From Flabs to Abs in 5 Simple Steps

The elusive washboard stomach. Everyone wants it but almost no one has it. In a world where 50% of the people in a gym are performing some type of crunch or other ab exercise at any given moment, why is a strong, toned stomach so hard to achieve? The answer is pretty simple: There is no such thing as spot reduction in exercise. If you are making certain foundational mistakes in your nutrition and exercise programs, your body won’t shed the fat necessary to reveal the toned, tight stomach muscles you’re after (regardless of how many crunches you do). So here you have it, my five easy tips for transforming your flabs to abs this winter:

1. Use Big Bang Exercises: If you want a flat stomach, focus on big, high energy movements such as squats, dead lifts, cable pulls and various Swiss ball exercises instead of smaller, isolated movements. Because these big bang exercises recruit multiple muscle groups at once, they burn significantly more calories than a standing bicep curl or any exercise that requires you to sit on a machine. Although it might not look like it to an outsider, that single arm overhead split squat you're doing is actually an ab exercise.

2. Blast The Abs Hard At The End: Make sure you end (not begin) your workout with isolated ab exercises. Why? For starters, the abdominals are very important stabilizers in the body. If you exhaust them at the beginning of a workout, your chance of injury (specifically to your lower back) increases drastically. So, once you reach the END of your workout, blast your abs hard. The reason is simple: Because the rectus abdominis muscle (the one that creates the six pack effect) is composed predominately of fast twitch muscle fibers, it responds to high intensity (aka load) and high speed movements. In other words, doing 100 bodyweight crunches is a complete waste of time when it comes to creating a strong, lean mid-section. Instead, try a Swiss ball crunch (roughly 12 reps) with a weight on your chest, kneeling cable wood chops or a cable rope crunch if you want to effectively condition and tone your abs.

3. Detox The Right Way: You must eat organic food if you want to see a flat, toned stomach. Because toxins are stored in fat, to the degree that you eat non- organic, chemically treated, antibiotic and hormone fed foods, your body fat will increase. Toxins are transported to your liver when you bring in more toxic chemicals from your environment than your body can handle. As a protective mechanism, the body then stores the toxins in body fat to keep it away from your vital organs. In this way, if you are poisoning your liver, regardless of how hard you train, you will have a very challenging time reducing the body fat around your mid-section.

4. Stay Hydrated: Your body depends on water for almost every chemical reaction it undergoes. When you don’t drink enough, your body starts to store water in your tissue, making you look puffy and heavier than you actually are. So in order to avoid excess bloating, drink ½ your body weight in ounces of clean water daily. Tea, juice, coffee and other non-water drinks do not count! They actually dehydrate you or act as food in the body.

5. Cut Out The Grains: Your abs are what you eat. If you’ve been training hard but still have a layer of mush over your abs, there’s a very good chance that the problem lies in your diet. The easiest way to turn your flabs to abs is to cut out grains. Remember: the human digestive machinery was not designed to process grains. As a result, wheat, oats and even quinoa have all been proven to irritate the gut wall, causing inflammation (aka the dreaded pooch belly). So if you’re serious about leaning out your stomach, replace the grains at each meal with dark, leafy vegetables (which pack way more nutrients and health benefits per calorie).

Remember that the body is a system of systems. You can’t simply train one part of your body and expect it to look and function in a healthy way if you aren’t a healthy person! Stick to the foundational principles (eat only organic, drink enough water) and train the abs intelligently if you really want those washboard abs.

Three Easy Recipes to Get More (and different!) Veggies in Your Life

Your parents were right: you need to eat more vegetables. These proven disease fighters are packed with essential phytonutrients and antioxidants that will help improve the way you look, feel and function. Not only do they give you natural energy, vegetables also reduce your sugar cravings, help you lose weight, strengthen your bones, improve your eyesight, reduce your chances of heart disease and cancer and even add a healthy glow to your skin, hair and nails.

I know what you’re thinking. Wow, vegetables sound so great! How can I convince myself (and my family) to eat more of them? First start by trying out some new veggies. Because nutrient variety is the spice of a healthy life, challenge yourself to buy 5 different vegetables the next time you go to the grocery store or farmers’ market. Then try a new recipe (like the ones below) to heighten their natural flavors.

Stir-Fried Bok Choy with Garlic*: Did you know that bok choy is one of the most nutrient dense foods you can eat? It’s a great source of antioxidants and is extremely high in Vitamin C, making it an instant immune-booster.

