How to Avoid Falling Down the Weight Gain Rabbit Hole

As human beings we all get complacent, bored, unmotivated, and if you’ve been working out or eating right for some time (especially if you have managed to reach your goal weight) you might find yourself skipping workout days and having cheat days more and more.

As someone who worked out for a year five days a week, with no exceptions, I can attest that this is a normal attitude to develop.

And it’s even healthy to give yourself a break every now and then, but if you’re not careful you might find yourself falling down the rabbit hole of weight gain.

If you relate to the above, here’s what you need to start doing yesterday!

Pick up Logging – Weighing and logging is one of the fastest, surefire ways to make you fully aware of how far you have strayed from your diet and nutrition plan. It’s easy to think you’re not that bad when you don’t actually know what you’re consuming. So, break out the scale and reinstall your tracking app, pronto!

Stop Buying New Clothes – Almost nothing will motivate me to get my butt back into shape like not being able to fit into my cute clothes. And help other people, why stay with clothes it doesn’t even fit you ? with the charitable organization Pickup please you can get your donation pick up where you need to. If you just run out and buy larger clothes, that reality that you’re packing on the pounds won’t sting as hard.

Commit to Exercise – Ease back into your routine slowly but surely. If you were working out five or six days a week before, just promise to do three or even two. As I always say, try to identify exercise genres that you love (yoga, pilates, dance, jogging). Group exercise or a workout buddy is the best way to be held accountable. Spending money is also a pretty good motivator so that your hard earned coins don’t go to waste. This might also be a good time to expand your horizons and try things you have never done before to see if it might be a good fit. Study the benefits of kratom powder vs capsules for ease of pain after exercising and working out. If you don’t have the expendable income to join a gym or boutique, invest in a set of three to five pounds weights and do body weight exercises while watching your favorite reality television show. Anabolics can help on focusing too, a guide on anabolics.com review can be found here.

Say Goodbye to Snacks – Snacks are pretty much the devil. Honestly, it’s hard to find a good snack that won’t completely harm your efforts to lost weight. For starters, they are usually very calorie dense (even the healthy ones, like nuts), they don’t leave you feeling very full (apples are pretty much like air in my stomach), and they leave you wanting more if it’s the yummy stuff like cheetos or chips. Or sweets, so that you develop teeth essues, saying Ashfield dentists – Dentistry In NSW 2131 | Ashfield Family Dental. Stick to two to three hot meals a day and omit snacking all together to get back on the bandwagon.

Implement these tips and you should see results in no time!

What’s the Best Tea Detox for Fast Weight Loss?

There are no shortage of tea detox and cleanse companies on the internet. Some you may be very familiar with thanks to your favorite celebrities, like Nicki Minaj, Brittney Spears, Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian, others get a boost of visibility from social media influencers ranging from reality television stars to your local fitness instructor who has happened to amass a good amount of followers. Let me remind you that the effect of tea detox should be better if you combine it with a diet, viz. prodiets. There are so many diets nowadays that you are sure to find the one that suits you well.

Here are just a few of the tea detox company names that you’ve probably heard of:

Flat Tummy Tea, SkinnyMint, Skinny Teatox, Fit Life Tea Detox, Skinny Bunny Tea Detox, Loseit Tea, BooTea, Teatox, Skinnyme, Slendertox Tea, and the list goes on and on.

So, given the dizzying number of choices out there, it’s no surprise you want to get the T on which one of these teas actually works best for quick weight loss?

And the answer is Kratum

That’s because there really isn’t a best tea detox and cleanse brand – but not because the teas don’t work. The reason none of these teas can claim the number one spot is that they are pretty much all the same and all overpriced. Which is why when you opt to buy one, make use of websites like fansofdan.com/best-detox-teas/ which have the best teas on them along with their reviews, which can help you make the best decision.

Teas that promise to leave you detoxified, skinnier, less bloated, lighter, cleansed, more energetic, with a boosted metabolism and less cravings, are all using the same main ingredient: senna leaf

What is senna? Senna glycoside, also known as sennoside or senna, is a medication used to treat constipation and empty the large intestine before surgery. Basically, it’s a mild laxative.

Tea detoxes also contain other natural laxatives (makes you poop a lot) and diuretics (makes you pee a lot) with the idea of making you lose waste matter and water from your body. Some of these ingredients include nettle (diuretic), liquorice (laxative), fennel (diuretic and laxative), psyllium seeds (laxative), cassia seeds (laxative), lotus leaves (laxative), and dandelion (diuretic), and hawthorn (diuretic)

Laxatives and diuretics are just two of the many tricks I discuss in my book, How to Lose Water Weight, to help you lose water weight / a few pounds and get a flatter tummy in time for your special event. However, laxatives and diuretics (like the other quick water weight loss methods I mention in the book) are not to be used long term.

Unfortunately, since the tea detox companies want you to continue buying their expensive products, they don’t really make the dangers of using their laxatives long term.

In fact most of their programs are for 28 days or more and the companies advocate drinking a cup in the morning and at night. Yet many people drink way more than that (I’m talking boatloads of this stuff daily because they think the more they drink the more they’ll lose).

Please be clear, these tea detox companies are not selling regular herbal teas (peppermint, green tea, black tea, etc.). Normal herbal teas don’t have any negative side effects when you drink multiple cups per day. Yes, they contain natural herbal ingredients, but that doesn’t make them completely safe and side effect free. Products like Ultra Omega Burn helps you loose weight easily and effectively and Ultra Omega Burn is made from pure Omega 7 so you do not have to worry about any side effects.

