If you happen to be one of the millions who have recently joined your local gym and are wondering ‘How can I get fit fast?’, you’ve come to the right place! This is the first part of a short series of articles that will absolutely jumpstart your success and help you achieve the fitness results you’re looking for.

Getting Fit Fast!

In order to get in shape fast, we need to tear down the roadblocks that stand in the way of our fitness results. How do we do that? By avoiding the most common female fitness mistakes. Here’s the breakdown:

Mistake #1 – Working out too long

Many of us have rather extreme personalities. With that comes an “all or nothing” attitude which can get new gym users in trouble fast when it comes to getting fit. Just because you want to prove to yourself that you’ve made a solid commitment does not mean you need to spend two hours completing your workout routine. Not only is this counterproductive but it’s a strategy that’s headed for failure right from the beginning. Going from zero workout time to two hours per session will have you making excuses and skipping workouts within the first week.

If you’ve just joined the gym and are spending over an hour there per day, stop immediately! You can achieve much faster results with a streamlined, hard-hitting workout session. It should look something like this:

• Warm up with 5-10 minutes of cardio, something that actually makes you work, like the jogger treadmill set on an incline or the stair machine on the fat burner setting.
• Your strength training routine should involve 1-2 exercises for each muscle group with 2-3 sets of 8-10 repetitions of each. In the beginning, you may want to perform more reps with less weight until you build some strength and are able to add more weight. Always start with a warm up set, followed by your working sets.

With this quick and easy workout session, you should be in the gym no longer than an hour. Also, keep the following tips in mind:

• Form is key. It’s better to perform less reps with correct form than the other way around.
• Machines are perfect for beginners because they provide more stabilization during your movements.
• Keep challenging yourself or you’ll reach a plateau. Continue to add either reps or weight. Your body is a genius at adapting to routines. After a couple of months, change up your workout routine using different machines to target your muscle groups. Most gyms have at least 4-5 different machines for each muscle group.

Mistake #2 – Working out too often

Less is more when it comes to achieving female fitness results. Weight training every day will not only slow down your results, but it’s also dangerous. Your muscles need recovery time after lifting. Listen to your body’s cues. When your muscles are sore, they are still in recovery. Don’t train until they don’t hurt. By overtraining you will be risking atrophy and possibly cause your muscles to shrink.

It’s during the rest and recovery period that your muscles are actually built, so look at that time period as part of the entire workout process. Especially for beginners, two to three gym visits per week is more than enough to achieve the fitness results you are looking for.

Mistake #3 – Trying to Spot Train

Full body workouts are not time savers but they are practical as well. With full body workouts you don’t have to think about whether today is your legs and butt day or your arms and chest day. Every time you visit the gym, you’ll be working every muscle. During your off days, every muscle will be in repair mode.

A lot of women’s fitness mistakes (and frustration) comes from attempting to spot reduce trouble areas. If you are already at your ideal weight, you may be able to work on certain areas and tone them up, but not if you are overweight. Fat is not lost in “areas” so although weight training a particular muscle group will build that muscle, it will still be covered by a layer of fat until you shed the extra pounds.

We recommend that you stay away from trying to spot train. An ideal women’s fitness routine will incorporate all muscle groups. Your body likes to grow proportionately, so by favoring certain muscles, you won’t experience the best or fastest results.

Mistake #4 – Isolation Exercises

The best and fastest weight training routine will focus on the larger muscle groups, using compound exercises. Compound exercises move your body through multiple joint movements. This ensures complete muscle fiber stimulation and you’ll see much faster results than individuals who focus on a single joint using isolation exercises.

Examples of compound exercises would include dips and lunges, military press, bench press, and barbell squats.

Here’s an sample workout:

Notice it includes each of the main muscle groups and uses compound exercises. Perform three sets of each exercise. One warm up set with 10 reps and two working sets with 6-8 reps per set.

