Straight from Self.com I had to share this article with you. It has some amazing tips to help lose weight.
1. Pay lip service to hot abs
To achieve the firm midsection you’ve always wanted, become a blowhard. “When doing crunches, I exhale during the contraction, my lips pursed, as if I’m blowing through a small straw,” says Jay Blahnik, a trainer in Laguna Beach, California, who has worked with Jane Fonda. “I feel my stomach muscles contract more intensely, and I stay more focused.”
2. Set it and forget it
Watch the clock go ticktock and a 20-minute treadmill jog can feel like the Boston Marathon. (It’s only been five minutes?!) Instead, try a countdown. “I set a kitchen timer with the minutes I’m aiming to be active and go until I hear the alarm,” says Tom Seabourne, Ph.D., director of exercise science at Northeast Texas Community College in Mount Pleasant. When you can’t see the time, you’re more likely to concentrate on what you’re doing right now—your form, how strong you feel—rather than how long until you can stop. Plus, you’ll avoid the urge to let up on the intensity when you have only a minute or two left.
3. Grab an icy beverage
Chilled H²O (You thought we meant beer? Sorry!) could help you maximize your exercise. Cyclists were able to work out 23 percent longer when they drank cold water than when the beverage was at body temperature, a study in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise found. Blahnik’s keep-it-cool tool: a refillable aluminum bottle.
4. Be belle of the ball
A $1 rubber ball can help you score million-dollar legs. During crunches and other ab moves, “holding an 8- to 12-inch ball between your knees or ankles gets your inner thighs and glutes in on the action,” says Brooke Siler, owner of re:AB Pilates Studio in New York City, who has worked with Kirsten Dunst.
5. Keep a to-do list
Planning strength workouts ahead can get you out of the gym (and into those skinny jeans) in record time. “I have a template—I always know what to do next so I’m not wasting time wandering around,” says fitness and lifestyle consultant Ashley Borden of Los Angeles, who trains singer Natasha Bedingfield. You can make your cheat sheet basic (a quick list) or more structured—whatever works best to keep you focused. The SELF Challenge has a simple but effective example.
6. Groove and get fit
Music is a great distraction; these iPod ideas turn it into a magic motivational tool, too: Make your music meaningful “I pick songs with lyrics that support the goals in my life,” says Mandy Ingber, a yoga and Spinning instructor in L.A. who trains Jennifer Aniston. “For example, I’m letting go of a relationship and a job. George Michael’s ‘Freedom 90′ and Frou Frou’s ‘Let Go’ reflect that theme of release and let me use emotional energy to fuel my workout. It becomes a cathartic, therapeutic experience.” Add a goal song “Put your favorite song or a new tune at the end of your playlist, like a special treat to keep you exercising until you hear it,” says Meaghan B. Murphy, SELF’s fitness director and a personal trainer.
7. “Cheat” on your treadmill
If you do the same cardio over and over, your body adapts and reaps fewer benefits. Solution: Switch it up every month, rotating the elliptical, treadmill, stairstepper and bike. “Day 1, I test how far I can go in a set time. Initially, a steady pace is challenging, so I keep it up for a week,” says Michelle Kennedy, an exercise physiologist in Washington, D.C. “The next three weeks, I play with intervals, changing resistance, speed and incline. At month’s end, I test myself again. I stay motivated to see how my performance improves.”
8. Begin at the bottom
When doing your strength work, start with your lower body. “Legs are your largest muscle group, so the moves require more energy than ones for your upper body,” says Naomi Watts’s pro, Rob Parr, author of Star Quality: The Red Carpet Workout for the Celebrity Body of Your Dreams (Wiley). Tackle below-the-belt moves when you’re fresh to sculpt a better bottom half.
9. Praise your assets
Dragging it midworkout? “I repeat a funny mantra like ‘I have a great ass! I have a great ass!’” says Ingber, who also cues thoughts of sex and her latest crush to rev up her energy. “It’s sort of a joke, but when I think of how damn sexy I am, versus how I’ve got to get rid of cellulite, the positive message makes me want to sweat harder. But don’t take my word for it; check out my ass!”
10. Make a workout a win-win
A little friendly competition can turn a so-so sweat session into a serious slim-down—and the other party doesn’t even have to know it’s a contest! Next time you feel as if you’re phoning it in, pick a person in the gym who has a killer body or is working hard and make it your goal to do more than she does, says Mike Heatlie of Edinburgh, Scotland, Gwen Stefani’s trainer.
11. Switch sides
Most people have a stronger leg or arm that picks up slack for the weaker side, says Geralyn Coopersmith, senior national manager of Equinox Fitness Training Institute in New York City. Her solution: Choose single-arm or -leg moves (like lunges) that force each limb to get stronger and toned for even more stellar sculpting.
