lucky seven for a week. cnn viewers will be joining me getting ready for the malibu triathlon in september. let's get started. ♪ >> we'll get to our fit nation and lucky seven in just a moment. first we have big medical headlines to get to are from the mainland. an h.i.v. test you request do by yourself at home. just got unanimous backing from an fda advisory panel. you get the results in about 20 minutes, and if it's approved this year, as expected, the test would be available in drug stores over-the-counter. the thinking is quite simple. it says that more people will likely be tested for h.i.v. if they can do it in the privacy of their own homes. >> if you are at home by yourself, you are at home with some loved ones and that test does come up positive, you have to be prepared as far as what you're going to do, how you're going to react? what are going to be the next steps? do you know where to go to seek

medical attention? do you have a support system you can talk to about these kind of things? >> also, a big new push against alzheimer's. the federal government announced new money and new plans to find an effective preventive treatment for alzheimer's by the year 2025. one new study will administer an experimental drug to hundreds of people whose extended family living in columbia has a genetic mutation that almost always leads to alzheimer's. >> they're hoping the drug will stop the disease from progressing. also, the latest headline on our continuing coverage of toxic america. lead poisoning. the cdc has lowered the threshold that's considered acceptable. they cut the limit in half. before this 100,000 children were thought to be at risk. wshlgs now that number is more than 300,000. lead, which is usually found in older homes from chips of old paint, is devastating to the

brain and the whole central nervous system. most doctors, though, like phillip landry, who is a pioneer on lead poisoning, says any amount of lead is simply too much. >> today there's no level of lead in the child's blood that's safe. >> and under the microscope here in hawaii, a place that obviously has plenty of sunshine, sunmrok. there's a lot on drugstore shelves that last year we were told would be gone by june. well, the fda has changed course when it announced that manufacturers now have until december to remove promises of waterproof and sweatproof from sunscreen labels because those claims just don't hold true. the fda sauls looking into whether spray sunscreens could pose a health risk from inhalation. meantime, be mindful if you use a separate spray, you might not be adequately chord. what you do want to pay attention to is spf. the numbers here might surprise you. studies show that sunscreen with an spf of 15 block about 93% of

all incoming uvb rays. spf 30, blocks by 9 p%. spf 50% blocks 98%. an spf of 100% blocks 99%. save your cash with a lower spf. it's almost exactly as effective. lastly, you want to make sure your sunscreen says broad spectrum on the label. this will protect you from both uva and uvb rays. now, we've been raring wearing plenty of sunscreen here while training the fit nation lucky seven. as you know by now, they are truly inspiring group of cnn viewers who in a few short months have acome a long way. >> by the time you see this, i may already be dead from heart attack or stroke. >> it all began when seven lucky cnn viewers submitted toir stories to our website. >> we attempt to make a difference. i think the first life that i need to make a difference is mine. >> i'm getting married to the father of my twins, chris, after eight long years, and the biggest gift i feel like i could

give him is starting our life off in fitness and in health. >> one, two, three, lucky seven. >> they came together in atlanta in early february to start this journey. ♪ >> we dubbed them the lucky seven. they swam, they biked, they ran. all of them beginner athletes with one audacious goal. to race the nautica malibu triathlon with me in september. >> are you going to cross that finish line? >> no doubt. >> no doubt? >> no doubt at all. >> to see them is to know they have their own obstacle wrshz. >> i had my right leg amputated below the knee. >> they've been transforming themselves, their workouts and their diets one day at a time. >> with just four months to go, there's still plenty of time to train. >> we're joined by one of our athletes, rick morris, whose

video we watched. it's an amazing story. you are a veteran, and you wanted to quit smoking. that's two of the highlights from your video. you actually put the cigarette out last time we met. how has that been going? have you been able to not go back? >> i have. i have. no relapses at all, and i will never go back to smoking. >> i always talk about switches going offer for people because a lot of people say i have kids, i want to live a long time, but i still smoke, or i still do things that are unhealthy. what made it possible for you? >> you know, i think just the total desire to want to quit. you know? i got tired of not sleeping well. i got tired of feeling poorly. you know? i was very concerned about my health. i don't know that there was one single thing. i think it was a combination of a lot of things, and i really just wanted to quit because of all the negative aspects of smoking, and i can tell you, it feels like, you know, someone has taken a dirty filter out of my lungs. >> yeah, i saw ow the bike. it looked like you were just plugging away really well. if you talked to our triality

let's, they will tell you almost universally that in order to do this, accomplish this audacious thing, you have to overcome some significant obstacles. nancy, thank you for joining us. what were some of the things that you were most worried about when you started this? >> i was worried about every aspect of it. i guess i was most worried about the commitment in making the time and feeling guilty for making the time to do some things for myself. >> you said the old nancy is gone. >> the old nancy is gone. >> what does that mean? >> i went for a bike ride yesterday, and i felt like i just became this different person on this bike ride, and i felt like i could ride forever, and i road in, and someone said to me, nancy, that was great. i guess my response was that wasn't nancy. it's hard to explain, but it's just -- i'm a different person now. >> i think we've just heard the description of transformation. that was what it is.

