Watched any new fitness infomercials lately?  I bet most of them went something like this:

“BUY THE BRAND NEW SUPER EXTREME AB BLASTER 5000 AND GET RID OF ALL YOUR UNWANTED BODY FAT!  TURN YOUR FLABBY FAT INTO MIGHTY MUSCLE IN JUST SECONDS A DAY!”

Sound familiar?

Although infomercials and promotions such as these have been debunked thousands of times by countless health experts and enthusiasts, there are *still* people who believe the hype.

No more, I say!

Spot Reduction Works

Spot training proponents believe that working a particular part of the body will result in fat loss in that specific area.  For instance,  they say that doing crunches will result in a slimmer stomach.

*NO, NO, NO!*

This is completely unfounded and just bad science.  There is no way you can reduce fat surrounding the muscles in your abdomen by working those muscles. Muscle and fat are two completely different things!

If you ever encounter someone claiming that it is possible to eradicate belly fat by doing some brand-new ab exercise (usually requiring you to pay $19.95 for unnecessary equipment) or turn pounds of fat into muscle, turn the other way and run as fast as you can.

Then Why Do Crunches At All?

What you *will* achieve by doing strength training exercises like crunches is…surprise…stronger muscles!  The exertion will also burn some calories, which will help you to release some overall excess weight.  However, this loss will be extremely minimal.

So what’s the most effective way to burn fat?  Why, I’m so glad you asked!

How to Reduce Fat

Adopting a healthy diet is by far the best way to lose excess weight.

Have you ever heard of the 80/20 rule?  I’m sure you have if you’ve ever talked to any reputable person in the health field.  It simply means that 80% of weight loss comes from diet while only 20% is a result of exercise.  I would even go so far as to say that 90% is a direct result of diet!

It’s likely that you know people who exercise hours a day and yet eat a less-than-ideal diet.  The result?  You would never guess that they exercised at all!  They may be very muscular, but no one would ever know because of the predominant layer of adipose (fat) tissue over their muscles.

How to Get Started

The best way to lose weight is to adopt a healthy raw vegan diet.  Not only will eating this way result in weight loss, you will also experience an increase in energy, mental clarity, and improved digestion.

The low raw raw vegan diet I recommend is healthy and simple.  If I had to describe it in one sentence, it would be this:

EAT MORE FRUIT, EAT LESS FAT, AND DON’T FORGET YOUR GREENS!

With guidelines that simple, there’s no reason you can’t get started today!

Over to You

What’s the most annoying diet, fitness, weight loss, or health myth that really gets your goat? Let me know in the comments below!

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze

P.S. Struggling with fat loss because of crazy cooked food cravings that lead to crazy cooked food binges? Crush those cravings now…

“How to Conquer Your Cooked Food Cravings Once and for All”

A Guide for Destroying Cravings on a Raw Food Diet

www.CookedFoodCravings.com

To learn more about everything that’s included and order your copy today, click on the link below:

==> www.CookedFoodCravings.com

Are you new to the raw food diet and finding it hard to maintain? Do you feel like a raw food newbie, surrounded by thriving veteran raw foodists?

Fear not, dear reader!

These 5 know how tips will give any raw food beginner the confidence and the know-how to succeed on a low fat, raw vegan diet.  You’ll be a thriving raw foodist in no time.

#1: Know How to Pick Good Quality Fruit

This is #1 on the list for a reason.  Knowing how to choose fresh, ripe, and delicious raw produce – as well as knowing how much food you need for the day and what fruits you enjoy – is a huge factor in your raw success.

My original decision to give low fat, high fruit raw vegan a chance was rather impulsive.  I was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired and didn’t know where to turn.  I had been on what I thought at the time was the healthiest diet in the world: cooked vegan.  The anemia, excess weight, and joint pains that plagued me screamed that the diet wasn’t working and so raw foods seemed like the next logical step.

Unlike most of the decisions in my life, I just kind of went for it!  I started by eating about 75% raw and saw results immediately.  I had much more energy, experienced immediate weight loss, had more focus, etc.  This got me so excited that I felt I had to go 100% raw right away!

