How-to cut-fat-but-keep-taste-in-your-favorite-recipes/

Small changes to your recipes can lead to big calorie cuts.  A few ingredient swaps can make home-cooked dishes so much healthier.

Now that the holidays are solidly behind us, the reality of those New Year’s promises we made to ourselves are starting to settle in.  Many of us start out the New Year with big plans for big changes…which is why all this month we’re focusing on the ‘little things’.  That’s because small steps – taken together – can add up to big results, and are often easier to handle than huge sweeping changes that can be unsettling. In the last post, I made some suggestions for small changes you can make at the grocery store – that is, after all, where the path to healthy eating begins.  But now that you’ve brought your healthy ingredients into the house, you want to make sure to keep them that way when it’s time to cook. And with just a few small changes, you can make every dish you prepare at home a little bit better for you.

Steps to a recipe makeover

When it comes to recipe makeovers, a good place to start is with your “go-to” foods – those dishes that you make over and over again.  If you transform a recipe for a dish that you eat every week, the calories you cut out can really make a difference in the long run.

The first step in the makeover is to look over the list of ingredients, and see if you can make some healthy swaps to reduce fat and calories, or to boost the nutritional value.  Would plain yogurt work in your dish instead of sour cream?  Would ground turkey work just as well as ground beef?  Could you add more fiber by using brown rice instead of white? Could you sneak some fruit into a salad or side dish?  Using substitute ingredients that provide nearly the same taste is an easy way to reduce a hefty calorie count.

Next, look at the amounts of some of the ingredients to see if you can change them to make the dish healthier.  If a recipe calls for frying, could you sauté or stir-fry instead to reduce the fat? Can you use less salt or sugar? Could you double the vegetables called for?  You’d be surprised at how many calories you can save with just a few changes.

Don’t “wrong a right”

One caution, though – don’t be fooled into thinking that by starting with very low calorie ingredients, it means you have extra calories to “play with” when you cook.  I run into this with my clients all the time.  They’ll start with healthy, low calorie ingredients like fish and veggies, and then rack up huge amounts of calories once they start cooking.  They’ll fry instead of grill, they’ll sauce instead of steam, and by the time they’re finished, they may as well have eaten a cheeseburger.

Ingredient swaps and tips for healthier dishes

Here are some of my best tips for cutting down on fat and calories when you cook, and also how you can make your dishes healthier by using more whole grains, or adding vegetables and fruits to your dishes.  I’ve also put together a table of swaps you can try for some common ingredients that can help you lighten up your favorite recipes.  Have fun experimenting, and don’t be surprised if you end up liking the healthier version even better!

• Add diced vegetables to soups, chili, meat loaf, casseroles, tuna or chicken salad and pasta sauce to reduce overall calories and boost nutrition.
• Season steamed vegetables with lemon, vinegar, herbs, garlic, onion and spices rather than relying on butter or sauces.
• Add fruits to salad for a change.  Try fresh orange or tangerine sections, apples or kiwi.  Use deep green leafy vegetables instead of iceberg lettuce for more nutrition.
• Frozen vegetables and fruits are just as nutritious and fresh, may be less expensive, and allow you to eat foods that might not be available all year.  For example, loose-leaf frozen spinach or chopped vegetables can easily be added to soups and stews.
• You can thicken soups without added butter, flour or cream.  Place some of the broth and vegetables in the blender and then stir back into the soup.  Or, make your own ‘cream’ soups by cooking vegetables with broth, onions, garlic and seasoning – then puree it all in the blender with a little evaporated nonfat milk or soft tofu for a delicious creamy soup.
• Try different mustards and vinegars for seasoning salads and veggies without fat.
• Double the recipe for dishes that freeze well, such as soups, stews, and casseroles.  That way, when you’re tired and don’t want to cook, you can pull something healthy from the freezer rather than pulling into the drive-through.