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so book your summer vacation now and save up to 50%. offer ends soon. book right now at travelocity.com. zoo see the sign right there. it's the official start and the finish of the ironman triathlon. we are here many kona. all triathletes will tell you the most intimidating part of doing a triathlon is the open water swim. a lot of kids who never learned how to swim have a hard time picking up the sport as adults as well. glen keller, one of our triathlon challenge athletes was in that position yourself. thanks for joining us. >> you're welcome. >> first of all, how is it going this week? >> a lot of good training. >> pretty intense, huh? >> pretty intense. >> we're not joking around here. this is a serious commitment. >> every day day in and day out. >> tell 34e about the swimming. did you know how to swim as a kid or a young person? >> i actually thought i did until i got into the training,

but i found out i was just playing in the water getting from one point to the other, but i was drowning. >> learning how to not drown. whether you look out in this water and this is the ironman, you know, swim start over here, what goes through your mind now in terms of -- are you still intimated? less so? >> i'm not as intimated, but the whole swimming part taken me out of my comfort zone. i could bike. i could pick up my feet and put them down and run, but swimming wasn't my thing. we tend to gravitate to what we're comfortable to. >> right. thanks a lot. obviously, when you talk about triaths later on, you talk about three sports. we're going to bach about the biking in just a little bit. the run, see, last part of the race. jeff is here joining us. it's many some ways even if you are a runner, it's the hardest part because it's the end. you already swam and biked. you are digging deep. you weren't a runner. >> i wasn't a runner. i wasn't an athlete at all. as a matter of fact, when you came on the radio show in january, what, less than five

months ago, my coach, april and i, about a week april went out to this 5k course near the house and we walked it, and i ran one little quarter mile distance. that was a start. it was, like, three or four minutes running, and every week i would get out there, and just put one foot in front of the another. if i started at three minutes, i would try to go to 3:30 and then four. >> one of the things we hope to get out of this triathlon challenge is helping people like you that having you help and inspire a lot of other people. you're a very well known radio dj. a lot of people listen to you. what's the response been? >> you know what, it's been kind of mind-blowing, because i get every single day with e-mail or some sort of social media a note from somebody calling me an inspiration, and that's not something that i ever would have considered myself. i never would have put myself in the category of somebody who inspires. i think people are just excited

at the fact that four and a half months ago i was barely doing a quarter mile. i was sore the next day, and i was winded for 20 minutes afterwards, and talking about my journey i'm able to go 5k. i road four miles the other day here in hawaii. i think it's -- if i can do it, anybody can do it, and it's cool that people are responding to that. >> look, congratulations. you have no doubt that you'll be at that finish line. >> absolutely. i can't wait to get there. >> i love to hear that, man. thanks a lot. as i mentioned, it's swim, run, and in the middle of that is the bike ride. i want to join another one of our athletes here this minute, adrian, who like jeff didn't dare dream of being able to do what she's doing now. stay with us. be right back. [ female announcer ] women have made it the number one selling

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we are back with "sgmd." many of you probably road bikes as a kid, but imagine racing it in a race and even doing it on the queen's bay highway, which is home of the iron man here in kona. that's what adrian, one of our trichallenge athletes just did. you didn't think you would be able to do this just a few weeks ago? >> correct. >> what was it that made you able to do this now? >> well, you know, really it's running. i was about to use a flat peddle bike, and i said, no, i'm going to try the clips. i was really scared because i kept falling while dismounting just a week prior, and she said i'm going to show you a trick. she told me what to do. >> what was it? >> so i kept falling on my clipped in leg when i was on the

bike. i would unclip with my left, and then i would freak out, and then i would fall right. so she said, you know, unclip with your left, and then slow down, and then on your right, which was clipped in, hug the bike. >> with your leg like this. >> yeah. because even -- and denise said this too. she said even if you fall, you're going to fall on your leg that's clipped out. >> you are getting married right aron the time of the tri. you had a lot of goals. you wanted to accomplish this tri and have it in conjunction with your wedding. are you feeling comfortable? you wanted to lose weight and become more fit? are you able to measure success? >> definitely. identify lost -- before i came here, i lost 23 pounds. the past five weeks that i have been really kind of restricting my diet to no dairy, no meat, no sugar, no car even. i haven't been perfect. i have complete a few times with some shrimp and -- but that

alone i just feel like i'm so much more in control. especially when eating out. your menu options are so limited. >> you know this and a lot of people are learning this at home as well, but nutrition, hydration, all of that, especially while you're training and while you're racing is so important. you can't ignore that stuff at all. let's talk about that next. >> we're joined by chris and carlos. chris is a three-time iron man champion, professionalcourse, ir licky seven. thanks for joining us. we just got off a pretty good bike ride. one of the things that always comes up is just nutrition, hydration, all along your training in competition. it's hot outside. how do you manage, first of all, your nutrition? >> you really have to watch about your environment. when you come to an island like this where it's hot and you come from a location that's a little

