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Posts in the weight loss category

10 Science-Backed Ways To Feel Euphoric

by Kathy Smith

1 – Set Your Oven to 350 – Science shows that watching a treat rise in the oven is emotionally therapeutic. Plus, it boosts your confidence and you feel more accomplished when your goodies are ready to eat. For a double boost of happiness, share your creation with coworkers or neighbors. Where to begin? Try a few of my favorite recipes…Protein Brownies or Frittata Muffins

2 – Walk or Bike to Work – Traffic can be a real drain on your happiness. If changing your commute is possible, try walking or biking to work, because research shows that you’ll arrive feeling more cheerful! If it’s not in the cards for you to avoid traffic, then try listening to a podcast on your way to keep your brain stimulated during the drive.

3 – Cha Cha! – Shake it baby, shake it! A study from the University of Derby showed that depressed patients who took salsa lessons improved their moods. Click here for a 5-minute salsa video from my Latin Rhythm workout!

4 – Take It In – At the top of every hour, try this simple breathing exercise to lower your heart rate… Breathe in through your nose for four counts, hold your breath for one and exhale through your mouth.

5 – Pay It Forward – Treating the person in line behind you at the coffee shop can give you a bigger happiness boost than only paying for your own tab. Spending just $5 on another person can make a significant difference in your mood…and it will make them happier too!

6 – Do A Shot – Take a shot of my favorite ginger tea to stimulate the body and wake up on the bright side! Ginger root has been used for centuries to aid in better digestion, plus it’s a natural anti-inflammatory. Simply boil a cup of hot water, squeeze in a lemon, and add in a few few cubes of freshly-chopped ginger. Sprinkle with cayenne pepper!

7 – Walk Barefoot – Before breakfast, I enjoy a nature walk barefoot in the grass (I call this “grounding”). As silly as it sounds, studies have shown that grounding has remarkable health advantages, such as increasing antioxidants and reducing inflammation.

8 – Put On Your Party Pants –  Dressing up and making yourself look polished tells your brain that you’re valuable. So take out those heels and go out for a girls night on the town!

9 – Get It Om – According to Harvard, “Studies show that in the minutes right after meditating, we experience feelings of calm and contentment, as well as heightened awareness and empathy. And, research even shows that regular meditation can permanently rewire the brain to raise levels of happiness, lower stress, even improve immune function.”

10 – Take a Wonder Drug – I call cardio a “wonder drug,” because it is proved just as helpful as anti-depressants. And, cardio activities such as running, cycling, rowing, using an elliptical, or hiking outdoors release a whole flood of endorphins and feel-good chemicals into the brain. When you do cardio, you activate the same parts of the brain that are involved when you fall in love, or when you listen to music that gives you that “chill” feeling of euphoria.

Kathy Smith, New York Times bestselling author, has stood at the forefront of the fitness and health industries for over 30 years. The numbers speak for themselves: Kathy has sold more than 20 million exercise DVDs - landing her in the Video Hall of Fame - and $500 million in Kathy Smith products. With her revolutionary approach to fitness, Smith has touched millions of people, inspiring them to move, live, and love.

Lemon & Garlic Braised Chicken

by Kathy Smith

For the marinade:
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil1 Tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh basil
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • Freshly ground pepper
Directions:
Mix all ingredients together in a large non-reactive bowl.
For the Chicken:
  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, pounded slightly to flatten
  • 4 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
  • 1 tablespoon capers, drained
  • 1 tablespoon chopped Kalamata olives
  • Chopped fresh basil
Directions:

1.     Marinate the chicken breasts for 2–4 hours in the refrigerator.
2.     Remove chicken and discard marinade.
3.     Heat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat and sauté chicken on one side for 5 minutes, turn and cook another 5 minutes until cooked through.
4.      Remove chicken to a warm plate.
5.     Add chopped tomatoes, capers, and olives to pan and cook for a few minutes until tomatoes start to break down.
6.     Serve chicken topped with tomato mixture. Sprinkle with basil.

 

TIP: Serve with kale sautéed with garlic and olive oil.

Kathy Smith, New York Times bestselling author, has stood at the forefront of the fitness and health industries for over 30 years. The numbers speak for themselves: Kathy has sold more than 20 million exercise DVDs - landing her in the Video Hall of Fame - and $500 million in Kathy Smith products. With her revolutionary approach to fitness, Smith has touched millions of people, inspiring them to move, live, and love.

