G.J. McCARTHY/Staff Photographer

Aussie Michael Johns calls FortWorth, where his in-laws live, “myfamily home in America.”

As soon as American Idol’sseventh season ended, MichaelJohns got to work. Quickly.

“Once you’re on Idol, you’dbetter know who you are and whatyou want to do,” says the Aussie,who finished eighth. “Otherwise,you get stuck in limbo writing[songs] with 50 million people,and all of the sudden two yearshave gone by. Once you get off thatshow, every month the light gets alittle dimmer.”

His work has paid off with a

debut album, Hold Back MyHeart, which is out today.

“I really had a vision for whatthis record was going to be — a JoeCocker meets Otis Redding kind ofthing,” says Johns, who wroteseven of the 12 tracks. “On theshow, I got most of my reactionswhen I sang the soul stuff, so Iwant to give the ladies what theylike.”

Johns calls Fort Worth “myfamily home in America,” becausehis in-laws live in the city. He andhis wife, Stacey, are now based inLos Angeles, “but we’re here every

time there’s a big meal:Thanksgiving, Christmas,anniversaries, birthdays,” he says.“My mother-in-law is one of thegreatest cooks around.”

Stacey, an interior designer, metJohns one day as they waited for avalet in Hollywood.

“We started talking, and shewas feisty,” he recalls. “I was feisty,so I thought, ‘Oh, I’ve got to hangout with this girl for a little whilelonger.’ ”

They wed at the Little White

No idle time for ‘Idol’ alumBy DARLA ATLAS

Special Contributor

See JOHNS Page 3E

POP MUSIC

With new album, Season 7’s Michael Johns is where he wants to be

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The Dallas Morning News Section E Tuesday, June 23, 2009

_ . . . . . . . .

INSIDEMUSICALLY SPEAKING: Al B. Sure returns 3E

THE DOCTOR IS IN: Debunking diet myths 4E

PEOPLE’S PHARMACY: Get mosquitoes before they get you 5E

DOLLARWISE: Stretch your restaurant meals 12E

Arts, Entertainment & Life

Working out as a couple can help keepbodies and relationships healthy. But lackof communication, personal baggage andtired gender stereotypes get in the way.

For men, it can be a real challenge towork out with a partner who can

outperform them, said Rob Lord, owner ofFit214, a small-group personal trainingstudio in Uptown. He’s seen some men tryto fudge a bit. “Guys have such a big ego. Itcan be a very humbling experience for somemen.”

Gonzales, a personal trainer andweight-loss expert in Kennedale, agrees.He said it’s rare for couples to come to himtogether “simply because the husbandscan’t handle it. Men, most of the time, aretoo prideful and too much of a know-it-all,”he said.

Another frequent problem, Lord said, isthat the partner who has the most fitnessexperience will often take on the role astrainer.

“It shouldn’t be a deal where the guybecomes the trainer, or if the girl has moreexperience, she’s the trainer,” he said.“There will be conflict.”

Even when one partner is qualified tolead the other, it’s still not a good idea.

ELIZABETH M. CLAFFEY/Special Contributor

Jeremy Tyra and Melissa Truly work out at Fit214. Communication and cooperation are essential when couples train together.

HEALTHY LIVING

Mary Ellen Hicks gets irritated when her husband, David,

cheats a little to keep up with her during their runs.

J.D. Gonzales knows a whole lot more about fitness

than his wife, Jennifer.

Jeremy Tyra’s schedule clashes with fiancee Melissa Truly’s.

What do these couples have in common? They’ve overcome the barriers

and annoyances of exercising with their significant other.

By CHRISTY ROBINSON Special Contributor

See COUPLES Page 12E

Couples therapyExercising together can be a kick, but watch your step

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichiehas, perhaps reluctantly, becomethe new global face of Africanliterature.

“I’m not interested in being aspokesperson or in being anythingmore than a writer,” she says byphone from Toronto, where she ison a book tour that will bring her tothe Dallas Museum of Art tonightas part of Arts & Letters Live. “Themost important thing is that I havea readership.”

It’s a readership that’s growinglarger every year.

