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Basic Body
Flex Info to Howdy, Losers!
That’s not a slam at
all, it’s faith that you are going to be a loser and so am I.
We are going to lose pounds and inches and baggage and ailments and food
obsession and our dulled outlook on life. In my quest for the body
of a goddess through the Fatastic Journey Journal (www.eyeonsoaps.com/GH/fatastic.htm),
I have tried a number of different things, done tons of research and heard from
lots of people. Here, I’ve
combined the best ideas I’ve found so far into one comprehensive program.
If you use this, please let me know your results! EATING
I *LOVE* food. I
like the taste, the feel, the temperature…everything about food.
The thing is, I thought that to lose weight, I had to give up the food I
love. I learned that I didn’t
have to do that at all; I just had to get real about its place in my life.
I can have any food that I want, but I can’t let it control me or my
life. I have to keep perspective on
what it is and what it is not. I
have to remember that food nourishes me, nurtures me, fuels my body’s engine.
It is NOT intended to take the place of my self-esteem, my joy or my
validation as a person. I have to find those things myself rather than anesthetize
myself with food so that I don’t care if I have them or not. My body needs food, ALL
kinds of food, to be healthy and happy. My
soul needs some foods that my body doesn’t necessarily need in order to feel
joyful. My body needs some foods my
soul has issues with (water) to be healthy.
My body doesn’t *need* ice cream, but sometimes, my soul does.
My body doesn’t need a reward at the end of the day for doing my
exercises like I should, but my soul does.
What my soul needs is just as important as what my body needs.
My body does NOT need for me to eat mindlessly.
My soul does not need for me to feel guilty when I eat something yummy
that my body doesn’t really need. Can
these two ever get along? Yes, they
can. Here are my hints toward that
blissful reunion. 1. Do not eat
mindlessly.
You know what I’m talking about. At
the movies, mechanically putting popcorn and milk duds into your mouth, one after
another after another. Girlfriend,
you might as well strap on a feedbag. Pretzels
don’t have fat in them, so I’m going to eat this whole bag, handsful at a
time, while I watch the Friends marathon. I’m
halfway through a bag of Oreo’s before I even knew I wanted one.
STOP!! Like Susan the
Compusive Eater Powter says, “STOP THE INSANITY!!”
You DO have control! Food
having control over you is an illusion!! Like
the books say, stop, wait and see if you really want what you’re going for.
Did someone just piss you off? Did
someone just steal you energy out from under and make you feel like less of a
person, less worthy? Is that why
your hand is on the ice cream carton? Deep
breaths, in and out. One day, about
two weeks ago, I was carving comfort food HARD.
I wanted meatloaf, mashed potatoes, chicken pot pie, chicken and
macaroni, lasagna… I wanted to
tear the doors off the kitchen to get it. I
made myself stop and think about why I was going nuts wanting these foods. I wasn’t even really hungry, that I could acknowledge.
My body or my soul, sometimes indistinguishable, was craving *something*
and these foods would fill it. Not
only were all these things filling and cuddly, they were also all WARM.
With a start, I realized that I was chilly!
Not hungry! I was cold!
I put on a sweater, made myself a nice cup of hot cocoa with marshmallows
and felt wonderful and pampered. Those
other foods would have had HUNDREDS of calories and within seconds of my
inspiration, I was warm, cuddly, happy and NOT craving.
I was amazed at how much I had allowed food to solve ALL of my problems.
Eat on purpose, not
mindlessly. Figure out what EXACTLY
you want or need and then relish it. Don’t
overeat it. Roll it in your mouth,
feel it, taste it, enjoy it without guilt and be done with it.
Know that it’s not the last time you’ll ever have it.
By all means, be aware of each and every thing that you put in your
mouth. Eat what you eat on purpose
and deliberately. Not just because your hand won’t stop dipping into the bag
of Lays. NEVER eat out of the bag
or the box. Take out as many as you
plan to eat and PUT THE REST AWAY and be done! 2. Make sure you
are getting ENOUGH food.
That may sound contradictory for weight
loss, but too many of us have yoyo’d ourselves into being able to sustain our
extra weight on a ridiculously low number of calories, 600, 800, etc. You need to eat at LEAST 1200 calories a day.
If you are not eating enough, spacing it out over several meals through
the day, your body will constantly crave the nourishment it is not receiving.
