pageant in Las Vegas, she was once again a swimsuit preliminary winner and was named third runner-up to Miss America 2009, bringing the total of scholarship dollars she won in just this past pageant year to $24,000. Following her year of service as Miss New York 2008, she will use her scholarship winnings to pursue a Masters Degree in Interior Design at The Parsons School of Design in New York City and eventually hopes to become the owner of her own interior design firm. While being an accomplished singer and actor with a long theatrical resume, Leigh-Taylor’s greatest passion is promoting volunteering that changes lives.She created and lobbied for the successful passage of Virginia Senate Bill 751 (relating to a community service high school diploma seal) with members of the Virginia General Assembly, and she has worked with New York Assemblyman Danny O'Donnell to introduce legislative bill A.302 requiring volunteer effort for all New York State high school students. Leigh-Taylor traveled to Africa in 2005 to teach children and adults about HIV/AIDS, and returned there in 2006 to volunteer for the Salvation Army. She helped establish a church in Belize City, Belize, has tutored children, donated 36 inches of her hair to Locks of Love, and with her team raised $58,000 for the 2008 AIDS Walk in New York. Leigh-Taylor has appeared on the CBS Morning Show in conjunction with her participation in the 17th annual New York Cares Day; was a featured speaker at the ServiceNation summit in New York City commemorating the events of September 11, publicly took an HIV-test at the State Capitol in Albany to bring attention to World Aids Day, and was honored to sit at the head table with the Governor of New York, David A. Paterson, when he addressed the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. in July on the state of the economy. In addition to encouraging people everywhere to participate in community service, Miss New York shares the inspiring message of the Children’s Miracle Network, which provides state-of-the-art care, life-saving research and preventative education for children 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Miss New York also appears on behalf of "Right Decisions Right Now," a program which helps students make good choices in their personal lives, with particular focus on the perils of smoking, underage drinking and drug use.