Fit Forever with Kathy!

4 Tricks To Lose Up to 55 Lbs By Walking

by Kathy Smith

Walking seems to be a wonder drug with virtually no side effects. It’s incredibly simple, astonishingly powerful, and study after study proves that by tying up your laces for even just a few minutes a day can transform your body, mind and health. I’ve had thousands of women and men tell me how my walking programs and techniques have transformed their bodies and changed their lives. Take a minute to watch this short video of some incredible success stories:

But walking is about more than losing weight, it’s about saying HEALTHY for the rest of your life. Listen to these shocking facts:

• Two hours of walking each week can reduce your risk of stroke by 30%
• Brisk walking for 75 minutes a week can add almost two years to your life
• A one-hour walk daily can cut your risk of obesity in half!

Whether you’re super fit, overweight, or somewhere in between, you can improve your health with walking…the easiest, most natural exercise in the world. Even if like Ellen in the video above, you have 55 lbs to lose, walking can help you reach your goals, but only if you follow the 4 tricks below.

But before we begin, let’s talk about speed. Weight loss walking is about increasing speed by taking more smaller steps per minute, not by taking bigger steps But moving your legs that quickly in a walk takes an enormous amount of effort. In fact, at 5 mph, it’s much more efficient to run — and cover more ground with each stride — than it is to walk. So you actually use more energy, and burn more calories walking a 12-minute mile than running a 12-minute mile.  

Here are 4 tips to help you crank up your speed and increase your caloric burn:

1. Speed up the arm swing

Swing those arms as if you’re the grand marshal in a parade! You can really add to your forward momentum — and get some significant upper-body exercise — by pumping your arms more quickly. As you start to go a little faster, your arms will swing across your body slightly, and that’s okay. Just focus on the joy of the movement and the extra fuel you’re burning!

2. Walk the line

To increase your walking speed, try to make your feet land one in front of another (rather than walking with them parallel), so you’re walking in a straight line. Now you’ll need to add imagination into the mix. If you were walking on an actual line, just the inside of your foot (the instep) would touch the line: Your feet shouldn’t cross over. Check yourself by walking an actual line: a painted lane line on a track or a crack in the pavement, for example. Feel the rhythm you’re creating? “Walking the line” forces you to rotate your pelvis and extend your hips slightly, which lengthens your stride a little. At faster speeds, you’ll get some front-to-back rotation in your pelvis. Don’t consciously try to waggle your hips or exaggerate the motion, let your body move naturally. Just align your footsteps, leading with your heels, and stay loose in your pelvis as your hips follow where your legs lead.  

A note to men: Since you have less hip swivel in your normal walking gait than women do, this technique can be more difficult for you. Make a conscious effort to stay loose in your hips and let your pelvis rotate.

3. Squeeze your glutes

Your gluteals are the muscles in your butt, just above your hamstrings. At the end of each stride, as you’re pushing off with your toes, squeeze the gluteals in the same leg. This helps draw the leg back, which increases your speed and develops the muscles that will help reverse a drooping backside.

4. Interval training

The best way to learn to walk this fast is to practice for short stretches, with reset periods at a slower pace in-between. This is called “interval training” and it has some really fantastic benefits of its own. By alternating intervals of high-intensity effort with recovery periods, your heart, lungs,, and muscles can work harder for shorter spurts than they could work continuously. Start with 30-second intervals of high-intensity walking, with 30 seconds of recovery in between. These high-intensity intervals can dramatically improve your overall stamina. Eventually, you’ll be able to maintain that high-intensity pace for longer and longer periods of time. Here’s a sample fat-blasting interval walking workout:

30-Minute Fat-Burning Walk

Purchase Fat Burning Walking Workout by clicking HERE

Kathy ❤

The No-Excuse Backyard Workout

by Kathy Smith

This weekend, skip the gym. (Seriously!) Most of us focus on trying to find time for a 30-minute workout, and yet, moving throughout the day is just as important. Don’t get me wrong…the last thing I want to do is discourage anyone from devoting time to exercise.