The 32-year-old Nigerianauthor grew up in the former houseof the famous author ChinuaAchebe (the renowned 1958 novelThings Fall Apart) on the groundsof the University of Nigeria inNsukka, where her parents wereprofessors. Her first book, 2003’sPurple Hibiscus, tells the story of a15-year old Nigerian girl growingup in a wealthy, hypocriticalhousehold run by a tyrant, and wholater escapes to a better life withher aunt. It immediately put her onthe literary map. But it was 2006’sHalf of a Yellow Sun, an astoundinghistorical epic about the bloody1967 Nigerian-Biafran civil war,that made her reputation, winningher both the Orange Prize forFiction in the United Kingdom anda $500,000 MacArthur geniusgrant in the United States.

Her visit coincides with thepublication of The Thing AroundYour Neck, a collection of shortstories.

Adichie says she doesn’t planahead what to speak about.“Perhaps I’ll read a story,” she says.

The dozen stories in The ThingAround Your Neck span a decade of

See ADICHIE Page 3E

Beowulf Sheehan

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie willappear at the DMA tonight.

BOOKS

Author’swriting

does hertalking

Adichieuncomfortable in

role as face ofAfrican literature

By EDWARD NAWOTKASpecial Contributor

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Ellen said. “You scale your ability.”During a recent workout on the

studio’s outdoor patio, which is justeight yards from the Katy Trail, Tyraand Truly completed ring push-upstogether. However, the intensitysuited each at his or her own level,because they were working againsttheir own body weights.

Gonzales prescribes workoutsdifferently for couples.

“Men want something that’s toughand makes them feel like they’re aman. Women don’t want to feel likethey’re doing anything crazy,” saidGonzales, who creates two differentstrength plans of action for couples.

Gonzales said the main key tosuccess is to communicate fitnessgoals.

“Let’s say my wife can run longerand faster than I can. Do I want to letmy wife run ahead of me and train ashard as she can? Or does she want tostick with me and encourage me topress on?” he said. “Have a goodemotional line of communicationwhere you can say, ‘OK, this is whereI’m at today. I really need your help.’Me and my wife, we’ve had to learnthat.”

Even couples who occasionallyspat about their workout routine canbenefit from the quality time,goal-setting and shared commoninterest that working out togetherprovides.

“It’s a nice walk afterwards, andwe’re all ‘endorphinated’ together,”Mary Ellen said of the Hickses’ walkback home to Victory Park. “We goover things you’d normally have tomake time to talk about.”

Christy Robinson is a freelancewriter in Dallas. She runs with herhusband, Brian Peters.

healthyliving@dallasnews.com

Gonzales said he initially set hisexpectations too high for his workoutswith his wife. Once he began viewingher as an exercise partner and not aclient, he said, “we actually have beenworking out well together.”

Lord also said some women needto watch out for tendencies that cansabotage a routine, such as gigglingwhen the workouts get intense.

“There’s a dynamic where thewoman will get embarrassed, like, ‘Idon’t want to have my boyfriend seeme straining,’ ” he said.

Hicks, a marathon runner who’s inher 50s, doesn’t have that problem. “Ifyou give me a challenge, I’m going totry to do it and do my best,” she said.

Her husband’s attitude was anissue, though. She said she called hima jerk when he tried to cheat duringone of their workout sprints on thetrail.

“His attitude is like, ‘I’m not takingit seriously. I’m just going to be theclown.’ That annoys me,” she said.“He tries to egg me on, like, ‘Oh, I’mjust trying to make you run harder. Ifyou get angry, you’ll be a little a morecompetitive.’ ”

Working it outHow can couples who want to

work out together make it work?Fit214’s program for the Hickses,

as well as for engaged couple Tyra andTruly of Dallas, both 27, interspersesweights with running. They can workout with each other in the same groupwhile working on their own personallevel.

With the barbell lunges they dooutside the studio, David’s “is heavier,which is fine. But we’re doing thesame thing together, even though it’sat a different level of weight,” Mary

Couples therapyContinued from Page 1E

GETTING FIT TOGETHERReady to work out with your significant other? Here’s advice from trainersand others:

DO

■ Join a gym together if you’re on differentfitness levels. Both of you can run or walktogether but at different speeds. ■ Agree on a fitness plan and the goal of eachworkout so you’re on the same page andtension doesn’t simmer. ■ Communicate to each other what you needfrom the other before each particular workout. ■ Try to make it fun; make it an adventure asopposed to a chore. If it’s work, you’re going tobe irritated. ■ Eat right, too. Make healthy recipes you bothlike. Share entrees when you go out to eat. ■ Be each other’s accountability partner.Striving to get fit together is easier than goingalone.

