Lose Weight and Get the Body of a Victoria's Secret Model with Trainer David Kirsch

Shape up like a Victoria's Secret Model with Tips from Trainer David Kirsch


Get a Victoria’s Secret Angel model body by following tips from trainer to the angels, David Kirsch. Celebrity trainer and author David Kirsch recently gave away some of his secrets for getting the Victoria’s Secret models ready for the big annual holiday runway show. Kirsch works with high-profile clients with amazing fat-free bodies year round but extra attention is paid for the glorified few who reach Angel heights and walk the runway for the big show. Although the models he works with are thin all the time, they switch into overdrive training to shed fat and lose any excess weight before the big show. As Kirsch points out in his conversation with New York magazine, the girls are practically naked, and you don’t want to see anything jiggling when they walk down that runway. In addition to the Angels, Kirsch has trained actress Anne Hathaway and supermodel (and Angel) Heidi Klum who always looks fit, skinny and amazing.
So, David Kirsch gives his three tips for getting the model body you are after. Before getting into his tips for looking like a model, obviously eating less and working out go without saying. Here are three mistakes mere mortals make and the Angel’s secrets for getting a great body.

1) Do the right exercise for your body type. Kirsch points out the women (or men) will often see someone whose body they like and do the same exercise that they do. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always work out. If you are inclined to bulk up in the quad area, you can’t expect to get a long, lean model body through running or spinning even if Gisele can do that.
2) Poor form and technique. Focus on doing each movement correctly with the proper placement so that your exercise is getting you the results you want. As you will find on this site, the Tracy Anderson method is a great one for avoiding bulk and getting long, lean model muscles. In fact, several models and actresses use the Tracy Anderson Method for their training. Ms. Anderson also notes that proper form and technique are crucial to your results.
3) Importance of Eating. This does not mean eating what you want, and enjoying all of your favorite foods. Kirsch explains that he often has to teach the models to eat to fuel their bodies throughout the day. Follow Adriana Lima’s example and eat high veggie, lots of protein diet. Adriana eats almost zero carbs, and lots of protein shakes to prep for the show. Read all about her model diet. Avoid sugars, carbohydrates and other fast sugars that won’t give you lasting energy.

He also advises drinking a big protein shake before your Thanksgiving feast which you could do before Christmas parties, New Years parties and any other big events, dinners or festivities throughout the year. He suggests enjoying in small portions the things you love but to avoid loading up on all of it, pick and choose.

He also suggests strength training exercises with bands, resistance and tubing to get those long lean muscles. Kirsch, like Tracy Anderson advises lower weights for women. Tracy Anderson has her clients use only 3 lb weights for strength training while David Kirsch has his clients use 3-5 lb weights for training. If you happen to be in the New York area, you can check out classes at his gym. There are “Shape Shifter: classes to help lift your butt and shift and shape your body to get you to the point you want to be. You can find classes at your local gym to get these shape shifting results too.

If you don't have time to take advantage of David Kirsch's tips to a supermodel body, consider the power of the right shapewear to transform your body in a hurry. Check out Best Shapewear for tons of great options from Spanx, Cass, Yummie Tummie to Flexees and Vedette.

I would have liked more specific advice about the regiment he puts his Victoria’s Secret model clients on to prepare for the show. Fortunately, we have gorgeous supermodel Adriana Lima’s real diet and exercise plan that she uses to prep for the show which gives a lot more guidance for those who want to lose weight like a model.

Stevia Pumpkin Pie Pudding Recipe

Make this Stevia Pumpkin Pie Pudding

Pumpkins are everywhere during the autumn months along with pumpkin desserts, pumpkin lattes, pumpkin scones and pumpkin pies. Unfortunately, almost all of these fantastic and enticing pumpkin treats are loaded with sugar. Pumpkin on its own is a very healthy ingredient, low in fat and low in calories and loaded with nutritional benefits.  You can of course enjoy savory pumpkin soups and roasted pumpkin recipes to enjoy pumpkin. However, if like me, you have a sweet tooth and are craving sweets, pumpkin but want to avoid sugar – here is a good recipe to try.

The recipe is for Pumpkin pie pudding with stevia instead of sugar. There are lots of great recipes online that have pumpkin pie made with agave nectar, molasses, honey, and of course artificial sweeteners like Splenda and Aspartame. I choose to avoid Aspartame and Splenda because of the many studies showing incredibly negative long term health effects when consumed even in small amounts over time.

