It’s been a busy weekend this weekend. I’ve spent a lot of time working, working out and spending time with my friends who have just arrived from France.

I was asked a very interesting question on Saturday night “What are your favourite ab exercises”.

I think you may be surprised by my answer because my friends certainly were….

I love these ab exercises because they work your entire body not just your abs and they send your metabolism through the roof, which is fantastic for fat loss.

Complete each exercise one after the other without taking a break, rest for 1 minute and repeat the entire circuit 2 more times.

Mountain Climbers – 30 seconds

Renegade Rows – 12 reps each arm

Swiss Ball Roll-Out – 12 reps

X Body Mountain Climbers – 30 seconds

Push –Up into Side Plank – 30 second hold on each side

Do the ab exercises workout twice a week.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Don’t forget to leave a comment, I love hearing from you.

Until next week…

Stay fit, keep focused and feel fabulous.

Author of The Sexy Flat Stomach Solution

PS – Add me as a friend on Facebook for extra motivation and fat loss tips.

Click here to join me on Facebook

You know that I’m all about giving you great tips to help motivate you in taking action to lose stomach fat and get a sexy flat stomach. Then take a moment to read through this blog because I’m going to share with you some fantastic weight loss tips that will help you take action today and lose weight for good.

Grab yourself a pad and pen because you’re going to want to make a note of the weight loss tips I’m sharing with you today.

I was just like you may be today, I understand that life gets in the way and unfortunately exercise and achieving permanent fat loss is the first thing to go when we are busy, exhausted, stressed, unhappy, you name it, I’ve been there and have worn several of the large tee-shirts!

But I found a way to stop ‘life’ getting in the way and I am so excited to be sharing these super weight loss tips with you today.

Are you ready?

Well then lets get started; I’ll show you how to make a few small changes in your life so you will have the motivation to get up in the morning to do your short workout or even after work when you get home.The trick is to make exercise and a healthy diet into a habit like brushing your teeth or paying the bills, they may seem a chore but they are a part of being alive, same thing here. The difference with these habits that you want to create, they can change your life, change your body, you will become healthy and your vitality will go through the roof!

Firstly, go and find a recent photo of yourself; it’s the one that’s been hiding in the draw or a secret file that only you know about.

Secondly, find a older photo of yourself where you are happy with your body (if you can’t find one of those, cut out a picture from a magazine where you have looked at a person and thought ‘I wish I had a body like that’!. Although keep it real, we don’t need plastic surgery here we’re good without that!).

Next I want you to take a deep breath and hang both of the photo’s (picture) on your fridge and whenever negative voices come in telling you it’s ok to miss your workout, look at those photos and think ‘this is what I look like now (unhealthy, unfit, unhappy) but if I continue with my fat loss exercises, I can look like the other picture and have the strong, vibrant and healthy body I deserve.’

Have you got your pad and pen ready for these weight loss tips? If not…..go get them, I’ll wait!

Okay,

I want you to write down where you are now in relation to where you want to be. Perhaps you have a few pounds to lose that you gained recently or perhaps this is something you know you should have dealt with a while ago but didn’t know how to start. Where ever you are now it’s great that you want to make the changes. So in your goals include your diet, lifestyle, fitness level, clothes size, confidence, anything that includes your body and life and how you could feel better about both.

Now set yourself a weekly goal, monthly goal and a 3 monthly goal. Your weekly goal may be to workout 3 x that week, monthly goal may be to fit into you slim jeans or an item of clothing that you bought hoping that in 1, 2, 3 months time you’d fit into and so far that’s not come (we’ve all been there). Finally your 3 monthly goal may be that you want to look hot & feel confident in your bikini walking along the beach on your next vacation. With goals we create our future in advance; we are basically creating our destiny. Goal setting is fundamental to achieving success.

