Out with the Old, In with the New (Tricks to Tighten, Trim, & Tame)

Happy New Year! To help you start the year off right, and ahead of the game, I bring you a few tricks & secrets from myself and some very good friends (from Fitness Models to NFL Players).

Out with the Old, and In with the New

1. "When my skin starts to lose its natural glow, and my lips and nails start to get dry and thin, I know that I need to up my intake of water. It's honestly the best beauty secret in the World."  The human brain consists of 90% water, our bones consist of 22% water, muscle consists of 75% water, and the blood consists of 83% water. Taking in clean fresh water all day long is the best way to manage the health of your skin, stay full, absorption of nutrients throughout the body,  maintain metabolic elevation, increase energy, increase your range of motion, and regulate body temperature. Water is also the best form of detoxifying the body.
2. "In training camp, we never do the same workouts. It's always different. And that's not just routines. I mean speed and intensity, too. If it's not hard, it's harder. If it's not fast, it's faster. The body can never know what's coming, but always be prepared for anything to happen." In this mans life, training with a team and for a goal means no room for failure. To keep his speed, agility, sharpness and progress he trains the mind, body and spirit, and never in the same way. It's his way of life. Take that intensity and administer it into your own life. From workout goals to business goals build a helpful team around you, maintain focus, and leave NO ROOM FOR FAILURE.
3. "My best secret is to start every day with warm lemon water. It seems simple, but it's a metabolic miracle." This is absolutely true. Lemons and water both act as diuretics, flushing toxins out of the body and the pH conversion in lemons from acidic outside of the body to alkaline inside the body help amp up metabolic burn. Also, lemons contain vitamin C, which acts as a natural thermogenic, speeding up the bodys fat burning capacity.
4. " Don't let food control you. A few years back I was 60lbs.+ over what my normal weight should have been, and it was devastating. You stop and wonder how you could ever get that way, and then you realize that your whole day, week, life revolved around that next meal. Food was controlling me. I changed my whole thought process around. Started focusing on the important things. And really zoned in on my body; when it was really hungry, when it was content- NOT full-, when foods made my body feel heavy, when foods made my body feel light, etc. By knowing my body, I got to know which foods were right for it. That changed my life, and now I have been in magazines, commercials, and am happy with my body and my life." It's NUTRIENTS, NOT NURTURE. Eating is not something that should be done because you're bored, sad, or lonely. It should be done when your body needs energy and nutrients. Listen to your body. When you eat, eat until you're content. You should never feel full. When you eat too much you become lethargic, your brain can't function as sharp, you produce excess bloat and bile which then cause a toxic load in the body, and you store fat. 
5. "My biggest health "Aha!" moment was when my wife was pregnant and I had just retired from football. I was eating everything and not training. I started watching my wife and how healthy she was being. She used to go crazy about working out and eating "diet" foods. Then, all of a sudden with a baby on the way she didn't stress as much. She worked out almost everyday, but it didn't have to always be kill-you-intense and if she didn't get a session in, it wasn't a big deal. She also ate everything natural. I've never seen her body better, and we've both been doing this 7 years now." This is my FAVORITE piece of advice! Eat like you're pregnant!! When you're living and eating for somebody else, you should be more aware than ever about how you treat and what you put into your body. Portion control is HUGE because you don't want to overeat and stress your digestive tract. You want to eat ALL NATURAL FOODS because you don't want the baby to ingest any form of chemicals, hormones, pesticides, preservatives, etc. You want to consume clean raw vegetables and fruits so that you don't ingest carcinogens. And you have to keep your body physically fit for your cardiovascular, muscular, pulmonary, etc. health, but you don't have to kill yourself over it because stress can hurt what's inside of you.
6. "Never miss a meal. I know so many women in the modeling & acting industry that try only eating once per day, or just every other day. This is SO bad for them and completely goes against what they're trying to do. Because their body doesn't know when it's going to get its next meal it holds fat, especially around the midsection. They do this thinking they're getting skinny, and you see them a few months or years later with a tire around their core area, bad skin, bad hair, and unhappy. I eat all day, just small healthy meals though. This keeps my stomach from stretching out and keeps love handles from forming. " When you don't eat your body panics, storing fat and burning muscle. You're not getting nutrients so you don't look, feel, or act right. To keep balance throughout your body, keep from craving,  and to keep fat from accumulating, try eating 6 small fresh meals throughout the day.
7. "Always have a bag of motivational tricks ready. Our motivation is what gets us up and at the gym, even when we don't want to. If we lose this, we hit a road block." Treasure your motivations. Write them down, get your drive from them, and always create new ones. There are so many forms of motivation. You could be motivated by MUSIC, a GOAL, a better LIFESTYLE, PEOPLE around you, etc. Whatever it is keep updating it and keep it at the surface of everything that you do. Remember: out of sight, out of mind.
8. "If I've got an event or a shoot coming up and I need to trim down quickly, I cut out ALL refined sugar, all alcohol, any added sodium, all breads and crackers (wheat, too), all starches (corn- which I never touch anyways, potatoes, etc.), all pop (even diet), and even all meats except for salmon two weeks before. I'll then eat fresh citrus fruits (grapefruit's my favorite), salmon, lots of greens (think Kale, Arugula, Chard, Spinach), vegetables like asparagus and bell peppers, raw nuts & seeds, and drink lots of water. I'll also munch throughout the day, stop eating after 7pm, and do at least 25 minutes of cardio first thing in the morning before anything else, then maybe 25 to 30 minutes at night. This always works, and I feel so much better when I live this way that by the time of the event it's not just my body that looks better, it's my attitude, too."
9. "I never do the same workout twice in one week." The best way to manage your routines so that you get the most out of your workouts and you don't sink into that "comfort zone" or the dreaded plateau is to plan out your workouts each week. No day should be the same. Make Monday an intense cardio & weight circuit, Tuesday fuse yoga & pilates (try intense), Wednesday mix cardio and plyometrics into circuits, Thursday cardio, Friday weights, Saturday yoga or pilates with cardio, then Sunday rest. Whatever your regimens, be sure that they're never the same back to back.
10. "Apple Cider Vinegar! A tablespoon with water in the morning before breakfast, a tablespoon with water between morning snack and lunch, a tablespoon with water between afternoon snack and dinner, and a tablespoon with water before bed. I swear by it to not only help me lose weight through better metabolic speed and as a system flush, but also to help me keep my gallbladder healthy. I was born with a gallbladder disease and the health benefits of apple cider vinegar help to keep the stones away so that I can function normally, without pain. It's my magic potion." Apple Cider Vinegar has many health benefits, some of which are: strengthening teeth, balancing pH levels in the body, provides calcium for the bones, aids in blood pressure regulation, strengthens immune system, speeds up metabolism, natural remedy for heart burn, aids in fat breakdown, reduces levels of glucose, aids in relieving joint pain, etc. etc.