I must reiterate something that I said during the Turn Over a New leaf challenge and will be saying throughout the Spring Boot Camp: This is not a diet. Dieting doesn’t work. You know it, I know it, we know it. I’m not referring to a special diet that a doctor prescribes for a specific ailment or condition. I am referring to weight loss diets. They’re a temporary eating schedule/plan. If a weight loss diet worked, you’d only have to do it once.

I truly believe that every adult knows what s/he should and should not eat to maintain a healthy weight. The point of this Spring Boot Camp is to provide support to one another as we do a “Spring Cleaning” of our bodies, inside and out. Develop a healthy eating plan, learn how to prepare delicious meals, make time for exercise on a regular basis, develop an easy to follow skin and hair care regimen. You will find that once you have healthy skin and hair, daily maintenance becomes less of a chore: You won’t have to apply makeup to hide things: Instead, you can wear make up just because it’s fun! The same holds true with your hair: Healthy hair is much easier to take care of because it “behaves”: It’s not dry and brittle so it doesn’t “fly away”. It’s not excessively oily so it doesn’t look limp or dull. A balanced, well rounded and nutritious diet will also make your skin and hair healthier. Exercise plays a big role in healthy skin and hair: It improves blood circulation, which brings nutrients to the skin, hair and nails, too! You will find that your quality of sleep will also improve with regular exercise and a well rested body is a healthy body.

During this Boot Camp, I want EVERYONE to workout for 45 minutes to an hour at least 4 days a week on non consecutive days. The workout must include strengthening exercises and it must keep your heart rate elevated for at least 30 minutes. If you don’t belong to gym and don’t own a workout DVD, you can use your elliptical trainer and set it to a higher tension to achieve a strength and cardio workout. I will do a video demonstration to show how you can use your stationary bike for a cardio and strength training workout, too, in case you don’t own an elliptical trainer. Alternatively, if you don’t own either, you can walk outside and use hand held weights to fulfill your workout requirements for Boot Camp.

I will also be giving you workout “assignments” throughout the Boot camp for the days where you’re not doing your 45 minute workout routine. If you did the Turn Over a New leaf Challenge, you already have a good idea of what’s in store for you.  During the Spring Boot Camp, though, I will be giving you “beauty” assignments as well! That should be fun!

Tomorrow morning (Saturday) I will post a weeks worth of sample menus so I hope that everyone will go grocery shopping this weekend. Remember: On Monday 12 April, Spring Boot Camp BEGINS! We will be doing a mini fast on that day, where we will only eat fresh, uncooked fruit and vegetables and will only drink freshly prepared fruit and/or vegetable juice and water.

If you’re wondering about the logic behind the sample eating plan I posted yesterday, here it is: Eating a small amount of protein throughout the day gives you sustained energy, so you don’t suddenly develop an overwhelming sense of hunger. This is why each meal includes a small amount of protein rich foods. We begin each day with fresh fruit or fruit juice because the nutrients these types of foods are best absorbed on an empty stomach, when we break our fast: You fast every night when you sleep, hence the term “breakfast” for the first meal of the day.

Remember: There WILL be a “winner”!!! You must check in daily by replying to every blog post I make during the challenge. Read the details by clicking here.

Have an AWESOME Friday and a great, lovely, happy and joyous weekend!

This is it! This is the “official” sign up sheet. If you’re in, please… HOLLER BACK right HERE!  This is an excerpt from the email I just sent out:

Spring is Here! Please join our Spring Time Boot Camp!!!

Good Day Everyone!

I hope that you’re all in fine spirits and excellent health. The weather in NYC and NJ is absolutely fantastic! It’s sunny, warm and just divine! I hope that the weather is wonderful in your neck of the woods, too.

I mentioned our Spring Booty camp a week or so ago. It was supposed to begin on 10 April 2010, but I had one of my very bad head pain attacks on Monday, so I was out of commission for 2 days. I am much better now, having rested and recuperated.

