Suck it in!!

And other great tried and true tricks to keep the jiggle away from your middle!!

Tried and True Trick # 1: Start by sucking it in! This simple tip will automatically start building muscle. That’s right. Building muscle and increasing muscle tone is absolutely critical in order to increase your ability to burn fat and create a less flabby body toned bod.  You will most certainly stand taller too with your powerful stomach muscles engaged!

The key to trimming the tummy and the whole body is to become a fat burning factory. The most basic and fundamental place to start is to just sit there (or stand there) and suck in your belly. Keeping your muscles taught automatically will help build your awareness that you have a whole network of muscle in your middle that when not toned is prone to jiggle!!

So, suck it in while cooking, while driving, and during your meetings. Suck in your belly on line at the store. Of course keep your shoulders and jaw relaxed while continuing to breath. Over time you will develop stronger abdominal muscles while protecting your back from strain and pain. Start with this simple action and build up from there with more focused abdominal exercises.

Tried and True Trick # 2

Eat coconut oil. This tropical oil is incredibly beneficial in boosting and revving up metabolism. Coconut oil, a saturated fat (don’t be scared by this!) is made with medium chain fatty acids that studies show has thermogenic effects by burning fat.

According to a study cited in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, “Consumption of MCT (medium chain triglycerides) oil as part of a weight-loss plan improves weight loss compared with olive oil and can thus be successfully included in a weight-loss diet. Small changes in the quality of fat intake can therefore be useful to enhance weight loss.”

Sounds pretty good and tastes even better! Choose organic, unrefined extra virgin oils. Enjoy in stir-fries, baked goods, roasting and frying. Take up to 3 tablespoons a day.

Tried and True Trick # 3

Drink your veggies

Include two glasses of juice a day says the “Juice Lady”, Cherie Calbom in her juicing tomes, Juicing for Life, and The Juice Lady’s Turbo Diet. There are so many incredibly wonderful benefits for juicing but for a steady and long lasting way to achieve a trim and toned body is to incorporate juicing. In particular, juicing is brilliant for curbing cravings for sugar-albeit the number one culprit for contributing to muffin top and fat accumulation.

The protocol is about 16 oz to 1 quart a day divided throughout the day. My clients enjoy veggie juices especially late in the day or before dinner to stave temptations.

Be creative and try a variety of  mostly vegetables and some low glycemic fruits. Extra fun flavors to experiment with are fresh ginger, mint, stevia, citrus, carrots, chlorella, and green apple. If you are very busy, and who isn’t these days, it is quite reasonable to make all your juice for the day at once and refrigerate until you are ready to drink.