Tips To Looking Ageless

Society is obsessed by youth and I think it’s highly overrated.  I’ve noticed that as we get older, some people will go to great lengths to try and hide their age, especially women.  In my opinion, age is defined by your spirit and not by the date on your driver’s license. 

No matter what my age, I’ll always be young at heart.  I don’t follow the trend telling me what I should look or dress like for my age.  If anything, I break just about every rule.  I don’t hide my age, but rather surprise people by looking younger because I stay fit and eat healthy.  With each year passing, I gain more wisdom, knowledge and success.  And I would never trade that for anything.

I’m not embarrassed telling anyone that I’m 38 years old.  I’m often asked how do I keep looking so young.  I stay young by being active and choosing healthier food.  I exercise any chance I get.  I would rather spend 2 hours at the gym than at a beauty or nail salon because being fit will make me look and feel naturally young and beautiful. 

I take pride being an all natural trainer and woman.  I would never have plastic surgery to look better nor would I ever inject Botox to make myself look young.  I embrace the wrinkles I have because it tells people that I’ve lived a full life. 

Besides being fit, having a nice complexion is the key to looking youthful.  There are foods that you can eat that are good for your skin to prevent cell structure damage that can lead to wrinkles, fine lines and loss of firmness.  I recommend half a cup of blueberries daily, as it will help smooth fine lines.  One of my favorite vegetables that also help me look younger is spinach.  Spinach contains beta-carotene and lutein nutrients that have been proven to improve elasticity to help firm your skin.  I suggest that you serve yourself three cups per week.

Just because you’re older doesn’t mean you should let yourself go.  I wake up everyday finding ways to challenge myself, mentally and physically.  Look youthful by eating the right food and staying active!

Overcoming Your Weaknesses

The one thing that builds your character the most is having the ability to overcome your weaknesses.  Everybody has qualities of all sorts, both strengths and weaknesses.  Only you know what they are.  Some people choose to shy away at the things they are not great at because they’re afraid to fail.  You only fail if you don’t try.  If you do it enough and work hard at anything, you will succeed.  You can turn your weakness into your strongest quality.

Doing things that you are great at may be enjoyable but you must challenge yourself by working on your weaknesses.  I choose to work on my weakness to challenge myself until that weakness becomes one my strongest qualities. 

Growing up, I watched my mom deal with the difficulty of having asthma and other health issues.  My mom was overweight and did very little exercise.  She often had to fight to catch her breath when she was just walking.  Lucky for me, I am the only one in the family who inherited asthma from my mom.  As a child, I knew I didn’t want to be unhealthy like her. 

I developed my own eating habits and exercise routine.  I didn’t make excuses for myself for not having perfect lungs and I make sure to stay active and jog often.  I jogged everyday to build up my endurance and my breathing.  Up to this day, I have no problem running 4 miles daily even with asthma.  However, if you’re just starting out, be sure to consult your physician before any new exercise program.

Don’t limit or make excuses for yourself.  Whatever your weaknesses are, you’ve got to fight to improve yourself.  It may not be easy but it’ll make you stronger and better.  I’m constantly trying to improve myself and I can never learn too much.  It doesn’t matter how long it takes, life is an evolution and I believe that we can always be better.  I’m truly confident that you can do anything if you put your mind into it.  I challenge you to challenge yourself by overcoming your weaknesses – mentally and physically.

Liquid Diets

Question from P.N. – “I am thinking of going on a liquid diet for a week to jump-start my weight loss program. What's your take on a liquid diet?”

It’s great to want to jump-start your weight loss plan.  However, there are advantages as well as disadvantage with liquid diets.  In my opinion, it’s fine to replace 1 meal a day with an all-natural fruit/vegetable juice or a smoothie.  But it has to be the kind you put in the blender or juicer and not the kind of juice you buy in the store.  You have to be careful, many fruit drinks are labeled “healthy” but there is fructose in a lot of them.

I’m not a big fan of supplements but a protein powder or shake can be another alternative if you want to replace a meal.

