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Many of you are pretty much on vacation after today so here’s a few tips to navigate through the “food minefield” until January! I always say, “don’t skip your workouts!” If you skip too many workouts, your “downslide” starts to happen fast and the weight can pile on in a hurry! Don’t let a good year of workouts “go to pot” during this 2 week holiday stretch! You can easily put on 20 pounds if you’re not careful…..or, you could maintain the weight loss and fat loss you’ve worked so hard to attain. Good workouts can cover alot of eating mishaps!

You might need to be creative but there are many things you can do to keep yourself fit during the next 2 weeks:

1. First, keep your normal workout schedule as much as possible. There’s no substitute for doing your workouts.

2. Take advantage of every opportunity to walk instead of ride. This one tip should be used all the time. It makes a huge difference in your fitness. When I used to work on The University of Texas campus, it was not unusual for me to walk up to 2 hours in a day going to different departments….and, there are alot of hills here, so that made the exercise that much better. I didn’t think of it as exercise until I stopped working on campus. I soon realized that I had to take more time for “exercise”…..walk, walk, walk every chance you get.

3. Walk for 30 minutes after meals….another great tip to practice year-round.

4. Bike instead of driving your car. See numbers #2 and #3.

5. Exergaming works just fine. Wii fit games are fun and you can go on for hours without realizing how much time you can spend on these games. I’m sure you know someone with a Wii console!

6. Stick to your normal nutrition plan as much as possible during this 2 week Christmas-New Year’s stretch.

7. You have heard this before: alcohol has calories too—7 calories per gram to be exact. Don’t tank it too much!

8. Don’t spend all of your time eating! Walk around the mall for a couple of hours, walk the pets everyday, play flag football, rake all those leaves in your yard, etc.

9. Drink lots of water and unsweetened tea. No sugary drinks! Sample desserts instead of eating first and second helpings.

Do you need help with meal planning? Don’t wait until January to do something about your eating habits! Start taking steps now!

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If you’re frustrated with having “no progress” lately in your weight loss or fat loss, then you’re not alone! Usually, its easier to lose weight at the beginning of your exercise program. This is especially true if you are, let’s say, 100 pounds overweight. At this point, your metabolism is “running high” because of the excess weight. And, if you have not been active, your body will respond quickly to any new exercise activity.

As time moves on you have to make frequent changes to your exercise routine or your body will adapt. That’s when your progress begins to stall. There are alot of things you can do to change up your routine such as choosing different exercises. You can change up exercises every workout if you want (but not necessary).

One of the best ways to break through your weight loss/fat loss plateau is to “ramp up” the intensity of your workouts. My observations of people working out is that many just simply don’t “go hard enough” during their workouts! Changing your body composition (more muscle, less fat) take hard, smart work! Some people are flat out lazy but many just don’t know what they should be doing.

What to do? Here is one pointer (I’ll cover others in the article series):

Get off the cardio machines. They do too much of the work for you. When you have a choice, do your cardio “on land”—either outside or on the floor. My number one preference for cardio is sprint intervals on grass or uphill. Because of my athletic background, I enjoy this type of cardio (enjoyment is very important). I also prefer to exercise outside mainly because I grew up in New Mexico where the sun usually shines 95% of the time.

There are many other choices for doing cardio “on land” such as bodyweight cardio (examples: mountain climbers, burpees, leg circuits, etc.), jump rope, butt kickers (running in place). The key here is to speed up and shorten your cardio work to about 20 minutes. Research and my experience has proven that this type of cardio work is one of the best ways to tone up your body.

Note: Do this type of cardio no more than 3 days a week to prevent breakdown and injury.

Train hard and smarter to reach your fitness goals!

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If this ingredient is one of the first 2 or 3 items listed on the food packaging then don’t eat that food! What ingredient you ask? High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). This ingredient is found in alot of sweet foods and sugary drinks.

Whoever came up with high-fructose corn syrup in the ’80s pretty much made a “deal with the devil.” Its cheaper for food manufacturers than regular sugar (sucrose) so that’s why you see it so much on food labels. Sugary drinks, baked goods, frozen foods and even foods like ketchup are laced with this stuff. Nutritionists point to high-fructose corn syrup consumption as a major player in the nation’s obesity crisis (the fact that we eat it is the real problem).

Why is high-fructose corn syrup so deadly? Here it is: the body processes the fructose in high-fructose corn syrup differently than it does regular sugar. It also lowers the hormone leptin in your body. Leptin signals to your brain that you’re full. It also forces the liver to kick more fat out into the bloodstream (especially true with sugary drinks because they are processed so fast)! So, your body wants more and stores more fat at the same time.

A 12-ounce can of soda has as much as 13 teaspoons of sugar in the form of high-fructose corn syrup. That’s deadly poison!

Okay gang, there it is! You know the answer to the problem….stop eating foods and drinking drinks with sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, etc. Eat foods that are naturally sweet like fruit and drink mainly water, unsweetened tea, etc. Food manufacturers are not going to stop using this stuff because its cheaper than regular sugar. But, you don’t have to eat it and drink it! High-fructose corn syrup consumption will destroy your meal plan fast and put fat on your gut!

Train hard and eat smarter to reach your fitness goals!

Request My Fitness Hut’s FREE Special Report: “10 ‘Must Know’ Fat Loss Tips”

I have completed My Fitness Hut’s Special Report: 10 “Must-Know” Fat Loss Tips! Here is an excerpt from the report:

“There is a flood of information about weight loss out there in the
marketplace. Some of it is just garbage. A general rule for you to
follow with regard to weight loss is this: Don’t waste your money if
the program offers a quick solution to your weight problem! Why?
Because what you need is the permanent solution to your weight
problem. A permanent solution takes hard, smart work and sacrifice
on your part. Human nature always seeks the path of least
resistance. So, you can see why commercial weight loss programs
promote things such as “in 2 weeks….” The promotion may be partially true, but what they don’t tell you is the most critical part of the fitness equation: fat loss is the key to permanent weight loss. I will tell you how to achieve it.”

You will get the FREE report when you subscribe to My Fitness Hut’s Fat Blaster eNewsletter! You will also get a FREE “Fat Blaster” workout! Subscribe today!

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