You've seen the articles... "The best exercise for six pack abs!" or "Do this workout routine for thinner thighs in 30 days!" I know it seems logical that if you work a certain body part, you can expect that part to change, but I want you to know that these types of claims are completely bogus.

Let's just lay to rest, once and for all, the myth that doing extra leg lifts can somehow force the fat off your thighs or that hundreds of crunches can help melt the body fat from around your waist line. I wish that's how it worked (it would make my life a lot easier) but the truth is, there is no specific exercise that has the ability to target a specific area of fat.  
 

The Myth of the Magical Exercise
The idea of targeting specific pockets of fat by doing certain exercises, commonly referred to as "spot reduction," remains one of the longest running misconceptions in the weight-loss industry. As hard as it is to believe (even for many fitness professionals) thousands of hours of scientific research have gone into proving that the body just doesn't operate that way. Bummer, I know... but here's some good news. If your workout routine includes the right balance of strength training, cardio and, most importantly, proper nutrition, eventually, your body fat will have no choice but to leave the premises, love handles, thunder thighs, belly fat and all. Here's how it works:

Who Goes First
Genetics play a large role in where your body releases fat, while your metabolism determines when you will lose it. As you reduce your calories through proper diet and exercise, your body will normally let go of visceral fat first - that's the stuff tucked around your organs. Over time, if you continue to lose, your body will draw more and more from the subcutaneous layer - the fat that sits between the skin and muscle.
 

The primary function of subcutaneous fat is insulation and storage. On most human bodies, this storage system is located around the waist, hips, and thighs. Now, in a perfect world, the body would release fat evenly from head to toe but, because we are built to survive, these "stubborn trouble spots" are usually the last to go.
 

Guaranteed, however, if you persist, this subcutaneous layer will begin to thin out and, eventually, your body will have that lean, athletic, ready-for-the-beach look! The key, of course, is focus, intention, consistency and persistence.
 

So the next time you find yourself grabbing that flab around your belt, asking the question, "What exercise will get rid of this?" - you have your answer: Proper diet, strength training, cardio, determination and, above all, patience.

Dianne Orwig, CPT, CFC, CYFI, is founder and creator of LivingFit Online. For more information on fitness and nutrition go to www.lovelivingfit.com  
 
To take advantage of our special "Get Fit This Summer" program and receive the full 16-week LivngFit Online transformation program, plus lots of great bonuses, visit www.lovelivingfit.com/The_LFO_Store.html

When it comes to shedding body fat, when you eat is just as important as what you eat. This is true for two reasons. First, allowing too much time to lapse between meals is a sure-fire way to lower your metabolism – the less often you eat, the less calories your body is willing to burn. Second, eating more frequent meals stabilizes blood sugar and insulin. When insulin spikes, it sends the body a “store-fat” signal – bad news when you’re trying to get rid of the stuff.

The trick to getting around both these problems is eating small meals that contain an equal portion of protein and carbohydrate (your clinched fist is a great way to determine the portion size that’s right for you) and space meals out about every 2 – 1/2 to 3 hours.

Here’s what a perfect day of eating might look like:

7:30am – Egg whites and oatmeal

10:00am – Protein shake and strawberries

12:30pm – Turkey sandwich on whole wheat with lettuce, tomato and mustard

3:00pm – Baked sweet potato sprinkled with Splenda® and cinnamon, topped with low fat cottage cheese (hey, don’t knock this one until you try it!)

5:30pm – Lean steak, brown rice with salsa, steamed broccoli

8:00pm – Cottage cheese, low fat vanilla yogurt with fresh blueberries

Remember, portions are small. Depending on your size, use your open palm to gauge the proper portion of protein and a clinched fist to determine your carbohydrate size.

As you acclimate to eating small meals more often, you will gradually learn if your portions are either too big or too small based on how long it takes to feel hungry again. If you’re starving one hour after you’ve eaten a meal, it was too small. If you’ve gone three hours and are still not hungry, your portions need to be cut back a bit.

Try It This Week! – Here are a few simple rules to help you get started. Why not try it out for one week and see if it doesn’t make a difference in both your energy and the reading on your scale:

Rule #1 – Eat every 2-1/2 to 3 hours from the time you open your eyes in the morning until your head hits the pillow.

Rule #2 – For each meal choose a small portion of protein (palm size) and a small portion of carbohydrate (fist size) from the two lists below.

Rule #3 – Drink at least 8 ounces of water for every meal you consume. If you are eating every three hours you will need to drink between 4 and 6 pints of water (70 to 100 oz total) per day. (With the exception of perhaps a glass of wine or one short cocktail with your evening meal, avoid alcohol.)

Rule #4 – Have a small portion of any raw or steamed, non-starchy vegetable with at least one of your meals but, if you wish, you may have a portion of vegetable with up to 3 of your daily meals.

