I am a “road warrior” in my car all day in hospice sales and marketing, and have been fit my whole life until last year when I lost my previous job. I was unemployed for a year and gained 10 pounds. Some of this could be stress and hormones. I used to weigh 115 and am now 131 on a good day…and all my clothes are too tight.

Can you recommend a program and what to be using for supplements? I know the basics…I am very healthy and was fit my whole life; 54-year old energetic professional looking for a quick start. I teach yoga and wellness and love to inspire others…interesting now I need it for myself! – Julie

A: Hi Julie, Thanks for writing! Nutrition is essential when it comes to being healthy and weight loss; this isn’t news to anyone, I know! The key, however, is to find the right balance, and to learn new patterns that combine the type of training you enjoy and feeding your body properly. In just a few weeks I’m releasing a 10-week online coaching program that guides you through the steps towards a healthy sustainable lifestyle.

But in essence my suggestion for you right now would be to get off the bad foods – flour, sugar, alcohol, excess salt and sodium – and incorporate 4-5 GREAT workouts per week. Try to stay away from the Diet mentality. Meaning, don’t follow any diet to a T, but instead eat 5 small meals per day to level your blood sugar. Balance your plate well: imagine your dinner plate being split in halves, and then one of the halves in another half. The biggest part is all the veggies you can think of, and the other two are a good carb and protein.

As for supplements, most of the time flaxseed oil is sufficient. I try to get all other nutrients through real food. It can be challenging, but drinking freshly squeezed veggie juices is a total winner here!

It is a commitment to get back on track, but the commitment is one that will create a deeper foundation of trust in yourself (so that when bad times come around, you don’t fall apart!) and strength (again, so that when the going gets rough – and it does for everyone! – you feel physically, spiritually, and mentally strong!). Good luck, Julie!

Tanja

Do you have a question? Don’t be shy – ask it here!

If you follow me on Facebook, you’ve probably noticed how proud I am of my family, and most all of my nephews.

For me, living in LA (far from my hometown in Sweden) has been GREAT – being here, I have been able to explore, grow, and evolve. But one of the things that I have missed out on is the growing up of my siblings’ kids. We get by with constant communication (thank you, Universe, for SKYPE!) and I’m always cheering on all of their endeavors.

One of the things that gives me the most Life Force is the love I receive from them and the communication we keep. The crazy thing is that we’re actually able to stay close, even with the Atlantic Ocean between us.

Everything is possible if fueled by Love!

My nephew Miki, whom I held at the hospital when he was born, has grown into a man and is an entrepreneur. His baby brother Alex has recently discovered training and fitness, healthy eating, and girls. My nephew Ivan has turned to boxing and is a super champ already, planning to come to the States and box. And my nephew Marco was just crowned the 5th most beautiful man in the world! (As a little boy, he was pretty quiet, always glued to my side. I remember the days when he would sit in my lap, just quietly observing the world around him.) My fifth nephew is the newest and youngest gnome. I feel confident he will do amazing things with such brothers and cousins!

I have changed their diapers, wiped their noses, and held them when they were sick. Now they glow, grow, and shine, to make this world better, and to teach us aunts and uncles, parents and grandparents, something only they know. They have the spiritual goods to Evolve and Progress, and the exquisite genes to make it happen. Born Warriors!!

I am grateful for my family. They give me Life.

P.S. My Marco just announced he is taken off the market. Sorry, ladies. But do check out his Swedish blog over at improveme.se!

1. Find an exercise program you like. If you actually enjoy the workout, part of the stress relief has already taken place. Create, or get help creating, a program which is based on 2-3 resistance weight workouts and 3-5 cardio workouts per week.

2. Do breathing exercises 2-3 times per day. Breathing helps calm down the nervous system physiologically and helps the body find balance in stressful situations.

3. Meditate a few times per week. It can be a guided meditation, it can be sitting to your favorite music or in a quiet place, and it doesn’t have to be any more mysterious that that.

4. Eliminate unhealthy foods from your diet. Processed foods, refined sugars, and too much caffeine put stress on the body. Treat your body with healing products and energy-rich foods such as fruits and berries, fresh organic vegetables, and lean meats. And heal your metabolism by eating small meals every three hours.

5. Give to others. One of the most powerful ways to heal yourself, get stress relief, and feel joy is to give, give, give. Whether you choose to lend an ear to a friend in need or open the door for someone, give a gift every day!