Because I was still a new player in the raw food game, I had to go through a lot of trial and error.  It became shockingly clear how little I knew about produce and what a newbie I was at choosing anything close to edible.  I can’t tell you the number of times I threw away wads of cash on rock hard, never to ripen, out of season, tasteless fruits and turned to cooked foods for sustenance!

My best advice to you is to take it slow.  Gradually adding in raw, sweet fruit to your diet will allow you to learn as you go along without worrying about “slipping up” on cooked foods.

For more on transitioning, I suggest you check out my free mini-course The Fool Proof Transition to Raw.  A new lesson will be sent to your inbox each week and all you have to do is subscribe in the box on the right or visit www.fitonraw.com and subscribe there.

Did I mention it’s free?

#2: Know How to Make Simple (Yet Tasty) Raw Recipes

Many raw food beginners feel that a low fat raw vegan diet is completely tasteless and way too boring.  I understand that eating foods in their whole states can seem a little bland at first.  Okay, maybe REALLY bland!

Well, that’s where raw recipes come in!

To get started, I recommend that you experiment with fruit salads, fruit smoothies and green smoothies.  A fruit salad is just a few different varieties of fruits mixed together.  For instance, I love equal parts of chopped papaya, orange, and pineapple mixed together in a big bowl.  So juicy and refreshing!

A fruit smoothie is a few different fruits blended together.  In most cases, the base is a denser fruit like bananas, mangoes, or papayas.  Smaller portions of other fruits are then added to the base.  My favorite smoothie is 3 bananas, 2 oranges, and 1 cup of wild blueberries.  How much water you add to your drink will depend on how thick you like it.  I usually start with 1 cup.

A green smoothie is just a fruit smoothie with greens added to it.  These are great to help cut the sweetness in your meal and help you get in your greens for the day.  An always popular green smoothie is 5 bananas, 1 cup of blueberries, and 2 handfuls of romaine.  When adding greens, start with small handfuls.  Trust me, a grassy smoothie is not very appetizing.

I also recommend that you have at least one savory recipe that you really, really enjoy.  Salsas with lots of tomatoes and celery are great and you can use them as a dressing over greens to give a heartier feel to the dish.  You can also make lots of delicious raw soups or blended salads using saltier veggies as your base.

For more healthy and tasty raw food recipes, be sure to check out my e-book Low Fat, Fruit Filled, High Fun Raw Recipes here:

www.fitonraw.com/low-fat-raw-vegan-favorites

#3: Know How to Eat Enough

Yes, I know I harp on calorie consumption A LOT.  That’s because it’s important!  The best quality fruit and the tastiest raw recipes will do NOTHING for your success if you don’t eat enough.  It becomes all too easy to slip back into cooked food eating habits when you’re running on empty.

So how do you make sure you are consuming the right amount of food?  First, multiply your ideal weight by 10.  This is your basal metabolic rate (BMR), or the calories you would need if you remained in bed all day. Second, add any calories that you burn during the day to your BMR.  This is dependent upon your lifestyle.  For instance, someone who works in construction will use many more calories than someone working a desk job. Lastly, add any calories you burn from exercise.  Voila!  Now you have a rough estimate of how much food you need per day.

It’s important to remember that this is just an estimate.  If you don’t feel satisfied eating this amount, just gradually increase how much sweet fruit you eat during a meal.  The general rule is that satiation should last between 3-5 hours after you have eaten.

#4: Know How to Move Your Body

Exercise can be a lifesaver if you are new to raw foods and struggling with cooked food cravings.  As I stated in my How to Earn Your Raw Food article, breaking a sweat can create true hunger and actually have you craving simple raw foods.  I’ve never enjoyed my simple fruit meals as much as I do after an intense workout!

If you’re new to exercise, don’t sweat it (pun intended)!  A simple jog around the neighborhood or a game of badminton or a dip in the pool can do wonders for your eating efforts.  A little exercise goes a long way!

#5: Know How to Have Fun

Just this past month, I had a lot of fun produce shopping.  Not only did I visit my favorite farmers market, but I also learned about a Hispanic market a few minutes from my house.  I had actually known about this place for quite some time, but was hesitant to go there because it was in a not-so-nice part of town.

