You Say You’re Ready. But Are You REALLY Ready? (final steps to Rockin it)

Looks like yesterday’s post touched a nerve with a lot of you. It seems having to wear whatever can make you look somewhat presentable has been an ongoing problem for many. Trust me, I’ve know the feeling well at times.

But I have to ask you, are you really tired of it yet? I mean so tired of it that it makes you wanna scream, cry and go for a run all at once? I ask cause I’ve know that feeling too. Standing in my closet for the umpteenth time in a week staring at all the clothes that absolutely do not fit or if I can get them on, clothes I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing in public cause of the squuuuzzeeeeeeee and bulge effect going on. Ughhh……. It’s so frustrating. I have literally cried in my closet………and then gone out and ate a tub of ice cream, a small tub, but still. [Read more…]

If It Wiggles and Jiggles You Need To Be Doing This….

The number one question I get asked is: “How do I make my belly (triceps, butt, thighs, or pick your problem spot) tight and firm?”

And here is my answer (and a workout to help get it done)…..

If it wiggles, jiggles, is puffy or bulges, then that is excess fat and excess fat is shed by proper nutrition and cardio (interval preferred). The “toning” or strength training exercises that you do for said problem spot, will build shape, size (if desired), and the overall form of your body.

Let me put it like this; let’s say you have triceps (the back of your arms) that move a little too freely when you move your arms and you start a intense regimen of strength training to firm them up, you can in fact build killer, awesome triceps muscles but if you don’t get the fat that’s actually doing the wiggling and jiggling off the top you won’t really be able to see the fruits of all your labor.

On the flip side, if you only dieted and did cardio and never added any muscle with resistance training, then you would end up with a smaller arm with less fat that jiggles but it would still definitely jiggle.

So you need the trifecta combo of proper nutrition, strength training and interval cardio.

Intervals are actually not complicated at all and there are hundreds of options that you can do right in your own home without any equipment. I show some of them in this 3rd and final clip from our morning show gig last week and I lay the exact workout for you right underneath it.

 
Wiggle and Jiggle Buster (warm up for 5-7 minutes before)

Quick Feet moving in and out – Tip: keep your feet close to the ground; it’s not a huge lift. You’re really only lifting your heels. Take fast tiny steps out nice and wide past your shoulders and all the way narrow. Keep your knees slightly bent the whole time. You should get your heart rate up and feel a burn in your hips and thighs! -20 seconds

Speed Skaters –30 seconds –Tip: Exaggerate your arm movements. We want to use as many muscles as possible and burn lots of calories.

Single leg deadlift –10 reps on each leg (this is the recovery move. You can also swap it out for a move that targets your personal trouble spot)

Do entire circuit 5 times.

Ok so now for an awesome workout combine all three workouts from the last 2 blog posts and this one into one calorie burning, juggle busting, booty shaping, sexy arms, flat abs workout in about 30 minutes.

Have fun!

Making Time to Exercise

The number one reason why people don’t exercise is that they don’t have time.

At least that’s what they tell themselves.

I know we are all busy. Between getting to and from work, balancing responsibilities and having time for yourself, there’s little left over for workouts.Crazy schedule? Use your time wisely at Booty Boot Camp.

It’s so easy to say “Things are just really crazy right now. As soon as I finish “(insert current time eater), I’ll get back to working out.” Well you and I both know that every season, every month and every week has its own set of time grabbers. Be it graduation time, kids getting out of school, summer vacation and activities, kids going back to school, final exams, project deadlines, holidays, really the list goes on and on and on and on.

Let me just put it plainly, it’s not gonna get any easier. Life is not gonna magically slow down and give you an extra 45 minutes a day just so you can work out.

You have to decide whether getting in shape, losing stubborn fat and looking and feeling your absolute best WHILE you go through life’s hectic pace is more important to you than holding on to your excuses for why you don’t have time to work out.

Last week I talked about the importance of creating a vivid, so-real-you-can-touch-it image of you in your goal body. I hope you took the time to create this new you. It is so very important and I’ll be referencing it often.

Now, take that vivid image of the new you, hold it tightly in mind and use these tips to get off your putudy and get to getting, honey.

