5 Moves to Strengthen Your Shoulders

by Jari Love 

Getting to the gym is hard enough as is, and the wait for equipment once you’re there makes it even worse. Fortunately, you can get a great workout without any dumbbells, barbells, or fancy machinery. These Weight-Free Workouts focus on a different muscle groups each time to show you how to build strength, even when you don’t have access to a gym. With these moves, any time can be workout time.

Whether you typically don a suit or a more casual T-shirt, strong shoulders are the key to a broad, great-looking upper body. As wonderful as it feels to look like a model in your favorite clothes, aesthetics become a lot less important when you consider the vital role shoulders play in everyday life. Anything involving pressing, pushing, throwing, and basically any arm movement, relies on the shoulder joint. Its composition makes this joint the most flexible in the body, but all that movement makes it extremely prone to injury.

By addressing both strength and flexibility with these five exercises, you’ll be able to keep your shoulders in great shape. This can benefit everything from your basketball game to your ability to change a lightbulb. And yes, you’ll also look stellar in your clothes.

1. Inchworms 

Despite the silly name, this exercise is a serious challenge for your back, chest, arms, abs, and shoulders. Though isolated moves to target your shoulders specifically are important, these types of full-body moves will help build your coordination. It won’t do you any good to have strong shoulders if you aren’t able to use them in conjunction with the rest of your body. It’s also a good idea to balance your shoulder workout days with other workouts so you don’t stress the area too much, which could lead to a tear or other injury.

Begin standing with your feet almost touching and your hands at your sides. Bend at the hips, keeping your knees straight but not locked, until you can reach the floor with your hands. Use your hands to walk yourself forward until you are in a plank position with your palms on the floor directly below you shoulders. Perform one pushup, then walk your feet towards your hands while keeping your palms planted. When you get close to your hands, switch to walking with your hands to perform the next sequence. ACE Fitness suggests aiming to cover 10 to 15 yards. As the move becomes easier, perform several pushups in each downward phase to increase the challenge.

2. Prone Ys

Working at a desk all day has a tendency to force most of us into a hunched position. Unfortunately, this bad posture becomes the norm even after we’ve stepped out of the office. In order to open your shoulders back up, you need to take things in the opposite direction. According to Muscle & Fitness, this exercise often doesn’t require any weight to pose a challenge. There isn’t really any limit to the recommended number of repetitions, so you can keep going until you’ve exhausted your muscles. If you’d like a little added resistance, water bottles will do the trick.

Most people do this move on a bench, but a stability ball or even the floor will also work. Lie down and extend your arms above and slightly out to the side so they form a “Y” with your head in between. Squeeze your shoulder blades together, then raise your arms up. Hold the position briefly, then carefully lower your arms back down. You can also perform the move one arm at a time.

If this move is extremely challenging, it’s a good sign you have some weakness or lack of mobility. In this case, try performing a sequence by changing the direction your arms are pointed.

3. Feet elevated pike pushups

Handstand pushups are great for shoulder strength, if you can manage to stay balanced. That’s sort of a tall order for guys who don’t have a gymnastics background, so feet-elevated pike pushups are a great starter move. Switching to a pike position, meaning your butt is raised towards the ceiling, forces more of the load onto your shoulders and raising your feet increases the intensity even more.

Get into a standard pushup position, but raise your feet onto a bench or a step. Next, form your body into an upside-down “V” by bending your hips and pointing your butt towards the ceiling. The goal is to have your torso and upper body as vertical as possible. From here, carefully lower yourself until your head is just above the ground, then push straight back up. Men’s Fitness suggests four sets of 12 repetitions. Depending on your fitness level, you may need to start with fewer.

4. Neutral-grip sternum chin-ups

Most people only switch their grip on the bar when they vary their chin-ups or pullups. Choosing a different bar position offers some advantages as well. Bodybuilding.com recommends chin-ups with a neutral grip, where you grasp two bars so your palms face one another, to pose more of a challenge for the core muscles and the rear shoulder.