Your body needs to be working on food all through the day, little bits at
a time, to keep it’s metabolism cranked and to convince it you are NOT
malnourishing. When the body thinks
it’s starving or that starving is imminent, it pulls the wagons into a circle
and burns calories more s-l-o-w-l-y to conserve energy.
Try and eat something every 2 hours or so to assure your body that you
love it and won’t starve it to death EVER AGAIN!
Stop abusing your poor body that has kept you alive for this long!
Stop talking trash about it and LOVE it.
Promise it you are going to take better care of it from now on and give
it the food and movement it wants! Now,
obviously, you shouldn’t eat crap every 2 hours, but choose from the good
foods below and let your body relax and know it’s going to be fed! 3. Find your
nutritional program and hang in there.
Everyone has an eating plan that works
for them. For some it’s low fat,
others, it’s low carb, some are vegetarians.
Find what works for you, what you can follow through on with a minimum of
unhappiness. We ALL know that
deprivation does not work and only makes us evil.
WE can’t make ourselves happy and find joy in life by making ourselves
and our bodies miserable! Deprivation only breeds misery, self-pity and frustration.
All are perfectly good reasons to eat like beasts.
Instead, let’s NOT deprive ourselves, but simply make the stuff we want
available AFTER we’ve eaten our good for us foods.
For me, after going alllll around the block, I have come back to the ol’
food pyramid.
I stick to the low end of the serving allowances,
except that I go over on meat every day. It’s
what my body wants/needs and
is what works for me. It gives me
plenty of foods that I like and if I’ve followed it well through the day, I
get my reward at night. That can be
2-3 cookies, a bowl of ice cream, a candy bar, whatever moves me.
I’ve been full and not feeling deprived all day, especially when yummy
foods like oranges cut up with a dash of sugar, a huge bowl of strawberries with
whipped cream, toast with a bit of butter, stir fried veggies, hot potato soup,
etc, all can fit into my day’s allowance BEFORE my treat!
Last night, when I went to the grocery store on a bread run, I looked the
store over for what I’d get for my treat:
a big cookie from the deli? A
candy bar? A box of ice cream
sandwiches to share with the family? NOTHING
looked good so I didn’t get anything. I
walked away not feeling deprived because I knew I could have it if I wanted, I
just chose not to. Once in a while,
if I’m having a particular rotten day, I’ll have my reward with lunch, then
I’m especially conscientious about following through on the rest of the day.
Just remember to NOT deprive yourself, but don’t go ballistic either!
A reward is 3-4 oreos, not the whole bag!
If you can’t trust yourself (as I couldn’t in the beginning), then
don’t keep leftovers around. Buy
ONE cookie at the grocery store. Buy
the tiny packages of cookies intended for lunches.
Buy ice cream in individual packages, like little bowls of ice cream or
fudgicles, and so on. If you have
to, give the balance of the goody to a family member, a neighbor, whoever. Put it down the garbage disposal. Flush it down the toilet.
OK, so don’t flush it down the toilet or all kinds of plumbing issues
are sure to ensue. Just get it out
of harm’s way and know that you can have it again for a reward on another day.
This might sound wasteful, but you know doggone good and well that there
are times when 5-6 Oreos can be well worth the $3 you paid for the package.
All things in moderation. Look at the food pyramid
and remember that while a lot of foods might fit in there, it’s not good to
get all of one group from the same food. For
instance, ice cream is a dairy product, but it takes two cups of ice cream to
equal the calcium requirements in one serving of dairy.
Although I certainly could pack away 4-6 cups of ice cream through a day,
the fat and calorie content of doing it would most likely pack on the weight
regardless of what exercise program you are using.
Yes, you have more freedom with this program, but be wise as well.
Remember your fiber! Your body will be much healthier and you will lose weight faster if you take in the recommended 25-35 grams of dietary fiber per day. Eat your high fiber cereals, whole fruits and beans! Between the additional water and fiber, your body will remember the comfort of a really good, easy poop every day! All of servings allowed
on the food pyramid may seem like a lot of food, but you are going to be able to
eat more when you start moving! It
just seems like a lot of food because you’ve become accustomed to living with
the mentality of deprivation rather than abundance. Can you imagine going to sleep, content, full, having had
your reward for the day and knowing that although you were quite full and
satisfied through the day you STILL could have eaten more and been within your
food program? Can you imagine NOT
feeling guilty for eating a formerly forbidden food with joy at the end of the
day? Can you imagine replacing all
the feelings of guilt that surround your eating with feelings of joy,
accomplishment and satisfaction and STILL getting ongoing results? It can be that way! 4. Drink your
water.
