Friday, March 20, 2009

Effective Fat Loss Strategies When Dining Out

7 Effetive Fat Loss Strategies
When Dining Out

1. Develop a plan in advance. Look at the restaurant menu
online and decide on the healthiest option that you’d enjoy …
and stick to it.
2. Eat a small, healthy snack before dining out. If you’re
pleasantly hungry, rather than starved, you can relax, eat
slowly and enjoy the meal, rather than risk losing control by
overeating unhealthy foods.
3. Load up on vegetables. Unless they are friend or soaked in
butter or oil, you cannot go wrong with veggies because they
are very low in calories, high in iber and loaded with other
beneicial nutrients, and have almost no adverse aff ect on
blood sugar levels.
4. Include a lean protein source. For example, if you order a
large salad, ask the waiter to add grilled chicken or cottage
cheese.
5. Make simple, healthier changes to the meals you enjoy.
If you only order what you think you “should” rather than
what you really want, you may be satisfied physically, but not
psychologically … and will most likely crave something more
… and end up making poor choices later on.
6. Drink plenty of water and eat slowly.
7. Listen to your body and stop eating when you begin to feel
full, not necessarily when your plate is empty.
No one says
you have to eat the entire meal – box it up and enjoy the rest
later.

Friday, March 13, 2009

"Curbing Your Carbohydrate Addiction"

I am enjoying 85 degree temperatures and lots of sun and golf here in Florida this week and missing all of you....really! I just had to take time to post this blog as I have been teaching since my plane landed and everyone wants to know how to loose weight and get in great shape. Of course you guys know how to do it and for those of you who sign up for The Skinny Jeans Contest, you will learn how to increase your Metabolism permanently! i should let you all know that it has come to my attention that many of you and your Friends are not necessarily needing to loose two pant sizes, but would still love to be involved in this 8 week challenge! No Problem, we will do for you as we have done in past challenges. We will be starting the contest the week of the 13Th of April. One week later than posted, as Amy and Shane will be away the first week of April. Enjoy this post!


Some experts consider carbohydrate craving and addiction as something more of the body than of the mind, meaning biological factors are generally considered to be the main trigger for carb cravings. These cravings are described as a compelling craving, or desire for carbohydrate-rich foods; an escalating, recurring need or drive for starches, snack foods, junk food, or sweets.

This is where the cycle of carbohydrates and cravings start. High-sugar, refined starch, convenience and comfort foods feed the addiction like a drug. This results in high blood sugar and insulin levels which results in more cravings. The situation also results in higher levels of serotonin - a brain chemical that acts like Prozac. People eat sweets to get the sugar ‘high'.

Another contributing factor to overeating and sweet craving is stress. When we are tense, the adrenal gland produces more of the hormone cortisol. Cortisol stimulates production of a brain chemical called ‘neuropeptide Y'.

This is kind of a carbohydrate craving switch. Aside from this, neuropeptide Y also makes the body hang on to the new body fat we produce. In other words, tension not only triggers carbohydrate cravings, it also makes it more difficult to lose any additional weight. Cortisol also stimulates insulin, which leads to blood sugar dips and fat storage.

It's a vicious cycle that feeds on itself, over and over.

Food is not just a biological need; there is also an emotional element to it. Something in our emotional state, particularly a negative one evokes an urge for ‘comfort' food. By dealing with the issue behind the cravings, it produces emotional relief that can reduce or even eliminate the urge to overeat.

All in all, most experts agree that by eating enough wholesome foods at meals and by having a healthy afternoon snack, people can minimize their cravings for sweets.

Here are recommendations to curb carbo cravings.

1. Eat less but more often. Eat small meals or snacks containing some PROTEIN every few hours to keep blood-sugar levels steady.

Skipping meals causes blood sugar levels to drop, which leaves you yearning for processed carbohydrates and sweets for energy.

2. Be selective about the carbohydrates you eat. Avoid nutrient-stripped foods made of white flour, white rice, refined sugar and highly concentrated sweeteners. Look for foods rich in fiber such as fresh vegetables and fruits, which level off blood sugar.

3. Don't skimp on protein to ‘make room' for large amounts of carbohydrates. Protein gives the body extended energy, helps balance blood sugar and keeps cravings at bay.

4. Limit your intake of alcohol, fruit juice and caffeinated drinks. These cause abrupt blood-sugar highs followed by troublesome blood-sugar lows, leaving you starved for energy.

5. Eat small portions of seasonal goodies AFTER protein-containing meals or snacks, if at all. If you eat sweets on an empty stomach, you'll experience blood-sugar lows that trigger the desire for more sweets.

