How to lose 5 to 10 pounds in less than 14 days.

Follow three simple rules for 14 days, YOU will feel great and lose those unwanted pounds.  Get ready to FEEL amazing!

1. Don't eat white bread, pasta, sugar, white rice, tortilla's and most milk products. 

2. Don't eat anything with the word wheat in the ingredients list. Even if it's whole wheat, absolutely no Wheat Products ZERO, ZIP!  It's only 14 days you can do this.

3.  Only drink water, and herbal teas without sugar or dairy products added. You create a total imbalance in your body when you use these empty calories.
Stop Drinking Soda Pop and unhealthy energy drinks!

You know that soda pop isn't good for you...and yet you still drink it. I understand that plain water gets boring – especially when you're having a party or gathering.


Use the recipes for "Spa Water" below and quickly turn plain water into an exciting and refreshing treat without added sugar or chemicals:

• Citrus: Slice an orange, lemon, and lime into a large pitcher of water. Add ice, allow to chill for 1 hour before serving.
• Raspberry Lime: Slice a lime into a large pitcher of water, add a handful of raspberries. Add ice, allow to chill for 1 hour before serving.
• Strawberry Basil: Slice 10 strawberries into a large pitcher of water, add 5 leaves of basil. Add ice, allow to chill for 1 hour before serving.
• Watermelon Rosemary: Place 1/2 cup of small watermelon chunks into a large pitcher of water, add two sprigs of rosemary. Add ice, allow to chill for 1 hour before serving.
• Pineapple Mint: Place 1/2 cup of small pineapple chunks into a large pitcher of water, add 15 mint leaves. Add ice, allow to chill for 1 hour before serving. 

Guilt-Free Strawberry Ice Cream

Here's a recipe that allows you to indulge in something sweet, cold and creamy without the sugar rush. Non-fat Greek yogurt is packed with protein, which makes this delicious snack even more beneficial. Feel free to add Stevia In The Raw to increase the sweetness as described below.
Servings: 4

Here's what you need...

• 20 organic strawberries
• 2 cups non fat Greek yogurt
• optional *1/4 cup Stevia In The Raw*

1. Wash and hull the strawberries. Mix in a blender until smooth.
2. Add yogurt (and Stevia In The Raw, if using) and blend well.
3. Pour into an ice cream maker and run until yogurt is frozen and creamy.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 87 calories, 0g fat, 53mg sodium, 9g carbohydrate, 1g fiber, and 13g protein. 

Saying “Sugar is bad for you” is an understatement.

Sugar is considered empty calories because it doesn't have any vitamins and minerals. It is no wonder you feel so sluggish and heavy all the time when this lifeless ingredient is found in so many of the foods you eat.

Sugar is rapidly converted in the blood to fat (triglycerides), which increase obesity, risk of heart disease, and diabetes. Sugar greatly increases the risk of dental decay. It is devoid of vitamins, minerals, or fibre; it is an empty food.

Here's what happens to your body when you eat sugar:  First the body goes into a "sugar shock" spiking insulin levels and creating a brief energy rush. After the body recovers from the shock, it starts working furiously to recover its internal balance by the raiding of vital nutrients in order to process sugar. This can lead to our bodies becoming acidic. In other words... sugar can alter our entire blood chemistry research shows that just two teaspoons of sugar can throw off your chemical balance.



How Interval Training Can Help With Losing Body Fat & Weight Loss.

I have many people ask me, "What is Interval Training?"

Interval Training is defined as high-intensity intermittent exercise.


High Intensity Interval Training without question, is one of the most effective ways to lose body fat and improve your cardiovascular conditioning.  Not only do you stimulate your metabolism to a greater degree, but you burn many more calories than with lower intensity training, which can result in fat loss.


How to Perform High Intensity Interval Training:

Interval training is based on a very simple concept: go fast then go slow. Repeat. It sounds easy, but within this simple formula lies a tremendous number of possible variations and strategies you can use to take full advantage of the power available to you.