This one is really a deal breaker.
I fought and fought and fought it because I really don’t like to drink
water. After a couple of weeks of
drinking almost as much as I’m supposed to, my body now really craves it and
fusses like mad when I’m a quart or so low.
I still don’t like it, but I drink it because it makes me healthier and
helps the weight wash away. You
aren’t going to believe the formula for how much water you should drink.
Divide your current weight in half and drink that many ounces of water a
day. For me, that is 110 oz a day.
I tell ya, my back teeth are floating and most days, I only hit around 80
oz or so. It’s a work in
progress, BUT it’s 80 ounces more than I used to drink!
It DOES have to be plain water without additives.
The *only* thing you can put in your water is a slice of lemon or lime to
amp it up a bit. Sparkling water is
ok, but the carbonation can bloat you, which kind of defeats your purpose. WARNING: For
every once of soda you drink, diet or otherwise, you have to drink an EXTRA
ounce of water, matching ounce for ounce. For
every once of alcohol of any kind that you drink, you have to drink DOUBLE in
water. That doesn’t mean that if
you have a scotch and water that you’re safe if you have one shot of scotch
and two shots of water. It means
that if you drink a three ounce scotch and water, you have to drink six extra
ounces of water. So just do it.
Live with and honor, even if reluctantly and grumblingly, the fact that
our bodies require water to be healthy. The easiest way I have found to do it is to fill up
water bottles (I use the ones that have the push pull tops that Sparklett’s
water comes in at the grocery store, then I refill them from the big bottles of
water) and place them all around the house where I’ll be:
in my office, by my bed, in the kitchen.
I fill up 6 a day and every time I see one, I take a giant slug off of
it, drinking as much as I can before I realize that I don’t care for it.
I take a bottle of water with us on our walk to the park and I drink the
glass of water the waiter brings me in a restaurant.
Drink it, drink it, drink it. You’ll
shed a few pounds just from that and get rid of a million toxins in your body
that have been stored up forever. You’ll
feel tons better and lighter. 5. Don’t skip
meals if you can help it. Your
body isn’t happy when it’s not fueled.
Don’t eat if you aren’t hungry, but when you do get hungry, put
some good food into you. Don’t
wait until you are starving or you will overeat.
Eat when you are hungry, but make sure you are really hungry and not just
feeding a feeling like anger, fear or self-pity.
6. Don’t eat
late at night. It’s
true. You will not lose as quickly
if you eat within two hours of bedtime. If
you are dying hungry, eat lightly, but eat.
Remember: deprivation = bad. Just take it easy, shoot for easily digestible, low cal stuff
and keep it as far from bedtime as you can. 7. Try to control your
eating enough to learn what it feels like to actually be hungry.
This is tough for some of us because we become so accustomed to eating
without even thinking about it. Learn
your body signals and see what it feels like to actually feel hunger rather than
appetite.
MOVING
It is well and truly sad that many of us are so averse
to exercising that we will subsist on less than 1000 calories just to avoid
going for a walk every day. Why not
eat what we should be eating to keep our bodies happy, but also incorporate the
movement we also need? There was a
time when our daily tasks kept us active enough to remain physically fit.
We worked in gardens, hung laundry on lines and took it down, carried
buckets of water, chased hogs who got out of their pens and scrubbed floors on
our hands and knees. I’m fresh out of all those activities (thank GOD) and can
run my house with my fat ass comfortably ensconced in my computer desk chair.
That means I have to oxygenize my body and move my muscles in other ways. When she was asked what
the best form of exercise was, Dr Christiane Northrup instantly replied, “The
one you will do.” Don’t make it
something deplorable. Make it
something fun that you can do EVERY day.
Our bodies don’t stop needing to move because it’s the weekend.
Do you like to walk, feel the sunshine and smell the flowers?
Do you like to bike and feel the speed and the wind in your hair?
Do you like to swim? Do you
like to listen to books on tape while you walk a treadmill?
That’s why I love Body Flex. I
can do it in 15 minutes easily, once in the morning and once in the afternoon.
I can and will spare 15 minutes twice a day to make myself feel wonderful
and to get that great feeling of pants that hang on me like a tent.
In my first ten days, I lost 10 inches off my hips and lower belly.
That sold me on it. After
further exploring the techniques, I came up with my own variations and tips for
the program. There are a couple of
main points about Body Flex and Body Flex that must be observed.
