Fat loss tips for Moms

Mother’s Day has past and I thought I’d share some quick fat loss tips for moms.

Not like moms need tips. Being a mom is way tougher than burning fat (once you have a game plan set in place that is.) I feel like any woman who can give birth and raise a child definitely has the strength to change their own body, but so many moms are used to putting all the focus on their kids that they forget how to invest any time in THEMSELVES!!!! Anyway if you’re a mom who could use some, “me time” Why not get that self-focused alone time while using some of these tips to burn fat?

Tip #1 - Plan out your day (the night before). A lot of my clients who are moms literally can’t get anything done for themselves in a simple day unless they write it down and plan when they are doing it the night before. It’s too easy to fall into “carpool” or “errand running” mode and before you know it, its 3pm
and you’re starving because you haven’t eaten yet.

Tip #2 - Ditch the long boring cardio. When it comes to exercise the last thing you should be doing to burn fat is long bouts of cardio. Cardio training has been shown to increase oxidative stress on the body, which can increase the speed of aging and it pumps your cortisol hormone through the roof which is a stress hormone. The last thing any mom wants is to look older faster and induce more stress than they already have.

Tip #3 - Do full body strength workouts. The bodybuilder type split muscle routines that the Joe Black trainer is doing at your local big franchise gym is not going to get you your pre-kid body back. You need to focus on doing upper body, lower body and full body movements that give you a high caloric burn as well as work more of your muscles in less time.

Tip #4 - Ditch the baby weight. Chances are you’re probably a lot stronger than you think. Lifting heavier weights is the only way to get stronger, it produces a ton of fat burning hormones and it burns a lot more calories than “toning” movements with light weights.

Three Ways to Stop Procrastination

One of the most common problems when it comes to starting an exercise program is procrastination. We know what we want to do and should do. But still we end up making all kinds of excuses and spending hours upon hours watching TV, surfing the internet or listening to music.
Now, nothing wrong with an escape from time to time, but if you procrastinate too much you will not reach your fitness goals. Soon you will find yourself gaining more weight and also send yourself into negative spirals where your self-esteem takes a nose dive and you spend your days in a negative funk with no results.
So what can you do? Here are three simple tips to help you to stop procrastinating and start living your life more fully.
1. Stop thinking. Start doing.
A bit of planning can certainly help you to achieve your weight loss goals. A lot of planning and thinking tends to have the opposite effect.
By over thinking you tend to put things off because you are not only trying to protect yourself from the muscle pain that you will experience when you first start your exercise program. You also make mountains out of molehills because you are dwelling on it. And so it expands in your mind. And since you are putting it off you are probably thinking about it in a negative way. This makes a little thing a big giant, a horrible beast that is threatening to ruin your health.
Often you don’t even have to plan, you have been there before and you know what needs to be done. So stop thinking and just do it no matter how you feel and what you think.
2. Just take the first step.
Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”
When you start to look at how much weight you want to lose it can seem close to impossible. You begin to shut down because you become overwhelmed and start eating more and more.
You should just focus on taking the first step. That is all you need to focus on, nothing else. By taking the first step you change your mental state from procrastination to “hey, I’m working out and I feel good”. You put yourself in state where you become more positive and open minded a state where you gain enthusiasm because you are making progress.

3. Finish it.
Not taking the first step to start your exercise program can make you feel bad. But not finishing what you have started can also leave you in a sort of negative funk. You feel sluggish or stressed and sometimes you don’t even know why. It’s like someone zapped your inner power. Once you start commit to it. Ask yourself what’s more important to you – Going out to a fast food restaurant and eating 800 calorie or going to Zumba class and burning 800 calories? The former might bring you some temporal gratification, but the latter is what truly gives you satisfaction. The rewards you get from doing the latter are rewards which you’ll continue to reap long afterward. Remember always finish strong, if you fail, try and try again, never give up!

MVP Fitness Opens In St. Peters

MVP Fitness is pleased to announce it has opened a brand new studio at 235 Jungermann - Old Mills Plaza in St. Peters. Working with the St. Louis-based firm of McKelvey Properties, MVP Fitness will develop a 2,400 sq. ft. exercise studio. With construction finally completed, the studio opened for business on January 2nd.

