Time to Work It, Work It, Work It!

Hup 2, 3, 4. And again. Bend, stretch, reach...go! Go! GO! Yes, that is the way I thought an exercise boot camp would be like.  But I was wrong.  At least when it comes to Valerie Orsoni. Entrepreneur. Cancer survivor. World-renowned trainer. Best-selling author. Celebrity coach. Nutritionist. Mom. Valerie is a major inspiration to the over 850,000 members on her site LeBootCamp. She overcame cancer and a brain tumor to turn her life into a career helping and inspiring others.  You can join her site if you wish.  And at $15 a month for a 6 month plan that is really low.   I was excited to see her book, Le Personal Coach arrive here.  Now again, I did think it would be telling me to get out there and hump it all the time non stop.  But instead it was showing me so many missed opportunities.

For example, I did not think of all the times I sit down.  If you go to sit down in a chair, when  your 3/4 of the way down....raise back up....and then sit down all the way.  That was a squat you just did.  The average office worker gets up and down 50 times a day.  Now you could accomplish 50 squats a day instead and gosh I know my bum would love that!  Another?  Okay.  Brushing your teeth.  Easy but lazy time.  Instead brush those pearly whites while doing butt tightening clinches.  You can get 100 or more in during that time and  you have not lost a bit of time from your day.  Pretty cool.  I can roll with that.

Valerie knows it is hard to "do the right thing" when you have Starbucks and cupcakes nearby. She has dealt with the most difficult cases and helped them. Now it's your turn. Here are just a few tips she can offer for specific cases:

For the person who loves carbs (this is me!) - ditch the wheat and go for buckwheat. Same fiber but zero gluten and a ton of antioxidants. You can even make your own buckwheat pancake in 2 min for breakfast.

For the person who is a night owl - eat at 5 pm and then again at 11 pm (don't listen to those telling you to not eat at night!). By deciding when you eat you will considerably limit the hunger pangs at 3 am. Since you will skip breakfast and start your day at lunch time don't eat breakfast and go for water with a freshly squeezed lemon when you wake up to cleanse your system and erase a little bit of the short night.

For the person who is a couch potato - go for 5 min MetaBoosts at least 4 times a day. Add a muppet move each time you are sitting down:
1. Stand straight with your legs shoulder-width apart.
2. Lift up your arms in front of you, and bend your elbows to create a perfect 90° angle with your upper arms and forearms.
3. Beginning with your palms facing each other, rotate your hands inwards so that they are now facing your body. If you look at your upper arms, you should see your tricep muscles in action :).
4. Hold this position for 50 seconds. You can relax your arms momentarily at 10-second intervals, if necessary.

For the person who gets constantly invited to parties - eat an egg before going to reduce your appetite in front of the yummy buffet by 25% + wear a ribbon under your clothes, at waist level to stay tuned to your body and "feel" it when you are starting to go overboard food-wise

For the person who is allergic to dairy, avoid soy-based products and go for coconut-milk equivalents. New studies have shown that coconut fat, though high in saturated fat has been linked to a higher weight loss than with its red-meat equivalent. More studies are necessary to explain this...until then indulge with coconuts!

For the smoker and the reformed smoker - to regain your glow have raw breakfast exclusively (sprouted almonds + 1 banana + seasonal berries as much as you want) + stay away from eggplants (they contain a component that's close to nicotine and can wreck havoc on your quitting efforts)

For the double-chin fighter:  (OH MY....SO ME!)
How can I reduce the fat under my chin? Of course, the key to burning stored fat (including the fat under your chin) is cardio, cardio, and more cardio! However, believe it or not, I do have a little secret exercise for toning the "double chin" :)
1. Sit (or stand) straight, with your back upright.
2. Straighten your spine and imagine there is a string attached to the top of your head, keeping you centered.
3. Keeping your mouth closed, press your tongue about an inch below the inner gums of your bottom teeth, then release.
4. Do about 15 reps.
5. If you place your hand under your chin, you can actually feel the movement ;)

For the hot-blooded. If you are like me and can get angry at life once in a while, channel your aggressiveness and do the Vendetta Hammer move.  This exercise enables you to:
* Eliminate all stress; all you have to do is visualize whatever it is that is causing you stress or ruining your life and pound it out. It really works!
* Tone your abs, and what we call your "core", namely the abdominal strap and lower back.
* Strengthen the muscles of your upper body: arms (anterior deltoids)... and I'll leave you with that and let you discover where you feel the after-effects of the workout most on the following day :o)
1. Do this exercise outside so as not to hit anything, or in a room where you have enough space around yourself.
2. Take a heavy weight; personally, a 20-pound weight (about 10 kg) is enough for me for this exercise.
3. Standing with your legs shoulder-width apart, feet and toes pointing forward, knees slightly bent, back straight and abs contracted (yes, you can do it!), you will "launch" the weight above your head, maintaining control throughout. Don't throw the weight, rather send it up in a controlled movement.
4. Hold on to the weight tightly so that it doesn't slip out of your hands. It is also very important that your back and abs are nice and tight when you do this exercise, because if not, you can actually cause damage to your back.
5. Repeat the movement 25 times (you should feel the burn).
6. Relax for 15 seconds and then do another 25.
7. Do this exercise 3 times a week.

I want to thank Valerie for sending me this gem of a book.  It will be great to implement a new activity every day.  One a day will not be too much for anyone to do would it.  And in a month that would be 30 new activities.  Pretty amazing!  Also as a review I did not receive anything other than the book.