Ingredients: 1 Bunch of Bok Choy, 3 Cloves of Garlic, Sea Salt, Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Directions: Separate and clean the bok choy and cut it into 2 inch sections. Finely mince the garlic. In a wok or frying pan, sauté the garlic in olive oil over medium heat. Once the garlic has softened, add the bok choy and toss until it is crisp-tender (about 1-2 minutes). Season with sea salt and pepper to taste.

Sautéed Swiss Chard with Lemon and Hot Pepper*: One of the world’s healthiest vegetables, Swiss chard has recently been proven to help regulate blood sugar and promote detoxification within the body.

Ingredients: Swiss Chard, 1 Lemon, Red Pepper Flakes, Sea Salt, Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Directions: Stem the chard, wash and drain the leaves and cut them into a rough chiffonade. Sauté them in olive oil for about five minutes, until the leaves are wilted and tender. Remove the cover and cook away the excess moisture. Season the chard at the last minute with a pinch of red pepper flakes, salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice to taste.


Sautéed Broccoli and Anchovies*: This recipe is especially great for any of you who are looking to get a little extra anti-inflammatory omega-3 into your diet.

Ingredients: Olive oil, 1 Yellow Onion, 1 Clove of Garlic, 2 Olive Oil-Packed Anchovy Fillets (chopped and mashed), Broccoli, Sea Salt, Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Directions: In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and anchovies and cook, stirring often, until the onion is soft and lightly browned. Add the broccoli and toss well to mix with the onion and oil. Cover and cook until the broccoli is tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

*Recipes taken from Alice Waters' Chez Panisse Vegetables and The San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market Cookbook.

Holistic Fitness Featured in Woman's Day

How much cardio is really good for you? Check out my thoughts on the best way to burn body fat in Woman's Day.

http://www.womansday.com/Articles/Health-Fitness/9-Habits-That-Can-Do-More-Harm-Than-Good.html

Thomas Keller Goes Gluten-Free

Check out this article on the popularity of gluten-free requests turning even Thomas Keller into a gluten-free aficionado. Also, who knew that Tartine Bakery's leading lady was gluten intolerant? Check out the second link for her gluten-free pancake recipe.

If you're going to treat yourself, you might as well put a gluten-free Michelin star (or two) on it!

http://www.tastingtable.com/entry_detail/national/5242

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904875404576531013046555754.html

Add This to Your Food to Burn More Fat

Cinnamon!

Studies show that cinnamon speeds up your metabolism and helps to lower your overall body fat. It’s pretty simple: if you eat too much sugar (even in the form of grains) your body will store it as fat. Cinnamon has been proven to slow down the rate at which your stomach empties after you eat, lessening the impact of the meal on your system and helping to regulate your blood sugar levels.

Because of this, cinnamon is very useful for people with type 2 diabetes. In a study published in the December 2003 issue of Diabetes Care, in humans with type 2 diabetes, consuming as little as 1 gram of cinnamon per day was found to reduce not only blood sugar but the levels of total cholesterol and triglycerides as well.

Additionally, cinnamon is highly anti-microbial and has been proven to stop the growth of bacteria and fungus (such as candida) in the gut. Why is this important? Because your health starts in your stomach! 70% of your immune system is in your gut so a healthier gut literally leads to a healthier you. Because candida thrives off of sugar, managing a candida overgrowth helps reduce sugar cravings, strengthens the immune system and decreases overall stress levels within the body. As we all know, less sugar and less stress equals less pounds on the scale.

So if you’re looking for an extra fat burning boost, add a little cinnamon into your diet. But, as we (hopefully) all realize, putting some cinnamon on a doughnut doesn’t make it a healthy snack. If you’re serious about managing your blood sugar levels and leaning down, weight train three times per week, make breakfast your biggest meal and eat real food when you’re hungry.

Three Superfoods That Burn Fat

With summer upon us, everyone wants to tone up and lean down for the beach. Unfortunately, most people looking to lose weight revert to eating less and/or skipping meals. According to Mary Enig in "Eat Fat, Lose Fat" and Debra Waterhouse in "Outsmarting the Female Fat Cell," depriving your body of healthy fats is the quickest way to pile on the pounds. So if you’re serious about decreasing your body fat, manage your stress, get to bed early, train smarter not harder, and keep your metabolism revved up with these three superfoods.