As you can see, stress relief is about so much more than just working out. Get out there and Live as Loud as you can!!!

Image: Helga Weber

Among the benefits of the Loud Fitness Membership Program is access to downloadable On-the-Go Workouts that you can put on your smart phone and take to the gym, to work, to the park … wherever and whenever you go!

Click to download a preview: Quick Yoga
Quickies are short, 20-minute workouts for when you have very little time but still want to do an effective workout. You can also string them together and make one long workout with different components. (Levels I, II, III)

Want to get the whole Quick Yoga workout and a brand new one each week? Click to join:

The purpose of a detox is to cleanse the body of toxins that have accumulated in the body. While some dieters turn to fasting as a detox method, a safer, more nutritionally sound approach is based on ingesting natural fruit and vegetable juices. A well-balanced combination of fresh, raw juices is not only fat-free but also provides the body with concentrated vitamins, enzymes, and antioxidants. These help the body flush out toxins, leading to increased energy, vitality, and fat loss.

You can detox naturally by just eating fruits and vegetables for about a week and, of course, drinking tons of water.

Try this easy detox juice for breakfast:

4 carrots
1/2 cup fresh spinach
Handful flat leaf parsley
2-3 sticks celery

Juice all ingredients, putting celery through last. Mix with water to taste or drink neat, your preference.

Here are a few other good recipes:
• Apple Cucumber Juice
• Beet, Carrot, Apple, & Ginger Juice
• Green Juice

Image: gadl

In this episode of Reluctantly Healthy, actress Judy Greer and I show you An Easy Workout With A Hard Name. This is a simple workout anyone can do anywhere without any equipment.

I had a blast joining Hollywood Trainer Jeanette Jenkins and Superstar Kelly Rowland in this new workout DVD!

This workout starts with a fun heart pumping standing warm-up to prep you for 6 chapters of Sexy Abs Training.

This workout will help you develop core strength, tone & flexibility so you look good & feel good!

Follow this Sexy Abs Workout 3x a week in addition to cardio, total body training & a healthy meal plan. If you’re short on time you can just do your favorite chapter.

Click here to order

The busier we become, the more we steal time away from our “joy” time. If work demands more time and effort, chances are that our gym time will suffer, and when our kid has yet another tantrum, our desire to watch a movie or paint our toenails goes out the window … Does this sound familiar to you?

According to a study (Lewinshon, Munoz, Youngren and Zeiss, 1986), the first activities that get voted off a busy schedule are the ones that would actually make us feel better and less stressed in the long run. How is that for irony?

The more sad and depressed we feel, the lower self-esteem we have, resulting in doubt that all the things that previously lifted our spirits have the power to do so again. In the absence of these moments of joy and positive emotion, it becomes more and more difficult to separate ourselves from work, bill paying, and everyday routines.

Harvard economist Juliet Schor (1991) reported that when workers in an English factory had to give up their overtime hours due to the bad economy, they recovered both physically and mentally shortly after. Because of the new extra time they had on their hands, they started hanging out with their friends, and their zest for life returned. Money lost its close grip on their minds, and even the ones with bigger families to take care of found it thrilling that they had been given more time with their loved ones. Life was worth living!

Finding joy and happiness in our everyday lives is something we can learn to accept and implement. For many of us, it is not an automatic thought. More often than not, negative thoughts are quicker to arise than positive ones. Many times it is easier to eat sugar or drink alcohol to feel the chemical high of what seems like joy for a brief moment.

However, it is very possible to make a conscious choice to do things we truly love, to be with people we truly love, and to give ourselves permission to enjoy these things. When we give to ourselves, there is more for others to enjoy, too. We enter a good cycle of giving and receiving.

Maybe the challenge is to find the joy in all things possible? Most of all, I know that there is joy to be found in the freedom of self-love.

What makes you laugh, enjoy, and feel joy? How can you share these feelings and moments? Can you stop and smell the roses a little bit every day?

Sunny ideas:

• Never skip your work out

• Begin to feel, smell, taste again. Smile.

• Before you do an activity, visualize in your mind what it is going to look like. Let yourself know that no matter what happens, it will be good.

• Experience new things in progression, especially if you are nervous about them. Note that you have done a great job. Every time.

• Exchange “I should” for “I would like to”

Life is your gift – living it is your choice!

Live Life Loud!

Image: Robert S. Donovan