Follow this to get ready for a big event or just to look/feel better!

Sugar – Keep under 15 grams daily.  Also, stay away from white flour.

Sleep – 7-9 hours.  Whatever works best for your body.

Walk -  Fast 30 minutes daily

Walking is by far the most popular low impact exercise, but in order to get your heart rate up there are some things you may need to do.

Walk faster. One mistake we often make is walking too slowly to get the heart rate up. Picking up the pace can help you up the intensity of your workouts.

Try interval training. By adding short bursts of speed or an occasional steep hill to your walking workouts, you can increase the intensity of your workouts as well as your calorie-burn.

Use your arms. Make sure you’re not holding onto the treadmill and, when you’re outside, swing your arms to keep the intensity up. Holding weights as you walk is a no-no (it can cause injury).

Squats

Squats work your glutes, quads, hamstrings and calves all at once.

How to Do it: Stand with feet hip-width apart, toes facing straight ahead or angled slightly outward. Slowly bend the knees and lower hips towards the floor, keeping your torso straight and abs pulled in tight. Keep your knees behind your toes; make sure everything’s pointing in the same direction. Do not go lower than 90 degrees. Do this move 2-3 non-consecutive days a week for 12-16 reps.  Add another set on the 2nd week.

Push Ups

Push ups, like squats, are compound movements using almost all the muscles of your body. You’ll work your chest, shoulders, triceps, back and abs.

How to Do It: Position yourself face down on the floor, balancing on your toes/knees and hands. Your hands should be wider than shoulders, body in a straight line from head to toe. Don’t sag in the middle and don’t stick your butt up in the air. Slowly bend your arms and lower your body to the floor, stopping when your elbows are at 90 degrees. Exhale and push back up. Variations include incline, decline, wall pushups or, for masochists, one-armed pushups. Do this move 2-3 non-consecutive days a week and add a rep each time you do the exercise.  Add another set the 2nd week.

The Plank

The plank (or hover) is an isolation move that works the abs, back, arms and legs. The plank also targets your internal abdominal muscles

How to Do It: Lie face down on mat with elbows resting on floor next to chest. Push your body off the floor in a pushup position with body resting on elbows or hands. Contract the abs and keep the body in a straight line from head to toes. Hold for 30-60 seconds and repeat as many times as you can. For beginners, do this move on your knees and gradually work your way up to balancing on your toes.

These are simple exercises that you can split up if you need to…walk in the morning and exercises at night!

If you can’t find the time to do a “full workout”, take 10 minutes to do the following:

4 minutes of intense cardio such as stairs, jump rope, jumping jacks or running in place with high knees

3 minutes of resistance exercise such as sit-ups, squats, lunges and/or  tubing exercises

2 minutes of core work such as planking, bridges with legs extended on a ball or bed and side planks

1 minute of stretching and breathing

Perfect when you only have 10 minutes!

Wow…my home personal training clients are seeing their waist again…You want to see your waist again?…Follow a low-Glycemic Index (GI) plan by eating foods with a GI of 0-55. (Google GI Index for GI listings)  Foods with a high GI rapidly raise blood-sugar levels.  When your blood sugar rises quickly, your body increases insulin production telling your body to store fat – leaving you feeling zapped = zero energy.  Examples of high GI are the usual suspects…white foods, most breads, sugar, many processed foods….low GI are veggies, chicken, fish, eggs, steel cut oats, nuts, high fiber foods…but here’s the real beauty in it…you start to lose your sugar craving, you have crazy energy, sleep better and burn MORE FAT!

These are all sugar!

High fructose corn syrup, beet sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, cane sugar, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, galactose, glucose, lactose, evaporated cane juice, honey, molasses, sucrose, turbinado sugar, malt, maltodextrin, maltose, maple sugar, maple syrup, molasses, rice syrup, sucrose….don’t let the disguise fool you!