Anyway, I headed over there and was amazed by the variety and quality of produce available.  There were at least 10 different types of greens that I had never heard of!

But the really spectacular part was the produce.  Not only did the store have sapodilla, mamey, guava, and my favorite mangoes, they carried JACKFRUIT!  I could not believe it.

It really is so much fun to come across foods that you have never seen in person or never even heard of.  I am constantly surprised and amused by all the different varieties of produce out there.

And even “normal” produce is exciting!  Just look at some of the foods you will be dining on: bananas, oranges, grapes, apples, peaches, strawberries, cantaloupe, pears, kiwi, papaya, pineapple, tangerines, mangoes, nectarines, apricots, blueberries, watermelon, romaine, boston lettuce, bok choy, celery, tomatoes, bell pepper…all of which can be found at your local grocery store!

And don’t forget all the fun you can have making (and eating) simple raw recipes with these ingredients.  The combinations and taste sensations are endless.

Update 2011

I would say the most important know-how tip out of this list is the first one, knowing how to pick quality fruit. And now, I don’t just mean buying organic. I mean eating food when it is ripe and delicious.

You can buy all the organic produce you like, but if it isn’t good quality (i.e. it rots before it ripens) or you eat it before the fruit has a chance to ripen, you aren’t doing yourself any favors.

Then, of course, there’s the eating enough issue. Everyone struggles with this one in the beginning. Part of it is a perception problem (i.e. 5+ bananas for a meal seems like overkill) and the other part is an implementation problem.

It can be hard for someone used to eating low-volume cooked foods to start eating pounds of food in one meal. It takes some practice so that the stomach can stretch to accomodate the food.

Finally, let’s talk about recipes. Most people don’t have much trouble with finding fruity recipes that they enjoy. It’s dinnertime and getting in their greens that they struggle with.

My recommendation is to find one delicious and healthy salad dressing that you love. For ideas, check out Frederic Patenaude’s 70 Healthy Salad Dressings e-book that I offer along with my e-book Low Fat, Fruit Filled, High Fun Raw Recipes:

www.fitonraw.com/low-fat-raw-vegan-favorites

If you can tackle these issues—eating quality ripe fruit that you like, eating enough, and having a tasty greens-packed recipe that you love—you’ll be on your way to raw food success.

Go raw and be fit,
Swayze

There are hundreds of articles and books dedicated to helping you have more energy. I’m sure you’ve heard of these solutions: eat less meat, cut down on sugar, eat more fiber, drink lots of water, exercise everyday, on and on.

I’m here to tell you that you can significantly increase your energy by doing just one simple thing. But first, let me dispel a few myths…

Do Nuts and Protein Bars REALLY Increase Your Energy?

Have you seen those Emerald nuts commercials? You know, the ones where the people fall asleep during important tasks because they haven’t got enough energy. Then a friend gives them some nuts and woo hoo, they have energy galore!

I want to let you in on a little secret: there is *nothing* you can eat that will increase your energy. Not fruit, not vegetables, and certainly not nuts!

Digestion is a process in your body and it *requires* energy. That’s why everyone retires to the couch after a large Holiday meal. Your body is working overtime to process all of the food, leaving you too worn out to do anything else!

Which brings me to my next point: there are certain foods that require *less* effort from your body to digest. Raw fruit, for instance, only takes *minutes* to go through the full digestive process.

But again, even raw foods do not give you energy. It just uses up less, providing you with optimal fuel and letting you retain more of your own energy than if you had eaten, say, a bologna sandwich.

What About Exercise?

If simply eating an apple requires energy, you know what exercise does, right? Yep. Exercise saps your energy!

Think about it: you decide to go for a jog. You spend a good 30 minutes on the track. How do you feel afterwards? You feel a little worn out, right? And probably a little hungry, too.

With that said, making exercise a regular part of your life will *improve* your energy expenditure in the long run.

Because your body is now engaging in more intense periods of movement, average daily tasks will become even easier to perform. They will require less energy from you than they did before an exercise routine was implemented.