6. Avoid becoming famished during shopping trips and while traveling. Carry protein-rich snacks such as nuts, hard-boiled eggs, nutrient-balanced energy bars or "vegetable greens" like those listed. These high-power foods are great when you feel your energy drop.

7. Get enough sleep
. When the body and mind are well-rested, cravings for carbohydrates often vanish.

The techniques we use at Pro-Fitness and the diet and nutrition tips we teach emphasize using a nutritional lifestyle instead of carbohydrate as a source of energy. This avoids falling into the carbohydrate craving cycle. It also counters hunger as a possible source of sweet craving as the feeling full last longer with a protein-fat meal than a carbohydrate one.

For a ton of free, valuable tips, tricks, and secrets visit Pro-Fitnesstraining.com


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Is Body Fat contagious?

It's like a dream come true."Gaining body fat is the result of a virus." Wouldn't that be great news gang? Well... Let me tell you about the AD-36 adenovirus. Adenoviruses are the same nasty bugs that cause the common cold. We all have these viruses in various forms in our body all the time. That last bit is a critical distinction. Remember that. The Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana has been doing some really ground-breaking research on AD-36. AD-36 affects stem cells... more specifically fat cells, both pre-formed and post-formed.This means AD-36 can make MORE fat cells if contracted as an infant and make your fat cells larger if contracted as an adult. Or so the theory goes. To quote the study: "Earlier researchers have concluded that Ad-36 may be contributors to obesity by super-charging fat cells to grow and store more fat. Until now, though, those researchers thought the viruses targeted pre-fat cells (called pre-adipocytes), causing them to convert in higher numbers to fat cells and causing those fat cells to be larger. Those studies were in mice. Pasaricas work determines the virus targets stem cells in humans." The result? "In one test, a third of obese people had the rare and highly contagious virus compared to just 11 percent of thinner people. Weight gain can last three months until the body has built up resistance to the bug." Wow. Sounds like we have a winner here. A virus that you can catch that literally makes you gain body fat! All we need is... a vaccine! Right? Wrong. First of all, notice that 11% of LEAN people have AD-36. And at any given time, just like a cold or a flu virus, you could contract AD-36. If your body has 'never' been exposed to it, you may require about 3 months to build up antibodies to ward it off. Now, you can gain a lot of weight in 3 months... but come on. You cannot become obese in three months unless you are really, REALLY working at it. Plus, like most viruses, you build up immunity to AD-36. Researchers do not know how long the immunity lasts, but some theorize it could last years... some even decades. And let's not forget those 11% who are lean and have the virus. Why did they not all of a sudden get "sick" with body fat? Because they are not EATING or LIVING in a way that allows them to gain body fat no matter what nasty freakin' viruses may be floating about, that's why. That's right folks: It is always going to come down to the food we put in our body and the way we move.

Here's another hypothesis presented by
Sherry Strong, food philosopher and
nutritionist: "This could very well be
the result of nature creating a mutation
to encourage us to eat more due to the
fact our consumption of natural, whole
and organic foods is so low."

Brilliant observation... and one that makes complete sense. Even if a "virus" is responsible for 20% of our weight gain, what about the other 80%? We do not need a vaccine other than good food and a common sense workout plan. Here's the best -- The Pro-Fitness Plan <-- the "vaccine" for body fat Here's why I love our workouts: 1. They are designed for you to "burn" 3-5 days per week. 2. They are progressive and always changing. Put the two together and you have an absolute winner of a plan that's practical and enjoyable. 3. Plus, you get meal plans that teach you how to eat and when to eat and everybody gets my "Rapid Fat Los"manual free. That's 3 good reasons to stay inoculated against this virus Here's one more: You know better. You know that there's never going to be a magic pill for health, vitality, energy and looking your best. We can keep hoping... or you can take action and get what you want now. To me, that makes more sense than AD-36 "Super-Retro Fat-burning Vaccine" to hit the marketplace in 2021.

