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Mar

2014

Arms? We Got You Covered. Oscar? You're On Your Own.

Get Arms Like Lupita

I am about to write a blog about Lupita Nyongo's arms, BUT . . .

I would like to say—for the record—that her performance in 12 Years A Slave, and rare humility during her acceptance speech, should be the real focus of the publicity surrounding Lupita. Do you think for an instant it ever occurred to her on the night before the Oscars, as she worried and prepared and psyched herself up, that the press surrounding her potential win would be largely speculating about what exercises she might be doing to get those sleek arms?

Ridiculous.

Anyway, to add to the ridiculous . . .

Arms are one of our Belly Bootcamp clients' most requested "target" areas. The arm-obsessed have coveted celeb arms for ages, idolizing everyone from Madonna to Michelle Obama. But since Nyong'o is the obsession du jour . . .

How do you get those Lupita arms? Well, it's more than just a few bicep curls.

1. Take a long, hard look in the mirror and determine whether you are a candidate for Lupita arms. If you are lean and fit, but still have flab on the back of your arms that could disrupt air currents if you flagged a taxi, you may never have Lupita arms. If you are 35+, you may also begin to see a shift in the way your body stores fat from the typically "female"—boobs, butt, and thighs—to more, shall we say, well-rounded fat storage, including more on the tummy, back, and arms, than ever before. If you do not gain weight, you may not notice this shift as dramatically as a woman who steadily gains weight (or suddenly gains weight) in the 30s, 40s, or beyond. Hormones have a dramatic effect on fat storage, and changing hormone levels can cause fat to be redistributed, as explained above. A person's particular hormone levels can also affect where, specifically, she tends to store fat on her body, and the arms are generally associated with higher levels of estrogen. While you can most certainly decrease the level of fat on your body overall, some pockets will be extra resistant. This all comes back to the old "stop wishing you had someone else's body because it's never going to happen" response.

2. Cardio, cardio, cardio. Whether you're in your teens or your sixties, you are a woman (probably, or else you're a man who has a crush on Lupita Nyong'o) and you have arm fat. Try saying it out loud:

"I have arm fat."

It's okay. Women have fat on their limbs because, historically—and I mean 10,000 years ago "historically," not in the 50s "historically"—women had to do less activity than men and could easily store fat on the limbs, where there is PLENTY of room for fat. Men, on the other hand, had to run after mammoths all day and needed their limbs sleek and lean and their fat on their tummies where it wouldn't interfere with swinging their arms and legs and throwing a spear. So, to remove fat from the arms, you must remove it from the body in general. Cardio is the fastest way to torch extra calories. Aim for 30-60 minutes of jogging, cycling, spinning, swimming, power-walking, inline skating, or a fitness class 3-5 times per week. Try to include more than one of those options each week and use interval training once or twice per week.

3. Diet. I won't go into it at length, since it's technically not my area, but you should follow a moderate diet with lots of lean protein (fish, chicken, lean meats, dairy, and legumes), complex carbohydrates mostly from whole vegetable and fruit sources, plus lots of water, to help your body shed the fat, which might be masking your arm muscles right now. Cutting calories does a body slim, BUT you must eat a well-rounded diet of real foods and get plenty of fluids in order to maximize your metabolism and keep up with the training you need to do to stay healthy and get those Lupita arms.

4. What do you get when you put cardio + a restricted diet together? SKINNY FAT. You'll never get arms worthy of an Oscar dress without strength training. The key is to train the entire body. You must perform resistance exercises for all the major muscles of the body—those on the legs, torso, and arms—at least 2-3 times per week to up your metabolism, prevent injury, and give that toned look you're hoping for. Since it is Lupita's arms that you covet, you can devote a few extra minutes to training the arms and shoulders.

Here are a few exercises I do with clients, which, done together, will provide a very well-rounded shoulder and arm workout.

Hammer Curl: Choose a dumbbell (or full water bottle or anything you can grip) between 3-12 pounds. Stand with back and upper arms against wall and feet a few inches from the wall, with arms at sides and palms facing in. Inhale, then exhale as you curl the weights upward, toward your shoulders, without removing your upper arms from the wall. In other words, no swinging. Palms should stay facing inward, not upward. Repeat 8-20 times, depending on the weight you've chosen, to the point of fatigue.

Triceps Push Up: Stand in front of a staircase and place your hands, shoulder-width apart, on a stair. The higher the stair, the easier. Keep elbows pinned back, brushing past your sides as you lower yourself toward the stair and inhale. Pause momentarily at the bottom of the push up and exhale as you press up until your arms are straight again. Do not let your elbows swing out to the side. Repeat 8-20 times to the point of fatigue. If you can comfortably perform 15-20 reps, move down a stair to increase the difficulty level.