But what if I told you that you can slim your thighs and cinch your tummy with just a few quick moves in your backyard without any dumbbells? Today, I’ll show you 4 gym-free moves to try next time you step outside.

1. The Daily Warrior

 Move:

1. Facing a wall, place your hands at hip level.
2. Walk your feet back until your body forms a right angle, with the hips directly over the feet, arms straight.
3. Separate your feet hip-width apart, with the heels directly under each sitting bone.
4. Separate the hands shoulder-distance apart and plant your knuckles evenly into the wall, pointing the middle finger toward the sky. Firm the outer upper arms and elongate the sides of your body and hips away from the wall. Keep your ears in line with your upper arms. As you reach the sternum forward, take the shoulder blades into the body.
5. Keep the feet parallel and lift the inner thighs from the inner knees up toward the pelvis. Strongly engage thighs.
6. Take the tops of the thighs away from the wall to elongate the sides of the body and spine. For stability, firm the sides of the hips to your midline.
7. Keep your weight even in both hands and lift the right leg a few inches. Flex the foot to connect with the back of the leg.
8. To make the move more difficult, lift your fingers off the wall.

 2. Wall Turbocharger

Before you even step outside, get a jumpstart on your morning routine by incorporating the Wall Turbocharger into your beauty routine. Instead of leaning on the sink while you brush your teeth, do a turbocharger, and hold it there for 15-60 seconds. Suddenly your morning brush isn’t just about your teeth and gums – now it’s a great leg and glute strengthener, too.

Move:

• Place your back against a sturdy and flat wall
• Drop down so that your legs make a 90 degree angle.
• Slowly lift your right leg straight out so that it is parallel with the floor and hold it there.
• Hold for 15 seconds

3. Dynamic Pushup

Don’t under-rate this move…it may be a classic, but the Huffington Post recently rated it “The World’s Greatest Exercise.” You don’t need to “drop down and give me 30!” but simply adding pushups into your exercise routine can improve everything from your posture to your balance to your arm, chest, and core strength.

Move:

1. Pressing your hands against a wall or ledge, place your hands under your shoulders, tucking your toes underneath you.
2. Push up into a plank. Keep your abdominal muscles lifted up toward your spine. Have your hands pointed slightly inward.
3. Lower yourself toward the wall, trying to achieve about a 90 degree bend in the elbows.
4. Exhale as you press back up.
5. Repeat with the left leg lifted.

Repetitions: 12 on each side

4. Power-Ups

Whether you’re inside or out, this move can go with you anywhere! Next time you’re doing the dishes, try some calf raises while you wash, and shoulder blade retractions while you dry. This Power-Up move works the calf muscle, including the soleus, also known as the “second heart,” which is located in the back part of the calf, running down from the knee to the heel. It is used for standing and walking, and is an important muscle in heart health. Recent studies show that people with heart issues rely more on their ankle than their hip when walking, and that they should focus on exercising their calf muscle, targeting the soleus.

Move:

1. Stand tall with feet together, holding onto a wall or ledge for balance.
2. Lift up onto your toes
3. Slowly lower yourself from your toes to a standing position.

Repetitions: 12 to 15.

Tips:

• Keep your shoulders back and chest up. Always work on your posture before performing the move.
• Calf raises can be performed on a stair for more intensity.

Kathy

4 Ways Exercise Knocks Years Off Your Looks

by Kathy Smith

There’s no doubt about it… looking young is more desirable then ever. From beauty products to healthy diets, people have always wondered what they can do to defy aging. . I get asked all the time….can exercise keep you young?

Here’s the short answer…maintaining a regular exercise program is fountain of youth. Being physically active as you age makes your body function in the INSIDE more like a younger person’s. Regular exercise improves almost every system in our bodies from lengthening telomeres, to increasing endurance, reaction time and balance. And of course, it strengthens the heart and sharpens the mind.

Today, let’s take a deeper look at 4 ways that exercise helps keep you young.