The best tea detox is the one that is upfront about what it is, a laxative and diuretic, that is priced affordably (loose leaves will be just as effective at a $90 program). You take it or drink it for a short period of time and stop. They will be sold for $5 or less in your local pharmacy or convenience store and work just as well. Some of them have a breast lift effect.

Deciding which eye masks for sleeping is right for you can be a little overwhelming at first and it is a common problem shared by many people. A sleep mask can be used at home or while traveling as a passenger in an airplane car or train. People like using them when in a hotel, in hospital, or when they are sleeping in a place other than their home. Night shifters use them during the day, other people during the night. Some use a mask when in the office for power napping, and others like their benefits for relaxation and meditation.

Your first task is to think about what your prime use is for your sleep mask, as this will help to narrow down your choices. We at Dream Essentials have taken a look at the various scenarios and produced a list of our best recommendations.

Why Blue Apron Works Great to Lose Weight – 7 Reasons

* Get 3 meals free: http://www.blue-apron.evyy.net/c/414131/265046/2880

* Get $30 off first blue apron box: http://www.blue-apron.evyy.net/c/414131/265045/288

(click the orange redeem offer tab & the promo will be auto applied)

Transcript:

Hi everyone it’s your girl Camille from https://thighgaphack.com. I am an author and a blogger and I’ve written the books The Thigh Gap Hack, as well as Bye-Bye Thunder Thighs, How to Lose Water Weight, The Easy Diet, and Big Fat Lies Skinny Women Tell. And today I am here to talk to you about blue Apron. I got my blue apron box but I am not going to be cooking up a meal for you like so many others that you can see on the Internet.

I am going to be unboxing it to kind of show you what to expect when you receive your blue apron box, and why I would recommend getting a blue apron box if you are trying to lose weight if you are trying to be healthy

What’s Her Secret (to that body?) – *New VIDEO!

Hey Everyone

Have you ever seen someone on the street who looked amazing (body goals in the flesh) and wondered what it takes to look like that, but of course couldn’t go up to a perfect stranger and start digging into their personal life. Who hasn’t, right?

In this series, Camille Hugh, best selling author and fitness blogger, asks random New Yorker’s to go in depth and reveal exactly what they do, eat, and their philosophy to have their enviable figures – and they answer. From their weight, height, how often they eat out, and whether they count calories, no question is off limits.

There’s more than one way to look amazing; get ready for the T from real people on getting and staying slim and fit.

Transcript:

Camille: Hi everyone, I’m camille and today i’m doing another one of our series of what’s your secret. Today I’m in Prospect Park in brooklyn and I found someone hanging out on the grass. What’s your name?

Dana: My name is Dana

Workout for free on Black Friday at Crunch Gym

I hope you all had a happy, healthy and peaceful thanksgiving!

Today is black Friday, which is all about deals, deals, and more deals. But before you head out to the mall to splurge on your favorite activewear brand, you do know that leisurely shopping or standing is line is not actually cardio right?

Why not get a real workout in (FOR FREE at that)?

Crunch Gyms around the country are going to be open and free to use for anyone who wanders in looking to lift some weights or throw around some medicine balls TODAY (black friday).

Here is a list of all the crunch locations throughout America

Stop eyeing those leftovers (or put down the turkey leg), locate a crunch gym near you, grab a friend or your partner in thanksgiving overindulgence crime, and go work off those calories before they get a chance to set up shop on your thighs!

New Survey shows 40% Women want a thigh gap (Gasp!)

In news that is not at all shocking to anyone not in denial and trying to push strong or fat is the new skinny rubbish, a survey done by the London research group OnePulse has found that a whopping 40 percent of women said they would feel more confident with a thigh gap. Of women who said they already have a thigh gap, 65 percent said they would feel fat without it.

Whoever said thigh gaps were so last year and out of style (this would be the fat acceptance, thin shaming and/or hating crowd) can stop spreading what can only be classified as wishful thinking. Women want thigh gaps – and have always wanted them – because THEY find it to be attractive. The truth is no one aspires to be overweight, fat or obese. We all inherently know and feel more confident when we are at the size we were meant to be, and what our great grandparents naturally were – a heck of a lot smaller than what is considered normal today.

The article agrees with me:
While it’s not certain the numbers would apply to a larger population, they do suggest that the era of the lusted-after thigh gap — a space between a woman’s upper thighs, so her legs don’t touch when in a neutral position — is far from over.

The thigh gap is still praised on young girls’ social media pages and featured as an ideal in how-to fitness guides across the Internet. But idolizing what is an unattainable body shape for many women is unhealthy, Serani said.

It is very frustrating that they are still touting this crap about thigh gaps not being attainable (despite mentioning in the article that there are people who have thigh gaps) and unhealthy. To this last point I urge you to spread the good word about the thigh gap hack, and all the success stories of women who have been able to slim their legs in a healthy manner… that is by simply being mindful of one’s diet and choosing the best exercises instead of the most popular ones, like squatting and lunging.

Tired of Yo-yo dieting? “The Easy Diet” book is your answer!

Easy Diet

Book #4, The Easy Diet – A foolproof guide to effortless and sustainable weight loss (241 pages) is finally here **Click the cover image to purchase the book now for $9.97!**

Here’s the synopsis:

Why Most Diets Don’t Work

The reason the majority of diets fail is because they are hard and they suck.