Try these simple recipe swaps:

If the recipe calls for…		Use this substitute ingredient…
Ground beef		Ground turkey or chicken breast, plant-based substitutes like soy ground round			Spray pan with pan spray before browning;  drain any fat from pan after browning.Soy ground round is already cooked
Butter or margarine for baking		Applesauce; baby food prunes or carrots; mashed banana or avocado			You will need to experiment, but you can usually replace 1/2 or more of the fat in the recipe with one of the substitutions.  This cuts fat, and boosts nutrition!
Butter to sauté vegetables		Pan spray; broth, wine, vegetable juice			Spray pan with pan spray;  sauté in wine, broth or vegetable juice.  Cover pan to ‘sweat’ vegetables
Cheese		Reduced fat cheese			Use reduced fat cheese, and reduce the total amount in the recipe
Eggs in baking		Egg whites or egg substitutes			Egg substitutes are 99% egg white;  you can also use 2 egg whites to replace one whole egg in baking
Mayonnaise		Nonfat mayonnaise			Or use mustard, avocado or hummus instead
Nuts		Reduce by half			Toast lightly in a dry skillet to enhance flavor
White rice or regular pasta		Brown rice or whole grain pasta			Try other whole grains, too, like quinoa, millet, buckwheat
Sour cream, cream cheese, cottage cheese, cream		Use nonfat versions;  evaporated nonfat milk in place of cream			Plain nonfat yogurt is a great substitute for sour cream

Tips for Back Pain Relief

Back Pain is a common problem among many peoples, not just the elderly and middle-aged people but also young people who work for long hours with their busy lifestyle. Most of the time back pain is short term and goes away on its own. Lifestyle has the biggest influence on back pain, and healthy habits such as a good diet, exercising, stretching, and posture can give you back pain relief or help you prevent future problems. 

Here are some home remedies to help you deal with this problem.

• Drink a glass of warm water mixed with a tsp of honey to soothe back pain.
• Activity is often the best medicine for back pain. Simple exercises like walking can be very useful to get relief from back pain.
• Staying healthy is one of the most important recommendations for avoiding back pain.
• Massage your back with garlic oil to seek relief from back pain.
• Push rather than pull when you are moving any heavy objects.
• Poor posture is another major contributor of back pain. Standing up straight with your ears over your shoulders, your shoulders over your hip joints and your hip joints over your ankles will help keep your healthy pain-free. 
• Soft mattresses push your back out of alignment, so it's best to choose a mattress that's in the range of medium to firm for back pain relief.
• Deficiency of vitamin c makes one cause backache. So increase the vitamin c intake in your diet.
• Wear flat shoes or shoes with low heel (1 inch or lower).
• Apply a towel that has been squeezed after being soaked in hot salted water, on the back. Application of heat in this way will provide relief.
• Try to quit smoking because smoking doesn’t just damage your lungs, it can also cause damage to your back. 

Rush Kick

Rush Kick  This is a awesome power workout.  If you are looking to get this best out of a workout. This is it.

Ideal Breakfast

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Weight Loss Tips

Sure, most of us keep telling ourselves we need to lose weight, start a diet, stop eating all the junk and get to the gym at least once before our memberships expire... but how many of us actually do it? Let's stop talking about losing weight and actually get down to the business of doing it! Don't procrastinate any further; make the commitment to lose weight right now!

1) Find the best exercises for you personally. Some people don't like crunches, others love to run and still others can't stand the thought of working out in front of others. Whatever your style, whatever particular routine will suit you best, finds it and stick to it. Back it up with the best tunes, environment and gear. Set yourself up for success with great intention, otherwise you just might not make it.

2) Get up and move. You don't have to join a gym or buy expensive equipment to exercise. You just have to get up and move. The more active you are, the more calories you burn. Walk to work. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Stand instead of sit when you are taking a call. Instead of using an electric mixer to make that cake, use a whisk. When watching TV, keep your arms or legs moving.

3) Reward yourself, just not with food. People tend to eat emotionally, and since that may be one of the reasons you are overweight to begin with, try not to resume that habit. Instead, pat yourself on the back with a new outfit or home entertainment equipment or maybe a weekend getaway. Relish in your accomplishment, and let it push you forward to the next goal!

4) Set realistic goals. The last thing you need to do while taking on such an important task as getting to a healthy weight is discourage yourself; many people find themselves ready to give up because they did not reach lofty goals. Aim for modest goals, especially in the beginning, and keep your target weight loss per week very healthy and attainable.

5) A picture is worth a thousand calories! Before you dig your heels into your weight loss program, take a snapshot. A few weeks into your new lifestyle, take another one and compare the two. Wow! A few pounds gone and your face takes on an entirely different shape and you can see the new you emerging. Just a couple of weeks later and the difference will be enormous, so keep taking photos and keep with your program!




I hope these tips can help you !!

