Breakfast – Muscle Mike protein shake
Snack – Rice crackers, hummus
Lunch – Chicken stir fry (prepared yesterday, so it was quick and yummy!)
Snack – Missed because I let work control my afternoon
Dinner – ED Chili

It feels good to not have anything un-planned or greasy on the list!  I spent quite a bit of time yesterday prepping veggies and cooking chicken and other foods just to make sure I was ready to start the challenge.  No workout today because I was hurting so bad where my surgery site was.  It is just in a horrible spot.  I am going to have to start very slow, and work toward getting stronger.  I am excited, and looking forward to Day 2!

I just had to share this with you….

It’s about that time of year.  This is when folks slowly start dropping off from their workout program, or cheating on their diet.  And for a lot of folks, weekend eating – particularly SuperBowl weekend eating – is to blame.

When some folks binge eat, they go looking for a “detox diet”, thinking that will reverse all their mistakes.  But I’m not here to recommend that…no way.

Instead, I have an amazing article – perhaps his best article ever – from fitness expert Craig Ballantyne about a simple 7-Step Detox
Diet that you can easily follow everyday…

…so that you never need to do an extreme 7-day or 2-week cleanse. Here’s Craig to tell it like it is:

I just got back from the SuperBowl and got a chance to sit in the front row right in the endzone. It was really cool, and I also got a chance to see “The Who” live in concert at half-time.  But, while I was there, I had a few extra “non-compliance” meals than normal, so it got me thinking about detox diets.

I have a pretty strong opinion about detoxing, and I put together a simple 7-step detox diet plan that you can easily follow so that you never have to do a 16-day detox ever.

You see, my biggest “beef” with the entire theory of “detoxing” is this… It is simply NOT possible to EVER detox your body.

Why?

Because it’s such a vague statement. What does “detox” mean? How do you measure “detoxification”? What do you even define as toxins? And when do you officially become “detoxed”?

The answer is, “You don’t.”  It’s impossible.

After all, every single second of every day your body produces carbon dioxide, which is a toxin.  And if you have deep belly fat, research shows that this “visceral fat” is constantly releasing inflammatory toxins into your blood.

Every second. The more fat you have, the more toxic you are.  Plus, every breath you take includes pollutants.  And even the water that you drink may contain “toxins”.

So….what’s the real deal on detoxing?

Listen, while every “expert” is out there arguing about tiny little details and “gurus” are trying to sell you on detoxing so they can sell supplements, the TRUTH is that you really just need to know a few steps to avoid getting toxic in the first place.

In my opinion, the #1 factor in living a “low toxin life” is simply to keep as much garbage out of your body in the first place, rather than depending on a 3-day, 7-day or even 16-day detox to be healthy.

So what do I do to prevent “toxin build-up” in the first place?

Well, I live the Turbulence Training Lifestyle of course, including my “7 Step Detox Nutrition Plan”:

1) Start each day with a blender drink of berries, spinach or other greens, raw nuts (such as walnuts – rich in healthy fats), and other
ingredients packed with antioxidants and healthy fats.

2) For lunch, have a large green salad with spinach, beans, broccoli, peppers, avocado, onions, etc.

3) Eat an organic apple a day. Certain fruits (i.e. apples, peaches, cherries, and strawberries) and vegetables have a higher exposure to pesticides, and you should choose organic when possible.

4) Eat RAW snacks only – of fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Try using this one simple rule and limit all of your between meal snacks to
raw fruit, raw vegetables, and/or raw nuts and I promise you’ll drop the pounds because you’ll be full on a smaller number of  calories.

5) Drink Green Tea (2-3 cups) and filtered water (3 liters) instead of beverages that contain calories or chemicals.

6) Limit animal protein intake to only 2 servings per day. On most days, I’ll one of the following: an “after workout” chocolate milk,
organic eggs in the morning, or occasionally I’ll have high quality meat at dinner.

You don’t need to be a full vegetarian to live a longer life, but you should probably avoid eating meat 5 times per day, like people
in Chicago.

(Hey Chicago, don’t get mad at me for that…it was a born-and-raised Chicago native who told me 5 servings of meat per day was the
average Chicago meat consumption.)

7) Minimize or completely eliminate alcohol intake.

