We are Renaissance women with Jane-of-all-trades ambition. We believe that it’s better to know something about everything than nothing about most things. Problem is, time is tight and we have yet to discover the Cliff Notes version to life and all it possesses. Well here it is. ChickNotes will help you navigate life’s trials and tribulations, questions and quandaries in order to help you be the most in-the-know chick possible. I mean really, why learn from your own mistakes when you can learn from someone else’s!
For many of you, patience is not your best virtue. While going to the gym and dedicating an entire hour to your daily workout is great, we don’t always have time (or patience) to allow for it. Sometimes we want to know the absolute best, most efficient, effective, no-equipment necessary ways to get maximum results- stat! Um, like RIGHT NOW. Which is why I talked with ExerciseTV trainer Jillian Michaels to find out the best way to get perfect A’s (that would be Ass, Abs, and Arms… this isn’t a test in school, nor is it Perfect 10 Magazine…). Here’s her to the point advice:
*Favorite No-Equipment Necessary AAA Exercises:
“All variations of Plank Pose (Plank, Extended Plank, Side Plank) plus Hollow Man hold.”
Why?
Plank is a total-body-toner. It may be a no-move exercise, but it forces the muscles in your abs, arms, ass, chest, back, and legs to fire. Hold it for as long as you can and you will start to shake… which is how you know your muscles are fatiguing (that’s a good thing).
*Best Non-Exercise Lifestyle Habit to Help Perfect Your Body:
“Proper breathing technique is great for strengthening your core. Explore diaphragmatic breathing for detailed descriptions and pointers.”
Why?
Breathing properly is one of the most ignored yet effective ways to burn calories, tone your abs, and send fresh oxygen through your blood and to your brain- giving you the energy to workout longer and harder… helping you to burn more calories. Rhythmically taking deep belly breaths- inhaling and filling up your stomach, then exhaling and squeezing all of the air out- is optimal.
But more than anything else, remember that, as Jillian says, “A perfect body is a healthy body.” Don’t just focus on dress size, weight, and muscle tone. The point, really, of exercise and living a fit life is way beyond looking good, it’s about feeling good and having your body operate at an optimal level. Now THAT is perfection!
Being Fit is so much bigger than just being skinny. It’s not a destination, it’s a journey filled with lots of small daily decisions.
The struggle to be fit is something that everyone can relate to- the SocialWife to the Single Working Mom, to the Recent College Grad. Even if we have the means to hire a personal trainer, it takes motivation, dedication, consistency, and fit daily decisions to be fit- long term. It takes a mindset. And that mindset is more than merely working out for an hour a day, it’s often the little things that derail a fit life. This is not about diets (they’re too restrictive in my opinion…) or intense exercise. It’s about the little things: Daily 100s, Quickie Workouts in Bed, Skinny Jeans in the Kitchen, Multi-tasking your Meals.
When it comes to food, there are lots of stupid ways to get skinny. I know, because I have tried too many of them. If you want to be skinny, long-term, forget about quick fixes (that quickly fail when you go back to your real life way of eating), be smart about it. Be Smart and Skinny!
Watch the video here for more about how to live a Fit Life
FOOD #1 *Eat light at night. You’re about to go to bed, not run a marathon.
*Multi-task your Meals
Food is not just for the purpose of filling and fattening you up. Everything you put in your mouth has a purpose… if, that is, you’re eating real foods as opposed to over-processed fatty junk that fills and fattens you up with nutrient-less calories. EX: SUPERFRUITS
Superfruits are exotic fruits from around the world known to have the highest concentration of nutrients and antioxidants. Problem is, they are often hard to come by at your local grocery store. SO, I like to drink my superfruits. BOSSA NOVAis my absolute obsessive fave. They have a full-line of superfruit juices made with natural Agave (instead of nasty sugar that other drinks have), they are super tasty, ridiculously nutrient-rich, and they only have 106 calories per bottle, so you’re not breaking your calorie bank.
