Sugar Addict Rehab

October 25, 2008 By

 

Do you feel like you are constantly craving sweets?

At this time of year especially when sweet treats are everywhere it can seem like you are always waiting for the next hit of sugar.

There isn’t a single cure-all to this problem, but in general, the less sweets you eat, the less you’ll crave them.

Here are a couple of quick tips to help get you there:

· Try to find a substitute– Are you craving a quick afternoon pick-me up? It might be helpful to have something else there and ready to fight off those cravings. Try to stick with things that are naturally sweet instead of those with added sugars.

· Wait out the craving– most cravings will only last a few minutes. Try to keep yourself busy with something else for about 10 minutes. Most likely you’ll forget all about the candy at the front desk.

· Practice delayed gratification– Instead of telling your self you can never have that treat you are craving, tell yourself you can have it in a few hours, every time your time comes up, try to push it out another few hours or even to the next day. Several years ago I delayed myself all the way to a big weight loss. Every time you achieve a goal give yourself a small reward. If you are going by the hours give yourself .50 cents. If you are going to wait a day or two, give yourself a $1 each day. At the end of the month take the cash and treat yourself to a non-food reward.

· Don’t set your self up to fail- If you know the vending machine calls to you daily, don’t keep singles or change around. Pay at the pump for your gas and avoid going inside where you will be tempted by all the unhealthy treats and never ever go shopping hungry. You’ll spend way too much money and you’ll end up with a few irresistible treats in your home.

I know it may seem impossible to do, but you can conquer your sugar habit, but you will need to give it time and real effort.

Once you do you’ll probably lose weight and feel more energetic too.

I’m always here to help

Sarai Jones

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

Is Your Baby Belly Killing You?

October 24, 2008 By

 

If you have been reading my blog for a while you know that I offer fat loss and exercise tips to help you look and feel your best.

But you know, I never want you to forget that this is about more than just getting a awesome booty.

If you are carrying around excess fat, you could be putting your health and life at risk. Especially if a lot of that excess fat is around your waistline.

Medical professional now tell us that the size of your waist is a very valid predictor of your risk of heart disease.

I have a quick test I want you to do to see if you need to be putting a little more into your fat loss efforts.

Take your height in inches -example a 5′ 4" lady is 64"

Measure your waist around your belly button (not the smallest part), with a tape measure.

If your waist size is more than half of your height, then you may be at risk for heart disease.

So for example, our 64" lady should have a waist circumference of no more than 32".

Anything higher and she could be at a higher risk of heart disease.

Now you take a moment and do this on yourself…….

What do you come up with?

If your results are a little scary for you it’s time to take action. If you came out ok, try to keep it that way.

Either way you’ll need to take action.

I have a few suggestions for you.

Let me know how I can help you.

Sarai D. Jones

Filed Under: Exercise and Fitness, Fat loss Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The Secret To Weight Loss Success

October 23, 2008 By

 

How many of you own 4 or more weight loss or exercise books?

Who has 5, 6 or more?

Why do you have so many?

Are you looking for the one ultimate nutrition strategy or exercise program that is going to really help you do it this time?

So here’s the part where you probably expect me to tell you that I’ve got it. That my Booty Bootcamp program is the magic bullet you’ve been looking for.

I’m not going to do that today.

Sure, I do think my workout and nutrition system is one of the best out there, but do you want to know the real reason most people fail at their weight loss attempts?

The list could actually take up a months worth of blog post but let me tell you just a couple:

1. They are looking for a short-term quick-fix solution – They go into it thinking about losing 10lbs asap so they can go to their class reunion looking better. They are not focused on making PERMANENT changes to their lifestyle that will not only help them reach their goal now, but will keep the unwanted fat from returning.

2. (And I think this is the biggest culprit) Lack of consistency – Here is the complete honest truth, almost any weight loss and exercise program will give you some measure of results. Yes the better the program, the better and quicker the results. But for all intents and purposes if you pick a plan and then stick to it day in and day out. Giving it 100% effort, you will get some results.

The problem most women have however is that they will do good for a few days, even a few weeks and then life happens and they allow themselves to become distracted from their weight loss goals.

One of the most compelling reasons I can give you to seek the help of a fitness professional is the accountability a good fitness professional will hold you to.

The ladies in my Booty bootcamp program know that when they don’t show up I call, text or email them to check on them and give them that little tap on the conscious that they may need to stay focused. If they start to miss too often, I call them on it and help them re-focus.