While research does show that for men, up to 2 drinks per day may help cardiovascular health (and for women, up to one drink per day), I’m not about to recommend you start drinking.

After all, if you go above those limits, you start to destroy your health…and you risk addiction. Alcohol killed my father, and I
don’t want to see the same thing happen to you. Tread cautiously with the booze.

So that’s it. A simple 7-Step Detox Diet Plan.

By the way, it goes without saying that you should avoid:

- cigarettes
- trans-fats
- excessive amounts of sugar
- refined grains
- and 7-11 nacho cheese

Right? Of course.

And you should be exercising to lose the belly fat…using proven methods, such as interval training – which is proven to beat long,
slow cardio when it comes to burning dangerous belly fat.

Plus, you should be using Turbulence Training resistance supersets to burn more calories and sculpt your body.

If you’ve never used Turbulence Training, you can try it out today for less than the cost of a Superbowl hot dog.

Click here to get Turbulence Training for less than 5 bucks:

Turbulence Training

Simply follow those 7 nutrition guidelines and use the short TT workouts to cut out as many toxins from your body – without detoxing.

Stay strong,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

PS – I also believe you should avoid toxic relationships… …so you need to take a hard look at the people you surround yourself with in life.

Do you have the right work friends? Are you in the right relationships? Do you spend enough time with the right family members? Or are they toxic too?

Remember – you need social support for success in life and in fat loss…so surround yourself with positive people, like the good folks on the TT Member’s forum.

If you need to dump the toxic folks and get positive social support, we’d love to see you on the forum and help you out. You will get a free 3-month TT membership access to the forum when you try out Turbulence Training for only $4.95 today:

$4.95 Turbulence Training

Please click that link to get started losing fat & getting rid of the toxic baggage in your life.

Did you know that having a professionally designed workout and following a fat loss nutrition system *still* doesn’t guarantee you’ll lose those unwanted pounds?

Frustrating but true.

I was just chatting with my friend and Moms Fat Loss Expert, Holly Rigsby and she’s discovered some interesting realities with her huge community of moms following her Fit Yummy Mummy Fat Loss System.

Here’s what Holly had to share:

“While thousands of moms have followed my Fit Yummy Mummy program and gotten great results, I’ve found that a LOT of women don’t receive the results their looking for because they fall short in three areas during their workouts:

1. They don’t work out at the intensity necessary to make their body improve.
2. They don’t follow the proper workout design and maintain the pace of the workouts that I or other fitness experts prescribe in their programs.
3. They simply don’t understand how to do the exercises by simply looking at a picture in an e-book.

My revelation was this: many women *need* to have a follow along workout they can watch to achieve the results they want from their workouts.

Only by actually seeing how to do the exercises and follow the workout exactly as it was designed do these women get the results that they’re looking for.”

=========================
A plan is only good if it’s followed
=========================

As you probably already know, the best diet, the most powerful workout…they’re only good if the person trying to follow them knows what they’re doing.

In other words, you can have the best workout in the world, but if you don’t know how to do the exercises properly, you’re not only going to miss out on results, but you might even get injured by using improper technique.

And it’s not your fault.

You’re trying to follow the plan…but you don’t know what you don’t know.

But if you’re willing to follow a plan and would like to know *exactly* how to do your workouts to get maximum results, you’re in luck!

Today I want to tell you about the best FAT LOSS DVDs I’ve ever seen. Holly Rigsby has just released her Fit Yummy Mummy DVD Set with her patented ‘Learn It’ and ‘Do It’ sections so you never have to wonder if your workouts are giving you the results you’re looking for ever again.

Each DVD has two of her best Fit Yummy Mummy Workouts, each complete with it’s own Learn It and Do It Section…plus if you  take advantage of her special offer she’s also throwing in ready to use workout logs to guarantee you get the results you’re looking for.

Click here for more information:
–> Fit Yummy Mummy DVD’s!! <-

Today is the first day of a 72-hour special where Holly is offering a huge discount because these plans just went LIVE today. I highly recommend you pick up your Fit Yummy Mummy Workout DVDs if you’re ready to start losing those unwanted pounds and fit back into your skinny jeans!

Oh and Hurry! If you order Holly’s DVD’s before Friday, October 9th at 3pm EST, you’ll also get her entire Yummy Mummy Makeover Series and 5 other bonuses worth over $250.

