Fat Loss Cheetah
Fat Loss and Health Tips for the Modern Woman

Trying to lose weight is like looking for your missing diamond earring on the floor at a bar – it’s extremely frustrating. However, when/if you finally find the minuscule object your level of joy goes through the roof! Wouldn’t it be easier to find missing jewelry on the floor if you just ask the bartender for a flash light??

The flashlight is just like using supplements – why not speed things up a bit?

I am personally very careful with what I put into my body by making sure to do extensive research on each new fad that comes out on the market, so I am purposely leaving out some very effective but very unhealthy weight loss aids.  I am only sharing the supplements that I take myself almost every day and can vouch for:

• Protein Powder: If you don’t know why eating more protein supercharges your fat loss, read this. The problem is that the amount of the needed daily protein intake even for women is fairly large if you want to lose fat. There is no way you are going to eat that much chicken and egg whites in one day. Protein powder helps your cause. This one is the one I use and is my favorite due to the low amount of additives.
• Fish Oil: Fish oil provides essential fatty acids which have a myriad of heath benefits, one of them being  fat loss. The compounds that have shown the best results in scientific studies regarding fat loss are CLA and now EPA/DHA, all three being fats contained in fish oil. Don’t worry, the supplement companies add flavoring to the oil to make it not taste fishy. So a couple of tablespoons of this stuff per day is really no skin off your back at all. As a side-effect you will have an extra healthy heart and strong joints. My favorite brand is Carlson Laboratories.
• Wheat Grass: Wheat grass is a naturally nutrient dense food which is very low in calories and expands when water is added. It’s health benefits are endless and just 1-3 oz a day is all you need. Wheat grass contains over eighty different minerals, is high in fiber (can you say shit-a-lot?), and averages 25% protein (more than meat, fish, eggs, beans or dairy products). It is also more concentrated in iron than spinach but, unlike spinach, contains little or no oxalic acid, which binds the useable calcium in the system and can leach calcium from teeth and bones. Wheat grass has about as much magnesium as broccoli, brussels sprouts (who likes them?), beets and carrots. Magnesium is vital for muscle contraction and bowel health. Most importantly for you, wheatgrass acts as a natural appetite suppressant! It brings your body to a state where you metabolize fat much more efficiently because you are healthy! Although I know you are probably going to jamba juice for your daily shot, the BEST way to take wheatgrass is to grow and juice it yourself since the freshest grass has the most nutrients. It only takes pennies to grow wheatgrass. Just buy this kit once, and you can reuse it an unlimited amount of times.
• Caffeine: I personally don’t use caffeine since I am one of the few people in the world that are extra sensitive to it, although I truly believe it is a good supplement for energy and fat loss for those that tolerate it well. What caffeine does is increase free flowing fatty acids from your fat stores allowing you to access fat instead of carbs or lean muscle for energy. It also gives you a nice jolt right before your workout. So feel free to stop at Starbucks and get a shot or two of espresso before you work out. Just don’t take caffeine pills since they normally have extra bad stuff in them.

So there you have it, the 4 best supplements to help you on your journey.  There is absolutely no reason that you shouldn’t be taking them if you want to lose fat. If anyone has anymore that I have missed, please share.

For all the men who are regularly invading my site,  sorry you can’t relate to this one. Perhaps you will enjoy reading it anyway. Or perhaps you will just enjoy looking at the pictures.

Ok, ladies. How many of you have seen some success on your fat loss journey? It feels fantastic when your clothes are looser and you start to see the muscle definition coming out, right? However, there is one small side effect – your boobs shrink along with the rest of you. Unfortunately, underneath the skin the breast is about 80% fat. The rest of the volume is made up of blood vessels and the mammary (milk producing) glands. All of a sudden you are not only having to shop for smaller clothes, but also smaller bras! Bummer. You might even put on your favorite bikini and nearly fall off your chair when you notice there is almost nothing left up top!

For the non-US population this is no big deal since small breasts are perfectly normal. But unfortunately for those of us living in the United States there is a lot of pressure to get a boob job. All of my LA ladies have even been conditioned to believe that it is normal for breasts to look like 2 balls plastered to the middle of your chest! Even if you don’t want your boobs to be unproportionally large, chances are you’ve stuffed your bra and wondered what it would be like if they were just a little bit bigger.

Although breast augmentation is not for me, I am not against it in any way. I, like many of you, have been falsely conditioned to think they look great. I even regularly stare at all my friends with boob jobs in awe. However, at this point in my like I’m firmly against putting little balls of man-made material inside my body. It just makes no sense to me to drink wheatgrass and put the finest enzymes and minerals into my system, as I get knocked out by anesthesia and stuff plastic-like substance inside me.

