I’m on day #4 of no sugar, flour or coffee.

And let me just start with saying THANK YOU to my community who has been actively supporting me.

Over the weekend I watched the documentary “May I Be Frank” about Frank who left 50 years of drug, alcohol and food addiction to a life of sobriety. He lost over 100 pounds and is now bed-free (he was on anti-depressants for over 10 years). He did this all through eating whole foods and inner work. AMAZING!

I realized I had a food addiction about five years ago. My sister (you may already know this story) was recovering from a meth addiction. If you have lived with or know someone who has had a drug or alcohol addiction, you know the living hell it is.

She was in recovery and we were actually in a huge fight. She was tired of going to her detox program because of how difficult it was. I was tired of seeing her slowly kill herself. I was really tired of being angry about it. I couldn’t figure out why I was so frustrated.

She was telling me what it was like every day to wake up and pray it would be easier than the day before. She would tell herself she would be stronger today than she was yesterday. And then she would spend the rest of the day doing what ever she could to avoid drugs, the cravings and the habit. For the first time in over four years she was allowing herself to feel the feelings she had been numbing herself from. If she succeeded she would go to bed and have a pit in her stomach because it would all start again in the morning, that is if she wasn’t awake with nightmares or insomnia. If she didn’t succeed, she would spend the rest of the day beating herself up because she got to start with being sober with day #1. And the cycle would continue.

As she was explaining this terror to me. I broke down. I thought I was angry at her and the situation and the drugs and the pain and the years of lost joy…only to hear that she was describing my journey with food.

It was the same behavior just a different drug. Food is accepted. Food is what we use to celebrate EVERYTHING. We use it to comfort others during grief or sickness. You can’t avoid it. Body image issues is an epidemic.

This growing problem is robbing the world of truly great women who are hiding behind the beauty myths and lies in the media. This is why I’ve created Ignite Your Beauty. It’s time to create community on the real issues and celebrate our true beauty.

This is very raw, real and my journey. I know I’m not alone. Join the Ignite Your Beauty tribe at www.igniteyourbeauty.com.

Do the holidays leave you feeling stressed, overwhelmed or tired? Take it easy this holiday season by taking better care of yourself. Easier said than done right? Personally, I feel that the holidays are a bit overdone and somehow along the way of honoring these incredible traditions, we have lost the true meaning of the holidays.

What can we do to get back into the spirit of gratitude and giving? The first thing I recommend is to make sure you give yourself self care. One of my friends and health gurus, Amanda Moxley, offers her 5 Hot Tips for Body Confidence this Party Season:

1) Where clothes that make you feel awesome in your body. If you are wearing the same sweat pants from 1992, it’s time to get rid of them! You can find good deals on cute high quality clothes at TJ Maxx.

2) Start a simple food journal and write down what foods make you feel radiantly alive, healthy and energized. Also note, the foods that make you spacey, tired, anxious, bloated and uncomfortable.

3) Take action! Nourish your body with the radiantly alive, healthy and energizing foods!

4) Sip on water with a squeeze of fresh lemon throughout your day to hydrate your cells, cleanse your body and nourish your Soul!

5) Move your body in a way that makes you feel hot, healthy and alive. Go to a yoga class, walk, take a pole dancing class, go to the gym! Do something. You always feel better after you move!

Bonus tip: Schedule in your calendar right now how you will incorporate these body confidence tips into your day TODAY!

Find more info about Amanda here with her 21 Days to Feel Hot and Healthy this Party Season!

Marci Loughmiller- Fitness Expert, CEO

This fascinating article comes from one of our 2010 Ignite Your Spark speakers, Marci Loughmiller. Here, she reveals the lie of “ I Need to Work Out More To Lose Weight.”

Let’s get right to the real deal and quickly overcome why this is a complete lie.  The idea that you have to work out hours in the gym to lose the most weight is completely false.  If you’re looking to achieve the fastest fat loss possible and maximize the time you put into your workouts then it isn’t happening with the old school long duration workouts. 