Click here for the Fit Yummy Mummy DVD’s!

If you’ve always wanted to regain your pre-baby body,but you’ve been too busy or were confused about exactly how to lose those unwanted pounds, I have some great news…

My friend and America’s #1 Mom’s Fitness Expert Holly Rigsby is giving away a follow along workout video showing you exactly what you need to know to lose your belly fat and get your pre-baby body back.

In this video Holly shares a fat blasting 10 minutes workout with her favorite metabolism boosting moves. So why is Holly giving this incredible workout video away?
She’s a mom just like you and now that school is back in session she wants to make sure that you have the tools you need to get your fat loss efforts back on track.

So, head on over to: Fit Yummy Mummy to grab this awesome workout video.

P.S. The video will only be available for a couple of days so

don’t wait.

Get Your Fit Yummy Mummy workout video today!

Check out this post from my friend and coach Holly Rigsby, creator of Fit Yummy Mummy.  This was a great one for me, because most of my intervals were done on the treadmill.  This has inspired me to do more!  Check this out, and let me know what you think.

By: Holly Rigsby

Think you are getting a great workout on the treadmill?

Think again!

I caught an interesting article at Alwyn Cosgrove’s blog – Alywn is the best for telling you like it is – wait till you hear why treadmills Suck!

“In the past people moved more and their exercise programs were well rounded, but recently more people have switched to doing treadmill-only workouts for their cardio. Whether they think it’s better for their joints or because they’re closet vampires who can’t…stand…the light! and never want to venture outside, I’m not sure.

What I am sure of is that steady-state cardio on the treadmill is just f***ing stupid. And, no, I’m not going to rehash the old argument about how intervals burn more calories. You already know that.

Instead I’m going to do some math.

Walking a mile is about two thousand reps in the sagittal plane at about one and a half to two times your bodyweight. Jogging would be around fifteen hundred total reps at about two to three times your bodyweight.

And since the treadmill switches your hamstring and glutes off — your foot hits the belt and the belt pulls you through — it’s mainly a quad exercise.

So let’s say a client does three miles three times per week for one year (and I’m being conservative).

That’s 6000 reps x 3 days per week x 52 weeks, which equals 936,000 reps of knee extension work. Or 468,000 reps per leg.

Let’s say the load going through with the knee was a measly 100 pounds. That’s 4.6 million pounds of work for the quad with absolutely no hamstring work.

Think of it this way: if you did 400,000 reps of triceps extensions with 100 pounds you’d get four million pounds of volume. If you didn’t balance that out with biceps curls you’d expect the elbow joint to hurt, right? You’re damn straight it would!

So long term walking or running on the treadmill is almost guaranteeing knee pain. And that’s not even the worst part. Since the hamstring is switched off you’re actually burning even less calories than you would if you were to walk on the ground!

This study showed that hip flexion angle increases on the treadmill as opposed to the ground and that stance time was reduced. Basically, the whole hip extensor mechanism is affected; hip and knee flexion angles have to increase to bring the hip through on the stride. So hip flexor fatigue plus substitution patterns equals severe knee pain.

Ten or twenty years ago we’d get away with this because our clients ran outside and did other activities. The contribution of treadmill time to total exercise time was much lower. It’s hardly the case today.

One of the problems with low intensity steady-state aerobics for fat loss in the deconditioned population is the sheer amount of reps needed. I can do a bodyweight circuit and spread the “reps” over the whole body and get a similar metabolic effect.

At my gym we’ve always done interval training as we felt the results were superior, but over time we’ve moved to a “metabolic resistance training” model.

For example, one mile on the treadmill would be 1500 reps and burn around 100 calories.

If you did a circuit of kettlebell swings, undulating ropes, inverted rows, sled pushes, and burpees for four rounds with 10 to 15 reps each, you’d burn 100 calories in less time with less load, and the reps would be spread over the entire body instead of on the ankles, knees, and hips.

It’s just a superior model.

Alwyn Cosgrove is owner of Results Fitness in California, and coauthor of “The New Rules of Lifting and The New Rules of Lifting for Women.”

Heck yes it is!