It’s all about how you view yourself; you must change your mindset to start to make positive changes with your body. If you constantly refer to yourself as a fat person or an unattractive person, that’s what you will be and it doesn’t matter how many fitness and nutrition programmes you try, you will always revert back to the unhealthy lifestyle because that is where you see yourself and feel most comfortable.

I want you to start telling yourself each day that you can have a toned and sexy body because you know what; YOU deserve it and nothing less. Banish the negative, cruel you that has been hanging around for too long. Look at the new fit, stong, confident, healthy you that is stuck to your fridge and move forward with your life. You can do this, shoot for the stars, you’re definitely worth it. Permanent fat loss is yours for the taking!

Stay fit, keep focused and feel fabulous.

Author of The Sexy Flat Stomach Solution

PS – Add me as a friend on Facebook for extra motivation and fat loss tips.

Click here to join me on Facebook

]]> http://www.stephricefitness.com/index.php/2010/03/your-permanent-fat-loss-goals/feed/ 0 http://www.stephricefitness.com/index.php/2010/02/how-to-get-flat-abs/ http://www.stephricefitness.com/index.php/2010/02/how-to-get-flat-abs/#comments Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:30:49 +0000 Steph Rice http://www.stephricefitness.com/?p=799

I was watching TV this weekend and came across one of those abdominal gimmick adverts. We’ve all seen them, heck I’m sure some of us have even bought them in the past! They make promises that you will get flat abs if you strap a belt to your stomach twice a day for 20 minutes or sit on some abs rocker where you are told to do 100 rocks everyday!

Have you noticed that they are always demonstrated by an already fit & toned fitness model?
Do you really think they got those beautifully toned abs by using a ridiculous abs gimmick?

The truth is they didn’t.

There’s so much misleading information out there on how to get flat abs that I can understand how anybody could get confused about how to achieve a flat stomach.

We all have abs but some you can see more than others! Mainly because they are often covered up by a layer of body fat and the truth is if you want to see them you’re going to have to burn that fat away. You can do this very easily and it definitely doesn’t involve using an abs machine or spending hours every week doing endless crunches.

You need to treat your abs like any other muscle on your body, if you want to see them; you have to blast the abdominal fat off. Full body workouts and interval training are the way to go for any toned, flat tummy. Not only that, but every exercise you perform you should always tighten your abs which stabilises your body, so you’re giving your abs a great workout with every move you make.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t do any specific exercises to get flat abs because you definitely should but some people spend far too much time focusing on abdominal exercises thinking it’s the best way to get flat abs. I have worked with many clients who started with a great deal of tummy fat and by the time they’d reached their goal weight or physique they had a beautifully toned stomach. I can promise you that they did not do hundreds of crunches but the type of full body workout I mentioned above.

You don’t need to spend more than 5-8 minutes 3 x each week on your stomach exercises and they should target the four main areas of the abdominal muscles.

• Rectus Abdominis
• External Obliques
• Internal Obliques
• Transverse Abdominis

Follow each of these points and not only will you have amazing abs that will keep you strong and injury free but you’ll be confident and comfortable in tighter fitting clothes too.

Stay fit, keep focused and feel fabulous.

Author of The Sexy Flat Stomach Solution

PS – Add me as a friend on Facebook for extra motivation and fat loss tips.

Click here to join me on Facebook

This week I’ve decided to focus a little more on training the butt!

Over the next couple of months the thick heavy clothes will start to disappear as the weather warms up.

So it is time for some bodyweight butt exercises to make sure our lower bodies are firm and strong.

Having a well toned butt is important as strong gluteal muscles help to stabilize your lower back, hips and also your legs.

Here are some bodyweight butt exercises that will have us all ready to show more skin by spring.

This workout is ideal for the ‘time challenged’ because you can fit it in to your week, right along side your current workout.

Perform the bodyweight butt workout twice each week for 1 month.

With each butt exercise do 15 reps.
Complete each exercise one after the other without any rest.
Then rest for 30 seconds and repeat the entire circuit 3 more times.