The purpose of this article is to give you the pluses and minuses of breast augmentation, as well as give you a couple of viable alternatives.

So, let’s start with the pluses, shall we? Here they are (these are in ranking order):

1. If you have been working out hard and eating right, you will look like this
2. You will have increased confidence
3. If you have not lost much weight you will automatically appear skinnier due to geometry and the laws of proportion
4. Your clothes will fit you better
5. You will get more attention

You may have noticed that all these reasons are superficial. That’s not bad, just keep it in mind as you make your decision.

Here are the negatives of breast augmentation (in ranking order):

1. You risk death. An NCI study found that women who had breast implants for at least 12 years were more likely to die from brain tumors, lung cancer, other respiratory diseases, and suicide compared with other plastic surgery patients. The risk is extremely small, but I like life a lot so I would consider it.
2. You might come out looking like this, or worse.
3. You risk complications. Even if your boobs look great, some people cannot tolerate foreign substances in their body. While most women may do well after surgery, some do not. Your body may reject the implants and you may become ill. You may have complications associated with surgery including infection, bleeding, or a slow recovery.
4. You might break the bank. Breast implants cost between $5-10K.  If you take this money and invest it in a top quality trainer you will look fantastic even with your small boobs. For $10K I bet there’s a way you can snag Jennifer Aniston’s trainer for at least a few weeks.
5. You need to get your breast implants replaced every 10 years. Again, you risk complications during surgery as well as break the bank at least another few grand.

For those of us that are scared away by these negatives, what will we do??

Lucky for you, there are some natural alternatives. Although these are not as effective as plastic surgery, it is probably worth giving these articles a read. You will not turn into Pamela Anderson, but you will get a little help.

To learn more about natural alternatives, click here –> Natural Breast Enlargement

It’s the middle of summer and I don’t know about you, but I’ve been having a great time. I try to keep my diet and exercise in check, although there have been the occasional trips to Vegas and/or pool parties that have hindered my progress.

What about you? Are you balancing your fun times with your diet and exercise? Or have you been having a little too much fun with the Mojitos and the not-so-healthy dinners out??

Our bodies will always treat us the way that we treat them, and if you’ve been going partying hard lately perhaps you’re not feeling so hot. Even if you’re treating your body relatively well lately, perhaps you still experience low energy or get colds a bit too often?

Either way, it has been proven time and time again that everyone should ALWAYS do a cleanse periodically in order to restore themselves to optimal health by flushing out the system. Numerous sources state that colon health is VITALLY important.

Cleansing your body and flushing your colon seriously makes you feel amazing and supercharges your progress. I do this every single time I so much as start to feel a cold coming on or if I just feel under the weather, and it works like a charm. (I also “accidentally” get skinnier)

The best one on the market by far is the Master Cleanse.

Losing A TON of weight is a small byproduct of doing the Master Cleanse

People have been known to lose 5-10 lbs in 10 days! I normally lose 3-5 lbs in a few days. Keep in mind that this “weight” loss is not necessarily going to be fat, but instead other “stuff”. Not to be gross, but your large intestine is  dirty and when you do a cleanse you will likely rid yourself of at least a couple of pounds of shit. I know Dr. Oz likes to call it fecal matter, but let’s just be real about it. It’s shit.

The good news is that once your pipes are clean, you will be able to metabolize and digest food much more efficiently and therefore keep losing weight after the cleanse. This weight WILL be fat.  Not bad, huh?

Here are some other benefts:

• You will have WAY more energy
• If your hormone levels are out of whack they will get restored. Be prepared to feel frisky!
• Less internal inflammation, so if you have any aches they will go away
• It will become A LOT easier to lose weight
• … and much more

The one thing to remember while doing a cleanse is that while your body is ridding itself of all the grossness you will not necessarily be feeling so hot. If you are not prepared for what you’ll experience when you do the Master Cleanse there’s a good chance you’ll fail. Typically lasting just 10 days, it’s easy to see why people just “jump right in” to the Master Cleanse thinking it will be easy. It’s not.

During your time on the Master Cleanse you are likely to experience hunger, aches, and irritability. Most people give up because of hunger. Putting solid food aside for a couple days and only drinking liquids is harder then most people think. But it’s only for 2 days! Just do it!

So rule number 1 for finishing the Master Cleanse is getting past the third day. Instead of focusing on completing the entire 10 days from the onset of the cleanse just focus on getting past day 3. Breaking the Master Cleanse down into smaller milestones will be a big help.

Rule number 2 for finishing the Master Cleanse is dealing with aches and soreness. Headaches are one of the most common Master Cleanse side effects, but some people also get body aches.

