"No Pain No Gain."

The biggest myth in fitness is "No Pain No Gain."

You don't have to kill yourself and you don't have to hate the process. What you do need to do is to move. Most of my clients have come to me for the past 20 years, pretty much wanting the same thing. People usually just want to lose a few lbs. (or several lbs.) and to tone up. The same rules apply if you are a couch potato or an elite athlete. You need to do more than you're doing or change what you ARE doing.

The majority of men and women who come to me want to take off the weight that the past few years has added. They want to look more like they did in their 20's now that they're in their 40's and up.

The good news is, the less you're doing now the easier it is to get to the next level of improvement. Start slow and remember you didn't get this way overnight. Walking is a good place to begin and many body parts can be toned even without weights or machines. One more important tip, it's not how much you lift but how well you lift. Use good form and never worry about how big the weights are!

Burn That Stubborn Fat

If you burn more calories than you take in, you'll lose weight. It really boils down to simple math. There are however some tricks to help you burn that hard to lose fat that we all hate and want to lose. The first thing to do is replace starchy carbs. (breads, pastas and white rice etc.) with water based carbs. (veggies and most fruits). Fruits and especially veggies are fast burning carbs. that provide us with energy. This helps us move more and burn more calories. Starch is slow burning and the excess is stored as fat. Have at least 10 servings per day and see the difference. A tip you'll like is drink 16 glasses of water a day. 8 is fine for general health but if you want to lose fat, increase the water. You'll flush out toxins, supercharge your cells, increase your metabolism and make it hard for fat to stick to your body. Additional benefits include increased energy and concentration. Who doesn't want more energy! Drink filtered or boiled water versus tap however. The final tip is, go longer when doing cardio. Your body doesn't start to use fat as an energy source until 20 mins. into your workout. (target heart zone). Most people stop right when they start burning fat. Use a heart rate monitor during your workout and keep it over 65% of your maximum heart rate. If you have time to do weights separately, start with weight and then fallow it with cardio. You'll increase your metabolism up to 200 % and burn more calories even while you sleep.

Watch What You Drink

Many people I work with tell me that they eat right and still can't lose weight. It may be hidden calories, sometimes portion size, most times its bad choices they think are OK. One of the easiest things to fix is what you drink.
Let's start with coffee. Fix it at home and add cream and sugar-150 or more calories. Have a few cups and that make a good eating day a push at best. Go to Starbucks and get a fancy cup and you may be adding 400-600 extra calories. A great example is Vitamin Water- more calories than a beer or a glass of wine. Take sport drinks and its pretty much the same thing. Sodas have 10-12 tsps. of sugar and diet sodas can also trick the body into releasing extra insulin (the fat hormone) into the body. Ensure (Doctor recommended) has 6 grams of fat and only 9 grams of protein. Many fruit juices have corn syrup and sugar, so have 100% real fruit juice. If you're serious have a 1/2 glass of fruit juice and the other 1/2 sparkling water. Then there's alcohol. 80 proof is 80 calories and oz. A shot (baby drink) is 120 calories just for the booze. Add the mixer, make it strong and its 400 calories. Try a light beer 75-100 cals. or wine with some seltzer. Drink only WATER for a week and 99% of you will lose weight. I guarantee you'll feel better!

You're Making Progress- Signs You Need to Know

Many times when you first start a fitness routine, the progress seems to never appear. If you take note of the following, it may help you to finally stick with it this time. You may notice a little pep in your step. Walking a little faster means your getting more fit. Medical tests can show an improvement in triglycerides, blood pressure, resting heart rate and even cholesterol levels. A more positive and energetic attitude are always a good reason to keep doing what your doing. Believe it or not you will even start looking forward to your exercise sessions. This will become one of the best examples that your making progress. Clothing you wear will start to fit more loosely and this shows that inches are coming off in the right places. Take a pair of tight jeans or mark a belt size on the bottom with ink. Even if the scale doesn't move, you may be adding muscle and improving body composition. In the past you may of craved food that was unhealthy or fattening. As you become more fit you usually start to crave food that will help you lose weight and become more healthy. Bottom line, it takes time to turn your body into a fat burning machine. You need to be patient but the changes you want will come. Hang in there and notice the little improvements along the way. It can be the difference you need to finally succeed this time.

Eat Five Meals a Day and Lose Weight

In a word eat "frozen" or "prepared meals". There are several perks when it comes to frozen dinners. They have built in portion control, a vegetable in each meal, are easy to make and clean up, great for single servings and quick to prepare. Most diets are 1500 calories for women and 1800 or more for men. Most frozen dinners are 250-350 calories. 5 times 250 is 1250 and 5 times 350 is 1750.
Some things to do and to avoid are don't get dinners with a crust or any Hungry Man dinners. Avoid dinners that are over 400 calories. The things to do are try dinners that: have over 15 grams of protein, are lower in sodium (under 500 m. if you have high blood pressure), and are low in saturated fat.
You can also eat less obviously, than 5 meals. You can have a quick breakfast (make sure to have 15-20 g. of protein) and then have two to three dinners. If you have less than 5 dinners you may want to round out the holes in protein and fiber. Have a salad with low calorie dressing, a glass of 1% milk or a piece of fruit. The idea is to eat every 3-4 hours so you don't get hungry and overeat.

Walking to Lose Weight

Many people know that walking is a good way to lose weight. If you're not walking and you want to start, here are a few tips. Start with a flat route and start small. Time your walk and use a watch. The idea is to increase the time incrementally. Depending on your fitness level, you can start at anywhere from 10-20 mins. If you like music this can make a big difference. Put together a playlist that is uptempo. The more fun you have the better you'll stick to your new HABIT.
If you already walk and have stopped losing the lbs., here are a few tricks. The good news is you've become more fit. To increase your progress you need to increase your efforts. The best thing to do is interval walking. Bring a watch and do a faster 2-4 mins faster, followed by a slower 2-4 mins. The nice thing is, the attention to the watch makes the time go by faster as well. If you like music, you can put together songs that vary from fast to slow. You won't need a watch and you'll probably have a better time. The best payoff from fast/slow walking is a faster metabolism. You'll not only burn more calories during the walk but more importantly you'll burn more calories even after you stop.
Other tips include trail walking or just vary your route. Like an exercise routine that you never change, a walk that you never change becomes less and less effective.

Clean Up Your Diet and Get Healthy

If you want to be healthy and clean up your diet, here a few ideas. The first place to start is by cutting out empty calories. We all know that too many sweets and too much alcohol will slow down any weight loss program. Other things to consider are food additives. It is estimated that the US diet has about 1400 chemicals in its food supply. Most things in moderation are OK, but in my opinion it would be a good idea to cut down the following five items: Artificial sweeteners claim to be calorie free but often increase sweet cravings. Some studies even show that no calorie sweets can even raise insulin levels. What ever insulin isn't converted to energy is stored as fat. That's why insulin is called the fat hormone. Artificial colors not only cause allergies and hyperactivity but have also been shown to be carcinogenic. Preservatives (BHA,BHT,EDTA) have been linked to cancer, allergies, hyperactivity and are toxic to the liver. Nitrites & nitrates transform into nitrosamines in the stomach which also can cause cancer. Finally, MSG is the popular ingredient in Asian food so many restaurants have taken the hint. Be careful however to look in sauces and processed foods. This ingredient can dramatically increase shelf life but hurt your life in the process.