I think agave nectar, xylitol and other natural sweeteners are great. However, you can’t beat the no calorie, super sweet punch that even the smallest amount of stevia will give to your recipe. Stevia is healthy, natural and does not effect your sugar levels at all. This natural herb is great for smoothies, oatmeal, and can be used in baking with great success with a little bit of experimentation.

I found this recipe online at Nourishing Days, link below the recipe so you can try the original. The pumpkin pie with stevia is also dairy free in case you are avoiding sugar and dairy!

Stevia Pumpkin Pie Pudding Recipe

4 large eggs

1 15 oz can organic pumpkin

½ c cream or full fat coconut milk

½ tsp salt

¾- 1 tsp Stevia

2 tsp cinnamon

¾ tsp ginger

½ tsp cloves

¼ tsp allspice

½-3/4 tsp mace or nutmeg

1 tsp Mexican Vanilla or regular vanilla

Almond meal or ground cashews (optional)

First butter or spray with organic cooking spray a round 8” cake pan or similar. If desired, sprinkle ground cashews or ground almond meal lightly to serve as a bit of a crust.

Blend the eggs for about 1 minute. Add pumpkin, cream or coco milk, and all other ingredients and blend with a mixer for about 1 minute. Pour into pan. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes – check after 20 – you want a knife to come out clean but for it to be kind of a soft set.

Let rest  - eat at room temp or cold. Refrigerate leftovers. I recommend whipping up some heavy whipping cream with a touch of Mexican vanilla and either Zsweet, stevia or xylitol and put a spoonful on top of the pumpkin pie. Delicious.

Thanks again to Nourishing Days where I found the original recipe.

If you love pumpkin, make sure to check out my recipe for a pumpkin pie smoothie – it’s really delicious and satisfying and contains no sugar. I’d love to hear what fun fall recipes you make using stevia in the comments.
Enjoy the dairy free stevia pumpkin pie!

Stevia Pumpkin Smoothie Recipe

Try this Vanilla Pumpkin Pie Stevia Protein Smoothie Recipe NOW!

During the autumn months, I delight in the overload of pumpkin goods introduced in every form at every store, restaurant, coffee shop and café. Seasonal smoothies, seasonal lattes and baked goods are high on my list of must-haves. Pumpkin is a super healthy ingredient full of excellent vitamins and is also low in calories and low in fat. However, most of these delicious pumpkin treats that you find don’t fit into that low calorie low fat category.

I have tried all sorts of pumpkin treats, the Jamba Juice Pumpkin Smash is delicious but is pretty loaded with sugar. You can find recipes to make the pumpkin smash at home all over the Internet and you’ll notice that besides the pumpkin, the other major ingredient is vanilla frozen yogurt of some sort. You could of course use a low cal and low-fat vanilla frozen yogurt but most likely that will contain splenda or aspartame, which are both very unhealthy and detrimental to our bodies so I try to avoid those at all costs. I’d rather have the real sugar as calorie loaded as it is than have aspartame or splenda poisons. Stevia is an excellent completely natural substitute for these artificial sweeteners. On a side note, don't use TrueVia or PureVia thinking they are stevia- they do have stevia in them but have been re-engineered by major corporations to be patentable and are not pure and all natural like stevia is.

There are tons of baked goods that have pumpkin too. Again, most of the pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pies or pumpkin cakes that you will get out at a coffee shop or restaurant will have tons of sugar and possibly other ingredients that you don’t want or know about.

I thought there had to be a substitute pumpkin smoothie that I could make at home that satisfied that pumpkin and sweet craving. Even if you aren’t dieting, having a sweet treat that doesn’t have sugar is fantastic. Sugar is aging – it ages your skin, it doesn’t digest well, and of course leads to weight gain because the calorie energy is used up quickly with no real benefits.

