How does a mom of four with not much time to spare, stay youthful, healthy and in good shape? I have secrets! I learned the most effective 20 minute fat-burning cardio workout about four years ago. Did I mention that I can't get myself to stay on a cardio machine for more than 20 minutes? I used to torture myself by forcing myself to do 45 minutes on those machines. I don't have time or will-power of steel anymore.

Enter, high-intensity interval training that is easy on the body (ie, knees, joints, etc...). Researchers have found that there is a direct correlation between reduced aging and high-intensity exercise (Mechanisms of Aging and Development). In the same study, they found the immune system is strengthened by this type of exercise and it possibly provides the basis for resistance to infections.

A 2003 study published in the journal Sports Medicine found that "exercise intensity above lactate threshold and for a minimum of 10 minutes appears to elicit the greatest stimulus to the secretion of HGH." HGH or human growth hormone is described by some as the key to slowing the aging process. It is known to be responsible for increasing bone density and muscle mass and decreasing body fat.

I first read about this in an article by Dr. Mercola who said he lost 17 pounds of body fat and gained 5 pounds of muscle in a short time by changing nothing other than how he exercised. He added what he calls the Peak 8 to his routine only three times a week. I was hooked and began adding this to my own routine, seeing dramatic results as well.

So, how do you do Peak 8? Get on any cardio machine. I like to use the elliptical as my heart rate seems to go up the highest here. It's also very easy on my body which I choose to be gentle with. I simply warm up for 2 minutes at a fairly slow pace. Then I increase the resistance and go all out as hard as I can for 30 seconds. Go so hard that at the end of the interval, you couldn't go another few seconds. You should not be able talk during your intervals. After 30 seconds, reduce the resistance and go slowly for 90 seconds. Then again increase the resistance and go all out for 30 seconds. Repeat this cycle 8 times and then go slowly for about 3 minutes to recover and bring your heart rate back down.

If you do not have access to an exercise machine, you can do this outdoors while walking or running or even in the garage with a jump rope.

"Be mindful of your current fitness level and don't overdo it when you first start out. Also keep in mind that there's no "magical" speed here. It's entirely individual, based on your current level of fitness. Some may reach their anabolic threshold by walking at a quick pace, while others may need to perform a mad-dash to get the same effect.

If you are out of shape you may want to start with just two or three repetitions, and work your way up to eight, which is where the magic really starts to happen. If you can do a Peak 8 workout twice a week, and follow a healthy diet, you will increase your production of growth hormone" (Mercola).

The key here is that you get into your anaerobic heart rate zone during the high-intensity portion of your training. Your heart rate will get higher with each repetition, so your goal will be to have it at the anaerobic goal rate by the 8th repetition.

Consumption of sugar will shut off your body's ability to produce HGH. Instead, consume a diet of healthy fats, proteins and vegetables. Avoid eating two hours prior to Peak 8 exercise. I do mine first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. For maximum HGH production, make sure you are also well hydrated and getting adequate sleep.

It is best to practice Peak 8 along with strength and core training. I do a mixture of yoga and weight training as well as taking walks or hikes and a swim here and there. For maximum efficiency if you are low on time, do Peak 8 one day and weight training the next. Make sure you are stretching too!

My favorite method of weight training where I get the best results is laid out in a book called The New Power Program by Dr. Michael Colgan. The other book I highly recommend is How to Eat, Move and Be Healthy by Paul Chek. This is where I learned to work in as well as working out and how to eat for maximum health.

Maria Rippo is a Transformational Weight Loss & Wellness practitioner with an online as well as a local practice in Bothell, WA.This article Copyright 2013 by Maria Rippo, all right reserved. To replicate or use any portion of this article, please do so in its entirety including this text or contact the author at maria@mariarippo.com.

The challenge with eating fat to stay thin, is excess fat consumption can actually cause us to gain more weight, but we need enough of it to allow our body to use fat for energy instead of storing it. How do we do this?

