If you're like most people, when you make the decision to get fit, you want results and you want them fast, right? Yeah, me too... The truth is, whether you're a fitness expert or a couch sloth, when you finally resolve to take aim at your bulging waistline, you want to see results right now. The good news is, innovations in the fitness industry have made it possible for virtually anyone to transform their physique in just a few short months. Take a look at some of the 12-Week transformations on my website at www.lovelivingfit.com and you will see what I mean. 
 
There is, however, a downside to this whole fast-and-furious trend. In your quest to say hello to your abs for the first time, you can easily fall victim to what I call the Harder-Heavier-Is-Better Syndrome. This mistaken mindset often leads to the belief that the longer you run, the harder you lift, the more agony, pain, and discomfort you inflict, the faster your body will change. The truth is, when it comes to swift results, speed is not always King. So, kick back and veg for awhile and take a look at five ways slowing down can actually shift your results into high gear.

1. SLOW DOWN YOUR APPROACH: "Staring Monday, I'll get up early, take a little run, pack my food for the day, start taking my vitamins, drink more water, hit the gym after work, go home, cook dinner, help with homework, get to bed early, and then do it all over again tomorrow." If this sounds familiar, keep reading. In the first few weeks of a new fitness program, making more than two significant changes per week is a sure-fire formula for disaster. Start instead with one or two changes at a time. The first week, try getting your eating plan down and up your water intake. The second week, add two or three days of interval cardio. The third week, include two days of strength training, add more drinking water, cleaner food, more sleep.
2. SLOW DOWN YOUR LIFTING: (or, to be more accurate, slow down your lowering) Lifting weights is unsurpassed in reshaping the body and shedding fat. However, simply lifting and lowering weight doesn't guarantee success. The key to effective strength training is proper form. The perfect technique is to raise the weight quickly, then control the weight as it slowly descends, taking twice the time to lower the weight as it took to lift it... two seconds up, four seconds down. If you are in doubt about your form, consider hiring a certified personal trainer. You'll get a great workout and come away with knowledge that will last a lifetime.
3. SLOW DOWN YOUR EATING: Try this fun little game. The next time you share a meal with friends, pick the slowest eater in the group. Try taking only one bite of food for every two bites they take. This is sure to slow down your eating and heighten your awareness of how often you continue to eat, even after you are full. By giving your brain time to catch up with your stomach, you're less likely to overindulge and you'll become better at distinguishing the difference between appetite (cravings) and true hunger.
4. SLOW DOWN YOUR CARDIO: By far, the best investment of your cardio dollar is to bank most of it in interval work - that is, aerobic activity that raises the heart rate, then lowers it, then raises it up again, then quiets it back down. This method is a much better choice than the old go-go-go-til-ya-can't-go-no-more method. Two advantages to doing interval cardio over straight-line cardio are: 1) It creates an after-burn of calories once you finish your workout; 2) It's much better at strengthening the most important muscle in your body, your heart!
5. SLOW DOWN YOUR MIND: The inevitable result of living on overload (which most of us do) is that ultimately, we end up moving at one of two speeds: All or Nothing. Unfortunately, our minds usually get stuck on the "all" setting, leaving us exhausted, edgy and wired. Stress has an ugly way of locking fat on the body, so consider taking a Tai Chi class, having a pedicure, lying on a blanket and watching the clouds go by, eating lunch in the park, or just take a few moments to sit and relax quietly. Spending 10 minutes of "you" time is likely to improve more than just your waistline!

Muscle soreness is a true double-edge sword. On one hand, too much can put a real strain on everyday activities like standing, walking, sitting, and sleeping - on the other, a lack of soreness can leave you feeling as though your workouts are less than effective. While there are no true absolutes when it comes to distinguishing the difference between productive and non-productive discomfort, here are a few guidelines to help you understand how your body grows stronger and leaner:

ONE HOUR AFTER YOUR WORKOUT:
Let's face it. A truly productive workout is far from easy. While you exercise, you will probably experience varying degrees of burning, aching and downright discomfort. Following an intense workout, your muscles should feel fatigued, shaky and tired and, depending on how many months you've been training, a little like an over-inflated balloon. That stiff, pumped up sensation (the feeling that the skin is stretched tight around your muscle) can last anywhere from five to 20 minutes and is one of several signs that you've hit the muscle dead on.
 
It's not unusual for muscles to ache on the way home, but any pronounced discomfort should subside within an hour post workout. If you're still aching when your head hits the pillow or you experience enough discomfort that you can't sleep, it could mean you've over done it. Keep in mind that "over reaching" on occasion is not necessarily a bad thing but, if you enlist the no-pain/no-gain mentality at every workout, it could very well lead to over-training, burnout, and possible injury.

