No Pool, No Problem! Seven Tactics to Help You Maintain Your Summer Body This Fall

[The colder months are the easiest time of the year to fall off the fitness wagon.

Here, fitness, nutrition, and weight loss expert Warren Honeycutt offers some tips to help you maintain healthy habits as the weather gets colder.]

Memphis, TN (September 2015) - Now that swimsuit season and sky-high summer temperatures are behind us, you may be tempted to tone down the ambitious fitness and nutrition regimen you've followed all summer. After all, you tell yourself, nobody will be able to see what's underneath your fall and winter layers, right? And you deserve a break after being so disciplined for so long.

Sure, there are plenty of excuses to choose from - and you're certainly not the only person who's considering taking a break from the gym. But Warren Honeycutt says that while the shorts, swimsuits, and sundresses may be packed away for the year, you shouldn't stop striving for good health.

"A lot of people go into 'hibernation mode' when the leaves begin to fall and the weather gets cooler," says Honeycutt, author of Get Lean for Life: 7 Keys to Lasting Weight Loss. "But no matter what time of year it is or how many layers you're wearing, there are always countless benefits to practicing positive wellness habits: more energy during the day, better sleep at night, improved mood, a stronger immune system (perfect for fighting off common cold-weather sicknesses!), and much more. Why slow down just because you won't be lounging by the poolside for a while?

"Plus, it's a good idea to change up your workouts and meals every so often," he adds. "Becoming bored with your workout is often the first step to discarding it altogether. However, variety keeps you interested and motivated, and helps you set and reach new goals. The colder months are a great time to try out new foods or exercises and add them to your rotation of healthy habits."

A respected expert in weight loss, fitness, and nutrition, Honeycutt understands how to stay in great shape. He is a championship bodybuilder who has been a Southern Classic Physique Champion, two-time Mr. Tennessee, and six-time Mr. America finalist. Now, at age 62, he enjoys perfect health without any prescription medications. Honeycutt offers personalized fitness training through his comprehensive Get Lean program, which features detailed fitness videos for exercising at the gym, at home, at the office, and while traveling; personalized meal plans; motivational material; and more.

Here, Honeycutt shares seven ways to stay in summer shape year-round:

Enjoy some autumnal activities. Switch up your workout regimen and take advantage of cooler temperatures and beautiful autumn landscapes via hiking, biking, or canoeing. There are plenty of outdoor activities that only improve with the change in scenery, so finding an enjoyable way to get some outdoor exercise in the fall should be no trouble. Even seasonal landscaping and leaf-raking counts if it gets your heart rate up!

Motivate yourself with some brand-new gear. Treat yourself to some cooler-weather workout gear: a new pair of jogging leggings with a fun pattern or a brightly colored windbreaker. Your new threads will help you get excited about breaking a sweat.

"Pick out clothing that wicks away moisture as you exercise," Honeycutt recommends. "It prevents chills from cold air as you sweat, leaving you warmer and drier during your outdoor workouts."

Put some seasonal produce on your plate. Sure, the growing season for a lot of fruits and veggies is over, but there's still a lot to be found at the farmer's market! Butternut and acorn squash, cabbage, carrots, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, cauliflower, turnips, and more may well be in season where you live. "Best of all, there are hundreds of delicious, healthy seasonal recipes you can try out with the produce options available in the fall," Honeycutt points out. Note to Editor: See attached tipsheet for seven delicious and nutritious seasonal substitutions.

Go back to school. Your kids are hitting the books once again - why shouldn't you? Fall is a perfect time of year for you to sign up for a new fitness or cooking class.

"This is a fun and productive way to take advantage of the time spent indoors during the fall and winter," Honeycutt notes. "Plus, a regularly scheduled class will help you stay motivated. By the time spring comes again, you'll have gained some handy new skills!"

Don't forget to hydrate. You may not feel as thirsty when it isn't scorching outside, but the cold, crisp weather can actually dry you out much faster than a warm summer day. The heavier clothing makes your body work harder during physical activity, and you lose moisture more quickly as your sweat evaporates and you exhale water vapor.

"Bring along some room-temperature water on your hike, jog, bike ride, or other outdoor activity, and remember to keep drinking even if you don't feel thirsty," advises Honeycutt. "It's important to stay hydrated and to regulate your body temperature as you move."

Start your workout early in the day. The days are getting shorter, so be smart about using the natural light you have! If the sun is already low in the sky by the time you're ready to exercise, your body could take it as a cue to power down and get ready for sleep. Starting earlier in the day will help you keep your energy up and stay warm if you're outdoors. Then you'll have the evening to relax and unwind.