1. MUSCLE

As we age, we all experience a scary little process I call “The Great Decline”: Every decade, we lose muscle mass, and as we age, the percentage of loss just keeps accelerating. By age 60, the average person will have lost one-third of his/her muscle mass. The good news: you can reverse it with strength training. There’s no age limit on our ability to add muscle and stop The Great Decline.

Muscle is more than the triceps, biceps, and abdominals that immediately come to mind. Muscle is about preventing disease. It is about coordination, balance, agility, and staying active. In short, muscle is about all those qualities we equate with youth such as endurance, energy, and relatively easy weight management.

2. BRAIN

The hippocampus is the area of our brain where memories are stored – and its also a major target for stress hormones. Chronic stress damages this area – and severe depression can even shrink it – and when you mess with the hippocampus, you start to impact memory and learning. So that forgotten anniversary or forgotten coffee cup may not just be a sign of absent-mindedness – it could be a sign that stress is affecting your brain on a cellular level.

So what are the best ways to battle those negative effects on our brains? Cardio. Regular aerobic exercise will make you smarter, faster, happier, and make your brain function like a younger persons. Plus, it’ll make you look years younger.

As a matter of fact, Edward Hallowell, a psychiatrist from Harvard, says that cardio is one of the best treatments for ADD and poor mental focus, as well as anxiety.

3. HEART

Cardiovascular exercise is a double-winner, because not only does it help your brain, but it is also literally “training your heart.” According to the Mayo Clinic, as little as 30 minutes of daily exercise can help reduce the risk of heart disease because when you are active, you can have more control over your weight. And as you know, extra pounds can increase one’s chances for high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes, all of which contribute to the aging process.

And that’s not all: regular exercise lowers your blood pressure. Activities like walking increases and maintains a steady arterial pressure during the exercise, it’s an excellent way to keep your circulation (and the rest of your bood) in tip-top shape and help turn back the clock.

4. SKIN

Exercise not only appears to keep skin younger, it may also even reverse skin aging in people who start exercising late in life, according to surprising new research.

As many of us know from woeful experience, our skin changes as the years advance, resulting in wrinkles, crow’s feet and sagging. This occurs because of changes within our layers of skin. As time goes by, the layer of skin beneath the epidermis, the dermis, begins to thin. It loses cells and elasticity, giving the skin a more translucent and often saggier appearance.

These changes are independent of any skin damage from the sun. They are solely the result of the passage of time.

But, researchers found that after age 40, the men and women who exercised frequently had markedly thinner, healthier thicker dermis layers. And, their skin was much closer in composition to that of the 20- and 30-year-olds than to that of others of their age, even if they were past age 65.

Exercise absolutely makes you look healthy, fit and glowing with positive energy, which radiates a younger-looking you.

When you look good, you feel good and when you feel good, you radiate a confidence which is beautiful, and perfect for anyone, regardless of the age. It’s astonishing to consider all of the intricate ways in which exercise changes our bodies.

Here’s to your health!

Kathy Smith, New York Times bestselling author, has stood at the forefront of the fitness and health industries for over 30 years. The numbers speak for themselves: Kathy has sold more than 20 million exercise DVDs - landing her in the Video Hall of Fame - and $500 million in Kathy Smith products. With her revolutionary approach to fitness, Smith has touched millions of people, inspiring them to move, live, and love.

Good Posture Keeps Your Body Young!

by Kathy Smith

Slouching Makes You Sad…

I get a lot of compliments on my posture, and it makes me realize what a strong impression posture makes. When you stand and sit with good posture, you’re less likely to injure yourself in daily activity. Your internal organs have room to breathe. You radiate confidence and command respect. Your clothes fit better, and you get through the day with less fatigue.

Best of all, improving your posture makes you instantly look slimmer.

You only have to look around you to see the effect that aging can have on our bodies. I’m always shocked by the appearance of people who, after years of bone loss and poor posture, seem to stand in a permanent cringe. That’s why I urge you to start putting effort into your posture now.

