I am writing to you from South Africa where I have a week or so with my family after performing in Ghana this past weekend.  Next weekend I will be in Nigeria for another performance but I wanted to take the time to connect with you while I am on my travels in Africa.

I am having a magnificent time – I miss my family so much as the opportunity so come home does not present itself as often as I would like it to.

On a trip like this one, where I have the chance to indulge in all the goodies that I miss from home, as well as mom’s good cooking – I have to make sure that I get my workouts in regularly and I have to make sure they count big-time.

The perfect recipe to maintain healthy body weight is a combination of healthy eating and regular exercise… but sometimes when your calorie intake increases, you have to make sure that you get the most out of your exercise routine in order to keep the weight off.

Being home and visiting with my family means that I want to spend the most time possible with them and the least time possible in the gym.

So how do you get the best calorie burning and toning results without spending hours on end in a gym?  The answer consists of two words –

1) INTENSITY and

Intensity and Focus

2) FOCUS

No matter what method of exercise you pick – if you want to get the greatest results, you have to exercise intensely.  You might be asking right now, how do I know that I am working out intensely?

Well, if you are not breathing heavily and you are not sweating profusely after the first fifteen minutes, then your workout is not intense enough.  Give yourself a good ten minutes to warm up your body and your heart, and then hit it hard.

By working with higher intensity, you are causing your whole body to burn hotter and faster.

The cool thing about a real intense workout is that firstly you can burn as many calories in thirty minutes as you would in an hour with moderate exercise.

Secondly, because your body takes longer to cool down you will still be burning calories for about an hour after your workout.  Double the benefit!

By “Focus” I mean that you should be mentally engaged in the activity you are doing and you need to consciously activate the muscles needed to do the specific exercise – that way the body not only works more efficiently and more intensely, but the mind is fully engaged for optimal results.

So by increasing the intensity of my workouts and by making sure I am mentally totally engaged in what I am doing and which muscles are doing the work, I can cut my workouts shorter and still get the amazing results I want.

In the Hot Burning Body Workouts I make sure you are fully focused mentally on every movement you do.  My new Kettlebell workouts are honed towards those two principals – focus and intensity. The exercises are crafted and have been fine tuned to give you the kind of intensity you need in your workout to give you Optimal results in the Minimum time!

So go out there and Push it! You are worth it!

To your health and strength

Vanessa Bader

P.S.  You can also enjoy all those yummy goodies and fabulous foods if you are doing the Hot Burning Body Workouts.  But remember – I always say, “Moderation is key”.  So eat the fun stuff in moderation and make sure to continue doing your Hot Burning Body Kettlebell Workout on a regular basis!

Hello everybody…

I think most of you know by now that I am preparing for the Miss Bikini USA shootout this weekend and I want to thank you for all your support. I have gotten so many good luck wishes I feel that it can only go well.

I have been doing really well on the diet, just to get myself into tip-top shape for this competition. I had a little extra to get rid of since my vacation in South Africa   But I think I have done well given that I only really decided to do this a couple of weeks ago. Thank goodness I do not have to parade on stage in a bikini, but I will be captured on film and photo’s which I think is almost a little bit scarier as it will be documented “for ever!”   But hey, I figured, it is now or never… I am not getting younger, so here goes.

Some of you asked for a little bit of insight on how I am preparing for this so I will share with you…

Of course when it comes to these things, there are the facials and the manicures and pedicures, the spray tan and the body lotion, but all that stuff I mostly do myself as I am also a qualified beautician, so I took the day off today to do all that stuff. But of course the most important part of the prep comes way before…

I must say that I have become pretty good at making low fat, high protein (no condiments) meals look and taste interesting, but to make a long story short, my daily meals pretty much consists of:

- Oatmeal

- Egg whites

- Skinless chicken breast

- Tuna (in brine)

- Asparagus

- Fresh spinach

- Broccoli

- Protein shakes

- Yams (only in the beginning, not the last couple of days before the shoot)

- Water

I am on a four day workout program, which I have been maintaining for the last 3 weeks – Solid

Day 1 – 30 mins high intensity cardio

Chest, Triceps and abs (Weight training)

Day 2 – 30 mins high intensity cardio

Biceps, Back and shoulders (Weight training)

Day 3 – 10 min Cardio warm up (Elliptical)

Legs – Glutes and hamstrings – (I love using Kettlebell training for this and also some Plyometrics)

Day 4 – 40 mins Cardio (I get bored quickly so I alternate in 10 min sessions between the treadmill, Elliptical and stair-climber)

Legs – Quads and Calves

Abs

Then I start all over again:)  I normally might do this for a month or so and then I will change up my exercises and method of exercises completely. I like to change it up to keep it interesting and to keep my body from stagnating.

