Instructions
Stand with feet together and hold a 5- to 8-pound dumbbell in each hand; arms should be by your sides, and palms should face your body. Keeping your abs tight and chest lifted, take a large step to the side with your right foot. Lower your right leg into lunge position and curl your hands to your shoulders. Push off your right leg, lower your arms, and return to starting position; repeat with left leg to complete the rep.

6-month boost
As you return to starting position, keep your left leg still, cross your right leg behind your left leg into a curtsy squat, then bring your feet together; repeat on the opposite side.

  9-month boost
After the curtsy squat, lift your right foot slightly and straighten your left leg to standing. Keeping your foot just off the ground, hold this stance for 1–2 seconds. Start the next rep from this position. When lunging with your left leg, raise your left foot off the floor.

 Full-Body Workout: Lateral Lunge With Biceps Curl,bodywork, exercise, Petra Kolber, workout,bodywork, exercise, Petra Kolber, workout,fitness

Your What-to-Eat Guide

From breakfast to dessert, here’s your complete eating strategy.

Forget the word diet. Why? Diets are about deprivation, the last thing you need for lasting weight-loss success, Richter says. She’s designed a creative food plan that will give you the variety you crave while teaching you to choose wisely in the future, so those pounds stay off. Just follow these guidelines, and download our first-week meal plan to get you going. When you reach week two, supplement your menu with these great healthy recipes.

Eat small, frequent meals.
Keep your metabolism stoked by eating five or six small meals for a total of 1,600 calories every day. You’ll eat every two to three hours to help you avoid hunger and overeating. And you can eat a cup of nonstarchy veggies (anything but potatoes, corn, peas, and beans) whenever you’re hungry. Break up your 1,600 calories this way:
Breakfast: 200 to 300 calories (Split your plate, so you get half protein and half carbs.*)
Snack: 100 to 150 calories
Lunch: 400 calories (half protein, half carbs) Snack: 150 to 200 calories
Dinner: 500 to 600 calories (half nonstarchy veggies, one-quarter protein, one-quarter carbs)
Snack: 100 calories
*Carbs include whole grains, fruits, starchy vegetables.

Schedule in a splurge.
Allow yourself 400 extra calories per week (on top of those allowed on the plan). So if you want a cocktail or two on Friday night or that slice of pizza on Saturday, go ahead.

Add a snack with cardio.
On days you do 30-minute Feel Great Weight cardio workouts, you can add a 100-calorie snack: Try 1/2 cup cottage cheese and 1/2 cup berries or an apple and piece of string cheese.
Fill up with fruits and veggies.

Aim for two or three servings of fruit and three to five servings of vegetables per day; a serving equals 1 medium-size fruit or 1 cup fruit or vegetables.

Fiber up!
Aim for 25 to 35 grams of fiber per day to keep you full, aid in digestion, and help lower cholesterol. Choose high-fiber carbs: whole-grain cereals, breads, and pastas; brown rice; quinoa; oatmeal; flaxseed; unpeeled fruits and veggies.

Pick lean protein.
Protein makes you feel full, and the amino acids it contains will help you build lean muscle mass, which, in turn, burns calories more efficiently. Aim for 0.75 to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, and think lean.

Chicken: Choose white meat, no skin.
Fish: Go easy on shellfish if you have high cholesterol.

Red meat with no visible fat: Select the leanest cuts like eye round steak, top round steak, and flank steak.

Pork: Pick a lean chop. Eggs: Limit yolks to three per week.

Low-fat or skim dairy: Snack on cottage cheese or yogurt.

Tofu, quinoa, or beans: Learn to love these great vegetarian options.

Don’t forget fat.
For this 1,600-calorie diet, shoot for 36 to 53 grams of fat per day. It’s necessary to have some fat in your diet—about 20 to 30 percent of your total calories (no more than 10 percent from saturated fat). Fat gives you energy, helps insulate your body, and helps your body make hormones. Several vitamins (A, D, E, and K) also need fat to be absorbed. Try these good sources of healthy fat: avocado, nuts, seeds, salmon, and olive oil.

