Getting Started

When people go grocery shopping they should look at labels. Read fat grams and calories. For every two grams there should be 100 calories. If it has more that is not a positive food to choose. Fat should be under 20 percent, or I recommend 18 percent of daily calories. You have to familiarize yourself with labels. Go to the products that say fat-free. Be careful of products like sour-cream lite, which is still 60 percent.

Give yourself 30 days. The first 21 days you're going to change your habits. In the first 30 days you'll change your lifestyle, and that's our goal. It's like giving up salt. But after 30 days your tastes will change, and will be a lifestyle. You have to experiment. Some fat-free products taste awful, some are great. Don¹t give up if you don¹t find fat-free products that you don¹t immediately like.

The Cookbooks

I've written and published four fat-free cookbooks. How I got started is that I was grocery shopping and a hospital was giving out those fat finders. When this woman put my cheese on the fat finder my cheese was 50 percent fat, even though it had only two grams of fat. When this happened to me I thought, wow, this is probably happening to so many people. I wrote to all kinds of nutritionists, aerobic instructors and experts and asked them for their favorite low-fat recipes. Many of them wrote back with high-fat meals. So then I worked with a nutritionist and came up with recipes that take 10 minutes to prepare and are all fat-free. They're called Recipes for Fat Free Living Cookbooks 1 and 2, Recipes for Fat Free Desserts and Recipes for Fat Free Living Breads. My book coming out in May is Fat Free Living Super Cookbook, published by Warner Books.

The Food

For a really easy time, try fat-free breads for the bread-maker by Fat-Free Living Family Kitchens. All you do is add yeast to the mix and add water and your bread is done. It is so simple. The fun flavors include cornbread, pumpernickel, white, wholewheat, and fat-free bagels and rolls.

The Exercise Connection

What you need exercise-wise is 20 minutes of some kind of aerobic exercise, three times a week. Aerobic exercise that uses the large muscles like stairclimber, aerobic class, walking, swimming, anything you like. You'll see results as far as stress-relief and mood changes the very first time. But you're not going to feel like doing it again until you've done it for at least three weeks. I find with myself that if I do it first thing in the morning then it's over with, I start the day off very positive and I can have energy for the rest of the day.

Three days of non-aerobic, toning or resistance work should also be included. Go out and rent a few videos and see if you like them before you invest in them.

You don't have to do more than this, but if you like a particular activity, then go for it. With aerobic exercise, you should always be able to carry on a conversation, and it should never be painful. In aerobics, more is not necessarily better.

The Perfect Body

I designed Perfect Body Bands because I don't really like lifting weights. The bands I work with are like those used in therapy offices to recover from accidents. The tension will leave the bands in about three months and they need to replace the bands. If you can go 8-12 repetitions on any exercise, you need to go to the tougher band. If you start off with the starter band, in three months you'll probably progress to the next level of bands. We are designing an exercise video for the busy person, only 30 minutes for each area of the body for the maximum result. I feel you should be able to do your exercise and get out of there. The bands are also wonderful travel tools.

Results If you've overfat and you follow the fat-free living plan and exercise plan you'll see a clothing size in one month, or an inch everywhere and about 5-8 pounds.

Before I had my daughter I used to do an hour on the lifecycle. When I started strength training I lost an inch everywhere. It's just as important as cardio work because it keeps your muscles and bones strong.

Eventually people become so addicted to a healthy lifestyle that this way of life will be important and natural to them.

To order any of the cookbooks, the exercise bands, or the breads, please call Jyl at (888) 328-3731.