If you enjoy walking you can try this interval work, if you're in good shape, incorporate short bursts of jogging into your regular brisk walks. If you're less fit, you might alternate leisurely walking with periods of faster walking. For example, if you're walking outdoors, you could walk faster between certain mailboxes, trees or other landmarks.

Interval training can be performed on almost any cardiovascular machine (including the treadmill, stair machine, stationary bike, elliptical trainer, etc.) as well as almost any type of cardiovascular exercise (such as cycling, swimming, running, etc.).

Maximal High-Intensity Intervals
Maximal Intervals are much shorter than Aerobic Intervals. Generally, the longest you'll be able to perform a maximal effort is around 30 seconds so all the work intervals are 30 seconds or less.

Here are some examples of a number of different intervals you can use in your training:

Example 1

Steady Pace       Maximal effort
2 min.                  30 sec.
3 min.                   1 min.
3 min.                  45 sec.
2 min.                   1 min.
5 min.                  30 sec.

Example 2

Steady Pace       Maximal effort
2 min.                   30 sec.
3 min.                   45 sec.

4 min.                     1 min..
3 min.                   30 sec.
5 min.                     1 min.

One of my favorite Interval workouts is to jog 4 minutes then sprint all out 30 to 45 seconds and repeat 6 times.. 

Repeat this 6 times for a great workout.

Tabata one of the most effective workouts, want to lose weight?

Tabata is a form of high intensity interval training method that offers more health benefits than traditional cardiovascular exercise. It’s short, efficient and can fit in almost any fitness program. 
There are many different forms of workouts out there and each workout will give you a different result. Some increase muscle mass, some increase strength, others help you lose weight and so forth.
Cardiovascular (cardio for short) exercises are a popular brand of exercise designed to improve endurance and stimulate fat loss. Cardio exercises can be anything from long distance running, skipping, biking or even power walking. All of these usually fall under the category of moderate intensity training because they tend to last anywhere from a half hour to more than an hour going at the same pace.

“Tabata” is the name of a particular type of workout program that provides similar health benefits to that of cardio workouts, but Tabata has a bit more spice. Instead of hours upon hours or exercise, Tabata can be completed in 4 minutes. Tabata falls under the category of high intensity training or high intensity interval training. Today I write to explain to you the history of Tabata and exactly what it is.

How did Tabata come about?

Tabata was founded by a Japanese scientist named Izumi Tabata and fellow colleagues at a department of physiology in Japan. Izumi and his fellow scientists decided to conduct a study to compare moderate intensity training with high intensity training.

He conducted the tests on 2 groups of athletes; 1 of the groups used the moderate intensity interval training and the other using high intensity interval training. In group one; the athletes were training in moderate intensity workouts (70% intensity) for five days a week for a total of six weeks with each training session lasting an hour.


Group two trained in the high intensity workouts for 4 days a week for a total of 6 weeks with each session lasting 4 minutes, at 20 seconds of intense training (170% intensity) and 10 seconds of rest.

Here are the results of the tests

Group 1 had a significant increase in the aerobic system (cardiovascular system). However, the anaerobic system (muscles) gained little or no results at all.

Group 2 showed much improvement in all their athletes. Their aerobic systems increased much more than group ones, and their anaerobic systems increased by 28%.

Conclusion? Not only did high intensity interval training have more of an impact on the aerobic systems; it had an impact on the anaerobic systems as well.

So what does a basic Tabata training design look like?

Any exercise can be incorporated into the Tabata training. However the basic outline of the Tabata training method are as follows:
•     4 minutes long (whole Tabata Session)
•     20 seconds of intense training
•     10 seconds of rest
•     Total of 8 sessions or rounds

Some great tabata ideas at youtube.com just search Tabata Workouts!

Fitness Tips, Stay Healthy and Fit

   

It's important to remember
 YOU are in charge of your health.

It's NOT the doctors, it's NOT the government, and it's NOT your spouse. 
YOU can change your health....only you can choose to eat healthy and exercise.

A healthy lifestyle is a choice...