These muscles, technically called the posterior deltoids, often get a lot less love than the anterior and medial ones. Neglecting this area will could lead to injury and also prevents you from getting as strong as possible as they assist with every type of shoulder movement. Weak posterior deltoids can also lead to a hunched appearance, and nobody wants that.

To perform this move, you need a set of parallel bars positioned relatively close to each other. You can find these at the gym and likely at a park. Grasp the bars with an overhand grip, and pull yourself up. As you reach the top, pull your shoulders together and lean back slightly. Keep pulling until your chest is just about even with the bars, then lower yourself back down.

5. Doorway stretch

Many guys are all about working on their deltoids, leaving the tiny rotator cuff muscles forgotten. They play an important role in helping you raise and rotate your arms and they’re among the most frequently injured muscles. We’ve already addressed strength, but we’ll finish with a move to improve flexibility. The University of Rochester Medical Center explains that these muscles don’t get a very good supply of blood on their own, which makes it tougher to recover. Since stretching encourages blood flow, it can go a long way toward keeping your rotator cuff healthy.

All you need to get a good stretch for these shoulder muscles is a doorway. With your arms pointed downward, grip the edges of a doorway, then lean forward until you feel a gentle resistance. Hold it briefly, then release. The key is to keep the stretching gentle. The only thing worse than not working on flexibility at all is pushing it too far, so remember to only go as far as you can without discomfort.

via cheatsheet.com

More Shoulder Strengthening Workouts HERE

Jari Love – original creator of Get RIPPED! DVD series and group exercise classes. The hot-selling and critically acclaimed Get RIPPED! series enables individuals of any fitness level to burn up to three times more calories than the traditional weight-training program, and has received rave reviews from fitness critics throughout North America since the first title debuted in late 2005.

Do You Make These 5 Fitness Mistakes?

by Jari Love

Stroll through any gym and you’ll notice many mistakes. Mistakes that waste time. Mistakes that put people in danger. And mistakes that are just plain crazy.

Maybe you even make a few of these mistakes yourself.

By avoiding these common blunders, you’ll put yourself on the fast track to results.

Check out the following 5 fitness mistakes and the solutions you need to avoid danger and to get fit fast.

Mistake 1: You use the wrong weight
The goal is to challenge your muscles, not to simply go through the motions. If you are able to complete 15 repetitions easily, then the weight is too light. On the flip side, if you aren’t able to perform an exercise through its full range of motion, and find yourself cheating on form, then the weight is too heavy.

The correct weights will feel challenging by your last few repetitions, but won’t force you to sacrifice form.

Mistake 2: You do the same routine
You may have noticed that most people do the same exercises each time they visit the gym. Maybe you’ve been doing the same exercise routine as long as you can remember – if it isn’t broken then don’t fix it, right?

The truth is that exercise routines have expiration dates, and that is the date that they begin to lose their effectiveness. As a rule of thumb never use the same routine for more than 4 weeks.

Mistake 3: You don’t warm up
Most people consider warm up time to be wasted time – they’d rather jump right into the heart of the routine. What they don’t realize is that a good warm up will allow you to perform at a higher intensity, which means greater results.

The point of a warm up is to increase your muscle temperature. This increases blood flow, muscle contraction and reduces muscle resistance. Your warm up should last 5-10 minutes.

Mistake 4: You use bad form
Gyms are filled with people performing exercises with bad form. The two biggest reasons are that you aren’t concentrating on the exercise, or you’re trying to lift weight that is too heavy. Lifting with improper form almost always results in injury.

Take the time to achieve proper form, by doing so you’ll avoid injury and will reap the full benefit from each exercise.

Mistake 5: You workout alone
People who exercise alone are less challenged, less accountable and typically see fewer results. It makes sense, doesn’t it? Why rush to the gym if no one is there waiting for you? Why push yourself if no one is watching? Exercising alone is a recipe for disaster.

Jari Love – original creator of Get RIPPED! DVD series and group exercise classes. The hot-selling and critically acclaimed Get RIPPED! series enables individuals of any fitness level to burn up to three times more calories than the traditional weight-training program, and has received rave reviews from fitness critics throughout North America since the first title debuted in late 2005.