Flat Abs Are Calling!

by Kathy Smith

Take pride in your midsection, and make it the focal point of your routine this week. Not just because your abs will look a lot better, but because if your core is unhealthy, it will compromise the health of your entire system. It’s the place where all movement is initiated, and the source of your body’s deepest powers. It’s also the factor that determines whether you move freely and with ease, or whether you’re weighed down by aches and pains. A strong core makes everything easier…each bike ride, run, and walk.

Remember, having flat abs isn’t just about vanity. Extra weight around your tummy triggers greater amounts of inflammation, putting your body at an increased risk for heart disease and diabetes.

By adding metabolic acceleration to your routine, you burn more belly fat than with a standard routine. Why the great results with metabolic acceleration? The word ‘metabolic’ translates to the breaking down of food into energy. During metabolic bursts, you burn more calories working at peak levels, alternating between active rest periods. The added benefit is the residual calorie burn after the workout—referred to as the EPOC (Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption).

As your cells continue to need more oxygen, they are increasing your caloric expenditure and working harder after the workout. There’s a buzz around Metabolic acceleration, since it’s being used in programs such as CrossFit, P90X, and Tabata training. These metabolic workouts push you out of your comfort zone… and that’s when change starts to happen…in your workouts, your body, and your weight.
Let’s get started with this 1-min metabolic acceleration warm up!

 

Kathy Smith, New York Times bestselling author, has stood at the forefront of the fitness and health industries for over 30 years. The numbers speak for themselves: Kathy has sold more than 20 million exercise DVDs - landing her in the Video Hall of Fame - and $500 million in Kathy Smith products. With her revolutionary approach to fitness, Smith has touched millions of people, inspiring them to move, live, and love.

Tomato and Pomegranate Salad Recipe

by Kathy Smith

Here is a dish featured in the New York Times that melds the best flavors of summer into a robust salad. Serve it alongside grilled chicken, preferably in the back yard, summer nipping at the heels.

Screen Shot 2016-06-24 at 10.51.50 AM

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 pints mixed small or cherry tomatoes, of varying colors
  • 2 teaspoons za’atar
  • 3 ½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • Seeds from 1 pomegranate
  • ½ yellow bell pepper, seeds removed and very thinly sliced
  • ½ small red onion, peeled and very thinly sliced
  • ⅓ cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces
  • ⅓ cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves, torn into pieces
  • 1 ½ teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • Flaky sea salt
  • 3 ½ ounces manouri or feta cheese, broken into small chunks

PREPARATION

  1. Halve or quarter the tomatoes so that they are all roughly the same size, and place them in a large mixing bowl.
  2. Mix the za’atar with 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil, and set aside.
  3. To the bowl with tomatoes, add the pomegranate seeds, sliced pepper and onion, the herbs, lemon juice, the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and 1 teaspoon of salt.
  4. Gently mix the salad, then transfer it to a large shallow bowl or serving platter, and dot it with the cheese.
  5. Drizzle the za’atar mixture over the salad and serve.

Kathy Smith, New York Times bestselling author, has stood at the forefront of the fitness and health industries for over 30 years. The numbers speak for themselves: Kathy has sold more than 20 million exercise DVDs - landing her in the Video Hall of Fame - and $500 million in Kathy Smith products. With her revolutionary approach to fitness, Smith has touched millions of people, inspiring them to move, live, and love.

Golden Smoothie Bowl

by Kathy Smith

Screen Shot 2017-05-31 at 1.07.56 PM

INGREDIENTS

  • ½ avocado
  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • 3-4 ice cubes
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 2 teaspoons ginger, grated
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon cardamon
  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 tablespoon honey
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • raspberries, coconut, chia seeds to garnish (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. In a blender add the ice cubes, coconut milk, avocado, vanilla, and all the spices and blend on high.
  2. Add to a bowl and top with any fruits, nuts, seeds or coconut. I used raspberries, coconut and chia seeds.

Kathy Smith, New York Times bestselling author, has stood at the forefront of the fitness and health industries for over 30 years. The numbers speak for themselves: Kathy has sold more than 20 million exercise DVDs - landing her in the Video Hall of Fame - and $500 million in Kathy Smith products. With her revolutionary approach to fitness, Smith has touched millions of people, inspiring them to move, live, and love.

