I have some really cool people in my life. Some of my closest friends are singers in famous punk rock bands…some are world class martial artists and professional fighters…some are published authors and speakers and some are health & wellness experts while others are spiritual leaders… and then there are my clients. I have the most amazing clients I could ever ask for. I truly am blessed.

So I am going to share a story about a client..I’m also going to share a few tips and one real controversial tip that some people are criticizing me for.

I just got back from a morning session with Patty who I have been working with for years. The first thing I asked her when she came in the door was a question I suggest you ask yourself:

What do you know FOR SURE is working in your life?

Think about food, habits, lifestyle, mindset and exercise.

Here is what Patty had to say:

1) Planning – plan your food shopping and when you will eat. Don’t try to wing it. Plan it. You have heard this before: failing to plan is planning to fail.

2) Don’t go hungry - eat often and bring food with you when traveling or at work so you don’t end up hungry and make bad choices which usually involves sugar or caffeine.

3) Shopping – we live in New York City and there are health food stores, farmers markets and even the occasional dinosaur known as grocery stores/supermarkets. These places are kinda weird if you ask me, its an entire store that has 90% of devoted to packed processed garbage and occasionally you will find one small section called ‘health food’ This begs the question, if the small section in these monster sized stores is ‘health’ food, what the hell do you call the rest of the stuff in there?

4) Announcing / Accountability – Patty said when she announces her commitments to the PEOPLE THAT SHE ALREADY KNOWS ARE SUPPORTIVE, she gets the support she needs to stay focused and consistent. She also sees me often because I keep her accountable for her decisions.

NOTE – not everyone will support you and in fact, some of the closest friends and family may discourage your efforts.

Then she told me her greatest challenge is when she travels with her family on the weekends.  Her family likes to eat junk food and will make fun of her for choosing foods that radically improve your health, vitality, focus, energy levels, prevent premature aging and prevent the disease that is plaguing this country primarily resulting from processed, chemicalized junk food. (I think I just made that word up.)

I shared with her a controversial strategy that works really well every time…once you get past the common misconceptions, I suggest you learn how to be much more SELFISH.

The common definition of selfish implies that you disregard other people’s well being, but I have a very different definition.

Being more selfish…which I strongly encourage everyone to do…means, in my definition, to put yourself as your highest priority in life which ultimately allows you to give more back to the world and offers far more benefits for other peoples’ well being.

Placing yourself above everyone else means you will be taking more responsibility in your life and improving your life, your heath and overall happiness. And yes, some people will get pissed off at you and think you are cold and callous for not sacrificing yourself to take care of them and their drama.

But remember this – its better that other people feel bad than it is for you to feel bad… because you either feel emotionally bad (guilty) about choices you made or feel physically bad like stomach ache, headache or feeling fat after eating garbage only because you were too embarrassed to do the right thing for yourself.

Being selfish allows you to design and live according to your own plan, instead of someone else’s plan – and that is an act of self respect and love.

This way, you will have more love to give to your friends and family; more energy to devote to the things that you love and to others that want your attention; you will be setting a better example for your friends and family to follow; you will be a leader instead of a follower and that does more for this world than any act of martyrdom, sacrifice and putting others needs above yourself will ever do.

And yes, I work with families and kids and I say the exact same thing to them. This way you teach your children to have a strong sense of self, improved self esteem, self worth and the world is a much better place because of this.

Now don’t go to the extreme and think I’m talking about ignoring your children when they need you…

Here is the exercise I gave her to do over the weekend and I also suggest you go through this. It will change your life.

Make a list of all the DRAWBACKS of subordinating yourself to others and trying to lease others while sacrificing yourself…of not living your dream and having the health & wellness you deserve..find the habits or things in your life that you don’t like and come up with a list of at least 100 drawbacks.

Go through all areas of life:

Spiritual, Personal, Physical, Career, Financial, Social, Relationships

Next, go through and write out a list of all the BENEFITS that come with living from your heart, following your dream, making yourself your highest priority and doing exactly what it takes to be healthy, vital, and strong regardless of the criticisms and negativity that will come your way.

Benefits and Drawbacks. Don’t just think about it, write them down on paper.

Want to see radical improvements in your life? Do this exercise.

The more answers you come up with the better off you will be and sooner you will see changes.

Then go back to the first question I asked Patty this morning:

What do you know for sure that is working in your life?

I would love to hear your answers…please comment below by typing in your name, email (will not be published) and tell me what you know FOR SURE is working in your life.

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I meet people everyday in NYC.

I do consultations weekly. Others I meet while hanging out with friends. I see some interesting things.

Interestingly enough, I have found that many people simply don’t care about their health and often times are lying to themselves about it. Many people have absolutely no idea what they are talking about. Some people don’t care until they get sick and diseased and then they are forced to deal with it. Even then, as Carolyn Myss says in her book Creating Health: ‘Most people would rather die than change their diet.’

Then there are the special few that truly want to look and feel better and want an awesome life regardless of their current level of health & wellness. These people are the exceptions – and the most inspiring people to hang out with and work with.

If you really want an awesome life and experience true health & vitality – make sure you don’t make these common mistakes that even the smartest people with the best intentions make.

By the way, what separates these people is not genetics, discipline or willpower…it’s a genuine desire to have an awesome life full of vitality and to look and feel amazing.

1 – You Cannot by Lose Weight to Improve Your Health. You Must Improve Your Health In Order to Lose Weight.

When you are irresponsible in your diet & lifestyle and finally get sick and tired of feeling sick and tired, you may end up desperate. Many people are desperate to lose weight and will try all sorts of stupid things. When you are in a state of desperation, you will make bad choices and suffer consequences because of it.

I see clients who have damaged their metabolisms from years of irresponsible diet & lifestyle (which includes dieting, coffee, sugar & artificial sweetener addiction among other factors). This is common. The biggest mistake these people make is focusing on losing weight, instead of getting healthy.

So if you want to be truly healthy and fit and burn fat – focus first on improving your health and wellness. Go through your life and find times in your life where you were most inspired. Now, ask yourself how can you do that consistently. Then, go do it often.

When you are healthy, your body will naturally – and easily – shed fat and you wont crave junk foods. It may take a little work to get healthy, but it beats the work involved in being sick and tired all the time.

Want to improve your health, look and feel better than ever? Change your mind and your body will follow.

2 – Failure to Connect the Dots

Most people still don’t get this. The food you eat and the way you live determines your overall mood, energy levels and vitality on a daily basis, quality of your skin, your rate of aging, how you look and feel (physically and emotionally) and yes, whether you get disease or not.

Are you constipated? Do you have bad skin? Do you get moody? Do you have belly fat? Do you get tired in the afternoon? Are you tired when you get up in the morning? Are you overweight?

The answer to these is to simply look at your diet.

3 – Using Coffee to Get Things Moving in the Morning?

Not being able to poop is a problem. Coffee is not the the solution. It is a temporary fix that makes you poop immediately but then sets you up for tomorrow’s morning constipation. Temporary fixes usually make things worse. You didn’t get constipated because you had a coffee deficiency.

This can be either a food reaction, chronic dehydration or unmanaged stress. I have found 9 times out of 10, it is stress. A deep sense (deeper issue than most realize) that you simply can not cope with
current circumstances.

Digestive disorders are the result of stress, food intolerance/allergies or years of poor diet. Most people with digestive disorders, need some one to help you rebuild a healthy gut, especially if you have been experiencing this for awhile.

A great starting point is to follow my advice on this blog and cut the C.R.A.P. – Caffeine, Refined foods, Alcohol, Pasteurized Dairy. Second is to drink nothing but water at the right times throughout the
day. Get to bed on time and learn some new coping skills if your stressed.

If you have a job that you don’t love, you will naturally be stressed & unhappy on some level every day.

What’s the solution for that? I know of a bunch, here is a great one…

4 – It’s All in Your Head

There are VERY FEW cases of genetic diseases. Your diet & lifestyle determine whether or not you
express those genetic issues.

Most of the hereditary issues I have seen are, in fact, not genetic at all. They are learned BELIEFS and BEHAVIORS. I am talking about the more common issues like high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

Every person I ever met with a family history of these issues is doing exactly what they should to get those issues and using the ‘its genetic’ excuse as their way of dealing with their irresponsible diet & lifestyle.

If your parents have high cholesterol and you CHOOSE to live and eat just like they do…or worse yet, live and eat like the vast majority of Americans do, then guess what?

If you want to learn more about how your thoughts affect your health and discover some of the most cutting edge health sciences that are many, many years ahead of mainstream medicine, check out the Biology of Belief by Dr. Bruce Lipton.

5 – Avoiding Red Meat Because You Have Been Misled Into Believing It ‘Rots’ or ‘Decomposes’ in Your Gut or Causes High Cholesterol & Heart Disease

Heart disease is also not a mystery. Red meat and butter DO NOT contribute to it and if you still believe this crap, you need to start reading better material and eating better food – especially coconut oil, butter and grass fed animal foods. These foods that are supposedly ‘bad’ for you are, in fact, very ‘good’ for you when they come from organic grass fed sources. They are the raw materials used to produce your brain chemistry and hormones.

