Exercise Tips from Celebrity Trainer Chris Powell

“ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Weight-loss Edition’s” Chris Powell knows the tricks for losing weight fast. He says all it takes is exercising nine minutes a day! See some of his quick and simple exercise routines from his new book “Choose More, Lose More For Life”.

Air Squats

Step 1
Start by standing in front of a chair, facing away from the chair. Your feet should be shoulder-width apart, your toes pointed slightly outward and your hips and knees fully extended.

Step 2
Keeping your weight on your heels, slowly lower your hips onto the seat of the chair, as if you’re being pulled backward by your belt

Step 3
Extend your arms in front of you, using them as a counterbalance, and gently touch the seat with your hips, making sure that your knees are tracking directly over your toes and not knocking inward.

Step 4
As soon as you feel your hips touch the seat, drive upward through your heels, fully extending your knees and hips to stand up to the starting position.

Dive Bombers

Step 1
Start in the pike position, bent over in a V at the waist with your hips high in the air, your hands and toes on the floor, and your elbows and knees extended. The angle between your torso and legs should be slightly less than 90 degrees, and your head and neck should be straight.

Step 2
Bending your elbows, shift your weight forward, lowering your chest and thighs to the floor while straightening out your body.

Step 3
While pressing upward again, swing your body forward, arch your back, and bring your head forward and up in a swooping movement, passing it through the air just above your hands. Extend your elbows and knees and keep your body suspended between your shoulders and your toes.

Step 4
Shift your body back to the pike position again and prepare for another dive bomber!

Eat Carbs and Lose Weight

“ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Weight-loss Edition’s Chris Powell” says you can eat carbs and still lose weight! Check out some of his easy and healthy recipes from his new book “Choose More, Lose More For Life”.

Sirloin Steak with Green Beans and Tomatoes

Makes: 2 portions

Ingredients

Sirloin steak, boneless and lean – 6 oz
Olive oil in spritzer bottle – 1 spritz
Green beans – 1 cup
Tomatoes, chopped into large pieces – 1 tomato
Garlic, minced – 3/4 tsp
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions

Heat oil in a nonstick pan on high heat. Add meat; cook on each side to desired doneness. Remove from pan and keep warm.

Lower heat to medium. Add green beans and sauté for about 3 minutes; add garlic and continue cooking for about a minute. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add diced tomatoes to the pan and cook for about a minute. Cover pan and cook for an additional 3 to 4 minutes, until tomatoes become somewhat saucy.

Plate the meat with vegetables on the side. Serve immediately with your favorite side for a high- or low-carb day; or portion out and store in the fridge or freezer until you’re ready to reheat and enjoy. Green beans and tomatoes can be refrigerated but will not freeze well.

Make this a low carb meal: Serve with a portion of sliced avocado.
Make this a high carb meal: Serve with your favorite carb dish, such as brown rice, baked potato, or baked sweet potato.

Lemon Chicken

Makes: 2 portions

Ingredients

Chicken Breasts – 2 breasts
Olive oil in spritzer bottle – 1 spritz
Lemon juice – 1/4 cup
Garlic minced – 1 tsp
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions

Put all ingredients in a gallon-size zip-top bag and seal. Gently massage bag to mix ingredients and fully coat meat with marinade. Let sit for at least 30 minutes.

Remove meat from bag and discard any remaining marinade. Broil, or grill over medium-high heat, cooking chicken on each side to desired doneness.

Serve immediately with your favorite side for a high- or low-carb day; or portion out and store in the fridge or freezer until you’re ready to reheat and enjoy.

Make this a low carb meal: Serve with a side salad or sliced tomato. Drizzle with salad dressing.
Make this a high carb meal: Serve with a side salad or veggies of your choosing. Serve with your favorite carb side dish, such as red potatoes or couscous.

Celebrity trainer Chris Powell says that you can still lose weight without cutting those beloved carbs. He shows off his carb-cycling method and they discuss transformations with Heidi. Watch at KatieCouric.com

First up, the carb cycling basics.

What is Carb Cycling?

Carb cycling is an eating plan with alternating high-carb and low-carb days. It’s that simple. It also has built-in reward days or reward meals (depending on the plan you’re following), so you can still eat your favorite foods on a regular basis. Sounds pretty much perfect, right? You can eat healthy foods, enjoy foods you love, and still lose weight.

While each plan has a different mix of high-carb and low-carb days, each day works basically the same:

• Eat five meals—no more, no less.
• Eat a high-carb breakfast that includes both protein and carbs within 30 minutes of waking.
• Eat your remaining 4 meals—either high-carb or low-carb, depending on the plan you’re following—every 3 hours.
• Choose approved foods (Sign up here to receive a FREE printable food guide!)
• Drink a gallon of water.

How does it work?

In order to lose weight, our bodies need the right combination of proteins, carbs, and healthy fats. Here’s why:

• Protein builds and maintains muscles and these muscles burn calories like an inferno. Protein also breaks down more slowly than carbs and fat, which burns even more calories and helps you feel fuller longer.

• Carbs are the preferred fuel source for your muscles and organs, and they come in healthy versions (vegetables, fruits, grains, and legumes), and not-so-healthy versions (cakes, cookies, soda, doughnuts, candy, and many processed foods).  Healthy carbs are also crucial for burning calories, and since they break down more slowly than those not-so-healthy carbs, they keep your blood sugar and energy levels steady, and they also keep your calorie-burning furnace hot so it burns more calories!

