How To Slim Down With Jillian Michaels’ New Diet

It is interesting how if you’re from one part of the world – the USA – you would treat the question ‘who is Jillian Michaels?’ with a strange look, because she is a very well-known and familiar face. However, for other parts of the world the name Jillian Michaels does not necessarily strike the same chord. She is not a household name outside of her native America. But why is she so well known in the States, but not really famous outside of it? If we are going to answer that question we need to learn who she is and what she is all about.

 

Michaels is actually most famous as being a trainer on America’s version of The Biggest Loser, a reality TV show about obese people attempting to lose weight. But she is actually now more broadly known as a television personality, a fitness guru, a talk show host, an entrepreneur and a motivational speaker. She has released best-selling books and a number of fitness and workout DVDs that have been extremely popular. Her website is also known to be the fourth most visited health website in the world – pretty impressive stats given how much competition there is in this sort of area.

 

The truth behind her success is that she is a very friendly and genuine person who makes time for her fans and has real warmth when she talks – but she also knows how to say it like it is and not pull any of her punches when it comes to the reality of someone’s diet.  Of course, what people really love about her is that her weight loss plans actually do the job that they are supposed to. Unlike so many fad diets and fake systems the offer the impossible, Michaels’ plans can actually help people to slim down and achieve the body they have always dreamed of.

 

She started off her career as a fitness trainer, but then decided to move career into the entertainment industry, hoping to move to Hollywood and become an agent. Unfortunately, things did not work out for her and upon her return she was not too sure whether it was a good idea to go back into the role of a fitness trainer.

 

“I thought of training as going backwards in the world. But I opened myself up to the opportunities that came my way, and I pursued them with passion and intensity,” she said. In 2002, aged 28 she opened her first gym, named Sky Sport & Spa. But it wasn’t until 2005 that she got her big break when she was asked to become a coach on the TV show The Biggest Loser. She ended up coaching the winner of the show, who managed to lose 122 pounds (more than a third of his body weight).

 

So how does Jillian’s diet stack up against the one that she preaches on the TV? Does she push herself with the same brand of tough love that she does with her clients and the people on her TV shows?

 

“Absolutely!’ she says, ‘everybody has capabilities and potential that goes unrecognised, and I believe we have one obligation on this planet – and that is to be our best, happiest self”. But she also admits that she isn’t someone who loves to go the gym – in fact she has to really push herself to keep doing the exercise that has been able to keep her so slim and given her this job and lifestyle and a fitness guru. She maintains a healthy diet, cutting out foods packed with chemicals, but she allows herself the odd treat, including chocolate.

Categories: diet, fitness, fitness guru, Fitness Trainer, Jillian Michaels, michaels, nbsp, people, Slim

Lose Weight With The Dancing With The Stars Workout

Many people love to watch reality TV shows that see people dancing. One of the world’s most popular is Dancing With The Stars, which sees celebrities competing in a dancing competition to see who can jive their way to victory. For some reason people really love to watch famous people attempting to learn dance moves and perform them in front of a live audience, even if they aren’t particularly good. While many people are bemused by the popularity of the show, there can be no doubt that these sorts of dancing shows have re-popularised dancing to a very strong extent and more people than ever are taking up dancing classes or using dancing as part of their weekly workout regime.

 

If you are someone who thinks that dancing would be a great way to stay in shape, we’ve got a fantastic exercise regime for you. It’s the perfect way to get your body moving and make the calories slip away while doing something that you genuinely enjoy. And what’s more, it comes direct from Cheryl Burke, one of the dancing pros on Dancing With The Stars. But before you get started on the workout itself, it is important to get in the right state for it, both physically and mentally. Indeed, most of us are not naturally flexible – and that even goes for Cheryl.

 

“I am not one of those girls who can just land in a split – I need to warm up to be flexible,” she says. And it’s very likely that it is the same for you. So she recommends going through a warm-up routine before you try to do any of the demanding dance move that the routine asks of you. So spend eight minutes stretching and getting your body ready for the workout – it may seem like a waste of valuable time but you will definitely reap the benefits in the end of being able to perform the dance moves with far more agility and skill.

 

First off you should start with the ABC leg raise. To perform this move you should stand up straight, then extend your right leg with your toes pointed, then use your foot to ‘write’ the first three letters of the alphabet in lower case. Take a 30-second rest and then repeat the motion except writing the letters as upper case instead. You should then repeat the whole process with your left leg. The follow this move with other stretches including your thighs, groin and quads.

