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Think MooejrSmart SHARON EPPERSON What kids’rewards progams can do for you Upromise, a 6-year-old rewards sen - ice with more than 8 million members, offers money for 529 college savings plans from companies like Bed Bath & Beyond, Exxon Mobil and McDonald's. It’s facing competition from upstart Little Grad, a program with more than 2,000 members that wwks with 1,700- plus online retailers. Here's how they both work: U PROMISE To get started: You (and family mem bers and friends, if they wish) register credit, debit and grocery-store loyalty cards at UfHt)mise.com and get rewards when dining with U promise partners or visiting online retailers via Uprom ise’s website. Get more rewards by us- mg a Citi Uprom- L ise credit card. What you get: ) You can direct re wards savings from Upromise-managed 529 plan. LITTLE GRAD To get started: Register on Little Grad ■com, add family members and friends to get additional rewards, and down load the Little Grad Savings Manager program to receive rewards when shop ping at affiliated online merchants, not just at the Little Grad website. What you get Rewards savings from Little Grad are transferred into a 529 or another type of savings account % USA WEEKEND HStiwvekend.com Advertising Office 7950 Jones Branch >. 535 Madison Aw McLean. Va. 22107 New Ybrt. Mr. 10022 Telephone: 800-487-2956 ? mmßr .iicwi#usaweefceod;com For reprints, cafl 800^72-0001. 4 USA WEEKEND-Aug. 31-Sept Z 2007 Smart Parent BY ANN PLESHETTE MURPHY So she wants to be a star? FI from You Tube to the real tube or from var sity to the NFL is longer and iffier than most kids think. Parents can help kids develop a Plan B, says Florida State University' sociologist John Reynolds, who has researched the gap between teens’ ambitions and actual jobs as adults. Unfulfilled goals can lead to dis appointment, depression and wasted time. Id balance reality and passion: ■ Never dismiss a child’s ambitions. In- Contributing Editor Ass Pleshette Murphy in ABC's Good Morning America parenting expert. Fit Smart jorge cruise To slim down, first you need to bulk up Adding lean muscle tissue to your body can help you consume more calo ries and bum more fat Here, John Berardi, co-author of Scrawny to Brawny , offers some essential tips to help you develop lean muscle: .vour Uprom ise account J 8 to your own ? 8 529 plan or have them W directly de posited into a . ► Boost calorie burning with interval training. For example, try this 20-minute S workout Do 30 seconds of running, biking, row ing, skipping or stair climbing as hard as M you can. Then follow m this with 90 sec- g onds of slow' walk- fL* ing, biking, row- U ing or stair climbing. Re- _ peat 10 times, pt President ft CFO • Marcia L Bullard Publisher. Charles Gabriel son Executive Editor ft VP • Jack Curry SVP/Advertising • Rob Harrison DirVFmence • Edward Maxwell DtrJHuman Resources • Bhavna Sharma Dir./Merketmg. Sonia David Dtr./Research • Frank Ddcimascolo To ask any USA WEEKEND columnist a question, visit usawaakand.com. HELPFUL TIPS FOR YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE AT A TIME when celeb rity worship is every where, many kids fantasize about joining the ranks of the rich and famous. But the road /Mi If'YTJJ Managing Editor Brenda Turner Creative Manager Casey Shaw Senior Editors: Craigh Barboza, Carol Clurman, Constance Kurz, lorrie Lynch, Priscilla Totten Copy Chief: Jill Golden Copy Editor Ali Cybulski Make A Difference Day Editor Pamela Brown Senior Writer Dennis McCafferty Associate Editors: M.chele Hatty. TJ Walter Assistant Editor Kathy Rowings Fact Checker. Elena Keithiey Design Director Leon Lawrence 111 Art Director Pamela Taylor Associate Art Director Christina Cook Photo Editor David Baratz Deputy Photo Editor Sarah Claxton Online: Amelia Stephenson Office Coordinator Troy Artis stead, mention plausible alternatives. For example, a young athlete who likely won’t make the pros can aim to be a sports man ager or sports writer. ■ Tb find out what’s driving your chil dren’s dreams, ask them to complete the sentence: “If I were a famous ...” If your daughter dreams of being recognized and admired, then ask her to imagine what it’s like to have paparazzi peeping through her i bedroom window or fans posting tering photos on the Internet. 8| ■Be honest about family finances: mmO. If your child’s passion is costing you a 8 fortune, involve him in outlining a spe- WEi dfic budget with an exit strategy, just in case. f ► Increase lean protein intake. If you’re exercising regularly (especially strength training), make sure you get some lean protein with every meal. Shoot for about 1 gram per pound of body weight ► Build muscle to speed up your metabolism. Most average folks lose about 5 to 10 pounds of lean muscle mass per decade, which correlates to a 5% to 10% drop in metabo l iism. Tb prevent this drop, gk build back some of the lean ■ mass by hitting the gym and I training your muscles with ■ resistance. If you gain back P sto 10 pounds of muscle, you f can rev up your resting meta bolic rate by more than V h 100 calories each day 'M Eat Smart jean carper Calcium foods are vital To keep bones strong as you grow' older, should you eat foods that are high in calcium or take calcium pills? A new study from Washington Uni versity School of Medicine says post menopausal women who got most of their calcium from their diet or from diet and supplements had better bones than women who got most of their cal cium from pills alone. Probable reason: Calcium in food is better absorbed. Women who averaged 830 mg of cal cium daily in food had higher bone density in their spines and hips than women who averaged 1,030 mg of cal cium daily from pills. Women who ate high-calcium foods and took pills av eraged 1,620 mg and had the highest bone density, ca Contributing Editors Pam Anderson, Ken Bums, Jean Carper, Stephen Covey, Jorge Cruise, Steve Dale, Kenneth C Davis, Sharon Epperson, Dennie Hughes, Walecia Konrad, Lisa Ling, Lou Manfredini, Dr. Tedd Mitchell, Ann Pleshette Murphy, Cokie Roberts, Steve Roberts, Tavis-Smiley, Terry Stickels ' 20% of teens think they'll be famous j Source: Teenage Research Unlimited 1 Regional Directors/ Newspapers Charlie Williams Taaz Williams Luci Day cCopyright 2007 USA WEEKEND. A Gannett publication. Printed in the USA. Since 1953, your Family Weekly. FITSMART PHOTO JFRZYWORKS/RADIUS IMAGfS/JUPITf WMAGf S