So, what is this Spring Booty Camp about, you ask? It is going to last 30 days (Yes, I changed my mind) and it will include daily blog posts with menu guidelines, exercises, skin and hair care regimens, etc. I will give you options for DIY facial masques and deep conditioning treatments, for those of you who don’t have the Brendita’s products I will be using. My workout DVD is still on sale, for 30% off: Use discount code Spring2Fitness when you check out. If you already have a workout routine or DVD, perfect! Use that! The whole point of the “Boot Camp” is to give each other support and encouragement.

There will be a “winner”, too!! I’ve decided what criteria to use to select a winner: You must reply to every blog post I make during the challenge: You have to write about what you ate for the day and what exercises you did… not a detailed post, just the facts. At the end of the challenge the person shows the most improvement (i.e. got stronger, increased cardiovascular endurance, has healthier hair, better skin, etc) will be the winner! I won’t ask for before and after photos, but it would be awesomely awesome if you’d take a picture of yourself at the beginning of the challenge and then another one at the end… you know, so you can see for yourself. If you decide you want to share them with me (and everyone else) that would be FANTABULOUSLY AWESOME!!!!!! The winner will receive a train case filled with full sizes of a her (or his!) choice of eye cremes: Sunshine Squalane, Moonshine , Glowshine, plus the Face Off Cleanser and the BFF Toner of his/her choice!  The winner will also be able to choose any Phat Head Deep Conditioning Treatment! The runner up will receive their choice of the above items in “special addition” mini sizes.

Tomorrow, I will post a “blueprint” grocery list for the first week. It will be a guideline that you can adjust according to yoru personal taste. I will post as many recipes as I can and I hope that you, too, will share recipes with everyone. It’s a group effort and I believe it’s going to be quite wonderful! Booty Camp begins on MONDAY 12 April 2010! On that day, we will begin with a “live” (uncooked) fruit, vegetable and water “cleanse”. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE…. JOIN ME!

For those of you who have already “signed up”: YIPPEE! HOORAY! YEEEE HAAAW!!! Thank you!!!  Are you getting all your stuff together? Are you dusting off the things you already have, but haven’t been using?

If you won’t be using my workout DVD, please be sure that the workout of your choice is one that you ENJOY! It should include a minimum of 25 minutes of aerobic exercise: movements that keep your heart rate beating in its target range. It should also include strength building exercises, using your own body as resistant or hand held dumbbells and/or ankle weights.  If you don’t have a workout routine and need one, you can buy my DVD at a discounted rate of 30% off by using code Spring2Fitness.

During the Booty Camp challenge, you will be doing a full workout four (4) days a week. Post challenge, you can cut back to 3 times a week, but no less than that! Two (2) days a week (the days in between your workout) I will assign exercises to do. The goal is to speed up your metabolism, get the blood flowing, muscles pumping, fat burning… you know, all the good stuff.

On Saturdays or Sundays (it’s up to you which day), we will do a conditioning treatment for the hair and a facial masque.  On that day, we will also plot out our eating schedule, grocery shopping, food prep (boil eggs, potatoes, dice/cut veggies, etc) for the upcoming week. I would REALLY love it if EVERYONE who is participating report in, here, on the blog, every day. I will make a blog entry every day, so I need to know that you’re with me.  OK?

It’s SPRING! Time to start anew: Out with the old and in with all the good stuff!

I’ve missed A LOT of workouts these past few months and I am feeling it: Old aches and pains creeping back up on me, my knees are snapping, crackling and popping for no apparent reason.  I have a very small window of time to exercise in the mornings. I can’t workout at night because it will interrupt my sleep, so when I wake up, I do my best to squeeze in a full workout.

With the launch of the new website and our big sale, I’ve been pretty busy every morning, so for the past few weeks, there simply wasn’t enough time to work out every day. I don’t harp on it too much and I don’t feel guilty, because I know I’ll get back on track. This is one of the reasons I’m so excited about the Spring Booty Camp. Yup. BOOTY Camp!  The goal is a fit, healthy and STRONG body and heart. And since it’s an overhaul of sorts, I figured, why not add some “mandatory” skin and hair care into the mix?

