When it comes to losing the pooch, the solution is a two-part equation. The first step is to tone the stuff you can cinch (muscle), and the next step is to burn the stuff you can pinch (fat).

Remember, when you’re trying to tighten your lower abs, not all strengthening moves are created equal. The truth is, most routines fall short when trying to reach those tough-to-get-to muscles in the lower part of the tummy.

Today, I’ll  show you a BRAND NEW video with a few moves that I learned in NYC this week that hit that sweet spot in the lower part of your torso. In fact, I’m challenging you to incorporate this effective barre-style workout combo into your ab routine 3 times this week!

Ready to say “see ya” to those Spanx? The moves in this new video will leave your abdominals feeling tight, toned and strong…

Part two in the slim-abs equation is to burn the fat that tends to creep around your midsection as you age.

Listen to this…a study from the University of Vermont tested 178 women ages 20-60, each within a healthy weight range. Results showed that the oldest participant had 55% more abdominal fat than the youngest!
We all have two types of fat… subcutaneous, which is underneath the skin, and visceral fat,which is marbled through the organs and muscles (that’s the most dangerous type). The best way to get rid of both kinds is is to keep your body guessing and strike a balance between moderately-paced workouts, and HIIT workouts.

Here’s day-by-day calendar of what workout to do each day to supercharge your results and incinerate tummy fat before summer!

Sunday – hiking or interval walking
Monday – yoga
Tuesday – circuit training
Wednesday – wild card
Thursday – pilates
Friday – strength training
Saturday – spinning

Wednesday is the “Wild Card” day because your freebie day – not you “day off” from exercising, but a day to do anything and everything you might want. That might mean an exciting new class, whether it’s dancing or indoor rowing – or it might mean another day of cardio, strength training, yoga, or pilates, depending on what my body needs, and what will “surprise” it. On my Wild Card day this week, I tried Bergen’s Cardio Fusion class at Exhale in NYC. This 45-minute class was an intense mix of kickboxing and plyometric moves, high-intensity intervals…it definitely got my heart pumping! Sweat factor: 5/5.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pear (cored and quartered)
• 1/2 apple (cored and chopped)
• 8 oz unsweetened almond milk
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1 serving vanilla protein powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch of nutmeg.

QUESTION: Every once in a while I get bloating and gas. It’s uncomfortable and embarrassing. What can I do to get rid of it?

Here’s what Anne Fabiny, MD and Editor in Chief of Harvard Women’s Health Watch says…

“Gas and bloating are tough to talk about, but we’ve all have had to deal with these afflictions at one time or another. Although they’re not pleasant, there are things you can do to prevent and treat them.”

“Most gas and bloating stem from your diet. When you eat, bacteria living in your gut feast on the carbohydrates your body can’t digest. They release hydrogen, methane, and other gases, which swell up your belly. Eventually your body expels the gas in the form of flatulence.”

“Gas also can be caused by air you swallow. Try eating smaller meals and chewing slowly, so you don’t inhale extra air. Avoid carbonated drinks, which can increase belching. Most of the time gas is more of an annoyance than a health issue.”

If you want to maintain a flat tummy, it’s IMPORTANT to keep your gut in a healthy zone.

Here are 4 foods that are easy to digest and will keep your gut lining on track.

1 – Liquid Gold (aka Bone Broth) – When made from scratch, bone broth is almost deceptively simple….water and animal bones simmered for hours into an immune-boosting, protein-rich stock. The benefits of the brew seem to be endless…from strengthening the gastrointestinal tract, while giving your body amino acids and important minerals such as potassium, proline and glycine.

2 – Good Fats – Don’t be afraid of fat! Eating avocado each day keeps the doctor away! Okay, maybe I made that saying up, but in moderation, healthy fats promote gut healing. My favorites are avocado, coconut oil, and salmon. 

3 – Fermented Foods – Foods that are fermented (such as sauerkraut, kimichi and kombucha) contain probiotics that help destroy bad bacteria (like candida), which helps your gut health. Probiotics are actually the “good” bacteria — or live cultures — just like those naturally found in your gut. These active cultures help change or repopulate intestinal bacteria to balance gut flora. This functional component may boost immunity and overall health, especially GI health. They also help balance the pH of your small intestines and stomach.

4 – Steamed Veggies– You already know by now that eating a hearty amount of vegetables is forefront in getting fit and staying healthy. But, steaming non-starchy veggies such as asparagus and kale is also an essential part of having a healthy gut lining. Try steaming a few pieces of asparagus and wrapping it with a lean slice of turkey. This will help curb your hunger throughout the day and keep you satisfied.

Eliminate These 4 Inflammation-Boosting Foods:

1 – GMO – Research from the Journal of Environmental Sciences shows that GMO foods cause organ inflammation and  destroy the probiotics in your gut.

2- Gluten – It’s tough to digest, unless it’s gone through a sprouting or sourdough process.

3 – Dairy from Cows  – Go for unsweeteened almond milk instead!

4 – Sugar – “Sugar, not fat, is the real villain that steals our health and sabotages our waistlines!” – Mark Hyman

More Tummy Trimming Exercises Here!