Working Out Benefits Your Kids

by Jari Love
There are a million excuses to skip a workout, especially when kids are involved. Not only do you have to fight against your sleepy self telling you to go back to bed and push your workout off to the afternoon, but when the kids need to be fed or you want to spend some time as a family, your fitness regime will quickly take a backseat. Balancing a career, children, and time for your physical fitness can seem truly impossible, but the benefits for you and your kids are worth the balancing act. Here’s why:

1. You’ll be a better parent

Exercise helps ward off disease, prevents injuries, improves sleep, and helps maintain mental health. If those aren’t enough reasons, the neurochemical effects of exercise boost your mood and help you think better, which can lead to an increase in creativity, productivity, and better parenting. When you carve out time for yourself and your physical well-being, it shows in the way you react to stressful situations, your energy levels, and how you interact with your family.

2. Teaches work ethic

You may try to teach your kids the importance of hard work and good work ethic, but what about when they watch you overcome something difficult like laying out one more set in your garage gym or hitting the pavement every day after work? Exercise highlights your work ethic in moments when you’re tired from the day and unmotivated but still head out the door to fit in time for your body and mental well-being. Lauren Rodgers is one such parent who has prioritized fitness and shown her kids first-hand the value of hard work in the gym.

3. Gives them time

How many times have you caught yourself thinking, “If only there were more hours in a day”? With more time you would put in enough hours at work, cook healthy meals, spend time with your family, take time for yourself, and get that ripped body you never have time to build. Exercising actually adds time to your life. According to the National Institutes of Health, participating in leisurely physical activity can extend your life by 4.5 years. That’s almost five more years with your kids. Now imagine if you did regular, strenuous exercise. How much more time would that give you with your family?

4. Demonstrates a healthy lifestyle

Good workouts lead to better nutrition, more energy, and healthier lifestyle choices. When you’re in a routine of hitting the gym, drinking a fruit and protein-filled smoothie for breakfast, and making veggie heavy dishes for dinner, your kids will notice. You’re showing them how to lead a healthy life by example. This is how they’ll perceive adult life to be, and they’ll follow suit by being healthy, active teens and adults.

5. Establishes respect

It may not feel like it, but when you grunt out another 10 push-ups or insist on serving healthy meals, your kids will respect you. They’ll notice that you knock out some sit-ups during the commercial break and don’t eat doughnuts for dinner. When they see that you prioritize your physical fitness they will not only respect you, but they’ll want to emulate you.

6. You’ll be happy

You know that high when you finish a tough workout? When you exercise, your brain sees it as a time of high stress, so it releases a protein called Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) and endorphins to fight stress and reset the mind. This is why your mind becomes clear and you feel at ease during and after exercising. This happy feeling impacts the way you feel about yourself and your life. When you take care of yourself and you’re happy, your kids will notice.
 
Jari Love – original creator of Get RIPPED! DVD series and group exercise classes. The hot-selling and critically acclaimed Get RIPPED! series enables individuals of any fitness level to burn up to three times more calories than the traditional weight-training program, and has received rave reviews from fitness critics throughout North America since the first title debuted in late 2005.

LUNCH BREAK WORKOUTS

by Jari Love

In today’s busy world it all comes down to time. After ensuring you get enough sleep (super important for your health), do a good job at work, and spend time with family and friends, there is not always time for you. When your days and weekends are clogged with functions, heavy workloads, and social obligations, hitting the gym or going for a long run at the end of the day is at the bottom of the list and usually gets skipped. After missing a few weeks of working out, you’ll notice a difference both physically and mentally. According to the Mayo Clinic, exercise boosts energy, helps maintain weight, and helps you sleep deeper. Even on the busiest of days, it is not something you should let slide to the bottom of your to-do list.

On those crazy days, weeks, or months, every second of time should be used to it’s maximum capacity. That means that those lazy lunch hours where you would peruse Facebook or hit up your favorite sushi restaurant can be used to squeeze in a 20- to 30-minute, much-needed lunch break workout.