Metabolic Resistance Training is precisely what the Fit Yummy Mummy workouts and Intervals are all about! Work the entire body, with intensity in just 15 short minutes a workout!

For two weeks straight I want you to instead perform your intervals using one or more of the following body weight examples.

FYI – Be prepared to really WORK. If you are not feeling it after 8 minutes – you are NOT doing intervals. Vamp up the intensity and see what a difference Intervals can make in your fat loss efforts!

The answer is not just doing ab exercises, but rather working your entire body!  Here is news that most people do not know.  Ready?  YOU do NOT get to pick were you lose fat first.  Usually, the place that bothers you the most, like your belly fat, will be the last thing to go!

This does not mean that you will not lose there, but it will probably be the last thing that you are totally pleased with.

In order to burn belly fat, you have to burn fat ALL OVER your body.  This invloves an entire body workout!  If you are not currently doing a total body workout, check out Turbulence Training or Fit Yummy Mummy.  Theses are programs that I have done, and still do, and have had life changing results!

So, quit wasting your time doing crunches and laying on the ab bench!  You will NEVER get the results that you are looking for by doing this!

Get up and start working your entire body today!

If you ask random people, you will get so many different answers.  Also, if you take some time to observe people at the gym, you will get an idea of what people think it will take to loose their belly’s too.

But is it working?  What does it really take?

Every day when I go to the gym to workout, I see women on the ab bench, running for almost an hour on the treadmill, holding dumbbells and leaning from side to side, using the AB machines.  I could go on forever!  Is this what it will take?  Can you pick where you want to lose fat and just work that spot?

Let me ask you a question.  Have you ever seen someone that has flabby arms, saddle bags, a big butt, and six pack abs?  I don’t think so!  That should answer the question right there, you can NOT pick where you want to lose weight, and just work that spot!

There are steps that you need to take to lose your belly fat, and that will include exercising your entire body!  You need to be on a strict workout plan that will give you a total body workout.  I have personally lost belly fat, and I am almost where I would like to be, and have not used an ab bench one time!  I work my entire body, and lift weights in those workouts.

Here is my next tip about lifting weights, and this one is geared toward women because I know men don’t have a problem with this.  Don’t be afraid to lift heavy weights!  You will not get bulky unless you are injecting something into your body that would make you build muscle like a man.  I am 5’0″ and I go for the heavy dumbbells.  Why is it that women that are double my size go for the 5 pound dumbbells?  Because they have been told to life light so they don’t get bulky! Trust me, you won’t!

The next step to burn belly fat is your diet.  What you put into your body will affect what your body will look like from the outside.  You need to make sure that you are educated about what to eat and when to eat it.  Precision Nutrition is a great program that will help you learn everything about your nutrition.  Once you change what you are eating, along with your full body workouts, you will begin to see your belly shrink!

Another thing that will help you lose your belly fat is doing cardio on the days in between your lifting days.  Now, I am not just talking about any kind of cardio workout.  I am talking about high intensity interval training.  Intervals help you to burn more fat, and your body will keep burning that fat for up to 48 hours after your workout.

If you do these things, you will find that this is the best way to burn belly fat!  ***Caution*** Not only will you lose belly fat, but be prepared to lose fat all over your body!

You are going to love your new look!

Hello everyone!  Check out Men’s Health expert Craig Ballantyne’s 10 best ab exercises that you can do without cables, ab crunches or sit-ups!

1. Plank with your arms on the Ball (30% more effective than plain
ol’ planks, according to Men’s Health magazine)

2. Ball Rollouts (probably my favorite ball ab exercise)

3. Hanging Knee Raises (classic exercise that most folks do
wrong…but if done right, will work your abs safely and
effectively)

4. DB Renegade Row (this is the biggest surprise on the list…but
it works your lower obliques incredibly hard)

5. Ball Jackknife (always a tough one for beginners to get the hang
of…but when they do, they get a lot of six pack ab benefits)

6. Ball Jackknife Rotation (a tougher version of the jackknife)

7. Ball Jackknife-Pushup Combo

8. X-Body Mountain Climber (one of my favorites…so simple yet so
effective)

9. X-Body Mountain Climber with Hands on Ball

10. X-Body Mountain Climber with Feet on Ball (an even more
effective version of the regular X-Body mountain climber)

All of those exercises are in the programs at:

Turbulence Training Ab’s Workouts

Use only the best ab exercises to get more results!