LEGS: Barbell Squats

BACK: Pull Ups (weight-assisted or using the pull up machine) & Bent-Over Rows

SHOULDERS: Military Press

CHEST: Bench Press

Total Exercises Performed: 5;  Total Sets Performed: 15

Each set, including the brief rest in between, should last about two minutes. This adds up to a 30 minute weight training session. Add your 5-10 minute cardio warm-up to this and you have a complete female fitness routine in under 45 minutes. A 45 minute session at the gym, three times per week (with guaranteed results) is much easier to fit into your life schedule than a two hour daily session.

The key to success to fast fitness results is a simple, practical routine that can be completed quickly so you can go on with your day. Incorporate this routine with a healthy, nutritious, clean diet and you’ll never have to say, “How can I get fit?” again!

How does your diet work?  Perhaps you eat one meal a day that takes up all of your daily calories and simply drink water the rest of the day.  Or may you eat small meals five or six times a day and spread your daily calories out.  Even though each diet plan contains the same amount of calories, the results may be different.  Why is this and what can you do about it?

Female Fitness Does Not Completely Depend on Calorie Intake

While setting a daily calorie limit is important, as long as the intake is reasonable and healthy, this limit is not the only thing to keep in mind.  The place where your calories come from is just as vital to whether you are able to remain healthy and fit.  For instance, the calories obtained from a platter of fruits and veggies will be much different than the calories obtained from a piece of fried chicken.

Even if the calorie intake is the same for both, you will most likely gain more from the platter of fruits and veggies than you would the piece of fried chicken.  You will feel fuller, gain energy from the natural sugars in the fruit, and obtain valuable vitamins and nutrients.  A piece of fried chicken may be tasty for a little bit, but instead of giving you the energy you need to get through the day, the grease will most likely weigh you down.  You will also miss out on many of the vitamins and nutrients you need for a healthy body.

Other Factors You Should Think About

As stated previously, the calories in your food should not be the only thing you consider when you are choosing which foods to eat and when to eat them.

• Eat fresh foods.  These are most often more healthy than processed foods, which contain ingredients you may not be able to even pronounce.
• Make sure there is enough protein in your diet.  Protein strengthens and refuels muscles, and these are important factors for any female fitness routine.
• Don’t skimp on the starchy carbs, like yams, brown rice, and red potatoes, especially if you are going to be doing strength training or any kind of workout.  These carbs are converted to glucose in the body, which provides the extra fuel you need for your workouts.  Limit these kinds of carbs to days you will be training, though.  They should not be eaten ever day all day.
• Each meal should consist of grams of protein, like chicken or fish, and fibrous carbohydrates, like vegetables.  Instead of counting calories, count grams of proteins and fibrous carbs instead.  This will help maintain a healthy fitness routine.
• Your metabolism will work much faster if you eat several small meals a day.  Try eating small portions every three hours instead of eating one big meal a day.  Before you know it, your waistline will be much slimmer.

Counting calories is cumbersome and unnecessary.  With the right food, you will have no problem sticking to your daily calorie limit and losing weight with your female fitness routine.  Try it out.  You know you want to.

What happened to the progress you were experiencing before?  Where did the momentum go?  If these are the questions you’re asking yourself, we’ve got good news for you.  Your workout may be the problem.  Many women’s workouts are not well thought out.  Just because you are getting up bright and early every morning and committing to that thirty minute exercise routine doesn’t automatically mean your body will be transformed.  Don’t worry, this isn’t meant to be discouraging.  Most people fall into this ‘plateau’ period.

We’re about to tell you how to get past it, with just a few workout adjustments.  Here’s a few things you may be doing wrong:

Working out while fluid fatigued

You know you’re supposed to drink plenty of water every day.  You’ve heard it for years, probably decades…but do you know why?  Sometimes, when you discover the reason behind what you’re doing, it makes so much more sense.  According to studies conducted by California State University, workouts performed without the proper amount of good old fashioned H2O will leave you feeling drained much earlier than you would if fully hydrated.  Without enough water, your muscles are unable to function properly.