Weigh in weekly
Because weight can fluctuate daily (thanks to carbohydrate and salt intakes), Richter recommends weighing in once per week—same time, same scale; that will give you the most consistent read on your progress. Because you’re replacing fat with muscle, you can also measure your waist, hips, thighs, and arms to find out if your shape is changing (even if the number on the scale isn’t)...

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Sexy Bikini Body Foods

6 Foods for a Hot Bod

Forget the latest tabloid diets and incorporate these six types of food into your eating plan now for an ultra-desirable, beach-worthy bod. Each food has an accompanying recipe to fill you up, keep you satisfied, and curb the need to cheat. For variety, you can choose another food from that same group. Combined with a daily exercise routine, this sensible plan will help you lose pounds, get toned, and keep the weight off throughout the summer.

Cross Training

Now that summer’s nearly here, chances are you’ll find writer Judy Waytiuk, 54, swimming in her backyard pool or riding her bike along the tree-lined streets near her house. She rarely goes a day without exercising, and especially treasures the time she spends swimming laps at dusk after a day devoted to juggling phone calls, emails, and assignments.

Waytiuk’s love affair with exercise began during the winter of 1995–96. She’d finally begun, with the help of an antidepressant, to climb out of the depression she’d fallen into the previous spring. In a moment of inspiration, she strapped on her long-neglected cross-country skis. Out on the crisp, clean snow, her mood lifted. “There’s absolutely nothing as beautiful as skiing along in the quiet of a wonderfully groomed park while the sky starts staining pink from the setting sun,” she says.

Soon, Waytiuk was skiing four times a week for an hour and a half at a time. When the snow melted and the seasons changed, she simply went with the flow, relocating her workouts to the pool and dusting off her old, neglected road bike.

While Waytiuk’s workouts are plenty vigorous, she says she’s too busy enjoying the scenery to notice all of the effort she’s exerting. “I love the air, the changing landscape, and the peacefulness of it all,” she says. “It’s glorious.”

The take-away: Outdoor workouts might be more palatable for obvious reasons (like scenery and fresh air). But the real news is that you may actually burn more calories outside than you would indoors. Utah State University researchers recently studied a group of men and women as they ran on treadmills, around an indoor track, and along a scenic outdoor route. The participants reported feeling more revitalized and tranquil—and notably less exhausted—when exercising outside than they did indoors. Plus, they ran almost 15% faster outside than they did on the treadmill. However, they felt they were exerting themselves less, says Rick LaCaille, PhD, a psychologist at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C.

Make it work for you: Try running in your neighborhood park or cycling on your local bike path. On the weekend, reward yourself by seeking out the best scenery (even if you have to drive a bit to get there). If you can’t go outside, at least choose the treadmill closest to a window, surround your home stationary bike with gorgeous plants, pop a scenic movie into the DVD player, or tune in to the Travel Channel—anything to keep your mind off what your body’s doing...

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5 Women Share Their Motivation Tips: Soccer Fosters Camaraderie

When Susan Spidle signed up for her recreational women’s soccer team, she got just what she was looking for: an instant social life. “I had moved back to Albuquerque after 10 years away, and I didn’t know many people in town anymore,” the 34-year-old veterinarian says. Although Spidle hadn’t played much since college, she immediately connected with the other women on the team.

Spidle has been playing with the group for five seasons now. And as much as she enjoys the game, the players are what keep her coming back. “Our underlying friendship is really strong. We’ve been through hard times together—major injuries, painful breakups, and job changes—but also good times like bachelorette parties and new babies,” she says. If she were faced with a challenge in her personal life, Spidle knows she could turn to any one of her 20 teammates for support.

Spidle rarely misses the team’s weekly workouts and matches, but she hardly thinks of them as exercise. “You run like five miles during a soccer game, but it’s a pleasure,” she says. “I didn’t ever imagine I’d keep doing this after college. Now I can’t imagine quitting.”