I looked online and found a few stevia pumpkin smoothie recipes. What I ended up doing is modifying one to make it a pumpkin pie protein smoothie. It is so delicious. I used Energy First Vanilla whey protein mix. It is made with stevia and is packed with nutrients, low in calories and free of artificial junk. It is also very high in usable protein. I hope you enjoy this

Stevia Pumpkin Pie Vanilla Protein Shake

½ c coconut milk (I used full fat and it was so creamy and delicious but I think it would be terrific with a low fat coconut milk too)

1 c pumpkin cubes cooked (I sprayed a pan lightly with organic olive oil spray and baked fresh organic pumpkin that I had cut into cubes for about 40 minutes at 375-400 degrees, turning once or twice)

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ginger powder (more or less to taste)

½ tsp mace or nutmeg (more or less to taste)

¼ tsp allspice

¼ tsp cloves

1 tsp stevia

1 tsp Mexican vanilla (use regular vanilla if you like)

3/4 scoop of Energy First Vanilla Protein Powder

¼ c cold water

approx 3/4 c crushed ice cubes or 8-10 ice cubes

Blend all ingredients in a blender – add more liquid, spices or ice to your desired taste and consistency.

I think this is dreamy and tastes so much like a creamy pumpkin pie. It has no sugar – it’s an all stevia and protein smoothie that works as a meal replacement or as a dessert.
This amount makes a pretty large amount - easily could be shared between two people or if you feel the need for an extra large smoothie, this will do the trick.

The original recipe can be found here. Thank you to Smoothie Handbook for a great pumpkin smoothie recipe. Optional - I also add Micro Plant Powder to my seasonal smoothies for extra health benefits.

Enjoy the pumpkin pie stevia protein smoothie and if you have any great no sugar pumpkin recipes, please let us know in the comments!

Yacon Syrup

Yacon Syrup for Tracy Anderson Diet Shopping List

If you are starting the Tracy Anderson  30-Day Method, you have probably looked through the recipes and noticed the ingredient Yacon Syrup. I hadn’t heard of this ingredient before and wondered what it was and if I could substitute something else for it.

Turns out, it isn’t as hard to find Yacon syrup as I’d expected. A quick trip to my nearby health food store and they had a bottle of it. It isn’t cheap but isn’t insanely expensive.

Yacon syrup is a sweetener that has a low glycemic effect and is low in calories but high in flavor. It is extracted from tuberous roots of the yacon plant, which grows in South America and is indigenous to the Andes.

Yacon syrup could be compared to agave nectar and if you don’t have yacon syrup, I would use that in its place. It has a molasses flavor like carmelized sugar.

In the Tracy Anderson book, she uses yacon syrup in several of her recipes including one for Orange Glazed Salmon, Grilled Tofu, and Sweet Potato Silver Dollar Pancakes which make a delicious sweet treat!

Yacon syrup is a good sugar alternative for diabetics and is also processed in a vegan friendly way so it can be great for those who don’t take sugar or honey.

Use Yacon Syrup instead of maple syrup, agave nectar, honey, molasses or sugar for a sweetner in tea or coffee. It is also great in oatmeal or for use in recipes.

If you need to add yacon syrup to your shopping list for your Tracy Anderson 30-Day diet, try Whole Foods Market or your local health food store. If you can’t find it there, you can purchase online. What is your favorite way to use yacon syrup in your diet?

Tracy Anderson Book Sneak Peek Part 2

Tracy Anderson Book Sneak Peek Part 2 and the Choco Chestnut Pudding Recipe


Everyone seems to be excited about the new Tracy Anderson 30-Day Method Book. In addition to the boot camp series of cardio routines and toning exercises shown in the book and on the included DVD, Tracy gives a 30-Day Menu. The 30-Day Method Diet is a structured diet plan that offers tasty recipes with real food in specific combinations that Tracy ensures will leave you feeling satisfied and able to work out with her rather intense nearly two hour a day workout plan.

Before we get further into the sneak peak of the book. Check out my other reviews and posts on the Tracy Anderson Method here so you can really find what you are looking for:
If you want to see reviews of the Tracy Anderson Method, click on the following links:
Tracy Anderson Mat Workout DVD Review

Free Tracy Anderson Arms Webisode Link and Review

Tracy Anderson GOOP Arms Webisode Review

Taking the Tracy Anderson Mat Workout to the Next Level

Tracy Anderson's Top Ten Tips

Tracy Anderson Results Accounts

Tracy Anderson Method to Lose 20 Pounds in 6 Weeks

Get Rid of Sagging Skin with the Tracy Anderson Method

Why you should only use 3 lb Weights with the Tracy Anderson Method

Tracy Anderson GOOP Leg Workout and 5 Day Diet for Gwyneth Paltrow

Tracy Anderson 5 Day Diet Cleanse

New Tracy Anderson Book

Tracy Anderson Method and Mini Trampolines

Tracy Anderson 30-Day Method Book Sneak Peak

Tracy Anderson Book Sneak Peak Part 2 (Choco Chestnut Pudding Recipe!)