To reduce aches you should drink a lot of water. It’s also good to relax and not push your self too hard when you do the Master Cleanse. Exercising should be kept to light walking and stretching. Your body will be going through a rigorous cleansing process during the Master Cleanse, and won’t be able to adequately recover from intense exercise during this time.

YAY! You get to skip the gym!

So do yourself a favor, take just 10 measly days out of your life away from your regular diet and do a cleanse while taking a break from the gym. I guarantee you it’s worth it!

All the resources you need to get started are here –> Master Cleanse

You woke up late today and didn’t make it to the gym. Perhaps it was because you went out last night, or perhaps you’re just not feeling it today. It’s nice to have a little more time in the morning to get ready for your day, but you feel guilty. You sit at your job all day and you plan on coming home after work and sitting some more.

Guilt sucks. Don’t do it. Check this out for ways to not feel guilty.

If you’re not completely exhausted, but you want to stay home tonight and be a blob here are some options for you:

1. Try Flirty Girl Fitness. It’s the perfect “off” day workout. You can do it at home, it’s only $10 bucks, it’s fun, and you might learn a thing or two about the art of seduction. It’s basically erotic dancing class at home. It’s fun.
2. Make dinner from Bethanny’s book, but make enough to take for lunch for the next couple of days. Remember, 80% of your shape is made in the kitchen so instead of beating yourself up about your workout today focus on diet.  Bethanny’s book has some excellent recipes.  After all, bitch stays super skinny after baby and husband.
3. Shop for workout clothes online that will make you look skinny. As most of us know, Lululemon is by far superior. However, those of us who don’t have unlimited bank accounts can always find deals on Amazon. It’s the secret place to find workout gear on sale.
4. Bored and really don’t feel like doing shit?? Take this Real Age test and find out how you’re doing with your health. This has been done on Good Morning America and the Today show and it’s pretty interesting.

The point here is that just because you didn’t get your rockstar workout on this morning, don’t sit around and feel guilty and tired and shitty all night. You still have time to do something. You will be back at it in no time.

I work out every day, 365 days a year, always eat the right foods, and never put poisonous substances in my body. I also never gain weight involuntarily. I’m fantastic. YEAH RIGHT!!

It is vitally important for you to realize that your diet/training routine is NOT LINEAR. You are not going to work out every day, you will have days that you have unplanned “cheats”, and even if you have lost weight lately you might temporarily gain some of it back. This is life. And you need to have a healthy outlook on life.

The most important thing to remember when you are off your game is that you can get RIGHT BACK ON no matter how long it has been. Whenever you are ready for the excuses to stop taking over, the gym is waiting for you. So are the egg whites.  They will never go away. So, let’s address some of the most common obstacles and discuss how to overcome them.

1. You get sick.
   1. REST! Too many people take a couple of days off while they really feel like shit, and then run back to the gym as soon as they start feeling a little better. Don’t do this. Your body needs to recover completely when you are sick and by working out before you are completely better you are risking prolonging your sickness. The longer you are sick the longer you can’t work out.
2. You have partied your balls off this summer and you can barely do 1 sprint.
   • Exercise load is relative. It’s about how hard the exercise if FOR YOU NOW, not for you when you were on your A-game. Perhaps 6 months ago you easily sprinted 10 times and lifted 4 days a week. Now that you are starting again, you will see that you actually get results with much lighter intensity . The lighter intensity will affect you faster in your out of shape state. Perhaps you are not ready for sprints yet, so just do intervals of running and walking.
3. You are not seeing results with your exercise program any longer and you want to give up.
   • DON’T give up. The highest form of insanity is doing the same action over and over again, when the action has already proven itself to not have delivered the desired goal. Switch up your workout. You have most likely hit a plateau. Or perhaps you are eating more than you are burning. The key is that somewhere in there is a problem that can be corrected.
4. You have a new job and you don’t have time to go to the gym. You’re sooo busy.
   • Yes you do. Go on your lunch. Wake up an hour earlier. Do something to get better at time management. All it takes is a 45 min workout 3x/week to start seeing results. If you can’t find that kind of time it does not mean you are too busy, it just means you have poor time management skills.

So there you have it. Have I missed any excuses? Let me know if I have and I will let you know how to overcome them.

Some of us are all for losing weight the natural and healthy way and are prepared to put in time and work. Others are more fickle. You are always looking for the “magic pill” or the new “fad diet”. How many articles have you read from fitness professionals that shun these quick methods and claim that they don’t work? But you don’t care, you are still determined to find fast ways to lose weight.

The reality is that SOME short cut methods DO work. However, there are side effects. If you are willing to deal with these side effects then you are a candidate for an accelerated weight loss method.