[Read more…]

This pep talk is for you (Monday motivation)

 

It’s Monday, time to get the week started off and maybe time for you to start another attempt at eating better and exercising.

I’ve often wished that I could give each and every one of you a personalized pep talk to get you up off the couch and into a regular exercise program day after day because the number one reason that most people are out-of-shape or have some extra belly fat is that they don’t exercise enough.

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So here’s my pep talk in bullet form – 21 rewards that you will gain from regular exercise.
Do yourself a favor and print this list and post it where you’ll see it every day. When you need motivation or encouragement simply read over this list and feel your motivation soar.

[Read more…]

The Top 5 Reasons People Fail

Recently I was at a business mastermind in Las Vegas and we got into a discussion about why people fail. The discussion was geared toward business and we ended up with a list of 10 reasons people fail. As we were creating the list, it really struck me how many of the reasons applied to all areas of our life, even weight loss and fitness.

Here are the top 5 from our list that I believe apply to fitness: [Read more…]

The 5 Biggest Obstacles for Busy Moms

 

I have had the pleasure of personally working with hundreds of busy moms over the course of my fitness career.

WORKOUT? There’s no time! I can’t even go to the bathroom!

I love working with mothers. They are the most selfless clients I have ever worked with, almost to a fault. Honestly, I wish they would just be a little more selfish sometimes because if they aren’t healthy, then their entire family will go downhill. Plus, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to look and feel better.

Many good mothers have a hard time when it comes to their fitness. In general, they tend to think that it’s okay to put all of their personal goals and desires aside as if they’re merely dust to be swept off the floor for the good of their friends and family. But in reality, moms are not as effective as they could be when deviating from a healthy lifestyle.

After all, a mom who doesn’t work out will not have the energy to keep her engine pumping 24/7.

Multi-Task Much?

In retrospect, I have identified the 5 anchors that hold most moms back from getting the sexier body they’ve dreamed about. Here they are, in no particular order:

Obstacle#1
– Too Many Missed Meals- Especially Breakfast!

Many moms work twenty four hours straight – dealing with the stresses of parenting and/or challenging careers. Mornings can be especially
difficult since most moms have to make breakfast for their children and husbands, drive their children to school, and even go to work themselves.

Set that alarm 5 minutes earlier and make it a point NEVER to miss breakfast!

So missing breakfast becomes a reality, often leading to a host of other missed meals and snacks throughout the day. This leads to depriving
yourself of a lean, toned body while also priming your body to overeat junk food later in the day, and storing ugly, unwanted fat, especially around your hips and midsection. Furthermore, this starvation protocol creates low levels of blood sugar which zaps your energy and leaves you feeling awfully sluggish the entire day.

Look- there’s always room for breakfast, you just need to make the time! Better yet, plan ahead. Prepare a breakfast high in lean protein and fiber, so you stay right on course.

One solution that’s worked really well for our clients is called PROGRADE LEAN   It’s a tasty, nutritious, meal replacement shake that contains a whopping 35 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber. What’s the best part about it? There’s NO room for excuses! All you need to do is put 2 scoops in water, mix, and enjoy. The Ultimate way for you to get all you need, for the busy mom who needs a good meal.

For more info, please click the link below:

www.fbbcnutrition.com

Obstacle#2 – Failing To Make The Daily Workout Appointment

This one is simple, yet oh so powerful. Think about it- moms never miss an appointment for their kids. Why? It’s because they love them, and
stick to their appointments to keep their kids healthy.

Schedule your workouts and stick to them like they are a family obligation!

What would happen to your kids, if something went wrong with you? Do you really love your kids? If you did, then you’d also want to be religious about keep your appointments, especially the fitness ones. You’ll be just as religious with your appointments as with theirs because if you’re not healthy, in the long run you can’t keep them healthy either.

Scheduling is also important. You might like to workout in the afternoon, but with a very busy schedule, you’ll probably need to work out in the morning just like I do. This way the stresses of life do not get to you.

In my experience, most Moms work best when doing their workouts either first thing in the morning while the kids are still sleeping, or right after they drop their kids off at school. It seems that too many unexpected obstacles get in the way of an afternoon or evening workout for the typical mother. But, regardless of when the best time may be, just schedule it in and stick to it like it’s a family commitment!

