Gloss How-To: Shed Those Holiday Pounds
So, we’re a few days into the New Year and maybe also indulged a bit too much over the holidays and have a few extra pounds you’d like to shed.
We talked to celebrity fitness trainer Valerie Waters — she’s helped Jennifer Garner, Jessica Biel, Cindy Crawford and others maintain their fab figures — and got her best tips & tricks on how to recover from holiday weight gain and achieve your best body in 2011:
How To Shed Those Holiday Pounds…and Keep Them Off!
SET A DEADLINE
It’s easy for me to get clients in shape because usually, when they call me, they have a hard fast deadline to meet. It may be the Golden Globes, a bikini photo shoot, or a sexy scene in a movie that has lit a fire under them, but the bottom line is: everyone does better with a deadline! Even if you don’t have your own Red Carpet moment coming up, you can still pick a date – ideally about 6 weeks out – and circle it on the calendar. Plan a photo shoot or a special night out for that date, and then commit to doing your very best between now and then. You will be amazed at how much you can accomplish.
MOTIVATION FOLLOWS ACTION – SO TAKE ACTION
You think you lack motivation to start an exercise program, but it’s hard to get motivated while sitting on the couch. Sign up for a 6-week bootcamp, get a friend to meet you for a spin or yoga class, or join a new gym. The point is to take some action and then build on that. Once you start to see results, your motivation will soar.
STRENGTH CIRCUITS RULE
If you want to lose weight, shape your body, tone your arms and/or get stronger, you need to strength train. If you do it in a circuit, not only will you burn tons of calories, you will be in and out of the gym in no time flat! I like big circuits. My most popular Red Carpet Ready Workouts typically have 3 circuits that you complete 2 to 3 times.
EXAMPLE OF A RED CARPET READY CIRCUIT:
- Sumo Squat 15 x 15 lbs
- 2 Arm Row 15 x 5-8 lbs
- Valslide Reverse Lunge 12-15 each leg
- Dumbbell Chest Press 12 x 12 lbs
- Straight Leg Cross & Touch 20 each
- Valslide 1 Arm Slide 10 each
LEARN TO COOK AND CONTROL THE SOURCE
You can lose weight and eat healthy if you don’t cook but it is so much easier if you learn to cook a few simple things. Even if you try really hard to order healthy while eating out, restaurant portions are often too big and have lots of added fat or sugar. By learning a few simple recipes, you eat healthy but delicious meals! You will also have a greater sense of how much fat, sugar and salt you are consuming. My Red Carpet Ready program comes with a bunch of healthy, easy to prepare recipes, but you can also find some for free on my blog at www.ValerieWaters.com
Also check out: www.livewell360.com , www.thehealthytippingpoint.com , www.ohsheglows.com for amazing, healthy recipes.
GET SOMETHING NEW
There’s nothing like a new fitness tool or gadget to pump up your workouts again.
My favorites are:
VALSLIDE: This revolutionary new exercise tool creates mild instability, turning every exercise into a core exercise. The smooth, sliding motion makes exercises seem easier, while the continuous tension on the muscles makes each move more effective. To see Jennifer Garner demonstrate the Valslide on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, go HERE
GYMBOSS TIMER: This interval timer will give your workout the structure and discipline you need to go to the next level. Plus, it makes your workout fun!
VALBAND: This mini band looks innocent, but it will work your hips and glutes like nothing else – an absolute must for glute activation.
TRX: TRX is a type of training that uses your own body weight and gravity, to build strength, balance, coordination, flexibility, core and joint stability, all while preventing injuries.
KETTLEBELLS: kettlebells offer users a wider range of motion than dumbbells that sit in the palm of the hand, and they also better simulate the way we carry things in our daily lives. If you’ve been using dumbbells, kettlebells are a great way to switch things up and introduce a new tool into your workouts.
DRINK MORE WATER
If you are feeling bloated, chances are you’re not drinking enough water. Water is vital to your digestion, your organs and your metabolism. If you are consistently not drinking enough water, your body will hold on to water to protect itself. Drinking more water allows your body to release the bloat.
Whoever said men were God’s gift to women obviously never slipped into a pair of Louboutins. Seriously, what were they thinking? Stilettos can do wonders in shaping our legs – from lengthening to making them appear even more toned than they are.
As winter creeps up on us and the temperatures creep downwards, staying motivated to workout can be tough. Combine the colder weather with our increasingly busy schedules — thanks to holiday parties, holiday shopping, and endless events at our kids’ schools — and you’ve got more than enough excuses to slack off on your workouts.
. “But just because it is cold outside is not a valid excuse to stop exercising. The key is to infuse exercise into your day-to-day activities.”
With the change of the seasons it’s a good time to clean up your home and get organized. Try cleaning using a special technique – a toning technique from 
Add a little oomph to your walking routine with the “20 Minute Jump-Start.” Designed by Rachel Cosgrove, fitness trainer, triathlete and author of 
, this pre-walk workout warms up your muscles and boosts your metabolism, so you burn more calories and get the most out of your workout!
No more “girl push ups”! From now on you do real push ups. Incline push ups are a great way to eventually be able to do push ups on the floor. As you get stronger, lower the incline until you are not the floor. Push ups not only work your upper body including your chest and shoulders, but also area great core stabilization exercise. The reason most women cannot do a push up is that their core is not strong enough, not because they don’t have the upper body strength. Think about it- most women can do “girl” push ups on their knees, it is when we put them on their feet in a plank position using their core that they have trouble. 
Start: Feet in a wide stance squat position with your arms reaching over head as high as you can.
Forget crunches! When it comes to getting a six pack, core stability is where it’s at. This exercise will work your abs like you have never felt before. You will be sore, but you won’t have to do 500 crunches. Sweet!
Ladies, we have to look good leaving the room, too! Tall posture and a strong, sexy back say “confidence”. Nothing is sexier than being able to show off a toned, defined back wearing an open back shirt or dress. Performing a dumbbell row will give you the back you can feel confident leaving the room with. 
It’s time to stop using the “I don’t have time” excuse when it comes to not exercising… A groundbreaking, long-term new study has found that by exercising for just fifteen minutes per day, you’ll not only improve your health and cut your risk of cancer, but you’ll also live longer.
Feeling hot, hot, hot? Where I live, August has decided to be as mild as May. It’s a perfect 72 degrees — a welcome reprieve after July’s crazy heat — and I just got back from a mid-afternoon walk. But I’ll stop bragging now because the weather map shows some parts of the country are sweltering. A quick poll of my Facebook friends found weather reports of 85 degrees, 99 and humid, and even an outrageous 109 degrees. If you’re thanking the inventor of the air conditioner right now, don’t forget what you need to do to 
Want lean, toned legs? It’s actually quite simple, for most of us, we learned how to do it when we were little girls — all you have to do is curtsy.