The idea that red meat is ‘hard to digest’ or sits in your gut and decomposes and rots is a vegan idea that is not only false for healthy people, it is only true by people who have digestive disorders. For some, the last time they ate meat, it sat in their gut because they were unhealthy. They then conclude that no one should eat it and everyone should become vegan. It’s all false. We evolved 2.5 million years primarily eating on fat and protein and we didn’t get heart disease until the last 100 years.

If you have difficulty digesting meat, you have a digestive disorder that needs to be corrected.

If you dont feel energized after eating red meat, you might be a Carb Type who is not designed to eat red meat often. The first solution is to eat according to your metabolic type.

Then, if you want to learn the truth about saturated fat and cholesterol, here is an in depth book that will shed some light on this topic…

6 – Bad Food = Bad Mood

Depression, anxiety and most brain chemical imbalances are either due to imbalanced perceptions or reactions from food (from food intolerance or chemicals in foods). You don’t need drugs or years of long drawn out therapy for years to resolve these issues.

These issues result from 2 sources: Years of dieting, drug (recreational or pharmaceutical), artificial sweetener or sugar abuse or food intolerance / allergies especially to gluten….or imbalanced perceptions.

Want to know my all time favorite nutrition book and what I use to get amazing results and save yourself from years of dangerous drug therapy:

This is one of the greatest books I have ever read and I use her work in my career daily.

Now your typical ‘guy’ (you know, the guy who reads Maxim magazine and watches more sports than actually plays them, and who says obnoxious comments like ‘she’s got issues’ – what they are really saying, is they have the exact same issues and have yet to understand, own and heal them. We all have issues. Only few people desire to heal them and move on.
You can choose to ignore or deny them, wallow in them and talk about it in therapy for years or you can CHOOSE to heal them and move on.

If it is an imbalanced perception, typically resulting from trauma (or perceived trauma) as a youth, I encourage you to get The Breakthrough Experience by Dr. John Demartini.

This book and the work of Dr. Demartini changed my life and my career. This is a great starting point to healing and is light years ahead of conventional talk therapy.

7 – Why I Eat Healthy Food

I don’t eat the foods I do or live the way I do because I am ‘weird’ or a ‘health nut’ or because ‘I fear some mysterious disease that randomly strikes people later on in life when you’re old.’ This is a huge misconception. I choose to eat the foods I do because of these reasons:

1 – Fresh, organic food taste good, in fact, the taste is superior to the commercially raised synthetic produce and chemical-based processed man made crap that people eat.

2 – These foods and this lifestyle give me ENERGY and make me feel consistently awesome throughout the day.

3 – I personally don’t want to walk around farting, burping, stomach aching, tired with bad skin and foul moods – and yes, those are all resulting from poor food choices.

4 – My food choices give me the ability to tolerate stress much better and help me to prevent the premature aging that most Americans experience. Plastic surgery and drugs don’t really help much when you feel like crap inside.

5 – I don’t want to be sick and a slave to medicine when I’m older which slowly kills you slowly while deceiving you into the false idea that you are managing a disease. I see this everyday. In fact, I am sure you know many people like this.

6 – I don’t eat ‘health food’ – I eat real food that results in improved health. The vast majority of people are eating ‘crap foods’ and need this distinction because they don’t know much about their body, health or our natural, symbiotic relationship with nature.

8 – Pay Now or Pay Later

If you don’t manage your health now, you will be forced to manage it later. Your body is beautiful and designed to be healthy, full of vitality and heal. If you count your blessings and take care of it, it will, reward you. If not, you will experience signs & symptoms of neglect.

The average American family is paying more than $2000 per year on doctor visits and medical costs.

They spend over $500 a year on over the counter medications.

Its about the same $500 for prescription medicines. (New Yorkers spend more than other states).

This does not include spending on illegal ‘black market’ pharmaceuticals, which is a MASSIVE market, by the way.

Two of the top five most widely prescribed medications are for digestive disorders.The other three are for heart disease related and arthritis conditions.

Most doctor visits are for fatigue.

What does all that tell you?

I have not paid one penny for medical costs in a decade. I spend my money on food and occasional surf or snowboard trips.

Please note – I did not say you should not use medicine. Ok, so don’t take things out of proportion and make things up! I am pointing out some interesting facts here.

Oh yeah, these numbers are from several years ago and they have grown every year since.

Another way to see it is this – either you run your life & vitality now or you will be overrun by disease & death. Pretty simple equation if you ask me. I have all my clients get How to Eat, Move and Be Healthy by Paul Chek. Paul Chek is a friend and teacher of mine. It is considered ‘the Bible’ of fitness and nutrition by many experts. Everyone should have this book.

Currently it is out of print. It will be available in the next week or two and I will post a link for it.

Until then, use your head, live from your heart and eat real food.

Peace

Antonio

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Last Friday, my friends’ 8 year old niece went missing from her home in Tracy, Northern California.
I put her photo and info on the previous post. Please take a look and send it to anyone you know on the west coast. The more people see her photo, the better the chances of this little angel being returned home safely.

When this type of thing happens to someone you know, it really changes your life.
No doubt, it’s sad when you see it on TV, but when its this close to home, it hits you really hard and makes you reevaluate your priorities.

But I am not the type to sit on my ass and cry. I took action, I have been posting the report on Facebook and Twitter and on my blog.

This experience has also brought up three of the most important lessons I can offer you in health, fitness and wellness. And no, these aren’t ‘fat loss’ or interval training tips….these lessons will change you life if you pay attention…they are simple yet powerful and often overlooked.

The most powerful lesson and solution for improving your health has
little to do with how many calories or how you cycle your carbs or
whether or not you drink raw milk…The most powerful solution to your
health is right in front of you…and right inside of you.

This experience has brought to the forefront of my mind one of the most powerful lessons that has changed my life…it is easy to forget, but critical to remember.

GRATITUDE

Wikipedia defines gratitude as ‘appreciation, or thankfulness is a positive emotion or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive.’

Remember when your grandparents use to say things like ‘Count Your Blessings’?

I have learned that this is one of the most important components of true health. Wherever you are in life and whatever is going on, count your blessings every day and your life will change. You never know when you might lose something so precious to you, whether its a loved one or your health or even your ability to walk. Now you shouldn’t live in fear of losing something, you can easily open your heart and be grateful for whatever is happening in your life. If your stressed or having difficulty right now – simply do the mental exercise and find the hidden blessings.

Please be grateful for all the wonderful things in your life – especially the people and children who bring you joy and inspiration.

Living with gratitude opens your heart and keeps your mind balanced and in perspective. It makes life much more enjoyable. When your ungrateful and resentful, you will be more stressed and pumping out cortisol more often than normal. Cortisol makes you fat, age prematurely and is associated with practically every disease known to man. Gratitude opens your heart and frees your mind.

FOCUS

One major mistake I see every day is the answer I get when I ask people what their goals are. I usually get a long laundry list of things they DON’T want. I have to interrupt people all the time and remind them of my questions which was ‘What DO you want?

Focus on what you want and NOT what you don’t want. This pertains to little Sandra, please focus and pray for her SAFE RETURN and don’t focus on what we don’t want. The same goes for our health, wealth, relationships and fitness. Focus on what you want, not what you don’t want.

RESPONSIBILITY

Whenever something serious like this happens it helps put your life into PERSPECTIVE and realize what your true values are.

I meet people every day in NYC and I can tell you the vast majority of people are living in a fantasy land or lying to themselves about how unhealthy and miserable they really are. Many people are looking for some ‘fat loss secret’ (that doesn’t exist) to whisk them away from their stomach aches, bloated tummy, gassy, low back achy, muffin top and poor self image, low self esteem, anxiety and depression which all comes from LOUSY DIET or not managing your mind.

All these issues stem from not taking responsibility for your life.

I get nasty emails from people who bought my Healthy Urban Kitchen saying it didn’t meet their expectations because there was no magical secret that no one else is talking about.

Truth is, there are many things I teach that very few ‘experts’ talk about, but because its basic stuff that most are overlooking, it doesn’t meet their fantasy expectations and they feel let down. They then continue on in their search for a miracle cure, magic acai berry cleanse, new trendy diet or some hidden secret that Oprah or Rachel Ray or other unhealthy celebrity surely must have….

Please understand this basic fact: Being healthy and losing weight boils down to ONE thing:

taking responsibility for your life.

There are NO secrets or shortcuts, no diets or pills that will do anything for you except drain your pocketbooks and bank accounts.

Getting healthy, losing fat and living an awesome life boils down to taking complete responsibility for your life. If your still lying to yourself about your addictions, or searching for something that will rescue you from irresponsible diet & lifestyle, or going to Barnes and Nobles hoping to find something new…you are in for a long journey that ends in disappointment and a lousy life of being overweight, unhappy, depressed and yes, eventually diseased.