The biggest problem is that fast weight loss methods almost never last. The reason is that in order to permanently lose weight you need to undergo a permanent change in lifestyle. The way that you look is governed by how you are eating/working out most of the time. So if you normally eat burgers and cake and you take a week off, you will still look like you eat burgers and cake. The converse is also true – if you normally each chicken and lettuce and you eat shit for a week you will still look like you eat chicken and lettuce. See this.

The only way to solve the problem of results that don’t last is to go on an extreme diet/workout routine for a few weeks, and then back off to a still effective, but less extreme routine. In this case what will most likely happen is that you will gain back less than you lost. For instance, let’s say we have a slightly overweight chick called Diet Dotty who weighs 135 lbs. She is going to the new pool party in Vegas in exactly one month and she MUST look fabulous. So she pays $5 for the Xtreme Fat Loss Diet and loses 10 lbs to become 125 lbs.  She tans herself properly, splurges on a Dior bikini, and looks amazing standing around by the pool and sipping a mojito. She ecstatically turns down the hot guy with the big muscles thinking to herself that she is too good. Mission accomplished. Dotty gets home and goes back to a sustainable and healthy diet and workout routine. The gains back 4 lbs and becomes 129 lbs. Still a 6 lb overall weight loss and a chance to look fabulous at the pool. That may be worth it for you.

The next problem with fast ways to lose weight is the health risks. There are various supplements and diet pills that are not so great for our health and may cause us to not feel well and even cause permanent health risks in rare cases.

The solution to this problem is moderation. It is true that the healthiest ways to lose weight are slow and natural, but getting a little help along the way will not necessarily cause permanent damage. This is a trade-off that you have to choose – optimal health or fast weight loss? If you follow an “accelerated” program for one month and you are in good health, chances are your body will be able to recover. PLEASE REMEMBER, the key with this theory is that for the period that you are following an extreme weight loss program you are not damaging your body in other ways. So NO DRINKING and get your rest. If your body is strong it is more likely to fight off the negative effects of the supplement you are taking.

All that said, let’s go over fast ways to lose weight:

1. Follow the Xtreme Fat Loss diet plan. This is by far the best “emergency” diet plan that I have seen out there. If you are willing to go balls out, this is the program for you. For more info see this.
2. Take an appetite suppressant and restrict your calories to the bottom of your range. The easiest way to find this number is (body weight x 10), so a 125 lb woman would consume 1250 calories per day. One of the best appetite suppressants on the market today is Syntrax Fyre.
3. Severely restrict your carbohydrates to Atkins-like levels EXCEPT right after a hard workout. This means you will be consuming somewhere around 50-100 carbs/day on workout days, and less than 20 on non-workout days. True that in the beginning you will lose a lot of water, but eventually you will lose fat since the amount of energy that it takes to digest protein is actually 25% of the calories you take in.
4. Do a juice fast. This is actually not unhealthy, although in the beginning it is a bit unpleasant. See details here.

So there you have it. Plan your trip to Vegas and put one of the above in action. Let me know how it goes.

I have a confession to make. Even the Cheetah goes balls out sometimes and takes an eating vacation. Last week I decided to take the week off working out and eat large amounts of food at some of the finest dining establishments in the world. You have not experienced a steak until you have dined at Peter Luger in NY. If you are into red meat at all, please eat there once before you die.

After a few conversations with some good girlfriends I realized that I am not the only one that has been on a workout/diet vacation, and I realized it would only be appropriate to write a blurb about guilt.

You know that feeling with you have the morning after a HUGE meal? Some call it a food hangover. Some call it misery. Check out “What to Do If You Have Cheated” for tips on how to deal with it physically. This article is more for how to deal with it mentally.

The biggest problem many of us have the “morning after” is the guilt. You have worked SO HARD and now it’s all down the drain!! Your stomach is sticking out, your pants are tight, and you’re back to fat! Worse yet, you weigh yourself and you are 3 lbs heavier!!

Guess what? I have news for you. You are not fat, you have simply gained some water weight and chances are you are still bloated. It WILL go away. Eating a large amount of carbohydrates causes you to gain water weight, which will subside once you start eating regularly again.

How long have you been working out and seeing results? 1 month? 6 months? Think about this logically… if you have been on your program for even 1 month and you have had 1 bad week, you are still in the green. DO NOT let one bad day or week get you down. Remember, it takes 3500 extra calories to gain a pound of fat. If you have eaten 3500 extra calories in one day, you should be making an income from eating contests.

If you have been consistently eating horribly for one week, chances are you have gained 1 lb. Maybe 2. Big deal!! It will take you one week to lose. The amazing food that you got to eat in order to gain that one pound was probably well worth is and should be savored!