Friday, February 13, 2009

What's Your Body pH?
A Dr. by the name of Dr. Morter discovered a very simple, yet effective way to test your body's pH level using little pieces of pH paper that you place into your mouth (if testing using your saliva) or in a stream of urine (if testing using your secretions).It's vital to know your body's pH, but it far more important to know how to control your ph level.You see, if your body becomes too acidic you'll be more prone to catching colds, to getting diseases, to getting fat, to being tired, sluggish, fatigued, stressed, and full of body aches and pains.Your body becomes acidic in many ways, but some of the most common ways are:- Watching or reading the news - yes, you heard me right, watching the nightly news can make your body acidic and when your body is acidic it retains fat - so watching the news can make you fat - OK that's a stretch, but inadvertently anything that causes your body to becomes acidic will eventually make you fat, stressed, and unhealthy.- A diet that lacks raw vegetables.- A diet high in starches, fat, sugar, and/or processed foods.- Lack of exercise- Stress at work - in fact, you can change your body from a healthy alkaline state to an unhealthy acid state within seconds simply by letting yourself get upset or frustrated, and when you allow yourself to get into this acid state your body immediately becomes less healthy and your metabolism immediately gets adversely effected.OK, now how can you stop all this acid living and start living an alkaline lifestyle which is conducive to health, weight loss, and proper energy levels - simply do the following:1.) Add more raw vegetable to your diet (at least 3 servings per day).2.) Drink more plain, fresh water (preferably distilled)3.) Try to eat mostly organic foods4.) Exercise at least 3 times per week, preferably 5 times per week - and don't over exercise because if you push yourself too hard you'll actually reverse the benefits of exercise and make your body highly acidic.5.) Avoid all soft drinks.6.) Avoid all white flour products and all white sugar products.7.) Avoid dairy products except for eggs8.) Avoid stressful situations whenever possible9.) Spend at least 5 minutes in the morning, 5 minutes in the afternoon, and 5 minutes in the evening thinking about all the blessings that you have in your life.10.) Take Nutrilite XX multi vitamin/mineral complex.(available at Pro-fitness)11.) Consume a 'greens drink' like the Greens plus daily detox. (Vita health in Tuxedo).
We will be testing everybody starting next week at Pro-Fitness for free. You need to have this done...not optional!

Next Tuesday's Pilates class is almost full.....so if you want to take part in this very important class you need to e-mail me asap. You snooze you loose gang. And what ever you don't use....you loose..and I think that you would all agree that core strength and flexability go fast if we do't work at it.

Don't be lazy...be lean!
Bri

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Could Candida be causing you to hold on to body fat?

Cleanse The Candida:

Excess Candida = Excess Body Weight, and Mental Depression




As you probably know, my speaking schedule takes me around the world and at those events, I'm blessed to meet some amazing people from the audiences.Some of these engagements are not fitness related, however ,as you know, I am always asked questions about training, diet and nutrition.

Well recently I was talking to a few very overweight woman who were very frustrated to say the least. They proceeded to tell me that "we've tried every program out there and I can't seem to lose weight".

Now, you have to understand that I have heard that same comment hundreds of times t, and I've trained myself to simply let it pass me by so I can truly focus on the individual in front of me and help them figure out the main obstacle that's holding them back from living life in their dream body.

Well within about 30 minutes I figured out that these woman probably had an overgrowth of Candida in their body. Granted, it was just a guess at the time, but my guesses are usually a pretty good starting point. Just ask Amy, I am very seldom wrong with my diagnosis. Inside family joke! Each of these women have taken many drugs for various ailments and an over abundance of antibiotics for you name it! Been on every fad diet and followed Oprah's training program at every gym in their city.

I asked them to do a few, simple things to clean themselves out and then to call me in 10 days with an update.

10 days later, all 4 women were 12 - 20 pounds lighter, full of energy, allergy free, and very excited and hopefull..

I can assure you, that if you've ever taken any antibiotics or almost any other drug, you have an overgrowth of Candida in your system too. And once you clean yourself out, your body will drop fat, you will become very healthy, you'll experience a massive increase in your energy level, you'll be able to digest your food far faster and more efficiently, and you'll rid yourself of many common allergies.

Here is the basics of what I asked them to do.

Enjoy!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



The most common place that Candida overgrowth appears is in your intestines, but it can easily spread throughout your entire body. Excess Candida causes a whole host of horrible side effects like:

- headaches
- excess gas
- bloating due to the poor digestion of foods
- food cravings
- constipation
- cramps
- PMS
- allergies
- weight gain
- the inability to lose weight even on a good diet
- yeast infection
- acne
- fatigue
- depression
- stress
- and so much more...

But there are ways that you can help your body to fight off and clean out much of this matter.

First and foremost, you should clean out your digestive system with a thorough vegetable juice cleanse. When cleansing to make your digestive system healthy again, you should follow a juice cleanse for at least 10 days (up to 30 days).

Your lifestyle may make it difficult for you to just consume freshly squeezed vegetable juice all day long - but you can get by simply by adding 2 or 3 fresh vegetable juices to each day, and eating normal for the rest of the day. At the same time take Nutrilite Digestive Ensigms to replenish good bacteria.