1. 20 bodyweight squats: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, and place your hands behind your head. Flex your knees, and sit back with your hips. Sit down as far as you are able, and reverse the motion until you are standing again.
2. 20 incline push-ups: Put your feet on a chair or couch, and perform 20 full push-ups to complete this set.
3. 20 hip thrusts: Begin seated on the ground with a bench directly behind you. Roll the bar so that it is directly above your hips, and lean back against the bench so that your shoulder blades are near the top of it. Push your feet into the ground, and lift up your hips, pushing up the bar. Test out weight on this exercise to find a doable weight for you.
4. 20 walking lunges: Start by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart with your hands on your hips. Step forward with one leg and bend that knee, dropping your hips. Lower until your rear knee nearly touches the ground, and then bring that back leg forward to standing. Perform this on the other leg. Do 10 reps on each leg for a total of 20.
5. 20 standard push-ups: Go into plank position with your hands on the ground directly under your shoulders. Lower your body, keeping your back flat until your chest grazes the floor. Push back up to plank.
6. 25 crunches: Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, hip-width part. Place your hands behind your head so your thumbs are behind your ears. Lift up your chest and upper body as your feet remain planted on the ground.

3. Arm and shoulder workout: 20 minutes
Grab a pair of 5- to 10-pound dumbbells, and get ready for this gut-busting workout from Men’s Health that elevates your heart rate and builds major muscle. For each exercise, you’ll work for 20 seconds and rest for 10. Then repeat that exercise for a total of four minutes. You’ll have one minute of rest before moving on to the second exercise.

1. Split stance see-saw: With the weights in both hands, bring one leg three feet in front of you. Lift the weight in one hand with the other hand down, and then switch, performing this see-saw motion for 20 seconds. Rest for 10 seconds before repeating the exercise with the opposite leg in front. Do this for four minutes straight before resting for one minute.
2. Split stance see-saw overhead press: Get into a deep squat, and lift both hands — with weights — over head. Bring one hand down by your shoulder, and then push back up and bring the opposite hand down. Perform this for 20 seconds, rest for 10, and then repeat the exercise with the opposite leg in front. Do this for four minutes straight before resting for one minute.
3. Dumbbell discus: Hold one dumbbell in one hand, and perform the classic discus motion bringing the weight from behind you, around, and up toward the ceiling. Ensure your feet are wide apart. Do this for 20 seconds, rest for 10, and then switch sides. Do this for four minutes straight before resting for one minute.
4. Dumbbell shoulder jack and shuffle press: Stand with your feet two-feet apart with your weights in both hands. Squat down to a comfortable position (you don’t need to go too low), and then lift your hands straight out to the side. Bend at the elbows to bring the weights on either side of your chest, and then shoot them out straight in front of you. Bend at the elbows to bring the weights to either side of your chest, and then shoot your arms out straight on either side of the body. Perform this for 20 seconds, and rest for 10. Do this for four minutes straight.

4. Full bodyweight blast: Less than 30 minutes
This 28-minute workout from Gym Jones uses your body weight only, giving you the freedom to knock this out in a gym, empty conference room, or even your office if it comes down to that. Perform the first exercise for 30 seconds, and then rest for 30 seconds. That’s one set. Do four sets of the first exercise, and then rest for two minutes before moving on to the second exercise. Repeat the procedure until you’ve done all five exercises.

1. Frog hop: Place your hands behind your head. Bend your knees slightly, and hop forward. Immediately hop again after your feet touch the ground.
2. Split jump: Stand in a staggered stance with your feet two- to three-feet apart and your right foot in front of your left. Bend your legs, and lower your body into a lunge. Now jump with enough force to propel both feet off the floor. While you’re in the air, scissor-kick your legs so you land with your left leg forward. Repeat, alternating your forward leg.
3. Burpee: Stand with your feet a little wider than shoulder-width apart. Lower your body into a squat until your palms rest on the floor about shoulder-width apart. Kick your legs backward to a push-up position. Perform a push-up, and then quickly reverse the movement and perform a jump as you stand up.
4. Push-up: Get into push-up position. Keep your body perfectly straight as you bend your arms and lower yourself so your chest touches the ground. Push yourself back up.
5. Hell squat: These are just like regular bodyweight squats, but you’ll spend the 30-second rest periods holding the bottom position of the squat. Stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Push your hips back as of you’re about to sit in a chair, and lower your body until your hips are in line with your knees. Stand back up.