And don’t forget, NO ONE will notice that one pound weight gain except you.

So, if you can work out the next day after a big cheat, great! But if you feel like absolute crap and you really need to rest, then rest. Take one day off, or take a light walk. Your body will thank you the following day.

If you are really neurotic and want to offset your bad week with an “emergency” diet that will make you lose a ton of fat quickly, check out www.bestemergencydiet.com

“Too much” is actually a relative term…. too much for what? Or too much for whom??

The point of this article is to teach you how to eat less food than is the amount that will cause you to gain weight. It’s actually a relatively simple concept, but due to our busy lives and the social nature of our meals we tend to make this extremely difficult. The reason that this concept is easy is that our body actually has a mechanism that sends signals to our brain to let us know when we are full. This signal happens to come when we have eaten enough to sustain our weight. The problem is that we don’t listen.

The problem is multiplied when we overeat a few times in a row, which causes us to expand our stomach and therefore not get the “full signal” soon enough.

When is the last time you went out to a meal to an amazing restaurant and just kept eating because it was sooooo good? Don’t worry, you’re allowed to do this once in a while. See “What to Do If You Have Cheated”

The key here is ONCE IN A WHILE. This doesn’t mean every other day, but instead once every couple of weeks at the most. You can still go out to eat, just don’t OVEReat.

The rest of the time you need to train your body to eat as much as it needs to maintain your weight along with a small margin of error. This will be more if you are active and less if you sit all day. Trust me, this method is a LOT less tedious than counting calories and works well for a busy lifestyle. Luckily, humans are creatures of habit and will adapt to anything if you train yourself correctly. This makes things even easier.

Keep in mind that this article is for those of you that are not necessarily trying to lose, but instead to maintain. If you are trying to lose through this “intuitive” eating, see this.

Put the following rules in practice for two weeks, and I guarantee it will get easier and come more naturally the third week:

1. I know the most important rule usually comes last, but I’m putting it first. This is to make sure that you PRACTICE IT FIRST:  Every single time that you are putting food into your mouth BE CONSCIOUS OF IT. What are you eating right now? How much have you eaten? Are you hungry? Is it normal that you have eaten one large hamburger and you’re still hungry?? THINK about these things. It will cause you to notice when you have had enough.
2. If you have eaten too much for your previous meal, the next 2 meals will suck. The amount of food you need to eat for your next 2 meals should not be enough to make you full. This is because you need to shrink your stomach back to normal size. After these 2 meals resume as normal.
3. Food takes 20 minutes to hit your stomach. EAT SLOWER. Once again, if you have eaten one hamburger and you are still hungry, WAIT.
4. This is an oldie but a goodie… DON’T eat our of boredom or sadness or any other kind of emotion. I’m not going to tell you how to replace your boredom or sadness, just don’t do it. There are 5 million other ways to keep yourself occupied. How about start a blog?? Or maybe, get in touch with your sexuality (if you know what I mean)?
5. DON’T think it’s ok to eat 5 lbs of spinach. It’s true that there are barely any calories in spinach so you won’t get fat, but it will expand your stomach. So the next time you eat a meal of non-spinach you will need to fill up the same amount of space in your stomach that 5 lbs of spinach takes.
6. Learn how to leave food on your plate when you are full. This is extremely important especially at restaurants. Again, BE CONSCIOUS of how you feel when you are eating and stop eating when you are full. Put a napkin on your food if you need to in order to make you stop.
7. Be prepared for the fact that if you have a couple of drinks it will be extremely difficult to stop eating something delicious. All this conscious eating mumbo jumbo sounds great before alcohol, but be prepared that after drinks you WILL change your mind. Your full meter WILL be severely turned down if not turned off completely. Handle this is you wish, just BE PREPARED and PLAN ACCORDINGLY.

Remember, the key to not gaining weight is to make these tips a practice in your daily lifestyle. You shouldn’t be scared of vacation because it’s an eating/drinking fest, and you shouldn’t avoid dinner out. Instead, you need to learn how to handle these occasions properly. If you do, trust me, you will feel like a million bucks.

We’ve all done it. The week went fabulously with reasonable meals of chicken, egg whites, fruits and veggies. You have been getting your workout on too and feeling great! Then the weekend came and everything went down the shitter. You may have gone to your favorite restaurant and SWORE you would eat something healthy, but after 3 glasses of wine you ate 2 appetizers, an entree, and of course you couldn’t leave without the to-die-for desert. To add to the madness it happened to be a late meal and you ended up going home and to bed soon after dinner. The next morning you feel like a fat and bloated lard and everything is ruined. What do you do??