After you've cleansed your body, follow these guidelines:

(1) Avoid added sugars (including fructose, honey, molasses, fruit-juice sweeteners, etc.) and all sugar-sweet foods and snacks, including cakes, cookies, candies, desserts, sodas, fruit-juice and ice-cream, even if they're made with sugar-substitutes like saccharine or aspartame (these substances may cause problems for some people who are allergic or sensitive to them). Stevia extract, which is a natural sweetener, is fine. If you can cut out sugars for 3 days, their "spell" will be broken and you will be able to resist them quite easily.

(2) Avoid white-starch foods, like white bread, cakes, cookies, white pasta, white rice, potatoes, and all refined flours, etc. Whole-grain flour, in moderation, is acceptable, unless you are a 'carbohydrate addict'; also whole-grain brown or wild rice, whole-grain pasta (usually available in the deli section of supermarkets), etc.

(3) Avoid all dairy products, except eggs.

(4) Increase your intake of essential oils, esp. omega-3 oils, which are very lacking in the western world's diet. These include: Fish oils, Flax-seed, borage and evening primrose oils. One tablespoon or three capsules of any of these, twice daily is the norm. Some of these oils can be used as salad-dressing, instead of olive or canola oil, or on whole-grain breads instead of butter.

(5) Add Acidophilus (or Primadophilus), to your diet, after breakfast and after supper daily. ( Digestive Ensigms)

These 5 tips along with a healthy diet like that laid out by the nutrition experts at Pro-Fitness Training should do the trick in helping you clean out any Candida overgrowth.

Give it a try..... it works!

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Last meal of the day....burn fat while you sleep

The secret.

The way to getting those last stubborn
pounds off. The key to getting your
fat-burning furnace crankin' hot. The key
to releasing natural fatburning hormones in
greater quantity as you snooze at night.

I'll cover one of these meals today.

Take your bodyweight and divide it by 10.
That's how many grams of protein I want you
to eat. So if you weigh 150 pounds, you
will be eating 15 grams of protein.
Increase this by 5-10 grams if you are a
bodybuilder.

Now, I'd like you to eat turkey - but not
just any turkey. Certainly not deli-style
sliced turkey. Go to your supermarket and
ask your butcher to slice up some real
non-processed white meat turkey breast.

Why turkey? Because turkey is sky-high in
protein, very low in fat, and has a lot of
tryptophan in it. Tryptophan helps you
sleep and can induce greater growthhormone
secretion. That means more bodyfat burned
at night.

Then, the kicker: eat one celery stalk for
every 75 pounds of bodyweight you carry.

Celery is a "negative-calorie" food. In
other words, you will burn more calories
digesting it than the food contains.

The end result will be a meal that's lower
in calories than the total calories you
consume, high in fiber, and perfect for
fatburning at night.

Eat this meal about 2-3 hours before
bedtime. Fill the time before bed with
drinking water or munching on celery.

Try this for a week and watch your bodyfat
start melting off.

Top 10 Ways to jump start Your Weight Loss

Been awhile since I posted a new article, but things have been crazy busy of late. However, as in all things, we get to the other side.....so here is the first of many to come as I have been working diligently to get you information that will help you reach your goals in 2009. Enjoy!





Top 10 Ways to Jump-Start Your Weight Loss:

1. Eat protein at every meal, including breakfast.

2. Eliminate wheat- and flour-based products for the time being. And yes, that definitely includes bread and pasta.

3. Eat unprocessed foods. Ninety percent of what you eat should be a combination of (in this order of importance) raw vegetables, steamed vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and maybe a few fruits if necessary.

4. Reduce starch to one portion a day, and don't eat that portion during your evening meal. Best choices are beans, sweet potatoes, and oatmeal.

5. Don't overdo fruit: one a day maximum, and only the low-sugar, high-fiber variety. Apples, pears, plums and berries all are good choices. For now, fruit should be eaten alone or with something light, like low fat nuts. Lose the fruit juice completely.

6. Reduce or eliminate dairy for the time being, especially cow's milk. Exceptions: reasonable amounts of low sugar, fat free yogurt.

7. Lose the booze. Despite what the "studies" say, you lose no health benefits by giving up alcohol (including wine). There is nothing essential in alcohol that you can't get in fruits and vegetables without all the bad side effects that go along with it.

8. Stop using vegetable oils such as sunflower, safflower and corn. The supermarket kind is highly refined, and it oxidizes easily when heated, contributing to arterial plaque. Use olive oil instead, and apply it to food after the food is cooked when possible.

9. Watch which types of fat you're eating. The amount of fat you eat is probably less important than the kind of fat you eat. The worst are fried foods, margarine and foods that contain hydrogenized or partially hydrogenized oils. The best is omega-3, found in fish and flaxseed oil.

10. Obsessively drink water: At least 8 ounces for every 20 pounds of bodyweight you're now carrying around, each day. Every day. No excuses.