I Dare You

June 1, 2012 By

I just got back from a fantastic family trip to the Grand Canyon. The hiking there is so beautiful.

Here is a picture at one of our rest points.

IMG_4297-300x300

Now I wouldn’t say I’m afraid of heights in the strictest sense, but if given the choice I’d rather not hang out too close to cliffs, so getting past that and just enjoying the challenge of the hikes, the company I had and the beautiful scenery took a couple of deep breaths and focus (to start anyway, once I got going my fears were the furthest thing from my mind).

As I was thinking about all that I would have missed had I let my fears get the better of me I realized that today of all days would be the best day to write about it because today is: National Dare Day (you didn’t know?!)

Usually the word “Dare” makes us think of being challenged to eat worms, kiss a stranger, moon somebody or spontaneously yell out something silly in a crowd; that kind of thing. But today I want to dare you to do something that’ll help make you healthier, more fit or more focused.

Take your pick. I DARE YOU TO:

– Not a runner? I dare you to go run a mile right now and see how fast you can get it done (run/walk is fine just do it!)

– Post your before picture on facebook and announce to your fb community that you are starting your fitness journey now! (tag me if you do!)

– Try a new workout: Boot Camp, Dance Cardio (even if you don’t have rhythm!) and Power Yoga are all good options if you’ve never done them.  We offer all at BBC and you can try one or all of them as my guest. Call me and I’ll put you on the guest list(s) 916-57-BOOTY.

– Sign-up for Tough Mudder! You can be on the BBC team. Sunday September 23 (email me if you’re interested)

– Sign-up for an event like a run or cycle event and pick a level higher than your norm or a level that scares you to think about (for instance, always run a 5k? Register and run the 10K!)

– Strip down to your undies, stare at yourself in the mirror and out loud say all the things that you like about your body without saying one single negative thing, meaning you can’t say I have great ___except…. Doesn’t  matter how small the likes are: I like my wrists, my collar bones are quite lovely, I’ve got fantastic fingernails! You’re laughing but some of you have been verbally abusing yourselves for so long you may have to start with those fingernails….

– Avoid for one full weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) one thing that you SWEAR you’d shrivel up and die without eating/drinking.

– Eat something that’s considered healthy you’ve never tried ’cause it looks or sounds “weird”

But most of all I DARE YOU TO:

– Actually achieve the goals you’re always talking about achieving.

– I dare you to put the work in

– Make the sacrifices

– Feel the burn

– Drip the sweat

– I dare you to stop making:  exceptions, justifications and excuses for why you can’t possibly do ___ or give up___ or make time for ____.

I DOUBLE DARE YOU TO: FINALLY SUCCEED!

Happy Dare Day!

 

Filed Under: Exercise and Fitness, Fat loss, Mindset, Weight Loss Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Why Soda Is Making You Fat!

February 20, 2012 By

If you’ve been drinking one or more sodas every day, that aluminum can in your hand is to blame for those extra digitsget educated at Sacramento's Booty Boot Camp on the scale. We’re not talking a couple pounds either. We’re talking long term weight gain. One can of cola adds more than 100 calories to your daily intake. That’s over 10 lbs of additional body fat every year.

Obesity, type-2 diabetes, and soda addiction have all risen together steadily and scarily over the past decades. Coincidence? Not a chance. Soda is sabotaging your body. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Fat loss, Nutrition, Weight Loss Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Guilt Free Dieting

February 6, 2012 By

I hope this post-Superbowl Monday finds everyone content with their eating decisions from yesterday.

I don’t mean that you should have only ate healthy things.  Rather I hope you are content with the fact that you made conscious decisions of what you were going to eat, enjoyed it, and feel no guilt about it today.

I think we “dieting” women spend far too much time feeling bad about what we’ve eaten. Food becomes “good or bad” and let’s face it; except for those that are trying to get on stage and compete in a figure contest, the rest of us healthy minded but “real” women are going to eat those “bad” foods sometimes. What I often hear the next day is “oh, I was so”bad” I ate…..” . Well it hit me in the last few months that that mindset, the “I’m so bad” mindset, is way unhealthier than the food. I mean who wants to live in a constant state of guilt?

So here are 5 quick questions to ask yourself before you indulge in treats. I know it sounds like a lot but once it becomes your habit it takes about 10 seconds to think it through:

The first one can eliminate the need for the next four: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Exercise and Fitness, Fat loss, Mindset, Weight Loss Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Something you need to know (personal)

December 30, 2011 By

This may not sit well with you, but it’s something that you need to know, and so I’m just going to come out and say it.

See, the way I see it they’re insulting your intelligence.

Who’s “they”?

THEY are the talking heads you see on TV and hear on the radio. And I’m convinced they’re trying to make you fatter.

Every year at about this time all you see, hear and read about are people making the big three New Year resolutions – more money, quit smoking, and to lose weight.