Here’s a little story to illustrate:

There once was a kingdom called Body. A wise messenger (hormone) named Leptin, who resides in the great kingdom, hangs out, while he’s on call, with some friends near their kingdom’s storage facility. Leptin’s crucial role is to keep the kingdom (body) from starving to death by bringing news to King Hypothalymus (our master gland in the brain) about the state of the fat stores in the kingdom. The storage facility holds a hero named Fatman (the body's fat). Now, this hero is not largely recognized as such just yet, and he gets dissed because he’s very jiggly, slimy, and chunky. People tend to look up to the firm, muscly types as heroes. Even though Fatman’s job is crucial to the kingdom’s survival, usually the princesses strive to banish Fatman because they believe the bad stories they hear about him from the town criers. So, Fatman’s down these days. He’s feeling rejected and misunderstood, but he takes his job very seriously anyway because that’s just what real heroes do. 

Leptin, however, understands Fatman’s crucial role for the survival of the kingdom, so he hangs out right outside Fatman’s storage facility keeping tabs on Fatman, making sure his stores don’t get too low. 

As long as the princesses don’t try to get rid of too much Fatman, and no one attacks him, Leptin tells King Hypothalymus, “Hey, everything’s okay. Keep that metabolism humming. No need to bring additional fat into storage, our hero is healthy and strong.”


But, if the enemy of Fatman (Diet/Famine) comes in to destroy him, Leptin runs to King Hypothalamus with the mayday signal. “Fatman is weak and dying. Bring more Fat before he dies!” So, King Hypothalymus alerts Queen Thyroid to slow down the entire Kingdom (metabolism) and to convert everything that comes in (all food ingested) to fat, until our true hero is back. 

AND

Since Fatman is our hero, King Hypothalamus greatly increases the greediness of the peasants (appetite) so they’ll be really motivated to find food and eat LOTS of it to replenish the storehouse.

Once food starts entering the kingdom (your body), it is ALL stored as fat, to be ready for the next famine (diet).

But there’s more trouble ahead. Just like chronic carbohydrate and sugar consumption cause insulin  resistance, it also causes Leptin resistance. So when Leptin runs a message to King Hypothalymus, he’s thwarted by the Resistance, so the king doesn’t receive the message! So, even though the fat stores are full, the kingdom keeps working to build up more fat stores, and the peasants never feel full so they keep on eating.

Are you getting the picture? We need our Hero Fatman! But how do we know how much to consume? Does this mean I can scarf those McDonald’s burgers and fries? Tune in next time to find out! 

Click here to go to Fat: What's the Right Amount for Me?
 
You might also like:

Fat is Not the F-Word and it Just Might Be What You Need to Stay Slim & Trim

Ninety-five percent of diets fail. I found this incredible fact in the April issue of American Psychologist (the journal of the American Psychological  Association) in which they published a study conducted at UCLA. The study found that even after initial weight loss, 95 percent of dieters gain the weight back—and then some.

" We found that the majority of people regained all the weight, plus more. Sustained weight loss was found only in a small minority of participants, while complete weight regain was found in the majority. Diets do not lead to sustained weight loss or health benefits for the majority of people." − Traci Mann, Universtiy of Minnesota professor of Psychology who lead and authored the study.

According to the study, dieting is actually a predictor of future weight gain. So, I propose the simple question:
 
Is it possible that weight loss goals in and of themselves, cause weight gain?

Let me ask you this, what happens when you think, ”I have to lose twenty pounds by November because I'm going to be in my sister's wedding or  ______________ (fill in the blank)? This thought may actually come from a belief  that: “Who I am right now is not enough.”  

And understandably so. Look at the constant bombardment of messages we receive on a daily basis. Thin is still “in” according to every billboard, magazine advertisement, and TV show. It gives us the subconscious message that if we’re not thin, we’re not enough. Our behavior is a symptom of what we believe deep down, which we usually are not even aware of. Not that all excess weight comes from a belief that we’re not enough. Plenty of other beliefs cause us to carry extra weight. 