Jari Love – original creator of Get RIPPED! DVD series and group exercise classes. The hot-selling and critically acclaimed Get RIPPED! series enables individuals of any fitness level to burn up to three times more calories than the traditional weight-training program, and has received rave reviews from fitness critics throughout North America since the first title debuted in late 2005.

8 Reasons to do Squat Exercises

by Jari Love

Jari Love – original creator of Get RIPPED! DVD series and group exercise classes. The hot-selling and critically acclaimed Get RIPPED! series enables individuals of any fitness level to burn up to three times more calories than the traditional weight-training program, and has received rave reviews from fitness critics throughout North America since the first title debuted in late 2005.

Holiday Weight Gain? Lose Weight Fast!

by Jari Love

Here’s how to recover from the holidays and lose weight fast:

The holidays are such a magical time of the year! You spend time with family. You decorate, exchange gifts, talk about all the things you are thankful for, and…eat. It’s hard to not overeat during the holiday season because there are so many good things, like sugary cookies, heaps of pot roast, turkey, and dressing. It’s no wonder so many of us put on the pounds during the months of November and December. Of course, though, after the holidays, you are left feeling very bad about all that extra weight you have gained.

The good news is that you can lose that holiday weight gain fast. You just need a plan of action. You also need to set goals and stick to them. Then, you can enjoy a healthier, more physically fit you. What does it take to drop those pounds quickly? Here is what you need to know.

Start by Understanding Your Body

You need to understand your body and how it works. If you eat the wrong foods, then your body will not use those calories for energy. You will continue storing fat. However, when you eat the right foods and exercise like you should, then your body will have no choice but to burn fat stores. You cannot just tackle one thing: exercise or diet and expect to lose all of those holiday pounds. Instead, when you understand your body, you will see why it is important to work on both healthy foods and a quality exercise plan.

Keep Track of What You Are Eating

It’s a good idea to know what you are eating. “Being aware of what you eat can serve as an effective reminder of which foods to avoid as you work on dropping holiday pounds.” (Black, 2010) By knowing what you are eating, you can actually determine what you need to adjust in your diet to be healthier. You may be consuming quite a few empty calories without even realizing it. In fact, if you are trying to live a healthy lifestyle, it’s a good idea to keep a food and exercise journal throughout the year.

Hit the Exercise Plan…Hard

Exercise, and the right kind of exercise, is key to losing weight fast. Weight training will be the most successful option, but most people think of cardio instead. However, when you use weights, you will actually be building muscle, dropping pounds, and making yourself healthier overall.  When you use the right exercise program that involves weight training, you will actually be able to burn as many calories as you would if you ran on a treadmill.

The Goal Is Muscle Overload

When you work out, you may be tempted to quit when you get tired, but you may not be taxing your muscles enough. Through the proper form and lighter weights than you may think you need, you can actually lose more weight and build more muscle than you would have imagined. Essentially, you want your muscles to build fiber over time, and that means pushing them through resistance training. As you build the muscle, you will burn the fat and pounds you put on through the holidays.

Structure and Repetition Will Help

When you face losing weight and you want to drop the pounds quickly, you need to understand the importance of structure and repetition. By doing the right number of reps in each type of weight training, you will be able to tax your muscles as much as you should without risking injury.

Structure is important in any exercise and weight loss regime. You need to build a plan and stick to it. This holds true for the exercise itself as well as your dietary plan. When you have a structured routine for your daily plan, you will be able to stick with it without accidentally slacking off.

Finally, if you want to lose weight fast, you should never starve yourself. You may think that by skipping meals, you can drop the pounds, but you will actually be sabotaging yourself. Your body will start slowing down and burning muscle instead of fat. Make sure you are eating a healthy diet to see the best results. Those holiday pounds don’t have to stay on throughout the year. With the right plan, you can lose them fast!

Jari Love – original creator of Get RIPPED! DVD series and group exercise classes. The hot-selling and critically acclaimed Get RIPPED! series enables individuals of any fitness level to burn up to three times more calories than the traditional weight-training program, and has received rave reviews from fitness critics throughout North America since the first title debuted in late 2005.