I am Super Dependent on my music for my workouts, so as a treat I though I would share one of my “workout tunes” with you today. I might make a habit of this:) I think music that gets you going and inspires you to move is excellent motivation in the gym… I have about 6 workout playlists. Here are two songs from the playlist I worked out to today.  Hope you enjoy!

Wish me good luck!

OH – and before I forget – I would really appreciate if you would vote for me on the Miss Bikini USA website

To your Health and Strength

Vanessa Bader

You are the only person that can take care of yourself. No one else can do it for you.

If you look at yourself and you find that you are in a downward spiral… if your body is constantly aching, you have neck and back pain from the stress you have to deal with every day. You feel like you keep gaining weight no matter what you do and that makes you feel miserable and depressed… and the more miserable and depressed you feel, the more your body aches and the more you eat and the more tired you feel…

Does any of this sound familiar?

See, the thing is, it is very difficult to distinguish between the cause and the symptoms…

A lack of exercise and sleep as well as bad eating habit can cause stress and muscular tension… it can cause you pain. And physical pain and depression can cause lack of sleep and bad eating habits.

If you are feeling physical pain all day, that in itself can make you feel miserable and depressed… and of course depression or anxiety can make you feel physical pain…

Tired, down or depressed?

So the question is – where do you start in order to get yourself out of this state of mind – this downward spiral? Because with the way you feel now, you don’t have energy for anything!

OK, I know, I have been in that place not once, not twice but many times, so I feel your pain. The fact is, that you have to start somewhere… and I’ll tell you exactly where that is…

You need to make the conscious decision that you want to live a better, longer and healthier life than this and then you have to commit to it by doing two things:

1. You have to change your eating habits

2. You have to start doing regular exercise

Oh, I know it is hard and there are always excuses… the most popular one is: I do not have time, and the second is: I am too tired.

Get Physical

The point is, if you can get past only a week of adjusting your diet and doing exercise, you will start feeling more energetic and less tired, and you will see that you can find the time to exercise and prepare food that is nutritious.

The Hot Burning Body Workout System was created for you so you can get all the exercise you need in the shortest amount of time. Time is no longer an excuse, and I have included a Quick start guide with a meal plan and recipes so I have taken all the mystery out of eating healthy. And the meals I have outlined for you takes no longer than 10 to 15 minutes to prepare.

I know right now this is the last thing you want to hear – but you have to get the sleep, exercise and nutrition your body needs
to get yourself out of this downward spiral. Do it for yourself, because no one else can do it for you!

The Hot Burning Body Workout system was designed to help you!

To your health and success

Vanessa Bader

P.S. In the Quick start guide I show you how you can motivate yourself and stay motivated. It is important that you start now!

Please feel free to comment on my post… I always love to hear your input on this subject.

Healthy and fit body

We all want a gorgeous body – that is one of the most common reason for most everyone to keep up the workouts. Being fit and healthy is a great thing and I think it is very important for everyone to maintain a healthy weight. Not just to be aesthetically gorgeous but to be able to live a healthy and happy life. But what is it that actually makes you the most attractive and desirable person that you can be?

Confidence has been voted the number one most attractive trait. So more than anything your unmistakable self-confidence is what is going to make you attractive to others.

But how do we achieve that state of positive self-esteem and confidant self-image?

Positive Self-Esteem

The most important thing is mindfulness. A keen awareness of yourself and how you are presenting yourself to others. Intention and sincere thought behind your movements and expressions.

When you have the appearance of a person who radiates energy and joy, sophistication and poise, people will react to you accordingly. All that positive feedback and affirmative reaction you will receive from everyone around you will
instantly improve your confidence in yourself.

We all have the ability to be captivating, charismatic and sophisticated. The way to unlock those abilities is to firstly be aware that you have those talents within you.

Secondly, you have to develop those talents by practicing them and using them every day. I give you some easy to do exercises that only takes a few minutes each day in front of your mirror.

By doing those regularly the ability to magnetize and impress will become part of your being, part of who you are as a person. In the beginning it might take a little practice and awareness, but eventually it will be second nature and you won’t even have to think about it any more.

When you have the Pizzazz Factor you are radiating that magnetizing presence that draw people to you. Pizzazz is that attractive glow that captures others’ attention when you walk into a room.

You have the Power!

Kind Regards

Vanessa Bader

P.S. Having a healthy and fit body also leads to better self confidence, so don’t under estimate the power of fitness and weight loss. But it is also important to have the right attitude about yourself and your body!

Let me know if you have anything to add to that. Feel free to leave me your comments and thoughts on this subject!