 

So now let’s get down to business with some dance moves to get you into it. One of the most popular dance routines is salsa. This is an energetic routine that burns off loads of calories while also being a lot of fun to perform. “The salsa is based on 3 counts, making it one of the easiest dances to learn,” Burke says. You should perform the salsa routine four times a week for 30 minutes each.

 

To learn a salsa routine it is strongly recommended that you visit a professional dance class in order to be shown the moves and how to perform them correctly. If you attempt to do them without really knowing them properly you risk injuring yourself and causing more harm than good in your attempt to lose weight. Once you know the routine you can really get into it and improve on it over time. As with most things, the more effort you put in, the more you will get out of it and not only will you know how to perform the dance impressively, you’ll also burn off more calories every time you do it.

Categories: dance, dance moves, Dancing, Dancing With The Stars, Lose weight, people, perform, Routine, salsa routine, Slim

The Best Ways To Get Your Stomach In Shape

What do you think is the most common thing people want to improve about their body? Many people will love to have better hair or longer legs or stronger arms. But probably for most people asked, the answer would be that they would love to have a flat stomach. There is just something about the toned abdomen that is so visually appealing to people. They would love to have a stomach that does straight down instead of curving into a bump. So given that this is something that almost everyone would love to have, why do so many people fail in their attempts to achieve it?

 

Well, part of the problem is the way in which human beings store fat. We all need fat to survive, but the moment that we get any excess, in accumulates around our mid-section first. This means that the first place to suffer if you’ve ingested more fat than you should have is your stomach. That means it can be very difficult to get a flat stomach in the first place, but even harder to try to maintain it. But that does not mean that all is lost and that there is no way for you to achieve that flat stomach that you’re looking for. It just means to you need to know the right tips and tricks if you are going to succeed.

 

Interestingly, it is also true that having a flat stomach is good for you in more ways that just it means you’ll look the way that you want to. Indeed a recent study has shown that focussing on yours abs and stomach can help to reduce your risk of cancer, diabetes and heart disease. So clearly even if you don’t want a flat stomach for the cosmetic reasons, it really is something you should do for the good of your health.

 

So with that in mind we’ve come up with some great tips to help you avoid stomach fat and stay slim around your midriff. The number one on our list is that you should avoid drinking beer. We’ve all heard of the phrase ‘beer belly’ and it’s more than just a stupid cliché. Beer is surprisingly heavy on the calorie side of things and drinking lots of beer is simply empty calories that you’ll never use because you’re sitting in a pub, a bar or just at home. So definitely avoid beer if you want to slim down.

 

The second tip on our list is that you should start eating more blueberries. Blueberries are a superfood that is full of a fantastic range of vitamins and minerals perfect for keeping you feeling full for as long as possible. These will stop you from gaining because you will be getting so many of the vital vitamins and minerals you need from them.

 

Unsurprisingly we would also recommend that you do more crunches if you wish to strength your stomach muscles. When it comes to improving your abs there really is nothing better to do that the simple crunch. So you should start doing them and you will soon see some impressive moves forward in your dream of a toned stomach.

 

Finally, we would recommend eating more eggs. Eggs are a great source of protein but that have very little fat in them, so in this sense that are very good for you because they keep you filled up for longer without making you put on any weight and thus increasing the level of fat that begins to build up around your midriff.

Categories: beer, blueberries, flat, Flat Stomach, nbsp, people, Slim, stomacb, stomach

Ultimate Five Tips For Women To Stay Slim

Some women seem to be able to stay slim without trying while for others it is a very difficult thing to attempt to achieve and maintain that perfect weight and figure that they are looking for. Of course this is partly down to genetics, but in the case of many women it comes down to having the right information available in order to make smart decisions and stay slim. However, things can always change and sometimes it is only small changes that you need to make in your lifestyle in order to slim down. With that in mind, here are our top five tips for losing weight and keeping that slim figure that you want.

 

One – Weigh yourself regularly

Regularly weighing yourself is a great way to encourage yourself to lose weight and an important tool in showing your mind that your weight loss is working. If you’re looking for that extra piece of motivation, it’s a great thing to jump on the scales. If you’ve gained weight it shows you it is time to nip your bad habits in the bud and get serious, while when you’ve been dieting it is great positive reinforcement to see that your efforts are working and making a difference to your figure and your weight.

 

Two – Add more protein to your diet

Protein is one of the most important aspects of your diet as it is a great way to fill you up and keep you feeling full up for longer. Protein is also a great source of energy for your body – you need plenty of protein in your body if you want to build muscle or just tone it up. So if you want your sessions at the gym to make a difference it’s worth getting more protein in your life. There are plenty of easy ways to do it with lean meats such as chicken and turkey, or through nuts and legumes.