Now, back to the sneak peak inside the book - I would say that if you are a fan of the Tracy Anderson method or at the very least the Tracy Anderson body type, this book would definitely be worthwhile to purchase. Know going in that you will have to work for your weight loss and physically exert yourself to change your shape but if you follow the plan, you will change your body.

As with most diet and exercise plans, I think that the diet portion is about 80% of it. If you eat less calories, you will lose weight. With the Tracy Anderson Method, you are doing about 45-60 minutes daily of very high energy cardio focused on dancing, bouncing, treadmill dancing, dancing on a mini-trampoline if you prefer or something else that makes you sweat profusely. Tracy advises against running, elliptical machines and other exercises that tend to make you bulk up. For the 30-day plan you must do her dance cardio workout each day for the thirty days. No skipping days, no excuses. An easy-to-follow version of Tracy Anderson's Dance Cardio comes with the book on an included DVD. Additionally, you are to spend about the same amount of time doing repetitions of provided toning exercises that work your legs and butt, your arms, and your stomach and core muscles. These are shown on the DVD as well but annoyingly, are not done to a full set of reps for each exercise so you have to go back or count out reps yourself. The toning reps are hard to describe and are pictured and explained in great detail in the book as well as demonstrated and explained on the DVD included with the 30-Day Method book.

The Tracy Anderson 30-Day Meal Plan is provided, with tons of recipes to use while on the diet and beyond. If you are starting the diet, it will take a trip to the market. There are a lot of ingredients in the dishes on the menu and because it has a lot of variety, you need a lot of ingredients for each day and in turn for each week of the diet. One nice thing about the diet in contrast to many others is that Tracy provides sweets and dessert recipes as part of the diet. You don't have to stick to an all-protein, or no sugar diet during the 30 days. Another noteworthy thing is that the restrictive performance cleanse portion of the diet which is more juice, puree, and smoothie oriented is on the last few days of the diet. This is good for two reasons. First, Tracy points out that it would take unbelievable willpower to try to do the intense ultra low calorie portion of the diet at the same time you are adjusting to a new intense workout program. Second, it allows you to really show off the results, get rid of final water weight and reveal your new muscles at the 30 day mark of the Tracy Anderson 30-Day Method.

Just a few of the recipes that you will find in the book are:
French Chicken with Braised Leek
Egg Spinach Wrap with Beans and Escarole
Mexican Avocado Wrap
Orange Glazed Salmon
Roasted Root Vegetables
Kale Spinach Beet Juice
Chocolate Blueberry Pudding
Choco Chestnut Pudding

As you can see, there is a lot of variety on the Tracy Anderson diet menu. There are vegetables, fruits, fish, chicken, steak, smoothies and more. It is far more challenging if you are vegetarian but Tracy does lay out options for that as well. This is a low calorie diet and you can't eat unlimited anything so you need to be prepared to follow the menu closely for 30 days.

Now, here is a sneak peek from the Tracy Anderson 30-Day Method book
Recipe for Choco Chestnut Pudding
1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips
2 Tbsp peeled and cooked chestnuts (I found mine at Trader Joe's in the refrigerated produce/herb section)
1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
4 whole pitted dates (you can sub prunes or dried blueberries)
2 Tbsp unsweetened coconut flakes

Melt the chocolate chips slowly in a double boiler and set aside. Puree the rest of the ingredients. Add the melted chocolate and pulse until all the ingredients are combined. Add about 1/2 c water and check the consistency. It should be soupy. It will firm as it cools.
Portion size is 4 ounces
Enjoy!
What is your favorite Tracy Anderson recipe?

I hope you found this second sneak peek into the Tracy Anderson book helpful. On the right you can find all of the Tracy Anderson posts with info about Gwyneth Paltrow's 5-day diet and workout, Tracy Anderson and mini-trampolines, reviews of the Mat workout dvd and free Tracy Anderson webisodes and more.

Enjoy the Recipe for Choco Chestnut Pudding and the Tracy Anderson Book sneak peek.