By Collage Video | | Healthy, Kathy Smith, Recipe, Weekly Blog, weight loss | 0 comments | Read more

3 Eating Habits For A Healthy Gut

by Kathy Smith

1 – Go For The Big O…Organic

If you’re going to eat meats and dairy put those foods in your diet, they’ve got to be organic! Get the antibiotics out of the food chain as quickly as you can. I’m a huge fan of a plant-based diet. I think there’s many, many reasons we should eat low on the food chain. Namely, the lower you eat on the food chain, the less toxins you get in your food.

2 – Fermented Gets An A+

You mentioned fermented foods. Huge fan. We’ve been fermenting foods since the dawn of food preparation. It wasn’t until we developed widespread refrigeration that we really stopped fermenting our food in homes. And, so, we’ve got to get back to that. We need to start doing our own home fermentation. Incredibly, get wild ferments from the air around your house, reduce your allergy loads, etc., etc. So, wild fermentation’s really great bonus to put back into your food. It only takes a couple of tablespoons of fermented calories with your sauerkraut or sour reuben with your turnips or whatever you’re doing. These are just amazingly powerful ways to get complexity and biodiversity back into your diet.

3 – Eat The Rainbow

And, then, incorporate as much color as you can in your in your diet – more fruit, vegetables, etc. And, of course, many of us in the medical field are now turning to juicing as a powerful way to increase that nutrient load. With juicing, of course, you can get a couple of grocery bags worth of fruits and vegetables into just a few glasses of contents that you compound as an enormous volume. Since each piece of fruit is less dense, you’ve got to eat more of it and juicing is an easy way get that massive volume of fruits and vegetables in. So, for my critically ill patients, they’re juicing a large volume.

Kathy Smith, New York Times bestselling author, has stood at the forefront of the fitness and health industries for over 30 years. The numbers speak for themselves: Kathy has sold more than 20 million exercise DVDs - landing her in the Video Hall of Fame - and $500 million in Kathy Smith products. With her revolutionary approach to fitness, Smith has touched millions of people, inspiring them to move, live, and love.

Maximize Your Snack Break

by Kathy Smith

  1. Whole-grain bread with 1/8 avocado spread on top. Choose from a variety of toppings including: sliced tomato, basil, vinaigrette, asparagus, black pepper, chives, baby greens, toasted walnuts, mango, raspberries, cucumber, almonds.
  2. Seedlander crackers of Flackers topped with cashew cheese
  3. Apple slices with 1 tablespoon almond butter and raisins
  4. Celery sticks filled with 1 tablespoon almond butter and raisins
  5. 1/2 avocado and 1 small tomato, shopped, with a squeeze of lemon
  6. 1/2 avocado with salsa and diced jicama
  7. Handful of raw almonds with 1/2 cup blackberries
  8. Handful of brazil nuts with a pear
  9. Handful of cashews with an orange
  10. 2 Lettuce leaves spread with 1 tablespoon hummus and raw vegetables wrapped up
  11. 2 Tablespoons hummus with celery sticks and bell pepper strips
  12. 3/4 Cup cooked shelled edamae

Kathy Smith, New York Times bestselling author, has stood at the forefront of the fitness and health industries for over 30 years. The numbers speak for themselves: Kathy has sold more than 20 million exercise DVDs - landing her in the Video Hall of Fame - and $500 million in Kathy Smith products. With her revolutionary approach to fitness, Smith has touched millions of people, inspiring them to move, live, and love.

Is Decision Fatigue Making You Fat?

by Kathy Smith

The complete Barre Body Lift workout

No matter what time you choose to workout throughout the week, what’s most important is to have a routine so you don’t fall victim to decision fatigue and miss your exercise session.

Studies show that as you navigate through a world of choices, it’s natural that your mental capacity starts to wear down.

As you increase the number of decisions you make throughout the day, the more tired your brain becomes, and it warps your judgment. But, you may not notice when this is happening to you, because when you’re running low on mental energy, your mind isn’t consciously aware of being tired.

Here’s an interesting study reported in the New York Times…

“…Studies show that people with the best self-control are the ones who structure their lives so as to conserve willpower. They don’t schedule endless back-to-back meetings. They avoid temptations like all-you-can-eat buffets, and they establish habits that eliminate the mental effort of making choices. Instead of deciding every morning whether or not to force themselves to exercise, they set up regular appointments to work out with a friend. Instead of counting on willpower to remain robust all day, they conserve it so that it’s available for emergencies and important decisions.”

