How Breathing Exercises and Meditation Help You Lose Weight

Breathing exercises may be the answer to your weight loss dilemma if you eat as a reaction to stress related incidents.   Suzanne Andrews, featured in the best selling book, Is She Naturally Thin or Disciplined by Sally Shields, reveals just how breathing exercises and meditation helped her lose over 60 lbs and how you can lose the weight and keep it off.  

Sally Shields, in her book, Is She Naturally Thin or  Disciplined?

offers a motivational book sharing how 101 women share how they stay slim and trim, despite busy work schedules and time consuming family demands.  She didn't forget the baby boomers either.  Let's face it - what do you think when you see a 20 something slim beauty.  Well I don't know what you think, but I think, "of course, she's slim - she's only 20!"  Sally Shields interviewed women all the way up to age 60 plus and each reveals insider secrets of the sexy and slim!

10 Top Anti-Aging Tips for a Youthful Mind, Body, Spirit

Suzanne Andrews, star of Functional Fitness on PBS TV shares how you can become empowered with an age defying mind/body and spirit with these 10 top anti-aging tips.

The desire for youthful energy never leaves and is capable of staying with you well until your later years. Boomers are, however, faced with the old adage, “use it or lose it.”   It’s no wonder boomers are keen to put passion back into their lives and fight the effects of aging.  True we are living in a society with an obesity epidemic and what a better motivator than  living an independent life well into ones retirement with an increased zest and ability to perform activities of daily living with greater ease and function.

How do function and aging co-exist and blend with fitness?  They are a twin-ship, even if we don’t see them that way.  No one wants to feel and look old before their time. Much of what we blame on aging: weakness, decreased range of motion and obesity can be reversed in 30 days.  How do we look and feel younger in 30 days? Through a blissful discipline called Functional Fitness.  

Americans are getting older every minute and life expectancy is ever-increasing.   People leading full productive lives after the age of retirement are no longer a “wow.”  Most baby boomers want to live active lives and learn how to enjoy a fulfilling active life.  You’re as fit as your body is functional.  Contrary to popular opinion, not even all young people are limber, for keeping flexibility relies on regular stretching. However flexibility, one of the three primary components of physical fitness, is extremely important to attaining a healthy life.  Without flexibility, simple activities, such as reaching and bending become painful. True, muscles shorten with age, but according to the National Foundation for anti-aging, “most aging is premature.”  Here are 10 tips to help you stay younger, fitter and functional. 

1- Drink six to eight glasses of water each day. Hydrate skin, nourish it, and prevent wrinkles. 

2- Stretch and strengthen your legs. Doing calf raises and tiptoe walking every other day improves circulation and helps prevents spider veins. 

3- Incorporate upper-body exercises. Lift mini dumbbells, and stretch back muscles. This protects against osteoporosis. 

4- Strengthen your abs five days a week. Sit-ups enhance blood flow to vital organs, repairing tissue damage.

5- Add aerobic exercise. Keep your heart and lungs youthful and fit. 

6 – Choose aerobics that enhance brain power. Jogging, bicycling, and speed walking sharpen memory and increase attention span. 

7- Use diaphragmatic breathing. Inhale through your nose so debris and pollutants are filtered from the air. Make your belly rise, and then fall slowly, exhaling through pursed lips. Relaxed breathing decreases levels of stress hormones that accelerate aging. 

8- Eat baked, broiled, or grilled salmon two times per week. Its omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins combat disease-causing free radicals.

9- Try colorful vegetables. Dr. Roy Vartabedian, author of “Nutripoints,” and Nutrition Expert for Functional Fitness starring Suzanne Andrews, ® recommends spinach, broccoli and romaine lettuce daily with lunch and dinner.  Dark green vegetables have cancer-fighting properties and vitamin C to boost your immune system. Tomatoes are also on this “fighter veggies” list.

 10- Enjoy fresh fruit for dessert.  Dr. Vartabedian suggests cantaloupe, guava, and papaya. These also combat the cell damage that causes premature aging.

Learn More about Anti Aging Exercise

Kick and Scream Your Way to a Younger Body

So you're older now and here's what you can expect.

It's harder to work off that spare tire.   You're hair thins and then falls out, muscles weaken from disuse, vision becomes blurred, hearing is diminished, balance is off center, bones thin, joints become arthritic and your skin gets wrinkles. Whew! I think I'll just go back to bed.

Now not so fast. All is not lost, at least not yet. There is nothing we can do about getting older, but there is plenty you can do about aging. Getting older doesn't mean we can't age without kicking and screaming the whole way.

Here's what I propose you get yourself used to. Exercise, some kind of exercise, every day. Now if you're thinking, "But I've never exercised a day in my life, why start now?"  Go look in the mirror. Compare that image to the old photo of you at the beach 20 years ago. Yeah, I know. This only happens to other people. Sorry, it's happened to you.  But exercise is not just about looks, it's about staying healthy and functionally fit.  

Exercise and proper care of your skin can significantly reduce and slow down the aging process inside and out. Let's take a look under the microscope & see what's going on inside you and every human being that's getting older.

You've got chromosomes with genes in them. On the ends of these gene strands are what's called telomeres (DNA). These little telomeres act just like those plastic wraps, or caps, around the ends of your shoelaces. As we age the telomeres deteriorate and the shoelaces (chromosomes) begins to fray and come apart as they continually replicate themselves.

During cell division, enzymes that duplicate the chromosome and its DNA cannot continue their duplication all the way to the end of the chromosome. If cells divided without telomeres, they would lose the ends of their chromosomes, and the necessary information they contain. The telomeres are disposable buffers blocking the ends of the chromosomes and are consumed during cell division and replenished by an enzyme called telomerase. When this happens some of the DNA is lost and genes deteriorate which promotes the symptoms of aging.