One is the incredible benefit of oxygenation and the other is the
stretching, lengthening and strengthening of your muscles.
Oxygen is truly the
magic elixir. It makes you feel
wonderful (a few hits of pure oxygen will prove that AND will even temporarily
abate a hangover – there’s a reason it’s a controlled substance in it’s
pure form), gives you lots of energy, causes you to burn calories MUCH faster
and hotter than normal breathing, helps you sleep better at night, wards off
depression and much more. It’s
just great stuff. As the oxygen
level in our air has gone down, we need to breathe in more just to maintain our
healthy status quo. Flexing helps
you to do that. It will also help
keep your airways cleaner. The tummy tuck and
stretches that you will do as positions work different muscles in your body
while you have flooded them with oxygen. This
helps them to burn more fat, especially in the area that is busy with the
position. What does running or
biking or swimming do other than raise your heart rate, raise your body
temperature and work your muscles? We
can do that, as well as oxygenate your body and squeeze toxins out of your
internal organs. The positions are
very easy and silly looking, but quite effective, no matter what your physical
fitness level might be. It has
elements of yoga, callanetics and other techniques.
Without further ado, here’s whatcha do. I very much recommend buying the book Be a Loser by Greer Childers, as well as her instructional videos. This is just a basic overview to get you started. To hear it in her own words is the best thing and you can't beat seeing the live demonstrations of the techniques. Body Flex
The breathing: The flex breathing is very
deep and very quick. If you are not
accustomed to breathing deeply, it may give you headaches or make you light
headed at first. Work to keep your inhales and exhales equal.
You may cough and junk may come up into your throat.
That is the air clearing out your lungs after years of under-expansion.
Your lung capacity and endurance will increase very quickly as you do the
techniques daily. After the first
week or so, you should no longer get headaches, feel light headed, or do much
coughing. The positions will begin
to feel very familiar to you and the work out will flow comfortably.
Remember, it’s only 15 minutes. To feel the breathing
you should be doing for each rep of each position, stand with your feet flat on
the floor, bend your knees slightly and put your hands just above your knees
(see picture on the first position diagram).
Without inhaling, blow any air out of your lungs (note:
this part is only done on the first breath of the workout), then inhale
sharply through your nose. It’s
important that you breathe through your nose for the best oxygenation.
Breathe in as hard and fast as you can.
Hold the breath for a count of five, then exhale hard through your mouth,
starting with your lips folded together like you’re blotting lipstick, then
letting your air out hard and fast, making the noise, “PAAAAAAHHHH.”
After you do that and while still not breathing in, roll in your gut and tense it like someone was going to
hit you in the belly and you are trying to deflect it.
Suck it right up into your inner body and tense.
Tense your butt as well, squinching those little cheeks together.
Hold, hold, hold for a count of 8-10, then let go and breathe normally.
Do that a few times to get the feel.
What is going to happen during your work out is that you are going to
tense up like that (not necessarily in that starting position), then move into
your position and hold the position for 8-10 seconds while you are holding your
breath. Once you’ve released the position, you will inhale sharply
through the nose again (as your next breath) as you move into the next rep or
position, depending on where you are in your workout. You will be doing five reps of each position.
For the time of your workout, the flex breathing that you do with each
position and rep (the hard inhale through the nose and hard exhale through the
mouth while you suck in and tighten your belly and butt) becomes your breathing.
Until you really learn the positions and progression, you might need to
do regular breathing between the different positions.
Once you are familiar with the techniques and progression of the work
out, you’ll be better able to get with the flow of the work out and use the
flex breathing the whole time. Meanwhile,
be gentle with yourself and adapt as needed for your comfort.
Techniques may be done on your bed, but work best on a padded surface on
the floor. Bed should only be used if you are physically unable to do
the techniques on the floor. Also,
be gentle with yourself. If a position hurts beyond a muscles stretch and
you can't modify it into a reasonable comfort, don't do it. Any of
these will help exclusive of the others, but the full work out is most
beneficial and works the overall body. 2. The positions.
The workout itself proceeds as follows: Assume the breathing
position I told you about (shown below). Do
your stale breath exhale to empty your lungs, then the deep, sharp, hard inhale
through the nose, hold for a count of 5, then follow with the hard exhale out
the mouth and tensing and rolling up of the tummy muscles and tensing of the
butt. As soon as you have your
tummy tuck and your exhale, make a little “O” with your mouth and stick your
tongue out it as far as you can while looking up at the ceiling with your eyes
(not your head). Hold that position
for a count of 8-10 (don’t race yourself on that count, but don’t drag it
out either, 1-1000, 2-1000…) When
you make your count or run out of breath, relax, inhale sharply, exhale “PAAAAHHHHHH,”
tense and roll up belly, tense butt and do the position again.
