JB-  I know it's been (jokingly) addressed on Body Break and anytime you and Joanne are mentioned (people always say), "They're married, they're married, they're married."  And some people say no.  So what is the story there?

HJ-  We're married.  We don't say that on our site.

JB-  There was one time on a commercial that someone had asked…

HJ-  Right, and we didn't answer it.  We say, "What's the number one question we get asked?  Whether we're married.  Oh OK." And then somebody says, "Well are you married, Hal?"  And then, "Well, 'til next time, keep fit and have fun!"  And then you see me saying something as I'm going away but we cut the audio out of it so you don't hear what I say.  It was just kind of having fun with it, that's all.  I get asked that question two to three times a day via e-mail or, you know, I'm at Home Depot - "Hey Hal", or wherever you might be.

JB-  Is it something that's just not widely talked about?

HJ-  Oh no, yeah we're married, it's just no big deal.

HJ-  I shaved my moustache off and I've gotten so many e-mails from people.  "My girlfriend and I have been Body Break fans since we were kids.  To me, in the age of uncertainty, global warming, war and chaos, Hal's moustache was the one thing in the world you could always count on.  Imagine my shock and dismay when I saw Hal with no moustache on…Body Break this week   I thought you got a new guy for a second.  Certainly I respect Hal's right to shave off his moustache, but I thought he should know that his moustache is the key to his fitness motivating powers.  I gained 20 pounds since I saw the commercial.  Please grow it back, Hal."  At the bottom it says, "Cheers.  Chris.  P.S. - My girlfriend wants to know - Are Hal and Joanne married?"

JB- Wow.

HJ-  So it was a funny one.  Somebody put a little thought into it and had a little fun with it and I just sent an e-mail back saying, "Thanks for your thoughts but it was getting so grey that I didn't feel like covering it anymore and just shaved it off."

JB- Now did you consult anyone about that?  I mean, you have to know the Canadian public would have been devastated when they saw that…

HJ-  (laughing)  I don't really care!  That's the one thing about being an entrepreneur - you can do what you want!  I've wanted to shave it off for 10 years.  I thought, "I don't want it anymore" so shave it off.  My daughter keeps saying, "Dad, put it back on," because that's how she sees me.  We just had a poll on our website.  In fact, we had a bit of fun with it.  I had my face flickering back and forth between two pictures - Which do you vote for?  55 per cent of the people voted for having the moustache.  And we had, in a matter of about six months, close to 20,000 people vote.

JB-  So what's a guy to do?  What's going to happen?

HJ-  (laughing)  I'm going to do what I want to do!  I don't really care!  I just did it to have some fun with it!  You don't want to be serious all the time… have some fun!

JB-  And Body Break certainly is fun, so what's next for Body Break?

HJ-  We're just continuing to promote the brand.  We've got Body Break beds, fitness equipment, running shoes.  You know, I'm on The Shopping Channel.  Continue to promote the brand, promote healthy active living to Canadians. 

HJ-  I think the key, really, is that I learned as a kid you always have to have something you look forward to.  You know, "I've got a hockey game tonight" or "I've got a football game or a basketball game."  And I'd be so excited that day that I have a game or even the practices.  And I always felt sorry for kids that didn't have anything to look forward to.  I think if we can take that as an adult, "I always have to have something to look forward to in life," then you're going to have a happier, more productive and fun life.  Because why are we here?  I'm here to have fun.

JB-  And if the thing you look forward to is Nanaimo bars, so be it, right?

HJ-  In moderation… in moderation!  So I'm looking forward to next Christmas!

JB-  Now, we've talked about other people's guilty pleasures, what's one of yours?

HJ-  I'd say that would be, brought down to the final meal, I think it would be like a pecan pie, a pumpkin pie, cherry pie, apple pie…

JB-  You're a dessert kinda guy…

HJ-  I love it.  I just absolutely love it.  And topped with a (Dairy Queen) Blizzard…

JB-  Yes!

HJ-  People think, "Hal, you're one of those health nuts, right?"  Well, I may be a health nut but I'm not crazy.  I mean, this stuff tastes good.  Let's see, I had a piece of pecan pie on Christmas Day and I had some shortbread and I had some Nanaimo bars.  It was funny because the person said to me, "Hal you're having a Nanaimo bar."  I said, "No, I'm having my third Nanaimo bar!  But… I also ran for an hour and 45 minutes this morning before I came here.  What did you do?"  "Oh well, I, uh…"  Basically I was telling them, "Leave me alone.  Let me enjoy my Nanaimo bar…"

JB- Your third one!

HJ-  Yeah.  But it's like a habit of a ritual of Christmas as a kid.  So you do it, you eat it.  One of the things you do when you exercise is you think, "I spent two hours and 45 minutes on the treadmill."  I think I burned close to 2400 calories or something like that.  I look(ed at a chocolate cake) and I thought, "Do I really want to expel about 45 minutes of what I did on the treadmill today?"

JB-  But to you is it worth it?

HJ-  Depends how good the cake is!  (laughing)  You have to look at it.  A bad piece of chocolate cake still has the same amount of calories as a really good piece of chocolate cake.  If you say, "I'm going to eat this just because it's there, just because I want something… or am I going to wait for something real good?"  You pick your spots.

JB-  So really the message is, yes certain foods can be bad for you it's just that you don't do them all the time, they don't become a habit, as you said.

HJ-  Right.  No foods are bad…

JB-  Cookies or pie at Christmas… that's one time a year.  That's not going to be the end of your diet or your figure or your health plan.

HJ-  What's far deadlier at Christmastime rather than the desserts is the snacks - the chips, the peanuts.  One little handful of peanuts, not even a big handful, is equivalent to a third of our day's supply of fat for a female.  It has about 14 grams of fat.  So if you think if you nibble just for 15 or 20 minutes, a woman would have the fat component that would be in a Big Mac, which is about 45 grams of fat.  You have three little handfuls, that's like eating a Big Mac.  Peanuts are great protein, they're just loaded with fat and loaded with calories.  That's the thing you have to look at.  It's not the big stuff that usually hits you.  It's the little stuff that you nibble on, it'll get you.  When you want to snack, grab an apple, grab a banana.  When you grab a chocolate bar your sugar level is going to spike.

"My girlfriend and I have been Body Break fans since we were kids.  To me, in the age of uncertainty, global warming, war and chaos, Hal's moustache was the one thing in the world you could always count on.  Imagine my shock and dismay when I saw Hal with no moustache...'