There is no known way to reverse this process but there are many ways to fight it. Five small meals a day instead of three big ones. If you're not a construction worker, don't eat like one. Keep it light and low cal. Perform weight bearing exercises, start light and work your way up to heavier loads. No matter what your age is your muscles will respond to lifting weights, period. Exercising helps to maintain hormonal balance. All the hormones flowing through your blood increase and help your organs operate to their best ability. It's like putting high test gas in your bloodstream; you'll run like a top.

Thirty minutes a day of exercise is enough to get your hormones pumping. It's also very important to stretch after exercise of any type. Keeping the range of motion in your arms and legs are what help you keep doing the things you love most. Applying skin care products to your face and body will keep your skin smooth and clear. This is good advice for men too.

All this sounds like a bunch of extra work but the payoff at the end of the day is you'll sleep like a baby. Say goodbye to insomnia and any other sleep disorders you may have. Want to know why? Because you're going to be pooped! But you'll wake up with more energy, a younger body and a sharper mind. That's something that no pill on earth can offer.

Copyright © 2011 Functional Fitness starring Suzanne Andrews

Back From The Brink

[caption id="attachment_62" align="aligncenter" width="250" caption="The Power of Meditation"][/caption]

My journey to a new body and a new life began with a difficult pregnancy and an emergency cesarean section birth. By the time I gave birth, I was a size 18 and 61 pounds overweight.

[caption id="attachment_63" align="aligncenter" width="142" caption="60 Pounds Heavier"][/caption]

 At 5’2”, I was putting a tremendous strain on my knees and hips. The simple act of walking was an arduous task. Walking places a force of 3 times your body weight on the critical joints of your body. At my height and size, I was burdening my body with 528 pounds of pressure. Every step was excruciating. I developed bursitis in my hips creating an inflammation so severe that I couldn’t walk without flinching. I suffered through two miscarriages and eventual gall bladder surgery. My condition had gotten so severe that I couldn’t even play with my newborn without becoming winded. Exercise was out of the question. I could barely see my toes—being able to touch them was a fantasy.

My wake-up call came two years later, at my son’s birthday party. When I saw the videotape of the celebration, I didn’t even recognize myself. It was time to make a change. I was starting to understand why I had no energy. Staring me in the face, right there on the screen was the reason my hips and back ached so terribly. Every day was another dose of my harsh reality. Commuting to work on the bus was a humiliating experience, as I had to endure the cruel snickers when I couldn’t fit into the seat. I had enough. It was time for a change.

While I was working at CBS on the Geraldo show, a guest panelist and psychologist told me about how meditation could benefit me. I was skeptical, but desperate to try anything that would make me feel whole again. I needed to be there for my son. I decided to give it a try. At first I didn’t understand how a sedentary activity like meditation could help me to lose weight. It was not long before I discovered the secret---during meditation your mind is the CEO and your body the dutiful employee. You tell your body what it needs to do and it follows suit.

The ritual of meditation was the spark that jumpstarted my weight loss plan. I felt energized to exercise daily, choose healthier options and control my portion sizes. The meditation motivated me in ways I never thought imaginable, helping me lose the excuses and get on the track to better health. I started with gentle yoga combined with low impact exercises.

[caption id="attachment_65" align="aligncenter" width="240" caption="Beginners Dynamic Yoga for Stress Release and Weight Loss"][/caption]

This not only helped me to start shedding pounds, but also made my day-to-day tasks more manageable.  I incorporated other techniques which are now  on my PBS TV series, Functional Fitness.   I’ve included the low-impact fat burning technique with high intensity workouts for optimal success. I’ve also included instruction on how people can give themselves a non-surgical butt lift using only paper plates with the Fat Burning workout.

Preview Fat Burning Workout

With my series soon syndicated to 90 million viewers, my show encourages everyone to take charge of their health, regardless of fitness level. I also encourage viewers to participate actively in their health care plan by using preventative, cost-effective approaches to managing their health.

Meditation saved my life, and prevented my son from becoming an orphan at 10 years old. I credit my success to the incorporation of mind, body and spirit that meditation encourages. The same breathing techniques that I used to control my appetite and regulate stress also helped to develop my lungs and give them power. It was those same healthy, powerful lungs that delivered me from the brink of death, when a medical miscalculation caused my heart to stop on an operating table. As doctors frantically fought to revive my lifeless body with CPR, my body started to shut down, turning my lips, hands and feet a chilling blue. Near death, I was transported by ambulance to the intensive care unit. My body was on the verge of giving up. My kidneys shut down and my veins constricted so tightly that doctors could not administer a lifesaving intravenous line. My body and my spirit were determined to live. I would not die. I would live. I would see my son again. I started to meditate. After five minutes of willing myself to survive and using my meditation skills, my body started its journey back from the edge. My kidneys started functioning again. My pulse strengthened and my veins opened up. Later, my cardiologist would proclaim in amazement, “I’m an Indian doctor and my patient is teaching me how great meditation is!”

After that day, I had a renewed sense of purpose. I had to motivate others and help other people struggling with weight find their purpose. My weight could have been a death sentence, but meditation and determination was my pardon. My life has been changed since that day. Doors have opened for me. I went from being introverted and soft spoken to a confident, capable and dynamic woman ready to embrace life. I have made it my mission to help others on their journey to finding the healthy and slim person within. You are the CEO of your health.  Exercise and be healthwise. Take care of your body and your body will take care of you. 

Get Fitter, stronger and healthier in the comfort of your own home email your local Public Television station now and request Functional Fitness starring Suzanne Andrews broadcast on your local station.  To find your station go to

http://www.pbs.org/stationfinder/index.html