Fitness Move of the Week: Squat Jumps

If you were to ask a bunch of women to list the parts of their body they liked the least, I'd bet that the thighs would make it into the top three overall. If this trouble spot—lovingly referred to as cottage cheese thighs or thunder thighs—is a problem for you, then you probably can't wait for the cooler weather, when you can hide or disguise the area with jeans, pants or even long skirts or dresses. But summer's not quite over yet, so instead of hiding your problem area, why not work to tone it up? A move that will help you do just that: Squat jumps.

(Note: There's no such thing as spot-reducing or eliminating fat from a certain area or body part. Instead, you can tone your muscles and as you lose weight—with a combination of a healthy diet and increased activity—you'll begin to see that muscle definition.)  

The squat jump targets multiple muscles, basically from the knee up to the bottom of your back, including your quadriceps, hamstring, glutes, abductors and adductors. You'll also get a cardio workout because this plyometric exercise requires powerful and explosive movement as opposed to a stationary strength move, like a bench press or leg curl. If you're already doing other leg exercises, such as lunges, hamstring rolls and squats, keep them up—they're all are phenomenal exercises. You can simply add the squat jump to your routine for some variety and increased intensity. Just think: Wouldn't it be a nice change to actually look forward to the warm weather and beach season next year?

To learn how to do the squat jump, check out the video demonstration or read the instructions below.

• Begin with your legs shoulder-width apart and your arms hanging at your sides.

• Squat down as low as you can, as if you were going to sit in a chair. Make sure your feet are parallel and your knees don't cross over the front of your toes. Use proper form as best as you can, but remember with a move like this, power is more important so try not to stop to adjust form. As you lower down, allow your arms to come up in front of your body to help maintain balance.

• Swing your arms down to gain momentum and bring them back up again. When they return (with force) to the front of your body, jump up, exploding toward the ceiling.

• Land gracefully with your legs shoulder-width apart and dip immediately into a squat again.

• Repeat without hesitation for 15 to 30 seconds. Or you can do two sets of 10 to 12 repetitions.

The Rookie Diaries: Can Fitness Flip Flops Really Firm and Tone?

Do you ever sit around and fantasize about what it would be like to not have to work out and still stay fit and slim? The makers of FitFlop did, and their imaginings turned into a shoe. You've probably seen them at the store—you may even own a pair!—and thought "really?" Too good to be true?

Here are the shoemaker's claims:

•They help increase leg and gluteus muscle activity up to 30 percent.

•They absorb more shock than a normal shoe (up to 22 percent more).

•They help realign ground force reaction closer to your joints (so you feel less ache in your hips and knees).

•They reduce foot pressure and pain from heel spurs and plantar fasciitis.

I wore the $60 sandals for a week to find out. I slipped my feet into the black Electra style (I'm a sucker for sequins) to see if I, too, could increase my leg and gluteus muscle "activity" up to 30 percent and ease my hip aching. Did they?

Let's start with the claim that they realign ground force reaction closer to your joints to ease aching on knees and hips. Ground reaction force (as it's more commonly called) is, apparently the force you exert on the ground—and the force the ground exerts back onto you. (I had to look this up.) Who knew the ground was pushing back? This all involves scientific principles that my brain is not equipped to absorb, but basically, it happens every time you take a step.

All I can say on this count is that the FitFlops are definitely more comfy than my flat, flimsy flip flops, the ones I wear around the house, to the store and to the beach. FitFlops have more cushioning and structure, so I can see how this would ease joint pain. I get hip pain after I run, and while I didn't notice much of a decline in hip pain while wearing my FitFlops, I did feel more supported. For those who experience foot pain in the form of heel spurs and plantar fasciitis, this may be a benefit for them as well.

Now for the all-important butt and leg muscle activity! Do I have Jessica Biel's taut gams and backside after a week of FitFlopping my way around town? No. But I noticed something slightly different going on with my leg alignment. Whether it was simply because the shoe was more structured than my usual summer sandals or because there really was a shift in alignment, I can't say. But it was almost like I could feel my inner thigh muscles and hamstrings, ever so subtly, working a wee bit harder. Just a smidgen.

