Is Your Workout Helping You to Store Fat?

There is a kind of fat that you don't see and it's toxic and it's deadly!

Visceral fat is internal fat. It wraps around organs like your heart, liver, and kidneys. It fills up all the space in your abdominal cavity, so there's no room left for your organs, nerves, and vessels to function properly.

It's far more dangerous to your health than subcutaneous fat, which lies right beneath your skin. Subcutaneous fat is what you poke at and pinch. Like the "spare tire" you get around your middle.

Visceral fat is a storehouse for toxins that pump directly into your body. When you have too much visceral fat, you can almost guarantee you'll develop heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Too much of it produces excess secretion of a substance called adipokine. This causes body-wide inflammation that leads to these diseases.

You don't have to be overweight to have it. Over 30 million normal-weight Americans have high levels of visceral fat. You can be perfectly thin on the outside and fat on the inside.

You see, your body gets to choose the type of fuel it burns during exercise. And any time you exercise at a medium pace for a long time, your body chooses fat as its fuel.

While that may sound like a good thing, it's really the worst thing you can do. You don't want to use fat during exercise, because it's telling your body that you need fat for fuel. Your body hears, "Make more fat!" and it delivers. So, once you're done exercising, your body continues to make fat and tuck it around your organs. Now you have even more fat to use as an energy source the next time you jump on the treadmill.

A much better way to get rid of deadly visceral fat is short-bursts of intense exercise. I use this principle in all of my exercise programs for my clients and I've been using it on myself for the last 4 years.
Here's the point you need to know …

Real fat burning doesn't take place during exercise. It takes place after you exercise, as you recover. We call this "the afterburn," and it's one of the key components to staying lean and youthful. Short bursts of close to maximum exertion, stimulate HGH (Human Growth Hormone) who's production slows down significantly as you move into your 20's and keeps going down from there. The good news is, is that you can increase it's production by exercising and eating correctly.

Short-burst intense exercise is simply short periods of exertion followed by rest. You start at the intensity and speed that's right for you and gradually increase it until you're breathing heavily. Then you stop and recover.

Short-burst exercise tells your body that you don't have to make more fat and squirrel it away for the next time. You're not going to exercise long enough to use it for fuel, so why make more fat? And it stimulates HGH production.

Instead, when you keep your sessions brief, you use carbs for fuel during exercise and then use fat long afterward. Ten to 20 minutes is all you need to rev up your metabolism. Then, during times of rest, your metabolism burns up your visceral fat.

Visceral fat disappears very quickly when you exercise this way. When you follow this plan instead of doing hours of cardio, you burn up to 9 times the fat for every calorie burned.

You can choose any form of exercise you like. It can be treadmill, bike, running outside, calisthenics or as simple as walking. The key is to start where you're comfortable and build from there. Here's a routine you can try at home:

• Begin walking for a few minutes at a comfortable pace to warm up.
• Increase the pace for 60 sec. and recover for approx. 60 sec. or as long as it takes.
• Repeat the 60 sec. of exertion going a little harder and then recover.
• Repeat the 60 sec. of exertion and recovery - by the 3rd cycle you want to feel like you can't go any more by the time you get to the end of the 60 seconds of exertion. You should gasp a little as you come into recovery and if you are wearing a heart rate monitor it will bump up a couple of notches as you start your recovery.
• Repeat the exertion and recovery cycles 5 to 8 times depending on your level of fitness and how you feel.
• Recover by walking for at least 3 minutes.

When you are done you should by sweating profusely and feel like you got in a really intense workout but you should feel energized not beat-up.

You need to pay attention to your body and work at your own personal fitness level. If you are just starting out you might just walk as fast as you can during exertion. If you are very fit you should be sprinting as fast as you can from the 4th through 8th exertion cycle.

Combine your short-burst exercise program with a high-protein, low-glycemic diet that includes lots of fresh vegetables. You'll get the best results this way.

I have been exercising this way for the last four years and I just love how it makes me feel and look! The added bonus is it takes so little time to get a really great work-out! - Bonnie

Why Reduce Grains and Sugar?

Should You Reduce Grains and Sugar?

This article was originally published by Dr. Joseph Mercola http://mercola.com

For several million years, humans existed on a diet of animals and vegetation. It was only with the advent of agriculture a mere 10,000 years ago - a fraction of a second in evolutionary time - that humans began ingesting large amounts of sugar and starch in the form of grains (and potatoes) into their diets. Indeed, 99.99% of our genes were formed before the advent of agriculture; in biological terms, our bodies are still those of hunter-gatherers.

While the human shift to agriculture produced indisputable gains for man - modern civilization is based on this epoch - societies where the transition from a primarily meat/vegetation diet to one high in cereals show a reduced lifespan and stature, increases in infant mortality and infectious disease, and higher nutritional deficiencies.

Contemporary humans have not suddenly evolved mechanisms to incorporate the high carbohydrates from starch- and sugar-rich foods into their diet. In short, we are consuming far too much bread, cereal, pasta, corn (a grain, not a vegetable), rice, potatoes and Little Debbie snack cakes, with very grave consequences to our health. Making matters worse, most of these carbohydrates we consume come in the form of processed food.

That 65% of Americans are overweight, and 27% clinically obese, in a nation addicted to sesame seed buns for that hamburger, with a side of French fries and a Coke, is no coincidence. It is not the fat in the foods we eat but, far more, the excess carbohydrates from our starch- and sugar-loaded diet that is making people fat and unhealthy, and leading to epidemic levels of a host of diseases such as diabetes.

If you are experiencing any of the following symptoms, chances are very good that the excess carbohydrates in your body are, in part or whole, to blame:

• Excess weight
• Fatigue and frequent sleepiness
• Depression
• Brain fogginess
• Bloating
• Allergies
• Low blood sugar
• Persistent Headaches
• High blood pressure
• High triglycerides

We all need a certain amount of carbohydrates, of course, but, through our addiction to grains, potatoes, sweets and other starchy and sugary foods, we are consuming far too many. The body's storage capacity for carbohydrates is quite limited, though, so here's what happens to all the excess: they are converted, via insulin, into fat and stored in the adipose, or fatty, tissue.

Any meal or snack high in carbohydrates generates a rapid rise in blood glucose. To adjust for this rise, the pancreas secretes the hormone insulin into the bloodstream, which lowers the glucose. Insulin is, though, essentially a storage hormone, evolved over those millions of years of humans prior to the agricultural age, to store the excess calories from carbohydrates in the form of fat in case of famine.

Insulin, stimulated by the excess carbohydrates in our overabundant consumption of grains, starches and sweets, is responsible for all those bulging stomachs and fat rolls in thighs and chins.

Even worse, high insulin levels suppress two other important hormones - glucagons and growth hormones - that are responsible for burning fat and sugar and promoting muscle development, respectively. So insulin from excess carbohydrates promotes fat, and then wards off the body's ability to lose that fat.

Excess weight and obesity lead to heart disease and a wide variety of other diseases. But the ill effect of grains and sugars does not end there. They suppress the immune system, contributing to allergies, and they are responsible for a host of digestive disorders. They contribute to depression, and their excess consumption is, in fact, associated with many of the chronic diseases in our nation, such as cancer and diabetes.

For a great way to get started eating a diet that includes less grains, download my free copy of “The 30 Day Detox Diet” - Bonnie

A Doctors 5 Top Secrets to Avoid Getting Sick

This article was written by Dr. Joseph Mercola, http://mercola.com. I personally use all of these suggestions and I have not been sick except for the mildest of colds for the last 15 years!


1. Optimize Your Vitamin D

This takes the number one position for a reason: if you're vitamin-D-deficient, and many are, your immune system will not activate to do its job.

Vitamin D also functions in many different tissues and affects a large number of different diseases and health conditions. So far, scientists have found about 3,000 genes that are regulated by vitamin D.

Just one example of an important gene that vitamin D up-regulates is your ability to fight infections, including the flu. It produces over 200 antimicrobial peptides, the most important of which is cathelicidin, a naturally occurring broad-spectrum antibiotic. At least five studies show an inverse association between lower respiratory tract infections and vitamin D levels. That is, the higher your vitamin D level, the lower your risk of contracting colds, flu, and other respiratory tract infections.

Plus, studies have shown you can decrease your risk of cancer by MORE THAN HALF and lower your risk of many other common diseases -- like diabetes, heart disease, depression, hypertension and Alzheimer's disease -- simply by optimizing your vitamin D levels.

To find out more, including your best sources of vitamin D, dosing and what proper levels should be, please watch my free one-hour lecture.

2. Optimize Your Insulin and Leptin Levels

Eating sugar and grains will increase your insulin level, which is one of the fastest ways to get sick and also experience premature aging. Leptin is another heavyweight hormone associated with disease and the aging process.

Like your insulin levels, if your leptin levels become elevated, your body systems will develop a resistance to this hormone, which will wreak havoc in your body.

Ron Rosedale, MD, who is one of the leading experts on leptin, does an excellent job of explaining the links between insulin, leptin, your weight and your overall health, and has done so in numerous articles posted on my site.

My nutrition plan, based on natural whole foods, is your first step toward optimizing your insulin and leptin levels and increasing your chances of living a longer, healthier life. The heart of my program is the elimination, or at the very least, drastic reduction of grains and sugar in your diet, while focusing on the foods that are right for your unique biochemistry.

3. Exercise

If you are exercising regularly, just as if your vitamin D levels are optimized, the likelihood of your acquiring an upper respiratory infection decreases quite dramatically, and studies have clearly shown this.

In one such study, staying active cut the risk of having a cold by 50 percent, and cut the severity of symptoms by 31 percent among those who did catch a cold. The researchers noted that each round of exercise may lead to a boost in circulating immune system cells that could help ward off a cold virus.

It's a well-known fact that exercise improves the circulation of immune cells in your blood. The job of these cells is to neutralize pathogens throughout your body. The better these cells circulate, the more efficient your immune system is at locating and defending against viruses and diseases trying to attack your body.

Upon reviewing 40 papers published between 2006 and 2010, researchers found that exercise reduces the risk of about two dozen health conditions, ranging from cancer and heart disease to type 2 diabetes, stroke, dementia and depression.

Exercise also slows down the rate of aging itself, providing perhaps the closest example of a real life fountain of youth as we will ever find.

Since exercise has repeatedly been proven to benefit your immune system over the long haul, it's crucial to treat exercise like a drug that must be properly prescribed, monitored and maintained for you to enjoy the most benefits.

Essentially, you need to have a varied routine like the Peak Fitness program I now highly recommend. The Peak Fitness program includes:

o Peak 8 exercises

o Conventional aerobics

o Strength training

o Core exercises

o Stretching


4. Eat Plenty of Raw Food

One of the most important aspects of a healthy diet that is frequently overlooked is the issue of eating your food uncooked, in its natural raw state.

Unfortunately, as you may be aware, over 90 percent of the food purchased by Americans is processed. And when you're consuming these kinds of denatured and chemically altered foods, it's no surprise we have an epidemic of chronic and degenerative diseases, not to mention way too many cases of colds and flu.

Ideally you'll want to eat as many foods as possible in their unprocessed state; typically organic, biodynamic foods that have been grown locally, and are therefore in season.

But even when you choose the best foods available you can destroy most of the nutrition if you cook them. I believe it's really wise to strive to get as much raw food in your diet as possible. I personally try to eat about 80 percent of my food raw, including raw eggs and organic, naturally raised meats.

5. Learn How to Effectively Cope With Stress

In my past experience treating patients with serious chronic illnesses, the vast majority have previous emotional stress that contributed to their problem. And for most of the serious illnesses, the trauma stems back to their childhood. But according to at least one recent study, it doesn't take serious trauma to cause these changes. Even normal "everyday" emotional experiences can have a detrimental impact on your future health.

Emotional stressors can also predispose you to an infection while making cold symptoms worse. Finding ways to manage daily stress as well as your reactions to circumstances beyond your control will contribute to a strong and resilient immune system.

My favorite tool for this is the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), a system that helps balance your body's subtle energies and repair emotional "short-circuits."

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it does give you a general idea of how to live healthy and avoid getting sick. Other factors, like getting high-quality sleep and avoiding exposure to environmental toxins, are important too, but if you're looking for a few simple "secrets" to get started on today … start with those listed above.

Chances are that if you use them, you, too, will become one of the growing numbers of people who are using a healthful lifestyle to avoid getting sick.

Eating Mindfully - 4 Rules For Conscious Eating

I have been using these "rules" for conscious eating from Paul McKenna's "I Can Make You Thin" for years and I have found that they have really changed my relationship with food for the better! Bonnie

 1. When you are hungry, EAT

Why would anyone eat if they weren't hungry?Because it is simply a habit. Many people are so desensitized to their body's messages that they've forgotten how to pay attention. Real physical hunger is different than emotional hunger (which we will deal with later). Physical hunger comes on gradually. Emotional hunger comes on suddenly, when you feel bored or upset. If you starve yourself you will end up binging. That's how your body gets thrown off balance. In future when you feel physical hunger, eat! When you starve yourself your body goes into 'survival mode' it slows your metabolism and your body starts to store fat. When you eat when you are truly hungry you tell your body there will always be enough food and it speeds up your metabolism.

The Hunger Scale

Take a few moments right now to look at the hunger scale and tune in to your body. How hungry are you right now? Each person is different, but as a general rule, you want to eat whenever you notice yourself between 3 and 4 on the scale – that is when you are fairly hungry, but before you become ravenous. If you wait until you get down to one or two your body will go into starvation mode and you'll wind up probably eating more than your body needs and storing the excess as fat. Ideally, you'll want to stop eating at right around 6 or 7 on the hunger scale – when you are feeling pleasantly satisfied or full but not yet stuffed or bloated. From now on never go into the RED areas!

Of course, if you have been a serial dieter you may be so used to overriding your body's signals that you may at times 'forget to eat' until you're ravenous or keep eating until you're full or even stuffed before noticing it's time to stop.

If you think this might be you, practice tuning in to your body once an hour until you begin to notice differences between different points on the scale. The more you practice tuning in to your own hunger, the sooner you'll be able to recognize your body's subtle signals long before your stomach growls and your brain starts to get fuzzy.
 
2. Eat what you want, not what you think you should.

As soon as you tell yourself to not eat certain foods, (usually because you've been told they're bad for you), you upset the natural balance of your relationship to them. Rather than wanting it less, that 'forbidden food' instantly becomes more attractive to you. The inner battle between your positive intention and your resistance to being controlled (even by yourself) can be exhausting. As you begin to make peace with food and learn to listen to the wisdom of your body, you experience freedom from the tension and guilt that comes from NOT following your intuition.Also, as you stop resisting and start to follow your natural intuitions about what to eat when, you may notice your tastes changing. You may even find yourself naturally attracted to the very foods you're 'supposed' to be eating now.



The problem is that even though they feel temporarily high from cramming in lots of food, they feel fat and guilty afterwards. In fact, they feel so bad that they repeat the whole ritual of unconsciously stuffing themselves again in order to anaesthetize the bad feelings they just created!
Here is perhaps the single most important key to success:
You can eat whatever you want, whenever you want, so long as you fully enjoy every single mouthful.
I cannot emphasize this enough. Put the knife and fork down whilst you are chewing your food and really enjoy it - savor the taste, and enjoy the wonderful textures and sensations as you thoroughly chew each mouthful of food at least 20 times!
If all you did for the next two weeks was to slow your eating speed down to about a quarter of what it used to be and chew each mouthful thoroughly, you will find it easy to leave food on your plate.

 4. When you think you are full, STOP eating

The natural design of the human body is to eat when we're hungry and stop when we're satisfied, but many of us are conditioned to eat until we think we're full - or even worse, until whatever food we put on our plate is gone. When you've eaten enough, your stomach sends a signal – a sensation that says "I'm satisfied – that's enough." Most people experience this gentle, clear, satisfied sensation in their solar plexus (the area below your rib cage but above your stomach).Of course, if you miss this warm feeling of satisfaction when it first occurs, you'll notice that each subsequent bite of food becomes a little less enjoyable than the one before. The more you pay attention to it, the more obvious it becomes. If you are not sure whether you are full or not, just guess. You will soon find it becomes easier to tell.
 Can it really be this simple?

Yes! Let's review the four elements:

1. Eat whenever you are hungry
2. Eat only what you want, never what you think you 'should'
3. Eat consciously and enjoy every mouthful
4. Stop when you even think your body is full 

3. Eat CONSCIOUSLY and enjoy every mouthfulPeople that are overweight often shovel food in to their mouths as quickly as possible in order to get high from the happy chemicals we release in our brains when we eat. Unfortunately, because they are eating unconsciously, they never notice the signal from their stomach that lets them know that they are full. So they keep on stuffing their faces, expanding their stomachs and putting on weight.

Breaking Free From Emotional Eating!

If Diet and Exercise Where Enough We'd All Be Slim and Healthy...

A lot of us know that we need to make changes in our diet, exercise and lifestyle. We may even successful start making these changes only to come up against very powerful self-sabotaging behaviors. You may think you lack willpower if you have cravings for and addictions to food, but that's not true. It's not a lack of willpower – it's that there are very powerful emotional blocks and barriers around food for most of us and we've never learned the proper tools for how to address these challenges.

Most issues that we have around food are deeply ingrained and started when we were children and/or teens. Even though food is technically fuel for our bodies most of us have some kind of emotional attachment and habits around it.

In my ten years as a personal trainer and group fitness instructor I usually run into 3 types of clients. These three different types of clients all want to make some kind of positive change in their life i.e.: better health, greater fitness level and/or weight loss.

The first type of client I see has the desire to have "things be different" but they want an "instant fix" or a "magic cure" (by the way this is a good percent of the American population). They are not willing to make any significant changes or effort to move towards their desires and believe that I can give them a "magic cure."

The second type of client I've seen also has the desire to have things "be different" and they are willing initially to make some changes and apply some effort, to move towards their desires. But when things don't happen as fast as they would like them to, they quickly get frustrated and discouraged and go right back to doing things "the way they've always done them."

The third type of client is much rarer and I don't see too many of them. They jump in with both feet, make the changes, apply the actions consistently and move forward one step at a time until they achieve their goals. But once they get there and finally experienced the sweetness of getting what they wanted and the joy of vibrant health and their own perfect weight, they little by little start self sabotaging and making choices that are not in alignment with maintaining their success.

There is a forth type of client that I've seen, but I have to tell you that they are very rare indeed. This person goes through the exact same process as the third type. They successfully achieve their desired goals but not only are they able to maintain them, they keep expanding their desires and reaching for a higher level of health, wellness and fulfillment.

What makes this forth type different than the rest and what keeps them moving successfully one small step at a time towards their desires? The difference that makes all the difference is this. Not only do they change their actions, they change their minds. They change and rewrite their beliefs and thoughts. This quiets their inner critic – you know that little voice that keeps telling you what you're doing wrong and helpfully points out all your faults and sins. That voice that tells you things like, "you're selfish to want time and things for yourself, others needs and desires should come first." Or "you don't deserve that, who do you think you are?" Or how about this, "you're so fat and disgusting, I can't believe how weak and lazy you are." And here's one of my all time favorites "you've tried this a million times before and failed, what makes you think you'll be able to succeed this time, you're just a fat lazy slob."

Does any of this sound vaguely familiar to you? If it does don't panic you're not alone. What I've found in my personal experience with myself and working with numerous others, is that these types of internal comments are very, very normal especially among women. These types of insidious thoughts and beliefs will keep you stuck, frustrated and/or will cause you to sabotage any success you manage to achieve, because at a very deep level you don't feel worthy or deserving of it.

What do I mean by this? I mean that even though your "going through all the right motions" and doing all the right things – eating healthy nutritious food, getting the proper amount of exercise and sleep and keeping your life generally balanced, if you haven't changed your mind, if you haven't dealt with what I like to call the "junk food" thoughts; if you don't truly believe on the deepest level of your "being" that you are valuable and deserving – you're going to have trouble maintaining all those wonderful new healthy and life enhancing choices and a vibrant, healthy body!

They "key" to permanent success is your mind – change your thoughts and you change your beliefs, which naturally changes your actions and so doing changes your reality! The key to all your desires is within you and you hold all the power to make all your dreams come true – you just need to change your mind!
But how do you do this? If you've tried to changing a negative thought pattern you have to a more positive one you know how hard that can be. My favorite tool for releasing old non-supportive though patterns and beliefs and resetting your mind with new self-empowering beliefs is EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique).

To learn more about EFT and how you can use this simple acupressure technique to help with weight loss, cravings and emotional eating, sign-up to download my free e-Book "EFT For Weight Loss Success" click on the box to the right. Watch my video EFT for Cravings (box on the right) to get immediate help with emotional eating and food craving.

Is a Detox Diet Right for You?

Have you noticed, it seems like everybody is talking about Detoxing these days. From celebrities to your sister, to your co-workers and to your neighbor, “The Detox” is not only the quick fix to lose weight and feel great but it’s the hot and fashionable thing to do.

Why Do I Need to Detox?
There is definitely value in following a detox diet from time to time, even if you don’t need to lose weight. A growing body of research suggests that many of the chemicals we ingest daily through food, water, and air can become deposited in fat cells in our bodies. Toxins include pesticides, antibiotics and hormones in food, chemicals from food packaging, household cleaners, detergents, food additives, heavy metals, pollution, drugs, and cigarette smoke. A diet that lacks certain nutrients may also impair our natural ability to detoxify chemicals, which further leads to their build-up in the body.

The cumulative load, called the "body burden", is thought to lead to illness and has been linked to hormonal imbalance, impaired immune function, nutritional deficiency, and an inefficient metabolism. Signs are thought to include indigestion, poor concentration and sluggishness, headaches, bad breath, fatigue, poor skin, muscle pain and difficulty in losing weight.

What is a Detox Diet?
There are many different types of detox diets. Generally, a detox diet is a short-term diet that: 

• Minimizes the amount of chemicals ingested (for example, by eating organic food).
• Emphasizes foods that provide the vitamins, nutrients, and antioxidants that the body needs for detoxification, such as raw vegetables.
• Contains foods, such as high fiber foods and water, that draw out and eliminate toxins by increasing the frequency of bowel movements and urination.

Benefits of a Detox Diet
People often report improved energy, clearer skin, regular bowel movements, improved digestion, weight loss, improvement in allergy symptoms and increased concentration and clarity after a detox diet.

I’ve always been a sucker for trying out new diets and trends. Not so much because I’m trying to lose weight, more from a professional curiosity and interest in optimal nutrition as well as a desire to find solutions for my clients. I have tried many different plans over the years and after a lot of trial and error, I’ve developed a 30 day Diet that I found works very well to give the benefits of a detox diet, without being as strict as some of the plans I’ve tried.

I usually do this plan 4 times a year whenever the seasons change. I suggest this plan as a jumpstart for all of my fitness and weight loss clients. Although results vary from person to person and depend a lot on how overweight a person is, I have had clients lose up to 20 pounds in the 30 days! If you’d like to give it a try put your information into the box on the right for a free copy of the “30 Day Detox Diet”.

6 Ways to Win the Weight Battle

Learn how your mind—not diet or exercise—is stopping you from dropping pounds
By Alexandra Gekas Posted April 25, 2011 from WomansDay.com .

Think the number-one roadblock to being fit is the number of calories you take in? Think again. The key to healthy, successful weight loss isn’t just about getting the right information—it's about knowing how to use that information. It’s why those extra pounds won’t budge, despite your understanding the importance of calories in versus calories out, knowing the difference between good and bad carbs, and being diligent about mixing cardio with strength training. If you’ve been feeling discouraged, rest assured that you’re not alone. We spoke with medical, nutrition and fitness experts and asked them one simple question: "What are we missing?" Read on to discover the six most important ways to use the mind-body connection to help your weight-loss efforts rather than hinder them.
Accept that diets don’t help you in the long run.
Every year you try to eat less and less, but gain more and more. Sure, some of this has to do with the biology of aging, but it also has to do with the damage all those fad diets have done to your metabolism. There’s no miracle pill or plan that can lead to easy weight loss. "People just cycle between these fads, these radical wacky diets, and they will lose weight, but then they get sick of it," says Timothy Harlan, MD, medical director at the Tulane University School of Medicine and author of Just Tell Me What to Eat! This leads to gaining back the weight, which puts you back at square one. "It's really important to know why women eat like birds and look like elephants as they get older," says Eric Braverman, MD, author of Younger (Thinner) You Diet. "They develop this horrific situation in which they eat 1,000 calories and gain weight…the metabolic starvation that these girls are doing [leads to] the destruction of their health." Instead of approaching food with a deprivation mindset, consider feasible, small changes that you can make over the long term. Braverman recommends increasing exercise and increasing "chew food"—highly nutritious and fibrous but low-calorie foods, such as an apple instead of apple juice. Photo: Shutterstock

Focus on fitness, not thinness.
In our body-obsessed culture with ultra-thin celebrities setting the trend, it’s hard to remember that your health and well-being are about more than being a particular pants size. “Do it for your health, do it to stimulate your mind and find passion,” says Ramona Braganza, celebrity trainer and fitness expert at Gold Gym. "It’s not about getting a Hollywood body.” Try focusing more on how you feel rather than what the scale says. "Women think they're sexier when they're thin, flabby Gumbys. They haven't incorporated a really liberating feminist model of nutrition, fitness and discipline into their lives," Dr. Braverman says. By focusing on being fit and feeling healthy—keeping your age in mind—you’ll be better equipped to hit your ideal weight. "There are happy people in all different shapes and sizes, so if you’re picking your model person, it has to be somebody realistic," says Braganza. "Your body changes, and I think it’s hard for women to accept that they won’t always have their 25-year-old body. So you have to look for a new role model. My role model is my 75-year-old mom, who teaches Zumba classes. You want to look ahead of you, not behind you."

Make friends with food.
Losing weight should not mean eating bland, flavorless food. And it definitely should not entail being hungry all the time. Think about food as nourishment, and make it as delicious as possible. In fact, if you do it right, you can eat just as much, if not more than before. "I'm a big believer in eating great food, but it's about caloric density. If you're going to take in fewer calories, those calories should be much larger portions," Dr. Harlan says. His example: beef stroganoff. Make it with the same ingredients, but use more mushrooms and less beef (the leaner the better). You’ll consume fewer overall calories, but more food, and still feel satisfied. "We respond to volume of food, and when the volume is high and we feel filled up, we'll stop eating," Dr. Harlan adds. "That's how I craft a recipe. I ask myself, 'How can I make this portion larger, preserve the flavor—or make it more even delicious—and keep it at the same number of calories?’" Photo: Shutterstock

Start small and build slowly.
One of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to lose weight is going to extremes. Be mindful of where you are, and respect your limits. With this in mind, start small and build slowly. "People don't know how to get started. But I'd be happy if you just went out and walked three days a week," Dr. Harlan says. "But instead, people will go out and injure themselves and they'll get put off. So starting very low-impact, going slowly and building up very carefully is the number-one key with exercise." Braganza agrees: "When you’re starting, anything is better than nothing. Go for a regular walk and then include a hill. Then go at a faster pace, and then step into the gym," she says. "Lower impact to start with, and then go on to the higher-impact exercises once you’ve built up your strength." Photo: Shutterstock

Concentrate on commitment more than intensity.
You don’t have to log endless hours at the gym to become healthier, but a commitment to an exercise regimen is essential. "When I'm talking to patients, the first thing I do is work on time. We schedule everything in our lives, but we don't book exercise," Dr. Harlan says. "If I can just get them to start by penciling in that 30 minutes three times a week, that's enough to get them started." In fact, despite what we may think, celebrities aren't spending every waking second in the gym to get those beautiful bodies. What they are doing, however, is committing to a weekly routine, and giving it their all when they're there. "My people work out pretty conservatively about four days a week for an hour," says Braganza, who has trained such stars as Jessica Alba and Halle Berry.

Stop obsessing about your weight.The fastest way to misery is to obsess over dieting and weight loss. It’s not only bad for your self-esteem, but it will sabotage your weight-loss efforts, too. "I was a cheerleader for the Oakland Raiders, and we had regular weigh-ins. The girls gained during the season because they were so concerned about it. Then during off-season, the weight just fell off. You store fat when you’re stressed. There is a huge correlation between [stress] and the body," says wellness coach Cassandra Corum. (Not to mention the natural fluctuations caused by hormones and age.) With this in mind, focus on long-term goals rather than micro-managing your life. "Health is not a 30-day thing, a 60- or a 90-day thing. Take the advice, use what you already know and do it every day,” Corum says.

Is Stress Bringing Your Metabolism Down?

The Less You Stress the Easier it is to Lose Weight!

Most people have heard of the fight-or-flight response, and you probably know that it's the way your body reacts to danger or stress. But do you know what the fight-or-flight response is? If you guessed hormones you’d be right.

When you're faced with a danger, your adrenal glands release three hormones: norepinephrine, epinephrine (also known as adrenaline), and cortisol. Norepinephrine and epinephrine cause several changes to help you survive the danger. These include a pause in insulin release so you have lots of blood sugar available for energy, an increase in heart rate and blood pressure, and a suspension of your appetite. After the danger has passed, cortisol tells the body to stop producing norepinephrine and epinephrine and stimulates your appetite again.

This response evolved to help people deal with short-term survival situations, like an attack by a predator. The trouble is, it occurs in response to all stressors, including the deadlines pummeling you at work and the traffic that drives you crazy. When stress is always present, your body can't get rid of the excess cortisol built up in the blood. That cortisol just hangs around, causing lots of trouble: It turns young fat cells into mature fat cells that stick with you forever, and increases your cravings for high-fat, high-carb foods.

When you give in to those cravings, your body releases a cascade of rewarding brain chemicals that can set up an addictive relationship with food — you stress, you eat. If you don't consciously control the pattern, you can become physically and psychologically dependent on that release to manage stress. In fact, people who self-medicate with food tend have hair-trigger epinephrine reactions and chronic high levels of cortisol.

You can help yourself keep cortisol in check by limiting caffeine intake to 200 milligrams a day; avoiding simple carbs, processed foods, and refined grains; and getting plenty of high-quality protein. It's also crucial that you get adequate sleep, a daily dose of exercise and find stress-relief techniques that work for you. If you can tame your stress response and lower cortisol levels, you'll have a much easier time losing weight.

Stay tuned for my simple tips for lowering cortisol levels and keeping stress in check.

If You Want to Lose Weight, Be Careful of When You Eat

If You Want to Lose Weight, Be Careful of When You Eat

When you eat is just as important as what you eat if you are trying to lose weight. If you are over weight and have been following a healthy diet and exercising consistently for at least six weeks and you are not seeing a significant fat loss, it may be because of when you are eating.

Don’t eat right before bed or just before you work out. You want your body to be in “fat’burning mode during your work outs and while you are sleeping.

Your body has two main sources of energy: stored fat and stored carbohydrates. When you eat or drink substances like energy bars, cereals, pastas, bagels or sports drinks (all high in carbs/sugars) your body’s insulin levels rise to cope with the additional carbohydrates in your system. That means, during the time you process those carbs through your bloodstream, your body’s hormones are focused on burning that type of fuel for energy. Thus, if you consume those carbs before your workout, you will be in the mode to burn the carbs in your body more than the stored fat around your waist and thighs!
The most advantagous time to work out if you want to burn fat and lose weight is first thing in the morning, before you eat breakfast. If you feel faint not eating anything before your morning exercise, try having a low carb/sugar protein shake an hour before your workout. Then eat your breakfast when you are finished exercising. If you can’t work out in first thing in the morning, don’t eat for 3 hours before you exercise latter in the day.

Stop eating 3 hours before bedtime. By allowing your body to sleep in “fasting mode” – meaning you are not in the midst of digesting a meal – your body will access stored fat for energy. You might start getting hungry before you go to sleep but if you can control yourself you will enjoy 8 hours of solid fat burning!

If you follow these guidelines and limit your carbs before exercise and sleep, you will allow your body to access it’s fat stores for fuel and function as an effective fat-burning machine!

The Best Shape of My Life - Six Weeks to Slim Challenge!

Hi everyone! I'm Bonnie Skane and I am an AFAA certified Personal Trainer, Wellness Coach and EFT-ADV Personal Empowerment Coach. This year I am going to turn 50 and I decided that I wanted to celebrate this momentous occasion by challenging myself to get into the best shape I've ever been in and I though wouldn't it be fun to join together with a group of women who also have that desire! So with that in mind, along with all this crazy weather we've been experiencing, I've put together this amazing package to help you make:

Make 2011 the Year that You

"Get Into Shape - Look & Feel Great!"

Don't let this winter's extreme weather get you down and put you off track with your New Years' health and fitness goals. Workout in the comfort and convenience of your own home with lots of support and guidance!

Check out all the details of "Six Weeks to Slim Challenge!"
Make 2011 the Best Year of Your Life! - Bonnie