As always make sure you warm up before going into the main workout.
Run on the spot for 3-4 minutes and then complete 8 reps of squats.

Side step-ups
Forward lunges
Sumo squats
One leg deadlift
Swiss ball leg lift
Reverse lunges

I’m sharing this great way to incorporate more butt exercises into your life so you can spread the word and let all your girl friends in on our secret.

Firm butt + strong back = Powerful, fit woman!

Stay fit, keep focused and feel fabulous.

Steph Rice

Author of The Sexy Flat Stomach Solution

PS – Add me as a friend on Facebook for extra motivation and fat loss tips.

Click here to join me on Facebook

]]> http://www.stephricefitness.com/index.php/2010/02/bodyweight-butt-exercises/feed/ 0 http://www.stephricefitness.com/index.php/2010/02/5-tips-to-control-your-hunger/ http://www.stephricefitness.com/index.php/2010/02/5-tips-to-control-your-hunger/#comments Sun, 14 Feb 2010 21:06:59 +0000 Steph Rice http://www.stephricefitness.com/?p=756

Over the years I’ve learnt not to reach for a donut or a packet of crisps when the hunger pangs hit.

Instead these days I grab a piece of fruit with some nuts, which keeps me satisfied until my next meal…

How about you? When do your hunger pangs usually kick in, mid morning or mid afternoon?

So why do we get these feelings of hunger and how do you control your appetite?

These hunger pangs happen because of the hormone ghrelin, taken from the word ‘ghre’ in the Pro-Indo-European language, meaning to grow.

Ghrelin is released when the stomach is empty. You need to keep ghrelin’s level low during the day to keep your hunger pangs under control. Apart from an empty stomach, eating too few calories for your body’s needs and drinking alcohol can also raise your ghrelin levels.

Here are my 5 tips to help you control your appetite:

1. Eat breakfast – aim for a bowl of slow burning complex carbs such as oatmeal with blueberries & scrambled eggs.

2. Stick to your meals times – stay on a schedule when it comes to your 5 small meals a day. Always be prepared, meaning if you are out and about carry a bag of trail mix with you.

3. Stay away from processed foods, fast foods and anything that isn’t wholesome, natural and fresh.

4. Eat protein – this helps you feel fuller for longer. Always have protein with every meal whether that be with your snacks, breakfast or dinner. Try adding whey protein to a smoothie.

5. Get your 8 hours of sleep each night. When you haven’t had enough zzzz’s, your food cravings will shoot through the roof and the desire for calorie dense high foods will increase.

So, keep those ghrelin levels low by following my 5 tips. Not only will they keep the hunger pangs at bay but they will also stop you from putting on any excess weight.

Stay fit, keep focused and feel fabulous!

Steph Rice

Author of The Sexy Flat Stomach Solution

PS – Add me as a friend on Facebook for extra motivation and fat loss tips.

Click here to join me on Facebook

]]> http://www.stephricefitness.com/index.php/2010/02/5-tips-to-control-your-hunger/feed/ 1 http://www.stephricefitness.com/index.php/2010/02/avoiding-the-weight-loss-plateau/ http://www.stephricefitness.com/index.php/2010/02/avoiding-the-weight-loss-plateau/#comments Sun, 07 Feb 2010 22:42:06 +0000 Steph Rice http://www.stephricefitness.com/?p=754

Hitting a plateau is such a frustrating part of working out. Everything seems to be going great guns and then suddenly without any warning the progress that you’ve been making over the weeks comes to a sudden STOP!

That my friend is what we call the dreaded weight loss plateau…

The Plateau can be broken by adjusting your workouts and your diet. Your body needs to be constantly challenged and by doing this you will continue to make great progress and ultimately reach your long term goals.

When you reduce your calorie intake to lose weight your body will respond by conserving calories or energy and in turn slows down your metabolism, which leads to the weight loss plateau. On the flip side the exercise plateau is caused by constantly doing the same workout week in, week out.

