Love Notes by Jari Love

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.

Interval Training For Fast Results

by Jari Love

Want to get more out of your workouts? Then try interval training for fast results!
There’s a little secret in the fitness world called interval training.
What is interval training? Rather than doing the same cardio exercise your entire workout, interval training alternates short, high-intensity bursts of exercise with slower, low-intensity periods of recovery.
Research has shown that such intervals of high and low-intensity activity burn more calories and build fitness quicker in a shorter amount of time.
Once designed for elite athletes, interval training is now something the average fit person can try. You don’t need fancy equipment or special training to rev up your routine with interval training.
Read on to learn more about this fast, slow, fast, slow method of training and weight loss.

Theory Behind Interval Training
By alternating high-intensity movements with low-intensity movements, you’re working both your aerobic (with oxygen) and anaerobic (without oxygen) systems. High-intensity exercise causes your muscles to produce lactic acid (waste products), which lead to muscle soreness. Too much lactic acid build up causes exercise to become exhausting and painful.
Alternating hard and easy exercise will reduce the amount of lactic acid that accumulates, thereby making exercise more comfortable, improving your endurance and increasing your speed.

Interval Length
So how long should intervals be?
The answer is, it doesn’t matter.
There are no real hard-and-fast rules about interval length. Varying lengths bring varying benefits. So how fast and how often you pick up the pace depends on you.
Beginners should aim for no longer than 30 seconds of high-intensity bursts. If you’re feeling strong and are in good shape, go ahead and push yourself a bit longer.

Know the Risks
While a no-rules approach may sound appealing, interval training isn’t for the beginner. If you’re new in the land of fitness, take your time as you increase the intensity of your workouts.
Rushing into high-intensity exercise may lead to injury. Start out slowly. Add one or two high-intensity intervals each workout. Slow down if you feel you’re overdoing it. As your stamina increases, feel free to challenge yourself.

Sample Workouts
Remember, there’s no set rule about how to do interval training. It can be tailored to your fitness level and type of exercise.
An interval-training workout involves four variables that can be changed to meet your goals: intensity of intervals, duration of intervals, duration of recovery intervals, and the number of interval repetitions.
Interval training can be casual, spur of the moment bursts of activity depending on how you’re feeling that day or if you’re working towards a more specific sports or fitness goal you can take a more sophisticated, scientific approach.
Interval training workouts have been designed for plyometrics, sprints, stair running, jump rope, speed drills, and agility drills.
A simple example of interval training for walking would be to add short bursts of jogging or alternate slower walking with brisk walking. If you walk outdoors, you could jog or walk faster between certain landmarks such as mailboxes or street signs, then slow down for a short distance.
A second example that really gets your heart pumping and improves fitness in a short amount of time includes running, rowing, or cycling. Warm up for about 15 minutes, then run, row, or cycle as hard as you can (at 90 percent of your maximum heart rate) for three minutes. Then go easy for three minutes, allowing your body to recover. Repeat these three-minute intervals of high- and low-intensity exercise three or four times. Then cool down for 10 minutes.

Increase Your Intensity
To get the most out of your interval training try the following:
• Add Resistance. Between sets of cardio do a set with dumbbells, resistance bands or with your body weight.
• Increase Speed. Really push yourself during the sprinting intervals. Remember, it’s only a handful of seconds.
• Lengthen Intervals. Add a few seconds to your intense intervals.
• Change Exercises. If you’ve been sprinting then switch to burpees or high knees.

Here are WORKOUTS that help you increase your exercise intensity.

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.

Homemade Chicken Soup Recipe

by Jari Love

This homemade chicken soup recipe is made without added carbs like noodles or potatoes. It’s filled with fiber, protein and lots of delicious flavor. Enjoy!

Here’s what you need…

• 1 Tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 medium organic yellow onion, chopped
• 3 carrots, grated
• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 1 Tablespoon curry powder
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 quarts chicken broth
• 3 cups diced roasted chicken
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 organic apple, chopped
• dash of salt and pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• zest from 1 lemon
• 2 cups unsweetened coconut milk

1. In a large pot, over medium heat, melt the coconut oil and add the onion, carrots and celery.
2. After 5 minutes add the garlic and curry powder.
3. After a couple minutes add the chicken broth, chicken, bay leaf, apple, pepper, thyme, and lemon zest. Stir well.
4. Bring to a simmer and cook for 40 minutes.
5. Stir in the coconut milk, and some salt if desired, remove the bay leaf and serve.
6. Enjoy your Homemade Chicken Soup!

Servings: 8

Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 166 calories, 5g fat, 175mg sodium, 9g carbohydrate, 2g fiber, and 19g 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.

EXCUSES FOR NOT EXERCISING: YOUR TOP 5

by Jari Love

Calling you out on your favorite excuses for not exercising:

1. You have no time: Do you have time to sit and watch your favorite shows? Take a long hard look at your schedule and find the time. It’s there if you just look for it.
2. You have no energy: This excuse will be a non-issue once you’ve been exercising regularly for a couple of weeks. Your energy will build as you become more fit and active.
3. You have no motivation: Do you want to look better? Do you need to fight disease or aches and pains? Find your motivation and run with it.
4. You’ve failed in the past: I get it; past failures are painful to face. But you haven’t really failed until you give up. Don’t give up on yourself! Go out there a do it.
5. You don’t know where to begin: No problem. Follow this site and together we will get your workouts back on track.

Slowly put your excuses down and walk away from them.

Embrace your motivation, and get started!

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.