The Power of Interval Training...
"It's not how hard you train. It's how smart you train."  Because if you train
SMARTER, you get FIT faster!


Whether you are trying to lose weight or just get in shape, incorporating
interval workouts into your routine will help you maximize your results.
Interval workouts will help you burn 30% more calories per workout and can
leave your metabolism elevated for up to 12 hours after each workout. When you
think of this in terms of the extra weight you could lose or the major increase
in fitness you could accomplish, it is a no-brainer that intervals should be a
central part of your workout routine.

Doing intervals not only works your heart and lungs, strengthening them along
the way, it also elevates your metabolism so that your body burns more fat for
up to 12 hours after each workout, making it extremely effective as part of a
weight loss program.

Are you using exercise as an excuse to eat more?

Unfortunately, exercise does not burn as many calories as we might think. What you may not realize is that thirty minutes on the elliptical, for example, cancels out only one Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.

Key to weight loss is to EAT SMALLER PORTIONS at least 6 times a day!  Make an effort to control your desire for junk food by eliminating it entirely.

If you’re training for a sporting event, you may need to eat more to fuel your workouts—otherwise, consider regular exercise a keep-it-in-check tool, not a free pass to eat whatever you want.

Fuel your body with healthy eating.  The right combination of proteins, complex carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables—as well as adequate hydration with water—can also add a kick to your energy levels.

While cardio exercise won’t completely burn away a weekend binge, it does benefit health by increasing energy and lowering your risk for heart disease.

2 Reasons YOU Should Strength Train To Lose Weight!

1.  The more muscle you have, the higher your base metabolism will be and the more calories you will burn even at rest. 
2.  Second reason is more important. Whenever you lose weight, you will lose some muscle along with the fat. If you don't exercise and do some strength training, up to 30% of the weight you lose can come from muscle loss, that isn't likely to be healthy over the long haul. 


Good strength and muscle tone are essential for functional living and health. You can hold your muscle loss down to 3-5% total weightloss with moderate strength training. 

Strength training helps to preserve bone density, balance, and many other important things. 


Strength train each muscle group at least twice a week--this really only takes about 30-45 minutes per workout. Better yet, try circuit training, where you lift weights without resting between sets. This method meets both cardio and strength requirements because you keep your heart rate elevated throughout your workout, increasing the amount of calories you burn per workout. 

Lifting Heavy is the Key to Weight Loss.  We know that losing fat involves increasing your metabolism. What you may not know is that muscle plays a huge role in raising metabolism. A pound of muscle burns about 10-20 calories a day while a pound of fat burns 5 calories. That means any growth in your muscle tissue is going to help you burn more calories all day long. In fact, strength training has all kinds of great effects on your body like:

Why Starvation DIETS don't work?

3 things are key to good health and longevity:                                     
Exercise, Good Nutrition, and Commitment.
People who are troubled by stubborn weight gain will try almost anything to get rid of the extra pounds: weird diets, teeny-tiny meals, & excessive exercise!

70 % of Americans are over weight!  What you need to know is this
“There is no quick fix”  Starvation diets don't work!  
There are no easy, fast, ”silver bullet” solutions to losing belly fat, regardless of what the infomercials say.  If you’re looking for one way to lose belly fat, you might be disappointed.  Reducing body fat, whether attached to your belly, hips, thighs, or arms is not a one step approach!  The good news is that with a few lifestyle changes, the right mix of exercise, and some good ol’ fashioned consistency, YOU CAN beat the battle of your belly bulge!

• A program built upon seven proven principles of nutrition and fitness to speed up and optimize the metabolism.
• An approach that’s simple and easy, no guesswork: we’ve done all the homework.
• A nutrition plan that promotes eating the right nutrients in the right portions with the right calories so you always feel satisfied.
• An exercise plan developed for every level—whether you’re at home, at the gym or on the road.
• Separate nutrition and exercise plans for men and women.  

Finally achieve the weight you are looking for, the good health you desire, Get Started today we have the solution for you to have your own success story.

• Learn more at our website click here.