DON’T

■ Let different levels offitness keep you fromworking out together.■ Try to be your partner’s personal trainer.■ Let gender stereotypesinhibit or intimidate you.■ Be afraid to push eachother and encourageeach other.■ Get offended whenyour partnercommunicates what heor she needs from youduring a workout.

Restaurant: Romano’s Macaroni GrillMenu item: Chef’s Trio with salad, dessert and lasagna — $11.99Leftover strategy: Eat the salad and about one-third of the lasagna. Sharethe dessert. Reheat leftovers for one or two nice lunches.Per-meal price: $4 plus tipThe wrap: foil tin with cardboard lid, in a plastic bag, tied for easy carryingBonus: reheating instructions right there on the lid

A my and John Forbus ofCarrollton celebratetheir anniversary every

year with the same ritual. Theygo to Pappas Bros. Steakhouseand each orders a steak. Whenthe steaks arrive, they cut themin half right away. They enjoyone half for dinner, and theother half goes straight to thedoggie bag. The leftovers turn upin breakfast (steak and eggs) orlunch (steak sandwiches) thenext day.

“This way, we get to celebrateour anniversary with two meals,and we don’t overindulge,” saidAmy.

The Forbuses are employing“doggie-bag economics,” a din-ing-out strategy that’s good forboth your budget and yourhealth.

Doggie-bagging “is not only agreat way to save money, but alsothe secret to eating out withoutovereating,” said Annette Hud-son, a personal trainer andowner of MyFitnessTrainer.com.

Many restaurants have su-persized their portions over thelast 10 to 20 years, and somerestaurants serve much morethan most people need or want,said Jamie Pope, an instructor innutrition at Vanderbilt Universi-ty School of Nursing. A fewchains have even tried smallerportions, she notes, only to getpush-back from their customers.

Take Macaroni Grill’s PrimoChicken Parmesan: A dinnerportion will cost you 1,510 calo-ries. If you’re an average personon a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet,Pope says, 500 calories is aboutright for a dinner entree. Do themath.

“Most restaurant mealswould feed us for two to threemeals,” she says.

And many restaurants haveembraced doggie-bagging.Many will wrap your leftovers,tableside, with a bit of flair. It’salmost an insult to refuse.

So, be cheap and be smart.Here are a few of our favoritedoggie-bag strategies.

Mary Jacobs is a Dallasfreelance writer.

healthyliving@dallasnews.com

Use doggie bags to stretchyour food budget

DOLLARWISE: RESTAURANTS

By MARY JACOBSSpecial Contributor

Restaurant: CheesecakeFactoryMenu item: Santa Fe Salad —$11.99Leftover strategy: Eat half thesalad for dinner; the other half istomorrow’s lunch.The wrap: plastic box with a lid Per-meal price: $6Bonus: salad surprisinglycrunchy and tasty the next day

Restaurant: Corner BakeryMenu item: Salad trio with D.C.Chicken Salad, Tuna Salad andSeasonal Fruit Medley — $7.99Leftover strategy: Eat thechicken and fruit salad forlunch. Take the tuna saladhome, slap it on a slice of breadfor tomorrow’s lunch Per-meal price: $4 Bonus: Both meals about 300calories

Restaurant: Spring CreekBarbequeMenu item: Combo dinner, twomeats, two sides, rolls — $8.99Leftover strategy: Eat thesides, rolls and one meat fordinner. Ask for an extra roll totake home, and there’s yoursandwich. Per-meal price: $4.50Bonus: Strategy works at anynumber of barbecue joints.

Restaurant: California PizzaKitchenMenu item: Original BBQChicken Pizza — $12.99Leftover strategy: six slices —two for now, four to take homefor two more meals Per-meal price: $4.50The wrap: Yellow-and-whitepizza box

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Restaurant: Pei WeiMenu item: Chicken Fried Rice, with choice of meat — $6.75Leftover strategy: Pei Wei’s Web site says one order has two servings —525 calories each. But every time I’ve ordered, it’s a mountain of food,easily stretched to four meals. The wrap: Pei Wei nixed the traditional Chinese takeout boxes for plasticboxes. They aren’t as cool, but they do keep the food fresh longer. Per-meal price: $1.69Bonus: You can opt for brown rice instead of white.