High Quality Beef Jerky: It’s pretty simple: the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. And to create muscle, you need high quality protein in your diet. In addition to helping you lean out, Loren Cordaine, author of the Paleolithic Diet, says that “protein boosts your metabolism and causes you to lose weight more rapidly than the same caloric amounts of fat or carbohydrate.” In other words, when given proteins, carbohydrates and fats, the body expends the most energy to break down proteins. So just by eating high-quality proteins, you rev up your metabolism and burn through body fat. While most people think of chips or crackers (aka sugars) when they think of a snack, organic beef jerky is a nutrient-dense, easy and satiating food that not only burns fat but also increases mental acuity and overall energy levels.

Avocado: You need healthy fat in your diet in order to lose fat. All of you who are still eating egg whites, this one’s for you. When trying to shed a few extra pounds, remember that you need to create a feast, not a famine. So if you’re hungry an hour after you ate a meal, you most likely did not eat enough healthy fat in that meal. And if you starve yourself of fat, you inadvertently signal your body to create more fat. The solution? Add avocados into the mix. Avocados are loaded with heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, which have been proven to help people lose weight. And because avocado is such a versatile food, it’s easy to add to your eggs at breakfast and to your salads and proteins at lunch and dinner to create a more satiating meal.

Coca Chia Bars: I’m not a fan of most food bars, but the quickest way to start losing weight is to keep your blood sugar levels stable. If you’re going out for a day of golf or know you have a long flight ahead of you, pack a high-quality food bar to ensure that you don’t go too long without eating. When looking for a healthy bar, the less ingredients, the better. My favorite is the Coca Chia Bar (available through LivingFuel). It’s made of only whole foods, is gluten and dairy free, minimally processed, and contains coconut, which boosts your thyroid, supports your immune system and has been proven to promote weight loss. One bar fills you up and helps you power through between meals without crashing.

Remember: you don’t have to deprive yourself to lose weight. By eating high-quality proteins and fats (and eating them regularly) you’ll not only look better, but you’ll feel better in the process.

Three Easy Ways to Curb Your Sugar Cravings

We all know the feeling. It’s mid-afternoon and all you can think about is the batch of cupcakes your coworker brought in in an attempt to derail your recent gluten-free commitment (or okay, maybe she really did make them for someone’s birthday). Or you’ve just finished eating dinner and all you think about is that chocolate bar waiting for you in your cabinet. You know if you cave and eat the sugar, the wave of fatigue and lethargy will come over you. Your head will start to hurt, you’ll have no energy for your evening workout and even worse, you’ll feel that familiar regret that comes with veering off track. So what can you do the next time you crave sugar?

Eat fat. The quickest way to curb a sugar craving the second it starts is to eat a food that’s rich in high-quality fats. So whether it’s organic goat cheese, walnut butter on green apple slices or Prather Ranch grass-fed beef jerky, eating a snack that’s high in good fats will instantly cut your body’s desire for sugar. In the same way, when you go out to eat, get in the habit of choosing cheese (goat and sheep are the easiest to digest) off the dessert menu instead of a dessert that’s filled with sugar. Not only will you feel more satiated (how many times have you gone home after a dinner out and still felt hungry?) but you will also sleep better than you would if you had selected a more traditional dessert.

Get to the gut of it. Are you having sugar cravings all of the time? Do you feel like after every meal you “need” something sweet? The problem might be in your gut. Because some of the most common parasites live on sugar, they commonly trick your body into thinking that you want something sweet to eat. By cleaning up your gut, you can make your body an undesirable environment for these pesky little creatures and help eliminate these cravings for good. Certain supplements, such as a high-quality probiotic (which restores gut balance) or the amino acid l-glutamine (which can help repair the gut wall) both have the long-term effect of reducing the body’s “need” for sugar.

Take a walk. Or if you can’t, give yourself a few minutes. Instead of eating impulsively, think about the consequences that come with eating something sugary. Is it really worth it? Is it going to hijack your energy if you cave in? Is there a healthy alternative that you could eat instead that would satiate the craving? Sometimes just taking a few minutes to think about a craving is enough to make it go away. I’m a huge fan of Whole 9’s Guide To Nutritional Off-Roading. As they point out, who doesn't love a good flowchart?

Remember, avoiding sugar is not just about staying lean. I know plenty of people in the fitness world who claim they can eat whatever they want because they workout so hard that it doesn’t matter. Don’t be fooled by the look good/feel terrible people out there. Exercise and diet trends will come and go. But if your goal is strength, health, mental acuity, avoiding cancer and diabetes and other larger endeavors, you won’t experience the highs and lows and aches and pains so many people out there endure. So think big (and stay small).