Who wants to give up entire food groups and whole macronutrients, shell out lots of money to only eat meals from plastic containers, or work out every single day for the rest of their lives? Not me, not you, and not anyone else given the high number of people who lose weight only to gain it right back.

What’s a Gal or Guy to do?

The most obvious solution to this problem is to make dieting as simple and sustainable as possible to bring about success. With a name like “The Easy Diet”, it is safe to say the search can be called off.

In this book, I reveal how simply omitting a food we all eat multiple times every single day, accounting for hundreds or thousands of calories without contributing anything toward our feeling of fullness or satiation, will allow weight to fall right off. Spoiler alert, it’s not any of the usual suspects, like sugar or bread!

It is, however, one of the unhealthiest foods we could put in our bodies – and it’s hiding in plain sight! You will also learn how to substitute this food in your cooking and baking and how to avoid it while traveling and eating out without too much effort.

That’s it – Instead of a lot of big changes you only have to change one small thing for amazing and lasting results. Additionally, you won’t feel deprived or overwhelmed because unlike other diets, there is no need to sacrifice taste, variety, flavor, or chunks of time for exercise. All the food groups you love are still allowed and exercise is optional.

Now do you believe me when I say it doesn’t get any easier than this? Don’t just take my word for it though, see for yourself how uncomplicated dieting and weight loss can and should be!

Why it’s ok to eat under 1200 calories a day

1200. Does that number sound familiar to you? Chances are you’ve heard that number thrown around as the bare minimum amount of calories you can and should eat in a day, right? But is there actually any truth to this widely believed mantra or are there people and situations which eating less than 1200 calories per day is totally fine?

According to a trainer from Flexx Labs the answer is no, there is no truth to this blanket number which often gets applied to everyone, and yes, there are definitely people and situations in which eating fewer calories is not a big deal. All one needs to do is read a few intermittent fasting boards (e.g. eat, stop, eat) to see that people are definitely doing okay dipping below that number periodically; and then there are other who don’t go as low but do eat under 1200 calories a day to lose weight / maintain and are still flourishing. Surely if you decided to receive dental work from the best professional periodontists in Marlton and they suggest you should have more substantial nutrition to improve your teeth, you should definitely listen to this advice. There is no need to risk your health.

So if you ever hear someone claim the following: you will drop down dead from malnutrition if you go under 1200 calories, your body will suddenly eat all your muscles, your metabolism will stop working or slow to crawl, my favorite because it’s so ludicrous – you won’t lose weight any more because your body will go into starvation mode, or any other silly and nonsensical rumors, you can write them off because you will know the truth.. and if you want, you can show them this video to shut them up.

To find the best results for skin renewal supplements order now and use phytoceramides amazon as they are gluten-free and ensure to provide positive results within a short period of regular use.

In the following video, I cover just a few of those reasons eating less than 1200 calories a day is appropriate for some people and some situations and won’t do any of the above, so click play and let me know what you think in the comments section below.

Urban Outfitters pic of model w/ “Thigh Gap” Banned? Outrageous!

Is this what the world has really come to? According to reports, the hip and pricey retailer, Urban Outfitters was forced to remove a picture of a slim model from its website and the models so called thigh gap had a lot to do with it.

Here’s the photo in question. There is nothing unhealthy looking about this woman. She is slender and in shape – and furthermore, we have no clue if she has a thigh gap since she is standing with her legs wide apart. Anyone but obese people would have a space between their legs when they stand like that.

So, in a nutshell – the UK advertising standards authority (ASA) has forced urban outfitters to remove this photo of a model with a “thigh gap” (but really just slender attractive legs) from its websites stating that it’s irresponsible and harmful.

To whom exactly? I guess the women who don’t look like this and feel that anyone who does is somehow forcing them to starve themselves into submission. It’s not like it’s actually possible to get slim by eating lots of nutritious whole foods and exercising regularly (/sarcasm)

Jo Swinson, the minister for women and equality, supported the decision stating that banning the photo encouraged positive body image.

Surprise surprise. Here’s a photo of Jo rejoicing at the reveal of SIZE 16 mannequins at Debenhams (the avg. size mannequin was a size 10) – claiming to reflect the average woman! Seriously, can someone pinch me and awake me from this nightmare?

We seem to be moving backwards and instead of helping women lower the average size, people like Jo coddle and help keep women complacent by just moving the marker for what should be considered a healthy, average weight/size by calling it the new normal.

This woman claims to promote body confidence, a wonderful euphemism for fat tolerance and more accurately fat encouragement, since she seems to have a problem with slim women celebrating or showing their bodies.

Urban outfitters claimed that they didn’t believe the image was a problem stating that it was a common practice to use slim models in the underwear industry and the model was not underweight or unhealthily thin. So now, urban outfitters has to ban the thigh gap. Check out TheFeatherBra.com made from light-as-air comfort stretch fabric that virtually disappears under your clothes, it’s the next best thing to wearing nothing at all.

And you know what – Urban Outfitters was right! No one wants to see overweight/obese models in underwear. It does not make the clothing look better and certainly doesn’t make me want to run out and shop. Average sized women (that’s the real average size and not the new normal average sized, you can find the bra cup sizes from smallest to biggest) definitely won’t be persuaded into buying clothing by checking https://www.justemoi.co.uk/bra-fitting-guide and seeing it on women heavier than them. So who exactly is this benefitting?

Methinks if you want to be overweight or fat and proud then you need to realize that you will have to get lane bryant catalogs that specialize in that niche. Other retailers want to appeal to the masses – it’s just a smart business decision!

