If I were to come to your house, knock on your door and go through EVERY nook and cranny of your kitchen what would I be able to tell about you?
Would I clearly see a person dedicated to their goal of getting leaner?
Would I see someone who thinks they are on track but may be mislead by all the tricky packaging of the food manufacturers?
Or would I perhaps see a person who says they really want to get lean, but are hanging on to some diet sabotaging foods? [Read more…]
Me and about 15 of my most awesome fitness boot camp clients ran a
half-marathon through the Santa Cruz Mountains this past Sunday. We ran
uphill BOTH ways, had to keep our footing over some pretty treacherous cliffs,
ran through creeks, practically crawled under trees, jumped over logs and,
unfortunately, a couple of ladies got stung by hornets before the last 2 miles
were re-routed. It sounds like a horror story but it was actually an incredible
experience. I already can’t wait to do it again next year.
But as we were “carbing up” on Saturday night (yeah, yeah, that’s what that
was all about I swear!) and I was piling my plate high with food in preparation
for the event Sunday. I got to thinking about how easy it is to develop a
distorted view of how much of everything we should be eating and what we
actually are eating, even healthy stuff.
I have this quiz that I give to new members of my Boot Camp program about
portions. I think it might be eye opening for you to take it and see how well
your eyeball “scale” is calibrated.
I posted it below. It’s a fun, quick quiz. Take it and see where you stand on
your portion knowledge. [Read more…]
One of the easiest things you can do to begin losing weight with virtually no effort is to cut out high sugar and high calorie sodas and drinks.
Did you know that if you drink just two cans of soda a day now, and you cut that out of your diet, you would lose about 32 pounds in a year? That’s 32 pounds gone without changing anything else!
Now if the idea of giving up your soda all together is too tough how about replacing just one of those sodas with my all natural diet soda. I made a really quick video to show you my “diet soda” that I drink several times a week. It’s really refreshing and there are hundreds of flavor possibilities.
Check out my diet soda here
Add a strength training workout 3 times a week and a daily metabolism boosting breakfast to this small step and you could shed about 8lbs in just 6 weeks. That’s pretty darn easy.
Skin not smooth and clear? Drink more water
Feeling fatigued? Drink more water
Bloated? Drink more water
Need to lose some weight? You guessed it, drink more water.
Water, water, water.
Yup, it seems water is the magic elixir that can fix a multitude of beauty and health issues. And I can’t argue with the benefits of gulping close to triple digits ounces each day in your quest to get lean.
Water helps your body run more efficiently therefore your body can spend it’s energy doing what you want it to do, shed fat. It helps you feel more satisfied when you are watching your calories and it keeps you hydrated so that you can push extra hard in your workouts and thereby burn more calories…that means faster weight loss!
But what if you have a hard time remembering to drink water or worse yet, what if you don’t care for the taste of water?
I made a super quick video for you it’s only 48 seconds and I think it’ll help you a bunch.
Do you have any water drinking secrets? I’d love to hear them. Leave a comment on my blog.
We women want it all; firm arms, a flat stomach, lean thighs…but the one body part I get constant questions on is the butt.
Some women want it smaller, some tighter, others ask for a lift and a lot of women tell me they just need a booty, period!
Well, I’ve posted one of my all-time favorite booty workouts below. It’s a great combination of 
compound movements to work the major muscles in the legs (and burn TONS of calories) and isolation movements to sculpt that nice rear view.
Try my all-about-the-booty workout 3 times a week for the next 6 weeks and see what changes you can make in your bottom line.
And since nutrition is absolutely something that can’t be ignored in the quest for a tight, lifted bottom, I’ve even included a sample “perfect diet day” for you to get some meal and snack ideas. [Read more…]
Ever wonder why losing weight is called the Battle of the bulge?
Because it’s just that…a battle.
And like in any good fight, you need strategies to help you proclaim a victory.
As a personal trainer for over 12 years, I have a LOT of strategies, but today I’m going to tell you my absolute #1 strategy. The one that if I had no other fat loss “weapons” I’d like to have in my back pocket.
Consistency.
I’m going to tell you a story today from when I did a lot of one-on-one training.
But first let me ask you, do you remember the story of the tortoise and the Hare? The excited little Hare ran his heart out from one place to another, but in the end, he lost to the slow methodical tortoise. You see while the Hare had flash, fire and enthusiasm, he wasn’t consistent. And although slow, that tortoise kept plodding along inch after inch until he met his goal; the finish line.
I can’t tell you how much this relates to us in the weight loss game.
I’ve had clients that would come and go, work out with me 5 days a week for a month then I wouldn’t see them again for 6 weeks. I knew they’d be back, and they alwasy came back, often right back at square one or worse just to do it all over again.
Then I had another client, her name was Candice, she NEVER missed a workout. She was faithful three days a week, did her cardio and kept a tight reign on her diet with only the occasional treat. When I would train her, she would alwasy comment on how hard core the other ladies in the gym were. She’d say “wow, if my knees weren’t so bad, I’d do that.” or “If I had more will power I could do that crazy diet too. I really wish I could.”