It takes only a few minutes a week. The 2 quick moves below are specifically designed help you build strength for better posture. Don’t let gravity have the last word!

1. Midback Strengthener

Targets: Upper back postural strength and flexibility of the front of the shoulder.

Setup: Stand with your back to a wall, touching heels, buttocks, upper back, and head. Bend your elbows 90 degrees and lift them to your sides at shoulder height. Press your elbows and hands against the wall. If you have tight shoulders, you may not be able to touch the wall with your hands, elbows, or both—focus on your effort.

Move: Widen your clavicles, funnel your ribs down toward your waist, and press your navel toward your spine. Keeping your elbows and hands against the wall, if possible, slide your arms overhead. Continuing to maintain pressure and effort, slide back down to shoulder level. Repeat six to eight times.

Focus: Maintain a neutral spine (your low back is not pressing against the wall, but your abdominals are engaged, pulling your navel toward your spine).

Comments: The effort in the postural muscles in your upper back will help stretch the front of your shoulders, enabling you to have the flexibility and strength to maintain or improve your posture.

2. Superman

Targets: Low back (erector spinae, quadratus lumborum), buttocks (gluteals), and hamstrings.

Setup: Lie prone, with your neck in a neutral position. Pull your navel toward your spine

Move: With your arms stretched overhead, lift your arms/shoulders and feet/legs. Hold for a count of five, then release down. Do eight to twelve repetitions.

Focus: Focus on lengthening rather than lifting high. Try to keep your navel lifted off the floor.

Comments: If the exercise is too difficult, you could also break it into two exercise by lifting your arms and shoulders only—keeping your feet and legs on the floor—then doing the second set by keeping your arms and shoulders on the floor, lifting just your legs.

Kathy

1 Trick for Losing Weight And Keeping It Off

by Kathy Smith

Here’s shocking news — a recent study shows that it’s especially tough to avoid added calories on the weekends. Susan B. Racette, PhD at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that not being mindful of your weekend eating patterns adds an additional 9 pounds a year to your waistline! After tracking 48 women, she found that participants naturally ate a few hundred additional calories a day (100-300) on the weekends, comprised of foods higher in fat.

So imagine you are sitting on the couch with your kids watching television this weekend when a bag of salted chips comes your way. You ask yourself, “should I have one?” You know that each chip is only about 10 calories, and that isn’t much. This is when you need to recall previous times you were in the same situation.

Did you eat just one? If you didn’t—and you ate half a bag, which is 600 calories—then the best decision today is to pass the bag to someone else.

I advise anyone who is trying to lose weight (and keep it off) to identify her own eating patterns. Tune in to the foods and eating situations that often trigger overeating or binges. Everyone is different when it comes to trigger foods.

I used to have a problem with chocolate. If it was in my kitchen it didn’t last long. One bite led to two, then three and four. At one point I banished it from my house because there was no chance I could eat it in moderation.

I have learned that it is usually easier to simply say “no” to even one chip or candy. It is much harder to stop a binge when it is in progress. So this weekend, it’s important to consider your past habits.

Rely on your food and fitness tracker

Our bodies and our fitness levels are created by old habits and old patterns. That is why tracking your food intake and exercise activities  is so helpful. Whether it’s digitally through a fitness tracker (like MyFitnessPal, Jawbone or FitBit), or keeping notes in a food journal, staying aware helps you become more in-tune with your habits and patterns.

High-tech gadgets, like Fitbit, that have hit the market in recent years take the guesswork out of your calorie burn and caloric intake, and they allow you to gauge your food-fitness relationship.  From smart phone apps to wristbands devices, and other handy interactive tools, tracking your caloric expenditure, activity levels, and fitness goals is easier than ever. I like trackers because they clearly show how effective an exercise is and often motivate you to take your workout to the next level.

In the hum of daily life, we’re often unaware of how our behavior falls into patterns and how we repeat the same mistakes until we see it recorded. In reviewing my own journal, for instance, I discovered that I have a habit of eating trail mix right from the bag. That can lead me to eat multiple servings. I didn’t realize until I did the math how many calories I was mindlessly consuming. Now I remind myself to measure out one portion so I don’t overeat.