I can hear it right now: “What on earth would I “need” to carry extra weight for?” I assure you, we have many excellent reasons to carry extra weight. It’s necessary to do so until we uncover the hidden beliefs that cause us to feel safe by holding this extra weight. Our behavior will always be congruent with
our beliefs, created by our perceptions. And guess what? This is all correctable! When corrected, the changes in behavior (i.e. eating habits) are permanent.

For example, after I launched the Green Smoothie Challenge, I began really struggling with emotional eating. It was devastating for me (and also the catalyst for my healing which I now get to share with you!) because it prevented me from really moving forward in my life personally and professionally. Now that
I have done so much work around this, I realize how I was absolutely terrified to be seen as an “expert” on health and well-being. This might mean I was supposed to know everything and have the answers people were looking for. It ultimately could have made me the laughing stock of the earth, which was my deep
down fear. I couldn’t share my own gifts with this world. It was up to the world to decide when and if I was ever enough. 

This hidden belief completely paralyzed me. I was terrified to make one mistake. I was terrified of rejection so much that I constantly found a way to hold myself back. All of this happened so unconsciously that I would have said you were crazy (like you might be thinking right now) if you had told me this
before I was ready to hear it.

The diet mentality, the “on the diet” and “off the diet” and the “I’ve been good” or “I’ve been bad” thinking causes us to miss the whole gift our excess weight reveals to us. To move beyond diet thinking, we absolutely must wake up to the gift that is our unique form of self sabotage. This messenger, which most
of us would rather destroy, patiently waits for us to realize that it holds the key to unlock the code of our transformation! And, what is so great is that dieting allows us to experience that sense of failure over and over until we wake up to the misery we are creating for ourselves. Then, we become curious
about the message of our self sabotage. 

One of my teachers, JP Sears of Inner Awakenings says it so beautifully, 

“Self sabotage is when we want things to be other than they are. We have so much judgment about the Divine purpose of our life that we want things to be different than they are and we resist what is. The resistance we feel is the life of our inner saboteur.”

When we diet, we only add the pain of deprivation to our lives. We feel deprived which adds to feelings of anxiety, stress, or overall discomfort. Eventually we can no longer stand it, so we eat to numb the pain or suffering. For me, this was about a two hour process every time I started a diet. I literally, would instantly gain five pounds because all I could do was obsess about everything I wasn’t going to eat until I just ate... all of it. 

When we set a goal of weight loss, we need to look at what the weight loss means to us. We think it is weight loss we are craving when really, the craving we have is a messenger that we long for something we do not have. For example, if losing weight means I will be acceptable, this is the golden key to unlock my belief that I am unacceptable. It gives us an opportunity to explore where this belief came from and heal it. We must be willing to become so courageous that we can actually own our feeling of lack, of unworthiness and have compassion for ourselves anyway.

A part of us is attempting to care for our hurt. This is why we eat to numb our pain. I mean, who really wants to experience pain? And, to top it off, this all happens subconsciously, until we have suffered enough to wake up to it all and become aware of what's actually going on. 

When we finally wake up, we can transform and be empowered to become whole. It is truly a beautiful process—the journey to becoming more deeply human and fully alive! And this, sister, will never happen by making rules for ourselves about how much ice cream we will or won't eat and how much we'll weigh by
November to fit into that cute dress. That dress is only going to fit the body with the changed mind who
feels worthy, whether it fits or gets replaced with one that you feel beautiful in right now! 

The following are possible supplementation suggestions that may just be exactly what you need to finally get rid of those pesky cravings and extra pounds. Please always check with your physician before making changes to your diet, exercise or supplementation routine. The following suggestions are not to be used as a prescription.

Probiotics-

One of the number one ways to experience vibrant health and a healthy body weight is by balancing the good to bad ratio of bacteria in the intestines. Most people have 15% good bacteria and 85% bad. This ratio needs to be reversed in order to be healthy. Studies show that overweight people do not have the same bacterial balance in their intestines as people that are at a healthy weight. There have been many studies done on this and one showed that when the bacteria that overweight people are found to have, is injected into the intestines of mice, the mice started to gain twice as much fat. There could actually be a fat manufacturing plant in your intestines! Couple this with high cortisol (meaning high stress in your life or even constant low stress and you are in for a double, fat creating double whammy!) Another study showed that obese people were able to reduce their abdominal fat by nearly 5 percent, and their subcutaneous fat by over 3 percent, just by drinking a probiotic-rich fermented milk beverage for 12 weeks.