24 HOURS LATER:
Feeling sore the morning after your workout is common, especially in the early months of training. As your body acclimates to your new routine, you will notice less soreness, less often. It's actually at this point that many people report missing the feeling. But, here's the catch. As you become better conditioned, you may go through longer periods of little or no residual muscle soreness. This is because with each workout your body gets stronger and smarter. So, lack of soreness does not necessarily mean that your workout didn't count or that it was less effective than a workout that did. Soreness or not, every workout has value!
 
SO, WHAT THEN?
Think of your muscles as a bunch of high school freshmen. A room full of new algebra students are going to complain and struggling a bit at first until they get the foundation stuff down. Once they do, it's best to stick with their current curriculum for a while until it's clear they are ready to move to the next lesson. Giving your muscles the same consideration is key to producing great results. A few sessions with no noticeable soreness, and it's time to crank up the intensity, mix things up, maybe bring in some new material.
 
THE 48 HOUR MARK:
When you are consistently working out at the proper intensity, the most pronounced soreness you will experience typically shows up, not the first day, but the second day after you train. (This is known as DOMS, or delayed onset muscle soreness.) Still, soreness in and of itself is not the only mark of a great workout. It's important to understand that your muscles exist in one of three phases - either they are adapting and growing stronger due to an overload (hypertrophy,) staying at the same level of strength (conditioning,) or wasting away from lack of use (atrophy.) Each cycle of change works in periods that can last anywhere from 4 to 10 weeks.

Of course, if you are blessed with the benefit of a great personal trainer (everybody needs a personal trainer) you really don't have to worry about why and when to change things up. When in doubt, just drop me a line at lovelivingfit@gmail.com or visit my website at www.lovelivingfit.com.

"The majority of men meet with failure because of their lack of persistence in creating new plans to take the place of those which fail." - Napoleon Hill

Of all the ways you can improve your chances of achieving maximum results, one stands out above all the rest. It's simple, virtually cost-free, and available to every person looking to make a phenomenal change in the way they look and feel.

No, it's not some fancy new piece of exercise equipment or amazing magical pill - just two common but very power tools that can spell the difference between ordinary results and phenomenal success: Pen and Paper.

"Like an iron-clad insurance policy, placing a daily goal-specific plan on paper and then writing down the actual results has a way of sealing your success," explains psychologist and author, Peg Martin.  "You will find it a consistent practice in every success story, regardless of the goal."

Unfortunately, when it comes to fitness and nutrition, most people would rather spend their time working out than writing things down. Even those of us who appreciate the value of the "To Do" list sometimes fail to recognize the incredible power behind committing a plan to paper.

Our solution is typically to get up every morning with the intention of eating right and exercising. But, I am here to tell you, if your plan to adopt the "Just Do It" attitude doesn't include a clear and precise road map, eventually you're going to get lost.

Aside from the in-your-face benefits of pen and paper, here are some not so obvious reasons why writing out a daily plan for everything, from your food timetable to when and how you will work out, has the power to move your results from fair to phenomenal:

1.    The very act of taking a pen and, in your own unique handwriting, creating a well thought out plan, actually transfers this information to a more proactive part of the brain - puts it on the launching pad, so to speak.

2.    Putting pen to paper creates the first tangible evidence that the dream, which is simply an invisible wave of energy, is becoming a physical reality. It brings the thought of intention into the "real" world where you can hold it and see it and act upon it.

3.    Like a computer, writing downloads this information off your brain's hard drive. In turn, this clears out some of the clutter, helping you to stay focused on what is important.

This week, consider using this all important tool - The Power Of Pen To Paper - by getting everything down in black and white. Write out a daily plan of what you intend to eat and how and when you plan to workout. Guaranteed, it will give you the upper hand in your fitness success!

Let's 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.

The idea of targeting specific areas 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 difficult 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 work that way. Bummer, I know, but here's the good news. If your workout routine includes the right balance of strength training, cardio and proper nutrition, your body will, ultimately, let go of all that unwanted fat, love handles, thunder thighs and belly fat alike. 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. Eventually, if you continue to lose, your body will draw from the subcutaneous layer - the fat that sits between the skin and muscle.

The primary function of subcutaneous fat is insulation and storage. Unfortunately, the storage system, typically located around your waist, thighs and hips, is usually the last to go. In a perfect world, the body would release fat evenly from head to toe. However, that's not always how it goes. The fact is, the precise location of where your body releases fat is determined by the unique make up of your DNA. This explains why, if you carry the same percentage of body fat as your parents, you will tend to have the same body shape. Lose the fat, and you may look nothing alike.

