Weight loss always ranks as one of the top New Years Resolutions.

So with the New Year upon us, we're going to give 5 super simple strategies to burn belly fat permanently.  None of them require severe "dieting", eliminating food groups, endless hours of cardio, or really anything else that would set people up for fat loss failure.

Instead, these 5 tips can be started today and will make a huge difference in your battle against the belly bulge.

1.  Eat with smaller plates, bowls, and utensils.  This will indirectly help you decrease portions.  Use "dessert" or "appetizer" size plates vs. normal dinner plates to start.  Decreased portions means less calories, less calories over time, means less body fat. Simple, yet effective.  

2.  Write each one of your goals.  Daily.  Writing your goals daily helps you achieve them.  Don't just think it, ink it.  We've seen the success ourselves and research supports this belief as well.

3.  Start every single meal or snack with a fruit and/or veggie.  This will help fill you up and give you the nutrients your body needs to stay healthy.  

4.  Move more.  Structured exercise is of course encouraged, but so is general movement — in addition to your 30-60+ minutes/day of structured exercise, move as much as possible throughout the day.  Take 10 minute breaks every hour to walk around.  Go for a walk at lunch vs. wasting time on Facebook, twitter, or browsing the internet.  Simply move as much as you can.

5.  Plan ahead.  Figure out your meals for the day or week ahead before you're sitting at work, staring mindlessly at your computer or project, because you are so hungry.  Bring your own foods, plan your dinners, etc.  This will all translate to eating out less often — when you eat out less often, weight loss will be a cinch.  

There you have it — simple, success strategies to rid yourself of the muffin top, banish the belly bulge, and get rid of those love handles for GOOD!!
 

Holiday weight gain is common – research shows we gain about 3-5 lbs during the holidays.  And now that the "holiday season" is wrapping up, it's time to check in and see how you did.

But it may not just be eating too many Christmas cookies and lack of exercise.

Stress is another piece to the weight gain puzzle. And as we all know, the holidays are synonymous with stress.

You see, there’s this powerful hormone in our body called cortisol – it’s known as “the stress hormone.” It’s a chemical our bodies release when we're coping with different stressors. It creates a fight-or-flight response, which can ultimately signal our bodies to hang onto our fat stores just in case they're needed for the battle or famine ahead.

Despite the progression of our society (famine is hardly a worry for those of us in this country), our bodies' core responses haven't changed much. And that is why ongoing stress is a major contributor to that ring of fat around the middle commonly called the "muffin top” or “spare tire.”

But even with the holidays coming into the home stretch, that’s surely not our only source of stress.

For some, the New Year may bring stress. New commitments. New work load. And our sites are set on bigger and better goals. This isn't a bad thing, but it's important to gain balance in our lives. Our culture is one that thrives on a "more is more" philosophy – we wear our busyness and our consumption like a badge, always eager to add one more activity or responsibility to our already-overloaded plate.

Here are a few ways to lessen that load, lower your cortisol levels and lose that muffin top or spare tire once and for all!

• "Yes" is a four-letter word. Well, not really, but it might as well be. If you tend to say yes to everything that's asked of you, chances are you're exhausted, burned out and less-than-pleasant for the people who mean the most to you. So say it with me: NO. It will be the best word you've ever used in 2010!
• Take time to breathe. As simple as it sounds, breath is life. There's a reason why yoga is so popular – it forces people to slow down and truly breathe, which then helps you reconnect with your inner balance. When your stress level is zooming upwards, force yourself to take deep breaths and get centered again. You'll calm your heart rate and get body and brain-boosting oxygen flowing.
• Prioritize, and then cut yourself a break. Be nice to yourself! You're the only self you've got. If your to-do list is too long, look at it and ask yourself honestly what has to be done RIGHT NOW. Then accomplish those things, and leave the rest to another day.
• Make a new list. Many of us keep lengthy to-do lists to keep us on track. Add a new twist to your list: at the end of each day, list your accomplishments. Seeing how much you got done over the course of the day will boost your self-esteem and make you feel readier to tackle tomorrow's tasks.
  • Get your workout in? Check.
  • Bills paid? Check.
  • Provided healthy meals, met deadlines, didn't forget anyone's soccer practice or homework? Check, check and check.

Don’t let stress rule your life. Take control and be the best you in 2010!

What do you think is going to be "big" next year?

We asked that on our Mohr Results Facebook page and got a handful of great answers…

…and we thought we’d give our predictions as well.  So here you have it, our thoughts on Nutrition and Fitness Trends in 2010.