But here’s the thing, Candace was 57 and super ripped! I gotta tell you, Candace worked out really hard. She liked to be challenged and pushed to her max in each and every workout. What she didn’t know, was that every time I would train those other ladies, they would comment on how they wanted to have arms or a back like Candace! They’d ask how she was so fit when they only saw her in the gym 3 days a week? Every time I would tell them the same thing: Candace may not have a lot of flash, but she never misses a workout. Week after week she commits to her fitness plan. She never does a crash diet, but she knows when maybe she’s indulged a little too much and she immediately tightens up her diet. Her weight never fluctuated more than 2 or 3 pounds.
It was simple, Candace was a tortoise. And week in and week out, workout after workout, she was able to build upon what she had already accomplished and move on to bigger goals. Not start all over every 2 months. When we saw one training style wasn’t producing the desired results, she didn’t quit for weeks at a time in search of the new and next thing, she kept at it so we could tweak and refine our approach to get her what she wanted.
In 3 years of training her, I actually trained her for 3 years. In 3 years I often trained my other clients off and on equaling about 1 year maybe. Just by looking at them for 1 minute, you could see the difference.
Some of you may say “I never take that much time off.” But really don’t you? When you skip 2 workouts this week and then do 5 next week. When you have a “bad” month of working out in February so you go hard core in March. No matter how you do it, it’s still being inconsistent and a bit of a Hare.
If you really want to win this battle of the bulge once and for all, your main focus needs to be on doing what you need to do day-in and day out. Set a realistic workout schedule and stick to it. Don’t fall into the trap of “making up” missed workouts. That’s basically another form of procrastination and sure way to stay on the weight loss roller coaster.
If I had to choose my 2nd top strategy, it would be accountability. We all need to be held accountable to our goals. Having a trainer or a program can help you do just that. Booty Boot Camp
“I do hundreds of crunches and sit-ups a day and I still have a flabby midsection. What gives?”
Does this sound familiar?
Let’s face it, we all want a flat, sexy midsection. And when this becomes our mission, crunches and sit-ups are usually the first thing on our to-do list. But for many of us no amount of crunches or sit-ups seems to get the job done.
Well, there is a reason the crunches are not getting you the flat belly of your dreams, but before I reveal your sexy abs blueprint, let’s first debunk some very important myths about how to get that coveted sleek tummy:
When you eat out, make it a habit to order the smallest portion available. Try ordering an appetizer or an entree off the lunch menu.
We are programmed to eat whatever is in front of us, even though we’d feel just as full on less. And since portions have grown in recent years, the smallest size isn’t very small at all.
Stay focused,
Sarai D. Jones
It’s the weekend and I know that means a lot of you are going to be going out to eat. But keep your food guard up. Saturday and Sunday are the two biggest reasons people find themselves plateauing in their fat loss efforts. In fact whenever a client comes to me to tell me they are no longer making progress I ask them how’s your diet? 9 out of 10 times this is the answer: "I do great during the week, but the weekends are not that good". This causes a vicious cycle that can be very discouraging. But I’m going to give you some tips on how to stay on track even when you are eating out this, or any weekend.
The bottom line is; you must have a plan as to what you are going to eat and stick with it. If I know I am going to be eating at a chain restaurant, I will take a look at the nutritional info online before I go so I can decide what I’m going to have. Then, I don’t even bother to look at the menu when I get there. I know it will only tempt me. Eating out and losing weight can go together. You just need to be smart about your choices and have a plan.
Stay focused,
Sarai Jones
If you want to burn the fat off your belly you need to burn THIS into your brain first.
Eat breakfast.
Look, you can make fat loss as difficult as you like. You can make it out to be super complicated if you so choose.
But one of the easiest things you can do to start melting the fat off your frame is to start eating a breakfast that boosts your metabolism and sets the tone for fat loss all day long.
Now, there’s a very good chance you’re shaking your head in agreement with me, but saying something like, "That’s great. I know that. But what the heck do I eat?"
Glad you asked 😉
Here are three simple fat fighting breakfasts from Registered Dietitian Jayson Hunter:
1- Cottage cheese mixed with real fruit
2- Hard boiled egg and plain yogurt mixed with real fruit
3- 2 pieces of fruit and a scrambled egg wrap
Seriously, would that be so hard? Don’t you think you can manage that in the morning?
Well, if you can’t Jayson, who is the Head of R & D at Prograde Nutrition, has another suggestion. You can use a nutritious meal replacement shake like Prograde Lean.
Those of you in my boot camp know I love it. It taste so good! In fact, I know Prograde spent 6 months developing Prograde Lean just to get the taste right.
Ok, so there are 4 options for a Belly Fat Blasting Breakfast. Enjoy! And stay tuned for some more great ideas and videos.
Stay focused,
Sarai D. Jones
P.S. This is the website to get the Prograde Lean www.BootyCampNutrition.com You’ll love it