Fat Chance (36 page)

Note: If your responsibilities cause you to sit in front of a computer instead of a steering wheel all day, these exercises are equally effective when executed from a desk chair
.

The next time you find yourself waiting in an airport terminal for the flight that seems terminally delayed, find a blank wall and have a seat. With ankles and knees together, lower yourself along the wall until your knees are at a ninety-degree angle. Work to stay in that position for a full minute before standing up and resting. Repeat until your legs shake. For an added challenge, lift one leg off the floor for ten seconds while in your wall squat and then switch legs.

Lunge in place while in line at the grocery store. People will eye you suspiciously, but rest assured, they’re just jealous that you have the confidence to risk looking like a fool and the determination to exercise even when errands vie for your time.

Burpee
Begin in a squat position with your hands on the floor in front of you. Kick your feet back, while simultaneously lowering yourself into a push-up. Immediately return your feet to the squat position, while simultaneously pushing up with your arms. Leap up as high as possible, hands toward the ceiling and then return to the squat position.

Commando Crawl
Start in bent-arm plank position, with forearms resting on the floor. Using your elbows, your inner thighs and your kneecaps, “walk” yourself forward as quickly as you can. Remember to keep your butt as low as possible as you move.

Crab Backward
Sit flat on the ground with your legs in front of you, bent at the knees and weight on your heels. Place your hands behind each hip, fingers pointing toward your toes. Lift yourself off the ground with the strength of your arms so that your butt is hovering over the ground. Lift your left leg and extend it so that you are balanced on your right leg and your hands. From this “crab” position, move yourself backward by alternating your legs and arms. Remember to look over your shoulder so that you don’t run into anything!

Crab Forward
Sit flat on the ground with your legs in front of you, bent at the knees and weight on your heels. Place your hands behind each hip, fingers pointing toward your toes. Lift yourself off the ground with the strength of your arms so that your butt is hovering over the ground. Lift your left leg and extend it so that you are balanced on your right leg and your hands. From this “crab” position, move yourself forward by alternating your legs and arms.

Helicopter Left
Lie on your back with your legs extended straight up into the ceiling at a ninety-degree angle (so that you resemble a sideways L). Tuck your hands just under your lower back to protect it. Circle your legs gently to the left about ten to fifteen degrees, using your oblique (side stomach) muscles, before returning to starting position. Be sure not to pick up your right hip during the rotations.

Helicopter Right
Lie on your back with your legs extended straight up into the ceiling at a ninety-degree angle (so that you resemble a sideways L). Tuck your hands just under your lower back to protect it. Circle your legs gently to the right about ten to fifteen degrees, using your oblique (side stomach) muscles, before returning to starting position. Be sure not to pick up your left hip during the rotations.

High Knees
Stand with both feet together and place elbows in an L-shape by your side with palms facing the ground. Start running in place, getting your knees as high as possible. Touch your open-face palms with your knees as you go, if possible.

Jump-In
Begin by sitting on the ground with your legs outstretched in front of you. Place your hands beside your hips, flat on the ground. Raise your butt off of the floor, which will place you in a reverse-straight-arm plank position. With swift motions, pull your knees up toward your chest and your feet as close to your butt as possible, and then thrust your legs back to a straight position. Repeat.

Knee-Tuck Jump
Begin in standing position with feet together and arms at a ninety-degree angle by your side. In one fluid movement, and without adjusting your arms, jump into the air while bringing both knees up to your hands.

Note: Remember to jump from your toes and to land on your toes to avoid knee strain.

Military Push-up
Begin in straight-arm plank position. Position your hands so that they are directly beneath your chest. Lower yourself into a push-up, making sure that your elbows brush the sides of your body as you descend. Raise back up to straight-arm plank position and repeat.

Moving Mountain Climbers
Stand with your arms by your side and your feet together. Bend down and put your hands shoulder-width apart on the floor and your feet behind you so that your legs are extended, the balls of your feet are on the ground, and you are parallel to the floor. This position is called straight-arm plank. From this position, move one knee to your chest and then as you move that
leg back to straight-arm plank, move the other knee to your chest in something of a running-in-place motion. As you do this, simultaneously walk yourself forward with your hands for an added cardio burst. Continue the knee-to-chest movement as quickly as possible, alternating legs each time.

Rock Star Hop
Begin in standing position with feet together and arms by your side. In one fluid motion, jump into the air, raise your arms above your head and kick your butt with both heels. Land on your toes and repeat.

Scissor Lunges
Begin in a lunge position, your right knee bent and in front of you, your left leg extended behind you. Be careful to keep the knee directly over your heel (don’t extend knee past your toes). From this position, jump up and switch legs so that your left leg is in front of you and your right leg is behind you in a lunge. Continue alternating lunges in this quick way, paying careful attention to your form.

Side-to-Side Lunge
Stand with feet together and hands at your side. Step your right leg away from your left and squat down on the right leg. Your left leg should be extended. Return to starting position and repeat on the other side.

Skip Jump
Begin in standing position with feet together and arms by your side. In one fluid motion, begin skipping forward, exaggerating the skip by raising the lifted knee and lifted arm as high as possible. Work to increase your vertical height with each skip.

Speed Skater
Begin in standing position with feet shoulder-width apart. Using a lateral movement, jump from side to side, landing on one leg and swinging forward the opposite arm. Keep your body low to the ground and knees bent the entire time. Work to increase the distance of your lateral jump each time.

Squat Jump
Begin in standing position with feet shoulder-width apart and arms hanging by your side. Bend down into squat position, making sure your toes stay in front of your knees. As you rise from the squat, jump into the air as high as possible. Return to squat and repeat.

