Health professionals recommend green tea to clients for its long list of health benefits including fighting heart disease and cancer, but it can also help stimulate fat loss. Studies have shown that people that combine green tea with exercise and healthy eating habits actually lose more weight than people who just exercise and eat healthier alone.

These studies have shown that substances found in green tea called catechins actually stimulate the body to burn more calories and reduce body fat. These catechins not only showed a decrease in BMI (body mass index), waist size and total body fat but can also help reduce LDL levels (“bad” cholesterol).

Yogi green tea is an organic tea that provides a variety of flavors so you should be able to find one that suits your taste. If you aren’t a fan of drinking hot tea then you can try to put it over ice for a cool refreshing beverage. Try drinking 2-3 cups a day so that you can obtain all the benefits that the green tea has to offer.

While health professionals recommend people drink more green tea, they do warn against purchasing beverages that may claim to contain green tea yet doesn’t truly have the benefits of it. Instead these beverages can contain high amounts of sugar or high fructose corn syrup and contain more calories than an all natural green tea beverage. So be wary of exactly what you buy because it contains “green tea” and stick to teas that you can brew on your own for your green tea benefits.

Kick Start Getting Your Body Back by doing a Master Cleanse

Day 7 & 8

Sunday was a breeze and Monday came and went. The master cleanse has been conquered. I’m not really experiencing any challenges anymore, no cravings, no hunger and it’s strange but i’m performing my daily duties as a fitness business owner and health coach with ease. At times I do get a bit irritable, but that’s the only side effect to the master cleanse that I felt lasted the entire 10 days. My advice would be to let the people around you know you’re cleansing and not to take your sharp remarks too serious. I’ve released 9 pounds in 8 days, and I’m estimating I’ll finish the 2 week mark at about 12 bounds released total. It’s a great kick-start to reclaiming my 10% lean body back. It’s amazing how I feel leaner and lighter in the 8 days. I was not aware of the amount of extra weight I was carrying around until it started melting off right after day one of starting the master cleanse. Well I’m off to bed so I can wake up to my wonderful salt water flush. Kidding

Discipline is the Key to Success

Day 4

Discipline: The single word and character trait that separates the doers from the do nots.

Well, I’m clear through my first 4 days of fasting and cleansing, and today was awesome. I organized a golf outing with a few personal business contacts and friends, something I planned before I committed to doing the master cleanse. When I originally decided to organize this outing I thought it would be great to play golf, network, and have some good cheat food with a few beers. It turned out to be an outstanding day of golf, great conversation and lemonade mix for me. My contacts and friends ate hot wings, mozzarella sticks, grilled turkey burgers and sweet potato fries. In addition to all that good greasy, heart attack food they washed it down with cold dark beer. I share these details with you because I was cool with just hanging and talking. I didn’t have the hard cravings to indulge one bite. Yes, the food looked good, but my stomach never made a noise. I sat there and had a warm glass of Mint tea, and 8 oz of lemonade mix. I started this post with the word discipline, well that’s exactly what you have to have and develop to stay true to the master cleanse. It’s not superhero discipline, just set your goal to complete it and don’t allow temptation or cravings derail your success. I feel stronger, I have more energy, I wake up with total ease, and most importantly I know I’m doing something great for my body. If you’re on the fence about trying the master cleanse, get off the fence and give it a go, you’ll be happy you did by day 4. Talk to you tomorrow. By the way I played very well in temperatures that would make a desert man ask for a fan. This is power, get started today.

Day 5-Friday

Boredom vs. Hunger

Do you know the difference between boredom and hunger? During this amazing experience I’m learning this lesson daily. We tend to eat out of boredom and one of my personal opinions is that’s why America is so overweight. We’ve become emotional, boredom eating machines. I am proud to say today wasn’t hard at all. I’m going to keep this post quick and short because I think the weekend just might have a few surprise for me. I’m heading into day 6 and 7 and my first weekend doing my Master Cleanse and I expect it to be a little challenging because I’ll have less activities to occupy my time. Time and what to do with it is that difficult part of fasting because we’re so program to use food as a time consumer in our lives. Boredom creates craving and temptation. I’m sure I’ll have a few of these tempting moments but I know I’ll stay strong. Till Saturday be well, and start your master cleanse today.