Many people think of their gut as a simple mechanism to digest food, but this is a woefully inadequate assessment. Your gut is quite literally your second brain as well as the home to 80 percent of your immune system.

Do you experience any of the following symptoms on a regular basis? Do you have difficulty digesting foods, or have food allergies?

Gas and bloating 
Headaches
Constipation or diarrhea
Fatigue
Nausea 
Crave sugar/refined carbs?

These are all signs that unhealthy bacteria have taken over in your gut, and these warning signs should be taken seriously, since a healthy gut is your number one defense system against ALL disease. There are actually ten times more bacteria in your body than there are cells. Balancing the good to bad bacteria has the potential to do more for your health than any single other thing you can do.

80 % of your immune system resides in your intestinal tract and if there is not a proper ratio of good to bad bacteria living in there, you are going to have health problems.

How does this get off balance?

Very simply, we do not eat bacteria rich food because we have a cultural fear of bacteria. These foods are necessary to replenish beneficial bacteria. To add to this, we feed the harmful bacteria with sugar, processed foods, and alcohol.

A healthy ratio of good to bad gut bacteria is also essential for:

Proper development and function of your immune system 
Protection against over-growth of other microorganisms that could cause disease 
Digestion of food and absorption of nutrients 

The probiotics in your gut also play a role in helping numerous bodily functions, such as:

Digesting and absorbing certain carbohydrates 
Producing vitamins, absorbing minerals and eliminating toxins     
Keeping harmful bacteria under control 
Preventing allergies 
Psychololgical health
Nervous system function     
Hormonal function
Brain function

The Top Step to Optimize Your Gut Bacteria AND Shed Pounds

Avoid consuming sugar, including fructose, and processed foods (which virtually all contain added sugar
and fructose). The sugars serve as fuel for the growth of pathogenic anaerobic bacteria, fungi and yeast, and competitively inhibit your good bacteria, tending to crowd them out of their appropriate niche. These pathogenic bacteria, fungi and yeast then produce metabolic waste products that will cause your health to deteriorate.

When you eat a healthy diet, consisting of whole food plant based carbohydrates, protein, healthy fat and probiotic rich foods, that are low in sugars and processed foods, it automatically helps enable the beneficial bacteria in your gut to flourish.


At the same time, limiting fructose is essential not only for the make- up of your gut bacteria but also for your weight directly. Fructose tricks your body into gaining weight by fooling your metabolism, as it turns off your body's appetite-control system. Fructose does not appropriately stimulate insulin, which in turn does not suppress ghrelin (the "hunger hormone") and doesn't stimulate leptin (the "satiety hormone"), which together result in your eating more and developing insulin resistance.

Why Keeping Your Gut Bacteria in Balance is an Ongoing Process

Your gut bacteria are an active and integrated part of entire system, in constant communication with your nervouse system, brain and hormones. Your bacteria are affected by your emotions and lifestyle. If processed foods are eaten often,  your gut bacteria are going to be compromised because processed foods in general will destroy healthy microflora and feed bad bacteria and yeast. 

Your gut bacteria are also very sensitive to:

Antibiotics 
Chlorinated water 
Antibacterial soap 
Agricultural chemicals 
Pollution

Because virtually all of us are exposed to these at least occasionally, ensuring your gut bacteria remain balanced should be considered an ongoing process. Cultured foods like raw milk yogurt and kefir, some cheeses, and sauerkraut are good sources of natural, healthy bacteria, provided they are not pasteurized. Keep an eye out for future posts on these foods.

If eating probiotic-rich foods has not been a part of your diet, it would be a good idea to do a super charged approach to building those bacteria.