I will be blogging about some of the biggest mistakes I have ever seen and their simple solutions. I can tell you right now, I have been doing this work for 15 years. The next few blog posts will be my most important lessons ever.

Please take a look at the photos of this little angel Sandra Cantu, pray and focus on her safely returning home and pass it on.

Thank you for reading

Antonio

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So, clearly not everyone has the time to roast a chicken…
but places like Bouley Bakery or Dean and Deluca (here in NYC) do a good job at that for you, and the chickens are free range and/or organic!

Place like Whole Foods and Citarella also offer roast chickens that are pretty tasty if not totally ethically farmed and raised.

Anyway, pre-roasted chicken is an incredibly versatile protein that is crazy delicious. Here is one of my favorite ways to get my fill of this yummy bird.

Chicken Tarragon Salad with Olive Oil
Serves 2 to 4.

½ small head frisée lettuce (this is mostly for presentation, but it’s pretty tasty stuff)
½ whole roast chicken, (or for carb types, 2 breasts)
¼ cup dark raisins (I like the big and plump Monukka raisins)
2 tbsp lightly toasted pinenuts
1 ½ tbsp chopped fresh tarragon
1 medium shallot, minced
olive oil
dash of Dijon mustard (optional, but I like the acidity)
Celtic sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Pick the leaves from the frisée and cut into pieces, if necessary. Set aside.
Remove the skin from the meat. In a large bowl, shred the meat into bite size pieces with your hands
(works better than a fork).
Add the raisins, pine nuts, tarragon and shallot to the meat and mix (again, with your hands!) to combine.
Add as much olive oil, bit by bit, combining thoroughly after each addition, until you reach the desired
moisture of your salad.
Add mustard, if desired.
Season with sea salt and pepper, to taste.
To serve the salad, lay the frisée on serving plates and top with salad.

This awesome free range chicken recipe comes from one of my newest and most inspired, incredibly intelligent and soon to be world famous organic foods chef Julia Kouyoumdjian.

Julia came to me after following a raw foods vegan diet. Like many of my clients, she fell for this trendy fantasy that vegan raw foods will save the planet and is the optimal diet for all humanity. This diet, which does not exist in nature, wreaked havoc on her body and brain chemistry as did all my other clients who followed this.

Now, I’m not a raw foods vegan hater, don’t get me wrong. I was a  vegetarian for 18 years and my closest friends are vegan or vegetarian, but…

After discovering her genetic requirements for food, we found out that she is, in fact, a protein type (her body works better on darker meats and less carbs), so she started eating accordingly, is now getting amazing results and feels better than ever!

‘Life in all its fullness is Mother Nature obeyed.’ Weston A Price

Remember my #1 Law of Real Nutrition: You Are Unique! What works for one person, will not work for another and may be harmful to a third person.

Anyone pushing a ‘diet for all’ people, whether its raw food vegan, Atkins, jenny Craig, my personal favorite Weight Watchers or ANY plan, is either lying to you, overly zealous or simply has no clue.

Since we are on this topic of nutriton laws, here is my #2 Law of Nutrition: Calories In = Calories Out is an outdated, oversimplified mathematical equation that simply doesn’t make sense and does not deliver awesome results. It might be sufficient for lab technicians or scientists who don’t operate in the real world or journalists in mainstream media, but it won’t help you live an awesome life of true health, vitality,  longevity! Even the Huffington Post promoted this idiot idea recently.

Real health and wellness requires first, that you can think for yourself and not believe most of that which is published in mainstream media.

Secondly, you need fresh, high quality, nutrient dense whole food which is naturally raised, organic produce and grass fed animals & eggs. Raw dairy for some, but not for all. Drink nothing but water.

These are foods that you find in nature that have sustained the healthiest cultures on the planet and have brought the human race pretty far throughout history. Don’t fall for the marketing hype promoting ‘one size fits all’ diets (whether from mainstream or alternative sources), engineered foods or formulas that come from a lab.

You are unique. Don’t let anyone tell you different.

You are much more than a mathematical equation. Don’t fall for it.

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Last week’s radio show on cholesterol is something you dont want to miss.

check it out…http://www.blogtalkradio.com/undergroundwellness

This live nutrition workshop can change your life,

get tickets to this event immediately as it will sell out!

The Oiling of America

Evening Workshop with Sally
Fallon, Author of the bestselling, Nourishing
Traditions and President of the Weston A. Price Foundation

Friday, February 20th, 7-9
pm
Community Church of NY, 40 East 35th
St. (Park &
Madison) Manhattan

Misinformation and deception in heart disease research

The vital role of cholesterol and saturated fats in human biochemistry

The behind-the-scenes influence of the powerful vegetable oil industry

How the cholesterol theory of heart disease has led to our current health crisis

Dangers of cholesterol-lowering drugs

What traditional foods are & why they are so critical for our health

Sally Fallon is the founding president of the Weston A. Price Foundation, a non-profit nutrition education foundation that provides science based information on nutrition, cholesterol and dietary fats. She is the author of the best selling cookbook, Nourishing Traditions and Eat Fat, Lose Fat,
both with Mary G. Enig, PhD, the first scientist to warn the public about the dangers of trans fatty acids.

Workshop Fee:
$20

Registration:
Space is limited. Pre-registration is strongly suggested
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/54312

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A couple of weeks ago I asked some of my clients what their top 3 tips were for staying lean and healthy. Since then, a bunch of my friends gave me their top 3 tips for a healthy and inspired life.

You’re about to see that true health goes way beyond fitness training…After you read this post, leave a comment & tell me:

1 – Which are your favorite tips

2 – Add your own personal tips that you want to share

12 Tips for an Awesome Life from Ximena

‘The Modern Cavewoman’

1) Eat wholesome, organic plant foods & organic grass fed animals in the right proportions
for my metabolic type (carb type).

2) Avoid the foods that I tested intolerant to.

3) Cook and ENJOY EVERY BITE.

4) Grass fed, raw, organic butter is a MUST… I Eat as much fat as I can handle

5) Drink ½ my body weight in ounces of H2O Evian in glass

6) Lift any form of free weight. Some days I lift very very heavy weights other days I go lighter.

7) I do it for no more than 18 minutes 4-5 times per week.

Make it a point to exercise all my bodies:
a) Physical (move)
b) Mental (learn something new)
c) Spiritual (meditate & love myself)
d) Emotional (personal development and grow from my relationships with self and others)

9) Make love

10) Love my work

11) Get sun

12) Get good quality rest

Ximena is a friend of mine from my Miami, she has a killer website and calendar that should be hanging on your office wall: www.ximenagonzalez.com

Top 3 Fat Loss Tips from a Formerly Overweight, Depressed, Punk Rock Rebel without a Cause turned Nutrition, Fat Loss and Internet Marketing Expert

1.  Never Say Anything Negative About Yourself.

Ever. Instead – become an ego maniac!  If you want to lose weight you have to give your body the respect and love it deserves. Imagine if someone came up to you and said, “you look fat today,” or “your ass looks huge in those jeans,” or “your stomach is so nasty?”  You’d want to practice your new fancy muay thai moves on their ass.  So knock it out. Step into the shoes of the most confident, sexy and egotistical person you know.  And become that person.  Just like an actor rehearses a new role, rehearse your new “rock star” personae in your mind daily like a meditation until you see this new slimmer more confident and healthy body come to life!

2.  Ditch the diet mentality.

If you want to lose weight, stop dieting.  Instead – find a metabolic typing advisor to give you a “diet diagnosis.” You don’t have to deny yourself food if you know how to eat – not to mention the damage to your metabolism. Your individual metabolism and dietary needs are just as unique as your fingerprint.  Once you know what to eat your body will adjust and weight loss is inevitable.  Get your metabolic type tested.  There is no better way than to determine what foods are right for you!

3.  Don’t do it alone. 

It doesn’t matter how little or how much weight you need to lose.  One of the best way to lose the weight is to find an accountability partner.  This person should not be someone who needs to lose weight themselves though.  Misery loves company!  Find someone who either has successfully lost weight themselves or a fit friend who you can trust.  Tell them your current weight and your goal weight. Then send them a daily food and fitness log.  Establish a penalty if you don’t. For example, tell them to announce it on Facebook that you are not sticking with your commitment.  There is nothing more motivating than the thought of public scrutiny!

Erin reveals more fat flushing secrets at  www.operationshapeshift.com/

Top 3 Tips for Holistic Health and Wellness

by Adam ‘Omkara’ Helfer

1) Eat 4-5 times a day.

This requires proper planning- planning is the key to it all. I make sure I get enough protein and fat everyday. Get “the fat myth” out of your head and always make sure you are taking in good fats as a cornerstone to your health and wellness program.I’m big on raw, organic food and super foods (Acai, Mangosteen, Camu, Chia etc).