This is what I’d like for you to do BEFORE Saturday 10 April 2010.

• If you don’t already own some, buy a pair of dumbbells (for beginners, please buy a pair of 2 or 3 pound dumbbells)

• If you don’t have a workout routine or a gym membership, please buy my workout DVD: I am going to give daily exercises as a supplement to your “Booty Camp” workouts, but you will also need a regular “workout routine” that you will do 4 days a week.

• (Optional, but VERY important) If you don’t already own one, please buy my Phat Head Cordless Heat Cap and a Phat Head Deep Conditioning treatment.  We’re going to have weekly spa days where we will do a full facial and deep conditioning WITH our workout. The cordless heat cap will allow you to get these three things accomplished in the shortest amount of time.  I will give you some DIY recipes for a conditioning hair treatments, so there’s NO pressure to buy anything.
  

• (Optional, but VERY important) If you don’t already have one of my Pore Me Masques, please get one that’s suitable for your skin type. I will give you recipes for DIY masques, if you’re unable to get one of my masques at this time.

• (Optional, but VERY important) Acumen Heart Rate Monitor (or one that’s equivalent). I cannot workout without mine! Maintaining a heart beat in its target range is the ONLY way to get a proper and efficient cardiovascular workout. You can monitor your heart rate manually (taking your own pulse) but the heart rate monitor will allow you to see your heart rate without having to stop and count. Again, it’s optional, but I really hope you’ll get one. Since this new workout regimen will (hopefully) become part of your life, your heart rate monitor is an investment. I don’t get any $$$ from Acumen! I just love it so very much!
  

You are also going to need 4 complete workout outfits. Nothing fancy, but something that you can workout in comfortably. Why four? I don’t want anyone to use the “all of my workout clothes were dirty” excuse. A good sports bra (or athletic supporter, as the case may be) is optional, but highly recommended. If you’re working out at home, your outfit isn’t really a big deal, but have four on hand any way, just in case.

I am going to give daily meal plans… using a very loose blue print. There will be absolutely NO calorie counting. We’re going to use a meal plan that is nearly identical to our Turn Over A New Leaf Fitness Challenge. Why reinvent the wheel, right?

Booty Camp begins on Saturday 10 April. We are going to do a 24 hour “live” fruit, veggie and water fast on Friday 9 April. There will be at least 2 more similar fasts throughout the challenge.

I REALLY want to give everyone a goal by offering a prize. I know that many of you are kind of shy, so I will not ask you to send me photos or post your measurements, etc. By the end of the challenge, I will have figured out a way to pick a winner, but I didn’t want to delay the start date any further. I’m sure we’ll be able to figure out a way to choose a winner and a runner up before the end of the 5 week challenge (Yes. Five weeks!)

The winner will receive a train case filled with full sizes of a their choice of eye cremes: Sunshine Squalane, Moonshine , Glowshine, plus the Face Off Cleanser and the BFF Toner of their choice!  The winner will also be able to choose any Phat Head Deep Conditioning Treatment! The runner up will receive their choice of the above items in “special addition” mini sizes.

So… who’s with me???

Good Morning Everyone! I would like to host a Spring Time Boot Camp Challenge: To help everyone design, update or stay on track with their workout & healthy eating plan. Since I LOVE to multitask, I would like to use this time to incorporate an easy maintenance plan for healthy and vibrant skin and hair as well.

I have LOTS of ideas about what each day of the challenge will entail, but I need help from YOU.  I want to offer a prize (a purple train case filled with various goodies from our on-line store) to the person who shows the most commitment to making a healthy lifestyle change. I was thinking of “Before” and “After” photos… what do YOU think?

Please share your ideas with me so we can decide how to make this a true challenge. I NEED YOUR BRILLIANT MINDS!