By Heather Picken

Can you really lose fat fast?

Yes, you can but it will take some serious dedication with hard training and a solid fat loss nutrition program. What you don’t want to do is go on a liquid fast…yes you will lose weight quickly but most of it will be muscle and not fat! Keeping your muscle at all costs is the key to maintaining a fast metabolism.

Here are some keys to rapid fat loss:

1- Eliminate process carbohydrates. Think white flour and products like white bread and crackers. There is no room in your fat loss program for these.

2- Reduce the amount of starchy carbohydrates. An example would be potatoes and brown rice. You don’t have to eliminate them completely, just cut back.

3-Increase your protein intake. Eating lean proteins like chicken and fish help your metabolism to burn more fat, while preserving lean muscle.

4-Increase you water intake. This helps with fat loss and keeps things moving. Not getting enough water can actually make you retain water.

5- Increase your cardio. Depending on how much you are doing now you can either increase the duration or the frequency. For example, if you are doing 30 minutes go up to 45-60 minutes per session. If you are doing cardio three times a week, increase it to five to seven sessions per week. Increasing cardio exercises jump starts rapid fat loss because you will burn more calories, burning more calories means less fat. Make sure you do your cardio with intensity!

6-Taking EFA’s (essential fatty acids) like fish oil or flaxseed oil is crucial for rapid fat loss.

I Feel Like A Million Bucks, Copyright 2007

By Heather Picken

Every woman wants a fast weight loss program, especially if they are getting ready for a special event.

Can you speed up fat loss to slip into that little black dress?

Yes you can!

Here is a special fast weight loss program for women. Keep in mind that you only want to do this for about 4 weeks so your metabolism won’t slow down.

The first thing is that you want to make sure you are drinking enough water, at least one gallon a day. Simply keep refilling a one gallon water jug each day to keep track of your water. Water is very important not only in fat-loss but it helps regulate your body.

Secondly, in your fast weight loss program, you want to reduce or eliminate simple sugars. These are found in foods like cookies and sodas. Eliminating these will have a huge impact in your body to burn more fat..fast!

The next step in your fast weight loss program, is figuring out how many calories you eat a day. I recommend tracking it for a few days and weighing foods (like chicken or other meats) and counting calories. This will give you a baseline of where you are at. For one thing you could be eating too little and if that’s the case then fat-loss will be impossible or perhaps you’re actually eating more than you thought you were. For example, if you are eating 2000 calories a day, cut out 250-500 calories. A good rule of thumb is to cut your calories from carbohydrates like breads and pastas and extra fats like butter and make sure your protein is kept high. Most women do not eat enough protein. Not having enough protein will prevent you from building a lean, sculpted body.

Exercise in your program should consist of weight training at least 3 times a wee. Also add interval cardio, which is extremely effective in burning stubborn fat. Interval cardio is completing anywhere from 20 seconds to three minutes of high intensity cardio then switching back to a moderate pace for one to five minutes.

If you just walk on a treadmill or use another piece of cardio equipment with very little intensity, you’re not doing your body any good. You don’t have to sprint, you just need to get your heart rate up so that you are breathing hard.

An example of a program:

Monday - Full body weight training, 30 minutes of interval cardio after weights.

Tuesday - 45-60 minutes of interval cardio.

Wednesday - Full body weight training, 30 minutes of interval cardio after weights.

Thursday - 45-60 minutes of interval cardio.

Friday - Full body weight training, 30 minutes of interval cardio after weights.

Saturday - 45-60 minutes of interval cardio.

Sunday - Rest or do cardio only.

Stick to this program for four weeks and you should be able to easily lose unwanted fat and inches.

I Feel Like A Million Bucks, Copyright 2007

If you feel the need to branch out in the cocktail world, choose one of these fun drinks to stir up on the weekend. Some sound delicious, some strange and some, well, try them first and let us know what you think. Remember, always drink responsibly and never drink and drive!

The Trendsetter

Firm Melons
2 parts coconut rum
1 part melon liqueur
2 parts pineapple juice

Start with a tumbler filled with ice. Add two shots coconut rum and one shot melon liqueur. Fill the remainder of the glass with pineapple juice.

Aroma Therapist
3 parts gin
1 part sake
A splash of bitters

Stir all the ingredients together in a mixing glass. Strain the mixture into a glass and serve.

The Sophisticate

Tinto de Verano
3 parts red wine
1 part lemon-lime soda
lemon

Pour red wine over slices of lemon and ice. Fill the remainder with lemon-lime soda.

Pomegranate Sneak Attack
1.5 parts vodka
2 parts pomegranate juice
1 part club soda
blackberries
ice

Take any size glass and add one and a half parts vodka. Then add two parts pomegranate juice and one part club soda, just enough to give it some fizz. Drop in three ice cubes to keep it cold and throw in some blackberries or blackberry juice if it is available.