Short Protein List: (palm size portion) Egg whites, egg substitute, cottage cheese, tuna, lean steak, chicken breast, turkey breast, steamed or baked fish, whey protein, lean pork tenderloin, lean ham, steamed shrimp, steamed crab or steamed lobster

Short Carbohydrate List: (fist size portion) Oatmeal, baked potato, sweet potato, brown rice, 100% whole wheat bread, pasta, fat-free yogurt, beans, peas, corn, apple, berries, orange, low-fat graham crackers

Keep in mind that the most important part of this first week trial is TIMING! Small portions of cleanly prepared protein and carbohydrates, eaten every 2-1/2 to 3 hours will not only keep your energy even all day long, it will stoke your metabolism and prevent the body from shifting into low gear.

Just for this week, try to consume foods that are fresh and prepared without a lot of extra saturated fat, sauces or cheese. Use small amounts of olive or canola oil when cooking. Especially at the beginning, keep things super simple - simple food, simply prepared.

Once you have tried this way of eating for one week, I hope you will email me and tell me how things went. I would love to hear from you!

Good luck, good heath, good timing and good eating!

Dianne Orwig CPT, CFC, CYFI is founder and creator of Living Fit Online. For more information about her 12-week transformation program, please visit www.LoveLivingFit.com

It's really too bad that the low carbohydrate diet craze has given bread such a bad name. While there are certain bread products that SHOULD be avoided - white bread, danish, donuts and bagels among the worst - for every "bad" bread, there are at least one or two choices that are not only good for you, but qualify as an essential part of any healthy nutrition plan. The key is knowing what to look for.

MULTI-GRAIN vs WHOLE WHEAT:  Whole wheat products (at least the ones marked "100%" whole wheat) are made from the entire grain of wheat - grains that have not been stripped of their rough outer coating or skin. These outer elements, the star of which is fiber, makes for a more nutritionally dense food - one that not only "burns" or digests slower, but also provides a good supply of vitamin B6, E, magnesium, zinc, folic acid and chromium. Often, white bread is "fortified" with these missing nutrients in an effort to even out what was lost in processing.

The words "multi-grain" simply mean that other grains (not necessarily whole grains) were used in addition to wheat. Be forewarned that many companies try to fool you by labeling their products this way just to make them look healthier. Unless the multi grains used are whole, it might not be all that much better than white bread. Always look for the "100%" next to the words "whole wheat" or "whole grain" and you'll be sure to make the best choice when it comes to bread.

LOOKS AREN'T EVERYTHING: The caution when purchasing any bread product is to remember that all bread is made from wheat. So, look out for what I call the Big Bread Lie. That's when companies take a name that sounds like "whole" and put it next to the word "wheat" to make it appear more nutritious - like "honey wheat," which is just white bread dyed to look like whole wheat bread - ruthless fiends!

The bottom line - bread is NOT the enemy. Choose one to three slices of 100% whole wheat or whole grain bread products daily as part of a balanced meal, which should include a good quality, clean protein such as chicken, tuna, eggs or cottage cheese. Your body will thank you!

Dianne Orwig CPT, CFC, CYFI is founder and creator of Living Fit Online. For more information about her 12-week transformation program, please visit www.LoveLivingFit.com

Certainly, there is more than one way to get fit. There's the hard way and the even harder way, right? Unfortunately, far too many people approach fitness with the mindset that it's pure agony from start to finish. In fact, if done properly, it doesn't have to be that way at all. On the other end of the spectrum, if it were up to me, there would be a law against using the word "exercise" and "easy" in the same sentence because there's no such thing.
 
The point is, exercise is WORK but it doesn't have to be excruciating. If you talk to a dozen hard-bodies, you'll likely come away with a dozen different workout routines and eating regimens - all of them challenging. But delve a little deeper and you will invariably find that, despite the differences in workouts and food, people who are successful at achieving their fat burning goals share some very important similarities in their approach to fitness.

In a documentary film entitled Body+of+Work, fitness guru and best-selling author Bill Phillips chronicles the 12-week experiences of 10 finalists in the very first Body-for-LIFE Challenge back in 1995. Phillips, a 30 year veteran of the fitness industry, admits even he was amazed at the degree of physical change these 10 champions achieved while competing in his now world-renowned contest.
 
"It wasn't so much what they did, but how they did it that interested me most," he explains. Phillips asked the 10 finalists to compile what they believed were the 10 Commandments of body transformation. Just as he expected, not one of the 10 Commandments had anything to do with a certain type of food or a specific kind of exercise. Here's what they came up with:

#1 - You must have a deep burning desire to change.
#2 - There must be a reason behind that desire.
#3 - You must have a vision of exactly who you want to become.
#4 - You must have a role model to look up to for inspiration.
#5 - You must acquire the knowledge you need to get the job done right.
#6 - You must have faith that you can achieve your goals.
#7 - You must be ready and willing to experience a certain level of discomfort as you move toward your goal.
#8 - You must have perseverance and consistency together – one without the other doesn't work.
#9 - You must take responsibility for everything you do.
#10- You must live to thrive, not merely survive.