2) Work out 3-4 times a week an intense 1/2 hr to 45 minutes at a time. 

Note the amount per week and the duration- Most people are overtraining. With the average person being stressed, eating a so-so diet, and lack of proper sleep, going to the gym every day for an hour is over taxing ones system. Learn to mix in yoga, tai chi, qi qong, and deep breathing in with one’s fitness routine and consider it just as important as weight training.

3) Remember that your mind and body are ONE.

Our thoughts can have a profound affect on our physical body. A healthy, positive mindset is key to ones physical health and wellbeing. Practice thought control and positive thinking for optimum physical, emotional, and spiritual health and balance.

Adam is my one of best friends and lives in Washington D.C. He is a Holistic Nutrition & Lifestyle Coach, a Reiki Master, a Massage Therapist and a Mind-Body Bad Ass. Check out his site www.omkara-world.com

Top 3 Tips to Live the Life of Your Dreams

from Harry Yuan

1) Dream. When I say dream it means that there should always be a goal that you want to achieve. This doesn’t only have to be a work goal like hit 100,000 in sales.  Think of ALL areas of life. It is important to achieve and work towards a dream goal.  This can be to skydive around the world, be in a movie, catch the biggest fish, etc.  Dreaming is an important part of health, because it keeps the mental health of an individual sound and alive!  Not to mention dreaming while sleeping is vital to health so make sure to sleep between 10pm – 6am.  Most importantly, dreaming is food for the soul.

2) Sun. Enjoy the outdoors, and play in the sun.  People take life way too seriously, and forget to enjoy the natural pleasures of the earth.  It is as important to have fun as it is to work, which is why the sun is so important.  Being outside, playing Frisbee, golf, hunting, fishing, skydiving, snowboarding, etc. this all allows you to enjoy life and the sun recharges the human battery.

3) Local. Everything is always better local, no mater where you are.  This means supporting the small independent grower, traveling by public transport/foot/bicycle, or just being friendly in your neighborhood.  Local food is great because you get non-chemical, organic, and sustainable foods, which is vital to ones health.  Traveling by public transport/foot/bicycle allows you to enjoy yourself, and centralize your time and get in fitness.  This creates a more calm environment, and is much less of a financial stress.  Being friendly in your neighborhood allows you to feel safe, and establish a sense of tribal association.  All in all, Local makes life more enjoyable, reduces stress and that allows you to be healthy.

Harry is my homeboy from San Francisco, and yes, you will see some photos of me skydiving with him later this year. Check out his organic website: www.iheartorganic.com

Top 4 Tips for Health, Fitness and Fun!

by Vin Miller

Living a healthy and inspired life means that you’re getting the most out of your time on this planet.

1. Know Your Purpose and Passions
Everyone wants to live a life full of great experiences, but there’s little chance of this happening if you don’t know what you want these experiences to be. On a regular basis, take some time to reflect on the direction of your life. During this time, consider what inspires you, what brings you happiness, and how you can leverage it to help others.

Living with purpose and passion is what empowers you wake up with happiness and excitement each morning. It gives you a sense of fulfillment, accomplishment and pride, and is something that many people are sadly missing out on. We all have the capability, but we each have to discover it for ourselves.

2. Educate Yourself and Take Initiative

While knowing what you want from life is a great foundation for happiness, it’s simply not enough. Aspirations are worthless without the knowledge and initiative needed to achieve them. Identify the information and activities that are required to turn your desires into reality and commit yourself to making them happen.

Good health should be among the aspirations of anyone wanting to live a long and happy life. With all the misinformation circulating today and all the opportunities presented by modern society to undermine your success, this is an area where knowledge and initiative are extremely important. Now dig deep to find the determination to implement it.

3. Surround Yourself With Good People

In most cases, creating opportunity to live the lifestyle of your dreams requires some risk and a lot of hard work. It’s easy to get down on yourself and have thoughts about giving up, and without confidence in yourself, that’s exactly what you’ll do. Support from friends and family can make all the difference.

Furthermore, your relationships with friends and family provide a unique source of happiness and fulfillment that can’t be experienced any other way. For these reasons, take good care of your relationships with the people you’ve chosen to keep close to you.

4. Get Started Right Now!

Life is simply too short to procrastinate in your pursuit of happiness. Every minute you let pass without purpose is a missed opportunity to enrich your life. I’m certainly not suggesting that you pack every minute of your day with activity, instead, minimize the time you spend on activities that you don’t enjoy and serve no purpose.

Vin is a friend of mine who lives upstate NY. He has an awesome blog at www.naturalbias.com

Top 4 Tips for Maintaining Inner Calm Despite Outer Chaos

by Stacy Jakubas

1) Laugh. Laugh at yourself, laugh at the mess the economy is, laugh at everything you can; just don’t underestimate the power of it. Try it and you’ll understand.

2) Read what you eat. If you can’t pronounce it, you shouldn’t eat it.

3) Enjoy Exercise. Don’t let ‘exercise’ be a chore or obligation. It should be a part of life. Find something you love to do. If you don’t feel good or accomplished after it, it wasn’t worth it.

4) Don’t get so hung up on what you look like on the outside…once you fix the inside – be it your head, your heart, or any other part – the rest will follow!

Stacy is an amazing client of mine who never ceases to inspire me. She started working with me after a near death experience that totally crushed her body:

Broken nose
3 Herniated cervical discs
Ruptured lumbar disc
Torn subscapular tendon
Torn supraspinatus
Torn bicepital tendon

All we did was some corrective, holistic exercise and got her on my Healthy Urban Kitchen Nutrition Plan which eliminates the inflammatory foods that MOST EVERYONE is eating. She is now living a ridiculously active life of action sports, marathons and dancing that rivals ‘Dancing with The Stars’! She is pain-free and running marathons now and seriously kicks ass! She trains less than 99% of marathoners, looks better than 99% of them, does mostly strength training and more importantly knows how to eat for her body – not according to Runner’s magazine and their ‘carb loading for all’ approach.

By day, Stacy is a focused, suit wearing financial genius…come Saturday – watch out!  Her closet X Games inner child is unleashed!

Her life is a an inspiring example for everyone in the financial industry right now. Despite external circumstances, she enjoys her life, has fun and is not going to Happy Hour to ‘relieve stress’ like many others in her industry.

Top 3 Tips for Health and Wellness in a City that Never Sleeps

with Donna Sonkin

1) Get Physical! Do exercise that you find fun. When people go to the gym who hate the gym they become resentful – that said we still need to move the body. Think on this for a moment and remember a time when you did something physical that was fun and exhilarating; did you love ice skating as a child, or tap dancing class?  Maybe, then as an adult you might try a strip pole class or belly dancing? Doing something both physical and fun will get you to do it and that is the most important thing of all: JUST DO IT!

 2) Surround yourself with kind and inspiring people. When you surround yourself with inspiring people of integrity you get inspired! Simple as that! If you hang around with healthy people you will find yourself getting healthier, if you surround yourself with smart people you will get smarter, likewise motivated people. The same is true with duds and unmotivated people – it is said that you can judge a person
by the company he or she keeps and I find this to be very true. Before I met my best friend Andrea ( a health counselor / natural food chef/ outdoorsy gal), my new years eve was usually spent at some dumb party… this year we did the NYC Road Runner’s Midnight 5K run! I NEVER would have done this on my own…we ended up having the time of our lives! When you surround yourself with inspiring people,
you end up doing inspiring things!

3. Find work that excites you. How is this a health tip? In the 4 years that I have been health counseling I notice a very clear theme, when people hate their work they treat their body’s poorly, they emotionally eat, numb out on TV, drink more than they should and bitch ALL the time. However, when I spend time with a client who loves their work, they usually can get healthy pretty quickly with only a few simple suggestions. Bottom line: find work that excites you!

Donna is a Holistic Health Counselor, Natural Foods Chef and TV personality who works with models and actors. Check out her website: www.getthinforthecamera.com

Top 3 Tips to Totally Transform Your Life

by Holistic Health and Nutrition Expert Jackie Blake

1) Pay attention to your thoughts and words. Ask yourself “is this thought that I’m thinking, or this word that I’m speaking, what I want to create my future?” If the answer is “yes” then cool, change nothing. If the answer is no, it’s time to find some thoughts and words that you can rally behind and block out everything else.

2) You cannot truly stand in your power when you are owned by an addiction. Cut out all caffeine, alcohol, gluten (wheat, rye, oats and barley), sugar, fake sugar and pasteurized dairy. Being free of these addictive substances allows me to function at a higher level all day.

3) Know what makes you happy and do it. If you don’t know, sit quietly for at least 10 minutes a day and allow the answers to come to you. Being happy raises your energy so that you don’t need to eat extra calories to power yourself through a grueling day.