Although liquid diets will result in a faster weight loss, my main concern is protein deficiency.  Liquid diets are also less than 1000 calories per day, which will slow down your metabolism to conserve energy.  In turn, you will gain the weight back quickly when you’re off your liquid diet.

I don’t recommend a temporary full on liquid diet (3 or 4 times a day).  However, there’s nothing wrong with replacing 1 meal a day with liquids and eat 2 regular healthy meals.  You may not lose the weight as fast but your weight loss will be consistent and safe.  I don’t recommend any diets that I consider a temporary fix, it must to be a lifestyle change.

If you want to try a full week of liquid diet, please be aware of the nutritional content and it’s always best to be supervised by a physician to be safe.

A Nutritional Plan That Will Help Break Through Your Fitness Plateau

Question from C.R. – “What are you eating? Do you have a set meal plan? I'm down 45 pounds, but hitting a plateau.”

Reaching a plateau can be frustrating especially if you have been doing so well trying to lose weight.  Your body goes through a lot of changes when you lose weight.  Therefore, when you reach a plateau, you need a new routine.  Change your diet or exercise routine, maybe both.

I personally don’t have a set meal plan.  I’m very active and burn a lot of calories throughout the day and find myself eating more to maintain my weight.  I’m not complaining, it’s a good problem to have.  Although I can eat anything I desire, I tend to eat fairly healthy and control my meal portions.  Your body is like a sports car, you have to give it the right fuel for the best performance.  Food is 80% responsible for your weight loss or gain.

I recommend following the menu below until you’ve reached your goal.  When you have reached your goal, then you can eat whatever you like but keep in mind the amount of calories you’re eating along with exercise.  The logic of losing weight is plain and simple.  Don’t consume more calories than you can burn off.  Until you are able to learn how to control your weight pound by pound, stick with this low calorie menu below.

BREAKFAST

Pick one main dish:

1) 2-4 egg whites

2) 1-2 eggs

3) Egg beater veggie omelet

5) Oatmeal mixed w/berries (instead of using any sugar)

Pick one side dish:

1) Rice cake

2) Low calorie wheat toast

3) Whole wheat English muffin

4) ½ Bagel

LUNCH & DINNER

Pick one main dish:

1) 6-8 oz. broiled/grilled fish

2) 6-8 oz. broiled/grilled skinless chicken breast

3) 6-8 oz. turkey breast

4) Tofu

5) Salad w/fat free vinaigrette dressing

Pick one side dish:

1) Vegetable dish

2) Dry baked potatoes or yam

3) Rice

OTHERS

Drinks:

1) Water

2) All natural fruit juice (with no corn syrup or fructose)

3) Coffee black or with non-fat milk

4) Green tea

Snacks (small portion):

1) Fruits

2) Popsicle (Use all natural juice and make your own)

3) Yogurt (non-fat)

4) Beef jerky (all natural)

5) Nuts

Meal Substitutes:

1) 8-10oz. of non-fat cottage cheese

2) Fruit smoothie (made with all natural fruit, w/non fat yogurt, fruit juice with no corn syrup or fructose)

Only use this weight loss menu as a guideline.  This weight loss menu contains approximately 1500 calories.  I also recommend drinking 8 glasses of water a day. 

If you reach a plateau, give my weight loss menu a try.  Otherwise, cut your meal portions or perhaps change your work out routine by doing more cardio exercises.  I promise combining with exercise, this menu will work! 

Increase Your metabolism With Green Tea

Wondering how you’re going to keep the weight off this holiday season?  Instead of reaching for the coffee pot in the morning, replace it with green tea.  Green tea has many benefits and one important function is that it can help you loss weight. 

Research has shown that green tea helps to reduce weight by stimulating the body's thermogenesis process, which raises your energy level in turn boost your metabolism making you burn more calories.  Catechin antioxidants in green tea reduce your body fat and help control obesity.

I don’t suggest drinking green tea alone for your weight loss.  You still need to eat healthy and exercise.  If you’re concerned about the taste, there are several delicious flavors such as pomegranate or you could just add a bit of honey.  There are many significant benefits with green tea.  You literally can’t go wrong and it’s a nice way to start your day!