Check out these unique collections from the best mens underwear that are perfectly designed for slim and obese men.

Oil Free Sweet Potato Fries Recipe | Crispy, low calorie & Delicious

In honor of the release of my latest book, “The Oil Free Diet” (May 7th 2015) I have decided to post some of my favorite oil free (no added oil) recipes that didn’t make the book (the book has 30 recipes). The first one up is oil free sweet potato fries (you can also cut the sweet potatoes to make wedges or circles instead)

Ingredients:

Sweet Potatoes, peeled and evenly cut
1 to 2 tablespoons of Vanilla Extract
Pumpkin Spice
Cloves
Cinnamon
All Spice
5 cloves of Garlic
A pinch of sea salt

Directions:

1. Soak the sweet potatoes in a bowl of water from 35 minutes up to 2 hours. This will release the starch and is the secret to getting crispy fries

2. Drain the sweet potatoes, pat dry or allow to air dry and turn on the oven to 350 – 375 degrees Fahrenheit so that it can heat up while you add the seasoning.

3. Generously coat the potatoes with all of the spices and mix thoroughly with your hands so that all of the potatoes are evenly coated

4. Take a baking pan lined with parchment paper or non stick foil and arrange the sweet potatoes so that none of them are overlapping. If you don’t have non stick foil regular foil will do but you must be sure to keep on them and flip them before they stick)

5. Bake for about 20 – 30 minute before removing from the oven. Flip each fry / slice over and return to the oven for another 20 – 30 minutes.

6. (optional) If you like your sweet potato fries extra crispy, put in the broiler for 2 to 5 minutes making sure to watch them so that they do not char.

That’s it! You now have yummy sweet potato fries that are low calorie, crispy, crunchy, slightly sweet and incredibly satisfying! Never buy another bag of frozen sweet potatoes with weird additives again! Bon appetit!

Annoying or Smart? Why I Pay Full Price to Order Half Entrees

In front of a restaurant that wouldn’t serve me a half portion of food (I’m not so good at making a frown face)

Yesterday, I was featured in a NY Post Article titled The Annoying New Dining Trend – Ordering Half Entrees.

From that article, I was asked to do an interview with Fox 5 News to give a more in depth report on why I order half entrees and sometimes pay full price for it.

Obviously, I would prefer to pay half the price if I’m getting half the food another patron is getting, but sometimes that’s not possible. In those situations I would rather pay the full price for half an entree.

Why would I ever do that? I promise you, there is a method to my madness, and here it is:

* What’s the price of your goals?

Especially when I first started losing weight, I had to come to the realization that I needed to stop trying to get the most bang for my buck when it came to food. Most of us have been taught to finish everything on ours plate since we could eat on our own, but if you blindly eat what’s put in front of you when eating out it will be very hard to not fall into the overweight / obese category so many Americans are trapped in.

Since the restaurant weren’t going to help me with portion size, I had to make sure I helped myself! That meant creating an environment that would ensure I did not overeat (if there is no more food left on your plate it’s impossible to eat more of it).

Now that I have reached my goal weight, eat slower, retrained my hunger (which I teach you how to do in my book, “The Thigh Gap Hack,”) and know what it feels like to be satisfied, I am apt to paying the full price for the entree, stop eating when I should, and have the rest boxed to go.

* What are they going to do with the leftovers?

I understand the hesitation of some restaurants to half the price of an entree when a diner only wants to order half the food. After all, what are they going to do with the leftovers? Who are they going to serve it to if there are not many other diners requesting the same dish halved?

That being said, if I find a restaurant that can accommodate my needs (and the number of restaurants catering to this need is growing every day) I am more likely to return to that establishment than the ones that won’t.

* Sometimes you don’t want to carry a doggy bag!

If I won’t be home for a few hours after eating and can’t refrigerate my leftovers (in other words the food would probably spoil from seating in a hot car or I don’t have my car to store the food while I go about the rest of my day) then it just doesn’t make sense to receive what is likely to be a huge portion of food and then force myself to eat it all.

As I mentioned in the Fox 5 interview, your stomach shrinks when you start to eat smaller portions and overeating to the point of feeling uncomfortable just so that I don’t waste the food is not worth it to me.

* It’s not such a foreign concept

Whenever I travel internationally I am served smaller portions of food and pay the equivalent of what I would pay for a meal here in NYC. Additionally, whenever I eat at more upscale restaurants, I pay a lot more money for a small portion of food.

To me, eating out is not so much about stuffing myself like a bloat fish, but being social and enjoying the company I am with, especially since I try to cook most of my meals at home.
New York News

How to Get Legs Like Taylor Swift

Long gone are the days of people only associating Taylor Swift with cheesy pop music about former lovers and that infamous incident involving Kanye West.

Now, all the talk about the 5’11” singer is more about her looks (specifically her lean, slim and shapely legs), closely followed by those less than stellar dance moves and finally, her music.

It’s quite obvious that in the last year or so Taylor has undergone a complete body transformation and in most people’s opinion, it’s for the better!

No, Swift has never been grossly obese or even overweight, but there is no denying that the star has dropped a few pounds and is looking more modelesque than ever.