Really Superfruits, embody the whole multitasking your meals concept: Energy- Acai- You’re probably familiar with it. Amazon berry from palm trees, more antioxidants than even blueberry & pomegranate, antioxidant powerhouse Anti-Aging- Mangosteen- from southeast Asia. Used in traditional Asian medicine. Anti-inflammatory, high in antioxidants, cell turnover Beauty- Goji- a Himalayan fruit high in micronutrients and trace minerals Immune Booster- Acerola- the “Barbados cherry”- 20x more Vit C than an orange, half the sugar.
*Skinny Jeans in the Kitchen
Hang your skinny jeans in the kitchen to deter you from boredom gorging. Don’t let short-term splurges get in the way of long-term success. In a few weeks (or months based on how far off the wagon you’ve fallen) you’ll be able to slip (instead of squeeze) into them again. And you will be thanking your Skinny Jeans for the reminder!
*Post-Its in the Pantry
Find yourself opening the refrigerator door and eyeballing everything (as if you don’t already know what it’s stocked with), perusing the pantry and riffling through the freezer, even when you’re still full from dinner? You may be great at late-night rationalizing that enjoying a few (or a heaping handful) of M&Ms is “okay” and that, no, you won’t regret it in the morning… Instead, place Post-It notes with little reminders that you shouldn’t eat that cookie, alternatives to eating that cookie, and, worst case- the result of eating that cookie: “Cookie=Fat Ass.” It works.
*Splurges Aren’t Worth It
Don’t let short-term splurges get in the way of long-term success. Because, honestly, in 30-minutes, you won’t have that decadent taste of chocolate in your mouth anymore; but if you keep avoiding those short-lived moments of taste bud bliss, in a few weeks you will feel amazing about yourself all day long!
*Set an Eating Curfew
Set an “EATING CURFEW” to stop late night splurging. You decide the time, like 8:30pm, then consider the kitchen OFF LIMITS unless you are getting water or unsweetened tea. You can even put a Post-It on the Pantry saying “EATING CURFEW IN EFFECT… OFF LIMITS.” Need to go to the extreme? Use painter’s tape to seal off the pantry door after a certain time.
*Grapefruit Burns Fat and Cuts Cravings
Feeling “famished” between meals, but know it’s just boredom? Chocolate craving about to get the best of you? Reach for a grapefruit instead. The tart citrus eats fat and helps your body naturally burn more of it. Studies have shown that regularly consuming 500mg of vitamin C helps up your fat burn by 30% while working out. More than a fat burner, grapefruit also cuts your sweet tooth. Think- brushing your teeth then drinking orange juice. Nasty.
*It’s Not What You Eat, But Why
It’s less about what you eat, and more about why you ate it. A food journal isn’t just some lame way to record your daily intake, it’s also a place to track your feelings toward food: Did I eat that entire pizza because I was pissed off that I saw my ex with his new girlfriend, but after I ate it I felt even worse about myself? Writing down your depression/anxiety/celebration/whatever- induced food foibles and feats forces you to fess up to yourself, facing the facts of your food issues, and illuminating what drove you to inhale a dozen chocolate chip cookies last night, when the night before you felt fulfilled after just one.
Food & Mood Journal Components:
a. So… What happened?- (ran into my ex with new fling at a bar)
b. Your post-incident response- (balled my eyes out over a box of ready bake cookies- before even baking them!)
c. Post-response response- (felt fat and out of control…balled my eyes out again)
d. Rewrite a better “b” for next “a”- (went for a run to make my ass look better than that chick’s)
*Stop Carbo”hydrating!”
Stop “carbo”hydrating!” Carbs are water carriers. The more carbs you have in your system, the more water you will be holding onto. In fact, you hold around 2.5 grams of water for 1 gram of carbohydrate you consume. By cutting back on carbs, you are actually simultaneously releasing water bloat. Another issue that comes with carbs is an increase in Insulin. Insulin, a hormone produced when we eat carbohydrates, causes our kidneys to retain sodium, and sodium causes the body to retain water. If you cut carbs, you are cutting calories in general. Stick with carbs that are natural, highly nutritious and high in fiber like brown rice, whole grains, green vegetables such as kale and Brussels sprouts.