Fat Loss: Fat Loss Facts

There is one constant with those of us that make training and nutrition a priority regardless of the day of the week-the management of the state of our body. In particular, there are those of us that put a premium on remaining lean and muscular, and therefore must either be in a building phase, a maintenance phase, or a fat loss phase. With today being devoted to fat loss, I think you know what we are going to be discussing.

There are so many diets that are followed and endorsed by so many people. Some are hugely successful and have a devoted fan base to whatever system that they bought into and ultimately got them the results they were hoping for. I have been known to have my own opinions about which method of fat loss and muscle retention is superior-for the record mine is the right way(I’m kidding-sort of), but that’s not what this article is about. This article is going to give you the basics regarding fat loss to remove the mystery. By the end of these articles you too will be able to design your own diet and be successful with it. In truth, understanding the basic principles will help to ensure your success regardless of the approach you take. You know by now that I believe education is the most important component of our success in training and nutrition. Otherwise we are just following what someone else does and not making our own decisions. I think that choosing our own path with all of the information is always the right way to get to our desired destination. Let’s see what we can learn here today. Are you ready?

The first component that needs to happen before fat loss can begin to take place is that a caloric deficit must be created.This doesn’t matter what kind of diet you’re on, it’s just simple math. There of course are variables within this formula, but we’ll get to those later. Regardless of how you intend to manipulate your macros, which will have an effect of what you end up using as far as energy stores to make up the deficit, the main thing is that you must take in less energy than you use. To put in plain and simple terms, you have to create a fuel imbalance between the fuel that is consumed, and the fuel that is used.

There are many ways to achieve this goal of using more fuel than is taken in. The most well used of all of the options is to simply eat less. This will absolutely create a shortfall of energy that will need to be made up through the utilization of the body’s stores of energy. That is the method used in most diets that you read about. There are several ways to achieve this method of consuming fewer calories though, than simply eating less of what you are currently consuming. In reality, this is a recipe for failure, as no real changes, other than the volume consumed, have taken place.

This is the time when I’m going to revisit the issue of macro nutrients. Or more specifically, the manipulation of them. One method that is very popular in the attempt to lower overall caloric intake in order to create a deficit is to lower the fat content that one is consuming. The advantages of this approach are that carbohydrates are considerably less dense calorically, than fats are. A gram of fat has nine calories, and a gram of carbohydrate has only four. Carbohydrate also has the edge as far as its thermic effect, or the heat it produces in the digestion of them that is essentially wasted and results in fewer calories absorbed. This difference is minor at only three percent, but is still worthy of mention in the interests of being complete. The aim of this series is to give you the best information from which to draw your own conclusions.

Another approach that I guarantee gets you extremely fast results, but I would only recommend using it for a short period of time, is following a protein only diet. If you want to get ripped fast, this is the quickest way. I said the quickest way, not the way that is the best for retaining your muscle at the same time as dropping body fat. Due to the fact that you are going to have a hard time getting very many calories from chicken breasts and leafy green vegetables, you are certainly going to create a caloric deficit. Likely a fairly large one at that. I have done this method for several short periods of time and the results are dramatic, especially if you are fairly low in body fat anyway. This will get the last bit off of you. It will work if you have a lot to lose also of course, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend doing this for a prolonged period of time. There is of course the option of applying myLose and Cruise Method with this protocol to ensure lasting results and good health as well.

The reason this type of approach is very effective apart from the fact that you will have created a caloric deficit, is that protein is very thermic compared to the other two macro nutrients. This helps to further deepen the caloric deficit outside of the equation typically used, because the taking on of the protein calories actually causes the burning of more calories. Protein is unique in that regard. Another advantage is that protein serves to blunt hunger. You will feel full on a relatively small serving of just protein. This makes this type of diet easy to adhere to as there isn’t much of a hunger issue, unlike the low-fat diet which will have you feeling starved 24 hours a day.

The disadvantages of this type of high protein only diet are that you are going to lose muscle. Not a lot, but you will lose a few hard-earned pounds. I personally would rather have my body fat at a couple of points higher, but retain that five pounds of muscle, than the alternative. If the situation calls for it though, this is a great way to get super lean.

Another method used to create a caloric deficit is to remove the carbohydrate from the diet. This means we get to keep both the protein and fats. This as you all know is my preferred method. By keeping the fats relatively moderate, your hormone levels remain optimal and muscle is retained. The advantage of high protein encourages protein synthesis and muscle growth, as well as the caloric expenditure due to the thermic effect. If you are knowledgable, you can do this while consuming a very well-rounded diet made up of mostly low carb super foods. This diet from my point of view has the best of all of the available options.