Remember, each exercise gets a total of 5 reps.
When you finish your five reps, inhale sharply, exhale, tuck & squinch,
then go to:
Arms go back and up firmly to work your batwings,
bottom teeth go out and over the top teeth and chin and throat muscles go tight
as you look up. Face looks up to
the ceiling. Count 8-10, release,
go to next rep or position. Remember,
you do NOT breathe air back in during your 8-10 hold.
Let the Oxygen in your body do its thing.
Place the fingertips of your left hand against the fingertips of your right hand and hold them out in front of you at chest level, elbows bent. Inhale sharply for a count of five or so, then exhale “Paaaaaaahhhh,” tuck and squinch hard, push your fingertips together hard in an isometric that works your arms and your pectorals (boobs). When you press with your fingertips, the arms will go up slightly. Hold for 8-10, then release. Go to the next rep or position. After your last diamond, step your feet a little
further apart. Inhale deeply, hold
for 5, exhale hard, squinch your butt and roll in your tummy hard.
Bend to one side, leaning into the bend and POINT YOUR OTHER TOE
TO THE GROUND, reaching your arm over your head in a long stretch.
If you don’t point your opposite toe, you won’t get the full stretch.
Hold for a count of 8-10, then release and repeat or move to the next
position.
After you complete your
last side stretch, pop down onto the floor into the dog versus fire hydrant
position shown below. Knee is on
the floor, one leg is out to the side, resting on the floor.
Inhale through the nose, hold for 5.
Exhale, tuck and squinch (let’s just call it “ETS” from now on and
give Miss Katrina a little less to type, shall we?) and lift your extended leg
both up and forward, toward the wall in front of you.
Hold for 8-10. Release, foot
to floor. Repeat, change legs or go
to next position. Do five on one
leg, then five on the other. This one is a kicker, kids. It is called The Seiko, which is Japanese for “The Flame” and that’s just what you’re going to feel in your hips. I’m convinced that this exercise is what caused me to lose the 10 inches in 10 days. If you don’t feel the burn, ease your body back slightly and just an inch or so more into the crouch. You’ll feel it, doll. It’s OK to lean slightly to one side as you lift your leg (even 4-5 inches off the ground works), but try not to bend your elbows. Toe points toward the wall in front of you. As a side note, the second I go into all fours, I stop feeling the tummy tuck because my abdominal muscles are so loose, but even if you can’t feel yourself doing it, you’re doing it as long as you try.
After you exhale from
your 5th Seiko (old people like myself also know that Seiko is a
watch and that’s funny because if anyone is “watch”ing you do this, they
will laugh themselves blind), ease onto your elbows and knees and extend one leg
back (the one that did The Seiko first). Inhale
deeply through the nose, hold it for a count of 5, exhale with the Paaaaaaaahhh,
ETS and lift your extended leg up as high as you can and butt cheeks really
tightened. Foot is at a 90 degree
angle to the leg, toes are NOT pointed, so heel goes to the ceiling.
REMEMBER to go onto your elbows for this and NOT in the hands and knees
position of The Seiko! Hold for
8-10, release and leg goes back to the floor.
Repeat, change legs or go into next position.
Do five reps on each leg.
After you release the mule kick, sit on your sit bones
(fluff out your butt around them if you have to in order to find your sit
bones), arms behind you, hands on the floor, legs in a wide V.
Inhale through the nose, hold for 5, exhale out the mouth hard,
Paaaaaaaahh, and lean forward from the waist, walking out on your hands.
When you think you can’t reach any further, go an inch or two more.
Hold for 8-10, release and return to the hands behind position in which
you started. Repeat or move to next
position.
The next position gets complicated, so study it
carefully. After your lost rowboat,
one leg crosses over the other one as shown below.
I have trouble with this because I have fat thighs, so I have to have the
foot of my top leg flat on the floor to allow more room for my fat.
The opposite hand goes on your top knee and your other hand goes on the
floor behind you. Inhale
deeply, hold for 5, exhale hard and turn toward the arm that is behind you.
The trick is, not only are you twisting your body (works your waist,
wrings the toxins out of your internal organs and works your lower abs), but you
are pulling back on your knee as well to work the big thigh muscles.
