The 7 Day Detox/Jumpstart - For Weight Loss and Wellness

The time has come to stop the madness! What do I mean by that? Well I mean it’s time for me to stop stuffing food mindlessly in my mouth while I’m standing in the kitchen, running out the door or driving in the car. It’s time for me to stop saying I’ll go back to being “good” on Monday after the weekend is over and the celebrations are done. It’s time for me to stop treating myself after a stressful day with a huge bowl of guacamole and chips and a couple of glasses of wine.

The new year is here and it’s time for me to get back on track and recommit to being consistent with my fitness and nutrition again.

Don’t get me wrong I adore good food and I love to cook and I believe that delicious food is an integral part of a truly good life. I am also, as some of my friends might say, obsessed with nutrition and exercise. I like to feel good and I’ve learned over the years that I feel so much better on every level when I eat cleanly and properly for my body and I exercise consistently!

So it’s time for a 7 Day Detox/Jumpstart! I do one every Spring, Summer and Fall and Winter and I find it’s very helpful to get me moving forward fast and quickly back on track. It’s also a great way to start shedding those extra Holiday pounds and get going with my New Years intentions of being more consistent in nourishing my body with really good, clean food.

If you’ve been thinking it’s time for you to either get back on track or to start living a healthier lifestyle, I invite you to join in with me and share in my 7 day journey and experience your own. Everything is so much more powerful and lots more fun when you join with others and support each other along the way.

If you’d like to join me, just put your name and email address in the box below or to the side and you will immediately receive a copy of The 7 Day Jumpstart. There are no strings attached, it’s my complimentary gift to you to start you off on journey towards vibrant health and your own perfect weight!

For a Fast, Easy and Effective Workout - Try Fit Fast!

For a Fast, Easy and Effective Workout - Try Fit Fast!

New studies are finding that the way we’ve been told to exercise for the last few decades is totally counter productive to the way our bodies were designed to work. We are still genetically programmed the same way we were during our “Cavemen” days when we lived as Hunter/Gathers. Think about it - Our bodies were designed to move in short bursts of intense exertion, followed by periods of rest and recovery.

The "new science" from the 1960s that promoted jogging was a big mistake. Long-duration aerobic training doesn't work. It isn't natural and your body knows it. Forcing your body to perform the same continuous cardiovascular challenge, by repeating the same movement, at the same rate, thousand of times over, without variation and without rest is unnatural and could have rarely occurred in the daily life of native societies. The one exception to this is walking – you were designed as a veritable “walking machine” and a fit and healthy person can walk for hours without fatigue and without raising their heart rate into the “training zone”.

Nature has designed your body to adapt to whatever environment you encounter. If you ask it to perform activity, repeatedly and routinely, it will gradually change to meet the challenge more effectively.  Continuous endurance exercise produces unique challenges your body must overcome. It must not run out of fuel, overheat, or be overwhelmed with metabolic wastes. One of the ways your body adapts is by “downsizing” your heart, lungs, blood vessels and muscles so they can efficiently do the job required without wasting energy and using up fuel.

Your body’s marvelous efficiency works against you when it comes to burning fat too. Conventional wisdom tells you that you burn fat during exercise. But this only makes matters worse. This tells your body to make and store more fat so you’ll have something to burn during your next workout. This is why so many people get frustrated when they don’t see results after months of spending hours at the gym. Every time you burn fat during exercise, you body reacts by making more fat.

Studies show that the most reliable way to burn fat is with short, intense exertion periods followed by recovery periods.  The trick is to trigger an “after burn.” This happens when your body burns fat after you stop exercising. Here’s the secret: It’s all about what your body uses for fuel during exercise. During the first minute or two, your body burns ATP (adenosine triphosphate) for energy. This is your body’s most potent and available source of energy. It’s used for quick bursts of movement, but it doesn’t last long. After a few minutes, your body shifts gears and starts to burn carbs in your muscle tissue. This lasts for 15 to 20 minutes. When you stop exercising during this process, your body will automatically burn fat to replace the carbs you just burned. This “after burn” melts away the fat your body has put “in storage.” You’ll continue to burn fat up to a full day after you finish each Fit Fast session. This is largely due to the boost your metabolism gets from your training. Because your body needs extra calories to repair muscles, replenish energy stores and restore your body to its “normal” state, you continue to burn calories – and fat – long after your workout is over. After a few months of Fit Fast your body stops storing fat because it simply doesn’t need it.

This way of exercising also stimulates HGH Human Growth Hormone which decreases rapidly as we age. HGH is sometimes called the “fountain of youth hormone” as it is responsible for increasing metabolism and lean muscle and slowing down the aging process.