You need to make sure that you are consuming the correct number of calories each day for your body’s requirements. That’s why I believe you should work out your calorie requirements every four weeks. Once you’ve worked out the correct number, stick to it.

With your workouts, mix them up every four weeks. Our bodies adapt very quickly to the stressors we place upon them so look at ways you can change your workouts. I recommend workouts that include resistance circuits, interval training and high intensity interval training.

Next time a plateau tries to stop you moving forward, embrace it as it gives you the opportunity to learn more about how your body ticks and what produces the best results…

If you have any problems figuring out how to mix up your diet or workouts then send me a message and I’ll help you beat your weight loss plateau.

Stay fit, keep focused and feel fabulous!

Steph Rice

Author of The Sexy Flat Stomach Solution

PS – add me as a friend on Facebook for extra
motivation and fitness tips.

Click here to join me on Facebook

How close are you to getting the body of your dreams?

Are you almost there? Or do you think that it may take longer than you expected?

When you look in the mirror do you see an energized, healthy, lean woman looking back at you?

As we all know achieving a healthy lean body isn’t a walk in the park…. it takes effort, commitment and determination.

I want to share with you a wonderful little trick that I personally use with both my fitness goals and my business goals, it’s called Visualisation…

Visualisation is an effective way to accelerate your goals by creating a positive outcome which will help you create the reality.

Go with me on this…

Take a seat…(I know I don’t usually ask you to sit down!)

Now, I want you to get a clear picture in your head of how you want to look once you have lost your weight or got to the fitness level you’re working towards. What does your body look like, perhaps you are in a bikini or a figure hugging dress? Now, imagine how happy and confident you will feel when walking along the street or bumping into someone you haven’t seen for ages and they tell you how great you’re looking. You may picture yourself saying “Thank you; I’m feeling great right now”!

Keep this picture in your mind and the way it makes you feel. The picture will then penetrate into your sub conscious programming your body to move into the direction that you are visualising. This is a powerful way to keep weight loss and health at the top of your priority list.

Which ultimately means eating healthy and working out will become second nature.

Now that’s enough sitting, you know I’m all about the movement. Visualize and now go do it.

Try it and let me know how it works for you.

Stay fit, keep focused and feel fabulous!

Steph Rice

Author of The Sexy Flat Stomach Solution

PS – please make sure that you add me as a friend on Facebook for extra
motivation and fitness tips.

Click here to join me on Facebook

Have you been on a fat free diet? I know I have in the past.

You’ve no doubt read in magazines or on websites that you should avoid eating too much fat to lose weight, how ridiculous is that!……it’s been proven time and time again that you need fats (essential fatty acids) as they are necessary for aiding weight loss and lowering cholesterol and they also support brain and body functions. Fats in a meal slow down the digestion process so the body has more time to absorb nutrients, providing a constant level of energy and keeping the body satisfied for longer periods of time.

You should aim for 30% of your total calories in fats.

Don’t worry, I’m going to explain.

There are four kinds of fats: monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, saturated fat, and trans fat. Monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat are the “good” fats found in milk and grass fed beef. Trans fat (trans fatty acids) is the worst kind of fat, far worse than saturated fat. It is found in processed foods, baked goods and fast foods. Trans fats lower HDL (good) cholesterol and increase LDL (bad) cholesterol. This can cause clogging of arteries, diabetes and other serious health problems. Partial hydrogenation is an industrial process used to make good oil into bad oil. The process is to make oil more solid and to provide a long shelf-life in baked products; they are also used in cooking oils for frying in restaurants. The main problem is that partially hydrogenated oil is laden with lethal trans fat which you should avoid.

Here’s the good news!

‘Good fats’ can be found in:

• Flax, Sunflower & Pumpkin Seeds
• Walnuts
• Avocados
• Oily fish (Salmon, Mackerel & Tuna)
• Organic Peanut, Almond nut Butters
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Make sure that you start including the ‘good fats’ in your diet today, they’re not just good for you but they taste great too.