Exercising also makes the *true* energy booster even more efficient…

So What Does Give Us Energy?

Good question!

The *only* thing that we can do to actually restore our energy is…

*SLEEP*

That’s right.  Good ole’ sleep.  It’s easy to do, you can do it in the comfort of your own home, and it’s free!  What’s better than waking up naturally after a good night’s rest?

When you sleep, your body goes into hibernation mode. Because you are not moving, eating or thinking, you are creating less of a demand on your body. All of your organs, muscles and nerves are given the chance to rest and recover.

How much sleep do you need? It’s an easy answer, but you might not like it…enough.

You need enough sleep.

You want some numbers?  The general guideline is 8-10 hours every night. However, this changes from person to person. Someone who is training for a marathon will need much more sleep than someone who only goes for long walks on the weekends.

Tips For Getting Quality Sleep

As evidenced by the vast number of sleeping pills and potions used by the general public, people have a hard time getting quality sleep.

Here are some easy tips to help you *finally* get some sound sleep:

• Go raw! As stated earlier, eating healthy raw foods require less energy, allowing you to sleep much more soundly.
• Don’t eat too late. Try to finish your last meal a few hours before bedtime so that your body is not digesting food while you are asleep.
• Be a yogi! Just a few minutes of yoga, or any kind of light stretching, is a great way to calm your body and mind before sleepy time.
• Start an exercise routine. You will be amazed at how wonderfully exhausted you feel when bedtime rolls around.
• Turn off the computer or put down the laptop at least an hour before you go to sleep. I’m really bad about this sometimes, but it truly makes a difference.

As far as getting *enough* sleep, you simply have to get into the habit of doing so. The easiest way to do this is to gradually add on time to your nights. For instance, start by going to bed just 20 minutes earlier than you usually do. Add 20 more minutes the following week, and so on.

You can also try just adding a few restful moments throughout your day. That means no TV, no computer, and no phone! While this isn’t as restorative as sleeping, it does provide your body with a little bit of recovery time.

I have one last little point to make. If you wake up in the morning exhausted, that’s because you are! The absolute best thing you can do is go back to bed. Even if it means skipping exercise, go back to bed.

Yes, it’s that important.

What’s Your Sleep Schedule?

I’m an early to bed, early to rise type of gal and I feel best with about 9 hours of sleep a night. How about you?

Leave your comments below!

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze

P.S. Can’t get enough quality sleep because you can’t stay raw? Can’t stay raw because of crazy cooked food cravings?

I’ve got just the thing…

“How to Conquer Your Cooked Food Cravings Once and for All”

A Guide for Destroying Cravings on a Raw Food Diet

www.CookedFoodCravings.com

Click on the link below to learn more and purchase your copy today:

==> www.CookedFoodCravings.com

But as I’m sure you know, health isn’t just about diet. Check out these 3 non-dietary mistakes made by raw foodists:

Mistake #1: Getting Far Too Little Sleep

So you’ve heard the news. Raw foodists eat such a clean diet that they only need to sleep 5-6 hours each night!

Don’t believe this nonsense. You will not shave off hours from your sleep schedule just by going raw. Sure, you may need a little less sleep, given the fact that your body no longer has to fight its way through all the fatty cooked sludge, but it won’t make that much of a difference.

And actually, since a healthy raw food diet will lessen your body’s digestive and toxic load, you’ll have more energy than ever to exercise. Increasing your activity level means that you will need MORE sleep, not less!

Remedy: Sleep as much as you need to every single night. This generally means 8-10 hours, but will vary from individual to individual. If you feel ready to wake up each morning, than you got enough sleep.

Mistake #2: Getting Far Too Little Exercise

The reason that some raw foodists do in fact sleep less is because they don’t get any exercise! This is HUGE a mistake. You need to exercise if you want to be healthy. You can not be fit if you do not move your body.

And this means VIGOROUS activity! You know, where your heart beats fast, you breath hard, and your whole body leaks buckets of sweat.

So to answer your question…no, bringing in the groceries does not count as exercise.