*Eat Fat-Burning Foods
Fight off that fat with food… the right foods. More than mindlessly shoveling food down the hatch, think about how they can help your cause. Some foods are naturally multi-tasking, helping to break down, burn, or flush out fat! Foods That Break Down Fat
There’s a reason for the old-fashioned grapefruit diet. Citrus is great at fat breakdown and digestion. A natural fat-fighter, Vitamin C helps minimize fats’ effectiveness, actually liquefying the sticky stuff and making it less likely to latch on and bulk you up. Most citrus fruits will work, but two of the most potent include:
-Tangerine peel
-Grapefruit Foods That Burn Fat
Fat-burning foods tend to literally be “burning”- mouth burning that is. The naturally “hot herbs” heat up the body while helping to increase digestion, circulation, and the metabolism. A few include:
-Fresh Ginger
-Szechuan Peppercorn
-Cayenne Pepper
-Jalapeno Pepper
-Cinnamon Bark
-Fennel Foods That Flush Out Fat
Another way to avert fat from attacking? Fruit pectin and lecithin. The naturally occurring chemicals keep fat from being absorbed by your cells, flushing them out before they have a chance to bind to your body. Here are a few to know:
-Soybeans
-Peanuts
-Apples
-Berries
*“Diuretic” Foods to Encourage De-Puffing -Celery
-Celery seed
-Cranberry juice
-Dandelion
-Green tea
-Dandelion leaf tea (also helps in detoxification and urinary tract infections)
-Fennel
-Juniper berries
-Nettle
-Parsley
*High Water Foods that, yes, Help Eliminate Excess Water
Eating high water content foods is another way to increase the elimination of excess fluid retention. I know, counter-intuitive:
-Artichokes
-Asparagus
-Brussel Sprouts
-Cabbage
-Carrots
-Cucumbers
-Lettuce
-Oats
-Tomatoes (also aid metabolism)
-Watermelon
-Watercress
*Fast Food is Fine, IF… … you check the Nutrition Facts before you order. Fast food restaurants are required to have their nutrition facts on hand. Just ask… If you do drive through, then ask when you collect your food and keep it for next time. Keep a stack of Nutrition Facts from your fave places in your car so that when you are on the go you will immediately know what is on the ok and not the best list. You may be surprised to see that many of your favorites are actually not so bad. At least then you will know what you are eating and choose based on information as opposed to random cravings.
*Splurge DON’T Gorge.
Very Different! Splurge= a piece of cake, a couple of slices of pizza. Gorge= A cake. A pizza. Splurges are fine sometimes, but don’t derail your entire fit week with a gorge. Not worth it!
*Don’t Think, “I Messed Up, my fit day is destroyed, I may as well just go all the way.”
It’ll take a LOT more workouts to work off the 5000 calorie gorge than the 1000 calorie splurge. Think about it this way: if your child got a D on a test, would you tell her she may as well give up and fail the rest of her tests? Nope. You will tell her that it’s ok, but to try harder next time. Tell yourself that too. FITNESS
#1 Tip: Don’t “Find” time to exercise. MAKE time to exercise!
*The 1-Song Run That Will Help You Lose Weight If you’re stressed by the idea of running 10 minutes, don’t! Run 1 song instead. As that song is coming to an end, see how you feel and decide if you can run for 2 more, setting a 3 song goal. At the end of song 2, gauge how you feel. Maybe you are up for 5 songs? The key is to create a workout mix filled with music that makes you move, plus make sure that there isn’t a lengthy break between each song. Anything that can distract you from the music can derail your cause. Today just might be the day that you are finally able to embrace running… and like it!
*Work Out At Home
How? -Quickie Workouts in Bed
-Daily 100s
-ExerciseTV
-Wii fitness games like Your Shape Why?