Day 6

Four days remain in my first 10 day cleanse, and I’m getting a little tired of lemonade and water. I woke up today feeling good, no challenges or detox symptoms. I felt a bit tired later during the day, but I think that is due to my workout on Friday. If you’re trying to save money get started on the master cleanse today, I haven’t spent more than $3 dollars all week and that was for a water at my golf outing. I’m excited to do some cardio tomorrow and then chill. Sunday is my chill and relax day. I’ll weigh myself Monday to see what my 7 day release is and check my body fat. I don’t expect it to change too much because I know much of the weight I will release on this detox will be water and a little muscle. The goal for me is to slowly come off the detox on Thursday and Friday and continue a RAW FOOD experiment for 7 days following my master cleanse. The energy and clarity I have right now is amazing. My body feels better than it has in a long time, and I’m really excited to continue to explore this new way of living. Health is my life and I believe you have to experience different ways of living in order to find what works best for you. I personally encourage anyone seeking answers about detoxing or just becoming healthier to get started on something today. Find a mentor or a professional health coach to assist you and guide you in the right direction. My mentor was Peter Glickman because after reading his book, I was intrigued to find out more about the master cleanse and learn for myself the effects on your body. I hope that my ten days of chronicling my experience sheds some light on the master cleanse program and inspires you to find out more for yourself too. Speak with you tomorrow…Happy Cleansing!

Day 2

Hello and welcome to day 2 of my master cleanse experiment. Today was a little challenging do to work obligation. I found it a little difficult to concentrate, but after having 8 oz of the lemonade mix I was good for another few hours. The toughest part has been the salt water flush first thing in the morning. After work I went home and got an energy burst, which happened the first day too. Weird because you would think because I’m not eating I would be beat. I decided I would go workout because I felt the need to get some physical activity in, and I had plenty of energy to get through a low level intensity workout session. I didn’t push it to the limit because I wanted to test how I would feel after.

I’m getting my required amount of water each day, which is 82.5 oz per day. Daily requirement as explained by Peter Glickman is half your body wight in oz. Sleep isn’t too bad, I feel I’ve been tossing and turning a little more than usual, not sure why just yet. So that is my second day in a nutshell. I have to say this isn’t as hard as I first thought, and I’m really enjoying the challenge. I even watch Man VS Food and was able to control any cravings. I did watch while drinking my laxative herbal tea before bed.

Talk to you guys tomorrow, Day 3 I’m ready for you!

Day 3

Today was smooth sailing and went by really easy. I didn’t do the salt water flush today and it was a time challenge. I had to be at a meeting and didn’t leave myself enough time to allow the flush to work, and I didn’t want to run into any challenges. I didn’t experience any real issues, but I will say I was a little irritable at the office. Just short with my assistant and partner, not sure if that is a lack of carbs or just part of the detox process. Peter Glickman says that irritability is your body dealing with the toxins being released and usually after the next bowel movement you’re fine. I’ll let you know tomorrow, because I have a lot of projects and meetings with my staff and I don’t want to bite their heads off every five minutes. No real cravings and I don’t feel hunger like I though I would. It’s really amazing how programmed we are to think we need to eat whenever we feel hunger. I’ve clearly discovered the difference between cravings, boredom, and true hunger. Learning this has been such a huge bonus, and I can’t wait to share this experience with my clients and friends. I did my workout again and I felt strong, and had plenty of energy. I did a TRX, and body weight program mixed with a little free weights. Total workout was about 48 minutes. I did not do any aerobic work today, but I will be rowing on the concept 2 for 2 miles tomorrow day 4. Here’s my take on energy, it’s all in your state of mind and what nutrients you put into your body. I’m going to step out on the limb here, but eat crap and feel like crap. Period. See you tomorrow for Day 4.

Are detox programs valid or not? Robin Quivers, Howard Stern’s sidekick, swears by the Master Cleanse while Beyonce recently admitted to following the Maple syrup diet. With all these celebrities jumping on the Master Cleanse diet band wagon, I had to weigh in and see for myself what all the talk is about.

As a professional health coach I feel it is my obligation to the people I service to be in the know on all things dealing with health and fitness, within reason of course. We all know there are tons of products, diets, exercise equipment gimmicks, and fake health professionals just trying to make a quick buck. After learning that a good friend had completed the Master Cleanse several times and spoke highly of the results he experienced, I was intrigued to learn more about this program and go through it for my own personal research. After I read Peter Glickman’s book, Lose Weight, Have More Energy & Be Happier in 10 Days, I was pumped for my 10 day discovery into the mystery of the now growing fad called the Master Cleanse.

Night before Starting

As instructed by Peter Glickman the fast starts with a glass of laxative herbal tea. I don’t mind the tea because I usually enjoy a nice cup of tea before I go to bed. I have to admit this tea doesn’t taste like my Earl Gray or premium green tea.