Let’s not freak out and be more methodical about this. One KEY thing to remember about diet and fitness programs is be PREPARED for obstacles. Accept the fact that you are human and you are going to make mistakes sometimes. These one-time mistakes are ok, but throwing away your whole diet program because of one mistake is NOT ok.

When you wake up the following morning from your pig-out, there is a particular process that you should follow to minimize the damage done. Here it is:

• DO NOT skip breakfast.
  • I know you feel full and you don’t feel like eating any more food for the next week and a half, but you don’t want to slow down your metabolism. Yes, your calories for the next day should be severely reduced to make up for the abundance of calories the previous day, but reduce them later in the day.
• Eat only protein.
  • My guess is that your pig-out did not consist of too much chicken and egg whites the previous day, and chances are you ate an abundance of carbohydrates and sugar. For more info on how this affects the body read this. Since insulin spikes can make you fat, the day after a large cheat you definitely don’t want your insulin to spike. So stay away from the carbs. It’s only for a day, you can handle it.
• Keep careful watch on your portion control.
  • Notice how when you go a long period of time without eating anything, the next meal is smaller? It seems like you get full much faster! This is not by chance. Your stomach has the ability to shrink and expand depending on how much you fill it. If you fill it to capacity, the next time you eat it will let you fill it a little more. If you don’t fill it your stomach will contract.  Therefore, you may not feel full when you are done eating. Deal with it for a day.
• Do a light workout.
  • Chances are you are mildly hung over so you should do anything too hardcore anyway. However, some light cardio or a circuit training workout will make you feel better and burn at least a few calories. This workout is NOT to lose fat so don’t treat it as such.

Follow these steps for the one day that is following your cheat and you will be back in action the following day. People tend to have this insane way of thinking that one they f*** up once they are justified in doing it again. If that wasn’t the biggest rant of insanity I have every heard I don’t know what is!

Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be an article on how you should “join a club” or “get active”. Let’s get real. We all want to go out and have a few drinks sometimes.

However, many of us ARE motivated and willing to put in the work and dedication to implement a fat loss program. Perhaps you have been at it for a while now! Eating egg whites in the morning is not that hard and after some practice, and getting a good workout in becomes a habit. The problem comes in when Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night comes! Sunday day time can become difficult in the summertime as well!

You’ve worked your ass off all week and you deserve to relax and spend time with your friends, hit the club, or go out to a nice dinner. So you go out Thursday night and have a couple of drinks.  No big deal, but the next day you’re too tired to work out. You take it easy on Friday. Saturday night it’s your best friend’s birthday, and you head out to the club. You have 5 drinks, get super-hungry, eat a huge burrito at 2am, and feel like shit in the morning. You wake up on Sunday and although you are hung over the sun is shining and you are ready for the BBQ. There will be no workout preceding the festivities. You go to the BBQ, have a 2 Coronas, a Margarita, and all the chips. Then, the BBQ is ready and you eat some of that too with macaroni salad. YUM. More Coronas and maybe a shot of tequila. By Monday morning you feel like all the work you put in the previous week is wasted and you are a fat lard.

Guess what? It’s time to change your lifestyle a bit. No one says you have to stop going out an being social. In fact, if you stop being social chances are much greater that you will give up your fitness routine altogether since you will be miserable. What you need to do is just slow it down a bit.

Here are some key things to remember and implement when the weekend comes:

1. Pick one night to drink. Limit your drinks to 2 or 3 at most. Notice I said pick one night to drink and not go out.
2. DO NOT drink on an empty stomach. Eat something before you go out.
3. When you go out to dinner, exercise the protein rules. It’s ok to go out to eat as long as you make good choices.
4. Wear something tight when you go out so you feel MORE like shit if you eat too much.
5. Try going out and not drinking a couple of times. Waking up and hitting the gym hard the morning after a night out is the BEST FEELING. You may get addicted.

Life is all about balance. People are creatures of habit and if you develop healthy habits for yourself and put them in practice, eventually you will get used to them. If you can figure out a way to preserve your actively social lifestyle and still stick to a healthy routine, you’re golden.

I hope we all know how important the nutrition piece of the puzzle is by now when it comes to fat loss and staying in shape – nutrition takes up about 70-80%. Therefore, you want to make SURE you are fueling your workouts in the best way possible. After all, what you are eating around your workout is most likely not a leisurely 4-course meal with your boyfriend, so let’s try and make it nutritionally optimal. But you don’t have to plan it yourself! Lucky for you I have created this workout nutrition guide for you.