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

Dianne is founder and creator of Living Fit Online

For more information about her 12-week transformation program, please visit www.LoveLivingFit.com or www.LivingFitSeminars.com

Most of us know the basic rules of good eating but, when it comes to drinking, that's another story altogether. Water, of course, is a no brainer. You need it - a lot of it. Not just because most of what you carry around in the way of blood and muscle is comprised of water, it is also directly linked to hundreds of neurological functions that continually misfire when you are dehydrated. While it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that H2O it is your best choice beverage, the question is.... How do all the other things we drink factor into the equation?

QUESTION # 1 - HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?

Whether you think you are getting enough water or not, the only way to be sure is to measure how much you actually consume. Low to moderately active people need 80 ounces of water per day (around five 16.9 ounce bottles.) Active people should try for 90 to 120 ounces a day (for all my international friends out there, 3 to 4 liters is perfect.) This is why you will often see athletes and folks in the gym using liter bottles or gallon containers to keep track of what they drink.

QUESTION #`2 - WHAT ABOUT SODA AND COFFEE?

Here's where the four C's come in - Caffeine, Carbonation, Color or Calories. If you choose a drink that contains one or more of the four C's, you need to add another 8 ounces of water to your day. This is because all these elements tend to dehydrate. In combination, the affects are doubled or tripled. The more C's you consume (diet cola has three of the four) the more water your body needs to counteract the effects.

QUESTION #3 - MAY I PLEASE HAVE A GLASS OF WINE?

Alcohol is a triple threat. First, it is high in calories and usually devoid of nutrients. Okay... an occasional glass of red wine is said to be beneficial, but hang with me here. Second, it lowers your metabolism. Third, if you eat and drink, alcohol all but guarantees that you will consume 30% more calories from food. Okay, one cocktail on occasion is fine....BUT, if you are trying to get the scale to move in the right direction, any alcohol, even in moderation, can bring things to a screeching halt.

If you find you need to step up your water intake, make sure not to try and do it all at once. Don't eliminate caffeine cold turkey or you may end up with flu-like symptoms for a few days - not fun. Taper off gradually, exchanging one caffeinated drink for a bottle of water until you're consuming the correct amount of each. Your kidneys will also need time to adjust to the extra water, so don't be too alarmed by the number of bathroom breaks you'll be making those first few days. Soon it will all be... water under the bridge.

Dianne Orwig CPT, CFC, CYFI

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

It's funny how when we finally make the decision to take aim at our bulging backsides, we instantly go into combat mode.

But then, who can blame us? We've all experienced the feeling that the only way to annihilate fat is to enlist the most aggressive means possible. There's no denying it. Body fat is a formidable and obstinate opponent. Before you embark on your next seek-and-destroy mission, take a look at a few tactics that can make the difference between winning and losing the fight.

BE A STRATEGIST, NOT A WARRIOR

Winning a war takes more than just brawn and brute force. Think of it this way. If all it took was a lot of hard work and sweat, there would be a lot more fit people in the world, right? Guaranteed, if you charge in, full speed ahead, without a sound and efficient plan behind you, you'll be waving that white flag before you know it.

CALCULATE YOUR ODDS

The odds of winning any challenge can usually be reduced down to a few basic numbers, and fighting flab is no exception. On your side you have three big bad soldier dudes (cardio, strength training and nutrition) against a billion tiny but very tough fat cells. In order for your army of three to fend off one pound of those nasty little fat cells each week, you have to drop a total of 3,500 calories off your roster.

So, let's say you put Sergeant Cardio in charge of 900 of those calories with three 20-minute bouts of aerobic activity Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Then you bring in Lieutenant Liftsalot on Monday, Wednesday and Friday to battle an additional 1200 calories with three 45-minute strength training sessions. That leaves Captain Munchie in charge of the rest - 1,700 calories - making it easy to see why nutrition is so important.
 
Captain Munchie can either: 1) blow the whole thing; 2) keep things even or; 3) do his part to finish the fight by consuming the right amount of calories. It literally boils down to a difference of 300 calories a day, provided everyone else reports for duty on a regular basis. When you think of it in those terms, it's easy to see how a few missed workouts, a couple of extra beers or a generous slice of birthday cake CAN make a difference.
 
FOLLOW THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

Rule 1.) Fight the battle Monday through Saturday and give it a rest on Sunday. On that day, eat whatever you want and do whatever you want.
 
Rule 2.) Try to keep things even. Fight half your battle with work, the other half with food.
 
Rule 3.) When any one of your three soldiers drops the ball, make the others pick it up. Two glasses of wine means an extra 20 minutes of cardio - miss a workout and you can forget about that slice of pie you've been saving up for.

So, if everyone sticks to their guns (sorry, I couldn't resist) in the next 12 weeks, you could be a whole new, leaner person! As the Marines say, "Semper Fi," stay faithful, and you will emerge victorious! Now... drop and give me 20.