7 FUN WAYS TO BURN CALORIES

by Jari Love

Not everyone loves hitting the treadmill. Here are some ways to burn calories while having fun. Add one or two of these activities to your daily routine and watch the benefits add up!

1. Dance it Off
Rock out to four of your favorite songs in a row. Turn, Twist, Shake, Jump, Hard Core Air Guitar Solo, and Shimmy off 100 calories. You just got more booty-licious and boosted your mood with your favorite tunes—sounds like a great deal!

2. Bike it Off
Instead of driving to your local coffee hang out to get your morning coffee why not bike there. Biking is one of the most fun modes of transportation, good for the environment and good for you. Keep those pedals moving for at least 15 minutes and you’ve cycled away another 100 calories.

3. Shop it Off
No seriously, keeping up a steady shopping pace for 40 minutes means you are 100 calories closer to fitting into that perfect outfit you picked out during your shopping workout.

4. Tee it Off
Golfing and walking the whole round is a great way to burn calories. Not a golfer? No problem even a round of mini-golf can burn up to 100 calories a round. Take your kids, take your main squeeze, make a date of it with your friends. Act like a champion when you sink your puts by jumping, fist pumping and victory dancing and you’ll burn even more!

5. Dig it Off
Planting a garden this spring? Just 25 minutes of digging, weeding and planting torch through 100 calories. Hello Dandelions! Winter blahs? Go get that snow shovel, only 15 minutes here will have you melting off those 100 calories. Bring it on Jack Frost!

6. Bounce it Off
Remember when you were a kid and spent the whole summer on your trampoline? Well it’s time to bring the bounce back. Jump for Joy because only half an hour on the old trampoline bounces off 100 calories.

7. Climb it Off
Want to try something new? Try out your local climbing wall. Just 10 minutes of climbing will bring your weight loss to new heights by dropping 100 calories.

Jari Love – original creator of Get RIPPED! DVD series and group exercise classes. The hot-selling and critically acclaimed Get RIPPED! series enables individuals of any fitness level to burn up to three times more calories than the traditional weight-training program, and has received rave reviews from fitness critics throughout North America since the first title debuted in late 2005.

PUMPKIN & ZUCCHINI MUFFINS

by Jari Love

Don’t let the rich flavor and mouthwatering moistness of these pumpkin & zucchini muffins fool you. You’ll have a hard time convincing anyone, but this recipe was modified to include less fat and sugar than the original.

Breakfast is the most influential meal of the day. If you start your day with sugary pastries or a greasy breakfast sandwich, the rest of your food choices will follow suit. However, when you start your morning with a wholesome and nutritious meal you’ll be more likely to continue with good choices throughout the day.Try the Pumpkin & Zucchini Muffins recipe below as a nutritious start to your day. Servings: 40 mini muffins

Here’s what you need…

• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2/3 cup raw honey
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
• 7 oz applesauce
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract>
• 3 cups almond flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup shredded zucchini
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Cooking Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a mini muffin pan with paper baking cups, or use non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a mixing bowl combine eggs and honey. Add pumpkin, melted coconut oil, applesauce, and vanilla.
3. In a separate bowl combine all of the dry ingredients.
4. Gradually add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and mix until well combined. Stir in the zucchini.
5. Enjoy your Pumpkin & Zucchini Muffins

Pour into muffin tins, sprinkle the tops with chopped walnuts. Bake for 10-20 minutes or until you can poke a toothpick in a muffin and it comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes.

Nutritional Analysis: One mini muffin equals: 92 calories, 3g fat, 15g carbohydrate, 1.5g fiber, and 2g protein.

Jari Love – original creator of Get RIPPED! DVD series and group exercise classes. The hot-selling and critically acclaimed Get RIPPED! series enables individuals of any fitness level to burn up to three times more calories than the traditional weight-training program, and has received rave reviews from fitness critics throughout North America since the first title debuted in late 2005.