PS – Don’t miss his Ballantyne’s Day Ab Workout Sale here  TT Abs

I know an amazing woman that keeps me encouraged day after day.  She has had amazing results with her weight loss, and just in time for her 40th birthday!  What a great way to celebrate!  She finally realized that in order to change her weight and change her life, she had to change too!

Holly Rigsby from Fit Yummy Mummy just wrote a blog about this woman.  Her name is Sheri, and she is such a great inspiration!  I have had the privilege of going shopping with her twice now, and each time she has looked like a different person!

Here is the blog that Holly Rigsby wrote about her good friend Sheri!  This is well deserved!

45 Pounds Lost: Celebrating a Fit and Flirty New Me at Age 40

“Wow!!! What a fabulous year this has been.

A year of mind blowing changes; the year I took back control of my life!

I set a goal late November 2007 that I was going to change my life. I was approaching 40; I was unhealthy and depressed. I was wearing a tight size 14 and weighed in at 176lbs.

How did I get like this???

I WAS NOT going to buy bigger clothes!!! I wanted to be healthy; I wanted to be fit, and most of all I wanted to be strong!!!

I was going to do whatever it took.

I had become MISERABLE and REFUSED to live this way any longer.

I said a prayer and asked God for guidance. I knew weight training was the key; it’s what I did in the past and had great results. I joined a gym and hired a trainer. At this point in time I wasn’t doing much. I needed guidance and structure. I found Holly’s business card at the gym; I took one, went home and checked out Fit Yummy Mummy. Holly was speaking to me!!!

I had seen Holly at the gym, didn’t know her personally, but I knew she had to know what she was talking about. She was beautiful, healthy, and strong, but very feminine. That’s WHAT I WANTED!!! So why not trust someone who has achieved what you desire? I bought her e-book and started immediately.

I joined Clubfym too. I could see this community was going to be awesome!!! I knew this was the answer to my prayer!!!

December 5th 2007 I began my journey.

I jumped in with both feet and never looked back! I was a woman on a mission and I wanted results!

TOTAL FYM Results

Dec 2007 – Dec 2008

Over 20 total inches GONE!
45 pounds lost
Size 16 to a size 6!

Cleaning up my diet and eating every three hours were vital to my results.

The results were instantaneous.

I felt amazing on the inside. My mood had improved almost overnight. Talk about Energy, it was through the roof! I didn’t know what to do with it all!!! My eyes became brighter, my skin was softer, and I was looking younger!

My results really started to take o? around week 6, from that point on I was unstoppable. I joined the 1st Transformation Challenge; this gave me the motivation and drive to kick things into gear. When I started I had already removed 11lbs and 12 weeks later removed 17lbs more lbs! I was chosen as one of the 12 finalists; what an honor!!!

I can’t say enough about my new lifestyle.

I have embraced it and I am living it. I love me and the person I have become. I am a better wife, mother and friend for finding Fit Yummy Mummy. No longer am I wasting precious time worried about how miserable I am looking and feeling.

A year ago I would have never even thought about getting back into the work force. I didn’t think I was good enough or deserved it. Recently I have started a new job. I am a “teacher’s aide” at my sons Elementary School, and I love it!!! It’s amazing what you can accomplish in a years’ time. It just depends on how bad you want it, and for me it was pretty bad!!!

January 18th I will be celebrating my 40th birthday.

I am embracing this new time in my life feeling Fabulous, Fit, Flirty and Forty, Minus Forty-Five pounds!

I have succeeded.

All done in less than one year, what a goal!!!”

~ Sheri Meierle, Age 40 Mom of two, Fabulous-Flirty Fit Yummy Mummy

12 month results…How do you stick to it?

Motivation is what keeps me going.

Staying healthy for my family is very important. I am having a blast with my kids now. We are doing so many wonderful things together.

I used to make excuses, but now I am making suggestions!!!

The way I look and feel motivates me to continue down this path. I was pushing into a size 16, now I am in a 6, they are starting to feel loose. The results I have attained are far greater than anything I have ever expected.

I love the way my clothes fit. I love the way my skin feels. I love the way my muscles feel; I am strong. I like the reflection looking back at me in the mirror.