No more guessing and no more failure!  Our fitness and nutrition programs will accurately and strategically help you LOSE YOUR BELLY FAT and keep you on task.    No starving or weird drugs, you don't need anymore of that!

Fitness Tip of the WEEK!

Why do so many people start an exercise program, and quit after just a couple weeks: The motivation to start a new exercise program is almost always to lose weight loss  However, what most personal trainers know and most at-home exercisers do not, is that a new exercise program often can cause an immediate (and temporary) increase on the scale. (Notice I didn't say weight gain! I'll explain.) This common increase in the scale is also the reason why! The temporary weight gain explained: When someone starts a new exercise program, they often experience muscle soreness. The more intense and "unfamiliar" the program, the more intense the muscle soreness.  This soreness is most prevalent 24 to 48 hours after each workout. In the first few weeks of a new program, soreness is the body trying to "protect and defend" the effected or targeted tissue. This type of soreness is thought to be caused by tissue breakdown or microscopic tears in muscle tissue. When this happens the body protects the tissue. The muscle becomes inflamed and slightly swollen with fluid retention. This temporary retention of fluid can result in a 3- to 4-pound weight gain within a few weeks of a new program. Keep in mind that muscle soreness is not necessarily a reflection of how hard you worked. In fact, some people feel no signs of muscle soreness, yet will experience the muscle protection mechanisms of water retention and slight swelling. Most people are motivated enough to put up with this temporary muscle soreness. Yet, many, especially those who really need immediate weight loss to keep them motivated in those first couple of weeks become discouraged and quit!  Don't be surprised or discouraged if you experience a temporary gain on the scale the first week or two of increasing your exercise intensity…..and don’t quit!

4 Steps To STOP Eating Sugar.

What happens to your body when you eat sugar?

First the body goes into a "sugar shock" spiking insulin levels and creating a brief energy rush. After the body recovers from the shock, it starts working furiously to recover its internal balance by the raiding of vital nutrients in order to process sugar.
This can lead to our bodies becoming acidic. In other words... sugar can alter our entire blood chemistry research shows that just two teaspoons of sugar can throw off your chemical balance.




4 Steps To STOP Eating Sugar.

Step 1   You need to decide to what extent you want to remove sugar from your diet. If you remove all sugar it will, after a few days, stop the cravings. If you choose to keep eating some sugar like fruit juice and dried fruit you will still better your health because you’re eliminating refined sugar, but you will still have the cravings for sugar.

Step 2   Remove all sugar from your house, everything. Go to the store and buy meals enough for 3 days. Do not go back to the store once you have bought your weekend of groceries. You will want to go sugar free on the weekend because there will be no temptation around. It’s a good idea not to go anywhere where you will have the opportunity to buy any sugar. Stay away from the mall, friends houses etc…

Step 3   Day one might be easy. Day two will be anything but easy. You will find yourself going through all the cupboards looking for any kind of sweet that you can find. I hope you got rid of the hot chocolate, flavored yogurt and everything else, if not you WILL eat it. It is an addiction; you will not be able to control yourself.

Step 4  Day three will be easier but don’t think that you’re off the hook yet. One slip up and you’ll have to start all over. Keep eating healthy. Keep drinking lots of water. If you have trouble drinking lots of water then drink some green tea. You can drink a flavored tea but please don’t slip up and add sugar to it. If you have decided to completely stop eating all sugar you will notice that after a few weeks if you have a sip of fruit juice you will think it’s too sweet.


Refined sugar contains no fiber, no minerals, no proteins, no fats, no enzymes, only empty calories. What happens when you eat a refined carbohydrate like sugar? Your body must borrow vital nutrients from healthy cells to metabolize the incomplete food. Calcium, sodium, potassium and magnesium are taken from various parts of the body to make use of the sugar. Many times, so much calcium is used to neutralize the effects of sugar that the bones become osteoporotic due to the withdrawn calcium.

Likewise, the teeth are affected and they lose their components until decay occurs and you lose teeth!