I offer a very inexpensive 5 month gut-recolinization program. This is a complete, 4 stage, replenishment course. The investment is only $122 for the entire 5 month program. If you are interested in supercharging your health, this is the way to go. Just email Maria@mariarippo.com to order. Shipping prices vary so the orders are taken manually.

You can also add 1 – 2 TBS of raw sauerkraut to each meal, kimchee, cortido or any other type of fermented vegetable combination, as long as it’s raw! Instructions on how to make, coming soon! These foods are very high in beneficial bacteria and available at most health-food stores. I like to eat mine with a little olive oil, salt and Dijon mustard. Fermented foods are a normal part of the diet of almost every culture but North America!


Multiple Vitamin for nutrition and cravings

A multi-vitamin can help nourish your body and mind, eliminate cravings and give you an overall sense of vitality. 

I take Solaray Spectro ™ Multi-Vita-Min or Allergy Multi by TwinLab. They are all available in most health food stores or on Amazon.

Cravings

If you crave sugar, starch or alcohol, it may be helpful to takeL-glutamine. Julia Ross, author of the Diet Cure recommends 500 – 1500 mg L-glutamine before meals in the early morning, midmorning and midafternoon. This is also healing for your intestinal tract.

If you crave pick-me ups, lack energy, feel apathetic, lack drive or focus, have ADD or are easily bored, you might benefit from 500 – 1500mg L-tyrosine in the early morning and midmorning.


If you are overstressed, have stiff or tense muscles, find it hard to relax/loosen up, or get to sleep, feel overwhelmed and burned out or eat to relieve stress, you may benefit from taking GABA 100 – 500 mg as often as needed (be careful, it will really relax youJ )

If you are very sensitive to emotions or physical pain, tear up or cry easily, crave treats for comfort, enjoyment or numbing, ‘love’ or get a high from foods you eat or have behavior such as over-exercise, infatuation, self-harm, starving or purging, you may benefit from DL-phenylalanine– 500mg midmorning and midafternoon.

If you have afternoon or evening cravings, negativity, depression, worry, anxiety, low self-esteem, obsessive thoughts or behaviors, winter blues, PMS, irritability, rage, panic, phobias, fibromyalgia, TMJ, are a night-owl, or find it hard to get to sleep, have hyperactivity or benefit from SSRI’s you might benefit from 5-HTP 50 -150 mg midafternoon, if needed to get to sleep by 10pm or L-tryptophan 500 – 1500 mg midafternoon if needed, for getting to sleep by 10pm. 

If you would like more information on amino acid therapy for these issues, please purchase the book The Diet Cure, by Julia Ross.

General Health and Vitality

My favorite gut healing green powder that I use upon arising every single day an when I get tired in the afternoons and need a non-caffeine pick me up is Vitality Super Green. This product helps to nourish the inner ecosystem and keep it healthy and strong. It contains generous amount of nutrient-rich elements like GlutImmune (a covalent bonded glutamine), FOS from chicory inulin to feed the healthy bacteria, GMO-free lecithin, and aloe vera extract. This product will also help to curb cravings and give you energy.
 
Broken Cell Wall Chlorella

Broken cell wall chlorella is a perfect addition to any diet. For energy, detoxification,
cravings, alkalinity, and healthy blood. You will find this at any health-food
store. 

Refererences:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/06/18/good-gut-bacteria-may-help-fight-obesity.aspx

Are your food cravings driving you nuts? Ready to kick those sugar cravings to the curb?

First, let me say that I understand the inner battle that goes on around feeling powerless to stop the sugar cravings and food cravings in general. I'm an expert emotional eater, if you know what I mean:) I've been through stages where I couldn't even think about anything but eating, every minute of the day. So, I get it girlfriend (and male- friends too).

I also want to say that there is hope for overcoming your cravings! I am living proof. Am I a perfect eater who never gets cravings now? NO! But, food doesn't have the hold on me it once did and I want to let you in on a few of my secrets.