Sure maybe it’s cheaper to get a book, read a magazine or check a website out for weight loss tips, but is it really cheaper if you don’t actually use it?

If you are in the Sacramento or Livermore Ca areas and you’d like some help with that, get in touch with me.

I’m always here to help

Sarai D. Jones

Filed Under: Exercise and Fitness, Fat loss Tagged With: , , , ,

It’s Just a Number

October 16, 2008 By

 

As women we tend to spend so much time worrying about getting the number on the scale to drop that it’s easy to get discouraged when your weight loss slows for a time.

Many times we get down on ourselves simply because something as trivial as a number tells us we’re out of shape. Some women look and feel fantastic in every respect, but if the number on the scale doesn’t match expectations, they’re miserable and may even give up on their program.

That doesn’t make sense.

While the scale can be good for giving you a general idea of your health, the numbers on the scale can be the most discouraging and frustrating part of a fat loss program.

Your weight fluctuates constantly every day and you may not even know or understand why. Some of the most common are:

  • Time of day
  • temperature
  • the day’s activities
  • water level

all can skew the numbers one way or the other. In reality, you could be getting discouraged over something that’s not really accurate

Also remember when you workout hard and eat right your body gains muscle while losing fat -this isn’t shown by the number on the scale.

It’s shown by:

  • inches lost
  • in the way your clothes fit better than ever
  • performance -how much more fit you are now than at the start
  • in how you look and feel amazing
  • all the compliments you receive!

Stay focused on the important things; being healthier and feeling amazing. The rest will fall into place. Promise.

I’m here for you

Sarai Jones

Filed Under: Exercise and Fitness, Fat loss Tagged With: , , , , ,

Emotion Creates Motion

October 5, 2008 By

 

Can you remember a time when you felt completely discouraged with your body?

It’s easy to beat yourself up when the body that you have is miles from the one you want.

When negative emotions flood over you resist the urge to get down on yourself, rather turn the tides in your favor.

You may have heard the expression ’emotion creates motion’.

This is a very powerful tool. Channel your dissatisfaction with your body into ‘motion’. Take control of your body and put a plan into action.

Need help taking the next step?

email me today!

I’m here to help.

Sarai Jones

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

Delicious Dinner Idea

October 4, 2008 By

 

You can never have too many ideas for a healthy meal.

Check this one out.

Enjoy!

Curried Chicken and Veggies

This chicken and veggie dish is light and delicious. Yogurt and curry flavors blend for an enjoyable new chicken experience. Enjoy it as a tasty lunch or a protein packed dinner.
Servings: 2

Here’s what you need…

  • 5 oz boneless raw chicken breast, diced
  • 1/4 cup chicken broth
  • 4 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 5 cups raw mushrooms, sliced
  • 4 teaspoons olive oil
  • 2 cups red bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 cups China peas
  • 1 cup plain lowfat yogurt
  • 2 teaspoons curry powder
  1. Put 2 teaspoons olive oil and the diced chicken in a non-stick pan. Cook chicken until browned, then add chicken broth, yogurt, curry powder and cornstarch, stir constantly. Heat until thick sauce forms, then simmer for 5 minutes.
  2. While chicken is cooking put 2 teaspoons olive oil, mushrooms, bell peppers, and china peas in another non-stick pan. Cook until the vegetables are tender.
  3. Place an equal amount of vegetable on 2 plates and top with equal amounts of chicken.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 373 calories, 13g fat, 35g carbohydrate, 7g fiber, and 32g protein.


Check out my website for more great recipes

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

Small changes make a big difference

October 1, 2008 By

 

How many times have you told yourself that you need to lose weight?

I’m not talking about a couple pounds either – I’m talking about 20 or more pounds of extra fat that you’d like to see disappear.

Maybe you are even considering signing up for personal training in the Livermore or Elk Grove area.

I’ve come to notice a trend. Most people psyche themselves out before they ever start losing the weight. It’s as if the enormity of their goal simply puts them into shut down mode, and they give up on the idea entirely.

Has this ever happened to you? You try out a diet or exercise plan for a week or so, and then you get frustrated when your body looks the same as before. So you give up.

Weight loss isn’t a speedy thing. It takes time to gain weight – many people put on weight for years and then expect to lose it in a few weeks or months. It doesn’t work that way.

So instead of pressuring yourself into losing 50 pounds in two months, how about sticking with a realistic, proven way for long term weight loss: Small changes to your lifestyle over time will make the difference.

In practical terms, make it your goal to drop one pound a week.