Here’s How To Do The Hollow Body Roll:

1. Lay on the ground with your hands above your head and your legs straight out. S
2. Slowly lift your legs and your arms, keeping your abs contracted. This is called “hollow body” position… a challenging position, because it requires your entire core to activate at once.
3. With a controlled motion, slowly lift your back while bringing your knees to your chest and your hands to your knees.
4. Hold this position for 2 seconds.
5. Lower your back and your legs to hollow body position (step 2) and repeat 10 times.

With celebrities such as Natalie Portman and Madonna joining the barre craze, it’s no wonder why barre studios are sweeping the nation. But this ballet-style workout is more than just a Hollywood hype. Barre workouts are the perfect way to improve balance and range-of-motion while developing lean muscle mass…especially in those hard-to-reach areas.

The best part is, you can reshape your glutes and get that beautiful curve without any weights. All you need is a chair, and you’re ready to work your rear! Remember, the key is to maintain proper form…keep your core activated, your abs pulled in, and your posture lifted.

Follow these 5 techniques to make the most of this lower body barre-tightening routine:

1. Tap into your inner ballerina as you practice the exercises, and it will reflect in your movement patterns.
2. Check your posture – if you catch yourself hunching over or leaning to one side, re-align your positioning. You shouldn’t feel tension in areas that you’re not targeting.
3. Think and focus, and the body will follow. Imagine trying to pinch a coin or a dollar bill in-between your cheeks. In other works, squeeze your buns toward the midline as you move through the routine. With each pulse, contract just a little harder.
4. When you’re all done, remember to stretch to help counteract the intensity of the workout!

The New York Times referred to a study about why high-impact exercises (such as jumping rope) are good for your bones, and important as you age, saying, “Bones should be jarred, for their own good. Past experiments have definitively established that subjecting bones to abrupt stress prompts them to add mass or at least reduces their loss of mass as people age.”

Today’s 4-min jump rope video from my Cardio Knockout DVD isn’t complicated…in fact, you don’t even need a jump rope…just use your imagination!

But, be prepared…this routine will take your calves, cardio and coordination to the next level. And, it will amp up your metabolism.

Plus, it’s fun.
Here’s what some women on Facebook shared with me about this workout…

Studies show walking is one of the best ways to banish the belly bulge. It’s simple. Only 2 1/2 hours of brisk walking a week (about 20 minutes a day) can shrink your belly by about 1 inch in 4 weeks.

But in order to get the most out of your walk and turn it into a tummy-toning workout, it is imperative to focus on activating the muscles in your core during your walk.

Here’s a trick to core activation which translates into a slim, trim belly…

Once you’re in your steady-state, activate your abdominals every other step. This will help keep your spine in a neutral position. And believe it or not, it will allow you to walk faster, which means burning more calories.

If you activate your muscles before your walk, it will increase your training effect dramatically.

The study in the New York Times followed contestants from The Biggest Loser (Season 8), and shockingly showed that out off all the participants, only one had kept their weight off.

In fact, the winner of the season ended up regaining more than 100 lbs.

“It has to do with resting metabolism, which determines how many calories a person burns when at rest. When the show began, the contestants, though hugely overweight, had normal metabolisms for their size, meaning they were burning a normal number of calories for people of their weight. When it ended, their metabolisms had slowed radically and their bodies were not burning enough calories to maintain their thinner sizes.

“What shocked the researchers was what happened next: As the years went by and the numbers on the scale climbed, the contestants’ metabolisms did not recover. They became even slower, and the pounds kept piling on. It was as if their bodies were intensifying their effort to pull the contestants back to their original weight.”

But with your body being a genetic warehouse, is dieting destroying more than just the metabolism? Yes. In fact, it can damage one of the body’s key hormones…leptin.

“Slower metabolisms were not the only reason the contestants regained weight, though. They constantly battled hunger, cravings and binges. The investigators found at least one reason:plummeting levels of leptin. The contestants started out with normal levels of leptin. By the season’s finale, they had almost no leptin at all, which would have made them ravenous all the time. As their weight returned, their leptin levels drifted up again, but only to about half of what they had been when the season began, the researchers found, thus helping to explain their urges to eat.

But, simply gradually cutting calories isn’t the final answer for weight loss success.

“There are no doubt exceptional individuals who can ignore primal biological signals and maintain weight loss for the long term by restricting calories,” [Dr. Ludwig] said, but he added that “for most people, the combination of incessant hunger and slowing metabolism is a recipe for weight regain — explaining why so few individuals can maintain weight loss for more than a few months.”

“The difficulty in keeping weight off reflects biology, not a pathological lack of willpower affecting two-thirds of the U.S.A.”

• Weakens the muscles for up to 30 minutes after stretching (athletes generated less force from their leg muscles after static stretching than they did after not stretching at all)

• Decreases muscle strength by as much as 30 percent

• Reduces strength in the leg that’s not being stretched, most likely because the central nervous system rebels against the movements.

The right warm up needs to both warm up the body and lubricate muscles and tendons. The best way to do this is with “Dynamic Stretching.” These stretches are actually specific movements that loosen up muscles, increasing blood flow and body temperature. Today, I’ll guide you through a 5-min warm-up that uses dynamic stretching to warm muscles, and dilate blood vessels so your body can  pull oxygen from the bloodstream more efficiently and use stored muscle fuel more effectively.