This is why…

When you exercise for hours on end you are burning less calories overall compared to shorter workouts done correctly.  For example, you can run 30 – 45 minutes on the treadmill and burn 300 calories if you’re lucky.  When you add this up, it simply doesn’t do much for your results.  Doing this you will need to spend 10+ hrs a week just to take off a pound.

Long duration workouts also keep your metabolism from increasing and from working for you when you are outside of the gym.  Your metabolism returns to a normal state almost immediately after the workout session.  This results in less fat loss.

The Truth is that Short duration workouts not only take less time but they amp up your fat loss like you wouldn’t believe.

Want Proof? In the studies I’ve mentioned below we learned that a short duration style of training resulted in 38 hrs of increased metabolism.  That means you are burning fat and calories for 38 hrs after your workout.  What does that mean for you?  You could do 12 minutes of Guerrilla Cardio and research proves you continue to burn fat for up to 2 days straight.  You could still be burning calories and fat all weekend from your Friday morning workout.

Other studies showed the group that added this type of training to a healthy diet burned up to 44% more fat.  Another showed 9 x more fat loss in half the time.  You heard right, Nine times more fat loss from this type of training verses regular long workouts.  It all comes down to the after burn effect.   You are burning more fat and calories for a much longer time after the workout as well as increasing your metabolic rate.

Firm believers of old school methods of working out for hours in a gym will tell you that an hour of aerobics will burn more calories then just a 12 minute workout.  Yes, this is true.  In the hour of aerobics you do burn more calories then the types of short duration or 12 minute cardio methods I teach.  I’m not arguing that fact.  But what produces the most results overall?  Continuing to burn calories and fat for up to 2 days straight along with an increased metabolism that keeps you burning all the time, or an hour’s worth of calorie burn?

My time is precious so getting massive results from working out in less time makes much more sense to me.  You should be able to get in, get it done and move onto experiencing the rest of your life and relationships.  If you enjoy wasting a few hours a day then by all means continue the regular methods.  I developed the DVDs to create a solution to show people how they can have health with ease.  It isn’t a huge sacrifice or battle when you know what you are doing.

“I’ve been working out for years… ever since I was eighteen.  At 30, I’ve never been able to get the results.  After watching The Whole Truth about Weight Loss dvd’s & using the workout program and being educated on how my body works to correctly work out and feed my body to be a fat burning machine my body completely changed.  I began by just eating to work with my body and lost 20lbs in a month.  Then I decided to implement what I learned from the fitness dvd’s and use the workout program.  After two short weeks of working out I gained two inches of lean body mass on my bicep’s alone.  The amazing thing is how my body is transforming in such a short time.  It truly is amazing how knowing how to “work with your body” really can give results fast, that’s what the DVD’s gave me.  Now I have the knowledge forever thanks to The Whole Truth about Weight Loss and Everlasting Fitness.  Thank You So Much!”   J.D.L

If you want to Work Out LESS to burn more fat and calories and experience BREAKTHROUGH Results then let go of the idea that you have to work out hours a day.  Try what actually works by working with your body. You will watch your body change before your eyes.

For more information visit www.everlastingfitness.com and see her live at Ignite  Your Spark 2010!

Resources for Marci’s article:

Alwyn Cosgrove

Schuenke MD, Mikat RP, McBride JM.
Effect of an acute period of resistance exercise on excess post-exercise oxygen consumption: implications for body mass management.
Eur J Appl Physiol. 2002 Mar;86(5):411-7. Epub 2002 Jan 29.

Kramer, Volek et al.
Influence of exercise training on physiological and performance changes with weight loss in men.
Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 31, No. 9, pp. 1320-1329, 1999.

Bryner RW, Ullrich IH, Sauers J, Donley D, Hornsby G, Kolar M, Yeater R.
Effects of resistance vs. aerobic training combined with an 800 calorie liquid diet on lean body mass and resting metabolic rate.
J Am Coll Nutr. 1999 Apr;18(2):115-21.

Tremblay A, Simoneau JA, Bouchard C.
Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism.
Metabolism. 1994 Jul;43(7):814-8