Squat Thrust
Begin in standing position with feet together and arms by your side. Bend down and put your hands shoulder-width apart on the floor and assume a tuck position. From your tuck position, throw your feet behind you so that you wind up in a straight-arm plank. In one swift motion pull your feet back into a tuck. Repeat.

Standard Push-up
Begin in a straight-arm plank position with feet together and the balls of your feet on the floor. Place your hands shoulder-width apart underneath your shoulders, and focus your eyes on a spot six to eight inches in front of your body’s position. Lower your torso to the ground until your arms form a ninety-degree angle and then raise yourself using your arms. Breathe out as you push. Repeat.

Straight-Arm Plank Holds
Hold yourself in plank position for as long as you can with arms straight and neck in neutral position.

Superman Hold
Lie face down on the ground. Squeeze your inner thighs together so that your legs are touching. From this prone position, lift your legs and arms at the same time, so that you look like Superman in flight. Hold for ten seconds before taking a two-second break. Then repeat. This is a great way to strengthen your back muscles!

Table Maker
Sit flat on the ground with your legs in front of you, bent at the knees and with your weight on your heels. Straighten your back as though you’re sitting against a wall and place your hands beside you, behind each hip, fingers pointing toward your toes. Press with your hands as you simultaneously raise your hips toward the ceiling and place your feet flat on the ground. Squeeze your buttocks tightly and push the soles of your feet into the ground. At the top of the exercise, your knees and shoulders should make a ninety-degree angle with your body. Without your buttocks touching the ground, descend into a dip and then swing yourself back up so that your chest, abs and hips form a table. Repeat.

Triceps Dip
Begin by sitting on a chair with your legs bent at a ninety-degree angle. Scoot all the way forward on the seat. Keeping your elbows bent and your hands as close to your body as possible, ease your legs out until they are straight in front of you. Dip your rear toward the floor
twenty times, keeping your back as close to the chair as possible. For added intensity, raise one leg straight out in front of you with foot flexed and hold in the air for five reps, then switch legs for the next five reps.

Triceps Push-ups
Start in straight-arm plank position, as though you are about to do a standard push-up. Instead of keeping elbows out to the side, bring elbows toward your rib cage so that as you descend into the push-up they will graze the sides of your body. Also, before you begin your push-up descent, be sure to rotate the inside of your elbows (not the bony part) so that they are facing forward instead of facing each other.

Up-Down Plank
Start in straight-arm plank position, arms straight and neck in neutral position. Move down to bent-arm plank position, forearms resting on the floor. Repeat, alternating straight-arm and bent-arm plank. (If this move is too challenging with both arms moving simultaneously, modify by moving one arm at a time so that you move in a right-left-right-left progression from straight-arm to bent-arm plank and back again.)

Vertical Jump
Begin in a standing position with feet together and hands by your side. In one fluid motion, jump into the air, reaching for the ceiling with straight arms thrust above your head. Land on your toes and repeat.

Walking Lunges
Begin by standing with feet shoulder-width apart and hands on hips. Step forward with one leg, landing heel-first in front of you. Your knee should be at a ninety-degree angle and stay well behind your toes. Hold for one count and then step forward with the other leg so that it’s now at a ninety-degree angle. Continue walking forward with alternating lunges.

Wide-Arm Push-up
Begin in a straight-arm plank position with feet together and the balls of your feet on the floor. Place your hands on the floor, about 50 percent wider apart than shoulder-width, and focus your eyes on a spot six to eight inches in front of your body’s position. Lower your torso to the ground until your arms form a ninety-degree angle and then raise yourself using your arms. Breathe out as you push. Repeat.

I
KNEW OF “Chef Jessica” long before she knew of me. She has a local radio program on 88.1FM (WCRJ) in Jacksonville, and my mother is her self-proclaimed biggest fan. Every once in awhile, I’d tune in to hear Chef Jessica talk about easy kid-friendly dinner ideas or less sinful ways to enjoy chocolate indulgences, and each time I’d think, “This girl and I could
so
be friends.”

Fast-forward to my
The Biggest Loser
experience. Jessica had no idea who I was because she doesn’t watch TV. But shortly after my return to Jacksonville, a church in the area asked both of us to come speak at a women’s event—I was asked to give the motivational talk, and Jessica was to follow up with a few healthy recipes. Mere minutes into that event, I had a brand-new friend.

Chef Jessica is actually Jessica Bright, wife to Chris and mom to two amazing kids. She has a very fancy title—something like “Master Food and Nutrition Educator”—but to me, she’s simply “Jess.”

I hope you love her suggestions on the pages that follow as much as I do. Many of her dishes have become staples in the Hadden household—especially the pita pizzas and the protein pancakes. Yum.

Chef Jessica continues to deliver a weekly radio program, as well as frequent local-TV spots and cooking classes for home-school co-ops and community organizations. If you’d like to learn more about her current endeavors, visit
cookingbright.com
.

Bon appétit!

Serves one

Ingredients

½ cup plain Greek-style yogurt

¼ cup fresh blueberries, washed (substitute strawberries or rasp-berries, if desired)

Honey to taste

Directions

Put yogurt in a bowl, top with berries and then drizzle with honey. Enjoy!

Per-Serving Nutritional Information
²⁹

161 calories

0.2g total fat (0g saturated fat)

0mg cholesterol

58mg sodium

25.8g total carbohydrates (1.6g fiber; 24.2g sugar)

13.7g protein

Serves two

Ingredients