MVP Fitness, opened its first location on May 5, 2005. Since then, it has help hundreds of clients reach their fitness and weight loss goals through seminars and fitness programs training them to go from where they are to where they dream to be. Clients initially come to MVP Fitness seeking weight loss and ultimately reclaim their lives by gaining energy, improving strength, building new-found confidence, reducing pain, eliminating medication, and the amazing side effect of achieving the body they desire.

“We are very excited to open up another studio in St. Peters,” said Lyle Johnson, studio owner. “We believe our fitness classes which include Athletic Boot Camp, Zumba and Kettlebell will be a great addition to St. Peters.”

"The new location in St. Peters will give clients a chance to experience the type of results other clients have received from our North County location for the last six years and that is helping clients get in shape and motivating them to achieve their own personal physical fitness goals."

The Do's and Don'ts of Holiday Eating

Thanksgiving has come and gone and the holiday season
is in full swing I know how hard it is to resist all
the celebrative eating and drinking (and the weight
gain that comes with it) so I put together for you an
awesome guide to eating during the holidays. I was going
to put this on my MVP Boot Camp Blog but decided to only
offer it to you as a subscriber to my e-mail list.

DON'T try to convince yourself that you're going to
eat less after the holiday event therefore it's ok to
eat what you want during the event. You will not have
as much motivation to diet once the event has passed.

DO eat smart for the 3-5 days leading up to the event.
You'll look even better when you turn up at the event
and you will feel less guilty when you enjoy yourself.

DO dress sexy. Wear something tight, do your hair up,
put on your highest heels etc. This way you will feel
less likely to indulge in a huge dinner.

DO position yourself as far away from the appetizer
table as possible

DO bring your own dish to the occasion. Nobody has
to know that it's healthy or low calorie and at least
you'll know how many calories and the ingredients that
are in it.

DO send people home with food if you are hosting a party.

DO sit at the table as far from the unhealthy food
options as possible. If you have to keep standing up,
putting your drink down and reaching across Madea to
grab a piece of bread you're not going to have as many
pieces as if it were right in front of you.

Stick to these guidelines and I promise you will
keep the weight off while everyone around you gains
another 4-8 pounds!

And if you want to actually LOSE weight during the
holidays like many of my personal Kettlebell Bootcamp
clients, then check this out.....

On Thursday I'll be opening up a special bootcamp
workout and nutrition plan that will actually help
you drop an entire pants size during the holidays
without being on a miserable diet.... and the best
part is that I'll be offering it at a RIDICULOUS price.

The only catch is that I can only take on 20 people.
Once these 20 spots are filled, I won't be able to
accept any more people until the New Year so keep your
eyes peeled on Thursday for this one time deal.

Gaining Weight To Qualify For Lap Ban Surgery

At 202 pounds, Steffany Sears knew she was fat, but not fat enough to qualify for traditional weight-loss surgery.

Desperate for help, the Gold Bar, Wash., woman did what seemed the only logical thing: She gorged herself on chips and cookies, pizza and fried chicken so she’d gain at least eight pounds more.

“I would have eaten myself stupid,” recalled Sears, 34, who was turned down by her insurance company for the $20,000 procedure. “I know friends who would have done that, too.”

In the end, she actually qualified to participate in a clinical trial that led the federal Food and Drug Administration this spring to lower the bar for obesity in people eligible for one form of weight-loss surgery, Allergan’s Lap-Band stomach-shrinking device. Because she had a body mass index, or BMI, of between 30 and 35, the target range of the new rule, she even got the treatment for free, instead of having to take out a second mortgage on her house.

Today, at 5-foot-6, she weighs 143 pounds. “I felt like I’d won the lottery, really, with my life,” said Sears, a native of England.

But Sears’ experience highlights what dieters and doctors alike say is a growing dilemma. Spurred by strict insurance policies that limit surgery to high BMIs of 35 or 40, some obese people are actually striving to gain weight – in order to lose it.

Web sites devoted to weight-loss surgery are full of advice and anecdotes from would-be losers who claim they ate piles of bananas, chowed down on burgers and curly fries or swilled gallons of water to nudge the scale to the correct heights.