Stay fit, keep focused and feel fabulous!

Best wishes

Steph Rice
Author of The Sexy Flat Stomach Solution

There are so many metabolism wrecking toxins out there these days, which can be found in processed foods, pesticides on our foods, sodas, alcohol to our everyday cleaning products and face and body creams.

They are everywhere….

These nasty little things are purposely destroying your chances of achieving a healthy lean body…..

They completely mess with your hormones by harming your endocrine system.
The endocrine system is one of your body’s communication systems, it uses hormones to tell the body what to do and it’s closely linked to your nervous system.

They can cause diabetes, obesity, hypothyroidism and so many more problems.

Start removing these toxins from your life today…..

Firstly, cut out any processed foods completely. Look at the ingredients on the foods you’re eating, what do they contain? Look for hydrogenated fats, high fructose corn syrup basically ingredients you cannot pronounce. Any processed foods that you put in the microwave or that comes in a packet or a box, stop eating them because they are nothing more than rubbish which you are putting into your body on a daily basis.

Instead eat fresh whole foods that are natural and will nourish your body. Try and opt for organic foods as much as you can, especially when it comes to your fruit and vegetables.

As for the cleaning products that you use for your home, replace them with natural cleaning products that don’t contain toxins. There’s definitely a good range to choose from these days or you can even prepare them yourself at half the cost. The same goes for your beauty products, go for the natural products every time. Your skin is the largest organ on your body, let it breath and keep it looking young and pure by treating it to the best toxin buster out there, water! Water in, toxins out, simple.

Cut the toxins out of your life and I guarantee you will start to feel the benefits.

I’ll be back next week.

Stay fit, keep focused and feel fabulous!

Steph Rice
Author of The Sexy Flat Stomach Solution

]]> http://www.stephricefitness.com/index.php/2010/01/take-out-toxins-and-boost-your-metabolism/feed/ 0 http://www.stephricefitness.com/index.php/2010/01/keeping-to-your-fat-loss-goals/ http://www.stephricefitness.com/index.php/2010/01/keeping-to-your-fat-loss-goals/#comments Sun, 10 Jan 2010 18:10:08 +0000 Steph Rice http://www.stephricefitness.com/?p=664

I’m pleased to say that my first week of January is going very well. I’m on the road to reducing my body fat as I’ve gained a small amount over the holidays….

How are you doing? Is everything going as planned? Are you on the right track?

I’ve had a few emails over the past couple of days from women who are asking ‘how to keep themselves motivated without falling off the wagon’

My answer is this; you need to be following a structured and progressive workout program. What’s the point in working out blindly? This will only result in you giving up with your fitness goals without even really getting started.

How many of you are working out in a gym? How are you finding the post-Christmas stampede? You know the one where the majority of the members have promised themselves that they will workout at least 4x times each week to lose the weight that they’ve gained over the holidays but usually the motivation and determination has vanished by the end of February! The workouts are more often than not designed by an inexperienced fitness instructor, this usually includes hours and hours of slow pointless cardio and the worst thing of all it doesn’t include any weights or if it does you’re looking at a couple of resistance machines thrown in…

I could cry!!

If you are having problems motivating yourself or perhaps you need a gentle kick up the butt, then head over to The Sexy Flat Stomach Solution. Over there you’ll find all the information you could possibly need about achieving not only a Sexy Flat Stomach but a fit and healthy body in 2010.

Together we can do this, let me help you get into the best shape of your life!

Got any tips for other readers, leave them in the comments section. Share your story and motivate others.

I’ll be back next week.

Stay fit, keep focused and feel fabulous!

Steph Rice
Author of The Sexy Flat Stomach Solution

]]> http://www.stephricefitness.com/index.php/2010/01/keeping-to-your-fat-loss-goals/feed/ 0