Brush up on some home workout techniques. Some days are just too chilly for an outdoor activity. Fortunately, with a few simple tools, you can break a sweat without ever leaving your home.

"Dumbbells and resistance bands are easy-to-use, affordable, and compact tools that can give you a quick, thorough workout right at home," Honeycutt says. "There are also dozens of simple body weight exercises you can perform to strengthen your muscles and get your heart pumping. Don't let the cold keep you from warming up!"

"Keeping up positive exercise and nutrition habits all year long is essential to your health and well-being," Honeycutt concludes. "But it also comes with a perk most people overlook: When next summer rolls around, you won't have to scramble to get in swimsuit shape -you can just head straight to the pool!"

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[Comfort Food without the Calories: Seven Delicious, Healthy Substitutes for Cold-Weather Favorites

By Warren Honeycutt, author of Get Lean for Life: 7 Keys to Lasting Weight Loss

(Get Honeycutt, Inc., 2014, ISBN: 978-1-5008011-7-5, $19.95, www.getlean.guru)]

The colder months are a great time to enjoy delicious, hearty meals like dense stews, mashed potatoes, and hot chocolate. Problem is, with a diet like that you'll be sure to pack on the pounds before spring rolls around again. Fortunately, there are plenty of healthy and tasty substitutes for popular treats that prove "flavorful" and "nutritious" aren't always mutually exclusive. Here are seven guilt-free substitutes for some classic comfort foods:

Cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes. Substituting cauliflower for potatoes is a healthy alternative that's gaining more and more popularity - and for good reason. When prepared correctly, cauliflower mimics the texture and taste of mashed 'taters, with fewer calories and carbs. Boil a helping of cauliflower until tender, then pour off the water and beat it with a mixer to the consistency you like. Top with fat-free sour cream, fat-free cheese, Butter Buds, and/or Molly McButter. Reheat each serving in the microwave for two minutes until piping hot. Add chives, bacon bits, salt, and pepper as desired, and serve.

Spaghetti squash instead of spaghetti noodles. Spaghetti squash isn't nearly as carb-heavy as noodles, and it contains nutrients like vitamins A, B-6, and C, as well as omega-3 essential fatty acids. When baked or microwaved, this veggie can be shredded into spaghetti-like strands with a fork and enjoyed with any tasty sauce of your choosing. Top with lean chicken breast or seafood for a healthy and delicious boost.

Sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes. No doubt you've already encountered this popular substitution - but a reminder never hurts! Sweet potatoes are filling and delicious, rich in vitamin A, and contain more vitamin C and fiber than white potatoes - with fewer carbs and calories. That said, it's still healthiest to eat sweet potatoes baked and save sweet potato fries for occasions when you want to treat yourself.

Tea instead of hot chocolate or coffee. Tea is full of antioxidants and may, according to several studies, help lower the risk of diseases ranging from Parkinson's to many different kinds of cancer. It's also great for weight loss, especially when sweetened naturally with stevia or xylitol. That said, if you just have to have a cup of hot chocolate after some time out in the cold, find a healthy recipe online and make your own without the sugar and corn syrup in commercial hot chocolate mix.

Thinly sliced zucchini or eggplant for pasta-free lasagna. Layer all that delicious low-fat ricotta cheese and tomato sauce between zucchini or eggplant slices to cut down on the carbs in this classic dish. Both zucchini and eggplant are low in calories and full of nutrients and antioxidants, making them healthy replacements for pasta.

Baked vegetables instead of potato chips or French fries. Delicious chips and fries don't have to come from a greasy fast food bag. For nutritious chips, try slicing squash, radishes, beets, sweet potatoes, zucchini, apples, or any other fruit or veggie you like, then seasoning the slices and baking them in the oven for a delicious, crispy treat. If you're craving fries, cut carrots, zucchini, asparagus, eggplant, or another veggie of your choosing into sticks. Brush them with olive oil if you like, then season them with Parmesan cheese, flaxseed, ground nuts, oats, or sea salt before baking.

Health-conscious homemade soups instead of salty store-bought brands. There's nothing like a warm bowl of soup or stew on a chilly day, but the condensed canned soups you buy at the supermarket are often loaded with cream and sodium. When making soup at home, use low-sodium stock, plenty of herbs and spices for flavor, and cauliflower puree in place of cream to create a thick, smooth consistency. Add nutritious, low-calorie veggies like spinach, kale, and carrots, as well as beans and chunks of lean meat for protein. You may never buy a can of soup again!