Following this protocol does not necessarily mean that you have to embrace a full on ketogenic diet. You can modify the amount of carbohydrate you consume through fruits and vegetables to dictate your carbohydrate levels, and therefore dictate the amount of ketones that the body will produce. Most people enter a mild state of ketosis during sleep simply due to the fact that no carbohydrate is easily available. This type of diet will only enhance that natural process. You will know what level of carbohydrate you are comfortable at, because you will feel like you can function optimally.

There is a sweet spot I’ve discovered that has the advantage of more energy as well as higher ketone production. This is something that I have discovered through trial and error, as I’m constantly experimenting. Besides, the goal of this article is to give you the information to make your own decision, not to give you my method. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to share with you my opinions. I can’t help but have them, as you of course have your own as well.

I would love to hear yours too, whether they are similar or contrary. I’m the type of person that welcomes differences of opinion and respects those that have them, provided they are well though out and articulated in such a manner that remains civilized. We all don’t have to agree to get along, but we do have to treat each other with respect regardless of whether someone thinks differently than we do. End rant.

There is of course the issue of exercise. Exercise as we all know uses a tremendous amount of energy. If in addition to employing some of the above tactics to create a deficit, exercise can be used to enhance that deficit further. Or you can figure out what your maintenance caloric requirements are and use exercise as the method of creating the deficit. Personally, I consume maintenance caloriesplus calories to be used during training, minus a couple of hundred. If you have read Fat Loss: The Lose And Cruise Method, then you know that I only like to create a very small deficit for a short period of time, then resume at maintenance levels. If you do this year round then you are permanently near your best shape.

Okay, so essentially I have spent this entire article discussing the value of creating a caloric deficit in order to illicit fat loss for the goal of changing our body composition. This is only one element in setting up a diet, the creating of the caloric deficit. Next week I’m going to go further with this discussion and get into what is a good caloric intake starting point for someone wanting to lose body fat. As well I’m going to discuss protein intake and fat intake in the overall diet plan. From that point, you will be much closer in your ability to set your own fat loss plan in motion. When you can do that, you will never need to follow anyone’s advice again, as you will be your own diet guru!

Fat Reducing Tips

One of the most important objectives of many peoples is to lose weight as fast as possible. Swimming helpslose weight, burn calories and puts little stress on your body.  Swimming is one of the best full-body workouts which require the use of all of our main muscle groups. When we are using breath to support the swim, it helps to reduce the weight too. In fact, swimming is one of the few activities that can be performed by any one regardless of their age or their physical make up. Thus, swimming may be the perfect answer for losing weight.

Benefits of swimming:

• Swimming allows your whole body to receive a full workout as when you try to swim, almost all of the muscle groups work together in coordination with each other.
• Watch the clock while you swim. Gauge the time it takes you to complete a lap and work on improving it consistently. Like running and similar activities, increasing your speed will allow you to burn more calories.
• It gives you fun. You don’t have to just do length after length in the pool. Things like treading water burns calories too. So if you have kids take them down to the pool and enjoy it. It will be excellent for their health too.
• Swimming can be considered as both an aerobic exercise and an anaerobic exercise. In fact, it allows you to get a really good cardiovascular workout as your heart beats faster in order to pump oxygen in to your organs and tissues.
• Many swimmers report feeling hungry after their workout--unlike cycling or running, which tends to reduce one's appetite. Take care not to put those burned calories back on by eating a big meal after swimming.
• Since your body weight is considerably lowered when you are in water, this allows you to exercise without overexerting pressure on your joints. This way, it doesn’t matter whether you are old or handicapped as you can easily swim.
• If you enjoy swimming and find it easier to exercise that way than by running or biking, then you may lose more pounds overall than you would through another form of exercise. 

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Carrot helps to Lose Weight Fast

Carrots have a wide range of nutritional and health benefits that not only keep your system healthy and well-functioning but also help to reduce additional fats and keep your body slim. Carrots can be eaten raw or cooked but it is good to eat it as raw. Carrots for weight loss are really great way to start off your weight loss plan. There are two things that you eat and drink that contains no calories is water and fiber. Carrots contain a lot of dietary fibers.