Jackie is a dear friend and when I saw her for her birthday recently, the changes were so unbelievable that I had to interview her for my blog. Jackie suffered from major depression, anxiety, acne, was pre-diabetic and had debilitating PMS – all of which are now non-existent because of the physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, nutritional and lifestyle changes she made and now teaches to her clients. Her website is:www.theorganicexperiencenyc.com

3 Tips for Long Term Well-Being and Freedom from Botox

Collen is an amazing and inspired person…her tips are some of my favorite in this post!

I saw Tina Turner perform at Madison Square Garden a couple months ago.  She was 69 years old and absolutely rocking it.  Her performance reminded me how essential having a sense of purpose is to every aspect of my life.  I could argue that above all other life factors, my sense of purpose has created my well-being.  In other words, when I am aligning and acting from a larger definition of self I am automatically taking care of my self.

As sense of purpose lays the foundation, there are three things I do everyday that feed my well-being in the short term so that I can pursue my long term potential with greater ease and clarity.

1) Creativity

Life is a micro and a macro creative processes. Everyday I invest in my own process of change, creating something new through my thoughts and actions. Even if it is as simple as re-envisioning old clothes, cooking something I have never had before, or meandering through new thoughts in a writing.  Doing something that is uniquely new each day keeps me evolving calmly and constantly.

2) Movement

Movement is the creative process of the body.  I need movement for the health of my body as much as the health of my thoughts and emotions.  Through movement, whether it is lifting weights, yoga or playing in the park, I feel better, learn about myself, and discover and develop my knowledge of self.

3) Laughter

To laugh fully is to commit to being fully present in the moment in a most positive way.  When I laugh I create positivity inwardly as well as express it outwardly.  I activate muscles in my face that will keep me from needing Botox, and release negativity being held in my being.

So the bottom line to sense of purpose, managing the daily grind, and maintaining youth: “creatively moving into laughter ” or “create, move, and laugh”. Whichever you prefer.

Get more awesome tips from Coleen at www.moveintogreatness.com

3 Steps to Staying Consistent and

Building the Body of Your Dreams

1. Get Consistent and Stay Consistent.

One of the things I see all time is what I call “program jumping.”  Program jumping is when you try a fitness and/or nutrition program for a little while and you don’t get that immediate gratification that you were looking for so you jump to the latest and greatest program.  So the viscous cycle looks something like this: from “this” to “that” to “quitting”.

The key here is consistency.

Settle in on a good program and stick with it.  The important thing is that it is a good program.  As far as the fitness aspect goes, you should be constantly challenged.  With the nutrition, you should be eating clean, balanced and timely meals everyday.

Once you have that fitness and nutrition balance, now you just have to hang on for the ride.  Take positive steps every day toward your goals.  Recognize that their may be a few setbacks at times but don’t let them derail your spirit.  Jump right back in the saddle with your consistency plan.

2. Negativity Be Gone.

It’s important to deal with any negative influences that do not line up with your goals.  First, you have to recognize where the negative influence is coming from.  Is it internal negative self-talk or is there outside negative influences (people and things)?

Now you’ve recognized the source but what are you willing to do about it?

I have to tell you that this tip alone can change your life.  Negative influences will cause havoc on your healthy lifestyle. You have to make the tough decision to deal with them, put them away, shut them out and move on.  Yes, sometimes this will means people.

When it comes to your health, there is a time to be selfish and take care of you!

3. Positive Come In.

Now that you’ve gotten rid of the negative influences and setbacks it’s time to invite positivity into your life.  As far as living a healthy lifestyle goes, positivity should come in the form of:

People that do things that line up with what you want to do

Family and friends that support your lifestyle and want the best for you

People that you are inspiring to be better (due to your actions) as long as they don’t drain your energy

You don’t have to go at it alone.  In fact, it’s a ton of fun when other supportive people are involved. Connect with these people regularly.  You should feel comfortable sharing your journey with them.
Now go on a live the healthy and fit life of your dreams!

Donovan Owens is in the construction business for building ‘Dream Bodies” for busy women. Check out his blog at  http://busywomensfitnessblog.com

3 Simple Tips for a Truly Awesome Life

Check out my bud Josh Rubin from San Diego. When it comes to getting to the root causes of hormonal and digestive issues which most people have, Josh is my ‘go to’ guy. He is a hardcore mountain biker, super intelligent and a Nutrition & Lifestyle teacher at the CHEK Institute.

Here are his three simple tips for an awesome life:

1) Thoughts. You are what you think, having become what you thought! Thoughts carry energy, so choose the right ones.

2) Food. Health is not just about eating. It is about eating the right foods for you, eating the right ratios and eating the right quality of foods.  We are all made up of protein, carbs and fat!

3) Water. There are over 10,000 reactions in the body and ALL of them require water! Drink nothing but water!

Josh’s blog is not for beginners, if you are ready to take it to the next level and learn more than your doctor, check it out at http://www.eastwesthealing.com

5 Tips to Live Your Best Life Ever!

1) Be proud of who you are and the way you live your life.  Make your healthful lifestyle choices a priority no matter what!   Don’t let others bring you down or change how you want to be.

2) Be mindful of everything you do.  Eat whole foods you enjoy and that make you feel good!  Do workouts you like doing and that energize you!  Figure out what your passions in life are and pursue them!

3) Get at least 8 hours sleep per night (or whatever amount you need to wake up feeling rested).  Make this a priority!  Your workouts and mood will suffer if you don’t sleep enough.  It also makes you hungrier!

4) Plan ahead and do whatever you need to so that you have your food ready for you.  i.e. Get home grocery delivery if you don’t have time to shop, cook alot at once and freeze if you don’t have time to cook every day, and bring your food to work so you’re not stuck buying food out.

5) Be appreciative each and every day for the life you have!

Lauren is a vibrant, positive and inspired client of mine who teaches me something about life every time I see her. Her site is www.LaurenDebbie.com

3 Tips on How to Achieve Your Goals and

Live a Positive and Happy Life

1) Make and Set Goals.

Without goals you are just heading down a road without a map or GPS.  We sometimes have items to achieve, but we don’t turn them into goals.  Telling yourself “I want to lose 20lbs” or “I need to get a better job” are loose goals.  Why? Because there is no time limit, accountability, or action plan.

How many people do you think tell themselves day after day the 2 statements I made above?  Almost everyone!! (at least the new job one)

A goal should contain these three things:

A) Time Limit or Deadline. Set a date for which you hope to achieve your goal.  How often do people use the date of a wedding or high school reunion as a deadline to get in shape?  That’s what you need for any goal.  A deadline.

B) Accountability. You need to find a way to keep yourself accountable externally.  By externally I mean not yourself.  We easily let ourselves slide when we don’t reach our goals, but having to explain failure to others is harder.  An example of this is a friend who joined Weight Watchers.  The main thing that motivates her is to continuously lose weight because of the public weigh ins.  She wants to make sure that she shows progress to other members.

This is why business mastermind groups and boot camps are so popular.  Group dynamics are much stronger then going alone.  Find a coach, trainer, mentor, or friend who can hold you accountable.

C) Action Plan. When you set a goal, you need to have a plan to achieve it.  So if you’re trying to lose weight, you need to decide what your plan is.  Are you going to follow a certain training plan?  Eating plan?  How will you ensure you follow it?  Will you bring your lunch from now on?  When will you eat your meals; do your workouts?

You need to plan out how your going to achieve your goals down to the smallest steps and notes possible.  The old saying goes, “If you fail to plan, then plan to fail.”

Put it where you can see it I know I had listed three but this is very important also.  Post your plan and goals where you will constantly see them. On the refrigerator, next to the bathroom mirror.  Anywhere you can catch a glimpse of your goal to constantly remind yourself what you’re striving for is very powerful.

2. Be Positive

This may sound stupid but I mean when I say, “You must remain positive.”  Negativity leads to failure.  Being around negative people leads to you being negative as well.  How often at your job do people complain about how much they hate the job?  At mine, ALL THE TIME!!  But yet they come there day after day and make the same complaints and gripes.

I do my best to ignore them and stay positive.  Its just a job.  Why would anyone want to be unhappy all the time?  But I see it everyday.  Life is too short to be upset and negative all the time.  People also don’t want to be around negative people, they’d rather be around people who are happy (well most anyways).

Being positive helps reduce stress levels and can improve your health.  If you don’t enjoy something, don’t do it.  Look for the fun and enjoyment in everything that you do.  I currently work as a mailman as my day job, and there are days when it is cold and snowy and work is heavy.  People suddenly start getting upset and aggravated.  But why?  We cant control the weather, but we can control our demeanor.  Be happy.

3. Don’t dwell on possessions

Possessions like gadgets and gizmos don’t elicit positive longevity.  Love and happiness do.  Like I said before, its just a job that allows me to pay bills.  Money is not happiness (to me) and money will not change my life.  Now Im not saying I don’t want to have more money, but I don’t constantly think about it.  The most important things in my life are my son, my wife, my family, and my health.  These are tangible “items” and money is not.  We have to get our priorities in order to reach true happiness.