Obstacle#3 – Too Much Mindless Snacking In The Kitchen During The Day

I can’t tell you how many times I have had a Mom who has “been following the nutrition plan” with limited success to later find out there were
some extra eats and treats in the mix. You know, I know what you’re talking about. It wasn’t that they were being dishonest about it- rather most people don’t count every snack, candy, or “piece” of food they eat (even if the piece ends up being an entire meal).

Think about it – how many people do you see randomly snacking? Now imagine how many times you have popped something in your mouth and haven’t logged it in and now you can see what’s going on. Right?

Many moms spend LOTS of time in the kitchen around tasty food all day- and they eat a lot more of it than they realize!

I know, I know- you have to sample the goods to know if it’s good. But, you need to understand that the occasional taste test can sabotage your fat loss goals.

Furthermore, moms get into trouble with the multiple snacks their children have, and of course it’s tough to pass on food when it’s always in your face. A couple goldfish here, a couple goldfish there, and before you know it you’ve just killed the entire bag of wonderful fishes sure to fatten your waistline.
My advice is to guard your mouth with lock and key. Ask yourself every time you bring something close to your lips the following question: “Will this help me burn fat and build muscle?”

If NO – then throw it away or leave it be, it just ain’t good for ya!

Obstacle#4 – Too Much Cardio While Pushing a Stroller

You need more time, since that’s not possible, then let’s make the way you use your time as efficient as possible. Interval training burns 9x more body fat than long and slow cardio for 45 minutes of your day. Aerobic training burns calories, but doesn’t increase your metabolism and burn fat as efficiently as interval training does. Also, the true power of interval training comes from the intensity of each work period.

Don’t get me wrong, moms should be active and it’s great to be outside and move with your kids. However, I wouldn’t want to see a bunch of moms hurling their child in their stroller, while the mom is trying to do a bunch of sprints. So hopefully you sacrifice some time for yourself, so you can run hard, and speed up your metabolism to burn all the fat you could ever imagine.

Honestly, how much intensity can your cardio workouts have when you are pushing a stroller?

Obstacle#5 – Too Many Glasses Of Wine In The Evening

Nobody wants to hear that a glass or two of wine at night is going to stop your fitness goals in its tracks. But alcohol is oh so bittersweet. It paralyzes the fat-burning process while at the same time creating fat within the body. Plus alcohol tends to lower inhibitions, meaning you don’t care about eating all that scrumptious junk food. Not good!

A couple glasses of wine per day is a your one-way ticket to cellulite city… sorry!

So I say “zip it” to all of those health experts who say: “consuming several glasses of wine a day is healthy because it has anti-oxidants and that keeps you from getting sick.” This is just a bunch of cheap talk from drunk doctors who are trying to convince themselves that it’s okay to drink regularly and keeps you healthy – it’s not by the way.

Fruit and veggies have more health and nutrition than all of the wine in the world, so we just need to cut the BS that wine is an integral part of a healthy diet and you need to start eating what really will get you to cut your waistline. Don’t forget, there’s always grapes.

Now, I want to be sensitive to those busy, hard-working moms who have a glass of wine at the end of the day to unwind and take some of the
load off of their shoulders, because I get that. But I also know there are easy ways to de-stress that don’t have such a negative effect on the way you look. Such activities are stretching, yoga, taking a bath, reading a book, etc.

So please remember – if you booze, you WON’T lose! (Fat that is!)

Top Two Exercise And Diet Tips To Shred The Weight Off

 

TOP 2 EXERCISE TIPS:

Nothing Beats the Power of Whole Body Workouts, Making Your Body The Terminator of Fat:
This means doing a Five-Exercise Circuit focused on your upper and lower body and everything in between. Do this at least three times per week with a day of rest between workouts and you’ll be wondering when you’ll be starring in the next 300 movie.

Here’s the plan: We’ll call this the 50-10 Split. For 50 seconds, I want you to work as hard as possible, busting your butt off each set. For the first set, you’ll have your double-leg exercise (the squat); the second set, you’ll have your pull (the renegade row), for the third set you’ll have your single-leg exercise (the lunge); for the fourth set, you’ll have your push (push-up) and for the final set you’ll have your core (the Plank).