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About the Author:

Warren Honeycutt is the author of Get Lean for Life: 7 Keys to Lasting Weight Loss. An expert in weight loss, fitness, and nutrition, he is a championship bodybuilder who has been a Southern Classic Physique Champion, two-time Mr. Tennessee, and six-time Mr. America finalist. Now, at age 62, he enjoys perfect health without any prescription medications and a physique that is the envy of most 25-year-olds.

A popular speaker on fitness and nutrition topics, Honeycutt's expertise has been featured by NBC, CBS, ABC, LifeExtension, A Second Look at Sports, LiveStrong, Live Relentless, and more.

by Dennis and Barabara Rainey

We will not conceal them from their children, but tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD. PSALM 78:4

Five grown siblings came together at the event of their parents' fiftieth wedding anniversary. When the time came to express their thanks to each parent for the one thing that stood out above all in their memories, each of them—without consulting the others—tanked their father for his leadership in family worship.

One of the brothers said, "The oldest memory I have, Dad, is of tears streaming down your face as you taught us from Pilgrim's Progress on Sunday evenings. No matter how far I went astray in later years, I could never seriously question the reality of Christianity. I had seen it in you."

Whenever the subject of family worship comes up, you may feel guilt at your failure in this area. I understand that. Few things seem harder to pull off or easier to be put off. But when you consider the impact this one commitment could make on your own children for a lifetime, what could be more important?

It doesn't have to be tightly preplanned. Take five or ten minutes before school to read a devotional with your children. Schedule one night a week when you'll all be home to read a story and Scripture, sing (or make a joyful noise) and have some outrageous fun. Watch for those opportunities to practice "sandbox theology," turning your children's everyday events into spiritual training moments.

Don't miss this: Dad and Mom, your ultimate assignment as parents is to introduce your children to God; His Son, Jesus Christ; and His Word. It may be hard to start and a challenge to continue, but it will make a huge difference in how they finish.

DISCUSS

Talk about what each of you can do to be helpful and encouraging to each other in getting family worship started or in keeping it going.

PRAY

Pray for priorities to firm up in your life, for incidentals to be seen for the waste of time they are and for God's Word to recapture each of your hearts.

by Dan Waldschmidt

6 Tips to Gain the Edge & Meet Your Goals

Great people throughout history often fail, quite miserably, before finally reaching their goals, says international business strategist Dan Waldschmidt.

"Van Gogh sold only one painting during his lifetime; Winston Churchill lost every public election until becoming prime minister at age 62; Henry Ford went bankrupt five times; Albert Einstein was a terrible student and was expelled from school; Sigmund Freud was booed from a stage," says Waldschmidt, author of "Edgy Conversations: How Ordinary People Achieve Outrageous Success," (www.EdgyConversations.com).

"Ideas, brilliance, genius – they all mean nothing without the guts, passion and tenacity necessary to make your dream a reality. But often, people fall back on excuses and give up on trying to reach their goals."

Most of us have dreams, and many of us have big ones, but few of us actually see them through, he says.

He offers six tricks for jumping off the excuse train and forge the path to your goals.

• Avoid the need to blame others for anything.

Mean, small-minded people know that they suck. That's why they are so cranky and eager to point out others' mistakes. They hope that by causing others to feel inadequate, everyone will forget about how woefully off the mark their own performance is. Don't blame anyone, for any reason, ever. It's a bad habit.

• Stop working on things that just don't matter.

Not everything needs to be done in place of sleep. If you work for a boss, then you owe them solid time. You can't cut that out. You can, however, cut out television time, meetings and anything else that gets in the way of achieving your goals. Replace entertainment with activity toward your goal.

• Refuse to let yourself wallow in self-doubt.

You're alive to succeed. Stop comparing your current problems to your last 18 failures. They are not the same. You are not the same. Here's something to remember: Your entire life has been a training ground for you to capture your destiny right now. Why would you doubt that? Stop whining. Go conquer.

• Ask yourself, "What can I do better next time?" And then do it next time.

If you spend a decade or two earnestly trying to be better, that's exactly what will happen. The next best thing to doing something amazing is not doing something stupid. So learn from your mistakes and use the lessons to dominate.

• Proactively take time to do things that fuel your passion.

Exercise is a great example. Living in the moment requires you to live at peak performance. A huge part of mental fitness is physical fitness. A sparring or running partner is a great way to refresh physical competition. Physical activity accelerates mental motivation.

• Apologize to yourself and those around you for having a bad attitude.

Do this once or twice and you'll snap out of your funk pretty fast. When you start genuinely apologizing for being a bad influence on those around you, you learn to stop whining and start winning.