12. Dream in detail
A vow to lose some weight usually doesn’t fuel you beyond a few weeks, says Ashley Conrad, owner of Clutch Bodyshop in L.A. (Kate Hudson has been a client.) “Visualize exactly what you want. Write down what your dream body looks like or the number of pounds you want to drop,” she says. “The more specifics, the easier it is to make a plan, track your progress and meet mini-milestones—all powerful motivators.”
13. Catch some elliptical air
Add some treadmill-style action to your elliptical session. By mimicking a running motion as you step, you can torch extra calories, says Angela Corcoran, director of education at the American Academy of Personal Training in NYC. “Raise the resistance so you don’t fly off, then swing your arms and pick up each foot a half inch or inch from the pedals on the up cycle,” she says. You’ll use less of the machine’s momentum to keep moving, and more effort on your part means more fat and calories erased.
14. Sprint to slim
“Studies show you lose more weight, especially around your middle, with short bouts of high-intensity cardio than with long, steady sessions,” Kennedy says. In fact, intervals were the lose-fat-fast secret of just about every expert SELF consulted. This pyramid technique from Paul Katami, who teaches celebrity-studded classes at Equinox in Hollywood, vanquishes boredom and body fat (warm up with a 5-minute slow jog first): Sprint for 30 seconds, then jog for 30. Next, sprint for 45 seconds, followed by a 45-second recovery. Keep increasing by 15 seconds until you reach a minute and a half, then work back down to 30. You’re using an elliptical or doing some other cardio instead of running? Not a problem. Simply sub the words Work as hard as you can for sprint and Whew! You can slow down a bit for jog.
15. Erase Aches
Sore muscles can leave you limping through (or skipping) exercise. Yet few people take time to stretch, which releases lactic acid so muscles recuperate faster. Enter foam rollers ($10 to $25; PerformBetter.com ). Almost every trainer SELF interviewed named these tubes as their must-have gear. Place one on the floor and sit or lean on it, rolling your hip flexors, glutes, calves and IT band (the difficult-to-stretch connective tissue along the outside of your thigh) over the foam cylinder. “I sit in front of the TV and roll. It’s like a massage, helping me recover from the day’s workout and prepare for my next,” says Jason Walsh, a trainer in Santa Monica, California, whose roster includes Hollywood hardbody Jessica Biel.
16. Cut out counting
The fastest way to sculpt sexy muscles is to leave them as fatigued as you are after a weekend babysitting your nephews. But being rigid about reps can keep you from reaching that intensity, says Adam Ernster, the guru in L.A. responsible for the übersleek physique of the Pussycat Dolls’s Nicole Scherzinger. “If you set out to do 12, mentally you shut down at 12, even if you could do more,” he says. Instead, have a ballpark figure you need to surpass, then keep going until you couldn’t possibly do another. If you find yourself doing many more, congrats: You are stronger than you think and can use heavier weights.
17. Do an ab-athon
Abs can be one of your strongest muscle groups because you use them while sitting and standing. Unfortunately, that means it can take extra effort to tone them. A tighter-tummy trick: Do all of your ab exercises (bicycles, crunches, roll-ups) back-to-back, says Nicole Stewart, a pilates instructor sought after by stars in Los Angeles. Working your abs to the burning point delivers smoking-hot results.
18 Shake up your sets
Varying your strength-training sets maximizes their ability to deliver the sexy, sculpted muscles you want. One day a week, do sets of high reps (15 to 20) with light weights (8 to 12 pounds) to build muscle endurance; one day, do low reps (5 to 8) with heavier weights (15 to 20 pounds) for strength, suggests Mike Bracko, Ed.D., a sports physiologist in Calgary, Alberta. Targeting different muscle fibers gives you a diminishing rump, not diminishing returns!
19. Get a high-tech reality check
Intense, heart-pumping exercise melts fat fast, but are you really working as hard as you think? Wear a heart-rate monitor to stay on track—in the 80 to 85 percent of maximum range. “A monitor won’t let you delude yourself into thinking you’re pushing your limits when your heart says otherwise,” says Coopersmith. Her top pick: the Polar FT60, $240. “I input my goals, and it devises a program and tracks my progress. If I reach my target for the week, it flashes a trophy. I’m so motivated by that silly trophy that when I don’t get it, I’m annoyed but driven to work harder the next week!”
20. Stand up to fat
Concentrating on standing tall while running or on the elliptical machine sneaks in extra tightening as your abs and back muscles engage to support your posture. “To test myself, I make the loser sign, placing the tip of my index finger on the tip of my chin and my thumb on the high part of my sternum,” Blahnik says. This way, your head is in line with your spine and your shoulders are back.
21. Use gratitude to get going
When the lure of the couch is stronger than that of cardio, take a minute to give thanks that you can get off the couch at all. “I think about how lucky I am to be capable of doing so many activities that many people aren’t,” says Patrick Murphy, a celebrity trainer in L.A. who has helped Eva Longoria get buff. Chances are, within minutes you’ll be lacing up your sneaks (and putting on a smile) to at least head out for a walk!