Secret # 1. Emotional food cravings have nothing to do with food or lack of will-power!  

What if cravings are a gift? Have you ever heard that what you resist, persists? Are you fighting those cravings like you're in a war? I sure did. So, when my entire perspective changed, so did my cravings. Guess what? Your cravings are here for a good reason, to wake you up to things you may not yet aware of. They are potent messengers and they are going to stick around until you get the message. They are your friend. So, I invite you to make peace with your cravings. When you get a craving, you might consider just checking in with yourself. Are you physically hungry? Has it been three hours or so since your last meal? What's going on? Are you trying to find comfort because you aren't comfortable? Maybe stressed out, sad, angry, anxious, chaotic, overwhelmed, disconnected, lonely? Food is very useful for making these feelings subside temporarily and as humans, we naturally seek pleasure, so of course you want to eat! Who would just rather feels all those feelings? It takes great courage to feel what you are feeling. It takes even more to get honest about it. Are you feeling helpless, hopeless or despairing or just stressed? Eating is one of life's greatest pleasure's. So, the fact that you want to eat is not a good thing or a bad thing. It just is. So, notice it and become curious about why you want to eat right now in this moment. If you can become curious and set the judgement aside, you'll learn a lot about yourself and when you learn to release the feelings so they no longer cause discomfort, the cravings will go away.

Secret # 2. There is a healthy alternative to every food you crave. 

So, guess what? You can start finding healthy alternatives for every food you ever wanted to eat. I have started a forum for recipe sharing so I can give you my secrets for craving success. I make the most delicious healthy food! It's rich and so tasty - so much better than anything you'll get in a package. So, you never have to feel deprived. Just click my 'forum' tab above and come on over. If you have a craving, contact me and I'll post my favorite healthy alternative. Ice cream, chips, cookies, milk shakes, burger and fries? I got 'em all covered:)

Secret # 3. Eat Intuitively.

This means, listen to your body and eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full. If you just have to have it, have it, but make sure to eat it when you are hungry. Just tell yourself, 'OK, I'm eating this and no one is stopping me. I'm having it and I'm going to love it and enjoy it, but I will wait until I'm really hungry and I will stop before I get too full... and miserable. I am going to fully experience every bite with awareness.' And then go for it, but do it slowly and intentionally because often, we eat to escape. Food takes us somewhere else... to 'Never Never Land' where we are temporarily relieved of all suffering and stress. Where we enter into our love affair and forget about everything else, including enjoying the food as we inhale it to numb out whatever uncomfortable feelings we are experiencing. Trust me, I am an expert at this:) It's a mini vacation and it feels really good for a little while, until about 10 minutes after we finish and then the shame sets in and, well, that part sucks! So, I invite you to be fully aware of the feelings you experience after the affair is over. Where do you feel them in your body? What is the sensation like? What emotions are surfacing. Notice without judgement. Just notice and then acknowledge them and say, "Even though I feel all this shame and guilt in my chest, gut, heart, toe (or wherever the emotion is showing up), I deeply and completely love and accept myself anyway.' If that phrase is difficult for you as it was for me at first, you might try, 'I'm open to learning to love and accept myself anyway' or 'I'm OK' or 'I honor myself anyway.' You might even think about how old you feel in this moment and see what memories surface about the first time you experienced this feeling in your life. Now just imagine yourself in the circumstance of that memory and go in and give that part of you a big hug until the feeling subsides. Ok, now that you are confirming your thoughts that I am certifiably crazy, I'd like to offer that I'm Ok with that AND that this has worked for many, many people. What is truly crazy is that many people try to use will-power and for emotional eaters, let me tell you sister, it ain't gonna work! Has it worked yet, for you? All that did for me was to bring lots more shame b/c I 'failed' over and over again.

Secret # 4. Stop vowing not to eat this or that or that you'll start a good eating plan tomorrow.