How To Cut Sugar From Your Life

by Jari Love

Recently I posted an article about why sugar is so bad for you. However, cutting sugar from your diet can be challenging. I recently had a client come to me for help eliminating sugar from her diet for good. Danielle is a mom of two and works part time. Once her youngest hit 4 Danielle decided it was time to make some changes in her life, and she started seeing me and coming to my classes on a regular basis. Danielle loved the classes, but found herself craving sweet stuff all the time particularly after workouts, but knew giving in to her cravings wasn’t going to get her the results she wanted. She came to talk to me to see whether I could offer any advice not only for herself, but also for her two boys.

One of the problems with sugar is that it acts like a drug. As sugars are released into your bloodstream your blood sugar rises. Your pancreas works to regulate that blood sugar level by releasing insulin. Insulin’s job is to move sugar from your blood into your cells where you can use it as energy. However, the more refined the sugar the faster this happens and the faster your pancreas has to work in order to regulate your blood sugar levels. This puts a lot of stress on your pancreas, and sometimes, if you eat even small doses of poor-quality highly refined sugars like corn syrup, you experience those tremendous highs and lows of blood sugar spikes and crashes, which leads you crave even more sugar.

If you consume more sugar than your body needs to fuel its cells, that excess sugar is stored as fat! Additionally, if your pancreas is constantly producing insulin to regulate your blood sugar levels, your body can’t produce glucagon which is the hormone that releases fat so your body can burn it off. If you are eating lots of sugar, not only is your body storing that extra sugar as fat, it is also not burning any stored fat.

One of the reasons that your diet is filled with so much sugar is that some form of refined sugar is included in virtually every single processed food. This is yet another reason that it’s important to cut those processed and packaged convenience foods out of your diet. Even some “health foods” should be avoided due to their high sugar content. One of the first fixes Danielle made to her and her boys’ diet was to cut out juice boxes and orange juice for breakfast. 1 8oz glass of orange juice contains 25 grams of sugar which is about half the recommended daily intake for an average adult! Danielle cut out her boys’ juice intake and found this simple change significantly helped reduce their mood swings and “tired” tantrums. Danielle also cut out her morning glass of orange juice and found she was less tired half way through the morning and could forgo her sugar fix.

I also recommended that Danielle and her boys upped their protein, particularly at breakfast. A diet rich in protein keeps you full, satisfied and less likely to crave sweets. A great way to make sure that you are getting enough is to plan each meal and snack around a protein. Danielle began planning breakfasts around eggs and protein shakes which also helped her ward off those cravings.

The biggest change Danielle made to her diet was cutting out all products containing artificial sweeteners. Danielle had initially tried to cut sugar by switching to products with sugar alternatives. The problem with these artificial sweeteners is they actually interfere with our hormonal system’s ability to detect when we’ve eaten enough. Artificial sweeteners make our body think we’ve had something sweet, but when the calories aren’t there our body craves them—making us eat more food to satisfy the deficit.

Danielle got rid of all those artificial sweeteners and replaced them with whole fruit and the occasional piece of dark chocolate. Eating a piece of whole fruit when you are craving something sweet is a good option, since you can have your sweet fix, while also ingesting vitamins and minerals. The fiber present in fruit also helps slow down the sugar’s release into your blood stream thus putting less stress on your pancreas.
Danielle replaced her secret indulgence— Twizzlers licorice—with a small square of dark chocolate for those times when she just had to have something sweet. Consuming Dark Chocolate that is 70% or higher in cocoa content releases endorphins that suppress pain and stress. The flavonoids found in cocoa can also help reduce blood pressure and the B-vitamins are an additional stress busting benefit. The benefit of the cocoa, in addition to the lowered sugar content, makes dark chocolate an occasionally justifiable treat.

Danielle found that the longer she and her boys went without sugar, the less they craved it. As you begin to limit your intake of refined sugars, you’ll find that your tolerance for sugar decreases. This means that something that didn’t taste sweet before – say a green apple – now has uncanny depths of sweetness. What’s happening is that your sweet receptors are becoming more finely tuned, now that you’re not overwhelming your palate with sickly-sweet refined sugar. Danielle found she actually had more energy once she decided to kick the sugar habit, and as a bonus after only three weeks on the no sugar plan, she found she had lost an extra 4 pounds!