1.  More focus on prevention, less on reaction.  Here’s an example — the greatest tool to "measure" body fat is the mirror.  Take a look in it … and if you don’t like what you see, change it.  Don’t wait for things to get "out of control."

2.  Increase the amount of meals eaten at home.  With so much talk about the economy and the effects many are feeling, people are going to be turning more and more to home cookin’

3.  Eating local foods.  This is simply a continuation of a trend we’ve been seeing over the last year or more.  Eat foods as "close" to home as possible.  More nutrients, support the local farmer, and the flavor is second to none.

4.  More "designer" ingredients/foods.  Whether this is good or bad is another question, but we’re surely going to be seeing more and more "specialty" ingredients and/or foods.

5.  Increased food fortification.  As people continue to look for a quick fix, food companies will continue to "please" by adding specific nutrients to their products that are catered to different genders, health risks, diseases, and so on.

6.  More reliance on "Energy" products.  As a society, we don’t get nearly enough sleep.  Well, the 600+ energy drinks and millions of coffee shops have your answer…their products!  There’s no end in sight for the popularity of any of these.

7.  More "anti-inflammation" food and supplement products.  From antioxidants to fatty acids, phytonutrients to functional foods.  Look for this category to heat up in the near future.

8.  Body weight training.  Who needs a barbell when you have your own body weight?  It’s the most simple, least expensive training tool yet — your own body.

9.  Keep it simple and "clean."  Awareness about different additives, chemicals, and other by products in our foods will have consumers turning more to "clean" foods without any of these!

10. More "green" or "environmentally friendly" foods.  keep an eye out for more of these coming down the pipeline.

There you have it — Mohr Results predictions for 2010.

What do YOU think we’ll be seeing more of next year?

With a 5 month old daughter at home, sleep is often hard to come by.

And lately that’s been true, as Ella has been particularly "needy" at different times throughout the night.

Frustrating as it is, her little smile at 1:30 AM is cute enough to make that frustration quickly dissapear.

Fortunately the other night I also had a bit of an epiphany, so all in all, it was a productive "middle of the night" stint.

And my epiphany was this "New Year’s Resolutions are merely excuses for what you don’t want to start today."

You see, at Mohr Results, we’re huge proponents of writing goals and working daily to achieve them.

However, we’re NOT fans of waiting until January 1st to set anything.

What’s magical about THAT day?

Start today and you’ll be ahead of the proverbial 8-ball.

If I wanted to lose fat, why should I wait an extra 3 weeks from today to get started…when I can easily lose 5-10 lbs in that time?

This may sound weird as we’re right now offering a 12 Week Body Transformation Program with our Women’s Only Boot Camp that starts January 4th … but only because our current Fit Chicks are "in session."  Start with something else NOW, then for women in the Louisville area, join us and Transform even more in 2010.
 

In the meantime, use these 5 Goal Achieving Strategies to help you set and achieve whatever you want from this point forward!
 

1. Write Down Your Goals.  Unless you write them down and "visit" them daily, they will get lost in the shuffle and excitement of new, daily issues and challenges.  Case in point — when Kara and I were driving home from New Jersey for Thanksgiving, she had a pad and we were creating a list of things we needed to take care of when we got home.  Two pages later, we were done … do you think we would have remembered all of them if they weren’t written?  Not a chance.  On the flip side, I’m happy to say that entire list has been crossed off.
2. Don’t judge your own goals – and don’t let anyone else judge them either! If you are consistently second guessing yourself, or your spouse, co-workers, or anyone else is second guessing you, you’ll struggle to be ultimately successful.  Assume there was NO limit, NO "ceiling" and NOTHING could get in your way.  With that being the case, what can you dream of accomplishing?
3. Think HUGE.  What’s the one goal that REALLY makes you step outside that confining box that so many of us live in?  Is it a certain body weight, certain look, certain income level, etc.  Nothing is out of your reach, as long as you put the time in to achieve it.
4. Write your goals in the positive.  Never focus on problems, only focus on solutions.  Rather than "I want to lose this weight I’ve struggled with for years," write "I weigh xxx lbs by January 30th, 2010 (or whatever date you choose)."
5. Be sure your goals are YOUR goals.  If your goals are influenced by the anyone but you, you’ll never truly "own" them — and when you don’t own them, you won’t achieve them (or if you do, it will be short lived).