For people who are over weight and trying to lose their excess weight, carrots are very essential for fighting against high cholesterol levels in the body. Carrots are good in calories, fat and cholesterol make carrot juice a good choice for weight loss. You can follow a easy diet plan with carrot. Begin the day with carrot juice or carrot milk shake. Your breakfast can consist of cereal or carrot herbs salad. Your lunch can consist of toasted bread with grated carrot, chopped tomatoes, salt and pepper. The dinner can have very light with carrot and lentil soup.

Carrots can act as a thickener for various dishes such as sauces, soups and casseroles. Carrots can also be consumed as a healthy snack. Carrot juice is a wonderful energizer, especially since it contains a lot of beneficial vitamins. You can blend your

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What Are the Worst Post-Workout Mistakes?

Gulping a Sports Drink

Unless you're working out at an intense pace for hours, you don't need to refuel with a sports drink. A 12 oz. serving of Gatorade contains 330 calories! Instead of drinking your calories, stick to water and a small snack, like an apple with peanut butter, or carrots and hummus.

STEPHEN HARRIS | Herbalife Independent Distributor | Home

body weight V.S. weight lifting

Its time for that talk, you know what it is, read the damn title. Now i will be speaking from personal experience, i did 1 year of body building as my entry to exercise and fitness (HAHAHAHA i know, i know), then i went and did 2-2.5 years of strictly body weight exercise and gained back the weight, mass, size, and strength that i lost after all my body building gains melted off and now recently (recently being within the last 8 months) i've taken up weight training, not a body building style but true weight lifting, with most of the emphasis on squats and deadlifts, and a few other things but mostly an emphasis on the main big lifts.

Now why do i only focus on the big lifts? because pistol squats/one leg squats only get you so far, even adding weight the exercise just becomes irritating to deal with as your primary source of leg stimulation not to mention dealing with HEAVY ASS LOADS makes you jump higher like a little spring, and being a Traceur in the Parkour community, that is relative to my interests.

This article was inspired by a quote i found recently (i forget where) it was a body weight exercise practitioner speaking to a weight lifter, polar opposites, no melding of their training styles: "I can do what you can do, almost as well as you can, but you cannot do what i do." and it struck a cord, not many people would be able to jump into my calisthenics program (progressive calisthenics not just pull ups and pushups folks, progressions like one arm chin up training, planche, and lever training.) but most can easily start with weights and when i just started playing with weights (also throw in the fact that my 6'6" frame caused a couple problems with finding the right exercise form that works for me) i was already lifting 1.5 times my body weight on deadlifts, and squatting my body weight. so my transition from body weight made me strong enough to handle weights that most would have to work up to, but if they tried my body weight routine they would suffer immensely. 

The whole reason i recommend body weight exercise over anything for beginners is because its extremely low impact, it drastically increases tendon and ligament strength in newbies, its free and can be done with very little equipment and a little improvisation and it makes transitioning to ANY other athletic venture easier. at any given moment we are using our bodies and our body's weight, walking, running, standing, we're all at our body's weight under gravity so if anything we should all have to intermediate mastery over our bodies through calisthenics and parkour training.

This is not a rip on weight training in any capacity or form, i love training with weights and i LOVE lifting heavy weights, deadlifts are probably one of my favorite exercises, what im saying is CROSS TRAIN, give a heavy emphasis to bodyweight work and use weight to supplement your training to more advanced calisthenic exercises and do the 2 main leg lifts, squats and deadlifts for much more leg power, strength, and stabilization.

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3 surefire cardio-workout boredom busters

I want to help you keep your cardio workouts fun, effective and simple, so here are three styles that will help you keep it interesting.

If plodding along on a piece of cardio equipment is not quite your idea of fun, don’t let that be the reason for skipping the most important part of your workout. There are several styles of cardio training that will have you looking forward to your next training session instead of sighing as you lace up your running shoes.

Why is cardio training important?

Cardiorespiratory fitness is basically a fancy term for the function of your heart and lungs being efficient at transferring oxygen to your muscles during movement. The energy systems of the body are complex and require different fuels for different processes. Your cardio system is a constant as it’s vital to keeping you alive.   And, with something this important it makes sense to keep it running in tip-top condition!

Training your cardio system will make it more efficient and help you perform your daily tasks with ease. There are several important health benefits associated with training your cardiorespiratory system but the main focus of cardio training is to effectively burn excess fuel.  In this modern world of overeating and under-moving who doesn’t want to burn through stored body fat?  Regular cardio training will help you avoid becoming overweight or lose excess weight you may already have stored.