Bent Over Flye: Choose a light dumbbell (or water bottle or can, etc.) between 3-8 pounds. Stand with feet hip-width apart and knees slightly bent. Bend forward, maintaining a flat back with a natural arch at the lower spine (bum sticks back and up into the air). Allow arms to hang down naturally, but keep back flat. Inhale, then exhale as you raise weights out to the side, like wings, as high as possible and forming a T-shape with your torso and arms at the top of the movement. Pause and lower slowly. Repeat 8-20 times, depending on the weight you've chosen, to the point of fatigue.

Try this 10-minute home workout before you do these arm-specific exercises to burn fat and tone head-to-toe!

Lupita! Kim Novak! Diets! Red carpet! More perspective on Oscar night and female body image.

Why you can't have Victoria Beckham's thighs: body type and fat loss.

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Dara Duff-Bergeron

Lupita Nyong'o

Lupita Nyong'o arm workout

how to get arms like Lupita Nyong'o

Feb

2014

A Post-Baby Weight-Loss program that is actually realistic and do-able

by: Dara Duff-Bergeron

Why Jessica Simpson Is An Unexpected Role Model

Have you seen Jessica's Weight Watchers commercials?

She's not exactly known for her vision or intellectual prowess. To be honest, I've enjoyed some giggles at Jessica Simpson's expense over the years. I mean, let's just review, shall we?

"Twenty-three is old. It's almost 25, which is like almost mid-20s."

"Sorry, I don't eat buffalo." (Her response when someone offered her buffalo wings.)

"Is this chicken, what I have, or is this fish? I know it's tuna, but it says 'Chicken of the Sea.' "

"Platypus? I thought it was pronounced platymapus. Has it always been pronounced platypus?"

Ahhhh, good times. I mean, who knows whether it's true ditziness or a unique way to get media attention. The point is, silly old Jessica has never exactly been the role model type.

And I've never exactly been the celebrity loving type, but I have to admit, I am impressed with Jessica Simpson. In a culture that expects women to be "skinny pregnant," with sculpted arms and legs and the perfect basketball belly, and then to look nineteen years old just weeks or months after giving birth, Jessica's baby weight journey has been real, honest, and healthy.

Jessica was slammed in the media during her first pregnancy for gaining over 60 pounds. It happens! People gain a lot of weight in pregnancy—I gained 50 in my first—but it's not healthy, and it's not exactly a "fun project" to carve away at those extra pounds in baby's first couple of years. I can tell you that from personal experience.

Then—BAM—Jessica was knocked up again! Barely recovered from her first and already expecting her second. She hasn't revealed her total weight gain in her second pregnancy—not that it's anyone's business—but she has admitted, "I didn't gain as much weight in my second pregnancy, but I still gained a lot of weight."

Big deal. Plenty of celebrities claim to have gained a ton of weight during pregnancy, but miraculously reappear, all bones and boobs, just weeks after delivery, so infuriatingly nonchalant . . . "what, I've lost weight? Oh, I hadn't really noticed."

Case in point: Heidi Klum modelling at the Victoria's Secret fashion show, five weeks postpartum. I cry for the pints of ice cream she should have been eating in the five weeks after giving birth.

Since having her second baby, Jessica intimated: "Any woman dealing with their body after pregnancy, you look at yourself and you're like, 'What just happened to me?'" She admits she has lost about 50 pounds since giving birth. That's no small achievement. It's not Jessica's weight loss that gets my stamp of approval. It's her candidness. You and I, reader, we've had babies. We know losing the baby weight is not a walk in the park. Hearing a celebrity, especially a celebrity endorsing a diet product, admit what we know to be true is just so freaking refreshing.

Honesty? In Hollywood? Did hell freeze over? If only more celebs would be honest about the work that goes into maintaining those lean physiques.

So, how has she lost those 50 pounds? That's the thing. There's not much to it.

As the Weight Watchers spokesperson, Jessica claims she got started after baby with their two-week Simple Start program, which is smartphone-based and uses social badges, daily encouragement, and meal planning and tracking to help people get into a weight loss routine. It's no secret that celebrities don't necessarily use the products they endorse. Who knows whether Jessica actually downloaded the Simple Start app and used it, or whether the folks at Weight Watchers briefed her on it and set up a bunch of PR events. Regardless, what is she actually eating?

Jessica revealed she eats five low-calorie, reduced-carbohydrate meals per day. For example:

• Breakfast: Green smoothie consisting of grapes, pears, avocado, spinach, lime juice, and yogurt.

• Mid-morning snack: Turkey with apple slices.

• Lunch: “Brown smoothie” made with espresso, Stevia, whey protein powder, and chia seed powder.

• Afternoon snack: Celery with a tablespoon of peanut butter.

• Dinner: Grilled steak and spinach salad with extra-virgin olive oil dressing.

Pretty disciplined. But probably quite accurate. Loaded with veggies and protein, and light on carbohydrates.