Who/what matters most in your life?  That’s what is important.

Tony McClellan is  friend of mine and New Jersey’s top fitness expert. Check out his blog and bootcamps at www.GetFitJersey.com

10 Tips to Live from Your Heart and

Love Yourself More Than Ever

1. Respect Yourself First

Focus on one thing you like about yourself and then celebrate that part of you. Hopefully in time you will begin to appreciate other things about who you are, that are fabulous also. Notice that I have said “WHO” you are and not what you look like.

2. Express Gratitude

The body is magnificent and deserves praise rather than abuse. You only have one body so honor it and be grateful, regardless of shape or size. Your body houses your soul. So be appreciative of how powerful your body is and give thanks for all that it does. So what you don’t look like a supermodel. Who cares? Give thanks for what you do have. Legs that walk, eyes that see and a powerful mind that creates!

3. Self Protect

Understanding how the media and social standards shape our views and desires is very important. When you are bombarded by thousands of daily advertising images or opinions from your social circle, you are influenced without even realizing it. Many of these messages show beauty to be a size 2, reed thin model. What we must know is that these unreal standards are driving our need to live up to that insane standard. Be smart, be aware and be your own version of beauty. Understand that these images are about making you feel insecure enough to keep spending money in a quest for a fabricated image of beauty and success. See the absurdity of these manufactured images, and look within to discover your own unique beauty and power.

Protect yourself by not being influenced by these images. Understand that beauty is intelligence, faith, confidence, love, compassion and passion not sick, thin and lifeless.

4. Think Powerful Thoughts and Visualize Vitality

Thoughts create our reality. So make sure your mind and dialogue are purely focused on feeling good and feeling fabulous. When you feel good from the inside out your energy will shift to create beauty that glows from the heart. As a bonus, we always look better when we feel good about ourselves. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. Self confidence breeds self love and is an alluring quality that will attract people to you like bees to honey. No matter what you look like, having self appreciation evokes passion, sensuality and fun.

5. Be Conscious Of Your Inner Voice

If you have insecurities (most of us do and it’s no biggie), be honest about what they are and work to release them. By reprogramming negative self thoughts we can reclaim a sense of self esteem that is vital to our wellbeing. Identify your thoughts and if they don’t reflect who you want to be or how you feel, rewrite a set of affirming beliefs to replace worn out self-defeating self talk. Write each belief down and then rewrite your new belief to create transformational affirmations.

Dedicate yourself to making sure that your inner and outer dialogue reflect the person you want to be. If you want a healthy vital life then what you say and think must reflect that new reality. If you want to feel beautiful then you must believe you are beautiful. See the beauty you are now, regardless of shape or size.

6. Practice Spiritual Exercise

Exercise because it makes you feel fabulous not because you feel you have to or because of how it is going to make you look.  If it is a chore, it will become a drag that lowers your energy. Or it may become something you punish yourself with. Instead, use exercise as a form of meditation, fun and creation. By shifting exercise into a communion with your self you can use the time to search within to create the day that lies ahead or to listen to your inner voice. When exercise becomes a self-nurturing tool it will work to support your growth emotionally, spiritually and physically. When exercise is fun and nurturing you are more likely do it regularly or actually enjoy it when you do! Experience fitness pleasure and end the “no pain – no gain” motto.

7. Appreciate Food

Food is a divine combination of fuel and pleasure. To be healthy you must eat a balanced diet full of the nutrients you need. Take time to eat mindfully and in peace not on the phone, at the computer or both. It should be an experience to be relished and enjoyed. Eating consciously makes you feel calm, nourished and satisfied. Nourishing your body also nourishes your mind and spirit.

8. Receive Love

Get support from friends, a counselor, a doctor or a holistic healer if you need it.  Use all of them if you need to! We all need support and guidance in life. Having a guide to lean on can propel your development as they listen compassionately and encourage you to move forward, giving you new tools and insights that will support your transformation. Just ask for help and take personal responsibility to get the loving support and guidance you need.

9. Rest and Rejuvenate

Take some time to chill out. It’s important to be still. Today many of us are addicted to constant busy-ness. We feel the need to go faster and do more while never feeling caught up or in control. It is an exhausting habit that can lead to burn out, health problem and low self esteem. We don’t have to be on the go all the time. Read, write, sleep, meditate, get a massage or do nothing at all, whatever rocks your world. Just zone out and let you mind, body and spirit rest.

10. Laugh & Play

Last but not least, it’s important to enjoy the journey. We all have ups and downs in life, but it is important to see humor in the absurdity and not take ourselves, or others, too seriously. Go with the flow. Smile more, frown less. And make sure to laugh and play each day. When you connect to the fun of life, this shift in attitude and perspective alters the reality you experience.  Adding humor and enjoyment into your daily routine will shape a new life experience that is more joyous.  Laugh and play all the way!

Ingrid is an inspired and wonderful friend of mine from Australia. Learn more about Ingrid Arna and Bodylove at www.MyBodylove.com

3 Tips on How to be as Healthy, Happy and

‘Alive’ as our Children!

My philosophy on life, health and fitness is largely inspired by my 6 year old little girl, Shoshanna.

I am a single daddy who coaches her Soccer and Softball teams, and loves to be outdoors with her riding bikes, throwing or kicking a ball, playing at the park/playground, etc. Truth be told I am a ‘big kid’ at heart myself and my daughter both inspires and ‘allows’ me to be that ‘kid’ and have fun no matter what we are doing and see the joy in even the ‘little’ things; something we can all learn from kids no matter what age we are or if we have kids or not.

This is what helped inspire my simple natural, fun, back-to-basics approach to fitness and lifestyle and was the Genesis for the creation of http://www.playgroundfitcamp.com.

Below are the top 3 tips that I do my best to teach and model by simply ‘being the change’ I wish to see in the world!

3 simple things… Wheee!, Ahhh!, Yummm!

1. Wheee!

Develop a family ‘physical culture’ of joyful movement. Play active games as a  family. Go to the park/playground…Move naturally-walk, crawl, squat, jump, run, push, pull, etc.  Avoid gym machines and other “mechanical” forms of exercise that make it look like an unpleasant chore, think ‘outside the box’…Explore the outdoors, get some fresh air and sunlight.

2. Ahhh!

Relax, chill out, wind down together on a regular basis. Eat meals together, practice  gratitude, and take time for just ‘being’ as opposed to always ‘doing’. Practice and teach your kids how to relieve stress so they don’t turn to food or drugs or violence. Practice mindfulness and walk the way of a ‘peaceful warrior’.

3. Yummm!

Eat and Feed your kids fresh, whole,organic, nutrient rich REAL food with a lot plant-based foods…fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, healthy fats… if you eat animal products do so from free-range (pastured), grass fed, organic, clean sources. Shop Local (Farmer’s markets, Co-ops) get to know and connect with the people who you get your food from. Be a Superfood ‘SuperHero’, try some of the amazingly healthy and yummy superfoods like raw cacao, goji berries, maca, wild nuts, acai, hemp, etc. Make at least one Super Foods Smoothie a day. Stick close to nature, eat mainly single ingredient foods. Avoid processed foods and food that comes in boxes/cans with food lablels on them with ingredients you
can’t pronounce.

3 Tips for a Life of Balance and Well-Being

This beautiful woman is my acupuncturist, good friend and Chinese medicine expert Kymberly Kelly. Kymberly helps many New Yorkers maintain balance and well-being despite the chaos that is Manhattan.

1) Rest!!

All too often, people are more concerned with recharging their cell phone battery than their own battery!  All of the great food and exercise in the world won’t do you an ounce of good if the body does not have some down time to assimilate them.  A sufficient amount of sleep is CRUCIAL to your mental and physical well being, in addition to keeping your immune system strong.

2) Be kind to your digestion and it will reward you with efficient metabolism.

Be careful not to consume food and drinks that are too cold- ie: ice water, ice cream.  Introducing cold temperatures into the body makes your digestive system strain, resulting in digestive upset and a weakened ability to process foods.  The easier you make things on your digestive organs, the more efficiently they work!

3) Balance!

Chinese Medicine examines all elements of the whole and EACH ONE must be in relative balance with the others in order for there to be health and happiness.  That means it is ESSENTIAL that you laugh, play and spend time with the people you love as much as you work, produce and achieve.  If any one aspect of your life starts to dominate, ALL aspects will eventually fail.  Go ahead- see that movie you’ve been thinking about- you will be more productive tomorrow as a result!

If you have not had acupuncture yet, make an appointment with someone in your area now!

3 Simple Tips to Keep Your Brain Sharp

and Your Clock Ticking!

1) Remember the cave man

Next time you sit down at the computer for an all night Facebook marathon, keep in mind that this isn’t what we were evolved to do.  Get some sun, sleep at night, eat traditionally prepared foods, and remember your homo sapien heritage.