Not bad for a bunch of former couch potatoes!

Dianne Orwig CPT, CFC, CYFI is founder and creator of Living Fit Online. For more information about her 12-week transformation program, please visit www.LoveLivingFit.com

No doubt, one of the greatest frustrations you’ll experience when it comes to staying fit is maintaining your motivation and focus. The scenario usually goes something like this: You make the decision to change. This decision is so supercharged with desire that it seems nothing can get in your way.  You happily pass up the jelly donuts in the break room and, without hesitation, make your way to the gym everyday at noon to work out. Your energy, direction, and mental fuel helps you move, almost effortlessly, through any and all challenges that come your way. 

Then, in an instant, it’s gone – as though it vanished into thin air. Perhaps it starts with an offer to meet for drinks on a Wednesday night or you catch a bad cold or have a busier than usual work week and the next thing you know you’re uttering some halfhearted promise to, “...get back on track tomorrow…  or next week…  or once this month is over...”  Sound familiar? Keep reading.

Is it ME or is it THEM? - It’s easy to blame this sudden departure of motivation on a lack of self discipline or on some specific “unavoidable” circumstance. True, it’s best not to work out when you are legitimately sick and blowing your diet in the middle of the week can certainly take the wind out of your sails, but here is something you may not have considered.  It’s probably neither a lack of discipline nor the event that marked the beginning of the end. It was, more than likely, a simple matter of timing. Here's what I mean...

In my work as a personal trainer and success coach, I’ve witnessed thousands of incredible transformations over the past 10 years. During that time, I have observed a very specific phenomenon to which it appears no one is exempt (including me.) It is a “drop out” trend that occurs so often and within such a precise and predictable time table, you can literally set your clock by it.

I call it,“The 5/8 Phenomenon” because it occurs, almost without fail, at the 5th week and again at the 8th week of most fitness programs.  After years of studying the possible causes behind this trend, I eventually came to the conclusion that, regardless of the cause, prevention was not the answer. For me (and my clients) the first and best line of defense is awareness. Know that it is coming because it is. I promise.

The second step is to develop a plan to get through week 5 and week 8 unscathed. Here are a few of my favorite methods for doing just that:

Catch The Wave - Begin by understanding that everything in the universe works in waves.  Peaks and valleys are everywhere you look; from the way the tides move, to how our hearts beat and rest, to the way a child is born. (Imagine child birth with no rests between contractions!) Nothing in nature moves in a straight line but it seems once we take on the challenge of changing our bodies, we hold ourselves to a very unnatural, linear way of thinking. We make the proclamation, “I must wake up feeling energized and excited, I must see a steady, predictable loss on the scale, I must make every workout count…” and, in the process, we leave no room for the inevitable valleys that are part of all life on planet earth.  When the valley finally arrives (a lull in scale loss, a drop in energy, a change in mood, a less than perfect focus) we often view this as the beginning of the end when, in fact, it is just part of the process.

Do “Day One” Over and Over Again -  A great way to spark a renewed sense of motivation and to move away from the whole start over again syndrome is to do just that – start over again. By beginning every day as though it were “Day One” of your fitness program, you tap into that fresh, pure positive energy that got you started in the first place. When you think about this idea it makes sense. Look back at any time you started a new exercise and eating program. Which day were you the most focused, the most purposeful? It was probably that very first day, when your goals were fresh in your mind, when you had a plan, when you set your gym bag out the night before and packed all your meals for the next day. Day One was when you felt that incredible combination of purpose and hope that always goes hand-in-hand with making a clear and definite commitment to taking charge of your body and your life. So, start by making tomorrow just like Day One, no matter where you are in your fitness plan.

Reality YOU -  Admittedly, motivation is a mind game. So, imagine for a moment what you would do if you had 24 hours notice that I was going to show up at your front door with cameras, lights, and a film crew to video tape your every move for one day. How would you prepare for that day? What, exactly, would it look like? How would you get ready? What would you do differently? You’ll find some revealing clues in the subtle and not so subtle things that might be holding you back and cluttering your focus and concentration. You might discover that it’s not only your workouts, your food plan, and your cardio routine that need some fine-tuning. Make a mental inventory of how you would like your little one-day reality show to turn out and you will know exactly what to do to move back in the direction of your fitness goals!

Receive a free 12-Week chart perfect for tracking your weekly fitness progress by sending an email to Dianne at lovelivingfit@gmail.com. Simply place the words “Free Measurement Tracker Please” in the subject line.
 
Dianne Orwig CPT, CFC, CYFI is founder and creator of Living Fit Online. For more information about her 12-week transformation program, please visit www.LoveLivingFit.com.