So, if you like to exercise in the mornings, then set your alarm clock knowing what you’re doing when you wake up in the morning…whether it’s a walk or a yoga routine. Or, if you prefer to workout in the afternoon, then schedule a new class at the gym after work with a friend. This way, you’ve made the decision ahead of time and won’t have to rely on willpower to get moving.

And before you start your workout, don’t forget the importance of a warm-ups. Try this 5-minute gentle and invigorating warm-up video…it’s is like a latte for your mind. A simple warm-up will increase the oxygen in your brain and help you concentrate better, recall information more quickly, and focus more throughout the day.

Own it on DVD for only $11.99!

Kathy Smith, New York Times bestselling author, has stood at the forefront of the fitness and health industries for over 30 years. The numbers speak for themselves: Kathy has sold more than 20 million exercise DVDs - landing her in the Video Hall of Fame - and $500 million in Kathy Smith products. With her revolutionary approach to fitness, Smith has touched millions of people, inspiring them to move, live, and love.

6-Min Cardio + Barre Workout

by Kathy Smith 

Kathy Smith's Barre Body Lift Workout

Amp up your traditional barre workout by adding a cardio component! Popular studios across the country are beginning to offer cardio + barre classes that target-train muscles and give you the deepest burn you’ve ever felt, while incorporating gradually-paced cardio that leaves your body feeling alive.

And today, I’ve put together my own 6-minute cardio + barre fusion to target those hard-to-reach muscles and sculpt and define the back of your arms, buns and legs. The routine is so fun, that it will be the new reason you’ll want to jump out of bed in the morning.

This is NOT your standard workout! It’s a high energy, no impact routine that combines strength training with continual fat burning. You’ll be amazed how strong and full of vitality you’ll full after this 6-minute video!

Ready to give it a try? Grab a chair, and let’s go!

Kathy Smith, New York Times bestselling author, has stood at the forefront of the fitness and health industries for over 30 years. The numbers speak for themselves: Kathy has sold more than 20 million exercise DVDs - landing her in the Video Hall of Fame - and $500 million in Kathy Smith products. With her revolutionary approach to fitness, Smith has touched millions of people, inspiring them to move, live, and love.

THIS IS YOGA FOR INFLEXIBLE PEOPLE

by Kathy Smith

 

Full workout here!

THIS IS YOGA FOR INFLEXIBLE PEOPLE. So you don’t think you’re flexible? You’re not alone! There are reasons why you may be less bendy…from genetics, to how cold it is outside, to your age.

But just because you haven’t passed the Flexibility 101 course doesn’t mean you should rule yoga out of your practice.

Today, I want to guide you through a 5 minute gentle yoga video routine for inflexible people to help you feel more peaceful, have a better sleep tonight, and yes…improve your flexibility 

The good news is, you don’t even have to be able to touch your toes to do these poses.

Today’s video is a clip from my newly-released video, YOGA BASICS: GENTLE YOGA!

Own it on DVD HERE!

Product Description:

If you want to feel the revitalizing benefits of yoga, this DVD is the place to start! This complete experience includes both standing and floor poses to help you release tension, improve flexibility, increase core strength, and create space and tranquility in your body. As you start to link fluid movement with breath, you’ll discover for yourself yoga’s time-honored power to restore the balance of mind and body.

Clear and effective 55-minute routine gives the beginner a complete yoga foundation; Floor poses to increase flexibility, especially in the lower back; Standing poses to build strength and improve alignment; Breathing techniques for more energy and vitality; Guided relaxation session to dissolve unwanted stress; Developed with Rod Stryker, one of the country’s leading yoga instructors and lecturers; Easy-to-follow. The DVD contains: Floor poses; Standing poses; Guided relaxation.

Kathy says “Welcome to my Timeless Collection! I hope you’ll enjoy these DVDs containing my favorite and most memorable workouts from the past. What was great then is still effective today, and I think you’ll agree that this transformative workout is indeed timeless!”

This Yoga routine includes:

  • Floor poses: 22 minutes
  • Standing poses: 22 minutes
  • Guided relaxation: 10 minutes
  • Total workout: Approx. 55 minutes

Kathy Smith, New York Times bestselling author, has stood at the forefront of the fitness and health industries for over 30 years. The numbers speak for themselves: Kathy has sold more than 20 million exercise DVDs - landing her in the Video Hall of Fame - and $500 million in Kathy Smith products. With her revolutionary approach to fitness, Smith has touched millions of people, inspiring them to move, live, and love.

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