Day 1-Monday, June 21, 2010

Woke up at 5:30 am and prepared my first of 10 salt water flushes. I didn’t realize 1 quart was 4 cups, and this didn’t go down so easy. I waited 30 minutes before having my first lemonade mix of the day. The fun began again when I mistakenly added 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper instead of 1/10 teaspoon, needless to say it hit me like a ten ton bomb exploding in my mouth.

After training my first client of the day and figuring out the right amounts to add to my lemonade mix, I was off and running.

I experienced slight headaches throughout day 1, and some light food cravings. I really thought it was going to be much worse that it was but it is only day 1 and I have 9 more remaining.

My only question is should I workout or not? This is a mystery, but my gut says no. Maybe tomorrow I’ll try a quick full body hyrid workout just to burn a few calories and get a little pump. So till tomorrow, it’s laxative tea time and a few minutes of downtime.

Why not enjoy your summer instead of fighting off the pounds? We can show you how!!!

The big day is almost here and Breakthroughs To Fitness (Long Island Personal Training company), is ready to celebrate along with you:

MEMORIAL DAY

A time of rememberance and a time of celebration as the unofficial start of the summer.

The problem is this…

So many people see this as barbeque season that they forget about their health and often give excuses that they have to indulge in big barbeques every week.

Solution…

Understand the 5 keys to transforming your body in record time so you can enjoy some of these barbeques without feeling guilty.

Below we will list the 5 keys and over the next 3 weeks, we will break them down into specific detail so you can create that killer body while enjoying the summer. These 5 keys will work for any goal of yours as long as you stick to the plan. Some may not want a killer body, but just to be healthier. That’s fine, because this will work for any fitness goal. Here are the 5 keys:

1. Define your goals, motivation, and commitment
2. Evaluate where you are right now
3. Design a complete program to achieve your goals
4. Take ACTION and implement your program
5. Regularly assess your progress and update your program

Now you may be saying “come on this is very basic.” We agree and that’s how it should be, but as promised we will map specifics out for you to get a complete picture of how to transform your body in record time for post memorial day.

By the way, we have something special for you and it’s FREE! All you have to do is go to www.JustAskCoachRahz.com and answer the question below:

“What Is The Single Most Important Question You Have About Increasing Your Energy, Losing Weight, Impoving The Way You Look and Feel, or Your Nutritional Challenges?”

From there we will compile all questions and answer them live on a free teleseminar. But hurry, there are limited seats and you will only know the details of the teleseminar if you ask your question at www.JustAskCoachRahz.com.

We look forward to assisting you in creating amazing results for the summer.

As always…

Dedicated to your results,

Breakthroughs To Fitness

P.S. If you have always felt nervous about asking certain questions, don’t be. We want to hear your voice and the challenges you are facing. Remember to visit Just Ask Coach Rahz to ask your most burning question.

There comes a time where you say, “That’s it! I’ve had enough! I’m tired of hearing all these so-called “fitness experts” claiming results with their programs that do not work”

There is a whole new world of living outside of this picture. Do not fall prey to this lifestyle.

It is not an uncommon act to see individuals beating their bodies up beyond a safe point when it comes to nutrition and exercise.

We live in a society of extremes and forget how to balance our lives out and live a healthy life in the middle. One extreme is very common and often published in papers. That is the extreme of overeating and lack of or zero exercise. That extreme we call the overweight or obese population. Granted, there has to do more to that population then just those two variables, but for simplicity sake we will just use exercise and nutrition.

The population that gets overlooked are what we label as the “gym rat” or “cardio queen”. These two populations go to the extreme of over training and under eating. They believe in pumping up the hours in the gym while maintaining an excessively low nutrition lifestyle.

Now logically it makes sense, because we have all done it. But when it comes down to the facts and stories, its harmful. It’s not about how much you can break your body down, rather how many breakthroughs can you have with your body and mind.

Those “gym rats” and “cardio queens” have such an addiction to vanity that they can’t help but exercise all the time and restrict their lives of healthy eating. What kind of life is that? This is not me bashing. It’s a way of teaching you that there are other ways to create the body you deserve without killing yourself.

Let’s start with the basic symptoms of over training, and I will discuss in another post ways to avoid it and techniques to train smart and eat smart. If you feel any of these symptoms, take a few days of rest or even a week and come back to the gym with a plan(marked in red are generally the ones that pop up first):

* Washed-out feeling, tired, drained, lack of energy
* Mild leg soreness, general aches and pains
* Pain in muscles and joints
* Sudden drop in performance
* Insomnia
* Headaches
* Decreased immunity (increased number of colds, and sore throats)
* Decrease in training capacity / intensity
* Moodiness and irritability
* Depression
* Decreased appetite
* Increased incidence of injuries.
* A compulsive need to exercise

Again it’s about creating breakthroughs with your body and not so much of how badly you can break your body down. If you are part of this extreme, I challenge you to change for 30 days. Rest for a few days and then plan on cutting down your exercising and increasing your nutritional intake.