...Refined sugar is void of all nutrients, consequently it causes the body to deplete its own stores of various vitamins, minerals and enzymes. If sugar consumption is continued, an over-acid condition results, and more minerals are needed from deep in the body to correct the imbalance. If the body is lacking the nutrients used to metabolize sugar, it will not be able to properly handle and rid itself of the poisonous residues.


Sugar feeds cancer. Cutting out sugar cuts food supply to the cancer cells.

Soda is a significant contributor to obesity.
Drinking a single can a day of sugary drinks translates to more than a pound of weight gain every month.

Diet soda is just as likely to cause weight gain as regular, or even more -- it may sound counter intuitive, but people who drink diet soft drinks actually don’t lose weight.

Artificial sweeteners induce a whole set of physiologic and hormonal responses that actually make you gain weight.

3 tips for a Rock-Solid Stomach

1. Keep Your Abs Engaged. Your core region (lower back, abs and glutes) make up your “stabilizer” muscle group. This powerhouse is constantly at work when you’re doing ANY kind of workout, so take advantage of this! When you’re lifting weights, or doing anything that uses your stabilizer muscles, consciously tap into that strength—keep your abs tight and posture solid, and you’ll see big results.

2. Use Compound Movements.  When targeting your abs, compound exercises are better than isolated ones. Why not work multiple muscle groups at once? Some compound movements that work the whole ab region include Planks and the Bicycle Maneuver:

 For Planks, lie face down, forearms and toes pressed into the floor, and lift your hips up off the floor. Engage your abs, straighten your back and hold this position for as long as you can. Trust us, you’ll feel your entire ab region engaged! 

• For Bicycle Maneuver, lie with your back on the floor, hands behind your head and elbows spread wide. Keeping your lower back pressed into the floor and abs contracted, crunch across the body—one elbow to the opposite knee. Alternate continuously. This will work more muscles than a standard crunch.  Add a fitness ball to increase strength.

3. Eat Protein.  Protein will allow your body to rebuild muscle after your workouts. Great sources include lean meat, nuts, eggs, cheese and legumes. Another excellent source of protein is a protein shake, which can be one of your 5-6 daily meals. A whey or soy protein powder, when mixed with soy or skim milk, can give you roughly 20 grams of protein. 

3 Tips to Improve Your Posture

Establishing good posture habits involves more than just standing up straight. It means allowing your bones, ligaments and tendons (not your muscles) to support your body weight. When your muscles must bear your body weight and move it at the same time, they can't relax. Constricted muscles don't move freely or efficiently, causing pain and sometimes injury.

Postural alignment plays an important "support" role whenever your foot hits the ground. If your muscles have to support your body weight with each step, you'll tire more quickly. If you're bent at the waist, your lower back, quadriceps and neck muscles will be carrying your weight, which makes for inefficient running and post-workout soreness.

Focus your attention on the line your spine makes as it runs from the top of your head to the end of your tailbone. Return your attention to your spine as often as possible all day long, no matter what you're doing. Let it become a daily practice.

Don't run bent at the waist. Finishing a run with soreness in your lower back usually indicates you've been running bent at the waist. Instead, Chi Running encourages you to allow gravity to pull you forward by leaning slightly from the ankles, not the waist. Throughout your runs, make sure you're leaning from the ankles and not stressing your lower back muscles.

Engage your core by leveling your pelvis. Start by standing with your feet parallel and hip width apart. Imagine you have a string attached to the top of your head that is pulling you up, making you tall and straight. Drop your chin slightly and look straight ahead. Next, pull up on your pubic bone with your lower abdominal muscles while relaxing your glutes. Hold this position for 30 seconds. Doing this exercise throughout your day will strengthen your abs, allowing you to hold your posture straighter while running, swimming, sitting, standing, or even driving your car.

Practice initiating all movement from your core, the largest muscle group in your body, rather than the smaller muscles of your extremities.

The benefits of good posture are endless, and you can practice it anywhere, anytime. Whether you're running, sitting, or even sleeping, your whole body will thank you.