Kathy

Skip The Gym With These 10 Gym-Free Ways To Burn Calories

by Kathy Smith

This weekend, skip the gym. (Seriously!) Most of us focus on trying to find time for a 30-minute workout, and yet, moving throughout the day is just as important. Don’t get me wrong…the last thing I want to do is discourage anyone from devoting time to exercise. But what if I told you that you can burn calories around the clock without hitting the treadmill? Today, I’ll show you 10 gym-free ways to burn calories all weekend long!

First things first…It’s important to understand that doctors, research journals, even the World Health Organization agree: A sedentary lifestyle may be to blame for a host of illnesses, from fatty liver disease to diabetes, even for people who work out regularly but spend too much time sitting. Sure, we live in a computer-based world, and we can’t always jump up from our desks for a quick jog. But we can do a little more multitasking, and add more physical activity to our schedules on the weekends or when we’re not working. For adding activity to your day, it’s the little stuff that counts.

Try these 10 ways to burn more calories throughout your day without a treadmill:

1. Fidget! According to a study from the Mayo Clinic, simply tapping your foot during your favorite songs throughout the day can help you burn up to 350 calories.

2. Stand tall! If you want to slim down and boost your confidence, good posture is the first step. Standing tall projects to the world that you feel good about yourself, and it will help you burn extra calories and can even make you look 10 pounds thinner…not to mention a few years younger!

3. Go to comedy night! Laughing for 10-15 minutes a day burns an additional 50 calories. It may not sound like a lot, but if you do it every day, that’s 350 calories a week by simply enjoying a good joke.

4. Clean up! Move your trashcan away from your desk, so instead of a reach-and-toss, you’ve got to go for a short walk to throw things away.

5. Sit & brush! Instead of leaning on the sink while you brush your teeth, do a wall sit: Standing with your back a couple feet from the wall, bend your knees and lower into a 90-degree angle squat position, and hold it there for 15-60 seconds. Suddenly your morning brush isn’t just about your teeth and gums – now it’s a great leg and glute strengthener, too.

6. Make showtime your fitness time. When you’re watching TV, make the commercial break your fitness break, alternating lower-body-firming plies with core-strengthening planks.

7. Visit a friend. Instead of calling a friend or your next door neighbor, take a stroll outside to say “hello” in person.

8. Aim for 10,000. Set a goal of 10,000 steps a day (it takes around 2,000 steps to walk a mile). Treat yourself to an activity monitor as a fun way to stay on track. I’m eager to trest out Apple Watch’s fitness tracker coming next year, but in the meantime, I’m enjoying trackers like my Fitbit. If you wear a tracker throughout the day, you’ll get an easy read on indicators such as number of steps taken, distance traveled, even calories burned. When you see how close you are to your goal, you’ll be amazed what a great motivator it is to get out for that after-dinner walk.

9. Go for the incline! Learn to love the stairs, or at least, the calorie burn. A person climbing stairs uses around 10 calories per minute, or 360 calories in just 20 mins.

10. Walk & talk! For those long-distance loved ones who love to catch up by phone, head out for some fresh air with your cell, and walk and talk. Isn’t it about time we put the “mobile” back into “mobile phone”?

You can tone up and burn calories in a way that’s convenient for you. It just takes a little bit of creativity. You don’t have to dramatically reschedule your day. All you have to do is find new ways to add movement throughout it. Start with these tips, and get creative with your own!

Kathy

The TRUTH About Cellulite

by Kathy Smith

Tabloids love to expose celebrities’ less-than-perfect derrieres or thighs because they, like a lot of people, have cellulite. Of course, no one wants to have cellulite, but chances are most of us do, at least to some degree.

Just because so many of us have cellulite doesn’t mean everyone knows what it is, much less why it occurs. But even more importantly, do you know what to do about it? It can be confusing because there are a lot of myths and misnomers out there.

Well, it’s time to know the truth about cellulite.

What Is Cellulite?

First of all, it’s not a medical condition. Cellulite is nothing more than fat lying directly beneath the skin. What happens is there’s only so much room for these fat cells and they get pushed up toward the skin. This action puts pressure on the surrounding fascia.

Fascia is a web of connective tissue surrounding muscles, blood vessels, and nerves. Think of it like the netting of a tennis racket with the strings representing the fascia. Over time, though, those strings or tissues lose their collagen and elasticity or too much fat develops and the fat gets pushed through the netting. That’s what gives a dimpled appearance, or what we call cellulite.

Cellulite doesn’t just appear. There are different grades or degrees:

• Grade 1: Detection at this stage is nearly impossible with the naked eye because it’s happening on a microscopic level.

• Grade 2: Some symptoms appear, such as a loss of elasticity in the skin and a cooler temperature to the touch.

• Grade 3: This is the look we most commonly associate with cellulite because there’s visible dimpling, but it has the other characteristics, too.

What Causes Cellulite?

There’s no one answer to this question, but here’s a list of contributors:

• Hormones:
The naturally occurring chemicals estrogen, insulin, noradrenaline, thyroid hormones, and prolactin have been linked to cellulite creation.

• Genetics:
Did your mother, aunts, grandmothers have cellulite? Then chances are you are predisposed to it, too.

• Lifestyle:
The more sedentary you are the greater the likelihood of developing cellulite. Also, smokers run a higher risk for cellulite.

• Diet:
Because cellulite involves fat cells, it only makes sense that what you eat would contribute to its buildup. Too much fat, carbohydrates, and salt, which leads to water retention, are the biggest culprits.

How Do I Banish Cellulite?

There’s an entire multimillion-dollar industry of creams, pills, and procedures claiming to remove cellulite; however, none of these has passed the scientific community’s standards. In fact, some are designed to treat unrelated conditions, like asthma, and others may cause serious side effects, like allergic reactions. Some methods, like massage, have temporary benefits, and others simply hide the cellulite, like compression garments. The keys words here are “temporary” and “hide.”

The good news is that there are three key ways to effectively minimize cellulite for the long-term:

1. Increase circulation

2. Maintain a healthy weight

3. Eat high-fiber and diuretic foods

• Increase circulation

Let’s face it, we just sit too much. In fact, sitting is the new smoking!

It’s not enough to work out for 30 to 60 minutes at a time, we need to keep blood flowing to the lower body throughout the day. If your job demands you sit at a desk, get up to walk around every 20 minutes to increase you circulation. Or, swap out your chair for a stability ball. Just sitting on the inflated ball requires you to engage your core, but with every slight movement, you have to shift to regain your balance. This constant balance challenge gets your body moving much more than sitting in a traditional office chair that does the balancing for you.

Body-weight training keeps cellulite from settling in, too. Because it tends to form in the buttocks and thighs, I like the Pop Squat: Lower into squat position as if you’re sitting down in a chair, abs engaged and making sure your knees don’t pop out past your toes. Push yourself to standing, but don’t stop there: Without locking your knees, add a little jump into the air. When you land, lower yourself right back down into the squat. Grab weights for added difficulty. Repeat for 30 seconds.

Also, certain foods help boost blood flow. Circulation Journal reported that dark chocolate (yes, chocolate), which is full of natural flavonoids, improved blood circulation compared with white chocolate. Sunflower and pumpkin seeds are known to increase circulation, too.

If you have time and money, get a massage to restore the fluid state of your connected tissue. In between massages, use a foam roller to help support the tissue on a daily basis.

• Maintain a healthy weight

The more weight you carry the more fat cells pushing through the fascia. Losing weight can result in a noticeable reduction of cellulite.

• Eat high-fiber and diuretic foods

When the body holds onto extra fluids, it adds more pressure to the fascia. If I’m feeling bloated before a photo shoot, I eat something I know will help my body get rid of extra water—my favorite is egg whites and asparagus. Well, if you’re feeling like your cellulite is more noticeable or you’re getting ready to wear something that shows a little skin and you want to minimize dimpling, then fill your plate with foods high in fiber or natural diuretics.

Fiber-rich foods take longer to digest and will keep you feeling full longer so you’re less likely to reach for a sugary or fatty, salty snack. Diuretics help the body release excess water, usually through urination. Some foods serve double duty, both high in fiber and a diuretic, such as steel-cut oats and artichokes. Even flavor enhancers, like parsley, ginger and garlic, assist the body in getting rid of water. Finally, green tea, one of my all-time favorite beverages, can give relief from bloating.

On the other hand, not enough fluids or dehydration also contribute to cellulite.  Most studies show that about 2/3 of us are dehydrated and need to drink more water…so stay hydrated throughout the day! I aim to drink a gallon of water a day (yes…a gallon!). Although this may be a hefty goal for you, aim to drink at least eight glasses of water a day. To achieve this goal, set an alarm on your phone every hour on the hour from 8 am to 5 pm. When the alarm goes off, it’s time to get up, get your blood circulating, and drink a glass of water.

Remember, while you may not erase cellulite completely, being active and eating healthfully is the best way to control it.

Kathy

1 Simple Way To Burn Calories Hours After Your Workout

by Kathy Smith

You probably have heard of the “afterburn effect,” or how some exercises can help you burn calories for hours after your workout (if not, it’s time to learn!).

The question is…which exercise will best power-up your post-workout afterburn?

Well, it all comes down to oxygen.

Simply put, exercise afterburn, also known as EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption), is the number of calories that are burned after your sweat-session is over.

Not to get too technical, but while you’re exercising, your oxygen consumption increases, allowing your body to support its energy needs. Your body then requires extra oxygen to to your muscle tissues following vigorous exercise. As you exercise harder, you’re not taking in enough oxygen for aerobic metabolism, so your body requires extra oxygen to your muscle tissues. EPOC represents the replacement of the oxygen stores that were depleted during your intense bout of exercise workout.

Basically, you want to find an activity that allows your body to work at 75-90% of its maximum level for short periods of time.

Walking intervals allow you to torch extra calories during and after your walk.

While on your walk, expend regular periods of short bursts of high-intensity intervals.This means that after walking at a regular pace for 3 minutes, amp up your intensity to 75-90% of your capacity for 1 minute. This method  is an easy way to blast calories and torch fat for hours after your workout! For example, your walk may look something like this:

• 5 minute Warm-Up Pace
• 1 minute Anaerobic Interval - For one minute, walk as fast as you possibly can! On a scale from 1-10, you should be pushing yourself from a 7-9.
• 3 minute Recovery Interval – Walk at a comfortable pace
• 1 minute Anaerobic Interval - The word “anaerobic” means “without sufficient oxygen.” Anaerobic exercises are more intense but of shorter duration. They quickly push you past your aerobic threshold, leaving you breathless. 
• 3 minute Recovery Interval
• 1 minute Anaerobic Interval
• 3 minute Recovery Interval
• 5 minutes Cool-Down Pace

With interval walking, there’s absolutely no boredom factor! Not only will you be on your way to a lighter and leaner you, but  you’ll also be burning calories after you unlace your workout shoes.

My new DVD, Fat Burning Walking Workout, is the easiest way to walk away the pounds!

Kathy

The ULTIMATE Pre-Bed Meal (Try This Tonight!)

by Kathy Smith

My good friend and top nutritionist Joel has let the cat out of the bag on what is undoubtedly the BEST pre-bed meal.

As I’ve discussed several times before in my newsletter articles, it is not necessary to avoid eating in the evening hours to lose flab. In fact, the right night-time meal can often positively affect your results and recovery from exercise by feeding your muscles with quality nutrition as you sleep.