If you aren’t feeling it in your side, twist a little further.
If you aren’t feeling it in your thigh, pull a little harder on it.
This is all done in one smooth movement.
Hold for 8-10, release and repeat, switch legs or move on to the next
position. After your 5th
on one side, change your legs’ positions and reach to the other side for 5
reps, pulling your other leg to the opposite side.
After your last pretzel, go onto your back, legs
straight up to the ceiling, BOTTOM ON THE FLOOR, hands grabbing your legs where
they comfortably can. Inhale
deeply, hold for 5, exhale hard PAAAAAHHH, squinch your butt cheeks, tuck your
tummy in hard and pull your straight legs toward your chest until you feel it in
your hamstrings. If you raise your
butt for this, you won’t feel it pull in the backs of your legs like you
should. Hold this for a count of
8-10, then release. Repeat or move
into the next position. Do five
reps. This is the hardest of all
the positions for me because my legs push my fat up into my chest and it’s
quite uncomfortable. When I first
started this two weeks ago, I had to make a V with my legs and pull them back to
get around my tummy.
After the last hamstring stretch, feet go flat on the
ground, knees bent, arms extending upward with fingers pointing to the ceiling.
Knees are apart, kind of GYN style.
Inhale, hold for 5, ETS, reach your fingers for the ceiling, pulling your
upper body up off the floor. Lower
quickly without inhaling and do 8-10 quick little bobs up and down like that.
(my neck starts to ache on this one, but it’s over fast)
Keep your eyes on a focal point on the ceiling and reach up to the
ceiling with your fingertips, crunching up and down.
After you’ve done your 8-10 crunches, release, then repeat for a total
of 5 reps, 8-10 crunches each. Make
sure only your head, shoulders and upper back come off the floor.
Remember, the 8-10 crunches are done as one rep between the Paaaah and
the next inhale, while you are squinching your butt cheeks and tucking in your
tummy.
After your last tummy crunch rep, lie back and try not
to die and think about how out of shape you’ve gotten. Rejoice that you are reclaiming your health and demanding
more of yourself and your body. Do
that really quickly, because you have a couple more positions to go.
Legs go flat, hands go, palms down, under your butt for support.
Inhale fast and hard, hold for 5, exhale, tuck and squinch, raising your
feet about 4 inches off the floor. Scissor
your feet back and forth 8-10 times, crossing over and under one another.
Legs stay straight. Use a
pretty wide span on your crosses. Don’t
pick now to be a wussy. Your 15
minutes are almost done and this is your last hard position.
After 8-10 scissors, release. Repeat
or go to the next position after 5 reps of 8-10 each.
Time to pop that back.
After you finish scissoring, get onto all fours with your back straight
like a table. Inhale, hold for 5,
exhale and round your back and shoulders and tuck in your head as you squinch
and tummy tuck. Hold for 8-10 and
release. After you have done 5 of
these babies, reach your right (left if you are left handed) hand over the same
shoulder and pat yourself on the back for doing your 15 minutes of Body Flex/Body
Flex for the morning or night.
IMPORTANT HINTS: ***Remember:
Each rep of each position begins with the deep inhale through the nose,
hold for 5 seconds and the hard PAAAAAHHHH exhale out the mouth, then you tuck
in your tummy, squinch your butt cheeks, then hold that exhale, tuck and squinch
tightly in place through the 8-10 seconds you are in the position.
Do 5 reps of each position, including 5 on each side of The Side Stretch,
The Seiko, The Mule Kick and The Pretzel*** 1. Do NOT
do your flexes with food in your stomach. First
thing in the morning and right before dinner seem to be the best times.
Remember, it’s only 15 minutes of your time, twice a day to lose inches
in a big way. ALWAYS make sure at
least 2 hours have passed since you ate. 2.
If your flexes take less than 15 minutes, make sure you are doing them
correctly. If you are, good for
you! A LOT of people find it only
takes about 12 minutes or so after then get the techniques down. 3.
Breathe in and out normally between positions (NOT reps) if you need to,
but your goal would be to move smoothly from one to the next to he next with
only your flex breathing that you use during the positions. This is often
not going to happen until you know the positions very well, so be gentle with
yourself! 4.
It is normal to perspire while you are doing this.
That means your metabolism is getting stoked and you’re burning those
fat calories (now isn’t this better than running a couple of miles?).
5.
USE VISUALIZATION!! As you
go into and maintain your position, see in your mind your lateral muscles
lengthening and strengthening as you do the side stretch.