You don’t have to get in your car, pay the fee for a gym membership (or even attractive exercise clothes), waist valuable workout time getting to your exercise destination. All you have to do is start moving your body… RIGHT NOW! Come on, do some butt squeezes while you’re sitting there reading this
*Walk In Place
Walking place is like power walking in a box. It’s a great way to burn a few extra calories, up your step count (it’s recommended that you take 10,000 steps per day), and keep your metabolism kicking- even when you’re watching TV, making dinner, or talking on the phone.
*Don’t Give Up
When you want to give up… don’t! You know you can get through that workout. Once you do, you will not only be proud of your accomplishment, but you will know that in other life situations, you have the ability to get through it. And the great thing is that you will be stronger after.
*Each Week = 1 New Thing Try one new fitness challenge this week- whether it’s 90sec Plank for the first time, walking up and down a flight of stairs 10 times, or practicing your salsa moves, challenging your muscles in new ways is not only great for motivation, but will burn more calories, and trim off the fat faster! Each Week=1 New Thing. Make it a goal!
*You’re Thin, Why Work Out?
This morning I saw an old friend while on my morning walk. She said to me, “You’re thin Laurel, why do you watch what you eat and workout every day…?” Exactly. THAT’s why I’m thin. When I feel like I have “reached my fitness goal and can finally stop the health food and fitness kick,” I gain weight. That’s why being healthy is a “lifestyle” and not a “kick.”
*Sweating is Better Than Sweets
Want to give up on your exercise or indulge your sweet tooth? Then immediately picture your goal in your mind. Don’t just see it, feel it. Feel the thrill of slipping on that bikini and strutting down the beach looking gorgeous! Why would you sabotage that by giving up or biting into that brownie out of boredom? Kill that moment of weakness by working out even harder. You will find that sweating is much better than sweets.
*Hone In To Burn
Each day, focus on a different body part that you want to tone up. So if today is butt, create a plan that hones in on it, like: Cardio: Running- to burn. Resistance: Squats- to lift and tone. Lifestyle: Butt Squeezes- while you’re typing/driving/talking on the phone . What are you targeting today?
*Set a Bikini Photo Shoot Goal
Set a goal a month out, for instance decide to take photos of yourself in a bikini. Calendar it. Tell someone about it. Join a facebook forum and share it. Then, each time you think “I’m bored, what can I snack on?” or “I’m not really in the mood to work out today,” imagine yourself in that bikini…
*Sign up for a Race in Another City! Don’t just sign up for it, buy the airline ticket, book the hotel room, pay the race entry fee. More than merely training for a nearby race (that you can always pull out of just because), committing to one that’s far away and then making a financial investment in it is a great motivator. After all, money talks.
*Make a Bet
Make a bet with a friend, colleague or family member that you can walk 30 miles this week, do 20 pushups by the end of the month, 5 pounds by the summer, whatever will challenge you. Put money on it. You lose- you pay. Not into the money part? How about trading services, giving away a favorite thing, or making a pact to quit drinking/smoking/red velvet cake for a month if you fail. Not into that, pride is a powerful thing. You don’t want to lose because your pride is on the line.
*Calendar It
Make a workout schedule each week or each month. Yes, write or type it into a calendar so that it isn’t forgotten. Play with different times of day to gauge when the best time is for your body, mind and energy level. When you complete the task, cross it off. At the end of the month it will feel so good to see all of those crossed out workouts because you will know you did something for yourself every day. Your Shape has a built in calendar that not only lets you go in and schedule your workouts, but also suggests different types of workouts based on your fitness and daily achievements. It also tracks your success and helps you attain your goals!
*If you Hate it, Don’t Do It
If there are certain exercises that you hate. Skip them! It’s those exercises that will derail your success because they give you an excuse not workout. Even if you’re working out with Your Shape- if there is a certain exercise that you hate, supplement it with another one of similar intensity that you love.