One thing that often gets neglected in the fat loss diet is the importance of consuming enough fruits and vegetables. You often see fitness models with egg whites and bowls of oatmeal, with no fruit or veggies in sight! Some might even claim that fruit makes you fat! Here is the deal – eating too much of anything makes you fat.  Fruit has been given an especially bad name due to the sugar that it contains. However, you’ll be happy to know sugar is not always bad.

Raw fruits and vegetables are absolutely ESSENTIAL to your fat loss diet because of all the vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and fiber they contain. They also allow you to stay more full throughout the day while controlling your blood sugar and insulin levels.

Speaking of insulin… if you were to ask most professional fitness models what the most important hormone in the body for building muscle* is, they would tell you testosterone.

*: REMEMBER, in our world (meaning chicks who want to look fabulous) building muscle really means getting more toned, defined, and burning more fat. It does NOT mean getting bulky, so please, please don’t be scared of building muscle. Muscle will significantly help in your fat loss endeavors.

In fact, the most important hormone when it comes to building muscle is insulin. The nice thing is, unlike testosterone, ingesting insulin will not make you grow a set of balls or hair on your face. You can completely control your insulin intake with your diet without the use of any weird pills.

Insulin is a hormone which gets released in response to a rise in sugar in your blood. It’s action can be good or bad depending on when you ingest it.

Let’s start with the bad news – The downside of insulin is it stops fat burning.

Here is the good news- Research shows that increases in blood sugar during and right after exercise will NOT stop fat burning. In fact, insulin will send sugar and amino acids to your muscle, HELPING with growth and recovery. And better growth and recovery means better muscle building.

So, let’s put it all together -

• You need more fruit and veggies.
• You need to have something sugary during and after your workout so insulin can get released.
• You cannot realistically be eating food during or after a workout since the blood rushes to the muscles during exercise and it is hard to digest anything.
• One more thing… new sports nutrition research consistently shows that adding a small amount of protein to your workout drink will make a huge difference in your progress.

So here is the answer- You need to have a shake made up of all fruit (which takes care of the sugar) and some protein powder. You have a few options for this:

1. Go to Jamba Juice or your favorite juice bar and order an all-fruit smoothie with a scoop of protein.
2. Throw fruit and ice in a blender at home and add a scoop of protein. I prefer this protein powder due to its high protein content and natural ingredients. Blend well. This blender is super efficient to mix it up.
3. If you’re really pressed on time and you need something pre-made you will need to sacrifice some nutritional value. Grab a “Protein” Naked Juice or Odwalla. Definitely not the best choice, but better than nothing.

Drink this gradually throughout your workout and after. I normally start to drink it about 20-30 minutes into my workout.

Don’t be surprised when you start to see faster results.

It’s great to eat chicken and lettuce all day and work out like a maniac, but let’s get real – 4 days is about the limit that I have for this before getting bored to tears, especially with no accountability. I don’t know about you, but if I’m going to follow a hardcore training/diet regimen I need specific guidance and variability in my program. It turns out I’m not the only one since the personal trainers are getting paid the big bucks!

One of the things that I want to start doing is providing you guys with honest reviews with some of the programs out there. Not everyone can afford a personal trainer, nor do they want to shell out that kind of cash! Lucky for you there are alternatives out there.

The internet has a wealth of information including programs which claim to make you lose fat quickly. Unfortunately EVERYONE these days claims to be an expert, and it is often hard to pick out the real from the fake.

Lucky for you, I’ve been reading TONS of fitness articles and books on fitness and dieting for years! Therefore I can confidently say that I can give you a credible review of what’s good and what’s gimmicky.

The program I thought I would review today is the Xtreme Fat Loss Diet. The reason I thought this was a good one is that summertime is upon us, and this is a sort of “emergency” diet. It’s definitely not for the casual exerciser, but instead for someone that’s REALLY ready to see some results. Not to mention, someone that’s ready to exercise some serious willpower.

You can purchase it here —-> Xtreme Fat Loss

Joel Marion, a well-known nutrition and fitness expert and author, sets you up with a 25 day plan to get in tip-top shape in a short period of time! Now, this 25 day journey will be no picnic. However, I’m a huge fan of “let’s suck it up for a short period of time, and enjoy results for a long period of time”. This doesn’t mean you can go back to eating donuts, but it does mean that you will get to reap your rewards after a relatively short period of time when it comes to the diet/exercise world.

Think about it – how many times have you been irritated when you get ready that your ass doesn’t fit in your jeans? Or how many times have you wondered what it would be like to be in your 20-year old shape again? Or, have you ever lost 5 lbs and felt like a million bucks? It’s a nice thought to know you’ll be well on your way there in 25 days.

Trust me, I’m a chick, I know how amazing it feels to get in shape and look your best. Everything in your life becomes better.