See your hips getting smaller by every lift as you do your Seiko.
See your boobs lifting and getting more definition as you do the diamond
(ever see "Death Becomes Her"? Imagine instant boob lift.)
Allow yourself the honor of seeing your new, perfect body before it’s
actually there! Imagine that tape
measure sliding in a few more inches! 6.
See your workout as one process, not several little ones.
Let one motion blend into the next and that one into the next like a
complicated dance. 7.
Really let yourself feel the Oxygen as it courses through your body,
awakening and renewing the Oxygen-starved cells and searching out the fat cells
to melt away the fat. Feel your muscles welcoming the activity and the stretching.
8.
You will most likely NOT be sore from these techniques.
If you are, it will probably only be a smidgen.
We are using gentle, but effective stretches to coax our bodies quickly
into a healthy and exciting new shape. The
body seems to welcome these techniques. 9.
If, during the workout, you start to get short of breath or lightheaded,
stop what you are doing and take a couple of (normal) deep, cleansing breaths,
in and out, in through the nose, out through the mouth.
Focus on making your inhales and exhales equal.
Once you feel better (it will only take a couple of seconds), resume your
work out. The breathing will begin to feel more natural after a week or
two and you will even find yourself breathing more deeply and evenly in your
regular, non-working out life. 10.
Do the breathing, squinch and tuck at times other than your work outs for
additional tummy tightening and oxygenation.
Oxygen=fat burning, so the deeper you breathe, even without the tucks and
squinches, the more fat you will burn. 11.
Within a couple of weeks or so, you are going to
start to feel some distinct changes in your body.
Not only are your clothes going to be looser on you, but your stomach in
going to get full on a lot less food. This
is because of the water you are drinking, as well as the tummy tucks, which
massage the stomach and cause it to contract and shrink rather than just get
baggy and stretched from food. It
wakes up the stomach and brings it back into shape as an organ.
You are going to start to have loads more energy from the Oxygen as well
as the exercise. You
become much more aware of your breathing full time. Your nails are
going to be stronger, your nasal passages clearer, your skin healthier and you
are going to sleep better at night. The
fog that tends to settle over us lifts and we feel like we’ve awakened from a
long sleep. Confidence builds
because we are following through, being true to ourselves and our goals and
getting healthier and slimmer. The
program is simple enough that anyone can do it without hating it, so it’s easy
to get it done and feel a sense of progress.
This helps depression to slip away and improves our self-esteem as the
inches also slip away. 12. DO
NOT, no matter how tempted you are, weigh yourself for at least the first month
of flexing, or even ever again if you can stand it. You are going to build lean, strong muscle FAST with these
techniques and burn away fat. Muscle
tissue weighs more than fat, so for a period of time, you are going to be
trading off fat for muscle. This is
going to make it look as though you are not losing if you go by the scale.
You are losing fat, but you aren’t losing weight YET.
This trade off can go on for a while and you may, in fact, gain a pound
or two. THIS IS WHAT CAUSES MOST
PEOPLE TO DROP THE PROGRAM DUE TO DISCOURAGEMENT.
DO *NOT* BE FOOLED! Measure
(no pun intended) your success by inches, not pounds.
Besides, does it really matter how much you weigh or the important thing
how big you are? I’d much rather
be a lean, strong, healthy size 9 weighing 150 pounds, full of energy, life and
self confidence, eating foods I like without deprivation than to be a thin,
flabby-skinned, pale, malnourished size
9 weighing 120 pounds and living on celery sticks and lettuce! You see, once you begin MOVING you CAN eat the foods you want
in reasonable amounts and burn off the calories and then some with your flexing!
How sick is it to “diet” yourself into maintaining your obesity
at 800-1000 calories a day (or less) and stubbornly insist that the only way for
you to lose weight is to cut MORE calories and deprive yourself MORE??
I’m sure not up for that brand of self-flagellation!
I want to live and enjoy my food and have a healthy calorie/energy
balance! My life is waaaaay
to short to live without the foods I love.
All you have to do is MOVE. It
can be just a little at first. Maybe
you can do half the reps I recommend of each exercise at first.
Maybe you can only do 6 or 10 out the 12 positions.
Keep trying! Keep at it. Do
what you can and know that it’s more than you were doing yesterday!
One step at a time, baby steps toward health and life! 13. Don’t
weigh, but MEASURE once a week or every two weeks.