2) Keep your clock ticking

Don’t get into the habit of sitting down to do mind-numbing activities like watching TV, grazing on snack food, and vegging out on the computer.  Keep your brain sharp, give yourself a chance to grow intellectually, and develop reasoned opinions by educating yourself effectively.

3) Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em

I’m not talking about cigarettes here.  Achieving good health shouldn’t be an inconvenience and you shouldn’t always have to go out of your way.  Start with what you have and go with the opportunities that present themselves. Don’t plan to do everything at once; just roll with what you’ve got and establish good habits as you go.

Sam has a new and refreshing take on nutrition for optimal health, check out his blog: http://newfoodview.com/

 4 Steps to Answer the K.A.W.L. and

Live the Life You are Meant to Have

Deep down inside, I honestly think everyone wants to live a healthier, longer life. I truly believe no one “wants” to be sick, tired all of the time, or is looking forward to spending most of their adult years, at the mercy of a constant barrage of various types of medication.

Face it, there is a fine line between “wanting to be healthier” and actually, “knowing” the actual steps you need to take to be healthier. There is a lot of confusing information out there, and knowing what works for you can be even more confusing. However, I have listed 4 steps you can do, right now, in order to start taking control of your health.

It’s as simple as “Answering The K.A.W.L.”

1. KNOW what you want to achieve:

Look, dudes and dudettes, you have to be “dead on” when it comes to knowing what you want to achieve with your new fitness program. Simply stating, “I need to join a gym or get a trainer, because I need to lose weight,” just won’t cut it!. That’s not specific enough, and it’s so general, that it leaves a lot of room for error, confusion, frustration, lack of motivation, and ultimately you’ll quit.

You have get down and dirty with the details of “why” you need to make a lifestyle change. Reasons such as, “I don’t want to die from heart disease in my 40’s, like most of the men in my family did, especially since I am already 36.” or “I want to able to stop taking all of these different meds, everyday. I’m poppin’ more pills, than a hippie during Woodstock!” are a good start.
Take the time to really think about, what being healthier truly means to you, and why.

2. ACKNOWLEDGE the process:

Oh, it won’t be easy. Making major changes, never are.  Understand that, when it’s time for change, it’s also time for sacrifice.
Whether, you have to eliminate the eating habits that have kept your body bound to a lifestyle of inactivity, pain, and illness, to spending less time with those who do not share, nor support your goals. In order to do better than you have been doing, you have to stop doing what you already did. Point blank!

3. WRITE it down:

Now that you have acknowledged the process for getting on the right track toward a healthier lifestyle, write it down! Review it as soon as you wake up, as well as, right before you go to bed.  Start your days off with your “purpose” in mind. End your day, by setting the tone for your subconscious thoughts to focus on your goals, even during slumber. This is a real testament that your THOUGHTS become THINGS.

That being said, you definitely want those thoughts to be the “right” thoughts. Therefore, the more you focus on the changes you will do, in order to live a healthier life, the more every decision you make, from that point, will lead you to where you want to be. If living a healthier life is what you mostly focus on, then, living a healthier life is what you will get.

4. LIVE out your plans, by taking action:

Keeping all of those motivating ideas trapped inside your noggin or on paper, is not going to do you any good. You now know what you need to do, to make things happen. Now “do it!” Don’t let the fear of failing stand in your way. There is no such thing, as a mistake. Every action your take, whether good or bad, successful or unsuccessful, misdirected or on point, is always on “purpose.”

Thus, live every moment, as one step closer to being the healthiest and fittest moment of your life.
Be conscious of every decision you make, including planning your day, the foods that pass your lips, the amount of water you drink, the way you handle stress, the opportunities to relax, laugh, play, smile, love, and be grateful for each day you get to enjoy these new opportunities. Starting today, live your life “On Purpose.”

There you have it. I don’t think I asked for much, as well, as I did not make it too complicated. Now, you don’t have to wait for a special occasion, a vacation, your doctor’s advice, or next New Years Day, to make the decision to start living a healthier, happier lifestyle. Take the time today to “Answer the K.A.W.L.,” as I pointed out above, and you will be well on your way to living the healthiest life you were meant to have.

Sincere Hogan “The People’s Fit Coach” has a radio show and a great blog at http://sincerehogan.com

3 Tips on How to be True to Yourself and Rise to the Top

from the Original Fitness Diva

1. Trust your own instincts.

No one knows whats best for you BUT you. Take your own advice, and never doubt your decisions.

2. Do what makes you happy.

As we’ve just seen, no matter how hard people try, they don’t have an ‘IN’. Money doesn’t make you better, or IMMUNE to life. Everyone loses at some point, and, in reality no one is ACTUALLY better than anyone else. The difference… especially right now, is whether or not you’re happy with the person you’ve chosen to be. If not…be the person you WANT to be, not the person you were told you SHOULD be. It’s never to late to change things for the better. Sometimes, less is more, and less is better.

3. Don’t give a damn what anyone says or thinks about you.

Cream always rises to the top, and excellence finds it’s way into the light. Showing up with pure intent breeds excellence. Intent can’t be copied, ignored, or changed. Intent tells the universe what you want. Other people never matter when you have pure intent. Use your intent wisely.

Terri Walsh is a full time fitness expert and DJ extraordinaire. Check out her site at http:www.nycprivategym.com

3 Tips to Crank Up Your Metabolism and

Live the Fitness Life from a Former Fat Guy

1) Drink more water.

My primary coaching lesson for all my clients is to increase their water intake. Water plays a critical role in so many processes in the body and we simply don’t pay enough respect to that fact.  Water is our life – the better our water, the better our life.  I only recommend distilled water for consumption.

2) Exercise.

Train your largest muscle groups first – The largest muscle groups of the body are the legs, back and chest. By working the largest muscle groups, primarily, you end up putting a larger demand on your body for energy and nutrition. You burn fat twice, first when you’re actually training and secondly when your body is busy rebuilding the muscles.  The little muscles get worked as a side effect of working the larger muscles.  If you only have a limited amount of time, focus on the big three and that’s it.

Work as many muscle groups as possible in each training session: Stimulate as much muscle fiber as possible in each training session. Bodybuilders often train one body part per workout such as chest one day, back one day, legs on another, finishing with shoulders and arms on the last day.

For fat loss purposes, working the legs, back and chest all on the same day, during an intense 20 minute or 45 minute workout, more muscle fibers are stimulated resulting in a greater “after burn”. More stimulation = more fat lost.

Use supersets to get more work done in the same amount of time – A superset is doing back to back exercises like bench press supersetted with lat pull downs, or squats supersetted with lunges.  By doing supersets, you perform more work in the same amount of time and increase intensity of your workouts.

3) Eat breakfast, always.

Eating breakfast increases metabolism earlier on in the day, reduces cravings for
unhealthy foods, and reduces food intake overall over the course of the day.  Studies have shown that those who eat breakfast every day are more likely to reach their body composition goals and keep themselves there year round as opposed to those who dont.

Check out Rob’s blog http://www.formerfatguyblog.com

3 Tips to Blast the Fat from

the Land Down Under

Daniel Munday is my mate from Australia. And no, he doesnt eat vegemite sandwhiches, he eats real food and avoids the crap that makes people fat.

1) Cut out as much processed food from your diet as possible

Wheat is the silent killer to your fat loss mission.

2) You can’t out-train a bad diet!

3) Most of the info you have been told by nutritionists/doctors/personal trainers about training for fat loss
is wrong

Do the opposite of everyone else in the gym and you are sure to achieve the body that you deserve.

Get more Aussie fat loss secrets at http://www.danielmunday.com/

4 Tips for New Mothers Who Want

a Cutey Booty and Pre-Baby Body

1. Drink 1 liter of water per 50lbs of bodyweight each day.

You will be amazed at how much better you feel if you drink enough water.

2. Make sure you eat either a fruit, veggie or both at each meal.

Yumm…fill up on fiber and get some vitamins too, cant go wrong here…(fruit DOESN’T make you fat!!!)

3. Wear your best purfume, colonge ect. EVERYDAY! 

You will feel like a million bucks everyday.

4. Make a list every night of things you want to get done the next day.

Then DO IT! Feels awesome to check stuff off your list! This also creates a snowball effect in your life.

Carmel gets my vote for fitness hottie of the year. You gotta see the amazing photos of her own transformation at www.HotMamaFatLoss.com.

Please tell me which of these are your favorite tips so I know what y’all want to see…and also somy friends can see that their work is appreciated.

Also, please add in any you would like to share in the comments section below…

Talk soon

Antonio

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As I was heading into the uptown F train this morning, I grabbed one of those free papers that are being handed out…

If you know me, you know this is RARE.

But there was a cover story that caught my eye.

Today’s Metro NY paper has a story on how reality TV (which, by the way, is not real at all) erode
women’s confidence and body image.

The first thing I thought to myself was: ‘Is this news?”

Is this like the ‘reports’ that come out saying children who play video games have poor communication and social skills?

Isn’t this stuff obvious?
Do people really not know this?