*Boost Your Metabolism and Burn More Fat
If you want to up your metabolism, you’ve got to move as many muscles as you can… at once. Why? It’s a natural chain of events:
-The more muscles you simultaneously engage, the higher your heart rate will rise
-The higher your heart rate, the more calories you’ll burn
-The more calories you burn, the more fat you’ll burn.
-The stronger your muscles, the more energy (fuel=calories) it takes your body to maintain those muscles, even further increasing that metabolism of yours.
And voila- increased metabolism!
*Stop Stressing!
Because the abdominal area has a greater blood supply (remember, all of your vital organs are stored in there), it’s a big target for the stress hormone cortisol. When you’re under constant pressure, cortisol levels remain high and your body deposits more fat on your abs. Try yoga or meditation and slow down!
We’re all works in progress. We’re working on our workout routines, doing our best to stick to a healthy diet, and trying hard to find some time for ourselves- um, have a live. But, if you truly have zero time and you have to look good RIGHT NOW, with a few tricks, tips, exercises, creams, foods, and an attitude adjustment, you will do just that… by faking it. Fake it until you are IT…. right?
Don’t let a leg injury bring your workout to its knees. As odd as this sounds, take full advantage of it! No… this is not your permission slip to stop working out and let your body go. I mean really, after all of those endless sweat dripping hours, after the countless times that you said “no” to the home-baked brownie with a heap of vanilla ice cream or to that second serving of pasta… Don’t negate all of that now. Instead, take advantage of this opportunity to explore your muscles and push your body in a new way.
I know; a knee, ankle, tendon, hip or hamstring injury can be a real blow. But not just to your workout, its effect can reverberate through other areas of your life, even attacking your ego and putting a serious damper on your mood. It’s time to undergo a self-administered attitude adjustment and know that this set back isn’t the end of your athletic “career,” it’s just a shift. The great news is that, though you might be working out differently, you will be challenging your muscles in a new way… which happens to be the best way to jumpstart weight loss. Engage your core while working that upper body and the result will be not only be toned arms, back and chest, but also tighter abs and a slimmer overall physique.
Here’s your Ultimate Upper Body Cardio Workout that will help you love and appreciate your body again as it evolves in a whole new way. :
Remove the male influence and women, regardless of age, suddenly become girlfriends again. Concise conversation becomes giddy gossip. Deeply logged secrets are liberated to surface as effervescent laughter fills the room. Yes, in this time of fast-paced overachieving, the occasional girls-only getaway seems essential to maintain our sanity.
So just where do the girls go to getaway? The newly face-lifted Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills.
Throngs of valet were immediately at my service the moment I pulled up. The bell boys, with synchronized movements, pulled open the grand doors presenting the table-sized vase of stargazer lilies, dark glasses-donning celebrities, romance-oozing couples, and a family of 5 including 3 fabulously posh kids… plus my dearest girlfriend who could hardly wait to begin our long overdue vaca. The hotel had just undergone a discreet facelift to the tune of $33 million, which is exactly the point of a facelift- You have no idea just how much has been “done,” but you know that it looks fabulous and feels fresh. Read more…
In a town filled with people who “work from home,” “work the dinner shift,” enjoy expensive expensed breakfast “meetings,” or simply “don’t work,” you’d think that, like coffee shops, breakfast spots would be one of the most popular eateries to open. Sure there are great places around town in random locations with zero atmosphere aside from the amassed am crowd lingering outside for a table. But come on, LA is the place to see and be seen- right? We want to stroll pre- and post dining, or at least we like the idea of it, which is why streets like Roberston and Abbott Kinney have become such popular destinations for lunch and dinner. But still… what about breakfast? Finally, LA has a “breakfast strip” and it cropped up along Santa Monica’s Montana Ave, a street that attracts a cross section of local color- from suited business men to young yoga moms, genius tech entrepreneurs to flip flop wearing writer/actor-types. With over a dozen restaurants and cafes serving up breakfast fare within a mere 17 blocks, one would think that the competition would be steep, but instead it’s like family. Here are a few of the favorites that elevate breakfast to a new level of foodie-goodness:
You may not realize it, but your legs are getting a workout all day long. They carry you around- walking, running, maneuvering around cracks in the sidewalk, and lifting you up steps. All of that adds up. So if you want to work your legs, I mean really tone and trim them, you need to do a little bit more. You need to challenge them beyond the pedestrian one-foot-in-front-of-the-other walk. How? Resistance and Change. Thankfully, you don’t need heavy equipment and expensive apparatuses to target and tone those muscles in your legs. Exercise green yet equally effectively instead. Yes, you can shape your legs to sexy perfection with absolutely no equipment, no gear, no clothes (well, that’s a personal choice)… with Quickie Workouts in Bed.