“That happens all the time,” said Dr. Robert Michaelson of Northwest Weight Loss Surgery in Everett, Wash., who was a clinical investigator for the FDA trial. “I’ve seen people come in with ankle weights on.”

Sometimes, it works. Elizabeth Marks, 32, of San Diego, Calif., was turned down for surgery once by her insurance company for being less than 100 pounds overweight, but accepted after she gained more.

“I just had two weeks of eating all the junk I could,” Mark said.

In general, a person who is 5-foot-6 and weighs 220 pounds has a BMI of 35. At 250, the BMI climbs to 40.

Weight-loss doctors definitely discourage patients from gaining more and instead urge them to pursue non-surgical options, or to find other ways to pay for the surgery. One good reason? Some insurers regard the practice as fraud.

“I tell them go home. You don’t qualify,” said Dr. Namir Katkhouda, a bariatric surgeon at the University of Southern California who has performed 2,000 procedures. “They come back six months later and their problems are much worse.”


Excerpted from MSNBC: Gaining Weight To Quality For Lap-Band Surgery? | A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss

The Workout Push For the Holidays

If gobble 'til you wobble is your holiday mentality, You aren't alone. While most are laser focused on fitness during the summer, the holidays prove to be the most popular time to slack off from a workout routine. If you're thinking about throwing in a towel for a turkey leg don't give up just yet.

Everybody is working hard, getting ready for the beach, for many, the summer grind in the gym is over. Gym memberships everywhere typically see a decrease between October and December: the season when holiday fun, family and food are the focus.

Next thing you know, you're eating leftovers. When the winter months come, people get relaxed and the next you know two months have went by and that's the hardest part staying with your fitness goals.

Gaining about ten pounds during the holiday season is the norm for most. Eating small portions every three hours and exercising at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week will give you what you need to still maintain.

Strive to keep fit, stay healthy and push for a yearly, not season goal of physical fitness.

15 minutes of stretching at home or walking will make a difference for those you may not can make it to the gym or afford it:

If the president can stay healthy through the holidays, so can you

By Jeannine Stein, Los Angeles Times

You think you have a rough time avoiding temptation over the holidays? It's probably nothing compared with the parties the president and first lady have to navigate. But as Cornell McLellan tells it, the First Family doesn't need any diet advice. He should know--he's their personal trainer.

"They get it--this is a lifestyle for them," he said of the Obamas. "Once you prioritize your health, fitness becomes who you are. These are people who work out every day, and they know how to make good food choices. They host a lot of Christmas parties, so it's great that they are who they are--I don't know who else could get through these parties."

When we spoke with McLellan he had just wrapped up the keynote speech at the American Council on Exercise's annual fitness symposium in San Diego. The owner of the Chicago training facility Naturally Fit, McLellan is also co-chairman of the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition. He had high praise for ACE's part in Joining Forces, a national initiative involving various areas of society to help and support service members and their families, including 1 million hours of free fitness services.

While McLellan said he doesn't accompany the Obamas that often when they travel, he doesn't worry that anyone is sneaking cookies on the sly or slacking off on their workouts. There's usually an adequate hotel gym, or the old stand-by: body resistance exercises.

"The president is someone who is going to work out," McLellan said, "even if he has to get up early. Wherever he is in the world he's going to make sure to get his time in."

Michelle Obama, he added, was one of the first people to complete the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award challenge, a six-week program designed to help children and adults adopt more healthful diet and fitness habits. The first lady, he said, wasn't cut any slack just because she lives in the White House.

"She had to report every jumping jack--everything," he said. "We're not just giving the awards out."

What's his advice for the rest of us who hope to dodge the egg nog and an extra five pounds this season?

"First, understand that your health is your wealth, and make sure to prioritize fitness," he said. "Do it first thing in the morning and get it out of the way."

Starving yourself before a big dinner is a big no-no: "That would be the wrong idea. Keep on your regular routine and think in terms of small portions." Two more tips: drink water before you start eating, and put your meal on a salad plate, which is smaller than a dinner plate. "Have 90% of what you need and 10% of what you want," he said.

So with all this great guidance, we guess there's no way to avoid sticking to a healthful lifestyle this season.

McLellan agreed. "I think all the excuses have been used up."