How to beat cardio workout boredom

I often hear complaints that cardio training is boring and takes too much time but gone are the days when getting on a treadmill for 60 minutes while reading a magazine is acceptable! Let me say it loudly “if you are able to read while training, you are not working hard enough.” Put down the magazine and break up your cardio workout into more manageable, and fun, increments of time.

“Looking for a cardio workout you can do right now? Try my 10 minute body blast!”

These are my 3 favorite cardio styles:

1. Circuit style cardio workouts

Working out in a circuit is perfect for truly mixing up your moves and keeping it interesting; pick a few of your favorite cardio moves like walking, jogging, step ups or jumping rope, etc. and spend 60 seconds doing each exercise before moving onto the next.

You can mix up the time increments and mix up the exercises to suit your mood and inclination, just be sure that you try to accumulate at least 20-30 minutes of total movement time in order to get an effective cardio workout. Try changing up your moves and focusing on low impact/non jumping style movements at first and then, when you feel ready, progress to higher impact exercises.

2. Interval style cardio workouts

Training doing intervals will stop you from getting bored because you will have to keep changing the intensity of your movements. Working out at an intensity level of four or five out of ten and then switching to six or seven is a great way to start out. An example of an effective cardio interval session is to walk for a few minutes then jog for a few minutes and repeat.

There are several theories about how much time you should spend at each interval for best results, but if you are new to exercising then a simple 50:50 ratio is a great starting point.

3. Slow Progressive style cardio workouts

Starting out your cardio workout at a very low intensity and gradually increasing the difficulty is effective because it’s like slowly changing gears in a car – your body is ready for the next level as you progress.  Think of a gradual hill with a slow increase in gradient and difficulty and then a slow decrease back to your starting point.  As you crest the metaphorical (or real) hill, you won’t be able to feel bored because your workout will be getting more intense with each step.

You can use this method best with running, cycling and using cardio equipment where you can control the speed and difficulty level.

***

Try all three cardio workout styles and decide which one works best for you.   You don’t have to be consistent in the style you use but you do need to consistently complete your cardio workouts for best results.

I hope you can find a style that works for you or, if you are happy with your current style keep doing it AND tell me about it in the comments section.  I love hearing about how people keep themselves motivated.

Happiness and fun are the most important factors in being and staying active because when you’re happy, you’re more likely to stay motivated and achieve your desired results. Think how much more you can enjoy life with a trained and efficient heart!

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4 OF THE MOST POWERFUL AND EFFICIENT WORKOUT MOVEMENTS

Feeling bored with your current workout? Could you complete it blindfolded and without any real thought? Not breaking through to new levels of success and achievement? I’ve been there and that is why I like to mix things up.

It’s called MUSCLE CONFUSION and I have, through my years of experience and training, come to greatly appreciate the benefits of this approach. Even while in the midst of a very well planned, strategic workout program, I am developing the next strategic plan. It is rare that do a routine for more than 4 weeks and every time I mix it up, I am sore from what at the beginning often seems to be simple, basic movements. It’s as if my muscles are saying, “Hey, what the…we were used to and like the old way. What are trying to do to us?”  Obviously, I’m trying to advance in my fitness journey.

With that in mind, today I offer you some muscle confusion through an efficient, power packed series of 4 movements that will help you bust through barriers, chisel your muscles and burn the fat in just three short weeks. Though it appears simple and innocent enough, I am certain that you will find this routine challenging, energizing and refreshing. Without further delay, here is the plan.

 #1: Push Ups

·         Beginner: Assume a standard push up position with hands slightly beyond shoulder width a apart, feet together and back straight. Lower your body until it rest just above the floor, then push back up until arms are fully extended.

·         Intermediate: Same movement but this time, when pushing up ad enough force for your hands to leave the floor.

·         Advanced: Hold your body in the down position for 3 seconds then explode up.

Movement #2: Reverse Lunge and Press

·         Beginner: Hold a pair of dumbbells at shoulder height with palms in neutral position (facing your head). Step back with your right leg, dropping the knee to just above the floor. Then while in the lunge position, press both dumbbells straight up. Lower the dumbbells and stand back up. Repeat with opposite leg.

·         Intermediate: Same movement but this time press the dumbbells up as you go into the lunge.