The 50-10 Split

50 seconds of Squats

10 seconds of Rest

50 seconds of Renegade Rows

10 seconds of Rest

50 seconds of Lunges

10 seconds of Rest

50 seconds of Push-ups

10 seconds of Rest

Lastly, 50 seconds of Plank

Rest for 10 seconds

Repeat 4x, starting back at Squats

Perform up to 4 rounds without rest in between for a killer 20-minute total body workout, leaving you drenched in sweat and shedding away your gut, leaving you looking like a Greek statue.

Intervals, Did Someone Say You Look Like Your 20?:
Want to burn 9 times more body fat than running on a treadmill for 45 minutes and keep it burning for 48 more hours afterwards? Spend 20 minutes doing Intervals and not only will your heart be thanking you in the future, but so too will your body when the weight starts dropping like flies.

Here’s the plan for intervals:

Preparatory Period for those who like Running: On the first week, 3x a week, I want you to be able to work up to jogging at least one fourth a mile. I don’t care how long it takes, as long as you can do the entire ¼ mile without resting. The next week, I want you to do the same thing, except work up to half a mile. On
the third week, I want you to put all your effort into running a full mile. This gives your body a good-prep period before you start the hard work to help avoid shin splints and all the other nasty injuries that’ll keep you from
losing weight.

If you choose to do something else besides jogging, say rowing. Keep the plan the same way, just substitute jogging for rowing.

Preparatory Period for those who like Jump Roping: Oh, and if you wanted to do jumping roping. Here’s a separate plan. On the first week, 3x a week, work up to jump roping for 10 straight minutes. Make sure your arms aren’t flailing, and only your wrist is spinning the jump rope. The next week, jump rope for a total of 20 minutes. On the third week, make it all out effort of 30 minutes. Just like the jogging program, this will give you the prep period and endurance to make sure you really give intervals your all.

The real fun begins after those three weeks. On your non-exercise days, the full body workouts I gave you earlier, do some cardio intervals three times per week.

Here’s how they work:

Select a cardio exercise of your choice. The top choices are running, rowing (if you gym has one), or jump roping (a prerequisite is being able to jump rope for 30 minutes). Now, this 20-10 split is simply 20 seconds
of INTENSE work, following by ten seconds of active rest. Now, repeat eight times, for four minutes total. Active rest for one minute, and repeat the entire thing for up to 20 minutes

If you want to do this at home, do it with jumping jacks, jump squats, or burpees. Use the preparatory period, I wrote for jumping rope for any of these exercises, and you’ll be a lean, mean, fat-burning machine in no time.

TOP 2 DIET TIPS

You thought you could get away from Eating, just because you’re late for work:
Eat Breakfast when you wake up. Don’t avoid it please. You need to eat every two to four hours to help starve the fat and feed your protein grubby muscle. By constantly feeding the worker bee (your muscle and stomach), they will constantly be revved up through the day, making sure that you don’t eat a hearty meal that will knock you out for the rest of the day – food coma anybody? Enjoy those meals with animal protein (meat, eggs, cheese, milk, etc.) and your body will thank you.


The Broom of your body, Eat it with Carbs and Watch Your Body Melt Before Your Eyes – Just the bad stuff of course:
Fiber is your friend, eat lots of green veggies to fill your bell during and between meals. To keep your fat-burning furnace running like a berserk boar, eat simple carbs like fruit, rice, and white bread to within 1-2 of your workout when your body best uses starches and sugars.

Eat an unlimited amount of fibrous, cruciferous green veggies to fill your belly both during and between meals. For optimal fat-burning, try to limit fruit and other carbohydrate consumption to within 1-2 hours post-workout when your body best tolerates starches and sugars.

With these 2 training and nutrition rules, it’ll look like you’ve found the fountain of youth. Your body will transform faster than any of the robots in Transformers and no doubt you’ll be proud of all that you’ve
accomplished, guaranteed.

Stay focused,

Sarai Jones

PS- Please forward this blog post to anybody that you know
who can benefit from it!