How can I not be motivated?

~~~~
Ready to make your body and your life just as Fabulous?

You have everything you need with your complete ClubFYM.com

Stop by and say hello to Sheri – her profile page is FULL of tips and motivation to help you on your way to achieving weight loss results that not only meet – but exceed your expectations!

Congratulations Sheri!!!

For all you guys out there that would love to have results like Sheri did, but don’t feel like becoming a Fit Yummy Mummy anytime soon, check out Turbulence Training!  You will love it!

Written by:

Holly Rigsby

www.fityummymummy.com

Banking your results on the calories burned on a treadmill?

“Holly, It is hard for me to reconcile that when I was doing a longer cardio workout it would say I burned 500 calories and now when I do the short burst intervals for 15 minutes it says I only burned 160 calories. A few people told me the treadmill reading is wrong anyway. What do you think?”

Thanks, K

Great question!

When Fat Loss is your goal, your concern and focus needs to lie in boosting your metabolism so your body burns more calories 24-7 – not just during the time you are “doing cardio”.

A lot of women fall prey to the number of calories burned on a treadmill for it is immediate feedback…immediate gratification that they are making progress – and their efforts on cardio will erase the # of calories they indulged in the day before.

Well this number can be off by as much as 30% as it does not account for several variable….such as:

~ your body fat percentage. A person who has a higher percentage of body fat will usually burn less calories than a person with more muscle mass.

~ your fitness level. If you’re new to an activity, you’ll usually burn more calories than a fit person doing the same activity.

To further the issue, the typical “Cardio for Fat Loss” mindset is:

The more calories I burn, the faster I will lose weight, the more weight I will lose.

That is great, however, immediate calorie burn is not what makes a difference on your body’s ability to burn more fat and calories all day long.

The elevated calorie burn you see on a treadmill diminishes and goes back to “normal” shortly after the cardio session ends.

This means your body is burning less overall calories.

Consequences of Long Duration Cardio
Plus, the longer you “do” cardio, the more you put your body at risk of taking energy from or burning lean muscle.

This is NOT good if Fat Loss is your goal.

Muscle is the foundation of your calorie burn…the more lean muscle you have – the more calories you burn – all day, all night….sitting down, standing up, sleeping, watching TV….not just when you are exercising.

So in essence – women find themselves doing more and more cardio based on the # of calories burned and the fact that they end up having to do more and more since the entire process ends up backfiring and slowing down their metabolism.

It is very common for women to end up doing long bouts of cardio just to maintain a body they are not happy with, feeling nothing works and there is no other option.

This is why a balanced fitness program is a must.
Not only must you have a concern for supportive nutrition but also a fitness plan that addresses how much lean muscle your body holds.

Resistance Training is the heart of a true fat loss program for it addresses how many calories your body burns 24-7. Following a progressively challenging resistance training workout plan increases your lean muscle and the more lean muscle you have, the more calories you burn – and the LESS Cardio you will have to do.

Interval Training
Short burst intervals are not going to show a huge increase in calories while you perform them.

Take a look at my example from yesterday:

Yep – after 13 super intense and sweaty minutes – I only burned 112 calories!
If this was my only measure of success – can you see how I could quickly feel defeated and NOT want to stick with this type of cardio plan?

I do not fret!
Due to the intensity and nature of this intervals workout, I know my metabolism will continue to stay elevated for 24-36 hours afterward.

Traditional cardio – while yes has some benefits – will not give you this benefit nor the advantage to faster and more effective fat loss.

Super Busy?
Finding it hard to fit your workouts in?

Then why would anyone choose to spend the precious time the do have “doing cardio”?

Intervals are short!

As busy women, we just do not have the TIME to spend hours every week on the treadmill. Short burst intervals not only allow you to use your time more effectively, but also BOOST your Metabolism for there is no risk of the loss of lean muscle from long cardio sessions.

So my advice is to not base your success around this feature on the treadmill.

You will get results simply by following a balanced resistance training program that incorporates intervals – instead of hours of cardio!

In need of a workout plan that delivers more results in less time? The Fit Yummy Mummy Fat Loss System maps it all out for you – helping you focus your cardio sessions on short, but intense intervals to help you see faster fat loss results.