 

Three – Get your five a day

We all know the importance of getting fruit and vegetables in our diets, but it’s worth restating again that if you want to lose weight, you really do not to ramp up the number of portions of the good stuff that you get every day. Not only are fruits and vegetables low in calories and have virtually no bad fats at all, they are also packed with fibre, vitamins and minerals which are all really important for keeping you healthy. They fill you up and keep you in shape meaning they are the dieter’s dream food.

 

Four – Get more exercise

This might seem like another obvious one, but so many women seem to think that they can lose weight simply through altering their diet. Well, the bad news is that this simply isn’t true. If you want to slim down you’ll need to get into doing more exercise that you have been doing in the past – this will help you burn through the calories and stay slim for good. It is also well known that exercising produces endorphins and make you feel better about yourself so it really is a good idea to do more exercise.

 

Five – Eat out less often

Unfortunately while we all love to eat out in restaurants sometimes, it’s worth remembering that the reason the food tastes so good is because it is so often full of sugar, fat and salt, all of which is very bad for us. If you want to maintain your figure it’s essential you keep eating out to an absolute minimum and eating more often at home instead.

Categories: figure, Lose weight, nbsp, Protein, Slim, stay slim, weight, Women

How to Be Just Like Your “Naturally Skinny” Friends

You’ve got that one friend who can eat like a pig and still say slim – why are you friends with her again?! Sometimes, weight wellness can seem like one giant lottery, in which your friend was given the “skinny genes” while you got lumped with the dumpy DNA. Such thinking can put you off making any effort to diet or take care of your wellbeing at all; what’s the point? Still, is it all a case of luck-of-the-draw, or can you actually learn from your slim friend’s subconscious weight loss habits?

 

According to registered dietician Cynthia Sass, MPH, RD, author of the New York Times best seller is S.A.S.S! Yourself Slim: Conquer Cravings, Drop Pounds and Lose Inches, ‘If there’s one thing I’ve learned in 15+ years of private practice, it’s that weight management is about far more than calories in, calories out. In addition to genetics, there are dozens of patterns that day after day, week after week, influence our shapes and sizes. Many of the habits of seemingly “naturally slim” people aren’t deliberate, but you can consciously adopt them. Over time, they’ll soon become second nature, and work for you too.’

 

1. Fidgeting: People who are always tapping their toes, talking with their hands and shuffling in their chairs can burn as many as 350 extra calories a day, which is the equivalent of talking a daily 60-minute walk at four miles per hour. Sass advises, ‘Stand up while you talk on the phone or brainstorm, get up from your desk every hour on the hour to sip water, stretch, or just walk around the room…For one of my clients, this change not only resulted in weight loss, but also a surge in creativity, which makes sense, since movement enhances circulation.’

 

2. Eating without distractions: Sass notes, ‘The other day, I saw a woman strolling through Target, placing items into her card, while simultaneously eating and talking on the phone. While it may be efficient to do several things at once, people who eat mindfully and without distractions tend to eat less and feel more satisfied.’ You can naturally consume 300 fewer calories a day simply by taking a few deep breaths before you eat, and focusing on the aromas, flavours, and textures of your food.

 

3. Ordering what you want, even if it’s not on the menu: While asking for a customised meal in a restaurant seems like the most un-British thing to do ever, it’s a major habit of naturally slim people. Sass recommends her clients do the following activity: ‘recall a recent meal that left you feeling stuffed and sluggish, then write down how you would modify your order to result in what I call the “Goldilocks effect” – not too little, not too much, just right. One hundred percent of the time, the imagined do-over meals are more balanced, far lower in calories, and much more “sensible.” Apply that logic every time you dine out, and you’ll end restaurant eater’s remorse.’

 

4. Rethinking waste: Sass recalls, ‘Through keeping food journals, one of my clients recently discovered that she nearly always finished her kids’ leftovers. When we talked about why (e.g. what was she thinking and feeling while doing this?), she realised it was because she couldn’t let the food go to waste. This mindset also resulted in frequently eating until she was uncomfortably full.’ However, the client soon realised that stuffing leftovers was equally wasteful, as it wasn’t going to help anyone in need and she was just wasting calories. Instead of gorging on leftovers, save them for tomorrow’s lunch or make smaller portions in the first place.

Categories: calories, Fidgeting, Mindful Eating, Naturally Slim, nbsp, people, sass, Slim, slim people, Weight Loss