Now I can understand the recent news exposing the hidden amphetamines in fat burners and diet drinks – that’s shocking news for many people.

But reality TV? Come on.
Does anyone think that these shows are actually real?
The recent USC study that prompted this story brought up some interesting facts. According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery:

• The number of 18-year-olds who underwent breast-implant surgery nearly tripled from 2002 to 2003.
• There has been a 444% increase in plastic surgery since 1997.
• Over 90% of all plastic surgery is performed on women.
• Americans spent approximately $12.4 billion on cosmetic procedures in 2006.

The findings suggested that women felt a surgically enhanced body was more attractive to men,
…but do you know what men think about it???

To find out what men really think and simple steps to avoiding low self esteem, drugs or surgery….

Professor Julie Albright of the University of Southern California who interviewed college students for this study says at the very least, these shows act as an advertisement for the plastic surgery industry. At the most these shows impose unrealistic beauty standards that make people question their own bodies while giving them an instruction manual on how to change their appearance

I can’t agree with her more.

Now I have a much more affordable way to change your appearance so you look and feel AWESOME
And it’s GUARANTEED to enhance your self esteem that no amount of plastic surgery will ever be able to do

And it works every single time

Did you see my latest posts on my blog about how NY women stay thin?

All of those women are healthy, vital, energetic and lean
They don’t diet… they don’t take fat burners…they don’t use drugs and they don’t do anything extreme
They don’t watch reality TV shows and don’t get plastic surgery to enhance their self esteem
There is nothing plastic about any of them – this is New York

…and healthy, fit NYC women are the real deal

If you want to know how to lose weight, reduce body fat, get a flat belly and toned arms, lean athletic body and have an abundance of energy — simply focus on the basics and turn your focus away from the media

The media is always trying to sell you something that will NEVER come

There is no ‘next best thing’ that’s going to come out and save your ass from a crappy diet
The media is always trying to string you along with some new gadget, novelty or ‘next best thing’
It’s a lie

If you STOP doing the things that make you fat in the first place, you wont need surgery

If you love yourself for who you are – with all your good and bad qualities, you will become the one you’d
love and wont have a need for surgery

Here are my top tips for enhancing self esteem, uncovering your true self and crafting a killer body without diets, drugs or surgery…

1) First, throw your weekly tabloid magazines in the fireplace where they belong – this includes US Weekly, People, Globe, Star, National Enquirer, Life and Style Weekly, In Touch, OK and MOST women’s fitness magazines and reality TV shows

You know, the ones that are at the check out at your grocery store, drug store or gas station

And no, I am not being overly harsh or judgmental…these magazines, much like ‘reality’ TV shows set up unrealistic expectations and promote an anorexic standard of ‘beauty’

They highlight celebrities’ drug and alcohol addictions, diet failures and occasional diet success

If you want to be healthy, lean and fabulous, you can’t focus on failure, struggle and addiction
You have to focus on success, health, vitality and living an awesome life

2) Find blogs and books that will inspire, educate and empower you with the right information
They have stories from successful people that have real world tips to teach you how to do the same

I am creating a ‘my favorite blogs’ column and will have it up later this week so you can check out some blogs that I read regularly

Also, when you hear about a celebrity’s diet success, you can easily fall into the trap that ‘what she did is what I should do.’
This leads to unrealistic expectations and frustration because you are way too unique to follow someone else plan

To be successful, you have to discover what works best for YOU
You are unique and what works for someone else may be a total disaster for you and may do nothing for a third person

Follow my blog and I will make the process easy for you….

3) Get clear on what you watch and how you spend your time on TV

The only shows I watch are educational, inspirational, music and sports
I love Discovery channel, great films, and biographies
I do watch Man vs Wild once in awhile and boy do I love that show! That show is exciting and is not designed to teach me how to suppress my self esteem issues or offer a false sense of security by covering up an irresponsible diet and lifestyle

No, I don’t watch the news or reality TV shows

Reality shows are scripted
They promote an anorexic standard of beauty and a plastic facade of ‘perfection’ which doesn’t exist anywhere – EXCEPT ON TV

The study which was recently published in Configurations Journal from Johns Hopkins University Press, confirms what I have observed for 15 years — the more women watch these shows the more they feel anxiety about their bodies.

4) Find out what inspires you the most and radically reduce your time on the TV

When you do watch TV, make sure you watch something that leaves you feeling GOOD
Watching shows that regularly show children being raped, family betrayal, fighting, stealing and murder may be very popular, but is not conducive for health, wealth, happiness or a lean, vibrant body.

You know what shows I’m talking about: CSI, NYPD Blue, Law and Order, and the thirteen other shows that are exactly the same just with a different titles

It’s not healthy to watch other humans being suffer or get killed
These shows and the news produce an adrenaline & cortisol (stress hormone) response
Cortisol makes you fat and tired
Especially at night time when you should be winding down and getting ready for sleep

What shows can you watch that inspire you and encourage your personal, professional or spiritual growth?

I can tell you that all of my male friends feel the same way about women…and the women I know feelthe same way about men

Reality TV shows and magazines are lying to you about these simple truths….

Women who love themselves – regardless of how they look – are much more attractive than women who stress about their appearance and go on and off diets and get surgery to cover up a low self esteem issue

Men who are confident, not cocky…are much more attractive to women – regardless of how they look

Men and women who exercise, make intelligent choices about what they eat and take responsibility about their health and overall lives, love what they do and do what they love – LOOK and FEEL awesome, regardless of what their current weight or body fat percentage is…

That is WAY more attractive to the opposite sex, despite what any media induced, false standard of beauty or any wack ‘reality’ show will ever be able to convince me of…

5) If you want to enhance your self esteem, simply love yourself NOW for who you are.
And you will become the one you’d love a lot sooner…

So what do men think about women who get plastic surgery in this study?

According to the findings of this study, women felt a surgically enhanced body was more attractive to men, though men in the study disagreed.

If you want a lean beautiful body…stop doing the things that create a fat, sluggish body

And no, you don’t have to be skinny to be healthy or beautiful

Just be yourself first and foremost

Then eat right, exercise a little bit, get to bed on time and don’t watch a lot of TV the fat naturally comes off

Its a simple formula that works every single time

I have some great posts coming up from my friends, clients and colleagues (male and female) who will offer their best tips on how to live a healthy and inspired life without drugs, diets or surgery

Oh, and if you feel I dissed one your magazines or favorite TV shows, good.
That means there is some truth to what I said…

Do you have something to say about self esteem or plastic surgery or reality TV?

Do you have a favorite blog you want me to check out and consider for my ‘favorites’….

Please comment below…

To see more about this study, check out Science Daily

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Here is a fast and east broccoli recipe that is ultra delicious, super easy to make, nutrient dense, makes enough for 2-3 meals and will help you improve your HEALTH, VITALITY and BURN FAT….

All ingredients are organic and both butter and cream are from grass fed cows..and NO, eating FAT does not make you FAT

Broccoli Souffle

3 large stalks broccoli, steamed and cut up into many small pieces

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 stick butter

1 tbs Celtic Sea Salt

1 tbs pepper

1 tbs garlic

Rinse and steam broccoli, including stems and heads

Place in blender and puree until smooth – may need to add a little water to get it going

If you do this right away after steaming, it should be warm enough when done…but if not, you can melt the butter in a pot while blending and place the puree in it to warm it up.

DO NOT cook this, but gently warm it up.

This quick, easy, creative and delicious way to get more veggies in came from culinary artist and co-author of the Healthy Urban Kitchen Cookbook Jaime Larose.

She whipped this up in just a few minutes. It makes enough for 2-3 meals so you can store whatever is left over in a glass or stainless steel container in the fridge and use it for the next 2-3 lunch or dinners to compliment your protein entree.

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Carie is my most successful pre/post natal client who trained consistently throughout her entire pregnancy. Within a few short weeks of delivering her beautiful baby boy, Carie easily lost the weight and got her lean, sexy body back in no time. Here are her best tips:

1.  Get healthy fats like grass fed butter, eggs and beef back into your body…..you need to nourish your body and brain to have a healthy physical, mental & emotional outlook

2. Get rid of SUGAR!!

3. Walk daily… move your body at least three times a week…anything except a cardio machine

4. Get adequate sleep..which means go to sleep by 10pm most nights..

Introducing Nicole…check out those arms! Nicole’s best tips include…

1. Understanding my values and maintaining a healthy relationship between my mind, body and soul.

Erin Jo is one of the most talented singer, songwriters and most versatile musicians I have ever been blessed to know. She was actually my neighbor so I can tell you that she is also a fabulous chef…

Real world advice from healthy, vibrant women who get results and none of them mentioned ‘dieting’ or Mona Vie or Acai cleanse or any other gimmick.

In order to lose belly fat, flatten your abs, develop a lean toned, sexy body…you need to focus on the BASICS and get healthy FIRST. Everything else is easy.

Antonio

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