Remember, diet is a huge part of your weight management program, but a regular, challenging exercise routine is also a must. Not only will a challenging exercise program help you get into amazing shape, it also reduces your cravings for sugar. The endorphin rush brought on by vigorous exercise is an even more powerful feel-good-feeling than the pleasure gotten by indulging in sugary foods.

Jari Love – original creator of Get RIPPED! DVD series and group exercise classes. The hot-selling and critically acclaimed Get RIPPED! series enables individuals of any fitness level to burn up to three times more calories than the traditional weight-training program, and has received rave reviews from fitness critics throughout North America since the first title debuted in late 2005.

Easy Food Substitutions To Help Keep You Lean

by Jari Love

Are you looking for an easy way to lose weight without compromising taste, or worrying about not feeling full? Here are some quick and easy food substitutions that will satisfy your hunger, benefit your body and will reduce your waistline.

Cauliflower for Rice
Cauliflower rice is surprisingly close to rice in texture and taste. It is light and fluffy, but tender and chewy like rice. Cauliflower rice is easy to make: pulse florets in a food processor, or grate them, until they have broken down into small rice-sized granules. Cauliflower rice can be served raw, but it becomes more rice-like if you cook it in a skillet with 1/2 tbs of olive or coconut oil for 5-8 minutes or until the desired tenderness is reached.

Cauliflower rice will save you 100s of calories. As an added bonus cauliflower is rich in vitamin B-6 which helps lower stress levels and increase your mood. It’s a win-win!

Vegetable Noodles for Pasta
While, vegetable noodles don’t taste exactly like regular pasta noodles, their fat-busting and added nutrition value should have you reaching for your spiral slicer or potato peeler. Turn zucchini, beets, broccoli stems, fennel, or sweet potatoes, or bake a spaghetti squash and scrape out those nature-made noodles. Stir fry them up with some tomato sauce and basil and you have delicious and nutritious pasta without all the calories!

Lettuce for Bread
Looking to cut out calories quickly? Simply replace your sliced bread or bun with lettuce. Create delicious wraps by choosing large leaf varieties like Romaine, or if you are feeling extra brave gently steam some large leaf dragon kale and watch those pounds melt away. Extra bonus Romaine contains high levels of Chromium which helps maintain normal blood sugar levels, helps in fat metabolism and curbs sugar cravings—why wouldn’t you make the switch?

Protein Powder for Flour
Protein powder can’t be substituted 1 for 1 in recipes but you can easily switch up a portion of your flour in items like pancakes or muffins to boost the protein content and reduce the carbs. Use unsweetened plain or vanilla protein powder to keep your recipes tasting delicious while keeping you feeling full longer

Coconut Oil for Vegetable Oil
While I don’t recommend drinking cups of coconut oil at a time, remember that healthy fats are key to nutrient absorption from your food and can actually help you lose weight. Coconut oil is very easy to digest and gets stored in the liver as energy rather than in your cells as fat. Replace vegetable oil with coconut oil, and enjoy benefits such as increased fat burning and reduced appetite. Coconut oil can be used in virtually any recipe – both stove top and baking.

Wholesome Sweeteners for Sugar
Sugar is stored in your body as fat! Refined sugars also stresses our pancreas which over time can lead to health complications like weight gain and diabetes. Don’t think you are doing any better if you are using zero-calorie sweeteners either in fact zero-calorie sweeteners can even promote more fat storage than sugar. Instead, replace your refined sugars with whole-food sweeteners that contain important minerals and enzymes and do not impact blood sugar levels as much as refined sugars, such as: coconut sugar, raw honey, pure maple syrup, or pitted dates. Just remember a little sweetener goes a long way–the less sugar you eat the less fat you will store.

Jari Love – original creator of Get RIPPED! DVD series and group exercise classes. The hot-selling and critically acclaimed Get RIPPED! series enables individuals of any fitness level to burn up to three times more calories than the traditional weight-training program, and has received rave reviews from fitness critics throughout North America since the first title debuted in late 2005.