The take-away: Enthusiasm is infectious, as one recent study shows. Researchers at Northern Arizona University and Wake Forest University asked 90 adults to attend one of four fitness classes. In some, the classmates acted bored and uninterested; in others, they were enthusiastic and supportive of each other. The study volunteers not only enjoyed the spirited classes more (who wouldn’t?), but they also were more likely to want to return to a similar class in the future.

Make it work for you: If you find it hard to get moving, focus on finding a group fitness activity with great dynamics, says study author Lesley Fox, PhD, a clinical psychologist at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. Beyond the obvious signs of liveliness (copious belly laughing, etc.), search for classes with a loyal following, people who linger to chat postgame or postworkout, teams that seem to take losing as well as winning, and members who socialize together outside the gym or off the field. Or find a group that shares a common goal that keeps participants fired up in anticipation. Many health clubs now offer classes to help members train for specific events (a breast cancer awareness run, for example). These groups also form an excellent arena for building friendships, says Gregory Florez, a health coach in Salt Lake City and CEO of FitAdvisor.com...

 5 Women Share Their Motivation Tips: Soccer Fosters Camaraderie,get motivated, motivation, soccer, working out,fitness

Each part of this 40-minute toning and calorie-blasting circuit workout from popular The Sports Club/LA instructor and personal trainer Maeve McCaffrey contains a quick cardio blast followed by a body-toning strength move. Do this workout three times a week, and you’ll cover both your cardio and strength needs. Each time, do the workout straight through as described, then repeat twice.

Part 1. Cardio Blast Squat Reach
With your feet about hip-width apart, squat down and touch the fronts of your shins. Return to standing and raise your hands overhead. Do 12–15 quick reps

Stability Ball Chest Press
for core, chest, arms, legs, butt
Sit on a stability ball, holding a 5- to 8-pound dumbbell in each hand. Slowly walk forward, and roll the ball under your body until only your head and shoulders are supported. (Your body should be in a straight line from your head to your knees.) Press both weights upward; then, keeping your right arm straight, bend your left arm and lower the dumbbell until your elbow forms a 90-degree angle. Extend your left arm, then repeat with your right to complete 1 rep. Do 12–15 reps, then put down the dumbbells and do 12–15 crunches on the ball. Move directly to Part 2.

Part 2.

Cardio Blast! Squat Jumps
With your feet about hip-width apart, squat down slightly and extend your arms behind you. Swing them above your head and jump a few inches off the ground. (If you have knee or hip problems, just rise up on the balls of your feet instead of jumping.) Land softly and return to squat position. Do 12–15 quick reps.

Wide Squat and Power Press
for legs, butt, arms, shoulders, core
Start with your feet a little wider than shoulder-width apart and hold a 5- to 8-pound dumbbell down in front of your body with your right hand. Squat slightly, and let your arm drop down between your legs. Stand up, and lift dumbbell straight up in front of you (as if zipping a jacket) to shoulder level. Rotate right arm until palm is facing forward, then extend right hand overhead. Low–er hand to shoulder, then return to start–ing position. Do 12–15 reps with right hand; switch sides and repeat. Put down dumbbell and do 12–15 push-ups, then move directly to Part 3.

Part 3.

Cardio Blast! Modified Side Lunge
Stand with feet together and arms down by your sides. Keeping left foot facing forward, turn your body and lunge to the right with your right foot. Return to starting position, then repeat move on the left side; that’s 1 rep. Do 12–15 quick reps.

Single Leg Lift and Row
for hamstrings, back, butt, arms, core
Stand with left foot in front of right foot, holding a 5- to 8-pound dumbbell in right hand and keeping arms by your sides. Lean forward, and raise right foot off the ground. Extend weight toward the ground, then raise it to your hip.
Do 12–15 reps with right arm, then switch arms and legs and repeat on left side. Afterward, return to starting position and do 12–15 front lunges
with each leg. Move directly to Part 4.

Part 4.

Cardio Blast! Mountain Climbers
Starting in push-up position, step your right foot in toward your hands. In one motion, extend your right leg back to the starting position and bring your
left foot in toward your hands to complete 1 rep. Do 12–15 quick reps.