The studies proved that dehydration caused individuals to complete up to five fewer reps than those who ‘hydrated’ before and during their exercise routine.  Bottom line?  Drink plenty of water, all day, every day.  Vitamin waters and Gatorade don’t count.  Your body needs plain old H2O.

Getting Sloppy

A high intensity exercise will burn up the calories, in theory.  Over time, many of us tend to get a bit lax with our form.  Whether it’s cardio or weight training, it’s absolutely vital to move through the exercise properly.  Pay close attention to the muscle groups you are using while working your routine.  Small adjustments, like standing tall and breathing correctly will recruit more muscles and burn more calories.

A Mayo Clinic study showed that standing, as opposed to sitting or lying on a weight bench, while lifting weights, can burn at least 40 more calories per hour.

With weight training, the best way to check your form is by moving through your exercises slowly and paying attention to breathing, posture, and the muscles that are being used.  For cardio workouts, concentrate on breathing and posture.

Boring, Boring, Boring

Face it, if you don’t like your routine (if it isn’t fun and enjoyable), pushing yourself to go through the motions every day is going to be a mind-over-matter grueling event.  It won’t take long before the mind-over-matter loses out to your favorite episode of House or a fresh pastry and a cup of coffee.  Don’t let your efforts be sabotaged by allowing your workout routine to be the worst possible choice.  If you dread it, you won’t stick to it…period.

So, what can you do to guard against sabotage?  Whatever it takes.  Hate working out at home?  Come off of your pocketbook and pay for a gym membership.  Single? Join a gym or yoga class with plenty of members of the opposite sex.

Bottom line?  Keep it interesting.  Change up your routine if you have to.  Do what it takes to stick to your routine.

You Aren’t Combining Strength and Cardio

If you aren’t including both strength and cardio in your exercise routine, this may be the number one reason you aren’t seeing those love handles disappear.  Research has shown that the two together create the perfect, fat-blasting combination.  Why? Cardio activity burns the calories, but strength training builds the lean muscle necessary for continuous fat burning.  When you’ve got lean muscle mass, you’ll burn fat even when you are doing nothing…yes, even when you’re plopped in front of the television.

By adding just a few pounds of lean muscle, you will burn an additional 1,000 calories every week, just while sitting.  Add three days of strength training to your cardio workout and you will see those love handles melt away.

So, there you go!  Use these tips to refocus and blast through those stubborn flab that was trying to hang on.

How Does This Work?

Although fat contains more calories than protein or carbohydrates, the secret is in what fats actually do when they enter your body that makes the difference. Saturated and trans fats, especially when combined with high carbs will pile on the pounds. If you are already on a female fitness plan and trying to lose weight, you should know that there is a two step process involved in fat burning:

• First, cutting down on carbohydrates will release you from the grip of the ‘fat storing’ monster. Controlling carbs allows your body to return to its natural ability to burn fat. This is the first part of the process. As long as you are controlling your carbohydrate intake the calories from fat are immediately used for energy (which means they won’t be stored).
• Now, the next part involves the fat you are consuming. Trans fat, found in pre-packaged foods and baked goods, and anything deep fried should be avoided like the plague. Anything with hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil is a pound packer. So, what fats will assist the fat burning process?

What Fats Burn Fat?

Sounds like a tongue-twister, but here are the healthy fats that are beneficial:

Omega 3 Fats

We all have heard about Omega 3s ability to ward off diseases, but foods rich in this fat triggers the body and tells it to produce leptin. Leptin is great for appetite suppression, which will help to keep your portions smaller, but leptin also revs up your thyroid output, so, it speeds up your metabolism.

What foods are rich in Omega 3s? Brazil nuts, tuna, salmon, flaxseed, walnuts, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts.

CLA – Conjugated Linoleic Acids

CLA works to lower your triglycerides, cholesterol, and simultaneously revs your metabolism. The Food Research Institute of the University of Wisconsin, conducted studies that linked CLA to the improvement of your entire body composition by busting through fat faster while still preserving lean muscles and assisting with lean muscle gain.