• Healthy fats (unsaturated fats) eaten in moderation help the development and function of your eyes and brain and help prevent heart disease, stroke, depression, and arthritis. Healthy fats also help keep your energy levels steady and keep you from feeling hungry.

So why do we alternate high-carb and low-carb days in carb cycling? On high-carb days you’re stocking your calorie-burning furnace so that on low-carb days your furnace burns fat, and lots of it! This pattern tricks your metabolism into burning a lot of calories, even on those low-carb days. It’s an amazing and well-proven process.

What are the benefits?

Carb cycling has many benefits:

• It fits any lifestyle.
• You’ll learn how to shed weight and body fat, and how to make smart lifestyle choices for the rest of your life. This puts YOU in control.
• You’ll feel better and have more energy.
• You’ll eat the foods you love.
• You’ll build lean, strong muscles.
• You’ll be empowered physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

We’ve touched briefly on carb cycling. Learn more about my four Carb Cycling plans to find your ideal one and let’s get cycling!

Easy Carb Cycle

Classic Carb Cycle

Turbo Carb Cycle

Fit Carb Cycle

We’ve just skimmed the surface of carb cycling here. Get even more details on carb cycling in my books Choose to Lose: The 7-Day Carb Cycle Solution, and Choose More, Lose More for Life

Unlike the other three carb cycles, the Fit Cycle only has two low-carb days per week, and there’s a very important reason for this: The extra high-carb day allows your muscles to absorb more fuel (glycogen), which you’ll need for maximum athletic performance. During your low-carb days, when this supply of glycogen gets depleted, your muscles will develop insulin sensitivity. When you then have a high-carb day or your reward day, these insulin-sensitive muscles will actually soak up more carbs, your body will burn this extra fuel instead of storing it as fat, and you’ll still lose weight. It’s an amazing process!

Here’s what a Fit Cycle week looks like:

<insert chart, Choose More, Lose More, p. 88>

With the Fit Cycle you won’t lose weight as fast as with the Turbo Cycle, but you will be able to maintain your athletic performance. However, if you do experience a slight decrease in your athletic performance with this cycle, and you’re not as concerned about losing weight, try combining the Fit Cycle with pre- and post-workout supplements or meal replacement shakes with some extra macronutrients.

And as with the other cycles, you can stay on the Fit Cycle or change cycles at any time. It all depends on your weight loss and athletic goals.

For more information on the Fit Cycle or any other cycle, check out my book, Choose More, Lose More for Life.

How is this possible? First of all, you’ll be following my low-carb/high-carb eating plan for your non-reward meals, and the success of this pattern has been proven many times over. And even though you’ll be rewarding yourself, you’ll be rewarding yourself less often. Let’s say you usually eat seven servings of ice cream a week. With the Easy Cycle you’re already eliminating three bowls of ice cream a week, and that’s a lot of calories! You’re satisfying your cravings without depriving yourself, and losing weight.

Here’s what an Easy Cycle week looks like:

<insert chart, Choose More, Lose More, p. 84>

For all your meals, on both low and high-carb days, try and eat smaller portions than you would pre-carb cycle. The more calories you can cut, the faster you’ll lose that extra weight!

And yes, you won’t lose weight as quickly as you would in other cycles, but the important thing is that you will lose weight, and you’ll also be forming healthy habits that will last a lifetime. And when you’re ready, you can move onto another cycle if you want to. Or you can stay with the Easy Cycle throughout your weight loss journey. It’s totally up to you!

For more information on the Easy Cycle or any other cycle, check out my book, Choose More, Lose More for Life.

Unlike the Easy Cycle, which has a reward meal incorporated into every high-carb day, the Classic Cycle has an entire reward day every week. Imagine that—a whole day to satisfy those cravings for your favorite foods! And you’ll still lose weight.

Here’s what a Classic Cycle week looks like:

<insert chart, Choose More, Lose More, p. 85>

With the Classic Cycle, besides losing weight at a quick and constant pace, you’ll also be able to tune into what is happening in your body during this carb cycle process. You’ll learn and actually feel how food affects your body, and while you may experience some brief periods of nausea, headaches, low energy and other symptoms as you change the way you fuel your body, these will be temporary. In the end, you’ll have a whole new appreciation for this marvelous body you have! And as with the Easy Cycle, you can stick with the Classic Cycle throughout your weight loss journey or move onto another cycle. You are in control!

Find more information on the Classic Cycle in both my books—Choose to Lose: The 7-Day Carb Cycle Solution, and Choose More, Lose More for Life.

Even though the Turbo Cycle has an extra low-carb day as compared to the Easy and Classic cycles, it is not a calorie-restricted cycle. Women should not consumer fewer than 1,200 calories a day, and men should not consume fewer than 1,500 calories a day. And since you’ll have two low-carb days in a row, you may feel less energetic on the second low-carb day. But this is okay. These low-carb days are powerful weight-loss accelerators!

Here’s what a Turbo Cycle week looks like:

<insert chart, Choose More, Lose More, p. 87>

As with the other cycles, you can stay with the Turbo Cycle as long as you want, or you can change cycles. This program is tailor-made to you and you alone!

For more information on the Turbo Cycle or any other cycle, check out my book, Choose More, Lose More for Life.