Stability Ball Roll Outs
for abs, back, shoulders
Kneel with a stability ball about 2 feet in front of you. Place your forearms on the ball, and bend your elbows to 90-degree angles. Keeping your abs tight, lean into the ball and allow it to roll forward about 1 foot. Using your ab muscles, pull the ball back toward you. Do 12–15 reps, then stand up and do 12–15 side lunges with each leg.Four weeks to your healthy beach body!

exercise, Fitness, health magazine june 2008, workout,diet 

1. It’s great for the heart
In a recent study conducted at Duke University Medical Center, researchers found that walking briskly for 30 minutes every day lowers your odds of developing metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors linked to higher risks of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. Roughly 24 million women in the United States have metabolic syndrome. Don’t have time for a daily half-hour walk? Try multitasking: A British study found that active commuting (incorporating walking and cycling into your sedentary commute) is associated with an 11 percent reduction in heart-disease risk, especially among women. (For sneaky ways to work more walking into your life, see No Time to Walk? Try This.)

2. It cuts breast-cancer risks
Walking, even for a few hours a week, significantly reduces breast-cancer risk, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The thinking is that walking helps reduce levels of body fat, a source of estrogen. The research looked at 74,000 postmenopausal women between the ages of 50 and 79. Those at a normal weight lowered their risk by 30 percent; those who were overweight, by 10 to 20 percent. Younger women may also gain similar benefits.

3. It helps you sleep
A brisk walk in the afternoon will help you get a better night’s sleep, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Experts say that walking may boost levels of the feel-good hormone serotonin, which relaxes you. Or, the rise in body temperature brought on by walking may signal the brain to lower your temperature later, which promotes sleep. (Avoid a walk two hours before bed—that’s too late to cool down.)

4. It cuts down on aches and pains
Walk the “chi” (pronounced chee) way and you could have fewer achy days. Nine years ago, Danny Dreyer, an ultra-marathoner then living near San Francisco, invented ChiWalking, which incorporates ideas from tai chi, yoga, and Pilates. It looks like regular walking but, because you consciously relax, improve the alignment of your body, and involve arm movements, puts less stress on the legs while you walk. That means fewer aches. “ChiWalking can cut down any risk of injury,” says Alice Peters Diffely, a ChiWalking instructor in Portland, Oregon. “Your whole body will feel better.”

5. It makes you happy
Walking can relieve depression, anxiety, and stress. Just one 30-minute walk may make you feel better when you’re down, University of Texas researchers found. Head out for 90 minutes five times a week and you’ll get the biggest boost, according to a new study from Temple University. One possible explanation: Walking helps the body produce endorphins, the mood-boosting chemicals linked to “runner’s high.”

6. It keeps you slimmer
Walking for 30 minutes a day can pre-vent weight gain in most people who are physically inactive, according to another Duke study. And researchers from Brown University and the University of Pittsburgh showed that women who walked for an hour five days a week and consumed 1,500 calories a day lost and kept off 25 pounds over the course of a year. The reason walking helps control your weight: It’s easy! “The harder the exercise is, the less people will do it,” says Johnny Benjamin, MD, chairman of the department of orthopedics at Indian River Medical Center in Vero Beach, Fla.

7. It staves off senior moments
Several studies in older people suggest that walking—even for as little as 45 minutes a week—helps ward off Alzheimer’s disease. Regular strolls are also linked to mental sharpness in seniors. But regardless of your age, walking is likely to help keep your mind active, Dr. Benjamin says—particularly if you stroll with friends; walking while talking is a surefire brain booster.

8. It protects your bones
Just 30 minutes of walking three times a week does wonders to prevent and treat thinning bones. This kind of exercise, which uses 95 percent of your muscles, actually pushes your bones to get stronger so they can handle the load. “Walking,” Look says, “is not just for cardio.”

By Lambeth Hochwald

 It protects your bones,It staves off senior moments,It keeps you slimmer,It makes you happy,It cuts down on aches and pains,It helps you sleep,It cuts breast-cancer risks,It’s great for the heart,exercise, Fitness, health magazine june 2008, walking, workout

You’ve been on the plan for a month, now it’s time to step up your exercise. Try these two ramp-it-up moves—from Feel Great Weight dream team member Geralyn Coopersmith.