What foods are rich in CLA? Organic beef, turkey, eggs, chicken and certain mushrooms.

MCTs – Medium Chain Triglycerides

Not only are MCTs great for your female fitness program, but they also have anti-aging properties. Foods rich in MCTs suppress the appetite, so you’ll consume less, and MCTs contain fewer calories than other fats.

Wait! There’s more…MCTs are minimally stored as fat on the body, they provide energy that women involved in weight loss programs often lack, and MCTs are absorbed by the body more quickly than other fats, so they immediately can be used for fuel. Sounds too good to be true, but it’s not. MCTs are an absolute powerhouse of benefits!

What foods are rich in MCTs? Palm kernel oil, coconut oil, raw grass-fed goat and cow butter.

With this information, you can start thinking about fat a little differently. Certainly, there are fats to avoid, but now you have a list of healthy fats that will aide in your women’s weight loss program!

Now, let’s move forward and outline the next steps you’ll need to take.  A ‘Can Do’ Mindset Whatever you do, please don’t look at the images of the physically fit women on our site and use that as a source of discouragement.  Don’t say to yourself, “It’s beyond my reach.” That’s a lie.   You may look in the mirror right now and see no trace of physical fitness.  That’s okay!  We all started somewhere like that! As you continue to follow our site and gain practical information, encouragement, and female fitness tips, you will see yourself changing before your eyes.

It all begins with your attitude and your mindset.   You may be 10 pounds overweight and a have a few trouble spots on your thighs or you may be 100 pounds overweight.  The only difference between the two is the fact that it will take the 100 pounds a bit longer to come off.  But, you know what?  The time is going to pass anyway, isn’t it?  Whether you are changing your lifestyle and learning new, healthy habits or sitting on the couch watching television and eating potato chips, the time will pass.  Won’t it be wonderful this time next year when you can look back and realize it was all worth the small changes you’ll need to make in your life?  Of course it will be!

With that in mind, let’s take a look at female fitness for real people. You may not be able to do a pull-up or jog a mile (yet), but here are the steps to get you there:

Start a Food/Exercise Journal, Right Now!

Tracking what you eat and how you exercise are important tools.  After even one week you’ll be able to assess what you’ve done and look for areas of improvement.  Don’t track your food by calories.  That’s not necessary.  Instead, check out some of our healthy eating articles to learn about the right foods.  Your female fitness plan should be focused on changes, not restrictions.

Exercise / Start Where You Are!

So you can’t do a pull up or run the mile, right?  That’s okay.  Start where you can by making changes to your daily routine.  Set aside a solid 30 minutes at least 3 times per week to get your heart pumping.  Bike riding, swimming, or power walking are a great way to begin.  The whole goal here is to get you “in the routine” and used to exercising.  Cardio exercise not only burns calories, but also promotes feelings of well being.  You’ll find yourself looking forward to your exercise routines and that’s when the changes really begin.  As you continue to push yourself and add new things to your sessions (like weight lifting or Pilates) you’ll begin to get a glimpse of that person you desire to see in the mirror.  That is the best motivator of all!

A Word on Food.

As we mentioned, female fitness is a way of life and shouldn’t be centered around negative emotions or restrictions.  That’s setting yourself up for defeat.  You’ll probably need to do a cupboard and refrigerator cleanse when you first begin. Get rid of packaged, processed snacks, sweets, quickie frozen meals, ice cream, and other tempting but unhealthy foods.  Now, is the fun part.  Start replacing those things with fresh, whole foods, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and lean meats.  You can read more on this in our other articles.  Pay attention to food labels and don’t assume that packaged food labeled ‘low-fat’ or ‘diet’ is actually good for you.

Now that you’ve got the first steps in place, it’s time to begin.  Start making changes today!  Half of the battle is over, you’ve made the decision to begin.  Now take action in that direction.  Remember…six months or a year is going to pass anyway.

Here’s some tips to turn you into a ‘label reading pro.’

Creative Marketing

Have you ever noticed that the front of food labels follow along with current trends?  Next time you are in the grocery store, take a look.  When everyone started talking about MSG, suddenly half the condiment labels said “NO MSG” right on the front.  When organic gained in popularity the “NO MSG” came down and “ORGANIC” took its place.  As consumers, we may think to ourselves, “Great!  That makes it easier for me to spot the items that are good for me!”  Not so fast.

Remember, I said food manufacturing companies are not necessarily your friend.  Often, they will use clever wording to lead you to believe something that just isn’t true.  Yes, the terminology is regulated by the FDA, but creative phrases still find their way around even the strictest rules.

Here is a list of advertisement wording, along with the true meaning:

• Low Calorie – Less than 40 calories in each serving.  The key here is to check the label for the number of servings it claims.  The front label could say, “Less than 40 calories per serving” on the front, but what if the container holds 6 servings?
• Reduced Calorie –  You’d think that reduced calorie and low calorie would be about the same, right?  That’s what the food manufacturers would like you to think.  Reduced calorie actually means nothing as far as healthy eating and nutrition.  All it means is that the food manufacturer took a product they were selling, let’s say packaged cookies, and recreated that product to contain at least 1/4 less calories.  Okay, so instead of consuming 1,000 calories of highly processed junk food that contains zero nutritional value, you will be consuming 750.  How’s that for a female fitness fail?   This is why we always talk about replacing pre-packaged food with fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, nuts, and other natural, whole foods instead of counting calories.
• Reduced Sugar / Reduced Fat – Much like the reduced calorie marketing technique, reduced sugar or reduced fat simply means the company decreased the sugar or fat content by at least 1/4.  That doesn’t mean it’s a healthy food choice.  Start looking at the word “reduced” for exactly what it is, a marketing gimmick to make a poor choice sound better.
• Reduced Saturated Fat – Probably the most dangerous and misleading of all the food labels.  Saturated fat is extremely unhealthy.  A label that reads “reduced saturated fat” simply means the product now contains at least 1/4 less saturated fat than it did previously.
• Fat Free – Each serving contains less than 1/2 gram of fat.
• Low Saturated Fat – Each serving contains less than 1/2 gram of saturated or trans fat.  Saturated and trans fat are unhealthy choices.  Steer clear of these products.  If you are looking for oils, especially cooking oil, choose grapeseed or coconut oil.
• Lean - The term “lean” means the item contains less than 4.5 grams of saturated fat per serving.  Again, if you are looking at pre-packaged, processed lunch meat, canned meals, or things of that nature, the term may cause you to think the food is a healthy choice, but it’s actually not.  Remember, choose fresh over processed whenever possible.

How’s that for a lesson on food labels?  Have you been duped by any of them?  Next time you are grocery shopping, you’ll look at your food choices a bit differently.

Take the time to read the ingredient labels before you buy and whenever possible, choose foods closest to their natural state.

Get familiar with the produce aisle and the local farm market.  You won’t have to worry about food labels there!

Your Female Fitness Goal

Step one, and this is vital.  You need to have a practical female fitness goal and it has to be your individual goal. What do we mean by that?

Your Female Fitness Starting Point – Where are you starting from?  Are you ten pounds overweight with very little muscle tone?  Are you forty or more pounds overweight but used to be in shape years ago?  Can you see what we’re getting at here?  Simply cutting out a picture of a perfectly toned, bikini model, taping it to your refrigerator, and saying, “That’s my goal,” isn’t going to get you there.  What you’ll need to do is determine where you are starting from and come up with weekly and monthly goals that are right for you.

Weekly goals should include, cutting out foods that provide empty calories and provide very little nutritional value.  Check some of our other blog posts for insights on nutrition and how to read product labels.  Ideally, you should remove all the snacks, processed foods, and unhealthy temptations from your home.  If you aren’t ready to take that big of a step, that’s ok.  Start where you can.  Get rid of all the potato chips and packaged cookies.  Replace these items with fresh, whole fruits and vegetables.  Continue using this purge and replace method until your pantry is filled with healthy food and you’ve successfully changed your food choices.  Slow and steady is better than ‘not at all.’

As far as exercise goes, repeat the same method used for food replacement.  Take at least 15 minutes every day to include some form of exercise or healthy activity.  By doing so, you’ll be replacing an unproductive activity.  Continue to do so each week until you have reached the point of a 30-45 minute workout at least three times weekly.

Documentation is Vital for Success

Everyone has rough days and times they don’t feel motivated.  You can prepare for those times by keeping a food, exercise and progress diary. You can do this online or on paper.  Document your daily food choices (without worrying about calories), your exercise, and your weekly weight. The reason why we advise against calorie counting is because the calorie total is much less important than the quality of the foods you are choosing.  Think of it this way.  If you need to snack and choose two bananas instead of a candy bar, you win.  It makes no difference how many calories are in the bananas.  You are making healthy choices which will go a long way for your overall female fitness success.

By documenting food choices, weekly weight, and even including photos of yourself along the way, you’ll have a strong motivational tool for those days or weeks when you feel like going back to your old patterns.  Having the ability to look at your progress will encourage you to keep moving forward.

It’s Not a Diet…It’s a Lifestyle

Finally, in order to guarantee that this time will be different, always keep in mind that you aren’t on a diet.  This is a life change, not a 30 day quick weight loss plan.  It’s only by changing the way you view food (as fuel) and the way you look at exercise (as a way of life) that you will make the long term changes necessary to maintain your weight once you reach your goal.

Remember, this is your personal journey.  Don’t be discouraged by how far your friends or workout partner may be.  Stick to your journey, stay on your path and success will follow!

Clear Female Fitness Goals – The Foundation for Success

Things get muddy without clear, attainable goals, don’t they?  In the case of female fitness, we know what we want; it’s that lean, trim body we can be proud of.  But how do we take the first step?  By setting your goal.

Steps to Proper Goal Setting

So, what is your goal.  Do you know? Just looking at a picture of a swimsuit model isn’t going to take you there.  First, decide how much weight you want to lose.  Is it ten pounds?  Is it twenty?  Then pick your time frame.  A healthy women’s weight loss and fitness plan shouldn’t consist of starving or depriving your body in any way.  Safe goals are best.  According to the Mayo Clinic, realistic weight loss should be no more than two pounds per week.  To achieve this, you’ll need to burn between 500-1,000 more calories than you consume each day.  We don’t recommend strict calorie counting, but that’s a good rule of thumb to look at.

Okay, a word on calorie counting.  If we don’t recommend looking up the calorie content in every bite you take, what do we recommend?  Food replacement is the best way to shed pounds without driving yourself crazy figuring out calories.  That leads us to the second part of our female fitness plan; taking appropriate steps to promote success.

Clean Out the Cupboards

Once you have your weight loss goal in place (1-2 pounds per week), it’s time to take the appropriate steps that will make these plans a reality.  You aren’t going to shed those extra pounds by reducing your potato chip and cookie content.  It’s going to take more effort than that.  We suggest cleaning out your cupboard and refrigerator of the following items:

• All processed, prepackaged foods (such as cookies, chips, crackers, canned dinners, etc).  These items are loaded with preservatives, hard for your body to digest, and have practically zero nutritional value.

• All salad dressings, mayonnaise and most condiments

• Margarine and cooking oils (Replace them with coconut oil and olive oil)

• Canned fruits and canned vegetables

• Soft drinks

• Empty carbohydrates, such as white rice and regular pasta

• Ice cream, pudding, and other basic snack items

Cupboards looking pretty bare?  Good.  Now you are going to start replacing those items with whole vegetables, whole fruits, unsalted nuts, and lean meats, such as chicken breast, tuna, and fresh fish.  Replace the empty carbohydrates with whole grains, such as brown rice, whole wheat pasta, and whole grain oatmeal.

Now you’ve got your starting point.  You’ve motivated yourself enough to set your weight loss goals, clean out the snack foods and empty calories, and you’ve started to replace your food items with healthy, whole foods.  These are the first two steps to diet and fitness success. Did you know that many individuals don’t even make it this far?

Now, of course, you’re going to have to add some cardiovascular exercise, weight training, proper sleep, and plenty of water to these first couple of steps, but at least you’ve made it through the tough part.  As you continue to follow our website, you’ll find nutrition information, healthy recipes, work out advice, and a host of information that will continue to motivate you to move forward.
Congratulations on making the decision to begin your female fitness plan.  It’s day one.  Get ready for a brand new you!

Most diets are intended as short-term, quick-fixes that make a futile attempt to address years, if not decades, of unhealthy eating practices.  They all tout their claims of fast weight loss, and unfortunately, that’s enough to rake in millions of followers who end up even more unhealthy than they were at the start.

So, What’s the Elimination Diet All About?

Of course, we can’t go into the entire program in this article, but let’s take a look at the basics:

• The elimination diet targets female fitness by removing any and all foods that your body treats as toxic or de-vitalising.
• The elimination diet includes only wholesome, natural foods, free from preservatives and other forms of processing that your body has to work overtime in order to deal with.

Basically, in the simplest description possible, the elimination diet takes everything away that your body doesn’t know how to handle and supplies your body with food in its purest form.  When you make the decision to take part in the elimination diet there will be a preparation period.

By following the instructions you will clean your cupboards from all sugars, processed foods, bread products, and most dairy.  The great thing about this is that the diet gives you a sound, medical reason for every single food you are eliminating.  For example, you may already be thinking to yourself…dairy?  Why should I eliminate most dairy products?  After all, isn’t milk supposed to be good for me?  The diet explains in detail that most dairy products are processed through a combination of pasteurization and homogenization in order to maintain a reasonable shelf life.  Unfortunately, the use of these processes kills off the enzymes necessary for your body to properly digest them.

If you make the decision to go on this diet, you’ll also be eliminating all alcohol and caffeine.  Yes, it’s a pretty big decision for the average person.

So, what’s the good news about this diet?  I’m glad you asked.  In return for eliminating all of these foods that our bodies have become addicted to and have wreaked havoc on our hormones and our organs for years, you’ll be on a diet that has no calorie restrictions at all and you’ll basically be able to eat whenever you are hungry.

Another bonus is the fact that you will quickly begin to drop weight, and did we mention that the total elimination process only lasts for 21 days?  Yes, that’s right…you can breathe a sigh of relief.  Although the intent is to adopt a new lifestyle, you will only be on this part of the diet for 21 days.  After that, the diet will walk you through the process of adding certain foods back into your diet, one at a time, and recording any adverse reaction you have.

The diet is split up into a couple of phases, but the ultimate bottom line is that by following this diet you will be getting in tune with your own body.  You’ll begin to understand how it works, what foods you have hidden intolerance’s to, and you’ll be able to eliminate the things that prove to be toxic to you….for life.

While on this diet, your body will be detoxing and you will be making great strides toward reaching your optimum weight.  When it’s all said and done, you will feel clear in your mind, your emotional state will change since your hormones won’t be running awry, and you will have more energy to complete your workouts than you know what to do with!

We give this diet five stars.  It is a healthy, sensible, life-changing experience.  Are you ready to make the elimination diet part of your female fitness plan?

No doubt, some of the programs and products were filled with downright lies.  You were told you’d lose a certain number of pounds in three weeks or 30 days and guess what?  Not surprising, the targeted time period came and went, and here you are still searching for answers.  You may have shed a few pounds here and there, but you’ve never actually reached your female fitness goal.

Well, I’m here to give you both good news and bad news.  The bad news first…It doesn’t quite work like that.  Most of the plans and programs are littered with half-truths and myths that sound pretty good, but just don’t work in the long run.  The good news is, once you squash those myths and stick to a fitness program that involves sensible, healthy eating and daily exercise, you are going to experience results.  Depending on your body type and what you’re starting with, you may not have ‘toned thighs in 30 days’ but that doesn’t mean you should give up.  Throw out the myths and half truths, keep the information that actually works…and keep pressing forward.  You will reach your fitness goals.

Here are five of the most common female fitness myths. It’s time to move past them and experience success, once and for all.

Female Fitness Myth #1 -You Can Target Your Trouble Spots and Sculpt the Perfect Body

This myth is particularly funny, but every month you’ll see magazines reporting on ‘targeting those trouble spots.’  Yes, if you work on a specific muscle group, that area will tone up, but if you have a layer of fat sitting on top of that muscle group you’re going to have to change that first.  There is no way to target areas of fat in your body.  Instead, a low-carb diet with plenty of lean protein and cardio workouts will help you shed that layer of body fat that’s hiding your muscle.

Female Fitness Myth #2 – Always Exercise in the Morning

So many female fitness programs will tell you to exercise as soon as you get up in the morning.  Although revving your fat burning power by starting your day with exercise is smart, not everyone can work out in the morning.  If it’s not for you, that’s okay.  The importing thing is to fit your female fitness routine into your best timetable.  If you enjoy lifting weights or swimming in the evening, you are more likely to make it part of your daily routine.  Once you own your workout program and it becomes a part of what you do…that’s the ticket to success.  More important than working out in the morning are laying off the snacks late at night and making sure you get a full eight hours of sleep.

Female Fitness Myth #3 – Diet Foods are Best for Weight Loss

Many women are still counting calories as a recipe for female fitness success.  If you are choosing ‘low calorie’ or ‘low fat’ foods, or even worse, frozen diet dinners, you are doing your body more harm than good.  As we’ve reported in numerous articles on our site, the best way to lose weight is by adopting a low-carbohydrate diet that is full of healthy, whole vegetables, fruits, and lean meats.  The truth is that it’s better to actually consume MORE calories during a meal, just as long as you are consuming the right kind of calories.  Diet frozen dinners are full of preservatives, sodium, and unhealthy ingredients.  Yes, they may have 300 calories, but how much of that can your body actually use for fuel?  That’s the important part.  Instead, a meal that consists of a piece of grilled fish, a handful of almonds, and a grilled zucchini are far better for you.  Why?  Because your body can actually use all of the nutrients in that meal.  Stick to whole foods and you’ll have a huge advantage over the ‘calorie counters.’

Female Fitness Myth #4 – Losing Weight Quickly Will Put Me on the Right Path

Everyone wants to ‘jump start’ their diet by shedding those first ten pounds in the first week.  Women mistakenly think this will boost their confidence and put them on the right track.  There’s nothing further from the truth here.  Two things occur when you lose weight quickly.  First, most of it is water retention, so the results won’t be permanent.  Second, by putting yourself on starvation mode to blast past those first ten pounds, you are actually putting your body on ‘red alert.’  Yes, your body is an amazing machine and it will work extra hard to hold onto fat at the first sign of being deprived.  This is a vicious cycle and a losing battle for you.  Don’t starve yourself.  The best plan is a sensible one.  Cut out the sugar.  Cut out the refined carbs and saturated fats.  Load up on fresh vegetables, lean meats, and drink plenty of water.  Combine that with our workout routines and you’ve achieve lasting results.

Female Fitness Myth #5 – Lifting Weights Doesn’t Burn Calories like Cardio Workouts

Another complete myth.  Although many websites and books will tout the benefits of cardiovascular workouts (and they are an excellent way to shed pounds), weight training develops lean muscle, which will work double-time for you.  Lean muscle will burn calories 24 hours per day, long after your workout is complete.  The more lean muscle you develop, the more calories you’ll burn, even when you are sitting down.  The best female fitness plan should include both cardio and strength training.

So what’s the underlying truth to all these female fitness myths?  The best plan is a sensible plan that involves a ‘lifestyle change’ instead of quick fixes that won’t bring lasting results.  Change your lifestyle and your body will follow.  You’ll be healthier, happier, mentally and emotionally balanced, and you’ll look great in your bikini too!