Now, this may not seem like that much, but if you did this consistently for one year it would result in 50 lbs lost. All it takes are small changes in your daily lifestyle. Let’s break the process down…

How to shed a pound a week: Burn 3500 extra calories.

It really is that simple. Try the following three steps:

  1. Record your normal weekly exercise – look at everything from walking to participating in sports to exercising in the gym. This is your starting point. You need to burn an additional 3500 calories on top of your normal weekly exercise. If you don’t currently exercise, then this step is really easy for you, a simple blank page will do.
  2. Record your normal weekly food intake – this may be hard to do honestly, but remember that you are only cheating yourself by not recording everything. Calculate the total number of calories that you eat in an average day. In your quest for dropping inches you shouldn’t exceed your normal daily caloric intake – you should, rather, work at slowly decreasing that number. Remember, we are going for a 3500 calorie deficit each week – this can be done by a combination of increased calorie exertion (exercise) as well as a decrease in calories consumed (eating less).
  3. Chart the difference – now that you know your starting point for both calorie exertion and calorie intake it is time to turn the tables in your favor. Take every opportunity to exert more calories by increasing your physical activity, and to decrease your calorie consumption by eating fewer calories and by making healthier selections. Record your progress in a notebook and refer back to it often. You will be surprised how encouraging it is to see your progress written down on paper.

Remember, if you burn up 500 calories a day you will drop a pound in a week.

Here are some practical ways to lose calories:

If you normally…
Do this instead…

Drink regular soda pop
Drink water or diet soda pop (160 calories lost)

Eat a snack from a vending machine
Enjoy an apple (180 calories lost)

Hit the snooze button in the AM
Jog for 30 minutes before work (150 calories lost)

Skip your workout
See me for an invigorating workout (changes your life!)

Weight loss doesn’t have to be allusive. Make small changes each and every day toward a healthier, fitter you. Remember that small changes make a big difference.

I’m always here to help –

Sarai Jones
email me today!

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

The Starbucks Diet

September 23, 2008 By

 

So my post on http://twitter.com/BootyBootCamp (if you’re not following me, please do) where I mentioned drinking a Starbucks Vivanno caught a lot of attention from my Booty Boot Camp girls.

You wanted to know if it was “ok” to drink when you are on the go without sabotaging your fat loss efforts. I was pretty sure I had remembered the nutritional facts correctly but I wanted to double check so here it is.

It turns out that the between the two flavors; Chocolate-Banana and the orange-mango-banana, the chocolate-banana Vivanno is the better choice (which makes me happy because I think it tastes the best). Even though it has 20 more calories (270 compared to 250) and a little more fat (5g vs 2g), it also has a less carbs, less sugar and more protein, so overall this is my pick.

They both have 6g of fiber (about 25% of your recommended intake) which explains why they keep you full for a long time.

You can also add a shot of espresso to the chocolate-banana or a shot of matcha to the orange-mango-banana but beware, while the espresso does not do much to the nutritional value of the chocolate-banana (it brings everything down a gram or two) the matcha sends the orange-mango-banana into the unsuitable category. The one shot adds 40 calories, 10g carbs and 10g of sugar.

So while I would rather have you drinking a vivanno instead of eating a starch loaded sub-way sandwich with very little protein or some greasy fast food option, I still want you to be aware of the fact that these
drinks do contain a higher amount of sugar than you want to take in on a normal everyday basis. Most of this is due to the fruit content but if you are trying to reduce the fat on your body, keeping your blood sugar stable is key, and too many sugar loaded meals can keep you spiking and crashing for hours thus slowing down your fat burning process.

A couple of tips to bring down the calories and sugar even more would be to substitute non-fat milk
for the regular 2% and ask for 1 or 2 less pumps of the bittersweet cocoa used in it.

My best tip: Be prepared. I would say 9 times out of 10 you know if you are going to be working late or on the road for more than an hour or two. Pack your little cooler with a healthy high fiber, low sugar, protein
packed meal that you can eat on the go and save the vivannos for a treat. I’ll take my own advice and lay of the starbucks. 🙂

Sarai Jones

www.getfitwithsarai.com

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

Got Muscle Confusion?

September 19, 2008 By

 

A question that I am often asked by frustrated women is "Why have my results stopped? I’m doing the same routine as before – what happened?"

This is a common place to end up, usually a few months after starting a new exercise routine. At first your body responds to your routine in lost pounds and gained muscle tone, then one day your results screech to a stop.

What happened?
And, more importantly, what can you do about it?

You may have heard the saying, "When you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best idea is to
get off." This is the perfect analogy for your stale workout routine.