Get your tape measure out and stand naked (ewww, I know) in front of a
mirror, first thing in the morning, BEFORE you eat, after you go to the
bathroom. Make a chart to write
each of these down on a continual basis. Measure
the same time of day on the same day of each week.
No cheating and peeking in between.
Measure the smallest part of your torso, where your pants waist comes.
This is going to be called your upper abs.
Measure at the level of your belly button.
This is your waist. Measure
about 2” below your belly button. This
is your lower abs. Measure over the
widest part of your butt. This is
your hips. Measure each thigh at
the widest part. Make sure the tape
measure is in a solid circle around the place to be measured and not dipping
down somewhere along the way. DON’T
dig the tape measure in. Be real. Don’t bend over to see the tape measure. Check the position
of the tape measure in the mirror, then mark the number with your thumbnail,
hold it while you release the tape and check the number. Each week, you add up the number of inches you have lost in
each of the six places and that is your weekly loss. If you have a week or two or three where you don’t lose
inches, DO NOT DESPAIR. The average
total inch loss in the first week is 4-14 inches BUT everyone reacts differently
and bodies sometimes take longer to figure out what you’re doing to them.
If, after two weeks, the tape isn’t budging, make sure you are doing
the positions correctly, make sure you are measuring at the same time of day in
the same places on your body and if it’s yes to both, keep trying.
You’ll find a week where you suddenly have a drastic drop. 14. In
Body Flex, it is suggested that you do it twice a day for the first week, then
go to once a day to avoid burn out. Do
you really think you’ll burn out on an extra 15 minutes?
If it means that you’re more quickly whittling your ass down to size,
I’ll bet you can spare that 15 minutes, can’t you? I’ve been going for 3 full weeks now and I can tell you,
there have been times I’ve come close to talking myself out of it, but I can
do ANYTHING for 15 minutes. Unless
you’re in labor, bleeding out the eyes or have a tag on your toe, get in there
and do your fifteen minutes like a big (hmmm, perhaps very damned big) girl,
then you’re done and you can feel that great sense of accomplishment. 15. Do
NOT do these techniques if you are pregnant.
Obviously, if you have asthma or other conditions that might put you in
distress with the breathing, then don’t do it.
If you are unsure, see your doctor. 16. Some
medications such as steroids and birth control pills or shots may slow down your
loss, but they will not prevent it. Just
hang in there. 17. You
may certainly supplement your two 15 minute sessions with additional exercises
if you choose to, but make sure you do your flexing. You will lose inches with or without supplemental exercising.
I like to listen to books on cassette, so I plan to start running again a
couple of times a week just to enjoy my books and get in some extra exercising. Since I’ve had extra energy, each day this week I have
walked the boys to the park in their double stroller.
That’s a brisk 1 mile walk round trip, plus playing with them there and
shoving 60+ collective pounds of kid in front of my in the stroller.
I never would have done this before, that’s for sure. 18. You
may take diet supplements while flexing. My
favorite is chromium picolinate because I can take it while nursing and it’s a
naturally occurring blood sugar stabilizer that is way too low in most folks’
bodies. It works well for me.
Garcina Cambogia boost the metabolism and eases the appetite.
Chitosan binds the fat and keeps you from absorbing more than a certain
amount, then you poop out the rest. Research
the pros and cons of any supplement before taking it. 20.
The Body Flex system is available in two forms.
One is the book Be a Loser by
Greer Childers and She also has a set of two video cassettes available at www.thebodyflex.com.
There is a WONDERFUL support group for Body Flexers at http://pub17.ezboard.com/bbodyflexsupportgroup.
You will find the people there warm, encouraging and supportive.
If you click onto the section of the board called Loser’s Circle, you
will find people losing inches like crazy doing the exact techniques described
above. The section called “Body
Flex” support answers your technical questions.
They don’t know me from Adam, so if you have questions directly about
this page, please write me directly. Remember what it felt
like to move as a child? When you
ran everywhere just to feel the wind in your hair?
Riding your bike top speed? Twirling
until you fell down? Get that joy
back again and START moving NOW. If not now, WHEN? As
Greer says, “If not Body Flex, then WHAT?”
The days are slipping away, one by one.
Do you really want to lose another one without claiming your new life and
your new body? Do it for YOU. Do it
for LIFE! Other
Recommended Reading: Women’s
Bodies, Women’s Wisdom Life
Strategies Fat
Is a Feminist Issue Love
Yourself Thin
Write if questions or comments: krasbold@earthlink.net
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