Add in Superwoman
Superwoman works the back (pictured above).

This move will balance the back muscles that work with the ab muscles targeted by the Diagonal Crunches, further strengthening your core.

Here’s how to do it: Lie face down on a mat with your arms straight overhead. Exhale and lift your right leg and left arm several inches off the floor. Pause for a second, inhale, then lower down. Repeat using your left leg and right arm; continue alternating for a total of 20 reps (10 per side). Do 2-3 sets.

Replace Step-Up with Crane Lunge
This move works the glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves.

Now that you have mastered the Step-Up, you’re ready to advance to the Crane Lunge. Not only does it challenge your balance, but it also provides a great workout for the same muscle groups with absolutely no equipment needed, since your body provides the resistance.

Here’s how to do it: Begin in lunge position with your left foot in front and right foot in back (don’t let your left knee go over your toes). Exhale, straighten your left leg, and bring your right knee forward and up as high as you can while maintaining a straight back. Inhale and return to the starting position. Do 10-12 reps, then switch sides and repeat. Do 1-2 sets.

1. Grab-and-go breakfast item: Planters Daybreak Blend, Berry Almond Trail Mix. Dashing off to work without time for a real breakfast? Instead of getting sucked in by that jumbo coffee-shop muffin, grab this satisfying blend of almonds, raisins, cranberries, and granola clusters. (It’s also good stirred into vanilla yogurt.) Watching your hips? Each portable pouch has 180 calories and 3 grams each of fiber and protein. ($3.49)

2. Frozen breakfast item: Morningstar Farms Veggie Sausage Patties. Most of us steer clear of traditional breakfast sausage, but no one wants to eat vegetarian versions—until now. These low-fat 80-calorie patties actually taste like the old-fashioned meat kind. Plus, they only take a minute-and-a-half to zap in the microwave and give you 10 grams of protein per patty. ($3.99)

  3. Hot cereal: Quaker Simple Harvest Multigrain Hot Cereal, Maple Brown Sugar with Pecans. Oats are great for your heart, but a lot of instant oatmeal is packed with sugar and sodium. That’s why we love this new natural option from Quaker Oats. Not only is it a whole-grain bonanza (it has oats, whole wheat, and barley), but it also packs half as much sugar and sodium as most instants. And it only has 160 calories. ($3.89)

4. Cold cereal: Barbara’s Bakery Cinnamon Crunch Shredded Oats. A quick bowl of cold cereal for breakfast just got healthier: These tasty cinnamony squares scored a thumbs-up from judge Nancy Rodriguez for delivering more than 80 percent of your daily whole grains. Plus, it boasts 4 grams of filling fiber per serving. ($4.99) 

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1. Frozen lunch: Helen’s Kitchen Thai Yellow Curry with Tofu Steaks & Vegetables over Rice. Another lunch at your desk? Go gourmet with this vegetarian meal that judge Phil Lempert calls “fabulous.” This vegan dish is a tasty mix of organic broccoli, red peppers, tofu, and basmati rice. It’s satisfying, too, thanks to 12 grams of protein per serving. All this for 280 calories, less than 5 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, and 30 percent of your daily calcium needs. ($4.89)

2. Cheese: Kraft LiveActive Cheddar Cheese Sticks. Get more bang from your Cheddar: These on-the-go snack sticks—with 120 calories, 10 grams of fat, and 20 percent of your daily calcium needs—have live, active probiotic cultures that help promote digestive health. We’re fans of the Cheddar flavor, but they’re also available in mozzarella and colby-Jack. ($3.99)

  3. Sandwich bread: The Baker Organic Pomegranate & Blueberry. This fruit-laced bread can do it all. Top it with almond butter to get your day going, use it to spiff up your turkey sandwich, or serve it with your spinach salad at dinner. We love that each slice has 15 grams of whole grains, 3 grams of fiber, and only 100 calories. ($4.99)

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