10 Sure-Fire Ways To Blast Off Body Fat 1. Eat breakfast. No ifs. No buts. No "but I don't have time", or "I get up too early as it is". Prepare it the night before if you have to, just do it! Researchers at the University of Massachusetts found a 45% increase in your risk of obesity if you habitually skip breakfast. Read my article on the 10 Rules for a Healthy Breakfast. 2. Those same researchers found that by eating one or more healthy midday snacks there was a 39% decrease in your obesity risk. Talk about two great reasons to chow down! 3. Train with weights at least twice each week. Your metabolism will drop by about 5% each year after you pass 20 years old. Assuming you eat 'well' and are moderately active, this will result in a weight gain of around10 pounds per decade. Eeek! Now think about what that means if you don't exercise at all, and eat trash. Not great, huh? 4. Drink enough water for your body. Dehydration, which comes before thirst, causes your stress hormones to rise and sends a message to your body to store more fat. It also slows your ability to use your muscles, burn off existing fat, and just plain stops you feeling good. You need around 1 oz of water for 2 pounds of body weight. Things that cause an increase in your need for water include over-eating, intense exercise or sweating, extreme weather, air-conditioning, and stimulants such as caffeine or sugar.
5. Regular unabated stress, and even the perception of stress (i.e. worrying that something might happen) all cause a hormone called cortisol to run rampant in your body. Cortisol is an important hormone for helping you to get out of truly stressful situations fast (the old 'running from a tiger' scenario), but it's not good to you if you've got it going on most of the day every day. In fact, it will slowly but surely destroy every single one of your bodily and metabolic functions, and will cause you to gain fat regardless of how you eat or exercise. One of the most powerful stress-management techniques I know is to block out 10-15 minutes a day just for you. No phones, no emails. This is best done in a relaxing environment and could be as simple as taking 10 deep breathes and contemplating your day ahead. Check out my article on Meditation Techniques for the Busy or Impatient. 6. Eat fat. Seriously. You have absolutely no chance of losing weight if you don't do this. Here is an article that will give you the low down on fat. 7. Find something to make you smile or, even better, laugh every single day. Happy people are less stressed. Ideas? Listen to or watch a great comedy show, read something tried and tested that you find funny, call up your funniest friend and ask them to make you laugh, take time out to catch up with old friends and reminisce. 8. Sleep your way to a beautiful new you. Building up a sleep debt of even an hour each night is a sure-fire way to obesity, heart disease and diabetes. Having trouble sleeping? Try a sleep mask, ear plugs, winding down with no TV or computer before bed, and minimize alcohol, sugar and caffeine after 3pm. Click here to read an article on how sleep directly affects your health and weight. 9. Back off the caffeine. If you'd consider yourself a stressed person than I'd try a 30-day no-coffee challenge to get caffeine out of your life for good, or at least until you feel you've improved. If you experience medium or low stress than 1, MAYBE 2 coffees each day is okay. Caffeine in any form stimulates your Sympathetic Nervous System, which cause a release of cortisol. 10. Go 2 weeks with no sugar, wheat, dairy or caffeine. Sounds extreme, but exceptional health and a body that looks and feels it's very best is somewhat extreme, isn't it? Maybe there's a reason that the 'norm' isn't working for most people. My opinion is we are not designed to eat processed wheat or dairy, and sugar and caffeine. Check out my articles..Why you Should be Careful with Carbs and Seasonal Eating: How to Look and Feel Your Very Best. If you go 2 weeks without these so-called foods and I guarantee you'll seriously consider cutting them out altogether. Especially when you notice how great you feel and what happens when you start to eat them again! Need help with this??? You don't need to make huge life changes to lose weight... Do you ask yourself any of these questions: 1. How much food should I eat? 2. What should I eat? 3. When should I eat? 4. Why don't I have enough energy? 5. Do I have to give up everything that tastes good? For the past 20+ years, I have studied food both personally and professionally to help reach my own health and fitness goals and those of my clients. I now can say I am happy with the way I look, feel and my ability to perform with great energy and stamina and I have helped my clients reach similar goals. I want to help you too... I now am offering a new online food coaching service. My goal is to help you be accountable on a daily basis to stick to a healthy eating plan. You will keep a daily diary in email format, record when you woke up and went to sleep, the times you eat and what you eat and your fitness routine. You will email it to me on Friday night or Saturday morning and I will reply with dos, don'ts and suggestions of things to tweak, add or change.
The food coaching program is $50 per month after we meet for an initial consult to set your goals. Let's finally get you into the clothes you want to wear. Take off those last couple of pesky pounds hanging around and give you enough energy to last all day. Here are some quick and easy breakfast recipe ideas... Salmon Cream Cheese Bites These beautiful little salmon cream cheese bites are a great addition to any lunch rotation. as well as a quick breakfast or snack, because they're easy to pick up and eat and they look just like little sushi rolls!
4 Tbs Cream Cheese (whipped cream cheese is easier to spread)
2 Whole Wheat or Rice Wraps
4-6 Slices Wild Caught Smoked Salmon 1. Spread cream cheese evenly on tortillas. 2. Place smoked salmon in a layer covering the cream cheese. 3. Roll up the tortillas into a cylinder. 4. Cut into rolls.
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Curried Egg Salad This is a more interesting and tasty version of your typical egg
salad. It uses plain yogurt instead of mayo and incorporates curry, apples
and nuts for a unique taste. Wrap it in lettuce or between toasted bread
for a portable breakfast or lunch.
5 good quality eggs
1 1/2 tsp curry powder (your favorite)
3 Tbs plain whole milk yogurt
2 big pinches of sea salt
1/2 small onion, chopped
1/2 medium apple, chopped
1/4 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
1 small bunch of scallions or chives, minced
1. First off, you need to boil the eggs properly (the key to good egg
salad!). Place the eggs in a pot and cover with cold water by a 1/2-inch or
so. Bring to a gentle boil. Now turn off the heat, cover, and let sit for
exactly seven minutes. Have a big bowl of ice water ready and when the eggs
are done cooking and place them in the ice bath for three minutes or so -
long enough to stop the cooking. 2. While the eggs are boiling and cooling, combine the yogurt, curry powder
and salt in a tiny bowl. Set aside. 3. Crack and peel each egg, and place in a medium mixing bowl. Add the
curried yogurt, onions, apple, pecans, and chives. Now mash with a fork.
Don't overdo it, you want the egg mixture to have some texture. If you need
to add a bit more plain yogurt to moisten up the mixture a bit, go for it a
bit at a time. taste and add more salt if needed. Enjoy as-is, or served
wrapped in lettuce or between two slices of good, toasted bread. Author Note: Use any type of onion you like here, I've done this version of
egg salad using yellow, white, or red
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