cooler, you have to make sure you get the electrolytes in. >> you have to make sure to get the calories. here you need more. >> you need calories. if you eat prior to a workout, that's great, but even if you're out for an hour workout, you still need to put some calories in. >> carlos is a type two diabetic. not done a triathlon before. we hear so many people who are diabetic saying this is not for me. the diabetes prevents me from doing it. not true. how has the experience been? >> it's been beyond my expectations. >> you listen to what chris says. you've been doing your own homework on hydration and nutrition. is it harder for you? >> when i started working out, it was hard because am i eating too much? am i taking in too many calories, and so i just increased checking my blood sugar level, and, you know, with being diabetic, i do it two or three times a day. when i'm working out i do a

precheck and a post-check. >> a lot of diabetics told me if they do it right, it can be easier to manage your diabetes. >> you have to do it right. it cannot mess with this disease. it will take your life if you do, and i don't want to do that. >> thanks a lot, chris, carlos, appreciate it. i'm about to introduce you now to one of the most inspiring people i think you may ever meet. she also happens to be a member of our lucky seven. denise, how is it going? you're here in kona. >> life is great right now. >> pretty beautiful. >> it is. >> denise, people see right away that you are missing below the knee on your right leg. >> yes. >> tell us what happened. >> in 2008 while i was a senior in college i was sliding into second base and i broke my leg, and from that day i just had an infection and there were problems with surgeries after that, so i ended up an amputee.

>> this happened while you were playing sports. >> yes, i played collegiate softball. >> did you at that time -- i imagine there were so many things going through your mind, one of which was i may never be an athlete again. >> yes. i remember very clearly being -- lying in the hospital and right after the amputation and thinking, okay, you need to pick up the covers and you need to take a look at your life now, and, you know, it took a lot of courage, but i decided i had to face it head on and try a regain my life become. >> you are going to be competing in this triathlon with everyone else though. joosk, yes. >> you start off literally in this race running into the water. >> right. >> and then you come out of the water and transition to a bike. describe what that's like for you. >> i have a handler with me. and the handler will give me a

shoulder to lean on. i will have to hop into the water, and as soon as i can get into the water and swim, i know some people will run until they probably get up to their waist and then start swimming. for me it's completely different. as soon as i can get down onto my belly and start swimming, it will eliminate the amount of hopping i have to do. >> is this a wholesale change in your life? how much of an impact for the rest of denise's life has this made? >> now that i'm doing this, i know that i can do absolutely anything. i mean, the possibilities are limitless now and i know that. just getting out there and swimming -- hopping in the water and swimming and coming back out and getting on a bike and running. i can't believe two years ago i was laying in the hospital bed thinking my life was over and now here i am today living my life to the fullest. >> really appreciate it. it's a real inspiring thing, a real honor to know you. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> we're going to be talking about something that can help

you chase life right after the break. you hear a lot about coffee. you hear a lot about the caffeine in coffee, but there's something in the seeds which might help you as well. we'll explain. stay with us. ♪ if loving you is wrong ♪ i don't wanna be right [ record scratch ] what?! it's not bad for you. it just tastes that way. [ female announcer ] honey nut cheerios cereal -- heart-healthy, whole grain oats. you can't go wrong loving it. oooh, what's her secret? [ male announcer ] dawn hand renewal with olay beauty. improves the look and feel of hands in just five uses. [ sponge ] soft, smooth... fabulous! [ male announcer ] dawn does more... [ sponge ] so it's not a chore.

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it's worth pointing out it's not all about training here in kona. there's something else that kona is pretty well-known for, you may have already guessed. it's coffee. and if you're like most americans you've probably already had a cup. most americans drink 3.1 cups on average.

is coffee, in fact, good for you? we're going to find the guy to give us some answers. these are coffee -- they look like fruit. >> coffee comes from a flower and then it becomes a fruit like it would a citrus. it goes green and you grow to color and i'm going to squeeze this and pop out the two beans. >> these are actually what the coffee -- that's how it all starts. >> there's two coffee beans in a cherry. we call them coffee cherry. >> one of the things i hear often, triathletes and others alike is that coffee can be healthy in moderate doses. >> in moderation, yeah. the studies have shown that if you drink too much coffee, it can not be good for your heart, but two cups a day is good for your heart. >> there's specific things in the beans themselves but also the skin. i have heard about chromium, manganegnesium being helpful fo people with diabetes.

there's anti-oxidants with a rating that of nine times of blue berries. >> can we go grab a cup of coffee. >> leads do that. >> you want to do these things in moderation. four to suveeven, can cause sleeplessness. we are talking about coffee and coffee alone, not just caffeine drinks. we're going to have our cup of coffee, enjoy these beans. thanks for joining us. we'll see back next week. time to get you a check of your top stories in the cnn "newsroom." from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, this is "cnn sunday morning." a proper plot uncovered in chicago. three self-proclaimed anarchists accused of planning an attack on