So, do me a favor and suck it up for just 25 days. You will have 325 days after that to bask in your glory.

Check in out here —> Xtreme Fat Loss

Obviously I’m a fan of Xtreme Fat Loss. I’m not gonna lie, the page looks gimmicky. But that’s how they have to market it to the “less smart folks” out there. Naturally, I would be a little weary of  “Vince and Flavia’s” results. I wouldn’t count on looking like Flavia in 25 days unless you already look pretty amazing. The actual contents of the program, however, actually make a lot of sense.

You have 5 different days within the program:

1. Cheat Day: Density Training Day
   • You get to eat shit on this day.  You do this to boost your leptin levels and push faster fat burning. Leptin is a hormone that is largely responsible for your metabolism as well as fat burning. A higher amount of leptin often means a faster metabolic rate.The issue with conventional diets is that whenever you slash your calories, your leptin levels shrink which makes it harder and harder for you to lose additional weight. This takes place gradually so 1-2 days of calorie restriction won’t hurt you but as you continue to limit your calories, your leptin levels will plunge.
2. Shake Day: Strength Training Day
   • On this day you live on shakes. However, it’s not as rough as you may think. When you get really hungry your body is basically craving sugar, which you will get from the shakes.  Imagine the earth turns into a giant Jamba Juice. This takes care of your low calorie day
3. Fast Day: Lactic Acid Training Day
   • On this day, your leptin levels are sky high. This is the best time to cut your calories in order to blow through a ton of fat.
4. Moderate Carb: Dynamic Training Day
   • This is “Zone” Day. You are basically eating a diet of 40% carbs, and 30% fats and protein. This day gives you a chance to get a good workout in since you are well fed.
5. Protein-Only Depletion: Lactic Acid Training Day
   • This day depletes the body of energy, and gets you ready for the Cheat Day which is coming tomorrow.

Yes, I told you, this program is extreme. However, I guarantee you that if you follow the diet only portion and skip the training you will still see amazing results.

The other great thing about Xtreme Fat Loss is that this guy gives you a true guarantee – You pay just $5 bucks for the 25 day program and then he charges you the rest of the $62 only when the 25 days are over. You can opt out before this time period if you are not satisfied with the results.

With a $5 price tag I would buy this thing and put it on the shelf and “pretend” I got no results with it just in case you decide to take the plunge next year.

You can get this deal here —> Xtreme Fat Loss

Ok, ladies (and dudes who sneak on here), now it’s your turn to participate.

I’ve been in this fitness/diet/weight loss game for a long time and I have A LOT of information to share with you. But where do I begin??

I want YOU to let me know what you want to hear about.

If for any reason I don’t have information on a particular topic I will do my best to get a fitness expert to either do a guest post or fill me in so I can pass the info to you.

So please let me know your problem areas and what you want to hear about. I will do my best to address each and every topic.

Have you been sticking to a diet of lettuce and chicken on your weight loss journey? Are you sick of it and ready to throw in the towel??

The fact that everything good for you tastes like crap gets REALLY old after a while.

I have good news for you!

There is something delicious and oily out there that actually HELPS you lose weight.

This phenomenon is Coconut Oil Weight Loss!

Let’s get the scientific explanations out of the way quickly for those of you who have a short attention span like me….

Researchers now know that weight loss associated with coconut oil is related to the length of the fatty acid chains contained in coconut oil. Coconut oil contains what are called medium chain fatty acids, or medium chain triglycerides. These medium chain fatty acids are different from the common longer chain fatty acids found in other plant-based oils. Most vegetable oils are composed of longer chain fatty acids, or triglycerides. LCTs are typically stored in the body as fat, while MCTs are burned for energy. MCTs burn up quickly in the body. Coconut oil is nature’s richest source of MCTs that increase metabolic rates and lead to weight loss. MCTs promote what is called thermogenesis. Thermogenesis increases the body’s metabolism, producing energy. People in the animal feed business have known this truth for quite some time. If you feed animals vegetable oils, they put on weight and produce more fatty meat. If you feed them coconut oil, they will be very lean.

Now… here are some fantastic ideas on how to incorporate coconut oil into your diet:

1. Fry your eggs with coconut oil
2. Throw some melted coconut oil into your salad
3. Add coconut oil to brown rice
4. Use coconut oil in cooking wherever the recipe calls for butter
5. Use coconut oil for stir-fry

… and on and on. You get the picture – any time you need oil or butter in a recipe just throw in some coconut oil.

Disclaimer for RATARDS: This does NOT mean you can take a jar of coconut oil and devour the whole thing in one evening. Too many calories make you fat. See the BEST diet trick you will ever learn for more details