As for workouts, Jessica has been training with celebrity trainer Harley Pasternak for years now. His approach includes full-body circuit training with cardio intervals. Also not earth-shattering. She exercises a very doable 3-5 times per week. That actually sounds . . . human.

Want to drop the baby weight like Jessica? This is one celeb program that is doable and legit:

First, if you are breastfeeding, be sure to eat to your appetite and consume no fewer than 1,800 calories per day (recommended by the International La Leche League for maintaining milk supply), plus drink plenty of fluids to stay well hydrated.
Prioritize protein and healthy fats at every meal and snack, and try never to consume a carbohydrate source without combining it into a mini-meal or meal to avoid blood sugar spikes and crashes.
Cut processed foods and simple carbohydrates, such as breads, bagels, pasta, white rice, cereal, fried foods, alcohol, juice, and (obviously, I hope) sweets and soda, to a bare minimum. This might mean limiting yourself to certain beloved treats on certain days of the week or occasions, like a bagel with lox at Sunday brunch, but eggs and veggies the other six days . . . perhaps no nighttime snacks on the average evening, but some popcorn for your Friday family movie. Don't obsess, just be honest about which foods should be daily fuel and which should be special experiences.
Perform full-body strength training—even 10-15 minute workouts are proven to be effective if done regularly—most days of the week, with cardio intervals built into your workout.
Add daily activity to your routine by walking to drop your little one at daycare, walking to the grocery store, parking your car a bit further from your destination, adding a few sets of stairs into your office workday, doing meal prep and housework yourself, and playing actively with your little people.

Here are some workouts & recipes to get you started:

A great strategy for moms: low-carb lunches for fat loss.

High-protein breakfast on the go to help you avoid cravings & burn fat.

Big-batch soup for delicious, high-protein lunches and dinners.

A 10-minute workout you can do at home before work or while your little ones play.

Design your own full-body home workout using these amazing exercise options.

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Category:

Health - Fitness

Tags:

Dara Duff-Bergeron

jessica simpson post-baby body

jessica simpson post-pregnancy workout

jessica simpson post-pregnancy diet

jessica simpson weight loss

jessica simpson diet

jessica simpson exercise routine

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Jessica Simpson

post-pregnancy weight loss routine

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Feb

2014

A Meal In A Muffin Cup

by: Dara Duff-Bergeron

Muffin Tin Frittatas On The Go

sundried-tomato-feta-muffin-tin-frittata

Breakfast is important. Your mom told you. Your teachers told you. The breakfast cereal people LOVE to tell you. The truth is, breakfast doesn't need to be inhaled the moment your feet hit the floor in the morning. Not everyone has an appetite immediately upon waking! If you are the six-small-meals-a-day type, you probably eat breakfast early. If you eat 2-3 solid meals that leave you full for several hours, you might not have breakfast until you've had a cup of coffee. Maybe you wait and eat breakfast until you're comfortably tucked into your cubicle. Sweaty Hubby prepares his breakfast every morning and eats it in his fortress of solitude at work, after he's worked up an appetite wrestling the kids through morning rituals and commuting on Toronto public transit.

Metabolism doesn't fluctuate so wildly that you can't wait an hour or two to feed yourself in the morning, and waiting until you are actually hungry is simply responding positively to your body's cues. So stop feeling guilty if your face is not planted into a bowl of steel-cut oats at 5:45 a.m. every weekday. Do think ahead, however, and be ready for a nutritious meal when the moment strikes you!

A mommy's morning is hectic, and preparing something fresh, hot, and protein-packed every morning is not doable. And we all love a muffin, but turning a muffin into a complete meal to power you through your morning and keep you away from the pastries in the Starbucks case requires adding a lot of other components to that muffin meal . . . like protein. Fats. Fibre. OK, basically everything. And, chances are, you are supplementing your muffin with coffee, not eggs and spinach.

Plus, eating eggs for breakfast has been proven to help you avoid cravings later in the day, and aid in weight loss.

Enough said.

Here is one of my go-to recipes to prepare on a Sunday, arming me with breakfasts on-the-go all week. Two of these delicious muffin tin frittatas plus a piece of fruit, and I'm good to get through my morning and my daily Belly Bootcamp class! The kids will have one with a side of yogurt and fruit (and a side of ketchup, if we're being honest—whatever gets the protein down).

Check out the basic recipe at the end if you'd like to change the ingredients to your family's tastes. Ham + cheddar? Tomato + green onion? Broccoli + feta? Yum-o.

Sundried Tomato, Feta + Kale Muffin Tin Frittatas:

9 large eggs, beaten

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup feta, crumbled

1 tsp melted coconut oil or olive oil

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 head kale, leaves stripped from stems & chopped

2-3 tbsp sundried tomatoes, chopped

salt & pepper

1 tsp dried oregano

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and brush muffin cups with olive oil or melted coconut oil (do not skimp on oil—fats will keep you full and prevent your frittatas from sticking in the most frustrating way!).