I am starting a new category on my blog for Book Reviews!  I come across many fantastic books, as I interview brilliant authors for my radio show, TARA MARIE LIVE.

There is a book that is so comprehensive and so useful for teaching the fundamental principles of transforming your body, your health, and your life that I have chosen it for my first review!

Called, The Leanness Lifestyle, this “bible” of body transformation is just what you need to get on the right path and avoid the pitfalls of everyday life on your way to becoming the best version of yourself!

The author, David Greenwalt, is a professional colleague, a frequent guest on my show, and now a friend.  Most importantly, he himself has totally transformed his body, his health, and his life using some very basic but key principles that he shares in the pages of this gem. Read the rest of this entry »

Have you ever heard an old man brag that his weight has not changed since he was twenty-something?  That’s great, and as a trainer I am always thrilled to hear that people are keeping their weight in check as they age.  However, as a trainer I am far less concerned about the number on the scale and far more concerned about how much of the weight is lean muscle mass and how much of it is fat mass.

Let’s consider the old man again: at 23 years old, his 175 lb. frame probably had a good bit of muscle, and his torso was the shape of an upside down triangle, with broad shoulders and a tapered waistline.  Now at 83, if he has not been doing anything to maintain his muscle mass, his 175 lb. frame likely looks like a triangle, only right side up!  His broad shoulders and small waist have now become narrow shoulders and a wide waist—but he still weighs 175 lbs, so he does not see the problem.

From a health perspective, however, there is a problem. As we age, both men and women will lose muscle mass and increase fat mass.  Since muscle is metabolically active tissue, meaning it requires calories just to exist, the more muscle you have on your frame, the easier it will be to stay lean.

That added body fat also increases the odds that you will suffer from any one of a number of diseases that can be prevented, including diabetes, metabolic syndrome, different cancers, and heart disease. Read the rest of this entry »

Have you ever wondered how to train aerobically to most efficiently lose body fat? I get a lot of questions about aerobic exercise training, and it seems that there are many misconceptions about how to train effectively, so I want to clarify some points.

Years ago, we instructors were taught to encourage our clients to stay in their “target heart rate range.” This range is also called your “target zone” or your “aerobic heart rate range.” This range simply gives you the number of times that your heart should beat per minute while exercising aerobically. The number represents about 60% to 80% of your heart’s maximum capacity. We were taught that this is the range in which we most efficiently use fat as a fuel source for exercise. Hence, the mantra, “lower intensity, longer sessions,” was drilled into aerobics instructors everywhere as the way to help clients burn body fat.

For my clients that have heart disease or any other cardiovascular complication, I encourage the use of a heart rate monitor that is worn strapped around the chest. This will provide an up to the minute, accurate reading of your heart rate. This population needs to be careful not to exceed 70% of their maximum heart rate without permission from their cardiologist. Read the rest of this entry »

Win $10,000 while losing weight!  Sounds too good to be true, huh?  The good news is that this is a real chance to lose weight and win a $10,000 prize!  There is no down side!

My good friend and fitness expert, David Greenwalt, is the creator of an amazing weight-loss Boot Camp with more than 1000 previous graduates since 1999.

You don’t have to travel to participate!

More than 90% of David’s Boot Camp students graduate, lose weight and achieve their goals.  This is the real deal!

David is a frequent guest on my radio show, TARA MARIE LIVE, and he is one of the top wellness coaches in the country.

Check out his Boot Camp page and decide for yourself. I highly recommend David’s Boot Camp and there’s no better time than now to kick off 2011 the right way—by putting yourself first on your list!

Click the link below to see David’s page:

http://www.LeannessLifestyle.com/bootcamp/?ref=tara

Live with Simplicity,

TMS

After training clients one on one all of these years, I find myself having the same conversation with people.  This conversation is about not only what they are willing to do to get what they want, but what they are willing NOT to do to get what they want.

Think about it: I am sure that you, like everyone else, would like to set some new goals for your fitness and nutrition plan and make some changes to your body.  You must ask yourself two critical things:

1. What am I willing to do to achieve these goals?

2. What am I willing NOT to do to achieve these goals?

Consider this: in order to achieve a goal, be it losing body fat, increasing muscle mass, increasing flexibility or increasing your cardiovascular capacity, you have to identify the things that you will need to do in order to achieve your goals.  This is how you build your plan, or road map, to success. Read the rest of this entry »

Want to have a social life this holiday season while watching your weight?  Here are some easy tips to keep your waistline in check and still enjoy the dolce vita. I call this list, TEN WAYS TO ENJOY A PARTY AND NOT REGRET IT IN THE MORNING!

1.  Don’t be a two-fisted eater.  Slow down, chew, talk, and keep one hand free to wave at your friends across the room!

2.  Drink smart.  If you want to drink alcohol, drink one glass of sparkling water between imbibing in the fun stuff!  This will fill you up and slow down your intake of alcohol (and empty calories).

 3.  NEVER go to a party famished.  There are two reasons for this: there may not be any (even moderately) healthy fare offered, and arriving starved will undoubtedly lead to binge eating!

 4.  No loitering allowed!  Back away from the buffet after you have filled a plate, and go to the other side of the room to mix and mingle.  Hang out under the mistletoe, NOT at the buffet table! Read the rest of this entry »

Sir Isaac Newton said in his first law of motion, which is also known as the law of inertia, “An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.”

Newton’s Laws of Motion were first published on July 5, 1687, and since then nothing has changed.

It’s a fact: a body in motion stays in motion, and a body at rest stays at rest.  Get up and move your body everyday and you will want to eat in such a way that you feed yourself rather than gorge yourself. Read the rest of this entry »

As you think about what you put in your body, I ask you to consider this:

Hippocrates said, “Let food be thy medicine, thy medicine shall be thy food.”

The Chinese Proverb states, “He that takes medicine and neglects diet, wastes the skill of the physician.”

William Shakespeare said, “Things sweet to taste prove in digestion sour.”

Here in America, we have the very simple proverb, “You are what you eat.” Read the rest of this entry »

Are you having trouble sticking to an exercise routine and a healthy eating plan?  Here are some practical tips that you can put into practice right away! 

First of all, forget about motivation! Relying on motivation doesn’t work, and neither does relying on will power.  Instead, you need to decide what you want!  Do you want to lose body fat, do you want to increase your muscle mass, gain flexibility?  Whatever you want, clearly define your goals and write them down.  Read the rest of this entry »

If you are like me, my whole life is on my computer. I am very careful to back up my files on an external hard drive, and I periodically make DVDs of my files, just in case my external hard drive fails.

I have friends that have suffered through a computer crash and saw what they had to go through to recover from it. I have also had files get damaged and was very grateful to have my back ups. A computer savvy friend of mine suggested that the safest way to back up files is off-site, as if my apartment burns down, the DVDs and the external hard drives will do me no good! Read the rest of this entry »