WARNING!!! It is not uncommon to see yourself gain a few pounds when changing like this. You are creating a shock to the body, so give it time to adjust. Usually while overtrained, your metabolism is very low. Allow your body to adjust back to a normal way of living and I promise the results will be even better. Ride the wave and come out victorious.

Dedicated to your results,

Greg Kalafatic

Breakthroughs To Fitness

Tip Series

The pre-workout mindset is very important to the overall success of your session. With time being so limited in today’s world it is extremely important to make every effort to maximize your workout to the full potential. The three simple tips I’m about to share with you will get you mind and body ready to have your best workout each session. This is a key component to the B2F Training Systems, and one of the keys to our success system.

3 Tips to Getting Fired up for a Super Workout

1. Write your workout in a Log. “Planning is Everything when it comes to your fitness success”
2. Proper pre-workout Fuel
3. The Warm Up is the #1 Factor to super charging all the systems in your body and getting them ready to do the work.

The above tips are simple and anyone can begin using them to improve their workouts and creating the bodies they deserve. I teach all my clients to write their personal fitness plans in a workout log. I have a personal file with workout data for each client I coach. This is just as important when it come to your nutritional plan as well. In this post I won’t go into the specifics of proper pre-meal fueling, but I will stress it’s critical to fuel up before a super workout. If you want to get specific details on nutrition DOWNLOAD OUR FREE NUTRITIONAL CRASH COURSE. You can find it on the right side of the home page of the blog. For theses select few people who really want to enhance their bodies and design a killer physique get more information on The New BoDY Transformation workshop. This 12 week,90 day Body Transformation will change your life. It begins with changing how you think about nutrition and your body and then really dive into the hot-to that most people just don’t know or understand. We will share with you the secrets that only the celebrities and very wealthy are privileged to experience. This course is designed for all ages men and women who are tired of working out and not looking and feeling the way they truly desire. Stop wasting time and start getting results with the B2F Team of Fat Loss Experts.

Tip 3 is one that is near and dear to me , because I see too many people coming into the gym and starting their workouts improperly. I see trainers everyday starting training sessions with clients who walk into the gym and sit right down on a piece of equipment. This is a serious problem and one of the top reasons why so many people get injured and never attain the true results they joined the gym for. B2F Coach start every session with a specific goal in mind, Get the Neural system firing, and internal body temperature raised. We recommend warming up in all three planes of motion, and doing dynamic streches with full range of motion. I will be posting a entire article to this topic in the coming weeks. If this is a topic of value and if anyone would like to receive a ebook on the topic, I will personally create it. All that is required is to comment at the end of this post…

I hope this information assisted all that take action and impediment these simple tips into their workouts.

Till Next time as always Bwell,  Coach Rahz

The B2F WELLNESS SHOW Hosted By Coach Rahz Slaughter It’s been one of those days you wish you had more often. Today I woke up feeling great. Got into my very cool 2008 Honda Fit which is this amazing (Vide Blue Pearl) color and drove to my private training studio. My client was right on time, which is a surprise for a 7am Saturday morning. We jumped right into a serious 50 minutes iron lifting, sweat dripping, legs burning, why am I doing this to myself workouts. O’yeah I forgot the best part it was payday too $$$. Then I change clothes, put my lifting gear on and the story begins all over. I did 3 setsof tabata’s at 20/10. All that means is I did a various exercises for 20 seconds and rested for 10 seconds in between. When you do this type of work you continue this 20/10 split for 8 rounds which adds up to 4 minutes of exercise per set. If you’ve never tried this really fun fat burning workout, then you’re going to be surprised because it is alot harder than it sounds. If you don’t believe me check back to this blog in a few days, I’m going to post a Tabata workout for beginners. Tabata’s are especially great for burning fat, and increasing your lung capacity.

Anyway Back to my Awesome day, Next I went home and caught up on a ton of Admin. work, that had been building…

We’ll now I want to go for a ride, so that’s what I’m going to do…It’s great not having a worry in the world. Stay tuned for more details on tabata workouts, and crazy awesome days from Long Island’s #1 wellness coach rahz Slaughter.

As always Bwell,

If you haven’t watch the B2f Wellness introduction video check it out….We’re here to serve you post your health and fitness questions and we’ll answer them on the show…

Bonus:B2F Coach Greg Kalafatic 20/10 Tabata Workout Sept. B2F Newsletter