Call it the breakup diet (when you’re so sad and depressed from a breakup that you lose your appetite, no longer have a boyfriend to constantly take you out or order food in with, or want to show your ex just what he’s missing by hitting the gym), single girl diet (where you suddenly get the surge or motivation to look your best so you can do better in the dating market or actually resemble your old pictures on tinder), or the model friends diet (where you learn all the weight loss tips from your skinny BFF’s Karlie Kloss and Cara Delavigne), whatever reason is responsible for Taylor’s new look has clearly raised her stock and women worldwide are wondering how to follow in Swift’s footsteps.

Clearly, no one will be privy to exactly what and how much Taylor Swift eats, works out, exactly what types of exercises she does, and how active she is on a day to day basis. However, we can assembles pieces of her diet that she has divulge to the media, get insight into the types of work outs that she prefers thanks to the stalkarazzi taking pictures of her everywhere she goes, and drawing from others who have managed to get similar bodies.

With that said, here are some tips to on how to get the Taylor Swift Body (and amazing legs)!

Taylor Swift’s Diet:

During weekdays, Taylor is said to eat only healthy foods, such as salads, yogurt, and sandwiches. Meanwhile, on weekends she allows herself to enjoy eating cookies, ice cream, burgers, and fries. This style of eating resembles the calorie cycling technique that I talk about in my books “Bye Bye Thunder Thighs” and “The Thigh Gap Hack”.

Raising your calories on the weekends or alternate days is great for keeping the metabolism boosted so that when you go back to lowered calories during the week, you burn more fat instead of your body adapting to a steady low calorie diet all week long by slowing the metabolism. You can either workout at home by looking for where to buy peptides? As the benefits of using it have shown positive results in many cases or you can opt for working out at a gym which is a great motivation as you get to see other people working as hard as you to be the best.

Another secret of Taylor’s is the fact that she eats less as the day progresses. She states, “I try to eat a lot in the beginning of the day and not so much at the end.” This strategy is akin to intermittent fasting where one has an eating widow of around 6 to 8 hours and fasting window of 18 to 16 hours.

Many people chose to skip breakfast on this protocol due to social reason (wanting to eat dinner with family and friends) but it’s just as fine to skip dinner instead. Doing so allows your body to turn to it’s fat stores for energy once all the glycogen has been used up as opposed to constantly eating lots of food throughout the day and never giving your digestive system a break, or a chance for the body to burn stored fat. Again, I talk all about this in both books.

Taylor Swift’s workout:

Some websites have reported that Taylor does an hour of cardio everyday either on her treadmill, on the elliptical or on the road. Besides cardio ensuring that her endurance is on point for her to be able to perform without being out of breath, it allows Taylor to burn a lot of calories and bring circulation to her legs.

But running/jogging is not the only way Swift keeps her heart rate up. The singer has been spotted going to dance classes, hiking and long walks (steady state cardio) to switch things up.

For toning and stretching Taylor opts out of lifting weights and doing any particular muscle building exercise – as I’ve preached for years to those wanting a more feminine, slender physique than hard and buff, fitness model finish.

Instead she swears by ballet (she has been spotted leaving the hip boutique ballet bodies), yoga and pilates. In other words, this girl switches things up and has been quoted as trying not to do things that “feel like working out” otherwise she would be less inclined to do it. (Read my last article about the power of switching up your routine and trying new workouts and/or activities you find fun or intriguing to remain motivated. Swift is a testament to this strategy working extremely well).

To sum things up, if you want to get the Taylor Swift body and legs, find activities that you’ve always wanted to try or love, be consistent with your diet and exercise – making a little room for things you enjoy that won’t derail you (if you know you’ll eat the whole bag of popcorn, ball one single serving pack) so that you don’t feel deprived, ditch the heavy weights and muscle bulging exercises (unless you don’t want to look like Taylor) and rock on!

How to Stay Motivated When you’ve Lost Weight, but Have More to Go

PART II

This question came to me yesterday and I wanted to make sure I shared it, along with my response, here because I thought it could be beneficial to anyone who is currently facing the same problem. The first part deals with how to stay motivated and stop making excuses to work out when you formerly had the zeal and zest to do so.

It’s a very common problem people face, especially after they’ve lost a lot of weight and the weight loss has slowed or they’ve hit a plateau. Thankfully, the answers are not so complicated and difficult to turning things around – in fact there are pretty simple and effective solutions. My answer to this aspect of the question can be found here.

The second part of the question deals with how to prevent backsliding on your diet/exercise regimen and tap back into the motivation you once had specifically after you’ve lost a lot of weight but still have more to go.

Here’s the question and my answer to part II follows.

QUESTION:

Ok. I’ve lost 127 lbs. I hurt my knee pretty bad and needed surgery. I am fully recovered but I’m having suck a hard time with being motivated this time around and I don’t know why. I loved working out before and looked forward to it. Now I find myself making excuses not to. My surgery was 15 months ago. I gained 4 lbs right after surgery because I couldnt move much. I have not gained anything else, just the 4. I also find myself eating stuff I know I shouldn’t because I’m no longer trying to maintain my weight I’m trying to lose some weight. Do you have any advice?

MY ANSWER – Part II:

7 Ways to Weigh Your Food / Figure out your Calories When Eating Out

eating-out-while-dieting-1 Recently, thanks to Obamacare, restaurants with 20+ locations are required to list calorie content information for standard menu items on menus. Total calories, fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrates, sugars, fiber and total protein have to be made available in writing upon request.

Unfortunately, most restaurants and cafe’s don’t fall into the 20+ locations category, and as such it can be very difficult to accurately guess what’s in the food you’re consuming when eating out. It would be easy if they had paper overwrapper, as they would need to mention all the info there.

That doesn’t mean all hope is lost though. Here are my tips on how to get a good idea of the nutritional value of food not prepared by you. Keep in mind that all these things can be done in tandem to get the most accurate estimate:

Step 1. Order the Most Unprocessed Food

Processed foods have the most variation when it comes to calories. That’s because added ingredients meant to give food a distinctive taste (creamier, richer, sweeter, crispier) can really add to the bottom line of the nutritional content.

That doesn’t mean that a restaurant can’t totally wipe out the lower calorie value of whole foods like vegetables by pouring on sauce or oil. However, you have a better chance of asking your whole food to be prepared (or not prepared) a certain way to cut back on those calories, while you have no such option of pre-packaged foods the restaurant chooses to purchase – like bread.

So, when dining out look for the most unprocessed, whole – closest to its natural state – foods on the menu. Look out for the way it is prepared and avoid anything deep fried, fried, or breaded and go for grilled, baked, roasted, or boiled.

In case you’re wondering how ordering the most unprocessed food will let you know how many calories you’re consuming – be patient my friend, we’ll get to it in the later step.

Step 2. Always Section Off Half to Go

The next thing you should do when ordering out is immediately upon getting your dish, divide your meal into two. If you are dealing with a solid type of food (like salmon or other white fish, it’s easy to cut and stack one piece on top of the other to visually make sure you have half).

It’s HERE – Bye Bye Thunder Thighs (The Diet for Pear Shapes)

I’ve been a busy bee completing my latest 300 page book, “Bye Bye Thunder Thighs – The Weight Loss Diet Plan for Pear Shapes” (BUY HERE), but I’m proud to announce the wait is over!

In my first book, The Thigh Gap Hack – The Shortcut to Slimmer, Feminine Thighs Every Woman Secretly Desires, I focused on unconventional stubborn fat loss tactics, which most people had never heard of before, that work extremely well for women who want to know how to get a thigh gap.

I lightly touched on diet and exercise (otherwise the book would have been 500 pages long), but still got tons of requests from readers asking for more in depth diet information – like recipe requests, how many calories they should eat, how many grams of carbs, fats and proteins and when they should eat them to see the best fat loss results.

Of course, I would reply to these individuals – but each time was very time consuming. Naturally, I figured if some people were still not 100% clear on what to do it was time to go back to the drawing board and do some clarifying. So, I took all of the most frequently asked questions I received from The Thigh Gap Hack and poured everything I could into my latest work – making sure I left no stone uncovered.

Just some of the amazing topics BYE BYE THUNDER THIGHS covers are –

How and Why it’s possible for pear-shaped women to completely reshape their bodies through strategic dieting and exercise
Specific thigh slimming foods that increase your metabolism, are anti-inflammatory and reduce water retention
Exact recommended calories and macros for losing stubborn fat or overdeveloped bulky muscles
How to build and prepare your meals so that you eat less
My three pronged exercise approach for contouring beautiful, slender thighs without muscle hypertrophy (growth)
What foods you should NEVER eat and how it affects your physique
PLUS 30 of my favorite, easy low calorie recipes broken down into breakfast, lunch and dinner

IF YOU ARE A PEAR SHAPED WOMAN who wants to reshape your body once and for all, this is the book for you! Click the buy now button below to place your order and start reading.

SPECIAL SPECIAL OFFER: If you still haven’t read The Thigh Gap Hack yet, contact me here to receive a special PACKAGE deal for both digital books.

Skinny Doesn’t Equal Weak – Ask Kacy Catanzaro (Ninja Warrior)

Want proof that being skinny and having a thigh gap doesn’t equal being weak, anorexic or unhealthy? I give you Kacy Catanzaro.

Catanzaro is a five foot (5′) tall, 100 pound gymnast, leaving cross fitters, personal trainers, Navy SEALS, and the like in the dust by being one of the first women ever to qualify for the season finals of the obstacle course show, The American Nina.

The division 1 gymnast, who won division of the year, displays incredible qualities of strength, body control, stamina and power despite her small frame in the video below.

Blessing in Disguise: Will Sugar Alcohols Make you Gain or Lose Weight?

You see them next to the checkout counter at your natural health food supermarket or whole foods – think thin bars with zero sugars. You mean I can have fudge with 0 grams of sugar? you ask yourself, while curiously examining the back of the label to see if it’s too good to be true.

Do you have a sweet tooth that’s got addicted to sugar? In this article you can discover how to leave sugar. Highly addictive and capable of impacting your health adversely, sugar leads to obesity and a spate of other health issues. It can even increase your risk of cancer. This is certainly bad news in the face of packaged foods, fast food items, high-calorie food items, sweets and confectionery, and other sugar-rich food making it to your list every day. Read on to find your way out of the sugary maze by adopting helpful alternatives to sugar.

Indeed, zero sugars… but what do those kazillion grams of sugar alcohols mean? You whip out the smart phone and do a little google glossing before determining you’re good to go and toss a variety of delicious sounding flavors into your basket of unprocessed foods. Sold!

But the question is, are sugar alcohols actually any better than sugar, which is bad for you because it causes huge insulin spikes that prevent fat loss? Will it slow down your weight loss and be stored in the body just like carbohydrates and regular sugar is? Does it count towards your carb consumption? And of course, the number one question on your mind: “Does sugar alcohols make you fat?”

What are Sugar Alcohols?

Is it sugar? it it alcohol? Try neither. The definition of Sugar alcohols is: one type of reduced-calorie sweetener. You can find them in ice creams, cookies, puddings, candies and chewing gum that is labeled as “sugar-free” or “no sugar added. The impact of such sugar can be explained by dentists too, find out more about Smiles By Glerum to learn details.

So, to me it sounds like they are the latest and ‘greatest’ sugar substitutes or sweeteners. We all know how well other synthetic sweeteners touted as low calorie worked out. If you’re not aware, this article from HOW STUFF WORKS will give you some insight.

Are Sugar Alcohols healthy or bad for you? Just say yes or no!

I know, you want the truth and nothing but the truth. No wishy washy, well… maybe, stuff. Ok, I’ll give it to you straight. A huge disadvantage is that you will have a harder time kicking your penchant for sweet foods if you continue to stoke your sugar cravings fire within with sugar alcohol filled foods. So, that’s one strike right there.

Sugar alcohols are indeed a carbohydrate and they do raise blood sugar. You don’t get free carbs here, so if you’re keeping your carbs low like you should be on my ‘thigh gap diet’, you’re cutting into your real meals that’ll keep you full a heck of a lot longer than some candy bar, big time! So, that’s strike two.

The fact of the matter is, sugar alcohols are not good for you and just like other artificial sweeteners, will make you gain weight. But I have to say, overall they are a blessing in disguise! Browse around these guys to learn more effective ways of weight loss.

Sugar Alcohols are a Blessing in Disguise

So why do I call sugar alcohols a blessing in disguise after saying they are not good for your health, and make you gain weight? Did I leave out some redeeming quality that trumps all the bad stuff? Not quite.

However, there is one thing that I haven’t mentioned about sugar alcohol (strike three if you will) and it’s that they stimulate diarrhea and make any irritable bowel syndrome you may have a lot worse. Be prepared for abdominal pain, bloating, gas and a lot of embarrassing tummy sounds if you’re out in public.

Hence, my opinion that they are a blessing in disguise.

TRUE STORY that’ll make you Kick Sugar Alcohols to the Curb

You see, a friend of mine found out the hard way when she shoveled down a few think thin protein bars touting zero sugar (but a lot of sugar alcohol) and ended up with a seriously upset stomach, crazy abdominal pain and vicious gas, you may need to look for helpful hints that will tell you that you need help.

She couldn’t sleep for the entire night and vowed off the stuff for good. “Never again!” She exclaimed when I called the following day to find out if she was feeling any better. If you’ve ever experienced gorging one food so much that it starts to taste gross or it gives you ill consequences, you’ll understand perfectly why I say this!

There’s almost no faster way to kick your habit than being met with undesirable side effects like the ones sugar alcohol causes.

Have you ever experienced painful tummy aches from sugar alcohol or any other food that helped you swear off that food forever? Are you an anomaly who eats sugar alcohol and still manage to stay in shape? Tell me about it in the comments

Health at every size? Are you Lying to Yourself?

I have heard a lot of people who want to feel better about being overweight or obese claim how ‘healthy’ they are despite their size, and I’m sure I’m not alone. You hear it all the time: “You can be overweight and healthy” or some other “fat acceptance” propaganda meant for us to not criticize or make assumptions about the way a person looks as it relates to their health despite the high likelihood that a heavy person is not going to be the model of health.

In fact, there’s even a “health at every size” campaign trying to convince people that those who are severely obese are actually “healthy” and have a good relationship with food!

Now, I am by no means saying that just because you’re skinny or slim that you are healthy! We all know this, we’re focusing on an entirely different matter so let’s dismiss this strawman argument off the bat.

Here’s a clip from the Dr. Drew show with Meme Roth addressing the issue and making some very valid points:

:Sigh: When are people going to stop lying to themselves?

Thank God for people like Meme Roth, and the many readers who send me notes daily reminding me that I’m not in another galaxy, who point out the obvious without mincing words. You’d think people who recognize the truth are in the minority because many of the loudest people on the internet are a part of the obese/overweight crew, and in fact the overwhelming majority of Americans are overweight (over 2 in 3 adult Americans are overweight).

These folks collectively push their DANGEROUS fat acceptance agenda/speech to feel better about the lies they tell themselves.

Yes, fat acceptance is dangerous as explained beautifully by Meme in this quote:

“Yes, my entire family is obese and I have to tell you when you grow up with the people that you love and respect the most and you see the hardship, the damage to their bodies and spirit due to obesity it breaks your heart.

My grandmother just passed away this February and she lay in a bed for four years, not even getting up to go to the bathroom because she got so heavy she had to be put in a home. It’s just beyond tragic and I think calling what gets people to that point beautiful is dangerous and really cruel. I think it comes from a good place wanting people to feel good…”

Just as we discourage anorexia and bulimia, we should discourage the other side of the coin. Our bodies were meant to be lean – not lugging around a bunch of excess weight (as evidenced by the many diseases associated with being fat and obese).

So, the question I want to ask you if you’ve arrived here from the Cosmopolitan article after taking offense that someone could dare be helping women achieve a body size/aesthetic that THEY find attractive is, “Are you lying to yourself?”

Are you are lying to yourself when you claim you love your ‘fat’, ‘overweight’, or ‘curvy’ body, throw up your first for being a BBW, and jump for joy in public over having thick, thunder thighs? Do you secretly pine on the inside to be slim and fit, wish you could get your disordered compulsive eating habits under control, and feel beautiful without a doubt? Then let me help you!

My book is called ‘The Thigh Gap Hack” but it’s not ONLY about getting a thigh gap. If you want a thigh gap, I’m all for it – because it’s your body and you’re entitled to make it look the way you want it to.

I’ll help you get slimmer, feminine legs in a HEALTHY manner, but my book WILL ALSO teach you how to get lean and slim down all over by using unconventional fitness tips that will increase your metabolism, reset your hunger, burn your STORED fat, and keep the weight off forever.

Beyonce’s Thigh Gap at the Grammys (2014) I was Right

Remember when I wrote a post a little while back about how Beyonce didn’t have a thigh gap but she probably wanted one?

I was raked over the coals for saying so. You see, everyone was going around saying you don’t need a thigh gap because Beyonce didn’t have one and she was being held up as the hottest woman on the planet.

Well, then the 2014 grammy’s happened and lo and behold, Bey came out sporting much thinner legs and something like a thigh gap. *Gasp*

Does this now mean that you DO need a thigh gap, because well, Beyonce felt like she needed one?

To answer my own question, of course not – but as we can clearly see even Beyonce is of the opinion that being thin/slim is desirable… apparently more desirable than having ‘thick’ or ‘full’ thighs or she wouldn’t have touched hers. Can you deny that Beyonce doesn’t look her absolute best (better than she has ever looked even) with a straight face?

And before the trolls come in here and say most men would prefer Beyonce when she was ‘curvier’, please stop deluding yourself. No straight man would throw the svelte version of Beyonce out of their bed because she looks smoking hot with a thigh gap!

Now, let me get to the question you all want to know…

How did Beyonce get her thigh gap?

Well, there could be a few reasons and no one but Beyonce can say for sure.

* Wider Hips after Childbirth – Many women have been known to have wider hips after giving birth to their children. As you know by now if you’ve read any of my other articles on how to get a thigh gap, wider hips will make it easier for you to achieve the thigh gap.

* Liposuction / plastic surgery – Ok, it’s pretty darn obvious to everyone but diehard stans in denial, that Beyonce has had a lot of work done over the years. Professional surgeons have speculated that she’s had a nose job, boob job, work done to her face (fillers,etc) and I am in agreement, she recommended Dr. K Roxanne Grawe, Board Certified Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon located near Columbus in Powell, Ohio – If that’s the case, it wouldn’t be too far fetched to consider that Beyonce may have gotten liposuction or body contouring to her inner and outer thighs to achieve her grammy night thigh gap.

* Diet – Some people are saying that Beyonce’s 22 day Vegan challenge is responsible for her thigh gap. I’ll have a post coming on whether begin vegan will guarantee you will lose weight, but it could be that Beyonce’s altered diet caused her to lose enough fat/body weight to reveal the thigh gap that was hidden under her extra pounds.

* Exercise – Beyonce has been on tour for the past year and dances/works out for about 3 hours for every performance. We can all probably agree that she goes hard and burns a ton of calories every night she’s on stage. Additionally, her workout involves a ton of cardio, and as described in my book cardio is great for fat burning – particularly, cardio that lasts at least 45 minutes.

Any one or a combination of these reasons could be the secret beyond Beyonce’s thigh gap during her ‘Drunk in Love’ 2014 grammy’s performance. Which do you think is the most plausible reason?

Back from Vacation – 30 Day Cooking Challenge

Hello lovelies! In case you were wondering, I’ve been on a 3 week road trip across Ireland and just got back to New York City today.

For the record, I love Ireland and Irish people. I love going on vacation because I walk more then ever when I’m traveling. In New York City, I’m always in my car driving from one destination to the next.

One of the good/bad things about traveling is that you tend to eat out a heck of a lot more and loosen your normal clean/low calorie diet to include treats. Of course, when you eat out you can’t control what goes into the food and you can’t be precise with how many calories you are consuming, and treats tend to contain lots of sugar and be very high calorie.

The great thing about Ireland is that something like 80% of the population are celiacs, so there are tons of gluten free options.

Generally, I try to stick to the basics (e.g. I got grilled chicken and ate it with a salad at a 7-11 type equivalent called Tesco or Centra or bought soup from the supermarket and heated it up), choose the healthiest/vegetarian meals available on the menu (e.g. in Galway I got the yummiest olive/lentil burger with broccoli/cauliflower and a spicy tomato sauce… and I modified the full irish breakfast by getting egg whites and skipping the sausage/bacon), or cook (a few mornings I made egg white omelets with spinach).

For treats, yes I did indulge a little bit, but I tried to hone it in by opting for aero puddings (so that I would know how many calories I was consuming) and shared desserts with my boyfriend instead of eating the entire thing.

Yes, eating healthy and not gaining tons of weight while on vacation can be tricky to navigate and I was actually thinking about writing my next book about how to do just that. Do you think it’s a good idea? I’d love your feedback on that so leave a comment below.

But back to the main point of this article –

I am going to be doing a cooking challenge where I prepare all of my meals at home for the month of February and I’d like to invite you to join me. You’d be surprised at how much less calories you can consume and how full you can get when you make your own meals. Of course, you’d be entirely shocked at how much fat/weight you lose.

It’s no wonder, as you would never guess how much salt (leading to water retention) and sugar that is unnecessarily added to meals.

I’ll be doing some videos (cardio dance workout as well as some related to the challenge) so look out for that!

If you would like to commit to the challenge with me, pledge your dedication below!

Categories / diet

Why Most Diets Don’t Work

What’s a Gal or Guy to do?