Remedy: Start a simple exercise regimen you can stick with. It can be as simple as a walk around your neighborhood 3 times per week. What’s important is that you a) start with something you enjoy and b) start slowly. Otherwise, you’ll be a couch potato again before ya know it.

Mistake #3: Getting Far Too Little Sunshine

Notice how so many raw foodists struggle with vitamin D deficiency? Ever wonder why?

No, it’s not because they gave up meat and fortified dairy. It’s because they don’t get enough sun!

I know what you’re thinking…”Telling me to get more sleep was an easy sell and I’ve known about the benefits of exercise for years, but there’s no way you can convince me to expose my delicate skin to the cancer-causing sun!”

Get over it. Sure, too much of anything is too much and not a good thing. But the right amount of sunshine can do wonders for your overall health. Remember, vitamin D comes from exposure to the sun, not from what you eat.

Remedy: Layout naked (or as close to it as you can get) in the sun for 15-30 minutes everyday. Never underestimate the power of a good sunbathing session.

That’s all for now. It’s time to break a sweat, eat a satiating fruit meal, take a nap in the sunshine, and enjoy the rest of this glorious Friday!

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze

P.S. Want to learn from the person who convinced me to give raw a second chance?  Check out Frederic Patenaude’s latest tell-all book Raw Food Controversies:

Raw Food Controversies

How to Avoid Common Mistakes That May Sabotage Your Health

Click Here!

Frederic has made every mistake in the book when it comes to going raw and suffered serious health consequences because of it.

Learn exactly what he did wrong, what happened to him, and how you can avoid all of it and go raw the healthy and sustainable way:

Raw Food Controversies

And as we all know, these sources cost money. Sometimes LOTS of money. No one wants to spend their hard-earned cash on something they don’t want to do (but feel they should do) anyway!

The truth is, putting together your own full body strength training program is totally doable. You don’t need any outside assistance, you don’t need any equipment, and you don’t need to spend any money!

Creating an effective routine is literally as easy as 1-2-3. Here, let me show you…

#1: Lower Body

Choose one exercise that works the muscles of the lower body, i.e. glutes, quads, hamstrings, calves, etc.

Here are just a few:

• Squats
• Hindu Squats
• Lunges
• Calf Raises
• One-Legged Squat
• Wall Sit

#2: Abs

Choose one exercise that works your abdominal muscles, i.e. rectus abdominis, external obliques, etc.

Here are just a few:

• Crunches
• Sit Ups
• Bicycles
• Russian Twists
• Hanging Leg Raises
• Supermans

#3: Upper Body

Choose one exercise that works the muscles of the upper body, i.e. chest, back, triceps, biceps, etc.

Here are just a few:

• Push Ups
• Pull Ups
• Dips
• Pike Presses
• Handstands
• Reverse Push Ups

The Routine

Now that you’ve decided on 3 exercises, it’s time to put them together into a routine. Here’s an example:

1. Squats
2. Crunches
3. Push Ups

Set a watch for 5 minutes. For each exercise, do as many repetitions as you can within that time limit before moving on to the next one.

There are many other routines you can try to add variety and further challenge yourself.

For instance, you could time yourself and see how long it takes you to do 25, 50, 100, etc. repetitions of each exercise. You could also make the routine into a circuit, where you do a few repetitions of each exercise back-to-back and then repeat for multiple rounds.

No matter which routine you create, the most important thing is to make sure you keep track of how many repetitions and/or the speed with which you do each exercise. This way, you can accurately monitor your strength gains over time.

Progression

The real key to any fitness routine is progression. Without progressively increasing the intensity, duration, or frequency of your workouts as you become more fit, you will not continue to see improvements. In other words, you will plateau.

Don’t worry, this is an easy fix.

In terms of strength training, your goal is to increase the intensity. One way to do this is to add some resistance. For instance, if squats are becoming too easy, try adding some weight by holding dumbbells at your sides.

Another way is to create an unstable surface to work on. So if crunches are a breeze, try doing them on a stability ball.

The possibilities for increasing the demand, and therefore continuing to see the results you want, are endless.

See, now how easy was that?

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze