Enjoy the holidays!

It's not what you eat on Thanksgiving and Christmas that determines how you look and how much you weigh.  Use the 90/10 principle and eat well 90% of the time.  Then you can enjoy your nights out (as long as it's not every night) and holidays without stress and guilt.

Breville Compact Juice Fountain

Looking for a great juicer?  Get a Breville Compact Juice Fountain from Amazon.com for less than $100.  Be amazed as whole apples and carrots are pulverized into the best juice you ever tasted.

Combine alkaline greens (kale, cabbage, romaine) with carrots and an apple for a morning drink that makes you feel... superhuman. 

Ms. Fit inspires you! Try a Transformation Challenge!

Need some new motivation?  You are what you focus on. SO Go to http://www.theelitephysique.com/ for some inspiring transformations.  Lots of good info here as well about making changes in your physique the natural way... and you don't need to be a bodybuilder.

Vegetables again

Learn to love them!  The more vegetables you eat, the more you will look like your goal face and body.

Veggies provide the fiber, vitamins and minerals that build cells from the inside, for better skin, hair and nails.  Without brining along the extra sugar found in fruit, they also facilitate the working of the endocrine (hormonal) system for overall well-being.

For a fuller feeling and make it more fun, eat your veggies with a bit of brown, red or even white rice. 

Delish easy high protein meals with Calphalon from Williams Sonoma

Trying to eat more protein to lean up faster?  Grab the Calphalon omelette/ frittata pan for the easiest egg dishes ever.

Perfect for teens and 20-somethings, this pan has the new "slide" technology.  You can fry an egg with NO FAT and it slides right off the pan onto your plate.

For healthy eaters and body-builders, you can add any veggies or low fat cheeses and make omelettes and frittatas.  The best part- a quick rinse cleans the pan.

Go to Williams Sonoma.com or any department store.  If it's a bit pricey for you, ask for it for Christmas!

Are you eating enough protein?

I heard a renowned trainer evaluate a young man's diet.  The bottom line:  almost everything he eats is carbohydrates....  To build lean muscle, so he looks leaner (his goal), he needs to add lean protein sources to his diet.

Lean protein sources include:

• Skinless chicken
• Fish
• Shellfish
• Low fat dairy
• Egg whites
• Whey protein powder
  

Dr Eric Berg on fat-burning

Go to Dr Eric Berg's web site for an interesting quiz that may help solve your last ten lbs dilemma.... His theory is that your hormones are the mechanism for regulating fat-burning.  If you have one of four issues, you have one of four body fat "patterns".  The issues are:

• Liver
• Thyroid
• Adrenal
• Ovary
  

Dr Berg also has a best- seller, the 7 principles of fat-burning. that cover this too...  Read it!

Addicted to bread, scones, bagels...

Why are we so addicted to bread and sweet things made from wheat flour?  It is hard to change this craving, even after months of bread-free mornings. 
The answer is to eat real food.  If you are craving bread, it is probably time to have a meal that include protein, like an egg white omelet.

New Diet Mountain Dew- fun!

Need a guilt-free jolt?  Try Diet Mountain Dew Ultra Violet!  With a "flash of berry flavor!"

Yum.

Fish and Salad

Fish and salad is the fast train to fit.  I remember reading something like that in a diet guru's book. At the time I was so busy eating chicken at every meal (or so it seemed) that I did not pay attention.  My loss...

Fish is so low in fat and calories that you can add some butter or cheese to it, even a rich sauce, without a problem.  Just don't fry it and add french fries like the British do.

For an easy fish parmigiana, bake tilapia filets for 20- 30 minutes covered in Hunts garlic and herb canned spaghetti sauce and topped with a sprinkle of flavorful grated cheese, locatelli or romano.  Toss on some capers for a restaurant quality dinner.

Fitness Pros recommend Candida Cleanse...

If you have had trouble losing weight for years... FEMALE fitness pros recommend a Candida cleanse. 

Do you have fungal issues- toe fungus, dandruff, bread cravings, yeast infections and on and on...?  It's easy to say this is a new-age wacko idea, but try it once.... all you have to lose is that last 15 pounds. If you give up bread and sugar, you'll be amazed how you good you feel.  Even better, you will start losing weight... almost without trying.

Fitness Menus at your own risk

It's easy to ruin your fitness menu meal by eating the accompaniments.  This can include bacon, high fat muffins, etc.

Do a challenge!

Nothing like pics in a bathing suit to get you on track.

Just did after pics for a summer challenge, hosted by Karen Sessions) known as Ms. Fit.  You can find her by searching Google.  Her challenges are much lower key than BFL and don't require product purchase.

Taking those pics before and after is the best (and worst) part. Although I am jazzed by my success during the challenge, I'm not done...I know what I need to do now!

Wine and Dark Chocolate

The dynamic duo.  They are OK according to Natalia Rose's box, Detox for Women.

It's easy to give up corn syrup-based candy (my nemesis), bread and steak, when you know that a nice glass of chardonnay and some fine dark chocolate are there when you need a bit of luxe in your life.

Again, read Natalia's book.  I got my copy from the library.  DO NOT MISS THIS BOOK, especially if you are ready to wear hot clothes and enjoy eating out again!

Be a fat-burning machine.

The latest research says that the following burns more fat without additional exercise or effort:

1. Eat more protein- protein is thermogenic.  Eat more of your calories in the following clean-burning protein sources-  seafood, shellfish, egg whites (add one yolk and it's like real eggs...lol.).
2. Green tea-  it seems that green tea burns fat in any amount.  Find one you like (chai green tea can be more appealing) and drink at least a cup every day.
   

Makeover mindset. No sugar, no cookies, no weird orange-colored food.

I don't eat that.  It's that simple.

You can face down an entire convenience store full of your previous downfalls with that simple mantra.

Find a healthy treat that keeps you busy, like the new longer-lasting, delicious sugarless gum (5 in the black boxes comes in great flavors like sweet peppermint and a tropical flavor called lush) or flavored coffee with a bit of half and half, if you have a craving for FLAVOR and/or creamy texture.

Just remember, you don't eat that.  It's far easier than negotiating with yourself over eating "just a little." 

Vegetables= weight loss

You know it, but you don't want to believe it.

The trainers tell you, the nutritionists tell you, the diet gurus tell you... the more vegetables you eat, the more weight you lose.

The #1 secret to eating more vegetables is to buy seasonal (the secret in French Women Don't Get Fat) and organic vegetables.  They really do taste better.

Life makeover. More than diet and exercise.

It's not just about weight.  It's about attitude and direction.

This blog takes the best motivational writing out there and synthesizes it into tips you can use.

Every time you lose 10 pounds, you get a new wardrobe... and a new identity.  It's a process.  Make it fun!

Exercise makeover. Long and slow.

OK, not that slow... but for WEIGHT LOSS (vs conditioning or expediency), long cardio sessions are the way to go...  Ask anyone who has lost a lot of weight. 

Michael Thurmond, the guy on the Extreme Makeover show,  advocates this in his expensive 6-week makeover program.  The bottom line is that cardio over 40 mintues at 60-80% of your target heart rate works.  The more times a week you do it, the more you turbo charge your weight loss.

AND this type of cardio is fun, not stressful like running intervals or killing yourself on a rowing machine.  You can walk on a pretty day or be creative, cross-training on the machines in the gym.

To get double duty from your cardio, pick an exercise that tones up your weak spots-  Biking will build your quads and calves, treadmill on a high incline is used by fitness models for butt work... and the newer versions of the stairmaster are like doing lunges while getting your cardio in.

To lose the last ten pounds, you'll need to give up... poultry

A wonderful trainer told me that poultry makes women fat... about ten years ago.  But then I was hooked on my daily Chik Fil A salad...

He was right.  Once I gave up meat and poultry, the weight dropped off. 

Now I eat a variety of seafood and veggies. Sometimes eggs, mostly whites. Sometimes fruit. No poultry. A little bread.  A glass of wine and some dark chocolate.  It's a great life.  :)

Lost the last ten pounds- a tip from Tony Robbins

Do not keep your fatter clothes.  Wear your "stretch" (slightly tight) clothes to remind you of where you are going. That is an effective way to appeal to your subconscious mind, which does not like pain, ie- tight waistbands or unflattering shorts.

After every five pounds lost, celebrate by giving your old clothes to Goodwill.  There is no going back.

You don't need to eat breakfast.

Have you ever thought that you eat too much, too often?  According to Natalia Rose, we force meal after meal into our bodies, without thoroughly digesting most of the food we eat.... OH, so that's what that awful stuffed-in feeling we get after a big meal with drinks and dessert is...

With Natalia's plan you can (finally) enjoy lunch and dinner.... you'll find you are not really hungry when you wake up, just dehydrated. 

I used to eat BF like clockwork, now I feel so much better waiting until a juice break... or lunch.  It gives my body the chance to really rest and digest.

The bottom line is that following Natalia's plan is more satisfying and the weight drops off.  It's not like low carb diets or starvation diets, because you feel and look great!

Read this book to lose the last ten pounds!

Introducing Natalia Rose.  Natalia's new book is called detox 4 Women.  The name is misleading. It's more a lifestyle than a simple detox... This book is the ANSWER. 

I have been looking for a non-diet diet, a lifestyle that works with kids, in restaurants, includes wine and chocolate and fuels me to get thru a jam-packed day for 30 years.  Not only did this book give me that, but it is DELICIOUS and makes eating out fun again.

I lost 7 pounds without even really trying... and I am almost at my goal weight.  WOW.

Thank you, Natalia.

You are ready to lose those last ten pounds, right?

Welcome to the blog that will give you the KEY to losing that weight FINALLY.

I am so excited to share these secrets with you!