·         Advanced: Do a reverse lunge but hold it at the bottom for 3 seconds. Then press both dumbbells up.

Movement #3: Inverted Row

·         Beginner: Lie underneath a secure bar. Grab it with an overhand grip, hands shoulder width apart. Pull you body up to the bar, then lower until arms are straight.

·         Intermediate: Perform the same movement but with your feet elevated on a box.

·         Advanced: Perform the advanced movement but pause at the top for 3 seconds before lowering your body.

Movement #4: Squat

·         Beginner: Place your hands on the back of your head. With elbows and shoulders back, feet shoulder width apart, lower your body as far down as you can while keeping your upper body upright, and face looking forward.

·         Intermediate: Hold a dumbbell vertically in front of you.

·         Advanced: Perform the advanced movement but hold at the bottom for 3 seconds.

Implementing The Plan:

·         Week 1: perform the basic movements one after the other; 8-12 reps each movement. Repeat for 4-5 sets, 90 seconds between each set, 3 times during the week with one day between workouts.

·         Week 2: perform the advanced movements with the same reps, sets, recovery and frequency.

·         Week 3: perform the expert movements with the same reps, sets, recovery and frequency.

I would love to hear from you along the way and know how you are doing so fill me in from time to time!!!

Enjoy. Be safe and Be well!!

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Advice And Tips For Successful Weight Loss

Weight loss can make you happier with what you see in the mirror, but there's more to it than that. Obviously you will look better, but an entire weight loss program will also have you feeling better and much healthier, too. There's lots of ways you can lose weight which are outlined in the article below.

If you choose more lean meats, it will be easier to lose weight. Swap out heavy cream sauces for salsa or chutney. These simple solutions will prevent your meat from being dry or tasteless. You can find chutneys in several different sweet, fruity flavors; they add a whole different flavor to your meats.

There are many diets out there that won't get you your desired results. You need to commit to exercising if you want to lose weight. Although a decrease in overall calories will help you lose weight or slow your weight gain, exercise will help you burn calories and increase your weight loss. This will assist you in burning a greater number of calories than consumed, which leads to weight loss.

Just because you are going on vacation, doesn't mean your diet gets the same holiday. Save your money by using your own snacks and low-calorie meals. Walk as much as you can, since you will save on cabs and burn calories at the same time. It is easy to make excuses like "I'm vacationing. I'm away on a trip! ", however, you'll be much more pleased with your decisions if you stay on par with your goals.

Try the substitution method to ease into a diet change. Look at your favorite, fat laden recipes and see how you can alter them to make them healthier. Replace butter with spreads made of vegetable oil. Replace your sour cream with plain yogurt that is fat free. You don't need to give up your favorite foods, just change them.

If you hate the gym, look for alternate ways to burn calories. Go bike riding, toss a Frisbee to Fido, play in the surf at the beach or do some gardening. There are many ways to burn calories and lose the weight you want. You don't need to engage in a traditional workout if it is torture for you. Figure out what activities you enjoy doing that will help you get rid of unwanted pounds, and step up your activity rate while doing them.

Learn how to properly decipher food labels. Food that is fat-free doesn't automatically mean that it is healthy. You may find that it contains a greater amount of sugar and calories, and is really a food you ought to avoid. Reading labels is a good way to determine exactly what you are eating.

Make sure your kids sleep enough to aid them in their quest to lose weight. Children grow while asleep; they burn calories while doing this. Growing children need at least eight hours of good sleep each night. Make sure your kids understand how they grow and the reason sleep is so important.

Accelerate your weight loss by drinking green tea, which is known to speed up the metabolism. Honey can add some sweetness to your tea in place of sugar. Black tea is also beneficial. This type of tea is filled with antioxidants that will work to clear the body of harmful toxins as well as improve the immune system.

You must consume fat in order to burn it. There are a number of fats that are good for you, which include the various Omega fats. They are, however, not found in junk foods. It is actually best to get in Omega fats because they assist the body to lose weight and will also improve the health of your heart.

While dieting, it is essential that you record everything that goes into your mouth. When dieters track their food intake, surveys have shown them to be more successful with their weight loss. This fact holds true that people who keep track are losing twice as much weight as people who don't.

There is nothing simpler than that. Keep learning all you can and you will stay motivated. Your slimmer and healthier self is just on the horizon. When you use this advice, you'll find the ideal weight loss plan for you without feeling overwhelmed.