-Perfect workout for the lazy exerciser
-Instead of hitting snooze in the am, just start moving. You will burn calories, tone your muscles, jumpstart your metabolism, and give you the energy to get your butt out of bed.
-Get your workout out of the way before you even start your day
-The instability and bounce of the bed forces stabilizing muscles to fire, enhancing the workout.
-If you forgot to fit in your workout during the day, you can slip it in at night before you fall asleep. Really push yourself and you will be so exhausted your body will easily ease into sleep.
Watch the Sexy Legs Quickie Workout in Bed from ExerciseTV here:
Your Sexy Legs Quickie Workout Bed:
- Seated Leg Lifts (25 lifts each leg). WORKS: Quads, Abs
- Side Single Leg Lift: Top Leg Lift (25 reps). WORKS: Thighs
- Side Single Leg Lift: Lower Leg Lift (25 reps). WORKS: Inner Thighs
Repeat Top and Lower on opposite side
- Laying Leg Lifts (25 on each leg)/ WORKS: Hip Flexor
- Foot Warmers (3 minutes). WORKS: Cardio, Total Leg Burn
- Flutter Kicks (10 complete Lift and Lower). WORKS: Butt, Quads
- Swimming (50 times). WORKS: Butt, Hamstrings
Really, you have no excuse not to workout. Even if you “don’t have time…” you always have time for a quickie workout.
….Because even when you “don’t have time to work out,” you always have time for a quickie… workout.
If you want to get great abs without impacting the planet, do it in bed. Yes, some of the best green exercises are those that you do before you start your day, before you even put your feet on the floor, using zero energy (except your own) and requiring no electricity-sapping equipment. In fact, you don’t even have to wear clothes! But don’t for a second think that just because it’s a workout in bed means that it’s easy. You can burn a serious amount of calories and tone your abs to six-pack perfection in just minutes a day.
So What Does This In-Bed Flat Abs Workout Consist Of?
-Belly Roll
-Bicycles
-Cross-Leg Crunch
-Side Sit-Ups
-Roundhouse Kicks
-Plank Lift
More than trimming and toning your stomach, you can actually get a total-body toning workout in bed with exercises that target the arms and thighs too. Pretty soon you will be ready to strut it on the beach, and you will have never gotten out of bed!
Do this quickie 3 times a week and you’ll definitely see a difference in your abs!
If that protruding gut of yours just doesn’t seem to diminish, chug a glass of milk with your next filet mignon. A study from the Nutrition Institute at the University of Tennessee found that adding 3 servings of dairy to a reduced-calorie diet resulted in significantly more weight loss when compared to calorie-cutters who consumed minimal amounts of dairy. The combination of calcium and protein in dairy products is believed to speed up the metabolism, accelerating fat burning, particularly targeting stubborn stomach fat. Hot dogs and beer, here we come! With, of course, a glass of milk to wash it down.
Unless your vacation destination is one that requires lots of walking and is filled with heart-racing activity (be it water sports, mountain adventuring, or even intensive sightseeing), it’s way too easy to come home with a few bought trinkets, plus 5 pounds of weight around your once whittled middle.
Thankfully, many city hotels across the country are helping their guests get fit. Here are a few of the best of the bunch and what you can learn from them to help stay fit on the go (and even at home). Read more…
