She began helping companies set up exercise programs after college but dreamed of playing a larger role in helping people get fit. Her youthful predilection for gymnastics, though, led to a full athletic scholarship at the University of Arizona in Tucson, where she studied exercise physiology. Meals were our joy and our passion,” she says of family dinnertime. Austin says her childhood didnt specifically prepare her for her field. Wearing a midriff-revealing white tank top and bicycle shorts, Mrs. She even - gasp - admits to ordering an occasional hamburger when she eats out. Sure, her stomach is as rock-hard as one might expect, but she also is a married mother of two who, in person, doesnt emit the kind of aura one might expect. Perhaps part of her appeal lies beyond her large blue eyes and California-style tan. Austins musings to be their preferred tonic for health and fitness. But if healthy TV ratings and a growing array of fitness products are any indication, plenty find Mrs. Her perennially perky demeanor, on and off the set, may not motivate gym rats itching for a no-pain, no-gain mantra. “People think to get in shape takes too long,” she says, adding that half an hour a day is all a person needs. There is no magic pill.” “Denise Austins Fit & Lite,” a holistic health, exercise and yoga program, along with “Denise Austins Daily Workout,” air weekday mornings on the Lifetime cable network. “Theres only so many ways to firm up and eat right. Austin, a walking - make that running, bouncing and stretching - advertisement for the effects of a fit lifestyle. Austin, 44, says her core advice hasnt changed over the years. Austin serves as host to a pair of exercise shows and produces dozens of fitness books, video tapes and workout gear to help shape up and motivate her audience. The Alexandria resident broke into the business in 1981 as a co-host with fitness pioneer Jack La Lannes TV program. If only the rest of us looked as good in spandex.

Even fitness expert Denise Austin dreads tugging on her leotard sometimes.But she has been donning leotards, in front of a national audience, no less, for nearly two decades to point America toward a more fit future.

Denise austin fit lite tv