If you'd like to try a Fit Fast Workout enter your name and email address in the box below to receive your FREE workout.
 

Healthy Protein Balls

Did you know that most commercial protein bars are filled with chemicals and sugars? Even though they might be high in protein they aren't very good for you. If you are looking for a quick and healthy high protein snack that you can make yourself and then bring with you wherever you go. Check out this recipe!

Healthy Protein Balls

1 16 oz jar Natural Peanut butter

2 cups vanilla-flavored whey protein powder

Unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)

Unsweetened cocoa powder (optional)

Stevia (optional)

Thoroughly combine peanut butter with the protein powder The easiest way to do this is with your hands, adding a bit of the protein powder at a time while you knead. This will make a stiff but somewhat crumbly dough). Roll the dough into 1” balls. You can coat these balls with coconut or chocolate or both! I like to add a little stevia to a mixture of cocoa and coconut and coat the balls with that. A Delicious and healthy snack with 10 grams of protein per ball!

If You Want to Lose Weight, Eat More Lean Protein

If You Want to Lose Weight, Eat More Lean Protein

Did you know that your body creates heat when you eat? It’s called diet-induced thermogenesis, which means the creation of heat/energy by the foods that you eat. A good example of this is when you get a little hot and sweaty eating a big meal like on Thanksgiving day.

This is what happens…

The level of insulin in your body increases when you eat certain foods. This creates energy or heat. And as your body temperature goes up, your metabolism starts to kick into high gear. When that happens, your body starts to use energy stored in fat cells to support this additional output.

The higher the thermic effect of the foods you consume, the easier it is to burn stored fat. For example, fats are easily processed by your body and have little thermic effect. But proteins take longer to process and have a higher thermic effect than other types of foods. So eating a protein-filled diet helps trigger thermogenesis.

The problem is people have a hard time triggering diet-induced thermogenesis in our modern world. We eat processed foods without the proteins and fiber our bodies were designed to eat and very often when we do eat protein it’s high fat or paired with high carbohydrate food which impedes the thermogenic  process.
Lean protein such as white meat turkey, chicken, fish and especially high quality whey protein can raise your metabolism as much as 30%. Whereas, processed foods can decrease it by as much as 50% depending on the food. This means that if you eat 1000 calories of lean protein, 300 calories would be burned during the digestion process. So even though you consumed 1000 calories you only had a net gain of 700 calories. Now that’s what I call a good deal!

Start Your Day With Whey Protein

One of the easiest ways to eat more protein and boost your metabolism all day long, is to start your day with a high quality whey protein shake. Studies show that those who start the day this way lose 30% more weight then those who consume the same amount of daily calories but are eating a typical lowfat, high carb breakfast such as cereal.

More and more nutrition experts are coming to the conclusion, that the best type of diet for weight loss, health and energy, is a diet that's high in lean proteins and fresh vegetables, with moderate amounts of healthy fats such as olive oil, avocados, nuts and coconut oil. Not only is this diet effective for helping you achieve your weight loss goals but it will leave you feeling satisfied and full of energy!

Give it a try I think you might like the results!

If you’d like some more information about a great program that follows these concepts click here.

Is Weighing Yourself Helpful for Weight Loss?

I know that a lot of experts will tell you if you're trying to lose weight, you should "weigh in" every week. But in my 15 years of working with women as a weight loss, fitness and wellness coach, I tend to disagree.

Let me tell you why. With most of the clients I work with, the weekly weigh in is something that they absolutely dread and obsess about all week long. This is not helpful in any way, shape or form!

I highly suggest that if you are trying to lose weight that you don’t weigh yourself more than once every 30 days!

For most people it takes about thirty days of doing something consistently to see measurable results. When you are constantly checking your weight and you don’t see it going down or you see it going down slowly, it tends to put you in a place of feeling bad about yourself and that gets in the way of your releasing the extra pounds. If you are feeling bad about yourself and you hate the way you look and you keep noticing that you are not losing weight as quickly as you want, it makes it almost impossible for you to follow through and do what you need to do to be successful!

Focus on where you are going, not where you currently are. Instead of constantly jumping on the scale to check your progress, spend some time every day think about what it will feel like when you reach your desired goal.

The best thing you can do for yourself if you're trying to lose weight, is to find any way you can to feel good about yourself and your efforts! 

If your goal is to trim pounds, choose a diet and exercise program that feel good to you and follow through to the best of your ability every day. Pat yourself on the back for the positive changes you are making and the things that you are doing right! Let go of any slip ups and get right back on track!

Instead of getting on the scale, you want to ask yourself if you are feeling better, stronger and have more energy. Revealing your slim, fit and vibrant body is a journey and if you keep moving forward you will eventually get there!

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