The number one way to gain weight is making strict rules or going on a diet. For emotional eaters, it doesn't work. It only causes more shame b/c you and I both know, you ain't stickin' to those rules. We have a rebel living inside us that can't wait to break every rule we make for ourselves. So, why not try something new? From now on, I invite you to tell yourself you can eat whatever you want, you are just going to try out these 'secrets' and see what happens. And then, try out these 'secrets' and see what happens.

Secret # 5. What if nourishing yourself, begets the desire to nourish yourself?

If that is true, you might try this: instead of making rules that put you in a mindset of deprivation, just begin to add healthy things to your diet. Instead of saying, "I won't eat..." say, 'Today I am going to have one smoothie.' Or, 'Today I am going to use butter instead of vegetable oil or margarine.' Or, 'Today I'll drink 8 glasses of water.' Or, 'Today I'll take a yoga class or a walk.' Try starting your day with this new habit and just see what happens to the rest of your day.

BONUS TIP: (had to call it that or I would have had 11 secrets to share, and you know, just not as pretty!)

When we know our purpose and use this information to move forward confidently in the direction of our dreams, the need to fill ourselves with food subsides. I invite you to check out my newest program: Finding YOUR Kind of Beautiful: Uncovering Your Purpose and Hidden Gifts. If this interests you, you'll find all the details here in my store.

Secret # 6. 'Oh, breathe, just breathe.'

These are the lyrics to a great song by Anna Nalick. When you feel the craving, notice where in your body you feel it, and visualize breathing peace and calm into that area. If you have a spiritual background, you can breathe God's healing spirit into it or imagine the light of God entering into the area and filling it. Or, like Anna says, just breathe! Taking deep breaths is scientifically proven to calm the nervous system, slow the heart rate and calm we humans down. I like to do a practice called 'regular breathing.' Inhale for a count of 6 through the nose, hold for a count of 6 and exhale for a count of 6. Focus on the breath coming in and going out. If you like, ' you can silently say, 'Right here, in this very moment, I'm safe, I'm OK. I choose to feel calm and peaceful in this moment.'

Secret # 8. Are you hydrated?

Often, thirst shows up as hunger. So, next time you get hungry, drink a glass of spring or filtered water. Wait 15 minutes and see if you are still hungry or find yourself craving. It's best to drink water 1/2 hour before or an hour after meals, but not during your meals. Drinking liquid during a meal dilutes your digestive juices. If you must drink with your meals, try drinking bone broth. It actually helps your digestive tract.

Secret # 9. Stop declaring who you are by saying, 'I'm fat.'

If you tell yourself that who you are is fat, your body will support who you are and you'll live a fat lifestyle. I have great news. Who you are is NOT your body. Your body is a vehicle to carry you through this life and it's Intelligent Designer created it to change according to how you sculpt it. It's very moldable. So you might consider doing the mirror exercise. I know, this is a challenging one. It was for me at first anyway. I was so used to hating my body that I scolded it and abused it every time I looked in the mirror. One option for overcoming this is everyday, stand naked in front of the mirror and begin to thank each part of your body for it's service to you. Thank your legs for walking around and working so you can live your life. Thank your bottom for letting you sit on it all the time and your arms for being able to hug others or yourself. Thank your hands for navigating on the computer, preparing your food, scratch your itches, etc...And start saying, 'I'm choosing to be fit and healthy. I'm choosing to be true to who I am and to start being my own friend.'

Secret # 10. How to make peace with your cravings.

OK, now that you're thinking I'm a little (or a lot) 'woo woo' and looney, all this talk about making friends with something you can't even see and having conversations with yourself and parts of yourself... I'm going to tell you how you can make peace with something that's been a long time enemy, those pesky cravings. I've made a short video for you to view below so I can walk you through a revolutionary and fairly new approach to beating those cravings. I invite you try this exercise next time you experience a craving and just see what happens. After viewing the video, if you'd like to know more of the science behind how this technique (EFT) works, visit this article by Dr. David Feinstein, PhD. If you'd like, you can download the diagram of tapping points below, before you start the video. This will show you exactly where the points are to tap on.

I'd love to hear about your experience using these 'secrets'. Comment below and let me know! If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them.