  • The problem: Your body has adapted to your routine. Let’s face it, when you
    can do your workout routine in your sleep it’s time for something new.
  • The Solution: It’s time to shake things up, and to apply the concept of
    muscle confusion.

Muscle confusion means that you keep your body guessing by changing your routine. The following are great ways to do just that:

  1. Exercises: When you know that your routine has lost its
    effectiveness the first obvious thing to change are the actual exercises. It is
    important to include every major muscle group in your routine, so be sure to
    exchange each exercise for one that works the same muscle group.
  2. Resistance: Do you find yourself always reaching for the
    same dumbbells or medicine ball? Change your weight as well as the number of
    repetitions you do. If you normally do 15-20 repetitions then increase the
    weight and do 12-15. The key is to challenge your muscles in a new way. If you
    are doing reps for time, try to go longer during each set without stopping.
  3. Equipment: There are so many different pieces of exercise
    equipment out there—don’t limit your routine to just one type. If you love
    working with dumbbells but your routine has fallen flat, put them aside and try
    something new. A little creativity can really jump start your progress.
  4. Style: So often the training style that we are first taught
    sticks with us forever. For you this may be the style of doing one set, taking a
    rest period, and then doing another set. Or maybe you have caught on to the
    circuit training style that keeps your heart rate elevated throughout the
    routine. Whatever your chosen style, be sure to change it once your routine
    ceases to produce results.

Now, don’t worry, this doesn’t mean that you need a brand new workout every day of the week. In fact, your body will take some time to adjust to each new workout, so it should be done for the appropriate amount of time before results start to slack off.

What is that ‘sweet spot’ of time that each new routine should be used before moving on to the next? Well, the answer to that question is as unique as each person reading this.

For some this will mean a new routine every 3 weeks, and for others it will mean a new routine every 8 weeks. Typically the fitter you are the quicker your body will adapt to each new routine.

Muscle confusion plays a big part of the programs that I provide for my clients both in Booty Boot Camp as well as in my personal training programs and it’s one of the little secrets I use to deliver fast
results.

Want to know more?

Contact me today to get started on your own program aimed at weight loss success. sarai@getfitwithsarai.com

Sarai Jones

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

When Only 30lbs In 30 Days Will Do

September 5, 2008 By

 

Ok, I’ll admit, all women are a little preoccupied with their weight. But I recently met with someone about my personal training services that I would say fell into the category of obsessed with weight loss. Not just any weight loss, FAST weight loss.

She listed to me every fad diet and gimmick under the sun that she had tried to lose weight including some
pretty dangerous prescription diet drugs.

This person bluntly told me that the whole 1-2lbs a week thing didn’t cut it for her. She was only interested in super fast weight loss.
She wanted to see 4-5lbs a week come off every single week. That was the only way she was going to stay interested.

Of course I told her about the difference in scale weight and body fat and how slower safe weight loss would result in long term results that she could maintain for life.

Not interested.

I told her that in just 3 months she could get to her goal and learn the habits along the way that would keep her there.

Not sexy enough.

I told her that if she did not decide to finally do things the right way 90 days would roll around and she would be right where she was now.

Yeah, ok, but can I lose 30 lbs in about 4 weeks with you?

I left that appointment shaking my head, wondering why someone would be so stuck on doing things in a way that she had proven to herself time and time again would not work.

Have you ever heard of self-sabotage?

One way women often do this when it comes to fitness and fat loss is by setting unrealistic expectations of what they can do or what they should expect.

For example: Trying to lose 30lbs in 30 days, trying to exercise 7 days a week from day one. Expecting to be able to keep up with other women who have been exercising for months or years. Feeling like if they haven’t eaten perfectly all day the day is a total loss.

If you read my blog post from a few days ago where I talked about “trying” to do something, you now realize that “trying” is nothing more than giving yourself a way out.

Well the same is true of unrealistic expectations.

Trying to be perfect and then failing because you are not is a vicious cycle you will be bound to repeat for your entire life.

When you set the bar so impossibly high for yourself that you can’t help but fail, you are doing nothing more than giving yourself a way out.

I know I ask this a lot but……aren’t you tired of that yet?

If you want a step-by-step nutrition program and a tough, enjoyable, effective fitness plan that will get you to your goal as quickly and safely as possible, come talk to me.

http://www.getfitwithsarai.com/boot-camps-for-women.html

Sarai Jones

Filed Under: Fat loss, Mental Health, Nutrition Tagged With: , , , , ,
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