My feeling is that you are not going to get fit by simply wearing these shoes. You already know that to lose weight and get or stay in shape, you have to exercise regularly. That said, because the FitFlops are more comfortable and supportive than the average summer sandal, there's a good chance you'll naturally want to walk and move more. Just knowing I was wearing shoes that were supposedly increasing my muscle activity made me more aware of my daily steps, and that knowledge alone caused me to walk a bit more. In addition to the flip flops, which come in a variety of styles—sporty, sparkly, plain—they also sell boots, sneakers, sandals and clogs. So you can find a pair that suits your look and doesn't stand out like a sore thumb. Bonus: Because they are super-cushioned, they give you an inch or so of extra height, which not only makes you look a little taller and leaner, but protects your bare foot from sidewalk gunk and splashes.

I should mention that just a few weeks ago, the American Council on Exercise (ACE) released the results of a study they conducted with researchers at the University of Wisconsin to test toning shoes—athletic shoes claiming to work your calves and hamstrings harder than the average athletic shoe. According to their results, none of the shoes lived up to their claims. They didn't test the FitFlops, but you can draw your own conclusion.

Let me know if you have any feedback about FitFlops or other toning shoes!

Want to Lose Weight? Learn How to Overcome Overeating

Not surprisingly, people who struggle with their weight often struggle with overeating. Eating until you feel stuffed instead of satisfied can be a tough habit to kick, but figuring out your triggers is half the battle. Because once you've determined your triggers, you can then come up with effective strategies to overcome or avoid them. So, how do you pinpoint yours? Check out the list below to see if one or more of the examples sound familiar. Then use the tips to overcome each.

Trigger: An irregular eating schedule
When you don't have a healthy meal or snack planned, you run the risk of going too long between meals, and when you do finally eat, you're more likely to have trouble making smart choices (both in terms of what you eat and how much). Or, you're always eating too much at meals because you're afraid of getting too hungry before your next one!
Beat it: Plan—and make—three healthy meals and at least one snack on a daily basis. Stay organized by writing a list at the beginning of the week of the meals that you want to eat so that you can make sure to pick up the necessary ingredients at the grocery store.

Trigger: Social situations
Many people mindlessly eat in social situations—because they're not paying attention to what they're eating, because it gives them something to do when they feel uncomfortable or simply because everyone else is doing it.
Beat it: Arm yourself with water or sparkling water with a slice of lemon, lime, or orange and a splash of juice. This looks and tastes like a cocktail, but without the excessive calories. Plus, it keeps one hand busy, so it's a little harder to eat. Also, make it a point to decide what you're going to eat and how much as soon as you get to the event. If it's a buffet-style dinner, stick to one plate of food (no seconds or thirds!)

Trigger: Pre-dinner temptation
When you're preparing dinner yourself or waiting for it to be served, you're tempted to pick on whatever is around—bread, chips, pretzels.
Beat it: Hopefully you're following a regular meal and snack schedule as I've recommend above—if so, make sure you have a snack in the late afternoon to help keep you satisfied until dinner. If you must snack while waiting, opt for healthy bites, such as cut-up veggies (cleaning and cutting produce ahead of time makes it easy to eat healthfully while you wait).

Trigger: Stress or boredom
Most mindless overeating occurs when you don't have something to look forward to or want to find something to take your mind off stressful things in your life. There are two problems with this. The first, of course, is that you're eating when you're not physically hungry. And second, you're often eating too much because you're not paying attention to internal cues to fullness—rather, you're trying to soothe or entertain yourself, which clearly has nothing to do with your body's signals.
Beat it: First, create a list of things you can do (and enjoy) that don't involve food—getting a manicure, reading a magazine, going for a leisurely stroll, for example. Keep that list somewhere handy, so you can refer to it easily. Whenever you feel the urge to eat, check in with yourself to gauge how hungry you really are. (A tool like Bob Greene's Hunger Scale is perfect for this.) If you discover that you're not physically hungry, but rather, you're bored or stressed—or a combination of the two—choose something from your list of activities to distract you or fill your time.

Trigger: Lack of portion know-how
Not knowing the correct portion size is a big hazard: Serve yourself portions that are too large and you can easily end up eating everything on your plate.
Beat it: Find out how many calories you need and what that looks like when divvied up among three meals and a snack or two. Of course, TheBestLife.com can help you figure out your calorie needs and offer you personalized meal plans; or you can log on to Mypyramid.gov for some guidance. If you're used to big portions, you can help get yourself adjust to healthier portions by trading in your larger (and probably over-sized) plates, bowls, and utensils for appetizer-sized plates for your dinner, small shallow bowls for pasta, and coffee mugs for cereal. This will help control the amount of food you eat without even having to think about it!

Fitness Move of the Week: Chest Fly with Dumbbells

A new month is approaching, which means it's the perfect time to mix up your workout. Switching things up from time to time not only keeps you from becoming bored with your routine, but it can also help take your fitness to the next level. Remember, the human body is fantastic at adapting to stress, so to keep getting the results you want, you'll have add new and exciting moves to your repertoire. 

And I'm happy to help you by offering you fresh, new moves each week. This week, I'd like to share an exercise—the chest fly—that works the pectoralis muscles (aka pecs). The pecs are involved in any pushing motion, whether you're pushing a stroller or shopping cart, or pushing open a door at the mall. Popular exercises like push-ups or the chest press also target these muscles, but they also hit other muscles in the area as well. The benefit of the chest fly is that it isolates the chest muscle; isolation moves allow you to focus your force—and build strength—on a single muscle.

It's a good idea to start with a light weight and perform high repetitions until you get the form down correctly; this move works the outer area of the chest muscle and can really cause pain if the move is not controlled. To learn how to do it, check out the video demonstration (starring Best Life member Jennifer Levanduski) or read the instructions below.

• Sit on a bench and hold a dumbbell in each hand. Lie back so your feet are flat on the floor and your back is flat on the bench.

• Raise your arms up toward the ceiling, with your palms facing each other and your elbows slightly bent.

• Slowly lower your arms out to the sides until they are even with the chest (make a "T" with your body).

• Slowly raise your arms back up toward the ceiling. Squeeze your chest together and keep your elbows slightly bent as though you're hugging a giant beach ball.

• Perform 2 sets of 12 to 15 repetitions.

The Rookie Diaries: Testing the Latest High-Tech Weight-Loss Gadget

Those of you who watch The Biggest Loser are familiar with the Body Bugg, a device worn by the contestants—and available for anyone with a credit card and a computer—which counts their steps, keeps track of how many calories they've burned and how many calories they've eaten (they, and you, have to log your meals on their website to get this total). Pretty cool, right? (My sister-in-law has one and loves it!) The same company that launched the Body Bugg, recently sent me their "next generation" Body Bugg, called BodyMedia Fit. It pretty much does everything the Body Bugg does and, in addition, clocks your sleep.

It's so sci-fi (how does it know when I'm sleeping??!! Is it alive?!), but I was excited to test out the technology and report back. I wore the armband for 24 hours, logged my meals, slept with it on my arm (it's actually pretty comfortable) and am happy to report it's the real deal. Still, it's pricey—$189 for the armband, $99 for the optional watch accessory (which allows you to see your calories burned when you're away from the computer—it wirelessly downloads the information from your armband), and the monthly subscription to access the website where you keep track of all your numbers ($9.95/month for a six-month membership). Is it worth the dough? Check out my review to know if it's right for you:

Is it better than a regular pedometer? An emphatic yes. I love a good pedometer as much as the next walker, but knowing exactly how many calories you're burning while moving is a whole new level of "wow." The day I wore the armband, I took a modest 5,987 steps, about 4,000 shy of my 10K-a-day goal (I was too busy to make it to the gym). That tells me I'm not moving enough—and a pedometer would have told me the same. But when I looked at my calorie burn for the day, it became crystal clear why I wasn't losing weight: I'd only walked off a total of 1,642 calories…and I ate a total of 1,778 calories. A small surplus, but it adds up. In case you are in denial, the program points out, "You are on a weight gain trend." Thank you, I see that. No, seriously, I see that—looking at the numbers and reading that sentence makes it real and will motivate me to move more (or eat less) tomorrow.

Is it easy to use? Yes. If you're like me, you shy away from new technology, if only for the set-up process. Luckily, this was a breeze to start up. The only tech glitch I encountered turned out to be my fault—the battery on my BodyMedia Fit wasn't charged enough to properly transfer the data (I'd let it run out). I found it a snap to use, from start to finish.

Does it really know when you're sleeping? Yes. Like Santa Claus, it knows when you're sleeping…and when you're awake. I think this was the coolest aspect for me—I just didn't believe it would "know," and it did. I only clocked five hours and 48 minutes of sleep according to the device, and that's about right when I think about how long it took me to fall asleep, how long I overslept after my alarm went off, and when I woke up. Amazing. And sad (I need to get more sleep).

Is it fun? I thought so. Checking whether I'd have a deficit or surplus come nightfall felt like getting a little surprise at the end of the day...the big reveal! I'm sure the excitement wears off eventually, but what you gain is knowledge: The longer you stick with it, the more you're able to see your weekly trends—when you burn the most, eat the most, sleep the most.

Is it comfortable? Yes, even while I was sleeping. I actually forgot I was wearing it during the day, except for the million-and-one times I was asked "what is that?" Therein lies the drawback: In summer, it's out there for all the world to see (in winter, you'll have no problem covering it up). And it's not exactly boardroom or ballroom appropriate.

Who can benefit most from the BodyMedia Fit? Anyone with a diet or fitness goal. It's enlightening to know how your movement translates into calorie burn; also, logging your meals is a great way to stay mindful about what goes down the hatch, and you get a clear picture of how many calories different foods contain. The Best Life program allows you to do this as well, and keeping a food diary is a key habit of successful losers, research shows. This device can be one more effective tool in your arsenal of weight-loss weapons. We can use all the help we can get!

Motivation How-To

There are lots of different reasons why people try to slim down and live healthier. Maybe you're hoping to lose weight to please a spouse or to "compete" with a slimmer friend or sibling. While these reasons may be good enough to get you started, they're not likely to keep you going, according to research from the University of Kentucky in Lexington and the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

During their 16-week study, they found that people who were able to drop at least 5 percent of their weight and maintain that loss were more likely to identify personal reasons for wanting to lose weight. Perhaps they wanted to reduce their disease risk so they could be around to watch their children grow or maybe they simply wanted to give themselves the best chance of living the healthiest, most fulfilling life possible. The group that didn't hit the 5 percent weight loss mark or wasn't able maintain it were more likely to name external motivators for slimming down, such as pressure or guilt from others.

So, how can you tap into your inner motivation? Use the tips below to get started:

Renew your vows—every month! The researchers found that people who remained the most motivated at weeks four and eight of the study—two periods when motivation often wanes either because weight loss is slow or because the novelty of the initial weight loss has started to wear off—were most successful. So when you start, make a list of your strongest motivators to lose weight. Then, four weeks in, go back to that list and remind yourself of your initial motivation and the progress you've made so far. If your motivation hasn't changed, it's a good way to remind yourself why you made the changes in the first place.  If your reasons have shifted, this is a good opportunity to update them in order to keep that motivation up.

Post your progress. After you weigh yourself each week, write down the number on a stickie note and post it on the fridge Or, if you're a member of TheBestLife.com online program, you can try posting your weight within one of the community threads. Remember, weight fluctuations naturally, so in addition to weight, you may want to look at other measures of success, for instance trying on the same pair of "too-tight" pants each week to see if they get looser each week or tracking your energy levels to see if they improve as you get healthier and fitter.

Keep a log. Another interesting finding of this study is that the participants who lost the most weight were more likely to keep a food journal. If you're a regular food logger (whether online or on paper), keep up the good work? And if you struggle to log, make it easy by keeping notes on your computer, taking pictures of meals using your cell phone camera or leaving yourself voice memos.

Strengthen your muscles. We're talking about your motivation muscles here (though strengthening your body's muscles is important, too). Motivation takes practice—and the more you work on keeping yourself motivated, the stronger you become at it. Using the exercises here is a great start. You can also check out some of the motivational tools and articles on TheBestLife.com.

Small Swaps, Big Weight Loss Gains

When you're working hard to slim down, it can often seem like there are so many big changes to be made. Overcoming emotional eating, becoming a more mindful eater, getting over your aversion to exercise, can certainly be major challenges. But there are many smaller changes you can make on a day-to-day basis that can add up to significant results over time. Plus, these tiny tweaks can help keep you motivated to push through the harder ones. Try one or more of these today, or share of your favorite fat- or calorie-saving swaps below.

Cut the creamer.
Coffee creamer packs in 60 to 80 calories and up to 1.5 grams unhealthy saturated fat per two-tablespoon serving. One percent milk, on the other hand, contributes just 15 calories and 0.2 grams saturated fat per two tablespoons. This one switch can save you 45 to 65 calories per day, which translates to six or more pounds per year. Plus you'll be cutting the artery clogging saturated fat in your diet.  

Change the ratio.
Watching your weight shouldn't mean forgoing your favorite foods. If you love pasta, rice and other carb-rich foods, for instance, then go ahead and have them. You can enjoy these foods and still peel off the pounds by changing the ratio of these high-carb foods to veggies. For instance, instead of making a stir-fry with 2 cups of rice and 1/2 cup vegetables (about 550 calories), use 1 cup of rice and add 1.5 cups of veggies (about 350 calories). This trick allows you to eat the same amount of food (2.5 calories in the example above), but significantly cut calories (by 35 percent).

Limit alcohol.
If you can't cut alcohol out completely (as Bob Greene recommends for the first phase of the Best Life Diet), try at least cutting back. Going from one drink daily to four a week can save you at least 300 calories per week (probably more!) Those 300 calories will add up to another 4.5 pounds per year!  

Squeeze in just 10 minutes of exercise.
Most of us are guilty (or have been at some point) of the all-or-nothing workout mentality. If we don't have time for a proper 30-minute workout or longer, why bother? But squeezing in as little as 10 minutes offers big health and weight-loss benefits. For instance, if you ran a 10-minute mile five days per week, that would burn about 500 calories for the week (that's one extra pound a month!). Not to mention, once you get going, it's likely that you'll want to extend your workout beyond the 10 minutes you had initially planned to exercise.

Keeping Yourself on Track

Having someone to be accountable to—a workout partner, a trainer, a dietitian or message board buddy—is a great way to stay on track with your get-healthy goals. But you can just as easily keep tabs on yourself with these four tips.

1. Keep a food journal. It's easy to suffer "food amnesia" when it comes to recalling a handful of candy from your officemate's desk or the latte you sipped on your way to a meeting. Keeping a food journal where you write down every morsel or drop of food and drink that you ingest makes you more aware and more accountable of your choices. At the end of each day, take a moment to review your log. This allows you to plan and make better choices on an ongoing basis based on what works and doesn't for you.

2. Carry around a water bottle. You might lose track of how many glasses of water you've had throughout the day, leaving you unaware of whether you've met your hydration goals (The Best Life recommends six 8-ounce glasses). Instead, use a water bottle. When you know  how much water the bottle holds, it's much easier to keep an accurate tally. For each time you fill the bottle, you'll know how much of a dent you've put in your daily water goal. And if you see water left at the end of the day, you'll know you fell short and need to step it up.

3. Use the scale or your clothes as a gauge. Weighing yourself on a regular basis (weekly or bi-weekly) allows you to catch weight increases and stop the habits that are causing them right away. You may want to avoid the scale at the beginning of a weight-loss program when your weight will likely fluctuate, or if the scale tends to make you a little crazy (you're not alone!). In these cases, you can simply use a pair of pants that fit you just right—if they start to get snug, you'll know something needs to change. Or, if they're looser and you're working to lose weight, you'll know to keep doing what you’re doing!

4. Schedule weekly meetings with yourself. Just like offices have planning and strategy meetings to ensure that they're pushing forward to reach goals, you should have weekly check-ins with yourself to make sure you're consistently working towards your goals and setting new ones as you reach old ones. At these meetings, keep an ongoing list of your short-term goals, strategies to achieve them, and how close you are to reaching them. In addition, gauge your progress towards long-term goals and adjust your short-term goals accordingly (for example, if a long-term goal is to run a 5K, but your short-term goal of hitting the treadmill at the gym has taken a back burner, it's time to re-visit strategies to get back on the treadmill).  

Fitness Move of the Week: Thrusters

Combining two exercises into one doesn't just cut down on time—it also increases the intensity of your workout, which can help you push past a plateau. For example, the thruster, a combo of the squat and the shoulder press, offers serious strength and cardio benefits. It works your upper and lower leg muscles and the muscles in your shoulders, back and neck. Plus, you get a small aerobic boost; the multi-muscle move requires more oxygen to be delivered throughout the body, as opposed to a move that targets a single area, causing the heart to beat faster to meet your body's increased demand. You'll probably notice your breath picks up when you do this move—yet you won't be able to do it for long periods of time because fatigue will set into your arms and legs, which is why this is still considered a strength move. Check out the video demonstration below or read on to find out how to do it.



• Start by picking up a weight in each hand. Lift the weights up to your shoulders with your palms facing your ears

• Slowly squat down as though you're sitting in a chair. Keep your weight on your heels so your knees don't extend over your toes. Stop when your knees are at a 90-degree angle.

• Slowly stand back up and as you do, press the weights overhead, toward the ceiling. As you extend—remember, don't lock your elbows—slowly rotate your arms so your palms face forward. (A slow, controlled rotation activates nerve impulses and muscle contractions in a variety of directions.)

• Rotate your arms back so your palms face your ears again as you lower the weights back down to shoulder height and squat down again.

• Repeat 12 to 15 times.

Know Your Numbers


When it comes to getting in shape and living healthier, so many people rely on one measure of success—weight. But there are so many other great (and sometimes more telling) ways to know if you're moving closer to your goals. For instance, do you know your:

1. Total cholesterol, HDL ("good") cholesterol and LDL ("bad") cholesterol

2. Blood pressure

3. Blood sugar level (if you have diabetes)

4. Triglyceride level

5. Waist circumference (or pants size)

It's important to have specific markers of health to track along the way—doing so will help you stay motivated because you'll know where you started and be able to see how far you've come. Relying on all of these measurements can give you the whole health picture, whereas focusing only on your weight offers a limited—and at times, misleading—view of your progress. Remember, weight fluctuations can have nothing to do with your efforts. Your diet, your menstrual cycle and a variety of other factors can affect the number on the scale. So, while it's fine to keep track of your weight loss, it should be just one of a bunch of numbers that you use to gauge your success.  

Below, a few statements I commonly hear from my clients, on how motivating knowing all of your numbers can be:


"Packing my lunch for work every day can be a real pain sometimes, but it's so worth it when I see that my blood pressure has dropped to close to the normal range over the last five months."

"When I feel tempted to reach for a rich dessert or have a second glass of wine, I think of my BMI chart and how the numbers are consistently getting lower and lower. Keeping my numbers moving in the right direction feels better than any dessert or drink will ever taste."

"I used to put cream in my coffee every day, but when I switched to one percent milk I saw a change in my cholesterol levels after six months. Now I take small changes seriously–they really can make a difference in my health and weight!"