The trick, as always, is choosing the RIGHT foods before bed, and knowing which foods those are. Here are Joel’s general “rules” to creating the ultimate pre-bed meal:

1. Avoid carbs and insulin.

Because consuming carbohydrates will result in a significant insulin release (which will in turn put the breaks on fat-burning), carbs are ill-advised for a pre-bed meal. Carbs are also much more easily stored as fat in the evening hours when metabolism is naturally slowing in preparation for sleep. Besides, you have very little opportunity to burn off that energy when consuming carbs at night — sleep isn’t a very calorically expensive activity!

In addition to carbs, certain animal proteins have been shown to yield a significant insulin response as well, such as red meat and certain fish. While these protein foods are OK for a pre-bed meal, there are better choices, like those mentioned below.

2. Choose slow digesting proteins.

Slow digesting proteins, like white meat proteins such as turkey and chicken, are great night-time meal choices as they digest slowly and fail to produce a significant insulin response.

Another great choice is the milk protein casein, found in cottage cheese. Casein coats the stomach, digests slowly, and provides quality nutrition to your muscles over several hours…very ideal as a pre-bedtime protein source!

3. Add fat.

Quality, healthy fats such as nuts, oils, and nut butters are great additions to a pre-bedtime meal as they will help to further slow gastric emptying and digestion while increasing fullness and satiety so you don’t wind up snacking all night long.

Just follow these 3 simple rules for night-time snacking (slow digesting protein, low carb, add fat) and you’ll be in great shape…give it a try with an evening snack tonight!

Kathy

Flatten Your Tummy in 5 Mins a Day

by Kathy Smith

Crunches, crunches, crunches!

What if everything you’ve ever learned about toning your tummy is wrong? 

Studies are continuing to show that the secret  to strengthening your core and tightening your tummy is about doing the right exercises…not spending doing traditional crunches.

In today’s blog, I've developed a science-based ab routine to help you create the abs you want in only 5 minutes a day! I’ll show you the exact exercises to lose fat and inches around your waistline, tone up your abs, and increase your confidence!

Here’s how to do it: Repeat each move for 30 seconds. Repeat twice.

Cannonball

What it does:

• This move is sometimes called the ˙banana,” because of the slightly-curved line your body forms at the start of the exercise. But no matter what you call it, this full-body core-strengthener is a surefire way to fire up the entire abdominal wall.

How to do it:

• Start lying on your back, with your arms reaching out overhead, legs lifted slightly off the floor, and toes pointed. Even here, at the start of the move, you’re activating core muscles by stretching them out. Keep pressing the lower back into the mat or floor to ensure the back doesn’t arch. If this feels like too much tension on the back, try lifting the legs a little further away from the floor.
• Imagine that, as you’re stretching the fingers and toes away from each other, the core is a strong magnet working to pull them back in. Using the force of that imaginary magnet, bring the knees in toward the chest. At the same time, reach your arms toward the legs.

Beginners:

• Start by doing this move just one leg at a time. Resting your left leg on the floor, perform the move as described above using only the right leg. Do 10 repetitions and repeat on the left side.

Advanced:

• At the top of the move, when you’re in ˙cannonball” position, wrap your arms around the shins. The objective is to find your balance point. To do that, you need to strongly engage your core muscles when you hit the top of the movement. Coordinating the arms and legs to hit that balance point is the challenge. 

 Ceiling Stap

Here’s how to do it:

• Lying on your back, squeeze your abdominals and lift your legs off the floor. Extend them up straight, feet facing the ceiling.
• With your hands on the floor for balance, use your lower abdominal strength to push your feet up 1-2 inches toward the ceiling (meaning your hips come 1-2 inches further away from the floor simultaneously). It’s a quick movement, almost a ˙pulse,” as if you’re stamping the ceiling with the bottom of your feet (hence the title).

Forearm Plank With Swivel

1. Start in plank position, but this time, rest on your elbows instead of your hands. Be sure to keep the shoulders depressed back and down and the neck nice and long throughout the movement.
2. Keeping your abs engaged, slowly swivel the hips underneath you to the right. Feel your obliques driving this motion as you swivel to the other side with a slow, controlled motion.

Kathy