Now, I don’t know the success rate of the first two, but as a fitness expert and someone who has helped dozens and dozens of folks lose weight and get in better shape, I can tell you (and statistics prove) that most people who resolve to lose weight in the new year are doomed. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Exercise and Fitness, Media, Mindset, Weight Loss Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

EXACTLY what you should be eating for breakfast (3 recipes)

October 11, 2010 By

Breakfast is often called the most important meal of the day and rightly so. But not all breakfasts are created equal. Most will simply set you up to struggle through the rest of your day only to binge on something later.

So what IS the perfect breakfast?

Let me tell you, your typical cereal bar and low-fat yogurt doesn’t cut it.

I’ve broken down the perfect breakfast and even give you 3 step-by-step recipes, all right here.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Nutrition, Recipes, Weight Loss Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

A Great Healty Snack Cracker

April 23, 2010 By

 

In my quest to help the members of my weight loss boot camp eat healthy and get and/or stay lean, I’m always scouring the grocery store shelves for a new and tasty find.

Well I found one I want to share.

360 cracker

It’s a tasty little snack cracker called ‘Flat Out Good’ and the "cleanest" flavor is the whole grain one.

I love that these crackers are all natural. They have very minimal ingredients and you can actually pronounce them all! A lot of the crackers that market themselves as "natural" have a list of unreadable ingredients as long as your arm.

Check out these stats:

A serving size is 9 crackers and each cracker is about 3" in diameter (that’s a pretty good size)
Calories 35
Fat 0
Carbs 7
Protein 1
Fiber 1
Sodium 110mg
Ingredients: Whole wheat flour, natural cheese flavor, salt

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been eating them with hummus, natural peanut butter, or my favorite; laughing Cow spreadable low-fat cheese.

With any of these spreads, it’s a great snack for about 100 calories (a touch more with the peanut butter)

If you need more than a snack check out the healthy recipes section of my blog.

Happy snacking!

Filed Under: Nutrition, Weight Loss Tagged With: , , , , , ,

What’s Your Favorite Diet Friendly Sweet Treat?

April 19, 2010 By

 

This Sunday, April 25th the Skinny Jeans Transformation challenge starts. If you haven’t heard about it, it is a 9 week challenge that will get you into your Skinny Jeans guaranteed! All the info is here Get Me In My Skinny Jeans! I am so excited to be bringing this to you and my boot camps are definitely buzzing.

During the 9 weeks the challenge covers, we will all be uber focused  on our nutrition and daily workouts but I know as much as you do that those sugar craving are going to hit at some point and we’re going to need a fat-loss friendly way to satisfy them. So I am compiling a list of the tastiest sweet treats under 200 calories and then I’ll put them all in a special report for you to keep handy.

But I need your help. What are your favorite ways to beat a sweat tooth without wrecking your diet?

Leave a comment at the bottom of this post and share with us.

Don’t forget, if you want to be a part of this truly amazing and motivating challenge and finally get into your Skinny Jeans, check out the details here Skinny Jeans Transformation Challenge.

I’ll get the list started:

  • Skinny Cow Chocolate or Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwiches
  • Trader Joes Dark Chocolate 100 calories bars
  • PinkBerry mini Pinkberry frozen yogurt (just learned about this one) 120 calories plus any toppings

Help me out, what’s your favorite sweet treat under 200 calories? Leave it in the comments below.

Filed Under: Nutrition, Weight Loss Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Got Stress? -Quick Tip To Beat It

March 1, 2009 By

 

Exercise is the number one thing that you can do to relieve daily stress. A good workout will get your mind off of your bills, your boss, and your endless responsibilities. It’s been said that if exercise were a drug it would be the most powerful medication on earth!

Stay focused,

Sarai D. Jones

Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Weird Reason Breakfast is Boring

February 20, 2009 By

 

This morning I was sitting in front of my computer struggling to come up with a catchy title for this. I was thinking – yet again – about stressing the importance of breakfast to you.

So as I sat there trying to be clever I mumbled out loud, "Breakfast is boring."

And there you have it. That’s exactly how I came up with this title. But do NOT take this message lightly.

You see, I know you’re heard it a million times before. "You have to eat breakfast." And I know it’s not a super sexy message. But do you have any idea how many people I meet as a fitness professional that DO NOT eat breakfast? A lot. And do you have any idea how many of those people that don’t eat breakfast are overweight? Pretty much all of them.

Look, I’m not crazy. I know you don’t have much time in the morning. And I know many of you just aren’t all that hungry right after you wake up.

So let’s look at this another way. You get up each morning and go to work every day because you want a roof over your head and food on the table, right? Day after day after day you go to work because you want the RESULT of that effort.

Well, IF you want to burn fat, feel better and have more energy you WILL eat breakfast every morning. Period. End of discussion.

Some things are boring. Some things just have to be done to get the result you want. For those of you that want to burn fat all day long, breakfast is just one of those things.

Stay Focused,

Sarai D. Jones
PS – Prograde Lean is a DELICIOUS chocolate meal replacement shake that I recommend to all my clients. It’s the perfect solution to breakfast.

Filed Under: Exercise and Fitness, Nutrition Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,